RD Memory number 2

This one dates back quite a long time ago... 30 years ago to be exact.

As February 2005 approaches, this upcoming month will mark the 30th anniversary of the start of my two-plus-year stay in Europe.

I don't recall exactly when mom, dad, Lynn and I left El Paso; but I think it had to be around this time 30 years ago. Of course we spent time with Grandmom Carey (whom I miss dearly), then traveled in the 1972 International Scout to Alabama to visit my other grandparents (both of whom are also deceased; "Grandpop Donahoo" as my dad likes to call him died in 1983; "Grandmom Donahoo" passed away in 1999). Of course we also visited my cousins, half-brother Michael, uncle Bill (who is no longer with us), uncle Robert and Aunt Estrelle.

I'll tell you this: Alabama is worlds apart from being out here in California.

Anyway, we spent time there, then afterward traveled up to New Jersey to visit my other grandfather, William Thomas. To this day I have not been up to my birthstate. Then, on February 19, we (meaning mom, dad, Lynn and I) headed up the turnpike to John F Kennedy Airport in New York and flew to Europe thereafter. I remember sleeping through that flight, which is what I've should have done when we came back in 1977. Not thinking where I was, I was thinking I was STILL in the US when I was actually in England, with a stopover in London before flying to Frankfurt. So after landing in Frankfurt we spent time briefly in Ramstein and later on headed out to Bitburg.

For a while, we lived in a house west of town, and then around 1976 or so moved to the apartments the military familys stayed in. There were 20 or 30 apartment buildings, four stories high with a basement and six apartments in each floor, so each building had 24 units each, and these buildings were big too.

In any event, I had a great run in Germany, met some great friends, including one I still talk to on occasion... Chris Van Dyke... and some troublemakers. Good teachers too, except for the 4th grade teacher, whom I will leave nameless, except I call her "Electrohead", because she has a snobbish attitude and cares very little about academic matters and more about how kids behave in her classroom. More on that next time around.

Have a great week, my friends.

Another infamous day in LA history

Folks, you can add January 26, 2005 as another date that will live in Southern California infamy.

The deadliest train accident in Southern California history took place today in Atwater Village, which is near the Los Angeles/Glendale border. And this tragedy was preventable.

What you are about to read is very disturbing.

The 6:10 AM accident took place near the vicinity of San Fernando Mission and Chevy Chase, adjacent to the Costco center. An SUV, driven by a Latin male named Juan Alvaraz, in a suicide attempt, drove up to the center track and at the last second, changed his mind and bailed out of the SUV and fled as a Metrolink Train hit the car, causing the front end of the train to derail, and hit the rear side of a Metrolink train going the opposite direction and hitting a parked Union Pacific locomotive as well.

As of this writing, ten deaths have been recorded, including a Sheriff's deputy riding the train to work. And Alvaraz has been arrested and charged with 10 counts of second-degree murder and faces numerous other charges.

I am very disturbed with this story, because at one time I used Metrolink as a means of transportation in the past. And I am even more outraged at the selfishness of an idiot who wants to kill not only himself but cause bodily harm on hundreds of others by doing what he did. Apparently, Alvaraz was going through a separation, and has attempted suicide through other means in the past.

Regardless of how bad things are, and trust me, I've attempted it once before... suicide is not the answer. There is a suicide hotline that you can call, and it is toll free too. Don't know the number off-hand though, but if you know someone or you are someone who thinks that there is no hope or no point in living anymore, please get professional help.

Hats off to the people at Costco for helping out victims of this deadly train disaster with food, water, and other items needed -- it goes to show you that when you give a little, you will receive a little in return.

For those of you who are wondering: Metrolink service between Downtown Los Angeles and Downtown Burbank is out of service until further notice. This will also affect Amtrak train service between Santa Barbara and/or San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles, as well as the service between Seattle and Los Angeles (The Coast Starlight). Bus service is available however between Union Station and Burbank, as well as bus service between the Metro Red Line station in North Hollywood and Downtown Burbank. But expect lengthy delays for at least the next several days commuting between Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.

I urge all of you to call 1-800-COMMUTE to check the latest conditions.

Johnny Carson - farewell to an American institution

Yesterday, January 24, 2005, marked the end of the life of this country's greatest icons ever.

Johnny Carson, 79, who walked into our rooms (or bedrooms for that matter) as host of "The Tonight Show" for almost 30 years, passed away yesterday after a brief illness in Malibu. And folks, his death has hit this nation hard.

