Dec 28, 2012
Dec 21, 2012
Dec 15, 2012
Dec 14, 2012
Dec 7, 2012
Dec 1, 2012
Nov 30, 2012
Nov 25, 2012
Nov 23, 2012
Nov 22, 2012
Nov 16, 2012
More fake news
Both an email and online ad use the logos of CNN, CBS, and MSNBC and claim that Janesville stores can't keep a wonderful new diet pill on the shelves. But lucky you can buy it online. Despite the news logos and a photo of an attractive woman holding a microphone, this really isn't a news story. In fact, a concerned Wisconsin TV news anchorwoman along with Janesville residents contacted me about the misleading ad. I exposed this kind of questionable ad in the video below. The video is about work-at-home schemes, but the fakes news ads promote many products.
Survey: Store Gift Cards Are Better Deals /
Bankrate.com But my advice is don't buy any gift cards. Your recipient will appreciate cash which has no strings attached and is spendable to the last penny.
Nov 9, 2012
Nov 2, 2012
Oct 26, 2012
Oct 20, 2012
Oct 19, 2012
Oct 12, 2012
Oct 5, 2012
Hold on now. I am not dead!
Over the years I've had a lot of my younger friends in broadcasting do impersonations of me. I have never really understood why.
At first they do it with each other behind my back. Then it is funnier to them when they work up the courage to do it in front of me. I've worked in TV newsrooms where reporters, producers, and photographers would have contests to do the goofiest me. And they did it in front of me...like I wasn't there.
For example, if you were with me and I happened to run into an old friend who is now an important TV news director in Washington D.C. he would immediately do an impression of a dopey, self-important me with a southern twang. He would do it right in front of me and get me laughing. He would do it in front of my wife. The same thing goes with Rob Starbuck who anchors the morning show on WISC-TV in Madison, WI.
After a career as spokesperson for Wisconsin Consumer Protection, I'm working by myself now making fun videos every week for the Janesville Gazette, and don't see a lot of media people any more. And I haven't heard anyone making fun of me in about three years. I take that back...my 11-year-old grand daughter is working on a pretty good imitation. She lowers her voice and seriously says, "Hold on now!"
But I haven't heard any news people do it.
Until last week. I'm listening to a WIBA radio discussion about consumer protection rip-offs, and host Mitch Henck suddenly asks, "Remember Glen Loyd?" News anchor Robin Colbert responds by doing her imitation of an outraged me...It was a startling. I had never heard her do it before. I wonder how many times my friend Robin has impersonated me with her newsroom associates after interviewing me?
As I said, I have never understood this. I wish I could say here that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, but I don't really think that is what's going on.
But it's funny and makes me even laugh.
What really concerns me is that question, "Remember Glen Loyd?"
Hold on now! I am not dead! I make videos every week...watched more than 100.000 times by people around the world!
Sep 29, 2012
Rock River water walkers
This bug has 13 or more names: Water striders, water bugs, magic bugs, pond skaters, skaters, skimmers, water scooters, water skaters, water skeeters, water skimmers, water skippers, water spiders, or Jesus bugs.
Sep 23, 2012
Sep 22, 2012
Sep 21, 2012
Sep 15, 2012
Sep 14, 2012
My Run-In With A Creepy, Scammy Locksmith
The Consumerist
Wisconsin has had problems with questionable locksmiths.
Get a better return on your savings
With interest rates so low, it's best to look for savings accounts with higher returns or bond funds to get the most value in a short amount of time.
Sep 7, 2012
You learn something new about nature all the time when you live by a river. This time it's about dragonfly behavior. Some of the dragonflies you'll see in this video have numbers on their wings. They were part of a Harvard science project to observe how dragonflies capture prey. The dragonfly animation in the video was made with parts left over from a dragonfly swarm like the current ones around Janesville.
6 Small Cars You Can Park Anywhere
Bankrate.com
I would not buy any car without checking it out in the April issue of Consumer Reports.
They tell you about the good cars new and used and how much you should pay for them. They also tell you the cars to avoid.
Aug 31, 2012
You can help clean up the Rock River
The Rock River Sweep will clean up the Rock River from Horicon, Wisconsin to Rock Island, Illinois and you can help anywhere along the river.
Aug 25, 2012
"When Tyne tagged along with Clint"
GazetteXtra Actress Tyne Daly was born in Madison and is coming to Janesville to campaign for President Obama. In 1976, Ms Daly starred with Clint Eastwood in one of those Dirty Harry Movies, The Enforcer. Eastwood has endorsed Mitt Romney. In this time of angry partisanship, you wonder how Tyne and Clint get along.
