Category: Television

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Blogging Sports Television Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1.  After a rare one-week hiatus the legendary ‘Grab Bag’ is back with an all-new edition. Last Tuesday night at this time I was at sea in the Florida Straits a few hours southwest of Key West on my way to Cozumel Mexico aboard the Fun Ship Carnival Imagination. In case you missed it I blogged my ‘Carnival Imagination Grab Bag O’ Thoughts‘ last Friday night.

2.  I enjoyed a 231-hour vacation from the mid-afternoon of Friday September 04TH through the early-morning of Monday September 14TH. That’s about 69 hours before the cruise, 92 hours on the cruise, and 70 hours after the cruise. My cruise was virtually smack in the middle of my extended vacation bookended by dual three-day weekends. It’s crazy how those numbers worked out that way !

3.  I watched and enjoyed the series premiere of ‘The Jay Leno Show‘ last night, and so did a lot of you. It was a runaway smash in the ratings. I’ll be DVRing it tonight because I’ll be watching the LIVE season finale of ‘Big Brother 11‘ tonight. This was the most successful season ever as far as viewership is concerned. I will definitely miss it during the off-season.

4.  My beloved Washington Redskins are in familiar territory – dead last in the rough and tough NFC East division. They lost their season opener to the Giants of New Jersey 23-17, but the game really wasn’t as close as the final score. I’m thinking that my ‘Skins should have an easier time this Sunday afternoon in their home opener against the lowly Rams. They are favoured by 10 points with an over / under of 36.5, so that equates to (roughly) a 23-13 win. I’d rather see a blowout such as 42-3.

5.  We’re about a month away from seeing cold fronts reach and sweep through America’s Riviera on a regular basis. Those frontal systems from the north and west will drop our humidity and temperature ever so slowly. It’ll be an El Niño winter, so don’t look for the unusually frigid and bone dry winter season that we went through late last year / early this year. Look for a wetter and milder than normal ‘dry’ season. Last season we had between 15 and 20 mornings that started in the 30s and 40s. I’m forecasting less than 10 of those such mornings for the upcoming winter season.

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Blogging Shopping Sports Television Travel Weather

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– It was pouring down rain at work for about an hour or so just before I left.
– Meanwhile here at home there’s no sign of rain (aside from the thunder).
– The sea breezes are colliding directly over the air base.
– I’ll be embarking on my Carnival cruise in just 92 hours.
– I’m getting more and more excited by the hour.
– But first there’s just one more day of work before my 9-day break.
– There will be no blogging next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
– But I will send out a few Twitter tweets from Key West next Tuesday.
– I won’t have cell phone service from Tuesday afternoon until Friday morning.
– No cell phone service ?  Now THAT’S paradise !
– A spokesperson from Developers Diversified Realty hit up my blog today.
– Check out this hot new web site – shophomesteadpavilion.com.
– My Washington Redskins are currently in the great state of Florida.
– The’re up in Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars in their preseason finale.
– I won’t see it because it’s not a nationally-televised game.
– The Dolphins are over in The Big Easy to battle the Saints tonight.
– That game will air locally on CBS-4 Miami.
– The regular CBS primetime lineup will air on MY-33 which becomes CBS-33.
– That includes “Big Brother 11” – tonight at 8 PM on CBS-33.
– Tomorrow night here on the big green blog it’s the weekly Disco party.
– So grab your crisp all-white leisure suit and let’s get a steppin’.
– I’ve also got an all-new ‘Retro’ for you on Saturday night.
– It’s very mid-1990s, and it’s very Tropical Caribbean.
– Be sure to catch the next ‘Thursday Night Mini Thoughts’ in two weeks !

