WIXY's Gone Bananas

Cliff Note: I originally wrote this last year at Christmas time. Since I post links to Facebook whenever I post, I thought I would repost as the message remains the same. As many of you know, my younger brother, Richard, passed away in March, 2008. He had been wheelchair bound for the last 20 years of his life and I thought it was somewhat poetic justice that the day he went home to be with the Lord was March 4th, or march forth. I was thinking about Ricky today as it's a week before Christmas. He was always one of the easiest people to shop for as he was happy with just about anything you get for him. A true personification of "it's the thought that counts." One of Ricky's life long passions was sports. The reason he became a sports fan was because I became a sports fan. You see, when we were growing up, Ricky was my shadow and my best friend. As he spent the last years of his life in a nursing home, people were amazed with his knowledge of all things spo...

Today, the world lost one of it's greatest motivators ever. I read in an email that Zig Ziglar passed away at the age of 86. He leaves a great legacy. I'm grateful that I have some of his recordings in my mp3 player. They are gold. I first heard of Zig in the early 80's. He was the host of a radio feature called "Daily Christian Motivation." It was a five minute program, designed to make you feel better about yourself. A couple of years later, I picked up a copy of his book, See You at the Top . After much note taking and reading it through a few times,I became a fan of his. I also bought, and read..and read...and read, his book, Confessions of a Happy Christian . My wife loved the attitude adjustment the books gave me. Although I never met Zig in person, I look forward to the day we will meet in glory. I say this because we are both born again Christians. Zig spent a year in the early 80's as the first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention. ...

This morning, Kathy and I were heading into Wooster to participate in early voting. We thought we would stop at the golden arches to have breakfast. Problem was that there was renovation going on at Mickey D's and half of the parking spaces were not available. So it was off to another place to eat. We went to The Parlor, a restaurant on w. Liberty St. We have eaten there before, and the meals are very reasonably priced. And while I'm there, I always grab a copy of  The Vendor, a free magazine that gets most of it's revenue from advertising. And the magazine had some good articles. Most of the articles are faith based. I would guess the Amish community would be readers of this publication. There are also recipes, factoids, and clean one liners throughout the magazine. But best of all, it's free. And like most folks, I like free. The restaurant has some pretty good food as well. I had biscuits, gravy, home fries, and sausage. Kathy had corned beef hash and toast. ...

Over the years, the main things I have had to deal with have been health problems, They are nagging, but chronic issues, such as diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis. I can probably attribute most of this to either heredity or obesity. It depends on how much I want to factor personal responsibility. Being fat gave me a convenient excuse when I was losing my shirt as a retail salesman over 20 years ago. I would come home after not making any money on commissions and tell Kathy, "Nobody would buy from me because I was fat and ugly." Met a new friend back then too. His name was Prozac. In the past year, I have lost over 30 pounds. I feel better and clothes fit better as well. I'm still overweight, and I need to get off my fat posterior and do some more about it. Truth is, I have been fighting a battle with my weight since I was 11 years old. As an adult, I have seen a high of 305 pounds and a low of 186. So I know what to do to lose. Just isn't as easy as some like ...

This morning, I woke up to the news that former Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens owner, Art Modell, had passed away. He was a villain to the city of Cleveland for moving the franchise. Cliff Note: I know he was probably considered a hero to Baltimore for bringing football back and for getting them a Super Bowl ring before the Indianapolis (formerly Baltimore) Colts won one, but this post is about forgiveness. Cleveland, like many other cities, lives and dies with it's sports franchises. Since the Browns left, northeast Ohio has also seen several top athletes leave and "take their talents" elsewhere. These folks go from being number one, as a show of the index finger will indicate, to not being number one with the next finger over also indicates. Most decisions are made as financial decisions. We have seen this many times in business. People are either let go from their jobs, or jobs get outsourced. This gets plenty of ink, but people forget and move on. It's...

