In honor of Father's Day, I will be having a special broadcast of my radio show, "The Bruce Sallan Show - A Dad's Point-of-View" on June 17. I want to honor my father and your father with short dedications. My dad has been gone for four years and I miss him every day while I remember what a great, kind, and loving man he was - to me and my late mother.

Me and my dad - a looooong time ago!

Please send me your own stories about your father to bruce@brucesallan.com or post it on this blog as a comment. I will read as many as I can on June 17. As usual, my show will be available to listen to from my web-site anytime and is "live streamed" to be heard anywhere in the world. The show airs on KZSB AM-1290 every Thursday from 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., PST and is re-broadcast each Thursday evening at 9:00 p.m., PST and again each Saturday at noon, PST.

That's a 100-lb. homemade barbell my movie-star good lookin' dad made and is lifting!

I encourage you to call in during the "live" broadcast every Thursday from 11:00 - noon, PST to (805) 564-1290 or toll-free to (866) 564-1290. Or, if your bashful, feel free to send me e-mails, again to bruce@brucesallan.com.

This week's topic is "Were Your Father and Mother There For You" and it's a very serious topic and not meant as a Father's Day tribute in any way. We will deal more with the absence of parents in our lives and its impact on our lives and our parenting. I will have guests Wayne Levine, Rabbi Paul Kipnes, and Rachel Sarah and I will continue my tradition of playing eclectic and fun music for all our segments ins and outs.

But, please do write in with your dedication to your father for our June 17 show. I hope you'll listen. We learn from each other!

We've now aired two "live" radio shows, of "The Bruce Sallan Show - A Dad's Point-of-View," the past two Thursdays, along with the demo on May 6, which was pre-recorded and "produced." Things are growing every show and it's not only fun, but it's a learning experience for me and our listeners.

The radio "biz" is changing in so many ways, much as all media is so rapidly changing. I really need and hope for two things, one of which would just ease the work-load for me while the other will allow the show to continue for a long time to come, hopefully.

First, I would like to find a college student, most likely in the media department at UCSB, who would like to Intern with the show for I hope college credit or just the experience. They would be able to participate in all the prep, appear with me occasionally on the show, and learn what a "real" radio show is like along with seeing the inner-workings of a radio station. "The Bruce Sallan Show" does air terrestrially though it is also available on the Internet. So, the basics are the classic means of radio. It's fun, it's interesting, and if they can get credit and I can get the help, everyone wins. I like win-win situations.

Second, we need more sponsors and advertisers. As we have 3 distinct segments presently, "The Men's Room," "Teen Rap," and "Single Parent Dating" they lend themselves to sponsor naming rights, you know like "The Staples Center." For instance, any of the big or small online dating sites could sponsor the "Single Parent Dating" site. As parents and everyone is always concerned about money, saving money for our kids, a financial institution would also be an ideal sponsor. The demographics in Santa Barbara are terrific for this, in particular. But, don't forget, our show is streamed on the Internet and can be heard anywhere.

Those that commit early and for several months will get terrific "introductory" rates that won't last indefinitely. Should I add there's a money-back guarantee and we'll double the offer if you call right now? Nah.

Finally, and of equal value and importance, individuals can advertise in support of their favorite charities or a specific charitable event. We will give such commercials a special discount as the good they're doing is of value to me, as well. That can be a tax write-off to you and anyone involved.

One more thing which is obviously of the greatest urgency, is that fact I need a better picture. The one we're using is pretty pathetic. The Santa Barbara News Press will send out a photographer but if any of you care to "take a shot" you are more than welcome in our studio to see if you can capture me in action, looking just a little better than this photograph we're using, the best of the 2 dozen or so we've taken so far.

Our second "LIVE" broadcast of "The Bruce Sallan Show -- A Dad's Point-of-View" will air on KZSB AM1290 in Santa Barbara this Thursday, May 20 from 11:06 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., PST. More info and regular details are on my Radio Show page on my web-site.

I need YOU to call in, please. I want YOU to call in, please? Okay, I BEG YOU to call in! Lol. Here is the call-in information:

Listeners in the 805 area code can call at (805) 564-1290 on Thursdays from 11:06AM-11:55AM, PST. Listeners outside the 805 area code can call toll-free at (866) 564-1290 on Thursdays from 11:06AM-11:55AM PST.

Or, you can send e-mails, ahead of time, or during the broadcast to: bruce@brucesallan.com.

If you're not in Santa Barbara, you can listen to the show live through your computer. Just click on "live stream" on my Radio Show page. Past shows are available to hear anytime on my web-site.

The format for the show is broken into five segments as follows:

Segment 1 - Introduction by me, call-in numbers, and topic over-view. Callers and e-mails.

Segment 2 - "The Men's Room" with guest Wayne Levine of BetterMen.Org. Callers and e-mails.

Segment 3 - "Teen Rap" with special guest Pastor Drew Sams. Callers and e-mails.

