VINYL MAKING A COMEBACK

YES, IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING. WE'RE REVERTING BACK TO THE 50's AND 60's WHEN VINYL RECORDS WERE HOW WE ALL LISTENED TO RECORDED MUSIC. YAY!!! I OF COURSE GREW UP DURING THE MANY CHANGES FROM ACETATE RECORDINGS (78'S) TO VINYL (45'S & LP's) TO 8-TRACKS, CASSETTES, CD'S AND OF COURSE THE CURRENT I-PODS AND DOWNLOADS. I SUSPECT THE NEXT THING WILL BE VIRTUAL DOWNLOADS DIRECTLY TO YOUR BRAIN VIA AN IMPLANT LICENSED BY ASCAP OR BMI, THE MUSIC LICENCING COMPANIES THAT KEEP TRACK OF THE ROYALTIES FOR THE ARTISTS.
ANYHOW, HAVING A GAZILLION VINYL RECORDS IN MY BASEMENT, ALL FILED AND INDEXED, I FEEL ONCE AGAIN THAT I AM IN THE MAINSTREAM OF THINGS WITH THE RESURGENCE TO VINYL. SOME MAJOR OUTLETS SUCH AS AMAZON, BORDERS AND BARNES & NOBLE ALREADY HAVE ADDED VINYL TO THEIR SELECTIONS.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED HOLDING A VINYL RECORD IN YOUR GRUBBY LITTLE HANDS, IT'S A VERY MOVING EXPERIENCE. FOR INSTANCE, I HAVE A COPY OF AN LP BY "THE THREE DEGREES" WHICH YOU MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF. ONE OF THEIR CHART SONGS WAS, "WHEN WILL I SEE YOU AGAIN." OPEN UP THE ALBUM AND IT UNFOLDS LIKE A PLAYBOY MAGAZINE CENTERFOLD. THERE BEFORE YOUR EYES ARE THE THREE FEMALE GROUP MEMBERS WEARING SEE THROUGH OUTFITS BARING IT ALL. TRY ACCESSING THAT ON A CD OR AN I-POD. ANOTHER GREAT VINYL ALBUM COVER IS ONE BY THE "SCORPIONS" WHICH FEATURES A WOMAN IN THE BACKSEAT OF A CAR WITH BUBBLEGUM STUCK TO HER BOOB. NOT THAT IT HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE RECORD, BUT IT'S CUTE. WON'T FIND THAT ON A CD OR I-POD EITHER. THERE ARE MANY MORE VINYL ALBUMS WITH GREAT ARTWORK ALL OF WHICH ARE BEING MISSED BY TODAY'S GENERATION. I TRIED PEEKING INTO AN I-POD ONCE BUT COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING.
VINYL WAS GREAT. JUST TODAY, I SPENT AN HOUR ALONE WITH MY VINYL COLLECTION. IT WAS VERY TOUCHING. PERHAPS WITH THE RESURGENCE OF VINYL, OTHER THINGS WILL BEGIN TO RESURFACE ONCE AGAIN. DRIVE-INS, FULL SERVICE GAS STATIONS WHERE THEY ACTUALLY CHECK YOUR OIL, CLEAN YOUR WINDSHIELD AND (GASP) PUMP YOUR GAS, THE MOM AND POP STORE THAT SOLD PENNY CANDY, RECORD HOPS WITH ACTUAL RECORDS, STICK SHIFTS ON ALL CARS WITH AUTOMATICS AN OPTION, TELEVISION WITH RABBIT EARS, NEWSPAPERS THAT REPORT THE NEWS INSTEAD OF GOSSIP AND HONEST POLITICIANS, ....UM, WELL, MAYBE THAT'S PUSHING IT A BIT.
VINYL IS BACK, AND THAT'S ENOUGH FOR ME. NOW IF I COULD ONLY GET THESE DAMN RABBIT EARS TO WORK.

FOX WANTS TO PULL THE PLUG ON FOOTBALL

THERE IS A DISPUTE BETWEEN TIME WARNER CABLE AND FOX WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT BE RESOLVED AS OF THIS BLOG POSTING. THE DISPUTE CONCERNS HOW MUCH TIME WARNER CABLE INC. PAYS FOX OWNER NEWS CORP. TO RETRANSMIT SIGNALS FROM 14 TV STATIONS IN VARIOUS MARKETS. IF THIS DISPUTE IS NOT RESOLVED, IT COULD JEOPARDIZE VIEWER'S ABILITY TO WATCH TODAY'S COLLEGE FOOTBALL SUGAR BOWL ON TELEVISION. I PERSONALLY AM NOT A FOOTBALL FAN BUT I CAN SYMPATHIZE WITH FOOTBALL FANS BECAUSE IF IT WERE BASEBALL GAMES THAT I COULD NOT WATCH DUE TO THE DISPUTE, I'D BE UP IN ARMS AND GATHERING A MOB WITH TORCHES. EVENTUALLY, CABLE COMPANIES WILL FIND A WAY TO SOCK IT TO US ANYHOW BECAUSE WE'RE GETTING WAY TOO MUCH FREE ACCESS TO TELEVISION PROGRAMS WITH BASIC CABLE SERVICE. THAT'S A GIVEN. SO I DECIDED TO LOOK OVER MY CABLE LISTINGS AND SEE JUST WHAT I WOULD BE WILLING TO PAY FOR IF THEY START CHARGING A FEE FOR EACH CHANNEL. THE LIST IS AS FOLLOWS:

ONE LOCAL NEWS CHANNEL SO I CAN KEEP UP ON THE CONTINUING SAGA OF HOW THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT IS CONSTANTLY RUNNING OUT OF MONEY EVEN THOUGH TWO CASINOS REGULARLY SENDS THE STATE MUCHO DOLLARS FROM SLOT REVENUE EACH MONTH.

THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL SO I CAN CONSTANTLY DISCOVER NEW THINGS HAT I HADN'T DISCOVERED BEFORE.

THE USA NETWORK BECAUSE "CHARACTERS ARE WELCOME" AND A LOT OF PEOPLE KEEP TELLING ME, "YOU'RE A CHARACTER"

THE LIFETIME NETWORK BECAUSE I'VE WATCHED IT ALL OF MY LIFETIME SO WHY GIVE IT UP NOW. AT 67 HOW MUCH LONGER WOULD MY LIFETIME BE ANYHOW.

ANIMAL PLANET BECAUSE I HAVE FIVE CATS AND I NEED ALL THE ADVICE IN THE WORLD ON HOW TO GET OVER CAT ALLERGIES.

THE HISTORY CHANNEL BECAUSE I THINK I MAY HAVE MISSED OUT ON A LOT OF HISTORIC MOMENTS DURING THE 60'S WHEN I WAS A DISC JOCKEY AND SMOKING POT WAS NECESSARY.

CNN NEWS ONLY BECAUSE I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THEY HAVE A GUY NAMED "WOLF" DOING THE NEWS.

THE TNT NETWORK FOR RE-RUNS OF "BONES." CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF EMILY DESCHANAL'S SEXINESS ALTHOUGH I THINK HAVING SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH HER WOULD BE LIKE HAVING HER DO AN AUTOPSY ON YOUR PRIVATE PARTS.

THE WEATHER CHANNEL SO I KNOW WHEN IT'S TIME TO RUN OUT AND STOCK UP ON BREAD AND MILK.

NESN. IF YOU'RE A RED SOX FAN. NEED I SAY MORE.

TCM, WHICH IS TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES BECAUSE WHEN I'VE ABSOLUTELY HAD IT WITH COMMERCIALS, I CAN WATCH THEIR MOVIES WITHOUT ANY COMMERCIAL INTERRUPTIONS. (HEH HEH)

AND FINALLY, MY LAST CHOICE, THE TRAVEL CHANNEL. NOT THAT I LIKE THIS CHANNEL OR EVEN WATCH IT, OR COULD EVEN AFFORD TO GO TO ANY OF THE PLACES THEY HIGHLIGHT, BUT I FIGURED THAT IF I EVER HAD TO GO ON THE LAM, IT MIGHT BE A GOOD SOURCE OF INFORMATION ON WHERE TO HIDE OUT. YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU MIGHT HAVE TO BEAT FEET OUT OF TOWN.

SO THOSE ARE MY CHANNEL CHOICES WHICH AMOUNT TO 12 CHANNELS, QUITE A FEW LESS THAN I SUBSCRIBE TO NOW. SO I FIGURE IF I'M ONLY GOING TO GET 12 CHANNELS I SHOULD ONLY HAVE TO PAY BETWEEN $12 AND $20 DOLLARS. THAT'S WHAT MY CALCULATIONS COME TO. THE CABLE COMPANY'S CALCULATIONS PROBABLY WOULD BE THE SAME AS WHAT I'M PAYING NOW......YOU DON'T THINK THEIR GOING TO TAKE A CUT DO YOU?

HMMMM, MAYBE I SHOULD JUST WATCH THINGS ON MY COMPUTER. "WAIT!!!!! THERE'S A CHARGE FOR THAT TOO!!

PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION SYMPTOMS

TAKE TWO ASPIRIN AND CALL ME IN THE MORNING. THAT WAS THE STANDARD PRESCRIPTION WHEN YOU CALLED THE DOCTOR TO COMPLAIN ABOUT WHATEVER SYMPTOMS YOU WERE EXPERIENCING. WE OF COURSE PROGRESSED FROM THAT POINT TO AN ERA WHERE THERE IS A PILL FOR JUST ABOUT ANYTHING. EVEN A PILL FOR ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION (VIAGRA) WHICH SOME OF US MAY OR MAY NOT NEED, I FOR ONE DO NOT NEED IT, BUT SOMETIMES I WONDER WHAT THE ADDED EXPERIENCE WOULD BE IF I DID TRY IT. HOWEVER, MY OTHER HALF HAS DISCOURAGED ME FROM ATTEMPTING THAT EXPERIMENT THREATENING TO HAVE A CONTINUOUS HEADACHE FOR THE YEAR 2010. ANYHOW, THERE ARE CONSTANT ADVERTISEMENTS ON TELEVISION AND IN MAGAZINES ABOUT ALL OF THE NEW AVAILABLE PRODUCTS CLAIMING TO HELP YOU WITH WHATEVER AILMENT YOU SUFFER FROM. THE PROBLEM HERE IS THAT WHEN YOU TAKE THAT ONE PILL, YOU THEN ENCOUNTER A SERIES OF OTHER MEDICAL PROBLEMS FROM TAKING THAT PILL. I WATCHED AN AD ON TELEVISION LAST NIGHT WHICH STATED THAT TAKING THE PILL ADVERTISED WOULD HELP YOU MAKE IT THROUGH EACH DAY PAIN FREE. GREAT! BUT WAIT! IF I TAKE THAT ONE PILL WHAT ARE THE SIDE EFFECTS? HMMMM. DRY TONGUE, SWELLING OF THE ESOPHAGUS, SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, NUMBNESS IN THE LEGS, BLURRY VISION, CONFUSION AND DIZZINESS. EIGHT! EIGHT NEW CONDITIONS I'D DEVELOP FROM TAKING ONE PILL FOR MY ORIGINAL SYMPTOM. GEEZ, I'D HAVE TO TAKE MORE PILLS TO CURE THE SYMPTOMS FROM THE FIRST PILL. THINK I'D BE BETTER OFF NOT TAKING THE FIRST PILL AND SUFFERING WITH JUST THE ONE SYMPTOM I ORIGINALLY STARTED WITH.
I DID NOTICE HOWEVER, THAT TAKING VIAGRA DID NOT HAVE AS MANY FRIGHTENING SYMPTOMS AS ALL OF THE OTHERS. THE ONLY WARNING WAS THAT IF YOU EXPERIENCE AN ERECTION LASTING MORE THAN FOUR HOURS, CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN. YEAH RIGHT! IF I SO MUCH HAVE AN ERECTION LASTING MORE THAN FOUR HOURS I'M "NOT" CALLING MY PHYSICIAN. I'M CALLING THE CHEMISTS WHO DEVELOPED IT AND CONGRATULATING THEM FOR MY NEW TOY. AT THE SAME TIME MY OTHER HALF WILL BE FILING FOR A DIVORCE. SEE, ANOTHER SIDE EFFECT.

WHERE DO OVERDRAFT FEE CHARGES GO?

DID YOU EVER OVER DRAW YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT? MOST LIKELY AT SOME POINT IN YOUR LIFE YOU HAVE. SO THEN THE BANK CHARGES YOU AN OVERDRAFT FEE, USUALLY IN THE AREA OF $25 TO $30. NOW WHAT THE HECK COSTS THE BANK $25 OR $30 WHEN YOU OVERDRAFT? THIS FALLS INTO THE "I DON'T GET IT CATEGORY." OKAY, LETS SEE IF WE CAN FIGURE THIS OUT. THE RED FLAG GOES UP ON YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT THAT YOU HAVE JUST OVERDRAWN YOUR ACCOUNT BY 10 CENTS WHEN YOU WENT TO BUY A CUP OF COFFEE AND A DONUT USING YOUR DEBIT CARD. OF COURSE IT DID NOT RED FLAG WHEN YOU BOUGHT THAT COFFEE AND DONUT AT THE REGISTER, UNLESS YOU HAD SOME SORT OF OVER DRAW PROTECTION ARRANGEMENT WITH YOUR BANK. SO LET'S SAY THAT YOU DIDN'T. THE BANK THEN GETS A RED FLAG THAT YOU (HORRORS) OVERDREW YOUR ACCOUNT AND ARE NOW MINUS 20 CENTS IN YOUR ACCOUNT. BANK OFFICIALS BEGIN TO SPREAD THE WORD WHEN THE ALARM GOES OFF. "WE HAVE A SITUATION HERE SIR. THIS ACCOUNT IS OVERDRAWN BY 20 CENTS." "OKAY BEANBLOSSIM, GOOD WORK, TACK ON THE $30 OVERDRAFT FEE IMMEDIATELY." OKAY, SO LET'S BREAK DOWN THE COST OF THE OVERDRAFT FEE. THE BANK MANAGER GETS $5 FOR BEING CALLED AWAY FROM HIS DESK, BEANBLOSSIM, THE CLERK, GETS $1 FOR ALERTING THE BANK MANAGER AND ANOTHER $2 FOR HAVING TO TAKE THE TIME TO KEY IN THE OVERDRAFT INTO THE BANK'S COMPUTERS. BECAUSE BOTH THE CLERK AND THE BANK MANAGER WERE TAKEN AWAY FROM THEIR FORECLOSURE DUTIES, ANOTHER $4 WAS ADDED ON TO THE CHARGES. ADD IN THE COST OF THE ELECTRICITY USED IN POWERING THOSE BANK COMPUTERS AND YOU HAVE ANOTHER $8. FINALLY, THE PROFIT MARGIN THAT THE BANK NEEDS TO MAKE IN ANY GIVEN DAY FOR THEIR SHAREHOLDERS, WHICH, IS THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON FOR OVERDRAFT CHARGES, AND THAT COMES TO $10. OUR GRAND TOTAL FOR YOUR COFFEE AND DONUT OVERDRAFT, $30.
OF COURSE I JUST MADE THESE CHARGES UP, BUT I COULD BE RIGHT ON THE MARK HERE. CONSIDERING THAT MY BANK, WHICH CHARGES THE SAME OVERDRAFT FEES, HAS FREE COFFEE AND COOKIES DISPLAYED IN THEIR LOBBY EVERY TIME I GO THERE, (LOLLIPOPS TOO) I HAVE DECIDED THAT RATHER THAN TAKE THE CHANCE THAT I MIGHT INCUR AN OVERDRAFT FEE, I MIGHT BE BETTER OFF JUST DRIVING THE SIX MILES TO THE BANK AND GET MY COFFEE AND COOKIES THERE. WHO PAYS FOR THOSE FREE COFFEE AND COOKIES ANYHOW? OOPS, MUST BE COMING OUT OF THOSE OVERDRAFT FEES. TIME TO RECALCULATE MY FIGURES.

