Ramdom Thoughts

I know I said I would be doing more of these blogs but I was going to do it and I kept putting it off and putting it off. Now, just to get back in the groove, here are some random nuggets or thoughts about what else, what honks me off.


* Now I have mentioned before but I hate darkness. There is no way that in the winter time, it should get dark at 4pm in the afternoon. Why does that have to be? Do you know how much we would save if it was lighter later? I mean its not like the roads are lit like Broadway. I think it should be lighter later. I mean is it ever sunny in the winter considering how early the sun sets in the evening and how dark it is in the morning?


* I know there are a lot of sports nuts like me that like this time of year with March Madness. There are people out there(Phil Mushnick) that look at the negative or seedy aspect of March Madness. You know, the gambling and the tv rights being so high etc. You know what. I dont want to hear it. I think March Madness is fun. If you look at the kids that win there conference tourneys, they treat that like they won the NCAA Championship. They know that they will probably get bounced in the first or second round but for them that one moment when they win there conference tourney, it means EVERYTHING to them and it shouldn't be tainted or tarnished by the likes of Phil Mushnick or anybody else. Sometimes, people just want to have fun or watch a game without thinking of all the negative stuff about it.

* I would like to know one thing or maybe more than one thing. When the hell is it going to get better? Let me clairify. Look at how much gas is. What about food. What about the bills in general? How can the bills be so high? Are they ever going to get lower and will there be ANY relief in sight? I mean this has to stop. I have never seen anything get lower in years. The gas has gotten higher, groceries have gotten higher and the bills (cable, electric etc.) have gone sky high. i don't think its fair. Cable Bill, for example. I will not tell you how much the bill is but its high. I go through all the channels and I have channels that I would never watch, yet we have to pay for them. What I would do, is pick the channels you want and pay for that, which I think is ala carte, which has been mentioned. I think that would be the best thing. As far as the electric, gas bills etc. I think they should be lowered ASAP. This might sound crazy but I would put EVERYONE on a budget, which I think people have but I'm not sure. For ex., in these bad economic times if your water bill is 200.00 dollars, let's say, I think you should be put on a budget to pay a little every month. Instead of paying 200, pay 50 or 75 dollars and the difference will be added to your next month's bill. Sometimes you may have more money one month than the other. Overall, there has to be some relief in sight, right?

* Something else that has been somewhat alarming is the fact that print media is disappearing. Newspapers are going out of business and so are bookstores. I think that's a shame. What about the people who don't have or know how to use a kindle, or an app, like yours truly. What about the people, like myself, that maybe can't afford kindles and apps etc. I don't see how something that's been around forever like newspapers or bookstores can just disappear. Do you know how many people lose there jobs because of that? How is that fair? You wouldn't even mind if a newspaper goes out of business as long as there are others you can get a job with. The thing is, ALL newspapers are becoming extinct. ALL bookstores are becoming extinct. I just dont understand why this is happening. A lot of people don't want tablets and kindles and stuff. They feel its too expensive and hard to understand. I dont blame them one bit either. People like simple things like reading a newspaper instead of looking for it on an app or tablet. To a certain degree, I couldn't agree more.

Whose Bright Idea was it to...

Some basic questions about television as of today as opposed to yesteryear. Remember when you used to watch television and actually enjoy it. What has gone wrong? When did all these marathons of tv shows come from? Everybody Loves Raymond, House, Psych, Fresh Prince etc. all have been done to death because of these marathons. All day, everyday a lot of these channels just show marathons. Is that just lazy programming or do they not have anything to show? This blog will highlight some of the "bright ideas" that a lot of these tv executives and tv channels have done over the years causing a lot of people to change there viewing habits. Here we go:

Whose bright idea was it to:1) Crunch the end credits at the end. Instead of hearing a tv closing theme song, we get another plug for a show, they've plugged already during the show you were watching!!! I mean you watch a network for an hour or two straight and you literally hear the same promos and plugs for a show after every commerical break. I mean some of tv's great theme songs have been butchered for endless promos for no reason at all. I mean its not like we are living in the stone age. I think people can find where there programming is. This is 2012 and not 1982.

2) Start shows off the clock. Instead of 6 pm, they start 6:15 pm etc. TV Land does this a lot. Now TBS used to do this. Growing up, TBS was really the only channel to do this and after a while you get used to it. I got used to it when they started shows at the top of the hour.If TV Land is going to do this at least SAY your going to do it. At 6 pm, if I flip on TV Land I want to see the beginning of an episode, not the very end. TV Land is really the worst. They start shows all crazy times. Ex. a show may start at 6:53 pm and end at 7:27 pm. What kind of programming is that? TV Land never, never did this before and people liked it. Why did they start this? What's sad is that its not going to stop anytime soon.

