DadJack.com Blog

Kiss was on KTLA today, I’m sorry, I know people love them, but they are huge douche bags…  Just something about old, hairy guys in make-up shamelessly plugging a “best of” tour that was kind of pathetic.  And don’t get me started on Gene, I haven’t like him since we had him in studio and I learned that what I thought was an act is really him.

Went for a walk yesterday, Jen at the CRN wanted a photo of the billboard that’s in my hood… Talk about feeling like a douche bag, stand out on the street and take a photo of a billboard with your picture on it, I felt like Heidi and Spencer trying to draw attention to myself.

The kids come over tonight, which is always great, it’s a school night so we don’t get a lot of quality time… But I get to make Lucy’s lunch and I think that’s fun!  I did a little Halloween decorating, I figured the kids love it and I might as kid 6 weeks of enjoyment out them.  We’d already have pumpkins if the stores had them… Although we don’t carve them until a few days before Halloween, the kids just love to have them around.

I am really pumped to be going to Lobster Fest this weekend,  have been looking forward to this for months, and Lucy and Bing are ready to go… They have been asking about it for weeks.  Stretch and I will be there officially Friday 8-10p and Saturday from 2-4, but you’ll be able to find us wondering around, eating and enjoying the great music all weekend.

Man charged in Le’s death.    We’re going to be setting a record at the Lobster Fest this weekend.  A self hating chicken.   What do you think about this?  Don’t spank my kid!  Turn it down.. or I’ll shoot.  Dirty lovers get robbed.  R.I.P. Henry.  Stretch’s girlfriend was a cutter.  Journey hates the Dodgers!  This is a disturbing new trend... This is the second time this has happened in two days.  R.I.P. Mary.  Save Ferris.  Hey, this was in Jamie’s hometown.  Are you saying O.J. did it?

Rock On, Jack

The J & S Billboard that is up around town

I was 23 years old and I had decided that I needed to dress a little more “adult”, now nothing crazy like wearing a bow tie or wingtips, just dress “more my age”.  Up to this point the Jack uniform was a black Gap V-Neck T-Shirt and shorts.  I was a broke student (as compared to the broke adult I am now!), so off to Marshall’s I went.  I purchased a pair of Kenneth Cole flat-front pants and a Stanley Blacker dress shirt.  Again, I wasn’t looking for radical change, so both were black, I had to stay in my comfort zone.  At the time I had one suit, which at that point I had wore once, but I knew my dress shirt size… I am a freak of nature, I have a super thin neck and long arms, so it’s next to impossible to find shirts that are actually fitted, but that’s OK because I wasn’t looking for the perfect fit.  My size is 14 1/2, 36/37, but the Black shirt, which was $15, was 16 1/2, 34/35… It worked, and didn’t look like I stole it from my Dad’s closet, so all was good.

The first time I wore that shirt was with the black slacks I had purchased at the same time, it was not unusual for me to wear all black… kind of like a non-badass, dorky version of Johnny Cash.  We went to a club, although I can’t remember where.  The shirt slowly became my go to going out shirt, it went with jeans and was dressy enough to look like I put some effort in.  It has gone on dates, traveled, been to concerts, sat through meetings, had baby food smeared on it, lived in 6 different places (and spent a year in a suitcase on the floor in San Diego), driven in 4 cars that I have owned (and countless that I have been a passenger in) and spent time with friends, lovers and family.

It started black, crisp, collar pointed, respectful… The way a good dress shirt should look.  But after years of adventures, washing machines and dryers, being tossed to the floor before collapsing into bed,  it is faded, soft, the collar worn… The way you could never make it look on purpose, the way only something that has been used can look.  Something that has been worn in everyday life for what seems like a lifetime can look.

I wore that shirt tonight, that shirt that has known me as a film student, a photo shop employee, a single young man, photographer, a radio production assistant, a boyfriend,  a technical producer, a husband, a morning show co-host, a father, out of work, an executive producer, divorced, a podcaster, blogger,  a single old man.  I put it on, it’s familiar feel, comfortable fit, and drove to the station, performed the show, came home, took it off and tossed it on the bed and went to the gym.  When I came back up to my apartment, I saw that shirt laying on the bed, for 15 years we have been friends.

It’s good to have something familiar, even if it is a shirt you purchased 15 years ago so you could look like a big boy, never knowing that down the road you would be wearing it as a real big boy.

The Shirt

A year ago at this time I was a machine.  I would wake up at 4am go to work (I was producing the Tony and Kris Show in San Diego) come home 5 hours later and spend the rest of my waking time exercising … I was never in better shape.  Muscles got leaner and stronger, I could go further and further, any soreness, any pain could not match my mental pain. I walked miles and miles around San Diego, no matter how far I went I couldn’t gain any distance from my problems.  Then I got fired, so back to Los Angeles I came… And I became even more of a machine, working construction.  I was the engine for a shovel, the force behind a pick, the lift that moved tons of rock from one spot to another, and it was perfect.  I would come home (to my sisters couch) and promptly get on my bike and ride, stopping just didn’t  seem right.

