TV-Down to Three in Fox's "The Next Great American Band" 2007; Kaitlyn Turns Four and Knows Everything

There's three left in Fox's "The Next Great American Band" 2007.

Video and pics you'll find nowhere else on the Internet.

And Kaitlyn turns four and she says, no lie, she'll tell anyone...she's four and she knows everything.

Pic of the Day

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”The Next Great American Band” Finale This Week; Top Three Ready to Win

On Friday, December 14, 2007, the kid band “Light of Doom” was sent packing from the 2007 Fox’s “The Next Great American Band” competition.



Indeed I did pray fervently that this band would be put out of its misery.

That being said, those kids should be right proud of having gone on in a national band competition, ending up fourth in the count. While I’ve moaned about this band’s lack of experience, it is quite an accomplishment for such a young group to go so far in this sort of contest. Light of Doom will someday be a band of fame.

The top three bands in this year’s contest…Denver and the Mile High Orchestra, Sixwire, and the Clark Brothers, performed three tunes on the night of this review. One tune was given them by the judges, one was assigned by “us”, which I assume to mean the producers of the show as it’s not clear who US…is. The final song was chosen by each band itself.





Denver and the Mile High Orchestra performed “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire, “Vehicle” by Ides of March, and a tune they wrote titled “The Way You Move Me.”

The Clark Brothers sang “Change the World” by Eric Clapton, “Amazed” by Lonestar, and a combo gospel tune: “This Little Light of Mind”/”Faith,Faith,Faith”.

Sixwire performed “Reeling in the Years” by Steely Dan, “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” by England Dan and John Ford Coley, and this band also sang a tune of their own composition-“Good to be Back”.

The grand finale of this reality competition is scheduled for this Friday, 12/21/07, just in time for Christmas.

By me any one of these three groups could win this contest and rightfully so. I have doubts about the Denver group as such a big band is an unwieldy sell for the pop market although, hey, I love Brooklyn Bridge. The Clark Brothers are a gospel type band. Not that there’s anything wrong with this but again, would a big pop market carry a gospel band?

Sixwire has been and still is my fave band to win this thing.

Below a Remix of the top three bands singing the song assigned them by the judges.



Top Ten Bands in Fox's "The Next Great American Band" Fall 2007
======================
Six Wire
Tres Bien!-sent home 11/30/07
Franklin Bridge-sent home 11/16/07
The Clark Brothers
Light of Doom-sent home 12/14/07
Dot, Dot, Dot-sent home 12/7/07
Cliff Wagner and the old number 7-sent home 11/23/07
The Muggs-sent home 11/9/07
Rocket-sent home-11/9/07
Denver and the Mile high orchestra

Prior Links to Posts for "The Next Great American Band" Fall 2007
======================
The Top Ten Announced
Two sent home
Brooklyn Bridge Sent Home
Cliff Wagoner and the Old Number 7 Sent Home
Top 5, Tres Bien Sent Home
QUEEN! Down to Four
The Top Three
=============
Focus on TV Posts of Fame

Those Wacky TV Chefs. Includes Rachel Ray and the sexiest chef of them all.

TV News Pundits including Russert, spitting Matthews and the one I adore.

"Dancing with the Stars" of 2007, reviews, pics and videos.

American Idol 2007 and The Bachelor. One night's review with links to all the others.
===============

 


Four Years Old and She Unabashedly Claims to “Know Everything”



In the picture above, Kaitlyn is holding an object that might be difficult for the average viewer to discern. This is because in her hand Kaitlyn holds what was once a “nerf” football that she and I had been tossing around in Mom-Mom’s backyard until the big, galoot dog got it and…well let’s just say that Jo-Ann proceeded to methodically tear the foam ball apart because…well I don’t know why.

Indeed I must surmise that the Belgian Malinois deemed the foam football object had no business in her yard as she already had two fine balls and the nerf ball was obviously an interloper. I chastised Kaitlyn for not catching the ball as she should have and she pouts and claims that she’s just a little kid and she tried.

I heard about Kaitlyn’s claim to “know everything” upon arrival at her paternal grandparents’ house to celebrate her birthday. “She says she’s four years old and now she knows everything,” Kaitlyn’s other grandma told me. I doubted that such a small child would have the audacity to go claiming such a thing.

