Minds Blown, Thanks Kevin (Hour 2)

Good morning, Wisconsin.

Morning, world.

It's a new day.

Thanks for kicking it off with us at WFHR.

Got your host, James By the Mike.

I'm joined by Melissa.

Good morning.

And the best listeners in radio.

Thanks for being here, everybody.

We appreciate the company.

Got some good stuff coming up in this hour.

Mel and I are going to get into a couple of fun topics.

A little bit later, we have got one for you.

The unhealthiest foods on the planet.

See how many of those I can check off on my diet.

We got that one coming up a little bit later.

Some other, some that ain't right stories for you.

And of course some entertainment news right now.

And it is Elton John's birthday, Sir Elton.

Let's go ahead and kick off with Sir Elton John.

Elton has some advice for up-and-coming musicians.

And it emphasizes reality over reality TV.

OK.

In other words, avoid those talent competitions

like American Idol and start gigging.

Yes.

Obviously, when Elton was coming up,

that's how musicians made it.

And he still thinks that that's the key to being a great

entertainer, to having a not just a job, but a career.

Not just being a one-hit wonder or being a flash in the pan,

but having a long, you know, decades-long career.

Right.

Quote, the experience stood in me in great stead

for when I became Elton John because I had backbone.

And backbone is so important.

Quote, because the worst thing that can happen to you

in the industry are things like X Factor, an instant fame

on television, where you have no experience of playing live.

You get put on stage, you go, and you can't do it.

That's the worst thing.

American Idol, just the worst.

Take risks.

Go and play in a pub.

Yep.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, now certainly, I have, I mean,

I'm currently a struggling artist.

I'm a surviving artist, I say.

And I have no issue with anybody getting their break,

how you get your break.

I personally appreciate nowadays that you can have

a two-minute song on TikTok or whatever,

and get a record deal, like a YouTube artist in these things.

I have no issue with any of this.

If you're creative and they're finding you,

that's awesome.

Yeah.

Artists need to support artists,

but what they're talking, what he's doing here,

is exactly that.

What are you looking for?

And this goes back to one of the more popular phrases

and quotes of all time.

Do you want 15 minutes of fame, or do you want 15 years?

Yep.

Are you doing this, or 50 years?

Do you want fame, or do you want a career?

Do you, what are you doing this for?

And if you can answer those questions,

I think you know where to go.

American Idol X Factor, these things,

for people that are looking for that,

that's good for them.

Sure, great for it.

Great for it.

But whether it's the voice, or it's X Factor,

or American Idol, or any of these things,

off the top of my head,

I can think of one or two artists

that have actually done this, having that as their break.

I talk about this a lot, where they're like reality TV.

I have in my short career, since 2008,

I've been a Screen Actors Guild member.

And in my short career, I have had about four

or five different reality TV opportunities.

And I've told both of my agents,

this current agent has not done this,

but both of my previous agents, I asked them,

has any of these individuals, any individual,

from any reality TV show, ever turned this

into a strong acting career?

Have any of them ever showed up on the red carpet?

Because until that happens,

I can't see that as a viable avenue.

Now, if all I've ever wanted is 15 seconds of fame,

then sure, I'll go ahead and I'll do,

the temptation, stranded voice,

island naked in the frayed.

I don't know, with the real housewives.

I don't know, I don't know any of these shows.

I don't know what I'm talking about.

But there's no avenue there for that.

If I'm a singer, I'm looking at this with a lot of,

now, it's one thing when American Idol first comes out.

We've got 20 some years of data to show

that, well, wait a minute,

even if I win this competition,

it doesn't guarantee anything.

It doesn't even really give me a record deal.

It's a one off.

Whereas if I get discovered in a bar,

or if I'm an opening act for another musician

or something like that, if I pay my dues,

if I have real concert experience with real audiences,

and I build something,

and I actually have something to offer the industry

once I get that record deal.

Right, because you've put in the work,

and that's what Elton John is talking about,

actually going out and busking,

where you go out on the street,

and you play music and people walk by,

having that experience, having the rejection

of people not caring,

and then also having the accolades of people caring

and showing you appreciation

for what you've, what work you've done,

the experience of messing up live,

and recovering from that,

and the experience of interacting with a crowd

when you're playing in a pub or a bar,

being heckled, all of those things

help build you as an artist

and make you better, a better performer.

And they're all necessary steps to getting to that level

that Elton John is talking about with a career,

and being able to play in multiple venues.

I mean, doing just X-Factor or the voice,

sure, maybe you have some talent, you can sing,

but do you have all of these other necessary qualities

to be a successful artist on your own?

I think the acting equivalent to me of this

is what I was talking about yesterday

and the difference of a theater actor

and a TV or movie actor.

