Super Bowl "Drop Kick Me Jesus"

I send this every year on Super Bowl Sunday.

I get a "KICK" out of this song, I think? 

Drop Kick Me Jesus (through the goal posts of life) by Bobby Bare

I don't believe any Priests, Rabbis or Ministers are going to be saying prayers for your favorite team. 

I won't be watching with baited breath today,because neither the Seahawks nor Packers are one of the teams. 

You might not agree with my prediction:

Broncos 24-Panthers 21. 

Send me your prediction and may your team win (if you have a favorite).

Joe

P.S.  I do have one prayer to ask that you could say for me:  

"Please allow Joe to make all his putts, no balls in the sand, trees, water or grass when I golf of Tuesday. The weather has finally turned nice; highs in the lower 60s with sunshine.

Growing Old

All depends what one believes what getting old is. 

I tell my granddaughters this story.

When I was in a rock and roll band and turned 24 I thought I was too old to be doing that so I quit.

When I was about to turn 30 I kept it a secret because at that time the younger people were saying..."Don't trust anyone over 30" and I was an on-air DJ at the time.

When I turned 40, still  doing radio, record hops (sock hops, disco dances, etc) I thought maybe I am getting beyond my years to be doing this. Of course, it didn't help when some young kid said, "Wow, I have never seen a DJ with gray hair before!"  (I only had a few streaks but it bothered me) .

Even at 60, building houses, framing, trim work, insulation, siding etc...mostly by myself...neighbor lady stopped by the house I was building at the time. I told her I was looking for another lot to build on. Her comment?  "Joe, you are way to old to be building houses."  i never listened and kept doing it. Does take a toll on one's body, however.

I never was or wanted to be a politician.  But look at Bernie Sanders -- 74 -- and not giving up his dream even if he does not make it. The difference today is 84% of the young people like and believe in him. Times have changed.

My last living uncle Tony, 93, wrote novels, threw a pitch out from the mound last year at a Chicago Cubs baseball game. He is working on another  book right now.

Hope you don't mind these personal stories.  I am sure many of you can relate to them. 

Health is number one for me and having long conversations about the past and current times.  I reminisce a lot.  In fact, time for my daily exercise -- a mile walk to the coffee shop. I often say, If it wasn't for lifting my coffee cup, I wouldn't get any exercise at all.

Speaking of the coffee shop....I'm on my way and the sun is out.

Remember you will never be younger than you are at this very second. When I e-mail this...I will already be older. Time waits for no one.

Have great day, youngsters!

Cheers, 

Joe

Radio as a career and Harry Chapin sings W.O.L.D.

Radio, a fun career but not stable.

Those of us that were in radio felt the late Harry Chapin was singing our life stories in many ways.

 I remember being in my rock and roll band, going from town to town peddling our records, stopping into radio stations so the on-air jock could play our latest record, and they did. 

I would sometimes say, "You know, I like music so much I am going to become a DJ." 

The answer most of the time would be, "No you don't, unless you want no security and to become a radio gypsy through no fault of your own. Format change, new manager or PD thinking you made too much money" etc."

I never listened to their advice and instead became that DJ. 

I am glad I did it but the truth they talked about came to be.

I did mornings in Grand Rapids, nights in Detroit and on-air in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle. 

In the 1990s, I decided to build houses, one-at-a-time and do on-air DJ at the same time, so I had something to fall back on. Only slept a few hours a day.

If you listen to the words of this song you will understand.

 Harry Chapin, a great song writer and performer ( Taxi) another excellent down to the raw bone was killed in a car accident on the way to a free concert he was going to do. 

Harry's wife said that he did so many free shows they barely had enough to live on.

 Wish he could have stayed with us longer. I am sure he would be performing even today.

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l0fH0dRUow&feature=em-share_video_user

Give a listen, 

Joe

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Song by Dion "Abraham, Martin, and John"

This is a sad song but we should remember the good.. Still shocking how all died at the hands of guns. Yes,  the song tells how MLK saved a lot of people and he would have continued. Robert Kennedy would have been President and JFK would have continued with doing good for Americans.

Let's pray it never happens again.

