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R.I.P. Billy Mays

I saw a documentary about Billy Mays about a month ago on the discovery channel involving a series of days in which Mays was pitching products. One product was some shock absorbent gel which was so strong, he allowed a truck to run over his hand with no injury. That is some display and he will always have my respect. I'm also a big fan of the Sham-Wow guy, Vince Offer. The Slap-Chop commercial is one of my favorites. Here is an interview on the Adam Corolla Radio Show with Mays speaking about Vince "Sham-Wow" Offer.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Liam Neeson's wife Natasha Richardson died after falling on a bunny slope. Mays died after a harsh landing at an airport. Take my advice: protect your domes people. One more of these whacky deaths, we'll need a 16-hour-a-day helmet clause adopted to the United States Constitution.

The More Things Change

Michael Jackson has died. Here are my top 5 favorite MJ songs
5) Leave Me Alone
4) Don't Stop Till You Get Enough
3) Human Nature
2) The Way You Make Me Feel
1) Wanna Be Startin Something



But let's be honest with ourselves for a minute. This is a guy that was on trial twice for child molestation. Was it an elaborate scheme to get Jackson's loot or was he actual serving Jesus Juice in the Neverland Ranch? Either way, when the late Ed Bradley asks you on 60 Minutes whether it's okay to bring children into your bed, the answer is always, "No." Instead, Michael says, "Absolutely." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQwY4ll1Kfc&feature=related) Come on, Mikey Boy. With that said, every good party has a few MJ tracks in circulation. That's never been disputed.


Why the Rangers lost (no particular order)
-Because they are team full of solid players with no gamebreaker.
-Lundqvist cannot make every save and score every goal.
-Avery's antics in game 4 might have cost them game 5
-Donald Brashear is a talentless douchebag who broke Blair Betts' orbital bone in game 6
-2 shots on goal in the 3rd period of game 7 vs. the caps

I had the distinct pleasure of witnessing games 3 and 4 with my brother Ronaldo Da and Vincent Edward Taurassi. Before game 3, I get a text from Vin saying something along the lines of: "My sister went into labor, not sure if I'm going to make it to the game." As we all know, Lorraine Baines McSlermbo and Michael Q. McSlermbo were anxioiusly awaiting their first born. Vin wound up coming to the game and hitching a ride back with yours truly to Stony Brook Hospital along with Dr. Cheryl Taurassi. It was on that car ride through a monsoon on a dreary 4/20 (!) night that the McDerrmott's welcomed a Leila on to Planet Earffffff.


A few quick notes on the Phish summer tour:
- The three shows I saw at Jones Beach were some of the best I have ever seen.
- I sold my Bonnaroo ticket after a long debate with my conscience.
- The new songs being debuted have been exciting to hear. The approaching album release with producer Steve Lillywhite is setting itself up to be full of future fan favorites.
-If anyone would like to download any of these shows go to http://shmedley.blogspot.com... He has a ton of live music and downloadable albums too. I recommend WinRAR to extract files.

Harmon's Wedding
I wanted to take this time to say congrats to Bryan "Christ" Harmon and his beautiful bride Soojin. I've known Bryan since he used to no-hit Little League baseball teams and I feel really bad about not being a part of this special day.


For Cavy
Vash has a new YouTube Intro for his channel that I thought you would appreciate.



Random Links
Still can't crack 70 word per minute
http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php
"Your speed was: 64wpm."

http://omegle.com
This is a pretty useless site that allows one on one chat with a randomly selected stranger somewhere on the globe. The chat log looks something like this:

Connecting to server...
Looking for someone you can chat with. Hang on.
You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
You: The rain in spain falls mainly on the plain..
You: You try...
Stranger: the snow doesnt grow, the arctic tends to glow
You: The life of the wife was ended by the knife
Stranger: the creep of the deep will sleep in the keep
You: Mini-Wheats are sweet when you're rolling crew deep
Stranger: that willow aint no pillow,
You: hahaha... good game. Peace.

or

Connecting to server...
Looking for someone you can chat with. Hang on.
You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!
Stranger: hello
You: Hello. Have you ever played smerce before?
Stranger: nope
You: because I have special
Stranger: special what?
You: Triple threat ladder match??
Stranger: yeah.
Your conversational partner has disconnected.

