Just when I found something I liked…

Singer Carnie Wilson of Wilson Phillips once told me I had great skin.  She asked me what my secret was, and I told her I drank a lot of water and stayed out of the sun.  My beauty regimen has always been on the low-maintenance side, but it didn’t hurt that I was just 22 years old at the time.  I had youth on my side!

Youth can only carry you so far, so I finally started using Olay Orignal Active Hydrating Beauty Fluid in my late 20′s.  In the last few years I have needed something a little more heavy-duty, and I discovered Olay Definity Intense Hydrating Cream.  It lives up to its name, as I have never had a patch of dry skin on my face since switching to it.  The product glides on easily, and feels silky smooth.  It barely has any scent, making it great for anyone who is sensitive to overpowering perfumes.  The cream is powerful yet gentle, great for someone like me who has a history of reacting to products with harsher ingredients.  I even recommended it to a friend with cancer who was dealing with face rash issues as a result of chemo treatment, and he told me it really helped!

They say all good things come to an end, and you can probably guess where this story is going… the entire Definity line has been discontinued.  I can’t say I’m surprised, because I tried a few of the other Definity products and I was not impressed.  But I love the Intense Hydrating Cream, so in a move a friend says is reminiscent of Elaine buying up the sponges on Seinfeld, I have been buying up all the cream I can find!  Santa brought me some of the replacement product for Christmas, but I’m holding off on trying it until I exhaust my supply… much of which was bought on clearance (score)!  The reviews for Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream (the replacement) are good, so I hope I end up liking it.

What’s Old is New Again

Have you noticed a lot of old trends coming back to haunt us lately?  Here are a few random thoughts about things we thought might be gone for good, but are back!  Some are good and some bad (at least in my opinion).

BAD:  Panty hose

The bare-leg look has been in fashion for so long now that many retails stores have stopped carrying panty hose.  Kate and Pippa Middleton are changing that, as they have been seen wearing sheer hose in almost every picture over the last few months.  Although I think they look nice, wearing them is certainly a different story… so hot and uncomfortable!  We’ll see if this trend sticks as long as tight pantyhose on a hot summer day.  Me?  I’d prefer to leave them in the 80’s.  Speaking of the 80’s…

BAD:  The Smurfs

It is a mystery to me why they made this movie now.  The Smurfs were annoying in the 80’s, and I would imagine they would be annoying now.
The reviews were horrible, but the movie managed to tie for #1 over the weekend.  Maybe it’s nostalgia, or maybe it was Neil Patrick Harris (who in my opinion shouldn’t have jumped off his path to greatness by doing this silly movie.  While we’re on the subject….

GOOD:  Neil Patrick Harris

Neil Patrick Harris became a bit of a punch line after the TV show “Doogie Howser MD” aired in the late 80’s/early 90’s… not that the jokes were necessarily directed at Harris himself, but anyone who looked a little too young to be doing what they are doing would often be referred to as “Doogie”.  Although he has been acting ever since, he made a “comeback” with “How I Met Your Mother” in 2005.  Not only is he hilarious as ladies-man Barney Stinson, but other high-profile gigs like hosting the Tony Awards have upped his cool factor.  And who could forget this tribute to Doogie Howser on SNL? Hey, is that Bill Hader on the saxophone?

 GOOD:  Saxophone solos

I played flute and trumpet in the back in school, but in hindsight I would have preferred to learn piano or saxophone.  It seems the saxophone all but disappeared from Top 40 music in the 90’s… it was rarely heard outside of a few Dave Matthews band hits.  With the late Clarence Clemons playing on Lady Gaga’s new album and Lenny Picket of Tower of Power and the Saturday Night Live band playing on Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night”, it seems the saxophone may be cool again.  Even Kenny G was one of the many cameos in the silly but fun “Last Friday Night” video.  Which leads me to…

GOOD:  Music videos

On this weekend, the 30^th anniversary of the debut of MTV, it’s nice to see the return of the music video.   As MTV and VH1 ditched more and more videos for reality programming over the years, it seemed the music video was dead.  Now debuting a new video from someone like Lady Gaga is once again an event.  One major factor that saved this trend?  FACEBOOK.   Yes, we are able to watch videos on websites such as YouTube, but Facebook made it really easy to watch and share without having to click around the web.