Everyone shared memories of this great man... President Bush, Jerry Lewis, David Letterman (his protoge), Ed McMahon, and the list went on and on and on.

I heard some very interesting stories today, one from Dave Williams at KNX, and another from KNBC's Fred Roggin, who appeared on Carson's Tonight Show many times. Ted Leitner, Petros Papadakis, James Brown (Fox's NFL studio host), and many others broadcast their radio shows and paid their respective tributes to Johnny Carson. I think Brown was somewhat in tears talking about him towards the commercial break. Papadakis showed that he is truly a class act in his tribute to this legendary entertainer.

And I will share my own.

I've watched Johnny Carson many times, even when I was about 5 or 6, when his show still originated from New York. He came up with so many monologues and skits that had me on the floor for what seems like an eternity; especially with his Carnac routine that he did with McMahon. Truly one of my personal favorite segments, it is where Carnac gives the answer, opens the envelope supplied by McMahon, and reads the question on the card.

There was one thing Carson said when he became permanent host of The Tonight Show. Ed McMahon asked what are we going to do on their first broadcast. Carson's response was "I don't know, but let's go out there and entertain the hell out of these folks."

In a game show standpoint, Carson visited the set of the 1980 game show "Bullseye", which was videotaped for a few months at NBC Studios in Burbank. He was very impressed with the Bullseye set, which was filled with neon lights and lots of flashing chase lights.

In addition, Carson owned a few television stations under Carson Broadcasting Company. One of which was KVVU, Channel 5 in Henderson, Nevada; which for several years originated from a converted auto mechanic shop on Boulder Highway. Carson owned Channel 5 from 1978-84, before Meredith Broadcasting took over, and eventually moved Channel 5 to Green Valley.

A few years ago, I think Tom Green tried to follow this tradition with his talk show that aired on I believe MTV or VH-1; bringing in famous people, and his sidekick was an Ed McMahon clone. McMahon actually appeared on Tom Green's show; which aired some two, three years ago.

It was a sad day when Carson exited our TV sets for the last time in 1992, and it is a sad day today that he is no longer with us. Jay Leno replaced him (which did not settle with Carson very well; he actually wanted David Letterman to be his successor), and he so far is the top late night host, with Letterman a very close second with his own talk show on CBS.

Bottom line, folks, Johnny Carson was a legend... an institution... very much in the same manner as Walter Cronkite, Vin Scully, Bob Barker, Curt Gowdy, and many others who shaped the world of television. He will be deeply missed by all, and I hope the people in Burbank, if not Hollywood, honors him by naming buildings, a freeway, or a street after Johnny Carson.

It will happen eventually.

God speed, Johnny.

January 21, 2005 -- a Journey for the ages

January 21, 2005 will go down as one of the greatest moments in rock music history.

The San Francisco-based rock group Journey, who produced some 75 million albums over a career now in its 4th decade of existence, was honored in Hollywood yesterday with a star on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. And it was indeed a moment to remember for everyone who was there to see it for many reasons.

Ten current and former members of Journey were present for the unveiling of the star on the walk of fame, presented of course by the honorary mayor of Hollywood, Johnny Grant. Among those present were the Fab Five that shot Journey up to the top of the rock world in the 1980s: Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain, Neal Schon, Ross Valory and Steve Smith -- the first time these five appeared together in almost a decade.

Also there were Journey's current lead vocalist Steve Augeri and current drummer Dean Castronovo, as well as former members Robert Fleischmann, George Tickner and Aynsley Dunbar.

The only major Journey member that was not there, unfortunately, was Gregg Rolie, who is at the moment the ONLY Journey member in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of Santana. Rolie was unable to attend the ceremonies from what I understood due to prior commitments, but did release a statement regarding Journey's induction into Hollywood's eternal history.

Other former memebers of Journey that were not present were Prairie Prince, Mike Baird, Randy Jackson, and the late Larrie Londin. The latter three were studio musicians mostly filling in for Valory and Smith in the mid-1980s, with Jackson (now a judge on American Idol) and Baird touring with them in 1986. And lastly, their famed manager, Walter "Herbie" Herbert was not there either. Somewhere, Herbert must have been smiling to see most of these guys together in Hollywood.

