Life On The Beach

One Man's Trash...

2009-11-20T08:45:00.000-05:00

I went upstairs this morning with a heavy duty trash bag and opened up my standing dresser to find some rummage to give to the Vietnam Veterans of America. Groups like the V.V.A. and Purple Heart call us at least once a week in search of our old clothes, books, shes and appliances, and more often than not, we manage to find some stuff for them.

What's amazing to me is that we never seem to run out of stuff we really no longer want. My dresser was literally bursting with clothes- it had been a while since I had cleaned it out. By the time I was done, I had literally stuffed half of the dresser's contents into the bag to be given away.

I don't know why I was holding onto to probably a dozen sweaters that hadn't been worn in five years or more. I gave away a couple of perfectly good pair of sweat pants. There was nothing wrong with them, except for the fact that I haven't worn them in years. You know the routine... You get a couple of new pair for Christmas, and the old ones suddenly get shoved to the back.

My weight has been known to rise and fall over the years. That, no doubt explains why I have at least a half-dozen pair of khaki shorts in assorted sizes... Or at least I did. If I ever get that small again, I'll reward myself with a new pair.

After I finished with the dresser, I went into my closet and examined the bar that is drooping with shirts and pants. I suddenly found my enthusiasm waning at the thought of wading through that morass, and immediately decided that chore could wait until the next time - which should be any day now.

Do you ever wonder whatever happens to all that stuff you give away? Some of it goes to rummage stores, but much of it - especially the clothing - gets sold in bulk by the pound to be recycled into rags and for other industrial uses. Ten years ago as a news reporter, I visited Rocky Mount, North Carolina to cover the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd, which devastated that town. As people across the country responded to the disaster, the town was INUNDATED with old clothing. Tractor trailers full of it. Perhaps five percent of it was used by the townspeople, with the rest piled ceiling-high in a warehouse. It really became more of a liability than a help. So the next time you want to respond to a disaster, keep that in mind and write a check!

As for your rummage, save that for the folks at Goodwill and Purple Heart. I am always more than happy to take a tax write-off for my junk, but I'm even happier to have more room in my dresser and closet!

Hold The Line, Montgomery County!

2009-11-19T09:43:00.001-05:00

I have spent quite a few column inches in this blog talking about Montgomery County, which I have called home, more because of inertia than anything else, for virtually my entire life. The county government has a well-deserved reputation for taxing its residents and spending money like it's water, and its managers are now finding, in this miserable economy, that it's damn tough to turn off that tap.

The county is now facing a 400 million dollar deficit for next year, and it's pretty much run out of options for finding that kind of cash. Eighty percent of the county's budget goes to salaries for county employees, including cops, firefighters and teachers, and the county is going to have to ask all of those workers to forgo pay raises for a second year in a row.

These kinds of pay freezes have become commonplace in other jurisdictions, as well as in the private sector, but it's almost unheard of in Montgomery, where employee unions have ruled the roost for too many decades. As I've written before, this is the kind of power that can develop when there is no level of bipartisanship within the ranks of elected officials. Montgomery County does not have a single Republican in power at the local or state level, and now we are paying the price for the myopia of our voters. I'm not arguing that the GOP has better ideas, just that diversity and moderation is underserved here.

The Washington Post has an op/ed piece today that makes an excellent argument to County Executive Isiah Leggett and School superintendent Jerry Weast to hold the line on pay hikes and cost-of-living increases, but it will be a mighty struggle for them to hold off the unions that have run roughshod over taxpayers for too many years.

I say all of this despite the fact that my wife is a county schoolteacher. We certainly could use the money that a pay raise or a COLA would bring in. But we need fairness more than we need money. As the Post points out, others are learning to make do with less. Montgomery County workers need to join us.

A Whole New Meaning To "This Bud's For You!"

2009-11-17T10:21:00.001-05:00

I just want to give a quick shout out of congratulations to Bud Adams, the owner of the Tennessee Titans, who has been fined 250,000 dollars by the No Fun League after extending his middle finger not once, but several times, towards the Buffalo Bills, who were beaten by the Titans in an AFL-heritage grudge match this past weekend. Here's Adams in action - but I must warn you... his fingers are showing!

I'm not going to bother commenting on the fine handed down by the NFL. They don't want their owners tarnishing the league. OK, whatever. However, Adams' gesture is no different from any gestures I've been giving to the television nearly every week of every football season since I was 10 years old. Sometimes, the opposing team is the recipient of my wrath... sometimes the referees... and sometimes, even the Redskins.

I personally do not find the finger to be all that offensive. Actually, I think its a quite effective tool at getting a message across! And if an 86-year-old man like Bud Adams wants to flip a few birds, by golly, I think he's earned that right! So Bud... These are for you!

Remember - You Get What You Pay For!

2009-11-17T09:37:00.001-05:00

I am not, by nature, a pessimistic person. In fact, I tend to be quite adroit at compartmentalizing the bad things in my life and leaving them in a dark hole to be ignored for as long as possible, so I can focus on lighter fare, such as vacation planning or watching reality TV.   When I'm busy working at one of my freelance news jobs, it's easier to ignore the fact that I have no long term career prospects. But when I'm not working, it's easier to dwell on the fact that news reports point to a rather dismal future, at least in the short term.

Two articles of note in today's news are conspiring to open up my "bad things" compartment. First, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is giving a pretty glum assessment of where the nation's employment picture is heading. Bernanke says "the best thing we can say about the labor market right now is that it may be getting worse more slowly."

And from that broad assessment, we go to another article that points specifically to my profession, journalism. A new study finds that fewer than half of Americans say they would be willing to pay for news online, and that those who would pay - would only cough up three dollars a month for it.

In essence, Americans believe they have a God-given right to free access to news - and really, who can blame them?  The cost of news coverage has been borne by advertisers for hundreds of years, and consumers have never had to worry about that burden.

But because of the internet, ad dollars have been splintered into tiny pieces, and the news business model is irrevocably broken. The degradation of the news business is well underway. We've all heard about the sorry state of newspapers. Just this past week, the Washington Times began to brace for a new round of cuts, and the Washington Blade - DC's voice in the gay community - shut its doors after 40 years in business.

And then there's broadcast news. Many - if not most - local TV news operations have made significant cutbacks in recent years. Some stations have discontinued weekend newscasts altogether. More radio stations are dumping their news operations every day, and many of the newsrooms still operating are doing so with much fewer resources.

With less competition, those news operations that are still in business are suffering from a lack of competition, leading to a new level of mediocrity in reporting that is being accepted as an industry standard.

And this is not just happening at a local level. Network broadcast operations are making severe cuts as well, finding ways to sound and look healthy in hopes that the consumer won't take notice.

The sad thing is that most consumers WON'T notice - at least for awhile. News on the internet seems to be thriving. The problem is that most of that internet news is taken from the very same traditional media newsrooms that are in danger of collapsing.

You don't want to pay for your news? Just remember this truism, because eventually it will play out. You get what you pay for.

Ever Wonder How Some Businesses Stay In Business?

2009-11-12T16:54:00.001-05:00

NOTE: Let me say upfront that I hit a small speed bump in my quest to keep up almost daily with my blog. It's just that I've actually been working this week - and unbelievably, that has a way of interfering with my blogging! I might have to rethink this business of actually being employed! Anyway - I'm back today, and hope to be back to cranking stuff out regularly by next week. - ed.

You might recall that last week, I posted about my recent efforts to get quotes from contractors to replace my deck railing, which desperately needs replacing. I did end up receiving four quotes... Three of them in the 2,000 dollar range, and one that came in at $6,700!

I could not then, nor can I now understand why one bid was more than three times the estimate of the others, but I chose one of the other contractors, and have since scheduled the work. I thought nothing else about it, until I received this e-mail today.

John,

Just checking in with you again to see if you made any final decisions on your deck repair. Please let me know if you want us to keep your file open still.

Thanks,

B__ D_____

(Name blocked to protect the stupid)

Mr. 6,700 dollars wrote to see if I had made up my mind on a contractor. I decided to reply, and to let him know where his bid stood.

B__ - I have chosen a contractor from among four bids, but thanks for your interest. I should mention - in hopes this will help you - that your bid for the deck was more than three times the price of the other three bids.

Thanks again for the estimate.

Well, I expected to hear back from the guy - perhaps with an explanation for why his bid was so high. But I don't think he closely reaid his email... Here's his reply:

Thanks for getting back with me. Let me know if I can be of service in the future.

You know what? I don't think this guy has much of a future in home construction. Maybe he can find work as a purchasing officer at the Pentagon!

Congratulations And Thank You, Ed Walker!

2009-11-09T08:16:00.000-05:00

One of my true career Obi-Wans was honored over the weekend. DC radio legend Ed Walker, who spent decades sharing the microphone with Willard Scott as one of the "Joy Boys", was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.

Ed and Willard were about as close as you could get to being "bad boys' on the radio back in the 1960's, which is to say NOT very naughty, but still very funny. As a boy, I knew them more through Willard's exposure on television more than I ever really did from their radio program, which was on the air during the afternoon and evenings. You can see and hear the Joy Boys, and learn much more about their careers here.

I really came to appreciate Ed once I arrived at WMAL, where he hosted a Sunday morning Big Band program, "Play It Again, Ed". I was fortunate to be Eddie's producer for two years - it gave me a chance to sit and watch a master at work, and to absorb some of his humor and professionalism.

Most people familiar with Ed Walker know he has been blind since birth, but I don't think anyone realizes how little that matters to Ed. When we worked together, Ed ran his own audio board, played his own commercials, and even cued his own records. In fact, he ran a tighter ship than most people who have eyesight. It was a wonder to watch him work, and it provided me with a valuable lesson - that the biggest handicaps people face are the ones we don't allow ourselves to overcome.

Working with a blind person was also a lesson in how the rest of us take things for granted. Eddie has a vast record library in his basement, and when I used to go to his house in Bethesda to help him prepare for a show or for a DJ gig, I would often help him gather his stuff. Ed would open the door and invite me in, and inevitably, I'd have to ask him to find a light switch, because it was always pitch black in there... Eddie had no need for lights!

One of my jobs was to drive Ed to public appearances, and more than once, I would miss an exit on the Beltway because he and I would be in the middle of a conversation, and he would "forget" to remind me to exit. Maybe Ed could have used a better driver!

Otherwise, Eddie is just like any other guy. He enjoys a good drink, a good smoke, and a pretty lady. More than once, Eddie would get a hug from a woman out in public, and he would make his own judgement of her looks with his hands - not in a lecherous way, of course! But after she'd walk away, Eddie would always ask, "How'd she look?"

Even as he closes in on his eighties, Ed is still working, hosting the old-time radio show, "The Big Broadcast" on WAMU Radio in DC. I run into him every couple of years, and he's always ready with a dirty joke or a piece of industry gossip, along with a big smile and a firm-as-ever hansshake. The Radio Hall of Fame is lucky to have him!

Congrats and thank you, Ed!

Because It's Not The Thought, But The Discount That Counts!

2009-11-08T17:47:00.002-05:00

Well, the holiday shopping season is upon us, and I am once again trolling the internet looking for bargains. I understand some people still go to the mall, but for the life of me, I can't understand why. Back in the day, I suppose you really could find the best deals on merchandise in actual stores, but that certainly in no longer the case. Why pay the added marketing and payroll costs of retailers when you can buy it all online?

Even the traditional retailers are getting in on the act - They don't want to lose any more market share to the likes of Amazon, and consumers are benefitting as a result. Wal-Mart and Target are currently engaged in a pricing war for books and DVDs, and I have already made several purchases for the holidays (My poor kids have to "suffer" through both Christmas and Chanukah) - and made them all with free shipping, to boot.

If you are like me, you care enough to send the very best - as long as you don't have to pay full retail. And so, in the spirit of giving, I want to share a great tip with you. It's a website - Dealnews.com. I've been checking it a lot lately - at least once a day. What's so great about Dealnews? It's an aggregator - one that doesn't favor any particular retail operation. The name of the site says it all - It's continuously updated news about great deals that can be found online, on everything from car tires to pizza... From blouses to hard drives.

I first read about this site a couple of years ago in an article in the Wall Street Journal, and I've been checking it out ever since - especially around the holidays. I've used the site to help me buy, among other things, two computers, a monitor, dvds, books and clothing. It helped me land a one-year subscription to Vanity Fair for five bucks, and a TiVo magnet for free. (It's the small things that bring me real pleasure!)

Now, I can hear you saying, "But John, you cheap bastard - we have to buy shirts and pants in stores, lest a return is required." But there is even a solution for that in many cases. The Missus buys a lot of clothes for our sons online at places like Old Navy and The Gap. If a return is necessary, she can always go to actual physical store to return it at no charge.

See? I knew those places were still good for something!

Thank You, John Riggins.

2009-11-06T09:27:00.001-05:00

The latest chapter in the continuing soap opera that is the Washington Redskins pits Hall of Fame running back John Riggins against his former team, and specifically against owner Dan Snyder. Riggins told Showtime's "Inside the NFL" that Snyder "is a bad guy" and that his "heart is dark".

Harsh words. It's never easy to see anyone outside of Adolf Hitler to be called essentially evil - especially when you're discussing an entertainment product. Football is a pastime... a luxury. Snyder is not a political dictator. He owns a football team, and he hasn't broken any laws, as far as I can tell.

But still, as a Redskins fan, I am heartened by Riggo's words - essentially because it ensures that the frustration of Redskins fans are being heard and felt in Ashburn. It's bad enough that the Redskins stink on the field, but it's even worse that we rarely receive any sense of feedback from the team's management. Dan Snyder simply does not acknowledge the fans who buy Redskins merchandise, fill the seats at Fed Ex Field and watch his team on television. John Riggins' voice is too big to ignore, and he knows that.

And now, the drama continues. Assistant head coach Greg Blache showed up in the press room at Redskins Park yesterday and spent four minutes defending Dan Snyder and attacking Riggins for his comments. You can see the video and read a transcript of those comments here. Blache praised Dan Snyder for being a kind human being, and as someone who has done plenty of good deeds for Blache personally.

I respect Blache for speaking up, but I don't think he's helping the boss' cause. First of all, Blache is never ever going to win over Redskin Nation by attacking John Riggins. That was a losing battle from the moment Blache opened his mouth. Blache's comments also failed to address many issues that directly relate to fans - from restricting tailgating, to lawsuits against season ticket holders, to banning fans from bringing signs to games, to barring TV stations from interviewing fans on Fed Ex Field property. The Redskins have an awful relationship with their customers, and Blache's comments addressed none of that.

Not that they should have. It's not Blache's job to address the way the team does business off the field - But considering that Blache is the only person from the Redskins' management to speak out, his comments put a spotlight on the team's biggest public relations problem - a glaring lack of communications skills.

In speaking out, Blache broke his own self-imposed media blackout. He decided a month ago that he was not going to speak with the media for the rest of the season - something that senior coaches are not allowed to do under NFL policy. In fact, the Redskins had to get a waiver from the league to accomodate Blache.

When Blache did speak with the media, he did not take any questions from reporters - a move that only served to weaken his statement. If Blache's words can't stand up to the scrutiny of a few questions from the media, how valuable can they be?

I hope Riggins continues to speak out. At least to this Redskins fan, his words speak louder than the team's actions.

Thank Goodness For Inertia!

2009-11-06T08:29:00.000-05:00

If it wasn't for inertia, I'd have up and moved out of Montgomery County by now! Just a quick folo to yesterday's story about the county's broken traffic light computer system. As you'll recall, my main rant was that the county was providing free commuter bus service - a move that cost the county thousands of dollars to no apparent benefit.

Well, today, there's good news! The traffic lights are fixed! And to celebrate, guess what the county is doing? It's providing free commuter bus service again today! More money down the drain! But it's OK... This is Montgomery County, where the streets are all paved with gold!

Spare me.

Another Shining Moment For Montgomery County!

2009-11-05T07:44:00.001-05:00

It's been a frustrating couple of days for commuters in Montgomery County. The 30-year-old computer that controlled more than 750 traffic lights in the county crashed the other night, leaving the lights with no way of adjusting their timing to account for rush hours. The lights still operated, but in many cases, their timing patterns made no sense, and thousands of commuters were left sitting through series of frustrating short-cycles.

This really falls into the unfortunate category of "sh** happens". No one likes it, but really - what are you going to do, other than frown and bear it until the problem is fixed? Well, here in the peoples' republic of Montgomery County, our leaders are loathe to sit on their hands and do nothing. Better to provide some kind of "fix", even if it does nothing and costs the county a lot of money!

The county, in all its wisdom, is providing its Ride-On commuter bus service for free today. Is this really supposed to provide some sort of relief? How many cars is this going to take off the roads? Are people who normally drive going to abandon their cars in favor of riding on unfamiliar buses? Will this get them to work any faster?

The answers are no, none, no and no. Regular Ride-On riders are getting treated to freebies today, and county managers are getting the opportunity to show they are doing "something" to address the traffic issues. I don't know what an average day's revenue is on Ride-On, but it has to run in the 10's of thousands of dollars. But now, we've given up that money, all to allow some bureaucrats to demonstrate they are "on the case".

Hey, Montgomery County! Sometimes NO solution is a better solution!

Excuse me... WHAT?

2009-11-04T13:40:00.005-05:00

One of my current projects is finding a contractor to replace the railing on our deck. The current rail is 13 years old, and truth be told, it needed to be replaced probably 7 or 8 years ago. See the picture - you'll see I'm not kidding! I've been told the railing is made of untreated wood, and really should never have been used. We have a "model" home, which we've learned is both a blessing and a curse... It's a blessing because everything inside the home was decorated to the nines. It's a bad curse because everything else in the house was installed on the CHEAP! But I digress...

So I've been collecting estimates from builders, and they've generally been coming in within a couple of hundred bucks of each other - with one MAJOR exception. Builder X has sent me an estimate that is more than THREE times the cost of all of the others. THREE times! I thought perhaps that he has made a math error, but I added it up, and yes - he apparently wants to charge me nearly $7,000 for a job that others are asking $2,000 for.

I started to wonder whether he wanted to price himself out of contention - that for some reason, he didn't want the job... But then he dropped me an email to make sure I had received his bid. In fact, he was the only contractor who has followed up his initial visit.

A question... Do you think I should let the guy know that he has grossly overpriced himself, or should I let him hang? Very odd...

Moderation In All Things

2009-11-04T09:32:00.007-05:00

One of the reasons I decided to start blogging again is so I could discuss topics that I just won't opine about on Facebook.... first and foremost - POLITICS! In our polarizing society, people are just far too quick to judge others based purely on how they vote, and I just think that is stupid. To me, Facebook is for sharing common interests, not driving a wedge between friends.

With that in mind, here on the Beach, I am eager to discuss this year's elections, which saw big victories for the GOP in the Virginia and New Jersey Governor's races. I found the outcome to be fascinating on a couple of levels. First of all, the spin-doctoring is hilarious. The Huffington Post this morning was essentially leading with "Voters Don't Blame Obama", while Drudge's lead was simply "Uh O".

The fact is that voters largely don't blame the President. Obama is still drawing a 50 percent approval rating, after all. However, I think the outcome DOES tell us a few things about how Americans want their government to be run - from the middle.

