This edition of Keil's Comments is my Christmas Card to you, my friends and family. Don't worry, I'm not going to go the "Christmas letter" route...and if you've gotten one of those this year, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
I pray that everyone has a very Merry Christmas, and that 2011 may be one of, if not THE best year ever.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord's face shine on you with grace and mercy.
May the Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.
Good evening and Happy Thanksgiving from the Keil's Comments Studios. Let's not burn any more daylight than we have to...
1. Maybe it's because the last time I flew in a plane was pre-9/11 (as in 1998), but the whole uproar about TSA's new "aggressive" screening process is just much ado about nothing. And it's mainly the people who frequently use air travel for business who are complaining about it. Like I said, I don't have a horse in the race per se, but if it means taking a little more time getting from, oh say OKC to Los Angeles or even to London or Rome than so be it. Those who are raising a big stink about getting felt up are just making it worse on themselves. If/when I get the opportunity to "fly the friendly skies" again and I'm chosen to get pat down and groped, I'm not going to complain. It's just a matter of making sure some psychotic idiot doesn't try to make any statements by making a plane his/her personal "soapbox".
2. Another hot topic that is on the Keil's Comments radar...bullying. Look, I know that the network news has spotlighted one facet of a target for bullies...the GLBT community, but it's not just that area that gets the taunts and the staredowns and the face time on the evening news. Believe it or not, there are other reasons that people get "picked on". I can name a couple of them because in my high school formative years, I was target of many a harsh word because I wasn't as "popular" as some of my classmates because I didn't have the nicest car or the name brand clothes, live in the nicest subdivision of Clinton, OK (insert chuckle here, fellow Clintonites) or have a full "dance card", so to speak. But did I want to take the easy way out, as in end my life? It's obvious what the answer is considering I just celebrated birthday #39 yesterday. NO!!! It's just wrong and just flat out stupid to taunt someone because they don't look like someone off the pages of a fitness mag or whatever. The age-old question still applies today -- "What Would Jesus Do?"
Moving on to much more happier thoughts...I pray that everyone has a happy and blessed Thanksgiving. I know that on the calendar there is one day that is set aside to share thanks, but Thanksgiving should be everyday. Ok, maybe you'll get tired of eating the turkey around April, but you get the idea. And for those of you who will venture out in the wee hours of the morning on Friday to get those "must have" items for the Christmas wish lists, God bless you. You're crazy, but God bless you nonetheless.
Thanks for reading. I'll try not to be so long in between entries next time. :)
It is with a sad and humble heart that I write this edition of Keil's Comments.
I found out last night through Facebook that a man I've come to admire here in Clinton for several years, Lanny Ross, passed away on Tuesday evening after a bout with cancer. He left for Eternity with Jesus with his wife and his children at his side.
I came to know Lanny through working with the Clinton Chamber of Commerce when Emily Stratton was the executive director. I would help get the word out about some events the Chamber was doing and one way was through a radio show that Lanny was hosting called "Coffee and Conversation". It also fueled my interest of working in radio which I got to do for 3 1/2 yrs in both Clinton and Weatherford.
Lanny was a showman's showman. Whenever there was a play or musical at Southwest Playhouse that looked like it would be fun to do, chances are you would find Lanny on stage playing whatever role he had to perfection. And if it wasn't at the Southwest Playhouse, chances were you'd see him at McLain Rogers Park Amphitheatre ("Oklahoma in the Park" or "Music Man") or at the Middle School Auditorium ("Red Clay Revue"). Not bad for a one-time mayor of Clinton and petroleum marketer.
He had about five great passions besides the theater. One was, as he so affectionately referred to her as "his first wife" Janet Sue. The other two were his children, Karie and her husband Dave and his son Jeff and the grandkids.
Another great passion he had was for the Clinton Red Tornadoes, whether it was being in the stands, calling the games on radio for a couple of seasons or writing for the Oklahoman he was proud of Coach Lee and the hometown boys and looked forward to seeing them contend for a state title every year.
But his main passion (besides for the family) was the Sooners. I'll never forget him whistling Boomer Sooner into his hands -- he was crazy about OU even during the lean years of Sooner Football (1995-99). You could see that when he got together with some of the former Sooner coaches when they would make a stop in Clinton.
