WIXY's Gone Bananas

And I...won't back down ... As I left the shop this afternoon, I tuned into the first spring training game of 2008: Your Cleveland Indians versus the dreaded Houston Astros . By the time I tuned the game in, it was the top of the 8th inning and the Tribe was ahead 8-1. Not only that, but there were only a few names, if any I recognized. The good news is that the Indians won 12-2. Wahoo! I know, it doesn't count, but it is baseball . Meanwhile, back at the WIXYranch : We have just now finished digging out from the last blast now the forecast calls for an Alberta Clipper to come our way. I think I will buy that groundhog a blindfold next year. But warmer weather and rain is on it's way. I hope we don't have any flooding problems. The MrsWIXYmobile was involved in an accident last week. Mrs74WIXYgrad was at fault and sustained a concussion in the wreck. She was treated and released. The car however is considered a total loss so we need to look for a new car for my wife...

Cliff Note : This was originally posted on October 9, 2006. At the time, I was building my readership and I would place a link on message boards, such as the Radio-Info Contemporary Christian-Religious board. Those people didn't appreciate it when a non pro, such as myself. come on their board and gave an opinion contrary to theirs. Cliff Note part 2 : Recently, Kathy's Klavier had a post titled "Music and Christianity." She has posted several scriptures to go with it. I think that would be a worthwhile read if you haven't already seen it. This post is directed toward all my Christian friends, and those that I have the privilege of posting with on the national message boards, Radio-Info and Radioinsight. I have long wondered why one style of music is right and another is wrong when they both are used to glorify God? A little bit about myself, at least as far as my walk with the Lord is concerned, I accepted Christ as my savior on June 6, 1980. Immediately before ...

Yes, we now are being hammered in Northeast Ohio with quite a bit of snow. Drive into work was far worse than the drive home tonight. Going in, I wasn't even thinking about doing near the speed limit. Trip home was smooth sailing. For Moose and Moose, serious shysters for frivolous lawsuits. this is 74WIXYgrad . Couple of friends have some noteworthy material on their blogs. First, Cleveland Classic Media : Tim is starting to put some of his material on YouTube. First item that he is sharing with us is from the WKYC- Channel 3 in Cleveland, the 50th anniversary special end credits. It's worth a look. Tim does well in all his endeavors and I think he will also do well representing my home area on YouTube. Next, Five Pines : Jessica is back from vacation and sharing some of her many photos with us bloggers and others. Today she has photos of a bald eagle she had the privilege of seeing. Several photos already posted and more on the way. Thank you for sharing your memories with us...

Cliff Note: I originally posted this last week forgetting that Jessica was on vacation. According to my site meter she's back, so I'm moving this back to the top. Taking a look at my blogroll, I notice that bloggers from the southern states outnumber those from northern states. Jessica is from Michigan and proud of it. Why, I don't know. Keep in mind that I live in Ohio . Jessica loves cold weather and the activities that come with it. I discovered Jessica from Frasypoo's blogroll. The first thing I discovered was that Jessica is a photography nut. Second thing was that she is a proud band mom, like one of my best friends, Brenda . I first left a comment there when she took some pictures of her daughter Jordan at a band show. It was during marching season and we folks connected with our local marching bands seem to notice those things. Of course I have to interject here that Jordan's band, the Hartford Indian Emerald Vanguard , is a corps band, as opposed to the ...

Our dryer is on the fritz, so I had to take some clothes to the laundromat to dry. I got there and the place was busy. I got my clothes in the dryers and then went to Dollar General to get a few items. When I got back there were people waiting on dryers. So I got into a goofy mood and stating the latest dryer available-"Dryers 1, 3, and 4 are now available for your drying." Someone then come up to me and asked if I was an announcer somewhere. I told him that I announced for the marching band, and he asked me if that was all I announced. Ladies and gentlemen, I wish I could do that for a living.