Folks - this is a moderate country. For all of the ranting from the right and the left, most Americans - 70 percent of us, myself included - are really in the muddled middle. And we like it that way. If the power in Washington goes too far in one direction, America will find a way to make a course correction, and I think last night's results in Virginia and New Jersey are just a symptom of things to come. Given that Democrats are in power right now, and also given that the quality of life is not getting much better very quickly, it's inevitable that 2010 will be a very good year for the GOP. This is not to say that Republicans have better ideas than the Dems - it's just their turn to gain momentum. The same independents that put Barack Obama in office 12 months ago voted 2 -1 in favor of the Republican candidates last night.

It's time for the Democrats to come to grips with the reality that last year's election of Barack Obama was a cultural phenomenon... a media moment... the coronation of a rock star. The election drew people to the polls who have never voted before and may never vote again. They were not voting for a party - they were voting for a brilliantly marketed brand name - Barack Obama. The fact that he is a Democrat is besides the point, and any politician who thinks he can use the Obama name to win an election is a fool - just ask Jon Corzine.

Both parties need to start listening more to constituents. The left has labeled those "tea party" and "town hall" protesters as right wing whackos, but the fact is that the GOP has only been able to tap into that anger because the Republicans are not the party in power. People who take the time to go to public meetings and to march on Washington are angry, and they are tired of useless debate - they want action.

Ironically, we could see a LOT of action in Washington in the coming months, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Pressure to pass a health care reform bill has just been turned up several notches, because the Democrats have to prove they can get something done. If health care fails to pass, then we might see a whole flurry of bills from the Democrats flying through Congress.

It'll be a fire sale to end all fire sales - getting those "pet" bills turned to law before the other party takes back Congress a year from now.

And the big wheel keeps on turning...

Back From The Wilderness...

2009-11-04T09:03:00.004-05:00

I have, for some time, been trying to conjure up exactly what I would say when I returned to my blog. I have not posted in about five months, so you would think that I have plenty to say - and I do. It's just that to say it all here and now would be pointless, dated and, no doubt, more than a little self-centered (As if blogging one's thoughts wasn't already self-centered enough!).

I won't bother picking through my navel lint to search for a cause for my long break, either. If I did that, I'd likely never blog again... Therefore, I shall offer a quick recap of life, and then hopefully resume where we left off back in the summertime!

I had a very busy summer, working nearly full time at my various freelance gigs - in fact, for a while there, it almost felt like the good old days when we were truly a two working-parent household. It felt - gasp - normal! The family also enjoyed a 10-day vacation in California and Las Vegas, thanks to my favorite hobby of creative frequent-flyer mile collecting!

Of course, with the economy being what it is, it was fairly inevitable that life would raise its ugly head and kick me in the arse. Early last month, ABC News Radio essentially scrapped its DC bureau, and laid off eight full-time employees. I am still technically an ABC freelancer, but since all the people I used to fill in for no longer have jobs, it's kind of hard to say when or if I'll be getting any more work there. It's a real bummer, too, because I had a lot of work lined up at ABC between now and year's end that is now gone.

But life goes on... I still have my other gigs. I'll be on the air at XM next week, hosting "The Press Pool" on the POTUS channel - Sirius 110, XM 130 - and I have some other stuff lined up at both XM and WMAL next month. I also auditioned yesterday for another freelance gig that could keep me quite busy if I get it... More on THAT later (hopefully)!

Oh - and before I go on - a shout out to my friends on Facebook - you've certainly seen plenty of me these past months, and our daily visits will certainly continue. I think you will find this blog to be somewhat more sober than my flights of fancy on Facebook. I don't "do" unhappy topics over there - except the Redskins, of course!

And now... The Rest of the Story!

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Camp!

2009-07-13T09:43:00.003-04:00

Young family Ham Spencer Matthews strikes again... He is performing as Erronious in "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum" at Camp Airy... (He's the one in the light blue toga with the dark blue sash...) Mom and Dad are SO proud!

Thank God For Global Warming And Other Random Musings

2009-07-04T08:47:00.007-04:00

It's been a week or so since my last entry - a long, long time (for me) between postings! So hopefully, I can kick start this puppy by spewing out some random musings that have been knocking around in my head!

I must plead guilty to a little sloth in recent days, as the boys have been away at camp, and the missus has been home with school out for the summer. What has really been occupying my time, aside from work, has been Fifty Hand Deuces Wild Video Poker.

That's right - Fifty hands at once! It's a nifty little game that I've been playing in casinos for several years now. But for some stupid reason, I've never taken the time to learn how to properly play the game. If you take the time to learn the strategy, and practice, practice, practice, you can actually have a decent chance of breaking even. And considering that the missus and I are heading to Atlantic City in a few days, I figured this would be the opportune time to bone up on the game. I've been spending hours at the computer, learning to hold on possible flushes while rejecting two-pair combos. It's not hard to learn... It's just hard to remember everything - so I've prepared a cheat sheet!

Of course, I have no reason to be inside at the computer - not with the weather being as gorgeous as it has been recently. I cannot remember a cooler start to summer. It's the 4th of July, and I am sitting in front of an open window. The high yesterday was 76 degrees, and it's not supposed to get above 85 in the foreseeable future. Didn't anyone tell the weather Gods this is DC in the summertime? Even without blasting heat, we're supposed to have insufferable humidity - but it's like early spring out there! I've even seen pictures of my kids up at camp wearing sweatshirts! If this is global warming, I say BRING IT ON!

While we say hello to this wonderful weather, we say goodbye to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. I was an early admirer of Palin when the nation met her just before the GOP Convention last year. I thought she was plain-spoken and easy to look at... a diamond in the rough, to be sure, but someone who could excel on the national political stage with the right amount of seasoning.

I wish Palin had gone back to Alaska after the election last fall, and worked as hard as she could to focus on her job., and then perhaps run for the Senate, so she could start to earn the bonafides she would need for the future. But I think she fell in love a bit too much with the national stage, and I believe the conservative wing of the GOP saw her as a beacon among the ruins of the Republican Party far too much to allow her to be absorbed back into the wood work.

Palin continued to be overexposed at a time when she should have been giving the spotlight a break. Then, the Letterman saga came - that wasn't her fault, at first... but she way overplayed her role as a victim, and turned what should have been a positive into a negative.

Now, she is resigning. If she is doing this to make a run for President in 2012, she is going to regret it. Whoever runs against Obama is going to get creamed, and Palin doesn't need to do this to raise her public profile. However, friends of Palin say they think she is getting out of politics - that she's simply had enough. If that is indeed the case, then I will truly admire Sarah Palin once again. Most politicians cannot kick the addiction of power and adulation. I hope Sarah Palin can.

Onto less weighty issues... One of our favorite summer pastimes has been living vicariously through our children, who are away at Camp Airy. I don't know whether parents have become more protective, or whether camps see this as an effective marketing tool (probably both), but it's become commonplace for camps to post photos of campers on a daily basis on their websites, so parents can go on-line and see how their kids are enjoying camp. Robin and I both on onto Airy's site every day to look for our boys. Here's Spencer (in front) with his fellow cast from "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum"...

And here is Brad in his most common camp habitat - the Arts and Crafts pavilion. He's the one in the right corner - his good bud Evan is sitting across from him:

The boys don't write very often - if we hear from them three times during the month they are away, that's a lot. But I did receive something else interesting in the mail yesterday... My new driver's license!

I was due to re-up for a new license this summer, and I had been preparing to make my once-every-five years sojourn to the MVA. But when my application arrived in the mail, it included a flier offering to let me renew my license by MAIL! All I needed was to have my optometrist fill out a form confirming I had had an eye exam in the past year, mail in the form and presto - license by mail.

I'm not sure how secure our world is that I can get a license with a picture that's five years old in the mail, but if it saves me a couple of hours at the MVA, I'll take it!

Just Call Me The Man In Black!

2009-06-29T18:43:00.007-04:00

You know by now that I have a thing for credit cards... There's nothing I like more than getting a good offer in the mail that offers me a full range of benefits. Typically, I've signed up for cards to receive free airline miles, fulfilled the minimum requirements, sucked all of the benefits out of the offer, then sent the cards to cancelled-account Hell. But today, I have truly been rewarded.

The offer arrived in a black envelope. Not a cheap flimsy cheap drug store model, but the heavyweight, expensive stationary store variety. The promotional card informed me that I have been invited and pre-selected to receive the EXCLUSIVE Visa Black Card.

But wait, there's MORE. The promotional brochure informed me:

For those who demand only the best of what life has to offer, the exclusive Visa Black Card is for you. The Black Card is not just another piece of plastic. Made with carbon, it is the ultimate buying tool.

The Black Card is not for everyone. In fact, it is limited to only 1% of U.S. residents to ensure the highest caliber of personal service is provided to every cardmember.

And there were bullet points, too!

Limited Membership

24-hour Concierge Service

Exclusive Rewards Program

Luxury Gifts

Patent Pending Carbon Card

And my favorite:

Annual Fee $495

Yes - that's right. For 500 bucks, I can pay with plastic that's not even plastic, but CARBON!

Having been wooed with the marketing, I took a harder look at the nitty gritty. The current APR on the card is 13.24 percent... Not too bad, but still nearly twice the rate of my current credit card. But while the $500 annual fee allows me a level of exclusivity, it does NOT buy me much trust. If I make one late payment, the APR jumps to 29.99 percent!

Of course, these expenses are just the price one must expect in order to belong to such an exclusive club. After all, just one percent of Americans are being sent this offer. The small print says Black Card membership is limited to one percent of the US population, based on the 2000 census. That number is 281,421,906, which means 2.8 million people are being offered this credit card. Doesn't sound so exclusive to me, somehow...

I'm quite sure I will live to regret this, but I'm afraid I will have to say no to the Black Card. As big as it is, my ego is simply not big enough for this card. If you'd like to join, let me know and I'll put in a good word for you!

An Ad To Make You Blush!

2009-06-25T20:07:00.005-04:00

Is it hot in here?

Michael Jackson Is Dead - What To Make Of That?

2009-06-25T18:56:00.004-04:00

I heard just before 6:30 this evening (literally at 6:27 pm) that Michael Jackson died today. My first reaction was to turn on ABC's World News to see how the network was covering the story. MJ was the lead of course, followed by Farrah Fawcett, who also died today of cancer. Poor Farrah will now forever be remembered for having died on the day that Michael Jackson died, and Ed McMahon will be remembered for starting this particular celebrity death trifecta.

I am still trying to come up with a "take" on Jackson's death. My sister, Jill, has already plastered Facebook with 3 or 4 quick hits expressing her sadness. It's probably a gender thing, but I cannot be sad, per se. I mean, it's obviously sad whenever anyone dies, but in a way, Michael Jackson's death almost comes as a relief to me. It's the end of a freak show.

There will be those who demand that Michael Jackson's talent be remembered with respect, transcending his personal foibles and troubles. Perhaps that will be the case someday, but it certainly isn't today for many people. Michael Jackson was a child molester, just as clearly as OJ Simpson is a murderer. It's kinda hard to look past that. He spent tens of millions of dollars to keep his victims and their families quiet, and it almost seems inevitable that stories about Jackosn's private life will come flooding out into the media any second now. It's tough to see how Jackson's legacy as a popstar will be able to rise above all of that.

Jackson's "Thriller" is the best-selling album of all time, but I have always preferred the "Jackson Five" Michael Jackson... the one who sang "I Want You Back" and "I'll Be There" and "ABC".

Child stars are too young to have tarnished legacies.

Let's Stamp Out Stamp Ignorance!

2009-06-25T08:27:00.012-04:00

Against all odds, we received our first letter from camp yesterday... just two days after dropping the boys off at Camp Airy. The letter was from our youngest son, 11-year-old Spencer, who informed us in three sentences that he had already made two new friends and was having fun. I can only imagine that his counselors made every boy in the bunk send a letter home. Last year, we did not receive a single letter from him, and I wouldn't be surprised if, despite our pleadings, that Spencer does not write again.

It's not exactly difficult for Spencer to write us something. Mrs. Matthews sends along pre-addressed envelopes - All Spencer has to do is put a stamp on it, and we also sent along an abundance of "Forever" stamps - or so I thought. I noticed on the envelope that someone had added a three-cent stamp to Spencer's letter. I thought that was kind of odd. "Forever" stamps don't NEED to have any extra postage added. So I poked around online, and went to the US Postal Service website to confirm that my stamps were indeed "Forever" stamps. The USPS website was, of course, no help. (I've had problems with the USPS site before) The Postal Service wouldn't want to set a dangerous precedent and provide competent customer service, would it?

Eventually, however, I discovered that the American Flag stamp I had been using as "Forever" stamps, are, in fact, worth 41 cents, despite the fact they have no postage amount listed on them. The current cost of mailing a letter is 44 cents. It's interesting to note that I have mailed several letters with the old stamps, and they have all been delivered without incident. I can only assume that the Postal Service let them slip because they know that customers have no way of knowing the stamps' value without a PRICE ON THEM!

Robin and I stopped by the local Post Office and bought a bunch of three-cent stamps to use with our outdated ones, and Robin also bought a sheet of "Simpsons" stamps to send to the boys, in hopes that their cartoon value will somehow prompt the boys to want to write home (She's dreaming, but I indulge her...) I also now know that the ONLY "Forever" stamps are the ones with the Liberty Bell on them.

So now you know. And so do I!

A Tacky Response To Tragedy.

2009-06-23T19:16:00.008-04:00

I just finished watching a live news conference concerning yesterday's tragic Metro train crash in Washington, hosted by D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. What an exercise in frustration!

Nearly half a dozen people spoke, from Fenty to Metro's General Manager, to the Chairman of Metro's Board of Directors and DC's Fire Chief. Between those four, there was very, very little new information released. We did learn that Metro has set aside $250,000 to help bury the dead, and we did learn the names of some of the people who died in the crash, but for the first half-hour, we mostly heard either old information - stuff we had heard in the hours after the crash - or we heard Fenty and others thanking each other for the hard work they had put in for the previous 24 hours. Essentially, these public servants were kissing each others asses for doing what they are being paid to do - their JOBS.

This is not a new complaint of mine. It's been a pet peeve of mine ever since I was a cub reporter covering deadly boring hearings on Capitol Hill... Hearings that largely consisted of Senators thanking their esteemed colleagues from South Carolina for having the courage and fortitude to hold hearings on whatever subject the hearing happened to be about.

But back to the rant at hand... The worst part of this news conference is that there WAS real news to be reported, but it came from the last speaker - Debbie Hersman, the National Transportation Safety Board member overseeing the investigation into the crash. She had real and new and compelling information, including that the striking train was operating under automatic control when the crash took place, and that the operator apparently DID try to use the emergency brake.

In the news business, this is what we call burying the lead. The NTSB board member should have gone first, not last. She had, by far, the most important information to present. However, if she had gone first, the TV stations carrying the 5:30 pm news conference in the middle of their newscasts might not have stuck around to hear Mayor Fenty and others kissing the backsides of their colleagues. So instead, the politicos kept us all waiting around so they could make their political points before mucking up the news conference with real NEWS.

So tacky and so sad.

It's Deja Vu All Over Again!

2009-06-20T08:33:00.003-04:00

The boys are leaving for camp in two days, so we've started the arduous task of schlepping in their trunks from the garage and getting them packed to go away for the next month. As Robin was going through Spencer's box filled with stationary and stamps (that largely go unused every summer!), she found a letter that she had written to him LAST summer. Gee - it sounded awfully familiar - she was packing up to leave one school and move to another, just as she is doing this summer! Here is an excerpt...

June 28, 2008

Hi, Spence!

Things here are very quiet without you and your brother. I'm still trying to pack up at school! I have too much stuff! The good news is that I am getting better at backing up the car into the driveway - the bad news is that I am quickly filling up the garage with my junk and running out of space, and I still have more to bring home!

What's really bad is that I have to move it all again in a few weeks to Greenwood! My office looks really strange - nothing on the walls, my shelves are all dismantled and for the first time in 6 years, I can see the floor and even my desk! Dad is trying not to think about how much stuff I have and how much I have spent on my classroom... Let's put it this way - I have an entire box of pens (mostly purple, of course) and another container of Sharpie markers in all shapes, sizes and colors. The crazy thing is that I'll still be going to Staples to take advantage of their Back to School sales! Right now, I'm in the middle of looking for my wrist brace, since I seem to have hurt my wrist while moving all of my stuff. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll find it before next Christmas!

Ya know... some things in life are best lived just once. Unfortunately - no one asked my opinion!

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2009-06-20T08:04:00.002-04:00

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I Need A (Pack) Rat Exterminator!

2009-06-19T08:33:00.009-04:00

For the past three days, the boys and I have been helping Mrs. Matthews pack up her classroom. She is leaving her old school and going to a new school this fall, so in effect, she has been evicted. This means that for the next two months, my garage will be home to boxes (and boxes and BOXES AND BOXES AND BOXES!) of books, games, files, curriculum binders, school supplies, paper and the other minutia of school teacher-dom.

My wife is not making this easy for the rest of us. She swears she is throwing stuff away that she doesn't need, or leaving it for her successor. In fact, she's left a lot of stuff. But the problem is, my wife is a packrat. She has major abandonment issues. In my garage, there is one large plastic tote filled with crayons. You've heard of the 64-color pack? Think of this as the 64-THOUSAND color pack! There is a large cardboard box filled with ziploc bags, and one tote filled with nothing but glue sticks. She could teach paper-gluing classes for the next five years, and we would still have leftover glue sticks.

This all creates a conundrum or two. First of all, there is the matter of our garage. It is now half-filled with her school materials, and some of those materials will now never be leaving the garage, because there is stuff she bought for Kindergarten (this past school year) that she will never use for Special Ed Preschool (this coming school year). So it will now have a permanent home here. Robin actually said to me last night "Well, I guess this means we won't be able to park in the garage". We have lived in this house for nearly five years, and we've never (ever - not once) parked in the garage! (Like I said... PACKRAT!)

Then there's the matter of moving stuff again. I have discovered that we have been moving some materials that have already been moved twice without being used. Case in point - Yesterday, I moved a box containing two gallons of Elmer's Glue. I recognized the box, because I had moved it from her PREVIOUS school last year, to our home last June, then to her old school last August, and back to our garage again yesterday. Will I dare move it to her new school again in eight weeks? How about most of the hundreds and hundreds of Scholastic books that Robin has somehow amassed over seven years of teaching. Her new students will not be literate, so am I really going to be moving a dozen cases of books that will only return home again in the (hopefully way, way, distant) future?

Robin insists she needs ALL of this stuff. I think what she really needs is an educator's yard sale.

Or, better yet - a gallon of gasoline and a match!

John Edwards - Please Go Away!

2009-06-18T07:40:00.003-04:00

It's been 10 months since the world learned that former Presidential Candidate John Edwards (D-NC) had cheated on his wife and possibly fathered a baby with another woman. During that time, Edwards has been, in addition to kissing the ground his wife walks on, doing charity work to aid the poor in places like Haiti and El Salvador, and he has studiously avoided the press, even as his wife published a book and toured the country and appeared on Oprah.

Now, Edwards has broken his silence and granted an interview to the Washington Post. You can read the complete article here. The story opens by stating that Edwards has no illusions about how America views him. Yet, in these two paragraphs, it sure sounds like Edwards is making an effort to rehabilitate his public image:

Yet as he spends his days in his family's mansion on the outskirts of Chapel Hill, N.C., Edwards can't help but fret about how Washington and the country are getting on in his absence. He worries about the concessions that may be made on health-care reform, which he was promoting more aggressively than anyone on the presidential campaign trail. He worries about who will speak out for the country's neediest at a time when most attention is focused on the suddenly imperiled middle class.

