Our streets are filled with classic cars, custom trucks, and hot rods, which can only mean that it’s Syracuse Nationals weekend. Last year they had Shirley Feeney and the Fonz, but this year the mayor of Quahog himself, Adam West, and the original catwoman, Julie Newmar, will be on hand to meet and greet. Appropriately, one of the vehicles in town is the batmobile from the 60’s TV show. Well, I guess it isn’t the original (which is in a museum someplace), but it looks cool anyway. I wonder if either one of these folks ever thought, “some day, I hope my career takes me to a car show in Syracuse to sign autographs”?
Sticking with the car theme for a moment, the Chief of a local volunteer fire department slammed into another car, sending its two occupants to the hospital (the driver of the other car – a teenage girl – had to be airlifted with “critical head injuries”). Police determined the the fire chief dude didn’t notice that the other car had slowed down to turn into a driveway. I mention this only because no tickets were issued, with the police explanation being “…failure to pay attention is not a violation of vehicle and traffic law.” Really?
Somehow, I think if it was the teenage girl who’d slammed into the Fire Chief, they’d have come up with a couple of tickets.
Personally, I think “paying attention” ought to be at the top of the list (and that includes while you’re in motion as well as when you’re sitting at the goddamn red light in front of me – especially that very short left turn arrow on the way to the grocery store; WTF!).
Driving a motor vehicle is not the time to pick your nose, brush your hair, adjust your underwear, futz with your makeup, paw through the glove box, find the “perfect” radio station, read the newspaper, catch up on your goddamn e-mail, or chat on the friggin’ phone. Driving is not “wasted” time when you need to multitask to be more productive. Pay attention, or take the freakin’ bus.
And for chrissakes, if you’re gonna pop it into neutral ‘cuz it’s too much trouble to keep your foot on the clutch, be prepared to put it back into gear in less than five minutes, OK? First gear is in the same place it’s always been; you shouldn’t need to look to find it. Practice blindfolded in your driveway, if necessary.
The Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, was in our neck of the woods yesterday, visiting the troops of the 10th Mountain Division (those who aren’t currently deployed, anyway) up at Fort Drum in Watertown. He had cheerful news: he may send more troops to Afghanistan this year than he expected. The 10th Mountain has had more troops killed in the past month in Obama’s war in Afghanistan than they did in their previous Bush-era deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
“The Express” has taken the ESPY for best sports movie, beating out “The Wrestler” and “Sugar.” You haven’t seen it yet? Shame on you. Sadly, the 6 OT SU-UCONN basketball game lost out to some football game between Pittsburgh and Arizona. In other ESPY news, Michael Phelps won out over Tiger Woods as best male athlete. I think the voters might have been stoned.
In addition to the Breaking News of Michael Jackson’s hair getting set on fire 25 years ago, the Today Show is touting a story about a dachshund named Smoky who was impaled (through the head) with a barbecue fork. I don’t know what the “official” story is on this, but here’s some free advice: when dad’s grilling out in the back yard with a fork in one hand and a cold frosty in the other, keep the frickin’ hotdog and/or sausage-shaped critters locked in the house.
Speaking of the Today Show, Erin Burnett is on again with Matt Lauer, filling in for Meredith Viera, who is “on assignment.” Watch out, Meredith. Erin is young and shiny and new (and looks pretty good in HD), while you’re, well, not. And we all know what happened to Sue Ellicott when she went on to do “field reports” for Morning Sedition (and now she doesn’t even seem to be on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me anymore; no doubt she’ll be signing autographs in Syracuse soon).
Heh, that could became a new euphemism, like “hiking the Appalachian Trail.”
His career was going along great until he got caught on video screaming out the ‘N’ word. Now he’s “signing autographs in Syracuse,” if you know what I mean.
Well, time to get ready for work. Have a good (and fast) Friday.
Finished watching the last BRL. Marc showed a remarkable amount of restraint while Brendan and Sam let Miila walk all over what should have been a more honest show. :fustrate:
Sam’s indifference spoke volumes.
