University of Arizona men's basketball coach Lute Olson has decided to sell his house.

The nearly 8,000 square foot house on East Finisterra Drive in the foothills is described in the listing by the Tucson Association of Realtors as a "stunning Mediterranean masterpiece".

Owning a piece of what is probably now Tucson history (he is one of our most famous residents you know) would be the coolest thing ever!

It'll only cost you $4.1 million bucks.

No word on whether it comes with a basketball court.

If you're looking for fireworks displays in Tucson you won't have to travel far.  There are displays in all areas of our city:

Thursday July 3:

Casino Del Sol and Casino of the Sun a.k.a. The Sol Casinos are having a fireworks show at Casino Del Sol (on Valencia 5 miles west of I-19).  The show begins just after 8 p.m.  Free admission.

Friday July 4:

JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort will have a fireworks show at the resort (3800 W. Starr Pass Rd.) at 9 p.m.  $30 for adults, $15 for kids ages 6-12, kids under 6 are free.  Ticket price includes a barbecue.  www.jwmarriottstarrpass.com for ticket info.

The "A" Mountain fireworks show will start at about 9 p.m.  There is a Kids Stars & Stripes Fiesta at the Tucson Convention Center before the fireworks with a barbecue and ice cream for sale.  The fireworks show is free but if you decide to park at the TCC it'll cost you $4.

The "Star Spangled Spectacular" at Tucson Electric Park follows the Tucson Sidewinders baseball game.  This is the last year the Sidewinders will be playing in Tucson so it might be fun to go to this one just for nostalgia's sake.  Fireworks follow the game which starts at 6 p.m.

The Westin La Paloma has activities all day (which are for resort guests only) and a fireworks show which starts around 9 p.m.  Maybe you can find a parking spot in a neighborhood nearby.

Marana is having it's fireworks show this year at Ora Mae Harn Park, 13250 N. Lon Adams Road.  Lots fill up by 8:30 p.m.and parking is $5 but the fireworks show is free at 9 p.m.  Activities at the park start at 6 p.m. including arts and crafts, live music, a watermelon eating contest and balloon sculpting.  Food will be for sale or you can bring blankets and your own grub and make your own picnic.

Hilton El Conquistador in Oro Valley has fireworks this year.  There's a rock concert and activities before the concert at El Conquistador.  You must buy tickets to the rock concert to be on hotel property.  If you want to do it on the cheap and just see the fireworks you can bring a blanket to Canada Del Oro Riverfront Park at 551 W. Lambert Lane.  Admission is free but a non perishable food donation is encouraged for the food bank and they'll also have music synchronized to the fireworks display which will start at about 9 p.m.

Happy Birthday America!

It was a tough weekend for law enforcement in Tucson.

Pursuit of a gunman resulted in several officers being shot.  Two of the officers are with the Pima County Sheriff's Department and received minor injuries.  Officer Erik Hite of the Tucson Police Department was shot in the head and passed away today at 12:53 p.m. approximately 24 hours after the shooting.

Details of the incident can be found on the Arizona Daily Star website and you can read it by clicking here.

People who work in law enforcement, as firefighters and paramedics, those who serve our country in the armed forces, and everyone who works in public service are extraordinary human beings.  They make a choice to help the rest of us and many put their lives at risk every day.

Thank you to Officer Erik Hite for making the ultimate sacrifice to keep the rest of us safe.  Your family, friends, co-workers and all of us in Tucson are grieving your loss.  But we're grateful.  Thank you.

I was in our Marketing Director's office today when she got a package.  It was a couple of new video cameras to record our station events with.

The cameras were really cool except for one thing:  The packages they came in.

She used scissors, fingers, pulled, squeezed, pried, and what seemed like ten minutes later finally got into it to get the camera out.  It was one of those relatively new plastic shell like packages that a lot of things are coming in now.

I had the same problem opening a package of batteries a few weeks ago.  I wasn't near a pair of scissors and I used ripping, pulling, teeth, fingers, banging, I even farted on it and it still took about five minutes to get into it and nearly an act of God.

I remember when I was a kid how shocked my mom was when they introduced child proof caps on pills.  She was so upset because she didn't think she could open the bottle when she needed an aspirin.  At first she asked me to open the bottle every time she wanted one and eventually she got the hang of the push down and turn motion the bottle required for opening.  And I was the kid that the package was designed to keep out!

Now packaging is getting ridiculous.

I can only imagine what the suits at various product manufacturing companies must be thinking when they sit in a conference room and decide that packaging has been way too easy to open for it's customers.  "Gee, we should heat seal these hard plastic packages so that it's impossible for the average person to open.  Wouldn't that drive our sales way up?"

Plus, in this age of "going green", wouldn't it make more sense to use LESS packaging?  Plastic is made from petroleum products.  OIL!  Maybe that's the secret behind the record breaking crude oil prices.  It's all the extra plastic that stuff we buy now is encased in that the Incredible Hulk would find impossible to rip open.  Maybe the police should stop using kevlar vests and use packaging plastic instead.  It's so thick now it must be bullet proof.

