“24 Hours to Go”


Well I am roughly 24 hours before I walk out of the Sears Outlet and become a former employee. It will certainly be strange, and it was to a certain extent a daring move. The job I landed is far from a home run that will likely provide me with the finances that can bring me to where I want to be independently however its much more money than I was making and I plan to use the job as means to get into a more appealing department or to assist me in landing a more desirable job.

This new job that I have landed very well could end up on the same list as Dan K’s bus boy job, Drew’s Strawbridge’s career, or Duke’s paint selling days however I had to leave Sears before I lost my sanity. I did manage to make some friends there and the job did serve its needs when I was in school. However I have become more and more disgruntled with their horrendous way the superiors treat their employees. I could list every example however I fear I would crash my blog and although it would bring joy to certain readers I am not yet ready to retire from the blog thing just yet.

As much as I hated “The dungeon” as I refer to it as its undeniable that it will be strange walking out the automatic doors that rarely work properly for the last time tomorrow evening. That job dates back to my Camden County College days. Its where I had to work hung over or with literally no sleep many nights after New Brunswick parties or returning from Brigantine. Its where I witnessed the horrific events of 9/11 live on a big screen television. My employment there was the duration of most people’s college career’s and I started there months before Jenna who went through 3 boyfriends (still on the third) and several returns to the gloomy warehouse. Several people came and went, and that place was one of the main constants in my life for over half of a decade.

Here is a random list of my most memorable Sears moments.


The time a temp service was hired to employ our store, because no one wanted to work there. This resulted in various ex-convicts working as merchandise handlers. Many of them did time in prison for various crimes mostly assault related. One man that worked one day was seemingly homeless with a gaunt look and unwashed long hair and beard. I was told to try to stop customers from seeing him. His job was to clean the store, but he ended up watching television for most of his shift as if it was a new invention.


Jenna and her romances through the years including a date with a guy named Tobin who she claimed was the dullest date that ever took her out.

This guy I worked with Dan who would get a reward for one of the sleaziest people I ever met. He actually was the boss of the receiving department for awhile. He did almost no work and was on the phone with his ladies most of the time or using company time to take care of personal business. When he actually did come on the floor it was only because everyone called out or to tell his co-workers about his a recent sexual conquest. Once he bragged he didn’t know her name. I met one of his girlfriends and she was dumber than the ranges I sold. He was kind enough to inform me his distain for safe sex. The few “girlfriends” he had he cheated on with various girls and they were to dumb to realize.


A guy that looked like a burn victim who had an ill wife (who recently passed away) worked there for a long time. He was older than my dad, but looked like a lizard. Although he was generally a nice guy I really didn’t want to hear how horny he got since his wife could not longer have sex. Nor did I want to hear what he wanted to do with any woman that came into the store under 30. 5 days a week several times a day he would tell me how horny he was and that he could go for hours with young woman and amaze them. He was faithful to his wife so didn’t bend anyone over a washer while he worked there, however he was under the impression that they all wanted him to give it to them good.


Good old Ed who occasionally writes for Tucker’s World. How could I forget this guy? The lanky dry humored Ed lurked around the refrigerators at Sears for quite some time. Eventually we became friends and enjoyed hiding in the refrigerators together. Ed became increasingly more interested in the Crew and I told him stories about the crew as if our lives were interesting. Ed hung on my every word as if I was reading him prolific ancient literature.


Good Old Tom who had the best job in the world sitting in the back of the store signing out merchandise. Most time he would read his Maxium, newspaper I gave him, or paint little alien figures. They decided to make him in sales and merchandise handling and dick with his hours, and one day they caught him sleeping and that was the end of his Sears days.


This guy Myron who worked there once offered to buy the hooker if paid for the hotel room.


Joe Trevi, the best boss I ever had. He hated Sears and the policies more than I did (do). He smoked a cigarette almost every 15 minutes and constantly cursed on the sales floor. He also often made penis jokes that were quite funny.

The crime wave of corrupt employees, who stole from the cash drawer, stole merchandise, sold merchandise under the table, and drank or did drugs while on the job. Way too many people to recall that would be able to be squeezed onto this list.

The time Jenna’s customer sent her a letter to her house despite her not giving out her address.

Dave Breen. I will leave that open to former Sears Outlet employees that read this blog. I am sure you all have your favorite memory of this unique cat.

All the customers that I wanted to punch.

"CUP CRAZY"

Sorry this is a little late and I guess you give me crap for calling the shots on the teams that have already started.

Western Matchups


Red Wings (1.) vs. Predators (8)

Well Nashville is in the playoffs first the first time ever and they could not have gotten a bigger challenge for a 1st round Opponent. Both teams have a goalie that has never played in the playoffs before in Vokoum (an ALL-Star this season) and Legace who is finally getting his big chance. However its the Red Wings man.

Red Wings in 5.

Sharks (2.) vs Blues (7.)

The Sharks often "pull a Keith" by changing the course of the game and ousting a better team. The Blues almost always fall flat in the playoffs and I don't really think this season is going to be any different.

Sharks in 6.

Canucks (3) Flames (6).

The Canucks won't get nearly as far as they would with Bertuzzi who is suspended from the playoffs. The addition of Sanderson and Rucinsky should help perhaps only enough to get past the first round.

The Flames however are one of the hardest working teams in the NHL so don't count them out just yet. This matchup could go down to the wire.

Canucks in 7.



Avalanche vs Stars

Dallas is weaker than they would like most other teams to think. The Lanche I think will shock a lot of people and oust the Stars in a mere 5 games.


Eastern Matchups

Maple Leafs vs Senators

Ah, a good old North of the border matchup. A great way to see two different styles of the game of hockey be played. The Leafs play old school rough and tumble pond hockey and the Sens. play a hybrid of the breezy skating method with a pinch of the smothering trap. I would like to see the Leafs come out here because they work so hard. However I think Eddie the Eagle's days are behind him and I am going to with the Sens in 6 games.

Bruins vs Canadiens

This original six matchup will end quickly with the Bruins skating to the 2nd round in a mere 5 games. In fact if the Devils don't best the Flyers I see the Bruins going to the finals.

