Privileged White Guy! (new geo Blog)

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For some reason lot of my friends and I are referred to as privileged white guys, and I for one am hoping that some of those privileges show up pretty soon because I’m running out of time. Not only don’t I feel very privileged, but I’m amazed by all reverse sexism and racism in America that seems to be stacked against me which goes unchallenged. For example, years ago when my fiance and I stopped getting along we broke off our engagement only to discover that she was pregnant.
Shortly after her coldly informing me that I was nothing more than a sperm donor to her because as she claimed that she didn’t need anything from me, I coldly sued her for the right to see my child. We went to trial, and I won the case but guess who had to pay all the lawyers and the court costs. Yep, you got it, the privileged white guy.
After moving to South Florida from Boston to be near my child, her mother some twenty years later sued me to the tune of thirty-five thousand dollars for what she claimed was unpaid child support. The real truth was that I’d overpaid by her sixty thousand dollars, but nonetheless there I was going back to court again. I guess you can only file this under the no good deed goes unpunished category.
I’d figured out real early that I was pre-judged before we even got to trial when they sent my two thousand dollar refund from the IRS to her. 
When the trial date finally came around what I faced in the courtroom were two government-supplied lawyers who were there on her behalf and a female judge. The judge soon confirmed my suspicions that I was already pre-judged when she opened the proceedings with, Mr. Johns, we are all here today to discuss how you plan on paying the thirty-five thousand dollars you owe your daughter’s mother for back child support. 
Unfortunately for them, I had all my ducks in a row and began by saying that not only did I not owe her anything but she, in fact, owed me the sixty thousand dollars I’d overpaid her. Somewhat surprised by my statement the judge asked if I could verify this and when I assured her, I could she told me to continue. As I started down my list of overpayments, she would interrupt me occasionally to ask for the dates of the payments. About halfway down my list one of the lawyers interrupted me by saying, your honor, we withdraw our complaint. I was glad that it was over but what had hurt me the most about all this was the day my daughter accused me of wasting all my money on bimbos instead of sending her mother what I owed her
Still upset about all that had transpired I sent a nasty letter to the government accusing them of sexism and racism but of course got no response. However, without explanation or even a hint of an apology, a couple of months later I did get my IRS refund check back. Score one for the privileged white guy.
 
SOME OTHER THINGS THAT I’M PONDERING...
Positive things that happen may feel good, but they’re of little use because you only learn from the negative.
 
When the radio brass starts cutting their salaries, we’ll know that then and only then that they are beginning to get serious about their debt. Until then, I predict they’ll just continue tap dancing for the banks and investors as they to hold on to their enormous salaries.
 
The Beatles never dreamed they’d be as successful as they became so consequently they had no plan ready and flamed out early.
 
I know a whole lot about a little, but like everyone, I have an opinion about everything.
 
Every city in the world is fantastic If you have rich friends living there.
 
The biggest risk of all is not taking one.
 
I think that the old rule that you should never spend more than 30% of your income on your mortgage still stands. Most people though ignore it which is why they find themselves upside down most of the time.
 
You will never be happy until you’re able to say what you mean and mean what you say.
 
I think having a daughter changes a man more than a wife ever does.
 
Isn’t it still racist if you cut someone slack because if their race?
 
Change does not come about without some inconvenience.
 
How do college athletes afford those hair extensions?
 
Speaking of sports, how many games do you think a kicker should play before somebody explains the game of football to them?
 
You can play any song you want on the radio as long as your explanation of why you’re playing it is interesting.
 
I think that the only thing going on in radio today is figuring out how to be the “last man standing.”
 
If were serious about climate change don’t you think we should be ragging on Mexico, China, and India rather than beating ourselves up about it all the time?
 
The real money is in getting people to like you not love you.
There are six sides to every argument, but unfortunately, most people only see things through their Republican or Democratic eyes.
 
Much much more @ GeorgeJohns.com and on Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Go ahead and share and continue to comment.
 
 
 
 
 
 

“Aw Shit” (new geo Blog for May 08/17)

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Sometimes it’s hard for me to communicate with the fairer sex because like most men I need to use a lot of football metaphors to get my point across.
Recently my youngest who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks occasionally was in the middle of a crisis at college, and while trying to calm her, I made a fatal error in judgment. My faux pas occurred as I was urging her to stay focused so we could quickly come up with a solution to her dilemma. Had she been he I would have simply said that we needed to put in the “hurry up offense” but knowing that she wouldn’t understand any of that that I searched my brain for other words that meant the same.
Unfortunately, I went with the first thing that popped into my head which was not only stupid but proved the theory that ten “atta boys” can instantly be wiped out by one “aw shit.” What 
I told her was that we needed to get on top of this before it got out of hand, so I wanted her to get into the “panic mode.” Can you spell DISASTER?
 
MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT IMPORTANT AND NOT SO IMPORTANT THINGS. 
When war gets loud, the music generally gets soft.
 
The only people who should never live for today are the young; they still have a shot at tomorrow.
 
When in the middle of a dream you begin to read a book, who in the hell wrote it?
 
Whenever I get frightened, I get angry, and when I get angry, my rage kicks in which is hard for me to control. However, my new thinking is why not just go with it hell the worst that could happen is free room and board for the rest of my life.
 
There is nothing sacred about the law; it’s man made.
 
The best thing about falling in love again is you get to tell your life story again.
 
We all understand why a guy may be “pussy-whipped” but we don’t have to respect him for it, do we?
 
The best motivational words for some people are, don’t ever!
 
When you’re a kid, you do your best to hide what’s different about you. Later on, you may discover though that what’s different about you needs to be flaunted because it’s what’s  going to make you successful.
 

If you’re struggling with something, it means that you’re not very good at it. Whatever’s easy for you to do is what you should do ’cause you’re gifted at it. 

According to Brent Farris, the only rehearsal that goes on in radio today is when the morning team is rehearsing the words that they created which explain why they sucked today.
 
No great story ever began with, “So there I was eating a salad…”
 
Romantic movies lie to women just as porn movies do to men.
 
What the hell happened to all the people who supported Hitler and voted for Nixon, they all seem to have disappeared.
 
Whenever your special lady asks you who that woman is, the only correct response is, I don’t know!
 
Worry comes from the dark side of your imagination.
 
Just cause you don’t need glasses doesn’t mean that you have vision.
 
What warning do you get about no longer being a “Young Turk.”
 
In football just like in life defense can win you the Superbowl but it can’t get you there.
 
It doesn’t matter where you stand it’s what direction are you moving.
 

Only the media is excited about social media; the folks just use it.

Speaking of Social Media, has anybody but Zuck made a buck off of Facebook yet?
 
As we drown in an overload of information, we all could use a little wisdom.
 
The only sports teams that ever seem to achieve any greatness are the ones whose the fans stop coming to see them when they stop winning.
 
Have you or anyone that you know seen someone wearing a PPM device?
 
I wonder why the people who have absolutely nothing to say take so long to say it.
 
Opportunity always needs a little help before presenting itself.
 

A lot more @ GeorgeJohns.com and on Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Go ahead and share and I would also love to read and respond to your comments.

 

Stuff I’ve Been Told. (Part Deux) new geo Blog for June12/17

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When Hal Ross of London Records heard a tape of The Jury’s “Until You Do” he uttered the most memorable words I’ve ever heard. “Hell, I’ll release that.”
 
My first radio hire was a hippie named Gary Russell who upon hearing CKOM for the first time said, “what the f*ck is this?”

Ron Chapman, shortly after I’d inducted him into the Radio Hall of Fame confessed that during our early days at KVIL he wasn’t paying that much attention. However, after asking me what page of the book we were celebrating at our first rating party, he also asked if I would mind repeating everything I’d ever said to him. 
 
Reg Johns who told me that I needed to learn how to Email, later asked for the name of the person who taught me so he could hunt them down and then kill them.
 
Betsy Cameron claims that I’m the only person who can make her laugh even when she doesn’t want to because as she says, “lawyers need to be serious.”
 
Chuck Riley warned me long ago, “Never let the “suits” wear you down.”
 
J Robert Wood advised me that you always have to ask for a “piece of the rock,” nobody will ever just offer it to you.
 
Neil Young said that I had one of the early cool guitars in Winnipeg.
 
Randy Bachman told me that because our mutual friend Daryl “B” always used to on the radio that he was “taking care of business” so he wrote a song about it.
 
Robin Barrack once told me that money was an aphrodisiac to a lot of women.
 
Jan Hall claims that I’d never last two minutes with her.
 
Tim Moore’s writing showed me that I’m just a storyteller, he’s the writer.
 
Al Ham of MOYL fame explained to me that when a tape duplicator steals your tapes to do a cheaper version of your format, you have no choice but to take his wife from him.
 
Jack McCoy warned me never to tell him anything I didn’t want him to use.
 
Ivan Braiker claimed that it was what I didn’t do on the radio that made all my stations all sound so good.
 
Tim Reever says that selling without ratings builds character.
 
Candis Johns called from her honeymoon to tell me that I was going to be a grandpa.
 
My son Curt when I asked him if he had any plans for the future said: “Yeah I just wanna hang out.”
 
Barry Smith told me that I was an acquired taste. 

Not long after moving into my new condo, my daughter Cami asked if I made friends with anybody yet? When I replied that I hadn’t because mostly only old people lived there, she said, “well you’re an old daddy.” Ouch!

Ted Rogers told me that to become even more successful than you already are sometimes you have to leave the people behind that helped get you there.

