Good morning, Wisconsin.
Good morning, world.
It's a new day.
Thanks for kicking it off with us right here at 97-5 FM 13-20 AM, WFHR, locally grown
radio.
Got your host, James J. I am joined by Melissa K.
Good morning.
And we are welcoming in to our studio, new friends of ours, Milton and Christine Ellison
from World Escape Travel.
Good morning, you two.
Good morning.
We're being here, you guys appreciate the time from both of you.
You guys are new chamber members and as new chamber members, we bring you on the air when
you got to put up with me for a couple of minutes here, but we appreciate you doing that.
New town, new business here in town, always like to support local buy, local encourage
people to do that.
We don't always get to talk to people that help people travel though.
I am a gypsy, I am like literally an IDNA, I love to travel, I did not ask you guys to
come in just though, I can make a trip to Italy though, although we'll talk afterwards,
we'll talk off air, we'll talk about that, we'll figure that out.
Guys, let's talk about the business and explain to the community what you guys do.
I don't know, Milton, do you want to take the lead on this, do you want to explain what
you guys do over there?
We'll have Christine take the lead on this, she's the main travel expert.
Exactly where I was going to go.
Christine, if you wouldn't mind, what do you do over a world escape travel?
We mainly help families, couples, general travel.
Like I said, we just booked five people to Seoul, Korea in January, so we're thrilled to
see how their vacation turns out to be.
We just, I always grew up wanting to be a travel agent and I finally got that, so I love
helping planning people's trips and etc.
It's just a simple family vacation somewhere, it doesn't have to be Jamaica, it doesn't
have to be anything overboard, it can be simple.
Yeah, Christine, you said that and I felt a bit of that.
There's something exciting about traveling in general, but the idea of helping people plan
a plan, plan to travel and everything.
I could see is that some, you know, as a lifetime dream, I could see that as something
that you would want to do and everything, it's a cool job, it's a cool passionate thing
to be able to be a part of, but this, it sounds like this is something that it took some
time to build.
Yes, it is.
Yeah, you guys were working on this for quite a while to get to this point, it sounds
like.
Well, we've been a little, with our business a little over a year, type things, it takes
time to build it, but we're excited to plan many more vacation places for people.
When it comes to, let's take me an example, I want to go to Italy, I've never been out
of the country, though, and I, nowadays, there's so much stuff online, or I could just do
this online.
Well, I've looked into this and it's very difficult to do by yourself.
If you don't know what you're doing and everything, there's a reason why we have travel
agents.
You guys know what you're doing, you're able to help people out.
So I come to you, I don't have a passport, but I just want to go somewhere, I just want
to take off and everything.
We also are equipped to get passports for people that don't have one.
We have more insights than most people do, if you go online, you get the basic stuff
online.
Yeah, yeah.
But we can actually help you through that basic stuff and more.
We can show gift packages of different events through your travel, like excursions and
stuff like that.
But most of the places you can't find online on yourself, so we've got good deals and
et cetera.
Yeah.
There's so many little things that I think we don't think about, especially if you haven't
traveled a lot.
Okay, I'm going to Italy, but how am I going to get around when I get there?
Where do I find a rental place or where am I going to stay or so many of these things?
And yeah, nowadays so many of us like to go online and do something, do it yourself and
a lot of this.
Yeah, I'd like to say this too, we also do events and concerts, so if you're traveling
going somewhere, you see an event or a concert you want to go to, we can set that up to.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah.
I want to get more to that in a second here, Milton.
And it comes to the destination and helping people get there and know what to do when they
get there and those things.
You guys have more of an insight than most do.
We do actually, they get in the airport, we can get them customized like normal taxi
cabs.
We can get them, you know, more luxury things.
We can actually get it booked in with the travel.
So when you get to the airport, okay, I just got to find a spot here and I get to go.
Take you right to the hotel, some hotels actually equipped where they come get you, bring
you back to the hotel.
It's pretty cool.
It's also going to be arranged too.
Yeah, yeah.
And Milton, to your point, about, you know, an event, that's what pulls people a lot of
times in traveling and when it comes to world travel or, you know, travel even in the
state here, just around the country here or something, being able to help people to
different events.
So I go to you and I've got to see Dolly Parton in concert, she's going to be performing.
I want to see this event.
I just come to you and I just, with the event, you can help orchestrate some of the logistics
of that.
Exactly.
We can do it in HL, hockey, any type of sporting events, we can all include that in
travel plans.
Milton, have you done your homework in knowing that I'm a hockey guy?
Did you just use hockey as a, because there's a great reference right there by you guys.
That I did not know, but we can do that too.
See, that's how good they are over there at World Escape Travel, everybody.
Bill, did you know meeting new hockey right away?
