Quick Hits For August 22, 2010; End of the Summer Clearance !!!!!

Summer heat, drought, mosques, yellow jacket attacks, troop withdrawals, and FOX-es....all kinds of stuff, big and small.

Time for some Quick Hits!!!

(1). I really enjoy blogging. I only wish there was less typing involved.

(2). Beautiful, damp, delicious, glorious RAIN! I love it. For some of you reading this from cooler climes in the United States (is there such a thing in August?) and in foreign countries, it's been an exceptionally hot and dry summer in the Mid Atlantic states. I'm guessing that we've had more than 40 days of 90 degrees plus days this year (as opposed to nine all of last year), and for this summer we're at minus six inches in rainfall for the past three months; front lawns crunch when you walk on them, and there has been some limited water rationing.

This morning we woke up to some much needed rain, and there's a 100% chance for more during the day, and 60% for tonight. I don't think I've ever experienced a summer when it's been such a struggle to keep plants, herbs, vegetables, shrubs, and flowers alive...we've lost some, as have many other people. And in trying to keep the greenery from dying off other projects get sent to a back burner for another year, not to mention the toll all of the heat takes on you physically and even psychologically by the end of August. By the time evening rolls around you're gassed.

As much as I love summer (in most years) it will be a relief to see September roll in; they'll be cooler temps, and tropical systems churning up the coast to break the drought.....unless the climate change we're told is "only a theory" proves to be anything but.

(3) Rallies were held today in support and in opposition to the building of as Islamic Center two blocks from Ground Zero in Manhattan. The rallies were separated by police by several blocks, and as I type this no incidents of violence were reported.

One pro center supporter held a sign that said...."We don't care what bigots say, religious freedom is here to stay.".

And opponents sang patriotic songs and held banners as well... "Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all the terrorists were Muslim."

Many of us have noted and asked the "why?" regarding Glenn Beck's Rally To Restore Honor on August 28, the anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, mere blocks from where the first African American President and his family reside. Now I have a question as to the lack of judgment of BOTH sides of the "Ground Zero Mosque Issue" having opposing rallies on anniversary of the day of one of the worst Christian on Christian acts of religious genocide in history. Namely, today at St Bartholomew's Church we celebrated the The Feast of St. Bartholomew The Apostle. Technically the feat is Aug 24, but today it was celebrated because he's the church's patron saint.

In France, 1572, on St. Batholomew's Day a massacre of epic proportions was set off by Catholic King Charles IX's supporters on the French Protestant population. The Huguenots were not only a religious minority who were gaining in numbers, but were part of a political movement as well. Civil war had been waged for three years between Catholics and Huguenots, but peace had been agreed upon, and the sister of the Catholic king was engaged to be married to a Protestant prince.

The anti-Protestant factions in the strongly Catholic city of Paris objected to the peace and the marriage. Tensions boiled over on the St. Batholomew's Day....Catholic troops and mobs attacked unsuspecting French Protestants.....the carnage went on for weeks. Men, women, and children were killed, and estimates of the murdered range from a low of 8,000 to a likely 30,000 dead.

Two years before French Protestants were granted freedom to worship by their King; two years later he ordered the same people slaughtered.

And on this St. Bartholomew's Day, 2010, we see Muslims at one rally asking for the same freedom of worship with no restrictions as other religions.....and at another rally there is opposition that says they respect that right, but don't agree with their judgment and perceived lack of sensitivity.

I'm not making a case that these situations distanced by hundreds of years are the same. I only make note of the irony. We pride ourselves as being a republic that treasures freedom; but at a certain basic level just how different are we from those we left behind in Europe, or from any other land of our ancestry?

(4). A further comment on one sign that was against the construction of the Islamic center....

"Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all the terrorists were Muslim."

It reminds me of a quote from a classic American television show.

"(Serial killer) Joel Rifkin was adopted. The Son of Sam was adopted. If you're adopted you'll become a serial killer"..... Cosmo Kramer, Seinfeld, The Masseuse,
November 18, 1993.

(5). And while we're at it....St Bartholomew the Apostle. We Roman Catholics have a patron saint for everything. Tradition says Bartholomew served as an apostle to the east, into Parthia, Ethiopia, and even to India. He was said to have met martyrdom in Armenia....we are told that he was executed by being flayed alive.

And old St. Bart became the patron saint of a bunch of professions and conditions....remember, he died by being skinned alive!