"What happens now? If you were to ask people during the campaign who's talking most about [poverty], it was me," he said in an interview a few days ago. "There's a desperate need in the world for a voice of leadership on this issue. . . . The president's got a lot to do, he's got a lot of people to be responsible for, so I'm not critical of him, but there does need to be an aggressive voice beside the president."

Well, guess what, Mr. Edwards? That voice should not be you. Why do you think you deserve a second act before the American public (third act, actually, if you count your run as a VP candidate)? I will concede - cheating on your spouse as a politician has almost become de rigueur (as well as tacky and cliche), but you also likely fathered a child with your mistress, and you cheated on a woman with stage 4 cancer.

You claim you are not on a PR campaign, yet you refuse to rule out a return to politics. Eliot Spitzer (former NY Governor and employer of call girls) is at least pragmatic enough to see the forest for the trees. He knows his life as a politician is his over. Do you really think people are going to listen to what you have to say? Are you waiting for your wife to die so the living reminder of your sins will be gone and you can make a comeback? I'm sorry to have to be a soup nazi, but no more public time for you!

I think its grand that you seem to truly feel a need to champion poverty as a cause, and I'm equally sure you can make a real difference. But please - do it someplace else - away from the cameras and the microphones. Don't write a book. Don't send an op-ed to the New York Times. Don't do any more interviews. Redeem yourself with your family, and make peace with your God. You're not going to be able to do either on the public stage.

Honesty May Be The Best Policy, BUT...

2009-06-17T07:57:00.002-04:00

When you work for several employers, as I do, and all of your paychecks come in the form of direct deposits, it's always a bit of a guessing game as to when you'll get paid, and what the exact amount of payment will be. So every week or so, I find myself going online to look at my checking account and match up the deposits to my calendar and make sure I've been paid properly.

Yesterday, I went online and saw something impressive... a deposit of nearly three thousand dollars! The thing is - I haven't done anywhere NEAR three thousand dollars worth of work for any single employer in recent times. I checked and double-checked my calendar, and then started doing some detective work, and figured out which employer has the overly generous payroll department.

I found my pay stub for this client in the company's online portal, and soon discovered the company's error. While we had agreed on a DAILY rate, the company's timesheet still required me to post the number of hours I had worked. What happened was that the company ended up paying me my daily rate PER HOUR!

So now, I'm left with this very impressive pile of extra cash in my checking account. Do I tell the company, or do I jet off to Vegas? Lest you think of me as some dishonest cad, I will let you know that I immediately emailed the employer, and even sent them a screen cap of my online paystub to explain the error of their ways. I know from having run a departmental budget for many years that as soon as the news manager noticed a sizable spending anomaly in his budget, it would take about 5 minutes to figure out what happened. I have not heard back from them yet, but I'm sure somehow that the little "gift" will soon be gone as quickly as it arrived...

But in the back of my mind, there's a little fantasy playing out that they will be so embarrassed by their shocking oversight that they will tell me to just keep the cash.

I can dream, can't I?

Faded Photographs...

2009-06-16T11:08:00.007-04:00

...covered now with lines and creases...

Those lyrics come from a song called "Traces of Love" by a group called "Classics 4" - a song that USED to play on WMAL way back in the day. And it's only fitting because WMAL's chief engineer, David Sproul, recently uncovered a folder full of photos from the radio station "back in the day", including many that have not been seen for years. He was kind enough to share them with me, and I am delighted to share a select few of them with you!

This is a picture of the WMAL News team, circa 1995. I'm the guy sitting behind the wheel of "Cruiser 630". Back in the day, I was the station's morning drive "man on the street", and I had to end each report with "John Matthews - Cruiser 630, OUT!" It was a little embarrassing, but my boss told me people would sure remember me. They sure did. (It was still embarrassing)

This is Pat Anastasi and Dorothy Jones in a picture from approximately 1983. Pat was, at the time, the Assignment Editor at WMAL, and Dorothy was the house mother of the newsroom, although I'm quite sure she had a better title than that. I think she was officially the "Editorial Director". Anyway - I chose this shot because this is what the WMAL Newsroom looked like when I started there. Note that Pat is sitting at a manual typewriter. We did have some IBM selectrics, but about half of the people in the newsroom were still breaking their fingers banging out stories on three-copy carbon paper when I started out at WMAL.

Yep - WMAL was a station with a lot of PULL back in the day. This is Morning Show producer Janice Iacona in 1985 with then-Vice President George H.W. Bush. Bush was a big WMAL listener, going back to his days at the Director of the CIA and as a Member of Congress. I also met Mr. Bush once when he visited the station for a news interview.

This past weekend, I went to a reunion of old WMAL News team members - people who were at WMAL when I arrived in 1982. It was quite nice - and a little novel - to be the youngest person there! Marge Kumaki, who was a reporter/anchor at radio 63 back in the day, says she always thought I looked like I was 15 years old. I can assure you I was MUCH older than 15 when this head shot was taken in 1995 or so...

Oy. Sometimes looking back can be painful! Look at that punim!

I Have A Weak Crotch Problem.

2009-06-15T18:32:00.003-04:00

As I write this, I can look out the window to my backyard, where a large branch from one of my Bradford Pear trees is lying neatly across my lawn. To call it a branch is somewhat of an understatement. At it's widest point, the branch has a diameter of about 7 inches, and it accounts for about a quarter of a 40 foot tree. It will cost me several hundred dollars to have a tree guy come out, cut it up, then grind it up and haul it away.

This same problem happened to me with another Bradford Pear last year, and I blogged about it then as well. The problem is apparently very common in these kinds of trees. Simply put, Bradford Pears have weak crotches. Here's how the Washington Post defines a crotch in tree-speak:

The crotch is the joint between two branches and, as the Bradford matures, the spot becomes especially susceptible to breakage -- often without warning and often to the detriment of cars parked beneath it.

Well, I don't have to worry about one of these branches falling on my car, but my house is a distinct possibility - and the problem is, these trees are all apparently just time bombs waiting to go off. Cutting them down would cost several THOUSAND dollars, and of course, we'd have top spend thousands more to replace them with something that would presumably have heartier crotches.

Mrs. Matthews takes the pragmatic approach, of course. She says "Honey, we can't cut them down, anyway. They look so beautiful when they bloom in the spring!"

Of course! Putting up with 24/7 impending disaster vs. one week of blossoms a year. Beauty tames the Beast... What was I thinking?

See? Donuts DO Clog Arteries!

2009-06-15T09:55:00.002-04:00

I love my doughnuts, but this should make anyone give pause...

Krispy Kreme fires back; suit moved to federal court

By: William C. Flook
Examiner Staff Writer
06/14/09 8:31 PM EDT

How are you going to find a jury impartial to doughnuts?

The running feud between Krispy Kreme and Fairfax County over a ruined sewer system has moved to federal court, and the doughnut maker wants a trial by jury.

It’s the latest legal meandering in a protracted dispute that’s recently garnered national attention, and chuckles.

Fairfax County last month filed a $19 million lawsuit against Krispy Kreme, alleging that years of dumping waste at the company’s Lorton plant clogged and corroded the system’s pipes.

Krispy Kreme, in a U.S. District Court filing last week answering those charges, laid the blame for the damage at the county’s feet.

The county operated the sewer system despite “faulty design and construction,” and knew that sewage would become stagnant over time, “thereby creating conditions that have caused the corrosion to the metal and the failure of the system,” Krispy Kreme alleged.

The neglect led the sewage to become anaerobic, or without oxygen, leading to a buildup of sulfuric acid, Krispy Kreme argued.

Fairfax County’s lawsuit, first reported by The Examiner, charged that the problems originated from “excessive quantities of highly corrosive wastes, doughnut grease and other pollutants” dumped since 2004 at the Furnace Road doughnut plant.

The county claimed to have at one point run a closed-circuit camera along a pipe to document the buildup of goo, only to get the camera stuck. It said Krispy Kreme ignored the $2 million repair bill.

A Fairfax County spokesman declined comment, citing a policy on pending litigation. Krispy Kreme spokesman Brian Little did not return a call for comment. In May, Little called the lawsuit “completely groundless.”

Wicked And Evil - But True!

2009-06-12T19:04:00.003-04:00

The Daily Show paid a visit to the New York Times this week, and in the course of five minutes of irony, sarcasm, silliness and satire, proved the case that newspapers are headed for the graveyard...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

End Times

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Newt Gingrich Unedited Interview

Let Your Fingers Do The Walking - On Your Keyboard.

2009-06-12T09:02:00.004-04:00

The phone rang last night...

"Hello."

"Mr. Matthews? This is Patuxent Publishing calling. We want to check to make sure you received your new Olney Yellow Pages."

"Yes, I saw it in my driveway."

"Do you plan to use it?"

"No. It's already in my recycling bin."

"So what book do you use to get phone numbers?"

"It's called the Internet."

"Thank you!" Click.

I actually lied about throwing the phone book away.... the new one, anyway. The old one IS in my recycling bin. The new book is on the top shelf of my hall closet, where it will sit untouched until this time next year, when I replace it with the 2010 edition. Mrs. Matthews won't let me throw the new phone book away. I think she thinks it's against the law or something.

So Funny, I Forgot To Laugh!

2009-06-12T07:54:00.006-04:00

I've been watching this feud between David Letterman and Sarah Palin pretty closely, and I am ready to declare a pox on both of their houses. If you are unfamiliar with the genesis of this feud, you can read about it here, or get the gist of it by watching this:

I was all ready to come to David Letterman's defense when I first heard about this. After all, jokes are whan Letterman does, and pushing the edge of propriety is part of his job. Plus, Palin's daughter, Bristol, who is now 18, was, in fact, "knocked up" even before her Mom came in to the national spotlight. Bristol Palin is fair game. However... Letterman made a joke about Palin's daughter getting knocked up at the Yankees game, and the problem is... the Palin daughter at the game was not 18-year-old Bristol, but 14-year-old Willow.

I can't defend jokes about getting innocent 14-year-old girls pregnant. Letterman should have apologized, and explained that he got the daughters mixed up. That would probably have been the end of it. But Letterman is not really going to apologize. Late night talk show hosts don't DO that. He has to save face with his audience... More significantly to Letterman, he's now in a white-hot ratings war with NBC, where viewers are still trying to decide whether they like Conan O'Brian. Letterman could have handled this with more class, but he's not going to.

At the same time, I can't paint the Palins as real victims in this, either. The feud keeps Sarah Palin in the national spotlight, which serves her political career well, and she's been able to use it to whip up a frenzy (and a few bucks, I'm sure) from the conservative right. Palin is right to defend her daughter, but you don't see her doing anything to try and quiet the controversy, either. And her husband, Todd, who accused Letterman of making a rape joke, just takes a valid complaint against Letterman and skews it way out of proportion.

There is one other news item that, sadly, is also drawing some laughs. Through a spokesperson, Chastity Bono has announced that she is, after years of consideration, going to transition and become a man. I heard my friends discuss this on the radio this morning and have a good ol' belly laugh over her decision to become "Chaz Bono". One of the hosts went so far as to say "I thought she already WAS a man".

Look - you can think transgenderism is misguided and wrong if you want - but to mock and laugh at someone's personal life decision is both cruel and disrespectful. Chastity Bono never asked to have a public persona. She was born with it, and has dealt with it her entire life. There is no way this transition was going to be allowed to take place privately, so it took enormous courage for Chaz to go forward with it at all. He is getting by with his life the best way he can.

How can you laugh at that?

It's D-Day for Digital TV...

2009-06-11T10:53:00.004-04:00

For the 15 percent of Americans who still get their television via rabbit ears, today is a momentous occasion. It's the last day ever for analog TV in America. By tomorrow night, your analog TV will be emitting a very nice shade of grey hash unless it's hooked up to a cable tv box or a digital TV converter.

The Washington Post has a very sympathetic front page article today warning that about 3 million people in the US, including 60,000 in the DC area, will be without any TV service tomorrow night, because they didn't or couldn't get the situation resolved in time. I'm sorry, but I find it very difficult to offer much sympathy.

The analog-to-digital transition has got to be one of the most publicized events ever to take place in America. How many times have you been distracted in the past couple of years by having to watch conversion announcements crawl by on your screen as you've been watching a program? How many news stories have you seen about the transition? Back in February, when the nation came within 10 days of making the jump, the government stepped in and delayed the conversion - and that should have been been more than warning enough.

Here's a news flash for you... Anyone who needs to get a converter box or an antenna by now and hasn't, would not have gotten the conversion done even with daily reminders until after their screens went blank. That's just the way some people operate.

Do you know how many times I've gotten my driver's license renewed on my actual birthday? Probably 3 or 4 times over the years. They always give you a couple of months notice, but somehow, I manage to wait until the last minute AGAIN. Of course, that will change this year, when my license is up for renewal again. That's because the state of Maryland now offers license renewal by mail! As long as you don't have any outstanding items with the MVA, and as long as you've had an eye exam in the past 12 months, you can just mail it in! It's the greatest thing ever! But I digress...

I know some grandmas out there are going to be flummoxed when the analog signals cut off, and I hope they'll be able to get the help they need. Somehow, this is going to work itself out, because America is not going to stand by without its television.

But don't expect me to cry you a river when you can't get your fix. You've been warned REPEATEDLY.

Marketing Nightmare

2009-06-10T14:00:00.008-04:00

I was called in at the last minute to write and anchor newscasts at WMAL this morning (YES!), and my favorite news story of the day involved an ad for Tysons Corner Center - the largest shopping mall in the DC area. The print ad, an approximately 2 1/2 by 3 foot poster that hangs inside Metro subway cars, depicted a woman standing in front of a wall of names. This wall was black, and the letters of the names were an off-white. Here's the picture:

Well, as it so happens, some Vietnam veterans saw this ad, and took instant offense, because they thought the ad was clearly aping the wall at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. Jan Scruggs, the president of the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Fund, told the DC Examiner that the ad is an “obvious and blatant misuse of the image of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which has a serious place in America's heart and soul.There is nothing clever about this ad. It is, rather, both distasteful and disgusting.” You can read the entire Examiner article here. And here's a picture of the real wall for comparison purposes:

Was this, in fact, a deliberate parody of the Vietnam Memorial wall? The Mall says it was not. I originally expected it was, but upon further review, I can't imagine why anyone would find that to be funny or attractive, nor can I figure out why a shopping mall would want to be associated in any way with an unpopular war.

But in the end, does it really matter whether the slight was deliberate? All that mattered to Tysons Corner Center is that the story went away. Quickly. And so it did. The Mall apologized and removed the same ads that had just cost them 56,000 dollars to produce and to install in Metro stations. And the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund accepted the apology. And whadda ya wanna bet a few sheckles are heading the Memorial Fund's way, just as a final courtesy?

Men and women died for this lesson in Marketing 101. Just remember that.

There's Stubborn... And Then There's Stupid.

2009-06-09T10:07:00.004-04:00

Newspaper Guild employees at the Boston Globe have, by a narrow vote, rejected a request by the paper's owner, the New York Times, to accept a new contract that would have included an 8.3 percent wage cut, five-day unpaid furloughs and cuts in health care benefits, 401(k) contributions and pensions. It also would have eliminated lifetime job guarantees for 190 Guild workers, which were negotiated in 1994.

Now that the request has been rejected, the Globe says it will impose an across-the-board pay cut of 23 percent for all Guild workers, a move that the union promises to sue over. The Globe says the 23 percent cut will achieve the 10 million dollar cut it needs to keep the paper from folding altogether.

I hate to take the side of management, but what are these union workers thinking? The Boston Globe lost 85 million dollars last year, and the New York Times, by itself, lost 75 million. Newspapers are not charities. Shareholders are not going to suffer losses just to keep newspaper reporters and editors employed. I agree that pay cuts and furloughs suck, but what is the alternative?

As I have written several times here, newspapers are dying. The cancer is terminal... it's just a matter of how long the patient can linger. By refusing to play along with management, the Newspaper Guild may have just unwittingly committed euthanasia in Boston.

Those workers say they won't go down without a fight. But they are still going down.

Real Men DO Enjoy Showtunes!

2009-06-09T08:28:00.005-04:00

I made sure to TiVo the Tony awards this week, and I am sure glad I did, because this year, the producers went out of their way to cram in as many musical numbers as possible - most of them from familiar shows, too! In fact, I'm pretty sure they spent more time doing music than they did presenting awards - which were, blessedly, almost an afterthought.

For some reason, it is considered unmanly in some circles to enjoy show tunes - a stereotype that is both untrue and somewhat offensive. Now, it IS true that a large segment of the Male Broadway community is gay - but there is also nothing wrong with that - and in many many ways, Broadway embraces its gayness in a way that I find kind of endearing... but I digress...

In any case, I really enjoyed the Tonys this year, despite numerous audio troubles that were really distracting. It was really tragic that they had to have a stage manager run in a handheld microphone for the singer in "Sit Down, You're Rocking The Boat" from "Guys and Dolls". I love that number, but it was really distracting to watch the poor guy trying to perform for a national TV audience in that way.

Just as I found it fun and comforting to see familiar bits from "Guys and Dolls" and "West Side Story" and "Hair" and "Mamma Mia", I found it equally disappointing to see numbers from new Broadway shows, which certainly don't seem like they are going to be making any revival tours anytime soon. The big winner was "Billy Elliot", a musical that's apparently about a working-class British kid who wants to learn to dance as his family struggles through some sort of union labor dispute - or something... The show won 10 Tonys, including "Best Musical", but the number they did from the show - involving a kid who danced great, but with a Tourettes-like wail, and with a wall of plexiglass behind him - did not exactly endear me to the story or its music. I guess I could do a better job of describing this mess, but if you care to watch, here's a video of the performance...

There was also a performance of the title track of the revival of "Hair". What was presented 40 years ago as revolutionary is presented today - virtually unchanged - as nostalgia. Go figure. All I could think of as I watched the performance was "Those hippies look unclean - and they all need haircuts!". That didn't make me feel nostalgic - it made me feel old!

What I really DID enjoy was watching the show's host, Neil Patrick Harris. Doogie Howser did himself proud as the host of the show. Some of his jokes fell a little flat, but Harris delivered them well, and he hosted with an enthusiasm that I found to be energizing... He was having a good time, and therefore, so was I. And Harris saved the best part of the show for last - performing a closing number that recapped-the entire evening. Watch the video below, then make sure to go and read the backstory in the New York Times!

It's Like Nerd Nirvana!

2009-06-09T08:14:00.004-04:00

I am in the midst of a (for me) very busy work stretch... 12 days of work in 15 days and counting, so I'm afraid the ol' blog has suffered a bit from neglect! I will attempt to make up for it a bit - in part by stuffing this mutha with videos!

We start with this little gem - a mishmash of LOST, Star Trek, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Back To The Future... in other words - a nerd's paradise! Enjoy!

What We All Need - A Good Producer!

2009-06-03T12:43:00.005-04:00

I've been working in radio news/talk for a long time, and I thought I had a pretty good sense of what it takes to get a show on the air and make it sound semi-decent.

But I can tell you now after working three days as a show host that I have a whole new appreciation for producers. Show producers are the people who work behind the scenes, busting their tails to make the talent sound intelligent and the rest of the program to sound slick and polished.

The show I'm hosting this week on Sirius/XM, "The Morning Briefing" on the POTUS channel, could not possibly get on the air without its excellent producer, Joanna Welch. Even as I'm working on pounding out my news copy and inserting audio into the script, reviewing guests and preparing interview questions, Joanna is working behind me to make sure the show stays afloat.