Lightning (1) vs Ilsanders (8)I said it once and I will say it again. The Ilsanders suck. They are by far the worse team that has made it into the post season.

Flyers vs Devils.

I am going to against the popular vote and vote the way I would have to do if I got paid to write a hockey column and go with the Devils in 7. Can the Flyers win? Sure they can. However if I had to actually put money on it or if my life depended on it I would say the Devils are going to win this series.



Note to Readers:
Sorry for any grammar or spelling errors. Also I hope that I didn't slip and make any smart-ass remarks. Because we all know that smart ass remarks are not what the crew is about.

Atten:
Mary Jackson

As of Saturday 4/10 I will be stepping down from my Sales position at Sears Retail Outlet. After long consideration I have come to the conclusion that there are no longer any advancements opportunities for me with the company.

I am thankful for my more than 5 years of employment with the company and appreciate all the times my schedule was adjusted during the times I was in school.

I have gained many skills during my employment with Sears that will likely help me in my future positions Thank you again for the years of employment both full and part time.

Sincerely

Keith Hughes

Sopranos Wrap Up.


Last week Tony got pissed at Robert Loggia after he didn't seem to want to fall into line. More importantly he got worried that he would have another Richie on his hands so Tony set him up and Robert Loggia was sent back to the big house.

Meanwhile AJ continues to become more of a rebel now that it is just him and his mother living in the house. AJ lies about his where abouts for the night to his mother with Meadow covering for him. After a concert he gets drunk and weeded up and passes out only to have his friends shave his eyebrows off. When caught in a lie Carmella kicks him out and he resides now with Tony in Artie in Tony's mother's old house.

Meanwhile two high profile NYC mob members are whacked as result of their loyality to Little Carmine and not Johnny Sacks. This brings the body total to 5.

Predictions:

No one important dies this week and lots of the shootings seen for the trailer are just in someones dreams.

"What Do You Mean Goalie Controversy?"


Some people actually are starting to say Burke might get a second crack at the number one spot. The Flyers have a spring tradition that we have to wonder who the goalie is going down the streech. Although I don't think Burke is going to take over number one I was surprised he didn't start last Saturday.

Anyway anything that could be considered an issue was settled when Burke came to town really. Burke came to town to back up Esche. Despite the fact that Esche has played awful his past two starts he has been the better netminde. I think you have to keep with him.


First off the people that still think FRANK should get a shot are nuts. Yeah he should have played a few games and referencing Boucher and Hextall's runs you could argue that the Flyers should have taken a run with an unproven. However unlike Hexy and Bosh, Frank isn't trained in the NHL style and rink size. Plus they had more time during the regular season. So going with Frank to be the man with less than half the season would have been seen as an almost desperate move. NOt to mention a dick move to Esche who at the point had pretty decent season.

So basically if you want to talk about a goalie controversy it should be if Esche is a Cup goalie or not. Certainly not who should start. The Flyers problem is that haven't been able to draft their goalies well and when they do they keep them. Although I am pretty sure at this point some of them were busts anyway. Regardless there will not be many times when "Cup Goalies" will be up for grabs in the free agent market like a few years ago. So basically the future is in drafting a goalie well and inveseting time and patience. In the mean time you hope your so-so goalie gets hot. Honestly what goalie could the FLyers have landed this season to make a difference?

SOPRANOS WRAP UP


“Where’s Johnny?”

Plot:


Well that little devil David Chase sure is having fun with episode titles. The first one of this season was called “Two Tonys” which would have one think that the show was going to be about Tony’s relationship with his cousin (a character introduced this season) Tony. However the title of the show was from a line that Tony used to describe his how his family life was different from his other family life. One would have thought from the chain of events so far this season that Johnny would have been Johnny Sacks who is the most likely to get clipped this season. However it was Tony’s long departed father who was dead long before the series even started.

So far this was my favorite one of this season (although many disagree) because of the emotion and drama in the show. Okay so not much really happened. Uncle Junior really sunk into his Alzheimer’s and went out wondering aimlessly. He experienced common symptoms like referencing people that have been long gone. He went out looking for his brother who was Tony’s father in his bathrobe and slippers.

Eventually is returned home and Tony feels bad for getting pissed at him when he realizes Uncle Junior didn’t realize he was being a prick lately.

Meanwhile Tony B and Robert Loggia’s character (forgive me I was going to start using his name but IMBD crashed and I don’t know it) go out for a Sunday drive only to have Loggia beat the leaving crap out of landscaper. He tells the guy that is isn’t his terrority to be doing work. This spawns a war between Loggia and Paulie Walnuts about who should cut whose lawn and where. Things get ugly and Tony Soprano has to step in.

Meanwhile Bobby starts to realize at least I think that Janice is just married to him to use him as a pawn. She forces him to ask Tony for more earning jobs. She is also a bitch to him regarding Junior.

Meanwhile Artie and Tony patch things up. Artie was supposedly still mad after Tony lent him money and things went wrong. This was nice cause I wanted the two to be friends again. However if this is supposed to be like a year later or more don’t you think Tony would have been trying all that time? Like made numerous efforts since they were likely at the same parties and dinners to make amends? Artie must have been REALLY mad if he didn’t talk to him for over a year, than all of the sudden in like two seconds Artie not only forgives him but wants to move in with him? Hell I didn’t even know Artie was still mad at him till “The Rat Pack”, but now they are friends again so what was point? There could have just eliminated the casual reference to it in the “The Rat Pack” and made the conversation different in “Where’s Jonny?”.

Anyway the only other notable thing was Chris running his mouth at a sit-down that pissed off Johnny Sacks and pissed off Tony even more who told him to keep his mouth shut during the sit-down.

Predictions:

Tony will bang a chick



Body Count: 3

“EL PLATO LOCO LA NOCHE?”

So big JR came back last night but it didn’t matter because the Flyers played awful. Anyway that wasn’t the biggest thing that happened last night. Liza and I got takeout from EL PLATO LOCO. EL PLATO LOCO is a Mexican restaurant that opened down the street from my house.

