To the Faithful Spokane Rockers and FREAKS ON THE STREETS:

Take care to you and thanks for rockin’ all of these years in spokane. It’s been my pleasure to share the ride with you, really. It aint racin’ if nobody crashes and burns, right? Anyway… we’ll see you on down the road! Or, maybe up in the skies! or… maybe in the back of Deputy Craig’s cruiser? peace / out.

Busy weekend… almost anywhere BUT home! Flew 300 miles, drove 120, watched 2 parades, produced a remote broadcast, boxed 8 Torch Babes, took 26 Vets for a tour of the Northwest, then…. finally made it home, just  in time to watch Jimmie Johnson win the NASCAR race. I came back for this? We DO have a few great highlights for you:and a BIG SHOUT OUT to the vets, the V.A., the Air Force (Fairchild Volunteers) and WPA for an awesome turnout and the largest Foliage Flight in the 19 years Washington Pilots have been doing this incredibly heartfelt event. ( …If you’d like to follow our route, the FULL ALBUM is posted here)

Down for the count

Then it was off for some well deserved R&R with those fun-loving hotties at THE TORCH. Always alot of fun in the Lake City; Bikini Bull Riding, Bikini Ice Shots, Bikini Racktober Parties, or, in this case~ the Bikini FOXXY BOXING

Put up yer daisy dukes

(seen here in THE TORCH album) You know ROCK 94&1/2 is bringing back the RACKPACK with this year’s search for MISS RACKTOBER; So, ladies, get those pics on in!!! www.rock945.com, be one of the 12 luscious calendar babes to grace our walls for the forthcoming new year. Oh, and it COULD BE worth $1000 to you!

What month would YOU be? …I’m still kinda partial to Bunny Month ~ but am willing to negotiate.

she'd kick your ass-=Gs=-

America… LOOK OUT! Here comes the next powerful punch from the Inland NorthWest… The band is From Sword To Sunrise , and, aside from being the hardest working band in the Business, they’ve been secretly building their mass appeal ~one city at a time. Opening for the likes of Trivium, All That Remains, Lacuna Coil, Hard-Drive Live, Rock Hard II (Static-X, BLS, Mudvayne) etc, etc, etc… And they’re unsigned (as of yet) so having A LOT OF fun doing it! We hooked up with ‘em just before the tour this time out for HARD DRIVE LIVE and asked what their “secret to rock success” has been, and were basically told it’s this being Independently produce thing has given the freedom to explore and build it from the ground up. Looks like it is working, guys! HARD-DRIVE *LIVE* plays Spokane on Rocktober 20^th and you can hear that interview, in it’s broadcast entirety, on the FW500 AUDIO page. I remember how much fun they had playing the Rocktober Halloween party last year as “Fledgling Rockers: and to see how far they’ve gone in this short of a span is just AWESOME!!! I’m sure when the right label comes knocking they’ll be ready and have the tools to shop a pretty good talk. Keep your eyes on the fries, guys!

Speaking of Independents~ 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 FIVE YEARS (A record for local Rock radio at the time) sometimes shipping them in from Oregon or Seattle - 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…

The ORIGINAL "Basement" set

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. The “day” people just aren’t around to do such stuff for us on nights and weekends. As a matter-of-fact, Mark in promotions back then was happy he didn’t HAVE to make me a page. (The staions website never changed in the 5 years I was there) But for ME: “if it’s on the air, you’ll find it here” has always been 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)

Always ON TOP OF THE ROCK

BUT ANYWAY: The point is; It was a Half-Decade of Sundays I’ll never forget; and taught me, very early on, how important this web contact with you is~ and that contact continues to this day. I still have the GEOFF SCOTT site, and a webmaster who doesn’t work nights or weekends; But it has now grown to over 1.5 GIGABYTES in size, and I am able to post FULL LENGTH AUDIO & VIDEO for you, over 11,000 photos, A Blog (you are reading), A Mobile Page (more for my show prep than you, actually), LIVE-Action *Cam*, The Bio and way to connect more freely with you on a regular basis and provide timely posts and important FREEWAY500 news & information on a moment’s notice!

