For some reason I often seem to be traveling during "March Madness." I can remember watching games in San Francisco, Phoenix, Orlando, & in at Stonewall Jackson resort in recent years. This past weekend I watched some games in Laurel, MD, with Adam & Kelly. This weekend I will watch with my friends at our Deep Creek girl retreat . . . fortunately, a couple of my friends are avid sports fans like me! I guess there is something about the prospect of spring that brings out my urge to travel as I am in the midst of my "March Tour" (four straight weekends of travel).
It's hard to believe that spring has arrived, however, since it has snowed every day. I will be one happy girl when this cold weather finally ends. At least the daylight hours are increasing significantly, and it is now possible to go to the track after work.
Feel good story of the day for this cat lover . . . the cat that fell 80 feet from a tree & survived! All she needed was a little kitty ibuprophen.
Question of the day . . . Can the Georgia Dome be as magical for the Mountaineer basketball team as it was for the football team last January?
Every year I have good intentions of having everything ready for both my parents taxes & my own to go to the accountant in February. As in past years, it is mid-March, & I'm still compiling data. Hopefully, the task will be complete before the end of the month. If I were anticipating a refund, it would have been done long before now!
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
What I'd like to tell TV Execs
It is frustrating to settle in to watch your favorite show only to find it's a) a rerun or b) not on. In the winter I do often spend my weeknight evenings in front of the television. I have a few suggestions for the powers-that-be for improving television schedules:
1) Episodic shows do not rerun well especially when random past shows are thrown into the middle of the current new season. Please show the full new season; then rerun it in order. "Lost," for example, has me totally lost with the frequent old shows interspersed among the new ones. "24" gets it right!
2) Give new shows a chance to find an audience. After the money has been spent to hire cast & crew, prepare a set, promote the show, give it a chance. I have heard that this or that new show is good or funny only to find that I couldn't watch because it was cancelled after 2 or 3 episodes. Some shows are instant hits; others take time to develop viewers. Along the same lines moving shows to different nights & time slots in the middle of the season is also confusing!
3) Don't give us too much of a good thing. When the "Millionaire" first debuted, it was a huge success so the network decided to air it a million times. Over saturation killed it fairly quickly. It appears that "Deal or No Deal" may suffer the same fate.
4) Taking HUGE breaks(aka hiatus)causes viewers to either forget about the show or to change their viewing habits so that they no longer care about the show. Would it be so terrible to run a show totally through all it's episodes; then begin a different show? Right now, some shows are interrupted for months with a new show, then the old one returns.
Once daylight savings time arrives, I will no longer care since being outside will trump anything on TV for me. In the meantime bring on March Madness!!!
1) Episodic shows do not rerun well especially when random past shows are thrown into the middle of the current new season. Please show the full new season; then rerun it in order. "Lost," for example, has me totally lost with the frequent old shows interspersed among the new ones. "24" gets it right!
2) Give new shows a chance to find an audience. After the money has been spent to hire cast & crew, prepare a set, promote the show, give it a chance. I have heard that this or that new show is good or funny only to find that I couldn't watch because it was cancelled after 2 or 3 episodes. Some shows are instant hits; others take time to develop viewers. Along the same lines moving shows to different nights & time slots in the middle of the season is also confusing!
3) Don't give us too much of a good thing. When the "Millionaire" first debuted, it was a huge success so the network decided to air it a million times. Over saturation killed it fairly quickly. It appears that "Deal or No Deal" may suffer the same fate.
4) Taking HUGE breaks(aka hiatus)causes viewers to either forget about the show or to change their viewing habits so that they no longer care about the show. Would it be so terrible to run a show totally through all it's episodes; then begin a different show? Right now, some shows are interrupted for months with a new show, then the old one returns.
Once daylight savings time arrives, I will no longer care since being outside will trump anything on TV for me. In the meantime bring on March Madness!!!
Monday, March 06, 2006
This & That
The Oscars . . .
In my opinion this year's show was rather lackluster. The most interesting part was the winning "Pimp" song, & its recipients. I'm no music prude ("My Humps" is one of my workout songs), but it's hard to imagine that song in a list of prior winners, i.e. "Moon River" & "Chariots of Fire" There was also an interesting moment when Jennifer Garner nearly fell while walking to the podium. She did cover nicely with a witty remark! I loved the joke about Bjork & Dick Cheney too. Otherwise, a very predictable show with too many montages!
The NFL . . .
I don't know any of the particulars about the union vs. the owners, but I do know that the current setup allows my small market team (Pittsburgh) compete successfully with the large market teams. I hope whatever the outcome is, they maintain the parity that makes it all work so well.
Podcasts . . .
My sons had some fun at my expense during a recent podcast just because in my haste to blog about some recent Olympic events, I neglected to look up the names of the competitors. This is so like me in daily conversation but is NOT typical of something I write.