Okay, in the 6 years that I've been blogging, I have been somewhat harsh on the largest retailer in the world, Walmart. Most of it has been directed at the one I frequent the most, #2966, Wadsworth, Ohio. I have used the term Evil Big Box Store(tm) pretty much tongue in cheek. I do go there because I can save money and get what I need in one stop over the Giant Eagle one exit over. Out of fairness to a good friend and distant relative, I have toned down the snarky posts. Cliff Feightner of Homassa, Fl. fame, works for Walmart in a management capacity and I don't want that Cliff Feightner to get into trouble because of what this Cliff Feightner writes. Anyway, when I stop at Walmart on my way home from work, I like to go through a checkout of a cashier named Bonnie. The reason being is, no matter what, she always has a smile on her face and a good word for the customer. First time I went through her line, she asked me how I was doing. I responded with "Better than I d...

This past Friday evening, the Rittman Indians football team played host to a group of home schooled high school athletes called the Cleveland Knights. The game was originally scheduled to be played at Case Western Reserve University, but due to a scheduling conflict, the venue was changed to Rittman. Two touchdowns along with two point conversions by Rittman, and a touchdown with a failed conversion attempt by the Knights made the halftime score 16-6 in favor of the Indians. The Knights had no marching band, so my favorite group of student musicians had the entire halftime show to themselves. After the best entrance and band intro in Northeast Ohio, the Rittman Marching Band performed tan original tune by Jim Swearingen, called Fired Up . The majorette feature was the Roy Orbison hit, Oh Pretty Woman . During the next selection, The Pennsylvania Polka, I was recording the performance with my iPhone. I was also looking at my script to ensure I had the right intro lined up for t...

Sometimes I tell people that I graduated high school in 1974, "when dinosaurs roamed the earth." And to all you young whippersnappers, that is very much tongue in cheek. Today, Kathy and I were out and about, taking care of some business. We stopped at Speedway to get some fountain drinks. I went in to get the drinks and Kathy noticed somebody parking their motorcycle. He left the keys in the ignition. She told me about the motorcycle, wondering if anybody would steal the bike. I told her that I remembered when I was growing up, my dad would stop at Lawson's, a convenience store chain in Ohio, go in, get a pound of lunch meat(sliced while you wait), a half gallon of milk, and a loaf of bread. But what I failed to mention is when he parked in front of the store, he left his car running. Kathy countered with the fact they used to go to church and never locked the doors of their house. Such was life in the 1960's and 70's. When you lived away from the big cities,...

The above video is a walk through of the now defunct Rolling Acres Mall, which has been closed now for going on 4 years. A once vibrant shopping complex, it fell victim of being located in a depressed area, and of other close by malls experiencing renovation and rebirth. In 2008 when the final nail was applied to the coffin of this mall, I wrote this post concerning my memories of Rolling Acres . There are several sites on the web dedicated to dying malls, and their surrounding areas. To me there is some interesting reading. Most of us should be concerned to what is going to become of the areas where these malls are located. Will they ever be of benefit to the community at large again? At Rolling Acres, the only activity at present at the mall building is JC's 5 Star Outlet, formerly known as J. C. Penney's outlet store. The store still features goods from J. C. Penney, but at a discount price. And it is a popular location. The Sears store location where I once worked i...

And the 2012 high school football season is underway! Tonight the Rittman Indians opened their season, playing host to the Danville Blue Devils. Game time temperature was comfortable, in the 80's, and as it has been all year, not a drop of rain.  Tonight was parent night at the game, and the parents of those participating in fall sports, cheerleading, and the marching band were all invited to escort their kids across the field.  After pregame festivities and the national anthem, it's time to play football.  Though decidedly over-matched tonight, the Rittman team did not give up. They managed their only score during the first half.  Halftime saw a talented Danville marching band keep the crowd attentive with their three selection, beginning with the Jimmy Buffett classic, "Cheeseburger in Paradise," and ending with the Beatles, "Do You Want to Know a Secret." And then it was time for the words the Rittman faithful have been wait...