Like, that's how good they are over there.
When it comes to group events too, that is something that you guys can help with.
If we have a, certainly, we're a little away from wedding season, but next year or anything,
wedding events are often events that bring a whole group out.
You and a bunch of your family are traveling.
That can get a little hectic, the logistics of that.
You guys can help people kind of orchestrate that a little bit better.
We have vendors that actually take over and can be a wedding planner in the wedding thing.
Oh, right.
So it's just like we have, like I said, a lot of things that most people go online.
They can't get.
We have options for that.
And if I may, I think one of the biggest things that you all offer is, you know, comfort.
Is the idea of traveling's hectic, like even a trip, even a trip you were looking forward
to all year and you're excited about packing all the different things that you are on your
plate, your checklist that you have to do, there is a lot to do.
Having an extra set of hands to help with that goes a long way.
Yeah, we want our baby to come from where we relax when they get there, not all stressed
out because they don't know what they're going to do when they get there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
This really takes a lot of that hecticness out of your hands and everything.
Is there anything else that we haven't really covered?
Oh, I wanted to touch on cruises.
You guys also do cruises and things like that, helping people get in those.
There's a, since the pandemic, there's been a rise of people wanting to do more cruises
in these things.
I think that quite a few vendors that are cruises, we also do, I'm specialized in mostly
Disney ones.
Nice.
But I do other ones too.
Very cool.
Very cool.
And don't forget about them train vacations.
We do those too.
I wanted to get to that.
So my favorite way to travel is by train.
I love traveling by train.
There's nothing like it if you've never done it before.
I don't care if you're just going a couple, you know, a town overtake it.
It's worth the travel.
It's such a fun way.
That is a unique thing to offer.
I don't see a lot of companies like yourselves having that as something to offer.
Was that something you guys intended to do that you, when you started this company?
Those are basic travel partner.
They offer like three or four different train vendors that we can go through that will
actually help you book a trip.
That is pretty cool.
That is pretty cool.
I like that.
That is awesome.
We are talking in our pregame a little bit about your website.
You want to encourage people to check out worldexcapetravel.net, worldexcapetravel.net.
If a partner company you work with, I want to mention them.
A partner company that we had a partner with to become online travel agents is IntelliTravel.
Yeah.
Certainly one of those reputable and helps imagine you guys doing the job that you're
doing.
That's a cool partnership, right?
Just a quick thing about IntelliTravel.
They've been in business since 1991 and they have won several Magellan Awards over the
years.
If you made it on a Magellan Award, it's like the Emmys, it's like the Oscars, MTV Awards.
It's a big reward.
Yeah.
They just said just one it again this year.
That's really cool.
I've heard of this award in part because it's one of the coolest named awards ever.
It's a great name.
It's a great name for a award.
It's a great award to get as well.
If people have followed questions, they want to know a little bit more about your guys'
business and want to make some plans with you guys and book something with you guys.
How can they get in touch with you?
What is the best way to reach you all?
You can contact us through roastkeyetravel.net.
There's a contact form or they can email us or call us or text us either way.
Yeah.
At worldexcaittravel.net, if you go there, there's a line and their love is traveled.
I love that.
That is such a good line, you guys.
That's a great tagline.
I really do dig that.
That's perfect.
And it's true.
It's very true.
Milton, Christine, thank you very much for joining us today.
Really do appreciate the time.
Thanks for having us.
I do apologize.
You guys did a good job so that means you're going to have to come back.
I'm sorry for that.
You're going to have to come back sometime, okay?
We'll be back sometime.
Well, I'd love to have you guys.
When I'd like to really start doing, especially with our new businesses, have you guys come
back a year from now?
Let's talk and let's see how things are going and everything.
All right.
Sound like a plan?
Yeah.
Okay.
Thank you both again for the time.
Appreciate you.
You're welcome.
We'll take a quick commercial break.
We'll come back with more fun on the morning show here at WFHR, locally grown radio.
Welcome back everyone.
Morning show here at WFHR, locally grown radio.
James and Melissa with you.
Hope you're having a great one out there.
Thanks so much for joining us.
Melissa and a big shout out to Milton and Christine, Ellison for joining us from World
Escape Travel.
That was a lot of fun.
Yeah.
I am.
I already warned them that I'm going to be reaching out about making plans.
Planning your trip to Italy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Gotta get there.
Gotta get to the mother country.
Gotta get there.
Awesome.
Awesome that they can also offer help with getting passports.
See, this is the thing that I really enjoyed about researching, looking into their company
and everything.
They offer a lot of different things that I don't see for most travel businesses.
I think that's pretty unique and pretty cool about that.
Trish lips and cruises.
I mean, they've got it all.
Oh, have you ever traveled by train?
Yes.
God, it's so great.
It's fun.
I went out to Washington on a train trip once.
Oh, I'm not often, I don't feel spites of jealousy very often.
I just did right there.
I don't know why, but I was like, oh, darn it.
That's cool.
That's a fun trip.
I bet.
We'll talk more about that off-air one day, because I want to hear more about that trip.
Let's get into some entertainment news.
And unfortunately, we start off on a sore note.
There won't be any new late shows this week, because Stephen co-bear suffered a ruptured
appendix over Thanksgiving.
Oh, no.
He issued a statement saying, quote, sorry to say that I have to cancel our shows this
week.
I'm sure you're thinking turkey overdose, Stephen.
Gravy boat capsize.
Actually, actually, I'm recovering from surgery.
For a ruptured appendix, I'm grateful to my doctors for their care and to Eevee and
the kids for putting up with me, his wife, of course, Eevee.
Going forward, all emails to my appendix will be handled by my pancreas.
Huge fan.
Huge fan, huge fan of Mr. co-bear, nicely done.
Get well soon, sir.
Get well soon.
Yes, indeed.
One of the, I think, cooler things about celebrities and just people, really, actually,
people in general.
I only add it to celebrities because they are technically people.
But I think the arc of a person's career or their life can be so unique.
You start here, you end up here.
And I think of this often with actors because so many different people fall into the acting
world.
You have a lot of models to become actors, singers, and dancers to become actors and wrestlers.
A big thing has been wrestling since, really, really, even going far back way before Hulk
Hogan.
There was wrestlers showing up on TV shows and-
Andre the Giant and Princess Bride.
Exactly.
Yeah.
There's a lot of great examples of this.
It's become much more common now as a lot of wrestlers are seeing, hey, do I want to
kill myself on the road 360 days a year and take injuries and beat up because whether
you believe in wrestling or not, the injuries are real.
If you look at what they do, you've got to imagine that there are injuries sometimes.
And you got somebody who is good on a microphone and also has a physically fit body and a good
at what they're doing or something like that, then shoot.
I mean, why not take a chance and see if you can get into the acting world?
You never know.
You may end up becoming a superhero like Dave Batista did.
Dave Batista just kind of wrapped up with the latest Guardians of the Galaxy movie, his
run with playing Drax, the destroyer, did a great job with that role, changed the trajectory
of his whole career.
He was going to be a muscle bound guy for his whole career pretty much.
He gets that role and all the sudden people are like, wait a minute, he's got comedic timing.
He's funny.
He can do drama.
He's got it all.
So he starts working with like, Jody Foster and actors like this and becoming even better
of an actor and his really embraced the public eye and being out there, somebody who was
traditionally very shy.
When he started in wrestling, he was not on the microphone very often.
He wasn't the guy that would talk much now to see where he is.
It's beautiful.
I think it's really cool to see how he's not only embraced all this, but how he's grown
as a human being.
And in part, also because of things like this, because Dave Batista, he himself has four
pit bull rescues.
And since today is giving Tuesday, he'd like you to open your home to rescue an animal
too.
He's teaming up with the ASPCA to encourage pet adoption.
He says, quote, after becoming so connected with my dogs, I started to be more aware of
how many dogs are just waiting for someone to give them good, loving homes.
You get so much in return when you adopt a pet, I'm going to preach for adoption for
the rest of my life.
This is why these are the reasons why I tell people, when you tell athletes, when you
tell celebrities, shut up and dribble.
We don't want to hear your opinions.
We don't want to hear your thoughts.
Just do your job.
This is why, first off, that's un-American.
That's one of the most un-American things you can state, in my opinion.
That is the exact opposite of what our country is built on.
Regardless of your celebrity status or what you do for a living, your opinion is not affected
by that.
Imagine if we said, oh, I'm sorry, you only make this much a year, your opinion doesn't
matter.
Which is a little bit of how it is some ways, but I digress.
In some ways, what they're trying to do is to protect your voting rights and access to
voting.
It's something to be aware of, something to think about when it comes to this subject.
But the adoption end of this is incredibly important, and it's pretty cool when we see
people like this taking their status and doing something good with it like this.
And as we know well, our listeners should know well from Madison Rafters on almost
every week telling us the shelters are full.
We have an excess of animals that need homes, and I can speak personally that shelter pets
make wonderful home companions.
Our Kevin the Cat is doing quite well.
Today he was being a little brat and trying to knock everything off the shelves, but
you know, I mean, he's just being a cat.
Kevin, Kevin, I'm glad this came up because that's on me.
So Kevin and I had been emailing lately, and I was giving him show notes, and he was
supposed to do that later in the show.
That was on me.
I changed things up, improbbed, and everything.
It was my fault.
He was playing music this morning during the morning show over on WIRI.
Get yourself a-
Get yourself a-
Get yourself a new furry friend.
A new forever friend, a new best friend.
Visit our friends over at the South of County Main Society, swchs.com, swchs.com, encourage
you to connect with them on Facebook or visit them.
You don't give them a call if you want at 715-423-0505-423-0505.
They are located at 3621-64 Street north in Wisconsin Rapids, and be sure to join us
every Thursday in this time slot right here for our Pet of the Week.
Let's take a phone call.
Good morning.
Okay, go back 424-2600, feel free to call back 424-2600, we'd love to hear from you.
And we wrap up with Spinal Tap.
A sequel to 1984's This Is Spinal Tap was announced last year, and now there's finally
been an update.
Director Rob Reiner says filming will begin at the end of February.
It was initially supposed to come out in March for the original 40th anniversary, but
that's unlikely because of the strikes that happened.
But Reiner did reveal some surprise guests who will be in this is Spinal Tap.
Just a couple of up-and-coming artists, Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Garth Brooks.
He also confirmed that everyone's back, which includes himself as filmmaker Marty, Christopher
Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Sheer, as Spinal Tap's members, Nigel, David, and Derek.
A new release date has not been announced yet, but they will start filming in February.
I actually could have told you about this because, all right, this is just between you and
I, okay, Melissa?
Okay.
I have an audition for this.
Really?
Yeah, yeah, I do.
Cool.
I get to be honest.
First off, I'm just happy to audition.
I will audition for anything right now.
I have no preferences on that.
I just want to work.
I'm begging to work.
I miss working.
I miss acting.
I miss entertaining.
I'm very, very spoiled that I get to do a job like this.
But I miss my passion.
I miss acting.
And I am excited.
When you get to audition like this one, like Rob Reiner will be in the audition.
Oh, cool.
So even if I don't get the part, even if I don't get a call back, I get to meet Rob Reiner.
I'm so excited.
I'm very excited about this.
I'm just happy to be auditioning.
I'll be honest with you.
The young me would be so furious with me right now because I'm just so happy to get
to the audition.
I'm not even like, yeah, I want the part and everything.
But sometimes the journey is just as much fun.
Not the exact opposite of how I normally approach these things.
That's how bad it.
And I'm not alone.
I've talked to a lot of other actors that are in my realm, if you will.
There's A-list, B-list, and then there's like us in the Q section, like Wade on the
line, just very just hungry to work.
So many people that are in this position are doing this because they want to entertain
you because that's our passion, that's our calling.
Having our name above a title or having 15 seconds of fame or being interviewed on a talk
show or any of these things, that's all nonsense, all white noise.
Just love to act, love to entertain, and there's a lot of people hungry to get to work
for you.
Wrapping up our entertainment section with What the Muppet?
It is a Monday.
Well, yesterday.
Yesterday was my Monday.
Oh, yes, sorry.
Yeah, I threw it.
You know what all runs together for me?
Well, it's my fault.
We usually talk about it on Mondays.
I wanted to change things up a little bit and just bring some attention to it on a Tuesday.
So that's my fault.
I changed it up on you.
But this is a wonderful podcast that my oldest daughter, Bri and I do.
Just two Muppet heads that dive into a different character.
Every episode, we do this randomly.
We pull a Muppet out of a hat and whatever Muppet we grab, we put them in different situations
and just talk about that Muppet in general and have some fun.
It's a light, you know, fun way to kind of just have some fun on the Monday or any day
you'd like listening to podcasts.
And who doesn't like Muppets?
It's a fun time.
We encourage you to check it out wherever you get your podcasts to type in What the Muppet.
And if you're interested in the video version, we have a YouTube page.
Go to YouTube, type in there, what the Muppet and subscribe.
We greatly appreciate all the people that already have and I'm just blown away that more
than one person likes this.
I think it's just cool.
We appreciate you all there.
Thanks so much.
Because I know a lot of you listeners have helped us spread the word about the show.
So thank you so much about that.
We are going to get to some state and local news.
Melissa's got us covered coming up during the break.
We'll be back more fun on the morning show here at WFHR.
We are locally grown radio.
Welcome back everyone.
Morning show here at WFHR.
Locally grown radio.
Melissa and James hanging out with you on a Tuesday morning.
Hope it's treating you good and you're staying warm out there.
Oh yeah.
If you're listening to us in a warm state, we're not jealous of you at all.
No, not a bit.
They appreciate to our listeners all across the land.
I got a question for you.
What is better for the environment?
Cutting down trees or plastic?
In a new poll, people were asked what kind of Christmas tree they prefer.