Now…  TODAY: the website has more “hits” than a Google Deita Von-Teese Image search, and I love YOUR faces from all over the globe, I keep bumping into out here- and just want to say “thanks”.  DISCLAINER: Please visit the “mothership” at WWW.ROCK945.COM or else my boss gets mad… but we 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. I made my first Simulator on that thing. And then we’d go play MALARIA on the school’s clunkity (state of the art) SEVEN-WORDS-PER-MINUTE TTY with other kids in other towns…

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

As I look forward to continue in this contact and tradition, using the same basic NOTEPAD to parse HTML for everyone to access, and enjoy, after 20 years Rocking this place (see below) and two decades more to come let’s hope, huh?

-=Gs=-

Geoff Scott celebrating 20th consecutive year in Spokane Rock-Radio, TODAY!

'Rock N Roll Nighttime Authority' … (1993)

Dianah Brubaker Toland, Cassie Barnes, Timothy S. Klein and 6 others like this.

T.C. McGuire

now I feel old…being a “Pre-Spokane” coworker

4 hours ago · Delete

Beth Oldendorph Lange

get out?

4 hours ago · Delete

Beatrix Danko

Congrats!!!

4 hours ago · Delete

Al Gilson

From a former Spokane broadcaster and now media flack….congrats!

4 hours ago · Delete

Beth Oldendorph Lange

You’ll get a pin at the Christmas party now! LOL!

4 hours ago · Delete

Bob Koep

Geoff, congrats..you are a great guy and have a perfect raido voice….i always stop and listen when you are on. Keep going bro

4 hours ago · Delete

Beth Oldendorph Lange

it’s absolutely where you belong! Rock on Geeeoff!

4 hours ago · Delete

Carrie Craigo Seffernick

Gosh, you make me feel old. Congrats!

4 hours ago · Delete

Carrie Craigo Seffernick

Gosh, you make me feel old. Congrats!

4 hours ago · Delete

Tina Cooper

congrats been witcha along. Man Im gettn old too.

2 hours ago · Delete

Pamela Jacob Willmering

We LOVE you Geoff! Best memory? You and Cassie’s wedding. Second? Bret Michaels and C. C. DeVille. I gently still wash my face ever so carefully…..I still have my Corona bottle!

2 hours ago · Delete

Anne W. Gooding

CONGRATULATIONS!

about an hour ago · Delete

Scott Rusk

Proud to have been there next to you (for a short period of time) watching and learning from thee symbol of Spokane ROCK radio!

-Shanman

43 minutes ago · Delete

Geoff Scott

WOW! Thanks everyone!!! overwhelmed and humbled once again… twice in one week. Thats amazing. Anne; Thank you very much we wont tell them how long ago you were my skating coach. BETH: There are NO christmas parties, so I’m not worried about getting a pin! TC: You were my ‘mentor’ at AAF, you ARE old!!! (grasshoppa) Beatrix, Thanks you very very … Read Moremuch so much has changed its hard to belive I’m the same guy who used to play drums on the radio, MC the shows at “the boone-street-barn”, Host the after-show meet and greets, stop off at Outback Jacks, do my stack of production… and still make it home by sunrise!!! I still play records and mix CDs in the privacy of my own home and the drumset is right here beside me. (I just don’t break so many sticks anymore) AL: is the TAKING or GIVING “flack”??? BOB: …& obviously not THE FACE for TV (after yesterday) … CARRIE: EH? Can’t hear ya~ sonny. Remember that time we ~ oh well nevermind TINA: Not “older” just closer to “over experienced.

12 minutes ago · Delete

Geoff Scott

PAMELA: MEE TOO! our bottle next to the mellenium champagne. actually ALL of those bus rides to the gorge and Seattle and Canada with winners will be the best of times with a definate climax being on stage singing with you and POISON at the Gorge. OH, and the night Ozzy just “popped by’ for two hours unexpected. SCOTT: Your survived the “chainsaw … Read Moreattack” with me, thanks for taking the brundt of that. I’ll forever be in your debt life and limb. You didnt need those other fingers anyway.

11 minutes ago · Delete

Pamela Jacob Willmering

Ahhhh, the best of the best…..truly a privledge to be your ( and Cassie’s ) friends. So many of us love you and appreciate you for who you are, what you share and what you teach. God broke the mold once he made you my (our) firend. We are blessed! (((hugs)))

4 minutes ago · Delete

Dianah Brubaker Toland

You are a rock star Geoff Scott!!! Simply a Rock Star!!!