3) Create an abundance of Reality TV shows. I mean I watch the occasional reality show but now theres way too many. Believe it or not, I actually watch The Kardashians(thats another story as to why I watch them), The Real World etc. I'm not saying there are not some halfway decent reality shows but they are few and far in between.They are killing Game shows, westerns, soap operas and everything else because Reality TV is taking there spots. Im not saying there isnt a market for it but not at the expense of soap operas, game shows etc., that people have enjoyed for years and even decades.

4) Pop Up Ads during shows. I mean your watching a show and all of a sudden an ad for a show comes on. Its very annoying. And some of them, believe it or not make noise!! The promos actually make noise now!!! How annoying is that???!! You cant even watch a tv show anymore without hearing or seeing pop-up ads. Like I care what time a show is. If I'm a fan of the show, I KNOW what time the show is. Or a novel idea is to actually look it up. Not only that, but some of the promos take up part of the screen of a show your trying to watch.

Sadly, the 4 reasons I mentioned above are why people are changing there viewing habits. There the reason why people hate television right now. These tv executives "bright ideas" are destroying television. What's even worse is that I wouldn't expect anything less.

The Good Old Days of the NFL

To me, watching the NFL is fun. I enjoy it very much and on Sundays I just plant myself in front of the tv for 8 hrs. and watch the NFL. Now I know in this day of hearing about how we should eat right and exercise, watching 8 hrs. of football straight for 20 weeks (including playoffs) might not be the healthiest thing in the world to do. But you know how I look at it. I just think its enjoyment and fun. The drama of an NFL game shows you why its the number 1 sport in the world.

With that being said, even though I love the NFL, there are certain things I miss about the NFL. I think thats like that with all things, no matter what it is. It could be sports, television in general, soap operas, game shows, movies, food, strip malls etc. I know people would like things the way they were when they were going up. Who wouldnt want to get a hamburger for 25 cents like in the old days? Who doesnt want the old days of television where there wasnt any reality shows and no end credit crunch or off the clock programming? Or how about the days when there wasnt any computers or I-Pads or I-Phones and people were just as happy without those things?

The NFL has changed. Now, Im not talking about the basics. 7 pts. is still a touchdown, 3 pts. is still a field goal and its still takes 4 downs to get 10 yds. Im talking about the stadiums. I remember growing up and listening to Pat Summerall and John Madden on CBS with that epic CBS theme music. I also miss the days of when Summerall and Madden would do the games from RFK Stadium or Giants Stadium or Veterans Stadium. Sadly, those stadiums are gone and Summerall and Madden are retired. I miss days like that. I mean the Giants still play the Redskins and the Eagles still play the Redskins but its not the same. Now, despite great games and drama and huge ratings, its different. Now, you have graphics and what not all over the screen, more television timeouts and the scores of the games by the second. Remember, "The CBS Sportswire" or "The 10 Minute Ticker"? Those are the only times where you would get updates of the games. Now, its by the second.

Its not just the NFL. Everything has changed. Where you live, where you eat, what you watch are all sky high now. The sports have changed. I watched a documentary of Vince Lombardi, this morning and sometimes I wonder if the NFL was better in the old days with Lombardi at the helm. When Monday Night Football was Cosell, Gifford and "Dandy Don". The days of "Jimmy the Greek". I wonder if the days of Bradshaw and Namath were the best. You know, the good old days of the NFL.

But I wont lie to you. On Feb. 5, I'll be one of the millions watching Super Bowl XLVI. And when people, including yours truly, think and realize why the Super Bowl is so big. We can think of the good old days of the NFL.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I know Im late especially with this blog but this is bothering me. What is the big deal if people say Merry Christmas or not? Look, I know Im not the second coming of God or anything but when I was growing saying Merry Christmas was fine. People have been saying this for hundreds of years and now all of a sudden, its a problem. Has it come to a point in society that even saying Merry Christmas bothers people? There are so many problems in this world, that is a cause for concern? Seriously?? The whole point of saying Merry Christmas is to remember what that day is all about. The birth of Christ. I just dont see what the fuss is about. Check out this article from FoxNews all the way back in 2004!!! http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,141920,00.html

