Ervolino

Wah! Wah!

 I grabbed the remote last night so I could TiVo "What's My Line?" and saw that it had been taken off the schedule on Game Show Network. The shows were running in order on the network and were right around 1960 when it ended abruptly on Sunday. 

 The show went on for many, many years after that, and I was looking forward to watching every one of them. Aside from the game, and the guests, and the terrific panel, I was so intrigued by the conversations about current events from the period.

 Today, I signed up to access the GSN website and saw there was a whole thread of other WML? fans who were just as miserable as I was about this.

 Am I crying? No. But I am making wah-wah noises. 

Trout season?

 I hear it's upon us. I love trout but I've never caught one. All of that may change, soon, though. Do any of you guys know some fisherman who will be heading out on April 11 with their tackle boxes? I'm interested in...well, everything about it. Let me know (below) or email me directly at ervolino@northjersey.com

The CHENEY Quote

When former Vice President Dick Cheney learned that Obama had been putting pressure on the Israelis, he angrily disparaged him as "pro-Palestinian" and described him as someone who would "never make it in the major leagues."

 The above comes from an ARTICLE on Rawstory about the Seymour Hersh feature in the new issue of The New Yorker. Much was made of this earlier tonight on the news shows. Hersh's story, about the different approaches of the Bush and Obama administration approaches to the Middle East says a lot about what the current administration is doing to renew peace negotiations between Israel and Syria. But the Cheney passages seem to be getting the most play.

 Generally, members of a previous administration observe a polite distance from policy decisions, at least until another election rolls around. (Condoleeza Rice gracefully declined opportunities to criticize the new White House.) The former vice-president, however, seems to see no point in that stuff. Another recent Cheney statement, that steps taken by the Obama-ites have made America less safe, were also heavily discussed a couple of weeks ago.

 

Is the former veep out of line?

Bill O'Reilly

Saw the Fox talk show host (show above left, with Dennis Miller) this morning on "The View." He's always a great guest. So, why can't i stand watching him as a host? I've tried. I can't. As a guest, though, I think he's terrific.

The NUDE photos

 I know this has been going on for days, but I guess we should kick it around a little: The 14-year-old Clifton girl charged with "child pornography" for posting nude pics of herself on her MySpace page. More than a few people are saying how this case means we need to police the Internet better, blahblahblah. Maybe we don't need to police anything, except perhaps what's in our own homes. I find it a little hard to believe that a teen-aged girl would want to do something like this. The reality is that she can if she wants to. The technology, obviously, is there for all of us to post nude photos of ourselves. (It's not a technology I understand very well, or I'd post nude photos everyday.) But...seriously...child pornography? A possible 17-year jail sentence? I guess if anything good comes out of this it will lead to some long overdue conversations at home about what kids should and shouldn't do online. But that -- in my opinion -- is as far as it should go.

 

Happy Sunday

 I spoke too soon yesterday about the rain. It actually cleared up by noon or so and was quite nice for the rest of the day on Long Island. Today is another story, though. A friend is coming over for the old dinner and a movie. Actually rainy days can be nice if you do 'em right. Wine. Fireplace....

 She said she had a nice bottle she could bring over. I may get a few more bottles, just to be on the safe side. Looks like it could be VERY rainy.

 Have a nice day, y'all. I'll be checking in periodically.

On the run

All that beautiful weather (on Friday) seems to have gone far away (on Saturday). I'm also fleeing the premises -- for my other place, in the not-so-Far East -- but should be checking in a little later. Hope you are all well, healthy, avoiding ghosts and staying dry. Talk amongst yourselves...

You can charge it

Thought a few of you might get a charge (ahem) out of the new electric sedan from Tesla. From a powerful outlet (480 volts) the car charges in 45 minutes. Longer for the more traditional 120-volt household outlet. Anyway, kinda nice looking, isn't it? The car -- called the Model S sedan -- retails for $57,400, and is eligible for a $7,500 tax credit, because it is all electric.

 Since there is still a limited market for this type of car, I think that as demand increases, the price will most certainly come down, and I think that will make it pretty affordable for even middle-income families. If you calculate what you spend on gas in one year (even at the recently reduced price) you can gauge enough savings to make it worthwhile IF you're in the market for a new car right now.

 If not -- and most of us aren't -- it seems like a case of bad timing. Two years ago, pre-recession of doom, a car this attractive and at this price point would probably have become an instant fad.

Meanwhile, in Connecticut...

Mixed reviews for the new haunted house epic set in Connecticut, which sounds like another variation on the "true" Amityville horror story, which wasn't all that true.

 

 It's a bit funny thought because a friend who lives in Sussex finally rented out the apartment in his home to a man with two kids. The man was outside the house a few weeks ago, and when my friend (his landlord) asked if everything was OK, the man said the ghosts were bothering him.

 This is right about the time that you start making 'cuckoo' noises, were it not for the fact that the previous tenant also mentioned ghosts, and the apartment has been empty for over a year since. 

 I've been to my friend's house a couple of times and I think it has more problems than ghosts, but I do have to admit I have never really felt comfortable there.

 On some level, I think we hear 'haunted house' stories and think we'd like to experience it for ourselves -- sort of like spending the day at an amusement park -- but people who do live in "troubled" houses (haunted or otherwise) tend not to be crazy about it.

 In my experience these houses are generally old and have a strangeness about them that make most people uneasy. Odd noises, strange smells and a weird sort of energy that I tend to be sensitive to. (I noticed this years ago when I was looking at houses to buy. I disliked many of them for a variety of reasons, but some made me SO uncomfortable the moment I walked in that I couldn't wait to get out.)

 No, I've never seen a ghost, as far as I know. And I'm in no hurry to. But whether they exist or not, certain houses -- for whatever reasons -- seem to have some sort of weirdness about them that isn't easily explained. 

 I do have a friend who visits houses like this with teams of people who investigate odd disturbances. Naturally, SHE believes in it, and the equipment these people use does pick up strange goings-on, inexplicable cold spots, and other weird phenomena.

 I'm sure this movie will do well, the commercials look creepy enough. I'm curious, though: Do you believe in this stuff? A total non-believer? Or do you, like me, think there's plenty of stuff out there that can't be explained and try not to dwell on it too much?

 My house was built in the 1800s, but outside of some rather normal "old house noises," I haven't experienced anything worth making a movie about.

 

Something to think about...

...From the Huffington Post, Robert Creamer's COLUMN on the state of the economy. As he puts it, if a financial institution is too big to fail then it is TOO BIG.