This is the video from last Thursday's band show. The videographer is my 9 year old grandson, Ben. I may have some more videos to share as the season progresses.

It has been a long time since I have wrote about my favorite group of student musicians. Since last season was cut short for me because of a slip in the mud, this show was important for me. I did have a few opening night jitters. But for me things went great. The Rittman Indians Marching Band was one of 6 bands to perform at the 2012 Mogadore Band Show. The other bands appearing were from the following schools: Manchester, Windham, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, Hudson, and the host band, Mogadore. Was a great night weather wise, as it wasn't too hot and it was not raining. As I got to the stadium for the night's activities, my favorite student musicians let me know how glad they were to see me. They tell me that I'm the best announcer around. I tell them the only reason I'm a good announcer is because I have a great product to announce. This years Rittman Marching band has 54 members and they all are dedicated young student musicians. Last night's show was a...

Well, I figure I will get quite a few hits for the wrong reasons with this title. I will explain this and my photo. I received the t-shirt from Richard Henry, the president of Henry Tools, inc ., this past Monday. I promised Dick I would have my picture taken wearing the shirt and would post it on Facebook. I also figured I would post it on my blog. Why? I'll tell you. At my last job, I was a quality inspector. My office was adjoining the maintenance supervisor's office. Whenever someone came to see Charlie, the maintenance supervisor, they had to go past my desk. Some would go by and say hi, or give me a nod on their way to Charlie's office. Dick Henry would come through and would always stop and inquire as to how I was doing, sometimes spending several minutes shooting the breeze. He was one of only a few who even knew my name. Long time readers of this blog know that I was called into the outgoing company president's office on December 31, 2009 to be informed...

Okay, I've neglected this blog for too long now, as it's been almost a month since I last posted. What really shamed me is that I've been on my friend Cathouse Teri to post. And she did post this tribute about her dad this past week. As I told have Teri several times, she has turned out to be a great friend to me. Don't let the "Cathouse Teri" moniker fool you. She is really a sweet lady who cares about others and lights up when posting about her grand baby. Back to my topic. Recently, my daughter has gotten me interested in Textbroker . This is a website that pays you to write, many times blog posts. This is something I have been doing now for almost 6 years. You are assigned a skill level after reading a sample of your writing. You can choose from an available list of articles, do a little bit of research, then write a story. You can earn anywhere from one dollar to five dollars for doing a few minutes work. You won't get rich from this, but it beats t...

Cliff Note: I'm taking a break from my usual Facebook activities this week. I'm not expecting a heck of a whole lot of traffic to this post since I won't be posting this link anywhere. So while I deal with FB withdrawal, I may be concentrating on my blogging this week. But I do feel my blogging audience are a real good bunch of people. Anyway, I was driving through my small town this morning. A sight I saw, and this wasn't the first time it caught my eye, got me to thinking. My thought was what jobs have gone through a natural attrition? The sight that made me think that was the empty store front where the TV repair shop used to be. Yes, hoe many remember not being able to watch TV because their sets were in the shop? How many remember before the TV brecame solid state, and a repair would just involve changing a tube? The independent TV repairman has, for a while, been a dying breed. Towards the end of the analog era, TV's had gotten cheap. And TV's also bec...

I started working on this post over a week ago, then got into a reading frenzy, where I read two books from cover to cover in three days, and posted reviews for both. Anyway, over a week ago, I was checking my site meter. Sometimes I am curious about where the hits here are coming from. I saw that a particular hit came from Wikipedia, that very accurate source of information on the web. I know that, in the past, there have been things taken from this blog and used on Wikipedia, and I wanted to see the reason for the link. The link was an article about Jay Lawrence, brother of comedian Larry Storch . In the article, it had mentioned that Jay Lawrence had died in 1987, and was a disc jockey during the 60's at KYW/WKYC-1100 in Cleveland, Ohio. The link here was this review of a book by "Big Chuck" Schodowski , long time late night television host, here in northeast Ohio. I had mentioned in the book that the famous recorded laugh used for many years in the skits was provi...

