30 Day Photo Challenge – Day 26
Posted: December 27, 2010 Filed under: friends | Tags: ann d'alessandro-zuck, ashlea breneman, fred mcnaughton, john shirk, john staffieri, lisa landis, phil smith, phredd, stacey gagne, WJTL Leave a comment »Day 26 – A picture of something that means a lot to you
These guys
Say “Cheese!”
Posted: December 9, 2009 Filed under: friends | Tags: 25, 25th, anniversary, birthday, brooke courtney, fred mcnaughton, john shirk, lisa landis, photography, phredd, WJTL Leave a comment »The gang at WJTL recently posed for our annual Christmas postcard. The pictures were taken by Brooke Courtney, a really talented photographer here in PA. Here are four of Brooke’s favorite shots from the day.
25 Years in 2-1/2 Minutes
Posted: December 8, 2009 Filed under: friends | Tags: WJTL 2 Comments »Congratulations WJTL on 25 years! Here’s a little video I put together encapsulating just a fraction of what’s been going down.
The “How to Write A Hit Song” Jingo Jango
Posted: December 7, 2009 Filed under: friends, humor | Tags: email, fred mcnaughton, free download, jingo jango, phredd, phreddtastic, songwriting, text the cell, WJTL 3 Comments »As I mentioned in a post last week, tomorrow is the release day of the new Phredd album, Phreddtastic. To help celebrate that fact, I thought I’d offer up a little insight as to how one of the songs, “Jingo Jango” came about. Instead of telling you how Phredd and I wrote the lyrics, I thought I’d show you by copying the emails we sent back and forth that birthed the song. And yes kids, this is how ALL professional songwriters write their songs.
EDDIE to FRED:
Fred,
Are you up for writing a jingle for WJTL’s listen live feature, a la those annoying freecreditreport.com commercials? Kinda like the poor sap lost his radio or something and didn’t have a way to listen but now he does. I am actually going to lip synch the song since, just like in the commercials, the guy “singing” the songs isn’t the actual singer. Did you know that? He’s a French actor. True story, dude.
No rush on this at all. At all.
Eddie
FRED to EDDIE:
I love it. Let’s do this…
Come up with a title and then let’s write (email) lines back and forth to write the song.
So you send me the title, and then…
Let the fun begin.
Fred
EDDIE to FRED:
“The No-Radio-Needed Jingo Jango”
FRED to EDDIE:
EDDIE to FRED:
I thought I did til my boombox broke
FRED to EDDIE:
EDDIE to FRED:
(Now) My boombox won’t tune in any mo’
FRED to EDDIE:
OK, I went a little crazy. Start the second verse. :>)
EDDIE to FRED:
Dude you are SOO much better at this, lol. I’m still trying to get my last contribution to fit in the structure…
Jingo jango, don’ need da radio
FRED to EDDIE:
Now I don’t have a life soundtrack
EDDIE to FRED:
I need music back, no tunes is pretty wack
FRED to EDDIE:
Wackitta wacka whacky no sound
EDDIE to FRED:
But Internet Man do what you can
Your technology
Can musically span
This dilemma probably
FRED to EDDIE:
EDDIE to FRED:
Jingo Jango what’s dis by da radio?
FRED to EDDIE:
Why, its my portal to the internets
EDDIE to FRED:
Now I gets no worries or frets
FRED to EDDIE:
Cause I can tune in 24/7 (or – Cause I can tune in all the time) if you like that better
EDDIE to FRED:
Listen online man if you’re out of range
FRED to EDDIE:
Hey, we be streamin’
EDDIE to FRED:
You ain’t dreamin’
FRED to EDDIE:
EDDIE to FRED:
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha sweet!! You are sooo much better at this than me. I gladly stand in your shadow!
FRED to EDDIE:
already got the tune in my head
A few days later, Fred sent me an actual song based on what we’d written. As someone with no songwriting talent, I was crazy impressed that Fred was able to take our random lines and work them into a musical structure. He tweaked some words here and there, cut and moved and re-worded and the rest…well, I’ll say it. The rest is musical history.
Here’s the music video, set to Fred’s original rough mix:
Phreddtastic is available online at the WJTL music store and will also be available on iTunes in the near future. A free download of the first single, “Text the Cell” will be available online at the WJTL website from Tuesday Dec 8-Monday Dec 15.