At the time of my arrival Kaitlyn was in the bathtub, being washed down due to an episode involving hot chocolate, a jostle, and a result of one birthday girl getting thoroughly doused with icky, sticky liquid chocolate. When Kaitlyn was finally clean and dressed she rushed out of the bathroom to greet me with some kind of weird happy dance and the announcement that she was now four years old and knew everything.

Such an audacious statement does require all adults in the surround to poo-poo the child’s assertion along with a statement of the adult’s age in question and the comment that even at such an advanced age, the adult doesn’t know everything. Thus bringing into serious question the notion that a four-year-old would know everything.

I was, I admit, puzzled at this strange assertion of Kaitlyn’s that she knew everything and I pondered just why she thought such a thing. Although I admired her all to hell that she would claim such a thing, God Bless the confidence.

Indeed throughout the three day visit of young Kaitlyn with Mom-Mom she continued to tell anyone in her surround that she was four years old and with a little prompting from me she unhesitatingly added that she also now knew everything.

Well, hey, I thought it was cute. All adults thought it was cute too.

The best I can figure is that Kaitlyn was being a bit tongue-in-cheekish because the child surely knows that she doesn’t know everything but hey, with a big smile on her face she asserted it over and over again and the moxie of the statement didn’t make her the slightest bit reticent.

There were plenty of opportunities for Grandmother, who would be me, to chastise Kaitlyn over some incident or another with the “gotcha” statement that, heh, Kaitlyn did NOT, in fact, know everything. Like when she put her shoes on the wrong feet and sobbed because something wasn’t right.

Obviously a child who knows everything would put her shoes on the correct feet, right?

Kaitlyn just smiled when she got caught not knowing everything and it didn’t stop her from constantly repeating the mantra.

I think the child thinks the assertion funny and on some level, it says something about Kaitlyn’s sense of humor.

Below, a short video of Kaitlyn’s rather lame efforts to blow out the four candles on her birthday cake.

Kind of sad for a kid that knows everything.

TV-Fox's "Great American Band" Sings Queen, Baba Walters' 07 Fascinating People; Guest Writer and Writers' Retreats

We continue on reviewing Fox's "The Next Great American Band". It's down to four and we've got an entire original song by one of the contenders that, to quote one of the judges, is better than anything heard currently on the radio. Plus a remix of the final four's rendition of Queen.

Also, the lowdown on Barbara Walters' Most Fascinating People of 2007. Plus, as expected by the two to three people a day who read my Blog, a list of mine own most fascinating people of this past year.


Guest writer Michelle intrigues us with what writers must do for their craft. There's bunkbeds with no ladders and bathrooms far away in the Writers' Retreat of Michelle's story.

Pic of the Day

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The Top 4 in “The Next Great American Band” Sing QUEEN

By me there are two top contenders to duke it out for the winning slot in Fox’s “The Next Great American Band” 2007.

The Clark Brothers are a trio of genuine brothers who effectively combine a little bluegrass with a little country to create a type of music that has a broad appeal. This group has enormous talent but they are not my favorite.

My favorite of all the contenders is Sixwire. This group has country-western roots but they transform handily to a pop-ballad genre that is quite pleasant to the ears.

In fact, during the viewing reviewed here of Friday, 12/7/07, the final four bands were charged with singing both a Queen song plus each band performed a tune of their own. Sixwire’s tune was positively beautiful. Below is a video of the entire tune, titled “Go On”. I totally concur with one judge’s assessment that this song was way better than anything currently on the radio.



Below this narrative is a remixed compilation of all the Queen songs as performed by the final four bands.

The punk-rock band Dot,Dot,Dot was sent home on this night and I was pleased. Not that this wasn’t a fine band but their music and dress are definitely not my type.

The Clark Brothers began the evening by singing Queen’s “These Are the Days of Our Lives”. As always this group performed professionally and the listening was pleasurable.

Oh dear Lord please forgive me cause they are just children, but it is seriously time for “Light of Doom” to leave this competition. These kids sang Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and this is normally one of my favorite songs.

All three judges lambasted this group’s singing but they had to be polite and couldn’t use the adjectives that came to my creative mind. Terrible, awful, screeching, off-key, childish, immature, not-ready-for-prime-time, not cute at all, hold your ears horrific…get the picture?