Click here for a review of the same book, written by blogging friend and fellow media geek, Tim Lones. The past week has been great for a radio geek, such as myself. On Friday, I received in the mail, It's Been A Real Ball , a book written by Joe Tait and Terry Pluto . Like the other book I read this week, I consumed this within 24 hours. But then Terry Pluto is a great writer as well as an all around good guy. Cliff Note: As I write this review, I will interject some of my thoughts as well.  Joe Tait is one of the best sportscasters to hone his craft in a market that knew a lot alot of defeat and disappointment His voice was one of the last, some of us who were sports fans in the 1970's, would hear before retiring at night. And for the most of 39 seasons, he was the voice of Cleveland Cavaliers basketball. Joe is a transplant to northeast Ohio who firmly took root. Growing up, Joe had two areas of interest, sports and the railroad. Like so many of us, Joe Tait was an ...

This past Wednesday, Kathy and I were in the local Goodwill store looking for books for Kathy to read. She found about 3 books. Me I just was looking more or less out of curiosity when I come across a book called They Call Me Baba Booey , by Gary Dell'Abate. The inner radio geek in me then kicked in. Mind you, I have plenty of books to read that I haven't even touched, and I'm also waiting on another book to arrive at my house that I've promised to review for this blog. But my love of radio is a reason I bought the book. And I read it in less than 24 hours. Gary Dell'Abate is probably the best known radio show producer in the world, as he is the producer for the Howard Stern Show. Now I'm not a big fan of Howard Stern, but I did read his book, Private Parts. And if Howard was in town and offered to autograph my copy of the book, I would let him. As I have said, I'm not a fan, but I am a radio geek. I picked up They Call Me Baba Booey and could not put i...

Is the root of all evil. This is more than evident when it comes to legalized gambling. The Horseshoe casino will be soon opening in Cleveland. One thing this will mean is the rate of bankruptcies in northeast Ohio will be on the increase. Also means the pawn shops will see increased business. But people see legalized gambling as the road to easy street and look for any vehicle to get them there. In some cases, this includes fraud. Several years ago, Ohio got their first Mega Millions winner. The jackpot was 165 million. The winning ticket was sold at a convenience store in an eastern suburb of Cleveland. The holder of the winning ticket had not come forward when someone else said they had bought the winning ticket, but dropped it in the parking lot of the convenience store. This caused a crowd of people to converge on the store to search the parking lot, trash receptacles, and dumpster, for the elusive ticket. The holder finally come forward with an unsoiled ticket...

Two years ago, in May, 2010, I was unemployed. I didn't know if I would ever find employment. I was told by someone as I was going around with my resume that "the white stuff on top of my head" would prevent me from getting a job. To keep my spirits up, I started posting a daily video on Facebook, calling it "The Morning Show." That became a hit with my family and friends. also encouraged a friend to post a daily video, calling it "Second Edition." A month later, I started posting my "Question of the Day." Became popular in time, but also became polarizing to some. Also proved I would stink as a talk show host. Though friends and family told me that my talents could translate in a radio job, I knew better. I have had those in broadcasting tell me that it makes a great hobby and a lousy career. I decided that this would remain a great hobby. I remained unemployed. During this time, I also helped plan a class reunion. One of my classmates f...

Many folks reading these words are bloggers. We do like to check what one another are writing. I have had people telling me that I should write a book. I do have about 4 books inside me. What I need to do is convert much of my stuff to my word processor, then to adobe file, then to the hands or computers or e-readers of those who want to read my words. I post quite a bit of examples of my talent online. Have I ever profited from this? Can't say that I have. I recently reached the conclusion that I am a starving artist. I realized this after having a conversation with a new coworker. This young lady has music available on iTunes, has acted in plays, and writes in a journal. However, being a young single mom of 2, she realizes that she does need to put food on the table. I can see her going far in life, as she has the gift of encouragement and knows how to effectively apply it on those around her. When she told me about all her talents, I replied that she knows all about the "...