He's the patron of butchers, tanners, cobblers, leather workers, trappers.....and plasterers, bookbinders, and Florentine cheese merchants. No, I didn't make that up.

Bartholomew is also the patron saint against twitching....so for all of you nervous people out there, he's the guy you pray to for intercession.

Maybe he should become the patron saint of offensive line coaches....you try anything to prevent false starts.

(5). Kathleen O'Brien of the Star-Ledger wrote a front page story about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and his confrontational attitude towards New Jersey's teachers and the New Jersey Education Association. One of the main questions explored is...... does Christie have a vendetta against the state's teachers? And the answer is: it all depends on who you ask.

O'Brien interviewed some of Christie's high school and junior high teachers in Livingston, some for, some against, some angry, some hurt, some see a politician playing politics.

Here's a sample from two of them.

"We’re all puzzled by the attitude, more than by what he’s trying to do.....I agree with most of what he’s saying — I hope he has success, because we’re all going to benefit — but not how he’s saying it."..... Anthony Hope, a Christie supporter and his former baseball coach.

"It’s (Christie's barbs at New Jersey's teachers) over the top. It does nothing but create animosity. It’s going to hurt him......the people you diss and antagonize are the same people you’re going to have to deal with later."....Ed Hill, retired social studies teacher, a lifelong Democrat who voted for Christie.

And those, ladies and gents, are what a couple of friends and supporters say about New Jersey's governor.

This is a fascinating story, more of it here.

(6) According to The Huffington Post, Fox News spent less than ten minutes on the withdrawal of the last combat brigade from Iraq last week while MSNBC spent the entire night on the event, with Keith Olbermann in studio, Rachel Maddow with Richard Engel (embedded with the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division), and Chris Matthews commenting while on vacation.

While MSNBC, and to a similar extent CNN, gave the story a lot of coverage, FOX chose to ignore the story or marginalize it. Rather, it was given second tier status by both Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly. Their shows continued to present the story of the "Ground Zero Mosque" as the most significant story of the day.

Years before his death, Walter Cronkite was asked "What is the purpose of network news?"

Cronkite answered...."To inform the public of the things they need to know".

I wonder what Mr. Cronkite would have said of Fox's decision?

Are they a news organization, or a propaganda machine?

(7). Suppose there was a fictional cable company with a fictional on air host on it's relatively small news network; call him Cable Host. And pretend there was a fictional news organization, a giant in the industry, with a fictional host who might be the top dog at the News Giant; he's News Giant Host. And suppose Cable Host was critical of News Giant Host, and made that fact public. So News Giant Host leans on cable company, about what's in the best interest of cable company; he has the muscle and he uses it. And suppose cable company blinks....and Cable Host is first suspended, and then fired. He then sues cable company for wrongful "termination".

But this scenario may not be fictional.

Barry Nolan, former host of CN8's Backstage With Barry Nolan, was appalled that Bill O'Reilly was to receive the Governor's Award at local EMMY AWARD CHAPTER in Boston in May, 2008. Nolan protested in the lobby of the Boston Marriott Copley Place at the precise time O'Reilly was to receive his award. In less than two weeks, Barry Nolan was out of a job, first suspended by and then fired by COMCAST. And Nolan has suspicions who was behind his firing.

Terry Ann Knopf tells the story in her piece from Columbia Journalism Review, "The O'Reilly Factor". As you may or may not know, COMCAST is purchasing NBC-Universal, including NBC, MSNBC, BRAVO, Telemundo, and it's entire cable menu. Here's Nolan in the article's last paragraph.

"I don’t think they had the F-ing right to tell me what I’m allowed to say. In the end, I think they were trying to suck up to Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch and Bill O’Reilly in a way that’s spineless and appalling for a company [Comcast] that aspires to run a major network news operation [NBC]. What happens when Keith Olbermann goes after O’Reilly? I think that’s scary.”

Yes Barry, it is scary.

Click here for the complete article .

 (8). In closing.....as they say, at the end of the world, after the Apocalypse, only two things will survive; cockroaches and old pictures on the Internet.

Well....not really. I just made that up. But anyway.....look what I found!

The two ladies pictured above have logged thousands of hours on American TV in the past two decades, and both were contestants the same year (1992)  in the Miss America Pageant.....they didn't win. But they shoulda....coulda.....

