Spin Rides, Reality Shows, Roller Coasters, Music & Other Stuff...

Filling in for Sue has been awesome!

2011-11-08T20:21:00.004-05:00

I've had so much fun the last week!

Being on-air everyday has been great. And today proved why it's so much fun. I did a contest where I had to promote the new FOX TV show New Girl. When giving away the prize, it was brought up that one of the characters on the show disappeared after the first episode, but neither of us knew why.

Then I got a call from someone that did. She realized the actor that played the part of Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.) was also on another new show that got a surprise pick-up for a second season (ABC's Happy Endings).

That's the fun thing about live radio - the interaction with everyone listening. I miss that everyday.

But I'm kept busy behind the scenes programming The Lake (aka Entercom's national Subterranean HD2 station), scheduling WWWS-AM, helping Rob program Star, and doing a bunch of other stuff involving our traffic / commercials department and computer programming. But I'm always looking forward to the next chance to fill in again.

I can't wait until the next chance to fill in! As always, I'll make sure I have tons of weird stories about reality shows, crazy food, and Star artist strangeness ready to go. For now, that'll be the basis of what I share with you on my weekend shifts. :)

Black Friday 2011!

2011-11-07T16:10:00.001-05:00

Many stores (including Target, Best Buy, and Kohl's) will be opening at midnight this year!

In a way, I guess this is better than the 4am openings. Now you can do your holiday shopping Thanksgiving night before going to sleep. That'll give you all of Friday morning to relax.

Here's some websites that'll help you plan your shopping strategies for Black Friday...

black-friday.net

bfads.net

theblackfriday.com

tgiblackfriday.com

blackfriday.info

blackfriday.gottadeal.com

dealtaker.com

bargainshare.com

Vote for Ashley H!

2011-11-03T16:08:00.006-04:00

Ashley is trying out to be the next CW Star for Buffalo. And she needs your votes!

She worked at Borders up until the entire company totally died. So she's looking for a job.

And she's absolutely got the personality for this. She was even upbeat when we all had to be at the store at 6am to change the sale signs every week.

In addition, she's one of my favorite people. At the very end of Borders, she got me the most awesome souvenir from the store - an actual piece of the store (no further comment here on that lol).

Ashley's made it to the top 23 for the CW Network Star. To get to the top 5, she needs to have one of the most video views. So watch her video in its entirety (a little over 90 seconds). Your vote won't count unless you watch the whole thing, so please watch it all. She thanks you!

Here's her video...

Meet Ashley: cw23.com

Shakira golfing...

2011-10-24T15:30:00.001-04:00

It already has well over 300,000 views on YouTube! It must be exciting!!!

Get ready for hoverboards!

2011-10-23T20:47:00.004-04:00

All thanks to quantum levitation and Israelian scientists.

In this video, they show off how a frozen disc of special material can float and tilt in mid air using super magnets. They can even make it float around a circular track.

It's only a matter of time before hoverboards start appearing at Target!

The Funnel Bacakonator...

2011-10-16T18:36:00.003-04:00

If you're wondering how to pronounce bacakonator, it's "bay cake un ay tur".

If you're wondering what it is, it's a funnel cake covered in chocolate sauce and lots of crumbled up BACON!!!

It debuted at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina and my new lifelong dream is for the Funnel Bacakonator to make it's way to Buffalo.

It's super healthy at only 1,300 calories and 77 grams of fat.

See this awesomeness and learn more about it on the Time Newsfeed website. Yes, Time Magazine (the serious news magazine) did an article about it. So this must be bigtime excitement worthy of worldwide attention.

Lady Gaga, a sheep & a talk show...

2011-10-16T17:55:00.002-04:00

Nothing else needs to be said...

2011 Haunted Houses & Hayrides...

2011-09-24T08:03:00.013-04:00

The 2011 Halloween season is here!

I've done things a little different this year. I only list the opening date for the attractions. To get the full schedule, click on the name of the attraction and visit their main website.

If you think there's something I've missed or find a dead link, send me an e-mail.

FACE YOUR FEARS HAUNTED HOUSE
Location: 106 Wabash Avenue in Cheektowaga
When: 6p - 10p on October 14 & 15, 21 & 22, 28 - 31
What: A homemade haunted house! The price of admission is a canned good or non-perishable food item (which will be donated to the Food Bank of WNY).

HOUSE OF HORRORS & HAUNTED CATACOMBS
Location: Union Consumer Square (former Circuit City) at 3757 Union Road in Cheektowaga
Opening day: September 30
Houses: 6 haunted houses

YOUR FINAL FEAR
Location: At the Hamburg Fairgrounds
Opening day: September 30
Houses: 5 haunted houses

FRIGHTWORLD
Location: 3097 Sheridan Drive in Amherst
Opening day: September 30
Houses: 5 haunted houses (including Dark Raven Manor)

DISTRICT OF THE DEAD
Location: 1951 Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo
Opening day: September 30
About: A brand new haunt for 2011! 10% of the profits will be donated to Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo.

THE HAUNTING OF ROLLING HILLS ASYLUM
Location: 11001 Bethany Road in Bethany, NY
Days of operation: October 28 - 30
What: A one-hour tour through what's considered to be a real haunted house. However, this is a Halloween haunted house tour and not a real ghost hunt.

NIGHTMARE HAYRIDES ON SOMMERVILLE STREET
Location: Ellicottville, NY
Days of operation: Fridays - Sundays in October
What: A 25-minute tractor drawn hayride followed by a haunted maze & a haunted barn with the vortex tunnel.

BECKER FARMS HAUNTED HAYRIDE
Location: 3760 Quaker Road in Gasport
Opening day: October 7
What: Haunted Hayride, Castle Labyrinth, and Phylotec Biogenetic Testing Station.

NIGHTMARE MANOR
Location: Southtown Plaza on West Henrietta Road in Rochester, NY
Opening day: September 30
Attractions: 3 haunted houses and motion simulators.

HOUSE OF PAIN HAUNTED HOUSE
Location: 800 E. Main Street in Rochester, NY
Opening day: October 1

HAUNTED HOUSE OF ROCHESTER
Location: 1598 Qualtrough Road in Rochester, NY (Penfield area)
Opening day: September 23

HAUNTED HAYRIDES OF GREATER ROCHESTER
Location: 3329 Eddy Road in Williamson, NY (east of Rochester)
Opening day: September 30
What: A 35-minute hay ride, The Spinning Tunnel, The 3D Maze, The Screamatorium, Hellevator, Buried Alive, and The Mummy Theatre

SCREEMERS - HAMILTON
Location: In The Careport Centre (270 Longwood Road South) in Hamilton, ON
Opening day: October 14
Attractions: 4 haunted houses & a Midway Of Madness (including the Haunted Mansion ride)!

SCREEMERS - TORONTO
Location: In Exhibition Place in downtown Toronto
Opening day: October 14
Attractions: 6 haunted houses & the Midway Of Mayhem (carnival rides)!

HAUNTED HOUSE OF HORRORS
Location: The Stone Road Mall (corner of Stone Road & Edinburgh) in Guelph, ON (NW of Hamilton)
Opening day: October 21
What: The True Fear Haunted Funeral Home attraction

NIGHTMARES FEAR FACTORY
Location: 5631 Victoria Ave. in Niagara Falls, ON
Days of operation: Open year round

SCREAMERS
Location: 5930 Victoria Avenue in Niagara Falls, ON
Days of operation: Open year round

THE HAUNTED HOUSE
Location: 4943 Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls, ON
Days of operation: Open year round

THE HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
Location: 4967 Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls, ON
Days of operation: Open year round

2011 Corn Mazes...

2011-09-24T08:02:00.004-04:00

Here's the 2011 corn mazes for Buffalo and the surrounding areas. E-mail me if there's a maze you'd like added to the list.

Click on the name for the official website. And check their website calendar before visiting, as each one has different hours of operation. Some even have website coupons...

THE GREAT PUMPKIN FARM CORN MAZE
Location: 11199 Main Street in Clarence, NY
Size: 5 acres
Days of operation: Weekends through October 30th

THE MAIZE
Location: 3901 Niagara Falls Blvd. in Wheatfield, NY
Size: 8 acres (three different mazes included in this)
Days of operation: Daily through October 30th

ZARPENTINE FARMS MAIZE
Location: 163 Burritt Road in Hilton, NY
Size: 20 acres
Days of operation: Fridays - Sundays through October 30th
Highly recommended: The entire maze is themed to the TV show Survivor this year! This was definitely the longest corn maze I've ever been in. They give you the map right at the start, but it's still incredibly difficult to find your way around. If you only go to one corn maze this year, make it this one!

RESSLER'S FARM & CORN MAIZE
Location: 7120 East Arcade Road in Arcade, NY
Size: 13 acres (three different mazes included in this)
Days of operation: Varies through November 6th

LONG ACRE FARMS MAZE
Location: Macedon, NY (east of Rochester)
Size: 5 acres
Days of operation: Varies through October 31st

PICK'N PATCH CORN MAZE
Location: 2205 Routes 5 & 20 in Stanley, NY (near Canandaigua)
Size: 8 acres
Days of operation: Everyday through October 31st

WICKHAM FARMS CORN MAZE
Location: Penfield, NY (near Rochester)
Size: 3 acres
Days of operation: Daily 10am - 6pm through late October

RICHARDSON'S CORN MAZE
Location: Dunnville, ON (1/2-hour west of Welland)
Size: 12 acres
Days of operation: Varies through late October

HANES CORN MAZE
Location: Dundas, ON (near Hamilton)
Size: 12 acres
Days of operation: Daily with varying hours through late October

2011 Real Hauntings...

2011-09-24T08:01:00.010-04:00

This is all about the real thing. The ghosts aren't just at these places during the Halloween season - they live here all the time. So if you truly want a ghostly experience, here's where you want to go.

Don't forget to check each website for up-to-date tour times, directions, and additional contact info...

IRON ISLAND MUSEUM
Location: 998 Lovejoy Street in Buffalo
Ghost tours: Thursdays at 6:30p and Saturdays at 10:30a
Overnight ghost hunts: By reservations only at the website
Cost: Ghost tours - $5 / Overnight investigations - $150 for up to five people
Highly recommended: Every single time I go here, I have a blast. Linda, Sandra, and the entire crew are some of my favorite people on the planet. Get a group of friends together and make a reservation!

BUFFALO CENTRAL TERMINAL
Location: 495 Paderewski Drive in Buffalo, NY
Standard tour: October 9th at 11am (call 716-852-3300 for more info)
Candlelight tour & ghost hunt: October 28 & 29 (reservations only - visit the website for more info)

THE SCREAMING TUNNEL
Location: Near the intersection of Garner & Warner Roads in Niagara Falls, ON. It's close to the end of Warner Road on the right side.
What: In addition to being featured in the 80's movie The Dead Zone, it's supposedly haunted by a screaming ghost. Visit Haunted Hamilton to learn more.

MARJIM MANOR
Location: Appleton, NY
Tours: The winery tour is also a ghost tour. Call Marjim Manor at 716-778-7001 for more info.