Remember Martin Luther King Jr., today and forever.  He is dearly missed.

 Joe

Abraham, Martin and John by Dion

Snyder requests FEMA’s help with Flint water crisis - Personal Story

 A true story to go with this.

I was working radio in Lansing, Michigan, WJIM 1969....got a call from WTAC, big radio station in Flint. The program director heard me and offered me an on air job at double the money I was making. It was a union station and paid well. I got the job.

 Son Joey was just a few months old. Kathy and I took a drive around the city and didn't like what we saw....it looked run downed and not a place to raise a family. I had given my notice but after that changed my mind and stayed at WJIM. That never worked out either. I was there a year and went in to ask for a yearly raise. I had good ratings. The program director says:" Didn't you know? The owner, Hal Gross (fitting) name does not like DJ's and will never give you or any of jock (dj term) a raise!! I\

I wondered over to t he new rock and roll station in town, WVIC to see if there was an opening...there was and got the afternoon show. ( Got to see the late John Lennon at a peace rally and feel lucky for that)

  Oddly that same PD at WJIM hat the nerve to call me a couple of years later and asked if I wanted to come back because of my ratings being so good. Not being a vindictive person I just said..."Sorry, I enjoy doing the morning show in Grand Rapids at WGRD and the DJ's do get raises.

 So sometimes things do work out for the better. Sorry to hear of the drinking water being filled with led etc. Hope this is solved and the people (especially the kids) are not harmed for life.

 Joe

Washington Post article re: Flint water crisis

2016 New Year's Greeting from Joe Cooper Giannunzio

Let's start out  2016 by seeing the beauty of nature.   

My, time is flying, seems like yesterday I was saying, "Wow!  We are now in the Year 2000."   

Enjoy the attached YouTube video from National Geographic.

Happy New Year...may good health stay with you....more important than material things. 

--Joe

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Hodomt6bBOw

Iron Mountain Kids ski jumping...late 40's, early 50's "High Flying Doug Nord"

Those of us that grew up in the U.P., northern Wisconsin did this when were kids....started on the lower jumps then graduated to the big man made scaffolds...some over a 100 feet high...I loved doing it...felt like flying on the bigger jumps when the air caught under your skis' and body...the landing had to be just right or one could be hurt badly....glad I did it then...if I tried it now, I would be in serious trouble.

 In this video I went off these same jumps....I don't recognize myself in any scenes. Some went on to Olympics fame like Willie Erickson.

 

 Mel Allen, sportscaster from the 40's and 50's did the narration....Very rare footage.

 Most of manmade artificial ski jumps have been torn down due to insurance...not sure if the kids still do this.

 Pine Mountain, scaffold 176 feet high still has a tournament every year...sometimes over 20,000 people attend the weekend event.

 

Happy Jumping, 

Joe 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYTbtjbyfww&feature=em-share_video_user

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High Flying Doug Nord by veryfitt

Vintage footage of big smiling, high flying, ski jumping protege, Duggy Nord in Iron Mountain Michigan, narrated by fabled voice, Mel Allen

Heartfelt Christmas Song and Personal Story - The Carpenters

  In 1972, we were living in Portland, Ore., I worked at KGW radio and had the honor of introducing the Carpenters at a sold-out show.

  After it was over we went to the dressing room area to meet Karen and Richard.

 Had a good conversation with Karen's brother, Richard, but Karen ran past us, into the dressing room without stopping and locked the door. 

  Her brother said she had problems, but did not say what they were. 

  Sadly, Karen Carpenter passed away years later. She was anorexic.

   Her voice was so sweet and she played the drums while she sang. Even in  the photo she looks too thin.

   Still this song will live forever. A story below on who wrote it and why.