This post gets me many hits from Google searches. I will add a Cliff Note at the end of this about a book that was written about the station. And to the new readers, the picture to your lower right is me from 1976. Okay, so I'm a sentimental old fool. But the voice of Len "Boom" Goldberg and that legal ID still resonates within me. I was a faithful listener in my late teens and early twenties after I kicked the WIXY habit. I don't care to discuss what I was doing in those days, however, since I try to maintain a family fri endly blog, but I still, to this day remember what their long time lineup sounded like to this day. To your right is a picture of me from 1976. Draw your own conclusion. I remember Jeff and Flash and the Morning Mind Exercise, Matt the Cat with the Coffee Break Concert, Kid Leo and his playing Bruce Springsteen at the end of his show Friday afternoons leading up to Murray Saul and the weekend salute-gotta-gotta-gotta-gotta-gotta-gotta-gotta GET D...

Michelle of Crows Feet fame has tagged me for this The rules are: Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 key words given (family, friend, yourself, your love, anything you like). Tag 5 other friends to do this meme. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better. The Family: I have many posts about my family. Two of the posts I want to link to is about the birth of my grandson, and my daughter's wedding. So here is *Special Announcement* and A Wedding Fit for one of Daddy's Girls . Friends: The first of what later would become the Top Banana award would go to one of my best friends and best supporter of this blog, Brenda . Check out Off Blog Friend Award . About Yourself: That's a hard one,and requires some thought. For now I will link to the third post I made, I GOTTA BE ME . Bear in mind I was looking for a font that worked for m...

Sindi tagged me to do this and Brenda sent me a similar e mail not long ago, so I'm killing 2 birds with one stone. Copy this entire list of questions and change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then tag and pass it along to other blogging friends. Let’s see how well we can get to know one another! 1. What is your occupation? A quality Assurance inspector 2. What color are your socks right now? None 3. What are you listening to right now? The fan on my computer 4. What was the last thing that you ate? Cheese Curls 5. Can you drive a stick shift? yes 6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? yellow 7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My wife 8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes I like both of them 9. Favorite drink? Diet Pepsi 10. What is your favorite sport to watch? Nascar Racing 11. Have you ever dyed your hair? No! I prefer to be premature gray and not immature blue 12. Pets? cat 13. Favorite food? Fried chicken from Milich's Villa...

Mel Kaye of Attitude the Ultimate Power fame sent me this article he got in his email, thought it would perfect for this site. After you read this you will find you may want to go bananas. BANANAS A professor at CCNY for a physiological psych class told his class about bananas. He said the expression 'going bananas' is from the effects of bananas on the brain. Read on: Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!! This is interesting. After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again. Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a su...

Stacy is a member of the world renown Terre Haute gang , the second of which to comment on my blogs. Lately Stacy hasn't blogged a lot because of life's demands on her, but when she does she specializes in humorous and thought provoking posts. Stacy also comments on several blogs, seasoning her comments with some laughs(he he he). she looks for things on other blogs that will help her. I like it when we help out each other. This group is all about that and Stacy is no exception. She is mentioned often on Sindi's blog, Life is a Roller Coaster , as the two are good friends. Stacy most importantly is very dedicated to her family. She wrote a post last fall about her daughter, Kelcy , and the social problems she was having, all due to weight struggles. Stacy did this to show her support. She also posted lately p[osted about Kelcy's 13th birthday party. Stacy's blog is simply titled My Thoughts . Check it out. PS I also like Stacy because she is a NASCAR fan- Boogity ...

I'll tell you, going to downtown the Justice Center in Cleveland in February is not the thing I want to do the most. The temperature was announced at 23 degrees and with the wind coming off the lake it made the wind chill very cold. Two things I didn't have to worry about being this close to the Justice Center under these circumstances. That was the presence of pan handlers and brass monkeys. So I park my car and go into the building and have to pass through the metal detectors. They're not as much fun since my artificial knee quit setting them off. No problem, I must not have the magnetic personality I thought I had. I go upstairs and wait...and wait...Then we now are allowed into the courtroom. The cases are progressing somewhat alphabetically and I was number 59 on the list. As we were being seated, I saw a sign that said that court costs would be $120.00. I got to thinking that for that much I could get a room at the Holiday Inn Express for 2 nights. But then again if I...