Now keep in mind I don’t really care for Mexican food, but I have grown a morbid curiosity if this business succeeds or not. Everyday after work I pass by and count heads. I haven’t ever seen more than about 3 groups of people there. Usually its only two small groups.

So we order take out so we could watch the Flyers game. When we meet up with one of the workers she was al excited and went to hand us a menu. She had no idea I guess that we were the same people that had placed an order about 15 mins ago. I almost felt like ordering up another meal. The place was empty. I saw just one guy sitting with a friend who might have been the owner.

I liked the food about as much as I can like Mexican food. Maybe the place just does lots of take out? I really don’t think anyone knows they are there. They should put and AD in the Courier-Post or at least put their menus in the doors of the neighborhood houses. They just got a new sign I hope they can afford it.

Drew, Jay I know you like Mexican food next time you are over Duke’s just call (856) 435-6555 I can you get you guys a menu if you want. You can order up some Mexican food made by actual Mexicans and help some Mexican guy achieve the American dream of owning your own business and having it succeed.

Just do it for the bored Mexican guys.

“You Ought to Be in Commercials”


Well I am woefully behind on the hot topics in the White House race. Once in awhile at this Blog I dip into politics only to get emails from a certain South Jersey law student who debates what I say and instant messages from a certain “Reverend” who tells me how wrong I am on everything from any topic from A-Z. So I am going to tackle the hot story of a few weeks ago.

Since Kerry is now officially up to the challenge to take out Bush the whole election race is really heating up. Bush came under fire recently for his political commercials. Bush used the aftermath of 9/11 and how he kept the country united (although only briefly he didn’t mention) against terrorism. From the commercial I saw it showed images off flags being hung right after the attack on the US.

Now I was greatly affected by the events of 9/11 as was every American. To this day I still have recurring dreams about the horrific incidents, but I can’t imagine what is was like to lose someone that horrible day 2 and half years ago. That being said I certainly can’t get into their mindset. Obscene amounts of fireman were lost that day. However a lot has changed since Bush put his arm around the one fireman and shouted into a megaphone. The NYC fireman union has come out in support for democrat John Kerry.

Many of the democrats and fireman were horrified that Bush would use images (although I didn’t see any shots of the Towers in flames just sentimental patriotic stuff and sad music) or mention the events. Now in Bush’s defense he will forever be remembered for being the 9/11 president good or bad. One of the most important moments in American history happened on his watch and all he was trying to say is that he did a good job handling the situation and that’s why he should be able to sit in the White House for another 4 years.

Now I run the risk of looking like a “right wing whacko” by kicking dirt in the face of the media again, and I am sure my harping on them can make me come off as a cook sometimes. However how can the most media outlet even sleep at night? For months after 9/11 cable channels and newspapers used actual images of people running for their lives, the towers going down, balls of fire and told us we should tune to their station because they did such a great job covering the events of 9/11. Telling us how important is now to have your TV turned on their network and read their endless web-crawl. Flipping the channel might make you miss why and how you and your loved ones are going to poisoned by Anthrax or blown to bites by some crazy Arab.

The Courier-Post actually used a ball of fire coming out of the WTC as their logo for the War on Terror articles for about an entire year. They also were counting the number of the days of the War on Terror was on. I guess when they realized that the war could wage for ages they decided to stop counting (they replaced the image right around the anniversary with a flag). But honestly all they were doing is telling us how well they did under pressure the same thing Bush did.

Now I am not really a big fan of any union leader telling their workers who they should and shouldn’t vote for. Granted often times they have a reason to benefit their workers in the long run if someone is elected, but honestly that shouldn’t be any of the union leaders business who their workers vote for. Perhaps they have other reasons to vote for that candidate and many instances bully people or flat out threaten people to vote a certain way.

With all do respect to the people who lost their loved ones on 9/11 is it really any different when the democrats talk about 9/11 or give examples of how Bush fouled up? All 3 debates are going to include discussion about 9/11 and order to Bush to win an election he has to convince the American people that he is the man to have running the country in a post 9/11 world. So how he is supposed to acheive this?

I almost don’t think as many democrats were as “offended” as they say they were and almost would go as far as to say the fireman who are speaking out are being used as pawns to a certain extent.

It is going to be un ugly elections with a lot of ugly issues. Now if Bush was showing planes slamming into the sides of the WTC than I would have a problem with it, unless I saw a different commercial than what was so hot a topic. I am sure it is just as rough for the people who lost loved ones in the war in Iraq who will be told maybe not directly but clearly by democrats and critics of Bush how their loved ones died for no good reason.

Soprano Wrap-up

Okay in an attempt to keep this “project” from failing after only one week I am swiftly posting a recap and thoughts of last week’s Sopranos less than 60 minutes before a new show airs.

“The Rat Pack”

The NARRATIVE

By the fact they call they mobsters out of prison the class of 2004 we can assume that they all lost an entire years of their lives. Somebody call Mulder and Scully of the department of continuity of television.


THE PLOT
Tony’s cousin Tony B. Is now out of jail so Tony throws a party from him. Tony is nice enough to give him some action in the stolen air bag business but he declines in favor of going straight and starting his own masseuse business. The two cousins butt heads when Tony S thinks this cousin is making fun of him. Not to mention he doesn’t appreciate him rubbing down wiseguys at the bada bing.

Meanwhile Carmella starts a film club that watches AFI’s best films in backwards order for some reason. The 2nd week goes awry when Tony takes back components for the home entertainment theater. Adriana almost breaks down when she drinks too much and enters the crazy circle. She practically spilled the beans about being “flipped”.

Speaking of being flipped the FEDS heated things up last week. Apparently, the famous recession speech from the start of last season was bugged by some old guy. My memory is foggy if we ever saw him on the sh ow before. The FEDS think they have enough to put Tony on trial but don’t want to just yet till they figure out how the jurors were corrupted in the Uncle Junior case.

To make matters worse one of Tony’s “associates” is trying to help him and is nice enough to give him a rat pack painting. However Patsy bring evidence to the table that Tony’s buddy is working for the FEDS. Tony ponders his move and by the shows end Tony’s friend’s corpse is in the back of a car.

