McCracken Hangs It Up -- Again

Lest you think that the resignation from Harry McCracken from PC World Magazine is becoming an annual event, this time he means it. Last year, Harry (my very good friend of almost two decades) resigned in a dispute with upper management at the magazine, but later recanted the decision after powwwows. Now he's about to launch his own venture - we're not quite sure exactly what it's going to be but we know that Harry knows his way around HTML. We'll let you know when it launches! Good luck, Harry.

Oh Boy! Videos of Records Playing!

This guy direct-outed a couple of goodies. First, the Cold Blood version of the Donny Hathaway tune, "Valdez in The Country"...



And, Lighthouse's "One Fine Morning", played off the vinyl as it should be. Warning: Do not play any version of this song from a CD, as the remastered version is horrible. All you kiddies, this was like Canada's answer to Chicago, and it even had Howard Shore in the sax section.

7359: UGLY

Sadness of the day, more so than the Mets dropping the third game of four to the Nationals (so full of Mets castoffs it's embarrassing), was Mike Pelfrey's no-hit bid being broken up in the 7th.

Come on, dude. We need that no-hitter.

Pinball in Allentown This Weekend!

If you love the pin and ball as do the Mackey Bros., check out the Pinball Wizards Convention this weekend at the Agri-Plex, in Allentown, PA. We'll be there Saturday; any more time spent there and my wife would have my head. It's $15 a day to get in, and you can play pinball all day for free. Our hands are usually aching by 5 or 6 p.m., but it's a happy day well spent (and afterwards, we eat at the Waffle House off the Interstate, which is the nearest one to my house). It's also a great place to buy or sell your machine. We are planning on bringing my three machines next year, all Gottliebs: Mayfair (1966), Roller Coaster (1971), and Spin Out (1975).

The Mayfair was a machine I picked up last October intending it to be a surprise Christmas gift for my wife and stepdaughters, but lack of suitable space in the house nixed that idea, so the machine is currently in storage. I won it on an eBay auction for $200, priced low because it wasn't working. (It turns out the guy I bought it from is employed by the same school system I teach in, as a bus driver.) Within a day or two of bringing it to my old house, I had the thing running again. I put about $200 worth of new parts on it, including new rubbers and some new lane guides, and it looks and plays like a champ. The playfield on this one is in outstanding shape. Roller Coaster and Spin Out were purchased in the late 1980's-early 1990's and were on location in arcades near me - the Roller Coaster was at the old Palace Amusements in Asbury Park, while the Spin Out was purchased from Buccaneer Bill's arcade in Lavalette. They haven't been set up lately, so I'm just wondering what they're going to do once under power again.

All-Stars Already?

Voting has been opened for this year's All-Star Game, which is being held this year at the soon-to-be-demolished original Yankee Stadium. Go to the MLB website and vote. Back in my day, you had to send in punch cards which had the most likely candidates. If you wanted Bobby Pfeil on the team, for some odd reason, you had to write him in. The online ballot works much the same way.

When Irish Eyes Are Voted Off By The Great Unwashed

The Los Angeles Times' Richard Rushfield on the unfortunate voting-off of Carly Smithson on "American Idol".

I had Carly to win. Really. The more I saw her, the more I liked of her performances and her feisty and fun Irish attitude. (If they ever decide to remake "The Commitments", here's your girl.)

UPDATE: The Idol Tour Dates have been announced. Carly and the gang will be rolling into Atlantic City on Saturday, August 2nd, with an on-sale date of Saturday, May 17 at 10:00 a.m.

Da Mets

As you can tell, I've been strangely silent on the issue of the New York Mets so far this season. If you've come late to the party, be it known that I am now in my 42nd year as a New York Mets Fan, having first embraced the team in the latter days of Casey Stengel's run as manager.

It seems to me that in spite of the same personnel (except maybe Pedro, who's out with hammy issues), the Mets team that has taken the field this week (and won all five of their games so far) is a lot more together than the team who played the first two weeks of the season. And it's great that the Mets are taking the Phillies to the cleaners, as that team did them dirty last year, especially near the end. This excites me no end.

But I'm still waiting for that no-hitter. All that pitching talent and no goose-eggs to show for it.

Wrong Blog, But Hey...

Here's a puzzler from that puzzlin' guy, Pat Sajak.

It's (Almost) Harry McCracken Day

This is a heretofore unseen picture from December 28, 2007. You all know what happened on that day. As with a similar ceremony on October 15, 1994, I said, "You know who needs to be a part of this? Mr. Harry McCracken." It was in his presence that I proposed to Tracy, so after all he was very deserving of a place in my wedding party for the second time. I've known Harry for almost two decades, and can't think of anyone else who could have stood at my side (besides my brother) at this affair.

Anyway, April 2 (about one hour away as I write this) is Harry's birthday, so I hope you'll all be wishing him a merry xxth birthday.

Miss Me on "Millionaire"?

In markets that air two episodes of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire", this Thursday you can see the episode that I was featured on last season.

"So, what do you do for a living?"

An easily answered question, but in 1950, producer Mark Goodson answered the question most eloquently with a pioneering panel show called "What's My Line?". For seventeen years, and another seven in syndication, a parade of people with the widest variety of jobs you could imagine passed by a panel of four whose job it was to ask questions to find out what they did. "No" responses caused the questioner to lose his or her turn; ten "No"'s and the contestant won $50.

In 1975, ABC (of all networks, since "WML" remained CBS property) mounted a 25th anniversary special for the show, featuring Mark Goodson, panelist Arlene Francis, and original host John Daly. Thanks to the good offices of Mike Klauss, you can see this special. Part 1 is embedded below, and you can easily get to the other eight parts from there. Enjoy.



On the same subject, J. Keith van Straaten is currently mounting his What's My Line Live Onstage show in New York City on Monday evenings - check it out!

Pat In '08!

Pat Paulsen is running for president again,, in spite of his current status.

Mets No-Hitter Watch Update!

Fervent as we are in our desire to see one New York Mets pitcher toss a no-hitter, we've found an entire website devoted to it... No No-Hitters has blithely taken up the mantle. Wish they would have given a little credit to us for originating the idea, though.

UPDATED: We put our counter back. What if nonohitters.com goes down? Then you can come here for it. Regardless, tomorrow the season starts. What better way for Johan Santana to begin his Mets career than a no-hitter against the Marlenes?

Plea for Donors

An old friend of mine from back in the days of BIX needs your help.

Emru Townsend, who with Harry McCracken was one of the moderators of the BIX animation conference, also editor of FPS Magazine, and now a technology blogger for PC World's website, has been diagnosed with leukemia. A complicating condition called "monosomy 7" does not guarantee that the cancer will be completely gone, even with successful chemo.

Bottom line is that Emru needs a bone marrow transplant, and there are not enough black donors in the bone marrow registry (Emru is black) to ensure a match from existing donors.

Although Emru's best chance at a match comes from anyone who shares his ethnicity, I would urge you to join a registry, no matter your color. It is quick and (almost) as painless as getting a blood test. Chances are, you may be a match for Emru.

I would urge you to visit HealEmru.com and see how you can help.

Clampett vs. The World

About ten years before he died, Bob Clampett seemed to be everywhere, promoting (and some say puffing up) his role in creating the Warner Bros. cartoons, wearing those jackets Sody made for him and that Roy Orbison haircut. And all the other creators were up in arms.

