The Oppenheimer Report 2/12/18

It’s one of my duties at Hunters Bay Radio to upload to SoundCloud all the talk shows recorded at HBR during the week. People who are so inclined can then listen to the shows on demand by going to the SoundCloud HBR podcast page. One of the mandates of community radio is to provide a certain percentage of talk radio, and Hunters Bay Radio features some good local shows. My particular favorite is a show is called Food For Thought and is hosted by my friend, Catherine Cole. Catherine owns a local health food store, and she very effectively explains why it matters what we put in our bodies. While I was loading in the shows from the last week, I listened to a little of another local show, called The Car Show, dealing as you would expect with all things car related. I learned why the 1990s inline six cylinder engine used in the Toyota Celica was a remarkable motor, specifically for it’s ease of modification.  

Learning machine that I am, I like to listen to talk radio, and I especially enjoy listening  when I’m in the car. When we still lived in Toronto, I used to listen to Talk Radio AM 640, and I particularly enjoyed the call in shows. When I lived in Buffalo, I used to listen to Howard Stern, before he was given free reign on satellite radio, and when he was at his most outrageous. I once had to pull over to the side of the road because one of Howard’s rants had me laughing so hard.  

Whenever Shauna and I went on a road trip, we listened to talk radio. I distinctly remember driving through the moonless, starlit spring darkness somewhere around Wawa, Ontario, lost in the captivating, if incredible science fiction of Art Bell’s syndicated Coast To Coast show. There I was, at 

3 A.M. in the middle of nowhere, with no one else on the road, and Shauna asleep beside me, listening to some guy spout off about the Kenndy assassination. Alien abductions, sinister conspiracies, monsters, shadow people; you name it, you’d hear about it on the  Coast To Coast show. George Noory has taken over the hosting duties, but I think Bell is still on from time to time.

We’ve been watching the Winter Olympics competitions which began last week in PyeongChang, S. Korea, and I’ve particularly enjoyed watching the slopestyle snowboarding. Some of those aerial acrobatics are simply amazing to watch. Last night, two Canadians made the podium in that competition. I’ve also enjoyed the figure skating. As always, CBC coverage has been fantastic, and I’ve even begun to appreciate curling. It may take a little more time. I’m looking forward to watching the skiing competitions, and especially the Giant Slalom and Downhill races.

Finally, it is with sadness that I acknowledge the passing of one of the world’s great crooners; Vic Damone, a dear friend of the Taylor family, has passed on at the age of 89. Sinatra once said Vic Damone had the best pipes in the business, and I think most pros would agree. For various reasons, most which have to do with the ubiquitous dysfunction of the music business, Vic did not achieve the fame of other crooners like Sinatra, Bennett or Crosby. Shauna and I first met because I’d heard that Vic had recorded one of her songs. I’m sorry I never had the opportunity to meet him in person. As I have mentioned more than once, Shauna’s 93 year-old mom ET hosts a show on Sunday nights called Martini Music, and that show always begins with the song Shauna and ET wrote and Vic Damone covered, entitled Every Time I Look At You. RIP Vic Damone, you will be missed.

Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED