Friday nite, 30Jan09, San Jose's one night of Stars on Ice

First, the San Jose program insert of the song sequence for acts 1 and 2 had errors on both sides. Heck, it's San Jose and Sillicone Valley ! Would you like multiple toxic computer company superfund groundwater sites ,,,or just major boulevards and expressways with 40 years of untimed traffic lights?!

Second, there were 3 falls: 2 by the women and only one by the guys (yes!) Wonder if the girls had to sing some terrible song for the guys as penance ?

The hottest booty shakers were not the stars , nuts , but Mrs. Jen Robinson and that tall guy(yes! for us tall guys!)maybe Patrice Lauzon with all the dark curly hair.
Yuko Sato, not so much tho she definitely tried in one number. Shorty Sasha Cohen, not so much.

And there were only 5 women and 7 guys-ouch-without the 'only in some shows' of Kimme Meissner(bum-la mer!) and Tanith Belbin and Benjamin AGosto looking like a hot couple in the $12 program anyway, Evan Lysacek another tall handsome dude not there on the ice,,,Even the 'producer' the ever handsome and charming, successful and fun Scott Hamilton did not make a curtain call. Oh, yea,,,it was just the SharkTank ,,,one night,,,in SanJosey.

The direct tickets were $25, $45 and $75 , tho some of the resellers like Ticketblasters charged over $300 for rinkside. Yeah, there are a lot of super neuvo riche in Sillycone Valley. We were in the N.W. section 118 ,just behind a India-n coed that liked to shrill scream ,,,alot. Only howler for many many rows. Yep, right in front of me. Anything in pants, doing anything, and she would let out her Siren. "These are $25 seats,,,these are $25 seats,,,"
Only about 5,000 out of 17,000 seats sold the usher said. And a few years ago the cheap seats were only $8...Talk about tough economic times,,,

They had a voice annoucer of the short famous old Hollywood actress that was in the shootem up western as a barmaid or floozy,,,talking about "champion" and "art" ,,,and "change" on the four corner jumbo tvs, so there wasn't much of a cohesive plot to acts 1 or 2,,,other than this wife of Darth Vader woman's voice. So let's discuss the song selection and the chore-ography and the enthusiasm of the skater/s for each number, shall we.

Song#1 in Act 1=who is J.Debney/acts of random kindness, by cast skate?
2-ditto to Jamiroquai/Canned Heat,,, with 'sometime' castmember, young and handsome Jeff Buttle? Shrill siren from coed India-n,,,oh, good, multiple Shrill Sirens,,,
3-Nat. Bedingfield's Angel was ok with Mrs. Jen Robinson,,,great curves and long hair and dress and,,,
,,,falling asleep now,,,The cast is not really trying, but having fun,,,More fun than watching it on tv ? Hmmmm,,,
4-C.B.Rae's Since I've Been Loving You with the Fr. couple was pretty and romantic, somewhat ok,,,
5-Feist's 1234,,,ok i know this song and #3 ,,,and Yuko did really really did try to Shake it, so 'A' for effort and 'B' for chore-ography and end product.
6-the amazing, the great, the fabulous CW song The Dance,,,with 2 guys and Yuko,,,it was ok
7-m.w. smith's Song for the King ,,oops,,,which i think was replaced by '16 Tons',,, now there is a song i long to hear.
8-Journey's Open Arms great pop famous song,with a very strong consistent well done Manly job by the very handsome Michael Weiss, even had a triple in there ! (not that i get all excited over triples like some silly judges)
9-The very fame ,fab now hip (how would old Scotty describe it,,,?) Rihanna's Don't Stop the Music with cutey shorty Sasha,,,but missing in chore-og. or something,,,OH, don't sleep through her silver-tasseled bellydancer bra on THIS ONE !!
10-boregetable last number of act 1 of maybe(past my bedtime) P.Englishby's Sock Him in the Jaw,,,with cast skating,,,falling asleep,,,again,,,

A 20 minute intermission and the 2, 12 year olds inside the row of us kept wanting by and back, by and back,,,by and back,,,Is there a pen for kids without parents?

Act 2 opens with the rememberable Bon Jovi sorta hit of We Got it Goin' On,,,

Oh, before you go , you have to Google how old Todd Elddredge is,,,they give away a quasi gold medal and toss lots of toys at the end,,,and a signed towel to one of the $$$$$ ringside kiddies.

