Saturday June 28, 2014
77F/25C Cloudy in Rancho Lost Musket, CA
(But it’s early yet!)
MikeBo’s Blog
By Mike Botula
Welcome to my blog, everybody!
Now, I realize that I’m dipping my toe
into a crowded pond. Ever since the advent of the internet and the coming of
social media like Facebook et al, more and more people are realizing that they
can shoot their mouths off in public without having to pass muster with an
editor. I’m no exception. I love to chat with my friends and share “war
stories” with my compadres. If you’ll allow me the intrusion into your life,
I’ll open by comparing this to my career in radio and television, sharing part
of my life with you. Not a vast throng gathered eagerly in front of the tube or
huddled by their radios, but a collection of individuals that I can communicate
with on a one-to-one basis. Kapisch? You’ll have the same option as anyone else
who happens to tune in…..you can hit the remote and move on in a heartbeat.
So, I’m going to spare you the drone of
a biographical history. Rather, I’ll toss that in as I go along. Hopefully,
like Scheherazade, I can keep your interest through those fabled 1001 nights.
(I don’t want to say “Arabian Nights,” because the NSA will think that Al Qaeda
has a new conversation going, and I’m taking a chance just saying that).
I’m a retired radio and TV newsman-Media
relations type. My life has taken me on
more than 70 orbits around the sun here on Terra Firma and my Golden Years are
playing out in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. It’s been a long twisted journey
from Aquebogue, New York. So let’s get started.
About fifteen years ago I was given the
assignment for setting up a web site for the government agency I worked for. I
coordinated the work of our web master and our video and graphics unit and
wrote most of the articles. It gave me the urge to start my own web site, which
you can now find at www.mikebotula.com.
Check it out! There’s a great story about my dad’s adventures as a naval
officer during WW2. Charlie Botula was a helluva guy, and I appreciate him even
more with every new thing I learn about his life. Dad has been gone lo, these
fifty years now, but he is still my role model. There’s also a picture of my
mom, Mary Percy Botula. She was a nurse back then. Together Charlie and “Skip,”
as everybody called her were the couple that World War 2-era love stories were
written about.
There, I did it again! I digressed. Back
to the story.
I got a chance to do a test run on my
own blog when I posted a series of pieces based on my recent journey to Italy.
Mike Botula’s “Rome Diary” was posted every day or so on Facebook. Lo and
behold, my friends and complete strangers commented very positively on my
writing and encouraged me to keep it up. But, what do I talk about? Should I
write travel articles? Hey! There are a lot of good travel writers making a
good living at this, so I’m not launching a new career doing that. My late KMPC
buddy Geoff Edwards did it and Rick Steves does a great job, so I’d leave that
to them and Mr. Zagat. I am a newly divorced 73 year old retiree living in a
55-plus apartment complex in the quiet Los Angeles suburb of Rancho Santa
Margarita. How interesting is that compared to the adventures of an American
expatriate living in an exciting city like Rome? Well, I’m going to play it by
ear. So, let me hear from you as we go along. I’m going to do this kind of like
I used to do my morning radio show many years ago, when I’d play records I
thought people would like to hear and pass along conversation bits that they
could chat about once they got to the water cooler at work. “Hey did ya hear
what Botula said today?”
And, that, gentle reader, is the first entry in my new blog. Be sure to
tell your friends. See you next time. But, before we go…..today’s Almanack.
Through the years – June 28, 2014 (Thanks to HistoryOrb.com)
On this day:
1593 - Earl Mauritius
conquerors Geertruidenberg
1651 - Battle of
Beresteczko between Poles and Ukrainians starts.
1820 - Tomato is
proven non-poisonous
1846 - Saxophone is
patented by Antoine Joseph Sax
1865 - The Army of
the Potomac is disbanded
1951 - "Amos 'n'
Andy" premieres on CBS TV
Birthdays:
1926 - Mel Brooks,
New York City, American actor and director (Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs)
1931 - Junior
Johnson, American NASCAR driver
Deaths:
573 - Alboin, king of
Longobarden, probably poisoned by his wife
1914 - Franz
Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, assassinated in Sarajevo aged 50
Ciao,
Mike Botula
