My Hurricane Stories

1985, Hurricane Gloria - I was at work during the brunt of the storm, such as it was. There were a lot of windows either boarded up or X'd over with masking tape. The hurricane came close to the Jersey Shore, but we did not suffer any damage to the radio station I was working at at the time. Our tower (and I don't remember if our new tower had been constructed at the time) continued to stand tall. We called it "the castrated feeble hurricane" thereafter.

1989, Hurricane Hugo - The hurricane affected me indirectly, because I was working at WOBM at the time, and the station organized a relief effort. Bekins/Sea Cure Moving donated their trucks and drivers to bring supplies down to South Carolina. I helped pack boxes. No, I didn't go down to South Carolina, because I had to stay behind and schedule the commercials for the station.

1992, Unnamed Noreaster - I spent most of that fall renovating a house that was flooded. Not a lot of happy memories for about a year or so afterward.

1999, Hurricane Floyd - I have no memories of that one, unfortunately.

The story of Hurricane Irene has yet to be written. I fear for the safety of friends and relatives close to the shoreline, and hope they can all find safe harbor. We are shoring up our house and making tentative plans to get out of Dodge if asked. Sunday should be the day. Several of our church committee chairs, myself included, made the unanimous decision to cancel services on Sunday. We'll report back later. Please stay safe.

Jerry Lewis Out As MDA National Chairman

The Muscular Dystrophy Association issued a press release yesterday, tersely stating in two neat, short paragraphs that Jerry Lewis has "completed" his duties as MDA National Chairman, and stated in no uncertain terms that he would not be appearing on this year's telethon, which has been cut from 21-1/2 hours to a mere six, and will be mostly tape-delay segments with live local cutins.

"Completed"? Exsqueeze me? An awful nice way of saying "clean out your desk" as an armed guard watches over you to make sure you don't take a few pads of Post-Its with you.

WHEN IS THIS GOING TO END?

LAST NO HITTERS - ACTIVE TEAMS
combined no hitters not counted
07/27/11 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Ervin Santana)
05/07/11 Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander)
05/03/11 Minnesota Twins (Francisco Liriano)
10/06/10 Philadelphia Phillies (Roy Halladay - postseason game)
07/26/10 Tampa Bay Rays (Matt Garza - team's first)
06/25/10 Arizona Diamondbacks (Edwin Jackson)
05/09/10 Oakland A's (Dallas Braden - perfect game)
04/17/10 Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jiminez, team's first)
07/23/09 Chicago White Sox (Mark Buehrle - perfect game)
07/10/09 San Francisco Giants (Jonathan Sanchez)
09/14/08 Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano)
05/19/08 Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester)
09/06/06 Florida Marlins (Anibal Sanchez)
05/18/04 Arizona Diamondbacks (Randy Johnson - perfect game)
09/03/01 St. Louis Cardinals (Bud Smith)
07/18/99 New York Yankees (David Cone - perfect game)
09/17/96 Los Angeles Dodgers (Hideo Nomo)
07/28/94 Texas Rangers (Kenny Rogers - perfect game)
04/08/94 Atlanta Braves (Kent Mercker)
09/08/93 Houston Astros (Darryl Kile - vs. METS)
04/22/93 Seattle Mariners (Chris Bosio)
08/26/91 Kansas City Royals (Bret Saberhagen)
07/26/91 Montreal Expos (Dennis Martinez - perfect game - now Washington Nationals)
09/02/90 Toronto Blue Jays (Dave Stieb)
09/16/88 Cincinnati Reds (Tom Browning - perfect game)
04/15/87 Milwaukee Brewers (Juan Nieves)
05/15/81 Cleveland Indians (Len Barker)
08/09/76 Pittsburgh Pirates (John Candelaria)
08/13/69 Baltimore Orioles (Jim Palmer)
NEVER San Diego Padres (team's inception, 1969)
NEVER New York Mets (team's inception, 1962)

Songs People Think Beatles Songs, But Aren't.

I was all set to do a blog post about fake Beatles songs, but Gaylord Fields already trod that ground. (Once again WFMU's website proves indispensible!)

Dad

Twenty years ago this evening, I bid my mother and father goodnight on a hot Thursday evening. Little did I know that the next morning, I would only be greeting one of them.

Dad smoked rather prolifically until the time of his first heart attack at the age of 52 on April 15, 1974. Tax Day. Although he quit smoking the damage had already been done to his pulmonary systen, A second heart attack followed in 1983, on, of all days, the Fourth of July. Dad by this time had sold his gas stations and had been working as a mechanic at a local car dealership. I don't quite remember how long he hung on until he retired, or more to the point, had to quit because of his health.

