Change In The Weather

I am a bit under the weather for the last few days. Starting Tuesday thru today (Saturday) I have hacked, coughed, puked, and got no sleep for the better part of that time. I missed my first 2 days of work since I started there in October. Considering I talk for a living and I had no voice and felt like I was swallowing razors I couldn't very well go in. In fact I almost 'tossed cookies' during the 6 o'clock newscast on Wednesday. Fortunately the weather outside reflected my health so as not to feel guilty about the lawn and yard while bedridden. Today is nice and sunny, I am still sick but might get out there and mow the lawn at least before the neighbors complain.

Read this article.

And you thought my last post about 9/11 was crazy.

 

The Boston Massacre

As a Yankee fan from the day I was born I am starved for Yankee baseball out here in noman's land.  While I am less than 4 hours away from 3 Major League teams (Cubs, Reds, Cardinals, White Sox apparently do not count, it is a Chicago thing),  there is no American League baseball near me.  Hence No American League baseball coverage, hence No Yankees.  So when ESPN plays my boys on a Sunday night, the family is hunkered down and in for the long haul.  We turned it off after the 5th last night, I just could not watch it.  We took a beating plain and simple (or Jose took a beating and we could not stop it).

Anyway the main point to this is John Kerry.  I am neither a Republican or Democrat but a registered Independent and vote for whomever shares MY views, not party views.  And I truly believe that I am the voter that hopefuls should go for.  9 times out of 10 a person votes his party line, I on the other hand vote for the candidates I feel represents me and they better make a good case for it.  So he was there with all the other newsies and celebs in town for the Democratic National Convention.  Now the people at Fox make the call and mic him up for a little interview to show that he is a normal guy, baseball and mom's apple pie.  I am cool with that and expect a few questions, nothing huge this is after all a baseball game.  So there goes the steroid question (steroids are bad!) and then out of the blue on Hall of Fame weekend comes: "Does Pete Rose belong in the Hall of Fame?"

  Whammo, a chance for Kerry to impress me.  Does he spew the same old BS: "Well he did accept a ban for life...".  Does he go out on a limb: "They should honor the player he was..."  Does he split the line: "They should let him into the Hall of Fame but not back into baseball.....".  Does he differ to his betters:  "MLB has been dealing with this for some time now and I would leave it to the experts with all the facts to make that call..."  No he does none of the above and says: "That's a tough one."......DEAD AIR, DEAD AIR, DEAD AIR.....Announcer: "I guess he doesn't want to touch that one."  Kerry: "No, I said that was a tough one."  Well no shit it is a tough question, but it is baseball!!!!!!!  And he can't answer that one.  Can you imagine:  "Mister President, North Korea has invaded South Korea and our troops are being pushed back, what should we do?"  Kerry:  "Now that is a tough one."....DEAD AIR...DEAD AIR....DEAD AIR!

One Nation.......

The 9/11 report is out and I am not sure I want read it.  I am interested in their findings but find it hard to believe that we spent millions of dollars and years of work to point a finger at people in our own government.  I mean I could wrap this whole thing up in under five minutes and a lot less money:

Several crazy Arab extremist are the cause of the 9/11 horrors.

Next Case.

1. These guys have been out there for years but no one has gone after them because we didn't think they were crazy enough to fly planes into buildings.

2. There are all sorts of illegal immigrants in the US (Mexican, Cuban, European, Middle Eastern, Asian) and no one has gone after them because we didn't think they were crazy enough to fly planes into buildings.

3.  The Intelligence Community had lines of several of these people and I am sure hundreds of others but did not go after them because we didn't think they were crazy enough to fly planes into buildings.

4.  We are not alone in the world, Spain, England, France, Germany, Israel, Russia, the Middle East all have intelligence agencies, all have had some sort of terrorist activities in their countries and all have the assets needed to go after these guys but no one has gone after them because we didn't think they were crazy enough to fly planes into buildings.

5. They got away with flying the planes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon because we didn't think they were crazy enough to fly planes into buildings.

While we are finger pointing I would like to add my finger to the following:

Instead of wasting millions on stupid commissions like this and other programs (well-fare) put some money into protecting our borders and internal security.  Deport illegals (ALL NATIONALITIES) and beef up security on the borders and entrances to out county; airports and sea ports.  No people here illegally then no people to fly those planes. 

Put a cap into the ACLU.  Plain and simple, if the INS, FBI, or local police had rounded up these crazy muther-fuc**ers in September 11th because the fit a certain 'profile' they would have had the ACLU  up their asses demanding their release (with their personal box cutters) and had lawsuits claiming millions in damages against our country.  After the whole National Anthem/Pledge of allegiance circus I am surprised they haven't sued to have the Constitution ruled un-constitutional.

