America… LOOK OUT!  The year was 1995, and I had been working at a station in town doing the Local Music Show… from my Mom’s basement every week. The program lasted for 5 YEARS (A record for local Rock radio at the time) sometimes shipping them in from Oregon or Seattle – or Canadia just to play their CD and sit on “the couch” and hang out in the theme of a giant backstage party. We had great names and big stars and little bands and unknown stars. Artists like Peter Cornell (Chris’s brother), Supersonic Soul Pimps, Civilized Animal, and Myles Kennedy (remember Citizen Swing & Mayfield Four?) … all “cut their rug” with us and occasionally treated you to live sets while Mom & Floyd would come down and serve us hot chowder and try not to complain about the smoke pots too much…

I bring you this little “Flashback”, because: Today, the GEOFF SCOTT WEBSITE turns 14 years old! Born out of necessity (the mother of local-rock invention, like duct tape) as a way to post clips, photos and links to bands we were talking to each Sunday night  and every show. (that stations website never changed in the 5 years we ran this thing) But for ME… “if it’s on the air, you’ll find it there” has always been the key.

The website, in it’s original form, was housed on AOL Hometown and therefore was afforded just FIVE MEASLY MEGABYTES of internet world. We rotated graphics, made a little “chat” blog, and posted very tiny clips and announcements based on the current show and next week’s shows, etc. I even, for a time, produced a “streaming” video content that was actually (I can tell you now) nothing more than a series of .GIF images I shot while recording the show, and then constantly updated to the Hometown server at just the right time… as it played back on-air. But then there was this 4 track Akai Reel To Reel I to tow with me everywhere I went (including the station)

Rock 106 & a YES t-shirt... ahh good times!

Now…  sure have come a long way together since the old days of my first Windows 95 computer (75 MHZ, 697MB hard-drive, 8mb of RAM= $3,000) and My mom’s old Apple2 on the dining room table back in Junior High; the “Commodore-64 Kids” could only gawk at.

after 20 years Rocking this place and decades more… to come

-=Gs=-

This just in:

QUEENSRYCHE / GEOFF TATE stops by the Friday Flamethrower to WORLD PREMIER the new disc ‘American Soldier‘ exclusively on Spokane’s Best Rock, and talks about the making of this heart-felt tribute to Americas War Veterans. Interspersed with commentary gathered while speaking one on one with hundreds of GI’s the music speaks these words that are too deep for many to express. Geoff Tate discovers an inner respect and deeper gratitude for the men & women of our nation’s armed forces.

Oh yeah, and IT ROCKS!!! The interview is posted on THE FREEWAY500 AUDIO page while our webmaster recuperates… and our thanks to Geoff for stopping by to play it for us! DJ Note: a THIRD segment was taped during the songs and will be run on the FREEWAY500 at a future time. So, stay tuned~ there’s MORE!

* Special thanks to SUSAN for letting us borrow HER copy of the disc to play for you, while it was still dripping wet.

-=Gs=-

JOFF-MANIA!!!
*** MONTH’S END TOP 10 ***
Was a very busy month with 7,700 Hits since Feb 1st, and a new TOP DOG in the downloads list has knocked IN THIS MOMENT to second place, stIll with a commendable overall lead in the 3 months of the websites exsistance – OVER 300 GIGABYTES of the download bandwidth of has been Maria & that legendary “first” Mosh-Pit performance! Ah yes, Maria, we never forget our firsts!!! *It’s doing fairly well on YOU_TUBE, also, but if you want to see the whole thing you have to do it here:

*** FEBRUARY 2009 TOP 10 DOWNLOADS ***

• 10. FLYLEAF MEETS SPOKANE (AUDIO)
• 9. FLYBOY-11 GEOFF PRACTICES SOLO FLIGHT/PALOUSE (VIDEO)
• 8. THIS DAY / CURT LOWERY PROJECT SONG (AUDIO)
• 7. HELL’S BELLE’S MEET ACDC (AUDIO)
• 6. SNOW-MEGGEDON ’08 BROADCAST DOCUMENTARY (VIDEO)
• 5. WASHINGTON PILOT’S ASSOC TRAILER (VIDEO)
• 4. JET BLACK STARE “IN-STUDIO” PERFORMANCE (VIDEO)
• 3. ROYAL BLISS “MOSH-PIT” PERFORMANCE (VIDEO)
• 2. IN THIS MOMENT “1ST MOSH PIT PERFORMANCE” (VIDEO)
• 1. SAVING ABEL “MOSH PIT” PERFORMANCE *NEW* (VIDEO)