She'll see what I'm doing and suggest a piece of audio to make it better, or replace one of my ideas with a better idea. Or find nat sound for a story that I'm doing to make that story sound alive. She's also a safety net. When I don't know the exact format that's needed, or when I say something wrong, she is able to step right in and gently make a course correction. And she is constantly pushing me to make the show better - even when I'm trying to focus enough merely to keep the show on the air without bringing everything to a crashing halt!

If you listen to any talk radio programs on a regular basis, you will frequently hear show hosts referring to their producers - and occasionally, the producers' voices will even get on the air. Don't be folled into thinking those people are merely there to be stooges or sidekicks. They are every bit as important as your favorite talk hosts - the show would NOT go on without them.

I have worked with many good producers at WMAL over the years. Andrea Perry put up with Chris Core for many years - more than he deserved! Dan Loukota produced WMAL's morning show for nearly a decade, and kept it sounding young - a big challenge on WMAL. And the current morning show producer, Ann Wog, deserves every penny she gets and much more by trying to corral Grandy and Andy.

I had always been aware of their knowledge, wisdom and patience. But until I put on the "talent" hat myself, I never realized how integral producers are to making the shows go! Imagine how nice it would be to have someone like a producer in your personal life, helping you choose what to buy at the grocery store... setting up your job interviews for you... calling the plumber and whatnot. And think about how much more interesting your life would be if you had someone to put a soundtrack behind you!

Thanks, Joanna!

Sometimes You Have To Suck Before You Can Go Forward...

2009-06-01T11:10:00.005-04:00

I made my on-air debut this morning on XM Satellite Radio, filling in on the POTUS Channel (Politics Of The United States for the People Of The United States) at Sirius 110 and XM 130!

I am spending the week (and Monday of next week) filling in as the host of "The Morning Briefing", a three-hour morning drive news program that features newscasts and interviews focusing on American politics. No fluff - no Susan Boyle - no car crashes... but LOTS of Obama and Congress!

Politics is not my natural forte, and neither is long-form talking (at least on the radio), but POTUS' Program Director, Joe Mathieu, who hired me for the job, has a similar background to mine in traditional commercial radio, and he swears that after the initial panic attacks, everything gets better. So, taking Joe at his word, I started training last week to become a satellite radio political analyst/radio talk host.

Now - I want you to imagine driving a Hummer when you're used to driving a Prius. Every few minutes, as you are driving this large and unfamiliar car, you will be required to find the glove box, reach inside, and read a road map, all without stopping the Hummer. On top of that, you'll be required a couple of times each hour to pick up a passenger whom you've never met, and carry on a conversation for 7 or 8 minutes on a subject you know nothing about... all while driving this big car and consulting your road map AND not taking your eyes off the road. THAT's what hosting this show was like for me - at least in the first hour.

Working with an unfamiliar audio board in an unfamiliar studio, following an unfamiliar format, and discussing unfamiliar topics with unfamiliar guests can be a bit intimidating. I found myself speaking with an expert on North Korea, and fighting the urge to make my very first question "So where exactly IS North Korea? " I should note for the record that I was properly trained... It's just that sometimes you have to suck before you can go forward. And boy - did I suck!

I went on the air at 6 am, and everything went flawlessly - for the first 30 seconds or so. My show intro didn't play, so I continued on, introduced myself and ran down the list of stories being covered today. Then I began my newscast, and things really went to Hell. The audio clips for the newscast run on a computer screen, which by default, runs in "autoplay" mode. Which means that once I played my first cut, the audio just kept on playing. And playing. And playing. By the time my producer, Joanna, figured out what was going on and stopped the audio, my newscast was completely ruined. On top of that, I really struggled to regain my composure until I arrived at my first break, which in commercial-free radio is TOO DAMN LONG FROM NOW! Suffice it to say... Hour one of the John Matthews satellite radio tour was a "MUST MISS" extravaganza.

Thankfully, my boss, Joe decided that one air play was enough for this abomination. When it came time to repeat the first hour of my show, he took mercy on the audience and substituted another hour in its place.

After the hour one disaster, things got much better. I still made a couple of mistakes, but they were less noticable, and I became more comfortable in trying to move past them. By the end of the show, I was feeling almost competent!

But I don't want to get ahead of myself... After all - in the words of Scarlet O'Hara... Tomorrow... is another day!

Coming June, 2010... Not Soon Enough For Me!

2009-05-30T23:07:00.002-04:00

I just discovered that the first teaser trailer is out for "Toy Story 3", which is coming to theaters in June of next year.

Toy Story is, of course, the signature franchise for Pixar - the only major film studio in Hollywood history to never have a boxoffice flop... and with this weekend's opening of its 10th feature, "UP" drawing rave reviews, it's a sure bet that Pixar's winning streak will continue.

I can't wait for "Toy Story 3", simply because "Toy Story 2" was so fantastic. To my mind, along with "Godfather, Part Two", it is one of the rare sequels of all time that was even better than the original.

EW.com is asking its readers to choose their favorite Pixar films of all time, and it's interesting to note that the responses are all over the board. There truly is no consensus winner, aside from the most obvious answer that most people seem to like all of the films. Personally speaking, I do have a top 10 list (actually top 9, because I have yet to see "Up")... Your results may vary!

1. The Incredibles - not just my favorite Pixar film... one of my favorite films, PERIOD.
2 Toy Story 2
3. Monsters, Inc. - I'm watching you very closely, Wazowski!
4. Toy Story
5. Ratatouille - More adult than most, but very enjoyable.
6. Finding Nemo - Many people say this was the best one. Many people are wrong.
7. Cars
8. A Bug's Life - Not a bad film, but I bet if they could do it over, it would be much better.
9. Wall-E - The only Pixar film I've ever fallen asleep in. I might have to give it another shot someday, but really - snooze-a-rama.

Me And Susie Had So Much Fun...

2009-05-30T20:57:00.003-04:00

I would be remiss (and a little bit chicken) if I didn't post one more blog on good ol' Susan Boyle, now that "Britain's Got Talent" has ended with her losing to a rather bizarre (and in my mind, less talented) dance troupe.

Two things come into play here, I think... First of all, I think Susan peaked too soon. After becoming perhaps the hottest youtube sensation of all time with her first performance, there was simply no way she would ever have been able to match that again. It didn't help that she had a couple of obvious flubs with her second performance last week, and by repeating "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Miz in her final performance, she set herself up for the impossible task of trying to improve on what the public had already decided was perfection. A bad strategy for winning, if you ask me. Here's that final performance:

The second factor in Susan's loss (I think) is the A.D.D. world that we live in... As quickly as Susan Boyle became a star, she just as quickly became yesterday's news. From what I've read, she was never as popular in the U.K. as she is in the U.S., and it's possible there was also a bit of anti-American backlash in the British vote against her.

I still think Susan Boyle did a good job, and I'm happy she really did get to "dream her dream".

But with that - especially since she did not win - I am going to amend my original comments, and predict that Susan Boyle's 15 minutes are now going to run out quietly and peacefully. She does have a pretty voice, but pretty voices are not as rare as many people think.

Fear not, however... As long as they're making Trivial Pursuit, Susan Boyle will always have a place in history - right alongside Ken Jennings, Justin Guarini and John Carpenter.

And Susan - we'll always have youtube!

Bad Car-ma

2009-05-28T18:12:00.004-04:00

Problems that used to be just a simple annoyance can become fiscally painful when one is only working erratically. I was actually looking forward to putting a few bucks in the bank with my new freelance gig at Sirius/XM (hosting on the POTUS Channel - watch this space in the coming days), because I was getting a couple of paid days for training, followed by a full week of work. But those dreams went away today, literally in a flash and a thump.

The flash was the telltale signal triggered when I sped past an unfamiliar speed camera on New Hampshire Avenue in Takoma Park at around 3:30 this morning. If you've read this blog, you know I'm no fan of speed cameras anyway, but THIS particular camera is especially heinous - and perhaps even not quite legal.

Allow me to present my case... I will confess to speeding well above the speed limit. Frankly, I wasn't thinking about speed because I was on the road alone - this being at 3:30am - and because my mind was focused on my new job. It's the placement of the camera that bothers me.

The only place in Maryland where speed cameras are currently legal is in Montgomery County. The location of this camera is in a place where Montgomery County crosses the road for literally just 5 or 6 blocks, with Prince George's County to the north and DC to the south. The camera is located at the bottom of a hill in both directions, so that traffic going either direction will have a natural predilection to be speeding. The camera is not near a school - it's in the middle of a commercial area, so I'm not even sure it's located there legally. But that's beside the point. Any argument the county can make that this is a matter of safety is simply absurd. That speed camera in Takoma Park is a cash grab - pure and simple.

But the Karma Gods were not done with me. On my way home (after carefully poking my way through Takoma Park), I felt a tell tale knocking under my car. I pulled into the parking lot of a high school and sure enough - my right front tire was flat. It has been a couple of years since I've changed a tire. It was warm and muggy out, but thankfully, it was cloudy and it was not yet raining, so I pulled everything apart in the trunk, got out the donut tire and the jack, and 20 minutes later, I was back in business.

The tire that had gone flat had lived a full life, I cut my hand as I pulled it off the wheel on the steel belt that was poking through the rubber, and I knew darn well that the other three tires were not in any better shape, so I took the car up to the tire shop in Olney (so nice to have one in the 'hood), and walked out an hour later with four new tires, a front end alignment and an oil change!

Now that I have a new set of tires for my '97 Honda, I'm good for another 5 years or so!

But with all of my transportation woes today, most of my work for this week has suddenly become pro bono. The only bono I want to consider these days is Sonny Bono. And he's dead.

Just Kill Me Now.

2009-05-27T17:51:00.004-04:00

I was trolling around the ESPN website this afternoon when I saw this headline:

RUMORS: Vick To WAS Gains Steam

It now looks like the Washington Redskins are in the market for former Falcons quarterback and current dog fighting felon Michael Vick. Just what the Redskins need. It's not enough that they have done everything they can to destroy the confidence of their incumbent starter Jason Campbell. They tried to land Jay Cutler from the Broncos, and that didn't work. They tried to trade up in the NFL draft to get QB Mark Sanchez from USC, and that didn't work. And now, they are apparently trying to get Michael Vick - a flashy convict who hasn't played football in two years, and who wasn't all that effective when he was playing! Even if they get him, I can guarantee you is isn't going to work.

Jason LaCanfora of the Washington Post writes in his Redskins Insider blog that a Vick/Skins marriage seems unlikely, because Vick couldn't possibly join the team until sometime in training camp, and because his skills and size don't match the needs of coach Jim Zorn's offense. I 'm sure LaCanfora's correct in his assessment, but the rules of common sense do not apply in fantasy football, and that's the game Dan Snyder is really playing. It's not the NFL... It's all a big fantasy!

Can you name me one big Dan Snyder move in the decade since he bought the Redskins that really worked out the way he hoped it would? Bruce Smith? Deion Sanders? Steve Spurrier (and his star QB's Shane Matthews and Danny Wuerfful in tow)? Even Joe Gibbs? No - you can't.

Snyder has already all but ensured that 2009 will be a disappointment once again for Redskins fans. Now, it's just becoming an embarrassment. It's tough to be a Redskins fan and to try and defend them to fans of other teams. My friends who root for the Eagles and the Cowboys and the Ravens always tend to look at me with a hint of pity on their faces when the Redskins come up.

Can we just skip ahead to 2010?

Humor For The Underemployed!

2009-05-26T09:00:00.001-04:00

Co-starring the immortal Mel Brooks and the recently late Bea Arthur! If you don't find this to be funny, you are NVTS!

Am I Still A Misanthrope?

2009-05-25T08:21:00.006-04:00

Here's Susan Boyle's latest performance from "Britain's Got Talent". If I mention that her voice cracked at the opening, does that make me a misanthrope?

Susan beat eight other competitors, including a belly dancer and a Darth Vader inpersonator, to advance to next week's finale. She is the heavy favorite to win the whole thing, and if she does, she gets to perform for the queen.

Another Bump On The Road To Hell

2009-05-22T17:38:00.004-04:00

You've seen plenty of entries on this blog fretting about how newspapers and radio are dying a slow and painful death. Well, let's not leave out the third sign of the apocalypse, OK? The Washington Post reported today that Channels 4, 5 and 9 here in the DC area have formed a cooperative TV pool service, so that when mundane news conferences or ribbon-cuttings are held, just one station can bother to send a camera, with all three stations sharing the video from the event.

Won't this further homogenize the news and make all three stations look alike? Yes. With only one station in attendance, won't that discourage the gathering of sidebar stories, and won't the discovery of news stories suffer because only one reporter might be on hand to ask questions? Yes. Won't this just give the stations even more of an excuse to watch the bottom line instead of focusing on creating better TV news? Yes it will.

It is jaw dropping to consider how quickly local journalism in this country is going to hell. Even just a couple of years ago, being a major market counted for something. TV reporters had camera operators to work with. Radio stations had real news staffs. Newspapers had real beat reporters. And consumers received actual news. All of that is going, or is already gone - even in the Nation's Capital.

I am not looking to point fingers, and it's pointless to blame the economy. The news business was heading in a downward spiral long before the stock market tanked. The Internet has changed the world in far more many ways than I could begin to discuss here, but somehow, we find ourselves at a crossroads. Demand for information is at an all-time high, while the consumers making those demands are also demanding to get all of this information for free.

Push is going to HAVE to come to shove at some point, people. TV and Radio news stations are not really gathering news any more - They are regurgitating what the read in the papers. And the papers have cut their staffs so thin that they are only covering a fraction of what they used to cover.

There is no corporate financial incentive right now for station owners to crank out expensive news product when they can rely on other sources to do investigative work and enterprise reporting, then steal it for themselves. As long as the stations can throw something up on the air that resembles news, that's really all they care about.

But mark my words... The day is coming when there will be another Katrina, or God forbid - another September 11th. People are going to need more information than the crippled TV and radio and newspapers can deliver. And very suddenly, there will be an outcry that will get some newsrooms rescued from mothballs. I truly believe it will take that kind of need to pull the news business out of this decline.

The young adults who are really just now getting married, having families and getting mortgages - in other words, becoming news consumers - are the same people who grew up as teenagers getting all of their music for free on Napster. They are the same people who feel they have the God-given right to receive whatever media they want - and to get it for free.

They say the customer is always right. But they also say you get what you pay for.

Viva Las Vegas!

2009-05-22T13:08:00.004-04:00

Guess what just turned 50 this month? The world-famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign! Clark County, Nevada commissioned the sign back in May of 1959, and it has remained in place at the southern end of the Strip ever since with just a mimimum of change. Robin and I have probably passed that sign 30 times over the years, but we've never stopped to get a picture. But just this past winter, the county added a dozen parking spaces in the median, so you can be sure that when we visit with the kids this summer, we'll stop and grab a shot or two. The sign has just this week been added to the National Register of Historic Places, and there's now a plaque at the base of the sign to attest to that fact.

To read more about the Vegas sign and it's origins, click here, and to watch a video with the woman who designed it, click here!

Just seeing pictures of this sign gets my heart thumping - I can't wait to go back!

My Kind Of Advertisement!

2009-05-22T09:35:00.005-04:00

Watch this TV ad! It seems like an SNL parody, but I swear it's real! The ad has gone viral on youtube, but there's no word yet on whether it's translated to any new business yet for Red House Furniture!

Love Him Or Hate Him, It's Good For America.

2009-05-21T13:25:00.005-04:00

I refuse to take sides on this, but I applaud this debate between President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney over the appropriate level of security and caution against terrorism in the U.S. right now.

People (a lot of them, anyway) intuitively seem to want to instantly disregard what Cheney has to say, simply because he is old news - or simply because he was part of the "evil" Bush Administration. Cheney is perhaps hated even more than former President Bush is, yet he's still willing to come forward and press the case for caution. I, for one, think that act alone makes what he has to say worthy of my attention. Cheney was far from being a media whore when he was V.P.. There is certainly no reason to think he's making this noise only so he can steal the spotlight. Couldn't it be at least possible that Cheney knows what he's talking about?

President Obama has enjoyed (and largely deserved) a path of little resistance during his first four months in office, and it's good, I think to see him challenged. Cheney is clearly not alone in his reticence over the administration's policy on terrorism. Just yesterday, the Democratic Senate voted 90 - 6 to block funding for the President's bid to close the terror camp at Guantanamo Bay. There's nothing wrong with stepping back and giving full consideration to what the security needs are for the nation right now.

I'm sure I'm being idealistic, but opinions cannot hurt the national debate. They only serve to drive and expand thoughts and ideas. And what can be wrong with that?

Ya gotta love that First Amendment!

It Was Fun While It Lasted!

2009-05-20T10:02:00.003-04:00

It is becoming apparent that Congress is going to tighten its regulatory grip on the credit card industry, and force lenders to clean up the way they lend money to consumers. The new rules will make it tougher for the credit card companies to make money off of people with shaky credit, which means the lenders will have to start making more money off of people who pay on time.

People with good credit (like me) have not needed to worry about interest rates or paying annual fees in the past. My interest rate is 7 percent, but I've never paid any attention to it because my card is paid off each month. And I haven't seen an annual fee in years. On the rare occasion when I've had one imposed, I've threatened to cancel my account, and the lender has always agreed to waive the fee.

Now, that will all change. The credit card folks are going to have to start charging fees, and my interest rate will go up. But the thing that really bothers me is that this will likely be the death knell of the credit card rewards program.

I have written about this before. Credit card rewards are largely paying for my family's summer vacation this year. They have also flown me to Florida at least a half-dozen times over the years. I have most of my monthly bills - phone/internet/cable, car insurance, cell phone - being paid on my credit card so I can rack up points and pay them all with one check instead of 4 or 5 checks. I will miss the perk, and hopefully as the credit card rewards diminish, banks will start offering rewards for debit card customers instead. I'm not sure why they would, but there's always hope!

All personal greed aside, I think credit card regulation is probably a good thing for the nation. We are still in major hangover mode after a 20-year party of free spending, and a little bit of forced austerity will be good - not only for consumers, but also for the lenders themselves. I mean - I've been largely unemployed for almost a year and a half, and I continue to receive credit card offers. American Express essentially GAVE me 500 dollars to sign up for a gold card, right around the time AMEX went asking the government for stimulus money. Who am I to turn that down?

One of my favorite hobbies is figuring out ways to use my credit card/frequent flyer points to get free stuff. Just yesterday, I was trying to brainstorm a quick summer getaway for me and the Missus. I had decided not to pursue it, but if we get into "Use 'em or lose 'em" mode, then I'm definitely gonna use them!

CHARGE!

Thanks, Wayne Allwine.

2009-05-20T08:37:00.006-04:00

For some reason, this is really turning into a Disney-centric week on the Beach. I was sad to hear this morning that Wayne Allwine has died from complications related to diabetes at the age of 62. That name will not be familiar to most of you, but for the past 32 years, Wayne had been the voice of Mickey Mouse - only the third man in history to voice the role, after Jimmy McDonald and Mickey's creator, Walt Disney.

Wayne was also a sound editor and foley artist at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, as well as the voice of several other animated characters, but you can bet his obits will barely mention any of that.

I had the good fortune of meeting Wayne probably a half-dozen times, at various Disney media events. He and his wife, Russi Taylor, would stop by the WMAL broadcast table and spend a few minutes in character being interviewed by our hosts. Russi is the voice of Minnie Mouse, and she and Wayne were married after years of working together in the recording booth. It was a great love story for them both!