Yes, he taught us all the dad-type things, including how to reasonably play baseball (in spite of my ineptitude, we managed a second place win with our Red Sox team in '69) and some rudimentary golf lessons, including a few tours around the Twin Brook par-3 course, which sat dormant for about a decade before being resurrected into the great teaching facility it is today. But all the health problems that Dad had, mostly with his heart, were not lost on the four younger Mackeys, who have strove to take better care of themselves.

So when Mom told us that "I can't wake your Daddy up" on that hot Friday morning, May 31, 1991, we were at once shocked and unsurprised. Dad had gotten up out of bed in the middle of the night to watch television, but at one point turned off the TV, very neatly put the remote on top of the TV, sat down in the Berkline Rock-A-Lounger chair that was a door prize from "Card Sharks", and slipped peacefully into the next world.

Mom soldiered on for almost another nine years without her beloved "Daddy Dick", as she liked to call him. The profound effect he had on his four children lingers on, twenty years after he left us here to fend for ourselves. Thanks, Dad.

Apparently Not.

LAST NO HITTERS - ACTIVE TEAMS
combined no hitters not counted
05/07/11 Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander)
05/03/11 Minnesota Twins (Francisco Liriano)
10/06/10 Philadelphia Phillies (Roy Halladay - postseason game)
07/26/10 Tampa Bay Rays (Matt Garza - team's first)
06/25/10 Arizona Diamondbacks (Edwin Jackson)
05/09/10 Oakland A's (Dallas Braden - perfect game)
04/17/10 Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jiminez, team's first)
07/23/09 Chicago White Sox (Mark Buehrle - perfect game)
07/10/09 San Francisco Giants (Jonathan Sanchez)
09/14/08 Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano)
05/19/08 Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester)
09/06/06 Florida Marlins (Anibal Sanchez)
05/18/04 Arizona Diamondbacks (Randy Johnson - perfect game)
09/03/01 St. Louis Cardinals (Bud Smith)
07/18/99 New York Yankees (David Cone - perfect game)
09/17/96 Los Angeles Dodgers (Hideo Nomo)
07/28/94 Texas Rangers (Kenny Rogers - perfect game)
04/08/94 Atlanta Braves (Kent Mercker)
09/08/93 Houston Astros (Darryl Kile - vs. METS)
04/22/93 Seattle Mariners (Chris Bosio)
08/26/91 Kansas City Royals (Bret Saberhagen)
07/26/91 Montreal Expos (Dennis Martinez - perfect game - now Washington Nationals)
09/02/90 Toronto Blue Jays (Dave Stieb)
09/16/88 Cincinnati Reds (Tom Browning - perfect game)
04/15/87 Milwaukee Brewers (Juan Nieves)
09/30/84 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Mike Witt - perfect game)
05/15/81 Cleveland Indians (Len Barker)
08/09/76 Pittsburgh Pirates (John Candelaria)
08/13/69 Baltimore Orioles (Jim Palmer)
NEVER San Diego Padres (team's inception, 1969)
NEVER New York Mets (team's inception, 1962)

Is this ever going to end?

LAST NO HITTERS - ACTIVE TEAMS
combined no hitters not counted
05/03/11 Minnesota Twins (Francisco Liriano)
10/06/10 Philadelphia Phillies (Roy Halladay - postseason game)
07/26/10 Tampa Bay Rays (Matt Garza - team's first)
06/25/10 Arizona Diamondbacks (Edwin Jackson)
05/09/10 Oakland A's (Dallas Braden - perfect game)
04/17/10 Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jiminez, team's first)
07/23/09 Chicago White Sox (Mark Buehrle - perfect game)
07/10/09 San Francisco Giants (Jonathan Sanchez)
09/14/08 Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano)
05/19/08 Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester)
06/12/07 Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander)
09/06/06 Florida Marlins (Anibal Sanchez)
05/18/04 Arizona Diamondbacks (Randy Johnson - perfect game)
09/03/01 St. Louis Cardinals (Bud Smith)
07/18/99 New York Yankees (David Cone - perfect game)
09/17/96 Los Angeles Dodgers (Hideo Nomo)
07/28/94 Texas Rangers (Kenny Rogers - perfect game)
04/08/94 Atlanta Braves (Kent Mercker)
09/08/93 Houston Astros (Darryl Kile - vs. METS)
04/22/93 Seattle Mariners (Chris Bosio)
08/26/91 Kansas City Royals (Bret Saberhagen)
07/26/91 Montreal Expos (Dennis Martinez - perfect game - now Washington Nationals)
09/02/90 Toronto Blue Jays (Dave Stieb)
09/16/88 Cincinnati Reds (Tom Browning - perfect game)
04/15/87 Milwaukee Brewers (Juan Nieves)
09/30/84 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Mike Witt - perfect game)
05/15/81 Cleveland Indians (Len Barker)
08/09/76 Pittsburgh Pirates (John Candelaria)
08/13/69 Baltimore Orioles (Jim Palmer)
NEVER San Diego Padres (team's inception, 1969)
NEVER New York Mets (team's inception, 1962)