A lot of great things happened on this historic day. Having three current or former lead singers together (Perry, Augeri and Fleischmann) is truly one for the ages. Seeing Perry there following all kinds of rumors and speculation of whether or not he would be there is certainly another, as if Perry was a member of The Beatles. But most importantly, the animosity between Perry and his former band mates appear to be over, and there is talk of Perry possibly returning in some capacity or another, as a songwriter and/or part-time vocalist sharing those duties with Augeri in the same way Boston handled having two lead vocalists. The same holds true for Steve Smith and Gregg Rolie as well.

But that of course is up to Perry to decide whether or not he wants to return to Journey. Perry did not perform with his band mates during the House of Blues performance, however, which is fine. Robert Fleischman did perform with Journey for a couple of songs at the House of Blues with Steve Augeri, and he tore the house down. Steve Smith also performed with Journey, as did Aynsley Dunbar.

I have a message for all of you in Journey: do whatever you can in working out your differences and get back to becoming what you have been for the past 25 years or so. Time does heal old wounds, and trust me, you guys are not getting any younger either -- in fact, most of these guys are already in their 50s (Perry, who is celebrating a birthday today, is 56, Schon will be 51 in February, Rolie will be 58 in a few weeks).

I see good things to come for Journey...including all of its current and former band mates. Eventually these guys will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It will happen sooner or later.

Top that off with USC's championship awards ceremony on campus, and it was indeed a wonderful day in the City of Angels... seeing two legendary traditions honored today: Journey, and the University of Southern California's football team.

Enjoy the weekend, friends... time for me to get going for a while. =)

January 17...many things happened on this date

Well, let's see what occured on this date, shall we?

Many famous people were born on this date. Among them are Benjamin Franklin (among the many fathers of this great country), Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay), Jim Carrey, Susanna Hoffs (how do you do!), Kid Rock (ugh), James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth Vader), Maury Povitch, and last but not least... yours truly, Robert Donahoo.

How old I am? Well, I am 25 plus 13. Hope that helps. :)

Another moment that is identified with January 17th took place in Los Angeles 11 years ago.

At around 4:31 AM, on the morning of January 17 (9 minutes after the start of my 28th year of existence), a 6.6 Magnitude Earthquake struck Southern California, centered in Northridge. It was the strongest Earthquake to hit Southern California in more than two decades, and resulted in the deaths of some 60 people, and 9,000+ injuries, as well as extensive damage all over Southern California estimated at some $44 billion. Some 27,000 buildings and homes were severely damaged; 2,000 of which were red-tagged, including City Hall in Downtown Los Angeles, which suffered extensive damage; and had the quake been stronger, this famous building may have to been demolished. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum also suffered extensive damage during the quake, as well as Cal-State Northridge and several buildings in and around Hollywood. Anaheim Stadium and Dodger Stadium also suffered damage, but were not severe enough to cause any delays in the start of the baseball season.

KNX morning anchor Beach Rogers was doing the news headlines at 4:31 when the tremor occurred, knocking the station off the air for a short while. Rogers did manage to return to the air and calmly inform the listeners that an Earthquake had taken place. Extensive Earthquake coverage on KNX took place throughout the day, with Tom Haule and Tom Sirmons anchoring, with Jill Angel (?) on traffic. This, incidently, began the 6-minute traffic reports, which stuck with KNX until 2004. Barry Rhode, Dave Zorn, Jack Salvatore, Dona Dower, Jim Thornton, Deborah Simons, Pete Arbogast, and many numerous KNX reporters covered the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history. The quake was felt all over the west, including Las Vegas.

Another date that will live in Los Angeles infamy took place a year later, when the Los Angeles Rams announced on this date ten years ago that the franchise is moving to St. Louis from Anaheim. Soon thereafter, the Raiders left Los Angeles and returned to Oakland, leaving Los Angeles without an NFL football team, which has been the case now for some 10 years. To this day I still find it strange to see navy blue and gold in St. Louis, a city best known for Cardinal Red.

Enjoy the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, all. More from me in a bit.

RD Memory number 1

And now a trip down memory lane.

As I stated earlier, this year marks several things: the 20th anniversary of my high school graduation, the 40th wedding anniversary of my parents, and the 30th anniversary of my beginning of my two-plus year stay in Germany.

Today it will be of the high school variety.

