Happy Birthday to my best girl. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeypOvsY91Q
Wagering on football games is a pretty good bet. I have reached this conclusion based on the following (thanks to Durango Bill):
Statistically, there are 1.7 fatalities for every 100,000,000 auto miles driven.
If you drive a mile to the store and a mile back to buy your lottery ticket, the likelihood that you will be killed on your lottery ticket buying trip is aprroximately 1 in 29,500,000.
You are six times more likely to be killed during the trip than you are likely to buy a winning Mega Millions ticket.
Here are the weekend picks. I stopped on the way home for lottery tickets, so I hope I am exempt from becoming a negative statistic.
Louisville @ Rutgers -10.5
Rutgers won Thursday night, 63-14
Louisville has such a cool mascot on their helmets. It’s the best thing they’ve shown this year.
"W"
Buffalo @ Ball State -15
Ball St is undefeated. Fifteen might be a stretch, but I’m on it.
Pitt @ Connecticut -3
Wannie alert!
Boston College @ Virginia Tech PK
I’m taking the home team.
Missouri @ Oklahoma -17
Booma Soonas gawn run all ovuh Mizoora.
Go out and buy someone an apartment building for Christmas, the economy needs your support.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Queen for a Day
Once upon a time, in the days before podcasts,satellite tv, cable, and the rest of the entertainment options that have become so matter of fact to us today, radio was king of the land. Not Sirius or XM or hi-def radio, but simple blast it into a little box in the house and captivate the world radio. Antiquity disclaimer: Being born into the TV age, I did not learn this from first hand experience.
Anyway, there was a rich variety of programming, like soap operas and serials. BTW, soap operas, introduced on radio, were so named because they were sponsored largely by the big name laundry soaps of the day. Radio was also the world which would give birth to the forerunner of what would become reality TV. Among the first of that genre was a show called Queen for a Day. Born on the radio in the 1940's, the show jumped media tracks to TV and ran concurrently on radio and TV for several years. The show lasted on TV until 1967.
The premise of the show was pure genius. Collect four down on their luck women to tell their tales of woe. Fill a studio with rubes to hear the stories and pass judgement on which of the four was the saddest sack of the lot. Use the "Applause-O-Meter" to judge which of them has made the best (worst?) impression. Parade the winner on stage in a robe and crown while Pomp & Circumstance plays, shower her with gifts (seems it was always a washing machine, how regal!)the rubes scream in approval and the home audience feels simultaneously superior and gratified by the biggest loser becoming the winner. If this sounds naggingly contemporary, think Jerry Springer Show with a throne, and instead of DNA testing there's a washing machine in the goody bag.
So, while I was grinning through the research on this bit of our contemporary American history, I found that there is a present day version of Queen for a Day. It's an organization that provides a bit of pampering and special treatment for pediatric cancer patients, giving them a little special treatement to shine a little sunshine into a challenging time. Take a look at http://www.qfad.org/
Queen for a Day, from the ridiculous to the sublime.
That is all.
Quick -This is Friday's Post
Louisville @ Rutgers -10.5
Louisville has such a cool mascot on their helmets. It’s the best thing they’ve shown this year.
Buffalo @ Ball State -15
Ball St is undefeated. Fifteen might be a stretch, but I’m on it.
Pitt @ Connecticut -3
Wannie alert!
Boston College @ Virginia Tech PK
I’m taking the home team.
Missouri @ Oklahoma -17
Booma Soonas gawn run all ovuh Mizoora.
Go out and buy someone an apartment building for Christmas, the economy needs your support.
Louisville has such a cool mascot on their helmets. It’s the best thing they’ve shown this year.
Buffalo @ Ball State -15
Ball St is undefeated. Fifteen might be a stretch, but I’m on it.
Pitt @ Connecticut -3
Wannie alert!
Boston College @ Virginia Tech PK
I’m taking the home team.
Missouri @ Oklahoma -17
Booma Soonas gawn run all ovuh Mizoora.
Go out and buy someone an apartment building for Christmas, the economy needs your support.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
'Tis the Season
Mi esposa is a big fan of parades. To be more specific, she loves the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Rose Parade, so her parade watching season consists of two days about five weeks apart. The advent of HD TV and big sound has made the parade watching experience almost tolerable for me.
Almost!