The Allwines were special because they were always friendly, always flexible in terms of working around our broadcast clock, and they would always remember us as well. Wayne would carry his ukelele with him and serenade us on the air as Mickey and off the air as himself. When the mic was open, though, he was always careful to be Mickey - there was no betrayal of the toon universe, and we were always strictly interviewing Mickey and Minnie Mouse!

Can you imagine having a better job - or a bigger responsibility - than being the voice of an American icon? Thanks, Wayne!

Disney In D.C. Redux

2009-05-19T09:47:00.007-04:00

I read with equal measures of interest, nostalgia and amusement this morning that the Walt Disney Company has purchased 15 acres of land at National Harbor in Prince George's County, Maryland, to be built as a hotel resort at the burgeoning convention facility.

A few years ago, that would have set my heart a-reeling with excitement. I've been a Disney geek for most of my adult life, and I've spent a fair amount of that time aspiring to work directly for the company. I was fortunate enough to be an ABC employee for 11 years under Disney's ownership, and it is truly a great company to be a part of.

Once upon a time, I came **this** close to working for Disney directly. Back in 1994, when the company was planning its "Disney's America" park in Haymarket, Virginia, I essentially turned coverage of the story into a full-time beat. I covered Disney like a blanket, and even managed to travel to Orlando to interview several company executives about the project. Aside from airing stories almost daily, I also prepared a 5-part news series called "American History: The Disney Version", which offered an in-depth look at both Disney and its opponents. The series went on to win broadcasting's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, the Alfred duPont Silver Baton.

I was living in fat city. Although I was doing my best to stay neutral on the air, I was truly conspiring to latch on with Disney behind the scenes. I had a great relationship with the Disney P.R. folks, and I truly believe they would have hired me once construction got underway. My wife and I had even driven out to look at the park site and discussed where we might live. But it turns out my dreams were swept away like so much pixie dust. The week after my series ran on the air, Disney pulled the plug on Disney's America. Appropriately enough, I was vacationing in Disney World when the news was released.

Disney chairman Michael Eisner told me later that the company was simply not willing to engage in a pissing match with the well-funded historians and environmental groups that were promising to spend the next decade suing to stop the project. I won't waste space here crying "sour grapes" over what happened. I've blogged about this before, so you can read about those thoughts here.

Flash forward to Disney's latest plans for DC. It's no secret the company has long coveted the tourist market here. Visitors to Washington tend to be better educated with higher incomes and more discretionary income than average. It's one of the main reasons Disney was attracted here in the 90's. However, I'd caution anyone about getting too excited about this latest news.

First off - Disney is not offering any timetable for when it might build a hotel at National Harbor. In fact, it seems like the company is cautioning it might be several years, and it certainly won't happen without a solid period of economic recovery. National Harbor isn't filling up it's existing capacity, so I'm sure Disney is in no hurry, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's never built at all.

Disney has already said it has no plans for anything beyond a hotel at National Harbor, and at 15 acres, there's no way the National Harbor will be anything BUT a hotel. If you're having visions of new theme parks, you can forget about it. Disney's world view is now global. It will continue to open new attractions and to renovate its existing US resorts, but in terms of new parks, Disney is thinking Shanghai, not Suitland.

If Disney does build in P.G. County, it will really amount to a new form of business for the company - making Disney a corporate travel name in direct competition for the Hyatt and Hilton customers of the world. I do not believe Disney's primary focus would be tourists in this case, because the main tourist attraction - the Mall - is a good half-hour drive away. Disney would certainly offer group tours of DC, and charge a pretty penny for them, too. But I believe this is more of a play for convention business.

Disney is also in the timeshare business, but I doubt it is looking to open a Vacation Club resort at National Harbor - at least, not at first - because the nearest current tourist attraction is a good half hour drive away. The developers of National Harbor envision it someday becoming a stand-alone destination resort - some place you'd take your family to for a week, like Ocean City or Hilton Head. National Harbor is certainly not that kind of a place right now, and my guess is the owners hope Disney will help to bring that kind of flavor to the area. But I think that growth will have to measured in decades, not years.

In any case - if and when Disney does come to DC, I'm quite sure I'll be lined up to see what they have to offer... and depending on what it is, I might even bring my resume with me!

A Lying Conundrum

2009-05-19T08:31:00.004-04:00

My 11-year-old son lied to me this morning.

Spencer came downstairs for school, wearing his school patrol belt. Only - it wasn't really HIS belt. This belt was stretched so tight around Spencer's belly that he had to suck in his gut to get it latched. Spencer didn't say anything about it, but it was so blatantly noticable that I had to say something.

"What's wrong with your patrol belt?"

"Nothing."

"Let me adjust it for you."

"No, Dad. It's OK!"

"Did you lose your belt?"

"No."

"You spent all winter wearing that belt over your heavy coat, and now you can't wear it over a T-shirt?"

At this point, Mom came downstairs and set the record straight. Spencer had indeed lost his belt last week, and the Patrol manager at school had given him a loaner. Robin knew this, because she's a teacher at Spencer's school, and she knows everything that goes on with him.

So at this point, I'm pissed. I'm pissed, of course, because he lied to me. No one wants to think that their kids are capable of deceit, but they certainly are, and I'm not going to beat myself up thinking I've been a terrible parent because this happened.

But I must admit, I'm perhaps even more pissed because his lie was a stupid one. If he had told me the truth, I wouldn't have been upset or even gotten angry. Spencer would lose his head if it wasn't attached to his neck, and he'll probably always be that way. But the fact that his Mom knew the truth, and he knew she knew the truth means he really wasted a lie on a lost cause. And that's just stupid.

Spencer is terrible at lying - perhaps because he is so gullible himself. He never did figure out the truth about the greatest lie of all - Santa Claus. I had to break the news to him just before Christmas when he was close to turning 10. I did it because I feared that he'd become a laughingstock at school, because he still so clearly believed. The fantasy aspects of the Santa Claus legend simply never occured to him.

I should mention at this point, for the sake of full disclosure, that Spencer has Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism that makes it challenging for him to interpret social cues - to read faces for proper expression, or to sense how to act appropriately in certain social situations. I don't offer this as an excuse, because we believe that Spencer has to learn to live in the real world, and the world is not going to pause to learn how to live in his private Idaho.

The fact is that Spencer is never going to be a great liar. That's probably a good thing, because honesty is the best policy. However, I do worry for my son. Someday, when he really needs to conjure up a good Whopper, I fear his efforts will fall flat. I'm not about to start giving him fibbing lessons.

But I'd be lying if I said it didn't cross my mind!

I'm Ready To K-strate K-Mart!

2009-05-17T08:55:00.006-04:00

You know how there are certain stores you just won't shop at - until you do, of course, and remind yourself all over again why you don't shop there? That pretty much sums up my relationship with K-Mart... at least the one in Silver Spring.

I had a need for some merchandise on Friday, and not wanting to venture all the way to Rockville of Gaithersburg or Germantown, I made the closer drive to Aspen Hill, home of the over-crowded yet somehow understocked K-Mart. On this day, I did manage to find several items, and made my way to the register. There was only one register open, of course, and when I got there, the cashier was waiting for someone - the manager, apparently - to get her a price on an item. This act alone took at least five minutes. We waited another five minutes while the customer paid by check - another pet peeve of mine. By this point, there were at least a dozen people in line, and I was number six.

The bored cashier popped her gum as she leisurely scanned items. While she did this, the lady in front of me started to ditch stuff from her cart onto the candy/magazine display. She was apparently worried that she didn't have enough money, because when her time finally came, and the cashier rang up the total, the woman came back and grabbed most of the stuff back that she had already dumped. It was special. By the time I got through the line, 20 minutes had passed. I was sweating profusely because it had to have been 80 degrees in there, and I swore to myself I would never go back.

Of course, that promise lasted 24 hours. Through no fault of my own, some of the stuff I bought had to be returned and exchanged. So back I went on Saturday. To be honest, the returns went surprisingly smoothly, but buying other stuff to replace what I had returned? Fugeddaboudit!

I was able to find what I wanted quickly, and I returned to the front of the store to check out. I did mention this was Saturday, right? They had four registers open, but there were easily ten customers in each line, and they all stretched back to the linens department. I went to the back of the line, and waited for about five minutes without budging. This was not encouraging, considering I had spent 20 minutes in a shorter line the day before.

I looked around and noticed the shelves of folded towels that surrounded me were filled with pants and motor oil... Twinkies and blue jeans. Stuff that had no doubt been left behind by people who had better things to be doing on their Saturdays than growing old at K-Mart. I followed their lead, put down my merchandise on top of a very nice floral sheet, and walked out of the store.

Have I mentioned that I don't shop at K-Mart?

Son Trek

2009-05-15T06:41:00.006-04:00

My sons and I enjoyed a special treat this week - taking in a Wednesday after-school matinee to see the remake of "Star Trek". As someone who has been a Trek fan since Junior High - when the TV show had been gone for several years, and the first disappointing film was still several years off - it was fun to take my own kids and give them their first meaningful exposure to the canon. And the movie was good, too!

I had never really considered what a leap Trek has taken in pop culture, but it now joins Superman, Batman and James Bond in the late-American folk story library. (I know Bond is British- sue me.) For better or worse, these characters - Kirk and Spock and McCoy, et al - have secured their places in the national conscience, and our children will now likely be passing their stories along to their children... not bad for a TV series that was cancelled due to low viewership after three seasons!

Now that Brad and Spencer have been exposed to the origins of the Trek characters, it will be interesting to see if they want to expand their interest by checking out the other movies. I'd say Spencer will definitely want to check them out - With the revival of Indiana Jones, he has now seen all four "Indy" movies, and he's fluent in "Star Wars" as well. If the 80's cheese-fest of Shatner and company can hold Spencer's interest, we'll all know for sure that good story and character development can survive the times they were created in!

One good side effect of exposing my kids to things like "Star Trek" is that it gives them a better understanding of where some of their Dad's common phrases come from. Someday soon, I expect they'll know why their Dad tells them "resistance is futile". They'll be able to figure out why I say "nuclear wessels" instead of "nuclear vessels". Or why, when we're leaving the kids at home alone, I tell Brad "you have the conn".

It's the little things in life that count. And if you don't what I was referring to just now, then you need to see more Trek, too!

Live long and prosper!

Watch My Favorite Movie (Star Trek vs. Star Wars) on CollegeHumor

A Personal Power Outage

2009-05-14T08:13:00.006-04:00

Late last night, as I was watching the season finale of LOST, about half of the lights and outlets in the house went out. I didn't think too much of it at first, because frankly, I was too immersed in watching Jack and Sayid conspiring to blow up the island with a nuclear bomb... but I digress.

When Robin came upstairs and told me the garage door wouldn't open, and the washing machine was stuck in the spin cycle, and none of the bathroom lights worked, I realized we had an issue, so I went downstairs to the circuit box and looked inside. There was, indeed, a breaker that had flipped, so I turned it back on and... nothing. Damn.

Next stop - the computer. Fortunately, it was plugged into an outlet that still worked, so I googled "circuit breaker repair" to see if this was something I could do myself. The verdict came back that yes, I COULD replace a circuit breaker - if I semi-knew what I was doing. Now, I am semi-handy with a screwdriver. I used to work in construction, and I have replaced ice makers and garbage disposals, but electricity scares me. The last thing I want is for one of the kids to come home and think Dad made hamburgers for lunch, then come downstairs and see me charred and broiled on the basement floor!

After determining we needed a professional, Mrs. Matthews quickly volunteered that one of her kindergarten's students' Moms' sister-in-law's husbands was an electrician, and that we knew these people through one of our former neighbors when we lived in our last house five years ago. Maybe they'd be good!

I sincerely doubted this "six degrees of electricity" game would yield us any kind of monetary break, but I didn't have any better connections, so at 6:20 this morning, I dialed the office number that the electrician had posted on his website. A woman answered, and was largely unimpressed by the "Who's Who in Montgomery County" explanation that I offered. She was, however, able to get her brother-in-law to stop by less than an hour later.

The doorbell rang (hey, the doorbell works!) at 7:15, and within 10 minutes, the friendly electrician had diagnosed the problem. There was nothing wrong with the wiring in our house... the problem came from outside - Somewhere, the local power company, Pepco, must have blown a fuse, because only half of the electricity that should be coming into my house is actually coming in.

I was thankful for the diagnosis, but not the bill. The ten-minute service call, in which nothing was repaired, cost me ten bucks a minute. Sigh. I don't begrudge the electrician, and in fact, I'm thankful because they did a great job of getting to me quickly. But that doesn't ease the pain that I dropped a hundred bucks for something that ultimately was the power company's fault.

I called Pepco and received automated service over the phone. Some disembodied entity will be fixing the problem sometime today. And while this repair will not (I hope) cost me any additional money, I do not expect to receive any apologies or offers to cover the cost of diagnosing the problem to begin with.

I guess you really DO get what you pay for! (grumble, grumble, grumble...)

Where Turnabout Is Not Fair Play...

2009-05-12T19:34:00.007-04:00

Blogging on race is potentially one of those deadly "third rail" topics, but I feel comfortable enough about this one to post it as is, with just one note from me.

I find this kind of "us vs. them" mentality to be depressing. This is not about "empowerment". It's about self-segregation.

ATLANTA - It's been two months since 2-year-old Cori pulled the gold stud from her left earlobe, and the piercing is threatening to close as her mother, Maggie Anderson, hunts for a replacement.

It's not that the earring was all that rare—but finding the right store has become a quest of Quixotic proportions.

Maggie and John Anderson of Chicago vowed four months ago that for one year, they would try to patronize only black-owned businesses. The "Empowerment Experiment" is the reason John had to suffer for hours with a stomach ache and Maggie no longer gets that brand-name lather when she washes her hair. A grocery trip is a 14-mile odyssey.

"We kind of enjoy the sacrifice because we get to make the point ... but I am going without stuff and I am frustrated on a daily basis," Maggie Anderson said. "It's like, my people have been here 400 years and we don't even have a Walgreens to show for it."

So far, the Andersons have spent hundreds of dollars with black businesses from grocery stores to dry cleaners. But the couple still hasn't found a mortgage lender, home security system vendor or toy store. Nonetheless, they're hoping to expand the endeavor beyond their Chicago home.

Plans are under way to track spending among supporters nationwide and build a national database of quality black businesses. The first affiliate chapter has been launched in Atlanta, and the couple has established a foundation to raise funds for black businesses and an annual convention.

"We have the real power to do something, to use the money we spend every day to solve our problems," Maggie Anderson said recently at a meet-and-greet in Atlanta. "We have to believe that black businesses are just as good as everybody else's."

Now, the Andersons are following up with 4,000 people who signed up for the experiment on their Web site to gauge their commitment and set up online accounts to track their spending. Hundreds have also joined the experiment's Facebook page, Maggie Anderson said.

Gregory Price, chairman of the economics department at Morehouse College, said black visionaries like Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey made similar calls to action.

"The idea is a sound one, given that black Americans are still underrepresented in the ranks of the self-employed and that entrepreneurship is a key component to wealth," Price said.

There are one million black businesses in the United States accounting for more than $100 billion in annual sales, according to the National Black Chamber of Commerce. The latest U.S. Census numbers report that blacks have more than $800 billion in expendable income each year.

The Andersons track their spending on their Web site and estimate about 55 percent of their monthly spending is with black businesses for things like day care, groceries, car maintenance and home improvements.

One of the businesses highlighted by the Empowerment Experiment is Brenda Brown's Atlanta wine boutique, a shop with a growing black clientele. She said the project can help overcome the problems many black consumers lament.

"When we were a community of black folks who could not go to the white stores, our community of black stores flourished," Brown said. "When we were given the opportunity to go into the white store, it was like nothing else mattered anymore and we wanted to go to the white store, regardless of what the black store provided. We could have the same or better products if we supported (black businesses) in the same way."

Lewis Peeples, 45, lives in a black neighborhood in southwest Atlanta but didn't think to spend his money with black businesses until a friend told him about the project.

"So often, we make purchases and decisions and aren't even mindful that there is a a need to support our own businesses," said Peeples. "Now, I'm reaching out and making sure I know that I have an option when I look to make a purchase."

Two months ago, he committed to patronizing black businesses and found a black dry cleaner 10 minutes from home. Even when he was dissatisfied with his black doctor, he was able to find a new one. He suggests both to friends and refers others to the experiment's Web site, where he tracks his expenses.

Dallas Smith, who owns a commercial real estate firm in Atlanta, said mainstream retailers have undervalued black consumers. He lives in a black neighborhood in southwest Atlanta, where he tries to dine at black restaurants. He lamented the lack of quality businesses catering to black customers and said blacks should appreciate such businesses more.

"We've still got that 'the white man's water is colder' mentality," he said. "We can't take us for granted. When we go to our establishments, it's almost like we're doing a favor. That ought to be a given for us."

The Andersons remain encouraged by their momentum online and in the media. At the end of 2009, they hope to show $1 million in spending with black businesses among supporters across the country.

"The response has been so huge," Maggie Anderson said. "We think so much can come out of this. We're in movement-making mode now."

Price, the Morehouse professor, said defining the project's success won't be easy, since the real barriers to black advancement are poor access to capital and lack of training opportunities. "It would be nice to see some real, hard data," Price said. "Otherwise, it could just be an episode of ethnic cheerleading."

Give It A Rest, Wanda...

2009-05-12T09:05:00.005-04:00

I'm trying for a second time to post my thoughts about the jokes told at the White House Correspondent's Dinner over the weekend. I tried writing this for more than an hour yesterday, but stopped when I just couldn't make my my writing convey what my brain was thinking. My grouchy friend, Jen, encouraged me to give it another shot, so here I am.

For the most part, I really enjoyed President Obama's monologue. He had some wickedly funny lines - my favorite being that Rahm Emanuel was struggling with using the word "day" after the word "Mother" because he's so used to using a more vulgar suffix. Very funny stuff. The President also made light of the fact that the media continues to idolize him, and he did it in a friendly "I-get-the-joke" kind of way.

My review of Wanda Sykes is not so kind. I will not pretend to be outraged or offended by what she said, but I did find the whole routine to be a bit tiresome.

The reaction of Democrats after the November election was completely understandable. They were celebrating a determined victory after eight years of a Republican administration that they clearly could not stand. They took a commanding lead in both the House and Senate, and essentially ensured their party's dominance on the American political landscape for at least the next eight years (short of some unforseen disaster). They gleefully picked apart the bones of what was left of the GOP, and danced on the graves of their opponents. And God bless them. To the victors, go the spoils.

But here's my beef. The election was seven months ago. The Democrats won. Do we really still need this kind of partisan venom-spewing? President Obama campaigned on a promise of change in America. A lot of moderates swung his way on the hope that this kind of partisan divisiveness would, if not go away, at least be removed from the spotlight. Wanda Sykes' performance at the Correspondents Dinner just served as a reminder to me that nothing much has changed.

One of Sykes' biggest targets was Rush Limbaugh. Again - I won't speak to the appropriateness of her jokes directed at Rush. Frankly, I could care less about the content. My frustration lies in the fact that even as the Democrats try to demonize Limbaugh, they are empowering him. He's like one of those creatures in Star Trek that feed on phaser power, and only grow more powerful as they are attacked. The more attention Rush Limbaugh gets in the national media, the higher his ratings will become, and chasm that divides the nation will only continue to grow wider.

Rush Limbaugh exists to divide America. I do not hold him to blame for this. It's what he does. It's how he makes his living. It's what ALL political-opinion radio talk hosts do - from left and right. And no - it does not serve my personal idealistic higher goal of getting Americans to stop hating each other, but it does serve my even greater jones for the First Amendment.