THE HAUNTED FORTRESS
Location: Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown, NY
Days of operation: October 22nd & 29th
What: Storytelling & tours of the historic cemetary.

MASON WINFIELD GHOST WALKS
Location: Varies
Days of operation: Goes through October. See the website for the different walks and times.

MARBLE ORCHARD GHOST WALKS
Location: 476 Center Street in Lewiston
Days of operation: Saturdays at 7pm through October 29th

HOLIDAY INN - GRAND ISLAND
Location: Grand Island, NY
Room rate: Visit website

Some YouTube videos I liked this week...

2011-09-23T18:04:00.000-04:00

This is too cool. It's from the International Space Station and shows what it's like to fly over Earth...

And here's a video preview for the movie Human Centipede 2. There's nothing from the movie in this - just reaction shots from people watching it.

I still haven't seen the first movie but I've heard it's one of the most disgusting movies ever. Far gorier than any of the Saw movies in fact. The reaction footage in this preview really makes me want to see these two movies now...

The Herkimer Diner...

2011-09-23T08:39:00.000-04:00

Actually, it's called the Empire Diner in Herkimer, NY. That was one of my absolute favorite moments on our recent family vacation. Yeah, it's usually all about the food. Unless it's the spin rides. Or a near-death experience.

Day one started with a not-so-approved trip down the flooded West Canada Creek. Me, my brother, and sister-in-law went down at dusk in three separate tubes tied together with rope so we wouldn't lose each other in the rapids. How could we have possibly been any safer?!

I was given the tiniest tube of the three - they felt that would be good enough for me. Almost immediately, the tiny tube started losing air. Then right after that, the rapids brought us into the path of an overhanging tree and I flipped out of the tiny tube. From that point on, I was on my stomach on the deflated tube trying not to destroy my knees on the rocks in the shallow rapids.

And that's how my legs got tied up in the knot of rope and tubes when Rick and Christine flipped out in the rapids. Christine had a near death experience in the whirlpool that's pictured right after the giant rock. It looks like nothing, but the current was definitely powerful.

I couldn't help since I was trying to get untangled. Rick couldn't help because he was further downstream chasing after Christine's lost shoe. And naturally, this happened right in front of my parents' motorhome as they were watching us go by. They were kind of annoyed over the whole thing. That's how the long weekend started.

Day two is when most of the area had flood warnings. There was nothing to do. So me and my brother thought a brilliant idea would be to drive 90 minutes to Lake George and go to the Great Escape Indoor Waterpark. The park's got a bunch of cool slides, a surfing attraction, and a lazy river (which my brother and Dad love turning into a demolition derby).

We managed to go around the lazy river three times before the power went out and the entire place shut down for the day. It was a total of fifteen awesome minutes at the waterpark after over three hours driving roundtrip & $250 for tickets for the seven of us. Yeah, my parents were having the time of their lives at that point. I'm kind of thinking they'd be insane to take any more trip suggestions from my brother or me.

For the record, the park couldn't refund us our money that day since all the power was out (can't really do credit card refunds without power). But later on, they called and refunded the money completely. That is awesome customer service!

So now day three was supposed to be the Alpine Slide at Jiminy Peak. But the roads were still flooded out. So we went to the Herkimer Diamond Mine instead. My niece really liked it. She had a blast hammering at the rocks and looking around for the diamonds.

Me and my nephew liked it too - for about three minutes. Then we were bored to death and went and ate rock candy. After that, he played on the playground for the next two hours or so while I continued eating rock candy lol. Everything's better when food is involved.

And that's when things really got exciting. After the Diamond Mine, we went to Ponderosa. It wasn't my parents' first choice. Or second or third. But after everything else we went looking for was closed, they settled. And there was pigs-in-a-blanket AND chicken pot pies on the buffet! Suddenly, the vacation was back to awesome. For me at least.

For day four, I contemplated going home by way of Massachusetts to do the alpine slide (yes, the total wrong direction, but that's usually how I do things). But the roads were still flooded that way, so I decided to just head home. But before leaving Herkimer, I needed to eat at the local diner. So we all went down to Crazy Otto's Empire Diner.

If you're ever driving down the 90 and pass the Herkimer exit, get off and eat there!

I love diners to begin with. I try to eat at as many diners as possible when I'm on vacation. This was one of the best. I had peanut butter & banana french toast. It was amazing. It looked kind of small when I got it (turns out, looks were deceiving), so I also ordered a large order of biscuits and gravy (which was excellent and super filling).

To add to the awesome diner atmosphere, some of the diner regulars who were sitting nearby came up and offered to take a family picture for us.

That's why I love diners. The food's almost always good and no one is ever strangers there. I mean, I don't ever just talk to people I don't know. I barely talk to people I do know. So this is really only something that would happen in a cool diner.

It was a great way to end the trip. Even my parents loved it (finally something went right). I'll be going back. Not to the Diamond Mines though. And probably not to stay either. But a quick stop at that diner on the way to the alpine slide is definitely part of my plans now.

Avengers: Behind The Scenes video!

2011-08-22T13:08:00.004-04:00

It's filming now in Cleveland and here's some aerial footage that surfaced online the other day...

The Avengers will be in theaters next May!

Sleep scheduling...

2011-08-03T15:17:00.003-04:00

In addition to being on Star, I also program The Lake for the online and HD2 feeds (hear it here).

Throw in some Star scheduling, putting together network commercials, getting syndicated shows ready to air, an awesome part-time job, and road trips and I sometimes overdo things, wipe myself out, and get a bit loopy.

That's what happened last night while I was programming Subterranean. The result was a 9am hour for Monday, August 8th scheduled like this (starting with the Beatles Break feature)...

I'm Only Sleeping - The Beatles
I'm So Tired - The Beatles
Whatever Gets You Through The Night - John Lennon & Elton John
Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End - The Beatles
Good Night - The Beatles
How Do You Sleep - John Lennon
The Lion Sleeps Tonight - R.E.M.
So Tired - Eric Clapton
I Go To Sleep - The Pretenders
Dazed and Confused - Led Zeppelin
Don't You Know What The Night Can Do (long version) - Steve Winwood
Stay Up Late - Talking Heads
The Midnight Special - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Sleep - BoDeans

RIP Borders Books (1971 - 2011)

2011-07-18T21:54:00.012-04:00

For some reason, all the Borders stores always seemed to have the absolute best customer service. I know things can be different at each individual store, but whenever I needed help finding something, Borders is where I would go.

In fact, this past weekend, I went out to the Borders in Rochester to buy the Reboot Complete Series DVD (I could only find it at that store, so down the road I went).

I also checked out the mythology & science sections. While looking, one of the employees told me about a couple DVD sets I might also be interested in. One wasn't for me, but "The Universe" was an awesome suggestion. It's a History Channel TV series I had never heard of.

I didn't buy the set that day as I was already spending a bit of money on Reboot, but I'll definitely be buying it in the near future. It would have been from that store eventually, since that's where the suggestion came from (I'm kind of fiercely loyal like that), but that probably won't happen now as I'm sure a lot of the good stuff will be gone quick.

When shopping online, maybe there would have been a suggestion on the page for it, but I wouldn't have paid attention to that. An actual person suggesting something holds far more weight.

That's one of the reasons I've worked at some of the Borders stores. I loved how they were run (on a store level that is - obviously there were some big troubles at the corporate level). I've worked at a Brentano's, Waldenbooks, and Borders (all owned by Borders Group).

So there goes another great specialty store. One with excellent customer service. I've always loved browsing and buying things at book stores (and CD / record stores as well). Sadly, the options are becoming fewer and fewer each year.

Star Studio Planking...

2011-07-17T20:07:00.002-04:00

The planking craze has gone completely mainstream in the last month or so. So I felt there needed to be a Star Studio Planking.

If you're kind of in the dark on what exactly this planking thing is, here's a great news report that explains the "art form" that's actually been around since the 90's...

And here's a video with a bunch of plankings...

For those that eat their lunches during their shift in our immaculate Star studio, don't worry, I cleaned things back up after having my shoes on the counter. :)

Gummy Bear Bratwurst - mmmmmmm!

2011-07-17T19:22:00.000-04:00

The next time I'm in Minnesota, I am definitely making time to try the Gummy Bear Bratwurst.

Here's how it came to be...

Later tonight, I'm also going to talk about the latest California State Fair food craze. But that one (and many of the others they're featuring this year) I won't even consider trying.

Here's a slideshow detailing some of the strange menu items they've got this year. It's the third picture that I know I could never stomach.

FIGHT!

2011-07-17T18:22:00.000-04:00

This is one of the most epic & intense fights you'll ever see.

I'm not completely sure what it's about, but I think it might be about who said "no" to something first.

Oh, and it's between a three-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl. They even start arguing about their ages at one point.

Start to finish, this is an instant YouTube classic...

The most awesome retirement home ever...

2011-07-17T16:45:00.001-04:00

The residents at the Clark Retirement Community in Grand Rapids, Michigan recently teamed up with students at a nearby university to create a YouTube masterpiece.

The residents are kind of lip-syncing to Michael Buble's "Feeling Good". But it goes way beyond that.

In a single take throughout the song, the camera moves all through the retirement community where different residents in various situations bring the song to life. And yes, at one point there's prune juice!!!

Another person made the comment under the video that if they ever end up in a retirement home, they want it to be this one. And I 100% agree. All retirement communities should be this cool!

The X Factor preview...

2011-07-16T18:20:00.000-04:00

The best moments of American Idol were when Simon and Paula were at each other's throats. The singing just wasn't enough to keep my interest.

So when Paula left, I thought the show became unwatchable. But Simon and Paula will be reunited this fall on The X Factor. And it looks like they still can't agree on who's talented and who isn't.

A 2-1/2 minute preview for the show aired earlier this week on FOX during a baseball game. Had I been watching that, I would have been asleep before the first pitch and would have missed this anyways.

It's clever and it definitely sets the tone for the series...

Big Brother 13...

2011-07-14T22:04:00.001-04:00

I wasn't going to watch this season - the show became stale in the last few years.

But it's looking like it's back to being good. As long as it doesn't focus on the Brendon / Rachel love fest. When those segments come on, I can't reach for the remote quick enough to fast forward through all that.

After week one, I'm rooting for Kalia and Dominick. If I had to pick one of the returning players to root for, I'd probably go with Daniele or Jordan. But I'd rather see a first time player get to the end.

So far, one thing I really like about this season is how the studio audience is a bit more vocal than in the past. The gasps of surprise and scattered laughter adds even more excitement to the live episodes.

And Julie Chen is of course always good. Not too many "but first"s in the first live episode, but there's plenty of time left in the summer for that.

The Phoenix, AZ sandstorm!

2011-07-10T21:18:00.000-04:00

When I lived in California (and at one point in the Mojave Desert), the sand did a number on my poor car engine. Sand made a mess of everything whenever I'd venture through the desert.

So I can't imagine what a nightmare this was for cars, eyes, computer equipment, etc. It's video from the massive sandstorm that hit Phoenix a few days ago.

The third video with a POV shot of driving into the sandstorm is insane!

The Worst Driver In The Netherlands...

