OXO and Whirly Girl…

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The 80’s had so many great songs. But this is one of the absolute best of the best.

OXO’s Whirly Girl from 1983. Go see the video on MySpace TV.

And yes, OXO actually has a MySpace page! That’s a shock considering they only released one album, which spawned just one moderately successful single. And yet, there they are on MySpace as if they were a huge band in the 80’s (of course in my mind, they were – but my mind can be a very strange place).

Dance All Night should have been another hit for the group. They even went so far to put together an elaborate (for the early 80’s) video. See that here.

Tina Fey on SNL

Posted in: Politics

Whatever your political persuasion, this was really pretty funny. No one does political humor better than Saturday Night Live. Just for grins, here’s part of the Katie Couric interview the spoof was based on:

By the way, I predict the VP Debate on Thursday night will attract more viewers than the Obama/McCain debate did, and that’s saying something, since they managed to grab 57 million people last week.

I also predict that Ms. Palin will do better than anyone expects, since Republicans are setting the bar extremely low. We’ll just have to watch and see.

–Brian

Buffalo Bills are the NFL’s 60 Minute Team!

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I’ve got at tip: don’t start watching Bills games until

the 4th quarter (you’ll eliminate the aggravation of the

first 3 quarters). If the Bills win all their games in

come from behind fashion this season it would be

OK with me (after watching the first half from St.

Louis I really thought The Bills winning bubble

would burst).

Now it’s on to ARIZONA for Sunday’s 4:15pm start

and the Cardinals will be especially upset after getting

blown out by The Jets on Sunday. Let’s go for 5-in-a-row

Buffalo!

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Snow Boot Time Again

Last year I posted about the perfect casual snow boot. Unfortunately, I posted later in the year and many outlets were sold out. I thought I would post the info again before the snow flies so you can track these boots down. The boots were the Gore-Tex XCR Mid Adrenaline boot from North Face.

I’ve checked around, and they are on the shelves at various stores. I found the cheapest online at zappos: http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7143831/c/87610.html

To see the full post and specifics as to why I really liked them, scroll through my blog to the post back on January 18, 2008.

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Smart Couples Finish Rich

While discussing the financial problems of our country this morning, I mentioned the book SMART COUPLES FINISH RICH. It’s one in a series of books by David Bach that is indispensable for anyone wanting to get the most out of their money. Whether you make $30,000 or $300,000 a year, this book is simply a MUST READ.

Other titles in the series are aimed specifically at women, and those who have waited too long to save for retirement.

Click SMART COUPLES FINISH RICH for more info. Hope you find it as helpful as I did. You’ll probably keep it as a permanent reference.

Bills rookies should "step up"

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Now that we’ve found out that #11 ROSCOE PARRISH will be out for a few weeks with a thumb injury it’s time for Rookies JAMES HARDY and LEODIS McKELVIN to step up into his role and help the Team. I know that Leodis can “break the big one” in return yardage (much like he did in kick returns in pre-season), and James Hardy already has one big (or should I say Tall) TD catch this year, and I feel both can easily step into Roscoe’s role as punt/kick returner and 3rd wide receiver while he’s out.

Note to Bills (like my blog from last week)… don’t take the St. Louis Rams too lightly (even though they’re 0-3) this Sunday…look what the Raiders did for 3 quarters last Sunday!

More Cloris & Nutt House…

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She’s the best part of Dancing With The Stars this season and hopefully she’ll be staying right to the end.

Here’s the clip of Cloris craziness from the second episode of the season. I love where she complains about how she’s wearing a pretty costume and looking nice and still the judges give her low scores!

If you’re like the women in our Traffic Department and think Cloris is off her medication or just losing her mind, check out her appearance on The Bonnie Hunt Show recently. You’ll see she’s really not nuts – she’s just a brilliant comedienne.

And there’ll be more proof of that Thursday night when she’s on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Since I keep talking about all this during the 80’s After Work, I better keep things tied to that decade by also including an episode from a brilliant late 80’s sitcom that Cloris starred in.

The Nutt House ran on NBC in 1989 and was so funny that it went over most people’s heads and was cancelled after only 6 of its 11 episodes aired. Mel Brooks and Alan Spencer (the guy that created Sledge Hammer) were behind this – so you know it’s hysterical, even if you don’t get it.

Vote for Cloris Leachman!!!

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The season premiere of Dancing With The Stars was absolutely hysterical last night thanks to Cloris Leachman.

She had to be censored at least twice, she threw the judges and both hosts completely off script, and made this the funniest episode of the show to date.

If you missed it, check out this 7-1/2 minute clip from last night. The beginning of the clip is funny, then there’s the dancing, then the last four minutes Cloris completely takes over the show.

If you want this season to be as crazy and fun as last night’s episode, don’t forget to vote for Cloris to stay every week.

Austin

Posted in: Radio, Travel

You may have heard I was in Austin for a few days for a radio conference. Star was up for “Hot AC Station Of The Year” – we didn’t win, but it was nice to be nominated, and be recognized as one of the Top 10 stations in the country doing this type of music. Very cool.

Before I left Buffalo, a lot of people were telling me how awesome Austin was, so I went there thinking it was going to blow me away. Truthfully, it wasn’t that great.

I liked aspects of it (Steve Ray Vaughn monument, upper left), there were some interesting music stores and shops, GREAT Mexican food, very friendly people, and some pretty decent live music. But aside from the Capitol building, the architecture wasn’t nearly as cool as Buffalo, and it was kind of dirty: dust everywhere, hot and very dry.