To me, I have nothing against TV movie actors.

They're very good at what they do,

and the craft is a little different.

But to me, in order to consider yourself a true actor,

you've got to be able to do it live.

You've got to be able to do it on stage.

If you can't, I don't know how much I can respect you

and consider you a real actor.

Anybody, most anybody, if you give them 20 takes,

can get a line right.

You've got to be able to do it there, right there,

on the spot, go time, with the audience

opening their candy in the back

and whispering to each other

and all these different things.

Like your fellow actor messing up your cue lines

and able to recover from it and keep going

and not lose the thread of what your story

you're trying to tell.

Yeah, that's acting.

To me, that's acting.

It's not just portraying a person.

It's not just memorizing your lines

and your blocking or any of this.

It's being able to work with a living organism like theater.

And a musician has to do the same thing.

I mean, you get into a song and you get through the first chorus

and you need to start the second verse

and you've forgotten the second verse.

Like, what do you do?

Oh, God.

You keep going.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you've got to figure out how to recover from that

and those things happen.

They do.

They happen to people like Dolly Parton, you know?

All levels of talent, all levels of experience.

When you're a performer, those things,

you've got to be ready to know how to deal with them.

Interesting note here from George Clooney

that he did a recent interview on 60 Minutes this week

and he said, look, I'm 63 years old.

I'm not trying to compete with 25-year-old leading men.

That's not my job.

This is unheard of in the acting community.

This is unheard of.

George, in the old, he went on to say, quote,

and this is the line that most people are clipping on.

I'm not doing romantic films anymore.

George's last romantic movie was in 2022,

ticket to Paradise with Julia Roberts.

At the time, he said he just wanted to do something light

because world events were getting too heavy.

Quote, it felt like we all needed a break.

I needed a break.

I needed to do something a little carefree.

And to note, before that,

he really wasn't doing a lot of these type of movies anymore.

He's kind of gone, actually,

done a lot more directing and producing than he has acting.

So it's not too surprising to see this,

but a lot of people are tacking on to it

because as an actor, especially as you get to a certain age,

you don't turn down work.

And for him to kind of be telling,

like, hey, don't even bother thinking of me.

Don't even reach out to my agent.

I ain't doing these.

That's kind of something you just don't see very often.

Now, he is George Clooney.

If anybody's gonna do it,

it's actors like him that can get away with it and everything.

But at the same time, it's kind of noteworthy.

And I think the part that disappoints me,

that people aren't focusing on,

is the idea of an actor of this caliber saying,

you know what, there's roles,

just because the director wants to cast me,

I shouldn't do it.

Yeah.

That it's about actually having the right actor

in the right role, not just the biggest name.

Yeah, no, and that's really,

it's important that he's doing that.

He has the freedom and the ability to do that

because of his fame.

And he doesn't need the money more than likely.

I know the Oceans movies and some of the things

of his career might lead you to think something differently,

but never mistake, forget that George Clooney's a Kentucky boy.

He is a Midwest kid.

He is a kid who did have dirt under his nails

that does remember where he came from.

And it works very hard to support other actors

and build other actors up.

And it's-

Isn't he the one that's living out of farm right now?

Yeah, raising his twins?

Yeah.

Yeah.

He's one of these guys that to me-

He's down to earth.

He's down to earth.

It's down to earth.

And nicely done.

It's down to earth as anybody can be

with the other factors going on in his life.

Right.

And I respect that.

I also say behind the scenes,

and I don't know how much of this I can say and I can't,

he is one of these guys that reaches out to actors like me

that I don't even know why he would know my name.

And not just me, I mean specifically,

but actors of my realm and my level will say,

a mass email to people like me.

So not even, I wouldn't say direct direct.

I don't want to overstate it or anything.

But reaches out to actors that aren't at his level

to try to build them up.

Well, this happened back when I first became a SAG member

and he sent out this message.

And I imagine he does this to a lot of early actors

in this realm.

Reach out if you need anything.

That's all it was.

It wasn't a list of things that we have to do

and this is what this means or anything.

Just, hey, if you need anything, here is my business email.

And you know, he didn't have to do that.

I think it shows a bit about his character.

And it shows a bit about the positive interaction

in the artist community of building each other up.

Yeah.

Where Hollywood has definitely taken it

of working to tear each other down to,

I'm gonna claw my way to the top.

I'm gonna step on all these little people.

No, that's not what it's about.

And it's not what it's about in the real world.

That's not Hollywood.

We build each other up.

We help people to achieve the best that they can do.

Yeah, that is what life is all about, really.

Especially in the artistic community,

but just in life in general,

we should be building each other up.

That's what this is about.

Biopics are one of the bigger things

that are gonna be going around for the next,

I'd say at least 10 years.