 Merry Christmas, Joe

Merry Christmas, Darling - The Carpenters

Merry Christmas, Darling - The Carpenters by SharonTG

Karen's sweet voice singing the sweetest Christmas song. Richard Carpenter composed the music for this song in 1966 when he was 19 years old. Frank Pooler wrote the lyrics twenty years earlier, in 1946, when he also was only 19 years old. The song Pooler had written was to be a Christmas gift for his girlriend, whom he was missing while being away from her during a visit with his parents at Christmas time. However, their relationship ended before he could present it to her. Twenty years later, Pooler was the choir director at California State University in Long Beach, when both Karen and Richard Carpenter were members of the choir. Richard and Karen were performing locally and had tired of playing the usual Christmas fare. Richard asked Pooler, their favorite professor, if he had any ideas for different Christmas songs. Pooler remembered the Christmas song he had written many years before and mentioned it to Richard, adding that he didn't think much of the melody anymore. Richard said he would try his hand at writing new music for the lyrics. Within about 15 minutes he was finished creating a song, written by two teenagers who were a generation apart, that was destined to become a Christmas classic. The song was first released as a single (yes, a 45) on November 20,1970, and earned gold record status. This song sparked the idea of a Christmas album by The Carpenters, and on October 13, 1978, "Christmas Portrait" was released with this newly recorded version of the song. Karen re-recorded her vocals for the album version as she felt that she could give the vocals a more mature treatment. This newly recorded version was presented on their TV Christmas special in 1978, as seen here, and became a hit all over again.

When our grandparents and great-grandparents were welcomed: Neil Sedaka, The Immigrant

My grand parents came over from Italy in the early 1900's.  I would not be in America if not for them. 

The bands don't play, the welcome signs are not out...not the same anymore.

Neil Sedaka tells how it is in his song. ...Joe  

Neil Sedaka - The Immigrant

At Seventeen - Janis Ian

  I think back to the days when some girls and boys were left out in high school....maybe because of looks, shyness, being poor and ignored.....This song by Janis Ian sings of that. I do believe it is a personal story of hers. 

  Not in self-pity. but I do think back to those days...some of the kids that made the high school basketball team got on because their family was more prominent in small towns.

Janis Ian - At Seventeen

After my father died my mother married a no-good guy. We moved several times and lived in rented shacks....one of the houses did not even have a floor...just dirt...and it got cold in the winter with below zero weather in the U.P.

 In 10th grade we moved to another town. Not bragging...but I was a very good basketball player. I tried out for the team...each day the coach would put the list up of the players that were still in the running. We started out with 31 and only 10 were to be selected. I got to number ten, congratulated by others,  bought new basketball shoes with the little money I had from setting pins at the bowling alley.

 The next day I looked at the bulletin board and my name had been crossed off...and a high school classmate that had not gone out for the team decided at the last minute he would. His name was put there. Mine with just a line crossed through it.  I never went out for basketball again. I would play intramural and score lots of points...others would say...Why are you not on the basketball team.?...I never answered.

  I think of this now and then...how we had so few chances in high school. Maybe that is why I leaned to be in a R and R band and radio?   

  Still enjoyed high school...but was real shy. Years later at class reunions most classmates could not believe I was in radio.

  Hope your times were better. ...Joe

Pearl Harbor 74th Anniversary

Not born when it happened, but I do remember my parents talking about how shocked everyone was when it happened. 

Neighbors walked out of their homes to console each other..no Facebook , e-mail, TV...just radio back then. 

Not much coverage of it...and not many alive that were there when it happened. 

We need to remember.  ...Joe

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/remembering-74th-anniversary-pearl-harbor-photo-134056560.html?soc_src=mediacontentphoto&soc_trk=ma

Lost Words from Childhood

  A lot of these are before our time. When I use a couple of these with younger people...they have no idea what I am talking about. 

  Even when I was growing up I wondered when my late Uncle John would say...."Don't take any wooden nickels". 

  A few years ago I read how at one time, during World War 2, to save the metals for war machinery...the government made wooden coins for a short time. As time when on they were considered obsolete...but some people would pass them off with out you being aware...that's at least how I heard it..

  For the heck of it ...keep this list with you...see how others react when you use them.  Cheers, Joe

PS...About 30 years ago my daughter was with me (she was 7 or 8 at that time) riding down this bumpy road...I said...Washboard Lane...she said: "Dad, What's a Washboard"?

Lost Words from our childhood 

The other day a not so elderly (65) lady said something to her son about driving a Jalopy and he looked at her quizzically and said, "What is a Jalopy?"