My point is you thought now was a problem but going all the way back to 2004, there was a problem. Or how about this article from 6 days ago about how a Republican got into trouble for saying Merry Christmas. Check this article out. http://www.nbc12.com/story/16384119/congressman-christmas-card-controversy

Walmart did the right thing, it listened to its customers. Read what this women did that forced Walmart to change. http://www.christiantoday.com/article/walmart.employees.say.merry.christmas/8256.htm

I say good for her!!! It shouldnt matter if you say Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays. I dont think anybody who is a Christan has ever bullied or forced people to say Merry Christmas. I think if people think that, they have to understand that Christans are not trying to force religion or anything down there throat its what they believe. I really dont see a problem with it. Its not a racial slur or anything, its they believe in Christ or feel like saying Merry Christmas. I dont think they should people should be penalized for that.

WWE vs. WCW; It wasnt Vince's Fault!!

"I now own WCW." - Shane McMahon, WCW Monday Nitro, March 26, 2001.

That quote was from the final Monday Nitro that aired in March 2001. A quick recap. WCW was up for sale and Vince McMahon bought WCW. In the world of "kayfabe", Shane McMahon was the one who actually "bought" WCW. That led to something that was unheard of. The WWE was going to face its competitor for many years, WCW. What started out as something that was going to be groundbreaking ended with a whimper. A lot of people have pointed to Vince McMahon as the reason why WCW brand failed. "His ego was too big", "He had to prove WWE was surperior" etc. I've heard them all. But I really dont think it was Vince's fault. I will try to explain why.

When WCW was sold, it was in shambles. Just google anything about WCW or read any books about them and you will see WCW was in total chaos when they shut down. Nobody was going to there live events and the PPV buyrates were poor. Now according to Wikipedia, so take it for what its worth, Starrcade, the event that started in 1983, and was "the event", drew 6,596 for its 2000 event at the MCI Center in Washington D.C. 6,600 people for there biggest event. Can you imagine if WrestleMania drew 6,600 people? Actually, all you have to do is add another zero and you have a WrestleMania type attendance.

So WCW with all its turmoil that had been affecting that company for 2 yrs. prior to Starrcade 2000 (Ric Flair being fired, The NWO constantly coming back, backwards booking, Goldberg streak ending, Kiss Demon, Kiss/Clint Black/Megadeth performing, lack of top stars, Vince Russo, The Powers that Be etc.) continued to suffer. I mean if you watch WCW in early 2001 compared to the heyday of 1997 was like night and day. Its so depressing even after WCW has been gone for 10 yrs. So with WCW not a priority for TBS (thanks a lot Jamie Kellner), WCW was cancelled. No more shows on TBS or TNT. Without the tv, what would become of WCW? Enter Vince McMahon. He bought WCW right before WrestleMania 17. Even though in storyline Shane McMahon bought WCW, Vince McMahon must have been a cheshire cat knowing, like he said "I bought my competition".

So what went wrong that everybody blamed Vince. Lets look at this. If you remember Vince gave the final quarter of Raw to Booker T vs. Buff Bagwell and it bombed. Call it ring rust or whatever but Booker and Bagwell didnt look right. Thats not Vince's fault. Second, when wrestling fans think of WCW, they think of Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Lex Luger, DDP, Booker T, Scott Steiner etc. With all due respect to Booker T and DDP, who I respect and I like personally, they couldnt carry the WCW brand. You needed the guys I mentioned to compete. Imagine Austin vs. Hogan? Rock vs. Goldberg? Nash vs. Angle? Goldberg vs. Angle? Flair vs. Rock? Flair vs. Austin? Now, some of these matches (Rock/Goldberg, Flair/Austin) did take place but imagine if it happened if it was at Invasion or Summerslam 2001? My point of all this is that its not Vince's fault. Dont you think Vince would have wanted to sign Goldberg, Flair, Steiner, The NWO etc. earlier? Of course he would.

Then the argument of "Vince made the WCW roster inferior." I dont by that for one reason. WCW was so bad at the end, could any hardcore wrestling fan tell you who the WCW Tag Team Champions were? Do you think they knew who The Natural Born Thrillers were? Kwee Wee? Thats not Vince's fault either. I just think you can blame Vince McMahon because WCW was booked poorly at the end. It wasnt like Vince was writing for both WWE AND WCW. So what was Vince going to do? In a perfect world, I think Vince and the rest of the WWE Universe would've wanted UnderTaker/Goldberg, Rock/Flair, Austin/Steiner etc. but what are you going to do? I mean he had to use what he had. Its like seeing the NY Yankees play and A-Rod, Teixiera, Jeter, Cano are out of the lineup. Yes, they replace those 4 guys and yes, its the Yankees on the field but its not the same. Samething with WCW. The WCW brand was there but it wasnt the guys that wrestling fans were used to.