79% But severe enough. But it's a good severe!

Yes, today is my day in court. And what law did I break? Well, I'm glad I asked that question. Here courtesy of Cleveland City Codified Ordinances is the violation: 473.20 Muffler; Muffler Cutout; Excessive Smoke, Gas, or Noise. This in a part of the city where you stop at a light and sometimes you can hear what's playing on the stereo in the car next to yours than what's on your own.

The Ohio readers of this blog will recognize that slogan. One of my friends here has even worked for them. It's a chain of deep discount stores called Marc's . I was shopping at one recently and it reminded me why I don't do it more often. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against saving money. If I did, I wouldn't be going to the Evil Big Box Store(tm) as often as I do. but at least Wally World has some hint of organization. I had to buy some items for WIXYjr . A bottle of body wash and a bottle of shampoo. I walked into the store and got me a cart. First thing I saw was some pens 35 for $1.00. These were assorted pens with advertising for many out of town businesses. I went through the display and got 14 different ones for Mrs74WIXYgrad as she likes those type of pens. I then went to look for the needed items. The shampoo was easy to find once you understood the layout of the store. Marc's stores are like snowflakes, there are no two alike. Now you...

Alright now! This is the post everybody's been waiting for.... Well, some of you.... Uh Pat, here's your post. Pat Jenkins is one of the political bloggers on my blog roll. A conservative, he is the Rush Limbaugh of posters here. He comes to us from Springfield, Ohio via the golden EIB (Excellence In Blogging) keyboard. He also secretly hopes that Hillary is elected president. That way Pat won't run out of anything to blog about for at least four years. The two of us kid each other, usually on the comment page. His other targets from this "family" are Frasypoo , who he refers to as Miss Poo , and Melanie of Monday Through Sunday fame. He calls her Miss Monday , which is what most of us would like to do. The day, that is. Pat keeps up on the issues of the day and will most of the time post his light hearted take on them. If you check his blog daily, it will give you the urge to keep up on important issues this election year. The name of his blog is Pat J.(at le...

Happy Presidents Day : Only thing I can say about that is I could use some more pictures of dead ones in my wallet. I will try to get the WIXYcam out in the next couple of days as there is a flood warning for the County in which I reside. There is a creek about 1000 feet from my house that gets pretty high in those circumstances. In case you are interested in knowing about the news in my area, click on the Wooster Daily Record link located on the WIXY News Stand block on my sidebar. New friend, Chelle is doing a great job in posting a letter a day and a picture corresponding to it on her Life is What You Make it blog. If you've not been over there, why not? Today is "F" for Family. In this post, Chelle also reveals that she has a masters degree in psychology so if nothing else, she understands us. Legacy of Laughs : Those who have been with me for awhile know I like my iTunes and I get podcasts all the time. You also know I like mine free(if it's free, it's f...

One of the first WIXYcam assignments was on the end of May last year. I was on vacation and went around and snapped some pictures of former Red Barn restaurants . I sent them in to the site and webmaster, Rich Perrot posted them on his site , where he has several "Barns Gone Bye" pages. On the next page , one of my friends, Scott Miller, took a pic of one of the fromer Barns, which he sent to me, and I in turn sent it to Rich. Not to be outdone, Mike Dane aka the Danemeister, sent pics of two former locations along with some history and information of the current use of the buildings. If any one reading this knows of former locations still with original buildings that haven't been sent to the site, I'm sure Rich would appreciate the input. And he will give you due credit for the contribution. Email information is available at the site, Barnbuster.net .

I apologize to anyone who was annoyed when they came here and was subjected to "Disco Duck" on my music player. It was annoying to me, so I reached into my music player, yanked the record out, and used it as a Frisbee. Then I picked it up, threw it like a clay pigeon, and SHOT IT. "Disco Duck" is out of it's misery. And so are we. I then tried to have as the first song "Don't Worry, Be Happy." That wouldn't even play. Enjoy Kermit the Frog.