4 minutes ago · Delete

Geoff Scott

WENDY: you’ll have to share a memory with us. ELIZABETH & MIKE, I would never have known NASCAR like I do, were it not for you~ thanks for the asphalt and tire chunks in my eye. TAMMY: You should’ve been here when: I stood up in front of this sold-out Megadeth show and welcomed 7,000 screaming fans … with my fly down! That’s where “spokane If Ya … Read MoreGottem” came from And, to everybody else who ever gave a crap about rock n roll~ God bless ya. I tried top40 in Boise for like, ten minutes when Rock 106 became the PUKE. NOBODY rocks like Spokane; DONT EVER FORGET IT.; and I needed that wake-up call thank god ROCK 94 &1/2 and G.A. saved my a$$ from that dead-end hell-hole.

3 minutes ago · Delete

Geoff Scott

Dianah, you MAKE the stars shine! thank you!

2 minutes ago · Delete

Pamela Jacob Willmering

Well then God Bless Gary too damn it!

about a minute ago · Delete

Brandon Shuttleworth

A late check in, but congrats on your 20th year of broadcast. It’s the advice I received from you, and just your reputation in general inspires me to keep this Rock N Roll radio dream alive. I thank you for taking the time to talk to me when I needed some insight, and I’m glad to know such a triumphant enthusiastic broadcaster. Rck isn’t just music, it’s a personality and a way of life.o

56 seconds ago · Delete

Pamela Jacob Willmering

shhhhhh, I still love you best…….

22 seconds ago · Delete

Labor Day Weekend: After a great showdown of last minute concert activity capping off the final week of “technical” summer… Sorry I missed Jet Black Stare, those guys are great! But, Manson played TWO shows in Spokane on Monday (the added show) and Thursday (the original~ SOLD-OUT show). For most of the week we heard how good both shows were with an emphasis between the shows as we took your “Manson Sightings”. Some of my favorites  included; “Running down the Centennial Trail in pink spandex runner-shorts”, “Returning baby-clothes (with Twiggy) at the BABY GAP”, “Sucking all the sun out of a local tanning salon”… and the GP winning sighting: “Up in the mountains making who-haa with the Yeti”! Concert reports began to trickle in of Stage-Peeing, Enough Strobe action to send an anime’ maker into convulsions, and Marilyn didn’t like the way a fan was getting too close, so he threw a plastic can and beaned the dude off the head.(Angel’s report; unconfirmed)

Meanwhile, back at the radio-ranch, I’d been running a small “covert” operation, keeping me on my toes and doubly busy with additional pre-weekend duties. On Thursday, I actually (sorry!) pre-recorded my show and was escorted to a top-secret location on Fairchild AirForce base, where we provided live entertainment for 500 troops!

Beer-Goggle Run

It was awesome- all the E-1’s - E-4’s have some good memories with ROCK 94.5 on-base. I was SLIGHTLY humbled, as always, to work with these fine men & women who often give so much to protect our nations freedoms~ yet, seek so little in return. (And to think I complain when the traffic holds me up ten minutes in construction)

Food Is Served!

…So we played the AC/DC “WE SALUTE YOU”, as I tried to convey my personal feelings of gratitude the best I could; Mudvayne, Lamb Of God, and Killswitch CDs & DVD’s. There was the “Pie-in-the-face” of the Captain, The “Beer Goggles” obstacle course, The giant-Inflatable boxing-ring, and the ice-cold “dunk tank”.  Airman Roberts would be “dunked” like a trooper multiple times throughout the course of the breezy-cool & very dusty pre-fall afternoon. And all this, while sargents & command cooked the hamburgers, serving the long staggered feed-line. “better than M.R.E.’s, eh?”  Special thanks to the FIRST-FOUR program, SNAP (Ron Hardin), and Sr. Airman Peters for bringing us in for that truly memorable “company” event.