None was more so literate on the matter than Chuck Jones. And one day in 1975, as Clampett-soaked projects like "Bugs Bunny Superstar" and "Camera Three: The Boys From Termite Terrace" clogged the psyche of adolescent cartoon fans, he decided to vent to Tex Avery. (Tex, by the way, would have celebrated his 100th birthday last week.) Jim Engel, longtime cartoon and comics fan, has scanned a copy of the letter with Tex's notations on Scott Shaw!'s Oddball Cartoons website. It's interesting reading and you get a good picture of the cameraderie most of the WB cartoonists shared. You've read the excerpts, now get the whole picture.

Through The Miracle Of Modern Science...

...we now have a better idea what J.S. Bach might have looked like.

I'm Not Watching The Oscars Tonight

I could give a rat's ass about the movies that are nominated. The best movie I saw this year was probably "Knocked Up". A film totally overlooked by the Academy.

And I'm probably not alone. Here's Mitch Albom in the Detroit Free Press about why it always seems to be the depressing movies that get the Oscar nods.

Snow Day? What's That?

Well, it's been a little over three years, but the little kiddies in Toms River have gotten their snow day.

I don't have a record of the exact date since I no longer have my journal from that school year, but the last snow day our district had was in the 2004-2005 school year. We had gone through two entire school years without losing a day to weather, until today, which would have been the 107th day of school.

This now means, unfortunately, that the end date of our school year now becomes Monday, June 16.

UPDATE: The last snow day was February 25, 2005. It was also a Friday.

Sorry, Earl

We've once again had to take Earl Kress off our blogroll due to inactivity. I'm sure he's just swamped with projects. Hope to see you back soon, Earl. We've been fans here since "The Oddball Couple". No, really.

Pitchers and Catchers!

Yes, today is the day that pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training for a lot of clubs, the beloved New York Mets included.

All the focus this spring of course will be on Johan Santana, who the Mets just picked up and signed for a significant amount of money - most ever paid to a pitcher, I heard. Hopefully Mr. Santana will bring the stuff home and it's going to be an exciting final season at Shea Stadium before they tear it down.

Meanwhile, you can now get your SANTANA 57 tees. They've just come out, and I think you can get them in all three colors - black, blue and orange. I went to one store and they were already sold out of the adult sizes (yet, inexplicably, they still had some LODUCA 16 on the shelves. If I hadn't already thrown out my Matsui shirt, I'd have a place to put it.)

The "Sign Man" Is No More

The New York Times on the passing of Shea Stadium fixture Karl Ehrhardt, who for years sat behind third base and held up little signs that commented on the action.

The WOR-TV cameras would frequently zoom in on Ehrhardt whenever he picked up one of his professionally lettered signs, always the right sign at the right moment. When the Mets won the World Series in 1969, Ehrhardt brandished a sign which read "THERE ARE NO WORDS".

Sidebar: You have to know what watching a Mets game was like back then. There was no SNY. Every game was on broadcast TV, specifically WOR-TV (now WWOR-TV, a MyNetwork affiliate). The Mets switched to WPIX about a decade ago. Radio skipped around from station to station - I think in the championship year of 1969, it was on WJRZ-AM out of Hackensack, NJ well before its rebranding as WWDJ (home of Bwana Johnny among others) and rebirth as a religious station. (The WJRZ calls were soon adopted by a station in Ocean County.) By that time the games moved to WHN, and eventually to WFAN where they are today.

Since we never went to the games in person, we had to settle for TV, with its more primitive camera angles. We think WOR-TV broadcast the games on a budget of about 50 cents each. The outfield fences were green back then. (We knew that from reading yearbooks; never had a color TV back then.) The sights and sounds of the game included broadcasters Lindsey Nelson, always outrageously dressed in sort of an odd cultural bridge between Liberace and Rod Roddy, Bob Murphy (who was best experienced on radio) and Ralph Kiner. Jane Jarvis' organ punctuated all of the action; today in sports arenas, the organ and other sounds are largely on tapes.

Banner Day was one of the big promotions - it took place between games of a scheduled double-header (remember those? bet you don't). People would come in with spraypainted bedlinens and other outpourings of love for the Amazin's, then the Mets themselves would offer their own banner to the fans after the banner parade had ended.

And in all these years, it had never occurred to me why Karl Ehrhardt never won the Banner Day prize. He didn't need to. For all those years from his third-base field-level box, he put into words what Mets fans felt.

Don't Meet These Spartans

I don't ordinarily do movie reviews - that's best left to the many "experts" on the Internet who think they're A.O. Scott - but I have to say that "Meet The Spartans" probably represented the most excruciating 75 minutes I've ever spent in a theatre. Only redeeming feature: Carmen Electra. That's pretty much the only time I was awake during the film.

Had I known from the start this film was so poor, I wouldn't have gone. I publicly regret making the decision to see this film.

THE THIRD ANNUAL DAVEMACKEY.COM SUPER BOWL AD REVIEW

Well, the game is over, and thankfully the Giants won. Now, as the NFL league goon hands out the mandatory hats to mark the victory, we start sifting through the multitude of ads that appeared during the game. Which ones scored, and which ones were just plain poor? Here we go...

Coca-Cola "Balloons" A

Coke came late to the party with two fourth-quarter spots, but these were beauts. In the first, at a parade, giant balloons of Underdog and Stewie Griffin battled it out over a balloon of a Coke can. I can't imagine either drinking Coke, but hey. Charlie Brown swoops in and grabs the can. Finally, he wins at something. We liked the changing expressions on the faces of Underdog and Stewie, and the timing couldn't have been better - the ad appeared roughly when Lois would have been singing the opening song of "Family Guy". The other Coke ad garnered a strong B grade. In it, Bill Frist and James Carville go out for a Coke and put aside their political differences.

E-Trade "Baby 1" A, "Baby 2" B

Sure, the baby talking as a human has been done before, but I kinda liked these ads. In the second one, the baby hires a clown. Very good.

Bud Light "Makes You Fly" B, "Makes You Breathe Fire" B

The two most creative of the Bud Light ads, traditionally the Bowl's funniest, take a slightly different tack. This time, the ads start out straight, and then postulate the miraculous things Bud Light can allegedly do. The best of the "traditional" Bud Light ads, "Wine & Cheese", earned an A. The other Bud Light ads were fairly pedestrian, including one of last year's ads coming back for a rare bowl rerun*, and one promoting some Will Ferrell movie.

* NOTE: This ad was actually a refry of last year's spot with Carlos Mencia teaching an ESL class. Just as tasteless as last year's similar ad.

Doritos "Kira Grannis" B, "Billy Federighi" B-

This year's Doritos spots weren't about the flavor. The Kira Grannis spot showed a lady by this name singing a song for sixty seconds. Quite pleasant. The Billy Federighi spot is user generated content, and shows how you can make giant mice appear when you eat Doritos.

T-Mobile "Hi Chuck" A

This is the first T-Mobile ad I've actually like since they canned Catherine Zeta-Jones as their spokesperson. In it, Charles Barkley talks quite a bit to his five favorite people, who are quite annoyed to have Sir Charles always calling them about minor things.

Gatorade "Drinking Dog" D-

As Ed Selzer asked Chuck Jones and the boys what was so gosh-durned funny about bullfights, I ask the folks at Gatorade, what in the blue hell is so funny about 30 seconds of a dog drinking? Gatorade's previous ad got a C, primarily because Derek Jeter is in it. Oh, please.

Bridgestone Tires "Richard Simmons" F

Automatic disqualification for Do Not Attempt, but we do chuckle at the thought of running over Richard Simmons. Bridgestone's other ad also received an F for DNA, as did the final in-game spot - one for Amp which showed a man connecting jumper cables to his nipples.