Hey…this group is composed of kids with the youngest around twelve years or so. Considering their youth, they deserve congratulations for making it through to the top four in this contest. They also deserve encouragement because obviously they have something to offer.

But this reality show will lose all believability if this group is not sent home handily at the next showing…which is scheduled for Friday night, 9 pm, 12/14/07 on Fox.

Sixwire sang “Fat-Bottomed Girls” and did a magnificent job as always. The Sixwire band is composed of fellows in their late-twenties to mid-thirties by my guess. They all have families, wives, children. They are dedicated to their talent and I wish them well in this competition. I say to this band to keep doing what you love and the money will follow.

The Denver Mile High Orchestra, which the leader likes to shorten to “DMHO”, performed Queen’s “Sleeping on a Sidewalk”.

I’ll not be upset should this band win this contest but I caution that there are few huge bands that went on to a commercial success. Brooklyn Bridge is the one that comes immediately to mind.

By me, Sixwire is the most-talented, versatile and perfect-sized band in this contest. But I’ll not cry should The Clark Brothers, “DMHO” or Sixwire win this contest. If “Light of Doom” wins I’ll never watch this reality series again.



Top Ten Bands in Fox's "The Next Great American Band" Fall 2007
======================
Six Wire
Tres Bien!-sent home 11/30/07
Franklin Bridge-sent home 11/16/07
The Clark Brothers
Light of Doom
Dot, Dot, Dot-sent home 12/7/07
Cliff Wagner and the old number 7-sent home 11/23/07
The Muggs-sent home 11/9/07
Rocket-sent home-11/9/07
Denver and the Mile high orchestra

Prior Links to Posts for "The Next Great American Band" Fall 2007
======================
The Top Ten Announced
Two sent home
Franklin Bridge Sent Home
Cliff Wagoner and the Old Number 7 Sent Home
Top 5, Tres Bien Sent Home
QUEEN! Down to Four

Barbara Walters’ “Most Fascinating People” of 2007

The Most Fascinating People for 2007, according to Barbara Walters, are, in no particular order:

Bill Clinton

Jennifer Hudson-star of the musical “Dream Girls”

Justin Timberlake

Chris DeWolfe/Tom Anderson…Myspace founders

Katharine Heigl-star of “Grey’s Anatomy”

Don Imus

Victoria and David Beckham

Hugo Chavez

J.K. Rowling

I added an explanation of the claim-to-fame of the above for those I assumed the average reader may not know. We all know Bill Clinton, right?

As best I can figure, the requirements to make Barbara Walters’ fascinating people list include some sort of celebrity, obviously, some notoriety occurring in the year of the reward (ie Bill Clinton is the husband this year of a major presidential candidate as opposed to most other stuff he did) and fit in to the list of a particular year so as to avoid a list of all women, all men…that kind of thing.







I didn’t quite follow the same standards as Baba in the compilation of my own fine list below of the ten most fascinating people of 2007. My list assumed a fascinating person would be someone of some celebrity (no one wants a list that includes my father even if he deserves to be on it) and who would be someone I’d like to talk to for an hour and who would, during said hour, well…fascinate me.

Pat Fish’s List of the Most Fascinating People of 2007

Mike Castle-Delaware’s one and only representative in the U.S. House of Representatives. There are more senators in Delaware than there are Representatives, something that is very rare. Even more rare is a Representative who was a two-time Governor of the state they serve.

Rush Limbaugh-come on…an hour for me to talk to Rush all to myself…
I’d love it.

Kelly Pickler-I’d love to sit and talk to her about her mother, how she plans to resolve her abandonment. I too grew up without a mother. I know what it’s like. I feel Kelly’s pain.

Dick Cheney-for one hour I’d love to talk to this man who had led this country way more than he’ll ever get credit for.

Drew Peterson-so the man killed a couple of his wives…you don’t think this is fascinating? I’d love to talk to him for an hour just so I could get a genuine feel for narcissism in real life.

French President Sarkozy-he’s hot, he loves America, he’s around my age and I can, yes I can, say the full pledge of allegiance in French. I just know that would impress Sarkozy all to hell.

Larry Craig-besides Bill Clinton, alleged homosexual senator Larry Craig, and his “wife”, are the absolute best liars on the planet. I’d love to sit for an hour and watch one lie so effortlessly.

Dana Perrino-Tony Snow’s replacement as White House Press secretary represents the best in womanhood that this country has to offer. She’s very attractive, speaks well, is calm and firm but can be tough when required.

