Monday, March 31, 2008

Gad zooks..

I was in a waiting room recently and the television was on. Being the dad of girl I perk up more when I hear certain stories. I know I should care equally about all things but you'll see where I am going in a second.

The news was talking about a site called Miss Bimbo. The idea is younger girls (I am sure some adults too) go in to a virtual word and live this fake life. Well rather than getting points in playing games and then buying things to decorate your room like Webkinz girls get "bimbo points" and they can buy slutty clothes and diet pills and what have you. The creators say it projects a positive self image to girls..but I don't see how. I think diet and exercise are important but self respect and esteem help too.

You know who play this game I bet? The dopey women on Rock of Love. I watched about 5 minutes of this crap one night. Talk about the most vapid women ever.

Ladies..that is NOT attractive at all.

Friday, March 28, 2008

It’s your life, it’s your party, it’s so awful

Somebody check my temperature..two weeks in a row? Forgotten Disc Friday returns.

This week we look at an artist/band that many people just love to hate. I can see some reasons, but this record was their best work, at least to these ears.

Thanks as always for reading (or clicking over) and have a nice weekend.

-march

Thursday, March 27, 2008

In the News

Elementary School students in Georgia will be weighed 2 times per year. It is a new state law to keep track of the body mass index on the students.

A new invention to keep sharks away, call the Shark Shield, was reported in a pre-sale test that the device itself had actually been eaten.

Some 55% of new mothers are back to work by the time their baby is 6 months old. Four decades ago it was only 17% - San Francisco Chronicle

For the first time in history more than 1 in 100 American adults are incarcerated. - New York Times

While more than 12,000 Americans are shot to death, far more are wounded *duh*, 53,000 people were seen in Emergency Rooms in 2006. Associated Press

18% of workers borrowed money from their 401k or other retirement account last year, up from 11% in 2006 - Wall Street Journal.

More than 1/2 of all Americans are unable to save because they live paycheck to paycheck. - Marketwatch.com

Since the US dollar is so low, California wines sales overseas are on the rise. LA Times.

1/3 of workers have said they have fallen asleep, or are very sleepy at work. - Associated press

Vegetarian activists are protesting the plan to make Kentucky Fried Chicken the official picnic food of Kentucky.

To get ready for the Beijing Olympics the city has stared a campaign to cut down on spitting. Before the campaign 5% spat openly, now only 2.5% do.

A teacher in California recently admitted that after 17 years he was unable to read or write. He is now retired.

If currently smoking trends continue on billion people worldwide will dies of tobacco related illnesses this century. China now accounts for more than 40% of all smokers. - New York Daily News.

John McCain has missed 57% of the Senates votes in the last year. Obama , 40%, Hillary 27%. Associated Press

With warmer temperatures the number of US Ski resorts has dropped from 727 in 1985 to 485 today. USA Today.

By the end of this year more than 50% of the worlds 6.6 Billion people will own a mobile phone. The Wall St Journal.

Wal Mart is reporting that thousands of shoppers are actually redeeming their gift cards, but instead of DVDs or what have you, they spend it on food and diapers. Associated Press.

A preacher in Florida has issued a 30 day sex challenge for married congregants to fool around - with their spouses - every day for a month in an effort to reduce the divorce rate.

If the November election turns out to be McCain vs Obama it will be the largest age gap between candidates. McCain is 71, Obama 46. - MSNBC.com

The fastest growing producer of Kosher foods? China. - LA Times.

Haagen-Dazs has warned it may have to cut back on some of the ice-cream flavors it offers, due to the declining bee population. Less bees mean less, fruits, nuts etc.

The best tasting tap water, where you can find it? Los Angeles.

A Wisconsin man used a blow torch to clear snow and ice from his driveway accidentally set his garage door ablaze.

Consumers spent 9.7 billion at movie theaters and 23 billion on DVDs. - Wall St Journal.