Segment 4 - "Single Parent Dating" with guest Rachel Sarah. Callers and e-mails. PLEASE NOTE: For this segment we will veer away from the show topic this week and discuss the general subject of Single Parent Dating and welcome calls and/or e-mails on this subject. The approximate time for this segment is 11:42 a.m. - 11:52 a.m., PST.

Segment 5 - Summary, next week's topic, closing remarks and goodbyes. Callers and e-mails.

This week's topic is: How Our Teens Deal With Their Anger and Angst.

The show, as most will be, is inspired by this week's "A Dad's Point-of-View" column, "My Son the Rock Star--Teens Dealing With Their Angst" - which follows:

A Dad’s Point-of-View, by Bruce Sallan

My Son the Rock Star--Teens Dealing With Their Angst

Teen energy, angst, and anger manifest itself in so many ways. Every day it seems that we read about some teen that has done something unusually self-destructive, and occasionally destructive to others. Columbine was an extreme example of this. Many so-called “normal” teens tend to use or abuse the ol’ standbys of drinking, drugs, and sex to handle these emotions and changes. For my own 16-year-old, his reaction has been mostly anger. The irony is that I’ve found this to be both good and bad.

How hormones affect the average teen have been studied and documented, but no one really knows definitively their effect since each teen reacts in different ways. The same is true for most women’s experience with menopause, as my wife has suffered horribly while for her mother it was a blip on the screen of her mid-life. Will has done a little of the aforementioned “standbys” stated above, to some degree. But he’s done nothing extraordinary, over-the-top, or that different from all teens with the possible exception of his recent angry moods.

When I say moods, I mean moods. Let’s try a few descriptive words: sullen, quiet, loud, belligerent, intransigent, stubborn, willful, explosive. His impulsive behavior got him in a mess of trouble when he posted a mean-spirited comment on Facebook. The backlash, as it instantaneously circulated among all his friends and peers, was stunning. It nearly de-railed Will’s wonderful eight-month relationship with his girlfriend, as all her friends got involved, taking sides, and giving his minor comment a true life of its own.

At first, Will just got angrier and angrier before we really talked it out and I got him to post an apology. Sadly, the others that were now involved wouldn’t let it go, but this isn’t the point of this column. The point is how do teen boys channel their energy, their out-of-control hormones, and anger? For many, sports are the outlet. Banging each other on the football field till exhaustion probably can moderate any teen’s angry mood.

Will never cared for sports, but he did like and then love rock ‘n’ roll. It began with his getting an inexpensive electric guitar as a graduation present from Elementary School. He evolved into an accomplished musician, as he now plays guitar, bass, and drums, and he sings. Along the way, I supported him by taking him to concerts by legendary performers like Bruce Springsteen and Eric Clapton as well as some of his contemporary bands such as Green Day, Incubus, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to name just a few.

Joining a local School-of-Rock type of school where kids get put into bands and perform at local venues, gave him his first taste of performing. In his tween years, at which time he just played guitar, he developed a charismatic presence on stage. Or, as I tend to believe, it just came natural to him.

But, with the onset of puberty and all its attendant hormonal changes, this outlet proved even more vital and cathartic for him. Less than a year ago, he took up the drums. We jokingly say that the video game “Rock Band” taught him the basics, as he almost instantly was a pro. This proved to be the ultimate release for his pent-up anger and emotion, as he’d go and bang on the drums until there was a puddle of sweat accumulated on the garage floor.

His first performance on the drums coincided with his 15th birthday. He had been playing for maybe four months. Now, the inherent charisma he’d shown playing guitar, turned into something deeper and more intoxicating. At this show, the energy and magnetism he displayed clearly took the center of attention completely away from the singer, in this case a teen girl.

Undeterred, she responded with amazing calm and, cool as can be, integrated Will’s energy into her performance. Rather than fight what he was bringing, she interacted with him in an unrehearsed manner as she’d jump on the drums platform and sing to him. Yes, they had rehearsed, but Will doesn’t come out and show his stuff until he’s on stage, so she had no idea of what was to come.

That show was terrific and an eye-opener. He’s now grown into a wildly exciting drummer, guitarist, and more recently a singer. Suffering from a cold and recovering from a broken arm, he did vocals in a Rage Against The Machine tribute concert. In his 10-minute exhibition, he left the audience and himself exhausted from the power of his vocals and showmanship. In fact, halfway through it, during an instrumental interlude, he sat on his haunches and just tried to recover his breath.

This story is really not about my son, but rather about the need for our teen boys, and maybe our girls too, to have that outlet--that passion that will keep their wild puberty in check. Our job as parents is to help our children find their passion and nurture it as best as we can. In my case, I just need earplugs.

Postscript: My son, through his own initiative, made his rock ‘n’ roll dream come true when he got to jam, on stage, with Chris Cornell at The Roxy Theatre in Hollywood May 3, 2010 (to read about it, see the YouTube video, go here).