Almost twenty years ago, I nearly lost a dear friend of mine following an automobile accident in Henderson. It happened on my 18th birthday too, January 17, 1985. My friend, Shawn, was heading to Las Vegas to visit her cousin, who was also celebrating a birthday. While traveling on Boulder Highway, she was cut off by another driver who ran a stop sign, and Shawn lost control of her car and ended up on the center median. She had to be airlifted to a local hospital, and as a result, she suffered back and abdominal injuries, and was out of action for a good six months, if not longer. I had no idea what happened until a few months later; nobody told me about the accident, and I drove by it when I was driving up to Basic High School to see a basketball game there. Well, thankfully, she is alive and doing well today in Utah, with her husband Alan and four children. I became a close friend of her family for many years until I moved to Los Angeles, and I still have contact with Shawn's family from time to time.

This my friends is a true example of what I am about to say: never take ANYTHING for granted...not even life. Be good to yourself and others.

Have a safe week everybody.

And the rain keeps on coming down...

I have to tell you, folks... this is the most rain that I have ever seen. Some 14 inches of rain has fallen in Los Angeles over the past two weeks, and that is quite enough, don't you think? (and there is more on the way). It is a far cry from the wacky weather that I have seen in the past, such as the 1999 floods in Las Vegas and the 2003 hailstorm in the Watts portion of Los Angeles.

But 14 inches of rain? Holy cow.

If you are a fan of the San Diego Chargers, it is time to put the lightning bolts away for the next nine months. The Chargers, after coming from behind a 17-7 deficit, tied the game and put their game against the Jets into sudden-death overtime. San Diego missed a 40-yard field goal, and that gave the Jets new life, and they took advantage of that and won the game as time expired in the first overtime on a walk-off field goal (had the Jets not scored, a second OT would have been played, since it is true sudden-death in the post-season).

Good season for the Bolts... 12 and 4, which matches their best regular season record set in 1979 since the NFL went to a 16-game season format. Their best record in franchise history based on winning percentage is 12-2, but that was when they were in the American Football League.

My training classes for International Business was postponed this weekend due to the adverse weather conditions, so now the training finale has been moved back from February 5 to February 12. Upon completion of that, I will in all probability leave the bottled water industry once and for all. I am already planning a return to college (after 20 years of wasting my life away), so that is going to be a big thing for me, even moreso after the hell I went through over the past two-plus years.

Have a great week, everybody, and be safe if you are in any of this rainy weather.

USC Trojans -- how dooo you do!

Not much time to write this, but congratulations to the best football team that I have seen (from my own eyes) in the 22 years I have been covering football, high school or college (and NFL too, even though I have yet to see an NFL game). USC fell behind early, but came on strong later on and put the game in the refrigerator as the late great Chick Hearn of the Lakers (and formerly of the Trojans) once said. Matt Leinart had the performance of his life: five touchdown passes and no interceptions. Bush didn't do much, but White, Jarrett and Byrd did, and Dominique Byrd made a spectacular catch in the 1st quarter...a one-handed grab to tie the game for SC, and from there, the Trojans went on a 31-3 run through the first half, and in the second half SC outscored the Sooners 14-7.

Great game... Pete Arbogast, the voice of the Trojans, probably called the game of his life. He is one of the best broadcasters around, and don't be surprised if he wins awards in the coming weeks ahead. It took him over 15 years from his first SC broadcast (in 1989) to make it to the big show and to call the National Championship game. Great job, Pete.

Again, hats off to the entire coaching staff, the players, broadcasters, media... everybody associated with USC. I am about to finish my fifth year (maybe my last year here, we'll see) in SoCal, and since coming here in 2000, I have seen three NBA championships won by the Lakers, a World Series championship in 2002 won by the Anaheim Angels, a Rose Bowl win by USC last year, and now SC's National Championship... not to mention the Los Angeles Galaxy winning the MLS championship, and the Dodgers winning the NL West. Ladies and gentleman, the city of Los Angeles is the city of champions. And I hope that soon the NFL will be back here.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim...hmmmm

Stardate 5007.6

OK, boys and girls... we have a bit of a problem out here in Southern California, other than the ongoing rainstorms which as a matter of fact produced pea-size hail at Downtown Los Angeles, not to mention thunderstorms.

But this is not the point of this blog.

Another marketing idea which is bound to become a bust has just been revealed by the owners of the Anaheim Angels. They are changing the name of its team to... the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

I repeat... the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Do you see something wrong with this team name? I certainly do. It doesn't fit with the team, nobody in SoCal will call it under this name, and I doubt anyone in Major League Baseball will refer to the Angels as the aforementioned L.A. Angels of Anaheim.

Simply the Los Angeles Angels... or the California Angels, yes. But the L.A. Angels of Anaheim? You have got to be kidding me.

