TALK TO GORDY

A day or two ago, this podcast hit the milestone of 500 downloads...Yay!It's a good thing, and I'm not just saying that...it's just that it took 3 months to get there. But, in the podcasting world, little milestones are amplified by the fact that I've at least accomplished "something" during the pandemic. I've avoided going completely insane during the pandemic. Notice the qualifier "completely".It has been my little place to go for online therapy since I started the show back in mid July.Having hit this small milestone, I've looked back and reflected on what my expectations were starting the podcast...and the reality of what the show has become and where I want it to go. It dawned on me that I need to make a few more changes...in fact, it's always going to be a work in progress. And if there's one thing I've learned about doing a show like this, it's the process that makes it fun.Let the fun continue...and thanks for listening and for your feedback. It's always great to hear from listeners, so don't hesitate to contact me. Just go to my webpage www.gordyyoung.com  You can send me an email at gordy@gordyyoung.com  or just go to the page and in the lower right hand corner, there's a microphone icon. Push that button and it sends a voicemail to my email. You can also drop me a love letter, postcard or hate mail to: Gordy Young, PO Box 701, Baraboo, WI 53913,Thanks again for listening!Gordyhttps://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1162142Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

OK, this episode isn't that scary...Remember 800 phone numbers? You could dial them FREE of any phone charges, even though they were long distance. You could order a Popeil Pocket Fisherman or you could Dial-A-Joke just for fun.Well, these wacky numbers still exist, sort of. They don't use the 800 prefix very much anymore, but there are still a few that are maybe worth dialing if you're sitting around bored at work or home and just want to kill some time.Just in time for Halloween, why not try the Ghost Hotline at 801-820-0263. If you want a preview, no worries, I've wasted my time so you don't have to! Hear the results in this podcast episode!How about a scary clown answering the phone with a message? Call Wrinkles the Clown and leave him a message at 407-734-0254. Or just want something weird and scary? Phone 828-756-0109 and this one might actually scare you...you've been warned!If all else fails to scare you, how about checking out the Callin' Oats, Hall & Oates Hotline which will play one of your favorite selections from Darryl or John with horrible audio quality that makes it sound as if they're playing underwater.This episode is officially 15 minutes and 22 seconds long, although if you listen to the whole thing, you'll swear you've just spent an eternity in hell!Just in time for Halloween...I double dog dare you to listen to the whole thing...Boo!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

Here's a quick update with Harvey Stauffer and me talking about his band's upcoming gig happening this Saturday night on Facebook Live.Just go to Facebook this Saturday night at 8pm Eastern/7pm Central and put in Ole Harv and the Blues Katz in the Facebook search engine and enjoy the show.They'll be performing live from Ignition Music Garage, downtown Goshen, Indiana. That's an acoustically perfect place for musicians to play, and it should be a great gig.Check it out!https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1162142https://instacart.oloiyb.net/4QXK1Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

Brad Tassell has been doing comedy since the mid 80s. Not only is he a funny stand-up comedian, he is also an author of several books about comedy and he is an expert on the subject of bullying.During most of this interview though, we talked about how he got started in comedy and how he has coped with the changing comedy scene since Covid-19 changed live performance venues.He's managed to have some success doing live virtual comedy shows online. We did this interview via the internet linking our studios and he put it on YouTube live as we recorded it.One thing that Brad talked about near the end of our conversation is the cruise business preparing to start up again in November. He has done a ton of comedy shows on cruise ships.He's pretty optimistic the comedy business will survive the virus.I sure hope so...we could all use a few laughs about now.https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1162142Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

I've been lazy lately.I skipped doing a podcast this past Friday...I think that only happened once before. But then, I also skipped doing the Saturday Coffee Shindig, otherwise known as Facebook Live. Like I said, lazy. That's what happens when you are a one man band. If you want to take a day off, you do it. I'm lucky that I'm semi-retired...so, if I don't want to do something, I just don't.The problem with that is...well, I become less motivated to do much of anything.One underlying factor, I've been procrastinating going to the dentist...but, now that a couple of my teeth are hurting more often than not, I know I've let it go on too long, and I'm going to need a lot of dental work over the next few months.Nobody really enjoys going to the dentist anyway, but when you've put it off to the point of pain, you know it's going to be brutal.My other fear...(yes, I said fear) is that it will change my speaking patterns at least for awhile. I still do some voicework from time to time for my friends at WNIT, the PBS station in South Bend, Indiana, and I want to sound like me. Having been in the broadcast biz since the late 70s, I know the drill with older announcers. The mouth and teeth change over time, and with it the enunciation and elocution begin to sound, well, like an old man. Such is life. The best piece of advice I ever got in this business was simple: Be Yourself. Myself might sound a little different over the next few months...stay tuned!In this podcast, I talk about micro-podcasting...it's the new trend. Should I do it? After my dentist gets through with me, I might have to!https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1162142Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

In the last few days, the number of Covid-19 victims in the U.S. went over the 205,000 mark for 2020...a grim milestone to be sure.That's a lot of grieving families and loved ones left to pick up the pieces.Dixie Juchcinski is a friend of mine from South Bend, Indiana. I used to help host talent shows she put together for the students at Jimtown Junior High.Dixie's brother died of Covid-19 back in April of this year.She decided to put her energy toward helping other people who had family members that had become victims of Covid-19 by designing and distributing a Covid-19 Victims pin to honor them.It's a beautiful pin and you can find out more about it at www.honorcovid19victims.comA portion of the donations for the pins goes to Voices for Seniors, an organization that helps to shine a light on the nursing home industry as they try to deal with the pandemic and the restricted access of family members of Covid-19 victims.Dixie gives us an update on how things have progressed since she started the Covid-19 Victims Honor Pins program earlier this year.https://instacart.oloiyb.net/4QXK1https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1162142Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

A little more than a week ago, the news came out that the legendary, world famous Tommy Bartlett Ski, Sky & Stage Show in Wisconsin Dells was closing permanently due to the economic fallout from the Covid 19 virus.The announcement was a shocker to most of the show ski community and employees of the Bartlett Show as well as to the Wisconsin Dells/Lake Delton tourist area.Since 1953, the show had been a fixture of the summer season in Wisconsin Dells. A lot of shows have come and gone over the years, Storybook Gardens, Stand Rock Ceremonial, Fort Dells...but, nothing ever came close to the family fun and thrills of experiencing the Tommy Bartlett Show...live!I had first seen the waterski show as a young boy when our family went to a performance by the traveling version of the Bartlett Show at McCormick Place in Chicago around 1960. Soon after, we made a trip to the Dells to witness it in its natural habitat. I will never forget that first trip to the show.The program was always great family entertainment. Show skiers doing big jumps and amazing slalom patterns, the speed boats, the pyramid ski act, the man carrying kite act, the graceful swivel routines of the women skiers, and of course, that crazy but lovable Aqua the Clown.One of the acts that always brought the crowd to a higher level of excitement was when the Space Shuttle Atlantis speedboat would skim across the water complete with flares lighting up the night sky. From my vantage point on stage, I always loved to see the crowd react when they first saw his monster space-boat open its cargo bay doors and 3 skiers would jump out as I would shout, "Here come the Aqua-Spacemen...Get ready for lift-off...three, two, one!". It was always a crowd pleasure and an adrenaline rush for everyone...what a blast!In the second half of the show, the stage would bring out the daredevils...the Nerveless Nocks, the Fausto Family acrobats, T.J Howell family jugglers...for many years sound-effects man Wes Harrison was a big crowd pleaser, and of course the finale of the Entrancing Waters.Over the last 3 seasons, I had the honor of being one of the regular emcees, which was so much fun...I was thrilled to be sharing the stage with all the amazing performers. I sure will miss this great one-of-a-kind family spectacular.The Dells will never be the same without it.One part of it will live on. The Tommy Bartlett Exploratory will continue with year round hands-on science base exhibits. It even has one wing devoted to space travel which includes one of the original Mir space station modules which is really something you have to see.Speaking of space, this episode features my friend Greg Cisko, Independent UFO Investigator. We talk about the recent sightings in New Jersey and the recent report that Russia is claiming the planet Venus as their own.Anything goes in space, I guess!https://instacart.oloiyb.net/4QXK1https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1162142Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