In 48% said they'd prefer artificial.
40% said real and 13% were not sure.
Okay.
Is it really that complicated?
Just answer.
Yes.
Men and younger adults tend to prefer real trees, I apologize.
Tend to prefer real trees, okay?
But why do you prefer the kind of tree you do?
Maybe having a real tree smells nicer.
Maybe a fake tree is easier or more convenient.
They didn't ask about those things, but they did ask about price and sustainability.
When asked which kind of tree is more affordable, 63% said artificial trees last long enough
to be a better value, while 19% claim real trees are cheaper.
Well, I guess if you get rid of your artificial tree every year, which is dumb.
Yeah.
Yeah.
When asked which choice is better for the environment, 47% said fake reusable trees are
better because you don't waste trees.
While 33% said real trees are better because it cuts down on plastics, 19% are not sure.
I'm okay with those people not being sure because they haven't done the research.
Agreed.
Agreed.
Yeah.
And I would rather you be honest than just phone it in and just lie about it and everything.
But let's get down to the science of this, which is actually better for the environment.
That's what I want to know.
I think it's a polls are interesting and I certainly care about what people think, but
I want to know what's the actual answer here.
And there isn't one.
We don't really have one.
I've looked at a number of different sources and we've seen some couple of things different.
I would say that for the most part, people lean towards fake plastic trees being better
for the environment only because of the use of them.
But then you will see on the counter of that that the plastic created to make them effects
our environment for every tree way.
They do eventually get thrown away.
Right.
When we do cut down trees, it isn't as if we just cut them down and that's the end of
the story for every tree cut down.
All of our foresters will tell you out there and all of our great listeners that run Christmas
tree companies and our businesses, if you will, will tell you they cut a tree down and
plant two more.
So you can, I think you can, again, this is not me.
Not me.
This is more of the articles in the science that I've read about this.
There is an argument to be made that for every tree cut down to more being put.
So it's actually even better for the environment to buy real trees.
That there's an argument there, sure.
This all comes down to your, I think, not only your personal feelings and opinions, but
your zip code, you know, where you're at.
How much it affects your, how much it affects the environment and everything.
How are the, this is also a great opportunity for you to find out about businesses in your
area and how they are impacting your area.
Are they helping the environment or are they affecting the environment and there are
a couple of days away from being sued by the FCA FDA?
Yeah.
Well, and there's a lot, we do have local Christmas tree farms that you can go and cut
your own down.
One trend that has, that I noticed, and this is a couple of years ago, was the ability
to rent a live tree.
Yeah, yeah, which is pretty cool.
That gets put back in the ground.
It's, now I just found the company in California that's doing it.
Obviously, that doesn't help us here.
But I would love to see this trend continue to grow, literally.
Nice.
Nice.
Because I think that's an awesome thing.
You know, you can rent a live tree, they deliver it.
You have it for the season.
They come pick it up when you're done with it and then they put it back in the ground.
This company I was just reading briefly, once the trees get too big to rent out, then
they plant them in the ground and allow them to continue growing.
And I think that's really cool.
It's one of the cooler ideas I've ever heard of, to be honest with you.
I think that's a fantastic idea.
It's really amazing.
That's pretty darn good.
But our local tree farms that grow, because they do.
Like you said, plant more trees and then there's more trees in the ground.
And the trees that we do use, there are places that you can donate them.
I know that the wildwood zoo in Marshfield takes old Christmas trees and they use them
for their animals.
Of course, I have to be free of anything artificial.
Mm-hmm.
And it's not a bad idea to research these companies and these businesses before you
spend your money there.
It's not.
If you're ever asking a question, there has it to answer.
That gives you your answer.
That tells you right there that there's something there.
I wanted to talk about this because I find the survey interesting.
Did I bring this up so that I could chew horn?
Another article?
Maybe?
Possibly.
But I do think it's important that we know you learn and you research about companies
because you just don't know what is always going on behind the scenes.
And in a 24-hour news cycle like we have, I feel ridiculous saying this, but a story
that is being under-reported, you can find out at TheTrucker.com.
Wisconsin Trucking Company settles with state over environmental issues.
This came up just last week, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kall announced a $100,000 settlement
with Paul Bugger, Trucking Inc. and the owner Paul J. Bugger.
They encouraged people to read up about that and why they have this fine and what they
were doing to our state and our beautiful state that we have here and how important it
is to keep this state beautiful.
You want people to keep coming here.
You want those, that tourism dollar, you got to give them something to come to.
I don't think this is rocket science that we're talking about here.
These businesses are looking at making a profit right now.
This second in lining their pocket.
Look at the expense of our state and our natural resources.
At the expense of our future, at the expense of all of our futures, our children's futures.
