My Father’s Truck Radio Got Country & Talk #SHORTS

Published: October 22, 2022 YouTube Shorts
My Father’s Truck Radio Got Country & Talk #SHORTS

When I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, my father’s truck radio got only two stations: country and talk.

Country was Radio KEEN on 1370 AM in San Jose that shut down after 40 years in 1993. The land underneath the transmission tower became more valuable than the station itself. Radio KEEN folded its cards and walked away with the money.

Talk was KGO Radio on 810 AM in San Francisco that shut down after 80 years last week. The station owner, Cumulus Media, shut down talk without warning and hinted that a new format was coming. The station reopened as “The Spread: The Bay’s Best Bet on Sports.”

Did Cumulus Media gamble away KGO Radio on a sports gambling bet?

Did Cumulus Media Gamble Away KGO Radio 810 AM?

Published: October 16, 2022 YouTube Videos
Did Cumulus Media Gamble Away KGO Radio 810 AM?

When I was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, my father’s truck radio got only two stations: country and talk.

Country was Radio KEEN on 1370 AM in San Jose that shut down after 40 years in 1993. The land underneath the transmission tower became more valuable than the station itself. Radio KEEN folded its cards and walked away with the money.

Talk was KGO Radio on 810 AM in San Francisco that shut down after 80 years last week. The station owner, Cumulus Media, shut down talk without warning and hinted that a new format was coming. The station reopened as “The Spread: The Bay’s Best Bet on Sports.”

I find the timing for the switch to sports gambling somewhat curious. The November ballot has two propositions, 26 and 27, to expand gambling in California.

Did Cumulus Media gamble away KGO Radio on a sports gambling bet?

Read more “Did Cumulus Media Gamble Away KGO Radio 810 AM?”

Great America Is Shutting Down

Published: July 3, 2022 YouTube Videos

California’s Great America amusement park is shutting down. The current owner, Cedar Fair, sold the 112-acre site for $310 million US to Prologis, a real estate developer. The park will continue to operate for the next six to 11 years. I’m sad that Great America will be shutting down since it was a part of my childhood and young adulthood. I’m also excited by what this prime piece of Silicon Valley real estate will become in the future.

Read more “Great America Is Shutting Down”

My “Hair-Raising” Personal Experience With The Pandemic

Published: May 15, 2022 YouTube Videos

Philip DeFranco called for videos about personal experiences with the pandemic. The timing was great since I wanted to make a pandemic-related video. I can also put his picture on the thumbnail to get more clicks. Here’s my “hair raising” personal experience with the pandemic.

Read more “My “Hair-Raising” Personal Experience With The Pandemic”

The BIZARRE Story Behind The Home Depot Fire

Published: April 24, 2022 YouTube Videos

The Home Depot store on Blossom Hill Road in San Jose, CA, burned down to the ground two weeks ago. One of the largest Silicon Valley fires in recent memory. I told friends at the time that someone probably tossed a lit cigarette in the lumber department. Authorities announced an arrest and revealed the bizarre story behind the fire this week. It wasn’t a lit cigarette.

Read more “The BIZARRE Story Behind The Home Depot Fire”

A Pandemic of Nightly Fireworks

Published: July 2, 2021 Medium Essays
Photo by Nicolas Tissot on Unsplash

The battle for my Silicon Valley neighborhood began at 9:00 PM every night. A steady round of pop-pop-pop, several loud booms, and missiles exploding in brilliant displays of light. An occasional ka-BOOM rattled the windows, setting off car alarms and dogs in equal measure.

Was it the police firing rubber bullets and gas canisters at Black Lives Matter protesters hurling Molotov cocktails in the streets?

Oh, hell no.

The nightly fireworks show of firecrackers, cherry bombs, and bottle rockets started on Memorial Day and kept going until Fourth last year. Each show lasted 15 minutes in case someone did call the police and a patrol car showed up 20 minutes later. The shadowy people who lit the fireworks slipped back into the night. The pungent smoke in the air and the spent fireworks in the gutters were the only evidence that any illegal activity took place.

Not in my neighborhood, but in everyone’s neighborhood.

Scrolling through the #fireworks tweets on Twitter in the days leading up to July 4, 2020, nightly firework shows were a regular complaint for many neighborhoods throughout the United States. Three different groups may have been responsible for the pandemic of nightly fireworks.

Read the rest of the essay at Medium. If you’re interested in supporting my writing on Medium, become a paid member and I’ll get a referral bonus.