I will miss hearing him do his "Lanny-isms" like describing our neck of the woods as the "fertile, fruited, forever functional plains of the shortgrass country of Western Oklahoma" or when he and Otto Ratke would bring out things like the "Sweat Meter" or the "Welldigger Meter" or, my all-time favorite on certain Fridays, "The Eagle flies today!!!"
My thoughts and prayers are with the Ross family during this time of loss Lanny will definitely missed among his long time radio fans, his friends in the theater and among the Red Tornado and Sooner Nations.
One last thing...I think this song is kind of appropriate.
As I am writing this, I am having quite an experience this weekend. The class of 1990 from Clinton High School is getting together for a 20 year reunion, and I must admit I am overwhelmed by (1) the number of people from our class that are coming together, and (2) how much some people have changed looks and demeanor wise in 20 years.
I have pics posted on Facebook if you want to see them from the Friday night get-together at Montana Mike's in Clinton. We were looking at some of our class pics...man, some of the girls in the class have gotten hotter as the years progress. It was good to see the ones that left Clinton and scattered hither, thither and yon across the country, not slighting those of us who stayed in town and see every day in church, at the grocery store, at the bank or at a Red Tornado game.
I realize that there are some that didn't want to come for various reasons and I can understand. But know that at least from "this reporter's standpoint", you are missed very dearly and I hope we can get together at some point in time, hopefully when it's a happy occasion like a Red Tornado game and not when one of us or our parents or someone we know goes Home to see Jesus.
To the classmates that are here for the reunion: I may not say it vocally, but I love each and everyone of you and I am glad we have gotten the opportunity to see each other again.
Your brother in Christ and a fellow Red Tornado 4 Life,
Welcome again to another fun-filled, informative edition of Keil's Comments. Let's get right into it...
Watching the contrast of how LeBron James handled his "decision" to take his talents and his basketball (and some might say his ego) from the Cleveland/Akron area to Miami to how Kevin Durant handled his agreement to re-up with the Thunder for another 5 years. Kevin just simply tweeted his deal adding "God has blessed me and my family." Oh yes indeed He has, KD. Not only did He bless you with that talent, He blessed you with a gift of humility and a level head on your shoulders, as well as a good upbringing by your Mom and Dad and Grandma.
I can go on and on about the kid from Ohio...but I want to focus my attention on the guy that could easily be Jerry "The King" Lawler's stunt double, Dan Gilbert. His firing off of the now-infamous letter in Comic Sans font and partly in ALL CAPS just goes to show what I said in one blog. Sometimes when I write something, I think it through before putting pen to paper (or in this case finger to keyboard). And the times I don't are the ones I have to label NFB (not for broadcast). He should have calmed down, thought it out, chosen a different font then put fingers to keyboard. Too late now...now he has to shell out $100K thanks to the almighty David Stern.
As I am writing this, I am watching the ESPY Awards (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly). One moment that stuck out was when umpire Jim Joyce and Tigers pitcher Armando Gallaraga stood together on stage, a symbol of forgiveness and character, which is also shown with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award with the Thomas Family of Parkersburg, IA.
I had a bunch more but it's all escaping me (maybe it's due to the July Oklahoma heat, I don't know). Anyway, that's all I can think of for now. Thanks and God bless.
Sorry I haven't been blogging a lot lately. Just not a lot has gone through to make it to the screen. However, I did want to this time because I have had some thoughts rolling through my head.
I am extremely glad that as an American, we can honor those who chose to fight and give up their lives for us who still love, live and breathe freedom on a daily basis. There isn't a day that goes by that I am proud of the service that my grandfather gave to this country during World War II, especially in helping to build the famous Burma Road. I also think of the service Dad did, serving in Germany when he could have gotten shipped to Vietnam. And, even though it was a small part, I am proud of the time that I served in the National Guard and the role I played.
