Remember a few weeks ago I asked if Hillary was looking for a pay-off in order to stop her failed campaign.  Some of you no doubt thought I was being a tad harsh in expecting her to want something in exchange for ending the Democrats agony.  Have you seen the latest?

After she pulled the plug , Mr Obama announced that he will help pay off Mrs Clinton’s campaign debt of more than $20 million campaign debt.  $20 million to get her to just go away. 

Had Bill know it was that easy I’m sure he would have popped for a money order a long time ago.

For the last few years I’ve watched the former Vice President Al Gore run around the world and make a giant ass of himself. 

He has become a self important gas bag, preaching to the world about things he has no training on, for a fee.  The entire time he is pointing his finger at us for our “carbon footprint” he continues to live in a house that uses far more energy per square foot than the typical home, flies in a private jet, and drives a hummer.

I never thought I would get the image of him slobbering on his wife Tipper, in a pathetic attempt to demonstrate “emotion”, but now……NOW there is new evidence of this Tennessee tight ass, pandering to whomever will take his picture.

Talk about demeaning the office of the VP!!

Well I survived the reunion. 

This year we wanted to go someplace, just slightly cooler than the surface of the sun.   Of course that place is Columbia, SC. 
Columbia is latin for “melt your shoes”.

Everything was ready as we arrived.

Our host, uncle Teddy was on the phone giving directions to the party.

The “northern” part of the Wilson clan was there.

There is never a shortge of entertaiment at one of our family events. 

Here we see two of our favorites combined.  Spin the cousin and mud bog.

No expense was spared.  The swimming pool was ready for those needing to cool off.

Finally we all gathered to toast the recent graduation from high school of cousin Aynor.  He was named for that small town just above Conway.  Seems thats where he was conceived.  His parents, my “distant” aunt and uncle had car touble on the way to beach and well, he was the only thng they brought back from the coast. 

Nothing beats a good family reunion moment…shared by those linked to you by DNA….and NOT by choice.   

I hate getting sad news but it seems there is just no way to avoid life’s sudden down turns. Waking up today to here that George Carlin had passed away was not really a surprise, since he had been suffering with a variety of issues concerning his heart of the past several years, but it was none the less a sad piece of news.     I noticed that George Carlin was a bit angrier than what I would have liked from one of my favorite Humorists/comedians/social observers, over the past couple of years. His views on politics, social issues as well as basic human behavior he wrote about in books of used in his stand up routines seemed at little harder for me to agree with over the past few years. It reminds me of what Mark Twain once said about growing up and how the older he got the smart his parents seemed to have become. But with George it seemed to be going the other direction. For me it was realizing that not everything Mr. Carlin would rant, rage, ridicule, rip, roast, or otherwise just flat out trash through his books and stage shows was my gospel anymore. I would actually get a little pissed off listening or reading some of his thoughts on a wide range of subjects like parenting, politics, social issues and the like.       But just as I was once a huge and loyal follower of the Late Hunter S. Thompson, it was hearing the news of each one’s death when I realized just how important they were to my life and to the world we live in. You see you don’t have to agree with everything a person you admire says to be a supporter or a fan of them. You just have to have an open mind and the ability to be accepting of   one’s own personal strangeness and be able to laugh at yourself and then the world around you.      If it wasn’t for my George Carlin records, The National Lampoon Album “That’s Not Funny, That’s Sick” or for that matter my Cheech and Chong records I don’t know that I would have ever been able to realize my ability to write and develop a sense of humor that has allowed me to have the confidence to get into radio and have the career I have had. Remember when being politically incorrect wouldn’t get you thrown in jail (oh wait, Carlin did get tossed in Jail in Milwaukee when he did his 7 words routine)        So I think I can speak for many of the old gang I grew up with when I say, what would our lives been like if we hadn’t had a George Carlin making comedy records, Hunters books, Monty Python, National Lampoon magazine and radio hour, SCTV and of course Saturday Night live. I just wonder what kind of crazed smart asses we might have become! We might have dared to question authority, the government, big business, education, pop culture, social behavior, the media. Or question  those who think Global warming is only because of America, or have developed a serious loathing for  people who  cheer for a college football team who’s mascot is a hairless NUT! Wait a minute! I did become like that! And I’m damn glad I did! And guess what, I also care deeply about my fellow man my planet and the future for our children! So thanks George! You were one of the greats!