Its CAMO time

*** I actually miss hosting their “Open House” like I used to (for about ten years), so this was a great way to get back in touch with some of those old-fond memories I have of being a guest, in base-life. And, also, on a personal note: I was deeply touched by the many airmen who came up to me, took me aside, and mentioned how “you guys got me through~” or “When i was overseas, there was no base, but there was YOU guys online…” Or, “you’re my lifeline when i am not home” … i kind of had no Idea. I know we stream online and the computer in the back of the room just sits there spitting out packets of music and program, while lights blink on and off below~ but I never really think of those on the other end like that, maybe I’ll start paying a little more attention to what’s going down that worldwide pipeline. YOU GUYS ROCK!!!! See…. humbled again. JUST KNOW THAT WE REALLY REALLY DO…

Winners of BEER-GOGGLES run - TEAM2

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

-=Gs=-

Spokane came to Rock … HARD!!!

SPOKANE ROCKS!!! (HARD)

From backstage at the arena… ROCK HARD II with MUDVAYNE, STATIC-X, BLACK LABEL, Bury Your Dead, Suicide Silence & “From Sword To Sunrise” ~ Many rock listeners were treated to backstage hook-ups and the V.I.P. treatment, and that was MY job; The first group greeted by individual “what’s up brotha” hug from Zack, in the bands dressing room. Then we were told by the big men in familiar black leather BLS vests “Zack can only see you for a minute so have them sign your stuff, take a picture and we have to go”… and that sounded fair enough… But Zack never did sign anything for us~ instead spending the next 40:00 listening to Zack’s football commentary; (he should have his own sports show!) Spotting “Raider-Nations” tattoo, an in-depth analysis even Madden would be proud of. Gary said it best “G.A. & Zack have one thing in common. We’re both raider-haters…

Zack Wylde giving us the play-by-play

and that was ‘man-cave’ beauty” *Speaking to other band members, I did find out this would be Zack’s last “leg” on the current tour before knee surgery so we wish Zack “Brotherly love” and a quick recovery.

Then it was another group of Rock Listeners, and another short time spent waiting, before STATIC-X would emerge. Wayne looked great, was very upbeat, and stands like a statue when he greets the fans, perhaps afraid of any sudden movement damaging the signature “Static-doo” in it’s pre-show drying stage. Wayne’s wife (and former adult-film starlet) Tara, also statuesque-ly, standing at his side; equally as appreciative and generous to the gracious fan! For me, having produced Wayne, Tara & Tony before in the studios for our “Static-X radio takeover” show… I left Mr. & Mrs. Static to the crowd to sign and wave, and found a few moments to catch-up with Tony Campos. (the one who doesn’t need to go through the two-hour hair session before the show) I asked him about his plans for the future, as Wayne had told us on the radio earlier in the week he is going to cut a solo project next. “Oh, I do lots of stuff, play with my two other bands, like to ride (motorbikes) and this will give me a chance to get out there and catch up with the family” This evident as he greeted fans and signed photos while having a on-going cell conversation, that rang continuously… “Oh that’s my wife again…” (slight eye-roll) “it’s that time of the tour…”

90,000 watts of STATIC

I really enjoy hanging out with Tony, he’s a pretty funny guy. And Wayne is very smart, a heck of a computer and MIDI programmer (the keyboard being the un-seen fifth member of the band) I’d love to talk tech and production with him next time, just a note-to-self. Tara, as the newest “member” of the tour is great support for Wayne, and still gets to have some fun on-stage serving the band their “shots” as they play; dancing in her little shiny go-go shorts and pasties; And very nice too ~ definite asset for the band and plenty of assets for Wayne. (ar ar) No wonder they liked to play first so they could be the first to get back to the tour bus!

Tara proudly keeps her man hydrated

Now THAT'S a Static-Axe!

At this point, the doors opened, and I have to say from sword to Sunrise, ripe and ready, tore it up from the opening moments. Dang it’s been fun to watch those guys mature from the “baby” band that played our Halloween party at “Bottoms Up” to the major arena-rockers who have been road-hardened playing with the likes of All That Remains across the US. (Thank you LOCAL 9-4-5) J.P. had the honors between the sets and between those “Hellz-a-poppin” side-show babes that kept the crowd pumped while the big curtains changed band names. And that brings me to another “HAT’S OFF’: to the un-sung road heroes- the support crews, for excellent stage logistics, keeping all these bands setup and ready to rock with only minimal downtime between sets! At one point I had walked off stage-left and I saw a “parade” of drum sets all set-up in the order of appearance, pre-mic’d and on wheels~ was very impressed they were able to keep track of all these inputs at once like that. Kind of reminded me of the annual “Drum-Off” I helped create back in Boston in the early 1970’s (gosh has it been that long?), that still continues to this day, at the Charles River Creative Arts program… (My renowned drum teacher, Bob Johnson, and I, would call upon all of his students of past and present, and anyone else who wanted to grab a stick, just about, and we’d play various beats, rhythms, and solos with as many drum sets as we could squeeze onto and around the giant outdoor 3-leveled amphitheatre)