This afternoon (as a matter of fact it was right before this post was written), my mother and I went to visit where my grandparents are buried, as well as where our cousin Steve and my great-grandparents are laid in cemeteries outside of Weatherford, Oklahoma. It wasn't until while Mom and I were at Great-Grandma and Grandpa Grossarth's grave that a particular song I had heard growing up while in church started playing in my mental mp3 player (and we had just heard it a couple of weeks ago as it was playing on NCIS). Here are some of the words to the song:
Ain't no grave gonna hold my body down Ain't no grave gonna hold my body down When I hear that trumpet sound I'm coming up outta that ground 'Cause there ain't no grave gonna hold my body down
Why the song came up in the first place amazes me, but then again I'm reminded of scripture in 1 Thessalonians where it talks about the Day will come when the dead in Christ shall rise first and everything...so that put a smile on my face.
Just some food for thought on this Memorial Day Weekend. Have a safe one and God bless.
This afternoon on Facebook, I posted a question "Who in their right mind would want to take a child to a gun show?" after seeing an ad on local cable about an upcoming gun show in Altus and that children under 12 would be admitted for free.
I appreciate the responses that I got. Yes, it would be a "teachable moment" for the children to teach them how to properly handle one and to let them know that they are NOT toys. I also think that for one thing, it would teach the children that the weapons would not solve any problems, that it would create more of them and that option should best be eliminated. Also, I also think that it should teach them also what type of one would be needed when going to hunt deer or turkey or any other "four-legged wildlife" (kinda like choosing whether to go with a pre-owned titanium driver or buy the newest thing to come out of Nike R&D -- of course, what would I know about golf).
Again, thanks to those who helped me understand the reasoning. I just hope those youngsters who go to the gun show (with their parents, of course) "get" what the vendors tell them.
(The following are some thoughts I wrote out on paper about a year ago and thought I would share on this blog.)
You see them on any given street corner and intersection in America. They hold their pleas on a cardboard sign. "Hungry. Need Help. God Bless." True, their grammar may not be the best in the world, but you try to know their intent. You also look around to see if there is a news crew hiding in a nearby parking lot filming what is going on. You've seen the stories of such people -- begging for help only to go home in a decent 3 bedroom "shack" on the South Side. You want to help, but you're afraid you might be one of the people they spotlight in that story.
You might be interested to know that, in all actuality, you're not that far off from the "street urchin" you shun as you turn to go to Wal-Mart or that favorite restaurant. Now don't get me wrong, you may not be standing at an intersection anytime soon, but think about this...
Martin Luther -- you know, the guy who put the Catholic church on it's ear when he posted those 95 theses on that door several hundred years ago, carried around a simple three word phrase in his pocket. That phrase was "We are beggars." Obviously it was written in German, but I don't know German that well to type it out, but you get the idea. We may not all be standing in the intersection pleading for a couple of dollars here and there, but we go humbly before the Lord in prayer.
We beg God for His mercy -- His mercies are new every morning.
We sing the song "more love, more power...more of You in my life." We do that, but are we giving enough to get more? I'm not going to go to the offering Scriptures here (II Cor 9), so you are safe for now.
I saw a T-shirt in a Christian bookstore that made me think of this. It said "I'm just a beggar telling another beggar where to find bread". Psalm 37:25 "I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned (or forsaken), or his children begging bread." But we can tell others, "Hey, I know where you can get food. You may not have now, but I can show (or even take) you somewhere where you CAN have...and have it more abundantly."
Last night, our family went to a benefit pancake and sausage supper in the town of Bessie, OK (8 miles South of Clinton). It's kind of a family tradition -- we've been going for quite a long time. Plus, it was my Mom and Dad's 30 Anniversary, so what better way to celebrate, huh? It is highly recommended and it's the one time of year that the population of Bessie swells -- not just as much as the volume of people, but the volume of food consumed!
But that's not my rant. My rant involves a little moment that occurred there. Someone that was there was going around the table where we were sitting telling us (in a rather forceful way) that we should vote FOR a bond issue that is being decided today here in Clinton. The $17mil issue is for basically "Extreme Makeover: Clinton Public Schools Edition" -- adding classrooms, remodeling the Middle School auditorium (believe you me, it needs it) and several other projects.