NBC had Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera doing the play by play-- or is it "step by step" for a parade? These are pretty notorious people to do a parade. I remember Captain Kangaroo doing the parade commentary, and Hugh Downs, and Regis, and Katy Couric and more. When I searched for past hosts to aide my recall, the first few that I found reminded me why I have historically avoided watching the parade. Example:, the 1989 CBS host list included Patrick Duffy and Joan Van Ark, Faith Ford, Mary Frann, Tim Reid and a visit from Richard Chamberlain. Now, honestly, in your absolutely most delirious chemical induced moments, could you have ever come up with a combination like that?
More research revealed that Bryant Gumbel and Willard Scott did the parade for a ten year span, '87 to '97. I believe that Bryant is the obnoxious Gumbel. Greg is the sports oriented one who's actually rather likable. I also found that Matt and Meredith have been doing this for ten years now. I am beginning to recall why I usually avoid watching this spectacle.
By the way, the Macy's Parade was born in 1924. Since there was no TV back then, the commentators for the first parade, Sid and Manny, two guys from the tenement district, bellowed their descriptions at the crowd through megaphones until they were chased off by a barrage of rocks from onlookers who feared that commentators might become a permanent fixture.
The first act in this year's parade was was James Taylor, who sang America the Beautiful. It was simply wonderful. The next act was Miley Cyrus. The downward spiral was officially launched. Next, three little blond lip-synchers called The Clique Girlz. Implosion! My parade watching was over for the day.
TV doesn't give us the real drama of the parade, the human interaction with inflated floating creatures, the parade balloons. The first balloon ever used in the parade was Felix the Cat in 1927. Mickey Mouse debuted in 1934. Underdog joined in 1965. The list is pretty long, with Ronald McDonald winning my nomination for perennial creepiest balloon, and Pikachu a creepy close second. Pikachu looks like a dust mite that has grown to mammoth proportions, ready to assault Manhattan.
The balloon creatures have had problems over the years, the drama that TV denies us. In 1986, the evil Raggedy Ann balloon knocked down a lampost and the Superman balloon was attacked by a tree--presumably a helium filled kryptonite tree-- that tore off his Superhand. In 1997, the Cat in the Hat crashed into a lampost, resulting in one human parade attendee suffering a fractured skull that left her in a coma for a month. The winds that same year prompted NYC police to stab and subdue balloon Barney and balloon Pink Panther, committing grand scale balloonicide, justified, allegedly, by public safety concerns. The NYC balloon coroner's investigation was never made public.
My favorite balloon just debuted this year: Buzz Lightyear. It looks like they've dressed up Jim Thome and floated him down the street.
My other favorite, the M&M's, has been banned, presumably for bad behavior. The two photos below reveal the M&M's plotting their attack and the aftermath of their helium fueled rage.
Almost!
NBC had Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera doing the play by play-- or is it "step by step" for a parade? These are pretty notorious people to do a parade. I remember Captain Kangaroo doing the parade commentary, and Hugh Downs, and Regis, and Katy Couric and more. When I searched for past hosts to aide my recall, the first few that I found reminded me why I have historically avoided watching the parade. Example:, the 1989 CBS host list included Patrick Duffy and Joan Van Ark, Faith Ford, Mary Frann, Tim Reid and a visit from Richard Chamberlain. Now, honestly, in your absolutely most delirious chemical induced moments, could you have ever come up with a combination like that?
More research revealed that Bryant Gumbel and Willard Scott did the parade for a ten year span, '87 to '97. I believe that Bryant is the obnoxious Gumbel. Greg is the sports oriented one who's actually rather likable. I also found that Matt and Meredith have been doing this for ten years now. I am beginning to recall why I usually avoid watching this spectacle.
By the way, the Macy's Parade was born in 1924. Since there was no TV back then, the commentators for the first parade, Sid and Manny, two guys from the tenement district, bellowed their descriptions at the crowd through megaphones until they were chased off by a barrage of rocks from onlookers who feared that commentators might become a permanent fixture.
The first act in this year's parade was was James Taylor, who sang America the Beautiful. It was simply wonderful. The next act was Miley Cyrus. The downward spiral was officially launched. Next, three little blond lip-synchers called The Clique Girlz. Implosion! My parade watching was over for the day.
TV doesn't give us the real drama of the parade, the human interaction with inflated floating creatures, the parade balloons. The first balloon ever used in the parade was Felix the Cat in 1927. Mickey Mouse debuted in 1934. Underdog joined in 1965. The list is pretty long, with Ronald McDonald winning my nomination for perennial creepiest balloon, and Pikachu a creepy close second. Pikachu looks like a dust mite that has grown to mammoth proportions, ready to assault Manhattan.