The city of Anaheim, as you might expect, is fighting this name change, as the Angels are required per 1996 agreement to have the name "Anaheim" in its team name.

In any event, the team name is supposed to "attract fans and advertizers and eventually lead to more lucrative broadcasting contracts." Um, dumba$$, your team won the World Series in 2002! What more do you want??? You might as well rename the Mighty Ducks the Los Angeles Mighty Ducks of Anaheim! At least the Los Angeles Rams kept their "Los Angeles" name when the team played at Anaheim Stadium in the 1980s through 1994.

While I admit that the Angels and even the Padres need more exposure nationally than the Dodgers, this name change will not work. Think of this as when the Yankees yanked Cracker Jacks and replaced the snack with "Crunch N Munch", as they did last year... and the ridiculous name change from Candlestick Park to "Monster Park".

Anyway, that is my two cents to the argument. Let's see how many more "spin doctor" moves these baseball teams will come up as we approach the baseball season, which is less than four months away.

It never rains in Southern California? Yea, right!

Another day, another rainstorm in the Southland. This proves the fact that it is not always sunny and warm in L.A. If you remember that 1970s song (sorry I don't remember the name of the band that performed it), it does rain in SoCal, and yes it pours.

At least this is not Seattle...where it rains just about every day out there.

In any event, just a typical Sunday here, as I get ready for the new work week and wrap up the holiday season, which ends today. And I start the new week off with a long day in El Monte and finish it with a short day in Montebello on Friday.

Great day for football Saturday: a good Rose Bowl game and a dramatic finish to the bowl game in Orlando...capped off with the final NFL Sunday of the season, with the Rams and Chargers both winning their games; St. Louis winning in sudden-death overtime on a walk-off field goal, and the Chargers walking away with an easy win against the Kansas City Chiefs, although KC did make the final minutes of the game a bit interesting towards the end.

So San Diego will play this coming Saturday at 5 PM against the Jets at Qualcomm Stadium. The Chargers finish the season with a 12-4 record, which ties their 1979 mark for the most wins in one season in franchise history, and is in the post-season for the first time since the Bobby Ross era ended there almost a decade ago.

Enjoy the work week, folks. Of course football season is winding down, but it won't be long before baseball season kicks into high gear... and I may be jumping ship from the Dodgers to either the Angels or Padres after all of these questionable off-season moves, which includes the unceremonious dismissal of longtime broadcaster Ross Porter... and the addition of a buffoon who couldn't call a baseball game correctly if his life depended on it.

More on that next time around. Bye for now, and God Bless to all.

Welcome to 2005, folks!

Here we are... the year that will mark the halfway point of this decade once Dec. 31, 2005 is all said and done.

There are going to be some major changes going on for me as this new year gets under way. First off, after being out of commission for almost a year due to a fractured right ankle, I am back in the bottled water industry... for the time being. It is only to keep the money coming in until I complete my International Business training, which will be completed on February 5, 2005. After that, I will be getting out of bottled water in a slow transistion to a different career which will earn lots of money and hopefully provide me with a good home in a nice neighborhood.

Where that will be is uncertain. A return to Las Vegas is possible; I do want to stick it out here in SoCal (preferably in Orange County) and keep trying harder. Stay tuned.

I am also going to work on a project which will lead to Eldorado High School's 20th year class reunion for the class of 1985. From what I have read, the reunion is going to take place in September, at the Alexis Hotel... I will have to double-check and make sure that is the case, but I am certain it will be in September. It will be the first of three reunions I believe in a ten-year time span. The next reunion will be of the 25-year variety in 2010. During this year I will share my memories of my four years at Eldorado High School, beginning on Monday.

In addition, I will share some memories of my time in Europe, as this year marks the 30th anniversary of my first year in Germany (then known as West Germany).

And there will be much much more of course. I think this blog site is FAR better than what AOL provides, because I think ONLY the AOL members are allowed to post comments, which I think is gobbledygook. I want everyone to post, including those from MSN, Yahoo, RoadRunner, etc.

One final comment before I close. Congratulations to the Texas Longhorns football team for winning the Rose Bowl in their first-ever appearance (I think) on a game-winning field goal as time ran out to give the Michigan Wolverines their second Rose Bowl loss in a row. And don't forget, USC Trojans... the Orange Bowl is this coming Tuesday. Let's cap off this great season with a victory and sole possession of the National Championship.

Enjoy the New Year, friends!