What's got me going is is this particular person was, as I said, rather forceful in telling us to vote for this project. One, last I checked, the beauty of us being Americans is that we have the right to choose. Give us the lowdown on what all you need, how much it is going to cost, etc. But going around telling me how I should vote is completely unacceptable. Hey, Clinton needs this as bad as probably any other school district in Oklahoma...but you should not TELL me how I should vote. I'll decide that on my own when I get to the polling place.
Secondly...again, last I checked, we were in Bessie, Oklahoma. Bessie is not in the city limits of Clinton. This person was way out of her jurisdiction to do that. People who live in and around Bessie go to 2 or 3 other school districts -- Washita Heights, Corn Bible Academy or Cordell. Do you think that they give a rat's tail on a bond issue in Clinton. NO!!!!
I'm sure the person I'm "ratting out" is going to see this and accost me for it since we go to the same church. Oh well. She shouldn't have done what she did. What we were doing last night was celebrating Small Town Western Oklahoma and continuing a family tradition. What we didn't need was someone making a campaign stop. (For the record, I do support the bond issues in question. I just didn't get around in time to change my address so I can vote today.)
As like most of America, I watched the Tiger Woods non-conference and was listening carefully to every word he was saying.
Whether he was true and contrite in his remarks, that's for much smarter wordsmiths and much more experienced media personnel than me to cuss/discuss/dissect. However, here's what I take away from the non-conference.
As in my experience...what you want to say and what you do say are two totally different ballgames. I sometimes write my thoughts down on paper (or in this case, in a blog) because sometimes I can get in less trouble if my words are written and not verbal. And, most of the time my thoughts are what I label NFB (Not for Broadcast) because of the content involved. My point is...I'm sure Tiger wanted to take much less time to say "yeah, I messed up, I apologize to everyone involved. Forgive me." Period. End of Quote. "Rack 'Em" Done. But, something like this needs the time it took for one thing he needed to cover all bases.
Another point...at least Tiger is trying to re-discover the tenets of his faith. I know what you're going to say next. "But Robert, he's Buddhist. He should be learning the ways of God, not the ways of a lawn ornament". And you're not any better off? As they like to say on NFL Countdown, "C'mon Man!!!" We all have our faults. And we all have some spiritual foundation to call on to get us back on the right track. For me and presumably about 95% of other Americans, it's a Foundation of Jesus and His teachings and how we should live our lives as Christians. For some other people, it's other ways/belief systems/etc. I'm glad that Tiger is going back to his spiritual foundation. Whether it's the "right choice", it's not for us to decide.
Hope you understand where I'm coming from with this. I'm just one person with one opinion...and these are my thoughts. You can take them for what it's worth (which is probably not very much).
First of all...I HATE TMZ WITH A PURPLE FRICKIN' PASSION!!!!! Among their "topics" that they covered for this evening's "edition"...they got some "surfer dude" reporting that Kim Kardashian (you know, from "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" and Lamar Odom's sister-in-law) was reportedly spotted going through an In-N-Out Burger drive thru there in LA. WHO FRICKIN' CARES!!! Yeah, she appears in a Carl's Jr. ad. SO FRICKIN' WHAT!!!!! Like the "Sonic guys" haven't wanted a Wendy's when they are not filming their spots. DOESN'T TMZ HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO THAN TO PEEK THROUGH DRIVE THRU WINDOWS? I mean, I'm sure they can risk life and limb chasing Lindsay Lohan through the Streets of Hollywood or spot Tila Tequila necking another girl in Redondo Beach somewhere.
Another topic that Grinds My Gears...Fox 25's story on the Ada City Manager is intriguing, for one it was picked up by Fox News Channel and two what it involves. In case you haven't seen the story, the CM of Ada was spotted on hidden camera gambling during his work hours at one of the casinos there in Ada. When confronted by Fox 25, he basically hem-hawed and said nothing. Well, the Ada City Council voted by 3-1 to just reprimand him and place him on probation. Basically, he just got a "slap on the wrist". Only one guy voted to fire him. Now, I'm not a resident of Ada, but I do know people there, but I agree. HIS ASS SHOULD HAVE BEEN FIRED!!!!! I know if our City Manager, Mr. Bottom or (God forbid) our mayor got caught at Lucky Star doing something other than city-related business during the time they should be working, they would be gone too!!!!!
