WIXY's Gone Bananas

Mrs74 Update: The home care nurse was at our home today to remove the staples from the incision. She said that the healing was looking good. I also got Kathy out of the house a couple of times this weekend, one being a trip to the Evil Big Box Store(tm). Tomorrow we plan on going to her parents house for a Labor Day get together. Watching the weather: Weather's fine here in Ohio, but all eyes are on the Gulf Coast, where Gustav is preparing to reach land. Looks as if our friends in Mississippi will miss the brunt of the storm and, as of this writing, New Orleans has been largely evacuated. Pray the storm weakens before it hits land. Next Friday will be the first halftime band show I will miss since I began announcing for the Rittman Band in the 2000 season. WIXYjr and I will be attending the Promise Keepers event in Cleveland at the Wolstein Center. Look for a report at Seek Him First . Hopefully I will be able to bring the WIXYcam in with me. I am grateful for all the support t

Friday night the young, but improving Rittman Fighting Indians took on the New London Wildcats at Rittman Stadium. The team has more players this season, mostly underclassmen, so I look for this season to be another learning experience for the young team. Rittman scored first last night, but New London controlled the rest of the ga me. This years band has also increased in size and will be going to all the league away games this season, something that hasn't occured in the past three seasons. Looks to be agood marching season. Last night's halftime was somewhat abbreviated due to an induction to the Rittman athletic wall of fame. New London's band, the Marching Wildcats, put on a very entertaining show. The Rittman Indians Marching Band took the field for the first time this season and the fans loved it. They opened their show with "Rock Lobster" made popular by the B-52's. Then as a tribute to the long time band director of Anthony Wayne High School, Bill Mo

There's no better way to "kick off" this three day weekend but with my favorite student musicians, the Rittman Indians Marching Band! And helping to break the late summer evening silence will be the loudest band announcer in Northeast Ohio. And of course soon following will be the first edition of "From the Pressbox" of the 2008 football season. And the WIXYcam will be on hand to take pictures of the action. Oh yeah, the Rittman football team will be playing New London tonight also. It's all about halftime!

Today, WIXY's Gone Bananas wants to wish a happy birthday to Melanie of Monday through Sunday fame. This highly caffeinated blogger has been a long time friend of this blog. Go over to Monday through Sunday , read some of Melanie's inspirational posts and wish her a very happy birthday.

I found a great post over at All Things Cleveland , called Cleveland, birthplace of Superman . It is an exhaustive study of the history of the Man of Steel. I highly suggest you take some time and go over there and check it out. And if you like it, by all means, leave a comment. As I have said before, this lady does a tremendous job maintaining her blog.

Cliff Note: I belong to a Yahoo group called "No Bar NASCAR". I get many emails about happenings in the racing world. I got this one yesterday. I thought I would post it, as a few weeks ago I mentioned why Carl Edwards is one of my favorite racers. This is another reason. Edwards gives MIS trophy to wheelchair-bound teen: A wheelchair-bound Michigan teen got a special gift from one of his heroes over the weekend. Pat and Teresa Byrnes took their son Cody to the Michigan International Speedway so he could see his favorite driver, #99-Carl Edwards, race. "Carl happened to be walking by and we gave him a thumbs up and Cody gave him a thumbs up and he saw his flag waiving on the back of Cody's chair. And so he stopped, turned around and came back and he came over and he signed his wheelchair and he signed his shirt," said Teresa Byrnes. The Byrnes were already excited that Cody got to meet his hero, but they weren't prepared for what Carl Edwards told Cody next.

That's right. It's been two years since the debut of WIXY's Gone Bananas. At first I had no idea what to blog about, but I had friends encouraging me from the start. One told me not to worry if nobody read my words, but I never had to worry about that. First I had friends from the message boards, then family, then personal friends. Soon I reached outside of my home area and started leaving comments on other blogs. I dropped email when I could. These folks came back to visit me. I started getting hits from all over the world, and now I am read in three continents on a regular basis. Thanks to all my friends. Because of you, I found my comfort zone. You've given me encouragement when needed, and comfort, also when needed. One blog became three all because of encouragement of readers. I want to thank everybody for cheering me on these past two years. Cliff Note: I wrote a special poem marking the occasion at my Whattville blog

Our Mississippi born, but Tennessee residing friend, Chelle is back blogging. Chelle had taken some time off from blogging and to sort out some personal issues, but now she is again giving us her thoughts. Chelle had been writing two blogs, Life is What You Make it , and Thoughts From My World . She has decided to combine the two blogs and make Thoughts From My World her main blog. Her return post is called Learning from life . If you haven't checked Chelle's blogs lately, pay her a visit. For all my new friends, go on over and make Chelle one of your new friends.

