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On-Air » Rick and Len Show » Rick's Bio
 Name:
Rick McNeal
Hometown:
Born: Neenah. Reared: Menasha. Currently resides: Appleton.
Birthday:
September 12th in the year before the earth cooled and dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Why I got into radio:
Only job I could find that required no skills, talents or heavy lifting.
Other jobs I've had:
Teacher’s assistant, writing commercials and mowing the lawn in a cemetery.
Hobbies:
I collect Hard Rock Café pins, floaty pens and dust.
Obsessions:
I may be beyond the point of caring enough about anything to be truly obsessed.
Strange Phobias:
Being licked by an insurance salesman (I believe it’s called Geico-lingualphobia). Don’t ask!
Favorite Movies:
Pulp Fiction
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
This is Spinal Tap
Stop Making Sense
Children of Men
Garden State
Richard the III (1994 version)
Love and Death
National Lampoon’s Animal House
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
Sin City
Broadcast News
40 Year Old Virgin
Blazing Saddles
Young Frankenstein
Favorite TV Shows:
Lost
Rescue Me
Mad Men
Skins
The Daily Show
The Amazing Race
Californication
Pushing Daisies
30 Rock
The Office
Late Show With David Letterman
Top Chef
Jeopardy
Any Travel Channel show hosted by Samantha Brown
Places I've been:
 - Killarney, Ireland
- Edinburgh, UK
- London, UK
- Cashel, Ireland
- New Orleans, LA, USA
- New York City, NY, USA
- Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
- Playa del Carmen, Mexico
Springsteen, August 9th, 1985 at Soldier Field. Bruce and the E-Streeters played for nearly 4 hours with temps in the mid 90’s. On the field, where I was, it was it had to be at least 10 degrees warmer. About every 15 minutes the crowd would surge forward another 10 to 15 feet until we were about 20 yards from the stage and packed together closer than a car trunk full of clowns. I will never forget the excitement and passion of the show, the electricity in the air and most vividly; the smell of the crowd! Dear God almighty! But what a phenomenal show!!!
Death row meal:
In a perfect world, for an appetizer, we’d start with Prosciutto con Melon from Weinstein and Gavinos Italian Restaurant in Montreal. It’s simply cured Italian ham wrapped around cantaloupe but it’s the best prosciutto and best cantaloupe I’ve ever tasted! Or perhaps we’d start with Boxty Quesadillas from Fado in Chicago. They’re sort of like quesadillas made with potato pancakes. You’d have to be crazy to think of combining Irish and Mexican cuisines but it really works.
For my entrée, depending on my mood (which since I’m about to die, probably wouldn’t be good), I’d choose one of 5 things. Either 1.) a pulled pork sandwich from Angel’s Barbecue in Savanna, Georgia. 2.) a sausage and pepperoni deep dish pizza from Zimorino’s Red Pies Over Montana in Missoula, Montana. 3.) shepherd’s pie from Porter’s Traditional English Restaurant in London, 4.) Confit du Canard (duck cooked in it’s own grease) from any of the many reasonably priced little cafés that line the streets around Saint Severin Church in Paris. Bonus: if they serve it with raspberry sauce. 5.) a chicken and black bean burrito with corn salsa, queso sauce and sour cream from Pancheros. I know this last one sounds like a transparent attempt to get free burritos from chicken and black bean burritos with corn salsa, queso sauce and sour cream from Pancheros. And it is, but I really do like the chicken and black bean burritos with corn salsa, queso sauce and sour cream from Pancheros and recently decided that if I had to eat just one thing for the rest of my life, that would be it. So, obviously I would have to consider it for my last meal. (Panchero's has now closed it's only remaining Appleton location and I am in morning!)
For dessert: It would have to be either the chocolate cheesecake from Stage Deli in New York or a sundae. Either the Dysfunctional Family Sundae, made with vanilla ice cream, and amaretto-soaked chocolate brownie, hot fudge, cinnamon coated pecans & whipped cream topped with raspberry puree from Kramerbooks and Afterwords Café in Washington D.C. or The Chocolate Decadence Sundae made with Ghrardelli chocolate ice cream, Ghrardelli dark chocolate hot fudge, a Ghrardelli chocolate chip brownie, and raspberry puree from (obviously) the Ghrardelli Ice Cream Shop in San Francisco. I’ve eaten many things that have given me “ice cream headaches” over the years, however, these are the only concoctions I’ve ever consumed that gave me an “ice cream woody”.
People say that I look like:
Pauly Shore told me I look like Ron Howard. F*** Pauly Shore!
Cartoon character I'd most like to have sex with:
Velma from Scooby Doo (I know, she’s a lesbian. But I’m always attracted to unavailable women. Then again, to me, all women are unavailable!)
Favorite monkey:
Not-So-Curious George, the brain-addled chimp that has spent the last 8 years living in the big White House.
Random radio memory:
April 27th, 1984. In those days, WAPL was “too cool” to do weather forecasts. That was for AM radio stations. Well, a series of tornadoes swept across the southeastern and north central parts of the state and three funnel clouds were spotted in the area of Grand Chute, just West of Appleton. Sirens across the WAPL listening area were blaring their dread-filled alarm as high winds and rain ripped through much of the Fox Valley. In the midst of this, I remember hearing the music that the station used at the top of every hour kick in and announcer Mark Coulter say “It’s 3pm. Tornadoes are touching down in Appleton. Here’s Jefferson Starship”. I believe it may have been the first weather forecast ever on WAPL.
If I could have any super power:
As we all know, with great power, comes great responsibility. So, I don’t think I’m responsible enough to have a superpower. That said, I do think it would be pretty cool if I could shoot laser beams from my nipples.
Quotes:
"I believe in love but it don't believe in me" - Rhett Miller -
"I have an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustains me through temporary periods of joy". (Slightly paraphrased from) - William Butler Yeats.
What I'm listening to:
A New Jersey band called Gaslight Anthem. They were obviously rasied on The Boss (and a little Tom Petty). So much so, that at times it's hard to tell if their songs are simply influenced by Springsteen, an homage to Springsteen or a parody of Springsteen. Still, there's some great songwriting with catchy hooks and even a few solid riffs! They even have a song called Wooderson, named for the character played by Matthew McConaughey's in the movie Dazed and Confused. Best part; the chorus is simply, "Alright, alright".
What I'm watching:
Whatever passes by the peep hole.
What I'm reading:
I'm reading the latest book by one of my favoirte authors; Jasper Fforde. It's called Shades of Grey. A reviewer on Amazon called it "1984 if it been writen by Douglas Adams". If that description means anything to you, I can tell you it's a fairly accurate way to describe this book. If that doesn't mean anything to you, forget it. I wouldn't even know where to begin to try to explain what it's about.
Where I'd rather be right now:
A pub on Ireland’s west coast. Probably in the town of Dingle. |
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