One went on to make a name in news, and is currently the lead anchor on HLN's Morning Express. Yes ladies and gents, pictured above is Robin Meade from her days as Miss Ohio. and no, Robin does not lack for pictures (more than 40 pages) and attention in cyberspace.....so many choices, but somebody had to do it.



Also competing that year from Robin's neighboring state of West Virginia was Kim Parrish, who was a host on QVC for years, and later went on to become a clothing designer on HSN and ShopNBC.

She also serves as president of Miss America's Outstanding Teen, which holds it's scholarship competition in Orlando this week.

Truth be told.....I prefer the the 2010 editions of these two talented and quite beautiful women....but that's just the opinion of one Manly Man.

Don't laugh! I've still got it....but it just takes a lot longer to get it.

Got it?

That's all....time to get ready for MADMEN!

Hey, What Are You Lookin' For? (Winter Edition.....Stay Warm, My Friends)

Its time once again to check out just what topics people are logging in to read about on this blog....and to heck with current events and politics. Its all about personalities for the month of December. And maybe its just as well. All of the rankings are in reverse order, and come from information courtesy of GOOGLE DIAGNOSTICS.

(10).Mike Kim/Cash for Clunkers. Don't ask me how this happened, because I'm not some tech wiz. Somehow a post I did back in July about Mike Kim's appearance on THE DAILY SHOW got read as something to do with "cash for clunkers". Mike Kim is a man who smuggles dissidents out of North Korea to safety in Japan and in the west. Blame it on the blasted "Google-bots".

(9) Slit Skirts. The ninth most queried topic on this blog for the last month was probably from pervy dudes looking for pics of women in "slit skirts". What they got was this video from Pete Townshend and the story about how I couldn't get the song out of my mind after hearing it played in an Hungarian Deli in New Brunswick....true story!

(8.) Home shopping queen blogspot. People drop into this blog, I suppose, to see if there is any news about "Queen Bea" and if there is any news about her blog. Sadly, there is no news to report. No activity, no posts...no news since last summer.

(7.) Colleen Lopez. I mentioned Colleen Lopez last February about her video where she started laughing uncontrollably and had to go to break, and posted the video here. To this day it remains one of the most queried posts on this blog. Some folks just can't get enough of the ladies of home shopping.

(6). and (5) both tie in to the #1 most queried topic of December 2009. Relax! It'll all work out.

(4). Bobby Bowden Trivia. Coach Bowden got several mentions towards the end of 2009. Topics included his forced resignation, the Gator Bowl victory....and the idolatry practiced by that duo from ALLSTATE, Bergwood and Hamm, for the former Florida State coach. But there really wasn't a heck of a lot of Bobby Bowden trivia.

(3) Kim Parrish. Kim remains one of the most queried persons on this blog, month in and month out. She's moved her KIM PARRISH COLLECTION to ShopNBC, and her line will be featured January 13, 20, and 21. Click here for times and more information.

(2) Davinia Palmer. Yes, another personality from the world of home shopping. Welsh born Davinia was the second most queried person on this blog in December. She made a splash at QVC in the United States several years ago, then left abruptly. After connecting some dots, and doing some searches, we've found Davinia based in Southern California and doing voiceover work. With her distinctive accent Davinia should do the voice for a "lady lizard" so the Geico Gecko won't have to spend Valentine's day alone.

But the most queried topic (1)....along with numbers 5 and 6...."Molly Evans Monk"(1), "Judge Rickover" (5), and "Monk Molly Evans"- all which referred to the entries written about the last episode of MONK, the comedy-mystery which ended its long run on USA network last month. Judge Rickover, the murderer of Trudy Monk, was played by Craig T. Nelson, and Trudy's daughter Molly Evans was portrayed by the lovely young Israeli born actress Alona Tal.

And these, ladies and gents, are the people who you wanted to read about on UT&MR in the month of December. There's a lot of homeshopping fans and a lot of "Monkish" folks spending time here.

Quick Hits For November 11, 2009, or "Beauties and The Greek"

Phyllis George

1. Did you ever use the self checkout at supermarkets or discount store, and get into an argument with the disembodied Voice that's "instructing" you what to do next? It happened to me this afternoon- and I lost. I really thought The Voice was being condescending and I sent an email to the store manager. I just hope there's a Voice with a better attitude next time I use that self scanner.