The Democrats have created this "Rush Limbaugh is the face of the Republican party" lie. It is no more true than to say Janeane Garafalo is the voice of the Democrats. Most Dems have never heard Garafalo speak, and 90 percent of Republicans do NOT listen to Rush on a regular basis - or want him running the country, for that matter.

President Obama is enjoying incredibly impressive popularity ratings in the polls these days, and with Congress behind him, he is possibly the most powerful President we've seen since FDR. He has it within his power to quell the kind of divisive humor that Wanda Sykes spewed out this past weekend. All he would have to do is tactfully drop a mention that he would like to see some of the venom to die down - and I think it would to a great extent. If Mr. Obama is going to meaningfully lead the nation, he would go a long way to help heal the nation first.

Democrats also need to be mindful that politics go in cycles in America. Just as surely as the Obama era replaced the Bush era, the Bush era supplanted the Clintons. What goes around come around. The GOP will live to fight another day, and as the saying goes, "an elephant never forgets". The mud you fling today will most certainly come back to soil your faces soon enough, so maybe it's best to treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.

But perhaps I'm being too idealistic. There are a lot of people keeping score out there - people who want their pound of flesh for enduring the Bush administration, and politicians who don't know how to govern or legislate without first busting a gut to knock down their political opponents first.

Still - imagine how much energy we could all save if we didn't spend the majority of our time hating on each other!

Kumbayah, y'all!

Backstage Reality

2009-05-10T10:54:00.004-04:00

I try not to discuss it TOO frequently, but I am a fan of select "reality TV" programs. I have been watching some of them, including "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" from their inceptions, and I know I'm not alone, because these two shows in particular are perennial top 20 programs.

I can't help but be defensive about being a reality TV fan because many people who DON'T watch these shows are so damn judgemental about them. I have more than one family member who rolls his or her eyes at the mere mention of these programs, as if reality TV is beneath them. I just want to say here and now that having THAT kind of reaction without having ever seen any of these programs, to me just brings reality TV's critics down to the level of reality TV - so it's all good. (You know who you are!)

For the rest of you who DO watch reality TV, and "Survivor" in particular, I wanted to bring something to your attention that may enhance your enjoyment of the program. Most of these shows have websites that offer added video clips - many of which are of dubious value. However, "Survivor" goes a step further, and shows behind the scene clips of each contestant as they are thrown off the show. These ousted contestants are taken to a nearby camp, known as "Ponderosa", where they recover and rest as they await the end of the show. You get to see how each player reacts to being ousted, and how the nastiness of being on the show quickly melts away with the promise of food and a hot shower.

You can find "Ponderosa" on the Survivor web page at CBS.com! Enjoy!

Food Nostalgia!

2009-05-09T12:13:00.005-04:00

WARNING - READING THIS POST MAY MAKE YOU HUNGRY!

I was trolling around Facebook (shocking, right?) , and happened across the "Farrell's Fan Club" - a tribute to the long-forgotten Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour chain. Boy, that took me right back to Junior High! When I was a young teenager, our family would often pile up in our 1970 Pontiac Safari station wagon and make the ride up the road to Wheaton Plaza for ice cream at Farrell's.

The parlor had a turn-of-the-century motif, and the wait staff all wore red vests and brimmed straw hats. The menu featured all manner of ice cream specialties, including the world-famous Farrell's Zoo sundae... 16 scoops of ice cream, eight toppings, whipped cream, nuts and cherries, which would be brought to the table by two waiters on a stretcher-type device and with sirens blaring.

We, of course, never ordered the Zoo sundae outselves - With all of us kids being pudgy, I think we were all way too self-conscious to do that. However, there were many a time when my friend Jeff Kitzler and I would split a "Pig's trough", which was actually a banana split made for two. Sometimes, I would order the "Hot Fudge Nutty Nutty" - a hot fudge sundae that came with two cups of fudge and two cups of salted spanish peanuts. Dee-lish!

The other great thing I remember about Farrell's is it's candy counter, which you had to pass as you walked out the door. We always made sure to take home a few black licorice ropes, which were delicious and a bargain - three feet for a quarter!

During its local heyday in the DC area, Farrell's was owned by Marriott, which eventually sold the chain. That led to Farrell's downfall, and by the mid-80's, it was gone. Now just three Farrells are still in existence - one in California and two in Hawaii. A few years ago, we hunted down a Farrell's near San Diego and stopped in for lunch. It happened to be my birthday, and they blew the siren for me. It was all great fun.

Thinking about Farrell's with its straw hats and early 20th Century motif reminded me of another childhood family haunt - Shakey's Pizza. For me, Shakey's goes all the way back to kindergarten or so. My father - back when he was still a middle-class slob like the rest of us - used to take the entire family to the Shakey's in Adelphi, just up the street from Tick Tock liquors.

Shakey's also had a retro motif, but it was a much more barebones place, with long wooden tables, and backless benches to sit on. There were sarcastic wooden signs lining the walls, and an actual oldtime player piano that played ragtime tunes on long rolls of paper, and I remember asking my parents relentlessly for money to play the piano.

We'd meet our family friends, the Chatfields, and Mom and Dad would order pitchers of beer and soda while we kids would stand on benches in front of the kitchen window and watch the chefs make the dough and the pizza. It was all quite a show!

Shakey's Pizza had a very distinctive taste - The sauce was not as sweet as others I've tasted, and the crust was very thin - almost crisp. In my youth, I thought it was superior - but I wonder if I'd think the same today. The memories of the times spent there quite likely mask the taste of the food.

In later years, as I turned into a teenager and then into young adulthood, I would frequent the Shakey's in Rockville, which was similar to the original Adelphi location. My friend Bob and I spent many an afternoon with pizza and beer commisserating over one broken teenage dream or romance or another... Later on, I was a regular at the Shakey's in Gaithersburg, which had a more modern design and was more of a buffet than a pizza joint. Alas, they all left the area years ago as well, and now there are just a couple of Shakey's east of the Mississippi.

After doing a bit of web searching, I have discovered that Shakey's is making a comeback in California, where the chain originated. In fact, there's a new location just a couple of miles away from Disneyland, which I'll be visiting this summer. You can bet we'll be stopping in for dinner there!

The End Of A Long Week...

2009-05-09T11:21:00.003-04:00

For the first time in a while (since the Inauguration, more or less), I had such a busy work week that I was able to actually able to say "TGIF" with a sense of legitimate relief. (That also explains why my blogging trailed off so badly in the past few days!)

Not only did I work three days at two different employers, but I was also crushed with a late deadline to get a separate freelance writing/producing project done. In the grand scheme of things, I have had much more hectic weeks in my career, but it was still pretty packed - and I was quite pleased to sleep in this morning.

It actually felt good to feel tired from working - and it's a feeling I wish I had on a more consistent basis. Fortunately, as Memorial Day approaches, so does vacation season. I have already added on a new freelance client, and I am hoping for a very busy summer.

Part of the reason for my fatigue was unexpected stress at WMAL. For the first time since returning there as a freelancer, I was assigned to anchor the afternoon news. I didn't think much at first about the assignment. I was News Director there for 13 years, and the newscasts they do today are essentially the same as the ones I used to keep watch over. BUT - it did not really dawn on me until I was in the middle of working my first day that I had not actually worked that shift in perhaps a decade.

I had no problem at all going back to WMAL after six months away to work in mornings, because I had been a morning regular. But afternoons turned out to be a different story. The newscasts had different intros and outros. I had to learn how to play commercials, which I did not have to do in mornings. The type of stories and the source of stories are different in the afternoon than the mornings. And most importantly, I had NO sense of rhythm working in the afternoon - There was not a routine in place. In the morning, I could tell whether I was ahead or behind totally by instinct. Working the afternoon, even though there is less actual work, I felt like I was running late the entire day. That proved to be quite stressful, and I bit off more than one innocent colleagues' head. By the time the shift was over, I was beat.

The second day in the afternoon proved to be much better, but still just a bit of an out-of-body experience. I get one more shot at PM drive on Monday.

But first, I'm going to enjoy the weekend - like regular people do!

Would You Wet Your Pants For A Million Bucks?

2009-05-05T07:48:00.002-04:00

I'm a longtime fan of the Amazing Race... My wife and I both enjoy the fantasy of jetting around the world - especially the part where we could run more than a couple of hundred yards without keeling over and dying. We especially enjoy envisioning which tasks each of us would take on. In our case, Robin would definitely get all of the "weird food" eating challenges, while I would do the bungee jumping/scary height stunts.

This week, the race presented an unusual conundrum for sisters Kisha and Jen. They faced the opportunity to make it to the final leg of the race - the final run for the one million dollar prize. The only problem - one of the sisters had to pee. And while she was in the Porta-John, another team passed the sisters and eliminated them.

I find this truly hard to believe... If I was that close to winning a million bucks - hell, even if I was just that close to making it to the end after racing tens of thousands of miles - I'd gladly let the pee flow down my leg as I ran to the finish line!

Watch the video and think about what YOU'D do! As for me - pass the Depends!

I Was (And Still Am) A Teenage Drama Nerd!

2009-05-04T08:38:00.004-04:00

No time to write my own blog entry today - I've been called in to work! - So I'll follow the leads of all the great writers and just steal material! I read this essay written by Cheryl Kravitz of Silver Spring in this morning's Washington Post - She was responding to a challenge by the Post to complete the sentence, "You know you're really a nerd when..." Here's a portion of Cheryl's response...

When I was growing up in Chicago, we lived in a blue-collar neighborhood on the South Side. It was not unusual to hear about fights at some local schools that involved things like switchblades and brass knuckles (whatever they are). This was around the time "West Side Story" hit the movie theaters, and my equally nerdy friends and I decided we were similar to the Sharks. I have no idea why, except we loved Bernardo's purple shirt and we thought Anita was cool.

Anyway, we formed a gang. We also called ourselves the Sharks and wore outfits made from our fathers' old undershirts. We drew sharks on them that looked like inebriated porpoises. One day we went to a playground with a layout similar to the one in the first scene of "West Side Story" so we could sing or dance our hearts out.

Years later, I told a colleague this story, and he shook his head in disbelief. "Are you saying you were in a gang that performed scenes from Broadway musicals?"

You can read Cheryl's entire essay here.

I can completely relate to Cheryl, because I used to, and in fact, STILL do the same kinds of silly things - especially with music. My college choir used to take over restaurants when we'd be out on tour, and sing impromptu (and often drunken) concerts on demand. I also enjoy humming or whistling the "Colonel Bogey March" in crowds, just to see if I can get others to join in!

It's the same kind of nerdiness that prompted me to create my own choir website... and also to launch "singalongs" among my friends on Facebook on a regular basis.

And I will confess that on more than one occasion, I, too have found myself stealing a dance step or two from Jerome Robbins and snapping my fingers at the sight of a barren playground.

I'm a nerd!

A Heck Of A Week For High Schools In MoCo!

2009-05-01T06:58:00.004-04:00

Take your pick... Knives, Bombs or Swine Flu! It's been a heck of a week for Montgomery County High Schools!

First, on Monday, one kid at Sherwood decided to deep-six the rest of his high school experience by bringing a knife to school and taking a slice out of another kid. The victim will recover. The suspect - I hear he's already 19 - faces expulsion, but I think that's the least of his worries. He's going to go to prison!

That incident put the rest of the school on lockdown for the rest of the day. My oldest son, Brad, didn't mind that at all, because he was stuck in web design class. He got to goof off on the internet for a couple of hours!

On Tuesday, my alma mater, Springbrook, had a much more serious scare. Two students were rounded up, suspected of setting a couple of small fires at the school... On further review, police uncovered a plot to kill the principal and maim a school counselor, and to start a fire by breaking a gas line in the school auditorium. It was the most Columbine-esque threat we've had in the area in quite some time.

Finally, late last night, the county made a decision to close Rockville High School until further notice, because one of the students there has apparently come down with the swine flu. Mind you, this student has not been in school since Monday, and no one else has become ill. But it's Friday, and I guess the county figures if they have a long weekend to see if anyone else incubates, it won't be so bad.

I personally think this whole swine flu thing is another embarrassing moment for the media, which is overreacting in the extreme, and leading the public to believe the threat is much much greater than it obviously is. At least in the United States, even the people who have gotten sick HAVEN'T gotten THAT sick!

I also blame the public. Somehow - and I'm not quite sure when or how it happened to this degree - people have become totally drawn into a pack mentality. It's almost like people don't have minds of their own any more. Laugh if you will, but the same thing that has people blindly panicking over swine flu is responsible for making Susan Boyle a youtube sensation. It's almost like people don't have the time or the will to make their own discriminating decisions.

The swine flu will pass... as did SARS... as did the bird flu... And the chances that any of you will end up with it are minuscule, so please - grow a pair!

As for the violence, I personally find that to be much scarier. Not the knife incident, per se. The act of kids bringing knives to school is hardly a new phenomenon. I certainly don't condone it either, but pragmatically speaking, teenagers have been doing stupid things for as long as there have been teenagers, so don't expect society to fix the problem any time soon.

As for the threats at Springbrook. That's pretty scary stuff, isn't it? I've had some conversations with some of my fellow alums on Facebook, and most of them say things like, "We were so innocent", or "That never could have happened when we were there". I kinda disagree. I do think kids today are affected by their surroundings. We didn't have violent video games or cable TV or gangsta' rap back in the day. We didn't have the internet or chat rooms or the exposure to the kind of poison that our children today have.

But we did have bad apples. I knew a few kids from grade school all the way through high school who were bad eggs all the way through. We also had kids with "special needs", but we didn't have that label back then. If those same bad kids of my youth had been raised today, they certainly would have been capable to the kind of violence that was plotted at Springbrook.

At least that's what I think. I personally believe we ALL go through life in a constant state of denial. It's an effective coping mechanism, because if we didn't have denial, we'd all have to face the fact that what we've built as our lives could all end without notice. Wiped out by a car wreck. A massacre. A tornado.

Hell - even swine flu.

Joe Biden Is An Idiot.

2009-04-30T09:01:00.002-04:00

There is no nice way of putting this. The man is a danger every time he opens his mouth. Biden says he would not recommend going in any enclosed spaces, such as airplanes or subways, during the swine flu crisis. You can hear his remarks about halfway through this interview with NBC's Matt Lauer.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

If Your Lawmakers Don't Care About Loyalty, Why Should You?

2009-04-29T08:53:00.004-04:00

I don't care much for party politics ... Actually, that's an understatement. I loathe party politics, and yesterday's defection of Sen. Arlen Specter (PA) from the GOP to the Democratic party is a perfect example of why.

Specter crossed the aisle after weeks of heavy lobbying by Democratic leaders, who promised him all kinds of committee appointment perks, as well as their backing in his re-election bid, in exchange for switching parties. Now with Specter in the fold, the Democrats are close to sealing up the elusive filibuster-proof majority they have been seeking. That kind of single-party power itself bad for the nation, but I'll save discussion of that for another time.

This is not the first time Specter has been a Democrat. He flipped to the GOP 46 years ago, and has spent 29 years in the Senate as a Republican. And he's been honest about why he's switching parties now. As a Republican, he was trailing his GOP primary challenger by double digits, and he figured correctly that if he stayed in the GOP, he'd lose his job in the Senate. Now, with the Democrats backing him in Pennsylvania, Specter can probably expect to be re-elected.

How would you like to be a longtime Republican in Pennsylvania? Someone who perhaps has written a check or two in the past to help Specter get re-elected, or perhaps gave some of your time for him? Do you feel like a chump now that he's abandoned your party in order to save his own ass?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. In the down and dirty world of politics, neither party has a moral high ground to retreat to. Both parties are willing to cut deals to build their bases of power, and in a battle between loyalty and power, power will win each and every time. For proof of that, just look at Joe Lieberman.

Lieberman, the Connecticut Senator who was Al Gore's running mate for President in 2000, lost the Democratic party primary for re-election in 2006, then ran and won the general election as an independent. He and the Democrats kissed and made up afterwards, because the party wanted to keep Lieberman's vote in the "D" column. Then, in 2008, Lieberman supported Republican John McCain for President, a move that outraged some Democratic leaders. But guess what? After the election, the Democrats kissed and made up with Lieberman again, and he continues to caucus as a Democrat. It's all about numbers.

It is unfortunate, but decent politicians usually have to play the party game in order to get elected and stay elected in this country (Lieberman is obviously a noted exception). They need the party base in order to shore up votes, because unfortunately, too many voters are too ignorant or too lazy to look beyond party affiliation when they go into the voting booth.

I have several friends on Facebook who posted notes after Specter made the switch yesterday, welcoming him over "from the dark side", or making similar remarks, assuming that Specter's switch is a sign that he has somehow "seen the light". These kinds of comments upset me, because they indicate that people will continue to look at the party instead of the person when they head in to the voting booth.

Pretty Dumbass, No Matter How You Cut It!

2009-04-28T07:28:00.003-04:00

You've likely heard by now that someone in the Air Force ordered Air Force One to buzz by lower Manhattan for a photo op with the Statue of Liberty. Apparently the police were told, but they neglected to tell Mayor Mike Bloomberg. And for some reason, the Air Force wanted to keep the flyby quiet, so the public was never notified. Gee - is it any wonder when folks who survived 9-11 saw a jumbo jet hurtling towards them, that they ran in panic? Check out this video -

The fact is, this was at best insensitive, and at worst, akin to shouting "FIRE" in a crowded movie house. People could have been trampled. And has anyone even considered how much it cost taxpayers to send a Boeing 747 up to New York for a photo op? The trip itself probably cost the government 50 grand.

Like I say... pretty dumbass, no matter how you cut it!

Take This Heat And Shove It!

2009-04-27T06:41:00.004-04:00

Excuse me while I whine...

I have lived in the DC area my entire life, so I really have no room to complain here, but I will anyway. After facing several mornings last week that dipped into the 30's, and a couple of days that didn't make it out of the 50's, we are now facing a third straight day of temperatures in the 90's - with a fourth on the way.

I had originially hoped to be able to open up the house and ratchet up all of the ceiling fans, but by lunchtime Saturday it became obvious that, between the rising heat and the hazy film of yellow pollen on the cars, the window option was not to be. I literally switched the thermostat from "heat" to "cool". The "off" switch, which in good years gets at least a little bit of welcome use, was of no use to me at all.

Spring is a fickle bitch in the DC area... Some years, we manage to eke out a couple of weeks of mild weather, but more often, we have these wild temperature swings, making it tough on both the electric and the gas bills. Autumn, on the other hand, remains by far my favorite season, because we tend to have more predictably mild weather. The air conditioning usually can be turned off by the third week of September, and in good years, we don't need the heat until Halloween.

Switching from cold to hot takes some getting used to... I have not slept well the past two nights, because after spending the past several months sleeping in a cold bedroom, I've had to adjust to a much warmer space. It's been a couple of nights of tossing and turning. Instead of adjusting the blinds and the shades to let the heat in, I'm keeping everything drawn and making the house darker to keep the heat out. And everything in my dresser is being moved around as the sweats make way for the shorts.

Summer's coming ... just much faster than I'd like!

R.I.P. Pontiac.

2009-04-24T19:03:00.004-04:00

This can hardly come as a surprise, but it does come as a bit of a shock. General Motors has reportedly decided to kill off its Pontiac motor division. You can read all about it here.