Something New for the Resume
Posted: December 3, 2009 Filed under: friends, humor | Tags: children, colin mochrie, floating zoo, fred mcnaughton, kids, music, my mom is a pirate, phredd, phreddtastic, scooby doo, ukulele, WJTL 1 Comment »Tuesday Dec 8 2009 marks the day I will officially get to add a new section to my resume. That’s right, suckas, I’m almost an actual singer/songwriter/recording artist. Almost.
Perhaps you’ve heard of Phredd, the crazy guy who writes goofy songs for kids like Awooga, Baby Bottle Boomerang, If Coffee Smells So Good Why Does It Taste So Bad, and My Mom is a Pirate. Well, not only is Phredd the mind behind those catchy tunes, but he also happens to be my boss. And I’ll be honest: My boss is way cooler than your boss. Not only does he let me make crazy videos for work like this one
and this one,
but he also lets me appear on his forthcoming album, Phreddtastic.
That’s right. Phreddtastic drops next week and I’ve got two songs on there and a co-writing credit on a third! I know, I know. That’s just messed up. I’ll explain:
Almost a year ago, I wanted to make a video for the station promoting the fact that you can listen online. I asked Fred if he would write a song, something light and catchy, in the same vein as those Free Credit Report ads. But of course, just like in the TV ads, the song would be lip-synched by a guy who didn’t actually sing the song (in this case, me).
Fred came back to me with the idea that we co-write the song via email. I gave him the name of the song and he emailed back with the first line. And then I added the second line. And so on and so on. After we were finished, Fred tweaked it to make it fit the musical phrasing and then wrote the tune and melody. And then when Fred started working on his new album he decided to re-record the tune, Jingo Jango.
To tell you the truth, giving me a co-writing credit is really generous seeing how all I did was make up sentences that sort of rhymed with what Fred wrote. But it’s a co-writing credit nonetheless and I’ll take it. (By the way, you can see the original version of the song in the finished video here. I even let Fred appear as the guy singing backup vocals despite the fact he’s actually singing everything and I appear nowhere in the audio track. Wasn’t that nice of me?)
And then there’re my other two songs on Phredd’s new album. The first one actually shouldn’t count. It’s like 10 seconds long. I was working on a radio ad in Garage Band and heard a ukulele riff and of course, thought of Fred. So I started humming along and 30 seconds later Another Fred Song was born. I realize I’m not a singer, though, so instead of singing I just kind of talk to the rhythm in a sing-songy way like I’m Colin Mochrie in the hoedown game.
The other song I did…well…I’m gonna play that one down, too, because I didn’t actually write the song. Fred did. I just Weird Al’d it. Fred had a song out a few years ago called Floating Zoo, where he went through the alphabet and named animals that were on Noah’s Ark (armadillo, baboon, cougar, dingo, etc.).
Back in the year 2000, I was working on the air at the station and played Floating Zoo and I started singing “Scooby Doo” instead of the title phrase. What can I say? I’ve been listening to Weird Al since I was in Junior High School, 20 years of listening to parodies will have an effect on you. I started trying to come up with a word for each letter of the alphabet that correlated to the classic cartoon and after my shift I went into the production studio and recorded a really rough version of the song. Fast-forward nine years later to Fred asking me if I’d record an updated version for Phreddtastic.
I mean come on, if that’s not flattering, then I don’t know what is. You parody the guy’s song and he turns around and asks you to record the parody for his album? That was cool.
Realizing I still can’t sing, I decided to morph the song from a fun ukulele ditty to a mash-up of styles over which I do this weird pseudo-rap. It’s hard to explain. You’ll just have to hear it.
But don’t pick up the album because of my little contribution. Pick it up because it’s a fun listen and Phredd once again brings the fun for the whole family with a batch of tunes you’ll be humming for hours. In a good way. I just wish you could hear the whole thing. And, whaddya know, starting Dec 8, 2009, you can. :)
Holiday Greetings from Nakatomi Plaza
Posted: December 19, 2008 Filed under: humor | Tags: christmas, die hard, green screen, greetings, memories, WJTL Leave a comment »I’ve been busy at work this week cranking out holiday greetings from the staff of WJTL. It’s been a lot of fun. I had the gang talk about one of their favorite Christmas memories while I filmed them in front of the green screen. Then, add a little music and a cozy fireplace in the background, and it turns out really nicely.