In closing, Vince McMahon may be at fault for a lot of things but I dont think he killed WCW or the WCW brand. Sadly, because of politics, mismanagment, lack of top stars etc. WCW went up for sale and Vince McMahon bought it. Unfortunely, WCW was already over.

Black Friday: A Couple of bad apples spoil a bunch

Black Friday seems to have helped the economy. Apparently, more people spent more money during this Black Friday than any other Black Friday. Now, thats very good for the economy. There is bad that comes out of it. Two examples is what happened in Milford at a Walmart and what happened in Los Angeles. In case you havent heard someone was tasered in Milford at a Walmart during Black Friday. A woman pepper sprayed about 20 people in Los Angeles to get some video console or something. She has turned herself in. I know people will say "Black Friday is stupid" "Black Friday should be banned" etc. I say, it takes a few bad apples to spoil a bunch.

Being the sports fan that I am, look what happened when the Dodgers played the Giants. A fan was almost beaten to death. Here is an article from ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6335972 You see it takes one bad apple to spoil it for everyone else. Based on that incident, should fans be banned from the game? Should MLB cancelled the season or games based on that incident. That incident gives the real sports fans a bad name. Its the samething with Black Friday. All people are trying to do is enjoy the holidays, get into the spirit and save some money. Considering the storms we have had and the economy and the recession, I think people just want to vent and enjoy themselves. I dont lump the people that created the violence on Black Friday with people just trying to save a buck. Its uncalled for that people took something that should be the kickoff of the holidays and a happy, joyous time and ruined it. I feel bad for the people that got hurt and all they were trying to do is shop.

I think for the most part "Black Friday" gets a bad wrap. All you see is people running like a stampede trying to get items. All you hear is the violence of it. I do think that security should be stepped up to try to prevent idiots from ruining it like they do every year. And a lot of it is just common sense. I mean when the doors open, you dont run like its The Running of the Bulls". You proceed in a orderly fashion just like you do for the other 364 days of the year. Its just that simple. If you eliminate the morons and idiots from Black Friday and just shop like you would normally shop, Black Friday can be a good experience.

This isnt a Fashion Show

Do you know what really honks me off? Im getting so damn sick and tired of watching tv or reading magazines and seeing all these hair models or big muscle men or people with a great figure on them. You look at the magazines in a grocery store and who's on them? Lindsay Lohan, Snooki, Brad Pitt, Bradley Cooper, The Kardashians (Which I like by the way, more on that another time), Heidi and Spencer etc.

I was going to divide this post into sections, Television shows and magazines but I think there both the same. Look at television shows or magazines. They are polluted with people who have good looking bodies, 6 pack abs, nice hair but you compare that some of the actors and actresses trying to make it on tv, the models wouldnt last 10 mins. The truth is that people see these "actors" or "entertainers" as a one trick pony. Get past the great bodies and the hair and smiles and what is there? Nothing. Now to be fair, some of the models can get the job done. They can act, sing, dance, whatever. But its few and far between. Do you know how intimating that is, seeing all these people with not a hair out of place, perfect bodies etc.? Where does that leave average people like me? I'll tell you where that leaves you. On the outside looking in. Now you take somebody like me or someone looking for work. We can work hard and kick ass but do we get a break? No. Yet the "Snooki's" of the world get ahead. With my life or anybody who's struggling right now, do you honestly think Snooki would last 5 mins. in my world or someone's world without the glitz and glamour? No. Face it, compared to some people, Snooki has had a "Tea Party".

In closing, I'll say this. Im not Bradley Cooper or Brad Pitt. I dont have 6 pack abs but do have a gut. But you compare me to Snooki or anybody else, they dont stand a chance. The sad thing is that we are on the outside looking in. The people that busts there ass trying to make it in acting never get the break. Yet the Snooki's and the Lindsay Lohan's do. How is that fair? To some, that may come off as being bitter or bitching but you know what I, and a lot of other people, have every right to feel that way. The models get ahead and we get knowhere. Im pretty sick of it to be honest. The people who bust there ass, they should be on top. And for those models out there, I think your 15 mins. are just about up.