Category: Television

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Saturday Night Retro

Back during the Spring of 1996 I visited my Mom, Dad, Brother, and two cats in the Washington D.C. area for the final time. (About 6 months later that year they all moved southward to Jacksonville Florida.) It marked the end of a 27-year  homestead (1969-1996) within the D.C. area for my family (55 years for my Dad going back to his birth).

During that final visit my Brother and I drove down I-95 early one chilly foggy drizzly morning to spend the day at Kings Dominion. We had free tickets to the amusement park because my brother won a prize package on DC-101 (heritage rock radio station) related to the world premiere of the first “Mission: Impossible” movie that was a week or two away.

This song in history – although it reminds my brother of a particularly bad relationship with a former girlfriend at the time – reminds me of those good times that we shared when we went on that short road trip for a day to have some fun.

Here’s the MTV award-winning music video for “Glycerine” from Bush. It’s one of my favourite songs of all-time:

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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

It’s the continuing saga that is my weekly ‘Grab Bag O’ Thoughts’:

1.  Today was an unusually peaceful and quiet day at work. It nearly got boring for me at times. I could have taken a short nap. No not really, but I was actually hoping for some excitement or controversy during the course of the work day today. I got just a little bit of that, but I could have handled even more.

2.  After work this afternoon I ventured over to Homestead‘s fresh new Bed Bath & Beyond for the first time ever. It’s one of my favourite stores in the entire world. Once upon a time no weekend visit to The Shops At Sunset Place in South Miami was complete without a well-orchestrated stop at the Bed Bath & Beyond at Dadeland Station in Downtown Kendall. I could have spent a hundred or so dollars at that joint this afternoon, but I spent a tiny fraction of that instead on a few key items. I may have to return back to the scene of the crime in a few days to take another round-robin tour. YOU KNOW IT !

3.  My nearly year-long search for a new Family Practice Doctor here in the local Homestead area is winding down, and I think that I’ve finally got one selected. My next step is to actually schedule a complete physical with the M.D. (Medical Dude). I hope to do that before the close of this week. My new Doctor will tell me if Lipitor is right for me. I’ve been without it for nearly a year now, and I’m still alive !

4.  I’ve recently discovered JCTV on my AT&T U-verse. It’s just like MTV from about 15 to 20 years ago with lots of music videos shown through the day and into the night and a few shows programmed around the hour-long video blocks. The ‘JC’ in JCTV stands for Jesus Christ, and it’s all about Him. They too (like The Call on the radio) gear all of their content and programming towards the teen and young adult crowd as if there just aren’t any older adults that are closer to my age that need to be rescued and saved by God and ministered to. I knew my blog had a real purpose. This is the purpose driven blog.

5.  This blog will record its remarkable 200,000TH hit (since its inception in 2007) this Thursday night. Thank You everyone for continuing to support this blog by checking it out, reading it, commenting on it, discussing it, and telling all of your friends about it. I do it all for you. It’s a sincere pleasure to be able to share my new Life with each and every one of you. I thank you for sharing your Life with me.

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Annoyances History Home Internet Music Radio Television

Saturday Night Retro

1999 was a long time ago. It was a decade ago. It was an eternity ago – especially for me in light of my life-changing events of the past 36 months alone.

Back in 1999 on the home technology front I had standard cable television (with Adelphia), standard telephone service (with BellSouth), and standard dial-up Internet service (with Shadow). None of those companies exist today. Nowadays AT&T U-verse delivers all of the modern technology to me.

I had to deal with an untimely and unexpected 15½-hour total outage of my television, telephone, and Internet service from early last night until late this morning. AT&T came out this morning and fixed the problem (outside), and now I’m back in 2009 with all systems a go-go. During the outage my only technological link to the outside world was (believe it or not) my antique cell phone with T-Mobile service. It actually came in quite handy, and it reminded me why I actually have a cell phone in the first place – for emergency situations and pretty much nothing else.

Exactly 10 years ago this weekend the cool pop group known as LFO (Lyte Funky Ones) debuted on the MASSIVESMASH.COM Weekly Top 40 at # 30. They went on to hit # 1 for 2 weeks, spend 19 weeks on the chart, and become the # 17 hit of the entire year. Nationally it was a U.S. Top 3 platinum smash at retail and pop radio. Rich, Devin, and Brad have recently reunited as LFO again recording and touring the nation, but here’s how they rolled back during the Summer of 1999. It’s all about them “Summergirls”:

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Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

1.  I hosted some out-of-town visitors today at work. They are essentially my counterparts at a higher Headquarters level. It was a lot of fun hanging out with them and discussing how we do business here at Homestead (ARB). We also went out to Lunch at Homestead‘s very own LongHorn SteakHouse. YUM !

2.  Just as I predicted would happen once the Olive Garden next door opened for business there were not too many people eating Lunch at the LongHorn. Customer service was immediate, friendly, and professional. The food was scrumptiously delicious. I enjoyed the Parmesan Crusted Chicken with seasoned french fries and brandied cinnamon apples. It was a MASSIVE Lunch for my MASSIVE appetite !

3.  Meanwhile over at the Olive Garden the parking lot was jammed and crammed to capacity. That joint was totally jumpin’ – no doubt about it. I’ll wait until after the excitement dies down a bit to check it out for myself. The Greater Homestead area is starting to turn in to a little Italian mecca here in America’s Riviera with the Capri and Nazbar (down the road in Florida City), Mamma Mia, Olive Garden, and (soon) The Big Cheese on U.S. 1. It just so happens that Italian food is my favourite type of food, so I say to BRING IT ON !

4.  It’s the 7TH day of July, so you just know what that means !  No ?  Well it may not mean anything special for you, but for me it means that I am now a mere two months away from my next Carnival cruise vacation getaway. I set sail on the 7TH day of September (Labour Day Monday) on my 10TH anniversary Carnival cruise on the same exact cruise ship that I was on for my very first Carnival cruise during the Labour Day Weekend of 1999. GOOD TIMES !

5.  The 11TH season of “Big Brother” on CBS-TV begins this Thursday night at 8 PM EDT. It will air on Thursday nights, Sunday nights, and Tuesday nights through the middle of September. I don’t believe that I have missed a single episode of the series since it premiered 9 years ago in July 2000, and I don’t plan to miss any of the 30 or so episodes that will begin in just 48 hours. My Summer is just not complete until “Big Brother” is occupying the digital airwaves.

And that’s how I rock and roll on this Tuesday night. Thank You for caring !