Mitt Romney spent 42.3 million dollars of his own money on his failed presidential run. - Boston Globe.

Rudy Giuliani spent 60 million and only won a single delegate - Newsweek

An estimated 20% of drivers send and receive text messages while driving - US News and World Report

There are 3.3 billion active cell phones around the world, one for every 2 people on the planet. Washington Post.

Due to the high price of gold, the recent round of Oscar statues each went up $100.00 on cost from 400 to 500.00 each. = Financial Times.

More Americans now die from misuse of prescription drugs than cocaine and heroin. - LA Times.

Americans eat about 10 billion cows, chickens, pigs and other animals each year. - NY Times

Out of the 97 billion dollars in gift cards purchased last year, nearly 8 billion have gone unused. BusinessWeek

For every 1 million Americans there are now 65 video stores, 17 movie theaters and 1 drive in theater. - USA Today

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

have you seen?

No Country for Old Men?

Fantastic film. I really liked it when I watched it the other night, then the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. Just a great film.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Okay seriously...What the F? **Updated 3/26



Seriously, off and on for about a week now a f'ing Woodpecker has been hammering on my house. What makes this annoying beside the fact that its woodpecker pecking at my house before 7am..is that my house has new vinyl siding on it.

Before the siding I had exposed cedar shingles on my home. I mean the whole house was "wood". No woodpecker. Now that i have spent 1/2 the yearly tuition at a Ivy League school to get this done I am sort of less than pleased. Its sporadic, every other day..a quick few whacks then its done. I have been getting right up and sticking my head out the window to shoo the bugger away, but most days it is gone.

I need to check to see if there is any damage but from what I have been reading I can't wait really to see if it will "end" I need to scare it off (mind you I have bird seed that it has been eating like a horse) on the back patio. What is with this dope.

I'll be on the ladder...piss me off.

Oh, and not that I want to hurt the thing, but in looking, most woodpeckers are "protected" so even if I was to "go that route" I don't want the fines and guilt that go with it.

**Updated 3/26**

Well in reading up some, the birds are marking their territory or "calling for a mate". I think it found a mate, because today there were two of the buggers and they looked similar yet different (ie. colors etc). I stood outside for 10 minutes yesterday and had no hits..today I was awoken to one..4-5 taps then done. I also got up on my roof to see whats doing and so far..so good..no damage. I just need to be around to "bug them" away. In reading it could be a 2-3 week thing. Most of all I am happy for no damage. They are pretty to look at..but the moment you screw w/my house...watch it!

Friday, March 21, 2008

Tied to the wheel fingers got to feel

After a week off..for no good reason..Forgotten Disc Friday returns.

This week we look at a record chock full of radio hits, most of which you pretty much hear all the time on rock radio. When was the last time you listened to the whole thing is the question....

Thanks as always for reading (or clicking over) and have a nice weekend.

-march

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Sort of a fun little game to get you listening and writing.

The other day Dim sent along this email about creating a soundtrack for your life. Read along....

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every stage below, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new stage, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool - first songs only

Opening Credits
Waking Up
First Day of School
Falling in Love
Fight Song
Breaking Up
Prom
Life is Good
Mental Breakdown
Driving
Flashback
Getting Back Together
Wedding
Paying the Dues
The Night Before the War
Moment of Triumph
Death Scene
Funeral Song
End Credits

So I decided to do it..and 'not be cool' i just let it go. Here was mine:

Opening Credits - Song - "Medicine" Artist - Jesu
Waking Up - Song "American In Me" Artist - Pearl Jam
First Day of School - Song "Scarecrow" Artist - Beck
Falling in Love - Song "There She Goes" Artist - The La's (I swear this came up)
Fight Song - Song " Pomp and Circumstances" Artist - The Smashing Pumpkins
Breaking Up - Song "The Rat Cage" Artist - The Beastie Boys
Prom - Song " Rest at the Gate" Artist - Wizardzz
Life is Good Song - "Space (I Believe In) Artist - The Pixies
Mental Breakdown Song - "Silence is Consent" Artist - Tunturia
Driving - Song "The Beginning After the End" Artist - Stars
Flashback - Song "Grace" Artist - Jeff Buckley
Getting Back Together - Song "Stuck Between Stations" Artist - The Hold Steady
Wedding - Song "Celebration Day" Artist - Led Zeppelin
Paying the Dues - Song "Interiors" Artist - The Sea And Cake
The Night Before the War - Song " Even Better than the Real Thing" Artist - U2
Moment of Triumph - Song "Spilling Over the Side" Artist - Rollins Band
Death Scene - Song "Relative Ways" Artist -...and you will know us By the Trail of Dead
Funeral Song - Song " Count Me Out" Artist- The Mighty Lemon Drops
End Credits - Song "Loft" Artist - Caspian

So feel free to try this for yourself..and lemme know your results.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

A wonderful opportunity presents itself.

The middle of last week I was checking out the web during lunch. (no really I had customers in the office). I stumbled upon a blog post that sparked my interest. The basic idea was a local group was having a charity hockey game between Boston Bruins Alumni, Yale Appliance and the cast members from the movie "Slap Shot". The group was looking for someone to emcee the event. So, on a whim I decided, what the heck. I had been on Boston radio so talking in public is not a big deal, and the other criteria was that I know the "game". I am sure there are more hardcore fans than I, but I am pretty much up there at least regarding the Bruins.

So I fire off an email figuring I am 100th in line.

10 minutes pass and I get a voice mail. It is the woman that is running the game. She leaves information on voice mail on how to get in touch with her. My mind races the next 2 hours with customers in the office. I sneak out and make the phone call.

Well, after a few minutes I found I got the gig.

I will be doing the PA Announcing for the game. I'll intro the players from the Bruins, the Yale Appliance folks, as well as the guys from Slap Shot.

At this time I am not sure who is skating for the Bruins, or the cast, but three that are for sure are the legendary Hanson Brothers. Details are still being worked out so I'll keep you posted on my findings but if you are in the area here are some details.

The event page with how you can get tickets or even have dinner with the players is here

*General Information*
The game is Sunday April 6th at Iorio Arena
(Rte 1 N.) in Walpole MA
The game starts at 1pm.
Tickets for the game are $15.00 each

Most importantly the organization that will benefit from your donation? - The Arc of Greater Boston


To buy tickets on line (or make a donation) here

Check out some links.
The Hanson Brothers on Wikipedia
Slap Shot, the film, on IMDB.com
Slap Shot, the film on Wikipedia

I am sure I'll have a lot more coming....

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Something very cool to share in a day or so...

I just want to make sure I can say...its very cool.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Whirlwind Washington Weekend

This was the weekend I headed to Washington D.C. to see the Bruins play the WashingtonCapitals. This is hopefully sort of the official start to "Trying to see the Bruins play a road game in every city". I saw the Maple Leafs play a few years ago up at the Air Canada Centre so it sorta counts, but not really.

Quick sort of boring run down if you care. Left my house at 11:15 for a 12:45 flight. I had checked-in online and was not checking a bag so it was quick right thru. Flight down was inside 1hr. Met up w/my buddy C and we headed back towards his house. Since I haven't been in the D.C. area in 20?? years we took the "long way". He is just in nearby Virginia so it wasn't too bad.

After arriving we sort of hung out. Watched the Bruins game from earlier in the day via TiVo and didn't know the score, so when the Bruins won in Overtime we were loving it (couple that w/the 6+ beers each in us). We shot some pool, played a little Xbox and headed to bed.

Chilled out Sunday morning then about 11 we left to go meet another guy that was going to the game. We decided to hit the Espn Zone for lunch. We headed towards the city but the St.Patricks Day parade caused us to loop, and loop and loop. I said "Park somewhere and we can walk for god sake!"