Meanwhile Carmine kicks the bucket and Johnny Sacks is happy. Maybe he had him in his internet death pool but its more likely that he sees it as a chance to take over the New York family. Little Carmine doesn’t seems to think he should get the job and not Johnny Sacks. The two get into a fight at Carmine’s funeral and Tony knows he will have to take sides soon.


What Does Tucker Think Will Happen?
Well since everyone will read this after the show aired you can tell right away if I was wrong. Procrastination does have its perks.

Uncle Junior will got crazy and wonder like I do when I drink. He will come close to meeting the reaper but won’t. Adriana will break down to the wrong person. Tony will take Little Carmine’s side and plot against Johnny Sacks. Meanwhile Robert Loggia’s character will be developed more than learning he likes dandelions.

Season 5 Body Count: Three

“City of Un-brotherly Love”


After well over a decade MTV’s reality show the Real World has selected Philly to be the city to stick a new group of strangers in order to see what happens. The new season was slated to start shooting in a few weeks.

However things went awry when non-union workers who work for a construction company out in Bucks County got the contract. When union workers got wind of what was going on they began protesting and vocally voicing their opinions to the workers that MTV had hired.

Now MTV never ran into this problem before because every city they aired The Real World in before wasn’t as pro-union or should I say anti-non union as Philly. Heck hope over the Walt Whitman Bridge to South Jersey and isn’t mandatory to carry a union card if you want to slap to bricks together for a wage. In fact many of the union members that work in Philly that charge through the nose for their electricians and workers live in nice home in the Garden State made by non-union workers.

Unions try to make sure that their workers are paid well, treated well and get as much work as they want. That’s cool that they make sure they don’t get screwed. However the company owner of the Bucks county company claims his employees get benefits and are paid even better than union workers. So what’s the big deal? I guess some of the blame has to be on MTV that didn’t bother to research that long love affair and political favors that are a part of Philly as much as Soft Pretzels. In fact if they hired “set designers” it wouldn’t be as a big a deal.

Things boiled over that the producers of the show feared having angry union thugs shouting at their 20-something whiners would pretty much break the mood of the show. So they decided to blow town before the 7 strangers ended up in the bottom of the Delware.

Now John Street did call up to try to beg them to come back after he realized how he lost on a free chance to advertise Philly as a cool place to come. It looks like is a bit too late. Instead of showing the country that Philly is a hip place everyone that read this national story the impression its ran by a bunch of thugs.

"Phantom Storm Was Just That"

I watched the news last night and every station was telling us how the road crews were ready for one of the biggest snowfalls of the year. Snow predications ran from 4-8 inches to 6-8 inches of snow. Like I said I don't buy into March storms but I pegged the storm at 3 inches. Since there was supposed to be an hour or two of heavy snow. I even thought that was a big number.

Well this morning was one of few I have to sleep in and I was wakened several times by snowplows charging down my street. However the one time I woke myself enough to peer out my window I saw that the grass had been barely covered. Maybe at best an inch and a half. However that didn't stop the damn trucks from scrapping the street 3 more times and even once two at the the same time. There was no snow to scrape!

Liza said when she was up there was about 4 inches on the ground. It certainly wasnt that bad where I live. It doesn't matter now since what little that fell is gone. Shame on the news anchors for trying to get the good people of the Delaware Valley into a frenzy yet again with their mistaken and overblown predictions.

"Phantom Storm Looming?"


FOX PHILADELPHIA's Rob Guarino seems to think that tonight the area might see some heavy snow. He expects the fast moving storm to have the potential strength of an inch per hour with peak times bettween 2-8 am.

Now I am not easily convinced of winter storms in March. Granted the fact that this area has seen some classic whoppers this time of year. However the fact that the storm is moving in toward the overnight hours when the temps will float just around 32 degrees it gives us chance to have snow fall and stick. With warmer but cold enough to snow weather this time of year you get heavy snow with bigger flakes. This is what they call "heart attack" snow because of the weight the snow has it when shoveling it.

The people that are actually calling for anything are pegging this snow fall to be around 2-4 inches. Weather.com on AOL is totally ignoring the weather system, but they are also saying its 92 degrees in NYC as of 2:30. They are one of the worse sources for weather trust me.

The Accuweather Headlines website says that Philly and New York are going to get a "least a couple of inches" of snow.

I know that I said was done for the year calling the snowfall,but I have enough faith in this system to at least give it to the respect of a guess.

I am willing to to say in the South Jersey Camden County region that the 3 inches of snow could be possible. Might be a bitch for anyone that actually has to go anywhere tomorrow morning. There could be patches of heavy bands and we could likely be under that. I will post again before I go to bed so keep checking back loyal readers!

“AWFUL”


Much to my horror they are remaking the classic horror film House of Wax. If you recall I listed this film on classics you should see many months ago. First off I am not against ALL remakes. Even Hitch did remakes. However most of remakes generally suck or just aren’t necessary at all. Comedy remakes are sometimes good but not movies that have their own life.

Anyway I it pisses me off when people call films “remakes” when they basically just steal the title and use the most basic elements of the plot. The fact that new House of Wax stars Parris Hilton is proof that it will likely be a piece of crap. I am sure the fact that she is in the film will overshadow the project anyway and the movie is going to be aimed towards brainless horny teenagers. Below I am providing the summary from the IMDB of first the original then the new one.


ORIGINAL
A sculptor of wax figures for a museum is horrified when his partner proposes setting fire to the unpopular museum in order to collect the insurance money. As the wax figures melt amid the blaze, the two men have a fight. The sculptor is knocked out in the scuffle and left to "perish" among the flames. He resurfaces many years later for the launch of his own wax museum. The opening coincides with the sudden disappearance of some dead bodies from the city morgue. His assistant begins to suspect his boss of foul play, especially after the deranged wizard of wax begins eyeing his assistant's lovely girlfriend

REMAKE

Iowa. Directed to the only business that can offer assistance -- a creepy gas station owned by a suave bad boy named Bo -- the stranded kids are lured deeper and deeper into Bo's web.


