You know the old saying; Want to make God laugh? Just make some plans…:-)

RE: MY ‘plans’…In radio, one only gets 10 days (in-a-row) off if they’re:

* Unemployed

* Dead

* All of the Above

…So, imagine my happy surprise at being told ‘TAKE TEN DAYS OFF” (without the being fired / dead part!)…Would get into all the exciting plans my family and I made. Visions of Beach Blanket Bingo with the wife, surf, sun…and a call on the hotline exactly one hour before the ‘freedom fest’ began. I could tell by the first breath my wife drew (been married long Wills?…:-) that ‘Houston – we have a problem!’

Indeed.

My 88 year old father (a Pearl harbor vet no less) had gone into a coma, was in ICU – and nobody knew how to contact us.

Also, nobody knew if his pets were starving or worse.

To the BATMOBILE we go…blazing a trail through the night to Ala-Bummer (my home stare, I’m allowed). Father, eventually better and finally out of the hospital. Pets? Well, aside from being a bit hungry and BEWILDERED…were Okie-Dokie. My brother (complete with his tumors!) somehow made it down there from Oregon. And my uncles (even older than my dad – all WW2 combat vets, you can’t kill these guys off!) were glad to see us as they had bore the brunt of this drama for those intervening days.

As I see it; there’s two ways to look at this. Either complain that my great swath of idle time was a big hoax from the universe – or – be Thankful that as FATE would have it, that free time was already in the chute – at just the RIGHT TIME!

On the other hand, next Thanksgiving – I’ll ‘PLAN’ on changing all the cat boxes, plough the lower 40, and working some 30 hour days!

Popularity: 8% [?]

You know the old saying; Want to make God laugh? Just make some plans…:-)

RE: MY ‘plans’…In radio, one only gets 10 days (in-a-row) off if they’re:

* Unemployed

* Dead

* All of the Above

…So, imagine my happy surprise at being told ‘TAKE TEN DAYS OFF” (without the being fired / dead part!)…Would get into all the exciting plans my family and I made. Visions of Beach Blanket Bingo with the wife, surf, sun…and a call on the hotline exactly one hour before the ‘freedom fest’ began. I could tell by the first breath my wife drew (been married long Wills?…:-) that ‘Houston – we have a problem!’

Indeed.

My 88 year old father (a Pearl harbor vet no less) had gone into a coma, was in ICU – and nobody knew how to contact us.

Also, nobody knew if his pets were starving or worse.

To the BATMOBILE we go…blazing a trail through the night to Ala-Bummer (my home stare, I’m allowed). Father, eventually better and finally out of the hospital. Pets? Well, aside from being a bit hungry and BEWILDERED…were Okie-Dokie. My brother (complete with his tumors!) somehow made it down there from Oregon. And my uncles (even older than my dad – all WW2 combat vets, you can’t kill these guys off!) were glad to see us as they had bore the brunt of this drama for those intervening days.

As I see it; there’s two ways to look at this. Either complain that my great swath of idle time was a big hoax from the universe – or – be Thankful that as FATE would have it, that free time was already in the chute – at just the RIGHT TIME!

On the other hand, next Thanksgiving – I’ll ‘PLAN’ on working some 30 hour days, etc!

Popularity: 8% [?]

I know where I stand on the issue of Christmas lights.

I’m more of the kind of guy who says a little goes a long way. Simpler is better. Subtle says more.

It’s not that I don’t like the families that go over the top with their Christmas lights.  They’re offensive to me in any way, it’s just not my style.

That being said when someone puts a collection of 100 crazy Christmas lights in a video that’s less than 2 minutes long. I’m in.

Popularity: 7% [?]

     What to watch?!?!  This evening, CBS has “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”, ABC has “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” and “Shrek The Halls” and NBC has the lighting of the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Square with musical guests…and all three start at 7pm.  Guess it’s time for the DVR to earn its keep! 

     ABC is repeating the Grinch on the 23rd, fyi.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I wanted to take the time today to remember an actor who has had a significant influence on my life.

Roger Ebert once called him the “Lawrence Oliver” of spoof , but I’d go one step further and say he was the King Kong of spoof comedy.

Leslie Nielsen died yesterday at the age of 84 from complications due to a pneumonia.