The, "I Don't Get It Dept."

There are a lot of things I just don't get. Maybe it's because I'm getting older and my attention span is about one gazillionth of a second. Like, take out the garbage dear, which I never hear my wife utter, along with feed the cats, don't forget to put the toilet seat down, and isn't this a pretty dress while we're shopping at Wal Mart. But some things, which I confess I have no control over, do sink in. Take for instance a comment by Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah just this past week. Hatch was apparently upset over the possibility of big government health care expansions and how it will add to the ever growing federal deficit. He was asked by a reporter from the Associated Press the difference between six years ago during the Bush administration when they approved a major Medicare expansion that added tens of billions of dollars to the federal deficit compared to the proposed cost of the proposed Obama health care plan now before Congress. His comment: Six years ago, "It was standard practice not to pay for things. We were concerned about it, because it certainly added to the deficit, no question." Essentially he is saying that was then, this is now. (Charles Babington AP)

So let me see, with my limited attention span, if I understand this correctly. It was okay six years ago to spend all kinds of money and add to the federal deficit, but now it's not okay to spend all kinds of money and add to the federal deficit. I think I'm missing something here.

Maybe if I look at this with regard to my own finances I'll understand it better. If I owed $500 bucks on my credit card, didn't pay it last month, charged another $500 bucks this month, and still didn't pay it, and continued to do that month after month until I die, it's okay, because my wife will pay for it in the end because that was then and this is now? Hmmmm, I kinda like that concept. Thanks Senator Hatch.

PREMIER BLOG OF MISFITWISDOM

It's come to my attention that way too much is coming to my attention. Perhaps that is due to the fact that I tend to pay too much attention to things most normal people would ignore. It may also be due to the fact that I'm getting much older and have way too much time on my hands. Living with my "soul mate," (sorry Gov. Sanford) and five cats, who basically tend to ignore my daily opinions, I felt it necessary to create this blog to inflict as much pain, and possibly boredom, to anyone who choses to log onto my blog. My subject matter will cover just about anything, foremost, events and subjects that tend to fire me up. Feel free to comment either in a positive or negative manner. It's a free world...at least that's what we're led to beleive.

In this first post, I'll introduce myself. I spent 30 years as a disc jockey in the New England market, 5 years as a sales rep. for some record distribution companies, another 5 years driving a taxi cab and finally 8 years as a chauffeur for a Connecticut casino until I retired in 2007. I have written my autobiograpy entitled, "I Could Have Been Famous But Sex,Love and Life Got In The Way" available at Amazon.com books. I tend to have an opinion on just about everything but prefer to comment on newsworthy items in which I tend to find a humorous side. I also would welcome suggestions from anyone on topics to comment on.

Before I post a blog on any subject, I will research the facts, and then post it with my opinions and humorous observations.

My first blog will be posted tomorrow, 12/29/09 with a look at a headline printed in this week's newspapers entitled, "Democrats See GOP Hypocrisy In Health Care Debate." I know, I know, it's politics but there is some humor in this comment, and my pledge to any of you reading this is that while I will comment on politics along with many other subjects, it will all be written with a humorous objective. The news is serious enough without me adding to it.

Thanks for reading this blog and I hope you return tomorrow.

Misfit