Best friend to everybody, Liquid , has sent some friends my way this week and they have left some very kind comments along with the promise of prayer for my family(BTW,WIXYjr is improving by the day). One of the friends I want to introduce to those who don't know her is Chelle . She is another Mississippi product who now lives in Tennessee. Want to know why Ohio only has four letters? One is we have small signs. The other is the OSU marching band would kill themselves doing "script Mississippi." Where was I before I so rudely interrupted myself? Oh yeah., Chelle has been doing this blogging thing for a little more than 6 months. Like the rest of us though, she does have a passion for communicating. Other than that she's a horseback riding, biker chick thats likes to fish while listening to country music. Note to Chelle: I enjoyed "Wild Hogs" too . As I implied in my post title, Chelle has two blogs. That's right we give you two for the price of one. Bu...

I am so glad this week is over: Last night I finally had a decent night's sleep and it was restful. WIXYjr is doing better and is looking forward to a more productive life. Cliff Note: Some of my closer friends know the circumstances, but out of respect to my son, I will not post the specifics. someone he grew up with once printed out WIXYjr's MySpace page and put it anonomously in our pastor's door. I guess this young man thought he was doing God a favor. Getting new friends : I will be posting welcome messages in the days to come. It now looks like " I Like...Because" will become an ongoing feature. I am now kicking around reposting some of my earlier work. That is if I can stomach reading some of my earlier work. I had thought about that as I was looking around some other websites. there's sopme of my earlier stuff that would be useful reposted. And a big thank you goes to those who posted about me on their blogs as we were going through our struggles this...

Struke is another one of my message board friends. We became friends because he was once employed in radio and television, and he thought that I was, by the way I was conducting myself on the radio and television boards. We had one thing in common: a former employer of his is a marching band announcer for an area high school. We started communicating via email and that's when I found out that he was a teacher in an area high school and that he taught classes on electronic media. It was over a year ago when Struke started visiting my blog and has always had something positive to say about what I had to write about. The blog Media Matters soon followed, and Struke's aim was to use it as an educational tool for his classes. Struke had the same Northeast Ohio audience as I and a mutual friend who is a former radio and television newsman who identifies himself as Newsnomore would stop by to give moral support, which to all of us Cleveland area message board posters turned blogger...

While emotionally, I'm not yet at 100%, I do want to get back posting some. I've noticed in leaving comments at other blogs, I've got to tame the inner snark. I feel blessed at the support I have gotten from my blog friends, not only from the comments, but from my email also. A friend like Liquid is a treasure that can't be bought. She is an expert on giving a hug from 800 miles away and was a great help when I was doubting my ability as a father and husband. Pilgrim and Frasypoo got right on the ball when it came to offering up prayers for me. They were among the first I contacted. Amias gave me support just with her continuious visits to see if anything new was written. I didn't feel much like writing many emails. I would just forward my Turning Point devotionals as I got them. I hope they were a blessing. thank you for the emails I got from those saying they were praying for my family. I also thank all my local friends, Scott, Struke, and Brenda. Brenda is always...

I may be away from blogging for the next couple of days as my wife and I tend to a personal matter. Please pray for my family.

Some of my first posting on message boards was on radio-info.com. There was a cast of characters there who went by the forum names of TimL, JohnnyMorgan, david5258, and others. One of the most knowledgable was a gentleman who went by the name of oldakronite. He was originally from Akron, Ohio and had the desire to be in radio. OA had realized his dream outside of the area for awhile, but is now back in Northeast Ohio. In June of 2005, OA took the information he used on his posting and started blog called Ohio Media Watch. Ohio Media Watch went from it's humble beginnings and now has over 1200 unique hits a day. The reason that his blog does so well is that he has more credibility than most local news outlets when it comes to media coverage in Ohio. OMW started as a report of radio and television for Northeast Ohio but has quickly become a reliable source for the whole state, which includes the Dayton/Springfield area, which may interest Pat Jenkins . Happy now Pat? The reason I giv...

