For those of you in the US or abroad who honor the holiday, Happy Thanksgiving!

When people think of Thanksgiving – 4 things come to mind: family, friends, food and football. Sitting around the table with those closest to us, eating all kinds of turkey and the compliments, then parking ourselves in front of the TV to watch the traditional matchups against both Detroit and Dallas… that is what Thanksgiving is to many people. Whether you fully believe the story of the Pilgrims or not, taking time out to reflect, be thankful and celebrate a year of hard work with some relaxation is what many look forward to on the fourth Thursday every November.

I will take this opportunity to offer one more thing to the mix – music. Sorry it doesn’t begin with the letter F, but I digress. Going back to my days in college radio, where music became a big part of my life, I would always celebrate Thanksgiving with 2 particular songs. Though quirky and comical, they are the only Thanksgiving songs I know, and I have always played them every year since then to this date.

Thanksgiving Song by Adam Sandler

Originally performed as part of the Weekend Update news sketch on an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1992 by Adam Sandler, the song was recorded live a year later for his comedy album and that live version is what gets most radio airplay, as well as in my home.

Below I have embedded the original version from Saturday Night Live – watch it here or on YouTube.

Alice’s Restaurant Massacree by Arlo Guthrie

Though the formal name of the song has the word “Massacree” (note – not massacre) in the end, the album was called Alice’s Restaurant and folk singer Arlo Guthrie himself, at the beginning of the song, only refers to it as Alice’s Restaurant. There never was a restaurant named as such, though there was an Alice who lived in a former church. The song is a satirical take on a real event Guthrie was involved in on a Thanksgiving Day in the mid-1960’s. And it is over 18 minutes long!

Below I have embedded a performance of the song from Farm Aid in 2005 – watch it here or on YouTube.

I hope you have enjoyed these songs, and hopefully laughing on a full stomach didn’t hurt too much.

What untraditional Thanksgiving – or other holiday – traditions do you have? Please share them in the comments to this post.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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When going through a junk box of stuff recently I found the above-pictured cassette tape. After pondering what was on it for a bit, I realized what it was.

It is my Boston radio commercial debut, dating back to the mid 1990’s.

The commercial is for Fleet Bank, and it was aired during radio broadcasts of the Boston Red Sox, throughout the Boston area as well as in other parts of New England. Thanks to a couple of friends I converted the audio to a YouTube video and you can watch the embedded video below, or listen to it directly from this link to YouTube.

So why was I in a radio commercial for a bank for my baseball team?

And Now For The Rest Of The Story

It was a summer night in Boston and I was going to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. Prior to the game, as I would do for most games, I would have a pint or two of fresh-brewed beer at Boston Beer Works, a brewpub across from the ballpark. This night – and I forget the exact date or even the year – I recalled seeing some people with a digital audio tape recorder and a microphone. Being the former college DJ that I am (was?) I approached them and asked them what they were doing. They explained they were with an ad agency recording stories from fans for a series of radio commercials for the Sox for Fleet Bank, and then they asked me if I had a story. The story you heard in the commercial is what I told them, with a little editing I am sure.

After I recorded the story a couple of times for them, they asked me to sign a form with my name and address, indicating if they wanted to use it they would contact me. They gave me $10 for my time, and went on to talk to other people, as I went to the game. Several weeks went by, and one day I got a voicemail message from the ad agency, Arnold Fortuna Lane, saying they wanted to use my story and needed me to sign paperwork.

What? Me, on the radio? Cool! I called and confirmed my information, and they sent me a non-union talent contract to sign. They said in a few weeks the spots would run on the air and I would even get paid. What? Me get paid for being on the radio? Cool!

The next thing I knew, people were calling to tell me they heard me in the radio spot. I then made a point of listening to entire games on the radio, and there I was, telling people this story. My Mom, who was an avid listener of Red Sox games on the radio, would call me to tell me each time she heard me. Another friend said her Mom almost drove off the road when she heard me. The ad did not run every game, and as it aired later in the season it stopped its run in October. For my voice talent and my story, I got paid US$150.00 - surely not enough to retire on, but a nice bonus nonetheless. They also sent me the copy of the commercial on cassette tape.

That Was Then And This Is Now

I recall it was the mid 90’s as Fleet Bank had just bought another bank in Boston, Shawmut, and was making a big radio campaign with an end-goal of customer retention. Fleet later merged with BankBoston which was later acquired by Bank of America. The ad agency is now known as Arnold Communication. Unfortunately for me the phone did not ring seeking my golden voice endorsing other products, but I went on to a career in the Internet that has led to this recording being unearthed and released for all to hear once again. The Red Sox made some changes since then as well.