2011-07-09T21:40:00.000-04:00

Yes, that's an actual reality show. I don't know how I've missed this, but a version of it apparently aired on The Travel Channel last summer.

A contestant on the Netherland's version was so awful, he ran over the host of the show and a cameraperson during a recent taping!

Amazingly, no one was killed, but the host of the show did end up in the hospital.

The fact that video of this exists isn't a surprise since it was being taped. The shock to me is that the video got out and is now all over the place online.

The video is mostly from inside the car and focuses on the driver and the passengers, so you don't see too clearly who and what he hits. But because of a few other brief camera angles, it is kind of disturbing. So for that reason, I'm not going to embed it here.

Check out AutoBlog to see the video and read more a little more on this.

Coldplay's new music video...

2011-07-09T20:44:00.001-04:00

The video for Coldplay's latest song "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall" features tons of special effects, lots of glow-in-the-dark paint, and non-stop stop-motion visuals.

It's the next best thing to a new video from OK Go (which I'm hoping happens soon)...

Last weekend at Sylvan Beach...

2011-07-08T10:47:00.001-04:00

Sylvan Beach Amusement Park is a small park and beach a little east of Syracuse, NY.

It's my favorite kind of park. It's got classic rides and a boardwalk feel. The Rock-O-Plane & G-Force Rotor (Devil's Hole) are both similar to rides that used to be at Martin's Fantasy Island. They've also got a Tip Top where you can go spin crazy. Here's my nephew Mason, my Dad, and my niece Makenna on the Tilt-A-Whirl.

Thanks to a group called The Atmostheatre Players wandering around, you almost feel like you're at the amusement park in the 1940's! They'll be performing at the park Thursdays - Sundays throughout the summer. Click on the picture to the right to see a short video of their work.

Mason made it about five minutes before he finally burst out the secret to the magic trick lol. And Makenna got to take part in a faux movie with one of the actors later in the day.

It was my brother's birthday that day and he was supposed to ride the Rock-O-Plane with me, but chickened out. I can't blame him. Anyone who knows me is well aware that if you go on a spin ride that I can control, you will most likely end up sick.

But I did get at least one of his kids on the Laffland ride (a classic ride from 1954). Me and Christine didn't remember it being so dark though! Poor Mason was a little freaked out. Here's video of him at the end of the ride. Christine says his eyes were closed throughout all of it - oops. But I wasn't staying with the kids that night, so any nightmares wouldn't have affected my sleep. :)

America's Got Talent - Vegas standby acts...

2011-07-06T23:25:00.006-04:00

Uh-oh. I can already see this coming. Another singer is going to win America's Got Talent.

Tuesday night, I agreed with most of the judges decisions. Tonight (with the Vegas standby acts finding out their fates), definitely not.

Four acts went through tonight that I thought were terrible or boring and never should have even made it to the Vegas round, let alone been accepted for the Hollywood rounds.

The worst was Sam B, the guy who just jumped around the stage like he was trying to dance or having a heart attack. What kind of act was that?! He could barely breathe when he was done. Awful - and not even in a funny way.

Almost equally as bad was the Ricky Martin wannabe (Mauricio Herrera) who sang Bee Gees' falsetto poorly.

The other two that shouldn't have gone through were the kiddie groups Avery & The Calico Hearts (the young girls that sang like Alvin & The Chipmunks) and the SH'Boss Boys (young dance act). All the kids are definitely talented, but not entertaining enough for this competition. Especially after seeing some of the acts that didn't get through.

The one that really should have gone to Hollywood was the guy that had auditioned twice before, but was always rejected (Leonid). His crazy quick-change act last week and then strange dance routine this week was entertaining and everything a Vegas act should be. I even liked the end of the performance this week where no one was sure what was happening. Leonid and his dance partner were just laying on the floor while everyone wondered if they were hurt or something. It was insane, unexpected, weird, and exactly what I thought this show is about.

His meltdown after being sent home did make it hard to root for him anymore. But despite that, I still think his act was far superior to the four I mentioned above.

And I'm hoping those four are the first to go home when America starts voting next week (followed closely after by all the singers).

Hanson!

2011-06-30T15:47:00.001-04:00

So the way my day was going, I wasn't going to get to Starry Night this year. After my shift ended on Star, I had to do some computer work so three of our stations would continue airing things right at midnight.

When I finally left and managed to get to the Botanical Gardens, all I heard was the final note of the final Hanson song when I opened my car door. But I did at least get to meet Hanson after that.

They're all nice. We talked briefly about previous trips they've made to Buffalo. Apparently, Zac has never seen Niagara Falls because he wouldn't get out of the bus when they went there. He was too engrossed in video games. And Isaac says it's just very wet.

Taylor is down-to-earth and a really cool guy. Had they not been getting ready to go in the limo, I would have loved to talk to him more about their music and also Tinted Windows, a supergroup he's a part of (Kind Of A Girl is an incredible song that was wrongly overlooked by radio). If I ever do a radio interview with them, he's the one I'll request to talk to.

Rob did get to talk to all of them shortly before I got backstage. See that here.

There's also video of Taylor driving around the Gardens in a golf cart after the show. Isaac decided to stay back when he found out Taylor would be driving (he stayed with Michelle Branch by the limo. See that here.

And get this, the group helped pack some of the stuff in the limo! They didn't have someone do it all for them. That's the kind of artist you want to support. So go buy their recent CD "Shout It Out".

For the record, from the first time I heard MMMBop, I've always thought Hanson was a great pop group. My favorites are Where's The Love, Penny & Me, and now Give A Little. And in case you're wondering, the version of MMMBop I usually play on Star is the Dust Brothers Mix from the 1997 CD single (it's got a slightly different sound than the album version). Either that or the album version is preferable to the radio version, which fades out before the end.

For Harry Potter fans...

2011-06-26T20:26:00.000-04:00

If you're a Harry Potter fan, this is a website you'll definitely want to visit. Especially as the excitement builds for the upcoming final chapter in the Harry Potter series.

The website is called Pottermore. J.K. Rowling just announced it last week.

It'll be a forum to celebrate the book series (and the movies too). It'll also eventually be the only place to get all seven of the books digitally (the site is free, but the e-books obviously won't be).

The site fully launches in October. But if you submit your e-mail address now, you might be chosen to get access early and kind of be a guinea pig for when it fully goes up.

Here's the announcement of the site...

For the record, I've never been a big fan of the Harry Potter series. Book one was ok. But book two kind of bored me. So much so that I stopped reading it halfway through (something that almost never happens).

It didn't help that around the same time, there was another similar series that came out called "The Lost Years Of Merlin" by T.A. Barron. That series I loved. There's a lot of similarities to the Harry Potter series, but for some reason this one was more for me.

It was originally just five books, but has since grown to twelve. Here's the website for that.

Breakdancing gorilla...

2011-06-26T20:13:00.002-04:00

It's a commercial for the Calgary Zoo.

Of course the video has been edited. But I'm convinced the gorilla really did do this on its own - just not exactly as we see it here. It is clever though...

And yes, I know, this is the second link I've mentioned on-air in the last few minutes. And I've got another one I'm getting ready to talk about too. The timing with the songs I'm playing just happens to be perfect for all this. I mean really, what better time is there to talk about breakdancing than when playing an 80's song?

OMG Is This Taylor Swift?

2011-06-26T20:05:00.000-04:00

Back in 2006, a guy created an e-mail address that started with TSwift.

Flash forward to now - a world where the media is kind of obsessed with Taylor Swift.

He still has that address and he's getting bombarded with e-mails from people thinking he's Taylor Swift. So one of his friends (or maybe it's really just him) created a website to post a bunch of the messages that come in to that e-mail.

Some are just usual questions and people excited about talking to one of their favorite stars. Then there's the crazy people and the really weird pictures.

Here's the website...

OMG Is This Taylor Swift?

And even though we're nowhere near Christmas, here's one of my favorite videos about being completely Taylor Swift obsessed...

Deep Fried Cherry Kool-Aid!!!

2011-06-26T16:17:00.001-04:00

I should have gone to the San Diego County Fair this year. This year, deep fried Kool-Aid debuted there.

It's basically just a giant ball of deep fried dough with cherry Kool-Aid. But that sounds like heaven to me. Had I gone, I would have bounced back and forth only between that booth and the spin rides.

Here's a report on this from Good Morning America...

Shania, Weird Al & Britney...

2011-06-25T07:57:00.000-04:00

Love it, love it, love it. All at once, there's three incredible videos.

The Shania Twain one is by far my favorite. It's been way too long since she's had a new song out.

Weird Al's parody is good as always. And Britney's song was a surprise to me. The video is even funny. I wasn't expecting that. She's finally gone back to steadily being good again.

Each video will probably have a short commercial before it. The days of just watching things on YouTube commercial free are gone thanks to Vevo. But so many videos are now available to see free in perfect quality, I guess it's a good trade off.

Keanu Reeves' "Ode To Happiness"...

2011-06-19T21:36:00.002-04:00

Anyone who heard me mention this on-air probably thought I was being facetious when I called Keanu Reeves "one of our generation's most talented actors". But I wasn't.

He's been in a ton of giant movies and is in three that I consider a favorite (both Bill & Ted movies and The Lake House). For someone like me who typically hasn't liked too many movies in the past, that must mean he's a really good actor. And he's co-starred with Sandra Bullock a couple times, so that's a big plus.

Keanu has now moved into the realm of writer. His book "Ode To Happiness" is available now. It's like a picture book (think "Harold & The Purple Crayon" or "Goodnight Moon") but for adults. Aside from the text being a little sad, it sounds like it's mostly G-rated.

To give you an example of what the book is like, here's two of the lines from it...

"I draw a hot sorrow bath in my despair room" and "I wash my hair with regret shampoo after cleaning myself with pain soap".

The book is illustrated by Alexandra Grant and is available now for about $38. Here's the link to buy it.

This book has gone so well that Keanu is apparently already planning his next book. He describes it as Haikus Of Hope, so keep watching for that one soon.

FreeStyle canoeing...

2011-06-19T18:27:00.001-04:00

The fact that this is a sport is shocking enough. But then to add to my surprise, there's actually an audience for it!

Portions of both videos were featured on The Colbert Report the other night.

The first is an interpretive canoe routine done to Chris DeBurgh's 80's classic The Lady In Red. And the athlete is Marc Ornstein, who's from right down the road in Honeoye Falls (a suburb of Rochester)! His website explains more about the sport.

The second video is the one I mentioned on-air, the Phantom Of The Opera routine.

The Green Lantern...

2011-06-19T17:48:00.000-04:00

All of a sudden, there's a bunch of great movies that's been out.

The Green Lantern is the next one I'm psyched about. It opened this weekend and I'm planning on seeing it sometime this week.

This is another movie where you want to stay through the end credits. I've been told there's an extra scene about two minutes into the credits that teases who the villain will be in the sequel.

Apparently, the studio is already convinced the movie's going to be a success. We'll see when the box office results come out tomorrow.

Cell phone saves a Black Eyed Peas concert...

2011-06-18T19:52:00.001-04:00

I don't know how this doesn't happen more often.

Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas forgot the words to one of the group's songs the other day. Lucky for him, he had his cell phone on him. He pulled up the song lyrics on it, then continued singing.