Mrs74 is now back home from the hospital. Now we start the in home rehabilitation. No sooner did we get home and Kathy made her way to the couch, but the dog decided to greet her. Problem was Rufus caused bleeding from the incision. Rufus is now avoiding Kathy. Home nursing care begins tomorrow. I went to Giant Eagle to fill a prescription. While I was there, I went to the cafe for a cup of coffee and to kill some time. I was looking at a tabloid newspaper, the Globe. It was dated August 26. The gossip column had an item wishing get well soon to Bernie Mac. I'm sure all these folks could say was "oops." I guess these people were behind the times.

First if you haven't been to Media Matters, I recommend you read Struke's post Winners and Losers of the Week . The loser of the week is one familiar to regular readers of this blog Mike Trivisonno, of WTAM/1100 fame. The reason Struke gave Triv this dubious distinction was his relentless defense of his radio station on the premature announcement of Stephanie Tubbs Jones, death. She did die, but it was five hours AFTER the news services had announced it. Triv had said that WTAM was right 99% of the time and we should now be concerned for the family. This isn't the first time Trivisonno jumped the gun on somebody's death. I was listening when he made a premature announcement years ago. I was listening to Paul Harvey's "Rest of the Story" when Triv broke in with an announcement to the effect that "Frank Sinatra had just passed away and now ABC has announced the passing of Bob Hope." At the time, Bob Hope was in his mid nineties and in declining hea

First, Kathy and I both thank you for your concern and well wishes. Kathy called me a few minutes ago and said the doctor was in to see her. He wants to keep her an extra day because of swelling. The good part about that is that physical therapy can work with her a little more in the hospital. There are some things that physical therapists(or as the doctors there call them "physical terrorists") can do that spouses can't, at least without wanting to cry with them. We are hoping that the hospital has wi-fi so I can bring up my laptop and she can go through her email.

"The happiest people are those who have invested their time in others. The unhappiest people are those who wonder how the world is going to make them happy."-John C. Maxwell

As most know, my wife, Kathy went under the knife today. She had a partial knee replacement. The surgeon told me that the outside of her left knee looked good, but the inside was bad and that was the part replaced. She will be in the hospital for 2-3 days. I probably won't be able to go around to the other blogs as much as I want for the next few days, but I will try to keep this one updated.

I had noticed that the newsstand price of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has gone to 75 cents per copy. I figure it's the price we pay for technology. As more and more go to the internet for their news, less rely on the more traditional means of news. Less people buy the paper and less see the advertisements. Ad revenue goes down. so those who still use the daily paper for their news fix have to now pay more in order to be able to get a paper. I take a paper into work but others read it. Only thing I really read is the comics. And most of the time, the paper I take into work is the Akron Beacon Journal. I can remember when the price of a daily paper was 15 cents. I can also remember when it only cost a dime to use a pay phone. Now it's 50 cents. But not many use pay phones today. The biggest problem that poses is where does Superman go to change if there aren't any phone booths?

Right now, I have been attempting to bring the WIXY /at&t- phonecam back to life. I think it contracted some moisture last night, and that's not good, especially seeing I've only had it a little more than a month. I will get in touch with the good folks at at&t and see about getting a new phone. If it's going to be too much then I will go to the Evil Big Box Store( tm ) and get a Go Phone for $15.00, put my sim card in it and see if that works. But for now, I will try to dry the phone out and see if it will come back to life. Now for me, a cell phone is more a necessity than luxury. I drive 46 miles to work, and I'm sure everybody knows about the WIXYmobile . I also have an artificial left knee, so a five mile walk in case of breakdown would be out of the question. I don't need a phone that serves as a GPS, iPod , web browser, television, or brews my coffee. I just need one that I can make and receive calls on.