Baseball Season Starts TODAY...

... for Mets fans, at least. I begin my 45th year or so rooting for the Amazin's today, and we also call your attention to the No-Hitter Count, which will be somewhat meticulously updated whenever the first hit is achieved by the other team, which is always. In this, their 50th season, still no no-hitter for Mets pitching. As always, we refer you to Dirk Lammers' No No-Hitters website for more exhaustive coverage. (Dirk's day job is as a writer for the AP on energy issues, so the fact that he has time to do this and muse over why gas is headed toward $5 a gallon is in itself incredible.)

Super Bowl Ad Replay

The USA Today Ad Meter winners were the Doritos commercial with the pug (earning its creator a million dollars) and the Bud Light dog party ad. Third place was the VW Passat with Kid Darth Vader.

Super Bowl Ad Review Pre-Game Show

UPDATED: FEBRUARY 5, 2011

With about a week to go, it's high time we summarized the commercial parade that will be sprinkled throughout Super Bowl XLV, which this year will feature the Steelers and Packers. We're going to do it by placement in game rather than alphabetical by advertiser, since that will make for a handy checklist. As you can see many advertisers' plans are still up in the air as advertisers still jockey for last minute airtime buys from the NFL and traffic schedules are finalized. Some ads have already broken on YouTube and Facebook pages and we've ranked those in advance.

We really haven't gone over the ground rules of the methodology of late, so for those just joining us, we rate the ads using a letter grading system on entertainment value and their ability to sell the items intended.

Commercials that include a "DO NOT ATTEMPT" disclaimer are automatically given the grade of F. Lawyers do not make commercials. Ad agencies do.

In a world where movie trailers are a breed apart, we don't rank them.

If your spot tries to be funny, but isn't, I'll mark it down.

And just a reminder that we will be again "Covering It Live" so just log on to www.davemackey.com just before game time and we'll break it all down for you in real time!

FIRST QUARTER
:60 Audi
:30 BMW
:30 Bridgestone
:30 Carmax
:60 Kia - One Epic Ride
:30 Pizza Hut - first time ever in Super Bowl

SECOND QUARTER
:60 Coca-Cola
:30 Teleflora - Faith Hill

END FIRST HALF
:30 Salesforce.com - Ads bracketing the halftime show were developed by Will.i.am and feature animated characters called the Baby Peas.

HALFTIME SHOW - Bridgestone sponsors. Music act is the Black Eyed Peas.

END HALFTIME SHOW
:30 Salesforce.com

THIRD QUARTER
:30 Best Buy - spot to feature Justin Bieber and Sharon Osbourne
:30 Disney Pirates of the Caribbean - to air right after Best Buy ad
:30 Careerbuilder - monkeys
:30 Cars.com
:30 Carmax
:60 Coca-Cola
:30 E-trade - babies
:30 HomeAway.com - The Ministry of Detourism
:30 Mars - Snickers continues last year's campaign with Roseanne Barr and Richard Lewis, two strikingly irrelevant comedians

FOURTH QUARTER
:30 BMW
:30 Bridgestone
:30 Cars.com
:60 Mercedes Benz - Tweet Race features a Mercedes powered by Twitter - B
:30 Skechers - Ad for Shape-Ups will air at the two-minute warning and will feature Kim Kardashian.