OK...I feel loads better now. Maybe I can give up being so uptight for Lent. NAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!
Hello everyone! Hope you are having an excellent day!
Well...we have survived the ice storm. Luckily here we didn't suffer any kind of power outage on this side of town, but there were other parts of town that can't say that. And thankfully we made off better than folks in Southwest Oklahoma.
It's the end of the world as we know it It's the end of the world as we know it It's the end of the world as we know it ...and I feel fine!
In case you have been living under some sort of Alabaster Cavern-like cave for the last week or so, our local meteorologists have been saying that Oklahoma is on the verge of the 2010 edition of the "Ice Storm of Death". I personally hope it's not going to be that bad, but I have lived where the worst was predicted, but turned out to be quite the opposite. (No, it wasn't here in Oklahoma).
Ten years ago, I was in Tennessee and the local weather guys in Chattanooga were predicting something similar to what is supposedly about to come upon us tomorrow...and had been saying the same thing for three straight days (get your survival kit ready, make sure you have plenty of supplies, etc.) I wake up the morning of what was supposed to be D-Day...turned out to be a cold rain. Now, the mountains had the ice/sleet/snow, but not Cleveland or the valleys.
Am I saying that's what is going to happen tomorrow? I've learned not to doubt the weather people -- especially, as Lanny Ross would say, if there is a tornado in the Parkersburg area of town heading this direction; but I'm going to keep an open mind as to what happens. And pray our electricity stays on!!!
Have a great evening and stay safe. And now, for a little levity... (thanks James Aydelott)
Ice on the ground...Ice on the ground...Feeling mighty cold with this ice on the ground Sleet on my car...Ride spinning sideways, ice on the ground...Gettin' mighty cold with my power goin' out...Skidding down town with this ice on the ground...Get it up!
Hello everyone. Hope you are having a Fantastic Friday and will be having a great weekend.
Just wanted to tell all my friends that are involved in social media circles, may have connections to those who are Program Directors or Operation Managers in radio, etc. I have made a page on MySpace that has material I recorded as part of a portfolio from broadcast school.
The page is here...www.myspace.com/robkeilradio Feel free to send this link to anyone. If they have any questions or would like to contact me, send me a DM on Twitter or E-mail me at keilrj_ok@yahoo.com and I'll do my best to contact them.
Hello everyone! Welcome to the 2010 edition of Keil's Comments. I've done some sort of blog before, even aired my comments on YouTube, but I'm gonna try again to do some sort of written blog, because sometimes my thoughts are best served written than on video (I don't get into trouble as much when my mug is not properly displayed for the world to see ) :)
Anyway...my first entry involves five simple words that I tweeted this evening regarding the special US Senate election in Massachusetts. I know what you are thinking. "Why the hell would an Okie blog about something going on on the East coast?" Well, it had national ramifications in regards to how everything was going to play out in Congress...plus, it would also determine whether the momentum of the anger the Town Halls felt last summer would carry on or just fall on deaf ears. Needless to say...I think everyone heard the message. Well, everyone except for the knuckleheads at MSNBC, but I don't even want to go into that.
What were the five words I tweeted that made such an impact? "Today Massachusetts...tomorrow the Nation!" Through a new friend of mine who goes by the handle "Foxienews", a few people have picked up on it and it is taking off like gangbusters.
I don't look to be the next Michelle Malkin (she's a hell of a lot hotter than me) or any other known conservative blogger, but hey you'll never know. Talk about a "local boy done good" story!!! Imagine...an unemployed 38 yr old former radio DJ/casino receptionist from Western Oklahoma being one of many voices on the right. And I thought I was impressed with Cindy Morrison's reinvention into a motivational speaker!!!! (For those of you who don't know, Cindy was a news anchor in OKC and Tulsa who got laid off and is becoming a great voice for women who need to re-evaluate and re-invent their life. I'd guess that would go for men too!!)
Enough about that...it's getting late as I am writing this so I better wrap this up.