Sometimes living on the edge can have it's downfalls. I had to go into work early this morning because I had to be with my brother at the doctor's office. By early I mean 5:00am, Eastern. That's 4 am, Central, 3am, Mountain. The reason I had to be at the doctor's with my brother is because he's mentally and physically disabled and my wife and I have custody of him. Back to my story. As I left home, I forgot the WIXY-at&t/phonecam. I thought no biggie even though it was a whopping 2 degrees(that's farenheit for those outside of the U.S.). Well I get to work and my fuel gage was about at the empty mark. About 9:00 I leave the shop and I know the first stop I have to make is for gas, and for reasons I blogged about last week, I don't want to spend any money inside of Cleveland city limits. So the second exit outside of Cleveland, which would be Harvard Ave in Newburgh Hts., I stop at the BP. The WIXYmobile has an 8 gallon tank and it took 8.6 gallons. I go ...

One more thing that I like about Michelle is that she is gainfully employed at the Evil Big Box Store(tm), otherwise known as Wal-Mart Supercenter. She has a sense of humor and hasn't gotten offended at my reference to it. Of course the EBBS designation is tongue in cheek and she knows that. She has even used the term in her blog.

Lazy Sunday afternoon. I'm going around the blogs adding links to mine when I get to this fairly new blog called Rusin Reviews , when suddenly I'm surprised by seeing...MY PICTURE. Michelle was giving a plug for both of my blogs. I enjoy the fellowship that we have here around these blogs, and Michelle does her part to encourage it. Her other blog is called Rusin Roundup . There last week she presented me with the "Toadally Awesome" award. Michelle is very generous in giving out rewards. There are several other blogs originating from Terre Haute, Indiana, so I may make an official proclaimation for Terre Haute to be called the Blogging Capitol of the Midwest. As a lot of us know, Michelle likes a good joke too. She will post some on her blog or she sends them to us via email. Sometimes it brightens my day to get some good jokes. She has been a friend of Sindi's since kindegarten, and was introduced to my blogs through her. If you haven't visited her blogs, pl...

Liquid's Photo Gallery: At the top of my sidebar is a link to the photo gallery of Suzanne Horne , aka Liquid. Suzanne is one of the most talented photographers around, and has quickly become one of my dearest friends. The link takes you to a collection of her photos, copies of which you can purchase. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery: Melanie at Monday Through Sunday has started doing something similar to my I Like....Because..posts. Melanie featured a blog called Loop de Loops in La La Land ( I love that title! ) It's a blog somewhat like Monday Through Sunday , which features a post about rain. I commented there and Kay come here to comment on the video I posted this afternoon and to thank me for my visit. Cliff Note: I appreciate what Melanie has done and she has given me credit for the idea. I'm of the school of thought that there is no original ideas, just recycled ideas used in different applications. I encourage anybody to do this, as not only do you ...

Press pause on music player!

It's now time for me to pay tribute to one in my own backyard. Tim Lones writes a blog called Cleveland Classic Media. It's an extension of one of his hobbies and that's old television and radio. Tim and I are very much alike but the main difference in our blogs is he puts a lot of research into his. Even though we consider each other very good friends, we have never met face to face. Our virtual meeting was on radio-info.com, where we were posting with media professionals. We both have posted on the Cleveland, classic television, and religious( sometimes referred to in the back of my mind as the holier than thou )boards. I was very impressed with Tim's knowledge of TV that we both watch as we were growing up. And the both of us have impressed the professionals for our knowledge of the mediums. Tim works hard in the writing of his blog and has the respect of many industry people for his work. He has a collection of old TV Guides and sometimes will post schedules from t...

I sometimes feel like a celebrity: I had a new visitor here this week, sent here by Amias. Her name is Maggie, and Suzanne tells me that she and Amias are long time friends. I thought I would check out her blogs, Southern Women With Backbones and Liquid Ice Musing . I got there and what do you know? This blog was already on her list of links at both. WOW! I am flattered, but I am humbled as well. Her links are not on the spot formerly known as Great Photos and Humor from Mississippi. It's now called "All Liquid All the Time." My post from this morning may have been ill timed. I wrote a post this morning titled "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" which involved my distaste with the Cleveland, Ohio police department. I even posted a link on a couple of message boards at Cleveland.com. On my way home this morning, I hear Mike Trivisonno talking to some people about an incident concerning the SWAT team and a friend of Triv's. The SWAT team stormed into the man's residenc...

