2° of Separation

By Jay Kerner

You probably know about the party game from a few years back, called 6 Degrees to Kevin Bacon or some variation thereof. The way it works is someone picks an actor, let’s say …. oh, Wilfred Brimley. Well, before old Wilred got famous as an oatmeal pitchman, he was in The China Syndrone with Michael Douglas. Michael was in You, Me & Dupree with Harry Dean Stanton. Harry was in The Green Mile with Gary Sinise, who was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon. The player that makes the connection in the fewest moves wins.

How Mr. Bacon became the pivot man for this particular exercise is irrelevant. It’s more a demonstration of the concept that someway or another, everyone in the entertainment industry is connected.

I was reminded of this the other day, in a business meeting. We were discussing mutual acquaintances and the gentleman said something to the effect that I must know everybody in town. I assured him this wasn’t true, but admitted that I probably did know somebody, that knew anybody he could name. (Full story)

Posted by: admin on Saturday, December 27th, 2008
Filed under: This Joe Says, Jay Kerner, General | no comments

Pimpin’ for Jerry

By Jay Kerner

 

I’ve talked a little in the past about my oldest daughter.  She lives on the east coast and contributes the occasional Joe Green piece for us.  She’s funny and cool and her mother and I are quite proud of her. Today however, I’m going to tell you a  little about her younger sister.  We call her B.

B, unfortunately, suffers from a terrible curse.  Sadly, she looks (and sometimes thinks) just like her old man.   The Horror!  Believe me, nothing gives her greater pleasure than for some stranger to walk up and say “boy, you’re a regular little Jay Junior!” (Full story)

Posted by: admin on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
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Joe Turns One! Now What?

By Jay Kerner

 

Well, we did it! We made it through our first year. 26 issues. 456 pages. Over a quarter of a million words! Quite a few of them mine.

 

When I got the call about 14 months ago inviting me to be part of this adventure, I wasn’t sure exactly why they wanted me. My experience as a published writer was limited to a couple of submissions to a now defunct paper. Prior to that, I hadn’t written anything since college, beyond the annual Kerner Family Christmas letter. Speaking of college, I was giving some thought to taking a class or two this fall.

 

I went out to Missouri Western a couple of weeks ago to pull my transcript. When I went to the registrar’s office and made my request, the lady said, “No problem. Let me pull it up on the computer.” After a few minutes frowning at the screen, she turned back and said, “Sorry, your records are so old, they were written in pencil on index cards. We have to get them out of storage.” (Full story)

Posted by: admin on Saturday, October 4th, 2008
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Please Don’t Call Me Maurice

By Jay Kerner

 

The popularity of the Guitar Hero video game, as well as the follow up game Rock Band, are great examples of technological evolution. The manufacturers capitalized on an important fact; everybody wants to be a rock star.

 

Once upon a time, back in the day, a dude with no musical aptitude whatsoever, had to be satisfied with air guitar, working the neck of his imaginary Stratocaster along with the radio. Anyone could do it, but the real aficionados added a wide variety of facial contortions to the point that you couldn’t always tell whether they were channeling Hendrix or passing a kidney stone.

 

Now with these video games you can live out your own rock and roll fantasy even if you can’t play a lick.

 

Both of my daughters play Rock Band. The elder plays along with classic Aerosmith. Makes sense. She and Steven Tyler wear similar scarves and the same size leather pants. (Full story)

Posted by: admin on Thursday, September 18th, 2008
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All Joe, All The Time! Accept No Substitutes!

By Jay Kerner

When we started the Joe 10 months ago, distribution was on the short list of our top challenges.  Let’s face it, a free paper isn’t anything but a vanity project if nobody but you and your mom sees it.  At the time, there weren’t any other local “alternative” papers.  Sure, there were a few shopper type publications, but nothing else much for people to read while out and about, or dare we say it, to carry home to what my grandmother referred to as “the reading room”.