Maybe if we get a little extra money in our budget around the radio station we'll purchase a chain saw.  We'll need it to open packages.  But I can only imagine what kind of package the chain saw would come in.  Probably something that would require us to drop it off of the roof of the radio station to open.

I noticed a couple of months ago that something odd was going on with Arizona's license plates.

Apparently the MVD ran out of numbers and letters from the six digit system they've been using for many years and have had to go to a seven digit system.

That's fine but someone decided to make our license plates look funny.  Here's a picture of the new plate:

In my opinion it looks funny because the MVD decided not to center the letters and numbers but instead to shove them to the right of the plate.  I am assuming the reasoning was that they didn't want to remove the purple cactus on the left side of the plate so they used the space to the right of it to squeeze in the seven letters and numbers they needed.  It looks odd.

Plus, someone decided that stamping the numbers into the plate was also a bad idea now.  So the new plates have the letters and numbers as flat decals.

I just got my license plate / registration renewal in the mail and it came to about $250.00.  For that kind of money the MVD shouldn't go cheap on me with the license plates.  Remove the purple cactus, center the letters and numbers, and stamp them on there.  That way we're not the laughing stock of the rest of the states in the country for looking cheap.

I am asked regularly by people I meet what it's like to be on the radio.

It's an interesting job.  Like any position it comes with it's own set of pressure.  There is a constant pressure to perform to a high level regardless of what kind of day I'm having.  I say a lot of the same things a thousand different ways.  I sit in a room (many times alone) surrounded by electronic equipment and talk into a metal and plastic stick (that would be a microphone).  I talk to thousands of people every day that I don't see although I get to talk to some when I answer the phone or e-mail.

The strangest part of my job?  The stage announcement.

If you're not familiar with what a stage announcement is I'll define it for you:  I get up on a stage or in front of what sometimes can be a very large crowd and talk into a microphone identifying myself, the radio station, and making any announcements requested by the venue.  An occasional joke comes out of my mouth.  Pumping up the crowd is usually part of it although not always.  At concerts I then announce the artist that is coming on and I get off stage.

I think it's the strangest part of my job because most of the time I don't see the people I speak to every day.  The stage announcement is one time that I do.  It's an unbelievable feeling when the folks that are there in the crowd throw a little cheer in my direction.  This job comes with a lot of long hours and rarely a day off.  It's the nicest thank you ever for all of the hard work that goes into my job.  I know when I'm there that everyone in the crowd came to see whomever I am bringing on stage but it's still a fun moment for me.

I remember the first time I ever did a stage announcement.  It was 1988 and I was working at a station in Kansas City that played hair band hard rock.  The station sponsored a concert with 1980's hair bands Warrant, Kix, and the Bullet Boys.  Over 17,000 people were there.  I was scheduled with one other DJ from the station to bring on the first band.  I was so nervous it took everything I had not to pee my pants.  I walked up and yelled hello to the crowd and announced my name and the place went bonkers.  I don't even remember what I said or much of what happened after that except when I walked off I could barely stand my knees were so wobbly.

I think every person's job has at least one unusual or strange aspect to it.  Mine is the stage announcement.  And I am glad to do it.

If you've ever wondered what it looks like looking at you from the stage... I took a couple of pictures at the Pima County Fair this past Sunday:

You looked GREAT!

The big buzz in Tucson today is the huge power outage.

The power is out in large patches from Alvernon to Camino de la Tierra east to west, and 22nd to Tangerine south to north.

I usually do work on the computer at my apartment until early afternoon and then head to the radio station.  I'm at home writing this blog right now at 12:30 p.m. and the power has been on here (I live a block from Tucson Mall) uninterupted all morning.  I'm apparently fortunate to have power considering the part of town I live in.

As I write this there are still about 25,000 "customers" still without power.  Many traffic lights are out.  I have the TV on near my computer and KVOA 4 is doing their noon newscast on generator power.  Martha Vasquez and Rebecca Taylor are doing the news sitting on a couple of stools in a nearly darkened studio and the weather forecast was done without graphics from the Channel 4 parking lot.  The normal live on-location shots they do as part of their newscast was done by holding a microphone up to a cell phone without pictures.

KOLD 13 and KGUN 9 each have studios outside of the affected areas (KOLD 13's is on the northwest side of town and KGUN 9's is near Speedway & Kolb) and they haven't had to face the adventure KVOA has trying to keep programming on the air.  Ironically, as I type this right now the studio lights behind Rebecca and Martha just came back on.

It's amazing especially in the time we live in how electric power makes our lives function.  Thanks to the addition of computers and all of the technology we have a lack of electricity can literally stop our world from functioning.  I can relate to this at the radio station.  We're not on the air unless the power is on.  All of the recorded audio we use (music, commercials, station identification, promotional announcements) are all on computer hard drive and of course our transmitters run on electricity as well.  Fortunately  we have generators to help us stay on the air during these kinds of moments.

Power is expected to be restored to most of the affected areas by the end of the afternoon.  According to news reports a piece of equipment that is part of a major power substation north of downtown Tucson failed and Tucson Electric Power crews have to be careful in how they bring everyone back on the power grid as they continue to make repairs.