But if you know me, you know things can’t stay nice for long. I had everyone record two versions. One of them, as I mentioned, a look back on holidays past. The other, however, is a look back on a Christmas film or TV special, as if it happened to them. For instance, “Hey this is Ed, one of my favorite Christmas memories is the year I lived in a cave up on a mountain and on Christmas Eve I snuck into everyone’s houses and stole the presents but the next morning, Christmas still came and my heart grew 3 sizes that day.”
You know, that kind of thing.
So, if you want to see a sincere holiday greeting, you might enjoy something like this:
Or, if you prefer your Christmas wishes with references to a Bruce Willis movie, then there’s this one:
To see all of the Christmas greetings, you can visit the WJTL YouTube page.
Pink Slip Proof
Posted: July 24, 2008 Filed under: humor | Tags: christian. fired, gotee records, nashville, pink slip, record label, terminated, WJTL 1 Comment »I’m having trouble contacting an old employer.
I used to work at Gotee Records, a Christian record label in Nashville. Before making the move there I worked at WJTL, a radio station in Lancaster PA for 3 years (I’m actually back at JTL again, so that worked out).
Not long after I got to Nashville, people started being let go from Gotee under really weird circumstances. Two years later, it was my turn. The best part is, it was one of those weird situations where the guy doing the firing couldn’t come up with a valid reason to let me go, so he had to make something up. On my pink slip under “Reason for termination” the excuse he put down was “No experience in radio.”**
I thought this was hilarious but have since lost my copy of the pink slip. I tried to get in touch with the HR department at the label to get a new copy sent to me. I actually want to frame it and put it in my office (I’m sorry, but when something is funny, it’s funny). I called the label today but got an automated message saying “Please hold for assistance” over and over again and was never connected to a real person. So, if anyone reading this has a hook-up…hook me up.
It’s all in the name of comedy.
.
.
** Interesting footnote: The promotions manager who fired me? He’d worked there only a couple of months longer than me and his previous experience was working at a coffee shop. For realz, yo.
.
.
UPDATE
A few minutes after posting this, my buddy and co-former Gotee employee Brad gave me the heads up on the person who could possibly get me what I was looking for. He gave me her email address and I sent her a friendly and polite email requesting a copy of my pink slip.
UPDATE #2
Approximately 30 minutes later I received an email in response to my request. She told me she’d see if she could get it from Joey (co-owner and co-founder of the label) and she would keep me posted. So far this is going much smoother than I anticipated.
Find out the final outcome by reading this post.
Year in Review (2007)
Posted: December 15, 2007 Filed under: friends, humor, romance | Tags: 2007, 2008, boxing, Brewdaily's, cheerleaders, comedy, don king, Ghost Hunters, great oaks country club, Grindhouse, Guitar Hero, improv, indiana, IPFW, karaoke revolution, katinas, Lancaster, London, mandisa, michael w smith, perfection, racism, romance, settlers of catan, sexism, UK, WJTL, YouTube 3 Comments »
‘Tis the season for my annual look back at the previous year, a way for me to keep you informed on what I‘ve been doing and a way for me to spend a Saturday afternoon. A lot happened in ‘07 so let’s get right to it (in some cases I have written a blog about the events mentioned below and will direct you to the link rather than force you to re-live it all over again here. I‘m thoughtful like that).
2007 – YEAR IN REVIEW
A Timeline by Ed Placencia
JANUARY
As the year began I was living in Auburn, Indiana. I was back in the area where I grew up and working with Dad as a painter/wallpaper/general decorator guy. I had set three goals for 2007: Return to NYC to perform again at the National Comedy Theatre, visit London, and kiss a girl. One of my goals I never came close to reaching (Sorry, UK), one of them I came close to (I visited the gang at the improv theater), and one of them I more than met (hello, Sarah).