I missed it! Yesterday was Brenda's, of Snicker*Snicker*Snort fame, wedding anniversary. Not like me to do something like that, especially with Brenda being one of my best friends. Go on over there and wish her a happy belated anniversary. Cliff Note: Jen and Daisy have already done so.

First an update on my father in law: He was discharged from the hospital this afternoon. Being Saturday, there wasn't an abundance of help there and there were several discharges today. After Eddie had received his instructions, I was instructed to pull the car around.When I got to the hospital entrance, my cell phone rang. It was Mrs74 and she had told me that her dad wasn't feeling well and the hospital was going to delay his discharge until he felt better. He was discharged an hour later. But he is home now. This coming Wednesday Mrs74 will be undergoing a knee replacement, tentatively planned as a partial, but the decision between a partial and a total will not be made until during surgery. I may be a bit busy to blog around the end of the week. Thank you for your well wishes from yesterday's post. I enjoy blogging with all you folks because you all give me the comfort of knowing that all of you are the real deal and even though many miles separate most of us(except Bre

I woke up this morning feeling like an emotional wreck. I guess with everything happening, both recently and in the near future, it had gotten the best of me. I got to work today and thought I left my gate card in the MrsWIXYmobile, which I drove yesterday. I had to wait for someone to open the gate for me. I later found my gate card in my duffel bag. I have been dragging along this day also. I felt better after emailing back and forth with Brenda , who proved once again why she is one of my best friends. I still felt like I was run over and I wondered why. Cliff Note: Check out Brenda's post about her new car from earlier this week. I went over to see what Bella posted about and saw she was a bit down also. I then turned around and looked at my calendar and saw that the full moon is tomorrow. At one time I worked at a MRDD facility as an activity therapist and I do believe that the full moon has an effect on how people feel. Cliff Note: Bella has posted an amazing photo on her bl

My old forum posting friend, Tim Lones , of Cleveland Classic Media fame, has now launched a "faith based" blog called The Wonder of His Grace . Like myself, Tim decided that he needed another forum to express his opinions on issues of faith. I've expressed this before and I will express it again: Tim puts a lot of work into Cleveland Classic Media and I'm sure he will do the same for The Wonder of His Grace . And if you haven't been to Cleveland Classic Media, why not? Tim has a ton of good fun information there about television and radio, not only in the Cleveland area, but some nationwide bits, too.

I am now typing this here at the WIXYranch. I am looking out my window at sunshine and a blue sky. I just got a call from Ed Sims , director of the Rittman marching band. There is currently a thunderstorm in Mogadore and the band show has been cancelled. My 2008 debut as the "voice" will delayed. Cliff Note 8:07pm: I just thought about this. It was five years ago when we went to the Mogadore show on the day of the blackout, which affected much of the northeastern United States. The show was not called because of a lack of electricity. Today the show was called off because of too much electricity(in the air.) In other news, my father in law had his surgery today and is all went well. At this time he is resting.

With-Guess who-announcing. Pause the music player to listen.

We miss you......

This time I stayed one step ahead of the law. The WIXYmobile was running very loud and I was afraid that I would get around some overzealous Cleveland policeman again. Mrs74 told me to stay off the road I was spotted on the last time. I told her this wasn't possible since it was the road my work was on. I took it to the muffler shop and they told me that the catalytic converter was disconnected but could be welded back on, which set me back about 80 dollars, which beat the price of a ticket. My father in law will be having surgery Thursday. They will be replacing his defibrillator and he will stay in the hospital until his coumadin level is back up to what it should be. Cliff Note: This has been updated. Thursday is the Mogadore Band Show , which is the beginning of season 9 for me as Rittman marching band announcer. It will also be season 3 of "From the Pressbox," where I review the show as I see it. Bands performing at the Mogadore show will be Hudson, Newcomersto

I had planned on writing something on Seek Him First today and maybe I will before the evening is over. First a shout to David McMahon over at Authorblog . Don't know how much a motorsports fan he is, but he's got to be proud of fellow Australian, Marcos Ambrose. Ambrose won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Watkins Glen on Saturday and he finished third today in the Sprint Cup race. Speaking of NASCAR, I think that the department of transportation should implement the yellow stripe rule and make anybody under the age of 21 have a "rookie stripe" on the rear bumper of their car. My father in law is back in the hospital and will undergo surgery tomorrow(Monday) . This was the same procedure that led to a stroke going on two years ago. Keep him and the rest of my wife's family in your prayers. Update: The surgery now will take place on Wednesday.

