Guaranteed: The Last Blog Post Of 2007

Right now, Tracy and I are taking it easy. We have New Year's dinner reservations, a prix-fixe five course dinner at one of Cape May's prominent eateries. Then, back to our B&B for some New Year's revelry, and hopefully watching Dick Clark successfully count backwards from ten. Happy New Year... the next blog post will be from home.

Requiem for A Phone Phreak

The always-worth-reading Elizabeth McCracken details the life of Joybubbles, said to be one of the very first phone phreaks, in today's New York Times.

Hello from Cape May

Tracy and I give greetings from the southern tip of New Jersey. Yesterday was the first day of our honeymoon and we did a tour of the Cape May Vineyard and Winery and also a nighttime tour of Christmas lights, capped off by a tour of the Emlen Physick estate.

The wedding ceremony went well. The food was great, the Jazz Lobsters were jammin', and people were having a great time.

Of All Days to Link to This...

One of my favorite theatre moments from the Stephen Sondheim show "Company", captured in the incredible "making of" documentary. This is the song "Getting Married Today", sung by three members of the original Broadway cast. The brunette singer who is spitting out words a mile a minute is Beth Howland, who would later play the endearingly dizzy waitress Vera on the sitcom "Alice". The others are Steve Elmore and Teri Ralston.

As I remember, there was a little bit of a turnover in the cast, with Dean Jones (who played the main character, Bobby) being replaced very early in the run by Larry Kert, who was nominated for a Tony that year for his performance, marking one of the few times a replacement actor in a role was nominated for a Tony. But it was Jones' performance that survives on the incredible original cast recording, many copies of which I've owned over the years.

Tomorrow

I'm sitting here, working on a crossword puzzle to send to Will Shortz, and then it hits me.

I'M GETTING MARRIED TOMORROW.

Yes, it's a thought that has ruled my consciousness since I proposed to Tracy back on September 1. But now, we're about 34-1/2 hours from walking down the aisle, and it just all of a sudden hit me how close we are to saying our I-Do's.

Apart from some little nitpicky things on both sides of the aisle, we're pretty much ready. I can't guarantee how soon I'll be back blogging, as I'll be on my mini-honeymoon through Tuesday. However, as with my last wedding, Harry McCracken will be in my entourage, so I would look for some coverage on harrymccracken.com before too long.

If you're one of my regular readers who is saying to yourself, "Gee, Dave, how do I go about celebrating if I can't make the wedding?", we're registered at amazon.com (search for Dave Mackey or Tracy Meyer).

See you after the honeymoon!

"The Voice of Curling" Silenced

We are saddened to hear of the death of sportscaster Don Chevrier at the age of 69 this week. The versatile sportscaster counts among his career highlights calling the first-ever Toronto Blue Jays game in 1977, but to many who enjoy watching the Winter Olympics, he was the "Voice of Curling", introducing many Americans to a sport that is very popular in Canada during the last several Olympic games for NBC, teamed with Don Duguid.

T Minus One Week

Well, it's excitement laced with some nerves as my wedding day approaches. Tracy's told me she may get a little crazed over the next week or so, but what bride doesn't. I am hopeful she doesn't turn into a Bridezilla.

So if postings to this blog are ever more infrequent, that is why. Merry Christmas.

(Oh, and in case you're wondering who I hired to play at my wedding... wonder no more.)

You Have Your Team, I'll Have Mine

Here's a really passionate insight into why the Dodgers ran into difficulty this season... from Alyssa Milano.

DINO ABUSE!

Warning: DO NOT ever grab a dinosaur by the tail. Or this happens.

"Eight Crazy Nights" Begins Tonight

To those who celebrate it, happy Hanukkah.

Counting The Days

We're now just three weeks from Christmas, and as seems to be par for the course for me, I haven't done a lick of shopping yet. Not that I haven't gotten suggestions from loved one, I just haven't acted on them yet. Of course, it's going to be harder this year with the dual distractions of getting ready for my wedding on December 28 and selling my house. So if this blog somehow falls into disrepair, it's because I'm so damn busy anymore.