Useless and creepy. Check it out.


Some pics from Cape Cod and over the past few months

1.21 Gigawatts

It's not a Ferrari but it'll get the job done. It's sleek and zippy. It has pep and zazz. It's the 2009 Mazda 3 Hatchback; the new Doda whip. Honestly, that burgundy '03 Blazer with the big ugly tire hanging on the back had it coming. And it guzzled gasoline like a college kid (or Derek Downing) pounds beers. Enjoy these pictures...


Vin Villani, who runs the show at Smithtown Mazda obviously is a man of honor. He did a wonderful job and deserves a round of applause.

I also landed my first cover photo for the Times of Smithtown. It wasn't November 5th 1955; the day Marty went back to the future. The sixth of April, 2009, The New Jerusalem Church on Woodlawn Avenue was struck by lightning.


The crucifix and steeple were blown to bits emitting a voltage of 1.21 gigawatts throughout the house of God. Luckily, I just got back from the Newsday offices and had enough time to grab my camera. I sent the pics to Joe Darrow, the editor and chief of The Times of Smithtown. Enjoy the picture and the article here at this link: http://www.northshoreoflongisland.com/pdf/ts_040909w.pdf


April 14, 2009 was also the anniversary of the death of Kurt Cobain. A man who changed music forever and blazed a path for bands like Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots... Nirvana spawned a genre of music before our eyes the same way The Beatles did on Ed Sullivan 100 years ago. Unfortunately, Cobain was a junkie that didn't know how to deal with pain or empathy. For the past couple weeks, I have been dipping back into old albums like Dookie, Insomniac, Purple, Offspring's Smash, Unplugged in New York, Nevermind, In Utero etc. and realizing how ridiculously good they are. Weezer was also a favorite but I can't find those discs... RIP Kurt. It's better to burn out than fade away I guess. I mean I was never grunge but I can appreciate the contribution to music history. Actually, I'm still wearing some of the stuff I used to rock in the early nineties.


Can we talk about the New York Rangers for two and half seconds? Vegas gives the Blueshirts 30-1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup. Needless to say, they are a long shot to even reach the finals. What do the Rangers need to advance to AT LEAST the conference finals?

1. Hot goaltending. Henrik Lundqvist has to put on a show. Period.
2. Gomez/Callahan/Avery line has to produce. Gomez has 3 cups. If he wants 4, he will have to lead the way.
3. Special teams. The best penalty killers on the planet play for the New York Rangers. But their power play is a black hole of offense. They need to capitalize...pun intended.

I'm lucky enough to be going to games 3 and 4 with my brother and Vin Taurassi. Surely, I'll have more to say about their first round match up against the Washington Capitals.

Just a couple side notes:
1. I'm currently playing God of War II with Jon Lesch. Incredible game.
2. Brand new padded high traffic charcoal colored carpet for the lounge.
3. I'm now slated for June 2, 4 at Jones Beach for the Phish reunion tour. Not pumped about the venue but very excited about the shows.

Proximity God-Bless-You's

I stick with a more succinct ‘bless you’ response when faced with a neighboring sneeze. Why do I get offended when someone ignores my sneeze? Why do I get madder if someone is closer in proximity to a sneezer but neglects to say anything? Where does that leave me? There is a threshold when it comes to these automated responses. My threshold is a 15 foot radius. If you are sneezing in my radius, you can be damn well sure I will acknowledge it. Outside of that radius, you’re on your own. Thank you.

What is Bob Doda doing? IV

Currently, I'm listening to Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel because my men's league ice hockey team just got bumped from the playoff picture for the third consecutive season. Knights hockey has no reached a new low, and I'm a little sad about it.