This is way too important and it's bigger than any of us to just let it just kind of be
a news article that comes and goes.
You got to pay attention to what these businesses and these companies are doing.
Are you tired of hearing about PFAS?
How many people are tired of hearing about PFAS?
You want that conversation to stop?
Start caring about what these companies are doing.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, and a clean water is, you know, important.
It seems like it would be something that would be incredibly vital to a community.
I'm just throwing that out there.
Maybe I need to do a little more research on how important water is to a community.
Maybe I should do that before I throw a statement like that out there, but it feels
like it's pretty important to a community.
Encourage you to look up that article, the trucker.com, you can find more or you just
throw into your search engine, Wisconsin Trucking Company, settled state over environmental
issues.
You should be able to find it.
Taking a break, coming back, talking about silly criminals and some other fun stuff.
We got coming up for you right here and a little bit later we're going to talk about
a great event that we're going to be live and direct at tonight.
We're looking forward to talking about lights of love with you, Melissa, and just a little
bit.
On the morning show at WFHR.
Welcome back, everyone.
Morning show here at WFHR, locally grown radio.
Melissa and James hanging out with you.
Let's get into an interesting one right here, Melissa.
The top tickets we'd splurge on.
Dream scenario.
Would you rather see your favorite artist in concert or go see your favorite team play
in a Super Bowl or go to maybe just a visit a destination, necessarily.
That's so much maybe a plan, but a destination, something like that.
We were talking earlier with some new chamber members, our friends Milton and Christine Ellison
from World Escape Travel about traveling, so I thought this would be a fun one to dive
into.
Perfect.
Perfect article.
Right out the gate, Melissa, you know, dream concert.
How about that?
Do you have somebody that you've always wanted to see in concert?
Well, probably if I gave it some thought.
But you have it.
Okay.
That answer.
I think if you don't have an answer right away, that's okay.
That answers it.
It's not something you've really, for you, you've probably thought more about destinations.
If I'm going to go to something live, it'll probably be theater over a concert.
That's I'm the same way.
That's the same.
I've been to a lot of concerts in my day.
I haven't been to a lot of like Broadway or a lot of big name shows.
I'd kind of like to do a little more of that.
Someone pulled 2000 Americans and favorite artist was the top pick as far as a dream scenario
of this, a dream ticket, if you will.
They asked people to name the top events they'd splurge on and more than three hundred or more
than three hundred dollars a ticket, basically.
And here are the top five.
Your favorite artist in concert, 76% of us would do that.
Your favorite team in the Super Bowl, 64% of us would do that one.
A little bit lower number for the NBA finals, but that comes in at number three with 47%.
So we see sports still being in the top five here for biggest things you can do that
dream ticket, if you will.
Okay.
Another Swift comes in at number four with 36%.
And Coachella comes in next with 35% around a third of us would also splurge to go see
Beyonce, Metallica, or Madonna.
The poll found the average ticket buyer has gone to four concerts in the past year.
Gen Z goes to most events overall.
Makes sense.
Yeah.
Interesting.
Interesting.
I think this is, this article is that much more interesting because of the things we've
talked about both with ticket master and with the rise of how much tickets cost.
Yes.
Yes, because it is expensive to go to a show if you want, you know, a prime seat, we'll
say.
Yeah.
And in people nowadays, we've been talking about this, you know, quite a bit over the
last couple of weeks as we are getting into holiday season and people spending money.
People are more and more smart about them, being more and more smart about their money.
And when it comes to, hey, this is be a great event.
This would be something that I could talk about the rest of my life.
It sounds really fun.
Wait a minute, $300.
You know what?
I'm going to go to an open mic night.
I'll go check out some karaoke.
There's a local band playing down at Holly Rocks tonight.
I think that I go check them out.
Seems like I have more in my price range.
And then maybe, you know, make a donation to the food pantry.
Right.
Exactly.
Yeah.
It's got to, it speaks to, you know, if we're going to do this, okay, but it's got to be my
favorite artist, or it's got to be, you know, one of the biggest events in the world,
like the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, or somebody like a Taylor Swift or a Beyonce, one of
these big, big names that I think, and I've heard this from Taylor Swift fans that I've
worked with and that I talked to about it, because I couldn't, I wanted to understand
a little bit of this sensation that's going on with her.
I get a part of it.
We've seen this before with artists, but I don't think we've seen that at a level where
people are, you know, people, Madonna released movies before, concert footage, things like
that.
We've never seen it where the box office is, is, you know, she's setting a pedigree.
She's setting a bar for live concert footage and films and everything and those being released
in film and movie theaters.
Another thing that people aren't necessarily going to unless they really want to see a
movie, they're not willing to spend the money they used to, combining those worlds, benefits
both those parties, so you're going to see a lot more of that.