Special thanks to 2 distinguished gentlemen who helped me get this cassette to the Web. My good friend and DJ extraordinaire Eric Patel transferred the cassette audio to MP3 format, and veteran Chicago filmmaker and historian Floyd Webb took the audio and made it into a video.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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I took this picture below of the Chicago skyline from south of the city along Lake Michigan last night at 8:17 pm CDT.

As I turned to make the return trip home on my bicycle (a newly reintroduced activity in my life) I was taken by the beauty of the sky and the skyine… and so were the 2 other people near me taking the exact same picture. I was about 6 miles south of the Loop. You can click on the photo above to see a full-sized version of it.

Contrast this to this past weekend, which was one of the bloodiest on record in Chicago. Over 40 people shot and 7 killed. Much of the sadness was also within 6 miles of where I took the photo above. That is certainly a picture I don’t want to post here on The Hot Iron, but also one I cannot ignore either.

Before some of you think this post is another blogger complaining about something, hear me out. Yes, I have something to complain about, and it is those whose job it is (and by job I am saying my tax dollars are going to pay their salaries) to deal with the crime in Chicago on a day-to-day basis. Recently these people have been spouting about lower “percentages” of crime. Where that’s all well and good, the average person measures crime in whole numbers, like 7 people killed this past weekend, not to mention the money not spent in the city by those afraid to come here.

Of course I don’t have all the answers for this, and most likely nobody does. This situation did not happen overnight and won’t go away as quickly. We are already spending money on it, and may have to spend more, the question is where. Allow me to make one suggestion here – we need more organizations in Chicago like YouthBuild Boston.

I know about YouthBuild Boston as I have been a supporter of them for years. Granted in recent years that support has been more moral and pro bono support of their Web site, but had I stayed in Boston I might have taken a larger role in the organization. YBB, for short, is an organization who works with young people, giving them the skills to make it on their own in the world, from hard, vocational skills in construction and landscaping to softer people skills, and they even work with young people to help them get their GED if they didn’t complete high school. Their tagline, “Strengthening Youth, Rebuilding Communities,” is literally what they do! Fueled by amazingly strong and spirited leadership and young people who want to make more of themselves, YBB is growing and thriving in Boston, and even if there are organizations like that in Chicago, we could use more of that here.

For when you come down to it, the beauty of Chicago is in all of the hearts, minds and faces of its people and all of its buildings, whether an apartment on the South West side or the Trump Tower.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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Typically I close posts here on The Hot Iron by asking questions. This time, I am opening by asking one, and it’s personal.

Please support me in the Liver Life Walk on June 22, 2013 in Chicago to support the American Liver Foundation (ALF). This great organization uses money raised to fund research and provide support services for patients and their loved ones who are affected by the many forms of liver disease.

Sadly, liver disease can affect people from newborn to the elderly. Yes, even babies can be born with a form of liver disease, with many being autoimmune and even acquired later in life. Some are curable and some are not, and that’s where the research comes into play. As well, many patients need a liver transplant as their only option. There are even some liver diseases that affect certain demographics, for example women only,

Why My Family And I Are Walking

I will be at the Liver Life Walk with my lovely wife and my little ones on June 22 in the memory of my Mom, Adeline. It’s in her memory in spirit that we call our team The “A” Team and we will be walking.

My Mom was diagnosed with primary biliary cirrhosis, or PBC. PBC is an autoimmune liver disease that afflicts women. Earlier in her life she actually had been tested for some of the warning signs of PBC, but as liver tests are expensive and not routinely given to patients (not to mention needing to be justified to the nth degree for health insurance, but don’t get me started there!), it wasn’t until it was almost too late that she got the diagnosis. Her doctors did much to comfort her and cure the symptoms, but ultimately there wasn’t anything they could do to cure the PBC.

When she was diagnosed in Boston, the ALF chapter there was a great resource for us to learn about the disease. My family became active in the chapter there and my wife and I were proud to be asked to be the co-chairs for the Walk for Research (as it was called then) in Boston in 2004, which was shortly before we moved to Chicago. When we arrived here we were introduced to the local Illinois chapter and participated the the Walk here, and I was honored to have been chair for the 2005 Chicago Walk.

Join Us, Donate or Both!

We would be honored to have you be a part of The “A” Team by donating, not to mention joining us on June 22 as we walk along Lake Michigan.