January 1 I ring in the new year by spending time with the Merrells, my brother’s wife’s family. Everyone is split into teams and games commence. Bowling, ping pong, card games, and Guitar Hero. Of course, my team (I’m paired with Ben and Myka) emerges triumphant. At midnight, though, the victory turns out to be short-lived, as I have no one to kiss. So I drink Pellegrino instead.
January 6 I attend an IPFW men’s basketball game with my Dad, Uncle Rick, and cousin Ricky. The cheerleaders are especially captivating.
January 26 I find out the Sundance Film Festival will be posting all of the entries in the short film division online for the world to see. I watch them and am repulsed. Positive I can do better, I begin writing.
FEBRUARY
February 2 I begin filming my short film The Failures of Ed.
February 4 I stumble across a TV show on the SciFi Channel, Ghost Hunters. In 60 minutes I am hooked.
February 26 In response to a blog I posted online, my buddy John sends me a package of goodies to post on my bare refrigerator. It’s more than awesome. A few days letter, my friend Jen’s package of refrigerator art arrives. MARCH
March 1 I travel with Dad to the BelTerra Casino on the southern edge of Indiana. We have been hired to bring and set up our boxing ring for a fight that will be televised on Showtime. It’s a Don King production and my dreams of seeing a rigged fight in person are achieved.
March 17 Proving that racism, classism, and sexism are still alive and well, we travel to the Great Oaks Country Club in Rochester, Michigan (just outside Detroit). Their display of discrimination and segregation would make the old South proud.
March 28 I officially accept a job offer from Fred, the GM at WJTL, a radio station in Lancaster PA I worked at from 1999-2001. I am hired to do video and audio production. Not only is it a chance to work with people I miss and love, but is also conveniently close to New York City.
APRIL
April 15 Todd, Dad, Ray, and I go to Ft Wayne to watch the double-feature Grindhouse. Todd and I laugh our heads off at the insane fun unspooling on the screen, Dad doesn’t know what to think, and Ray vows never to see another movie with us again.
MAY
May 3 My short story “5 Minutes of Fame” debuts online.
May 18 Still on my short film kick, I film the first in a series of three short films I have written called The Guys. Shooting on the first installment, The Coffee Shop, goes well and features a cast of characters I have met at Brewdaily’s, my Indiana coffee shop of choice. Matt, David, and Sarah make their video debut and more than exceed expectations.
May 24 Sarah and I officially begin “hanging out.” The rest is history.
JUNE
June 2 Sarah and I share our first kiss, a so-romantic-it’s-almost-too-good-to-be-true smooch in a rain storm in the middle of the night. Jealous?
June 15 I introduce Sarah to my friends — and the world — via a short film simply called Meet Sarah.
June 16 I move to Lancaster PA to begin my new job at WJTL. Ann and Chuck are cool enough to open their house and let me stay with them as I search for an apartment and settle in.
June 22 My short film The Failures of Ed is complete and debuts online, complete with original music by Fred McNaughton. JULY
July 2
The Coffee Shop debuts online, featuring original music from musician Steve Bridgeman.July 21 Sarah comes to PA to visit and we take a trip to Nissley Vineyard where I propose to her. Luckily, she accepts. My friends Ethan and Aubrey are there to capture the moment through photographs. AUGUST
August 13 I find out a co-worker, Kate, is moving out of her downtown apartment and I am soon living in downtown Lancaster enjoying the city life once again.
SEPTEMBER
September 2 I head up to John & Lisa’s lake house along with our other co-workers Stacey, Mindy, and Ann. Nice to be on a tube again!
September 18 During another trip to Pennsylvania, Sarah and I take the train up to New York City. We visit the National Comedy Theater and say hello to Kramer, JT, and Lepine. We meet Sarah’s friends Courtney, Will, Ryan, and Ferrin and get to take a tour of the Saturday Night Live Studios.
OCTOBER
October 5 I experience my first “First Friday,” a monthly celebration in downtown Lancaster of arts, music, and food, with Ethan and Aubrey.
October 19 I return home to Indiana to pick up Sarah and officially move her to Pennsylvania. In a grand gesture of kindness, her mom Suzy and step-dad Ken follow behind with Sarah’s furniture.
October 25 Sarah and I fly down to Daytona Beach to get married!