So they went to the computer and pulled up a picture from the movie "The

Grapes of Wrath." Now that was a Jalopy!

I hope you are Hunky dory after you read this and chuckle...

*WORDS AND PHRASES REMIND US OF THE WAY WE WORD*

by Richard Lederer

About a month ago, I illuminated some old expressions that have become

obsolete because of the inexorable march of technology. These phrases

included "Don't touch that dial," "Carbon copy," "You sound like a broken

record" and "Hung out to dry." A bevy of readers have asked me to shine

light on more faded words and expressions, and I am happy to oblige:

Back in the olden days we had a lot of moxie. We'd put on our best bib and

tucker and straighten up and fly right. Hubba-hubba! We'd cut a rug in some

juke joint and then go necking and petting and smooching and spooning and

billing and cooing and pitching woo in hot rods and jalopies in some

passion pit or lovers lane. Heavens to Betsy! Gee whillikers! Jumping

Jehoshaphat! Holy moley! We were in like Flynn and living the life of

Riley, and even a regular guy couldn't accuse us of being a knucklehead, a

nincompoop or a pill. Not for all the tea in China!

Back in the olden days, life used to be swell, but when's the last time

anything was swell? Swell has gone the way of beehives, pageboys and the

D.A.; of spats, knickers, fedoras, poodle skirts, saddle shoes and pedal

pushers. Oh, my aching back. Kilroy was here, but he isn't anymore. 

Like Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle and Kurt Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim,

we have become unstuck in time. We wake up from what surely has been just a

short nap, and before we can say, I'll be a monkey's uncle! or This is a

fine kettle of fish! we discover that the words we grew up with, the words

that seemed omnipresent as oxygen, have vanished with scarcely a notice

from our tongues and our pens and our keyboards. 

Poof, poof, poof go the words of our youth, the words we've left behind. We

blink, and they're gone, evanesced from the landscape and wordscape of our

perception, like Mickey Mouse wristwatches, hula hoops, skate keys, candy

cigarettes, little wax bottles of colored sugar water and an organ grinder's

monkey. 

Where have all those phrases gone? Long time passing. Where have all those

phrases gone? Long time ago: Pshaw. The milkman did it. Think about the

starving Armenians. Bigger than a bread box. Banned in Boston. The very

idea! It's your nickel. Don't forget to pull the chain. Knee high to a

grasshopper. Turn-of-the-century. Iron curtain. Domino theory. Fail safe.

Civil defense. Fiddlesticks! You look like the wreck of the Hesperus.

Cooties. Going like sixty. I'll see you in the funny papers. Don't take any

wooden nickels. Heavens to Murgatroyd! And awa-a-ay we go! 

Oh, my stars and garters! 

It turns out there are more of these lost words and expressions.

We of a certain age have been blessed to live in changeful times. For a

child each new word is like a shiny toy, a toy that has no age. We at the

other end of the chronological arc have the advantage of remembering there

are words that once did not exist and there were words that once strutted

their hour upon the earthly stage and now are heard no more, except in our

collective memory. It's one of the greatest advantages of aging.

See ya later, alligator! 

Imagine - John Lennon

  When John Lennon wrote this song he thought he could open some minds and help change the world. He must be sick if he is seeing what is happening. All the innocent men, women and children murdered in France.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVg2EJvvlF8&feature=em-share_video_user

Yes, maybe if there was no religion (my religion is better than yours thinking)...just one world...no countries. It will never happen while we are around. Prayers for the families and friends of all that died and maimed. Joe

"Gordon Lightfoot - Early Morning Rain"

  This time of year I, maybe you too,  get a bit sentimental. With the rain we've been having this song came to mind.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pqttl9aWm0&feature=em-share_video_user

 The bakery in Iron Mountain closed.( late 1964)...I was out of a job....I knew being in a rock and roll band in Iron Mountain, Mi...would not get me very far. Went to Milwaukee for radio broadcasting school.(never been to a big city before) All alone in an attic with one light bulb, a cot located above a tavern. The only place I could find for $10 a week.