Unfortunately for him, there's video of this. And of course it made it's way to YouTube. But it seems like he had fun with this, so I'm sure he's ok with the video going around. He's only human after all and he handled it great!

In the video, he pulls out his phone at 0:30, sings his first verse at 1:10, then misses a line at 1:36...

Hanging by skin - this is so disgusting...

2011-06-18T18:23:00.001-04:00

Hot air ballooning seems like it would be fun. But not the way this guy did it.

A guy in Seattle went up in a hot air balloon. But he wasn't in the balloon - he was hanging under it. By his skin!!!

Yuk. If you actually want to see this (which I couldn't resist and had to watch), here you go...

They need a sitcom!

2011-06-12T17:45:00.000-04:00

Rita and Frank are this week's latest YouTube sensations.

They're posing in front of their computer trying to take a picture for Frank's 84th birthday. They wait and wait for the camera click - but it never comes.

And it never will. Because what they don't realize is they've got it set to video and it's taping this entire ordeal (complete with Frank holding his birthday cake).

My first thought when I saw this: these two are the most perfect sitcom parents ever. If they don't end up on one of those, at the very least I'm sure we'll be seeing them on talk shows soon...

Life from a Hula-Hoop's POV...

2011-06-11T21:12:00.000-04:00

It could be a good life or it could be a terrifying life depending on who's doing the Hula-Hooping.

If you get motion sickness at all, this video will do you in, so be ready.

The camera was mounted to the inside of a Hula-Hoop. The view is not what I expected, but it makes sense now that I see it...

Another awesome elephant...

2011-06-05T21:14:00.000-04:00

Elephants are quickly becoming the animal stars of 2011.

Tai (the elephant that played Rosie in Water For Elephants) almost overshadowed the actual actors in the movie.

And now comes an elephant who's name is unknown. The elephant is part of the Picadilly Circus and was scheduled to perform in Joplin, Missouri when the tornado struck. As a result, the circus didn't happen. But the performers (including the elephant) stayed around anyways and helped with the clean-up...

Bigfoot on video!

2011-06-04T19:57:00.001-04:00

There was a Bigfoot sighting in Spokane, Washington! And it's on video (which is grainy of course as all Bigfoot footage must be).

Here's the article about it and here's the video itself...

Some random person who was taking a hike in the woods that day has to find it hysterical that they're being mistaken for Bigfoot. Or maybe embarrassed over it lol.

Now if Wildboy swung by following "Bigfoot", then I'd have to wonder if maybe there's something to this after all...

Lego Mini Figures secret!

2011-05-26T17:34:00.000-04:00

The Lego Mini Figures: kids love them, but they're a nightmare for parents or anyone who gives them to a kid as a gift.

Nothing's worse than spending $4 or so on one of these only to have the kid open it and learn it's one of the figures they already have.

I talked to someone today who had this problem. Her son wanted a very specific mini-figure for his birthday, but trying to figure out exactly what was in that package without buying it and opening it up was next to impossible.

Until now. Here's a way to know what's in the package before opening it! For series 1 & 2, it's a barcode tracker. For series 3 & 4, it's a dot decoder. Here's the links you'll need to insure you never end up shelling out $4 for a duplicate again...

Series 1 barcode tracker

Series 2 barcode tracker

Series 3 dot decoder

Series 4 dot decoder

More Rapture fun...

2011-05-24T17:21:00.009-04:00

Good old, certifiably insane Harold Camping is at it again. Despite being wrong and being turned into a worldwide media joke twice now, he's going for the trifecta of thick-headedness.

The Rapture was supposed to happen Saturday. All the good people were going to head off to supper and the rest of forever in Heaven. In the meantime, life on earth would be miserable for the rest of us, eventually resulting in the complete and total destruction of the planet (by God) on October 21st.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, Harold now claims that God did actually show up for a visit on Saturday - spiritually. All we have to go by here is Harold telling us it happened, so of course it must have.

Now there is actual physical proof that Virgin Mary made an appearance on Saturday. She stopped down for a visit in Streamwood, Illinois and found herself on the underside of a turtle. That had to be unpleasant, so I'm sure the visit was brief, but at least she left her mark. See the turtle image on the NBC Chicago website.

But Harold didn't foresee that phenomenon. So back to God's roundtrip road trip on Saturday.

Why didn't God take all his faithful followers up to Heaven that day when he left? What was God's exact message when he returned? And more importantly, is it something that could be turned into a really cool catchphrase that Harold can put on a T-shirt and sell for October 21st? Did God try the secret off-the-menu animal-style burger at In-N-Out while he was out that way? Sadly, we're not going to learn the answers to any of those important questions because there's only room in Harold's mind for one thing - a new & improved deranged diatribe resulting in future false prophecy number three...

The world will still be ending - completely - on October 21, 2011. Here's a direct quote from Harold on this: "The world has been warned. The world is under judgement. We're just learning we have to look at all this more spiritual. But it won't be spiritual on October 21."

Why couldn't Harold just go with the flow and pick December 21, 2012 like all the other crazy people? No, he just has to be different. So this year, the world will be not-ending twice!!!

And for those wondering about Harold Camping himself, he's been making the rounds doing TV interviews. Feast your eyeballs on God's new BFF (in Harold's mind at least)...

How annoying are you?

2011-05-22T21:47:00.000-04:00

There's a new survey online that lets you know how picky, arrogant, and irritating you are.

It's a short 20-question survey, took me about a minute or so to do, and is completely free.

Give it a try here.

On a scale from 1 to 5, I'm a 2.83. That's about average. I'm kind of picky, not very arrogant, but I guess I am a little irritating.

The survey was created by personality psychologist Robert Hogan for the book Annoying: The Science Of What Bugs Us by Joe Palca and Flora Lichtman.

Harold Camping's response...

2011-05-22T07:18:00.004-04:00

...appears to be nonexistent at the moment. Maybe he's in hiding, totally embarrassed by failure #2. Of course, anyone with even half a brain could have predicted that.

I can't say I was surprised at waking up today. I sure wouldn't have started watching the Twin Peaks box set last night had I known I'd never see the resolution of who killed Laura Palmer. Yeah, I've seen it all before, but was in the mood to relive the whole thing again.

One of the best articles I could find on Harold at the moment is something from the International Business Times which speculates on what he'll do today. Maybe he can continue to spend some of the hundred million he wasn't able to spend before the so-called end of the world.

He could always treat himself and his followers to a few In-N-Out burgers today I guess. It's the least he could do after fleecing them of their money and lives. Many of his sheep followers have given up everything, so sure that he'd be right. I can't feel bad for them though since believing something like this is outright insane.

Here's an article from an Associated Press writer about what some of his followers think about all this now that May 21st has passed.

The one thing I could hope would happen is the FCC would take away his licenses for his Family Radio network of radio stations. Someone like that should not be allowed to run radio stations, especially when those frequencies could be used for so many better things.

In light of all this, another song comes to mind now...

UPDATE 5/23/11: Here's a few articles revealing Harold Camping's thoughts on his failed prophecy and what some of his followers think about all this...

San Francisco Chronicle article

National Journal article

L.A. Times article

Rapture & the world ending today...

2011-05-21T15:37:00.004-04:00

At 6pm tonight (9pm Eastern time as this comes from California), the world will supposedly end. Although technically, what's actually going to happen is the rapture.

This according to Harold Camping of the Family Radio Network in Oakland, California. The original date of his prediction was September 6, 1994. But that came and went and nothing happened other than Michael Jackson & Aerosmith winning awards at the 11th MTV Awards.

See a picture of this crazy person and read more about how he came up with his theory in an online article from The Independent.

As for my take on this (I guess I'm about to get philosophical or at the very least "deep"), I'm making plans to maybe go to Darien Lake tomorrow at one point. I probably wouldn't be doing that if I thought the world was going to end. Or rapture.

Apparently, what this nutcase thinks is going to happen is about 2% of the world's population is going to go straight to Heaven at 6pm Pacific time tonight. The other 98% will remain in a very bad place (which if I understand right ends up being right here on Earth).

Now I like being here. Got a lot of friends & family, awesome things to do (Niagara Falls, Phoenix & Viper roller coasters, lots of great books to read, etc), and a lot of incredible food to eat (I'm specifically thinking of the Flying Saucer Restaurant right now - that alone probably excludes me from Harold's crazy bus to the sky). I don't want to be raptured!

And to be honest, I'm pretty sure the world would be a better place if some of these lunatics that believe crazy Harold Camping did in fact get raptured and went away (of their own free will of course). That may offend some, but I know you were thinking it too! :)

The thing that really shocks me is this group has managed to collect a hundred million dollars over the past seven years for this cause! But they weren't able to spend all of that yet. Hey rapturers, since you're leaving anyways, can you send some of that leftover money my way? If of course you read this in the next few hours.

I was going to put up a video of Harold here, but I like this far better instead (because I know it will be appropriate at 9:01pm Eastern time tonight)...

Angry Birds & Pomplamoose!

2011-05-15T21:42:00.004-04:00

It seems everyone is obsessed with that Angry Birds game.

I just haven't been able to get into it though. My favorite right now is Frisbee Forever, easily the best game I've found on my iPhone. And amazingly, it's completely free!

In Frisbee Forever, you throw a frisbee and then have to maneuver it through rings to get through the course. There's tons of levels and I just can't get myself to stop playing this.

Eventually, I'll conquer all the levels and then maybe I'll give Angry Birds another try. One thing I do love about Angry Birds is the theme music - especially when Pomplamoose does it!

They're the group that did all the clever Christmas song remakes this past year for the Hyundai car commercials. The Angry Birds theme is done in their trademark style and the short video is pretty funny (and fits right in with the game)...

Lady Gaga's Oprah performance...

2011-05-09T10:01:00.000-04:00

I'm sure this won't be on Youtube for long, so for now enjoy Lady Gaga performing on a giant high heel with a stingray looking hat on her head...

Steven Tyler's new book...

2011-05-09T09:20:00.000-04:00

Steven Tyler is definitely making the most of his American Idol judging experience. It seems like he's been in the news constantly since the announcement that he would be one of the American Idol judges.

And now the ultimate - a memoir titled "Does The Noise In My Head Bother You". It's been flying off the shelves at bookstores.

Here's a quote he had about the book: "I've been mythicized, Mick-icized, eulogized and fooligized, I've been Cole-Porter'd and farmer's-daughter'd, I've been Led Zepp'd and 12-stepped. I'm a rhyming fool and so cool that me, Fritz the Cat, and Mohair Sam are the baddest cats that am."

Based on that, maybe the book won't be the easiest read. I'm not the biggest fan of autobiographies, so I'll probably pass on this one. But if you want to check it out, get it here.

A Florida Feud: Alligator vs. Police Car...

2011-05-08T21:50:00.002-04:00

So wrong...

2011-05-08T21:09:00.000-04:00

Japan always seem to be on the cutting edge of technology. And usually great things come from that. But not so this time.

It's a device that lets you kiss someone over the internet. Ew.

Miley Cyrus covering Nirvana?!