October 26 My good pal Brewster officiates our wedding on the beach. Video of the event is captured and posted to share with our friends and family. The next day we leave for West Palm Beach, where we will spend the rest of our honeymoon.
NOVEMBER
November 7 Cleverly disguised as a night of Karaoke Revolution and Guitar Hero, the gang at the station throws Sarah and I a surprise wedding shower.
November 17 Sarah and I return to Indiana for our Indiana reception. We reconnect with old friends and have an in-general great time.
November 18 Sarah and I visit with her sister Stacy and her husband Nathan. We are introduced to the world of Settlers of Catan.
November 20 Back in Pennsylvania, Sarah and I buy a sequel to the board game Settlers of Catan, Starfarers of Catan, and geek out for a few days.
November 21 The film August Rush is released in theaters. I did extra work on the film back in spring of ‘05. It wasn’t worth the wait.
November 25 Sarah and I visit New York City again with our friends Lisa and Linda. We spend most of the day in The Village and enjoy a relaxing post-Thanksgiving detour.
DECEMBER
December 1 Sarah and I travel to Reading PA to see The Katinas in concert with Michael W Smith and American Idol’s Mandisa. We get to go backstage and hang out with the guys and are treated to a private one-song concert.
December 6 My friend Mindy invites me to be the guest speaker at a theater class at LBC taught by her friend Kristen. For almost two hours I lead the class in a crash course in improv. Fun is had by all.
December 8 Our official Pennsylvania wedding shower is a blast. Good times with Ethan and Aubrey, Chris & Kathy, some of the Gross family, the Burkholders, the Blowereses, Stacey, Ashlea, and the Zucks!
December 13 I introduce Sarah to the game Perfection. And then show the world.And that’s about it. So far. I didn’t even come close to touching on everything that went down and our calendar is full of fun things coming up. It’s been a great year and I’ve been blessed way beyond what I deserve. As you can see, one of the best ways to keep track of what we’re up to is by stopping by my blog or even my YouTube page (and, if you haven’t already, sign up for Facebook and be the first to find out about when the two aforementioned sites are updated).
As far as goal for 2008…that’s a good question. I’ve been given so much in 2007 it almost feels greedy to ask for anything for 2008. Actually, you know what? My goal for 2008 is to take care of what I was given in 2007. To be the best employee, friend, and husband I can be. That’ll be more than cool.
Thanks for reading. I look forward to hearing from you to find out how you’re doing.
Keep in touch!
Ed
Tricked into Fun
Posted: November 9, 2007 Filed under: friends, romance | Tags: Guitar Hero, karaoke revolution, playstion 2, ps2, surprise party, wedding reception, WJTL Leave a comment »If you want to get me to show up somewhere, then tell me there will be Guitar Hero and/or Karaoke Revolution. My buddies at work knew me well enough to use this to lure me right into a surprise wedding shower for Sarah and me. And it was great!
Every few weeks or so, I’ll bring my PlayStation2 with me to work and a few of us will stay after hours to play Guitar Hero and Karaoke Revolution. It’s always a lot of fun and usually around midnight we realize how long we’ve been there and pack up and head home.
A little over a month ago we planned our first post-Ed’s-wedding Game Night. We were excited that Sarah would be able to join us and Wednesday I left work at 5:00 to pick up Sarah and the PS2. We got back to the station and walked upstairs and there stood the entire station staff. I’d only been gone about 20 minutes and in that short time the room was decked out with balloons, streamers, cake, presents, and food from Boston Market. They yelled “SURPRISE!” as we walked in and I called them all “jerks.” They totally got me and I never suspected a thing!
It was a great time and it made Sarah and me feel all warm and gooey inside. It was like being home again, only this time Sarah was with me.
Halfway through the dinner, Sarah leaned over to me and whispered, “Do you think we’ll still get to play Guitar Hero?”
Of course we would.
We opened presents and laughed and were reminded again of what great friends we have here. Soon people started to leave and others started to get antsy: they were ready for Guitar Hero, too. After some mingling and catching up, we were down to our core group of gamers and the festivities continued.
All in all, it was a great night.
I’ve worked in places before where they claim to have a “family” atmosphere or profess to be more of a family than a workplace, but here at WJTL it’s actually true.