Brenda, of Snicker*Snicker*Snort fame was one of the contenders for post of the day at David McMahon's Authorblog. Her Wednesday Whining post was a hit in the land down under. Check out the nominated post and also give Brenda your well wishes today as she is at home recovering from a very minor surgical procedure. But she will be back on her feet and at Barberton Speedway tomorrow. And while you're at it, go over to Authorblog. There's something there for everybody.

The blogging bug has bit another in Rittman and I am flattered. Blogger will not have a lack of photos of the Rittman Indian Marching Band this season, nor will we have a lack of blogging. Introducing Wixy Rittman Indian Band Gone Bananas , a blog written by a young man named Matthew Killough. As far as I'm concerned these student musicians that comprise the Rittman Indians Marching Band, deserve all the exposure they get and then some for all the hard work they put into their talents year round. Welcome Matthew. I am humbled by the name you have chosen for your blog.

Now this is a legitimate call to 9-1-1. There were no injuries as a result of this fire. Cliff Note:Thanks to my friend WZZP for the heads up on this photo, taken from Ohio.com.

It's true, you really can't fix stupid. This man had called 9-1-1 in Jacksonville, Florida because he had ordered sandwiches at a Subway and didn't get sauce on one of them. He didn't call once, but three times about this because he felt that police were slow getting there. He claimed that the "sandwich artist" wouldn't remake the sandwich for him, so he had no other choice but call 9-1-1. Now every Subway shop I go to, the employee makes the sandwich in front of you and asks what you want as they make the sandwich. So I don't know if this dude was stupid or blind. Click here for story and recording of 9-1-1 call . Hey Jarrod, is there some sandwich you can eat to reduce a fat head?

Terrible Tuesday is now underway. I get this call from WIXYjr this morning. He's going to Dover, which is about an hour from the WIXYranch. He's going there to attend a class for first aid and CPR as a requirement for this job he just started. He had a Mapquest printout of the directions, a full tank of gas, a packed lunch, and a full day ahead of him. I get this call about 8am. It's WIXYjr with a question about directions, Cliff Note: WIXYjr, and Mrs74 have the same sense of direction. They can both get lost on a one way street. He asked me if he could get to Dover by Rt. 30. He evidently missed a turn, so I told him to take 30 to Massillon and then take 21 south. I thought he understood this and I had to get back to work so we hung up. 45 minutes later, phone rings again. this time it's Mrs74 telling me that WIXYjr was along side of the road and his oil cap had "blown off." I called him and he affirmed this. He also said that there was oil all over the eng

Neurofibromatosis is a genetically-transmitted disease in which nerve cells ( Schwann cells ) grow tumors ( neurofibromas ) that may be harmless or may cause serious damage by compressing nerves and other tissues. The tumors may cause bumps under the skin, colored spots, skeletal problems, pressure on spinal nerve roots , and other neurological problems. [1] Neurofibromatosis is autosomal dominant, which means that it is autosomal (it affects males and females equally often) and dominant (only one copy of the affected gene is needed to get the disorder). Therefore, if only one parent has neurofibromatosis, his or her children have a 50% chance of developing the condition as well. Disease severity in affected individuals, however, can vary (this is called variable expressivity ). Moreover, in around half of cases there is no other affected family member because a new mutation has occurred. Definition from Wikipedia. The motivation for this post comes from the fact that Carl Edwards

For my out of town friends who were wondering : WTAM/1100 afternoon host, Mike Trivisonno come through his procedure for prostate cancer fine, but time will tell how the recovery goes. He plans to be behind the microphone Monday afternoon. Triv had called in during his show on Friday afternoon. He had made the comment that even the folks who hated him had sent him well wishes. He may had known that I had written a post about him, as I did have a hit on Thursday originating from the Cleveland Clinic. Even though some of the forum posters think I'm a hater, that is very far from the truth. I continue to wish the best for Mike. Do you know what your children are up to online? I had heard something very disturbing from my daughter. She had said her 16 year old cousin was writing some very raunchy things on his myspace page. It had some very obscene language and many drug references. This page is password protected and his parents could not access this information. My opinion is that