2011-05-08T17:50:00.002-04:00

She rocked it, but I'm sure Kurt Cobain is now spinning at light speed in his grave...

Pushing Daisies comic book delayed...

2011-04-24T22:42:00.008-04:00

It's been almost two years since Pushing Daisies went off the air. While the show did have a great ending, there were still quite a few mysteries left unresolved. And some of those were going to be answered in season three.

But season three would not be on TV. Instead, it would be in comic book form. Specifically, twelve comic books with the first one being released in early 2011. Which is now. But now has been pushed back a bit.

A division of DC Comics was going to release the comics. But the company at DC Comics, like the TV series itself, has also been cancelled. Or in this case, went out of business. So the wait for the comics (and the resolutions) has been extended.

But there is a little bit of good news. Three little bits to be exact.

First, a black and white page preview of the comic has been released online on the websites for Bryan Fuller (the show's creator) and Lee Pace (Ned / The Pie Maker on Pushing Daisies).

Second, the Pushing Daisies season two soundtrack was recently released (yes, over two years after that season debuted). The season one soundtrack is also still available.

But my favorite news of all is this from a few weeks ago - Bryan Fuller wants to do a Pushing Daisies six episode mini-series on the Starz network. Now maybe it won't end up at that network and maybe it won't happen at all since it's kind of just a writer's wish at the moment. But at least now there's hope that Pushing Daisies could come back to life (much like Chuck and Digby in the series).

He's brought another show of his back from the dead before. Dead Like Me returned with a two hour direct-to-DVD movie over four years after the final episode had aired on Showtime. And one of the storylines from his show Wonderfalls was continued over four years after that show was cancelled in a season two episode of Pushing Daisies. So maybe there is hope this could happen.

But for now, the only sure thing is seasons one and two on DVD (both also available on Blu-ray) and the soundtracks for both seasons.

Andy Grammer's interactive music video...

2011-04-24T20:43:00.001-04:00

The first couple times I heard Andy Grammer's Keep Your Head Up, I wasn't a fan. But thanks to the power of a cool music video, it's now a favorite of mine.

The video is interactive - kind of like one of those old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books.

Some of the choices are basic like who Andy runs into or what color shirt he gets from a dryer. Other choices are a lot more elaborate like how the song ends (a-capella or full band). And all the choices you've made throughout continue right to the end of the video.

You do need the latest version of Flash Player for this to work. If you don't have it, there's a link for the free download (it was simple and easy - I had to do it too).

You can find the interactive video for Keep Your Head Up on Andy Grammer's website. Here's the video I ended up with...

Lady Antebellum & Eye In The Sky...

2011-04-24T19:46:00.001-04:00

Remember the Alan Parsons Project in the 80's?

Everytime I hear the name now, I think of that joke in the Austin Powers movie. While the group themselves did end up just a movie joke, they did have a few great songs in the 80's. Time was always my favorite, but Eye In The Sky was their biggest hit.

So what's this have to do with Lady Antebellum? Apparently an Executive Personal Assistant to Alan Parsons (I am totally stunned that this is an actual position that exists in this world) recently sent a letter to a Nashville magazine saying that hundreds of Alan Parsons Project fans are complaining that Lady Antebellum's Need You Now is a ripoff of Eye In The Sky.

Nothing has come of this yet other than that complaint. I couldn't really hear the similarity until I listened to the mashup of the two songs below. But I still don't think it's close enough to warrant anything legal.

Below are the videos for Need You Now and Eye In The Sky. And then the third video is that mash-up of the two songs...

Weird Al's Perform This Way...

2011-04-24T18:58:00.000-04:00

Weird Al's parody of Lady Gaga's Born This Way almost didn't happen.

Weird Al only releases song parodies when he receives an OK from the original artist. So he sent the track to Lady Gaga's people to get the approval. They responded with a "no".

But then it turned out that Lady Gaga herself never actually heard the track. Her "people" had never told her about it. Somehow she ended up hearing it, loved it, and Weird Al can now include it on his upcoming album Alpocalypse (due out June 21st).

Until then, you can hear the song here...

Water For Elephants movie trailer...

2011-04-24T17:27:00.001-04:00

A guy who takes care of the circus elephants falls in love with a woman who rides the circus horses.

That's Water For Elephants, the new movie in theaters this weekend starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson. It's based on the best-selling book by Sara Gruen.

I usually like to read the book before seeing the movie. But in this case, I'm think I'm going to reverse things. The movie has an incredible look to it and I kind of want to make sure I see this one in the theater.

Here's the trailer...

Burger King's Meat Monster!

2011-04-17T21:48:00.001-04:00

This is so exciting, I just drooled on the keyboard.

Burger King's brand new sandwich has two burgers, cheese, bacon AND a full chicken breast all on one bun. If that's not enough, there's an option to add an egg or a fish patty too!

The calorie count is a nice healthy 1,160 (without the add-ons). After seeing it, I'm thinking I could easily eat two.

I only have one problem with this. I'm kind of fussy about mixing different foods before they're in my stomach and I'm not so sure that burgers and chicken really go well together.

But that's a dilemma that can wait - the Burger King Meat Monster is only available in Japan for now and there's no word on when or if it will make it's way to North America.

Sara Bareilles interview...

2011-04-17T19:42:00.002-04:00

She was in town for two different concerts today - one at Shea's and another at Canisius College. And she'll be back July 8th with Sugarland at Darien Lake!

A few years ago, I got to hang out with her on her tour bus before one of her Darien Lake concerts. Here's the interview from that day.

Sara's website / Sara's Facebook page

The Deep Fried Cadbury Egg Recipe!!!

2011-04-13T17:50:00.003-04:00

I think everything is on YouTube now. I can't believe I found this recipe for deep frying Cadbury Eggs on there.

It's actually a very healthy Easter treat since it's only 350 calories. And when I say healthy, I mean it's more healthy than eating an entire package of Peeps & six peanut butter eggs (which I've done on many Easters).

Enjoy...

Bon Jovi guitar auction...

2011-04-10T17:04:00.001-04:00

You can own the guitar Jon Bon Jovi played "Wanted Dead Or Alive" at Bon Jovi's 2011 concerts.

The auction ends Tuesday. Hope you have over $7000 to spend on it as that's what the bid is up to now...

The killer tire movie trailer...

2011-04-03T21:40:00.003-04:00

I haven't been a fan of movies lately because the good ones are so rare. But all of a sudden, there's a ton of great movies on the way.

The superhero movies Thor, Green Lantern, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Avengers all look great.

And then there's this movie about an extremely evil villain - a telepathic tire named Robert that terrorizes a small desert town. How could this not be awesome?!

It's called Rubber and just opened Friday. Unfortunately, it's not playing in Buffalo yet. :(

The most insane flight safety video ever...

2011-04-03T21:18:00.002-04:00

Air New Zealand has managed to put together one of the most ridiculous in-flight safety videos ever.

But it works. Not only is it hysterical, but it also forces you to pay attention to the dull safety instructions (because you just can't take your eyes off this train wreck).

I won't say anything more about it as you just have to see it yourself...

Darien Lake ride battles...

2011-04-03T19:21:00.009-04:00

Darien Lake has been holding ride battles on Facebook to determine the park's best ride. Take part in the final ride battles (Viper vs. Weather Balloons today and I'm guessing Viper vs. UFO tomorrow) by visiting their Facebook page.

And here's the ride announcements I did for the 2010 season. This was definitely the highlight of the year for me!

VIPER:

Departing / Returning / Delay / Inclement Weather

MIND ERASER:

Departing / Returning / Delay / Inclement Weather

BOOMERANG:

Departing / Returning / Delay / Inclement Weather

Lady Gaga goes country!

2011-04-03T18:58:00.005-04:00

Lady Gaga's Born This Way is a giant pop hit. But can you imagine it as a country song?

She recently had it remixed as a country version and amazingly, it's pretty good (but I still prefer the pop version)...

A sneak peak at Wonder Woman!

2011-04-02T19:20:00.002-04:00

I'm getting more and more psyched about the Wonder Woman remake every day. It's between this and Fox's upcoming Terra Nova for what will be the best TV show of 2011.

Here's a scene that was filmed the other day on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles with Wonder Woman in full costume!

This is especially cool to me as I used to live right around the corner from where this was filmed (my apartment was right behind the Mann's Chinese Theater). I would walk right by this area when heading to the subway or going to get cheeseburgers from McDonald's.

On-air links for today...

2011-03-27T17:18:00.000-04:00

Maroon 5's song that was completed with fan help has been finished! The final song will be available as a free download on Coca Cola's website starting Friday (Coca Cola was the sponsor for this experiment). Here's the link for that.

I'll also be talking about one of Five For Fighting's songs being used in a NASA video! John Ondrasik has got to be psyched about this...

Captain America movie trailer...

2011-03-26T18:45:00.002-04:00

Some movies are meant to be seen in theaters. After seeing the trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger, I think this is definitely one of those movies. A regular TV just wouldn't do this justice. Check it out...

Captain America: The First Avenger will be in theaters July 22nd!

Amazing Race's Phil Keoghan...

2011-03-20T17:42:00.000-04:00

He's the "Philiminator" on Amazing Race, my favorite reality show. Phil Keoghan has hosted the US version of the show since it's start in 2001.

Amazing Race is now in it's 18th season! This season is subtitled "Unfinished Business" and features favorite teams from the past six seasons. It airs Sunday nights at 8pm Eastern time on CBS.

Earlier today, I talked to Phil. The first surprise for me: how to pronounce his name. I've messed this up constantly over the years. I always thought it was pronounced "kee-gan", but it's actually "ko-gan".

Phil talked about what goes on at the pitstops, the cameras focusing on things the contestants miss, the consequences of one of the crew helping the teams, and revealed some of his favorite teams. He also gave a suggestion if you want to be on the show and talked about the earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan.

Here's the full 9-1/2 minute interview (portions aired on Star 102.5).

And here's a bunch of links that go along with it...

Amazing Race - CBS website

Amazing Race - Season 19 Application Form (deadline very near - keep watching the CBS website for Season 20's casting call)

Phil Keoghan's No Opportunity Wasted (NOW) TV Series

The Ride - Phil's documentary on his 3,500-mile bike ride across the US

Red Cross website (to support disaster relief)

New Zealand Tourism

Red Riding Hood & other on-air links...

2011-03-13T16:01:00.000-04:00

Red Riding Hood is now in theaters. I'm a huge fan of dark fairy tales, so this is one I think I want to see.

But I originally thought it was only going to be a dark retelling of the story. Then I heard it might be more like a "Twilight" version of the story focusing on a love interest between Red Riding Hood and a werewolf - that I wouldn't be interested in.

Aside from this short 15-second trailer, I haven't seen anything else about the movie as I'm trying to avoid having it completely spoiled. But I'd hate to bother with it if it's too much of a love story. If you've seen it, let me know what you think. If it sounds scary enough, I'll probably go see it sometime this week.

Here's a few other links to things I talked about on-air today...

Maroon 5 / Pepsi FaceBook page where you can help the group write their new song. And here's the website where it will happen.

Miley Cyrus going after a paparazzi this past week.

