Big Gig: Day Two

Thanks to Glenn, our engineer, we've got a better link to the internet, and are blogging away from the World's Largest Music Festival, Summerfest!

Here's me in the KTI booth.

Here's KTI Street Team member Travis in the crowd.

This Guy, Travis Knight, came up to the booth out of the blue, and wanted us to promote his band, and their upcoming tour. I liked his straight-forward approach, so he's on, (and unlike Packer Great Paul Hornung who's camped out in a tent blocking my view to the South signing autographs for $40, Travis didn't charge anything.)

Marcus Monroe, extreme juggler, is doing shows all day outside our North Window. Here's his big finale, juggling 3 flaming batons on a 6 foot high unicycle, with a bottle rocket shooting off the top of his helmet. Awesome!

KTI Rockstar Project 2007 Finalist Kristel Metzig stopped by with a traditional funnel cake from her German Dancing group tent.

Chris Brust is an amazing young man I've known for at least 10 years. He's a world class marathoner, having run one on most continents! He has a degree in landscaping, and is a greeter for Walt Disney World. In his time off, Chris is a cook at the Big Gig for Major Goolsby's.

Live at Summerfest

We're in, and broadcasting live from the 40th Anniversary edition of Summerfest, The World's Largest Music Festival.

Unfortunately, our internet connection is iffy at best, and slow like a tortoise. Pictures are out of the question today, but we've got our best people working on the problem, and should be able to do more tomorrow.

In the meantime, suffice it to say that with the chilly weather, the people watching is somewhat hindered by all the clothes people are wearing.

Green Thursday, dedicated to living life in a manner that helps the planet, will return in a couple weeks, when we return from some time off.

A calm reflection before the storms of summer

With all the turmoil of a cancelled credit card, and the upcoming Summer Festival season (The Big Gig turns 40 this year!) Today I simply offer a shot of Charmaine's perennial garden in the back LipsYard for your contemplation.

To: whomever stole my credit card number

Just when things are rolling along nicely, something like this pops up on the answering maching: "This is Capitol One, due to the theft of your credit card number, we've de-activated the card. Please call 800-xxx-xxxx for more information.

This has happened before, and before I dial, I already know that a week's worth of headaches are about to begin. First, I have to deal with Capitol One, which takes forever, and ultimately ends up with me screaming into the phone. Second, we use our card to pay some monthly recurring bills, which are all due this week. This will take a lot more time to clear up.

I was not disappointed with my call to Capitol One. After entering my 16 digit card number to the automated response machine, I was put on hold. Light Jazz, nothing I recognized. 3 minutes drift by, then a live person is on the phone. They need my 16 digit card number. Didn't I just enter it to get this far? I comply.

Now they need the last 4 digits of my social security number. Would someone who stole a credit card call in as me? To do what? I comply.

Now I'm told that my card has been de-activated because of a "Mass-comp." A large group of card numbers were reported stolen from some retailer, mine among them. I'll be issued a new card in 7 to 10 days. What do I do in the meantime? "Please Hold."

Adult contemporary music, Phil Collins "One More Night," interupted every 30 seconds with "Your call is important to us, please stay on the line for the next available operator." Like I'm going to hang up.

New person on the phone: "May I have your 16 digit card number please?" How would I get two levels deep in this phone chain without giving it to you twice already? "I need to verify it's you." And they wonder why I get angry? I comply. "You're card has been cancelled." Right, you did that. "Please hold."

Classical. I'm sure that they think it helps calm anyone who actually stays on the line this long. 19 minutes so far. This time no one assures me that my call is important.

New person on the phone: "Because your card has been cancelled, I need to verify your identity with some questions from your credit report." I love games.

First, I'm given 4 car makes, one of them is mine, the others aren't. I nail this one. Next, yes, I suppose the car could have been a lucky guess, but would a credit card thief really be on the phone this long (26 minutes,) and to do what?

Question 2; I'm given 4 street names, none are my current address, but one is from my past. I get this one right, too. Convinced that they know it's me, I'm ready to move on to finding out who compromised my card number, and how do I get a new one faster. But NO, there are still TWO MORE QUESTIONS!

I have to pick my bank out of a list, then I have to tell them the range of my monthly mortgage payment. I get both right, and on the last, I give her the exact amount of the mortgage. She's not impressed. Grudgingly, she asks "What can I do for you today?"

