My New Favorite Bumper Sticker

                    

I know I'm not a postal worker, nor have I ever been one, but I thought this was hilarious.

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Link Of The Week

If you're like me, hardly a week goes by that I don't get a forwarded email promising new found wealth or good fortune.  That's all well and good, but FYI I'm still waiting on the new found wealth.  Maybe that's because I don't forward the email to everyone I know.  But I digress.  Anyhoo, when I got my computer and first went online it didn't take long before I got a few emails saying Microsoft was going to give me a check for $100 if I forwarded that email to a bizillion people.  Being one of the biggest companies in the world, it would have been within the realm of possibility for that to actually happen.  Well, it didn't.  But those hoax emails hasn't stopped Microsoft from being one of the more socially conscious and humanitarian companies around.  They love to donate money to worthy causes and they want to donate some money, but in return, all they're asking is for us to use their Windows Live Hotmail or Messenger programs, they're going to donate money to some very worthy causes.  Each time we send an email through our Hotmail account or chat with their instant message program, they will donate a portion of their advertising revenue to organizations like the American Red Cross, the National AIDS Fund, and the Boys and Girls Club just to name a few.  Please visit http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/Default.aspx and start emailing and chatting. 

Way To Go, Pleasure Ridge Park Panthers

                 

                        

This is a few weeks late, but better late than never.  TWIT would like to congratulate the Pleasure Ridge Park Panthers for winning the Kentucky state high school baseball championship for 2008.  The Panthers beat Lawrence County 4-1, and finished the season with a 38 wins and only 4 losses.  This was PRP's fourth state championship. 

Flashback Friday

About a month ago, I bought a digital converter box for the TV in my bedroom; I don't have cable back there and decided to go ahead and get the box or else I would procrastinate and it would be February 17 and I wouldn't have my box yet.  But I digress.  It's like having a new TV - and I get a better picture on NBC now then on our TVs that are connected to cable.  Since I can get NBC now, I've been hooked on their reality shows - Nashville Star, America's Got Talent, and my current favorite, Celebrity Circus.  As I've been watching super model Rachel Hunter and others perform circus acts every week, it's reminded me of another awesome show, "Circus Of The Stars."

There were 19 exciting and entertaining episodes of "Circus Of The Stars", and it ran from 1977 till 1994.  In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, the show featured celebrities doing various circus acts - the trapeze, high wire, clown acts, animal acts, and you could always count on at least one death-defying stunt.  My favorite act was when the celebrities would swing on the trapeze. Of course they had a net down below, but it was still exciting because they were swinging without a safety harness (like they use on today's "Celebrity Circus").  One of my favorite 70's TV actresses Cathy Lee Crosby appeared on over half dozen "Circus Of The Stars" shows and each time she was on the trapeze.  Other favorite acts were when Loni Anderson walked on broken glass and actually cut her ankle and was bleeding all over the place while the ringmaster (usually John Davidson) was whispering to the camera about how brave she was. 

Another regular feature on "Circus Of The Stars" was the celebrity clown.  Each episode, they would have a celebrity dressed up as a clown.  They would show the clown before each commercial break, and the announcer would give clues so you could try and figure out who the clown was.  I remember one time it was Dick Clark, who was dressed as a female clown with a big butt and lots of cleavage. 

Mullet Watch

We have another first in our mullet sightings.  Faithful reader and mullet spotter Abi has spotted our first mullet at a national landmark.  Here's her report:

"Wanted to share I had a mullet sighting while visiting The Pentagon yesterday for a meeting.  I imagine the dude thought I was staring a bit because he thought himself handsome.  Well he had potential with exception of that old style hair do, LOL."

 

This brings up one of the main characteristics of the mullet hosts: they think they are just all that, and they usually are not.

 

I spotted an interesting and somewhat scary fem-mullet tonight at the Bats game.  The mullet was long and shaggy, and was red.  The mullet hostess had tattoos up and down both arms.  It frightened me somewhat.

 

Mullet count: 13

Nashville Star - Week Four

I haven't checked the Neilson ratings for the show, but I would be willing to bet that as the weeks go by, the ratings are dropping. Personally, I'll watch it till the bitter end, just out of curiosity and to give me something to write about in TWIT.  Week four brought us two performances by the contestants, which in most cases was two too many. 