FedEx "Carrier Pigeons" B

Probably this year's funniest spot, a company makes do with carrier pigeons, some quite large, to get their shipments there faster (if the carrier pigeons don't drop them first).

GMC Yukon "Animated Guy Pushing Rocks Up A Hill" B

This animated spot was the best of several animated ads in the game. Too bad it was wasted on a Bullymobile™. The others, both for Salesgenie.com, fell flatter, earning a C for their first spot and a D for their second.

Godaddy.Com "Danica Patrick" B

The commercial is basically a tease to go to their website to see their real spot, which Fox rejected. It has something to do with beavers. And Danica Patrick. But it worked. I went there. Not that I need to register domain names.

Tide Pen "Talking Stain" A-

The Tide Pen saves the day at a job interview, where all the hirer hears is the gibberish generated by the stain on a man's shirt. I called out "Tide Pen!" at about :15 into this spot. And hey, Tide and other advertisers (including the aforementioned Doritos): why are you hiding behind URL's that don't disclose your product's name? It makes more sense for me to go to tide.com rather than theincredibletalkingstain.com or some crap like that.

Briefly, how all the other ads fared, in order of appearance. We only counted in-game ads, not local ads or ads during halftime.

Audi R8 B-

Diet Pepsi Max :60 D

Underarmour B

Dell D

Cars.com "Flaming Stone Circle" C

Budweiser C - this was USA Today's highest ranking ad, but it left me cold

Toyota "Badgers" C

Garmin C

Career Builder #1 D

Life Water C

Planters D

Pepsi "Timberlake Promo" C

Cars.com "Witch Doctor" C

Vitamin Water B-

Ice Cubes C

Career Builder #2 C

Hyundai Genesis #1 B

Sunsilk D

Toyota Sequoia C

Taco Bell D

Hyundai Genesis #2 C

Victoria's Secret C

Movie ads, which are not rated, included Wanted, Iron Man, Leatherheads, Prince Caspian, Wall-E, Jumper, and You Don't Mess With The Zohan. Nor was the NFL's house ad, a most entertaining look about an oboe player's odyssey into the league, nor was the drug abuse PSA that ran during the game in which a pusher complains about his lack of business these days.

Mixed Weather Report

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow.

Staten Island Chuck did not.

Hey, Dr. Frank Field and Tex Antoine used to disagree back in the day, too.

SANTANA 57

Makes you forget all about that other Santana that played at Shea, don't it?

Now, with Johan Santana as part of the pitching staff (and arguably its ace, if not its Opening Day starter), I can predict that Shea Stadium, in its final year, will finally have a home team pitcher throw a no hitter. (And before you ask, no, the New York Yankees did not have a no hit game during their brief tenancy at Shea while Yankee Stadium was being refurbished in the 70's. In fact, they didn't have a single one from the time Don Larsen threw his World Series perfect game to Righetti's 1983 gem.)

TLC Doesn't Get It

If I were TLC, and I knew that people were going to be interested in "Trading Spaces" again because of the return of Paige Davis, I'd be promoting it up and down, right?

No. Because TLC is locked into a who-cares beauty pageant (move it back to Atlantic City WHERE IT BELONGS and I'll care again, thank you), that's getting all its promo time.

So remember. TLC, tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. NOT 8:00 P.M. Thank you very much.

EDIT: Not five minutes after this went up on my site, TLC threw a promo. Shows Paige Davis and the new TS logo. Many of the new cast members introduced in the just-ended season will be returning, and two of the "classic" designers - yes, the Gruesome Twosome themselves, Doug and Hildi - will be aboard as well!

Don't Put This Tiger In Your Tank

Here's a commercial for Esso, an earlier incarnation of Exxon, and take a look at that wacky image at the end - doesn't it remind you of the end of "Betty Boop, M.D."?

Steve Turre Is So "In The Moment"!

I often cringe when I hear the phrase "in the moment", partly because when word got out that Barbra Streisand had been enamored of Andre Agassi (prior to her marriage to James Brolin, and his marriage to Steffi Graf), one of the things she said was, "His tennis is... so in the moment."

However, that phrase may fairly be applied to Steve Turre, for over 20 years one of my favorite trombone players. Occupant of the trombone chair on "Saturday Night Live" since 1985 and runner-up for longest band tenure with Earl Gardner (Leon Pendarvis has been there the longest, 28 seasons), and very busy off the show as well, there is a great article in this month's International Musician that catches us up with Steve and some new projects he's working on, including an album with New York Philharmonic principal trombonist Joseph Alessi.

Mort Garson 1924-2008

The synth genius passed away last Friday at the age of 83 in San Francisco. He put out a slew of electronica albums in the 60's and 70's but TV fans of my generation remember him best for writing game show themes, the best known of which was perhaps the theme to the long-running "Gambit". Thick with electronic textures and gee-whiz effects, Garson's electronic themes became the template for many similar game show themes such as "Concentration" (Edd Kalehoff) and "Spin-Off" (Nick Nicholson).

In a world where so much game show music is out there, relatively few Garson cuts have made it onto the trading circuit (Those that have included his "Gambit" open and close, and the later "Magnificent Marble Machine" and "Battlestars".)

The man is gone, now let his music live on (all you music hoarders out there).

UPDATE: There is more Garson music out now. I guess someone was listening. If you go to The Television Production Music Museum and click on "Listen" and then click on "Mort Garson", you will be duly rewarded. The unknown cut #4 is the "Baffle" theme, and if you look hard enough you will find one other "Baffle" cue.

The Height Of Hannah Fever

It's really weird. I had a student ask me yesterday in the most reverent and hushed tones, "I hear that Walt Disney died. Is that true?" Stopping short of telling the young man about the whole freezing thing, I informed him that yes, Walt Disney did die... forty years ago.

Anyhoo...

My two stepdaughters, different as they may be (one's 11, the other, 8), do share one thing in common - they both love the Disney Channel character "Hannah Montana". Played by talented teen Miley Cyrus, Hannah is a music star who leads an interesting life offstage as well, where she deliberately keeps a low profile and very few people know she's really a rock star.

Tonight, they will be in their glory.

Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City is going to be tonight's stop on the "Hannah Montana-Miley Cyrus Best Of Both Worlds Tour", and I am probably one of only a handful of people out there who got the tickets at face value. And NO, I AM NOT SELLING THEM. Don't even ask. Opening for Hannah and Miley will be the Jonas Brothers, another popular group championed by Disney. There's a possibility that Miley's dad - the ever popular Billy Ray Cyrus, your achy breaky hunk of a country star from the 90's - will show up too.

(I often confuse the Jonas Brothers with Nickelodeon's Naked Brothers Band, which is populated by offspring of the marriage of Michael Wolff and Polly Draper and is actually quite a funny show, usually written and directed by Draper. Nickelodeon is probably going to put more marketing oomph behind the Naked Brothers, as they cannot get pregnant.)

We'll make a day of it, complete with a visit to the brand-new Sonic that just opened in Waretown - the very first Sonic in New Jersey. Then the girls will go to the concert, homemade poster proclaiming their love for all things Hannah in hand. Tracy and I, meanwhile, have our earplugs all ready, because we're expecting lots of preteen and tween girls screaming at this thing. We'll report back later when our hearing pops back to normal.

MAN AND WIFE

By no means the official wedding portrait, but this is the best one I've seen so far.
Photo by Jennifer Malpass

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.

