Category: Television

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My Fantastic Journey: It’s In The Lyrics

Over 40 years ago Massachusetts-born singer-songwriter Norman Greenbaum wrote and performed “Spirit In The Sky” – a multi-platinum single that became an International pop and rock smash. Although he is Jewish the song is all about Jesus and Heaven.

Prepare yourself. You know it’s a must.
Gotta have a friend in Jesus.
So you know that when you die.
He’s gonna recommend you to the Spirit in the sky.

Goin’ on up to the Spirit in the sky.
That’s where you’re gonna go when you die.
When you die and they lay you to rest.
You’re gonna go to the place that’s the best.

It’s in the lyrics, and it’s in the rockin’ 1986 remake by the U.K. psychedelic rock band Doctor & The Medics. This version of the classic track had all of the British Isles and most of the European continent jammin’ during the Summer of 1986. Even a young 19-year-old chap by the name of Chris M. Day (Airman Hitwaves) went crazy whenever he heard this track get cranked up on the medium wave radio on BBC Radio 1 or on the television on “Top Of The Pops”.

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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

I.  It’s approaching 4:30 PM EST on this Tuesday night as I begin compiling these ‘Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’, so that means that in roughly 71 hours my vacation from work begins – and in roughly 92 hours my Carnival cruise vacation begins (the precise moment that I step foot on that gorgeous and spacious luxury cruise ship). Besides sailing away from Port Everglades I’m also looking forward to losing my cell phone signal for more than a week out at sea and out of the country. No cell phones. No telephones at all. No computers. No Internet. No blogging. No radio. Limited television. Now THAT’S what I call paradise !

II.  I’ll also be escaping more chilly El Niño weather aqui a America’s Riviera. Get ready for 2 rather cool days and 2 real cold nights on Wednesday and Thursday with maximum temperatures in the afternoon struggling to reach the mid-60s, and minimum temperatures early in the morning (Thu. and Fri.) dropping all the way down into the lower-40s with wind chills as low as the mid-30s !  Below normal temperatures (day and night) will probably stick around here for at least the next 7 to 10 days. I’ll be venturing out of continental wintertime and straight into the tropical mid-to-upper-80s of Central America next week. DIG !

III.  Super Bowl XLIV is now history (as is the 2009 NFL season), and the New Orleans Saints SHOCKED the Indianapolis Colts in a surprisingly close (and low-scoring) defensive game. There were a lot of offensive yards (as expected), but I was looking for at least 80 points combined. That didn’t happen, but it was still a good game. I think that the NFC has turned the tide and will soon dominate the AFC just like they did during much of the 1980s and 1990s when an NFC team won 15 out of 16 Super Bowls. As for all of the expensive commercials not too many of them stood out as brilliant or even memorable. The most talked-about, most shocking, and certainly most memorable was actually absolutely free. It was the stunning 15-second CBS promo of “The Late Show With David Letterman” featuring Dave, Oprah, and Jay Leno. I couldn’t believe my own four eyes when I saw that one, and I even watched it a few times over and over again via my DVR to see if I could detect any camera trickery involved. It was all for real. That simple 15-second promo made all three talk show titans look great, and it may have just ended a highly-visible and personal 18-year feud.

Be sure to check out my ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ in less than 48 hours !

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Saturday Night Retro

In 1997 Bill Clinton began his 2ND 4-year term as President Of The United States, the Green Bay Packers beat the New England Patriots 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans, the Dow Jones Industrials rose above 7,000 and 8,000 for the first time, Tony Blair became the new Prime Minister of The United Kingdom, Hong Kong transferred over from British to Chinese rule, Diana – Princess Of Wales – died, Mother Theresa died, The Florida Marlins won The World Series, and everyone was discovering the World Wide Web on their fast new Pentium II / 266 MHz desktop computer systems running Windows 95.

I turned 30-years-old in 1997, and I mostly hung out at home with my little buddy Boots of the feline species. My Mom, Dad, and Brother lived up near the Intracoastal Waterway on the far-east side of Jacksonville Florida with our aging childhood cats Fluffy and Barney. On selected weekends throughout the year my 22-year-old brother and I would meet halfway in the state – Orlando – for a few days and nights of fun at the amusement parks, nightclubs, and shopping and restaurant meccas. One of the great techno songs that we used to dance to on the nightly countdown to Midnight celebration at Downtown Disney Pleasure Island was this rockin’ jam of the time:

This concludes another fun week of blogging for me from Tuesday night through Saturday night. 6 blog posts. 5 days. All good. I’ll do it all over again next week from Tuesday night through Friday night before I take a 10-day hiatus from the blog. In fact next week’s ‘Saturday Night Retro’ will occur on Friday night, and it’ll be a song straight out of 1985. Have a great weekend my friends, and I’ll catch ya back here on Tuesday night for my ‘Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’.

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Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Let’s get spontaneous.
– Can we talk here ?
– For the past week I’ve been riding around in a nice new shiny red Mustang !
– If I had a dream car then that would be it – aside from the color.
– I drove around Homestead in a red car for 8 years from 1989 to 1997.
– It went from shiny red to faded red during those 8 years.
– The Ford Mustang was actually the rental car of my best friend.
– He’s turning it back in tomorrow morning.
– I’ll never see it again.
– I guess that I’ll just have to buy my very own Ford Mustang.
– But it won’t be a shiny red one.
– Maybe a bluish-silver one.
– That seems like it would be a cool color to ride around in.
– I should visit my local Ford dealership one of these days and look around.
– I’m watching Jay Leno on Oprah right now.
– I’m with ‘Team Jay’.
– I’ve been watching him ever since he took over for Johnny Carson in 1992.
– There are a lot of Jay Leno haters lurking all over the Internet.
– I never ‘got’ Conan O’Brien, but I’m not a hater.
– I’ll be returning to “The Tonight Show” to see Jay back where he belongs.
– Yesterday’s edition of ‘My Fantastic Journey’ was quite emotional for me.
– It was inspired by a praise report that I recently received via E-Mail.
– If my blog saves a life and brings someone to God then it’s all worth it.
– I believe that my blog has saved at least 4 lives – probably more.
– The fact that my written words led someone to God brings me tears of joy.
– I’m not a very good speaker, but I’m working on that issue.
– My skill has always been in my writing.
– God wants us to use our skills to change the world and make it better.
– I can only hope that my blogging ministry here impresses God.
– I have come to a decision regarding my future blogging schedule.
– For the first time since 2007 I will no longer do a new blog every day.
– I’m reducing down to a 5-day-a-week schedule effective immediately.
– It’ll be a Tuesday through Saturday blogging schedule.
– I will produce no new blog entries on Sundays and Mondays.
– That will free up some time to concentrate on some other projects.
– All of the popular Tuesday through Saturday blog entries will continue on.
– That means a full slate of ‘Retro’ every Saturday night.
– This Saturday night it’s a moldie-oldie from 1972.
– It’s a song that boldly declares that “It Never Rains In Southern California”.
– But before that get ready to dance to K.C. & The Sunshine Band.
– That’s tomorrow night on my ‘Disco Party’.
– Be sure to be there for the fun that just won’t stop until we reach the top !
– You won’t regret it pal.