My good teacher friend, Struke , has decided to go where no man or woman has ventured before and has let one of his students take over his blog for one post, which he has titled Student Rants . Check out the first of what looks to be a promising series.

It is lunchtime and as promised I am posting another of my I Like...posts. Frasypoo , of This and That fame, is one of the most unique on my blog roll. Born in India, she came to this country to meet her husband. Being from a line of Christian missionaries, it's fitting that I regard her as a missionary from India to the United States, as this country has come to the point where we need some. When I was giving my Top Banana awards late last year, Frasypoo got the God and Country award. She come here, feet running and got very vocally inviolved with Republican Party politics. Those of us born here should follow her example. I also hear that she is a very good cook. Makes me want to go to Georgia and stop at her house for supper. But not to worry about her gaining too much because Frasypoo is also a runner and is training to run a half marathon. I have saved the best thing for last. I feel very confident in her relationship with the Lord, as I do many of my blog friends. Frasypoo ha...

First, yesterday I had a record number of hits here. Thank you to all my friends, as you help make this happen. The WIXYmobile is now at the muffler shop, and my problem will be fixed today. I will call municipal court to see if they will throw this out with proof of repair. Anyway this will give the Cleveland police time to do more important things, like looking for real criminals. I drove the MrsWIXYmobile to work today, costing my wife a day's pay. If I can't get this thrown out, I will go in person to pay the fine, and will keep copies of the receipt, as I have to renew my drivers license this year. I will go to renew in plenty of time, just in case a warrent block is again placed on my license. I promise that I will be back at lunch time to post another "I like...because" post. still have some steam to let off.

Cliff Note: We interrupt this normally upbeat blog to do some venting. The postive 74WIXYgrad will return to this space tomorrow. "The problem is,we have a problem"-Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson Cleveland, Ohio- Population 478,000. The mistake on the lake. No major sports championships since 1964. Current mayor would look more at home at the city mission instead of city hall. Last mayor had a great idea for revenue-adopting trash cans. Mayor before that said prior to leaving office that the city had a 12 million dollar surplus, however when his predecessor took office, she found that the city didn't have a surplus and was in debt. Another former mayor, now a U.S. Congressman took the city in default. The only major US city to go into default since the depression. And this guy thought that people would actually vote for him for president? Quick question: What does Charlie McCarthy and Dennis Kucinich have in common? They are both dummies. Your next question probably is, ...

When I think of Bella, I think of the time I had to get some boiled peanuts at the convenience store in Florida. Bella had written a post about the peanut festival in her home town. I was told by my wife and her parents that I wouldn't like them. when I tried them, I found out they were okay, that they tasted like chick peas. Bella is an ob-gyn nurse in Alabama. As such many children come into the world and the first thing they may see is her face. After this, they are in for a major disappointment when they start seeing other people. But Bella is more than just another pretty face, she is a very interesting person. She posted that her first job was at Hardees . I'm still trying to picture her wearing one of those polyester uniforms, complete with the ugly hat over all that hair. Also, I can now see why she made the decision to join PETA. And she went from Hardees to health care. Go figure. Bella is also green, meaning she drives a hybrid and eats organic food. One of the first...

First, by request : My brother Buckeye, Pat Jenkins , is feeling unloved, so I am going to give his blog a plug. It's called Pat J. thinks he knows it all , and it's a personal/political blog. Check out his short and not so sweet review of Super Tuesday. Much thanks to those who went over to wish Diamond a happy birthday yesterday. She has written a thank you post and gave out awards . I received the Biggest Heart Award . Thank you Diamond. May you be at your target weight before your next birthday. I hope everybody is enjoying the I like......because posts. I do this not only to brag on my blog roll, but to hopefully increase traffic to them since not all of our blog rolls are identical. My aim is not only to work everybody in, but to make everybody proud of their efforts. I have a great blog roll. I want everybody to have a SUPER day.