Call me a racist but if I see a Middle Easterner on a flight I am watching him like a hawk and will feel no guilt/shame for my country if that guy is pulled aside and stripped searched before being allowed on a plane.  Do I think it is right for a black man driving home from work should be pulled over and given a once over just cause he is black, HELL NO.  Do I think a few single Arab men getting onto the same flight acting 'out of sorts' should be taken aside and searched and questioned, HELL YES.  And it doesn't come down to race, some law enforcement is trained in behavioral sciences and others actually have that 'sense' one sees in the movies or tv.  Let them use their abilities to protect us.  If a cop said to me that some guy just "doesn't look right" I am gonna take a long look at him.

Bottom line is this, we are the United States and are untouchable and our thinking and national attitudes reflex that.  We haven't been harmed on our ground by outsiders since Pearl Harbor and that is how we have lived for 60 years.  The world has changed since then and for a few months after 9/11 so did our nation.  But it has reverted back to Pre-9/11 thinking while the rest of the world has not.  So instead of concentrating on pointing fingers and worrying that some kid has to say 'God' in our pledge or trying to prevent a woman from doing what she wants with her body we might want to look for a  real solution to securing America.  Because now we know they are crazy enough to fly planes into buildings.

 

Where To Start.......

Lots to talk about over the weekend so let's get it on:
 
Chicago:
Went to visit both my brothers who now live in Chicago, one near Lincoln Park the other on the Northside.  Both have real nice apartments.  The youngest brother has a nice one bedroom right on a bus route in a neighborhood that has EVERYTHING!!!  He will never need a)a car, b) to walk more than 2 blocks to get what he needs.  Bars, restaurants, Laundry-Mats, grocery stores, bookstores, music stores, electronic stores, movie theater, mall, ice cream parlor, coffee shop....you name it we walked past it....
My other brother just got an 1800 sqft apartment in a family neighborhood, sure he was to go a few blocks to shop but it is a nice quiet street with a church and catholic school with playground on one corner and a public school on the other.  Plus a nice back alley with PARKING SPACE, a commodity in Chicago.
 
Ren Faire:
After Chicago on Saturday we took a trip up north to Kenosha, Wisconsin and went to the Bristol renaissance Faire.  The faire trip is an annual one for us dating back to 1989.  This was, however, our first non-Sterling renaissance Faire trip.  An my the differences stand out.  Bristol was very nice, larger than Sterling and much more a Marketplace than an entertainment faire.  Bristol is actually HUGE, they had some very neat things, a military encampment, rock wall to climb, tons of stages and a lot more amenities than Sterling, flushable toilets, water fountains, stands for the joust, benches, tables and sitting areas abound.  What it didn't have was Sterling's charm.  The entertainers in Sterling have a great gift, we had been going for years and never tired of the acts, something old something new always good.  While it sounds like I am complaining I am not, we had a great time and will go again next year, I would recommend going to a local (or not so local) faire at least once in your lifetime!  And take the kids they will love it!!!
 
 

Did You Hear That???

My little brother is moving to Chicago this weekend. He got himself a nice job working for a Japanese furniture company (he has spent several years in Japan and speaks the language fluently and writes Kanji).  So he got himself a moving truck and came avisiting to see if he could help eliminate the clutter in our house.  We ended up giving him a few nice things, a dining room set, bookcase, odds and ends that someone who has living in a foreign country for the past few years might need for his own place.  The truck was gassed, the back locked up and away he went. 
 
He stopped about 5 miles from our home cause he thought he heard something fall in the truck.  opening the back he finds my son (11) and one of his friends (10) who had been frantically banging on the truck wall to get his to stop.  Seems while helping load the truck they got tired and wanted to play some cards, they hung in the truck cause it was cool and Grandpa closes the door so they could hang in the dark and have a little 'fort'.  Brother saw the truck all closed up and never looked and boy were having such a good time in there they never came out.  At first, I am told, the boy thought it was his uncle just playing a joke on them as he usually does.  "But when we hit the big bumps in the road I knew we were on the main road and he wasn't joking.  Everytime we slowed down to stop we would bang on the truck really loud behind where he was sitting.  When the door opened he looked at us and said 'What are you doing here?'"
 
Grandpa came out and took the boys back home and Uncle went his merry way to raid another sibling's home.  In the end noone was hurt and the boys had a good laugh and a cool story to tell at school next month.  Me, I don't know if I should laugh with my brother or just kill him, but then again we did 'stupider' stuff when we were kids........

Classy

The anti-Bonds was at the All-Star Game last night. The Greatest came out to help throw the first pitch with two kids from the boys and girls club. Here is a man with a sharp wit and intelligence to boot trapped in a body that does what it wants. Yet THE MAN still manages to shine through his ailment and shows the world he is still in there. Not only a little "rope-a-dope" for the camera and then with Jeter, but did you see him slip the old rabbit ears behind A-Rod as they took a few pictures?!