TOM GLAVINE NOT A MET

As sort of predicted here, Tom Glavine has signed with "his" Atlanta Braves, a team I've, quite frankly, grown to despise over the years.

Like most of my former relationships, I would sort of like to forget the five years or so he was here never really happened.

And Tom, please don't throw a no-hitter after all those years of not doing so with the Mets.

(You know it's going to happen.)

Make The World A Better Place

How, you ask? By using snopes.com to check that wild email you got before sending it on to me. I've been getting a lot of these in my e-mail both privately and at my school from well-meaning folks. Please be aware that I will not think any less of you as a person if you don't check that "this really works" e-mail against the Snopes site to see if it's legit or not... everything from free meals to kids needing greeting cards to viruses to state troopers setting new speed traps... it's mostly been old, false news. We'll be throwing a link to Snopes over to the left, it's such a valuable resource. Thank you in advance.

Dear ABC,

I find your little television network harder and harder to deal with as the years go by. Back in the day, you had many of my favorite shows on. "Happy Days." "Laverne & Shirley." "Mr. T. and Tina." "Mork & Mindy." "Home Improvement."

Now, what do you give us? More crap per capita than any other network, and shows that have roughly the same effect as steroids (you know that commercial with the deflating balls? Exactly).

And now, you have screwed viewers royally (thankfully because I don't get caught up in this) with your latest "Bachelor" finale in which the guy wound up picking no one.

Wake up, ABC. Love can't be manufactured. Don't do ANY MORE "Bachelor" series. We've all had enough.

(And I hope to God that Lacey Pemberton isn't in charge of the casting any more. Get her back in her little Card Sharks dealer uniform, for goodness sake!)

Paige Davis Rides Again

Great news from TLC, home of the floundering "Trading Spaces" franchise: Paige Davis is set to return as host, and many of the classic designers from the early production run like Doug Wilson and Hilda Santo-Tomas are coming back to the show too. Since we did a bunch of "TS" coverage from 2003 to 2005 around here, we can't let this great news pass without notice.

The show is also getting a new production company. Banyan Productions, who have produced the show since the first season with Paige Davis (the very first season with Alex McLeod being produced by Ross Productions), has been ousted in favor of A. Smith & Co. Productions, which is the producer of chef Gordon Ramsay's TV projects.

TLC rather short-sightedly canned Davis in January of 2005 in favor of a "hostless" format to try to set it apart from all the other home makeover shows then coming out. Besides Wilson and Santo-Tomas, Laurie Smith and Frank Bielec - two other "TS" originals - are slated to return too.

Will I be watching when Paige Davis comes back in January? You bet!

Timewaster

Does your last name rank among the 5000 most popular? "Mackey" is somewhere in the low 1000's.

Everything Old Is New Again

It's the return of the BankAmericard, a brand name dormant since the late 1970's. Like the originals, the new BankAmericard is issued by, duh, Bank of America.

Warren Batchelder 1917-2007

I don't keep my ear to the animation grapevine as I once did, but I can't let the passing back in February of former Warner Bros. and DePatie-Freleng animator and director Warren Batchelder slip by. He died back on February 12 just a couple of months shy of his 90th birthday. He's a guy who's just got a lot of entries in my animation pages here at davemackey.com. He was one of the undersung greats of the industry.

Born on April 18, 1917 in Los Angeles, Warren Batchelder had been hanging around Warner Bros. as an assistant, most notably with Virgil Ross, since at least the mid-1930's, but it wasn't until 1958 that he was promoted to full animator in the Robert McKimson unit. His greatest glories were ahead as he was one of the primary animators at Friz Freleng's studio for its entire history, getting hundreds of credits on Pink Panther, Inspector and Tijuana Toads cartoons and all their various TV shows.

Marvel Productions was his next stop where he was director on many of their series including "G.I. Joe" and "Jem". There was even a brief stop at Warner Bros. where he worked on episodes of "Tiny Toon Adventures" as a character layout artist. Batchelder stayed active in animation for about another decade after that, finally putting the pencils away in 2002.

NJEA Convention, Day Two

I hit the grand slam of professional development! I went to three more seminars today, maxing out my total hours of PD at the convention at 12.

First up was the husband and wife team of Rae and Debra Moses. Their topic was "Evaluating Appropriate Literature for your School Choirs", with particular emphasis on the male voice as it changes through adolescence. We sang some of Carl Fischer's newest choral arrangements, edited by Mr. Moses.

Next, after a very fast hot dog lunch, a little movement (make that a lot of movement) with John Jacobson. The energetic composer and choreographer put a room full of teachers through their paces with some of his latest songs from "John Jacobson's Music Express" magazine, published by Hal Leonard.

Finally, fiddling around with Mimi Butler, master violin teacher, with some very interesting thoughts on playing fiddle music. NOT violin music, but fiddle music. I was very interested to learn of the structure that underlies the basic form - the kickoff measures, the tune, the break (fancier version of the tune), the background (all other instruments either playing open chords or a bass line) and the tag (two bar ending played by the leader). Very interesting stuff to know!

It was one of the very few conventions where I could find six seminars that directly addressed all my classroom activities, from band, to choral, to strings. The hours are useful but each seminar gave me a few things to take back to my students. The weekend between the convention and the return to school is always one of anticipation for me as I cannot wait to get back and try out some of the new things I've learned on my classes.

Hello From Atlantic City

Greetings. I am in my hotel room at one of the leading casinos (I think it's the one that has its own brand of vodka), attending the NJEA Convention. Some of these comments are going to be digested and included on my school website, but are included here for immediacy's sake.

First of all, the NJEA absolutely has to do something about seminar scheduling vis a vis nutrition acquisition. A few years ago, the NJEA elminated the sale of food in the convention hall. This is now overloading the few restaurants within walking distance of the convention center. It took me ten minutes to walk to Quizno's and another ten minutes to walk back when I realized I couldn't possibly be waited on in ten minutes. How I survived all day on a pack of Hershey's Kissables, I'll never know. We had some wonderful food in the Ocean County hospitality suite, which functioned as my dinner along with some colleagues, Bev and Gina.

I participated in three useful seminars today. First, Wilbur Wittemann, who I've never had the pleasure of playing for in spite of my fifteen years making music in Ocean County, talked about jazz pedagogy and why it's important for the jazz players of tomorrow to know about their past. He says that every jazz instrumentalist should know at least five artists on their instrument. (Those lists appear on Wittemann's website.) Wittemann told some great stories about his Lakewood Jazz Festival events, where he invites big name jazz stars (the first of whom was Dizzy Gillespie, the latest being drummer Dave Weckl) to play with the local students.

Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser, appearing on behalf of Conn-Selmer, makers of many brands of band, orchestra and percussion instruments, gave a rousing lecture on how to motivate students to do their best. (Dr. Lautzenheiser is also one of the authors of Hal Leonard's "Essential Elements 2000" band method.)

My final seminar of the day was with Ed Sueta, the veteran band author and publisher, demonstrating his latest recorder book, "Be A Recorder Star". Sueta has designed a one-piece recorder make of unbreakable ABS plastic, motivational tools including books and stickers, and a carefully designed method book which makes learning the recorder a heck of a lot of fun. I know, because I learned along with about 150 other people in the lecture hall. We all got to keep our recorders, books and other paraphernalia, and some lucky audience members won alto recorders and tabletop music stands.

More convention fun tomorrow. It's pretty much bedtime now. Good night.

It's Now November

A few notable things about this month: it's the month I see the least of my students in school, owing to two Thursday-Fridays off in the month and one week with shortened lessons. It's the month my father was born (November 10, 1921). It's also the penultimate month of my unexpected bachelorhood.