The death of Pontiac will take some getting used to. When I was growing up, Pontiac was the "fun" division at General Motors. Your grandparents drove Cadillacs or Oldsmobiles, your parents drove "sensible" Chevys or Buicks, and young people drove the Pontiacs. Back in the 80's, there wasn't much difference between any of GM's models - Put a different grill and wheel covers on a Chevy Camaro, and you had a Pontiac Firebird, but still - it was much cooler to have a Pontiac.

The death of Oldsmobile in 2000 did not hurt so much - but then again, the Olds were considered geezer cars. A world without Pontiacs is going to take some getting used to.

In tribute to the Pontiac, we bring you this clip of car scenes from "Smokey and the Bandit", starring the 1977 Pontiac Trans Am. Wait a minute or so for the music to kick in!

Becoming Less Needy In A Time Of Need

2009-04-24T09:53:00.004-04:00

An interesting new poll is out from the Pew Research Center that asks people what things they really NEED. Not what they enjoy, but what they NEED. Not surprisingly in these austere times, folks are finding they need less of pretty much everything. Take a look at this chart:

This poll smacks of "different strokes for different folks", doesn't it? For example, I would definitely put "TV" on my must-have list, and I think my wife would kick me out the door before she'd lose the television. Yet, my Facebook friend, Ellen, got rid of her TV years ago, and says she catches all of the shows she needs to see on her computer. She also lives in Manhattan, and has not driven a car in six years, so I guess she doesn't need one of those, either.

The thought of not having a microwave oven has never occured to me, although I suppose I could do without one if I had to. I can dry my clothes outside, and I can wash the dishes in the sink. So I guess need really IS relative, isn't it?

I find it fascinating and kind of obscene that people are only now coming to the realization that they don't really NEED so much stuff after spending the past decade gorging ourselves on as many consumer goods as we could cram into our homes. In many cases, we even built and bought larger homes just to hold all of our stuff. George Carlin certainly knew what he was talking about in that regard:

Some folks who are smarter than me believe America is now heading towards a period of relative modesty... a world where lavish living would be seen as kind of tacky.... or maybe that's just spin control to justify the fact that many of us have less money than we used to.

I can't honestly say that I've had to make a whole lot of sacrifice, even though I've been without fulltime work for more than a year. Those days of austerity may be coming, and sooner than I'd like to think. But somehow, if the Joneses next door are making do with less stuff, I think it will be easier to get by myself.

But I'm telling you right now - the air conditioning stays!

Don't Mess With An Old Lady's Bingo!

2009-04-23T08:25:00.004-04:00

When I was a single stud sharing a condo with two buddies right after college, our neighbor across the hall was an old lady who drove a big boat of a car, with a bumper sticker on the back that read "Outta My Way - I'm going to Bingo!". It's been 25 years, and I can still remember that sticker, because it feeds into every stereotype one ever has about old people and what they do for fun in the November of their years. With that in mind, I had a good laugh over this video. The participants were no doubt wearing their "Senior Discount" hats when the fight broke out!

Now THIS is Must-See TV!

2009-04-22T15:26:00.003-04:00

Even if you do not use Facebook, you will enjoy this parody of those films we were all subjected to back in elementary school. A look at proper Facebook etiquette. Enjoy!

Send Them All To Their Rooms Without Supper!

2009-04-22T08:43:00.003-04:00

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty and the DC City Council are in a pissing match over the disposition of the city's allotment of Nationals baseball tickets. I won't bother going into the details, because it will only appear to give credence to this childish little argument. To make a long story short, Mayor Fenty has the tickets, and he won't share them. You can read the Post's account of the squabble here.

Now, in response, the city council is trying to drum up support for a vote to auction off the tickets, and use the proceeds to pay for city services. I suppose it's a noble cause, but what does it say about the Washington Nationals that the city, which spent hundreds of millions of dollars to bring the team to town, is willing to get rid of ALL of its tickets to go to the games? Given the amount of political capital that has been expended to bring the team to DC, you'd think the city's lawmakers would find some value in being able to show off the new ballpark and to provide tickets for charities and whatnot.

A similar story has developed in New York, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg is also selling off his city's tickets to see the Mets and the Yankkees in their new stadiums. However, THOSE tickets will fetch much more money, and the Mets and Yankees are both well-established brands. They don't need the city's support - the Nationals CLEARLY do.

Attendance is going to to be way down this year as the recession tightens its grip and the first-year newness of the stadium starts to wear off. Plus, the team clearly stinks again. If the city's own leaders aren't going to the games - or at least sending their constituents - isn't that sending a signal that no one else should feel the need to take in a game?

Councilmember Kwame Brown, who is pushing for the auction, believes the sale can generate a half-million dollars, but he wants to make sure the city does not violate its own scalping law, which prohibits tickets from being sold for MORE than face value.

The Nats lost 102 games last season, and are headed in the same direction this year. Does Brown really think that will be an issue?

The Washington Post Is With Me On Horse Racing!

2009-04-21T19:55:00.004-04:00

There's nothing I love better than posting a rant, and then seeing the Washington Post come along and agree with me. Last week, I opined that Maryland shouldn't be breaking its neck to try and save it's dying horse racing industry. And today, the Post agreed with me:

Maryland Ponies Up

The Preakness doesn't need saving.

HORSES HOLD a mysterious sway over Maryland lawmakers. It seems that Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and legislators will go to any length, no matter how ill-advised, to protect the state's fragile thoroughbred industry. How else to explain the mad scramble at the close of this year's General Assembly session to pass emergency legislation giving the state the power to seize Pimlico Race Course, home to the Preakness Stakes? Lawmakers approved a hastily crafted bill that is pointless and possibly unhelpful.

The bankruptcy of Magna Entertainment Corp., the company that owns the racetrack, sent spasms through the state. Legislators fretted that a company or developer would swoop in, purchase Pimlico and move the race to another state or, worse, raze the track. They were whipped into a frenzy, in part, by the state's inability to stop the Baltimore Colts from moving to Indianapolis 25 years ago. Yet there have been no credible threats to Pimlico. A developer would find it difficult to secure the necessary permits to demolish the track.

That didn't stop legislators from passing a bill that gave the state authority, through the use of eminent domain, to purchase or seize Pimlico, Laurel Park racetrack, a horse training center in Bowie and the Woodlawn Vase, the trophy awarded to the Preakness winner. The bill is a dubious use of eminent domain and probably will be ignored by the federal bankruptcy court that will direct the sale of Magna's assets.

Perversely, Marylanders should hope the legislation is ineffective. Otherwise taxpayers could get saddled with a money-losing racetrack the state can't afford.

Just In The Nick Of Time!

2009-04-21T07:02:00.004-04:00

In terms of work, things have been pretty slow lately. I was so busy during the period between Election Day and the beginning of March, that I had almost convinced myself I was once again part of the working class. Aside from my two freelance jobs, I had a writing project that I was working on at home when I wasn't working in DC. With the inauguration and some good fortune found in others calling in sick, I was working pretty steadily.

Then March hit. My writing project wrapped up. My freelance gigs started to peter out. Co-workers at one of my jobs told me they were not taking time off because they wanted to save their vacation to cash in as extra money in case they lost their own jobs. Things got really quiet.

I have managed to keep myself distracted from the quiet for the most part. We had tax returns to prepare, and we took a family vacation at the beginning of April. I focused on my blog - which has always provided a good way to pretend I'm actually working. But for the first time since last summer, I suddenly had nothing on my plate. No scheduled work to look forward to.

The gloom and doom feeling that I had been fending off finally began taking hold yesterday morning, and I'm sure the weather had something to do with it. With no place to go, and nothing to plan for, there's nothing like heavy rain and clouds to make someone want to say "screw it" and go back to bed. I was officially in a funk.

And then - the doorbell rang. A surprise box from UPS! The company that had hired me for my freelance writing project was sending along a thank you gift for my efforts. After more than a year on the beach, it was truly heart-warming to have my work acknowleged again.

An hour or so later, my cell phone rang for the first time in weeks. A company I had interviewed with more than a month ago about a freelance opportunity was finally getting back to me and asking me to fill out a background check form so they could put me to work. Things were finally starting to look up!

Then this morning, I checked my email and found a request from one of my existing freelance clients, asking if I could pick up a shift later this week. It's only one shift, but it's a start!

It doesn't take much these days to make me happy. I could certainly use the money, but it's really the feeling that I am serving a purpose - filling a need for someone - that really gets me going. As long as I have something in the hopper - something to look forward to doing - than it's easier to keep the gremlins away.

Blogging Is For Narcissists!

2009-04-20T08:47:00.005-04:00

A quick shout out and thanks to a Mr. or Ms. Aquidneck, for his/her response to my blog on Susan Boyle. For those of you who haven't read through the comments, I wanted to highlight this one, and I encourage you to check them all out. I must warn you, though. The more you read my blog, the more you are feeding the narcissistic beast inside of me!

Ah, the joy of the internet, where one can post valid critical comments anonymously.

To be completely accurate, what I was attacking was the last four paragraphs of your post, and in particular, the last sentence describing Susan as "ratty".

Those four paragraphs, in my view, constitute a jaundiced, cynical, and yes, a misanthropic view of the process. You see, that's what called "theater", and it succeeded quite well. The votes are around 20 million to two, by my count, in favor of some very good "theater".

Secondly, a narcissist has, by definition, an "obsessive interest in one's own importance, abiilities, etc." I never accused you of spewing hate, only venom, and your last four paragraphs are indeed venemous.

Thirdly, while we're correcting spelling errors, naivete is spelled with an accented e at the end, not a y.

Lastly, in my 65 years on this planet, I've learned a few things:

1. Don't get into a pissing match with a skunk (of which I'm obviously in danger to succumbing).

2. Anyone who blogs, again from my perspective, falls under the definition of narcissist.

3. In this day and age, anonymity is a good thing.

4. When I hold up the mirror, what I see is a 65 year old with an MS degree in EE/CS from Stanford, a successful VP of Engineering at a few firms, and a 15 year career as an independent consultant. I like and respect the guy I see in the mirror, who has had to hold up several mirrors in his lifetime to demonstrate undesired behavior on the part of his subordinates, superiors and clients.

With that, I'll sign off on this particular site. I have far better things to do with my remaining time on this planet than hold up mirrors to misguided misanthropes...

So The Susan Boyle Phenomena Is Not A Formula?

2009-04-17T14:07:00.004-04:00

Following up on yesterday's entry about Susan Boyle - the one that sparked a lot of "fan" mail from anonymous "fans" - Take a look at the first appearance of the guy who went on to win "America's Got Talent" last summer. Look familiar?

If this hadn't taken place during the summer, and if the music had been something more popular than opera, you might have seen Neal E. Boyd become a worldwide youtube phenomenon, just as Susan Boyle has. Again - I totally respect their talents, and I truly hope both Neal E. Boyd and Susan Boyle totally capitalize on all of their fame!

Having said that, this piece -like the "Britain's Got Talent" piece for Susan Boyle - is a cleverly concocted formula. Challenging life? Check! Loving Mom? Check! A less-than-stellar look for the talent? Check! Pull a few heart strings, and let 'em rip!

These producers know what they are doing. No happy accidents!

Can You Imagine Your Father Wearing This?

2009-04-17T09:50:00.003-04:00

I was flipping through my junk mail the other day, when I ran across this ad:

While I appreciate the functionality of this particular piece of apparel, I cannot for the life of me imagine who would be caught dead wearing it! My father is 73 years old, and would not be caught dead flashing an AARP card - let alone be caught wearing a hat that read "Don't forget my SENIOR DISCOUNT!

Maybe I need to be spending more time down in South Florida. Or maybe I should buy up a bunch of these for my friends who are turning 50... You all know who you are!

The Stars At Night... Are Big And Bright!

2009-04-17T09:35:00.004-04:00

(Clap Clap Clap Clap) Deep in the Nation of Texas!

You may have read this week that Texas Governor Rick Perry has hinted that his state could choose to secede rather than succumb to a higher tax burden. Well, according to the U.S. State Department, Texas has already flown the coop! We get more from the "In The Loop" column in the Washington Post:

Breaking news! In the Loop Exclusive! Texas has once again become an independent country! The State Department, listing the countries Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has visited and the frequent-flier miles she's piled up (more than 50,000 so far), notes that she's taken trips to Europe, the Netherlands, Mexico, the Middle East, Asia and Texas.

The site provides a breakdown of "trips by country" and includes Texas along with France, Germany, Japan, China and so on. Clinton's trip to Texas on March 27 did not involve international diplomacy -- there was a speech at a Dallas women's forum and a stop in Houston to pick up an award.

Frankly - I don't care if Texas secedes or not - I just wonder if foreign countries like Texas should be eligible to take part in the NFL draft. Take THAT, you no-account Cowboys!

Susan Boyle - Inspiration Or Invention?

2009-04-16T09:05:00.006-04:00

As I write this, tens of millions of people have seen the video of Susan Boyle singing on "Britain's Got Talent", and almost as a single voice, people are plotzing over how inspirational her performance was. If you're one of the four people left in the world who have not seen the clip, then take a look before reading on:

Susan Boyle Sings on Britain's Got Talent 2009 Episode 1 @ Yahoo! Video

I think Susan Boyle is great, and I think the song she chose, "I Dreamed a Dream", from Les Miserables was a perfect choice, both for the way it fit her impressive vocal range and for the irony of its lyrics. However, the rest of the "Susan Boyle phenomena" offends me on so many levels.

This is, sadly, a great example of how television and pop culture rule the world. A veritable handful of TV producers have the power to tell us how to feel and what to think. The producers of "Britain's Got Talent" decided that Susan Boyle should be played as a sympathetic character - an ugly duckling underdog who, against all odds, shows the world she can succeed. That portrayal, a Cinderella cliche that has been around since cavemen ruled the world, plays much better than the truth.

The truth is that Susan Boyle is not such an underdog. She deserves a lot of credit for auditioning for the show simply because it takes a lot of guts for anyone to try performing before a large audience. But why is anyone surprised that someone who LOOKS like Susan Boyle could actually be a gifted singer? The world is full of people just like her - and not just in the entertainment field. People who are not attractive enough or thin enough or clever enough to have their full potential shine through to their bosses.

Susan Boyle is a reality TV confection - cleverly invented and packaged by reality TV producers who knew exactly who should be cast to make people feel better about themselves. There's nothing folks like better than an underdog.... someone who can be a champion for the "plain janes" of the world.

Susan Boyle was not a "happy accident", but part of a tried and true formula. The producers of the show (including Simon Cowell) knew exactly what they were getting when they put her on the stage, and they played it up big time. Do you really think those reaction shots of Simon and of Piers Morgan (not to mention the two goofballs off stage) were a coincidence?

So yes - I am bothered by the naivety of people who do not see that this emotional groundswell of support around the world was entirely orchestrated. It probably worked better than producers ever could have dreamed, but they certainly knew what they were doing.

I am also bothered by the fact that as much as people are cheering for the ugly duckling, it only underscores the fact that you can't be too thin or too attractive in this world. The only change that Susan Boyle may add to the equation is that it will no doubt prompt some producer to create a reality TV talent show made up entirely of fat, ugly, short and smelly people to compete for your affections.

Here are a couple of other safe predictions. Susan Boyle will now be the odds-on favorite to win "Britain's Got Talent", because she now has the world in her corner, just as God - or, actually, the show's producers - intended. She will go on to become a giant Reality TV star in Britain - expect to see her on either "Big Brother" or "Strictly Come Dancing" (the U.K.'s version of "Dancing With the Stars") in the near future. She will be paid big money to be given makeovers and to go on a diet. And she will never be quite as captivating as she was the first time we saw her.

And here's another safe bet. When "America's Got Talent" comes back next summer, you can bet there will be plenty of new underdogs to root for who are every bit as ratty-looking as Susan Boyle.

Forget That Tarnished Crown!

2009-04-15T11:39:00.003-04:00

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley has signed into law several measures designed to keep the state from losing the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes. The new laws would allow Maryland to hold onto both Pimlico Race Course and the Preakness race itself through the power of eminent domain, in the event a new owner wanted to take the race out of the state.

Thankfully, these legal moves are not, so far, costing the state any money. But if future actions force the state to take actual ownership, and tax dollars are used to save this broken-down business, then this taxpayer. for one, is going to scream!

Have you ever been to Pimlico, or even to Laurel? I've been to both - I enjoy going to the track with my friend, Mitch, about once a year. Let me tell you... Both tracks - but especially Pimlico - are dirty, depressing holes... with shuttered concession stands and betting booths that are ancient reminders of a sport that has already died a thousand deaths. When we go to the track, we sit with a few dozen others in grandstands that can seat thousands of people - and do just one day a year - on Preakness day.

Horse racing is already dead in Maryland. Not even the passage of a law allowing slot machines is going to save it. But memories and nostalgia are powerful drugs that have a particularly strong affect on politicians. Lawmakers in Annapolis see the rescue of the Preakness as one easy win that they can deliver to their constituents in a year when there are no easy wins elsewhere.

Saving the Preakness is not going to solve anything. It will not make the state more attractive to the horse racing industry. The racing business has been pulling up stakes and moving out for years to places like Delaware, which brought in slots years ago to pump more money into stables and infrastructure. Pimlico will simply become another road venue for horses and trainers who come in from out of town, run their race and then move on to Belmont.

It's not at all clear if this eminent domain move is legal, or even whether its necessary. But at a time when Maryland has more important industries to protect, we need to be prepared to let "Ol' Paint" go to the glue factory.

Back From Spring Break!

2009-04-14T08:49:00.010-04:00

The Matthews Family is just back from Spring Break, which we spent for the third year in a row in beautiful Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, at the Disney resort in Shelter Cove.

Allow me to say thank goodness for the Disney Vacation Club - After resisting temptation for many years, we finally bought a membership in Disney's time share program three years ago - mostly because Disney was selling my radio station, and I wanted to join while I could still get an employee discount.

The timing of the purchase was even more fortuitous than I had planned, because it now allows me to continue to vacation with my family, even after the elimination of my job. We had a great time in Hilton Head, and it was nice to enjoy a deluxe resort without having to worry so much about how much everything cost. It also didn't hurt that gas was about two bucks a gallon!

Just a few random thoughts about our trip...

It's incredible to me how much congestion there is on I-95. We managed to make pretty good time during our drive, but we still experienced several slowdowns caused by the sheer volume of traffic - even in the middle of nowhere! I-95 is still just two lanes in each direction for the most part all the way from Petersburg, VA through the state of South Carolina, and since most of its users are merely passing through, there's little incentive for the states to pony up the dough to expand the lanes. Perhaps a little stimulus $$$ can do the trick?

Speaking of $$$ - when I die, I want to be resurrected as a TV chef. We took a drive over to Savannah, Georgia, just so Robin could check out "Lady and Sons", the restaurant owned by Food Network star Paula Deen. Paula Deen is a chef who firmly believes that any recipe - whether it be Jello or Spaghetti and Meatballs - can be made better by adding a stick of butter. And God knows America loves its butter! The restaurant is a golden butter gold mine!

Here's the normal routine for getting into "Lady and Sons" for lunch. You need to line up outside the restaurant at around 7:30 or 8 am. Starting at 9:15 or so, a hostess comes out and starts taking reservations, and seating starts at 11 am. Lunch and dinner typically sell out every day, and the adjacent gift shop is packed with people, too.... especially when one of Paula's sons comes in to pose for pictures and to sign autographs, which one of them did while we were there.