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Annoyances Blogging Career Driving Life Mail Music Television

Thursday Night Mini Thoughts

– Today – just like every Thursday – was another hectic day at work for me.
– I was facilitating briefings in our conference room for a good three hours.
– The way we do it it’s like “Survivor” and “The Apprentice” combined.
– I loved every single second of it.
– Today is the birthday of one of my earliest friends as a little kid.
– I think that she would have been 36-years-old today.
– I knew her as a 2-year-old.
– I lost track of her over 30 years ago.
– It’s weird how I remember dates like that.
– Numbers are my favourite toys.
– The heavy vehicular traffic has returned to Homestead.
– So have the bad drivers.
– Actually they never left – they just multiplied themselves.
– This morning and this afternoon I encountered lots of slow drivers.
– That’s very unusual since 8 out of every 10 motorists drive faster than me.
– I only check my old-fashioned USPS mail about twice per week.
– I’ve been doing that for awhile now.
– It seems to work out just right.
– I don’t get nearly as much junk mail as I once did.
– There’s a strategy involved in receiving less junk mail.
– I should write a book on it.
– Actually there’s plenty of tips online on how to weed out your mailbox.
– I also receive very few telemarketing telephone calls nowadays.
– Once again – strategy – and common sense.
– I only answer the telephone from people and numbers that I actually know.
– I essentially ignore the telephone after 8 PM at night – even if I know the person.
– I generally make zero outgoing calls.
– That’s on my old-fashioned standard telephone line.
– I only use my cell phone for text messages and now Twitter tweets.
– Some people spend many hours every day talking on the telephone.
– I may spend 15 minutes per week tops talking on the telephone.
– If I lost my cell phone tomorrow I wouldn’t look for it.
– I probably wouldn’t even replace it.
– I can live without a cell phone.
– You can probably tell that I despise telephones in general.
– I’ve had many traumatic experiences via the telephone.
– I’ve been hated-on via the telephone.
– I’ve been abused via the telephone.
– Well these are my ‘Mini Thoughts’ for this Thursday night.
– These are as spur-of-the-moment spontaneous as it can possibly get for me.
– Friday and Saturday are music nights here on the big green blog.
– I’ve got another Disco smash for you on Friday night.
– On Saturday night it’s one of the most unique ‘Retros’ I’ve ever done.
– Be sure to catch the memorable music fun this weekend.
– You won’t regret it pal.
– Until next time my friends – may the good news be yours.

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Blogging Computers Driving Food Internet Music Sports Television Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1.  Yesterday afternoon immediately after work I got in my Saturn, zoomed down Biscayne Drive, hopped on the Turnpike, and cruised on in to Homestead‘s LongHorn SteakHouse during a raging thunderstorm. I figured that the joint would NOT be jumpin’ at 3:45 PM on a Monday afternoon that was the first day of school. I was right. I was one of less than a dozen customers eatin’ good in the neighbourhood. I jammed to hot country music as I ate my delicious grub.

2.  As usual I received great service and great food there during my LuDinner. A ‘LuDinner’ is the longtime term that me and my brother utilize to refer to a late Lunch / early Dinner. It is eaten in lieu of both Lunch and Dinner at their regular times respectively. It is usually eaten sometime between 2 PM and 4 PM. It must always be a MASSIVE meal. LuDinner on Thanksgiving Day is generally mandatory.

3.  It’s been rather wet here in Homestead over the past several days with 2 (east) to 4 (west) inches of rain across the region causing temporary flooding in the usual areas that are prone to poor drainage (such as my entire neighbourhood). It’s turned everything green again after a slight brownage due to a recent lack of rain. Expect above normal precipitation for the remainder of 2009 due to El Niño.

4.  ‘My NFL Weekend Game Picks’ will NOT be returning for a 3RD season here on the big green blog. The twice-weekly blog series has officially been cancelled. I couldn’t fit it in to the new Fall schedule. Alas I have too many hit series on my hands. One such hit series was an instant out-of-the-box smash just yesterday – ‘The Major’s Tweets’. It’s where I blog my TOP 5 most memorable Twitter tweets of the past week. I plan to feature that gem every Monday. 🙄

5.  I saw something rather unusual this past Saturday night. I saw a nationally-televised game from start to finish featuring my beloved Washington Redskins actually lookin’ good and beatin’ up on a Super Bowl Champion team (the Pittsburgh Steelers). Yes I know – Pre-Season – but it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to celebrate a Redskins win LIVE on television. I may not have many moments like that during this upcoming season, so I took in that moment on Saturday night.