Bonus . . .
Today my lunch, side salad from Burger King, had a bonus . . . 2 bags of croutons!!
In my opinion this year's show was rather lackluster. The most interesting part was the winning "Pimp" song, & its recipients. I'm no music prude ("My Humps" is one of my workout songs), but it's hard to imagine that song in a list of prior winners, i.e. "Moon River" & "Chariots of Fire" There was also an interesting moment when Jennifer Garner nearly fell while walking to the podium. She did cover nicely with a witty remark! I loved the joke about Bjork & Dick Cheney too. Otherwise, a very predictable show with too many montages!
The NFL . . .
I don't know any of the particulars about the union vs. the owners, but I do know that the current setup allows my small market team (Pittsburgh) compete successfully with the large market teams. I hope whatever the outcome is, they maintain the parity that makes it all work so well.
Podcasts . . .
My sons had some fun at my expense during a recent podcast just because in my haste to blog about some recent Olympic events, I neglected to look up the names of the competitors. This is so like me in daily conversation but is NOT typical of something I write.
Bonus . . .
Today my lunch, side salad from Burger King, had a bonus . . . 2 bags of croutons!!
Thursday, March 02, 2006
I have a "tip" for you
Last night we went to our customary dinner after playing tennis. The restaurant was not unusually crowded, & we were seated right away. Our waitress, however, seemed a little surly from the beginning . . . Actually acting as if she were doing us a huge favor by bringing bread when we asked for it.
Although we're not typically in a hurry, our service was extremely slow. Our waitress was nowhere to be seen & did not even stop by to check on us. I'll admit I was really hungry since I had skipped lunch but waiting an hour & fifteen minutes for four salads is excessive under any circumstances.
We finally did get our meals with no apology or explanation from the waitress. At the conclusion of our meal, the conversation turned to tipping. Everyone but me felt that we should not leave much of a tip since the service was so poor. I honestly felt there was no need to tip at all believing that a tip should be for average or better service. We ended up leaving a 10% tip.
Here's my real tip for this waitress. . . I realize you can't always control the kitchen, but you can control your behavior. You could have stopped by our table, apologized for the slowness of our service, offered to replenish our bread, etc. Had you been personable & even slightly interested in letting us know you were aware that our meals were taking an extraordinary amount of time, we would probably have tipped at least the standard 15%. Tipping has now become an expected practice not reserved for good service but for any service whatsoever. I do object to feeling compelled to tip when the server is not available or interested in my service. Perhaps if tipping were reserved for good service, the servers might be more interested in providing it.
Although we're not typically in a hurry, our service was extremely slow. Our waitress was nowhere to be seen & did not even stop by to check on us. I'll admit I was really hungry since I had skipped lunch but waiting an hour & fifteen minutes for four salads is excessive under any circumstances.
We finally did get our meals with no apology or explanation from the waitress. At the conclusion of our meal, the conversation turned to tipping. Everyone but me felt that we should not leave much of a tip since the service was so poor. I honestly felt there was no need to tip at all believing that a tip should be for average or better service. We ended up leaving a 10% tip.
Here's my real tip for this waitress. . . I realize you can't always control the kitchen, but you can control your behavior. You could have stopped by our table, apologized for the slowness of our service, offered to replenish our bread, etc. Had you been personable & even slightly interested in letting us know you were aware that our meals were taking an extraordinary amount of time, we would probably have tipped at least the standard 15%. Tipping has now become an expected practice not reserved for good service but for any service whatsoever. I do object to feeling compelled to tip when the server is not available or interested in my service. Perhaps if tipping were reserved for good service, the servers might be more interested in providing it.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Chicken or Tuna?
I heard on the radio yesterday that Jessica Simpson is furious with the MTV execs for portraying her as a "dumb blonde" on her reality tv show, "Newlyweds." Ironically she states the reality show was kind of scripted.
In response to this, here are some questions I would like to ask Jessica?
1) Wasn't your father (who should know you better that just about anyone) executive producer of your MTV show?
2) Did someone hold a gun to your head & make you do a Pizza Hut commercial for buffalo wings?
3) Did you read the script before shooting the scenes?
4) Why is this suddenly an issue?
Having parlayed "dumb blonde" into a multi-million dollar empire, Jessica is now miffed that this image of her is unflattering. Cry me a river!
In response to this, here are some questions I would like to ask Jessica?
1) Wasn't your father (who should know you better that just about anyone) executive producer of your MTV show?
2) Did someone hold a gun to your head & make you do a Pizza Hut commercial for buffalo wings?
3) Did you read the script before shooting the scenes?
4) Why is this suddenly an issue?
Having parlayed "dumb blonde" into a multi-million dollar empire, Jessica is now miffed that this image of her is unflattering. Cry me a river!
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