Yeah, especially with we're seeing so many of the actors

in these biopics get nominated for best actor,

best supporting actress,

or best supporting actor, or any of these things.

So they're not gonna win anytime soon.

But some of them really stand out to me.

And this next one, boy, this could be good.

Lizzo is going to be starring in a biopic

about Sister Rosetta Tharp,

also known as the Godmother of Rock and Roll.

Tharp was a gospel singer

who mixed spiritual lyrics with electric guitar.

She blew up in the 30s and 40s

and influenced everyone from Chuck Berry,

little Richard Elvis,

Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash,

basically anybody you got in your playlist,

this lady influenced.

Her 1944 song,

oh, strange things happen in every day.

Oh, I got goosebumps just saying that.

It's considered to be the first Rock and Roll record.

And my father stands by that one.

My dad is the one that taught me about this.

The movie takes place at a time

when Tharp was preparing

for the first ever stadium show in music history

while also having to quote,

hide her love for another woman.

Lizzo is certainly got the pipes for this.

And I've seen her act a little bit.

She had a guest spot on a Star Wars show

and I've seen her act on SNL a little bit.

And she certainly,

I feel like what little bit I've seen,

she shows enough to show potential.

I could see how she could land in audition.

I could see how she could land this role.

She also, for whatever it's worth

and to say this as respectfully as I can,

she's got the look that really fits Sister Rosetta.

Yeah.

And honestly, if I could be real blunt here,

whether this movie's good or not,

whether Lizzo does a good job or not,

I don't think this can fail

because there is a lot of people out there

that just learned for the first time,

Sister Rosetta Tharp.

And are going to learn about this lady.

And I feel like if you love music,

if you're going to tell the story,

you can't tell the story of music

without Sister Rosetta.

It can't be done.

It's actually not rock and roll.

And not American music.

Not American music.

And that's what rock and roll is.

You can label it all you want.

That's American music.

That's what rock and roll is.

And that's what this is about.

It's a very cool idea.

And I'm excited about that.

There's still in such the early stages of this.

So who knows where it's going to,

what direction it's going to go.

But it could be really interesting.

It could be really good.

It could be.

And there's definitely a bar, you know,

with biopics that some of them miss the mark.

Yeah.

And we've had a few come out recently

that have really missed the mark.

Yeah.

But when they're done well, they're fantastic.

And I'm excited about this one.

I do still like I want to see the Judy Garland one.

I haven't seen it yet.

That is one that's on my list.

I absolutely want to see this one also makes the list.

Let's take a call quick.

Good morning.

You're on the air.

Hello.

So it's nothing against Lizzo at this point.

I mean, she's not my favorite, but whatever.

Who I really need to see.

And I need this spiritually in a way

that perhaps only the two of you will understand.

I need Brittany Howard to play sister Rosetta Sarp.

And I need it like I need blood in my veins.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

From what I've read, she doesn't really

have any interest in acting.

But she would be perfect for the role.

You're 100% right.

She would be perfect for it.

Brittany Howard.

Is that the right vibe?

We know she looks up to her.

I mean, ugh.

If we're being fair, I don't know if they're like,

if Brittany Howard was cast to play Elvis, I'd believe.

Like, okay, yeah, sure.

Go ahead.

Go ahead.

I don't think there's any.

I don't think there's anything I couldn't see her doing.

That's a great reference.

Good one.

Nice one, Laura.

Have a good morning.

That's a good one.

Brittany Howard is amazing.

You get a chance to listen to some Alabama shakes.

You go for it, everybody.

Yeah, I need to listen to more of her music.

We'll be following this story and see where it goes.

I hope they call it Sister Rosetta.

I hope they call the movie Sister Rosetta.

I think that'd be a great name.

That'd be a good name for it.

Melissa, you just mentioned a little bit ago

that you had a rehearsals last night.

Melissa, of course, is directing

Wisconsin Rappers Community Theaters.

Rapp up to the 2020-2024, 25 season,

wrapping up 50th year celebration on the main stage

with noises off.

Yes, oh my goodness.

We are in the middle of Blocking Act 2.

And for people who aren't familiar with the show,

in Act 2, so Act 1 sets the story of the play within the play.

Act 2 is what happens backstage during the play within the play.

So the set turns around.

And I get so excited when we're talking about the set turning

around because our set crew did such

a fan, we already have our set.

We have the full set that turns.

It literally rotates on a pole.

It is so cool.

So amazing.

Yeah, there's three parts.

The two pieces come attached.

Distached?

Distached?

Does that a word?

Unattached on the sides.

And they move the middle spins.

The two sides go across the set change is going to be choreographed.

There's actually going to be a scene that

happens during set changes.