Sugarland video: Behind the scenes on their tour.

Pothole resolution...

2011-03-13T13:07:00.000-04:00

Last weekend was not fun due to the giant pothole I hit that messed up my right tires (the picture is the pothole covered in ice). $550 in damage to my car thanks to hitting that pothole the town took their time fixing (and they won't help paying for it). In fact, thanks to a WBEN report this week, I learned that towns aren't responsible for potholes during the winter months at all.

I talked to someone from the Department Of Transportation about it (Brian Skok) and he told me it's just a way of life in western New York during the winter and it was just bad luck on my part. Nice, right? Well, I did get a response from someone else at the DOT and here's her apology for what happened and an explanation of why the DOT isn't responsible for these potholes...

From: Surdej, Susan (DOT)
Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 2:57 PM
To: Dave Debo
Subject: RE: MEDIA REQUEST Skok on Potholes

Dave,

Let me first apologize for the manner in which information may have been relayed to Mr. Anthony regarding his pothole claim. The Department of Transportation strives to provide excellent customer service with a positive attitude.

The information that should have been given to Mr. Anthony is that Section 58 of the State Highway Law specifically addresses the liability of the state for damages over the winter months. Highway Law states that “The state shall not be liable for damages suffered by any person from defects in state highways, except between the first day of May and the fifteenth day of November…” Essentially, the Courts have held that the State Highway Law limits the state’s liability for winter-related defects in the highway. Therefore, unfortunately, the claim for the pothole damage incurred by Mr. Anthony, even if it was reported, will therefore be denied.

The Department of Transportation continues to encourage motorists to report any potholes on state highways using 1-800-POTHOLE. We promise to get those reported potholes filled within three work days of notification unless inclement weather limits or prevents the repair. The Department will even respond back to the caller to them know that the repair has been made. Sometimes these repairs are not long lasting due to the continued freeze/thaw cycle over the winter months, even with the use of high performance asphalt cold patch mixtures, and may require a more permanent repair during the construction season.

I hope that this information provides you some background on pothole claims. If you have any other questions specifically regarding this claim, please feel free to contact our Regional Claims Coordinator, Marc Prentice at mprentice@dot.state.ny.us.

Thanks,

Susan

Guess that takes care of that. The picture to the right is the town fixing the pothole six hours after me and a bunch of others hit it.

I can't wait for that charge card bill to come next month. So much for my tax refund.

Melodifestivalen 2011!

2011-03-13T08:12:00.000-04:00

The best music on the planet comes from Sweden. This year's Melodifestivalen CD proves that yet again. And don't disagree with me, because that's a battle you won't win. :)

Here's my favorites from this year's 32 tracks...

Here's some others with just the links to the YouTube videos...

The Hunter - Melody Club

Run - Anders Fernette

Something In Your Eyes - Jenny Silver

I Thought It Was Forever - Shirley's Angels

Popular - Eric Saade

7 Days And 7 Nights - Brolle

Elizabeth Hurley in Wonder Woman remake...

2011-03-06T16:22:00.000-05:00

Pilot season has begun for the networks and the fates of those shows will be decided in May. This is one that I hope makes it to the fall schedule for NBC. Especially now that Elizabeth Hurley will be one of the villains in it (according to her at least).

I've been a fan of hers ever since she was The Devil in the 2000 movie Bedazzled. And that's huge for me, since there's very few movies I've actually liked and watched more than once...

So fingers crossed that this show happens. We'll know in a few months...

Borders NOT closing / Ultimate Electronics is...

2011-02-14T11:52:00.007-05:00

Apparently, there's a recent Buffalo News article stating that Borders Books will be closing. I don't get the newspaper, so I didn't see it. But I do know if that's what the article says, then it wasn't researched very thoroughly.

According to the Borders Orchard Park FaceBook page today...

Contrary to what The Buffalo News stated...YOUR Borders store will not be closing in the foreseeable future. The team at Orchard Park appreciates your ongoing support and look forward to seeing you all in store soon!

Show your support for the store and love of buying books by liking their FaceBook page. And go buy a book! If you're a fan of mysteries along the lines of Dan Brown's stuff (The Da Vinci Code), check out James Rollins. I've been reading my way through all his books lately. Subterranean is my favorite by him so far.

So while the Borders company itself is restructuring, the Buffalo stores (at least the Orchard Park one based on their FaceBook post) is safe and staying! :)

That's very good news to me as my favorite places to shop are bookstores, CD / record stores, and electronics stores.

Speaking of electronics stores though, it's sad news for the brand new Ultimate Electronics on Walden Avenue. The store just opened a little before Christmas and the entire company is now shutting down. Liquidation is already underway at Ultimate Electronics.

I was thrilled when they opened. Best Buy needs competition. The prices there noticeably went up after Circuit City closed. I had liked shopping at both, always searching for the best deals between the two. But with only one, the deals went away. Ultimate would have been a great alternative had it lasted. Hopefully, the store's employees will all easily find something else in the coming weeks.

UPDATE 2-16-11: The Borders Group filed for bankruptcy this morning. It was under Chapter 11, so this is a good thing - it'll help keep the company strong by allowing them to close underperforming stores (the Buffalo stores both seem to do very well). Here's the full article from PR Newswire.

The article also goes on to mention that gift cards and the Borders Rewards Program will continue to be honored. Something to keep in mind: JC Penney & K-Mart are two other large chains that have gone through this type of bankruptcy within the last ten years and both are still around and doing well. So this really isn't bad news if you're a regular buyer of books at Borders as I am.

Here's the WBEN online article about this and here's the list of stores that will be closing. Both Buffalo Borders stores - Orchard Park and Cheektowaga - will remain open.

UPDATE 7-18-11: Sadly, the end has now come for Borders as well. While there's still a glimmer of hope that about 30 stores or so will turn into Books-A-Million, it's bad news for the company as a whole.

Here's the full article.

Awesome new music lately...

2011-02-05T13:01:00.004-05:00

I've been working so much lately, I haven't had time to make a blog post. I don't even want to think about how many hours I've worked this past week. But the great music keeps me going.

Written In The Stars by Tinie Tempah featuring Eric Turner is finally getting airplay in the US! I'm happy about that, but now I'm waiting for these incredible new songs to show up on iTunes (the last one I've been waiting forever for)...

Amazing Race 18 teams revealed...

2011-01-23T09:07:00.004-05:00

It's been a busy week, so I didn't get the chance to post this earlier. But finally I've got a day where I'm just relaxing and looking around online for new music & reality show news. So here's the CBS press release for the upcoming season of Amazing Race...

Eleven former Teams who fell short of winning the $1 million prize during their first Race around the globe will return for another shot on THE AMAZING RACE: UNFINISHED BUSINESS, premiering Sunday, Feb. 20 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT). Phil Keoghan is the host.

This season, the multi Emmy Award-winning series will be broadcast in HD for the first time as the Racers travel 40,000 miles through five continents and 23 cities. Teams begin their journey around the globe from the second-windiest place on the planet, and travel to such picturesque locations as Sydney, Australia, where they find themselves swimming with sharks; Liechtenstein, where they must measure the length of the entire country while riding a motorized bicycle; and Tokyo, Japan, where they must endure the freezing waters from Mount Fuji as part of a spiritual ritual.

THE AMAZING RACE: UNFINISHED BUSINESS features fan favorites from previous seasons, including the cowboys, former NFL cheerleaders, the Harlem Globetrotters and the Goths. Find out about all the teams here.

Mama's Family & Jeopardy...

2011-01-14T14:53:00.007-05:00

No, Mama is not going to be making an appearance on Jeopardy - again (that actually happened in a season 4 episode of Mama's Family). These are two separate videos I had to share with you today.

The first is Vicki Lawrence as Mama (from the Carol Burnett Show & Mama's Family). She put together a video making fun of the media craziness surrounding Ted Williams (the homeless guy turned media sensation).

It's funny (I always liked her show), but the language is far from G-rated. And naturally, the video has already angered some people. But people whine and complain about everything, so let's not bother with that and just laugh at Mama.

The embed code won't work, so here's the link to the 2-1/2 minute video.

The other video is a practice run for an upcoming series of Jeopardy episodes.

IBM has spent years putting together a supercomputer that's specifically programmed to be good at this game show. I have to wonder about the money thrown away on such a ridiculous project, but maybe they'll be putting this to good use for something else eventually.

The computer's name is Watson and in the practice run, he competes against two of Jeopardy's most successful contestants: Ken Jennings (who holds the record for the most consecutive wins with 74) and Brad Rutter (who holds the record for most total winnings).

The full episodes featuring Watson will air sometime this February. For now, here's the test...

Who is Guster?

2011-01-13T18:52:00.002-05:00

Guster is an incredible group that I'm really happy is finally getting some well deserved radio play!

Their current hit is Do You Love Me, which I've been playing a lot on Star 102.5 because I love it (yes, sometimes I throw in a request of my own during the all-request hour). I've got the video for that below.

But first, the video for the song that originally made me a Guster fan. Here's Fa Fa from 2000 and it's one of my all time favorite songs - I hope you like it too...

Rob & Russell return to Survivor...

2011-01-13T16:05:00.006-05:00

CBS announced today the two returning players. The surprise has been all over the place online the past couple months, but it's nice to finally get confirmation. Here's the release...

LOS ANGELES - Jan. 13, 2011 — CBS announced today that two former Survivors, Russell Hantz and "Boston" Rob Mariano, will join the 16 previously announced castaways on SURVIVOR: REDEMPTION ISLAND when the series returns for its 22nd season, Wednesday, Feb. 16 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Having never been awarded the title of Sole Survivor, Hantz and Mariano return to compete for the one million dollar prize and one last shot at redemption. Each one will join a separate tribe of new castaways at the start of the game, but it's up to the tribe to decide if they will welcome the knowledge of an experienced veteran, or view these former castaways as a threat in the ultimate battle to outwit, outplay and outlast.

Local short film - In The Mail...

2011-01-10T11:09:00.009-05:00

Now that all four seasons of Tales From The Darkside has been released on DVD, I've been watching that just about every day.

But today, I was told about this recently released local short film that's kind of like a horror / suspense version of Tales From The Darkside. And it's only 15 minutes - the perfect length to watch while I was eating lunch.

The filmmaking is impressive and the story kept me interested. I'm going to definitely check out their other YouTube videos later this week (and that's like the ultimate recommendation from me). For now, here's the most recent written by Buffalonians Rian Lehman and Stacy Werner.

Aside from general violence expected in something like this, there's also THE bad word in the song over the end credits. But I like the song and it fits perfectly, so I reluctantly have to admit it was a good choice...

Survivor: Redemption Island...

2011-01-10T09:42:00.000-05:00

Here's the press release I just got for the upcoming season of Survivor...

CBS today announced 16 of 18 castaways who will compete against each other on SURVIVOR: REDEMPTION ISLAND, when the Emmy Award-winning series returns for its 22nd season, Wednesday, Feb. 16 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Two of the 18 castaways, to be revealed later this week, are former castaways who will return to seek redemption.