This is clearly NOT a REMAKE just a RIP-OFF. I hope the project falls through but I am sure they are going to rush this film out why people still care about Parris. This film is already on my BAN list.

“The Next One”


Many times people will try to debate who is actually in the “crew” and who isn’t. I feel that since the term and the linear line of events that brought us all together started with Ryan, Dan, Price, Allen and myself that I have a lot more authority to say than most. I have people who are in town 4 times a year who think they can dictate the roster list to me though. It is pretty hard to tell for anyone really. Do the Arter’s count? Debatable. Are Allen, Dan and Ryan still members? I would say so. It was inevitable that we would all go our separate ways. I am still in contact with all 3 (not Allen directly but I did stop him from hitting a bar floor recently) of them during the course of the year and am part of Dan’s wedding. I think there was something in each one of these people that makes it undeniable that crew blood still flows in them no mater where they go in life. Their years in the crew might be like what Vietnam is to many vets a time in their life they would rather not talk about, but still happened them and shaped them into the person they are.

It just dawned on me the other day how important a baby Hunter is. That baby is 100 % pure crew breed. Since Jenna is the only female crew member (there is not debating that one) it is very unlikely that unless they decide to add to their family (that likely will eventually I imagine but it’s not a definite) Hunter stands as the key to the future of the crew. Hunter is from the genes of two crew members we can watch his life from the start. We all entered into the crew but Hunter was born into the crew and destined to take us in to the future.

All members of the crew are still extremely young. We will likely go down different paths and move on in life. But it’s to the point when this generation can not take any more members in whatever the current official list is will remain that way. Whoever Hunter befriends in school and in his younger years of life will be the crew generation 2. It is up to him to recruit. Hopefully he is wise enough to convince a girl to join and eventually “have relations” with her and impregnate her. In order to make it official is must be in another crew members home.

Of course according to Dan every crew member along with the rest of humanity will be slaughtered in an orgy of blood and death at the hand of machines, but providing we don’t we must groom this child for the future for the crew’s sake. I have made a list of knowledge that should be passed on to Hunter.

1. How to be virtually invisible to females for the majority of your high school years

2. How to live at home till your mid 20s or beyond.

3. About an organized league called the National Hockey League that went defunct not long after he came into existence. A league of 30 teams from two different countries that played the game similar to that of what team USA plays every four years only better.

4. About all the Philly sports legends
5. Why its important to know about movies

6. How to go long periods of time without “having relations”

7. How it is “okay” to make numerous jokes about homosexuality with your so called “heterosexual” friends. Not the mention the meaning of the word Homoerotic.

8. About the Cataclysm and that it would be vast improvement of his generally mundane and meaningless life. The eventual rise of the machines and their desire to kill.

9. To get accustomed to expectations and elaborate plans “falling through”

10. The power and magic of one little word that makes every hardship or horrendous mistake perfectly fine. “EH”

Soprano Wrap-Up
“The Two Tonys”


Okay here is a feature I want to start on my blog but given that fact that I rarely follow through with my ambitious plans for this little read website I doubt I will do this all 13 weeks. Heck I couldn’t even come up with a title that was remotely original.

Well the layoff for new shows this time was even longer so some fans like Drew jumped off the bandwagon all together. Maybe I can keep him up to speed so he doesn’t have to look at the floor when his law school buddies want to talk about it.

So what I attend to do is comment on what happened on the weeks show and try to make sense out of it.

Narrative:
Well David Chase decided to just give fans little snippets of what happened since we last saw the crime families. Apparently Bobby and Janice are hitched, and we only know his by a brief mention of Janice’s wedding ring. We are not even sure where Tony is really living my guess is either a hotel room or with Janice.

Through conversations between Johnny Sacks and Tony we can estimate that the events of the season finale of season 4 were roughly a year ago. However do to all the delays between seasons, season 4 was for them 2001 ending in spring of 2002 sometime. We can gather this since its only Medow’s 2nd year of college and the events the impression that 9/11 had just happened a few months before the first show of that season for them. So even if it’s been a year for them it should only be 2003.

Plot:

Tony realizes he is now single so he decides to kick his game to his shrink. Despite having erotic dreams about Tony giving her the Old Italian Sausage (or a random body double anyway) she decides to shoot him down when he invites her to dinner. Tony becomes “half a stalker” and tries to take her on a trip somewhere. When she implies that all the murdering, sex with sluts and criminal mischief isn’t what she looks for in a man he calls her a cunt and leaves.

Meanwhile Carmella is living at the house with AJ who may or may not be in college now. AJ attempting to be the next Drew Vogel is apparently now a drummer. One night AJ in his own backyard finds himself nose to nose with a giant black bear that apparently roam randomly roam the streets of North Jersey. This is clearly a metaphor for something. Anyway doesn’t become a midnight snack for the over sized cub the bears is still on the loose. After the authorities tell Carmella not only she can’t shoot him, but they can’t unless he mauls or kills someone first.

Tony and Carmella fight over if it’s safe to have bear showing up occasionally showing thirsty for blood at their home. So Tony decides he will have one of his goons sit on the lawn with a gun waiting to blow the bear’s brains out on sight.

Meanwhile Paulie and Chris bicker over large dinner bills and what really happened in the Pine Barrens a few years ago. After Chris is forced to pay well over a grand for a fancy dinner in Alantic City the two of them huge fight in the parking lot. When the waiter comes out ask why his tip was so lousy Chris gets pissed. When the waiter runs his mouth either Paulie of Chris I forget hurl a brick at the poor guy’s head when he walks away. The waiter falls to the ground and goes into seizure since neither of them are doctors they decide a bullet is the ultimate cure and Paulie sends him to the afterlife. They leave the lifeless corpse there with finger prints all over him. Some guys make up over a beer apparently wiseguys make up over a whacking of a innocent person. The two debate if they will ever get in trouble for the murder, and don’t bother to tell Tony who would likely suspend them for the remainder of the season including the playoffs.