Right now I'm sitting in the dining room of Tracy's house waiting for her to wake up. Bad weather is forcing us to stay close to home today, really nasty winds and rain forecast. I'm listening to the XM, where their annual pop music rundown, "IT", is now in 1973 and the tune playing is "Dueling Banjos". I'm now getting the visions of Ned Beatty squealing like a pig. Regardless, here's the song in its proper context from the film "Deliverance".



Whew.

Thankfully they've switched to the energetic Moody Blues tune, "I'm Just A Singer In A Rock And Roll Band". I saw the Moodies about five times. One of Nancy's favorites. They just recently played the Ritacco Center, now down to a trio with the retirement of Ray Thomas. It's still Justin Hayward, Graeme Edge and John Lodge.

Hopefully, a very quiet weekend looms.

And In Other News...

I just found out five minutes ago that Cheryl Burke and the guy she was dancing with - what was his name, Newton something? Something Wayne? - was voted off "Dancing With The Stars."

For my $$$, Cheryl Burke is the best female pro dancer on the show. And as you can see, not bad looking, either.

Music Time!

For your enjoyment, here is a college band playing the theme to "Family Guy", music by Walter Murphy, arrangement by Roger Holmes.

Phillies Are Done, Man

Yeah, I know baseball season is over. But I'm more than a little gleeful with the fact that the Phillies have now been eliminated. Serves them right for keeping the Mets out of the playoffs. So now it will be the Diamondbacks and the Rockies - two expansion teams of the 90's - heading for the National League pennant.

And after tonight, they could be joined by Cleveland (go Tribe!) and Boston. Then, I'll suddenly be interested in baseball again.

Topps Hits Bottom

Because of problems keeping badness out of its frozen hamburger patties, the Topps company has decided to close up shop.

They must be partying at Bubba Burgers tonight.

I NOW OFFICIALLY DECLARE BASEBALL SEASON OVER

And Tom Glavine... please leave Queens now. Thank you. You're about as revered as Kenny Rogers now.

7320

It's going to be a long winter.

And now that the Marlenes have scored four runs already, even longer, perhaps.

Colorado's Win Last Night Still Muddies Playoff Picture

Again, the NL West is making this still a wide open race.

As you know, the Mets and Phils are tied for first in the East. If both teams win or both teams lose, there will be a one-game playoff to see who wins in the East.

If the Padres win

Colorado still has a wild card hope, but in the West, if San Diego wins, they will automatically be the wild card, even if they wind up tied with the Diamondbacks. Colorado has to win today to keep it alive for them.

This is the wildest scenario yet: if Colorado, New York and Philadelphia win their games today, there will be a playoff game AND a three-way tie for the wild card, with the Mets-Phils loser, Arizona and San Diego. The MLB website explains it all.

Thankfully, there's no Sunday night games tonight, so this will all be wrapped up this afternoon.

Or will it?

More Playoff Permutations

San Diego has already helped the Mets cause by losing today. They stand at 89 games won which will be the minimum for the Wild Card.

First place Arizona (90 wins) and third place Colorado (87 wins) will soon start a pivotal game.

Bottom line is the Mets need to win tomorrow again. Then we'll talk more.

7319: MAINE ROBBED OF NO HITTER

And a big razz to Paul Hoover, who decided to get cute and dribble an infield hit, robbing John Maine of a great day AND depriving Mets fans of the no-hitter they've craved since 1962. (You sure that David Wright didn't make an error on that play, Mr. Almighty Official Scorer? And why is it always that when a Mets no-hit bid is broken up, it's on a ball batted in Wright's general direction?)

But hey, THE METS WON. And there is now still a myriad of possibilities for the pennant race. It ain't over, as Yogi once said.

In fact, until the games of tonight in the Western Division are finished, we won't have a clear picture of what the Mets need to do. So we'll check back later with you.

It's Pretty Much Over

Come Sunday, I expect to update the Mets No-Hitter Count for the final time this fall, and by approximately 5:00 p.m., I fully expect to be done with baseball for the year.

The Mets' collapse is pretty much a fait accompli with their loss last night to the Florida Marlenes. And if the Mets aren't involved in the post season, I don't give a flying fig who is in.

Come October 1, GM Omar Minaya has some very tough decisions to make, but I think the easiest one of all would be to fire pitching coach Rick Peterson. The crux of the Mets' downfall this season has been their pitching, particularly their bullpen. Probably the weakest set of arms on a team that ever held on to first place for most of the season, then just pissed it away at every opportunity.

I don't fault the offense. Reyes, Wright, Delgado, Beltran, Alou.... one hot bat after another. All that offense is nice, but the idea is to KEEP THE OTHER TEAM FROM SCORING... which the Mets, this season, have clearly indicated they cannot do. And that's why Peterson has to be shown the door. Fast. Fire him on the 30th if you have to. Announce it during the game when about a tenth of the 5,000 fans who show up on Sunday are left. This is the biggest no-brainer since the Mets had to fire Art Howe.

Playoff Permutations

Unfortunately, it's out of the Mets' hands now, because every scenario implies the Mets have to have help from other teams.

Mets can get in by virtue of winning the East. They would have to win both their remaining games and Philly would have to lose theirs. Mets could still also get in if they and Philly are tied, forcing a one-game playoff on Monday. The loser would probably go home.

Mets could also wind up the wild card IF they win both games. Any other scenario that has a second-place team winning more than 90 games will leave the Mets out in the cold. Gonna be a lot of scoreboard watching this weekend.

METS COLLAPSE COMPLETE

Now Tied With Philadelphia In NL East

First place is now big enough for two teams. The Mets and Phillies are now tied. Never mind that Pedro couldn't throw a no-hitter tonight. Never mind that Moises Alou's hitting streak has ended, which has now probably hastened thoughts of retirement. What matters now is the Mets ABSOLUTELY NEED TO WIN THE FINAL THREE GAMES AGAINST THE FLORIDA MARLENES.

PANIC IN QUEENS

Mets Playing Horrible Baseball Down The Stretch

If you needed me to tell you this, you're not paying much attention. But then, neither are the Mets as their bullpen continues to wallow in their own make.

I seriously see some Mets coaches' heads on the block on October 1 if this team does not make the playoffs, which they're still in danger of.

Oh Boy! Lost Toys!

Our school system is doing a special gifted/talented curriculum this year on Terrific Toys. They will be examining the development of toys and games during the 20th century, with particular emphasis on the unique designs of Marvin Glass and the Wham-O company. There will even be side trips to the world of word-based games like Scrabble and even the development of crossword puzzles.

It got me to thinking about toys I owned as a child. I would wager I had every single game on the Marvin Glass list. (Mystery Date actually owned by my sister, of course.) I've found/remembered a couple. This one, by Ideal, was called Logus, and it combined the fun of word games with the horror of sliding picture panels. The groom in this commercial is played by Skip Hinnant of "Electric Company" fame. I don't know who the lucky bride is.



The other one is Booby Trap. Made in 1965 by Parker Brothers, this had a spring-loaded table on which you would put an assortment of various sized playing pieces, then systematically remove them without springing them all over the place. Have a look, courtesy of boardgamegeek.com.

Nancy, Two Years After

It is almost two years since I lost my wonderful wife, Nancy, to breast cancer, and articles like this one may give hope for the future. But they don't make me feel any better about what I went through two years ago.