Aug 17, 2012
Aug 10, 2012
Aug 3, 2012
See Neil Rettig's Wisconsin birds fly by the Statue of Liberty and learn why his eagle attacks his wife
Neil and Laura's snow geese flying past the Statue of Liberty
Jul 30, 2012
Jul 28, 2012
What happend to the Rock River eagles
This is the first installment of my interview with world renown photographer and wildlife expert Neil Rettig. Here is a link to his PBS film "American Eagle."
Jul 20, 2012
Rock River Cleanup
My family and I waded across the Rock River at its lowest last week and cleaned up some shoreline. I personally pulled out a submerged bike, a lot of plastic bags and sheeting, and too many beverage containers. Like many of you I love the Rock. This week walking across Willard ave bridge, I spied additional junk...including more bikes.
Jul 14, 2012
Jul 13, 2012
Jul 11, 2012
Jul 7, 2012
Jul 3, 2012
Jun 29, 2012
A two-part series. This week, film and music from the 1920's with a brief look at immigrants pouring into America at the time. Next week is completely dedicated to our immigrant ancestors with the documentry: "Island of Hope--Island of Tears." From 1892-1954, Ellis Island was the port of entry for millions of European immigrants. Fascinating archival footage tells the moving story of families with dreams of opportunity, leaving their homes with what they could carry.
Jun 23, 2012
Bally Total Fitness Will Never Release Me From Its Finely Toned Clutches
The Consumerist As a consumer advocate I learned that most people who sign up at fitness centers go a few times and then quit and lose their advance fee payment. Always ask for a low-cost trial membership. File a complaint with consumer protection if you are mislead or overcharged.(See online complaint form on lower left.) And don't sign up at a fitness center until you check them out at consumer protection for complaints. My advice is to walk to get in shape. It's free and you just walk out the door at any time and you are there. You don't use any gasoline, either. Bad weather? Head for the mall and feel superior by going faster than old people like me.
Jun 22, 2012
Jun 16, 2012
Jun 8, 2012
Rock River Blues
When I was filming these Great Blue Herons, a raccoon came up very close to me trying to bluff me out of his way. I've also spied a coyote and a fox on the river trails. And recently we saw a deer dog-paddling across the river. What are you seeing?
Jun 1, 2012
More stunt pilot video
I showed a little bit of Darrel Massman's spectacular stunt flying last week when I visited Southern Wisconsin Airfest. Then I learned that Darrel is from Wisconsin..Ogdensburg..and he barnstorms around the state a lot. This weekend, for example, he will be at a Stevens Point air show. Here's more Massman video.
May 25, 2012
Southern Wisconsin Airfest video
I love when air show jets rocket down the Rock River. I shot this video at Friday afternoon practice
Music: Kevin MacLeod.
May 18, 2012
May 10, 2012
May 4, 2012
May 1, 2012
Apr 27, 2012
Credit Card Advances Carry Sticker Shock
Bankrate.com Think a cash advance from your credit card will be at the same rate as purchases on your card? The rate can be double.
Apr 20, 2012
Should Western Union Do More To Catch Scammers? /
The Consumerist The common demoninator of too many scams in Wisconsin is the use of money wiring facilities services.
Evansville girl wants to have fun-forever!
12-year old Callie wants to be with her Big Sister--Mary Ann Zelmanski--forever.
Why supermarkets target men with higher prices
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Apr 19, 2012
Apr 13, 2012
Mark Twain's Blue Jays From "A Tramp Abroad"
Like many journalists, I owe Mark Twain. When your story is tepid, turn to a Twain qoutation. To illustrate my dependence on him, I started off my own memoir with his words:
Glen Loyd On Your Side In Wisconsin
Mark Twain said he admired an older journalist he knew who wasn't going to "inflict" his memoirs on the public. "If there is anything more uncalled for, it is one of those tearful, blubbering, long-winded "valedictories" when a man who has been annoying the public for years, cannot take leave of them without sitting down to cry. He feels that the country is saved. His satisfaction over it, something enormous."
When Twain asked the admired writer why he was going quietly, he replied, "I am journalistically dead, at present, ain't I?"
"Yes"
"Well, wouldn't you consider it disgraceful in a corpse to sit up and comment on the funeral?"
Knowing that I risk being perceived as a self-serving, egotistical, and disgraceful corpse, I inflict my memoir on you. http://fglenloyd.blogspot.com/
Having so much fun with Mark Twain over the years, I decided to make videos of some of his works.
Tough law enforcer retires
Over the years, I've seen a number of heart-breaking wedding photographers take thousands of dollars from young couples and not produce the pictures.