Anyway. Now that you're all in a good mood, I'll tell you about my new, exciting career. I'm working in the editorial newsroom at the Newsday offices in Melville. I'm working a 6 hour day; imputing information from press releases that wind up in the part II "Explore Long Island" section of the paper and on the Newsday website. At the same time, I still have the Futurecorps articles published bi-weekly...sometimes tri-weekly. This is not exactly what I want to do at Newsday. I know I can do much more, but my foot is literally in the door. Start small, think big. Last year at this time, I was pushing amalgam separators (don't ask) to dentists. Now, I'm on my way to being the next Walter Cronkite.

Due to labor laws, I was not able to keep my job at News 12 Interactive because Cablevision is the parent company of both entities. So, it was either temp at News 12 or get guaranteed hours at Newsday. I don't think I had much of a choice.

So, I'm still at home. Cliche basement room/lounge and three squares a day. Everyone I know is moving in with their boyfriend/girlfriends and if you're Greg Scandariato, you're asking long-time girlfriend Emily for her hand in marriage. My best friend on the planet, who I need to see more of, is tying the knot. Same goof ball, new responsibilities. Dogwood STAND UP. I guess I'm just not ready to make these commitments.

At this point, I'm just glad the winter is over. Is there anything worse than being cold? Mid-Spring/Early Summer...hoodie and shorts featuring flops...light t-shirt + jeans featuring flops...there is nothing better. I would never survive in the Yukon Territory.

(Speaking of jeans) I had a notion the other day at 'Overtime', a pub near my Smithtown home. 97% of the people there on this particular Friday night were wearing denim jeans; all different shades of blue. Since when did jeans corner the market for the planet? Does anybody else think it's strange that jeans seem to be the only option for people off the clock (myself included)? If I remember correctly, greasers in the 50's were rocking jeans, so I guess they are to blame. You never hear about jeans in the 30's or 40's. Just an unimportant, not exactly funny observation.

I haven't exactly reached Madoff numbers yet, but I'm trying. Until then, enjoy these pictures of New York City during St. Patty's Day.

Thoughts from the lunch break

I'm in the News 12 Interactive offices in Woodbury eating fresh pineapple and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Some thoughts:

- Sean Avery returns to the New York Rangers after being released by Dallas. It should be interesting to see how MSG and opposing players react to this development. If it were up to me, he would have been a blueshirt at the beginning of the season.

- I decided to submit my resume to NBC for their 'news associate' year-long program. It would be 'the dream'. I would mentored and assistant to an NBC NEWS reporter. They will probably get 100,000 resumes but you have to be in it to win it.

- Kids are getting hipper. A blonde I know told me that she saw a bunch of 5-year-olds skateboarding while blackberrying the other day. They had hair product and were listening to 'Shiny Toy Guns'. When I was 5, my life was Cris Cross Crash.

- I've been getting printed in Newsday in the Part II section every two weeks through the 'Futurecorps' program. If you subscribe or see a Newsday, you should probably check it out.

- Derek Downing gets married in T-Minus 4 days. Unbelievable. Seems like only yesterday we were going stag to the junior prom in a stretch '57 Chevy. Good Luck, D-Block. You too, Janine.

- Daniel Day Lewis is the greatest actor of my generation.

- I don't know one person that saw Slumdog Millionare.

- My men's league ice hockey team stinks. It's tough times for the Knights. We have a core of committed players (myself included). But all of our superstars only show up when it's convenient for them. Who cares if the games are at 2AM in Kings Park? Where's your heart at. Follow the knights at www.midnighthockey.com

- Spring is practically hours away and their is 14 feet of snow on the ground. Heavy snow, not the powdered sugar type. Here I am with sunblock on my nose and a corona...I step outside with my umbrella and beach ball...and it's snowing. All I want is some flops on my feet and 212 degrees Kelvin in the air. I'm sorry to say but I am pro-global warming.

Top 3 types of Pizza
- Buffalo Chicken with Bleu Cheese
- White
- Sausage/Roni

- Phish plays their first show in five years on Friday, March 6 at the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia.

I have to get back to work. Enjoy your week and remember:

Sometimes you shine the box, sometimes the box shines you.