This edition of SURVIVOR will feature a new twist when, for the first time, castaways who have been eliminated from the game will have an opportunity to seek redemption and return for a chance to win the million dollar prize. Each week at Tribal Council when a castaway is voted off, they will be sent to an isolated island called "Redemption Island," where they will live alone in exile. To stay on Redemption Island, they will need to compete in a duel against the next person eliminated at Tribal Council and sent to the Island. The winner of each duel earns the right to continue fighting for an opportunity to return to the game and the chance to compete for the title of Sole Survivor; the loser is sent home.

The battle unfolds in Nicaragua where the 18 castaways will be divided into two Tribes of nine: the Ometepe Tribe and the Zapatera Tribe. The tribes are comprised of individuals from all different backgrounds with the same ultimate goal: to be the Sole Survivor. While 16 of the contestants are new to the competition, two are former castaways who will be given another chance to compete for the million dollar prize and one last shot at redemption.

Paula Abdul's Live To Dance...

2011-01-03T10:31:00.004-05:00

Live To Dance debuts tomorrow night at 8pm on CBS. Here's a behind the scenes look at the Live To Dance promo shoot...

More commercial music...

2011-01-01T10:25:00.002-05:00

I've got the song "Right Back Where We Started From" stuck in my head now thanks to the commercials for the upcoming season of ABC's The Bachelor.

But it's an updated version. Maxine Nightingale originally had a hit with it in 1975. Then there was a great remake by Sinitta in 1989.

There's been a few other versions too, but the recent one in The Bachelor promos is by a group called Army Navy. It was a bonus track from their 2008 debut CD...

One other commercial song that's been all over the place lately is Holiday by Vampire Weekend (originally released in mid-2010). It's in the Honda commercials that seem to be on constantly. It's also been featured in a Tommy Hilfiger commercial.

The video for the song is strange. You think you can't get this out of your head after seeing the commercial, well good luck after seeing the full video...

Best songs of 2010 (part 6 of 6)...

2010-12-31T07:00:00.002-05:00

Human Frontier - NEO

Like so many of my favorite songs, this one was also part of Melodifestivalen this past year. It didn't make it to the final round, but it's a great upbeat song that I hit replay on over and over.

Standing Where You Left Me - Erik Hassle

His record company was pushing his song Hurtful (a Swedish hit from 2008) here in the US this past year. It didn't catch on. I'm not a fan of that one. They should have tried this song instead, which was a hit in Sweden (imagine that) earlier this year.

Saturday - Basshunter

Very upbeat Eurodance is what Basshunter (Jonas Erik Altberg) is all about. This was his lone UK hit this past year.

Kick Ass (We Are Young) - Mika

Mika does phenomenal around the world, but can't seem to do anything on the North American charts. But it's not a surprise why this song didn't do well here. The title alone would scare most radio stations away thanks to everything being toned down to the extreme for fear of FCC retribution. The song was featured in the movie Kick Ass, thus the name. But that's never uttered in the song. The song's subtitle is the main chorus.

Good Times - Roll Deep

They're a London based group with ever changing group members. I never heard of them until this, which was a giant UK hit this past spring and is my favorite song from 2010.

Best songs of 2010 (part 5 of 6)...

2010-12-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

Electric Girl - Beduk

Serhat Beduk is a Turkish musician who specializes in electro pop. The song is awesome and the video is very cool too.

Break Of Dawn - Eric Saade

He's kind of like a Swedish Disney star, who also found fame thanks to a Swedish reality show. While this isn't even close to being his biggest hit, it's the one I like most.

Lovekiller - Darin

He really is all over the charts in Sweden and should be popular throughout the rest of the world. His record company needs to start releasing his songs throughout the world. This is another favorite from him from this past year. It's kind of got some strange lyrics, but the song is phenomenal.

Best songs of 2010 (part 4 of 6)...

2010-12-29T07:00:00.002-05:00

Somethin' Bout Love - David Archuleta

He had such a huge fan base during his stay on American Idol in 2008, but only managed to make it to runner-up that season (being beaten by David Cook). This song is another one that should have been a massive hit in North America, but didn't even make it to the top 40.

Unstoppable (The Return Of Natalie) - Ola

Here's another song from Sweden's Melodifestivalen. Ola Svensson is a Swedish pop star who also came from Idol but only managed 8th place in 2005. Despite such a low finish, he's had a bunch of top 10 hits (and many #1's) in Sweden since. This is a sequel to his 2007 hit Natalie. The song came in 7th place at this year's Melodifestivalen.

Got You Screaming - Basic Element

They're a Swedish Eurodance 90's group that regrouped in 2005 after a 6-year break. This is about as perfect of a dance song as you can get.

Best songs of 2010 (part 3 of 6)...

2010-12-28T07:00:00.002-05:00

Hannah - I Believe In You

The song is awesome and the video has aliens and a fun theme - it's a perfect combination. It was a giant club hit this past year, but it was the video that caught my attention. Hannah's from Estonia and proves with this song that she's a master of pop music.

Miracle - Linda Pritchard

There's an Ace Of Base connection here - she's choreographed one of their videos. And she's an amazing singer, this being my favorite from her so far.

You're Out Of My Life - Darin

This is the first of many Melodifestivalen favorites. What's that? It's a song contest held in Sweden every year to determine the song Sweden will enter in the Eurovision Song Contest. Kind of like an American Idol for songs & usually popular artists. This song made it to 4th place this year. Darin Zanyar is one of Sweden's top-selling artists and started out on Idol (in Sweden) where he was the runner-up.

Best songs of 2010 (part 2 of 6)...

2010-12-27T07:00:00.003-05:00

Written In The Stars - Tinie Tempah with Eric Turner

Record companies confuse me. This song has been #1 all over the world this year, but it won't officially be released in North America until January 2011. Why they don't just release things worldwide when it's so hot online is a mystery to me. Hopefully, it'll be a US & Canadian favorite here in 2011. I know Shannon Steele at Kiss absolutely loved it when she heard it, but she's forced to wait to play it until next month. I can not get this song out of my head.

Skin & Bones - Romance On A Rocketship

This is kind of a Five For Fighting situation here where the group is really only one person - Kasey Smith from Missouri. The song didn't do much on the charts, but I love it anyways.

Crying In The Rain - Nordic Stars

Despite the title, it's a fun feel-good song. Nothing more to say on this, it's just a great song.

Best songs of 2010 (part 1 of 6)...

2010-12-26T07:00:00.011-05:00

To end the year, I thought I'd put together a list of my favorite songs from 2010.

While I love all the new music that Star 102.5 plays, my true obsession is Europop (specifically music that's huge in Sweden and Norway). Three of my grandparents were / are mostly Italian, but my Grandma Vallone always told me I'm a little bit everything else thanks to her. There's got to be some Swedish in there - that would explain things.

So over the course of the next six days, I'll list my favorites from 2010.

Magic - Stimulator

The song is actually from 2003. And the original by Olivia Newton-John is from 1980. But thanks to Macy's using it in their commercials, this has become one of my favorites in 2010. And people are going crazy searching for who does this remake online.

Wonderful Life - Hurts

This has such an 80's feel to it, I can't help but love it. The group is from Manchester, England and just released their first CD a few months ago.

Butterfly, Butterfly (The Last Hurrah) - a-ha

I've been a fan of a-ha since the first time I heard Take On Me in 1985. This year marks the end of a-ha. I finally got the chance to see them live in Toronto in May - that was without a doubt the best concert I've ever seen. It'll be tough to top seeing my favorite group live after all those years. This is their final single. Here's the official music video which I can't embed. Below is the song only...

Two years to go before The End...

2010-12-21T06:11:00.009-05:00

Actually, 2 years and 12 hours from the time of this post. Apparently, 11:11pm Universal time is when the excitement will begin that day. For those in the Eastern time zone, that means 6:11pm (right around supper time).

But according to a recent article at LiveScience.com, the end now might not happen that day. Apparently, the conversion of the Mayan calender to our current calendar might have been wrong.

So what's the new date? Well that's a question left unanswered in that article.

And keep in mind, this only means "The End". Not the end of the world. It could mean the end of an epoch (we've been in the geological Holocene epoch for about 12,000 years or so now). Or maybe it means the end of a period of a time (we've been in the Quaternary period for about 2.6 million years).

Maybe we'll finally move into a new time where computers will completely take over the world (12-21-12 being around the start of that). Or maybe an alien encounter will happen then, changing everything we know. Or maybe something in our unused DNA (about 97% or so) will suddenly trigger that day and we'll all become psychic.

Lots of maybes there. Maybe it'll just be a day where everyone calls off from work and has giant parties to celebrate yet another end of the world prophecy that fails to happen. Or maybe there will be incredible end of the world sales at all retail stores and everyone will be out shopping for Christmas.

We'll know in two years and twelve hours...

Here's something else to think about regarding 12-21-12: Saint Malachy's Prophecy Of The Popes.

Saint Malachy was a Roman Archbishop in the 1100's who apparently performed a bunch of miracles and in the year 1139 prophesied on the final 112 Popes (starting with Pope #167 in 1143). The prophecies were first published in late 1500's when the original manuscript was found.

So far, his descriptions on each of the Popes have been pretty accurate (it's a stretch for some though).

The 112'th Pope in the prophecy is Peter The Roman. In the description for him, it pretty much describes "The End", even including those words.

Here's where things really get interesting. Our current Pope is #111 on the list and the description does match. So the next Pope (this Peter The Roman guy) is the last one on the list and the one with the description that sounds like the end of the world or something disastrous happens.

So if we get a new Pope before 12-21-12 and his name is Peter and he's from Rome, that could be bad. Or maybe it'll just be a really, really big coincidence.

I originally read about this in a fiction novel called The Doomsday Key by James Rollins. I highly recommend anything by him. He's an awesome author who tries to base many of his suspense novels on actual historical events (like this prophecy).

Just make sure you give yourself enough time to read it before 12-21-12 arrives. :)

Survivor Nicaragua - finale review...

2010-12-20T17:52:00.007-05:00

It was a season that could have been great, but wasn't.

There was such potential for the final episodes with Brenda's conniving, NaOnka's crazy playing, Jane (all that needs to be said there), and Jud / Fabio's insane moments.

But Brenda was booted too soon, NaOnka kind of gave up (even before she quit), Jane was voted off and didn't go completely berserk, and Fabio became normal (and no longer had the love / hate relationship with NaOnka). Add to that the fact that the only big twist (young vs. old) was done away with too soon (and was boring anyways), and this definitely wasn't even close to being one of the best Survivor seasons.

I was very happy with how it ended though. Fabio deserved the win as it seems he was playing throughout the entire game by taking a backseat and making sure he wasn't the one getting voted off. The three consecutive final immunity wins just backed up that he knew what he was doing all along.

I was sad that I took this week off from the station, because I would have loved to interview the winner. But after seeing Fabio talk during the reunion show, maybe it all worked out for the best.

It was nice to see the right person win though! Chase was just too confused and seemed to bumble his way to the end by chance and Sash was too annoying to win. I didn't want Holly to win either had she gone beyond the final four because of how close she came to quitting the game early in the season.