I’ll take WNY any day. (View from Capitol Rotunda, right)

There’s also a big difference in hotels

Maybe I’m spoiled staying at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel all the time, but my stay at the Austin Hilton was an example of a hotel trying to wring every last penny out of its guests. My room in Austin was very nice, extremely clean and comfortable, with a great view. Those little extras, however, would have cost me a pretty penny if I had been so inclined to equal my usual Toronto experience in Austin.

Let’s compare and contrast the two properties:

* Sheraton Centre/Club Level: free breakfast every morning

* Austin Hilton: continental breakfast = $14. Breakfast with eggs and meat? $21!

* Sheraton Centre/Club Level: free pool and health club

* Austin Hilton: $10 per use of pool, fitness center, or $15 for length of stay

* Sheraton Centre/Club Level: free in-room wireless internet and use of computer lounge

* Austin Hilton: wi/fi $12 per 24 hour period, $3 per minute in computer lounge

Those are three specific examples of how my 3-day visit could have set me back another $100 if

I had wanted to swim, work out, have breakfast, or check my email from the room.

Yowza! (Governor George W. Bush painting, in Austin Capitol Rotunda, left)

It’s good to be home.

–Brian

HBO’s Video Jukebox…

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Before MTV even existed, I used to watch music videos on HBO in between the movies. They were like little intermissions and were the highlight of HBO in my mind (I never really bothered with watching the movies).

Then in December of 1981, HBO started running Video Jukebox, a half hour show featuring back to back videos. MTV was already around at that point, but this show featured things that MTV never played.

There was one specific episode of the show that featured one of the greatest selections of music. I must have watched that one a few dozen times I liked it so much. See some of the videos from that episode by Tom Tom Club, Hilly Michaels, and The Police by clicking on the links.

Did you hear The Bills Won?

Posted in: Uncategorized

I’m loving the sound of 3-0, and I thought the

Jacksonville game was an exciting finish!

No doubt The Bills have come of age with the

maturity of Trent Edwards and the solid “D” they

have really lived up to the phrase “GOOD TEAMS

FIND A WAY TO WIN!”

By the way, I love the throwback uniforms/helmet,
and wish they wore them all the time…
GO BILLS!

Posted in: Uncategorized

Local Candidate For Sports Kid Of The Year

Thanks to Stephanie Dulski, an Account Executive at the station, for passing this on to me. Hopefully you can take the time to support Derek!

There is a little boy named Derek Andrews who lives in Clarence. He is presently 7 years old and will turn 8 in October. Derek has a muscle disorder and doctors told his parents that Derek would never be able to run or play sports. Apparently, however, no one ever told Derek. He plays hockey at the Amherst Pepsi Center, baseball and soccer in Clarence, and participates in gymnastics. Maybe the word ‘plays’ is a bit misleading. Derek was on the baseball league all-star team, the ice hockey select team and was the leading scorer on his soccer team! All despite that condition that continues to weaken the muscles in his body.

To make the story even more heartwarming, after winning a local bank’s essay contest ,Derek used his prize money to put on a magic show at Children’s Hospital, help organize a book drive for a Buffalo school and buy supplies for elephants at The Buffalo Zoo.

Derek’s uncle now tells me that Derek has been nominated for ‘Sports Kid of the Year’ by Sports Illustrated for Kids. I can’t think of any more deserving kid than this boy. To help Derek achieve that honor, all you have to do is vote for him at the following web site http://sikids.com/sportskid/ . It literally takes 15 seconds to do. You are allowed to vote as often as you wish.

Great story about my friend and Paige Hemmis of Extreme Makeover Home Edition!

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My friend Jason has been the biggest fan I know of Paige Hemmis of ABC’s EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITON and has been trying for about the past year to contact her through her management company to no avail. Just this week while watching Good Morning America on Channel 7 I saw Ty Pennington (of Extreme Makeover Home Edition) live in Niagara Falls on with Jon Thomas Robertson a 7th grader from The Cuba/Rushford Central School who wrote Ty about making the ARCADE & ATTICA RAILROAD accessible to wheelchairs. I figured that since Ty would be in Arcade for a few days this week working on the rail cars and train station with his crew that Paige might be part of that crew, so I quickly called my friend saying “drop whatever you’re doing and get to Arcade to meet Paige in person!” About 45 minutes later my friend called and said he had just gotten to meet and get a hug from Paige (a great story after trying to get a hold of her for nearly a year)!

By the way the segment from Arcade will be featured on Good Morning America on Friday September 26th on Channel 7.

Darien Lake this past weekend…

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I had so much fun this past weekend at Darien Lake. It was a perfect weekend to go – all the rides were walk-ons!

Here’s a picture of me and Scott (Vanessa’s kid). He braved The Predator twice, the Ranger twice (without holding on), and then the Enterprise (Silver Bullet) three times in a row!!! And he wanted to go again, but I had to get back to our booth to go on-air.

The carload sale will be going on this weekend again. You pay 24.99 per carload – regardless of how many people you can fit in your car or SUV!

And then starting September 26th, Fright Fest begins. They keep telling me this will be the scariest Fright Fest ever. There’s a possibility people will have to sign waivers to go on the Fright Night Field Trip it’ll be so scary! And I’m hearing that no one under 18 will be allowed on that particular haunt.

There’ll still be a lot for the under 18 crowd to do, like the Haunted House (which has been completely updated), Hay Maze, Crazy Cliff’s Twisted Nightmare magic show, and all the awesome Darien Lake rides.

I’ll be there a few more times before the end of next month, so maybe I’ll see you there!

For now, here’s some more pictures from this past weekend…