We did not have to do any of that early-morning stuff to get in. We were able to use another method to reserve our spot. I won't go into details, but frankly - we lied to get in the door. Once we were seated, we enjoyed our lunch very much. Most people get the southern buffet - For 14 bucks, you get all of the Fried Chicken, black-eyed peas, butter beans, green beans, mashed potatoes and mac & cheese that you can eat, washed down with syrup-like southern sweet tea. It was all delicious and reasonably priced. But trust me. If you ever have the chance to wait all day to eat at Paula Deen's buffet - it's NOT worth the trouble!

We had fun just hanging out at the resort, which is really kind of like a summer camp for families. They have lots of activities... Robin made a pillow and tie-dyed a t-shirt. Spencer made a shark tooth necklace. We went to a campfire, complete with camp songs and s'mores. And we spent a glorious spring day sitting by the pool, where the kids swam, Robin crocheted, and I honed my word skills with the New York Times crosswords. We also attended a pool party, where Spencer (with some help from Dad) serenaded the crowd with a raucous karaoke of "Sweet Caroline".

On the way home, after sleep-driving from Petersburg to Fredericksburg, Virginia, I finally pulled off of I-95 for a big cup of coffee. Sleep-driving is scary stuff in a 20/20 hindsight kind of way - especially when you are doing it at around 80 miles an hour! I simply don't remember much about driving that distance... Thankfully, it was after midnight, and there were not many cars on the road. Slapping myself to stay awake could only take me so far, so when I saw an exit sign for Wawa, I surrendered to my body's cry for caffeine. I LOVE Wawa! If you've never been to one, just think of a 7-11 that's three times the size with three times the selection and cheaper prices. I wish we had them around here in the Maryland suburbs!

Now that we're home, it's back to the grind - and to the welcome rhythms of everyday life. I did not blog during vacation this year, despite the fact that I had a laptop with me. I just found, pretty quickly, that doing routine stuff, like blogging, was going to make my vacation more routine.

I'm happy to be back!

RERUN - Pedro Sez - Visit South Of The Border! (Just Don't Get Out Of The Car!)

2009-04-08T08:00:00.006-04:00

From March 30, 2008:

The distance between Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and Brookeville, Maryland is 617 miles. I know this for a fact because I drove every single blessed one of them on the family's return home from vacation. For the first third of the trip, I, like so many before me, passed the time reading billboards every couple of miles like this one...

For those of you who've never had the pleasure of driving through the Carolinas on I-95, South of the Border might be a bit difficult to describe. The massive tourist trap, which sits just South of the North Carolina/South Carolina border(get it?), includes a gas station, several restaurants, souvenir shops, fireworks stands, a motel, mini-golf course, amusement park and even a store selling pornography and sex toys.... I would describe the theme as "pre-politically correct 1950's Wetback kitsch". The mascot for South of the Border is Pedro, a Mexican equivalent of a Negro lawn jockey or Chief Wahoo, the idiotically grinning mascot of the Cleveland Indians. Pedro is a caricature - perhaps what our parents might have thought a Mexican looked or sounded like. His billboards "speak" in a thick Mexican accent, like this one -

In fact, I wonder whether"South of the Border" might be what Corey Stewart and his anti-illegal immigrant crowd in Prince William County picture as their own version of Hell!

It's probably been 25 years since I last stopped at South of the Border, and it might be that long before I stop again, but I couldn't resist passing through, and taking a look around. Sadly, "SOB" has seen better days. Even in the middle of the day, much of the place was shut down, even though it was spring break. Many of the buildings were in disrepair, and it seems many other local businesses that once leached off of the tourist mecca have turned the area into a Tijuana ghost town. Just beyond "SOB", we saw boarded-up car dealerships, shutdown sex shops, and other dingy nightspots that once presumably used the allure of South of the Border to bring in customers. Sadly, it seems time has passed Pedro by... But we'll always have his billboards!

RERUN - I'm Not Paranoid (But My Email Is Out To Get Me!)

2009-04-07T08:47:00.004-04:00

From May 15, 2008:

Literally the very first thing I did when I came home from losing my job was to sign up for Google mail. I had always relied on my former employer for e-mail services, so I needed to get set up immediately, and Gmail did the trick. I really enjoy Gmail - especially its chat functions, and the fact that I basically never have to worry about deleting anything because it has more space than I'll ever need.

Of course, because I receive this service for free, Google does place a few text-only ads in a column next to my incoming messages, but considering my entire income for the past 25 years has come from advertising, I have no problem with this. HOWEVER - there is something REALLY creepy about Gmail that I have not been able to get used to. It reads my e-mail even before I do! If I'm chatting with a friend about "Lost", I get text ads about other ABC TV programs. If I'm sending a resume out to a prospective employer, I see ads for Careerbuilder.com. Every e-mail I receive is customized to the content of the letter. It can be kinda creepy.

Of course, Google does make mistakes... I received a note last night from my friend, Loretta Cooper, and the ads offered to sell me cars - Mini-Coopers, of course. I'm wondering if I ever wrote a doctor about hemmorroids if I'd get Preparation H ads... And God forbid if I ever hear the bad news about someone dying - will I get a great deal on a casket?

God Bless Madison Avenue!

"Life On The Beach" RERUN!

2009-04-05T17:33:00.006-04:00

It's been just a hair over one year since I began this blog. I meant to officially mark the first birthday, but it slipped right by unnoticed, so I am doing it now. For those of you you've been with me for the past year, many many thanks, and I hope you'll continue to keep coming back!

For my friends who have more recently started reading my drivel, you have my sincere condolences - as well as the opportunity to read some of my earliest entries. All this week, I'll be featuring the best of "Life On The Beach", starting today with my very FIRST entry...

(It's a re-run, get it?)

March 10, 2008 - First Musings Of A Beach Bum

Well, here I am... joining the navel-gazing world of blogging. Two weeks ago, I would have told you (as I told everyone) that I spent my day writing stuff for a living - why would I spend my free time writing as well? Well - God (or Farid Suleman, take your pick) had other plans! Now, I suddenly have some time on my hands... and I'm not getting paid to write - at least not at the moment, so here we are!

I've never been unemployed before, so I had no idea what to expect...but my friend, David Burd, explained it to me like this...

Step one - At first, you'll hear from everyone you know in the radio business... the rubber-neckers who can't resist looking at the roadkill (me) as they drive on by... The roadkill appreciates all the attention, and soaks it up like a biscuit to gravy.

Step Two - After that, the tedium of updating the resume and the audition tape (how dated - of course I mean the audio file) sets in, followed by hour after hour of repeating your hard work on an online application forms, because employers really DON'T want to read your resume...

Step Three - (sounds of birds chirping)

Suffice it to say we're at step two now... and we don't want to see step three, hence the "Life On The Beach" blog.

Just a couple of personal observations before I bring this inaugural blog posting to a close...

1/ My kids like my new "arrangement", because for the first time in their lives, Dad is home to help them get ready for school in the morning. And while this is a big help to Mom, Mom is not so thrilled to see Dad home. This simply serves as a reminder to Mom that Dad should really be off someplace else...

2/ I used to get in to work in the morning and groan at seeing at least a couple of dozen new emails waiting for me. Be careful what you wish for. I pine for email now... even to the point that I've signed up for some selective junk email because it ensures I'll have something new to read every day! For those of you who might want to contribute to the cause, the address is jematthews2@gmail.com.

3/ Old habits die hard - or in some cases, don't die. I still find myself sitting with a cup of coffee at 6 am every morning, scanning the Washington Post and making mental notes on how to cover each story. I suspect some of my soapbox rants concerning these stories that used to be released to my newsroom cohorts will be released here on the beach instead. Lucky you.

4/ When I used to hire people, one of the last things I did before making an offer was to google the applicant's name and see if anything interesting came back. To be honest, more than one person was not hired because the person they portrayed themselves to be on Myspace or Facebook was NOT the person I had just interviewed. I suspect discerning employers may also use this practice... so don't expect to read any stories of debauchery or other tawdry tales here. Those will have to remain the stuff of legend and vivid imagination!

Let me hear from you - ESPECIALLY if you find me getting whiny. I can't STAND whiny...

Thanks!

It's Not Easy Being A Redskins Fan.

2009-04-03T08:25:00.005-04:00

Do you ever feel like you're being held hostage as a fan of your favorite sports team? I have been following the Washington Redskins since I was 10 years old, and I am not about to stop being a fan, either. But it's difficult sometimes when you know that the guy who owns the team is an idiot.

Dan Snyder is not only an idiot... He's the worst kind of idiot. He's the kind of idiot who thinks money can solve any problem, and despite the fact that he's spent the past decade being proven wrong, Snyder keeps coming back with more bad ideas.

The latest, of course, was his determination to land the newest, biggest name out there - Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler. Never mind the fact that Snyder's own coach has gone on record to say that Jason Campbell is his guy. Never mind the fact that Campbell's statistics were nearly identical to Cutler's last year, despite the fact that Campbell had to suffer nearly three times as many sacks. And never mind the fact that Cutler has proven himself to be a whiny player and bad teammate.

Dan Snyder has never ever been able to resist finding a new doodad or geegaw that was going to be the next, greatest, final piece of the puzzle that was going to lead the Redskins to the Super Bowl.

When is Snyder going to realize he doesn't have all of the answers? When is he going to learn to be patient enough to let the professionals run his team for him, and to let nature take its course.

By pursuing Jay Cutler, Snyder has now shown his hand. He does not believe in Jason Campbell. He does not believe in his coach, Jim Zorn. Both are now on the short leash and both will likely play out the next season waiting to be fired. That does not bode well for the Redskins' chances of succeeding in 2009, does it?

When Snyder was a young owner, he looked up to Jerry Jones as a mentor. The Cowboys owner had a real flair for marketing his team and keeping his profits out of the NFL's hands... and he was also a proven winner. The great combo of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin gave the Cowpokes a pocketful of rings, and for a few years there, Jones made winning look easy. He didn't need a General Manager, and coaches were totally over-rated.

Then Jones lost his Hall of Fame players to retirement, and Barry Switzer turned out to be a bomb as a coach. And the Cowpokes have suddenly been without a playoff win in more than a decade. Hmm... Maybe Jerry Jones doesn't walk on water after all.

Well, neither does Dan Snyder. And who's paying the price for Snyder's ego, both literally and figuratively? Redskin fans.

I am not the most knowledgable of football fans. I'm not in any fantasy leagues. But memo to Dan Snyder - neither are you. This is the NFL - the big boy league.

And your diaper is FULL.

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

2009-04-01T08:44:00.006-04:00

Just let it be known going forward that for all of the change the Obama Administration has promised to bring to Washington, some things NEVER change - like the down-and-dirty business of politics. This has already been proven several times in the 70-odd days since the President took office, from his nomination of tax-challenged candidates for cabinet positions to his about-face on his own ban against hiring employees who had recently lobbied on Capitol Hill.

The latest case of politi-creep is the lead story in today's Washington Post. It seems that some lawyers in President Obama's own Justice Department opined that the bill to give DC a vote in Congress is -ahem - unconstitutional. But rather than pass that report on to the President, Attorney General Eric Holder - like the President, a longtime supporter of voting rights for DC - ignored the advice and went looking for some other lawyers to give him the opinion he was looking for. Holder apparently got what he wanted - a pro-DC vote opinion that can be argued to the Supreme Court.

The Post story notes this is not necessarily an opinion that the Obama administration believes can be argued successfully, but the President would still be able to enjoy the political victory of having the bill pass through Congress - before it gets shot down by the Supremes.

Look - regardless of whether you believe DC should have a vote in Congress - you have to see what's going on here. For better or worse, the Obama administration is quickly forfeiting any moral or ethical high ground it may have claimed over the previous White House.

I'm not saying President Obama is directly to blame for this, or that this is some sort of scandalous behavior. To the contrary - it's business as usual in Washington.

But it's NOT "Change You Can Believe In".

Auto Industry Angst

2009-03-31T09:09:00.006-04:00

There's more than enough worry to go around these days in Detroit and other parts of the nation where the U.S. auto industry plays a big role in the economy. They are worried about their livelihoods, and who can blame them? Unfortunately, there's little the government can do, short of further bankrupting the nation's economy, to keep the industry going.

If GM and Chrysler folded tomorrow, I'm not at all sure it would ever have a profound impact on my life. I do not own any of their cars, and the U.S. auto industry has no sizable stake in the local economy. Yes, there are many local car dealerships that sell American cars, and some of them would no doubt close, but some would start seling Toyotas or Nissans or Mazdas, and they'd get by. If there were no American cars, that wouldn't stop anyone from driving or needing to buy new cars.

I have owned plenty of American cars in my life - My very first was a Ford Maverick. I then owned four different Chevys before I got married into a "Chrysler family", so I've owned a few of them as well. You never know what the future will hold, but as of now, I could never imagine owning a "Big Three" car again.

All of the cliches you've ever heard about American cars held true for me. Every one of them became financial black holes after three or four years of driving - Planned obsolescence designed to get me to return to the showroom to buy yet another car. That all ended for me in 1997, when I traded in my wife's Plymouth Sundance for my beloved Honda Civic, which is still running 12 years later, and which will stay in the family until it falls apart (i.e. - not any time soon).

We did buy a Chrysler Town and Country minivan in 2001, and I will say this: When it comes to comfort and roominess, Chrysler owns the market on minivans. It was a great ride... for about four years. The last two years were a never-ending parade of increasingly expensive trips to the repair shop. Two years ago, my wife started looking at new minivans, and tentatively settled on the Toyota Sienna. When she sought the advice of the mechanics who had been servicing our Chrysler, they told her (jokingly) to buy American - because they needed the business! We bought the Toyota and have had no problems at all.

I guess what I'm saying here is that the Big Three automakers have, for now and for years to come, lost me as a potential customer, because every consumer group out there will tell you that there are better, less-expensive cars out there being built by foreign-owned companies. And, at least for Japanese cars, most of them are built in America, to boot.

And I'm not alone. Go ahead and google "Best selling cars in U.S.". You'll find many lists, but invariably, you'll find that 6 or 7 of the top 10 will be Japanese, and that the only U.S. models on the lists will be pickup trucks.

The government can throw all the money it wants to at GM and Chrysler, but the fact remains that they won't survive if they don't start building better cars. And it's hard to imagine either company lasting long enough to rebuild their reputations, because that will surely take YEARS to accomplish.

We can't keep the US auto industry alive simply because the US has a long history of building cars. That's not a good enough reason. If it was, I'd still have a job, because, along that line of reasoning, people would still be listening to AM radio, too.

Nope. We need Detroit to give us better cars. If Ford can do that as the only U.S. automaker, then it won't be the only U.S. automaker for long. Somebody else will jump in to challenge Ford, and the competition will create better, more affordable vehicles.

THAT's the American way.

A Twitter-Size Monday Update!

2009-03-30T08:53:00.005-04:00

I do not currently "Tweet", but I am told Twitter messages are limited to 140 characters, so I am going to try my hand at blogging on several topics in Twitter-size chunks!

Obama wants GM Chairman Jeff Wagoner gone? I have no problem with that per se, but am I the only one who feels the government is getting dictatorship-ish?

Tiger Woods truly DOES walk on water. He comes back from 5 shots down to win his first event since knee surgery. You know Tiger's cool when my wife will sit and watch!

Large crowds turned out at the Tidal Basin over the weekend to see the Cherry Blossoms. I spent my weekend beating my head against the wall. I think I got the better deal.

I received a form letter from NPR this weekend, thanking me for the application I sent 8 months ago! I won't hold my breath waiting to hear from them again!

Good thing I went out early to get the newspaper off the driveway this morning. The Washington Post is getting so thin, it could have just blown away!

The kids are home, so we're going to see "Monsters vs. Aliens", despite lousy reviews. We're seeing it in IMAX 3-D. If you're gonna watch mediocrity, I say do it BIG!

I drove out of my way to save about 10 dollars at the supermarket, then took my son to Five Guys, and spent 15 dollars on lunch. So much for saving money!

I don't know if I'll blog this way again. Writing short takes far more time than writing long. Stick that in your Twitter and shake it!

On Second Thought, DON'T Play It Again Sam!

2009-03-27T09:26:00.003-04:00

Shocking news from the next county over...

Howard Man Charged With Allowing Gambling at Bar

Howard County police say a Jessup man has been charged with allowing illegal gambling at his bar in Laurel.

Police announced Thursday that 63-year-old John Edward Divver has been charged with four counts of gambling and gaming.

Police say undercover detectives went to Sam's Bar in the 9900 block of Washington Boulevard, where they found illegal video slot machines.

This Is "Post-Racial" America?

2009-03-26T09:42:00.006-04:00

I'm going to speak briefly about race today. Race is one of those third-rail topics that I usually don't like to discuss, because one is constantly in danger of offending someone. However, the issue has come up a couple of times this week, and in both cases, I think it signals a change in the way we will be dealing with it in the future.

Earlier this week, during his news conference, President Obama downplayed the importance of race as an immediate issue while he tried to grapple with the difficult economy, saying the issues facing the country "affect black, brown and white", and that he will be judged on whether he was a competent president, not merely as a black president.

President Obama is in a difficult situation. He is correct in his assertion that he needs to be the leader for ALL of the people, but he is also clearly riding on the hopes and expectations of a Black America that is counting on him to bring their concerns to the forefront.

Just a day after Mr. Obama's comments, the National Urban League issued a statement calling on the President to close the disparity gap that blacks face in areas including education and prison time. President Marc Morial wrote, "The election of the first black president does not mean we can now all close up shop and go home."

And now an issue of race strikes closer to home, in the District of Columbia, where Mayor Adrian Fenty is proposing to demote "Emancipation Day" - April 16th - from being a paid city holiday to a non-paid holiday. The move would save the city 1.3 million doillars a year in holiday pay - enough to keep 23 full-time city workers employed.

Some members of the city council are up in arms, saying it's important to recognize the day that President Lincoln freed the city's slaves in 1862. Mind you, the holiday itself is only four years old, and there is little evidence to support the notion that anyone is celebrating the day as anything more than an extra day off of work.

Mayor Fenty and President Obama face similar political problems here. Both have faced frequent "litmus test" questions about their own racial identities - questions about whether they are "black enough". Both men have white parents, and both are trying to rise above their racial identities as they lead their broader constituencies. It's almost as if they both need to "have their cake and eat it, too" on the issue of race.

I can't begin to offer input on what the President should do on this topic. Frankly, as long as the economy is sour, he'll have that as a shield to protect him against having to seriously address race or many other issues.

But I do have a piece of advice for Mayor Fenty. Money is tight. Your constituents are probably not too thrilled to see city workers enjoy yet another paid holiday that they themselves don't get to enjoy. If Emancipation Day is so important, choose another paid holiday to be given up in exchange. I would suggest Columbus Day. Christopher Columbus' star has faded in recent years, and there are few longheld links between the city government and Columbus. It almost seems as though the day exists as a holiday in the city because federal workers already have it off.

I know there's been a lot of hope that the election of President Obama will bring us to a "post-racial" America.

Yeah. Good luck with that.

I'm Going To Miss Remembering "The Lion King"

2009-03-26T09:31:00.003-04:00

My wife and I went to the World Premiere of "The Lion King" at the Uptown theater in Washington back in 1994. I was a reporter at WMAL at the time, and a friend of mine at Disney got us the invitation. It was quite the affair... Vice President Al Gore was there, and so was Disney Chairman Michael Eisner and Walt Disney Pictures President Jeffrey Katzenberg, among others. After the movie, there was a gala reception at the National Zoo. Disney rented out the place, and served up a feast right next to the Lion's Den at the Zoo.

It's too bad I'm going to forget it all in short order. It seems Disney is putting the film - and all memories of it - back in the vault!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.