Drum roll…. AND, Congratulations to SAVING ABLE debuting with a big fresh NUMBER ONE! And, a big #1 type THANK-YOU to everyone who has made a “pit stop” to THE FREEWAY500… we are enjoying our 4th month of posting highlights from the radio show. And~ THE WORLD IS LISTENING. 27,559 “hits”, including visitors from CANADA, U.K., ROMANIA, GERMANY, AUSTRALIA, BRAZIL, INDIA, and JAPAN. We are mighty thrilled to have the chance to share our Pacific Northwest Air with cool people who know how to ROCK ALL OVER THE PLANET.

Crank it up!

-=Gs=-

Another MOSH-PIT performance on the way… Last week we had so much fun streaming the “Geoff Scott Live-Action Cam” to the website from the MONSTER JAM, that we’re going to try it again at the MOSH PIT! Following this performance, I’ll begin the edit on any video we get after my airshift, and have it posted over the weekend to the GEOFF SCOTT’S JOCK PAGE first, then the ROCK945.COM website, later. Meanwhile, the LIVE ACTION page will feature Jason Rupinski from DAVID RAGAN race team & BEHIND THE WALL NASCAR shots from Atlanta! ***Check that LIVE CAM page again on Sunday.

Wednesday was a GREAT day for flying. Well, maybe not if you were on an airliner, or trying to drive into North Idaho… but, FOR ME; I completed my first NIGHT CROSS-COUNTRY FLIGHT with brave CFI Dave from Spokane Airways! It was to Pullman & back, when some fairly tricky weather and low ceilings rolling in, making this flight one of adventure and experience, more than a joy of flying & sight seeing! A true test to everything I have been learning over the past year plus six weeks of ground-school. My calculations took us exactly where we were supposed to go, all done in COMPLETE darkness over the seemingly never-ending Palouse cloud layre.

Then, back in Spokane, with that 14kt wind cutting across the runway~ it was cross-wind landing opportunity we couldn’t pass up, so I did it …three times. This is where you land on ONE WHEEL until the plane is no longer “flying” on the downwind side and you slowly roll-out back onto all the wheels while maintaining directional stability on the giant tri-cycle. Pretty cool stuff. (but not for the timid or afraid of the dark!)

Due to some recent listener interest in my ongoing flight training, I’ve compiled (or for those who’d like to see some great aerial shots of the area as documented for the AOPA PROJECT:PILOT program) some sister albums: “Flyboy” (phase 1) and “Flyboy-2″ (2nd phase training) on picassa. Or ALL photos on THE MAIN PHTOTOS PAGE at GEOFF SCOTT WEBSITE and make sure you FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS!

-=Gs=-

This week Sno-Meggedon (sm) SEEMS to have taken a breather, so; Here are some simple diversions to help you stave off cabin fever for yet another week, and gets me caught up alittle:

1. Spokane Shock Dance finals … see who competed, and get the “full report” with photos, ofocarse! Thanks for attending this record event.
2. 2008 WEATHER YEAR-IN-REVIEW… I was right about the Tornadoes, (this year will be a hurricane year, unfortunately) Wrong about California’s “first Typhoon” (but it was close) and global warming continues.. just NOT here.
3. HELL’S BELLE’S pics are FINALLY posted on the Rock945.com website!
4. My latest video project, the 2009 WA STATE PILOT’S video has finaly been approved and posted on my personal videos page. Enjoy! *and think about the wonderful year of flying it took to make that with those awesome local pilots.

Disclamier: I , on the other hand, am just a student pilot and am NOT a certificated forecaster nor climatoligist. I study trends and observe long range patterns as a hobby. Do NOT take my word as any “official” prediction. Just a “gentleman’s handshake” and, just co-incedentally have a fairly good track record. **Always check with NOAA, the National Weather Service or other offical source for official climate data and resources.

-=Gs=-

My advanced meteorologist-mentor friend, former Boston-TV weather-god, and original Naval/Major university climatologic professor extraordinaire’

… the guy who taught me everything I know about weather~ Bruce Schwoegler, (now of Mysky.com) has sent me a special weather statement that reads “…build an ark/ice boat…

we are in for 40 days and 40 nights of this stuff…after a break Fri-Sat, it’s right back onto the party-train of ocean storms, and it’s not going to change anytime soon”.

Is that 40 MORE days/nights? Or a grand total OF???

