Friday, September 28, 2012

Remember When....?

With the Maple Leaf Parade set for tomorrow, I thought I'd see if anyone else remembers the year the parade went the opposite direction than it does now? Yep, I don't exactly remember the year, but I know it was in the late 70's because I marched in it as part of the Central High band. It may have even been my senior year, 1978. As I recall, it was because the new Copeland Ave. southbound overhead was being built over the railroad tracks just north of Sloopy's and they had to route the parade from south to north that year. All I remember from that parade was crossing the northbound bridge on Rose St. That one was the old one that had a steel support system. Anyone else remember that year? If I've got my facts (and memories) mixed up let me know! Drop me an email if you remember that year: johnandjacklyn@cc1063.com.
Hopefully you're ready for a fun and safe Oktoberfest 2012. The opening weekend weather  forecast is awesome! While most of the CC106.3/La Crosse Radio Group crew will be in the Parade tomorrow with our "Break The Vegas Vault" float, I'll be hanging out with Jennifer Livingston and Bill Graul from Channel 8 broadcasting the parade live. I'll be the "man on the street", running around interviewing parade participants and folks in the crowd. Hope to see you there!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

The Nightmare Is Over!

Our long national nightmare is over! The NFL and the Referees Association have reached an agreement and the regular refs will be back on the field starting tonight at the Browns-Ravens game. Too late for Packer fans who got royally scr.......uhhh... robbed on Monday night. Here's the full story from Yahoo sports.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Reverse The Call? Never Gonna Happen!

It's been interesting to see the reaction to the blown call in the Packers/Seahawks game Monday night. For the most part, even those who are not Packer fans are commenting that the Pack got robbed on the last play of the game. Even the President said the replacement refs have got to go. I saw a story last night that reported the ref who made the touchdown call on the field had only high school and college experience. I also saw an ESPN analyst say that the problem isn't that these guys are numbskulls, but that they weren't prepared for the pace and intensity of an NFL game. How true. O.k., the ref on the field blowing the call is one thing, but the guys in the review booth upstairs are apparently not replacement refs. And they had all the video evidence right there in front of them with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, and they still screwed it up! Me thinks the NFL may have bigger problems than just a contract dispute. As for the call to demand Commissioner Roger Goodell reverse the call and award the win to the Packers, never gonna happen, gang! Although that would be the "gentlemenly" thing to do, it would leave all reviewed calls up for "further review", so to speak. By the way, resolving the ref issue would reportedly cost each team $300k. And these owners make how much? Hmmm. We'd love to hear what you think! Drop an email to johnandjacklyn@cc1063.com

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

When I Was a Kid...

How many times have you used that phrase while lamenting how "easy" kids have things these days? "When I was a kid, we didn't have video games!" Or, "When I was a kid, we walked to school!"

Well, for a 12-year-old, named Chase from Kentucky, he'll have a much more savory story to share about when he was a kid.  He got his first kiss from Carrie Underwood!  True story!!

Chase took a sign to the Carrie Underwood concert that read, "Will you be my first kiss?" and Carrie took him up on it!  AMAZING!! What a memory for that kid--he's got some serious moxie!  And his popularity at school has surely just skyrocketed!

Check out the video of his first kiss, delivered by Carrie Underwood here:

It's Not Whining....Really.

O.k., I know non-Packer fans will accuse me of whining about last night's game. But, c'mon! Enough is enough with this replacement officiating! First, let me say that if the Pack had played better in the first half they wouldn't have had to rely on a call on the last play of the game to win. Fair enough? If you don't want to lose the game on a blown call, PLAY BETTER SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO! Now, that being said, everyone in the world including Seahawks fans right there in the stadium could see that Seattle's Golden Tate shoved Packer Sam shields out of the way, then M.D. Jennings clearly caught the ball and went to the turf with it. It was after Jennings caught the ball that Tate shoved his arm in and the refs called it a touchdown! Jennings had posession, Jennings went to the ground, Jennings was down, and Seattle got the TD? The refs said it was a simultaneous catch, and tie goes to the offensive player according to the rule book. Oh, and then the refs forgot that Seattle was supposed to get a point-after attempt even though time had expired, and after 10 minutes brought the teams back out for the kick! Geez, what a mess! Let's go NFL, get this under control. ESPN has great video of the last play for you to take a look at. What are your thoughts on this? Drop us an email at johnandjacklyn@cc1063.com

Friday, September 21, 2012

Heeeeers Johnny.......Again!

As a Stephen King fan, I was really jazzed when I heard this news: After 30+ years, King is publishing a sequel to his 1977 classic, "The Shining". I read it when it came out in '77 and it's still one of the scariest books I've ever read. The book, along with his other early hit, "Carrie" really propelled him into literary stardom. And who can forget Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance in the 1980 film adaptation. And here's a bit of trivia: Stephen King never really like the film's treatment of his book. But, geez, when Nicholson does his "Heeeers Johnny" bit? Yikes! Reports are that the new story centers on Danny Torrance, the little boy from the first story. Now middle-aged, Danny uses his psychic abilities to help hospice patients who are near death, and then he encounters....well, you can click here to check out more! The book is due in Spetember of 2013. Can't wait! Any other King fans out there? What's your favorite Stephen King book? Drop us an email and let us know: johnandjacklyn@cc1063.com

Stephen King has reimagined Jack Torrance’s young son, Danny, as a middle-aged drifter who 'runs afoul of a gang of wandering psychic vampires' - The Shining, Jack Nicholson

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Hanson Covers Taylor Swift!