B2-Was A. Bocelli's beautiful slow moto bene Io Ci Sera,,,and the Chinese couple,,,they are ok.
B3- the Lizz Wright's Stop and the womanly curvaceous Mrs. Jen Robinson,,,but falling asleep again...
B4- U2's Desire, another famous familiar pop song, even to a 50 yr olds, and the Fr. couple get solid "B" for the romance and passion,,, chore-og. not so much,,,She should have leg-wrapped him at least once to a song like that !
B5-G. Finzi's funereal Ecolgue and the young handsome mr. Buttle,,,slow emotive and well done,,,but a funereal piece in an ice show? ok, it works.
B6-the stellar John Lennon singing The long and Winding Road,,,with Yuko...what a great song !! Well interpreted too.
B7-AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night Long,,with the dashingly handsome M. Weiss,,,and way way way too much skatingjustwitharmsspreadfromendtoendoftherink chore-ograhy. Great song tho !!
B8-Meat Loaf's barely rememberable but ok Is Nothing Sacred,,,and the still youthful handsome athletic and no visible grey long long flowing brown hair 37 Todd Eldredge,,,nice guy, but falling asleep my date tells me,,
B9-Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata,,,and Sasha Cohen,,,,super famous fab piece of music and good ,'B+' chore-ography for a change !! Not sexy, but beautiful. Was this the butterfly wings with the slow crippled wing, goose death spiral sequence ? Beautiful wing costume , for a really short person.
B10-let's see,,,scratch "16 tons" and they gave us the Pop Hot Now song by Duffy, the one where she complains alot,,,Pop song and the (maybe?) 11 cast skate was ok.
B11-final song of REO 's Roll with the Changes and the tall guys were having fun flipping/tumbling the tall curvaceous Mrs. R. so you could see this was only the 6th city on a long slog and at least the crew was trying to have some fun !

The last one /show i saw years ago was with Michele Kwan, and she was so graceful. Rudy got to sentimental on his San Jose mom. It was good. For $25 plus $10 parking a block further than the $15 parking,,,and the $12 glossy program,,, it was an ok show, but i sure think i miss what spark Kimmie Meissner might have brought to the show.

Stars on Ice is coming to San Jose, one night !, Friday 30Jan09, and the cheapest tickets are $25 !! in these terrible economic times !!

Does the Mayor of San Jose and City Council, owners of the SharkTank even care ,,,that they are pricing out of reach this fabulous show to most of the working poor families of San Jose ?? Sure another business manages the HP Pavilion, but with a big name like "HP" attached to it, you would think someone ,,,hint hint hint,,,would think of the less fortunate and not just the local computer nuevo rich,,,and since 70-80% of the seats are going to be unsold and empty anyway,,,why not some social justice and consideration in having seats for $10 or even $8 ,that i paid for the nose-bleed seats a few years ago. GREAT SHOW !! WISH WE COULD FILL THE SHARKTANK AND LET MORE PEOPLE ENJOY IT !!
WHERE ARE OUR LEADERS, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL, WHEN YOU NEED THEM ??

Big San Francisco Bay Area secret: Which and how many channels of digital tv will be broadcast for FREE from SF's Sutro Tower

One SF Bay Area tv station says there may be as many as 24 free digital tv channels that you can pick up with a cheap new digital rabbitears on your new digital tv. But most SF Bay Area media is keeping quiet. Why ?

What do we Americans want in American-made cars?

1- door locks that lock clockwise
2-non-sticky plastic steering wheels,,or wood,,or metal
3-get rid of the bloated confining interiors
4-tell us how many clear coats as the more a car has the better quality the paint job,,,and maybe a 10 year guarantee on that paint job
5-in 2008, TDI / turbo direct into the combustion chamber vs carbon fouling the intake manifold injection diesel engine was the tech of the year for one car magazine. So why do we not have that as a choice on many cars sold in the USa ?
6-make a pickup or suv with fancy high maintenance interior for street guys and gals but make a simple hose and soap cleanable interior for us that get dirty often and do not want to spent $200 to detail the interior weekly or monthly. Like the 1951 Chevy surburban-like vehicle.
6-Why not give us a 1960 Corvette body shell ,,,with modern tech engine and steering and braking? Or a 1950s Ford Tbird skin ,again, with modern tech underneath?
7-The redesigned Camaro with a shipbow front is a ,,,huge design mistake. Let your talented designers do their best ,but don't ruin it by committee.
8-Don't waste our time and desire on prototypes and showcars you have no intention of ever bringing to the road. You are wasting opportunity.
9-How many degraded versions of the Mustang can you make ? How terrible a car like the Citation and Cimarron can you make and try to sell? How did that crap ever leave your factory if you ever had high standards ?
10-No more dealer fraud and deception: a car sells for this price ,and no more higher robbery. If you can bargain lower by buying a 1000, fine.

Why does Magnavox,,,make a 2006 tv with the back label model number only 1/16 " high and thus unreadable??

Is it the "made in China" paper label ??

Why would a supposedly quality brand not have American standards,,,versus letting a 2nd rate country like communist China that exports poisoned pet food and children jewelry set such low standards ??

After the Reprobate-uglicans and all their "less government" bilge, isn't it time to get more bang for our taxpayer buck by insisting the US govt do something, like regulate more ?

BEWARE OF Gunthy Renker !!, as they will sign you up for monthly shipments without telling you !! and

whether it is the popular "Proactiv" acne treatment or something else, like the Vitamins for acne, when you cancel the monthly shipments of Proactiv to just when YOU want to order, they still sneakily continue to send you the acne vitamins, saying "you have to cancel that (monthly billing and expensive shipping) SEPARATELY" !!

Beware,,,Beware,,,Beware

UPS,,and maybe others ,,,have a warehouse in the n.e. S.F. Bay Area,,, where package sit and sit and sit ,,,instead of being delivered ahead of usual

The UPS delivery drivers have it pretty slow up until Thanksgiving and Christmas, so why is it 'ok' for us customers to allow UPS to just warehouse packages, day after day, without delivery earlier than 'scheduled' ??