New characters were introduced Tony’s Cousin through video clips and some old guy played by Robert Loggia who tell of his prison days. Both look to be likely to give Tony panic attacks. Oh and Carmine has a stroke much to the delight of the power hungry and most likely to be whacked next Johnny Sacks.

Random Comment:

All 4 previous seasons started with Tony getting his Star Ledger in his bathrobe. Season 2 Pussy was at the end of his driveway, and season 3 the feds were watching him. This season since Tony is ousted from his home the Ledger laid at the end of the driveway only to be run over by Meadow. Thought that was a nice touch.

Rating: B-, well acted could be a good setup for things to come, but a little strange with the bear and I am not a big fan of the whole Tony loves his shrink thing. I do recall thinking to myself when I saw AJ being eyed up by the bear. “MY GOD I THINK THEY JUST JUMPED THE SHARK IN FRONT OF MY EYES!”. Sorry for the caps Drew but the little voice inside my head was shouting at the time.

I don’t care what anyone says it’s still a great show and gives me a reason not to drop a stackable washer/dryer combination on my body working for the 5 hours I have work on the day of the Sabbath.

This Week’s Prediction:

The body in America’s favorite playground comes back to haunt Paulie and Chris. Chris finds out what his girl has been up to for several seasons. AJ get attacked by the bear.

"Bertuzzi's Timeout"

I am sure that everyone keeps checking my blog every few hours to see if I am going to write about the Todd Bertuzzi incident.

I feel I might have to first set up the back story for my non-hockey fans. A few months ago the Vancouver Canucks forward and NHL ALL-Star was cleanly hit by Colorado Avalanche rookie Steve Moore. Naslund had his “bell rung” and missed a handful of games. Naslund’s frequent line mate and friend along with some other players put a bounty out on Moore. So the next time the played NHL commissioner Garry Bettman and team of “NHL suits” went to monitor the game and nothing happened. So everyone thought it was a dead issue.

Well this past week the teams met up again and Todd Bertuzzi got his revenge. Now there is a code in hockey that if the other team is taking runs at your star players its totally cool to either go after their star players or beat the crap out of the guys who took a run at the star player to begin with. I should make it clear I have no problem with this. However it has to be done with either a clean hit (which Moore’s was) or with the player challenging the other player to a fight face to face. Most times players will have the few seconds to know you are going to fight by dropping the gloves and sizing each other up. Most injuries in hockey fights are actually the hands of the players from throwing the punches. Plus players know they could either turtle like Barnaby or just walk away. Most players know if they are in trouble to just fall to the ice and that’s the end of the fight.


What Todd Bertuzzi did was wait till Steve Moore had his back to him to make his move. He chased behind Moore who likely didn’t even know what was happening and violently took a swing at him. Now I don’t know if Todd intended to land his punch where he did but his fist landed square on the back of Moore’s neck combined with the speed Todd had as he was skating resulting a fractured neck. At this point Moore almost lifelessly slumped to the ice and Bertuzzi jumped on top of him and gave a few more punches one that actually landed. I doubt he realized that Moore was seriously hurt.

Moore suffered a severe concussion from this impact with the ice, and a fractured neck and face lacerations. A little harder or over some more and Moore could have been paralyzed or dead. Most people think it is likely that he will never play again. I am optimistic and point to Bryan Berard who suffered a horrific eye injury at the hands of a high-stick. I saw it on TV live and it’s easily the most blood I ever saw gush out of a hockey player. It was frightening.

Anyhow what Bertuzzi did was cowardly, despicable, gutless, hateful and just plan out wrong. Earlier today the NHL decided to suspend the Canucks super star for the rest of the regular season and the entire playoffs. He was fined a quarter of million bucks and his team was slapped with a fine too. Not a good thing for a small market team.

The NHL’s move was a sly one they have definitely extended the suspension through the 2004-05 season and are requiring Bertuzzi to meet with Bettman before next season. This decision makes both camps happy. The people that wanted to see Todd be ousted for life can’t say they didn’t win, and since there will likely not be a full season next year not making decision on next year makes it a appear his punishment might be over by next year.

I talked to Drew earlier tonight about the matter and no surprisingly he told me if he was running the league Bertuzzi would be banned for life. If I was in the same position I don’t know if I could oust him for life. I would likely keep him out for the first half of next season too, and figure that the time missed would be punishment enough. I don’t mean to say what Bertuzzi did was right, but I don’t think I would oust him from the league.

It is really an important decision by the NHL because banning him for life would be making a huge statement about where the league is heading. It would also create a gray area for what should be considered grounds for a life time ban. But one has to wonder if taking no action could one day result in a player being paralyzed on the ice or worse. I feel just awful for Steve Moore.

One final note is that the media coverage of this incident has been particularly annoying. Tons of people that don’t give a damn about hockey any other day of the week are offering their two cents. That don’t really impress me much. Where was the media coverage when Mark Messier passed Gordie Howe in the all time NHL scoring record books? Where was the national news when Gagne won a game on a penalty shot? Hell the outside game got almost no coverage at all. The paint the NHL as overly violent game yet they don’t mind showing the footage 3 times in an hour. They live for this kind of stuff.

All the fallout of this could lead to rule changes. I really hope they don’t blame fighting for this one. What happened last week had nothing to do with having fighting the NHL. It was just a cheap shot. Far worse has been done with high sticks being carelessly thrown around, just ask Bernie Parent. This situation differs a bit from when Brasher (with the Vancouver at the time) got knocked over the noggin by Marty McCsorley because Marty used his stick as weapon. What makes this such a big story is although tough Bertuzzi is not a good but one of the NHL’s best forwards.

Maybe I just don’t want to see the game have to come to the point that they have to through out players and that’s why I think ousting him is too harsh.

John Candy: A Look Back

Part 2: Candy's Final Film and Final Days

Candy’s film career started to sink in the early 1990’s the god awful Nothing But Trouble bombed as did the disappointing over the top comedy Once Upon a Crime. The fantasy comedy Delirious also sunk and a low point was when he starred in the low budget comedy Borris and Nastaha based on the Rocky and Bullwinkle villains. The films low budget couldn’t afford the rights to the two cartoon hero’s (I don’t know if they could even have done live action mix in 1992), but for some reason they thought people would like to see a live action movie about the bad guys from the cartoon. Of course no one did and it went straight to video years after it was made anyway.