Laura Bush-the best first lady this country has ever had. I’m sure Laura Bush would love my Blog.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejhad-President of Iran…I really want him to know that I saw him with my own eyes back when Jimmah Carter was President and he was part of that group that captured our citizens hostage from the Iranian embassy and held them for over a year, such a fine, fine president that Jimmy Carter.
=============

Focus on TV Posts of Fame

Those Wacky TV Chefs. Includes Rachel Ray and the sexiest chef of them all.

TV News Pundits including Russert, spitting Matthews and the one I adore.

"Dancing with the Stars" of 2007, reviews, pics and videos.

American Idol 2007 and The Bachelor. One night's review with links to all the others.
===============

 


Writer's Retreat

It wasn't at all what I expected, and in some ways it was ever so much more. This past summer, Chas and I went on a two-day writer's retreat in the Sierras, close to Donner Lake. It ran for part of Friday, all of Saturday, and part of Sunday. The ad had said something about nature, but I had no clue what I was getting into.

The retreat leader held our gathering in a lodge just off Donner Pass Road. City-born and -bred that I am, I had some difficulty with various parts of the lodge. First, we parked the car just "off the road." There is no parking lot for this lodge the way I'm used to them. There are, instead, wide spots of dirt to either side of the road. At just after 3pm, the spots on the lodge side were already full, so we used the ones a bit further down on the opposite side. After we'd parked, for a moment we stared back up the road, looking at the lodge sign partway up a steep mountainside and wondering where the way to the lodge was. A woman in a small pickup nearby saw our lost looks and came over. It was the retreat leader!

She introduced herself and helped us get our bearings. We took some of our stuff and started across the dirt. Crossing the road was a nervous-making thing. The visibility to the left wasn't very good, so we trusted to sound more than sight for when we could cross. Once across, we rounded the side of the hill and saw the trail up to the lodge.

About four feet wide, it was well-pounded dirt and rock, with railroad ties set crossways into the dirt at about ten foot intervals. These kept the path from washing away during storms, I guess, because the pathway was steep. Along the right side, a rope followed the pathway. I think the rope is meant as an assist during winter when the path could be full of snow or ice.

We trudged uphill, stopping three or four times to try to catch our breaths. Try, I say, because my lungs did not like the altitude and began to hurt in a very short amount of time. I felt like I wasn't getting enough oxygen, and worked at calming my breathing. This became a common occurrence during the whole retreat, especially during our nature walks.

Finally, we crested the top of the path to behold a rustic, huge lodge. Rough-hewn timber graced its outside walls, and a sign proclaimed that we'd arrived. We crossed the grate at the entrance and opened the door...

... to find stairs.



Up the stairs we went, following the signs that said "Office." Up two flights, and no more sign. We wandered around on that floor but found no place that looked like an office or said ‘Office' on it. We found the chore sign-up and the accommodation listing. We found a huge room dedicated to Lewis & Clark, and more stairs. We found the Dining Room and the Kitchen. But no Office.

The leader came to our rescue once again and pointed us in the right direction. We'd passed the "Office" several times, but the wooden half-door had been closed so we hadn't seen it as the office. As I recall we wondered about it but there were no door knobs so we couldn't open it and look.

The office person, who was apparently in charge of the entire lodge, checked us in and explained where we were to go. We had cubicle 7A and 7B, and briefly I thought how much those sounded like airplane seats.

We dragged our stuff up more stairs. We found the Men's Dorm and the bathrooms, and then the Cubicles. When I saw the "room," I understood why I'd thought of airplane seats. The room was 5 x 8, and the beds took up about half of that. Bunk beds, and a small bench, were all the contents. (Not that anything else would fit.)

I took the top bunk, Chas took the bottom, and we tried to fit our stuff in as best we could. Since the cubicle doors don't lock, lockers were available for things we wanted to secure, so we figured out what we could leave and went back to the car for the rest of our stuff. On the way, we found some lockers we could use, after abandoning the idea of using the ones in the men's area.