So it's part of the show.

And then in Act 2, where Blocking was very interesting last night,

because we have to basically, while the show is going on,

on the other side of the set, which now is backstage,

which the audience doesn't see, but they can hear.

They're watching the activity that's

happening behind the scenes.

And all of it is mimed, because they're

being quiet, because the show is going on.

And so it's so hilarious.

It's farcical.

And I am absolutely blown away by this cast

and how quickly they're catching on,

how much they're picking up and writing.

They're on top of it.

I'm thrilled.

I have the best cast.

I have the best crew.

I'm so excited for this show.

So it's going well.

In a word?

Yes.

Good, good, very, very, very good to hear.

Thank you for that, Melissa.

I appreciate it.

Audience, I got to let you know, I kind of put her

on a spot with this, and I don't mean to do that.

But I love this behind the scenes kind of bit

that we get to do with these shows.

And hopefully it's encouraging you not only

to take in these shows and support your local theaters,

wherever you're listening to us, but be a part of them.

We want you to come on down.

And if you'd like to be involved in our crew,

I think we're still looking for a couple people.

Reach out to Gretchen.

And she'll put you in touch with Bethany,

who is our production manager, our project manager.

And see if we still have a couple spots on the crew

to be backstage.

Because yeah, we need a lot to help, you know,

with all of the moving parts.

And there's literally lots of moving parts in this show.

It's such a fun thing to be a part of everybody.

We encourage you to find out more.

Get your tickets at wwwrctheater.org, wwwrctheater.org.

Melissa and I'll be back with the vetting right story

and some more fun on the morning show right here at WFHR.

Welcome back, everybody.

Morning show at WFHR, locally grown radio.

Melissa and James hanging out with you.

Let's go ahead and take a call.

Good morning, you're on the show.

All right, I have one more entertainment question for you.

Did they come out with a numbers on the streaming

of Wicked, did it be adolescent, plastic, and...

Ooh, numbers of streaming for Wicked?

You know, this is a new avenue

that most people are still trying to figure out how to rank.

And even if to believe these companies,

like when they tell us this,

this has become much more of a storyline when Netflix,

where Netflix will say that the Paul Tyson fight

pulled in bigger numbers than any streaming event

in the history.

And then you ask him to see the books

and they're like, what books?

What are you talking about?

Like, wait, unfortunately,

they're still trying to hammer this down

to where it's data that everybody knows already,

that I can look up and find just as well

as the board directors at NBC.

It's an interesting avenue.

Now, I will say that I know my parents

are looking forward to watching it.

I know that they're excited to.

I know that there's a few people that I've talked to

that haven't already seen it,

that are looking forward to seeing it on Paramount.

Mm-hmm.

And a quick look at just a Google search

that the Wicked has been seen by over 65 million people.

And then there are some numbers for streaming services,

like how many streams does it have?

52,000?

Okay, okay.

But, I don't know how accurate that is.

I mean, it's a quick Google search.

And what is the parameter here?

What is a high number?

What is a low number?

You know, what's the ceiling?

What's the floor on this?

I think we're still figuring out some of this too.

Either way, I think it's pretty safe to say.

It did really well.

It's doing very well.

I feel comfortable in that part.

Yeah, that 52,000 number would equal 67.66 million.

So, I mean, that's a chunk of change.

Yeah, that's pretty good.

It's pretty good.

I take it.

Especially for an app and a streaming service

that still could use those numbers.

You know, it's still trying to build off

of the Olympics and some of that.

Mm-hmm.

Peacock.

Peacock, I said paramount before I meant peacock, sorry.

Yeah.

And no, I mean, it got there, okay.

But yeah, I was just kind of curious because, you know,

I was looking back and I was kind of want,

because we did watch it over a weekend.

And especially on Friday, and I was thinking,

oh, we're going to have issues watching this,

because I'm going to go off the experience

of trying to watch that tights and fight

when you got kicked off the stream.

Yeah.

There are too many people watching,

watching Richard, you know,

if that was going to be an issue,

and maybe everybody learned from the tights and,

uh, where, like, all three, yeah, I think they did.

Yeah.

That, you know, they tried to fix it,

but yeah, I was just kind of curious

if they gave all the numbers on that or not.

And I know we watch adolescent,

that's a really good, really good theory there.

And that's like, uh, mm-hmm.

That was kind of curious.

I have to check out to keep an eye on it.

That's a good question.

Question for you though, yet, did you enjoy it?

Did you like the movie?

It was okay.

I, I'm sorry, that, um,

oh, sure, now I get it.

Her name just kind of blankly, um,

uh, the, uh,

Galinda, Ariana Grande.

Oh, yeah, she's not an actor.

Yeah, she's not.

No, it wasn't.