While Candy’s value might have plummeted quickly he decided to branch out into the entertainment world. He became part owner of the Los Angles Kings and usually attended as many games as he could. It was than that he became good friends with hockey great Wayne Gretzky. He became such good friends with Wayne that he became a business partner with the great one when he bought a Canadian Football League team. The CFL was struggling big time and between making films he did PR for the league and showed up regularly for the big games. He even got his team a championship. The move was an example of how much he loved his country and never forgot his roots. In fact he took a bath on the move money wise cause the CFL just doesn’t make money. Wayne eventually bailed on his partnership, but the two remained good friends while Wayne played for the Kings.


Candy decided to put his comedic voice to good use and did a voice for the Disney movie The Rescuers. He even played a cartoon version of himself on the Saturday morning cartoon Camp Candy which ran for two seasons. If that wasn’t enough he launched his own weekly radio show Radio Candy (sadly I never listened to it) which he did for over a year.

The early 90’s weren’t all that bad despite a string of flops. One of his most misunderstood films Only the Lonely directed by Columbus that came out in 1991. The film was marketed as a whacky comedy, however it was more of a drama. Candy played a cop who still lived with his over oppressive bigot mother. The film was about him falling in love and having to break free from his mother’s control over him in order to keep the girl he loved. I hated the film as a kid, but now I see it as a well done balance of comedy and drama with a terrific supporting cast. Certainly the one that you should check out to see his dramatic ability and it proved to me he could have gone into serious films, but sadly he wasn’t around long enough.

If you don’t believe me just ask Oliver Stone who cast Candy in a brief but meaty role in his lengthy powerful JFK. Candy perfected a southern accent and his confrontation with Kevin Costner is one of the films more famous scenes. Stone said he was really impressed with the few scenes that he did, and I would imagine he may have used him again. Most directors he had worked for would usually find parts for him.

Candy did however live long enough to have a comeback with the surprise hit Cool Runnings. The film was loosely based on the story of the Jamaican Bobsled team. Candy played the coach who was given a 2nd chance after having his gold medal ripped away for cheating decades ago. Candy like in Uncle Buck held together a really inexperienced group of actors. He pretty much held the movie together much like the coach held the team together. Candy had some truly funny moments, and again was allowed to show off his dramatic side when the story got serious. Candy had some really good scenes towards the end of the film and his redemption story is appealing as the underdog team’s story.

It was in this role however that you can start to notice that something might not be right with Candy. Candy was extremely heavy. Even for John Candy. You almost could see a certain sadness in his eyes. I don’t really know the cause of it but John wasn’t very happy his last few years. It is likely that fact that the critics trashed his film and were usually fairly mean about it. Maybe he though people didn’t think he was funny anymore after several films tanked at the box office. Aykrod mentioned that Candy put huge pressure on himself to keep his name alive and live up to expectations. He also said that Candy often suffered panic attacks.

Candy continued to expand in different ways he started his own production company. The only film that his company ever produced was TV movie black comedy and his directorial debut Hostage for a Day. The film gathered some SCTV alumni and contained some of its silly dry humor he also has a cameo role. It was quite funny. After that he made starred in political satire directed by Michael Moore Canadian Bacon that wasn’t released until after his death and went straight to video. The film was about the US making people think Canada was evil and should be bombed.

Candy died while filming Wagons East! a film which to this day I refuse to watch. The movie was from what I hear one of his worse, and doubles had to be used to pad out his role after his death. Candy was extremely unhappy about the film he knew it was a turkey. He was almost unrecognizable heavier than ever with long greasy hair and a full beard the same look he had for his previously mentioned finals roles. Almost as if he didn’t want to be noticed.

Right before he died he was at a Kings game (I remember watching that game) he told Wayne’s wife how miserable he was in shooting Wagons East!. He needed hip surgery and the filming location was ungodly hot which was a strain on him because he was horribly out of shape to begin with and I imagine may have contributed to his death. Candy however according to cast members didn’t really seem down while filming. In fact the night he died he through a huge party for everyone making the film with lobster and expensive booze. He went out smiling having a good time. He went back to his hotel room after the party a few hours later he called up co-star Richard Lewis and just to make him laugh. A few hours later he died in his sleep of a heart attack.

Candy was a heavy smoking, heavy eater and heavy drinker which lead to his heart attack. He was only 41, but left a legacy of funny movies. It was really a great loss since Candy could have easily been an actor that was used more.

Feel free to email me any questions about John Candy I would be happy to recommend any of his films.

John Candy: A Look Back

Part 1: Candy's Rise and Prime

It is hard to believe but as of March 4 ( almost a week ago now) that it was ten years that one of my favorite comedic actors John Candy passed away. In honor of the “The Gentle Giant” I am going to provide my readers with a bio of the late actor. It should be noted that I can do this pretty well with most of my favorite actors and its working from the top of my head. So either I really love movies or I really have no life at all. So this might be a little long but likely informative for my readers.

John Candy was a Canadian born actor who stumbled upon the profession almost by accident. He had an interest in films and showed up as an extra in a few Canadian films during the mid 1970s. He even starred on a low budget childrens show. However it was when he tagged along with future notable names and friends Eugene Levy and Dan Aykroyd to try out for a comedy troop called Second City in Toronto. His friends forced him to try out and he landed a part in the troop. The group basically performed live and he lead the talented cast in skits that were mostly if not all improve.

People must have known he has a future value because he starred in some really shoestring budget Canadian films (that are hard to find that I haven’t seen) Tunnel Vision, the Clown Murders and the more popular of the bunch Find the Lady from what I read the films didn’t have much resembling a plot but showed glimpses of what was to come.

After some time doing TV north of the border SCTV decided to bite off Saturday Night Live and launch their own show. So the filmed a TV sketch show from Chicago other notable members of this show were Rick Morranis, Joe Flaherty, Dave Thomas (not the Wendy’s guy) and future film maker Howard Ramis.