I have been thinking about this this weekend. What have you done with the bridges in your life? There are several things that you can do. You can burn them . Many of us have done that, whether we realize it or not. We also have to suffer the consequences of the arson job. Two years ago when I was out of a job, a couple of things I did in the past stood in my way of getting employment sooner than the nine plus months in which I was out of work. Many others have done things to affect their relationships with friends and family. Sometimes the bridge can be rebuilt, other times not so much. Be careful with these bridges. You can camp under them . Too often we hear about the homeless living by the river under a bridge. Too many people and programs nowadays offer a hand out, and too few offer a hand up. You don't have to be physically there to be there. Sometimes wallowing in self pity is the same as camping under this bridge. I've always been told that God helps those who help th...

As many of you know, there are times when I wax poetic and I can keep the rhymes coming. Always best when I'm near my keyboard. This past Sunday, NASCAR raced at Martinsville. I was in my car when the race started. During the pre race show, it was said that Hendrick Motorsports were going for their 200th win. Their first came at Martinsville. The favorite going into this race was five time Sprint Cup champ Jimmie Johnson. I thought of this limerick to post on Facebook if this has come to fruition: The forty eight driven by Jimmie The car did not shake or shimmy Great calls by Knauss Brought a win to the house And the grandfather clock was a gimmie Needless to say, this is the first time I made this one public. And the grandfather clock is the trophy given to the winner at Martinsville. As the race was progressing, I started to post some limericks on Facebook. Jeff Gordon was dominating the race early. I wrote this limerick: Jeff Gordon is leading the pack While driving a...

As many of you know, I'm a NASCAR fan. And I belong to a group on Facebook, called NoBarNASCAR. One of the recent additions to this group is a motor sports writer and blogger named Candice Smith. Her blog is called Chief 187 Chatter . Candice chose her blog name because, "she's crew chief of her family." NASCAR isn't the only topic Candice covers. Like most of us bloggers, she likes to share her life with those who will want to read about it. But as race day approaches, she will let us in about things like food at the track NASCAR's visiting that weekend, or history revolving around the track. Her aim is the casual fan, hoping to turn them hardcore. Even if you don't happen to be a NASCAR fan, check out Chief 187 Chatter . I guarantee you'll find something you'll like

As most of you know, I'm a radio geek. And I'm not shy about making it known when I make an acquaintance of someone who is, or has been in the industry. About 6-1/2 months ago, I started contacting former WMMS  host, Jeff Kinzbach, via Facebook. I had found out he was going to be the band announcer for Highland High School, where I had graduated. His daughter was playing in the marching band. We had some good exchanges back and forth. I gave him some advice that he had probably known already, but thanked me anyway. A few weeks later, Rittman and Highland played in the same band show. Jeff came looking for me and introduced me to his wife, Patty. We had a good conversation, probably things he had discussed ad nauseum with countless others over the years. He messaged me the next day, telling me that he enjoyed the Rittman Band's performance and gave me kudos over my announcing style. About 5 weeks later, after I broke my ankle, Jeff sent me well wishes via Facebook. Saf...

I have been accused of doing much of what I do here on the internet purely for the attention it brings me. Sometimes that's true. But when you see some of the things posted on Facebook, I have to admit that what is posted by myself and others who have a blogging backround is much more original than the usual "repost this if you love Jesus" posts that we all have the tendency to see. And believe me, I don't have to prove I love Jesus by reposting a message. Now that I have my rant out of the way, let's get to the subject of the post. I have noticed others around me are wanting to start working out. I was told by one coworker that I have inspired her to come to work early and spend about 15 minutes working out. Another coworker wants to check into Weight Watchers. I received an email last week from a friend who reads this blog. He told me that he joined Weight Watchers. Top all this with my wife wanting to get walking, but not with me at 4:30am, and I feel that ...