Unfortunately I missed the next two bands as I back to the station “to say hi” on-air, and send up some raw Live-Cam shots, but, came back just in time to take another group of winners back to meet MUDVAYNE at a giant folding table.

Mudvayne signs-in

‘Vayne was very cordial and very candid about their recent show in Missoula. (no, not too hot, yes, beautiful area there in the mountains, No, nowhere near any other city or venue~ didn’t see any bear, DID find a snake under the soundboard freaked us out! And the size of the deer that were big enough to take out a tour-bus) I thanked Chad whole-heartedly for the inside look into “NEW GAME’ as he had been so gracious in sharing with us the writing and creating process having written a great deal of it here in the “our backyard”. Then, quickly gathered for the photo-op with the very satisfied Rock Listeners, and with that… it was SHOW TIME!

Mudvayne… ready to ROCK

VERY IMPRESSED. With all “the big 3” headliners… I’m going to leave the reviews to the thousands of actual people who were there, and seemed to be enjoying the show, your comments posted here, and the call-ins on the radio show for the next week~ but let’s just say STATIC-X was tighter than Tara’s little shiny Go-Go shorts… Zack played until his fingers literally bled… and Mudvayne brought it all home with a passion for performance and non-stop barrage of ferocious chops and monster hits that you knew and totally rocked to every song they played. The coolest part? Having this show at The Arena (Thanks to the arena’s Matt, Brian, Becca, for their impressive “guest services”, and The Knitting Factory made our people feel welcome and definitely VIP) was the freedom to move around the venue and see these bands from just about any angle in the climate controlled comfort and chest-pounding arena-bass of that small-farming-community-sized PA system. If you’re reading this from “on down the tour” (Pedal to The Medal) be sure to go check out and support these bands for a great low-dough festival and every penny’s worth!

Chad, looking a little Vayne-drained!

COMPLETE SET OF PICS, FULL-SIZED AND TOTALLY DOWN-LOADABLE POSTED HERE

-=Gs=-

Looking forward to, and working way too hard in preparation for, ROCK HARD II (Friday night/Spokane Arena), it was great to take a break and meet a new band KREEP midweek who were in-

We break for KREEPs

_town playing after their benefit show for an 8yr old terminally ill child in Idaho. Featuring Ivan the “old’ drummer for WHITE ZOMBIE and guys from GREEN JELLO and we shared old-times back when Sean, J. and Rob were just touring the Northwest and I had recently recovered from a hernia surgery. Sean Yassault had just come back from her own surgery on the appendix, and our night backstage was spent exchanging surgical prep stories and comparing scars while our listeners waited for the rest of the band to come into the room. (J. and Sean had come in to sign autographs, Rob walked into the crowded room, looking at all the eager faces~ said something like “I forgot my pen” and disappeared back into the smokey hallway never to be seen again) Well, Ivan tells me Sean has a book coming out about those days with the early Zombie, and is still playing in the NYC area and so I was happy to hear the ‘old gang” still mostly keeps in touch with one another and we wish much luck and success to the new project KREEP. Hoping the CD is made available to us shortly but for now i’ve posted that interview on my UN-AUTHORIZED website for you to check out. I also have the ROCK-HARD MOMENTS with WAYNE STATIC announcing a SOLO CD PROJECT, MUDVAYNE coming clean on why they recorded and wrote NEW GAME here in the NorthWest, and Zaak Wild back awhile ago inviting VINNIE PAUL to join his band if he ever wants to. Classic Moments, and plenty of new memories made.