The balloon creatures have had problems over the years, the drama that TV denies us. In 1986, the evil Raggedy Ann balloon knocked down a lampost and the Superman balloon was attacked by a tree--presumably a helium filled kryptonite tree-- that tore off his Superhand. In 1997, the Cat in the Hat crashed into a lampost, resulting in one human parade attendee suffering a fractured skull that left her in a coma for a month. The winds that same year prompted NYC police to stab and subdue balloon Barney and balloon Pink Panther, committing grand scale balloonicide, justified, allegedly, by public safety concerns. The NYC balloon coroner's investigation was never made public.
My favorite balloon just debuted this year: Buzz Lightyear. It looks like they've dressed up Jim Thome and floated him down the street.
My other favorite, the M&M's, has been banned, presumably for bad behavior. The two photos below reveal the M&M's plotting their attack and the aftermath of their helium fueled rage.
This misfortune proved that Al Roker and Willard Scott are not the biggest gas bags in New York.
That is all.
****************
Different topic, carried over. http://durbin.senate.gov/ That's where you can tell Dick Durbin that he's dicked you and me and everyone else in Illinois, having now proceeded with his bold faced display of cronyism, seeking a commutation of sentence for George Ryan. Dick wrote a letter to W, who's been handing out pardons as his reign comes to a conclusion. You can send an email to W comments@whitehouse.gov , or just hope he treats the request like the USA's economy, in which case Ryan won't be going anywhere.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Monday Monday
This past Saturday afternoon, the Lemont HS football team made its second consecutive trip to Champaign to play for the Illinois Class 6A championship. The Indians came up short, losing 37-15 at Memorial Stadium. Congratulations to everyone involved in the Lemont football program on another tremendously successful year. Lemont finished the season with a 13-1 record.
I learned a lot about high school football this year. As a member of the field crew, I had the opportunity to witness first hand the behavior of a number of the opposing teams that played at LHS this year. The classiest opposing organization was Lake Forest HS, whose players, coaches and fans behaved in a manner that should make their community very proud. I won't name the team is at the other end of the behavioral spectrum, other than to say that it is a school from our conference. While I wasn't on the field for the championship game this past Saturday, my unimpeachable sources were quite emphatic that Saturday's opponent wasn't on par with Lake Forest.
There's more to the games than trophies.
Portfolio update: 2 and 2. What a surprise...
Washington State @ Hawaii -29.5
Hawaii, 24-10
Many points, yes. Washington State is terrible and the Rainbows usually skewer teams like this at home.
Old reliable Hawaii failed me...
"L"
Florida -16.5 @ Florida State
Florida 45, Florida St 15
Urban Mayer has no soul. Keep it up!
"W"
Syracuse @ Cincinatti -21.5
Syracus, 30-10
Syracuse spent everything last week proving that USB stinks.
21 1/2 was too much.
"L"
Fresno State @ Boise State -21
Boise State cruised, 61-10
Smurfturf is the answer.
It sure doesn't hurt. BTW, the turf was replaced prior to this football season.
"W"
YTD: 50-50-2. Unbelievable.
I learned a lot about high school football this year. As a member of the field crew, I had the opportunity to witness first hand the behavior of a number of the opposing teams that played at LHS this year. The classiest opposing organization was Lake Forest HS, whose players, coaches and fans behaved in a manner that should make their community very proud. I won't name the team is at the other end of the behavioral spectrum, other than to say that it is a school from our conference. While I wasn't on the field for the championship game this past Saturday, my unimpeachable sources were quite emphatic that Saturday's opponent wasn't on par with Lake Forest.
There's more to the games than trophies.
Portfolio update: 2 and 2. What a surprise...
Washington State @ Hawaii -29.5
Hawaii, 24-10Many points, yes. Washington State is terrible and the Rainbows usually skewer teams like this at home.
Old reliable Hawaii failed me...
"L"
Florida -16.5 @ Florida State
Florida 45, Florida St 15
Urban Mayer has no soul. Keep it up!
"W"
Syracuse @ Cincinatti -21.5
Syracus, 30-10
Syracuse spent everything last week proving that USB stinks.
21 1/2 was too much.
"L"
Fresno State @ Boise State -21
Boise State cruised, 61-10
Smurfturf is the answer.
It sure doesn't hurt. BTW, the turf was replaced prior to this football season.
"W"
YTD: 50-50-2. Unbelievable.
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