PLACEMENT NOT YET DETERMINED
:?? InBev/five spots, 2 :60 and 3 :30 for Budweiser, Stella Artois, and Bud Light, throughout game
2:00 Chrysler (spot to feature Eminem; pending NFL approval for what would be the first ever 2-minute spot in the Bowl, thought to be the single largest spot rate ever at a potential $12 million)
:30 General Motors (five spots: Chevy Cruze has real-time Facebook status updates - C; Chevrolet Volt has images of historical events - B; Cruze Eco - old people mishearing the car gets 42MPG - A-; Chevrolet Silverado - "do not attempt" - automatic F; Camaro - looks like a local spot, very clever - A)
:30 GoDaddy.com - Danica Patrick, Jillian Michaels, and ?????
:30 GoDaddy.com - new .co domain
:30 Groupon
:30 Hyundai
:30 Hyundai
:30 Hyundai - would expect at least one spot to be for their new overly expensive Equus luxury car. Confirmed spots will include Sonata hybrid and Elantra.
:30 Paramount Captain America
:30 Paramount Rango
:30 Paramount Super 8
:30 Paramount Thor
:30 Paramount Transformers
:30 PepsiCo Doritos
:30 PepsiCo Doritos - user created
:30 PepsiCo Doritos
:30 PepsiCo Pepsi Max - user created
:30 PepsiCo Pepsi Max - user created
:30 PepsiCo Pepsi Max
(There are five finalists for each of the two brands posted. Doritos commericials: "The Best Part" - B; "Pug Attack" - B-; "House Sitting" - C; "Birthday Wish" - C-; "Adam Eve" - B. Pepsi Max commericals: "Love Hurts" - B; "Zero Calories? Psshhh" - C; "First Date" - B; "Torpedo Cooler" - C-; "Elevator Girl" - C. Underlying themes - pain as punchline, and the liberal use of Ponichelli's "Dance of the Hours" as subtle underscore.)
:30 PepsiCo Lipton Brisk (Eminem again)
:30 Universal - Cowboys and Aliens
:30 Universal - TBD
:30 Volkswagen - One ad to feature Passat, one to feature Beetle

New on our Blogroll

We've added a few things to the blogroll.

One of my friends from church, Jessica Krajdel, is studying in Chile, where it's summertime down there. She is blogging about it in "Chilling in Chile".

As an old radio guy I've always had the deepest respect for one of the great DJ's and game show announcers, Charlie Tuna. He has a great blog at www.charlietuna.com, right on his home page. Charlie is one of those who is still embracing the new technologies.

When my wife and I decided to take up ballroom dancing, we found a great early mentor in Brittany Matthews, who tells of her very personal odyssey in Confessions of a Ballroom Dance Teacher.

All are accessible from the right hand side of the page.

Now, on a sadder note.... a while ago, we had on our page a couple of blogs from a very erudite member of our church choir named Case Wagenvoord. He was the author of the book Open Letters to George W. Bush: Letters to W from his ardent admirer Belacqua Jones. You can order this book from amazon.com by just clicking on the link. Sadly, Case passed away a few weeks ago, and even though we had some issues with his language at times, we liked what we had to say. RIP, Case.

Super Bowl Ad Time Again!

Yes, it is only 28 days until "The Big Game" and davemackey.com will once again have you covered with LIVE commentary on all the ads, plus your input. We had fun doing this last year on a real-time basis so we're doing it again this year. Set your calendars for Sunday, February 6, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. as the XLVth renewal of football's biggest game unfolds, complete with hopefully creative advertiser inclusions.

I understand there's already celebrity backlash to one planned ad that will use primates. Best Buy will be a newcomer to the Bowl. And you can expect the usual parade of Anheuser-Busch commercials, mostly for Bud Light.

Come join us for all the fun. Will anything top last year's extremely well-received commercial for Snickers with Betty White?

McCracken News Tidbits

Just when you thought there were no words to mark the passing of mime performer Lorene Yarnell, here's Elizabeth McCracken with a whole bunch of them in this year's contribution to The New York Times' annual necrology feature.

And while we're talking McCracken, congrats to my pal of 20 years, Harry McCracken, on his marriage today to the lovely Marie Domingo.

Weight Loss Update

It's been two years since I gave you an update on my weight loss program. Let's give you some background. I weighed close to 250 lbs. in October 2006, roughly about the time I met Tracy. My first wife had been gone a year and the next year was an orgy of meals out and badly executed home meals. Blew up like a balloon.

I looked at myself in a mirror four years ago Thanksgiving and thought I looked pregnant. Which is no kind of shape for a 45-year-old male to be.

I embarked on a weight loss contest with Tracy the following January, and by April was down 16 pounds to 234.

The following December, 197.

A month later, six more pounds miraculously shed. 191.

Fast forward almost two years, with an increased exercise regimen including lots of walking and ballroom dancing (thank you, Fred Astaire). Thanksgiving morning, 2010, I step on the scale, and lo and behold - 178. I have never weighed that little in my adult life, perhaps since the last year of college.