Yeah.
And as long as people understand what they're going to see, I think that that'll be successful.
Yeah.
It'd be interesting to see how that goes.
The other part of this too is events, getting a little bit more bang for your book, maybe
you don't want to, you don't go and see one artist, but you go and see like 20.
Hmm.
Yeah.
So some of the festivals or...
Coachella and that kind of thing.
Yeah.
But I think the biggest thing and actually was talking about this with Christine a little
bit off air, the biggest thing that is getting people to travel or to go to an event is,
I want a life experience, I want to create a memory.
I'm willing to spend money if you tell me I'm going to have a memory from this moment,
from this event.
I don't want to just do something.
I want something that I can, that'll last the rest of my life in essence in my memories
and moment that I'll enjoy.
Well, and for some of us, the cost of taking a trip or going somewhere or even traveling
to see an event like this, because obviously if you're going to go see Taylor Swift, you're
not going to, it's not going to happen in Wisconsin, more than likely.
I don't know if she has any concerts here, but you know, that's, that's an investment.
Right.
You want a bang for your buck?
Rapping up the segment.
For over a decade, anyone on an Android has had to deal with several issues when texting
people and iPhones.
Photos and videos come through blurry, I message reactions like, haha, and hearing something
through, come through as a text and group chats and all these kind of things.
Apple just announced they're planning an update next year that won't fix all of those
things, but will fix the majority of them.
Photos and videos from Android will be higher quality.
You'll be able to see when a person is typing, just like when someone is using an iPhone.
And one person with an Android won't completely mess up a group chat or anything, get up
with the green bubble and all that stuff.
One thing that probably won't change is that green bubble, though.
An industry expert says blue text bubbles are a quote, badge of the Apple tribe.
So they, they, they're not going to change that anytime soon.
It's not clear when the software update is coming, Apple does updates all the time.
So this could happen any day.
But they are predicting it happening later this year.
Hmm.
They're, they're a very proprietary business and, you know, if you don't have their equipment
then, I don't know, your subpar.
Right.
Right.
Right.
It, what this is, what this, for people that don't care about the subject, I'll tell
you one thing that this does show you and tell you without, if you read between the lines,
Apple ain't doing that good.
They're, they're stockholders will tell you about this.
Yes.
Exactly.
If they are bending the knee, they aren't doing it because they want to, they for good
will.
They're not doing this because not everybody is jumping on the Apple bandwagon.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And they have seen a decline in sales and all of their products.
Their, their entertainment and division is, is like, just hemorrhaging money.
Um, did you, especially if they're getting rid of, you know, some of the, the prime people
that want, you want to see on there, like John Stewart.
Right.
Right.
Um, did you, I don't know if anybody else heard about this.
I've got to shoehorn this in real quick.
Uh, the bomb that is the Napoleon movie, that, uh, no, that movie cost close to 400
mill to make, they've got to make about 200 mill back to make a, to just break even on
that movie.
Thanks.
They have grossed 33 million worldwide.
And they ain't making much more, they're, they're not doubling that.
They, they, a movie, the best chance a movie has is its first week.
If it doesn't do bank gangbusters in its first week, the, good luck.
Good luck with that.
It's not gonna.
Yeah.
No, no, no, no, it's not that just, I mean, just, and just throwing away money, just
basic.
I mean, maybe cast a Frenchman in the part of Napoleon, and then you might have done
better.
Possibly, possibly, we will, we'll take a quick commercial break, come back more fun
on the morning show at WF HR.
Welcome back, everyone.
Morning show here at WF HR, locally grown radio.
Hopefully hope you're having a great day out there.
Little sound garden to play us in here.
And get us to a, that ain't right story.
Some, some beer thieves are just cruel and jerks, and some can kind of chill with you after
being cornered at least.
Okay.
A man in Oklahoma wanted to buy a beer earlier, early Sunday morning, but he didn't want
to pay for it.
So he went into a convenience store, used a pipe to smash the doors of two coolers, stole
beer, and drove off in a land rover.
The employees called cops, but he got away.
A few hours later, this gentleman crashed his land rover through the front of a grocery
store.
It's, it's unclear if the accident was intentional, was it, was it drinking or whatever.
It doesn't matter he did this, and he realized, he, and he realized he realized he was
done for either way.
So he cracked open a beer and chatted with a few of the witnesses while the police were
on their way.
Might as well enjoy my last few minutes of freedom.
When they got there, they arrested Jose for felony vandalism, larceny, and along with
other pending charges.
Clearly, the, that, a right part of this story is this guy acting a fool and doing all
these things.
Yeah.