Any size donation is welcome, and your presence there as well will be a great support for the cause.

Back in the Saddle for Liver

With participating in the Liver Life Walk this year, it marks our family’s “return” into the fold of the local ALF chapter. A few weeks ago I literally ran into Jackie Dominguez, who has returned as the Executive Director of the local chapter based in Chicago. Her spirit and leadership energized my lovely wife and I to register us for the walk and we are excited to be back on the overall team. Go Liver!

Thank you in advance for your support!

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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It’s almost hard to believe that it has been over a year since the TV in our home met its demise. What is probably more surprising is that we never replaced it over that last year, and in all reality my wife and I can’t say we have really missed it.

On January 10, 2012, our TV would not turn on. After checking power and all other connections we concluded the TV had shown its last programming. Why do I remember that date? No, I did not write it down, rather I thought it was ironic that it happened on the day of the New Hampshire presidential primary as I bought the TV at the Lechmere store in Salem, New Hampshire back in the early 90’s. Yes, this was an old TV, a 27” Sony Trinitron with a picture tube. It most certainly was not high-definition, but as of late, but Elmo seemed to look ok on it to our kids.

I’m Not Anti-TV

Before I continue let me make it clear – I am not anti-TV. I did not intend or go out of my way to rid our home of a TV. I have always had a TV of my own since I went off to college many moons ago and have been watching cable TV since it was first wired into my childhood home’s black and white TV back in the early 80’s. Where I will admit that sometimes I let the TV control my schedule and probably watched more than I should, most of my TV diet was of the news and some dramas, and of course Elmo.

When the TV never came back on, we had a decision to make. At the time it was a major expense we weren’t expecting to take on. We also noticed that the kids weren’t really expressing interest in watching anything with it not working. It was the latter more than the former which led to the decision to not replace it.

Have I Missed It?

When you take any element out of an environment which commonly has a great focus to it there is a form of a void. When the massive tubed TV departed to the recycling center, that was the case in our living room. Though we did fill the space with a much smaller replacement –more on that below – it was still a different dynamic, especially as there was not as much noise and sound coming from the spot in the room.

Stimulus aside, not having the TV available to watch “something” was a slight adjustment, but not a major behavioral change, at least for me. Though much of what we watched was news and home and cooking shows, it was nice to have these available when we wanted some (as my wife always says) mental chewing gum. But where we were always aware of our kids watching too much TV, we didn’t always apply the same standard to ourselves. Not that it was always a bad thing though!

In some regards, I do miss having a TV readily available. But on the other hand, I have somehow managed to live without it as well.

Alternate Media Delivery

Though we did not replace our TV, our home is not completely devoid of video entertainment. I connected an LED computer monitor to the WD Live TV box we already had (like a Roku, a media streaming device) and our home theatre so we could still watch movies, videos and some streaming programming. Though not completely ideal, it passed the main test as Elmo looked good on it. Later in the year we got an iPad so we were able to introduce Netflix and Amazon video to the mix, along with apps from TV and cable stations so we could keep up with video news if we needed to.

By the time the TV went kaput, I was already getting my main meal of news and information from sources other than on TV. Using my RSS feed reader, I was subscribed to a multitude of RSS feeds from news outlets, media channels, bloggers and other sources to keep me more than informed. Podcasts and Sirius XM satellite radio have rounded out the text with audio nicely. I was able to scan the headlines much easier and dig deeper as I needed to, all without being beholden to a TV news schedule (I did not have a DVR, nor do I ever want one!).

Where nothing can truly replace anything, this overall experience has come close to what we had before. Couple it with watching TV sporting events at local pubs and watching one of the TVs in the conference at the OfficePort Chicago co-working office space have filled in the gaps nicely, especially as those gaps have mostly been with sporting events.

Watching Ahead

Is there a TV in our future? Possibly. As the LED monitor isn’t completely ideal (did I mention it’s only a 19”?) or compatible with our other equipment (the LED monitor won’t play Netflix videos because it is not HDTV compatible) we are contemplating buying a TV for better viewing, but wouldn’t go any wider than a 32”. Even with this, we would not get cable TV again. An HDTV would allow us to watch local channels if we really want to, and our limited video viewing (a.k.a. Elmo) will continue as is.

If we really need a local TV fix, we can always walk a few blocks to the CBS 2 street-front studio and see Rob and Kate live.

I’m interested to hear if any of my readers have also cut the cord to their TV and their experience with it. Or if you think I am nuts for not having one, feel free to say that too in the comments to the post.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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