If the power outage is affecting you this afternoon be careful driving.  A number of traffic signals are out.  Tucson Police are directing traffic at many of the major intersections but it still can be an adventure.  And turn on your radio.  Old School jams will make you feel better!

I, along with my fellow Mega DJ's, get a lot of questions about a lot of things while working the phones in the studio.  This week it's been a lot of questions about the upcoming Pima County Fair and Sunday's (April 20) Super Oldies Concert and Car Show presented by Mega Oldies.

I thought I'd try and answer some of the questions that I've been getting.

What time is Sunday's concert?
7:30 p.m.  There are no assigned seats so if you get there earlier than that you can stake out a piece of ground closer to the stage.  FYI - the Fair opens at 10 a.m. Sunday and continues until around 11 p.m. (I think).

What time is the car show?
That goes on throughout the afternoon.  You might try going to the fair early and see the car show, ride some rides, stuff your face with cotton candy and deep fried candy bars, see the bearded lady (if they have one) and farm animals and then enjoy the concert at the end of the afternoon.

Will Mega be there?
Yes.  I will be doing a live broadcast right near the stage from 3-7 p.m.  And gosh darn it you're more than welcome to come by and say hello and talk to a real live radio dj type.  Or just point and laugh.

What can I bring to the fair?
There are no "seats" in front of the stage so you might bring a blanket or something semi-cushy to put your butt on.  Although the Pima County Fair website does not specifically mention this... most venues of this type do not allow lawn chairs (so you don't block the view of the people behind you).  You'll either have to stand or sit on the ground.  And, they don't allow video cameras to tape the concert for your own use (the concert performers own the rights to their own performances so if you tape them you're stealing from them essentially) but still cameras (like digital still cameras or 35mm still cameras or your Grandma's Polaroid from 1977) are allowed.  If you'd like a full list of what is prohibited click here.

How much is it to get into the concert?
This has been the most common question.  Your admission to the Pima County Fair (which is $7 for anyone 11 years of age or older, $2 for kids 6-10 and free for kids 5 and under) gets you into the fair for all of it's glorious attractions, the concert, and the car show.  Also, it costs $5 to park.  A special Ken warning:  Make sure you roll up your car windows.  The parking areas are dusty and your car will get a dusty little layer on the outside by the time you leave and you don't want the inside to match do you?

Can you give me directions to the fairgrounds?
Why yes I can.  I-10 to exit 275 (Houghton Road) then head south.  There are signs directing you where to go once you get onto Houghton Road south.  The best way to get there is by car or truck.  It's a long way out for bicycles, walking, pogo sticking or roller skating.

How are the acts?  Will it be a good show?
Someone called me today and asked me this.  I've previously seen Evelyn "Champagne" King, Debbie Deb, and the Dazz Band live (at separate places and times).  We'll get to experience Carl Carlton and Al Wilson together this Sunday.  But I can speak for the artists I have seen:  Total fun!  Awesome!  Kentastic!

Where do I buy advance tickets?
You don't have to buy advance tickets to the fair.  It's a big place and can accomodate a kazillion people.  Or a lot anyway.  You can buy advance ride tickets if you wish and pay with a credit card if you don't want to take a wad of cash out to the fairgrounds.  You just need a printer on your computer and your credit/debit card.  Click here to buy advance ride tickets.

Will it be fun?
Heck yeah!  Unless you're a naturally crabby person.  And, since no crabby people listen to Mega you don't even have to worry.  You'll have a blast!

If you have any more questions that I didn't cover... e-mail me and I'll try and help or visit the Pima County Fair website by clicking here.  And don't forget to listen to Mega Oldies this week to win a four pack of tickets from us!  For the times we're giving away tickets click here.

Rosemary has this bumper sticker on her ride and I couldn't resist posting the picture:

This sticker is in support of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.  An awesome cause if there ever was one.

I got a tip on the air from traffic reporter Pete McNair that Mega Old School artist Young MC may be living in Tucson!

Young MC is the genius behind "Bust A Move".  He was a student at UCLA when he wrote that song and hadn't gotten his degree in Economics yet when that song became a sensation back in the 1980's.  I did a search on Wikipedia and there is a reference there that he "now lives in Arizona".  Holy crap!

Tucson does pretty well in the celebrity sighting department in my opinion.  Oprah Winfrey visits occasionally (she loves loves loves Miraval Resort!)  Adam Sandler's sister used to work at Olive Garden as a server while she went to school at U of A and I'd get calls when people would spot him gettin' some grub at Olive Garden while she was working (the one at Tucson Mall if I remember correctly).  Mega Old School artist The Floaters own Larry Cunningham moved from Detroit to Tucson in 2007.  He has visited us at the radio station a couple of times.

Diana Ross got her infamous DUI while staying at Canyon Ranch a handful of years ago.

The Baldwin brothers have occasionally popped up here as well.  I have a friend who worked at a Subway restaurant in Oro Valley and said one of them came in one time and he made him a footlong with everything on it.

If Young MC is now a Tucsonan maybe he'll be kind enough one day to pay us a visit.  I'll bet he's a totally cool guy!