According to our calculations, since this weather started on 12/17/08, we now have only 21 days left of Snow-meggeddon. Or…. it could be time for seeking out the prime camping spots on the legendary mythical Glacial Lake Missoula! Would they show Laser cartoons on the giant Glacier-Dam ?

It is, in the grand scheme: glacial cycle year 15,003 with 3,000 years of Ice next in the cycle using simple mathmatics: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/megaflood/fantastic.html

I’ve been posting a TON of shots for our grandchildren’s illegitimate grandchildren on the FACEBOOK pages: “The Removal” & “Day-18” with MORE to come, I’m sure!

Even people in Buffalo are saying ‘Wo, man… that’s CRAZY!’ SO, enjoy the melt-off while it lasts this weekend, never mind the snow shovels at the Home-Mart being sold-out, it’s the wood and paddles I’ll be hoarding~ Luckily for me, in a pinch, Racktober girls may be used as a personal floatation device if needed.

-=GS=-

Why should we listen to Bruce?

Reference:

Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of MySky.com, Bruce was the top rated Chief Meteorologist and science reporter for Boston’s NBC and CBS Television and is one of the longer tenured newscasters in Boston broadcasting history. He won New England’s first Emmy Award for Outstanding Meteorologist and is the recipient of numerous honors including the prestigious Ohio State Award for a prime time special on the Greenhouse Effect. The AMS, American Meteorological Society, has cited him with their National Outstanding Broadcast Meteorologist Service Award.

Prior to broadcasting, Schwoegler was a U.S. Naval Lieutenant working in meteorology and oceanography in Alaska, the North Pacific, Florida and the Caribbean. His tropical duties included storm modification research with the “Hurricane Hunters”. He holds a BS degree with a double major in meteorology and naval science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and participated in Badger football.

McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, New York, published Weather and Energy, Schwoegler’s first book. It received accolades for excellence in energy education. He has also written extensively for the print media. Three years as an environmental columnist at United Press International were followed by a decade at a similar post for The Associated Press. His syndicated cartoon/column, “Weatherwise and Otherwhys” has been printed throughout the world.

At Boston University, Professor Schwoegler assisted in the creation of school science curricula. He has also served on the AMS Board of School and Popular Meteorological and Oceanographic Education. Boston’s Museum of Science nominated him to a six-year term on their Board of Overseers. Bruce has presented numerous environmental programs there, at Harvard University and at regional elementary and secondary schools. He created and presented Boston’s first inner-city youth science summer series and is currently developing unique environmental education initiatives with Plants Across Communities, a green building focused company.

He has also performed several times with the Boston POPS Orchestra, Wellesley’s Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Symphony Orchestra. Other noteworthy appearances include NBC’s Today Show and CNN Network News.

Schwoegler, the ambassador and spokesperson for the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, has been a consultant to the National Geographic Society, Weather Services Corporation, Thermo Electron Corp. and Weather Services International. Bruce has also collaborated with various environmental groups due to his long-term familiarity with major issues such as acid rain. He was the nation’s first broadcaster to cover that dilemma. He is also an investigator with the RIMES project, an international scientific group researching environmental impacts of the Soufriere Hills Volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat and nearby environs.

And…. he’s pretty dang cool.

Disclamier: I , on the other hand, am just a student pilot and am NOT a certificated forecaster nor climatoligist. I study trends and observe long range patterns as a hobby. Do NOT take my word as any “official” prediction. Just a “gentleman’s handshake” and, just co-incedentally have a fairly good track record. **Always check with NOAA, the National Weather Service or other offical source for official climate data and resources.

What to do with all this F*’n SNOW?!? Well, just think if you lived in an IGLOO, you wouldn’t have to worry about trying to get it off your roof now, would you?

SEE THE PICS HERE

For those who were dreaming of a WHITE CHRISTMAS… ok, you’re funny. We get it… YOU CAN STOP NOW. Ha ha.

ALSO: I went double nutts on the whole year/end BIG-10/Countdown thingy and here’s my TOP 20 list for 2008, enjoy! Thanks for the 18,000 ‘hits’ on the new web page, and have a HARD ROCK new year.

-=Gs=-

Hello Snowkaane!