As a child, there was no greater actor who may have influenced my immature sense of humor other than Leslie Nielsen.  From his deadpan delivery to his ability to make you believe that he had no idea about what was going on, Neilsen always portrayed a character that had a noble heart. You nearly needed oxygen after laughing so hard at him.

He is part of what I would consider one of the greatest comedies of all time, delivering some of the key one-liners from the movie “Airplane.”  In memoriam, I will watch it and laugh for Leslie today.  Thanks for the laughs.

Popularity: 9% [?]

     It’s “Cyber Monday”, supposedly the biggest online shopping day of the year.  We’re contributing in a big way by offering a Sundara Inn and Spa gift certificate at half price.  Yes, $100 at Sundara for only 5o bucks!  This one is a no-brainer, guys.  If you think there’s a chance she might like this, snag one (or two) today for half price.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Hopefully you’ve thawed that turkey out by now.  I think the main problem with this video is that the woman is using her back to lift and not her legs.  Always lift with the legs.

Popularity: 3% [?]

For me…I’d be happy with the cardboard box that the refrigerator came in.  Kids these days seem to want more.

You’d think they demand cell phones, iPods, and other seemingly non-kid toys, but that’s not necessarily the case. Kids still like regular old toys.

According to the National Retail Federation, here’s the Top 10 Boys and Girls Toys List:

2010 Top Toys for Boys

1.      Video Games

2.      LEGO

3.      Cars (generic)

4.      Disney Toy Story

5.      Hot Wheels

6.      Transformers

7.      Xbox 360

8.      Fisher-Price Toys

9.      Iron Man

10.   Nintendo Wii (tied)

10.   Trucks (generic) (tied)

2010 Top Toys for Girls

1.      Barbie

2.      Dolls

3.      Dora the Explorer

4.      Video Games

5.      Disney Princess

6.      Zhu Zhu Pets

7.      American Girl

8.      Fisher-Price Toys

9.      Disney Hannah Montana

10.   Bratz

Popularity: 2% [?]

Rated PG-13 – 2h26

You’d think the boy wizard could have conjured up a better outcome for himself.

Film 101: Any successful movie must have a beginning, middle and end. The rule also applies to movies that fit into a franchise, such as the Harry Potter films. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has no ending, just a point where they press pause until Part 2 comes out. Not fair.

I feel that if I’m going to see a film, I should be seeing a beginning, middle and end.
In this much darker and moody chapter of the series, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is on the run while at the same time is in search of horcruxes. They are magical items that if all found and destroyed, can also destroy the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Feinnes). That’s about the entirety of this film. It’s one long chase scene.

Although fans of the book would argue this film leaves out plenty of details, I would argue that the film retains too many details. If you don’t recall all the characters from the previous films, you could very easily get lost in the casting. Again, not fair to the film audience.

There are also unnecessary scenes used for the purpose of creating drama, which don’t advance the film. Take for example when Ron Weasley is wearing one of the soon to be destroyed horcruxes. Harry knows from wearing it himself that it puts the wearer in a bad mood. When Ron puts it on, he gets in a bad mood and eventually leaves. This breaks up the team and puts them further in jeopardy. The problem could have simply been resolved by taking the horcrux off. All of the characters in the scene knew it.

That said, it’s set beautifully. You get to see the characters in amazingly brilliant settings as they teleport from one locale to another to stay safe. The high production value and special effects were entertaining, but not nearly enough to sustain.

What is interesting is that Harry Potter isn’t the real champion of this story. He’s the main reason for what’s going on, but fellow protagonist Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) is the real brains behind the operation. She’s the one getting them out of a sticky situation. She’s the one coming up with the next step. She’s the one who figures the big riddles out.

Maybe we call the next chapter “Hermione Grainger: The Witch Who Quite Often Bails Out Harry Potter.”

Popularity: 30% [?]

It must have been a good opening weekend for the deer hunt.

I say this not because I saw any early stats from the DNR. It’s just from the hunters I bumped into over the weekend. They all seemed pretty juiced up.

There was also my friend Steve who runs a butcher shop in Escanaba, Michigan. This is what his cooler looked like this weekend.

Looks like business is good.  If you get the chance, stop by Viau’s Super Market.  It’s the best in the area.

Popularity: 1% [?]