My lungs hurt and I was tired, hot, and felt cramped after we'd gotten everything settled. I'd left my computer at home after much internal debate and was glad I had. The only outlets in the place (for guests) were in the Library, down the hall from the Lewis & Clark room. Plus I couldn't leave the computer in my cubicle when we were traipsing across the country, so it worked out well not to have brought it. But oh, how I missed it! My hand doesn't like writing the old way anymore. Every guest is asked to sign up for one chore per day, so we signed up for after-dinner dishes as our daily chore and relaxed and wrote and
puttered until dinner.

The call bell rang at 6pm and we went to the Dining Room. Mess hall-style service, but the food was excellent. Vegetarian lasagna, garden salad, garlic bread, bread pudding and cheesecake. The only thing missing was something to drink besides water. Hot tea and coffee were available for a 50-cent donation, but no sodas or anything of the sort that I could see. Several people brought their own wine. Our writing group sat together, except for Garth, who was running late because of a big accident on the freeway. We saved him some food.

Afterward Chas and I helped with dishes. The lodge has no garbage disposal, so the guests were asked to scrape all excess food off their plates and then slide them into the kitchen. There was a large opening into it from the Dining Room and the surface was stainless steel. We slid our dishes across the steel into the kitchen area. The main dishwasher person put the scraped dishes into the sink and sprayed them off with a commercial-type sink sprayer. If you've seen one, you know what I mean, but if you haven't think of a kitchen sink with an elephant-trunk spray nozzle and you'd be close. Then the dishes were put into a round plastic thing that you'd think went into a round dishwasher, except it went into the Sanitizer. This stainless steel monster was hissing and gurgling when I entered the kitchen for my part of the chores.

I was quickly taught to empty the Sanitizer by sliding out the plastic tray of dishes, drag it aside to drip-dry a minute, and put another full one in. Close the very hot steel doors, flip the switch, and I was done with it until the Sanitizer quit hissing and the light went out. Then I was to do it again, and if I was nimble I'd have emptied the drip-dried tray in the meantime.

After everything was done, the kitchen closed up by dropping a roll-down shutter across that large opening. We had a little bit of time and then the writing group met in the dining room at 7:30pm. We were quite a mix. Chas and I, Suzanne the leader, Forrest the medical guy, and Garth the gardener. Our ages ranged from 23 to at least 61, but we were linked by the passion and drive of our writing. We began our adventure, learned a little about each other, made some tentative plans for the next day, and did two exercises' worth of writing and sharing. We worked until about 10pm and headed off to bed.

There I found the cubicle did have a light switch, but not much else in the way of convenience. The top bunk was incredibly high to my 45-year-old body which never did like trees much. (For the bottom bunk resident it wasn't high enough; you couldn't sit up in the bottom bunk.) No ladder greeted my eyes when I tried to figure out how to get up there. A handle offered promise of assistance, but I found when I tried to use it that the top screw was halfway out and the handle itself was in the wrong place. When I was halfway up, my hand on the handle was close to my right ear. Not at all a good place for support or leverage. With a grunt and a heave and a prayer, I threw myself into the bunk. Once there, I realized it had no shelf for stuff. I ended up sleeping with my book (what little sleep I got) and hanging my glasses on a nail.

I lay there for awhile in the dark, trying to get comfortable in a strange place, wondering how in the world I'd managed to sign up for the monkey bars in place of a bed. Then, out of the dark, a thin cry.

"Mommy...."

The cubicle next to ours had a child in it, and she wasn't at all happy. She moaned and wailed, called for a mommy that never seemed to show up, begged for water, and cried for quite a while. I went from feeling sorry for her to being willing to commit murder. And just as I was thinking this, someone finally gave the kid the water she wanted and suddenly I heard the most awful gurgling choking noises.

Oh, my God, I thought. Someone *has* killed her.

An anxious silence, then a gurgle, a sput, a cough, and someone vomiting. Several times. Then tortured crying as the child regained her breath.

And so it went throughout the night. The poor kid was sick, so none of us within earshot (and I heard later that even downstairs her misery could be witnessed) got much sleep. For awhile there'd be silence and then it would start all over again. Two or three times, someone took the kid out for a bit, but it wasn't ever for long and the child came back crying and wailing the same as she'd been doing when they left.

Somewhere in there I realized I had to go to the bathroom, and immediately also realized there was absolutely no way I could do that without breaking my neck in the dark. I was never so grateful for anything as I was for the first peek of the sun's rays illuminating our cubicle so I could see to get down.

