The Big Switch

Although the big D-Day switcheroo has come and gone (for the switch to digital cable), apparently there are still hundreds of thousands left with their bunny ears and a bunch of snow. 

Why is this?  Were these people livingin a cave back in February when it was initially announced this was going to happen?  Did they think it was a joke of some kind?

“Ha!  Digital cable my ass!  Who are they trying to fool?  My roof antennae and router have been serving me well for the past thirty years!”

Well, think again Mighty Magic Joe in East Bumfuck West Virginia Appalachian Mountains.  The Big D has come to stay and if you didn’t get a box to help you with the switch, you weren’t able to get your morning fix of Spongebob today.

Where have you gone Dom DiMaggio?

I’m not a big baseball fan. I’m not even a Boston Red Sox fan. But I knew of Dom DiMaggio. Not because he played outfield for the Sox, or that his brother was Joe, or that ironically his brother is the one who broke his hitting streak. I knew of him because of the story my husband told me about how he met Dom DiMaggio.

When my husband was 14 his father kept him out of school one day and told him he was going to take him to meet Dom DiMaggio. This was in 1978 or 1979. My husband’s father was a salesman, although at this point in time, I’m not quite sure what kind of job he had. Anyway, he was going to see Dom DiMaggio because he had done some job or project for him. I’m not quite sure and neither is my husband.  But he had some business with Dom.

My father-in-law introduced my husband to Dom by saying, “This is Dom DiMaggio, Joe’s brother”. My husband recalls shaking his hand and remembers Dom said “hello” to him, but that’s about it.

So naturally when my husband told me this morning that Dom DiMaggio died, I said to him, “The same one you met when you were 14?”

“The very same one.”

The thing is, the number of times my husband told me the Dom story, he never ONCE mentioned to me that Dom had played for the Sox. I just figured his claim to fame was being Joe’s brother!

How ironic is it that one DiMaggio would play for the Sox and the other for the Yankees? Weird…

Don’t panic yet!

The latest swine flu epidemic seems to have everyone running to the doc at the slightest sign of a cough or sneeze.  I know this is a serious thing and for me it has come close to home (two kids at a school in my jurisdiction are being TESTED for swine flu because they just got back from Mexico and showed signs of being sick).

But I find it really extreme when an employee suddenly says to me “Oooh, I feel nauseous and I have a sore throat.  I was in Lowell the other day.  I think I have the swine flu” and then run out the door to your doc.  Get real.  Take a pill and call me in the morning.   If you still have a job.  BTW, this REALLy did happen to me today! I think the person just wanted to get out of work early. Jerk.

My other thought about this entire swine flu thing is that maybe now people will start re-thinking their choice of vacation destination (read: MEXICO).  I’m not really sure why anyone would want to vacation there anyway.  Who wants to visit a place where you can’t even safely drink the water?

A stipulation for the stimulation

Kudos to Bollinger Insurance Solutions CEO Jack Windolf. 

Instead of pocketing his $500,000 bonus for himself, he did what any true-blooded American CEO would do:  share it.  He spread the wealth among his 434 employees, giving each a $1,000.  The only stipulation?  They need to spend it.  Now THAT’S a really sweet stimulation package!

Craigslist losers

Question:  what kind of person goes on to Craigslist’s Rants and Raves section and starts harassing innocent people who post true rants and raves regarding a variety of subjects (from a sweet deal they got on an item they bought to a new restaurant they just ate at)? 

 

Answer:  A LOSER, that’s who.

 

Like Facebook, Craigslist has done nothing good for the general internet community.  The only thing it has done is create a haven for people to go to harass, threaten and piss-off others.  These are people who obviously have nothing better to do.  They are no better than the loser on Facebook who spends hours on end playing poker with his faceless Facebook “friends”.  If anything, these Craigslist losers are WORSE because they’re just sitting on their asses making post after post flagging anything being said and intimidating others.  At least on Facebook the losers are playing poker….

Somewhere in the world right now…

IT’S CHRISTMAS!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY FELLOW BLOGGERS OUT THERE AROUND THE WORLD!

Straight No Chaser

I had the pleasure of listening in this morning when Straight No Chaser made a guest appearance on the Zito and Karen Blake show on Oldies 103.3.  Wow!  These guys are tremendous (not to mention easy on the eyes ). 

I loved their rendition of “Carol of the Bells” but instead of singing the usual lyrics, it was “Zito and Karen, Zito and Karen” all the way through…it was hysterical and very well done!  Unfortunately I did not get to stick around for the live in-studio performance of “The Twelve Days of Accapella”.  But I do think I will be buying the CD…unless someone was smart enough to get it for me for Christmas!

Christmas sounds…

If you haven’t yet, be sure to check these guys out…they are awesome!

http://www.sncmusic.com/

A Christmas Carol

I recently had the pleasure of taking in a very well done performance of “A Christmas Carol” at Worcester’s new Hanover Theatre.

The show was well structured and choreographed.  Neat special effects on the entrances of Marley and the Ghost of Christmas Future.  But I would not recommend taking young children as these acts are quite startling.

The theatre is beautiful:  very nicely decorated for the holidays, gold trim everywhere, sparkling chandaliers. 

But even with the beauty of this building, it still lacks a few things:  (1)  For a place that can hold 2,345 people, it does not allow for enough “mingling” space for all these people.  There should be one way in to the theatre and one way out of the theatre to avoid this.  At intermission it was like a huge shufflethon just to get a cookie and a glass of punch!  Which brings my next complaint (2) allegedly FOOD is not allowed in the theatre (but of course without all that “mingling” space out in the lobby, where the hell do they think you can eat that cookie?  In the bathroom?); however, BEVERAGES ARE allowed!  How does that figure?  Do they know it’s easier to vaccum up cookies crumbs than to mop up sticky punch from a rug?  My guess is that it is due to the fact that they have a BAR at this theatre and they certainly don’t want anyone who spent good money on booze to not be able to drink it in the theatre.  Of course they don’t take into consideration the drunkeness of these people and the fact that they will be sloshing their drinks around all over the place, causing a mess to their beautiful new rugs and their floors…oh well.

But the play was great just the same, aside from the crowds, cookies and punch.  And it was free, so what do I care, right?

Ten movies or specials I can’t get through the holidays without

In my order of opinion:

10.  “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer”

9.  “A Charlie Brown Christmas”

8.  “Frosty The Snowman”

7.  “White Christmas”

6.  “Christmas Vacation”

5.  “The Grinch” (movie or cartoon–both are great!)

4.  “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”

3.  “Christmas at Boston Pops”

2.  “A Christmas Story”

1.  “It’s a Wonderful Life”

Speaking of movies, I just watched “Fred Claus” for the first time.  Not bad for a holiday flick, once you get over all the Santaishness and North Polishness of the whole thing.  But not being a big Vince Vaughn fan, I have to give it a “5″.