Check Rudy's Closet

Just wondering... does Mayor Giuliani even HAVE a Mets Hat?

Going Away

Beginning on Saturday, October 13, I will be on a week's vacation with my family. During that time I will be unable to answer my email, so please understand if I don't get back to you right away. See you all on the 21st!

God, Do I Hate The Braves

Open Letter to the Atlanta Braves, its management (particularly one R.E. Turner), players and fans:

Don't you think ten championships in a row is enough? How about laying back and letting some of the other teams in the East have some glory for a change?

And take your tomahawk chop - demeaning to the Native American people - and stick it right between the lobes of your collective brains.

Now, a message for the management of the New York Mets. Perez in 2002. He is the only man who will save this team.

Time To Update SNL Band

It's become an annual ritual of the last week of September: updating the SNL Band page to reflect another year notched under the belt of all of the players. When you consider that the core of this particular group of players has now been together for 17 years and there is one gentleman who's been with the show for 22 straight years, it becomes apparent that being with the SNL band is a lifetime gig.

Happy Birthday John!

Our new front page design features among other things a revised banner for John's Cartek Corvette Challenge page, featuring the picture of John himself from his website. This is in honor of John's 52nd birthday today (same age as Bruce Springsteen, y'know). Happy Birthday, John!
Oh, and here's a good one

This is a link to a larger picture from the September 17 episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire with a couple of famous audience members circled. This is the best shot I can get you from the episode. I am on the left and Robair is on the right. This episode taped on July 31, 2001, and I can remember on the day of taping that everyone made sure to note the date the episode was scheduled to air, almost chanting it like a mantra: Tuesday, September 11. Yes, this was the episode that was to air the night of the terrorists' destruction of the World Trade Center. Nobody seemed to argue with the original choice of airdate, so I guess nobody in studio TV-1 had any premonitions.

Miss America Shoe Parade Cancelled

Show Us Your Shoes... next year. ;>(

Another casualty of Tuesday's terrorism... the annual Miss America Parade, traditionally held the Friday before the pageant on the Atlantic City boardwalk.

Back From Our 9/11 Hiatus

Hi, everyone. We have decided to resume our regular website programming.

I was today a participant in the Seaside Heights (NJ) Clownfest Parade. If Seaside Heights is a microcosm of the U.S. at large, I can tell you there is no shortage of patriotism and pride in our country right now when we need it most.

"The Fantasticks" To Close

Soon It's Not Gonna Rain: There's another report (and these come up periodically, but somehow the show always survives another day) that "The Fantasticks" will end its run on January 6, 2002 after almost 42 years. It is already the longest running off-Broadway show in history with over 17,000 performances so far. "Try To Remember" another show with such longevity? How about Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap", which has been running on the London stage for almost fifty years!

"The Fantasticks" is as much a part of New York as street vendors selling dirty water hot dogs and the Metropolitan Museum. Go out and support this show while you still can and perhaps it will be around for future generations.

Jerry Lewis

Watching the Jerry Lewis telethon. Why do I get the feeling he's presiding over his own memorial service? Anyway, it's a good idea to give to MDA, so do it: www.mda.org.

"Missing" Archive

There is no archive for 8/19/2001-8/25/2001 because there were no posts to the Blog during that period.

Brass Tacks Now Has An Agent!

Told you we had some news about the Brass Tacks Big Band Orchestra. We are now available through George Bips Productions. The pages are at eventpro.homestead.com. Scroll down the page until you get to the smiling faces of the Brass Tacks, then click through to our home at the George Bips homepage. Some of the personnel in the picture may have changed, but most of them are still there. John Urspruch Jr. (at the upper left) was going through his wild hair phase then. I'm fifth from right on the top row holding the trombone and standing right next to our fantastic bass player, Mary Buck. I am also in the black and white picture at extreme upper right, again standing beside Mary.

Raise The Flag For Monmouth County!

Here's Richard Dawson and Gene Wood hoisting the official flag and seal of the county I was born in from a 1983 episode of Family Feud.

Attention Brian Setzer Fans

I know there are some BSO nuts out there who visit this page. You know I've seen BSO about four or five times or so. Well, I have enlisted your help. I need to know if anyone out there has the Merv Griffin's New Year's Eve show on which the BSO appeared. I think this was about 1996 or so, when the band had the Guitar Slinger album out. I remember the band playing "The Legend Of Johnny Cool" on the show and perhaps one other tune. However, I need the complete show, because the house band at the Resorts Casino (where the show was taped, and which Merv used to own) played the then-current version of the Wheel Of Fortune theme scored for big band. We can arrange a trade with materials from the Robair Collection (members.fortunecity.com/robair and follow the Collection link). Please let me know by e-mailing me. Thank you.

Brass Tacks News Coming!

Hi! Heavy house cleaning has kept me somewhat sidelined from website maintenance last few weeks or so, but I did want to say that the Brass Tacks did play on Saturday. And please watch this space for some exciting news about the big band!

Getting Down To Brass Tacks

Unabashed Plug: The mighty Brass Tacks Big Band Orchestra performs tonight at the Ocean County Library, on Washington Street in Toms River, NJ. Showtime is 7:00 p.m. We got rained out of this concert last year and we hope not to make it two years in a row. Please come out and support the continuing art of big band jazz.

When Josie Comes Home, So Good

Faster, Pussycats, Kill, Kill: Josie and the Pussycats is coming out on home video on Tuesday. Wasn't this movie just in theatres a few short months ago? Wow.

Analogy

TBS:Clint Eastwood::USA:Adam Sandler

It just needed to be said.

NJT Correction

Quick correction: the new NJT buses 8202-8204 are D4500's, not D4000's!

Virus Alert Update

Here's McAfee's page on the virus (see, I thought so!) that I talked about earlier this morning:

http://www.mcafee.com/anti-virus/viruses/sircam/default.asp?cid=2360

The virus attachment, if opened, will send copies of certain files in your C:\My Documents folder to everyone in your address book, including media files like .MPG and .MOV, graphics files like .JPG and .GIF, Adobe Acrobat documents and .ZIP archives.

Also, updates later today to the NJT pages. The first of the second order of D4000's are on the property, buses 8202-8204, serials 1P054310-54312. Also, Coach USA sent some of Rockland's D4000's to Suburban Transit.

Virus Alert

Watch out kids. I got two identical messages with a file attachment and the following text:

Hi! How are you?

I send you this file in order to have your advice

See you later. Thanks

One was from an address and subject matter which was in Spanish. I smell a virus. Kids, if you get something in your email and you don't know who it's from, don't open it. Just delete it! I got burned once by this already (the Love Letter, sent to me by a disk jockey I worked with eons ago).