Yeah, not exactly the ending I’d have wanted. Morning Sedition and the MMS had much better finales. I really doubt we’ll ever get another daily dose of Maron again. But, you never know, I guess. Still think he ought to have a show on HBO. I think he’s an excellent interviewer, and with a staff of writers behind him ala Sedition, I think he could have a fantastic show.
But, once again, nobody cares what I think. And this whole winning the lottery thing just isn’t working out. I may have to try re-selling burial plots or something.
I thought Marc and Sam were resigned to the situation and, having learned from previous outbreaks of honesty, decided not to say too many unkind things about AAR or AAM or whatever the heck it calls itself.
As for Mila, the reaction of parents to their children is often baffling, but Sam showed an enormous amount of patience. Apparently it was his job to babysit and there didn’t seem to be an alternative other than binding and gagging which is probably frowned upon.
I did write to AAR but experience tells me not to give even a passing thought to something coming of it.
PJ, you’re now my only source of smart, wry humor.
Meanwhile, our once again “functioning” state senate has revised the rules to share power and resources more equally…at least in comparison to the way the Rethugs ran it for years.
The only one who really made out was slimeball Espada. Let’s hope that he gets knocked out in the primary.
:joe: ………wait for it……,
“POWW!!!”
:smack: yeah Mila was bouncing off the walls .
:billcat:
this is me the last 12 hours:
:barf:
Sorry to hear about the food poisoning, Heron. So, what did you eat?
PJ, we are counting on you for the funny. :bow:
I always thought that Maron was like the Pied Piper of talk radio; that he attracted a set of like-minded zanies and they could create something way greater than the sum of their parts. And this wasn’t like some stupid “morning zoo” crew, they all knew that they were on some sort of mission. He never achieved this with BRL, but then what could you expect, they were relegated to a break room!
Lizz Winstead had some of this skill also when she started The Daily Show, later her radio show, and then Shoot The Messenger, which was quite good when I saw it the one time. Of course Conan has some of this skill, but jeez, he has the entire backing of NBC to make sure the quality stays high. And Conan really has no mission. Stewart and Colbert are good but never achieved that SCTV quality that serves as a benchmark for all others to attain. What were Mort Mortenson and Pendejo and Lawton Smalls but the bastard children of Guy Cabellero, Earl Camembert, and Tommy Shanks? And Sammy the Stem Cell was Bobby Bittman at his essence.
Right now, I don’t see anything really good along these lines. I almost feel guilty to admit it, but I like watching Live from Daryl’s House which comes out once a month and has that feel of camaraderie and good humor and spontaneity that is missing from just about anything on the media right now.. A new episode just came out and am looking forward to watching it. :tongue:
Gordon Waller of Peter and Gordon, dead at 64
A WORD FROM PETER:
Gordon played such a significant role in my life that losing him is hard to comprehend – let alone to tolerate.
He was my best friend at school almost half a century ago. He was not only my musical partner but played a key role in my conversion from only a snooty jazz fan to a true rock and roll believer as well. Without Gordon I would never have begun my career in the music business in the first place. Our professional years together in the sixties constitute a major part of my life and I have always treasured them.
We remained good friends (unusual for a duo!) even while we were pursuing entirely separate professional paths and I was so delighted that after a hiatus of almost forty years we ended up singing and performing together again more recently for the sheer exhilarating fun of it. We had a terrific time doing so.
Gordon remains one of my very favourite singers of all time and I am still so proud of the work that we did together. I am just a harmony guy and Gordon was the heart and soul of our duo.
I shall miss him in so many different ways. The idea that I shall never get to sing those songs with him again, that I shall never again be able to get annoyed when he interrupts me on stage or to laugh at his unpredictable sense of humour or even to admire his newest model train or his latest gardening effort is an unthinkable change in my life with which I have not even begun to come to terms.
🙁 :gate:
The Seder fans adore Myla and it did have a little bit of the ‘throwing Daddy out on the street’ feel to it. I don’t know if anyone saw Sam drop by the other when Sam asked him about what life was like for him at home and he was actually unhappy with the lack of respect he got from his wife and his daughter. That was why trip IM’d that he hoped Myla would treat Sam with some dignity which he read out loud with her sitting on his lap.