2. I don't care if its on ESPN. Poker is NOT a sport.

3. And neither are dog shows.

4. However...speaking of ESPN and poker...kudos to ESPN and their 30 for 30 series of sports documentaries. They never cease to impress. This week's entry was The Legend of Jimmy the Greek. I feel sorry for those who are too young to remember or had never seen or heard legendary members of the sports landscape like Howard Cosell or Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder. Jimmy was an oddsmaker who's appearances on the 1970's and '80's iconic version of CBS's The NFL Today took sports betting out of the back room and gave it a sort of legitimacy in America's living rooms. He was a larger than life figure, who's rise and sad downfall are chronicled in this film by director Fritz Mitchell.



The film has remembrances by cohorts Brent Musburger, Phyllis George, and Irv Cross, as well as friends like Miami radio and TV personality Hank Goldberg. The Greek was from Steubenville, Ohio, where one of his boyhood neighbors was one young Dino Crocetti, better known as Dean Martin.

(An Update 11/12/09- I was checking out some of the search queries and some people wanted to know more about the Dean Martin-Jimmy The Greek connection. They indeed did know each other back in Steubenville from childhood. WFAN radio's Mike Francesa, who used to work for Jimmy on THE NFL TODAY, took it a step further. On his radio show Mike told his audience that Jimmy once told him that young Dino used to beat up the even younger Jimmy on a regular basis when they were kids. If that was the case you could say they knew each other- intimately. And if it was an embellishment by The Greek, its still a helluva good story.)

And the poker connection? Jimmy emceed the very first WORLD SERIES OF POKER on TV.....way back in the early 1970's!

5. More on Jimmy The Greek. Here's an audio podcast from WFAN's Mike Francesa in New York talking to former NFL TODAY producer George Veras about life with Jimmy. Mike worked for Jimmy the Greek in the early days of the NFL TODAY, and was kind of a go'fer for The Greek when he was a kid. A GREAT listen. Give it a few minutes, its very revealing. You think Indian casinos are a recent phenomenon? Jimmy was on to it years before it happened.

6. Still more on The Greek, and original NFL Today on CBS. On ESPN"s Monday Night Countdown the old CBS crew of Brent Musburger, Phyllis George, and Irv Cross made a return in a remarkable recreation of the old show's opening moments. Joining them are current co-hosts Chris Berman and Tom Jackson.



7. And just to prove the theory of SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION- even in an obscure part of the blogesphere of which I am The Lord and Master- did I mention that the aforementioned Phyllis George was Miss America, 1971, and was at one time the First Lady of Kentucky? Well, youngin's....now you know. Which leads us (drumroll please!) to a former Miss West Virginia.

Kim Parrish, former QVCer, HSNer, and current fashion designer and children's author moves on to ShopNBC on Friday the 13th (11/13 7-9 PM EST) with her latest creations from The Kim Parrish Collection. I don't think the rumor that this Renaissance woman has taken up ice sculpture is true- being that she will now be working in the Twin Cities- but its early. I'll check with Linda the Homeshoppingista...she'll know.

And throwing in this little "reminder" gives me the excuse to post that incredible head shot.

8. And speaking of ShopNBC's corporate sister NBC, the latest skinny is that the ratings for the Jay Leno Show are sinking faster than a rock. It looks like this "great experiment' might be failing- big time. NBC didn't want to lose Leno to a rival network, and thought it could save money over ordering scripted series by giving Jay the 10-11 PM block Monday thru Friday....but it seems to be a concept that wasn't really well thought out by all involved. There have been rumors that local affiliates aren't happy with the situation, and are seeing ratings for their 11PM news hurt by a poor lead in from Leno.

Personally, I was trying to think about when the last time I watched NBC for anything other than SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL. And that was probably the ER finale last spring. The once formidable Thursday night juggernaut that lasted for close to two decades is long gone, the LAW and ORDER franchise jumped the shark when (pick one) Jerry Orbach or Jesse L. Martin left the show, and the reality program they have is less than real.

That's one fading peacock they've got there.

9. The "joy" of living in New Jersey. Just when you think its safe to put the TV back on because the election for governor in New Jersey is all over and there won't be any political ads for awhile, guess again. New York's governor David Patterson has started his ad campaign last week. If the CIA needs something to get the Al Qaeda detainees to talk, just let watch the political ads we're bombarded with nonstop. They'll flip....and probably give up Mom and Dad as well.

10. In conclusion....here's a "thank you" shout out to all veterans past and present. If you haven't done anything yet to show your appreciation to our men and women in uniform, please do so. They like to hear it (trust me, many moons ago I was one of them)....and they deserve it.