She didn't, I don't know how she could have been nominated for.

I mean, obviously they were nominating for the movie wicked,

but if you have more to support the actor,

uh, I, I've never saw it.

I'm still more of a fan of.

As great powerful.

I think to me, Jeff Goldblum,

or you better, oh, that move old, okay, mm-hmm.

Yeah, that was a good movie, actually.

Yeah, that was good.

Yeah, mm-hmm.

I think it told a better story of the prequel

than it was in a lot than what, which is Tim.

But I mean, we think it was still pretty good.

I mean, I, I'm, I'm kind of a sucker for musicals

and all that stuff.

Right on.

Mm-hmm.

I would depend on that, Kevin.

That, that's awesome.

Well, I didn't know that.

You and my dad, man.

Uh, you know, I, I think as far as people that you wouldn't guess it,

but, uh, like musicals or sucker form or anything,

my dad gets, uh, pulled into them.

So I know he's going to be looking forward to it.

I cannot agree with you enough about the Iron and Grande thing.

Um, I would have to, I have to, I have to do have a deep dark secret.

Mm-hmm.

That you guys are just between the three of us.

Yes, yes.

I think that, um, when I was living down in the Twin Cities,

I did participate in five by birdie and Oklahoma.

Wow.

Whoa.

Kevin, you just blew my mind.

Yeah.

Both, both of our minds are.

Oh, that's good.

That's awesome.

Okay.

That's just between us.

We'll keep it secret.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

It's safe with us, man.

We ain't going to tell anybody.

Oh, that's awesome.

I love it.

I can't wait to see you on the WRCT stage, Kevin.

Oh, yeah.

You did a thing now, man.

You did a thing.

We appreciate you, Kevin.

Safe travels out there.

All right.

You guys have a great day.

You too.

You too.

You too.

Appreciate that from him.

It's some kind of interesting news from Kevin.

That was pretty good.

Speaking of news, Melissa, I know that you and our team are hard at work.

It didn't be a feature news letter.

You got a new edition coming out this Thursday.

Yes, we do.

And we're working hard to get information on, you know, our local races here.

I'm hoping to have a couple articles about things that are happening in our local areas.

Obviously, we have an election next week.

That's important that people need to be aware of.

Tuesday, April 1st, to make sure you get out and vote.

Make your voice heard.

And just the, our newsletter focuses on Wisconsin News, local, central.

We have wonderful articles from our meteorologist, Brittany Merlot.

I'm just so excited that we have a, James, we have a meteorologist.

Yeah, yeah.

We have.

How cool is that?

She's, she's ours.

We got the best one.

We do.

Great.

Yeah.

And she has wonderful articles that she puts together that are weather-related, that are climate-related,

that have to do with the things happening right here in Wisconsin.

We've got our great sports reporter, Michael Comer, writing articles about our local high school

sports and what's happening.

So I'm, it's a joy putting the newsletter together every week.

I'm just, I'm always excited to work on it.

Yeah, Michael's done a really nice job, not only covering sports, but breaking news for us.

And as far as some of the coach retirements that have happened in our area and covering some

of that, speaking of sports, Jimmy Koskas added some things to the, to the newsletter as well,

that have been great.

Yeah.

And, and Alora and her coverage of powerlifting, I've heard from so many listeners out there

that have really enjoyed learning more about powerlifting as well as being able to cover it.

Absolutely.

That's been great.

But Melissa, I, I do want to show you out real quick because I know that, in particular,

one of our listeners in Florida that is from this area that, that signed up for the newsletter

right away, one of our earlier people that signed up for it really appreciates this news,

whether it was you, your coverage of the protests recently or the Wisconsin Rapids extending the mayor's term.

These are, these were really big stories to this family and they were happy to read about them.

They wouldn't have known about them otherwise because as we know, there's been a lot of cuts

to our local journalism, whether it's in paper or a lot of other radio stations.

You're not hearing us doing that.

No, we're building.

Yeah.

We're expanding our news department.

It's, you know, it's, it's, it's a slow process.

And, and we definitely want to get the right people on board.

But, you know, that's what civic media is working towards is to be able to focus on local news stories,

to give the reporters the resources and the support that we need to be able to,

to focus and local, and get and dig into these stories because, yeah, there's, there's, there's a lot and it takes time.

Nobody is covering Central Wisconsin like we are here at WFHR.

I stand on that.

And if you have a counter argument, I would love to hear it.

And if you have a news tip, please reach out to me.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

But there's something that you feel needs to be covered that we're not.

I would love to hear from you.

You can head over to WFHR.com to sign up for our newsletter.

It's free.

And you just need to give us your email address.

And right there in the sign up, you have the option to give us feedback on what you would like to see in the newsletter.