Most of them got away with it.
One of the things I like about Elmer Prenzlo is--he put one of them in jail . "That guy didn't even get time off for good behavior," says Elmer.
When skunks committed crimes in his territory, Elmer took it personally. He just retired after many years supervising the Milwaukee Office of the WI Dept. Of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Elmer also was responsible for locking up contractors who took money but didn't do the work.
Elmer was tough law enforcer, but he told the crowd of colleagues attending his retirement party that he loved them all.
Right back at you, Elmer!
Apr 12, 2012
Apr 6, 2012
Watching winter turn into spring
The dark diving birds in this video (Coots, I believe) are fun to watch. I see them a lot on the Rock River in Wisconsin In addition to diving, I caught a couple fighting. I hope you will enjoy the turtles, too.
Category:
Mar 30, 2012
Big Brother Again
It's the second time around for Rick Schoemer of Cambridge, WI as a Big Brother. This time his Little Brother is Deven. Rick is a retired school teacher who never had a son.
Mar 23, 2012
Janesville kids to see Cleopatra. See her yourself here
Folks in the Midwest--including students from Van Buren School in Janesville--are flocking to the Milwaukee Public Museum to see “Cleopatra: The search for the last queen of Egypt.”
Milwaukee is just one of five cities hosting the world-wide tour of newly discovered artifacts related to the ancient queen.
Video List:
Egyptian’s curse on me
These videos brings back a lot of memories for me. When I was an investigative reporter at the CBS-TV affiliate in Dallas, Texas, in the late 1970s, I helped to expose an Egyptian selling fake antiquities. And that’s how I met Henry Wade, the famous local district attorney immortalized in the Supreme Court decision Roe Vs Wade.
The Egyptian opened a shop in an expensive North Dallas mall. Riding the popularity of the King Tut exhibition touring the United States, He was selling Egyptian artifacts he claimed were from King Tut's time. Some items such as bows and arrows sold for as much as $7,000.
But a woman who had just come back from vacationing in Egypt called me at KDFW-TV and said something was wrong. She had been told that there are no Egyptian artifacts for sale and hadn't been for hundreds of years. I checked with an expert at Southern Methodist University who confirmed what the woman said. I also called legendary Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade to let him know what was going on. I was invited to his office.
The courthouse is just a few blocks from KDFW-TV so I set out on foot. This was the route taken by President Kennedy's motorcade when he was assassinated in 1963. The Texas Schoolbook Depository, where Lee Harvey Oswald waited for the motorcade, is across the street from the courthouse. When shots were fired, CBS reporter Dan Rather ran to KDFW-TV, a CBS affiliate, and began phoning the latest information to his anchorman Walter Cronkite, broadcasting live in New York to the entire country. Eventually, the news came from the KDFW that President Kennedy was dead at Parkland Hospital.
As I was ushered into Henry Wade's office I was aware of the history hatched here: untold assassination investigations; prepping for the prosecution of Jack Ruby for the murder of Oswald; and strategy that failed in the landmark abortion case Roe vs. Wade, which made abortion legal in the United States.
The Chief, as Wade was known in the Dallas County Courthouse, had a big office and his desk was elevated on a wooden platform so he looked down at me from on high. Wade told me he was on to the Egyptian, and asked me to hold off on my story until they could arrest him.
"We'll let you know when we are going to get him and you can come along and have an exclusive," Wade said.
He asked me about other stories I was working on. As he listened, Wade rocked back and forth in his office chair. At the side of his chair was a tall wastepaper basket that seemed to have a black garbage sack in it. I couldn't figure out what it was for until Henry Wade turned to the basket, bent over and spit tobacco juice into it.
When I left Wade, the deal was set. His men would call me when they were ready to arrest the Egyptian merchant.
I was the only newsperson to have the story of the Egyptian’s arrest. They handcuffed him at his shop and led him through the mall crowd out to the police cars. I asked him if he was selling fake Egyptian artifacts, and he said, "No!"
To keep me out of the courtroom, his attorney claimed I would be a witness and invoked the rule that I couldn't be there before I testified. Henry Wade brought in Egyptologists from Cleveland and New York City museums. Examining the Egyptian’s wares, the experts said they were not authentic.
As a memento, the woman who had originally called me about the fake artifacts gave me a beautiful jade carving of a beetle regarded as sacred by the ancient Egyptians. The scarab as it is called was supposed to bring me good luck, but the day after the Egyptian was convicted of felony theft, he filed a lawsuit against me (which eventually fizzled out).
He was appealing his case because of the threat of deportation, and my attorney felt that the lawsuit was an attempt to keep me quiet.