Next to Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce, George Carlin was defiantly a comedian that we grew up with and can still recite any one of their routines word for word, and got in trouble from our parents for it.  If it wasn’t for Richard and George, there wouldn’t be an Eddie Murphy or Dennis Leary, these comics find that edge and intentionally jump across, then jump back just it to see a reaction.  Nine times out of ten, there were BIG reactions. 

The “Seven Bad Words” masterpiece was so ahead of its time, that it still hold true today.  Carlin premiered this bit to a stunned audience at Milwaukee’s Summerfest in 1972 that got him arrested.

WARNING:  By Clicking play, YOU WILL HEAR ALL of the SEVEN BAD WORDS that are rude, crude, laced with profanity, and funny.

Tomorrow is the first day of summer and with it comes my annual family reunion. 

Here’s a pic of my 2 brothers and a few cousins from lasts years get togther.

Nothing says “junkyard of damaged DNA” like the Wilson clan.

Like most folks here in the south, the summer heat and humidity seem to never end.  At last year’s beach reunion I got a quick pic of my Aunt Nouveen heading to the keg…again. 

She is the type of woman that eats Vienna sausages out of the can…and then drinks the juice. 

She has led what can only be described a “hard” life and has wrestled with her demons, sometimes winning, sometimes not. 

Her body is the roadmap of her life. 
Head on collisions as well as the occasional rear ender.

Here’s to you Aunt Nouveen, and I can’t wait to see you and this years summer fashion explosion. God, I love being me.!!

 Here we are in the middle of the year and for some folks, this is when they get their annual review. 
For the majority of us a single digit increase is getting to be the norm. 

If you earn $30,000 and get a 3% increase, you see a bump of $900 or $34.61 every two weeks.

On the other hand, if you are John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch and you get a 3% increase your pay gets bumped…$2,490,000. 

So 3% means different things for different people.

By the way, his firm has taken a beating and a number of folks have lost their jobs to “save money.”

Below are a few folks doing pretty well this year.

Did you hear, Joan Rivers has been kicked off another show!  This time in the U.K., Joan was on the British version of the View. 

CAUTION, VIDEO CONTAINS PROFANITY!!!!!!! Click at your own risk.

What’s up with Joan’s face, is she trying to look like this,

                                                                           Joan, stick with the Geico commercials!

This past weekend was just about as good as it gets.

Saturday morning was spent riding to Clinton to be part of the “Friends of Whitten Center” rally.  Buddy and Tony moved the location from Gaffney to Clinton this year and let’s just say the availability of shade trees was a welcome addition.

Everyone made us feel welcome.  I say “us” because I was joined by Tyler and Kim, from the Rock 101 Promotion Department.  Tyler works a lot of my events and did his standard great job. Kim is brand new to Rock 101 and this was her first event.  She learns quick and earned her stripes.

During my time there I met Big Al from the “Carolina Cruiser” TV show.  Seems they have had a change in emcees and based on what I can tell, it’s an improvement.  For a brief moment Al and his camera man, Ken Griener considered my chop as “Bike of the Week.”   I think they found a better candidate before I left. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent on the air doing Classic Rock Z to A, play our entire library in alphabetical order, backwards.  This is just one of the many very cool things we do at Rock 101 and I love it.  Bikes and classic rock!!

Like I said, this weekend was just about as good as it gets.

  In the last few weeks WYFF-TV has started running editorials. 

These are being presented by WYFF President and General Manager Michael J. Hayes .  According to the TV4 website they “ will present periodic editorials on behalf of the station, spotlighting important issues to the communities the station serves.”  This is a great idea….that so far has left the road and careened into the ditch.

The first issue they took a stand on was voting. Yep, their controversial position was that you needed to vote in the recent primary.

The next week they went out on a limb and announced they had won an award.  Thats right, they staked out two risky areas right off the bat.

Now, I remember Norvin Duncan and Doug Smith as they took a stand, sometimes unpopular, and made the viewer think, and possibly react.  Now, we get to watch as Mr. Hayes (who I’m sure is a very nice man), walk the tight rope of political correctness telling the viewer “you should vote.”  

I suspect the pieces will get better and the opinions stronger.  In a time where the upstate is seeing growing gang activity, child predators, spiraling costs and a major election, maybe he can throw the dart and land on something with more substance than “hey ya’ll we won an award.”