And as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month approaches in October, I remind you to give generously to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

I'd also like to take the opportunity to remind some marketers that breast cancer affects men, too, and not just as husbands of victims. Breast cancer is not a women-only disease. Richard Roundtree is a breast cancer survivor - that's right, John Shaft himself. Breast cancer was a contributing factor in the death of "The Price Is Right"'s flamboyantly-clad announcer, Rod Roddy, in 2003. My father in law had it, too. Think about that the next time you hear TV ads hawking medication or product-tie ins for yogurt or some other female-centric product. Thank you for your time.

I don't want to sound alarmist, but...

I've had this overwhelming sense of dread the last few weeks that the New York Mets, who've spent the entire season in first place in the NL East, now may not even make the playoffs.

The Phillies have been playing stellar ball the last month or so, and the Mets simply haven't. The Braves didn't even show up this season, making the Phils the Mets' new nemesis in the East... and as of last night's game, the Mets can really feel the Phils breathing right behind them 1-1/2 games back.

But the battle in the West is worth watching, as the chances are now pretty good of both Arizona and San Diego being in the playoffs. Arizona has Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Colorado left on its schedule, while San Diego will face Colorado, San Francisco, and Milwaukee. Both Arizona and San Diego have the chance to add lots of wins to their record against these weaker teams.

Simply put: The Mets have to WAKE UP and win the division. They MUST hold their lead and hopefully pad it. And then, October rolls around and hopefully I'll still be watching baseball.

Happy Birthday, June

June Foray's 90th birthday was yesterday. June is the gifted voice actress heard on millions of cartoons since the dark ages, and she's also been quite involved with the ASIFA animation society.

We are lucky to still have June with us and we still hear her voice from time to time on new projects. I doubt we've heard the last of her.

Belliard Breaks Up Another One...

Ronnie Belliard of the Washington Nationals broke up the no-hit bid of Atlanta pitcher John Smoltz in the eighth inning. If you will recall earlier this season, Belliard had the only hit in a rain-shortened five inning win for the Mets, dashing John Maine's hopes of becoming the first New York Met to EVER throw a no-hitter.

Semper Fi, Gil Hodges

It was heartening to read that tonight, before the New York Mets-Houston Astros game at Shea Stadium, there will be a ceremony to mark the induction of Gil Hodges into the United States Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame.

I had only known Gil Hodges as the manager of the New York Mets (including the world champion 1969 team); I was too young to enjoy his exploits as a member of the beloved Brooklyn Dodgers. Gil managed the Mets starting in 1968 and up until his death from a heart attack just prior to the start of the 1972 season, at which point Yogi Berra took over as manager. But I knew that Gil was a man of class and dignity and grace and I just thought it was a damn shame that he had to leave us so soon. Even at the age of 11 I knew that. So, it's glad to see that Gil is getting this honor for all he meant to several generations of baseball fans.

Music Page Update

Pleased to point you to some pictures of last spring's Jackson Civic Chorus concert. If you look hard enough you can find pictures of both the owner of this website and his favorite lady.

We had our first rehearsal with our new director Jason Diaz last evening and Tracy and I were both impressed with how smoothly the rehearsal went. It was a combination ice-breaker and feel-out session. Hey, if you sing, come out and join us!

Did Your Favorite Old Computer Make The Cut?

For those of you with a fondness for TRS-80's, Altairs, Commodore 64's and Apple Lisas, The Most Collectible PC's Of All Time are brought together in a neat photo essay by Harry McCracken.

Vacation 2007 - What Have I Learned?

Well, it's 7:08 a.m. Eastern time as I write this on my home computer in my own home. We had a whirlwind 11 days of fun and laughs and I'd do it again if I could.

Here's what I would tell people about the trip in as few words as possible.

Diamond Lake - friendly people
Crater Lake - scenic beauty
Eureka - majestic trees
Oakland - funderful suburbia (okay, I borrowed that phrase from a Paramount cartoon)
San Francisco - bustling town, more like New York than Los Angeles

It was also a time for reaffirming old friendships and also a time for cementing new familial relations.

Now, all that's left to do is to pick up the dog and the cat and everything will be back to normal.

And tomorrow it's back to school for me! So it really is over.

The Last Day

Our time out West is slowly slipping away. Our next little trip will be to the San Francisco-Oakland International Airport, where we'll return our rental car and board the Continental jet that will whisk us away to home. Since we're losing the three hours we gained when we flew West, we'll leave here at about 1 and come home close to 10. By the time our limo drops us off at Tracy's house, it will be after midnight.

This vacation was the best time for all of us. Sure we had the little spats and disagreements, but what family doesn't? I'm proud to have taken the people I now am pleased to call my family on the trip.

Now to go print those boarding passes...

Monterey and SF In Pictures

Our hotel in Monterey had some great architecture and even better landscaping.



Here's Monterey's favorite author, John Steinbeck (photo by Tracy Meyer).





The Monterey Bay Aquarium also has little treasures in amongst the sea otters and great white sharks.



At the Dennis The Menace Playground, new equipment bears contemporary views of Gina, Ruff and Joey. Other panels on this apparatus feature Dennis and Margaret.



An aerial view of San Francisco from way high up in our hotel (photo by Nancy Crane).



Better you see it here than in some tabloid next Thurdsay (photo by Harry McCracken).

Oh Yeah, I'm Still On Vacation

We had a lot of fun on Saturday. Breakfast at Denny's, then a little pool time, then a nice ride into San Francisco. We had to table the Golden Gate Bridge trip, due to possible complications due to this weekend's Bay Bridge closure. Our concierge (who prefers to be called "Dirty Harry") recommended a nice little place called Pazzia for dinner tonight, and as you've doubtless read on other blogs/boards, Tracy and I have now become engaged. NO ONE AT THE TABLE KNEW WHAT WAS HAPPENING. (I've gotten so good at keeping secrets.)

We are very happy to have committed to spending the rest of our lives together.

I went into several record stores. There's a Virgin Megastore right down the street from my hotel, and there's Rasputin Music, said to be one of the last indie record shops in the city. They even had some recent vinyl reissues, including a 30th anniversary repressing of Steely Dan's 1977 album "Aja".

We'll most likely post our final pictures from the trip tomorrow or Monday, as we are headed back to New Jersey tomorrow afternoon. And I'm almost literally stepping off the plane onto a parade route.

Someone's Getting Married

Harry McCracken writes the society page of his blog, announcing.... well you go and read it.

The Ad Makers Need To Retire Another Song

Years ago, in some forum, I called for the retirement of the song "Nobody But Me" by the Human Beinz because it was overused in ads.

I'm thinking that the song "What I Like About You" by the Romantics has now run its course as well. I just saw it in an ad for a hotel chain.

It gets annoying that our ad wizards just have to pick a song, secure the rights, throw visuals against it and that's your ad. No narration, no copy, no nothing. It's totally disenfranchising to blind television users. They just hear a song for 30 seconds and don't even realize it's an ad for Something.

Makes me glad I'm not in that business anymore.

Friday in Monterey, plus Pictures From The Week

First, the pictures.



Barry Bonds watches another one go skyward. Not very far, just skyward. This was one of two pop outs off the bat of the home run king on Wednesday. Looking at Bonds' latest lob shot are Colorado catcher Chris Iannetta and home plate umpire Tony Randazzo.



The Santa Rosa boardwalk was a lot of fun!