Speaking of kids…
:jerk: :yippee:
Let’s hear it for the old guys! :yippee: Tiger Woods misses the cut at the British Open, while 59 year old Tom Watson rallies for a share of the lead.
I didn’t like Tom when he started to beat Jack Nicklaus (much as my dad resented Jack when he started beating Arnold Palmer). Of course, we both loved seeing Jack win the Masters at the ripe old age of 46 (younger than I am now, sad to say). I’d love to see Tom win the British Open. Odds are he’ll fade (golf is a tough sport; you need four brilliant days in a row, and have to hope nobody else has four slightly more brilliant days at the same time), but you never know.
going golfing with steve jobs tomorrow :nana:
Really? Tell him Macs suck, and Wozniak was the brains of the operation. 😉
Walter Cronkite, Iconic Anchorman, Dies
🙁 :gate:
RIP, Walter. Things have never been the same since you left the news.
I can’t watch Couric doing the report right now. It’s just wrong. I wish they could get Rather back for this.
Truly this is the death of broadcast journalism. Fourty years to the day after he announced the landing of Apollo 11. Probably the only thing that gave him joy after the death of JFK. “and that’s the way it is”
The Kennedy assassination and the Moon landing were probably the first examples of wall to wall 24 hour news coverage and of course, we were a CBS family. My Dad loved Eric Sevareid.
My guess is that Dan Rather Reports will have something to say about the passing of Uncle Walter. I hope so, anyway.
I think Rather is over at “The Daily Show”. :billcat:
Walter Cronkite meeting Ted Baxter at WJM was a classic.
I think Uncle Walter’s passing is shutting down the intertubes.
I was a child in the sixties
Dreams could be held through TV
With Disney and Cronkite and Martin Luther
Oh, I believed, I believed, I believed
Now, I am a backstreet driver from America
I am not at the wheel of control
I am guilty, I am war and I am the root of all evil
Lord, and I can’t drive on the left side of the road
Re: 7
I got nauseous yesterday too. I think I’m just SICK of the heat. :hot:
Sam doesn’t give much respect to Myla on the show. It seems like he’s always denigrating his family life, Myla especially. But I always took it as the lovable, teasing dad. Teasing is a sign of love to me because my mom was a big teaser. My brother didn’t take the teasing so well, tho. :smack:
I thought Myla was pretty annoying and I bet Marc thought so too. La la la la la look at me! :slap:
I grew up in a family of wise ‘guys and gals’ who are always kidding. It seemed like Seder had a bite that day. Of course, it is 2 to 1 female v. male in that household so that could have something to do with it.
Here’s Rather on Rachel and this has to be something of a scoop for her
I was shocked to see a reply from AAR about my canceling my subscription over their dropping BRL: here’s what I wrote them-
“I continued to support you even though BRL was offered for free. I never understood why you didn’t make it a subscription because it was the most valuable, and unique programming you offered. I wavered when you dumped Kuby- I had warmed up to him and when he started making Paschman a part of the program it improved immensely. Now you’ve pulled the plug on anything I cared about @ AAR.
You expect people to pay money for Montel? Lionel?
Seriously??
Seriously though, go fuck yourselves.”
Here’s their reply for what it’s worth.
“I understand how you feel about the loss of Break Room Live. The onlything I can do at the moment is promise you that I will show yourcomment to upper management. Also, here are two statements about the cancellation–one from CEOBennett Zier and one from Program Director Bill Hess. They werereleased via Twitter this week: Here’s tweet #1 from Bill Hess – “For now, the daily live stream of Air America’s @BreakRoomLive hasbeen discontinued. Visit your favorite shows here: http://bit.ly/yEZ8Q” Here’s tweet #2 from Bennett Zier – “We love @MarcMaron @SamSeder. They are very talented. We hope to workwith them in the future.”
Thanks, Bob DrummondAir America Support —Air America MediaListen live: http://www.airamerica.com/listenFollow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/airamericamedia
Maybe they’re just referring to the 8 weeks that the guys have left on their contract.
Funny how the bastards always leave that little ‘ray of hope’ in the reply.
Like a stream of bat’s piss
i will tell him pj 😉