We customers can and should demand better service ,,,for such expensive shipping !

Epson printers agent says "you can only use Epson ink",,,and the 2 Epsons i have owned are mediocre,,,

,,,therefore, i do not recommend any Epson printer !!

What folly,,,for Epson to think they can overcharge all of us for their inks, and only their overpriced inks !!

Another major complaint about these 2 Epsons i have owned is that they are way too slow and noisy in self-checking before printing !! ,,,wait ,,,and wait,,,and wait,,, FORGET ABOUT EPSON !!

Also, as if anyone would need another reason to avoid all Epson products, is that if you just want to print what is on the screen,,, that option is usually not available/ that checkbox is dead !?!! So instead of having all the options and controls open on one page , you are force to flip through several pages to possibly just make one copy ,,,yikes !!

We have a new euphemism for "going to the toilet" in America: it is "going to the bank"

The American bankers say they did not ask for any bailout money,,,Heck ,they stole enough up until last year when the lastest banker scam busted !!

So now, if you are really embareassed about saying ,"excuse me, but i must go and find a,,,you know,,,",,,
now you can say, with the same feeling of national embareassment " excuse me, but i need to find a bank."

Now if you are really in physical distress and think you might be gone for a much longer time, and come back sweaty and smelly, then you can say, "please excuse me, i have to go to Congress."

Thank the Republican National Party-poopers for all their smelly disgusting behavior of last few decades,,,

Some cars,,,SOLD IN THE U.S. of A.,,,have driver doors that open counter-clockwise/logically,,,and many that open CLOCKWISE !!,,,go figure

For about a week i have been beating myself up about this simple little tiny minor problem,,,being put on phone hold for minutes and 5minutes again and again by GMC,,,of why does my Mom's new Ford have a driver's door that opens logically/counter-clockwise, and yet my Dad's Chevy pickup has a driver's door that opens ,,,ILLOGICALLY/clockwise,,,?!!?!! Do we not have a well established custom /tradition in the U.S. that locks open counterclockwise ?


Then why is Acura and Honda selling all these millions and millions of cars, not only MADE IN THE USA,,,but shipped all the way across the Pacific Ocean and sold with mucho DOLLARS IN THE USA,,,and yet the driver's doors open ILLOGICALLY/clockwise. I phoned a Toyota dealer and the salesman told me he never thought about it but did check while i was on the phone and said, "yes, the driver's door does open logically/ counterclockwise".
But then the last time i talked to a Toyota dealer salesman,,, he told me he was a Christian with the big gold cross on his lapel and then tried to charge me a secret $3000 extra,,,shuh !!

I don't know about you, but i would like to go back to the tradition that if it is made in/for America, the it should open LOGICALLY/ counterclockwise,,,unless it is Ashton Kutcher's car and someone is paying him back for a tv expose' "punk'd", ok ? (He is Bruce Willis's x-wife's new husband.)

Honda and Acura websites do not have a "contact us" email address for general questions,,,figures!!, but for GMC and Chevy not to have any ,,, !!?

is atrocious, at this time of bailouts for the fat cat corp criminals who got us into this national and international economic nightmare !!

Chrysler's website is the best,,, then Ford,,,which is a long tree of options that some end in phone numbers versus email addresses,,,but GMC-Chevrolet is by far the WORST of the supposedly American car manufacturers in not providing a clearcut "contact us" email link.

Shame on you !!, Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay multi-millionaires ,,,for allowing museum like the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History to CLOSE

Shame , Shame, Shame on you that are hoarding millions and millions while important civil institutions are closing !! It is January 2009 and i expect every miserly, greedy, selfish, stingy one of you to step up and keep these museums open until other relief arrives.

2 Accura dealerships and one respected independent garage in Silicon Valley forgot to change my manual transmission oil at 30k,,,and 60k,,,and 90k,,,

This is so easy to do,,,but you must insist it be checked as at over 100k miles my manual transmission oil was grey with metal flakes !! BEWARE,,,,

How a dealership,,,two dealerships of Accuras could overlook this necessary service,,,and then a very respected independent service also,,,is very very strange.

So if you change your engine motor oil every 3000 miles like i do,,,be sure to have someone change your manual transmission oil when it is suppose to be changed according to your owners manual,,,and don't just trust the dealership to do it !!

December 2008 and American Bankers before Congress say they "never asked for the (bailout)money",,,

but they are certainly to blame for the collapse of the American mortgage market, the American bond market,the American Stock Market so glorified under the Republicans, and probably all the International downturns and recessions or depressions. Not that they are going to take responsibility for any of it, the exotic poorly made CDS and ARMs,,,while they were making huge profits and awarding massive bonuses of $10 and $100 of millions of dollars. Guess the Republicans will let them slide,,,and continue the failed trickle-down economics of the past.

When the new party comes in i hope they spank the banks good, with free coin to dollar processing like the old days ,,,and alot more restrictions on their thievery in the credit card markets.