Now to today's visits. Monterey is a town just dripping with nice restaurants and little shops and one-way streets and the stench of old canneries and the spirit of John Steinbeck oozing from every pore. The main target of today's visit was the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Now I'm a sucker for aquariums, and this one eschews the cliche that all aquariums must play Saint-Saens' "Aquarium" from "Carnival Of The Animals" somewhere in its soundtrack. The most noteworthy new addition is a baby Great White Shark. We did get some videos and pictures. The sea otters are always good for a few laughs, and we did get to see lots more fine examples of the pescatorial arts.

The other visits included the Dennis The Menace Playground (which has been around for over fifty years). There is a wood sculpture of Dennis and Margaret near the old Southern Pacific steam engine and newer playground equipment has pictures of Dennis and friends (including Margaret, Joey, Ruff and Gina). We also visited Jack's Park to watch a little softball.

So that's it from Day 9 of our vacation. Day 10 will see us returning to San Francisco tomorrow. And then Sunday we go home.

Thursday Night In Monterey

Much fun ensued on Thursday. We checked out of our Oakland hotel, did some laundry, and then drove down to Santa Cruz to visit their boardwalk and beach. The one arcade I went to had a few pinball machines but nothing to write home about. "Cyclone" had weak flippers but played remarkably well for an almost 20-year-old machine. The "World Poker Tour" I played had two bad flippers out of four, but were fairly priced. (Yesterday, I saw some machines on Pier 39 that I dared not touch due to their $1.00 playing price.) The girls and I enjoyed frappes and Dippin' Dots ice cream. It was also a treat to see some Crown Coaches on the way to Santa Cruz. Man, those old buses still hold up quite nicely!

Then, a very easy ride down Route 1 to Monterey. We'd been warned that the road from Santa Cruz to Monterey was twisty and mountainous but we were pleasantly surprised to find it mostly flat and straight. (Tracy did the driving.) We're staying at Casa Munras and it's a very nice hotel! Each room has a DVD player and you can borrow movies from the front desk to watch.

Tomorrow we're spending the day at the aquarium. We'll have some pix up soon of our adventures of the last few days.

Continuing Our Vacation

Today is pretty much going to be a traveling day. We are headed down to Monterey and we're waiting until the Bay Bridge traffic into San Francisco thins out a little bit so we can get down to the Pacific Coast Highway. We will likely make a few stops along the way. I'll report more when we're in for the night.

More Vacation Pix

First, some shots of Alcatraz...







And who's this guy working on a notebook computer?




More pictures later... I promise!

Time out for a baseball report

Even though I went to a Giants game and had a good time today, I never stop being a Mets fan. And the sad news is that they've lost the last four and hopefully it will not be a fifth game in a row on Thursday when they play the last game of their series against the Phillies. This series so far has been more damaging to the Mets' psyches than their record, and it was painful to hear the bullpen screwed Tom Glavine over again the other night. Hopefully I can listen to a little of the game on the way to Monterey tomorrow.

AT&T Park, At Last

Right now I am sitting at the Giants game. Harry McCracken is here, as is part of our traveling road show. We were excited to see Barry Bonds playing, but not to go 0-2 so far in the game, which is seeing the Giants at a 7-0 deficit to the Colorado Rockies in the top of the fifth inning. We will be staying in SF for the evening as the rest of my peeps will be joining us after the game for dinner. Tomorrow, we will be leaving for a couple of days in Monterey. But on Saturday we will be back in San Francisco for one final goodbye to the city.

EDIT: Giants lose 8-0 and Bonds didn't get up to bat again in the game. Phooey.

Wednesday Morning, 9 AM

Oakland is turning out to be a damn hard city to get wireless access in, at least in the area around our hotel. Even the wired access, at a steep $9.95 a day (I guess you pay for the security), wasn't working as it should.

Today is the day of the Giants game at AT&T Park (and thank you Nancy and Harry for pointing out my mistake in calling it PNC Park, which I believe is in Pittsburgh). Yesterday we went to San Francisco for the first time this trip, taking the boat tour to Alcatraz Island and then hanging around Pier 39, then taking a cable car ride to Powell Street. More pictures later, hopefully!

Monday Afternoon At UC Berkeley

The Lawrence Hall of Science on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley was our destination today. (That, and a trip to the North Face Outlet to get a new rain jacket. And lunch at Jimmy Beans - definitely try the Rocky Jr. Chicken!)

The current LHS exhibit is "Circus! Science Under The Big Top", which was originally developed by the Ottawa Science Museum. Unfortunately, this exhibit is closing on September 2, so you should get there if you can (and I don't guarantee the link will still work). It was very fascinating to see the scientific fact behind many circus tricks - how acrobats' routines affect their bodies, the reasons behind balance, the measurements required to get a human cannonball safely into the net. Children can actually try bungee jumping and tightrope walking in very safe simulations.

And different varieties of circus animals' feces. (I think they were really painted wood replicas and not the real things. So happens I read "Everybody Poops" this morning. Apparently it's a very popular book.)

The new exhibit taking over from "Circus" will be "Wild Music: The Sounds & Songs Of Life", beginning on October 6.

Pictures of Crater Lake and Diamond Lake

As promised there are some pictures of my trip so far. There's two of the Diamond Lake resort, and two of Crater Lake. You gotta see this in person someday.

Sunday, 7:00 p.m. - Oakland!

We took a nice trip down U.S. 101 from Eureka down to Oakland today. The redwood trees were very impressive and the ride to Oakland very smooth. Except for the last 40 or so miles of very dense traffic.

Our only planned activities so far for the next three days are a visit to Alcatraz Island on Tuesday and the Giants game at AT&T Park on Wednesday. There will be some pictorial proof.

Sunday Morning, 8:00 a.m.

Now it's Sunday morning, and I was rudely awakened by the alarm that was set by the person who used the room before me. The girls got up just after me. They just got to talk to their dad on the phone, so I think they'll be okay today.

We're all ravenously hungry so I think we're going to find us some breakfast. Later, a report about the giant trees.

A Day at Crater Lake, and Will We Ever Get To Eureka?

It's 1:15 a.m. in beautiful (well, we've only seen it in the dark) Eureka, CA. Our journey here from Crater Lake was not without mishap.

Anyway, to get to Crater Lake first. WOW! Tracy told me afterwards that she wasn't going to be sure of my reaction, but I can honestly say it was a wow.

Yes, I survived the boat ride and especially the hike down and up from the trail head to the boat dock. The tourguide (a most helpful gentleman) said that it's best described as one mile down and ten miles back up. He also compared it to climbing 65 flights of stairs, with its almost 800-foot rise. Once in the boat we had a most entertaining two-hour tour of Crater Lake.

Through an error in judgment perhaps fueled by some bad online mapping (no GPS to speak of in our rental), we went the longish way from Crater Lake to Eureka, CA. Basically we went via Klamath Falls, then caught the 5 in Weed, CA, and then hung a right onto 299. Warning. Route 299 is not intended for those with weak constitutions or are prone to motion sickness. We did have one passenger lose her Burger King dinner en route. The nice thing about the reroute was the girls did get to see Mount Shasta.

But it's now off to bed for me (no idea when I'm going to publish this - no Internet access in this motel). Tomorrow, the giant redwoods and maybe some pix from Oakland. Bye now!

Saturday, 4:10 a.m. - Diamond Lake, OR

It's 4:10 A.M. in Oregon. Tracy, the girls and I had a most exciting day at Diamond Lake Resort, which is not too far from Crater Lake. We were originally going to drop our stuff off here and then drive to Crater Lake, but Tracy and I were so taken with the place that we decided to stay the day here, then do Crater Lake on Saturday.