So, please do.

I save all of those.

And, and I appreciate hearing from our listeners.

Let's make that saved folder even bigger everybody and add to it WFHR.com.

We'll be back with more show coming up.

Welcome back, everybody.

Morning show here at WFHR.

Locally grown radio.

Melissa and James hanging out with you.

Not Jimmy.

James.

Get it right.

That song used to drive me crazy.

Oh really?

Yeah, I don't mind it anymore.

I love Martha and the Vandell's for one thing.

But my sister and brother knew that growing up, I didn't like being called Jimmy.

So they would, of course, you know, play this song to be any chance they get.

And they got the lyrics horribly wrong, by the way.

They were not even close.

Not even close.

It was more fun that way.

I suppose, yeah.

The website eatthis.com.

Great name.

Great name.

Put out a list of the 100 unhealthiest foods on the planet.

And here are some of the culprits.

I don't like this list.

Yeah, I don't either.

I'm pretty sure every single thing on this list, I eat multiple times a week.

And I will say it's in no particular order.

So we're just going to go right ahead and read through these potato chips.

We knew that.

Yeah.

White bread.

We knew that.

That one's still, you know, I heard that ages ago and it still surprises me every time I hear it.

Well, it's just not a lot of, there's not fiber in it.

It turns to sugar in your body.

It doesn't, there's not a lot of nutrients in it.

Yeah.

Process meats like bacon and hot dogs.

Mm-hmm.

There's lots of sodium.

French fries.

For obvious reasons, they're so good.

Fast food burgers.

Yeah.

Okay.

But it doesn't, it says specifically fast food burgers.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Right?

Yes, it does.

Specifically fast food burgers.

Yes.

So Fidel's, I dreamed about this burger at night.

Yes.

Does not count.

Yes.

Over at El Cafe.

Cookies.

Darn it.

Okay, but maybe not homemade ones.

Yeah.

Because you can show us into them.

Yeah.

Yeah, there you go.

Microwave popcorn.

Mm-hmm.

Well, I think because like we're talking the pre-packaged stuff.

Yeah.

And that's why.

Yeah.

Donuts.

Dang it.

This should not be on the list.

No.

Don't.

Ice cream.

Ice cream.

Also, also should not be on the list.

Yeah, that's not right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And at number 10.

Pie.

I mean cake.

I mean cake.

If I was smack you if I could.

Cake comes in at number 10.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And here are a few more that might be surprising to see in the top 100.

Like bottled in fast food smoothies.

Probably because a lot of the added sugar.

Yeah.

One that I had to learn the hard way, granola with added sugar.

Yeah.

I like granola.

And here I thought that that was one of those things I was eating that was actually good

for me.

And that I had to flip it around and look at the ingredients and like, oh, okay.

James, the big chunks of chocolate in there.

So I should have gave you an indication.

Should have been a clue.

Probably should have been a clue.

Yes.

Catch up in barbecue sauce are also on the list.

Again, sugar.

Yeah.

The culprit to all of this, really.

Pretty much.

I mean, if you look at the side of like french fries.

Obviously that's the fat content and the oil.

But yeah, sugar is a big culprit in most of these.

Frozen dinners and coffee creamer wrap up the list of our list here.

You can find the complete list at eatthis.com.

I think you hit on something right away, Melissa, that I think is important with this.

And I didn't think about right away.

But you know, when you're making these things yourself and how you can improve them or

make them maybe a little bit healthier, maybe not healthy, but healthier.

Right.

And that's the big thing because if you look at this list and you're just buying these

things from a store, they're all extremely processed, like highly processed.

And you can make these things yourself.

You can make potato chips yourself in an air fryer from just straight up sliced potatoes.

Yeah.

Air fry them.

And voila, you have chips that sure you've tossed them in a little bit of oil and salt,

but they're not so processed.

Yes.

Yeah.

And not deep fried.

I mean, and you can make french fries in your oven to cut up some potatoes, toss them

with a little bit of olive oil and seasoning and make steak fries.

They're amazing, fantastic.

And you can do this with all of the cookies you can make at home.

You can make your own microwave popcorn, too.

I will be honest with the audience.

You could deep fry a pair of those sweatpants jeans we were talking about, and I'd probably

take a couple bites, but I'm trying to learn that this isn't always the healthiest way

to eat.

And one of the things that I'm learning from this is, you know, relearning some things

to be honest with everybody and some stuff that I should have already known or I should

have already been doing that I'm just kind of doing late in life, but one of them is

really trying to pay much more attention to the ingredients.

And something that, and I don't know if this is something that a lot of people do or

anything, but for me, it's also trying to find the balance of, man, I really loved cookies.

I really loved donuts, but you know what, I should probably eat some yogurt, too.