I think I'm having a stroke. I've been on the line for 30 minutes, talking to 3 people (so far) and they still don't know what I need?!? My needs are simple; Who compromised my card, how can I get a new one faster than 7 to 10 days. "I don't have the retailer name, just that our Theft department put a 'Mass-comp' on your card." She is willing to expidite a new card to me by week's end, usually a $16 UPS charge, but Capitol One will waive that. Hoo Hoo. I should have quit right here, but I wanted to know who lost my card number, so I can avoid doing business with them. "I can transfer you to Theft, please hold."

This time, "due to a large influx of calls (all the people in the Mass-comp,) all agents are busy, please wait for the same service they're giving Capitol One customers right now." Oh Boy!

I could continue on, but there's no point, really. I did go through 2 more operators, but never got any more information. Total time on the phone: 58 minutes. An hour out of my life wasted because some retailer got sloppy with my card number. I don't even know who it is so I can take my business elsewhere.

Along the way, one of the operators told me I should be "grateful that they cancelled the card and prevented any theft." I was too taken aback to mention that it has nothing to do with me, and all about covering Capitol One's butt.

Peas in a Pod

It's Pea season in the LipsYard garden.

Nothing better than Snap Peas (Pisum sativum) fresh from the garden.


Speaking of Peas in a Pod, when foreign policy gurus Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft all start saying the same thing, it's time to pay attention. That happened this month in a joint appearance broadcast on The Charlie Rose Show, and their comments ought to be required reading for presidential candidates in both parties - not to mention the current occupant of the Oval Office.


Their collective message was this: In a radically changing world, America needs to be less arrogant about its use of power and more willing to talk to other nations. That may sound obvious, but the United States has spent much of the past six years doing the opposite. The three former top officials argued for more dialogue not just to improve America's image, but so that we can understand the new rules and opportunities in the game of nations.

A little pedigree for those who don't recognize these gentlemen:
Henry Kissinger, secretary of state under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser for President Jimmy Carter.
Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser for Ford and former President George H.W. Bush.

Yuck, a summer cold

I have a summer cold. Sneezing, stuffy head, minor sore throat, coughing, chills. It just doesn't seem fair to feel this way when the weather is so nice. Colds are for fall and winter, not summer. I don't feel like getting the show together, I don't feel like driving in to work, I don't even want to be blogging. It's hard to even work up any rant against the right, even with Dick Cheney refusing to cooperate with an agency that oversees classified documents, then trying to abolish the office when it challenged the actions. I got nothin' but snot, and that annoying 'Sudafed' awake-but-not-happy-about-it feeling.

Green Thursday: Turn it off

Here in the LipsYard, the computer churns away 24/7, but we really only use it 2 or 3 hours a day. How much is this costing? Almost $300 a year. If we only turn it off for half a day, that's $150 bucks a year in savings. It's also less energy used, contributing less to our climate crisis. When you start thinking about the number of computers and other electronics in use in this country and it's sobering both in dollars and kilowatt hours.

This won't be easy. I'm used to sitting down to instant access anytime I want, not waiting for things to boot up. We all need to do our part to make a difference, and what the heck, a little savings doesn't hurt, either.

Every Green Thursday, LipsYard will deal with an issue vital to our global environment.

Here we go again - Robin mania!

Three weeks to the day that the last hatchlings jumped off the side of the nest, Mom and Pops Robin are building another nest.

And making a mess on the patio in the process.

Robins will have two, and sometimes three broods in a season. They also remember where they have nested safely before, and often will build in the same place again. Got more Robin questions? Click Here.

It's like trying to keep Hammas out of Gaza around here.

New Things Springing Up

It seems everytime I step out into the LipsYard, something new is blooming. The big purple balls are a giant onion (Alium giganteum,) the yellow and red flower is Blanket Flower (Gaillardia,) and the white are Peony (Paeonia officinalis.)

This stunning pink and yellow Peony (Paeonia officinalis) seemed to pop up overnight.

RNC Server Farm (e-mailus confusus)

Popping up in Washington is the scandal involving staffers at the Whitehouse using Republican National Committee issued e-mail addresses.

Democrats are suspicious that Carl Rove and other senior officials were using the political accounts to avoid scrutiny from Congress. Now it's being discovered that most of those e-mails have been deleted.

Balloon attack

So I'm minding my own business, enjoying the Father's Day parade in Mukwonago, when Tim Glander, Balloon Sculptor, takes respite from the heat in our shade. "Let me make you a hat" says Tim to my Dad.
"Make it for him" says Dad pointing to Me.
"I'll make it really special," says Tim. He then went on to make the most elaborate balloon hat, actually it became an entire outfit, that I had ever seen. Even Russell Crowe would have been jealous.

Showtime!