Here's some of the followup conversation between John Peterson and me from the Facebook Live interview I did with him on Saturday, September 19th, 2020.As we talked about in the previous podcast, John has archived a lot of the John & Gordy Media World cable access show we did back in the late 80s & early 90s.Many Madison media folks were happy to drop by the live show that we did every Tuesday night in the basement of some building on Monroe Street in Madison.We have been working together to make some of these videos available to the public. You can find some of them on our new John & Gordy Media World Memories page on Facebook and also at www.johnandgordy.blogspot.com We may have to think about tracking down some of these media people and do a followup "Where Are They Now?" segment...that could be fun!https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1162142Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

OK, this is a special episode.I remember the first time I heard John Peterson on the radio. He was doing the morning show on WIBA-FM and this was in the early 80s...this was before Sly took over.Peterson's show caught my ear, because he was doing phone calls and had a very dry wit. He'd push peoples' buttons...and they would push back. He would bring up controversial subjects and go back to the phones in between classic rock cuts.When I finally met him in 1986 he was taking the opening day tour of Fox 47. Christa Lane introduced us, and we hit it off immediately. Eventually, because I was in charge of promotion and marketing, I hired John to do some voice work for the station and we started working even more together. We created Nite Owl Movies, a late night movie show where we would cut in to the film to present commercials and goof around a bit. Fun stuff.We would go on to work together as a radio duo for 92MAD-FM and later, Triple M. We pushed the boundaries of radio and created some memorable moments as well as a little controversy from time to time. Since I moved back to Wisconsin 5 years ago, we've gotten together a handful of times to have coffee and talk about the old days. I called him up the other day to get him on the podcast. That's what you'll hear...just like old times.Mr. Peterson? Enjoy!GordyTo support the show, check out Instacart here:https://instacart.oloiyb.net/4QXK1Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

TV watching is up big time, mostly because of the pandemic, but also because there seems to be unlimited channels of shows you can watch 24/7 wherever you're watching; traditional networks, cable, streaming, satellite or that via that chip that in your head that the aliens planted when they abducted you. You remember that...right?In any case, whenever we're talking TV we're talking to Jackson & Barb Quigley. They have a website called WeBingeTV.com and that's what they do.So, sit back, relax, put your feet up and warm up your remote.Enjoy!GordyHelp Support the TALK TO GORDY podcast...here's how:Check out Instacart here:https://instacart.oloiyb.net/4QXK1Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

For those of you that perhaps have exclusively been listening to the TALK TO GORDY podcasts, I also do a Facebook LIVE show every Saturday morning 9AM Central time.I thought I'd put the audio of this morning's Facebook show up, just in case you're inclined to listen in your car or while you're working out or cooking mashed potatoes or whatever you do when you're not watching cat videos or tap dancing penguins.Yes, tap dancing penguins is a thing...or maybe that was just a dream I had after I ate some pizza late at night.In any case, enjoy the audio stream from my Saturday morning Facebook show from this morning...listen to it on your phone while you're trying to drift of to sleep...it'll do the trick!Enjoy! Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

Harvey Stauffer was born in Chicago in the early 1950s and he's had the blues ever since. Well...I'm not sure when exactly the blues caught up to Harv', but he knows more about the blues than anyone I know. He's been researching it ever since he started hosting the Blues Revue on WVPE-FM radio 37 years ago.He's played in a bunch of bands over the years. When I lived in Indiana from 1994 through 2015 Harvey was the lead singer and front man for the Elwood Splinters Blues Band. I was lucky enough to sit in with that group a bunch of times over the years, and it was a blast every single time.Now, Harvey is in a new blues group called Ol' Harv' and the Blues Katz and they have a performance coming up in October.We also talked about "the summer that wasn't"....the virus kept a lot of musicians on the sidelines this year. And, we remember blues guitarist Bryan Lee, who passed away recently.Keepin' the Blues Alive!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

This time around I talk to Mark Tully, (or more formally M. Richard Tully) who is the author of "A Man Called Baraboo". The story of Francois Barbeau who was fur trader in the 1700s in the part of Wisconsin now known as Baraboo.Mark has authored 14 books that are all related to the subject of history in one way or another.As an author, he goes by M. Richard Tully, but everyone I know around Baraboo just calls him Tully...and he knows a ton of people around the area!The book is really an in depth look at Francois Barbeau and the city that's known for being the Greatest Place on Earth (with the tip of the hat to the Ringling Brothers) beautiful Baraboo, Wisconsin.Enjoy the show!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