The second day was much better than the first. More writing, more good food, no hauling of bags up the slope, and some quiet, slow walking up the nature trail in back of the lodge. The area abounds with Stellar jays and chipmunks, and I enjoyed watching both whenever I had the opportunity. Pine trees contrasted well with the deep blue of a clear sky, wildflowers added fireworks of color, and the freshness of the air made up for the low volume of oxygen in it. I also noticed the "hostel-style" description on the lodge sign, and think maybe if I'd known that up front I wouldn't have been so surprised. The first time I ever heard of elder hostels, I thought it was "hostiles." Now that I've stayed in something similar, I'm not so sure I was wrong.

The writing sessions were incredible, and I was happy to have all talented writers in my group. You never know what you're going to get, and I think the five of us complemented each other well. Our leader gave us enough time to ourselves in the afternoon, which I spent napping in the bottom bunk of the cubicle I moved into; I couldn't face another night trapped near the ceiling. She kept us busy and thinking when we were all together. She gave us some techniques we can use on our own, and showed consideration for everyone in her
flexibility. Day Two offered five writing exercises, and the chance to share the writing for each.

The second night I slept better in the other room, since at least on the bottom bunk I could get up if I needed to and had somewhere to put my book and glasses. I helped with morning food chores since we wouldn't be around for dinner. Chas and I had to be out of there around noon.

The group met for three hours on Day Three. We stayed around the lodge rather than hiking, and managed to squeeze in three writing exercises and the sharing of them, as well as watch a Stellar jay try to peck its way into Garth's lunch bag.

Was it worth it? Definitely. Would I do it again? Probably not, if it was held in the same place. Somewhere else, certainly. Would I recommend it to you? Well, that depends on how athletic you are.
======================