NOW, BACK TO WORK!…. So, you ready to ROCK - HARD??? hear all of the ROCK-HARD MOMENTS we’ve been treated to this week on the airwaves - posted below:

1. rock hard moment 01 with WAYNE
2. rock hard moment 02 with CHAD
3. rock hard moment 03 with WAYNE
4. rock hard moment 04 with ZAAK
5. rock hard moment 05 with WAYNE
6. rock hard moment 06 with CHAD
7. rock hard moment 07 with WAYNE
8. rock hard moment 08 with ZAAK
9. rock hard moment 09 with WAYNE
10. rock hard moment 10 with CHAD
11. rock hard moment 11 with WAYNE
12. rock hard moment 12 with ZAAK
13. rock hard moment 13 with WAYNE
14. rock hard moment 14 with CHAD
    

Or… get it all DIRECTLY DOWNLOAD ABLE (and more) on the Geoff Scott “officially un-authorized” website, and stay tuned… *live-action* WEBSTREAM begins shortly after 3:00 this afternoon! (today only)

-=Gs=-

back from vacation… and ready to ROCK… HARD!

Rock em if ya gottem

Finally, it’s time for ROCK HARD II Friday Night (Static-X, Mudvayne, Black Label Society & more) at the Spokane Arena!!! What a week to come back to- and to celebrate, I have whipped up some “ROCK HARD MOMENTS” we’ll be running through the week featuring hook-ups with Chad from Mudvayne, Zaak from BLS, and Wayne from Static-X. (Perhaps we’ll even re-play the time Wayne “took over” the  radio station?) Among the interesting topics we’re covering include Mudvayne writing most of their NEW GAME CD here in Spok-A-Lane, Zaak Wylde’s thoughts on working withVinnie Paul & reflections on Dimebag, Plus: Wayne gives us a big “scoop” on the NEXT Static disc. So be sure to listen throughout the day and the week for all kinds of interesting tidbits and “moments” and be sure to grab those tickets while you can as we anticipate a large last-minute run on remaining stubs.

Too much fun on the lake

*for anyone who’s won their tickets from us over the past two months, by the way, Wednesday is when we being calling out names every hour to see who is going to be upgraded to ROCK HARD V.I.P. status ~ our names will have 9:45 to call back and claim their v.i.p. SO DEFINITELY DON’T WANT TO MISS A MINUTE on Wednesday! Expect even more surprises later in the week; as we’ve all been tasked with our “assignments” at the show and it looks like I’ll be giving you an”inside” look on the “LIVE *ACTION* CAM” throughout the evening. Stay tuned, and keep the rockin’ …HARD.

would you want to work again?

The extraneous vacation highlights? Beav’s Bachelor party, A small family re-union, the Rock-Party Cruise, a “short” flight to THE GORGE, taking 12 of us to the Beach at Coeur D’ Alene, and lots quality time with sister Deb from Boston (who I hadn’t seen for 5 years). I won’t bore you with the details here, but most of the pictures of our beautiful area and some of these exciting activities can be found on my *officially un-authorized* website. See you soon!

-=Gs=-

Hey Whaazzzuppp? I’m officially off on the big summer vacation for the next week, but wanted to leave you with some stuff to check out, so, here’s the RECAP on JULY MOST POPULAR DOWNLOADS - from the top secret FREEWAY500 ‘un-authorized’ homepage.

12. AOPA - ‘Project Pilot / NorthWest Tour’ VIDEO (77)
11. SNOWMEGGEDON - ‘Live Broadcast From Home’ VIDEO (78)
10. STICKMAN RETURNS - ‘Geoff Scott / School Of Rock (Drums) VIDEO (79)
9. ROYAL BLISS - ‘Mosh Pit / FULL performance’ VIDEO (80)
8. WASHINGTON PILOTS ASSOCIATION - ‘WPA 2009′ VIDEO (83)
7. FLYBOY 11 - ‘Geoff Scott Solo Flight Practice’ VIDEO (88)
6. POP EVIL - ‘Mosh Pit / Storytellers Format’ VIDEO (98)
5. IN THIS MOMENT - ‘Mosh Pit / The Directors Cut’ VIDEO (123)
4. TESLA - ‘Mosh Pit Performance’ VIDEO (127)
3. JET BLACK STARE - ‘in-studio performance’ VIDEO (137)
2. EPCOT FIREWORKS - ’skyblast’ VIDEO (153)
1. SAVING ABEL - ‘Mosh Pit Performance’ VIDEO (235)

