How to ruin a little boy's birthday

Tuesday, Mar, 12 2013

All this 9-year-old third grader in Michigan did was bring the cupcakes his mom made for him to school on his birthday.

The principal of the school ended up calling the kid's dad about it.

Seems the boy was in trouble for bringing in the cupcakes because they had little plastic toy Army men on them.

The Army men needed to come off those cupcakes immediately because the principal felt it was insensitive.

Really?

A) I think every little boy in America has at one time or another played with little green Army men and understood the difference between crazy people that shoot others in schools and members of our military.

B) That principal might not have the freedom to kick cupcakes out of the classroom were it not for the very real version of what stands atop those cupcakes.

Way to ruin the kid's birthday at school...and a big DUH to you Ms. Principal!

We'll discuss as part of the "Tell-a-Friend" Tuesday PhilCast today.

posted by: Phil Cianciola 9 month(s) ago

More than a 'beauty pageant'

Monday, Mar, 11 2013

It's a step toward the Miss America pageant, a little slice of life that plays out this time of year all around the country.

And it's more than a beauty pageant. It's a chance for young girls and women to grow by competing.

It was fun being one of the judges at the Miss Fond du Lac pageant Saturday, an all-day affair as the contestants one by one went through the process of being interviewed by us.

After the actual show, this is back stage with the winners: left to right...
Miss Fond du Lac Marissa Wier
Miss Oustanding Teen Marlaina Perelshtein
Miss Central Wisconsin Michelle Neumann

Congrats to all who took part!

posted by: Phil Cianciola 9 month(s) ago

Matching beer to food

Friday, Mar, 8 2013

Who knew?
I didn't.

Last night I attended an event at the Red Ox Seafood and Steakhouse in Appleton that paired different types of beer with several courses of food. The idea is that, just like wine, beer can be 'matched' to a wide variety of flavors...and boy were there the flavors last night, both food and beer.

Here is the lineup arranged in order of how much I liked the various brew provided by the Stone Arch Brew House of Appleton.

The food covered a vast variety, from Cajun catfish to pot pie to pork tenderloin.

And what I learned is that it really does work.

Actually I'm not much of a beer drinker and certainly do not dabble in the darker, what I call 'real' beers at all.

Yet somehow after each course of food it seemed like the beer was more mellow to me and made perfect sense.

Notice I didn't drink all of it either!
If you ever get a chance I'd recommend trying something like this. More about it on the show today.

posted by: Phil Cianciola 9 month(s) ago

One less "Chick Show" on TV

Thursday, Mar, 7 2013

After a 10-year run on TLC, the show "What Not to Wear" with Clinton and Stacy will come to an end this summer.

I bring this up because for a while there I was quite a fan of the show. Oh I still catch it from time to time now, but it's not as good as it used to be. This season they have for some reason taken to trying to rescue former TV stars from wearing horrible clothes.

It's one less 'Chick Show' available to watch now, meaning I should get some man card points back.
Not all of them however....

I still admit to watching 'Fashion Police' on E! (hey, I might be interviewing host Joan Rivers on the PhilCast soon....she's coming to Green Bay for a gig) and 'Smash' on NBC.

I'm man enough to admit I watch, even though it does cost me a few punch holes in my man card.

posted by: Phil Cianciola 9 month(s) ago

A passion for radio

Wednesday, Mar, 6 2013

When I was in the 8th grade we received a writing assignment that asked us to write our own autobiography. Heck, at the time I wasn't even sure what autobiography meant! But in the end I wrote up the story of my rather short life at the time, ending with a required chapter about what we wanted to be when we grew up and entered the workforce of the real world.

Believe it or not, I wrote about becoming a broadcaster. I wanted to be the next Bob Uecker. Ironically that's a position that hasn't turned over since I wrote the assignment and I'm 54 now!

I still have the green folder with my hand-written 8th-grade project in it. I received an "A" too!

I was one of those kids that went to college with a purpose-not to party and figure out my major in my senior year, but rather to learn about radio by being on the radio at UWM, where I started my on-air career in the fall of 1978.

Why do I tell you all this now?
Background as to why I am so passionate about radio, specifically local talk radio.

Today on the PhilCast I've got a story that comes from a trade at a convention where some GM exec was talking about how auto manufacturers will be making cars without radios in them.

The spin is that they feel car radios are going the route of the telephone booth...that people more and more care less and less about what's on the radio.

Ouch.

I'm not only hoping that is not the case, but I've also got some pretty solid reasons why I believe there should always be a radio in a car.

I understand the music portion of this equation and believe there is a stronger case for just listening to the music you like from the device you use rather than listening to FM radio.

Good old-fashioned local talk radio on the AM band is a different animal, a unique one that will continue to thrive because it has something no high-tech device can replace. We'll talk (there's a hint) this afternoon on my LOCAL, AM radio station, WHBY.