EPSN Zone was fun. We had a beer and planned to eat, but it was 45 minutes for a table. We played some games and headed to the Verizon Center. C and I had Bruins jerseys on and got stopped by a camera crew. It was American Hockey Fan.com. They had us play "word association" with B's and Caps players etc. I had to play dumb when they asked about the Caps coach..but all in all it was pretty fun. Rumor has it we will be on that site this week?? soon???

Inside the venue was pretty nice. Our seats were 5 rows from the ice and about 4 over from the tunnel where the Caps players come out. We were close for sure.

The game itself was good. It is a little hard to be a fan in another city, but overall the people didn't say much to me really (I was not looking for it either). Few highs and lows.

Highs - The seats. A+ Mr C on those. The game action..well played. Washington Caps superstar Alexander Ovechkin leaving the ice during the game, going down the tunnel right near us, and proceeding to beat the crap out of his stick. He was pissed about something. He then stood about 8 feet from me getting his next stick ready.

Lows - Well the Bruins losing in a shootout but the worst of the worse was the scoreboard would show game highlights WHILE the game was happening. We were low so we needed the video screen at times for the action to our right. It just pissed me off that they'd be in the attacking zone and they'd show a replay of some lame shot seconds before. F- to you on that Caps folks.

The game ended, we headed back to the airport and I paid $12.00 more to get on a flight that left 1hr+ earlier than I had planned.

I was was in my kitchen having a glass of water at 10:30pm.

Good times all in all..next season we are not sure where to go, based off schedule of the Bruins, but then what works. Probably one of the three New York teams, or Pittsburgh.

So in closing
1 road game in the book
2 arenas (well 3 but Toronto only kinda counts for this project)
30 teams total = 28 more venues.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Totally Hot Peep Show...

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Semi quiet this week...

I have clients in the office until about lunch time Friday. As much as I'd rather blog and comment..kinda sorta need to lay a little low.

Big weekend coming up though..headed to Washington DC to see the Bruins play the Washington Capitals. Fly down Sat mid day, see the game Sunday afternoon, back (hoping) in my bed by 11pm Sunday night.

A life long friend lives in the area so it outta be a ripper. More to come.

Friday, March 7, 2008

He's just a hero in a long line of heros

After a week off..for no good reason..Forgotten Disc Friday returns.

This week we look at watershed debut record from a Chicago based artist.

Strap on the headphones (some bad words!) and download a track as you read...

Thanks as always for reading (or clicking over) and have a nice weekend.

-march

Thursday, March 6, 2008

A Night at the Movies.



Last night I finally had a chance, got my act together, however you want to slice it..I finally made it see the U23D Movie.

My older brother and I were trying for a few weeks to get out act together to see it in Imax, but scheduling just didn't work out.

I went to the 9:55pm show at my local theater. I was the ONLY person in the theater. Settled in to the dead center seat in the theater, sipped and snacked on my $10.00 worth of snack (popcorn and water mind you 10.00????!?!?).

When the film started I noticed right away that the film was VERY loud. You really fell like you are at the show. 3D films have come a long way and everything looked great. The movie was shot at a few locals in South America and the audience is just ravenous, at times the whole "floor" area just bouncing in unison.

I know there are people that don't like U2 and that is all fine and good, but if you have even the slightest curiosity I strongly suggest this..even if its just from a technical standpoint of sound and camera etc. The film is about 1hr and 20 minutes long and its edited so there is little gap between songs and for those that are wondering very little "Bono preaching".

See if while you can. If this is to come out on DVD (rumor had it they don't want to do this) it will never be the same.

Treat yourself, and thank me later.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

In the News...

Rite Aid Pharmacy now sells DNA Paternity tests for $29.99.

About one out of the three U.S. Dollars sent to Iraq in aid winds up in the pockets of corrupt officials. - NY Times

The average Americans radiation exposure has doubled since 1980, mostly due to CT Scans. The real scary part is a person that receives two scans is bathed in as much radiation as if he stood two miles from ground zero at Hiroshima. - New England Journal of Medicine.

