Category Archives: Entertainment
Dear Coach Wachtel: I am sorry.
I never had asthma.
I knew so many kids in school who had asthma attacks. They would stop suddenly while running in gym class, eyes wide, mouth open. They would suck and gasp for air. An adult would run over and promptly give them a small inhaler and everything would be fine in moments. It was rare that an asthma attack was severe enough to warrant a visit to the nurse’s office and I certainly never observed any “worst case scenario” situations while in school.
It looked awful. The poor kids who wanted so badly to play badminton, kickball, or even just go for a jog outside had to be constantly monitored by an adult. On particularly humid (or pollen-filled) afternoons, the Guilderland High School track saw its fair share of a child, doubled over, trying to regain his breath.
The same thing happened to me. I would run, play a sport or even climb the bleachers. Suddenly, I had to stop. Doubled over, I gasped for air. Adults would run to me, frantic, asking me about my inhaler.
But I never had asthma. I was just an overweight kid.
Dr. Maya Angelou has died
I have a certain way of being in this world, and I shall not, I shall not be moved.
— Maya Angelou (@DrMayaAngelou) April 29, 2014
Donny and I celebrated our second anniversary yesterday (more on that later). During our wedding ceremony on May 27, 2012, a friend read this poem by Dr. Angelou. It has always been one of my favorites.
The sun has come.
The mists have gone.
We see in the distance…
our long way home.
I was always yours to have;
You were always mine.
We have loved each other in and out of time.
When the first stone looked up at the blazing sun
and the first tree struggled up from the forest floor
I had always loved you more.
You freed your braids…
gave your hair to the breeze.
It hummed like a hive of honey bees.
I reached in the mass for the sweet honey comb there….
Mmmm…God, how I loved your hair.
You saw me bludgeoned by circumstance.
Lost, injured, hurt by chance.
I screamed to the heavens…
loudly screamed…
Trying to change our nightmares into dreams…
The sun has come.
The mists have gone.
We see in the distance our long way home.
I was always yours to have
and you were always mine.
We’ve loved each other
in and out
in and out
in and out of time.
Shoppers call for boycott of Forever 21
Forever 21 is coming under fire after a letter sent to employees was leaked online. The
letter states that Forever 21 is demoting a number of full-time, non-management employees to part-time positions. Those positions include stock associates, sales associates, cashiers and others. The letter states that the demoted employees will no longer receive health benefits and that their regular schedule will not exceed 29.5 hours per week. This has caused a social media uproar, with thousands calling for a boycott of the store. Forever 21 released a statement via Facebook saying the realignment is in no way related to the Affordable Care Act. Forever 21 operates 480 stores nationwide, including one location in Crossgates Mall.
This post originally appeared on the Capital Region Newsroom website.
Valentine’s Rumors
Rumors are circulating (and as yet unfounded) that the property on which Valentine’s sits has been sold to the hospital down the road. The rumors state that the venue and pizza place next door will be demolished to make an additional parking lot for the hospital.
Photo credit: Dan Goodspeed
The owner of Valentine’s does not own the actual building. Valentine’s (name, business, equipment, etc.) itself has been up for sale for a couple of years.
Revolution Hall is No More
Courtesy of http://www.revolutionhall.com
This is very disappointing for those of us who love live music.
After former General Manager Jared Kinglsey vacated his position in January, a new GM was never hired. Yours truly was interviewed for the position, but was then told that his position would not be filled, with the owners instead opting to use outside promoters to book performances.
Here’s the article from the Times Union website.
It looks like Northern Lights is the last remaining mid-sized, general admission venue in the game. They hold around 1,500 at capacity. The Washington Avenue Armory also holds quite a number of patrons but is closed during the summer months for concerts due to lack of air conditioning.
Why I Dislike Awards Shows, Late Night Television and Other Forms of “Entertainment”.
It seems like, no matter what I do, my radio show is always competing with some form of televised entertainment. For several weeks, I was forced to come up with some new “shtick” to compete various events– every single one, of course, fell on a Sunday evening between 8:00 and 10:00. First, it was the Superbowl. The Grammys were in there a few weeks after, then came the Oscars. I had to come up with new giveaways, bigger & better entertainment, just to attempt to get some sort of audience. A bit annoyed, I decided that, instead of channeling my anger through the microphone (and thus, the airwaves), I would compile a list of reasons why I dislike programs like these.
- Shows like Jay Leno are like one big advertisement. Sure, you get the opening monologue, some comedic skits and a funny headline once in a while, but seriously…
- Stars only come on when they have a movie to plug, and that’s all they talk about while they’re on. If they had nothing to advertise, they wouldn’t bother coming on these shows.
- Same thing with bands. All they are doing is trying to sell CDs. For example, I was closing the bar last night and was watching Last Call with Carson Daly. His special guest was a band called The Silversun Pickups. They played a song, providing a bit of entertainment for the audience– that part, I will not complain about. But it was immediately followed by plug for their CD and other ploys for (over) exposure. The business aspect is easy to understand, but what happened to the days were TV was solely for entertainment purposes, rather than marketing endeavors?
- Can I go off on a Carson tangent for a moment, please? How does this guy even have his own television show? I mean, I think it’s great that some short, chubby dude with black nail polish and a bad haircut came from New-York-City-Radio-Disc-Jockey all the way to Internationally-Known-Television-Personality—hell, I’d love for a gig like that to fall into my lap. But this guy has no talent in this area.
- My favorite Carson opinion comes from the Internet Movie Database message boards:
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- “Carson Daly is THE worst TV show host ever. He’s not funny, his interview questions are boring… He seems like he’s not even listening but just waiting to ask the next rehearsed question. Why did he get his own show… He’s such a tool! Plus, now that he’s super skinny he just looks like a bug-eyed freak with a huge head.”
- “Carson Daly is THE worst TV show host ever. He’s not funny, his interview questions are boring… He seems like he’s not even listening but just waiting to ask the next rehearsed question. Why did he get his own show… He’s such a tool! Plus, now that he’s super skinny he just looks like a bug-eyed freak with a huge head.”
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- My favorite Carson opinion comes from the Internet Movie Database message boards:
- Can I go off on a Carson tangent for a moment, please? How does this guy even have his own television show? I mean, I think it’s great that some short, chubby dude with black nail polish and a bad haircut came from New-York-City-Radio-Disc-Jockey all the way to Internationally-Known-Television-Personality—hell, I’d love for a gig like that to fall into my lap. But this guy has no talent in this area.
- Awards shows like the Oscars are just about the same thing, in my opinion. It’s basically one huge advertisement– brought to you by film companies, ASCAP, and the like– to get the public to buy tickets to their movies.
- In the case of Anna Nicole Smith, we complain that “celebrities” like she and Britney Spears should not have the magnitude of exposure that they do. However, what we do not realize is that it is our fault that they are in this limelight: We buy their products, watch their True Hollywood Stories and listen to their recordings. And they aren’t even that good!
- Stars only come on when they have a movie to plug, and that’s all they talk about while they’re on. If they had nothing to advertise, they wouldn’t bother coming on these shows.
- All anyone wants you to do is buy their product. I won’t lie– I hope that reading this will get you thinking (and listen to my radio show 😉 ). if you take nothing else away from my little blog entry, just remember why Whatever Her Name Is won Best Supporting Actress this year. You’ll probably be able to guess– it isn’t for her talent.
Other Articles That May Interest You:
Why the Oscars Suck and What Can Be Done to Save Them by Howie Green
The Girl Behind the Mic 