GOOD:  80’s music

It was in, then it was over, then it was in again… who can keep track? If you enjoy 80’s music, listen to my show “SUPER 80’s” on Flashback Radio!  Visit super80s.com to get show times and listen links…. it’s totally awesome!

My experience with rules at Shelton High School

Although these days it seems I sometimes have a problem doing simple addition and subtraction in my head, once upon a time I was a good student.  I aced math and science in high school, and I was interested in taking AP Chemistry at Shelton High in my senior year.  Apparently there was a policy that you had to have a certain score on your PSAT’s to get into this class… and mine wasn’t high enough.  So instead of taking into account the fact that I was an honors student who had already scored A’s in Algebra, Geometry, and Biology, and that I was already taking AP US History, they rejected me solely based on the policy. 

I’m not the kind of person who likes it when people tell me I can’t do something, so I fought to get into the class.  Now while all this was going on, my research showed that the Shelton grading system at the time was flawed in a way that made an A in the regular honors class more valuable than a B in the AP class.  Also, I had decided to attend Southern Connecticut State University to save money.  I found out SCSU would not accept the AP credit unless I scored the highest grade on the AP test.  The purpose of the test was to apply your AP class to your college transcript so you wouldn’t have to take the class in college.  I did not score the highest grade on the history test, so I would have to take the required history class at Southern… making the effort in the AP class useless.  ( I was also frustrated that in the AP class we never got past WWII, a consistent flaw in my experience with the Shelton School system at the time… but that’s another story).

So I kept up my fight until they agreed to let me into the class… then turned around and dropped it.  Some may think it was pointless to even fight after knowing this class wouldn’t necessarily help me, but to me I needed to just win the battle.  I found it amazing that they were willing to stick by stupid rules instead of encouraging a good student to excel.

I went on to score several hundred points higher on the regular SAT’s.  I spent the class period I would have spent in AP Chemistry working on the Gael Winds newspaper, which was a ton of fun.  I blew the curve in the required math class at SCSU, and my professor even suggested that I major in math.  But the my path to a future in media had already been set, first with the high school newspaper, then the college radio station, which led into a 20-year radio career in Connecticut.   As radio people tend to say, I was “bit by the radio bug”.

Sometimes I wonder what I would have ended up doing if I had taken AP Chemistry.  Sounds silly, but one class could have altered the course of my career!  I’ll never know, but I do know this:  Sometimes, rules WERE made to be bent or broken.

Let James Tate go to the Prom!

 

Photo Credit: WTNH/Connecticut Post.

The internet is buzzing about James Tate, a student at my alma mater, Shelton High.

 

James had a creative idea for asking someone to the prom.  He taped 12-inch tall cardboard letters to the side of the high school near the entrance,  so his potential date would see his invitation first thing in the morning.  Now, school administrators have banned him from going to the prom as punishment. 

 

Maybe detention or school grounds cleanup detail would be appropriate, since there are clearly safety issues with what he did and I understand that the school would want to discourage it in the future.  But he didn’t deface the building.  And I have heard he is a good kid. With so many bad things like bullying in the news lately, this is tame in comparison.  In my opinion, the punishment does not fit the crime.

 

I have a feeling it’s not over yet… this story has made national and international news!  A Facebook page in support of James has already reached over 12,000 “likes” this morning, and you can read tweets about his plight with a search or the tag #teamtate.

 

Prom night is a rite of passage for teens, something you remember for a lifetime.  C’mon Shelton High, give this kid a break and let him go to the Prom!  If they let him go, I bet he’ll be a shoo-in for Prom King!

Have you heard about Fox on Fox?

I’ve always believed that things happen for a reason.  An event that may seem bad at the time will in fact make more sense or lead to something better later.

A high-profile living example of this is happening right here in Connecticut.  Geoff Fox, who was recently the subject of a flurry of both traditional and social media postings because of the loss of his job at WTNH, begins his new job on Fox Connecticut on Monday.   Geoff has mentioned in his recent blog posts that he never would have known how his viewers felt about him if he hasn’t lost his job, and he has observed that the facilities and situation at his new place of employment are superior to his old one.  I’m paraphrasing of course, but check out Geoff’s blog  for more details.