There had been other attempts.  I’m sure you remember a few other names that have come and gone before us.  In many ways starting our paper was kind of like the old joke that describes second marriages as the triumph of optimism over experience.  One of the key issues they all seemed to have, was inconsistent distribution.  If you happened to pick up something that caught your attention and held your interest for even a little while, good luck finding it again next time you looked. (Full story)

Posted by: admin on Thursday, September 4th, 2008
Filed under: This Joe Says, Jay Kerner, General | 2 comments

The Moose Queen Gets Some Well Deserved Recognition

Jay Kerner,Source Publications 

My wife catches a lot of grief being married to me. Imagine your spouse comes home, tells you he wants to quit his job and build a drive-in, a crazy metal house, start a newspaper, or…well you get the idea. How supportive is your significant other? I am lucky. I found the one that gets me or at least tolerates me.     Maybe she thought she was going to change me.  I probably have changed some. Most days my socks make it to the hamper. Although, I sometimes still leave the toilet seat up. Let’s say that “long suffering” is often used to describe her as it pertains to yours truly.    I got a call last month informing me that Jeannie was being awarded one of the two monthly Heartland MVP awards at the hospital. She works as a nurse in the Center for Pain Management. This is a big deal. With over 3,000 employees, less than 1% get this honor each year. There couldn’t be a more deserving recipient. (Full story)

Posted by: admin on Friday, August 22nd, 2008
Filed under: This Joe Says, Jay Kerner, General | 1 comment

Watch Out For the Banana Peels!

 

By Jay Kerner

 

I was babysitting for friends last week, and the boy and I were on the couch, channel surfing. I promised Mom nothing but educational programming, but hey with volunteer help you get what you get.

 

So I’m flipping from station to station, watching his expression as we go, to see what catches his attention.

 

He likes black and white shows for one thing, old sit-coms: Little Rascals, Three Stooges and so on. I’m not sure if it’s the content or just that it looks different, but for some reason he’ll watch it a lot longer than modern cartoon type programs. (Full story)

Posted by: admin on Tuesday, August 12th, 2008
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Foster’s Martini Bar’s 2nd Anniversary Brings Out the Usual Suspects

 by Jay Kerner 

I love Foster’s Martini Bar at 7th and Felix. Have I mentioned that before? I love Patty and Nathan Karr who own and operate it. I love the hip, smoke free atmosphere and the sidewalk seating under the canopy.

The music from the speakers is mostly classic rock, but without the hard stuff. On a recent evening I counted The Eagles, Moody Blues and Traffic, among the selections; always played at just the right volume to hear it clearly, but still carry on a conversation.

The live music, mainly on Saturdays is always tasteful and appropriate for the venue. A good selection of local and regional performers have graced their front corner stage area. (Full story)

Posted by: admin on Friday, July 25th, 2008
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Fish Stories

By Jay Kerner

The Queen and I frequently walk the parkway. (Thanks for our fabulous walking trails, by the way, to everyone involved.)  Anyway, we came to Corby Pond and noticed a higher than usual number of fishermen on the banks.

People have always fished here as far back as I remember, but it’s typically been just a couple or three at a time. Lately I’ve seen a steady increase and began to wonder if it has anything to do with the price of groceries. “Catch and release” is a popular approach with a lot of anglers, but these days maybe more folks are thinking catfish dinner!

I told the Queen to take a lap without me while I did some schmoozing.

I saw what looked like about 8 different groups scattered around the shore on a Thursday afternoon. Among those I talked to was Orbie Frakes who told me he fishes there pretty often and definitely has noticed an increase. He was fishing with his daughter Rachael, 17 whose record catch from Corby was a 4# catfish. (Full story)

Posted by: admin on Thursday, July 10th, 2008
Filed under: This Joe Says, Jay Kerner, General | 1 comment

These Trees Saw It All!

By Jay Kerner

The neighbors across the street are taking down a couple of trees; great big son-of-a-guns.

My wife and I live in a restored carriage house in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood, and the trees around here are mostly huge. Last winter’s ice storm did a number on them and many have branches noticeably missing, like amputees with an empty sleeve where a healthy arm used to be.

The big guys across the street lost some bulk in December and I guess the neighbors decided to do something now instead of waiting. When the trees are considerably taller than the houses around them, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to envision the damage they could do, coming down on their own.

So last evening I sat outside watching the workers drop the giants section by section. They seemed very professional to the untrained eye, each large piece dropped with precision. As I took in the progress I realized that it made me a little sad. (Full story)

Posted by: admin on Thursday, June 26th, 2008
Filed under: This Joe Says, Jay Kerner, General | no comments

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