6 months in the making, "The Really Big MVE Show" is tomorrow! This is the men's a cappella (unaccompanied) chorus I sing with. Midwest Vocal Express is known for it's costumes and singing, and you'll get a good dose of both in the show. It opens with us dressed as fish in an aquarium, longing for the open sea.

We'll end the show dressed as ________ (it's a surprise!)

In between we've got some great special guests: The Humdingers, from Mainstreet USA at a very famous Orlando theme park (lawyers won't let us use the name.)

Nightwatch, a local comedy quartet who just won the Chicago Regional Harmony Sweepstakes. They're all costumed up like Broadway characters who've been on stage too long.

Marcus Monroe, extreme juggler from Shorewood. You've seen him at Summerfest and other festivals (the kid on the unicycle juggling knives.)

Through the magic of TV, Ed Sullivan is our MC on the Big Screen.

2:00pm and 7:30pm the curtain goes up at the South Milwaukee Performing Arts Center. There's only 15 rows of seats for close-up viewing, and the sound is perfect.

Click here for more about the show.

If you can't make the show, you can always buy our DVD of past costumed songs that we've taken to International Competition.

Click here for more about the DVD.

We're a non-profit organization of guys that love to sing, and if you sing, for heaven's sake, visit us any Monday Night at St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Greendale.

Click here to sing with the MVE.

Green Thursday: Let your laundry 'Hang Ten'

A couple weeks ago we gave you tips on saving water, and cutting pollution when you do your laundry. Today, you can save money and power by skipping the dryer, and heading to the great outdoors with your clothes.

It costs 20 to 30 cents per load to dry laundry in an electric dryer at home. The average family can save about $4 per month on the electric bill by hanging clothes outside to dry. I love the smell of laundry hung outside. Hopefully you live in a community that 'allows' you to hang out clothes. Some neighborhoods restrict this, along with what materials you can use on the exterior, what you can or can't park in the driveway, what your driveway has to be made of, etc... If this is the case, it's time to get on the board that makes those decisions and go GREEN.

When you do use your electric dryer, (towels, mostly,) try to do it at night. Your house will be cooler and you will avoid the peak electricity-use hours of 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Every Green Thursday, LipsYard will deal with an issue vital to our global environment.

Nothin' better than a strawberry right in the field

It only lasts for a couple of weeks, but one of my favorite times of year is Strawberry picking season! There's a great farm about 20 minutes from our house, and we made our first trip yesterday.

I start the day with a big bowlfull covered with a few Cheerios, Charmaine prefers yogurt and granola. Strombleberries (as I call them, don't know why,) are good in pies, on shortcake...

or just plain.

All Paris, All the Time

Jay Leno called it a typical weekend for Paris Hilton; "She spent the night in handcuffs being probed by strangers."

Barbara Walters told us Paris confessed to her on the phone; "All that dumb blonde stuff, like not knowing what Wal-Mart is? It was an act that act is no longer cute."

Even O.J.Simpson has an opinion; “When Paris Hilton was going to jail last week, more people knew about that than knew that we were sending people into space that day. It has replaced what is real news."

But when Paris hits the midwest, namely Mukwonago "Place of the Bear," you know it's big time.

The Bush Administration is thankful for the distraction from the messes they've created, although it does point out some big problems with the Justice System, but I'm sure as soon as he's done testifying on Capitol Hill about his incompetance, Alberto Gonzales will get right on that.

Art in our town

Pissarro, the father of Impressionism, is on display at the Milwaukee Art Museum. It's at the Calatrava until September 9.

Strolling the gallery with your audio guide is a great way to forget the troubles of the world.

What a stress reliever for Paris Hilton (she'll have to wait a couple more weeks,) Alberto Gonzalez (he may be able to visit VERY soon,) President Bush (well, maybe Laura would like it.)

Live poolside from Wisconsin Dells

1:25pm Interns are the first to arrive
Its our annual outing to the Waterpark Capitol of the World, Wisconsin Dells! We've given away over 20,000 Summer Kick-Off cards to WKTI listeners, and today the Invasion begins. Debbie Lazaga and I are poolside at Great Wolf Lodge.

1:35pm One Live Broadcast, some assembly required.

2:00pm We are on the air (thanks to Glenn, the engineer)

2:01pm That was tough work, let's cool off in the pool.

2:50pm Lips and Brad and Steve, the bigwigs from Great Wolf Lodge

3:20pm Former intern Leonard Peace visits the broadcast

4:12pm Lips and Melanie from the Dells Visitor and convention bureau

What's going on in the Dells?

4:26pm Interns check out the Tornado at Great Wolf Lodge

5:14pm Interns in the deluge at the Thunder Bay pool

5:28pm Exhausted Interns dry out in the hot sun