Check this one out! remember the'90s boy band Hanson? You know, "Mmm Bop". Well, they recently got together to cover Taylor Swift's monster hit,  "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and posted the video to YouTube. The video even caught the attention of Taylor herself who took to Twitter to express her excitement about the cover. Swift tweeted, "1) Hanson covered 'We Are Never Getting Back Together'. 2) I didn't just watch the video of it 8 times in a row. 3) #2 might be a lie."

Now Rice Is Dangerous!

 I love rice. Can't get enough of it, seriously. I could eat rice with any meal and never get tired of it. That's why I couldn't believe it when I heard about the report in Consumer Reports that we should limit our consumption of rice because of elevated levels of arsenic! That's right: arsenic as in the poison. And arsenic has been shown to possibly result in cancer, and as a cancer survivor myself, I started paying attention. The theory is the since rice is grown in water it absorbs more arsenic out of the soil, both naturally occurring and from the use of pesticides. They tested more than 60 different rice products and have determined that babies shouldn't have more than one serving of rice cereal a day, that kids under 5 not drink rice milk on a regular basis and that older children not have more than a cup-and-a-half of rice cereal like Rice Krispies in a week. Then the hammer really dropped on me: The reports says that we adults should have no more than 2 regular servings a week! Man, I'm way over that mark! You're probably saying we hear these warnings all the time, that you'd really have to eat a lot of rice, that the testing was done on mice or something. You're probably right, and it sure gets frustrating when you hear about all the things that could cause cancer. Here's what I'm wondering: Do you pay attention to these types of warnings? Would you change your diet or that of your children based on something like this? Email us at johnandjacklyn@cc1063.com. And let's face it, if they said tofu causes cancer, I wouldn't care because I don't eat tofu. But one of my favorites like rice? Lord help me if they start saying nasty things about beer! Here's a link to an article on the report if you'd like to read more.

And here's a report from ABC news:
Arsenic in Rice: New Report Finds 'Worrisome Levels' - ABC News

Monday, September 17, 2012

Keith Urban New Idol Judge!

Well, it's official: Keith Urban is in as the new American Idol judge. He joins fellow newcomers Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj and veteran judge Randy Jackson. While we think it's cool (and about time!) that Idol tapped someone from country music to be a judge, we can't help but wonder why Keith is only worth a 3-5 million dollar paycheck and Nicki Minaj will pull down 10-12 mill? Hmmm. So are you more interested in watching Idol now that Keith Urban will be a judge? Email us with your thoughts: johnandjacklyn@cc1063.com, or go to our Facebook page and post there.


Monday, September 10, 2012

Nail-Biter Games

The weekend was filled with some serious nail-biting games for the midwest. As a Viking fan, I have grown accustomed to disappointment, so when we lost the lead with 20-seconds left in the game--I was not surprised--just sick. But this time, my team did not fail me! They came back with an overtime win! However, both of my hands are now without fingernails, as I chewed them all down to the nubs, during that stretch of time.

I'm not a Packer fan, but I have plenty of friends who are and I was feeling for them, (the ones that aren't jackwagons to me on a regular basis) during that game against the 49ers. There were some ridiculous calls and missed calls by the replacement referees. That was pretty much the consensus during all of the NFL games, judging by both my Twitter and Facebook feed.

It begs the question: Did the Packers lose because of the replacement refs horrible calls, or their own horrible play? Or was it a combination of the two?  Feel free to chime in on our Facebook page HERE.

Friday, September 7, 2012

The New IPhone? Ho hum.

So the new IPhone 5 is due next week from Apple. Wahoo. This is going to surprise anyone who knows how much of a gadget geek I am, but so what? Yes, it's probably going to be the greatest thing since white bread, but didn't we just get the latest and greatest IPhone last year? Honestly, I love tech stuff as much or more than anyone I know, but after a while it just feels like these companies are just turning these updates out to snag more of our money. It's like they count on the segment of the population that just has to have the very latest IPhone, IPad or whatever. There are people I know who will get this phone just because it's the newest. I don't mean to just pick on Apple either. There are plenty of tech giants who do the same thing. I got my Samsung Stratosphere a year ago, and now they have the Galaxy 3, and I'm sitting here thinking, "Man, that is cool! Maybe I need to get one." Agggghh!  Resist, resist! I'm sure there's some truth to it when they say they're just "keeping up with rapidly changing technologies" that we consumers demand, but geez wouldn't it be nice to go for more than a year without feeling like you're behind the times because you got last year's model? Let me know how you approach these things. Do you have to have the latest and greatest? How about your kids? Drop me an email at johns@lacrosseradiogroup.net.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

And The Nominees Are....

Here they are! The Major nominees for the 2012 CMA awards!



Entertainer of the Year:

Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Taylor Swift

Male Vocalist:

Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Keith Urban

Female Vocalist:

Kelly Clarkson, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood

Vocal Group:

Eli Young Band, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, The Band Perry, Zac Brown Band

Vocal Duo:

Big & Rich, Love and Theft, Sugarland, The Civil Wars, Thompson Square

New Artist:

Lee Brice, Brantley Gilbert, Hunter Hayes, Love and Theft, Thompson Square

Music Video:


"Come Over" -- Kenny Chesney, "Over You" -- Miranda Lambert, "Pontoon" -- Little Big Town, "Red Solo Cup" -- Toby Keith, "Springsteen" -- Eric Church

And the artist who snagged the most nominations? Eric Church!



The awards will be handed out Thursday, November 1st. So who are your favorites? As usual, we'll make our picks on awards day.