A machine makes sense.  A machine has a purpose, it works.  If a machine breaks you fix it -  diagnose the problem, get the parts, replace them, start working again.  Machines don’t care about what they do, they just do it… It’s their job.  Machines don’t cry, they don’t long or miss, they don’t hurt.

On June 24th my divorce was final… I came home after court, all alone, and cried, I cried so hard.

Yesterday I was getting out of the shower, when I am kidless my apartment is empty, so I rarely shut the bathroom door, which means the mirror doesn’t fog up.  I stood toweling off and noticed myself in the mirror.  I have gained some weight, softening in the midsection, my cheeks are a little fuller. I have slowly been becoming a man again.

I was scared, a man feels, his purpose is not programmed or controlled, he experiences pain and sorrow.  He hurts beyond physical pain and comprehends loss.  A man has faults and weakness.

But then, as I stood there, still dripping, my mood started to change.  There is a beauty in imperfection, excitement in the unknown.  A man has the ability to love, to laugh, to be surprised and overwhelmed.  He is not constructed, but learns and evolves, he is what he makes of himself.

There are times I miss the simplicity of being a machine, but I’ll take the complexity of being a man anytime!

I have been experimenting with my camera… I’m trying to shoot digitally like I used too on film.  The difference is with film you were drawing with light onto it and with the digital format it is more about fooling the camera out of being perfect… That’s what I loved about film, it was imperfect and unpredictable.  And I don’t think I’m a good model… I’m just the only person at my house at 1am!

This year is flying bye… Slow down, what’s the hurry!?!? It’s always kind of empty the day after the kids leave, you go from noise and craziness to quite and loneliness. I did get a nice long walk in and spent some time sitting at my table at Panera at Chandler and Lankershim watching the valley walk past. Kanye has been the talk of the town… Let’s just all agree, he’s a douche bag! Did you watch the new primetime Jay Leno? Stretch and I stayed at CRN to watch, it was good, although not really different from the old tonight show and I think in a few weeks the novelty will fade and people will want to watch scripted shows… Although, I could be wrong? I have to admit, I’m still enjoying Conan, I find him very funny and witty.

You may want to skip that shower.  Terror raid in NYC.  Congrats Colin.  Another good line-up for the Bridge School Benefit.  What a weird, gross story.  Where did I leave that kid?  That was a big fire!  Even Obama hates Kanye.  Don’t steal bikes.

Daddy's Big Girl - The First Day Of Kindergarten

Daddy and Lucy on Day 1 of school

Rock On, Jack

I don’t know about you, but I can go a long time without really looking at myself… I don’t mean a quick glance in the mirror, but really looking at myself.  You know the feeling, like when you see a photo of yourself or you happen to stop in the bathroom and take a minute in front of the mirror, and you’re like “damn, that’s me”.

For me this is true with height too… Fact, I am 6’1″ (maybe 6′ 1 1/2″)… Reality, on the average day I see myself as about 5’7″.  I know the old saying, “I feel 2 inches tall” and “Lower than a lizards belly”, but I’m not talking about feeling down, I mean my actual perception of myself. I started to think about this the other day when I found an old photo of my Ex-wife and I… There we were, maybe 7 years ago, dressed up, out on the town, smiling (Yes, even me!), standing arm in arm, me a good 6 or 7 inches taller than her, I realized that when I see her now I don’t feel taller than her.

When I’m out at the market or wandering the valley, as I like to do, I see myself… Or maybe more correctly, feel about 5’7″. Blending in, not able to see over the crowd, but one of them, unable to see past or over them. I thought back to the radio days (I know, I’m still on radio, but the Star 98.7 days, when most people listened and hadn’t seen my photo on the web), when I would meet people out at events they would always say “You are supposed to be shorter… and blond.” I even sound shorter than I really am!?!?

It sort of bugged me, I want to feel taller, I want to sound taller…. and darker I guess (Not sure why I sound blond, but I’ll deal with that another time.) And then it hit me, Last week I was standing in the ocean, Lucy holding my right hand, Bing clasped in my left arm, we were jumping over waves, the water about as warm as Los Angeles beach water gets, they kids would laugh as an occasional larger wave would knock us unsteady…. Right then I felt 6’1″… Heck, I might have felt 6’1 1/2″!

Yep, in the next couple weeks most of your favorite shows come back and some new ones start… I always feel like it’s a new season in my life too, kind of like the spring cleaning mentality, time to start something new.  I know Stretch and I have been talking about adding some new stuff to the CRN show and pod.

