The Greatest Spectacle in Racing

Friday, May, 24 2013

I can't wait for Sunday morning.

10:00 a.m. and I'll have the TV on to watch every moment, every feature they play about what they call the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing", the Indy 500.

It's more than race to me.

For my entire life it has marked the official start of the summer season I so love.

And from Jim Nabors singing to the drinking of the milk in Victory Lane I'll be parked in front of the TV to watch it.

The sound of those machines flying through the turns gives me goose bumps.

I love the anticipation and ritual of it all as well.

33 drivers, this year four of them women, all chasing a big trophy that will have their face on it and a drink of cold milk from a glass bottle in Victory Lane if they win a battle of man and machine lasting over three hours from the drop of the green flag.

These are the traditions that make it all great.
Today we talk '500' with Dave Kallmann who is at the track this afternoon covering it all for the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel. Listen in at 3:30-ish.

posted by: Phil Cianciola 9 month(s) ago

"F" Cancer

Thursday, May, 23 2013

So there it is, the hat in question.

If you saw three women walking around in the Fox River Mall wearing these hats would you be offended? Would it bother you?

Would you think it fair/unfair of the mall security to ask them to remove the hats?

They did.
The women didn't.

They were kicked out.
What do you think?
It's one of the stories I'll be talking about on the PhilCast Thursday afternoon.

posted by: Phil Cianciola 9 month(s) ago

WKY

Wednesday, May, 22 2013

I mentioned on the PhilCast yesterday that I had also found a couple of additional photos from circa 1985 at WKY Radio in Oklahoma City. Here they are.

There I am in the WKY helicopter with the "Traffic Dr." at the stick chasing a tornado near Edmond, Oklahoma.

This really was the golden age of news radio I guess.

Yes, a radio station with a helicopter.

We also had a half dozen news cars and a news van that I used to broadcast live overnight newscasts from when I first started there in 1984.

That's the smaller van with a
complete studio in the back.

I saw my first murder victim from this van, a body laying in the street at 3:00 a.m.

I covered murders, fires, any sort of breaking news live from the van, as we did local newscasts 24-hours a day.

The guy running the board back at the station would have to give me directions to the action over the two-way radio since I was new in town and had no clue where anything was!

And for big remote broadcasts WKY went big with the rig too, utilizing this bad boy!

Yes sir, this was radio news done right!
I cut my news teeth there.

posted by: Phil Cianciola 9 month(s) ago

Moore, OK part of my past

Tuesday, May, 21 2013

I told you so yesterday afternoon on the PhilCast. I told you very early on in this ugly process that this tornado in Moore, Oklahoma was going to be a very big deal, their Hurricane Katrina as I put it.

It's funny what can come into your mind at any given moment, and Monday afternoon as I looked at the video of the destruction while live on the air, I was taken back to the mid-80's, when my commute took me right up I-35 past Moore on my way to do the morning show on what was then WKY Radio.

Right before I left there to come 'home' to a Wisconsin job the station had added an additional news person to the show to join me with the host. Suddenly yesterday, a woman I had not thought of in decades came to my mind while watching the twister coverage because I remembered she was actually from Moore, OK.

And oddly enough, her name even came back to me almost immediately; Laura Knoll.

So in this day and age where do you turn to find someone from your past? Facebook of course. That's where I found this photo of her.

As of this writing I have put in my 'friend' request and sent her a message. My hope is that she will see it and get back to me and perhaps even join me on the PhilCast this afternoon if she can.

I can only hope that if she is still based in Moore that she has made it through that horrific storm. Check out the show this afternoon and I will have an update with any information.

Facebook can be a wonderful tool at times like this when you need to check on someone from your past. Heck, I even found a page dedicated to what they call the golden age of Oklahoma media in the 70's and 80's. I guess I would be a part of that, having worked in radio there from 1983 to 1986 roughly right out of college.

I actually remember broadcasting live from this 'big rig' mobile studio back in the day.

It took a deadly tornado to remind me of my time in OKC, where I learned a ton of stuff about this business and met some very nice people, Laura at the top of that list.

Only thing I don't understand is how come she looks pretty much the same now as she did back then and I look so....well....never mind!

Here's a picture that sits on a shelf in my studio, where all my radio memories are. The whacky morning team on WKY in 1986.

I guess cookie dusters must have been 'in' at the time.

Me on the left.

Lonnie Perkins on the the right.

Somewhere in an old photo album somewhere in my attic I bet I have a picture or two with Laura as well.

I FOUND IT!

posted by: Phil Cianciola 9 month(s) ago

Pedal to the grave

Monday, May, 20 2013

Happy Monday.
The countdown to Memorial Weekend, the Indy 500 and the start of summer is on!

Today on the PhilCast I'll have a few stories from my weekend that include some bike riding. And speaking of that, I'll also have the story of a guy now providing a trip to your final resting place via BIKE!

Here it is, the bike hearse...

Yes, now for the person who was really into riding you can get a ride to the grave in this getup.

The guy has a waiting list for the service by the way.

More during the show....