Michelle
The Desk Drawer writer's exercise list
~~~~~~~~~~

More Guest Writer HERE

TV-Fox's "Great American Band" Top 5; Delaware-Me and Mike Castle

Fox's "The Next Great American Band" is down to a top five and this is turning out to be a very good reality show.

We've got pics and video you'll find nowhere else on the Internet.

In this Delaware post, we've got a pic of me with Delaware's Rep. Mike Castle and info on the new drive to make Delaware handle finances correctly.

Pic of the Day

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Fox’s “The Next Great American Band”-Down to the Top Five

Let us begin with a rant.

For my local yokel Comcast cable company has always been able to get its monthly bills out without ever a single delay.

But for me to expect my wireless modem to work without crashing six to seven times a day…that they can’t do.

On the night of this review, 11/30/07, “The Next Great American Band”, fully twenty minutes of this show ran with the sound fuzzy and awful, like a radio badly tuned off its station on the dial. I ran about the house trying every TV. Some of our televisions are hooked up to the Comcast DVR cable box and hey, they mess this up sometimes real bad too but like I said…never a problem sending out the bills. The fuzzy sound was also on another TV not connected to the DVR box so, evidently, not that I’m an expert or anything, but going out on a limb here, I assume that someone at Comcast wasn’t doing their job.

Can’t expect that a show broadcast over the cable wires should have its sound working or anything, get a grip folks. Yet the bill, always on time, never a message over Comcast’s famous phone recordings when one should call for something or other not working, that the bill will be late this month, do not bother calling, there is a problem.

Not that “The Next Great American Band” isn’t a show with music or anything and clear sound, in this case, is most required. Hey, it was Friday night and the employees of Comcast were tired. We should expect them to keep the TV sound all clear what with being so busy getting out those perfect bills and everything?

So I lost the first 20 minutes of the show and silly me, I was taping the thing and guess what? The fuzzy sound got taped as well. So a national reality show, coming down to the finals lost a major time chunk just when obtaining audience attention was at its height. If I was Fox I’d sue Comcast bejeesus.

Rod Stewart songs were the musical challenge this evening and I must be forgiven if my abbreviated review is lacking. Call Comcast.

The Clark Brothers, considered by the judges to be a real possibility to win this thing sang “You Are My Heart”. One judge, a lady, actually cried. Well hey, it was a good rendition and everything but tears are a bit over the top.

Denver and the Mile High Orchestra performed “Baby Jane” and I must say, Rod Stewart done with a large band was different.



Sixwire, a band of my own heart, performed “Hot Legs” and the children in “Light of Doom” performed “Infatuation”. I don’t know what tune Dot, Dot, Dot sang because, hey, did I tell you Comcast screwed up? I do know it wasn’t “Maggie May” and by me I can’t believe that none of the top five bands performed this tune. It’s like Rolling Stones night when not one band played “Satisfaction”.

The band Tres Bien was sent home that evening.

Because I couldn’t video tape my own segments then create a fine remix, below a video of the summary end by Fox.



Top Ten Bands in Fox's "The Next Great American Band" Fall 2007
======================
Six Wire
Tres Bien!-sent home 11/30/07
Franklin Bridge-sent home 11/16/07
The Clark Brothers
Light of Doom
Dot, Dot, Dot
Cliff Wagner and the old number 7-sent home 11/23/07
The Muggs-sent home 11/9/07
Rocket-sent home-11/9/07
Denver and the Mile high orchestra

Prior Links to Posts for "The Next Great American Band" Fall 2007
======================
The Top Ten Announced
Two sent home
Brooklyn Bridge Sent Home
Cliff Wagoner and the Old Number 7 Sent Home
Top 5, Tres Bien Sent Home

=============

Focus on TV Posts of Fame

Those Wacky TV Chefs. Includes Rachel Ray and the sexiest chef of them all.

TV News Pundits including Russert, spitting Matthews and the one I adore.

"Dancing with the Stars" of 2007, reviews, pics and videos.

American Idol 2007 and The Bachelor. One night's review with links to all the others.
===============

 


Meeting Mike Castle

I have “issues” with Mike Castle.

On Tuesday, 11/27/07, I met Mr. Castle on my weekly volunteer stint at the Sussex county Republican party headquarters. Of course I was excited and infatuated like a dopey rock groupie. Below, a pic of me and Mr. Castle, which he gladly posed for and he was a most gracious and soft-spoken fellow.



Delaware is an unusual state in that it has more senators than it has representatives. Every state has two senators per our constitution but representatives per state are granted by population. Delaware is small, so small you sometimes wonder why they bothered. Thus we have TWO senators here in the swamps of Delaware but only one representative.

Mike Castle, a Republican although I lament he is what I call a RINO…Republican In Name Only, has held the position of Delaware’s one and only Representative for the past eight terms and word is he plans to run at least one more time. Before this Castle also served as Delaware’s Attorney General, Lieutenant General and was also a two term Governor of Delaware. How many representatives in America’s House can say this?

Delaware loves Mike Castle and I should respect this. For there have been various GOP meetings when I have, yes I have, lambasted the man.

Well hey, I went for my beloved Joe Biden’s jugular a time or too as well.

But Mike Castle struck me as a man dedicated to public service. He had an air of graciousness and wisdom about him. Mike Castle didn’t get to be so beloved by tiny Delaware for no reason.

I will be forever grateful to both Joe Biden AND Mike Castle for one fact that cannot be denied, both of these beloved and repeatedly elected public servants have kept tiny Delaware on the map. They both must love this little state and on many levels I am sure I benefit from their dedication to little Delaware. Delaware is a player on the national scene and the state continually elects both of these guys. Neither, in their many years of public service, has been caught in a public bathroom playing footsie with the guy in the next stall. I’m just sayin’ …

Besides, if someone held a gun to my head and forced me to vote Democratic, by me Joe Biden’s been way better on those debates than any other Democratic candidate.