I should probably...

Everything in moderation.

Yeah.

I should probably have a salad, too, in substituting, you know.

Right.

And...

Like, these things aren't bad to eat.

You don't have to cut them out completely, but enjoy them now and then.

And when you want to, and you're able to, and you have time, which is always the factor,

you know, make donuts in your oven.

They have these like amazing silicone molds that you can get now that look like donuts,

and you can make baked donuts that taste fantastic that you, you know, my sister-in-law

does this.

And they're great.

I want to make my own donuts.

I want to do that so bad.

See?

And then you can make your own maple glazed donuts, James.

Oh my God.

I want to go do that right now.

That sounds amazing.

And, you know, paying more attention to your diet is just going to keep you around longer,

which is what we want to do.

And there's so many recipes out there online that you can find easily to make this stuff

at home.

But again, it's the time.

It's the effort.

We're having ingredients because we all know that a lot of this stuff is cheap.

It's easy to get your hands on, but it is really not good for you.

So, moderation is key.

Moderation, everybody.

Speaking of moderation, we got a very right story to get to here.

Fireball whiskey is giving out lifetime supplies of their stuff, of Fireball whiskey.

But there is one big wrinkle.

To win, you have to be at least 90 years old.

That's...

What?

You messed up.

So they claim they're doing it because Fireball is oddly popular with older demographics.

Quote senior citizens love Fireball and who are we to argue with their years of wisdom?

Okay.

Anyone born in 1935 or earlier can sign up at lifetimesupplyofFireball.com or if they're

young enough to drink, but too old to use a computer, you can nominate them.

The deadline is March 31st.

Okay.

I actually, I kind of like this.

Yeah.

You have to explain why they deserve to win and upload a photo.

Up to 15 winners will be announced early next month.

Okay.

It's kind of fun.

I actually like this.

According to the rules, they won't actually win endless bottles of Fireball, of they'll

just get a check for $2,400 and can use the money on Fireball if they want.

Oh, I like that even better.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That is kind of cool.

That is kind of interesting.

The part of this that just throws me is like, I am not one of these people that assumes

a lot of things in life and as somebody who is almost the definition of don't judge a

book by its cover, I stand by that quite strongly.

But I did not have this on my senior citizen bingo card of Fireball whiskey.

I didn't have that one.

I'm sorry, everybody.

I didn't see that coming.

That threw me.

It's so much, going back to kind of the essence of this segment and then a right part

of it.

Sometimes it's not somebody doing something wrong or a business doing something wrong.

It's just, you know, wild information.

I don't know anybody.

Kind of got a left field.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I don't know anybody that had that one.

That surprised me.

And I love that they're doing something very positive for our, let's see, is that sector

generic?

Yes.

That's 100.

I don't know what 90 is.

Octogenarians 8.

I'm not sure what 90 is.

I'm not sure what 90 is.

And then 90 year old citizens, yeah, like that there's not a whole lot of like really positive

and awesome things that we try to do for that generation.

How many promotions are strictly focused on senior citizens?

Yeah.

You know, that part of it really stands out to me and I think that part of it is really

cool and I'd like to see more things done like that.

And I love that it's not actually like they're giving them Fireball whiskey.

They're giving them money to do with what they want.

That's cool.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I really like that.

Yeah.

That's a really cool idea.

I hope that this does well so that other businesses take note of it because everything's

parity and they decided to start doing more senior based kind of promos and specials

in that.

Because guess what?

We wouldn't be here without them.

Yeah.

And while the majority of our seniors, you know, are in, you know, dire straits financially

to be quite honest with a lot of the cuts and different things that have gone on, I

also, if you're a marketer and you're looking for, well, where do I get to the coveted

age range of people who have disposable income?

Very few of those have a disposable income right now other than, you know, people in retirement

and not to say all people in retirement do, but they do tend to more than your, you know,

the coveted 18 to 35 demographic.

So, you know, it's a smart marketing idea too to reach out to seniors to want to, you

know, involve them more in, you know, the economy.

Like just bluntly.

Instead of trying to scam them out of money.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

I don't know.

It's not a bad idea.

LifetimeSupplyofFireball.com is where you can go if you want to sign up.

And if you're in, in your 90s and you want to be nominated, reach out to me.

I will nominate you.

Yeah.

There you go, everybody.

We'll be back with more of the show.

Welcome back, everybody.

Morning show here at WFHR, locally grown radio.

Melissa and James taking me to the top of the hour, wrap up the show for today.

Mm hmm.

Yeah.

Ooh.

Too much for me.

Got to get into our schedule here a little bit, let you know what's up and coming.

And man, we've got some good stuff going on all day long with the Civic Media break

in the spring text to win contest.