 Of course, hearing this song made me think about it even more back then but it made me realize that I was not alone if someone wrote a song about the same situation.

  I stayed. Found a friend later at school and we got a real apartment, Started a new rock and roll band in Milwaukee, recorded a record...then went on to a radio station in Rogers City, Mi......Hope you don't mind telling part of my life history. I am sure many of you have had similar experiences.

 Give a listen....Cheers, Joe

"Jimmy Boyd - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus 1952"

  This song sold over a million copies in just a few days. Some radio stations across the country would not play this song. It was a time when even if a married couple had an abusive spouse they very seldom divorced for fear of being vilified by their neighbors.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7t8YTbQSQc&feature=em-share_video_user

  It was also a time of great paranoia. In school it was "duck and cover" for fear the Russians would drop an atomic bomb on us. Even as a young boy I thought it comical ...living in the small town of Iron Mountain I thought "Why would they drop a bomb on us?"

  The communist witch hunt with Joe McCarthy was in full swing. Actors, directors, film makers were accused of being communists. Even Ronald Reagan ratted on a few that were not.

. 

   My father worked at the Ford plant and came home one day very upset during that time period....He disliked the Korean war and was not afraid to say it. He was brought into the office being accused of being a communist...of course he was not and kept his job. 

  Seems like paranoia is starting again in this country. I, my family and friends have a life to enjoy so it won't be us.

  Merry Christmas, Joe....memories from the past. 

"I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas - Yogi Yorgesson"

When I was a kid, growing up in Iron Mountain, Michigan....every year near Christmas WMIQ radio would play this song.......it was big in the Upper Peninsula, Northern Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota. Gabriel Heater is mentioned...he was a top news man and commentator on national news radio....(before TV) in case you are wondering who he was.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNNpVYwID3I&feature=em-share_video_user

  It's tongue and cheek but still fun. The younger generation for the most part has never heard it.

  Have a very, merry Christmas

  Cheers, Joe

  PS Out west Stan Boreson did a version of this....A little added story....I have a lot of them. The Seattle Worlds Fair was having their 20 year anniversary ...1982. The radio station was looking for anyone that had a 1962 car to give celebrities a ride through the parade. My wife Kathy happened to have a 62 Pontiac Tempest. I drove down to the Space needle with the car. In jumps an older guy with a suit case and big smile.....I asked who he was?...It was Stan Boreson. Had a great conversation with him and he told me of the TV show he did years before. He is still well known today.

Fall is in the air and when it gets cooler and summer is disappearing fast, this song comes to mind. Even when I was younger I liked it. When I listen now I often wonder ( not worried about it) but how many summers do we have left in our lives?

The song is more about a person that loves someone, that has ended the relationship, but hopes they will realize what they had together and will return. Does not always happen.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQnF5aRNQF4&feature=em-share_video_user

 Such a well written song. I know most of you know this one already. I like fact that the words go with it.

 Sentimental, Joe

Some may not agree but it is good for the soul to hear something like this. Cheers. 

Your Old Friend(s) from KOMO

Left to Right:
Joe Cooper, Jaynie Dillon, Roger B. Nelson
c. 1986 at KOMO Radio

Your old friend Joe is known by several names:

• Real name Joseph Giannunzio
• Recording artist and frontman for Joey Gee and The Come-ons
• Longtime career as a DJ and radio personality Joe "Copper" Cooper.  Joe writes and shares some great stories and introspection on all sorts of topics.  

In real life, I'm Jaynie Jones.  But, like Joe, I spent more than a couple of decades on-the-air in radio broadcasting also known by various on-air names, but best known as Jaynie Dillon.

Joe and I worked together for upwards of ten (10) years at KOMO Radio, Seattle. Newsman Roger B. Nelson has continued on his award-winning career path in Spokane, Washington at KXLY.

I've told Joe that he should be utilizing the blog, which I set up for him years ago. It has remained in limbo for about six (6) years now.  Recently, I contacted him again and encouraged him to start posting.  He seemed more comfortable having me edit his writings and post them to the blog.  I am happy to do that!