I called my old friend Tricia Sloma the other day...and like usual, I got her answering machine. I get it. She's busy...in fact, she's always busy and it always takes 2 or 3 times for me to get through. After all, she's an Emmy winning reporter. Not only that, she was awarded the prestigious Indiana Journalist of the Year from the Society of Professional Journalists for a series she did on school bus safety. Because of that, she helped to changed some Indiana laws on school bus stop safety.But, we didn't talk about that stuff too much...This was really just a conversation between two old friends. I happened to call her while she was going through a few boxes of things she brought home from the office because they're doing a major remodeling at WNDU-TV, where she's worked for 27 years.So, you get to be a fly on the wall of this talk...this is the real, behind-the-scenes Tricia Sloma, or as she's known affectionately by her co-workers, "Mama Sloma"...my broadcast partner from 1994-2010. Those were fun times...we had a good time catching up.Lightning in a bottle.Enjoy!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

I like to interview people...but, occasionally for whatever reason an interview guest may have to re-schedule...that happens!But, the show must go on!So, today this is just me updating you on a couple of changes coming up on Talk to Gordy.One change you may notice is that my Facebook Live show is switching from my personal Facebook page to the all-new Talk to Gordy Facebook page beginning THIS Saturday, September 5th.What else?I'm open to interview guest suggestions....IF you know of someone you'd like to hear me interview on the podcast, shoot me an email....here's the address: gordy@gordyyoung.comor send an actual letter or postcard to: Gordy Young, PO Box 701, Baraboo, WI 53913That's all for now...Thanks for listening,So long!GordySupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

Jackson Quigley watches a TON of TV! He and his wife Barbara have been binge watching shows since before it was a thing....they practically invented it.They have a terrific website for binge watchers at WeBingeTV.com and there's plenty of free info available there...but, be sure to check out the Binge Bible which is the flagship product of their site.Watch for Jackson (along with his wife Barbara) to make a return appearance on the podcast to update us all on whatever shows are soon to premiere as we all get ready for Fall. As Jackson says, "Life's too short to watch bad TV!"Indeed...Enjoy the show!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

The Pentagon is back in the news with yet another commission being formed perhaps for another report about UFOs...just give us the facts! We CAN handle the truth!Greg Cisko has heard this before and gives us his take. Also, an asteroid could show up just before election day? Should we vote early before we get knocked out of orbit? Should we get our laundry done early that week? Or, is this much ado about nothing?Greg and Gordy ponder space, aliens invading, asteroids heading toward Earth and what else in going on in the universe. Time to light the candle and space out!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

What's YOUR favorite soft drink?Mine is, and always has been Coco-Cola! It's the original. Hey, it's OK if you prefer Pepsi or Dr. Pepper. I know good people who wake up with Mountain Dew or 7-Up or even some A&W Root Beer...but, those are other drinks for other times.In this show, I talk with Larry Jorgensen, the author of THE COCA-COLA TRAIL.Larry's a lot of fun...and he really knows a lot about the history of Coca-Cola and lots of fun facts about the earlier bottlers of the world's most popular soft drink.Have a Coke and a smile!It's the Real Thing...and I'd like to teach the world to sing, but first I need a Coke!Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

Rev. Bill Harris is a dynamic individual and a man on a mission. He founded the organization People Helping People back in 1998. It's in Baraboo, in the heart of Sauk County, Wisconsin and they also serve the surrounding counties of Juneau, Adams and Columbia Counties.It's the driving force of Bill Harris' personality that makes People Helping People tick. He's an engaging, down to earth guy and when I first met him a few years ago, we hit it right off. He is committed to helping every person in need that he meets. Bill's been there and done that, and continues to focus on the mission that is dear to his heart...People Helping People.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)

Dr. Rob Riley is someone I've known for 25 years. I met him when I worked at WNDU-TV in South Bend, Indiana. He was our guest many times during our weekly "Ask the Doctor" segment. He has since retired, but still keeps up on what's happening in medicine. In this interview, we talk about the effects of Covid-19 on the sports world, entertainment, students going back to school as well as where things stand with finding a vaccine.What have we learned since the pandemic started really spreading around the world 6 months ago?We've learned a lot as it turns out...but, we still have a long way to go.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/GordyYoung)