About

Let me tell you a little bit about myself. Just a little because I know your time is precious and you have better things to do, like twittering your ever growing list of friends and admirers every single detail of your life.

I originally hail from Allentown, Pennsylvania in the USA. That’s the town Billy Joel sang about. It’s a lot nicer than it sounded in the song. But to be honest, it’s not the most exciting place in the world to live. However, if you’ve never wolfed down a Yocco’s hot dog, Brass Rail cheese steak, or a slice of Sal’s pizza, then you haven’t fully experienced life on our blue planet. And I mean that. That’s why I still visit Allentown at least once a year. Oh yeh, that’s right, my parents still live there.

For high school I was shipped off to the Lawrenceville School(for boys only at the time) in Lawrenceville, New Jersey for three years and graduated without honors in 1981. But to this day I consider it one of the best things I’ve ever done.

In 1985 I graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Communications and a minor in revelry, keg tapping and attending big time Michigan sporting events. Bo Schembechler was the coach of the football team then so I never experienced a national title. Bo did yell at me after a loss when, while working  for the student radio station, I asked a dumb question at the press conference right after a bitter loss.

After I graduated. wanderlust got the best of me. I took my expensive degree and ended up in Aspen, Colorado where I worked as a dishwasher on Snowmass mountain. This may sound ridiculous but not when you know the benefits. For every two days of work we received two days off, and with our free ski pass, well, let’s just say I was skiing double diamond slopes by the end of the season. And I actually walked away with a few bucks in my pocket.

I then ended up in Hawaii. I went there for a job in the travel industry working as a tour guide. I used to greet tourists when they first arrived off the plane in Honolulu. I would give them a flower lei and pose for pictures in the airport garden. Most people were so excited to be in Hawaii that they never realized that they were being welcomed by an east coast white guy who had only been in Hawaii a few days longer than they had. Not surprisingly that job didn’t last long, however. It was in Hawaii where I started putting that expensive degree to good use. I hosted my own sports talk show on radio and tv. I started doing ring announcing for boxing and pro wrestling shows. I even ended up hosting the extremely cheesy and wildly entertaining World Pacific Wrestling, which appeared on local TV every Saturday morning.

I first traveled to the Philippines on a lark in 1991 and, while there, Mt. Pinatubo blew up and I couldn’t leave the country. While most foreigners would have freaked out, I seriously loved every minute of the chaos and decided this crazy country was the place for me. I returned to the Philippines on several occasions soon after. The best trip was when I traveled in 1993 as a reporter on board the charter plane that brought the dead body of ex-Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos back to his home town of Laog, in the nothern part of the country. That trip sealed the deal for me.  In 1994 I basically up and moved out of Hawaii and took up residence in the Philippine Islands.

It was in the Philippines where I began writing my column, “Hey,Joe”, which first appeared in 1995 and ran for six years weekly in Manila’s Businessworld Newspaper. Since then ‘Hey,Joe’ has appeared in various magazines and websites, most of which are now defunct. For four years I was the Philippines correspondent for the Asia Times Online, and wrote articles for various international publications including the Wall St. Journal. However, I’ve learned to stay away from writing about politics in the Philippines because I value my life and  that of my family way too much.

Currently I am the Philippine correspondent for the famous  Ring Magazine in the US. I also write regularly for Billiards Digest, as well as various other international publications.

I also do lots of ring announcing and TV commentary for professional boxing and billiard shows, as well as many other kinds of events where the organizers appreciate the value of a proper emcee.  I am proud to say that I am the only known person to have ring announced for a cockfight, and once ring announced a Manny Pacquiao fight in front over 100,000 people in Manila’s Luneta Park. It is a world record which still stands to this day.

I have authored two books: “Hey,Joe- a slice of the city, an American in Manila,” and the Asian travel adventure book, “The Traveler and the Gate Checkers.” You can check out both of the books right here on this website. And yes, you can even buy them here too.