The kids and I had a very nice, mellow weekend.  It was a tad cool, but we did get some swimming in…  They would go if it was 40 below!  We went for a walk, BBQ’d, played some Wii and made some “arts and crafts” (according to Lucy, I like to call it coloring)… It was a really nice, easy weekend.  It was my first time taking Lucy to her new school this morning… Everything went smoothly.  She really likes her new school and teacher… And Bing likes getting her out of his hair during the day.  He and I “played bowling” and went for a little walk.

We’re all excited for the Lobster Fest this weekend… It really is one of our favorite things to attend!

Meet a M.A.D.L. (Mom Alligators Don’t Like).  Missing Yale womans body found.  Sorry about the whole knife thing.  Carry On, the way to go.  Walporn. Wrong Baby! Will work for tuition.  This is sad on so many levels.  Yummy Dodger dogs!  Burning Man pics.  You don’t need to know this, just go to Lobster Fest!  Another way your pool can kill you.

Do something new… Just breaking the routine can change your whole attitude!

Rock On, Jack

This is always a sad day, and one of those days where you think back to the day it happened and where you were.  So whatever you’re doing today, take a moment to think about those who lost their lives 8 years ago in those horrific attacks on our country.

I have a feeling it’s going to be a mellow weekend for most of us, we need to recover from the long weekend and first week of school.  I wanted to wish Pod-Family member Kim good luck in this weekend’s breast cancer walk in Long Beach… Good job saving those boobies!  Also, as I mentioned earlier, the L.A. Greek Festival is this weekend….  And next weekend is the Port of Los Angeles Lobster Festival!  Where Stretch and I will be!  The kids are here this weekend, so I’m not sure what all we’ll be doing… But I’m sure I’ll have stories next week.  It looks like we may get some swimming weather this weekend…  So it might be a good weekend to get one more beach visit in.  The new television season kicks in next week, are you excited about anything?  I want to see the new Leno Show and Flash Forward looks interesting.  It’s hard to believe that Halloween is right around the corner… I was in Burbank yesterday and there was a huge costume store up and running.

This is sad.   Baby don’t need new shoes.  Depends a big seller in Japan.  Wow, 115.  Come on, one for the road.  No one else was using it.  It’s not a party until someone steals a cop car.  Free Oscar bleacher seats.  Another one!?!?!  This is weird. Game called because of sinkhole.

Rock On, Jack

9/9/09… Sure there was a hijacking and some other minor weirdness, but for the most part it passed without major disruption.  I went to see Lucy as she got out of her first day of school, she loved it… Her teacher is great, she liked the other kids and had fun learning, so all was good.  (And I think Bing is into having some “Bing time” while she’s at school.)  I went to Target to get a couple frames, that place is always crowded, when you’re there it’s hard to believe there’s a recession… If I had money I’d buy Target stock!  A couple good festivals coming up – this weekend, the L.A. Greek Festival and next weekend, the Port Of Los Angeles Lobster Festival (Where Stretch and will be!)  I haven’t heard anything from Jamie in a long time, so hopefully she and Kaden are doing well.

Who stole the monkeys? Jellyfish tossing faker.  Swine flu is coming to get you.  They’re out of green!  You think you have a good hand, we’ll raise you a torso.  Abdul out, Ellen in.  This is pretty cool. It’s good to be tall.  Please remain seated until the ambulance comes to a complete stop.

Have a great day!

Rock On, Jack

It’s all about The Beatles and Rock Band today…  Oh ya, and the movie 9.  For me the big deal today is that Lucy started big girl school, I wasn’t there for drop-off, but I’m going to surprise her and show up when she gets out… Her Mom said she was “line leader” this morning and was really excited, that makes me happy!  A few of you have spotted our CRN billboards and sent me the locations, Thanks! (I want to take the kids to see one, I think they’d think it was cool that Daddy and Stench were on there).   I have been really into Third Eye Blind’s new album Ursa Major, I highly recommend it…. But I’m a huge 3EB fan, I’ve also been into Anberlin.  It is supposed to get hot again… But it still won’t feel like summer, there is just a fall vibe that sets in when the kids go back and football starts.  I’m really amped for the Lobster Fest, we’ll be there Friday the 18th and Saturday the 19th, but there is cool stuff going on all weekend, you can print a discount admission coupon at their site! (and check out the great line-up of bands)  The fires reignited my interest in photography, so I’ll try and post some more of my photos here.

Where did he conceal the gun?  One fast monkey.  I hope nothing sticks to them.  At least we’re not number 1!  Who gave them a hand? It’s not a tumor.  9/9/09 info.  But were the packages on time?  Happy 100!  Don’t cry over spilled onions.  Your dog food could kill Fido… and you!

Do something 9-Tastic today!

Rock On, Jack