For future seasons, I hope the producers screen the contestants better so they don't get so many people quitting the game. And it would be nice to see less of the usual type of contestants and more characters. The contestants in the early seasons were a lot more memorable. And no more celebrities! Maybe football fans loved seeing Jimmy Johnson on Survivor, but he was an unbelievably boring contestant.

It's rumored that two past Survivor contestants might return for Survivor: Redemption Island. That sounds fun, as long as it's not an entire cast of returning players.

We'll find out soon. For now, a break from reality TV for me until Survivor, Amazing Race, and The Apprentice returns. In the meantime, enjoy the holidays! Instead of reality show posts, I guess it'll be more about music and other random (and probably weird) things the next few weeks.

Hyundai commercial Christmas music...

2010-12-16T21:34:00.001-05:00

You've seen the commercials. A girl singing holiday songs with a seemingly uncaring attitude while a guy runs around the car playing instruments.

The group is Pomplamoose and they're specialty seems to be commercial music. They've also been posting quite a few songs to their YouTube Channel in the form of VideoSongs (which contain no lip-syncing for instruments or voice according to their description).

The thing that originally caught my attention is the kind of unfeeling air of Nataly Dawn, the singer (and you can hear it in her voice). I'm sure that's not really the case though - it's just a very different style and it works so well with the music. It makes the songs distinctive and catchy.

And it makes me watch the full 30-second Hyundai commercial every single time one of them is on. I'll even stop to watch if I'm scanning through the channels and run across them.

Here's Pomplamoose with their full length version of Deck The Halls...

You can get Pomplamoose's new Christmas album for free if you donate a book through amazon.com to the Richmond (California) Book Drive. Visit the Richland Book Drive website for all the details.

Survivor Nicaragua - episode 14...

2010-12-15T23:58:00.002-05:00

That was one of the most insane tribal councils - mainly because of the ridiculous votes.

Jeff Probst pretty much told Jane, Fabio, and Dan what to do. Had each of them voted for Holly, she probably would have gone (or it would have resulted in a tie). The only concern would have been Sash or Chase giving her their immunity idol. But I kind of figured neither one of them would do that. They're not as strategic of players as Russell was when he did that in a previous season.

But then at the very end of the show, it was revealed that everybody (even Dan and Fabio) voted for Jane to leave. And Jane voted for Sash (even while knowing he had an idol that had to be used or it would just be wasted). That leads me to believe something else happened at tribal council that wasn't shown. Otherwise, Dan and Fabio absolutely would have voted for Holly - unless they're two of the worst Survivor players ever.

For Dan, that might be the case. For Fabio, I don't think so. Something was up. Maybe we'll find out what happened at the start of the next episode. And that next episode will be the finale Sunday night at 8pm.

Get back at bad drivers!

2010-12-14T18:04:00.003-05:00

It's like people completely forgot how to drive in snow from last week to this week!

I was on Union Road this morning and then the 90 this afternoon and saw quite a few people who really just need their license taken away.

And it's not just the people who are going too fast (which there's plenty of those today). There's also the people going way too slow causing trouble. If you're so scared to drive in this, don't get on the expressways! There's also the stupid people like the person I saw on Union near the 400 today who was actually reading a book while driving in the stop and go traffic.

Now it's time to get revenge on those people!

I've mentioned before, but it definitely deserves mentioning again today. It's PlateWire.com, a website that allows you to vent your anger and give the terrible drivers the public shaming they deserve. You can post their license plate number and explain why they're such a rotten driver and / or human being.

And get this, the latest entry on the website is from North Tonawanda! Let's call out some of the other crazies out there. But please wait until you get home to do it - don't even attempt it while driving.

The Apprentice / Amazing Race wrap-ups...

2010-12-12T23:54:00.008-05:00

First, The Apprentice. The final episode just felt like another regular episode of the show. And with all the focus on Clint throughout it, I thought he'd win for sure. The producers got me.

Since the very beginning of the season, I was not a fan of Clint. But after talking with Mahsa last week, I was having second thoughts about wanting Brandy to win.

Clint did do an incredible job on the final task and if winning was based only on that task, he should have won. But now that a few days have passed since the finale, I think the right person became The Apprentice winner.

If I had to pick between all the contestants from this season to win, neither one of them would be my pick. But between these two, that's who I would have chosen too.

The ending was almost an afterthought tacked on at the last second. It just wasn't special at all. Especially after learning that two endings were filmed so none of the contestants knew who won either until the show aired.

The Amazing Race finale also wasn't one of the better episodes of the season either. But because it's Amazing Race, it was still a great hour of TV regardless.

The final leg should have contained a lot more challenging things. The only stuff that seemed to matter were figuring out the clue to the TV studio and figuring out the puzzle at the studio (which it looked like the two female teams had no trouble with). I'm wondering if the producers just called the camera and sound people with Jill and Thomas and told them to come right to the finish line after the other two teams checked in (we never saw them arriving at the studio or doing the puzzle).

I wasn't surprised that Nat and Kat won. Based on how they raced from start to finish, I think they deserved it. For Jill and Thomas, it was just horrible luck with a taxi. Maybe they should have done what Nat and Kat did and make sure they had a good driver first. But maybe they tried and we just didn't see that. Either way, I don't think they would have beat Nat and Kat at the puzzle anyways, so it was kind of obvious who was going to win.

So the next season of The Amazing Race is another "favorites" edition with past teams returning. And the next season of The Apprentice will be a celebrity edition. And for the triple whammy here, I'm pretty sure the internet rumors are true and the next season of Survivor will also feature past contestants (we'll know for sure next Sunday during the Survivor finale).

I can't say I'm too excited about any of that, but I'm pretty sure Amazing Race will end up being a good season anyways (the only season I didn't like so far was the "family" team season). As for the other shows, we'll just have to see...

Mahsa talks about The Apprentice finale...

2010-12-09T18:40:00.002-05:00

Tonight at 10pm is the season finale of The Apprentice on NBC.

It's been a crazy season with strange firings, lying accusations, and even cheating.

Along with Joe from our Promotions Department (another Apprentice fan), I talked with Mahsa about all this tonight on Star 102.5.

She talks about the final task she helped Clint with and the Apprentice cast party. We also revisit the Clint / Mahsa scandal that resulted in her firing, what her future plans are, and there's even a shout-out to her many Facebook fans.

Here's the full 13-1/2 minute interview (portions aired on Star).

And here's Mahsa's Facebook page where you can see the picture she talks about in the interview.

Christina Custode's "The Mistletoe Song"...

2010-12-07T18:38:00.000-05:00

She's a Niagara Falls native that graduated from the Eastman School Of Music in Rochester. Anyone who graduates from that school is super talented and Christina is definitely no exception.

You might have seen her perform around the area as the lead singer of Rerun. Visit Rerun's MySpace page for a listing of upcoming performances.

Christina's first release is a Christmas song called The Mistletoe Song, which was recorded right here in Buffalo and can be heard on Star 102.5.

I talked to Christina tonight (and of course played The Mistletoe Song). Here's the full 9-minute interview (portions aired on Star 102.5).

Buy The Mistletoe Song on iTunes, CDBaby, Rhapsody, amazon.com, or Digstation.

For those in the military, get the song here.

2010 Ends With Retro...

2010-12-06T18:25:00.000-05:00

There's been a lot of random retro this year.

a-ha released Butterfly, Butterfly (The Last Hurrah), their last single.

Nelly returned to the US top 40 charts in a big way after a five year disappearance with Just A Dream.

Kylie Minogue released Aphrodite, which features three singles so far (the latest being Better Than Today). None of her recent songs have been a hit in the US so far though, which is so wrong.

I'm sure there's more, but those are the highlights to me. Well now three more retro artists appear as the year is about to end...

Alphaville is still around and that's a giant surprise to me. I loved their 80's hit Forever Young, so I was psyched to hear what they sound like now. And they still sound great. Their latest album Catching Rays On Giant was just released and features the single I Die For You Today...

Pet Shop Boys are back. Actually, they never really went anywhere as they've been releasing singles and albums consistently since the 80's. Their greatest hits album Ultimate was just released and includes the new song Together...

Take That released The Flood off their upcoming album Progress. This is the first album since the mid 90's to feature all five original members of Take That...

And there's still a few weeks left in 2010. Maybe another retro artist will surprise us and release something soon...

The "Let It Be" viral video...

2010-12-06T08:08:00.007-05:00

Tons of sitcom, music, and entertainment celebrities got together for a promo for a Norwegian TV show called Gylne Tider (Golden Times).

And it's a pretty random collection of celebrities. There's Huey Lewis, Ricki Lake, Peter Falk, Tonya Harding, Right Said Fred, David Faustino, Malcolm Jamal Warner, Sherilyn Fenn, Robert Englund, and many, many others. I won't name them all because it's fun to watch and see who's going to pop up next.

The show itself follows the host, cameraman, and sound guy as they travel around to meet some of their favorite celebrities. Sounds fun.

Season 4 debuted in late October in Norway. Here's the promo (which also features the late and great Leslie Nielsen in what might be his final on screen entertainment appearance)...

Amazing Race 17 - episode 11...

2010-12-05T23:53:00.007-05:00

It was tough to tell by the way the show was edited, but it appears that Nick & Vicki missed the flight to South Korea that all the other teams were on by just a few minutes. If that's correct, then they could have easily caught up with the others there if they had finished the Detour task in the previous episode instead of taking the 6-hour penalty.

Only a massive mistake from one of the other teams was going to save them. I was sure there was no hope for them at all. And then Brook and Claire took a taxi to the Detour task when the clue specifically said walk or take a subway only. Why do so many teams make this same mistake? It's got to be clear on the clues! Are they just reading them too quick and not paying attention?

I'm sure they're wiped out by this point, so maybe that's it. Concentrating on even simple things can be tough when super tired. I know that well as I was completely exhausted at work earlier today. The two days of moving snow along with very little sleep took it's toll and made my Sunday a giant blur. I messed up just about everything I did today - it was a complete disaster and I'm sure some of the stuff I worked on has to be totally redone. Ugh. I wish I could take a do-over on the day itself.

Anyways, luckily for Brook and Claire, the penalty for their mistake was only 30 minutes. That almost made taking a taxi worth it. When I heard how little of a penalty there was, I knew that was the end for Nick & Vicki. I'm sad to see them go - they were a good team, and the one I kind of thought would be reflective of how I would do on the race. If I was on the race, I know horrible mistakes would happen, moodiness would set in at times, and mass confusion would be life every day.

So it's the season finale next Sunday! They're really hyping up the chance of an all female team winning the race for the first time ever. With all that hype, I'm thinking it's probably going to happen.

Regardless of what happens, I'm going to be happy with whoever ends up winning. Claire has pushed herself 100% throughout the race and never gave up and Brook was a good racer, so they deserve the win. Nat & Kat were just about the perfect team, rarely making mistakes or getting flustered. That deserves the win. And then there's Jill & Thomas, who could probably use the money a little more than the other teams. And they did race well, despite occasional fighting.

Based on how things have gone this season, I think it's going to be Nat & Kat in first, followed by Jill & Thomas, then Brook & Claire. But it's so close now, just one tiny mistake will throw a team off. We'll see what happens next weekend...