We got a very nice cabin, about the size of a small house. There are two bedrooms, one bathroom and a living/dining/kitchen area. The only bow to modernness is cable TV. There's only an Internet connection near the lodge, and our cellphones are on the roaming network now. This is about as disconnected as anyone should get in this day and age. Additionally, most of the outlets in the cabins are of the old two-prong variety. (Note to self: bring a grounding adapter next time.)

While not as large as Crater Lake, Diamond Lake is just as scenic. A distant mountain still has a touch of snow cover in late August, just a few months away from new snowfall that will turn this entire place into a winter wonderland. FOr now, there are boat and bicycle rentals and lots of opportunities for hiking. There is a small creek running just outside my bedroom window (it's called Two Bear Creek) and hearing it makes me think it's raining. But today was sunny and 80, and Saturday should be just as nice.

The paddleboats were very tricky to get in and out of with both me and Tracy almost taking an unexpected trip into the water. But once we got out there we had fun pedaling around the lake.

There are lots of very friendly people staying here. I would imagine that due to the decorations around some of the cabins, that there are some year-round residents here. They do have a general store that caters to them, selling delicacies unknown and obscure (did you know that Jeff Foxworthy has lent his name and face to a brand of beef jerky?). Lots of families with kids and you can bring your dog here too. There are some restaurants here and on the south shore there's even a pizzeria.

I turned in early; we were all huddled up on the couch watching "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" (when in Rome...) and I hit the hay around 9:00 p.m., and I reckon the girls weren't too far behind. As soon as the rest of the crew awakens and gets ready to go, we'll be going to Crater Lake, spending some time there, and then going to Eureka, CA to spend the night with the big trees.

Greetings From The Road!

The davemackey.com traveling road show is underway. I am writing this from a fairly decent guest room at the Courtyard by Marriott in Portland, Oregon. I was actually given a choice to stay in Vancouver, Washington, but passed that one up, not realizing that Washington is right across the river from Portland. Maybe we'll just drive by tomorrow.

I picked up a shiny new Chevrolet Impala as a rental and having driven and ridden in Impalas of various vintages, this is a nice one and it carries on the bowtie tradition quite nicely.

Other than a snag with the takeoff time of the flight (originally scheduled for 5:45 but we left sometime after 7:00 p.m.), the flight was uneventful. We did get two movies, "Spider-Man 3" and "Are We Done Yet" (the latter of which had an honest-to-God Wilhelm Scream in it, and I said to those sitting next to me "THAT WAS A WILHELM SCREAM!" Also some news features AND an episode of "The King Of Queens" to round out the entertainment portion of the flight. Plus, I did Nucky's crossword in the inflight magazine before the plane even left the tarmac. (The only xword book I brought with me was a book of Shortz Saturdays. You think I wanna do well in Brooklyn, or what?)

Tomorrow, Crater Lake, and maybe some pictures thereof. See you all tomorrow!

-30-

We're frankly in awe of the Texas Rangers' performance last night in the first game of their doubleheader in Baltimore. They put up 30 runs in the first game, and miraculously, they did it all in four innings. Five in the fourth, nine in the sixth, 10 in the eighth, and another 6 in the ninth. And in the second game they scored another 9 runs. The 39 runs is thought to be the most ever scored by one team in a doubleheader.

Did You Miss Me On "Millionaire"?

See what I looked like some 25 pounds ago when I sat in Meredith's hot seat in a repeat of my appearance last spring on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". The show airs tomorrow (Thursday) in syndication.

The Merv Griffin Show

One of those great Merv moments... RIP, Mr. Griffin.

O Rare Bayn Johnson!

Here's a cute sketch from "The Electric Company" which gives Short Circus player Bayn Johnson a bit of a chance to stretch out. In this Fargo North bit, Fargo (Skip Hinnant) goes on vacation and Kelly (Johnson) gets to take over. Crank (Jim Boyd) comes in and then asks Kelly to decode a message.

Johnson (born 1959) was only on "Electric Company" for two years (1973-1975) and was the replacement for Denise Nickerson. She had previously appeared on television on "What's It All About, World?" (a 1969 ripoff of "Laugh-In") and on Broadway in "Curley McDimple" (playing the title role). Almost the entire Short Circus (except for June Angela) was replaced for the 1975-1976 season and another blonde, tall, willowy Janina Mathews, was her replacement. After TEC, Bayn had a few small parts on TV series (I remember her being on "Switch") and pretty much faded from view after 1978.

Unfortunately, this clip comes from a kinescope, but I'd like to think there are nicer copies in Sesame Workshop's vault... buried under all of Elmo's fan mail.

Miss America On The Move Again

The Miss America Organization has announced today a new multiple-year deal with TLC to broadcast the pageant over the next few years, beginning with the 2008 pageant on January 26.

CMT opted not to continue broadcasting the pageant after horrible ratings the last two years, which not coincidentally were the first two the pageant originated from Las Vegas.

TLC has been a network desperately in search of an identity. Once known as "The Learning Channel", the network then went through a few phases. One was the "let's rip apart our house and redo it" phase, spearheaded by the show "Trading Spaces", a few years of which we actually chronicled here at davemackey.com, until the show got too big and too full of itself. "Trading Spaces" is now dead, killed partly by its former carpenter, Ty Pennington, who added mawkishness to the mix with his "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"; suddenly, it, "While You Were Out", "In A Fix", "Town Haul" and the like were all off the air.

TLC seems now populated by a weird mix of Teutuls, Roloffs and tattoo artists, plus the occasional appearances by grotesquely obese people and Clinton and Stacy. Now, we add Miss America to the mix - and TLC is going to hop on that one big time with a planned reality show about the pageant.

Ugh! I remember when Miss America only required three hours of our time once a year - and came to you live from the sun and fun capital of New Jersey, Atlantic City! Now it's out in Vegas and people don't seem to care. Even the Miss America Walk near the new outlet shops stops somewhere around the time Ron Ely started hosting the pageant, sidestepping that whole Vanessa Williams thing (oddly, losing that crown kicked her career in high gear).

TLC, how's this? MOVE THE FREAKING PAGEANT BACK TO ATLANTIC CITY! That's the only thing that can save it. And you.

Late Addition to the Music Calendar

Tomorrow, at the Holmdel Community United Church of Christ, I will be duetting on "How Great Thou Art" with my partner in all things, Ms. Tracy Meyer. Service starts at 10:00 a.m.

756*

The Record Book

Home Runs, Lifetime
Barry Bonds................ 756 *
Hank Aaron................. 755
Babe Ruth.................. 714

* Record achieved with the use of steroids.

"It's Madison Time! HIT IT!"

So happens that ABC Family aired the original "Hairspray" film last night, complete with the "Madison Time" sequence that does not appear in the new movie. (A version is in the Broadway musical, with Corny calling the dance moves.)

Here's a clip from the 1988 movie, cut off during Eddie Morrison's call of the Wilt Chamberlain basketball step. That's a younger and portlier Ricki Lake playing Tracy. If you can read choreography notation, here's how you can do The Madison at home, complete with all the steps for all the custom moves, from the Cleveland Box to the big strong Jackie Gleason.

It's interesting to note that The Madison did not originate in Baltimore, but rather in Columbus, Ohio.

7264: Unravelin' Glavine

Well, all Milwaukee was abuzz as to whether Tom Glavine would get his 300th win last night, but when the Brew Crew tied up the game, the point became sadly moot.

Note to Bill Webb: Cool it with the reaction shots of Mrs. Glavine.

Tom Terrific II tries again Sunday in Chicago to join the 300 club.