Last year was the 2^nd snowiest year on record Spokane (NWS-OTX) the snowiest year EVER in Coer D’ Alene Idaho….and we’re off on a good start this winter already (now 1 day old). Is this how the giant glacial lake Missoula got it’s start? Well, all geographical records (every 18,000 years and now we’re in year 17,998) aside~ Mother nature didn’t have to work THAT hard to really mess everything up in our little “corridor” last week as the snow started falling Wednesday, and by Thursday morning it was waist deep and we we’re officially “snowed in” at the home studios for the first time since 1994 for me, and that’s the 2^nd time ever. It should be noted I did most of my 3,000,000 miles of driving in New England, so I thought I was pretty used to this stuff but when the snow is up over the floor boards there’s not much you can do. It did remind me of a “good ol’ Nor East-a” I have to admit, EVEN IF the water is on the wrong side of the map. At 23.4″, even the weather people were amazed at this RECORD 24-HOUR dumping mother nature had taken on the Inland-Northwest.

Wednesday I got out my snow car, the trusty Subaru 4×4 wagon. 270,000 miles on this ski machine, it has proudly, never let me down. I made plans to take “the Bat Route” the back way that keeps me away from freeway diversions and across the flattest, most open land, I know. (Which Ironically enough, takes me through “North Pole”, Idaho, and eventually over to Seltice and downtown CDA from there along the Spokane river). But this was not to be THIS day. About half-way into the ride, I started to notice my radio was getting fuzzy, then the headlights were like looking through sunglasses, then my wipers started running slower and slower. The ice was caking up on my window making it very hard to see anything. My Pilot’s instinct said “Charging system” so I radioed my mechanic and told him “I’m losing power, going to need to land”… or something like that, and within 10 miles my engine coughed and sputtered and I was forced to make an OFF_FIELD landing in a parking lot somewhere near Huetter. In the middle of the storm.

I made arrangements with the kind folks of CDA Polaris to leave it there until help could arrive, grabbed my “crash bag” and decided to trudge off in the direction of the station as I knew Beavis was fighting his way through traffic going the other way to come rescue me. My plan was to meet him a few miles up the road. ….about ½ mile later, shivering, snow in my sneakers, and fog steaming up my shades…I walked into Columbia Excavation headquarters “c-c-c-Could I sit in here for a minute, car broke down, waiting for a rid-dd-d-d-e” and they were very kind to me as well, heating me up and offering me phones and basic survival necessities. We engaged in long deep discussions about excavating and demolitions work, either of which I was considering should the tow truck not make it to pick my ride up.

But, within a few more minutes… Beavis was there, and off we went to do the show. Coming home Beavis handled the roads like a master (he is from Montana) and despite the traffic, we were home, safe and sound within three hours of leaving the “Bikini Island” studios.

The next morning, I awoke to see the snow was 16” out on the driveway. MY wife’s car has a 3” wheelbase. So that was that. The show WOULD NOT go on today. The boss called from South Hill (20”) saying he wasn’t going to be able to make it either. What would we do??? G.A. was on the radio having a snow party and said he’d stay on for however long it took to get somebody there, but having seen him do several radio marathons, I knew he was good for about 8-10 hours but would eventually need support when the radio-hallucinations start. A few phone calls were made and now enter OUR HERO, “Johnny Mac” in his monster 4×4, another former Montana boy who would brave the heart of the beast and trudge into the station to assist G.A. But better than that, he ws ready to assist ME in making the appropriate connections and board changes and low and behold~ I had now had a direct link to the out-of-control-tower from my home studios!!!!

So we did the entire show (extended coverage) from my house, in my PJ’s and relaying important information as it became available via the KXLY NEWS chat blog Mellisa Luck provided from the newsroom. It was awesome! We even did a few breaks outside in the snow to give everyone a better “feel” for how much we had in the S.C.C. area and interviewed the wife while shoveling us out (all six hours) and saw kids walking by that were just torsos “adrift” in a sea of white. But THE SHOW DID GO ON! A technological miracle and a moment in radio history I shall never forget. Not since doing the old local music show from “the basement” for those five years at my old station, have I had so much fun doing our thing from “the comfort” of our own home, so to speak.

I even video-documented the whole thing on the website for you, so you can see how we got it done… and as for my car, well, Good Ole Ralph at AA-pro towing finally got out there Saturday and said “I towed that snow pile, I THINK was your car” so we’ll have to wait and see what the mechanic finds once he digs through the 36” of snow covering those four wheels, last I saw it. But glad we made it through the best we could and what a great “welcome to winter / 2008-09” it was. Please be safe, and warm, sit close to your radio and we’ll fire it up for you…. We’re going to need it.

(see the video, posted HERE)

-=Gs=-