Yes, indeed.

Be listening today at the top of the 11, 1 and 4 o'clock hours.

Without that hour, you'll have an opportunity to text us that key word.

You can do that and you're going to get a chance for some cool prizes.

Yes, indeed.

There's prizes that are going to be awarded every hour and you're entered for the grand prize

as well.

Yes.

Yes.

Be on the lookout for that, everybody.

You can find out more at civicmedia.us.

Jane and Greg will have your next word for you.

And they're coming up in just a couple of minutes to take over the airwaves.

Mm hmm.

And they give it during the 11 o'clock hours, that right?

Yes.

And then a little later today at 1 o'clock and at 4 o'clock, you can hear those key words

to text us through the Civic Media app and get in on these awesome prizes, $100 cash,

Chulavista Family Stay, Parrot Brewers, Tickets Club level, and of course the grand prize.

This amazing mattress set from our friends over at Verlo, a really nice package right

there.

Mattresses are expensive, man.

Yes.

That's a pretty cool prize.

And of course, we encourage you to stick around for midday magazine coming up from

4 to 5.

Today, be sure to join us in part 1 at 4 o'clock, where we have promised joining us from the

heart of Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce.

Oh, wonderful.

And she's bringing along Mary from ACE leadership programs, so we'll talk with both of them.

That's awesome.

That's awesome.

In part 2, Jess from the Family Center is going to be joining us as we're going to discuss

April being sexual assault prevention month and their movie night coming up over in

Milan and some other great things with our Wisconsin Rapids Family Center.

Mm.

Very important information.

I want to remind everybody, and I believe it, yeah, coming up on Friday, we're going

to be talking with our friends from the aging disability resource center of Central Wisconsin.

You don't have to wait until then, though, because they got a couple of really good programs

going on, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

On the third Tuesday of the month, they have dementia basics.

And then on the fourth Tuesday, they have brain health basics.

You can learn more about these things by taking in these classes.

They go from 3 to 4.

And you can find out more at ADRC-CW.org, ADRC-CW.org, otherwise you can stop on by at 2.23th

Avenue South right over at the ADRC building.

Nice.

Be sure to find out more about that Wednesdays.

They also have a mental health older adult support group going on over there from 10 to 11.

It's a peer support group and a great opportunity for individuals out there that could really

use these services.

Yeah, absolutely.

That's wonderful.

If you've been listening to Melissa's news breaks, which we encourage you to do, you

better be.

You know, you know, we do test you on that.

We do.

No, we don't test it.

We don't test it.

But you may have heard her mentioned that American Heroes Cafe is back this Wednesday.

Yes, indeed.

730 to 930 over at Crossview Church in Wisconsin Rapids, all veterans, military, police and firefighters

are welcome.

We encourage you to spread the word about this.

Make sure all those individuals from those groups know that they are welcome at American

Heroes Cafe.

Big thank you to all the volunteers in Crossview Church and everybody that hosts this.

Yes, indeed.

The second and fourth Wednesdays of the month.

It's a great event.

We appreciate them hosting and taking part in.

We got some other good stories going on.

Of course, again, remind you to send your good stories and your local good stories to

the team here at WFHR so we can get them into the WFHR newsletter and into Melissa's

news breaks and all that.

Absolutely.

We'd love to share your local good stories.

Feel free to reach out to us, everybody and do so.

And of course, another, I want to take a look at some world good stories.

I always like to wrap up with these.

A cat in the UK just turned 30.

Whoa, that's pretty old for cats.

Yeah, she's a tortoise shell named Millie and she'd be a Guinness World Record holder.

But her owner doesn't have the paperwork to prove it.

His wife got her as a three-month-old kitten back in 1995.

He says she's still going strong three decades later.

And she's great.

Now, as a side note, the oldest cat that ever lived was in Texas.

Her name was Kremepuff.

She passed away in 2005, but she lived the 38.

Whoa, 38.

I've never heard of that before.

I've never heard of a cat getting past like the early teen ages.

20?

I mean, I've heard 20.

Oh, have you?

I haven't heard that.

Yeah, but 38.

Wow.

That's pretty cool.

What's pretty cool?

What are they beating that?

That's a good question.

That's a good question.

We're going to find out.

Cops in South Carolina caught someone's pet kangaroo.

They got loose over the weekend.

I didn't know people had pet kangaroos.

Just, you know, so every once in a while,

just like to let a headlight just sit there.

Just cops and so.

Because it seems like an animal you probably don't

that's a wild animal.

Yeah.

Probably shouldn't have that one.

They posted a video after they got a leash on it.

The owners say it got out after her pet goat opened the gate for it.

Oh, conspiracy.

Be on the lookout for that Pixar movie.