So here’s a tip of the hat to this graceful public servant and a cybersmack to yon editress who should respect the service Mike Castle has given the state of Delaware. While I’ve disagreed mightily on many of Castle’s votes, I acknowledge that such votes were always for the benefit of Delaware.

Now we return to our regularly scheduled program and I am free to lambaste Mike Castle, Delaware RINO and Delaware patriot.

That Pesky Transportation Trust Fund

So tiny Delaware was, oncit upon a time, in need of updated and more modern roads that locals can better travel the state without thinking they are in rural Iowa. Not that there’s anything wrong with rural Iowa, but Delaware does have a bustling ocean front area that can only be visited by a drive on country roads that hardly encompass the excitement and air of an exciting destination ahead for those travelers. And heaven forbid when the gamblers the state wants to attract finally get here they probably think they are in Mayberry RFD.

Some years ago, the Delaware legislators got it into their heads that certain sources of revenue would be put into a SEPARATE fund and would be allocated only for the sole purpose of bringing Delaware roads into the twenty-first century.

As always happens when separate funds are established, it almost never works out that way. For the existing roads need repairs, DelDot employees must be paid, expenses rise. So money is removed from this so-called trust fund to pay for ordinary expenses that should be paid for from tax revenues. And goodness knows we don’t expect the elected legislators to do their job and increase taxes to meet the budget, or even more horrible at least to Democrats, consider cutting some expenses.

The former head of the Sussex county GOP, one Dave Burris, is now head of The Delaware Taxpayer Coalition, recently sought folks much like myself, to sign a petition for Delaware legislators urging them…well urging them to do their damn job. Which would be what they agreed to do. Which would be to keep the monies in the transportation trust fund separate from ordinary expenses and use the funds to improve and upgrade Delaware roads.

Evidently Burris’ little petition has the folks in Delaware legislator land all nervous, as well they should be.

Thank you for contacting me about this issue. I agree that we should start moving operating expenses out of the TTF but we also have to figure out how to fund the $350 million out of the general fund. That is the difficult part- adding $350 million back into the budget, almost a 10% increase. It sounds easy just to move the costs back but it is not that easy. There are two funds- the General Fund and the TTF- and they are funded through different mechanisms. The TTF gets its money from the gas tax, motor veh. fees and other fees charged for services such as tolls. It is a rather static fund with no inflationary increases. That is why we had to raise motor veh. fees and tolls this year. The TTF was efficient until all the costs were moved into it. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you take a static source of income and add hundreds of million dollars in inflationary costs, the fund is going to go broke. That's where we were this year hence the raising of fees. The General Fund is funded very differently with taxes, lottery, escheat money etc. By law, we can only spend 98% of anticipated revenue (smartest thing we ever did). That revenue is already budgeted for so, if we move expenses out of the TTF, we have to find an addition $350 million in revenue or cut the same amount in other services! Where do we start? Ask any legislator if they want to cut anything in their district. The $350 million saved in the TTF has to stay in the TTF. That's the problem and it is not easily fixed but we have been talking about it and it will definitely be a hot item this year on JFC.
Pete

Above is an email I received from Pete Schwartzkopf, a Delaware representative, in response to the petition. Pete, yes son of the famous Desert Storm general, is what I lovingly call a DINO…as he is a, heh, Democrat in Name Only.

I will give Pete one thing…he did take the time and trouble to respond and he also, per his narrative, stated the truth, plain and unfettered.

So if we are to begin using the Transportation Trust Fund as it was originally intended and legislated, well damn, we’ll have to replenish the budget from OTHER sources. Well DUH. Not that we all don’t have households and budgets and we do get this out here in la-la land.

So how about the Dems consider cutting some of Nanny Minner’s buddies that she’s given useless jobs to all over this little state that they will continue to vote for Democrats?

Like the households we manage, we do understand the concept that at times, expenses must be cut. An expense cut is as much money as the equivalent revenue. Somebody needs to teach Democrats this concept.

Democrats, especially those in Delaware, never see that bit about manning the budget. Like their national counterparts, Delaware Democrats only see more taxation as a solution for balancing the budget.

FOCUS ON DELAWARE
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If seeking information about Delaware politics or Delaware restaurants, look no further. Below just a few of the informative Delaware posts that can be found on this Blog.

John Atkins couldn't keep his mouth shut. This once up and coming local politician also couldn't stop drinking and driving. This detailed story of how one Delaware county's GOP got rid of he who took up all the political action and replaced him with a decent Republican has lessons that the national RNC could learn.

The Possom Point Players are a Sussex county specialty but beach faring tourists can enjoy the talent as well. Here's a review of this organization's 2006 featured Christmas presentation.

Rehoboth Beach's "Big Fish Grill" has a lot to offer in terms of seafood but ambience...not so much. Here's a review of this Delaware eatery.

Jake's "Seafood House" in Rehoboth Beach... it's kinda like a Ruby Tuesday with emphasis on fish. Here's a review on an anniversary trip to this restaurant.

Delaware needed a new slogan and asked its citizens for suggestions. Which I did. Heh. This post had them all rolling in the aisles.

It's not ALL about Rehoboth. The "Bethany Blues" restaurant is a great place with fine food. I consider one of the better restaurant reviews I've ever written.

Introducing the Next Governor of Delaware. Standing alongside my own fine self, of course.