As I watched the Astros make their unbelievable run into the postseason this year, I could not help but think of the old times. The Oilers playing Pittsburgh trying to get to the Super Bowl. The Rockets and their back-to-back championships. And these Astros. For all that went wrong this year, our city is better off having watched this team come together and play baseball the way it was meant to be played. I do not know how this team will look next year, but I know one thing: I will never doubt them again. They deserve that much from me. Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio are really what is right in today's sports world. If they never win a championship, it will not be from lack of desire.

This brings me to another point. I love what I do. Sure there are some mornings I wake up after a really long reception and load out and I'm sore all over. I may complain some, but I love what I do. I get paid to share and help create special moments for my clients. Writing that just made me smile. Meeting new people and having them trust you with their reception is a feeling I really cannot explain. I imagine it's just like winning a seventh Cy Young award. When I meet my clients and get to know them, they become more than clients. They are friends that are trusting me.

After a recent reception ended, Tina (the Bride) came up to me and said thank you for such a wonderful evening. It was perfect! I felt such pride in hearing that. I knew my night was complete, but then her father also approached me to let me know that he had enjoyed the night so much. He was from out of town and hired me based on a conversation with his daughter. He wanted me to know how happy he was that he used TMAC Sound and that I made the night perfect. I said thank you and waited for the room to clear out. I sat there for a few minutes thinking to myself just how lucky I really am. I have what everybody dreams of. A wife I love with all my heart, friends that are the best friends in the world and a job that I would never trade for anything. Yes, life is good.

Local mobile DJs have joined forces to create an organization of some of the most talented DJ entertainers in the greater Houston area. The American Disc Jockey Association (ADJA) formed a local chapter in Houston, Texas, to promote and educate the Houston marketplace. The ADJA, an association of mobile entertainers, encourages the success of its members through continuous education, camaraderie and networking.

The primary goal of the ADJA is to educate DJs, so that each member acts ethically and responsibly and educates consumers on how to go about choosing a professional DJ for their event. Association members commit to educating themselves, their peers and the marketplace on servicing and exceeding client expectations. They are confident that their members will provide customers with the best possible entertainment for their event.

Houston American Disc Jockey Association (HADJA) Mission Statement

The Purpose and ongoing Mission of the Houston Chapter of the American Disc Jockey Association is to produce educational content, promote networking and provide support for our members. Our intention is to gather the most talented DJ entertainers together to achieve greater impact to benefit our clients by providing higher calibers of service, performance, talent and professionalism to the Houston marketplace.

Gone are the days when a DJ had to carry around hundreds of CDs to every event. Computers have helped solve this problem by allowing us to carry every song we own on our hard drives. Instead of bringing all 5,000 CDs I own to an event, I now only have to bring my computer and back-up computer.

Visosonic has invented, in my opinion, the best DJ software available: PCDJ FX. It does so much more than play music. You can set up waitlists to play during dinner or make a big play list that the client wanted for his or her event. It takes all of a few seconds to look up songs by title, artist or even album title. Mix on the fly or use the loop editor--the possibilities are almost endless.

This alone would have been great, but now Visosonic has added karaoke as a option. So you can convert all of your songs to mpeg format and away you go to digital karaoke. Of course, there are still a few glitches in some of the programs, but most of the problems arise from the computer not being able to handle the program. Those who use it will need a good soundcard. Just remember the old adage: you get what you pay for. With PCDJ FX, you get a top-of-the-line program that is easy to use. For more information, visit www.pcdj.com.

One of the more difficult things that ProFX does each year has been to build a haunted house. This past year's effort had young and old trembling as the walked through "The Haunt On 1960." One of the secrets of their success is the planning they put into the project. Rodney Davis is a major driving force when it comes to the design of the haunted house, and he was recently featured on the cover of the Houston Chronicle's Houston section to prove it.

Another reason The Haunt was so popular was the fact that every night, there were live people inside it doing their best to scare anyone and everyone. That cannot be duplicated by a machine or a video. To see a little girl come walking toward you asking you to play is not such a bid deal unless she is white as a ghost has a sliced neck and just will not go away. Trust me. For more information on times, location and dates of operation visit them at www.thehaunton1960.com.

Music Cycles Like Fashion, But Some Things Never Come Back

It was 1999, and everyone expected Prince to make a comeback. It was almost as though he planned it. I mean, who writes a song about 1999 in 1983? But there was a much bigger comeback happening that year that I never expected.

There I was DJing a karaoke night with Roy, and some dude in a cowboy hat requested "Ice Ice Baby." When I get a request I think no one will dance to, I always flinch a little, and that night was no exception. Nevertheless, we started playing it, fearing that the floor would clear. And then, the unheard of was happening. Vanilla Ice was back on top. Not #1 on the radio charts, but #1 on the dance floor that night. It packed heavier than I had seen it in weeks.

Vanilla would score several more victories that year, catapulting him into the upper echelon I call the "money songs." Money songs are those that 99 percent of the time will get a dance floor hopping. Think "YMCA" or "I Will Survive." You can't help but start shaking your rump. I always figured that Vanilla Ice would be like bell-bottoms. People keep talking about how they'll make a comeback, but it never really happens. Think about it: with a name like Robert Van Winkle, how can you avoid being the laughing stock of a decade? And Vanilla Ice was. I figured "Ice Ice Baby" and his brilliant re-make-not cover, mind you-of "Play That Funky Music" were lost and gone forever. But Vanilla came back around. Like disco. Like Madonna. And like Michael Jackson will someday. Right?

Some never make it back around, and I haven't quite figured out why. In all of my hours listening to 106.9 The Point, I've not once heard New Kids on the Block. The Point's tag line is "Best of the 80s and More," but despite the fact that they were such a huge smash, especially among the female population-a majority of the radio-listening population-NKOTB are the bell-bottoms of our generation. Like Vanilla Ice was circa 1993, NKOTB were a laughing stock. So how did one come back and not the other? This business continues to stump me. And that's why I love it.