But I'm also the person who just last week and, and has been complaining since the dawn
of these things, that, you know, the people that run away and how foolish that is, and
you're only taking a chance of hurting others or yourself, um, you know, get on the
sky at least for, yeah, running.
Yeah, exactly.
I mean, I, I can't say that out of one corner of my mouth and the other corner of my mouth
make fun of this guy.
I mean, you know, it is kind of funny, but I'm glad you can do a little bit of both.
You got it.
You got it, right?
I mean, it's, it's, it's ridiculous.
At the same time, I, he at least didn't, you know, try to create some high speed chase
that he could never win, and, and, and maybe chance the hurting himself or somebody else.
So, I mean, you know, I just, I have one follow up question.
Was the beer cooler locked in the first store?
Yeah, good question.
Very good.
Because if there were employees there, you would think you just open it and take the beer
and lock out.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You could skip the smashing part.
Yeah.
The, the breaking and that, that was unnecessary.
It seems unnecessary.
We need a palate cleanser.
Let's get to it.
We've got a great one coming up in our first, uh, edition of Moni Mac, a midday magazine
today.
Be sure to join us from three to four.
Part one, Lacey Ailing, events and engagement director with the Heart of Wisconsin Chamber
or Commerce.
Talk a little bit with our friends at the Chamber.
And then part two, Amy Shide, administrative development and volunteer coordinator with
the Wisconsin Rapids Family Center.
We'll be joining us.
Oh, nice.
Good.
It's a good information there.
Yeah.
Love being able to talk with our family center any chance we get, uh, of course, a little
bit later on our radio dial tonight at 705.
We've got the Wisconsin hockey hour.
Be sure to check that out.
And just an FYI, high school hockey on WXCO, 1230 Madison.
Be sure to check that.
1230 AM.
Uh, bull falls radio, everybody.
It's going on tonight at 645.
Our pregame will start out with Wasaw West at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln, Roll Raiders.
Mm hmm.
Little biased on that one, but, uh, you know, check it out.
Chad Holmes is at the game tonight.
So you happen to be there.
Say hi to our friend Chad Holmes.
Yeah.
That'll be a good game.
And, uh, you can catch this game again on WXCO, which you can find on the Civic Media
app.
Go ahead and download the Civic Media app or go to civicmedia.us and you can stream
them us from your laptop or your mobile.
Yeah.
Either way, get it.
Get, uh, go ahead and get on that and be sure to check out some great high school hockey
tonight.
I know I'll be tuning into that a little bit.
Uh, I got a lot of hockey.
It's a hot puck night, Melissa.
We got the hockey.
Yeah.
High school and then the Wisconsin hockey hour.
It's going to be fun.
Can I get all your hockey and, uh, and, and get in what you can before our great event
start kicks off tonight and you show up to that.
We're going to be at lights of love with the Spire Survey of Foundation tonight.
Yes.
We are.
I will be there live and direct from Spire's Riverview Hospital.
We're in the, uh, former location where it was before between the hospital and the express
way.
Um, at the end of the parking lot there.
We'll start the broadcast at 415 and we're going to, um, I'm going to be interviewing a
bunch of people.
I've got the sixth graders from, um, Rams are giving, there's an essay contest on giving
in the community.
We've also got the, uh, third to fifth graders are going to sing for us, um, from Grove
School and, um, and then just a bunch of interviews with people from Spire's and then of
course, the tree lighting, the event starts at 530 and we've got, you know, um, a whole
program planned out for you.
You can join us outside, bundle up, um, or listen in your car in the parking lot.
Yeah.
Be sure to tune in tonight for that and, uh, sport again, this is Giving Tuesday.
Uh, remember what lights of love is all about.
You purchase a light, uh, to honor somebody you love, that money goes back into the community
and the proceeds support initiatives like top health needs, uh, substance abuse, behavioral
mental health, food systems, cancer, just as an amazing job with this, uh, event to raise
funds for so many of our people and our, our situations in need in this area.
Mm-hmm.
Shout out to Lisa Skiba for organizing all of this and working with me on this.
It's been great and Ashley too, of course.
Yeah.
Uh, Lisa's amazing.
Lisa's so good at what she does.
Big shout out to Lisa there and find out more and purchase the lights of love at aspires.org
that is aspires.org.
Melissa, stay warm and have a great time tonight.
Okay.
Thanks.
I will.
See you later.
I'll see you soon.
Uh, and a big shout out again to Milton and Christine Ellison from World Escape Travel
Joining us.
That was a lot of fun.
All you guys to call in.
Thank you so much.
We'll talk with you sooner than later.
Big good to each other.
It's WFHR.
Oh, let's talk do this.
WFHR Wisconsin Rapids 1320 AM and W248DE broadcasting at 97.5 FM.