The news of his new job has spread like wildfire since the announcement late last week, so I’m sure the 7 or 8 people reading my blog won’t be surprised by this news… but since I wrote a blog entry about him when this began, I figured I would post the good news and congratulate him in public!  Watch Geoff on Monday on the 4pm, 10pm, and 11pm newscasts, and he will regularly do science and technology reports at 4 and the weather at 11. Don’t forget to like him on Facebook.

Don’t go to sleep yet, Fox on Fox is still to come!  Congrats, Geoff!

Good news for an eliminated Idol

Many American Idol fans are still reeling over Thursday’s shocking elimination of  Idol’s front-runner, Pia Toscano. But there is apparently good news for both Pia and her fans:  US Weekly magazine is reporting that Pia has scored a record deal with Interscope Records.  Not so coincidentally, Interscope is chaired by Jimmy Iovine, who is acting an a mentor for the Idols this season.  Will Pia have success like other Idol losers Chris Daughtry and Jennifer Hudson?

Watch Pia’s performance from the week she was eliminated.  She had nailed ballads for several weeks in a row, and (following advice from the judges) she tried something upbeat for a change.

See Pia’s elimination below.  Watch Stefano, you can tell that he thinks he is leaving after Jacob goes to safety.  He is shocked when Pia’s name is announced.  It looks like the camera cuts away from Randy just before he utters some bad words!

Some people say that the judges wasted their save on Casey… I disagree.  Although Pia has a fantastic voice, I find Casey more interesting than Pia.  I can’t wait to see what he will do next! 

By the way, my new pick to win is SCOTTY.  Who do you think will win American Idol?

Snakes on a Twitter account

Need a good laugh? Are you on Twitter?  There are a ton of funny Twitter feeds, but this one is both fun and timely.  A cobra escaped from the Bronx Zoo recently,and although that is a serious situation, someone has decided to have fun with it.  The escaped cobra is apparently tweeting from all over New York City.  I’m actually jealous, I haven’t been to the city in a while and this snake is having more fun than I am!

Follow the snake’s adventures here:  @BronxZoosCobra, or the tag #SnakeOnTheTown.

And for even more hilarity, follow @BronxZookeeper.  Funny stuff!

Casey is saved on American Idol!

An exciting night on American Idol last night!  The  judges used their save early in the season, and Casey Abrams was saved from elimination last night. Although I think Casey has been weak the last 2 weeks, he is a talented musician and very unique.  If he picks the right songs he should make the Top 5.

Here is the big moment from last night:

At this point Scotty and James are my favorites… but I am picking Pia to win.  I think the Top 5 will be Pia, Scotty, James, Casey, and either Lauren or Naima, depending on song selection.

SUPER 80′S moving to Wednesdays on Flashback Radio

My internet radio show “SUPER 80′S”  is moving to Wednesday on Flashback Radio.

Enjoy 2 hours of great 80′s music every week on SUPER 80′S! .  Hour 1 starts with the “8 from the 80′s” countdown, the actual Top 8 songs from a week in the 80′s.  Then we play your “Desert Island Downloads”, the 3 80′s song you would need to have with you if you were stuck on a desert island.  Tell me your 3 favorite 80s songs on the show website, super80s.com.  Hour 2 includes song features like the Movie Moment, 80′s Idol, Cool Cover, Big Hair Hit, and more!

Hear new shows every Wednesday morning 8-10AM Eastern, with repeats 6-8PM Eastern on Flashback Radio.  Visit the Flashback Radio website for other repeat times.  Visit the show website super80s.com to see all listening options or to make requests.

Super 80′s is also available for broadcast radio!  We are already on a station in Australia, and the show is available as an mp3 download to add to the weekend lineup of broadcast stations.  At this time the show is commercial and barter free!  Hear a show demo and get contact info at super80s.com.

Unemployed Winner

I’m jumping on the Charlie Sheen bandwagon and using a Charlie-ism.  By the way, are you following him on Twitter?

OK so technically I’m not unemployed… I am working part-time at 2 radio stations, and enjoying it.  Not working full-time gives me extra time to do my internet radio show, and spend time swimming.  I have had time to work on projects like helping a relative sell a house and move.  Plus I am all caught up on Days of Our Lives!  But it has been 2 years, and it’s time to get back to working full-time. The radio business is tough right now, so I’m expanding the search.  Here is my resume.  Looking for something fun and challenging in Southern or Central Connecticut.

You hiring?