Starry Night wrap-up...

This was my first big event at Star 102.5 where I actually got to broadcast my show live. And what an incredible way to start! I know you want to see the pictures and thanks to our awesome Promotions Department, you can see a bunch of them here. Apparently, I was nowhere near the camera at any moment throughout the night (which isn't really a tragedy).

After looking at the pictures, check out the review from The Buffalo News.

And I have audio for you! My interview with REO Speedwagon can be heard here. I had totally prepared to interview Jon McLaughlin, so I was stunned when I found out it was REO's Kevin Cronin and Dave Amato I'd be talking to on-air. And as you could tell if you heard it, they were a lot of fun to talk with - so much so, I ended up losing track of time.

The cool thing I learned from them is while they still love their older material, they feel they've grown through the years and their most recent album (Find Your Own Way Home) is definitely their favorite. Yeah, I know, they want you to buy the new album and that's what they're promoting, but they both seemed very passionate and genuine about this.

They also said that if you buy the full album, listen to it from start to finish and not randomly, because the songs in order tell a story. And individually, you just get a tiny part of what they're trying to say. Kevin used this analogy: it's like giving someone a flower petal as opposed to the entire flower.

Unlike some 80's bands, REO is still amazing live. It's a lot harder to make acoustic performances sound amazing than it is with the full band - but they did it easily.

And Jon McLaughlin (pictured) was also incredible. His performance was reminiscent of Daniel Powter's acoustic show about a year back. I consider "Beautiful Disaster" one of the highlights of the night! Buy his album "Indiana" - you will not be disappointed.

I'd love to say I got to see Scott Celani perform, but by the time I made it through all the traffic on the 290 & 90 and got the live broadcast going, I had missed most of that performance. Keeping the station on the air while my boss did his live broadcast took precedence in this case. But I already know how good Scott is live. You can buy his new CD, "Wired For Nostalgia" here.

It was also fun meeting so many Star listeners - in fact, that was the best part of doing my show live at Starry Night. If you couldn't make it, I'll be broadcasting my show live again July 13th from 6p - 10p at Darien Lake. Stop down and introduce yourself - it's always nice to put a face with a name. We'll be having some awesome admission deals to the park that night. I'll get you the full details once I have them.

And be prepared to go on some of the rides with me. That's one of my favorite places on the planet - I've been to tons of amusement parks throughout North America, and Darien Lake is one of the best for variety of rides (especially the spin rides). And you just know I'm going to try to get some info on what's coming in the future when I interview the Darien Lake people.

Thanks again to all the great restaurants and vendors and the Botanical Gardens for making Starry Night so much fun. And thank you for making it such a success. To thank the bands and artists for coming, buy their CD's! I'm sure they'd appreciate that more than anything.

2008 plans at Canada's Wonderland???

The 2007 summer season just started and rumors are already circulating online about what Canada's Wonderland might be getting in 2008!

FYI, Canada's Wonderland is no longer a Paramount Park. It's now owned by the same company that owns Cedar Point - and that company loves BIG roller coasters.

Check out this blog for the rumor details. Keep in mind, there's lots of wild speculation here. But even if a tiny part of it turns out to be true, I'll be psyched about this.

The biggest reality show prize yet...

Tontine, a reality show offering a ten million dollar prize, is looking for contestants.

The casting events won't be coming anywhere near Buffalo, but you can send them an e-mail with a short description of yourself, a picture, and contact info if you're interested. Visit their website for details and make sure to read through everything before submitting anything. The deadline for submissions is August 11th.

The host will be someone well known to reality show fans - "Boston Rob" Mariano from both Survivor and Amazing Race along with a bunch of other reality shows.

As of now, there's no info on what network will be airing the show (or even if any network is interested).

Sounds fun though. Good luck and let me know if you make it on the show!

Future Norwegian engineers???

Check out this short video of what happens when Norwegian kids think they're engineers and mess with train tracks.

While this goes without saying, I should probably say it anyways. Do NOT even think of trying this yourself... :)

Garfield is 29 today!

Games, comics, an art gallery, a store, and all-you-can-eat lasagna!

Celebrate all things Garfield at his official website.

Be the next Elvira!

Remember Elvira, Mistress of the Dark?

Well, she's still around and she's so busy that she needs another Elvira to help her out! According to Elvira, there's too many ghastly engagements for just one "Mistress of the Dark" to entertain. In 2007, the solution is obvious - an Open Casket Call!

It's "The Search for the Next Elvira", a new three-episode reality show for the Fox Reality Channel.

If you think you can look the part and be as entertaining as the real Elvira, fill out the application asap.

Naturally, the show will air this October (right around Halloween) on Fox Reality.

Confessions of a Matchmaker preview...

Patti Novak's Buffalo-based reality show "Confessions of a Matchmaker" (previously known as "Patti Novak: America's Toughest Matchmaker") will finally make its debut this Saturday night on the A&E Network.

You get to see Patti setting up the dates, then the actual date followed by Patti's date prognosis - sounds scary actually.

Some episodes will be heartbreaking, others will be hysterical. And one very special episode will feature Melba.

Melba and I worked together at a mind-numbing call center job and I would sometimes look forward to going in to work only to see what Melba would do or say next.

Scandals, soap-opera dramas, and always a box of Melba Snacks on her desk - her episode will make this show a hit! (By the way, Melba was also one of the fastest and most accurate people on the phones amidst all that excitement.)

Check out a non-Melba preview of "Confessions of a Matchmaker" here and then watch the show Saturday nights at 10pm on A&E!

JERICHO has been un-cancelled!

It’s rare for a show to come back from being cancelled - on the network that cancelled it no less! Strangely enough, Jericho (a show about the US coming back from a nuclear attack) has done just that.

Thanks to a campaign that resulted in CBS getting tons (literally) of nuts in protest of the cancellation, the network has changed its mind. Jericho will return midseason with seven new episodes and possibly more if the show does well.

To promote the show returning, CBS is planning on rerunning Jericho over the summer. The DVD release of the first season on October 2nd will also help hype up the show for its return.

If you just can’t wait and want to watch the first season now, check out CBS.com where the episodes are being streamed online free. Scroll over “Video” (at the top of the page) and click on “Watch full episodes” for the list of episodes.