Some interesting stuff: Although overall web-traffic was down (thanks to nice weather, and being too busy to consistently update page) the bandwidth and return-visits were UP, as were visits from International web addresses. The biggest draws being; GODSMACK live-action camera from the show (on PHOTOS PAGE) and Geoff, finally getting his pilots rating (See JOCKS BLOG page). Some odds and ends are still to be posted, and the interview with master-aircraft builder Adisson Pemberton (see Below) is now *live*, linked to the WPA website & newsletter this month. Honorable mentions go to SINCE OCTOBER, METALLICA (on Monsters Of  Rock), and DOPE with the most popular AUDIO downloads for the month. PS: If I do anything really cool while I’m out, I’ll post it to the LIVE *ACTION CAM* PAGE, like a little visual postcard to you…

Now, where’s my sunscreen and giant yellow floaties?
-=Gs=-

Do you remember Becky “I promise not to scream…EEEEEEk?!?“

Becky and Joe

of our ‘HIGH IN THE SKY‘ let’s-learn-to-fly-heli’s video series from last summer? (See the VIDEO HERE) Well, her &  Joe, “PhunBobby”, and I ~ went up in the Spokane Airways 172 for quite the little flight-reunion of sorts. I had recently gotten licensed and Becky was there through proxy, curious and learning right along… Call it “the big get-even” I guess, as she was the one to embarrass me in front of all the rock listeners when we found out I could fly an airplane solo to Missoula no problem, but when it came to hovering a helicopter; I could barely keep us from dancing an aerobatic slow-waltz for more than a minute or so.

Safety is #1 on the list. So, when i felt the 30mph gusts buffeting my car ~ I wasn’t even sure we’d be removing the tie-downs, let alone piling four people into the 1500lb aircraft and departing for the hazy azure colored smoke-filled sky.

captain Gee-off

Luckily, I had some weather smarts, and had planned this venture for later in the day. (Giving mother nature a chance to relax)  For, even though they were certainly no “flight Virgins”… As the Pilot-In-Command,  passenger comfort is #2 on that list.

My instructor, Dave Dufor,  just happened to be working this day, and happily looked over my paperwork. I had the current weather, pilots reports (big bumps above 8,500′ ), weight & balance, checked for Restrictions, a Nav-log, and performed all the necessary calculations one needs “to be familiar with all aspects of planned flight” as required.  The biggest concern; besides the winds, were the four passengers in our 4-seat plane.  What if someone had “fudged” their weight a few pounds? Or had a 60lb camera? Dave made sure I knew the density altitude of our 2,475′ above-sea-level airport that day was 5,600′ and the Runway only 6,400′ long.

Spokane International

So, unbeknown to the pax, re-calculated and added a “fudge” factor, determining we may be as little as 30lbs shy of max. So~ we removed some fuel. Now I had 80lbs to “play with”. Dave was satisfied with this, giving “thumbs-up” as we all slithered onto the 109-degree tarmac for pre-flight.

Hot, isn’t the word- It was a freakin’ oven in that plane, with one window~ about the size of a microwave.  I warned about “the bumps” assuring them we’d return shortly if things weren’t comfortable. We’d also scrapped plans for “touch & goes” at Deer Park simply not enough runway available, and instead, fly for “pleasure” over lake Coeur D’ Alene.

Looking below it seemed everybody was out that evening! From numerous boats (looking like white caps on the lake), to the sold-out game at Avista stadium, races at Stateline & Spokane speedways,

'Lake City' …invaded by tents

to the small “tent-city”  on Sherman Ave “Art On The Green”… everywhere we looked, we saw people. All outside enjoying the summer’s sun, doing all of those things the NorthWest has to offer.  And all upon the rich golden-browns, lighter summer-greens, and deeper oceanic-blues of this geographically contrasted region.  (PICS POSTED IN ‘FLYBOY2′ ALBUM)

no puke stains, see?

Returning, we found the “big airport” through the haze of some thick BC forrest-fire smoke, made a rather un-eventful 12kt crosswind landing, commented to the ground-crew how we never did find any of those ‘727 shaking’ bumps reported; Just happiness, smooth air, and the most beautiful summer’s sky one could hope to fly. “Go see Dave”, I said, and “get those wings, Becky!” …when she finished screaming, that is…  in pure delight of flight.

-=Gs=-