I am going to go back through nearly a hundred e-mails and select ones to post. There will be a flurry of apparent 'new' activity on the blog, but once I get it caught up and current, postings will be a little less frequent than right out of the gate.

Enjoy Joe's writing and perspective on everything from politics to human nature and nature itself.  I think you'll enjoy reading the blog.  Share the link with your circle of friends, family, contacts, and network.

In the interim, have a joyous Christmas and may 2016 be your best year, yet!

Seahawks over Green Bay 34 - 24

Hello,

Just a little insight to tell you what it was like at the Seattle-Green Bay Snow Bowl football game on Monday night.

When the new Seahawks outdoor stadium was built a few years ago, I had promised myself if there ever was a snow game, I would go.

Around 3 o'clock I was hesitating a bit, not wanting to get stuck in traffic from all the slipping and sliding even if it was only a couple of inches, it can quickly turn to ice and make things treacherous. Many folks from the mid-west or back east, think it it kind of joke that folks in this area get so alarmed when any amount of snow hits. Try driving on it with all our steep hills and you will quickly change your mind.

A 4 x 4 won't make much difference and it is a lot of times the folks that grew up in snow country who cause the most accidents.

Anyway I made it to town..no problem in 25 minutes.

Finding free parking was another story. I refuse to pay $35 or $40 dollars for it. I ended up finding a free spot about a miles away, and arrived at the stadium an hour before game time, after the long walk, all with out having a ticket to the game. I do this whenever I feel the urge at any game no mater how big or important, there all always people that can't make it for some reason. I picked up a ticket from a guy that had three extra and wanted to get rid of them and get in the football stadium. He wanted $75 for one but in the end sold one to me for $25. Seat was on the 40 yard line, 8 rows back, right behind the Seahawks bench.

About ten minutes before game time it started to snow pretty hard. I was sitting around many Greenbay Packer fans, some with the famous cheese head hats and a few Seahawk fans. I told them that I grew up in Iron Mountain, Michigan, about a hundred miles from Greenbay, Wisconsin and had gone to a few Packer games in the days of Bart Star, Paul Horning, Willie Wood and many others. They had top teams back then. I never made the Ice Bowl between Dallas and Greenbay, for more or less the first super bowl, but attended one game in a blizzard and 9 degrees when they played Johnny Unitas's Baltimore Colts. That Ice Bowl had temperatures around 6 below zero. I believe because of that the Supper Bowl is usually played in a warm climate or a covered dome more for the fans sake.

Getting back to the fans...It was really a lot of fun. Two guys around me drove all the way from White Fish, Montana just to see the game. They were Packer fans and always were, before the Seahawks even existed.

Man and women had moved here from Manatawoc a few years ago and I told them I have a first cousin, Doug that lives in Polaski...They knew where it was. We all cheered when the snow came down harder and starred at Mike Holgrem not wearing a hat. We all wondered why? Bret Favre was amazing when he would throw the ball 50 some yards on a dead run. Very exciting games and either team could have won, the way that ball was bouncing around in the snow. I secretly wished I was watching it on TV and could hear what the sports announcers were saying about it.

As you know I predicted the Seahawks to win 24-21 and for a while it looked like it might happen. Ended up being 34-24 and one of the most thrilling games I have ever seen. I almost cheered for the Packers and one time I did when I spaced, and thought I was in Green Bay again. Seahawks fans wondered about me for a second.

Game ended. I walked back to the car and drove home.

Some people took hours to get home depending on the ice. I-5 was totally blocked at Northgate after becoming an ice skating rink. I took I-90 and made it home in forty minutes but had to be careful of iced over passes and bridges. A few cars were in the ditch.

It is Thursday, Temps are still in the 20's and a few more inches are expected tonight. No school in most areas. In the small town of Concrete, 80 miles north of here they got two feet. Power is out and the fun is wearing off for them. No problems here at Redmond Ridge except for the ice on the road.

If you ever get a chance, no mater where you live and there is a football game, any football game in a snow storm...don't miss it.

Can you believe some guys were watching the Seagal cheerleaders more than the game...waiting for them to slip and fall. They did. Nine times.

Make a snow man for me!

Joe