Mar 16, 2012
Be on the lookout for pelicans on the Rock River and surrounding areas this spring!
Email from Tom Eighmy, a new friend of mine who lives on he Rock River between Rockford and Byron:
"We saw the Pelicans ... every day for a week or so [in the past several years]. It was amazing, they would come by at about the same time every day and if you weren't watching you would miss them since they were silent (not like the geese!)"
The pelicans stop there in the spring on their northern journey. And some have been spotted flying over Janesville, too.
Thanks to Tom Eighmy's photography, you will see those Rock River pelicans in my video along with more pelicans on the river in Horicon Marsh, and Ixonia and on Beaver Dam Lake. In addition to Horicon, the pelicans have also started colonies on or near Lake Winnebago and Green Bay.
The journey up the Rock River after exiting the Mississippi flyway can treacherous for these birds. In the past few years, Hoo Haven animal shelter just over the state line in Illinois has taken in at least three pelicans apparently burned or mangled colliding with utility wires. Director Karen Herdklotz says they have been seeing more pelicans on the Rock River since Hurricane Katrina. Herdklotz gives talks to Scout groups and schools in Janesville and other Rock County communities. When I spoke to her a few weeks ago, she was still caring for one of the injured pelicans.
Wikipedia vs Encyclopedia Britannica
Slate Magazine:
I like Encyclopedia Britannica for nostalgic reasons. My wife was a subeditor there when we were young in Chicago. I worked down the street on Michigan Ave. for The Lion magazine. In the summer, we lunched together by the Chicago River.
Today, though, I use Wikipedia virtually every day. And I was glad to read in this article that it matches up well with or better than Encyclopedia Britannica.
Mar 9, 2012
Hacked my Glen Loyd Twitter account and sent fake endorsement of questionable work-at-home (online trading) ad
A Twitter link to a questionable ad looks like it's coming from me. It isn't. My Twitter account was hacked.
Questionable ad which is not endorsed by Glen Loyd
This hack may be retalitation for my article exposing fake news stories that are automatically localized with the viewers' computer zip code.
Rock River native making National Geographic movies
Since the French brought the written word to the Midwest in the 1600s, we have an impressive list of world explorers and famous leaders who have graced the Rock River--starting with the French explorers, themselves.
I've made videos of some of these men who left foot prints along the river: Chief Blackhawk, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, and dinosaur hunter Roy Chapman Andrews of the American Museum of Natural History.
But there are current men of the world associated with the Rock, too. I have also done a video with archaeologist Steve Lekson, who attended Beloit college and went on the to study and write books about the ancient people of the desert Southwest.
And here is a video I made with Jon Bowermaster of National Geographic Magazine who grew up on the Rock River. Jon's visit to Beloit was made possible by Paddle and Trail http://www.paddleandtrail.com/
(Notice the birds in the background of my Bowermaster interview? I did a video of them a few weeks ago entitled "Rock River air show." In the video, the late afternoon sun reflects off the Paddle and Trail store which is right on the Rock River by the John Rose Canoe & Kayak Launch and the Beloit Bike Path.)
As New iPad Debut Nears, Some See Decline of PCs
Mar 2, 2012
Feb 24, 2012
Lightning strikes, the Lovejoy Comet and the Milky Way
In addition to a myriad of lightning strikes, the Lovejoy Comet and the Milky Way, you will also see the Russian Soyuz spacecraft providing transportation to the Space Station. The stirring music I'm using is by Sergei Rachmaninoff, famous Russian composer, pianist and conductor who became a U.S. citizen.
Feb 17, 2012
Janesville helps light up the night for the International Space Station
……while Mother Nature fires up her exquisite aurora borealis
How to find a vacuum that really sucks up dirt and pet hair
Consumer Reports
I use Consumer Reports a lot at the library, and now my Madison library tells me I can access CR on line from my home computer via its subscripton. Works great. Check it out with your local library.
Feb 11, 2012
Rock River air show
Why do starlings mass together in the winter? Protection in numbers, some say. They are on the lookout for predators such as hawks. (Note: A viewer tells me that the birds in this video may be pigeons. Wikipedia says the starling is a breed of fancy pigeon developed over many years of selective breeding.)
Feb 3, 2012
Jan 28, 2012
I can't imagine my life without him
I have been telling the Big Brothers Big Sisters story for more than 40 years. And I have met a lot of those volunteers. I never met one I didn't like...like a lot. Here's why in Janesville, WI.
Jan 20, 2012
Sunset birds (click title below to see video properly)
Specks in the sky enliven a beautiful winter sunset in Janesville, WI