As many as 10,000 cars submerged by Hurricane Katrina have been refurbished and sold to buyers...in Bolivia. The country has loose import rules and many stolen goods end up there. - Associate Press

The median price for a new home on the US fell to $217,800 in October of 2007, a 13% drop since Oct 2006. CNN Money

The 40 richest people in India are worth a combined 350 billion, more than twice what the group was worth last year - Forbes

On-line shoppers in 2007 spent $733 million on cyber Monday (the Monday after thanksgiving). This was up 21% since last year. - Bloomberg.com

Muriel Gladwin, 94, of Hereford England who taught herself to drive at ages 12 has decided to give up driving. With an estimated 600,000 miles driven Gladwin has not gotten a single ticket or even had a minor accident. She is quoted "I still have a completely clean record, so I'm going to quit while I am ahead."

Gennifer Flowers, who in 1992 said she had a long standing adulterous relationship with former President Bill Clinton said she plans to support Hillary Clintons run for the White House.

A North Carolina woman bought a plot of land...at the bottom of a lake. She is now suing local authorities to have the lake drained since she claims the property is, "Very valuable".

A 27 year old Frenchman correctly calculated the 13th root of a 200 digit number in his head in 70.2 seconds. The correct answer (because you care) 2,407,899,893,032,210.

David Leggart of Scotland spent four days trapped inside a men's bathroom. The bathroom was in a private club that closed for the winter. Leggart, 55, kept himself alive by keeping his feet warm in the sink filled with hot water. When rescued he said "The only thing I regret is that I was not trapped behind the bar."

As prison populations on the U.S have swelled since the 1970's so have the number of ex-cons. There are about 700,000 prisoners released each year..two out out three will commit a crime that lands them back in jail. - US News and World Report

Translators are in such demand in Iraq and Afghanistan that the Pentagon contractors will pay $180,000 annually for people who can speak Arabic, Kurdish, Turkish or Farsi. - Dallas Morning News

Americans consume an extra $10.5 billion worth of energy and water each year as the result of additional households created by divorce. - MSNBC.com

Mitt Romney's speech on his Mormon faith didn't change many minds. 17% said they'd never vote for a Morman when earlier in the year it was 19%.

An international survey found that the U.S ranked dead last in a measure of how well the heath care systems of 19 countries deliver timely, effective care and precvent deaths. France was first.

A Missouri company introduced a bed with a built in movie projector, surround sound, ipod doc, Internet connection and a wireless keyboard.

Scott Gomez , an inmate in a Colorado jail is suing on the grounds that guards should have done more to stop his escape. Gomez was hurt after a 40 foot fall during his escape attempt.

In 1999 Ford sold 428,000 Explorers, thru November of 2007 they had sold 127,000. The Wall St. Journal

Since 2001, Texas has had the most prisoners exonerated by DNA testing. 30 wrongfully convicted Texas inmates have been cleared by DNA. Associated Press

Global Warming is taking hold...the famed "Iditarod" dog sled race had to moved 30 miles north. Both global warming and urban development being the reasons for the move.

Airport security screeners seize about 1,000 hidden guns and about 1 million knives a year from passengers who either forget, or try to smuggle on board. Also found recently, snakes, alligators and tarantulas. USA Today

The nations health care cost rose by 6.7% to more than 2 TRILLION last year. Americans now spend and average of $7,026 on health care per person every year. LA Times.

As of 2005, Americans had stashed away more than 500 million old cell phones in drawers, never to be used again. New York Times Magazine.

Las Vegas has seen its wedding industry slump. The applications are at a 10 year low. People blame the Clark County licensing office, which last year cut back its hours. UPI

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Monday, March 3, 2008

If you are like me this is news you did NOT need to hear

This week is national procrastination week...