First SLUH rugby game ever for Adler.
Month: February 2023
The build vs. buy decision is one of the biggest, most difficult decisions a technology company can face. It can bring lively and contentious debate which is a good thing. The more debate there is, the better the final decision will be. Don’t worry about arguing passionately. It just means everyone cares deeply about the success of the final product.
If you’re an extremely large Fortune 500 company that prides itself on being a thought leader in your industry, wouldn’t you use every technical option available to distribute your content?
It dumbfounds me that there are websites out there with great content that do not embrace RSS. What a lost opportunity!
It was great to get the chance to see the USA and Japan play in the SheBelieves Cup yesterday. We had seats near the tunnel so we got a close-up view of both teams coming on and off the field. The TV team had their on-field studio right in front of us which added something to do during the breaks.
Nashville did an excellent job with their stadium. The area around it needs a lot of work as does their parking situation. Right now if feels like going to Comiskey back in the ‘90s. Park > Go to game > Leave as fast as possible. CITYPARK in St. Louis will be a much better experience.
As an added bonus, not only did we get to see Mal Swanson score another goal, we also got to see her husband and new Cubs shortstop, Dansby Swanson!
The Last DJ
As you all know by now, music has been a major part of my life from a very early age. I started playing guitar before I was 10, picked up trumpet at 10, messed around with piano in high school, and decided to learn bass as a junior in college. Clearly, it’s something I like to do, but before actually playing music, I was listening constantly.
Growing up, it seemed like WLS was playing in the background at our house all day long. When they would play the Beatles A-Z over the course of a weekend, the radio would be on and turned up. This was back in The Big 89 and The Rock of Chicago days when WLS was the station for Rock & Roll in Chicago. I even had WLS covers for my school books!
As my music tastes changed moving into the ’90s, I began listening more and more to WXRT. The music overall was more progressive, but they played a great mix of old and new artists that I definitely was not hearing on WLS especially after WLS turned to talk and became completely uncool. I still listen to XRT today thanks to streaming.
Music was, of course, the main reason I enjoyed listening to radio, but there were also some of the best DJs on WLS and XRT over the years. My two favorites were Larry Lujack on WLS and Lin Brehmer on XRT.
These two guys were personable, funny, relatable, and most importantly, picked great music to play during their shows. You could always tell who was spinning the records when these guys were on the air. They told the best stories and made you feel like you really knew them. These guys were different. Lujack really did feel like Uncle Lar, and Brehmer really did feel like your best friend in the whole world.
Both of these radio giants are gone now. We lost Lin recently after a long battle with cancer. His voice is missed. Radio isn’t quite the same. But looking on the bright side as he always did, this one’s for you, Lin.
It’s Friday! It’s great to be alive!
In Appreciation of Stevie Wonder
One of the benefits of having children is not being completely ignorant of the newer artists featured during the Grammys each year. This year’s broadcast had many great performances, but in this post, I want to focus on Stevie Wonder.
The Grammys tends to trot out older musicians, and yes, Stevie is older, but you would never know it. The guy is 72, and his voice and piano work are still exceptional and fresh. He put on a hell of a show and showed all of us how it’s done.
This brings me to the point of this post. I’ve always said that if I went through with becoming a music teacher instead of studying finance, I would play music constantly as part of my teaching. I feel like this was a massive failure of the teachers I had through high school. We have recordings of everything. Why not use them? So, this is my way of helping share some amazing music while Stevie is still with us and performing at an insanely high level.
Between 1972 and 1976, Stevie Wonder produced a string of four straight albums that all can be considered once-in-a-career great albums: “Talking Book,” “Innervisions,” “Fulfillingness’ First Finale,” and “Songs in the Key of Life.” Seriously, how does one guy put together a streak like this?
Following are my two favorite songs from each of these albums. Take some time to listen to the incredible music, and then go back and read the lyrics in the context of the early ’70’s. Stevie wasn’t just making great grooves. He was trying to tell us something.