Gordon Zlot disagrees with Ted’s way of thinking and says that he’s sticking with the folks who “brung” him.

Barbara Hilliard claims that I don’t handle criticism very well and that there’s more to a relationship than sex.

A couple of thousand years ago Aristotle argued that “A is A” and that the truth may not be what we perceive it to be.

To become a great radio personality, Vic Gold convinced me that you have to figure out how to make your listeners see what you’re saying.

My father told me that if I left school, I would have to get a job because the Johns men work for a living we don’t “play guitar.”

Linda Duffy said if we talked to each other at a radio station today like we did back at WIBC in Indy, we’d all be in jail now.

Mario Andretti said if you feel like you have everything under control you’re not going fast enough.

Returning to WRMF as a consultant I noticed that PD Russ Morley had mellowed somewhat since we had launched the station almost a decade ago. When I asked him what had changed, he said that when he first moved to South Florida, he could easily fit all of his stuff into a small trailer, but now it took two tractor-trailer moving vans.

Huey Coburn told me at Transcona Nationals reunion that he remembered his Dad “Coach Coby” saying 50 years ago to him at the dinner table,  “that Johns kid sure has a lot of intensity and I like it.”

Joasia Holotka recently admitted to me that she dated Donald Trump but because she thought that she could do better, she dumped him. What the hell was she thinking?

Dion told me that because growing up his parents paid $40.00 for rent he couldn’t bring himself to pay the same for a seat on the plane with Buddy Holly and the others that fateful night.

Rich Stevens didn’t lie to me when he said he’s the best self-promoter of all time.

Martin Milner told me that he couldn’t go on the radio without a script and he couldn’t understand how others did.

Rick Moranis told my daughter Candis that I was responsible for starting his career when I put him on the all night show at CFTR in Toronto.

Lana, Sharon, Linda, Jamie, Kari, and Laura said a lot of memorable things to me. Unfortunately, most of them can’t be repeated here if I hope to have an office friendly Blog.

Much more @ GeorgeJohns.com and on Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Feel free to share and by all means comment.
 
 

There Are Six Sides To Every Story. (new geo Blog for the week of April 17/17)

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Early on in my radio career, I like Steve Jobs was lucky enough to study with Mike Vance, Dean of Walt Disney University. However I’m pretty sure Steve understood a hell of a lot more about what Mike was talking about of than I did.
One of the many things that I managed to learn from the fast-talking Mr. Vance was a new and better way to look at all your projects and problems. First off Mike told me that I had to imagine a plexiglass container which was not unlike an outdoor mailbox and then put whatever I was working on inside it. This he claimed would allow me to look at it from the top, the bottom, plus each side which perhaps the first time I would get to see how others viewed my work. Also, he said this will give you a huge head start on solving any and all resistance before it even shows up.

ANOTHER THOUGHT OR TWO BEFORE I GOEveryone is gifted intellectually, and because there are at least nine different forms of intelligence, all you have to do is figure out which of them you possess then use them to seek your fortune.

I wonder how long it will take before we know who it was that told George W that there were Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. Hopefully not as long as it’s taking to find out who all knew the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor which conveniently got us into World War II?
 
To learn something new one needs to have new questions.
 
I would like to see a list of the rich athletes who helped out their communities as a way to show their gratitude.
 
The early stages of a new romance are very addictive but the rest, not so much.
 
The problem with a May/December relationship is that you’re not welcome in her world and she’s not in yours.
 
Only 50% of women understand a man dating a woman 20 years younger than he is whereas a 100% of males get it!
 
Why does married life seem to resemble the life your bride was already living?
 
All women understand the need for alimony until you have to send it to your ex.
 
I still foolishly believe that I’m only one woman away from happiness.
 
When you start to hang out with folks smarter than you, you get a lot smarter.
 
The only way to avoid sexual harassment charges is to simply not do it or be attractive.
 
The rich are just another minority group under government protection leaving the rest of us on our own.
 
Radio is just like a restaurant. First, you do some research to find out what kind of food the people who live in the neighborhood like to eat most of the time then serve that up all the time.
 
To become any good at anything, one has to spend a lot of time in uncharted waters.
 
Becoming successful is just as stressful as a divorce or losing a loved one.
 
To make it worth even doing the upside of a project must at least match the downside.
 
What people think of you will last a hell of a lot longer than you will.
 
During your “good times,” all your friends know who you are, but it’s while going through “bad times” that you learn who your real friends are.
 
Only the words that follow “but” are worth reading or hearing.
 
Some successful people just like entertainers come from the “dark side.”
 
Only by failing do you find out what you should have done.
 
Who you know means little, who knows you means everything.
 
Much much more @ GeorgeJohns.com and on Twitter @GeoOfTheRadio. Comments and sharing are appreciated.