Ashlee Hewitt - sang "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey.  Must have seen Martina perform this in concert and wanted to copy her.  Martina can pull it off; she couldn't. Vocals were weak and very pitchy; looked and acted uncomfortable while playing the piano. Was unsure and hesitant.
Sang "Help Me Make It Through The Night" - once again, she must have heard this from Martina's "Timeless" CD.  Sounded like she forgot the melody, but somehow managed to stay on pitch. I almost fell off the bed when judge Jeffrey Steele said she sounded like a modern day Tammy Wynette. 
Coffey - sang "Hey Good Lookin'" by Hank Williams. Weak vocals; too much vibrato.  Had good band interaction. Still too much pop and not enough country.
Sang "Take Me Home Country Roads" by John Denver. Too much vibrato and very weak vocals; tried to connect with the audience by asking them to sing along - this was a performance, not a camp fire sing-along. Still seems very awkward.  Sounds and acts like an theme park performer attempting to sing the country music portion of a show.
Tommy Stanley - sang "Bless The Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts. Still trying to sound country but is too pop; vocals very weak and pitchy; thinking and concentrating too much instead of just singing.  Also sounds and acts like the above mentioned theme park performer.
Sang "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John. Must have heard Tim McGraw's version of this song and decided to copy.  Tim pulled it off; he couldn't.  Sounded very pop while the band was playing country; looked very awkward on stage.
Pearl Heart - sang "I'll Still Be Loving You" by Restless Heart. Excellent song choice; very pleased that judge Jeffrey Steele said it was one of the greatest songs ever written. Harmonies were flat through most of the song.  No lead vocals - just three part harmony during all of the song was a cool arrangement; would have been better if they could have stayed on pitch. 
Sang "One Way Ticket" by LeeAnn Rimes.  Weak on the beginning but got stronger on harmonies.  Still seem uncomfortable and unsure on stage; dressed more mature this week - outfits were very cool.
Melissa Lawson - sang "This One's For The Girls" by Martina McBride. Strong intro; sang with feeling. Strong clear vocals. Good song arrangement. Nailed the high notes and stayed on pitch. Best performance of the night.
Sang "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac. Still sang with power while singing softer; made the rock song country; didn't belt out too much. 
Shawn Mayer - sang "Breathe" by Faith Hill.  Couldn't understand the vocals when singing soft; stayed on pitch, but sang too breathy.
Sang "Forever And Ever, Amen" by Randy Travis.  Sounded like an American Idol contestant on country music night; not consistent.  Outfit was a bit much for country. 
Gabe Garcia - sang "Wanted Dead Or Alive" by Bon Jovi. Made it country. Good strong vocals and stayed on pitch; made the song his own. Seems more at ease on stage - moved around a bit more.  Second best performance of the night.
Sang "The Fireman" by George Strait.  Good strong vocals; more at ease singing the country songs. King George would have been proud.  Is the only true country singer in the competition. Will be in the final two.
Alyson Gilbert - sang "She's In Love With The Boy" by Trisha Yearwood.  Strong vocals; stayed on pitch. Too much stage presence again - seems to try too hard. Has watched Martina McBride perform and copied the way she opens her hand while holding the microphone; was hoping she would drop the microphone. 
Laura and Sophie - sang "Walking On Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves. Good rock version but this is a country competition; harmonies and vocals were way off. Still felt like I was watching the girls perform in front of a mirror in their bedroom while holding a hairbrush as a mic. 
Sang "Because Of You" by Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson. A horrible version; off pitch through most of the song.  

This week, Alyson Gilbert and Laura and Sopie were in the bottom two.  After Alyson got the boot, Laura and Sopie gave their horrible performance of "Because Of You."  Maybe knowing they were one step away from getting the boot is what caused them to suck.

This week's Performance That Made My Ears Bleed was the horrible version of "Because Of You" by Laura and Sophie.  Thank goodness they only sang about a minute of the song; but that was sixty seconds more than I could stand. 

A couple of interesting observations from Week Four's telecast: Vanessa Williams was in the audience, as was Louisville's favorite country-DJ-you-love-to-hate Coyote Calhoun.

Gas Price Update

I didn't hit the snooze alarm this morning, and instead was up at my normal time, with plenty of time to visit the friendly neighborhood gas station to fill up before heading to work.  I was very happy that I filled up for $4.21 a gallon, when on the street en route to work the gas prices were $4.29.  In this day and time, eight cents per gallon savings is eight cents; I'm not too proud to admit I saved that amount.  And you can best believe I'll be looking for the same bargain in a week or two when I start to run low on gas.