Float like a butterfly sting like a bee!

Put Me In Coach......

The All-Star break is upon us, time to take a deep breath and get ready for the second half. Last night the family watched the Home Run Derby, and boy were we in for a show. It was nice to see the two replacement players make it to the finals. Nice for Lance to hit in front of his home town and nice for Tejada to show off the guns. Once again Bonds shows the world what a prick he is! Cries about being tired as he blows off the ESPN reporter then disappears only to re-emerge during the finals with his headset and street clothes. Meanwhile not only does every other participant stay on the field in in uniform to cheer on their league mates, but Sammy Sosa even does the interview after his terrible performance. Does he claim to be tired, NO, does he blame the pitcher (who was throwing some junk), NO, he is upset that he let down his fans for stinking up the joint!!! They all realize this is for the fans and try to make it a good time for all......Fu*k Bonds

Anywho, All-Star game tonight then back to the bigs for the real deal second half. Go Yanks

57 Channels and Nothing On

A local radio station (93.9) is changing formats, it was a retro (80's) station, which I liked. It is changing formats on Friday but until then it is giving us TV Heads a treat, 24 hour, commercial free TV Theme Songs. From the dawn of TV to the current season, nothing is taboo.

Driving into work today I listened to it for the entire 30 minute drive. I heard all sorts of songs from my past, many I had forgotten and others still banging around in my head today. I knew the words (if there were some) to everyone I heard. No and not the easies like Addamms Family and Mr. Ed but I am talking Greatest American Hero, Sigmund the Sea Monster, and WonderBug.

As I was listening I began to think about what my son has to watch on Saturday mornings, and that is pretty much NOTHING!!! What has happened to the Saturday Morning Cartoon??? I remember the networks gearing up for our viewership, comic books carried ads for the new Cartoon Season, TV guide did a cover story and the school yard was filled with anticipation for the newest cartoon to hit Saturday. Would WWF Superstars payoff, can the Smurfs continue to dominate the airwaves, are we old enough to start getting the HR Puffnstuff jokes???? Today my kid has Japanese Imports to watch and some Discovery Channel kid shows. Are cereal sales and toy product placement not important to advertisers anymore. When my son talks to his boy about his Saturday mornings as a kid will he half remember some Pokemon cartoon and Survivor Kids????? Land of the Lost, Underdog, The Invincibles, Scooby-Doo, Mr. T and the T Team, The Hair Bears, Johnny Quest, Godzilla, Speed Buggy, The Kroft Super Show, The Far Out Space Nuts, Wonder Bug and The Laff-A-Lympics. Sure not all cartoons, but Saturday morning fair all the way. Wake up at 6am, grab the first bowl of Cereal and flop onto your bean bag chair (we just called them Bean Bags) and actually get up to change the channel. Now THAT is Saturday Morning.

When I got into work and told my co-workers about the radio station they groaned. We didn't know what was sadder, that I listened to it the whole way down or that I knew every song. God bless you, brain cells I didn't kill with beer!!!!

Happy Fourth Weekend

We had a professor at Oswego State that started the first class of Broadcasting 101 like this: "Nights, Weekends, Holidays, if you don't mind working them welcome to television, otherwise this is your last chance to get out." Well I should have listened.

I got my first Freelance job in 1984 with National Geographic, my first PBS job in 1988, my first commercial station job in 1992 and started my 4th commercial station job in 2003. I have worked just about every holiday (major and minor) since 1992 and that is fine. After 12 years you just accept it, sure I bitch about it but the only real holiday that bothers me is Christmas. The boy is 11 now and maybe I have had 1 Christmas off with him so far. That pisses me off, especially when single folks, guys with no kids and non-Catholics get it off and just sleep in or hang out on the couch all day......

Anyway I was a little surprised when I looked at the schedule for next week and saw I only had to work for an hour and a half on Monday (July 4th Observed). When I asked the boss, she said no use having my sit around for 6 hours doing nothing when she can have the AM director do my show (he has Sunday off and is extra on Monday). I thanked her and will enjoy a little 'holiday' time with the family.

Which is very different from my old station, We have had several holidays were the Noon Show was cancelled and the last thing we did was at 9am, but the boss made us stay till 2pm because the night Crew had to stay their full shift and they might complain we got some time off. What type of shit is that? I know this week NBC had tennis and cancelled several Noon shows and I guarantee that no one was allowed to leave early, not even on a rotating basis. For goodness sake let one guy go home early everyday, they work hard and work early mornings, weekends and holidays!!! Grow some balls HC and cut them some slack. God I am glad to be out of there.