Am I going to keep going? Yes. When I went on my first weight loss plan, I thought 175 was a reachable goal, and now I'm within five pounds of that. I am setting my sights even bigger and hopefully by this time next year, I'll see 160.

Covering Charlie

Charlie O'Donnell, who died on November 1, gave "Wheel of Fortune" 28 years of prize copy, everything from ceramic dalmatians to "ONE MILLLLLLLLION DOLLARS!"

Why, then, is Sony Pictures Television trying to erase his final performances on the show?

Game show fan friends have been watching "Wheel" quite closely lately. Some have even been to tapings and have noticed O'Donnell's presence, but the shows that have aired since O'Donnell's passing have had a different voice reading the copy, that of incumbent "Jeopardy!" announcer Johnny Gilbert. The show has even gone so far as to have Pat Sajak overdub his throws to "Charlie" and replace them with "Johnny". (Check the closed captioning and see if it still says "Charlie"...)

My guess on the situation is that much of "Wheel" is narrated in post, but if Charlie was there, then we should still be able to hear him. "Wheel" producers could rationalize that it would be too confusing to viewers to still hear Charlie after his death was widely reported, much in the same way "What's My Line?" viewers of 40 years ago could still enjoy syndicated episodes with Bennett Cerf long after he left us.

The show is searching for a new announcer, and so far the front-runner is former "Price is Right" announcer Rich Fields, who has already taped several weeks of shows.

Bess Mess '10

Nothing ever changes.

Fox/Cablevision Dispute resolved

And no, I'm not going to run to my TV to watch the World Series.

Happy 35th, SNL

"Let us begin. Repeat after me. 'I would like...'"

"I would like..."

"'...to feed your fingertips...'"

"...to feed your fingertips..."

"'...to the wolverines.'"

"...to the wolverines."

35 years later, the show is still here. Happy 35th, SNL, and in celebration, we've freshened up the SNL Band Pages with a new year-by-year timeline and updated bios of all the regulars.

CRIPES, HERE WE GO AGAIN

LAST NO HITTERS - ACTIVE TEAMS
combined no hitters not counted
10/06/10 Philadelphia Phillies (Roy Halladay - postseason game)
07/26/10 Tampa Bay Rays (Matt Garza - team's first)
06/25/10 Arizona Diamondbacks (Edwin Jackson)
05/09/10 Oakland A's (Dallas Braden - perfect game)
04/17/10 Colorado Rockies (Ubaldo Jiminez, team's first)
07/23/09 Chicago White Sox (Mark Buehrle - perfect game)
07/10/09 San Francisco Giants (Jonathan Sanchez)
09/14/08 Chicago Cubs (Carlos Zambrano)
05/19/08 Boston Red Sox (Jon Lester)
06/12/07 Detroit Tigers (Justin Verlander)
09/06/06 Florida Marlins (Anibal Sanchez)
05/18/04 Arizona Diamondbacks (Randy Johnson - perfect game)
09/03/01 St. Louis Cardinals (Bud Smith)
09/11/99 Minnesota Twins (Eric Milton)
07/18/99 New York Yankees (David Cone - perfect game)
09/17/96 Los Angeles Dodgers (Hideo Nomo)
07/28/94 Texas Rangers (Kenny Rogers - perfect game)
04/08/94 Atlanta Braves (Kent Mercker)
09/08/93 Houston Astros (Darryl Kile - vs. METS)
04/22/93 Seattle Mariners (Chris Bosio)
08/26/91 Kansas City Royals (Bret Saberhagen)
07/26/91 Montreal Expos (Dennis Martinez - perfect game - now Washington Nationals)
09/02/90 Toronto Blue Jays (Dave Stieb)
09/16/88 Cincinnati Reds (Tom Browning - perfect game)
04/15/87 Milwaukee Brewers (Juan Nieves)
09/30/84 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Mike Witt - perfect game)
05/15/81 Cleveland Indians (Len Barker)
08/09/76 Pittsburgh Pirates (John Candelaria)
08/13/69 Baltimore Orioles (Jim Palmer)
NEVER San Diego Padres (team's inception, 1969)
NEVER New York Mets (team's inception, 1962)

7,806

No Mets talk until spring training, at least. Will be happy to see Omar and Jerry out the door, and hopefully management can get some good arms that will not only get the Mets to the playoffs and the World Series, but possibly also pitch a no-hitter next year in the Mets' 50th season.