Candy really made a name for himself on SCTV which was more about the characters than the jokes. He more or less became the star of the show. In the late 70’s Candy showed up in a few more TV movies, but made the leap into American films when he was cast by a young Steven Spielberg when in 1941 a film that was a departure for the young director which had a cast list of every red hot comic actor at the time and half the cast of the blockbuster Jaws. Despite the fact the film was a dismal failure casting directors didn’t forget about John Candy. It also didn’t hurt that many of his friends were breaking into the movies at this time.

Candy started showing up as a supporting role in popular comedies he had role in the now classic comedy The Blues Brothers (1980) along with his buddy Aykroyd. He had a larger role in Stripes (1981) opposite Bill Murray where he put himself on the map in a scene where he had to mud wrestle two girls (who eventually became topless). The lowbrow joke more or less put him down the path as the funny fat guy. Candy however wasn’t all that comfortable with the scene thinking it was degrading. Later that year he did his first of many cartoon voiceover for the pothead cartoon flick (along with almost everyone from SCTV) Heavy Metal.

Eventually Candy left SCTV and the show didn’t last long without him. Although he star in two SCTV movies one for tv The Last Polka (1984) based on characters from SCTV and one in theaters Going Berserk (1983). Ramis who starred with Candy in Stripes cast him in a small but memorable role in National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), but it was the scene stealing performance playing Tom Hanks party animal brother in Ron Howard’s Splash. Hanks and Candy had amazing on screen chemistry it made bother actors big stars at the time. The teamed up again in the almost entirely forgotten Volunteers (1985) the film flopped and that was end of the comedy team. The movie’s first 30 mins were really funny but than I guess they ran out of jokes. Candy did show up as second banana to Richard Pryor in Brewster’s Millons (1985), but that year he finally got his big break to play the lead in major movie called Summer Rental (1985).

It was Summer Rental was the first true “John Candy” movie in which he was required to carry the film. Although it was uneven Candy’s comedic gift made the routine jokes for the first hour of the film hilarious, but than the film gets bogged down with an unfunny boat race plot line. However the formula for his movies was set, he usually played a lovable well intended guy who just couldn’t get thing to go his way or the respect he wanted.

After Summer Rental he Candy surfaced opposite Levy and Meg Ryan in Armed and Dangerous (1986) and made a funny cameo in musical comedy Little Shop of Horrors (1986). Than came the movie that changed his career forever. Candy hit comedy and box office gold when he starred with Steve Martin in Planes Trains and Automobiles a road comedy about two men getting back for Thanksgiving Dinner. The movie was the first to show his depth. He had few dramatic scenes, but for the most part it was on of Candy’s most memorable characters. The film had real heart that wasn’t always there in some of his earlier roles. This film made me a fan of John Candy and the movie still ranks as one of my favorite comedies of all time.

Planes Trains and Automobiles kicked off the prime of his career that same year he also starred in the highly successful Spaceballs and followed up by The Great Outdoors (1988 people loved it critics loathed it).Again the clearly uneven and woefully directed but you don’t mind cause Candy keeps you laughing through most of the picture making the most of a ho-hum script.

In 1989 he starred in one of the most underrated comedies ever playing a clueless private investigator in Who’s Harry Crumb?. Why this movie is hardly mentioned (other than by crew members who adopted this film) when his movies are mentioned is beyond me. Sure it’s a much broader comedy than his films usually are but it works in a tongue in cheek kind of way. Candy is clearly on top of his game.

That same year he stared as the title character in Uncle Buck. Buck has to come to town to take care of h is nieces and nephew when his sister-in-laws father falls ill. The film’s main strength is Candy butting heads with his niece who rebels against him. A fine example of how Candy can carry a film with a cast of mostly kids and inexperienced teenage actors. Again this movie was classic Candy. It wasn’t going to win and Oscars but if you find Candy remotely funny than I am sure you will enjoy his humorous methods to knock out daily chores and attempt to be role model for kids.

In a curious turn in the peak of his value in Hollywood he quietly went off and did the low budget comedy Speed Zone! I think Candy did it mainly cause most of his SCTV friends were struggling at the time starred in this lame comedy but it may have hurt him. The comedy barely makes sense but Candy’s scenes make the movie worth watching of course I am the only person in the world that watched this film for any reason other than all the fast cars. Regardless Candy’s scenes are hilarious.


It was clearly a favor to friends something Candy became some what known for. He showed up in uncredited appearances to help out directors he worked with before in a string of movies Home Alone (1990), Career Opportunities (1991), Masters of Menace (1990)and even a rather large role in Rookie of the Year (1993). He actually went out of his way to shoot his cameo in Home Alone for John Hughes who directed and wrote many of films including Planes..(directed) Great Outdoors (wrote). The film also began his relationship with director Chris Columbus who went on to direct the Harry Potter movies. I imagine Candy would have likely played a part in those films.

Come back tomorrow (or later this week) for part two of this look back at John Candy. I will talk about Candy’s branching out into other branches of entertainment, his career going into the potty and how it effected him and his death.

"Sopranos predictions"


First off I don't see what the big deal was about Season 4. People gripped how nothing happened yet Ralph was killed, Bocala lost his wife, Chris hit rock bottom, relations between New York and North Jersey went sour, add a suicide and Chris avenging his father's death and what is not to like?

I might come back to defend season 4 at a later date but before that I am going to try to call the shows 5th season.


Pussy will show up in dreams or a flashback

We will see a flashback to Tony and Carmella's wedding. Perhaps this is where we get to see Pussy again and maybe even Ralphie.

Tony's cousin Tony will live till the end of the season.

Johnny Sacks will get whacked early in the season

Uncle Junior will die either naturally or be hand of the New York mob.

Robert Loggia will be whacked

Tim Daly will play a cop or lawyer

Chris will have a relapse

Tony and Carmella will NOT get back together

Tony will get the newspaper in his bath robe the first show

Furio will show up dead somewhere in Italy

Dr. Melfi will quit her job.

"GAY IN THE US OF A"

During his re-election campaign the elder Bush wanted to show the American people he was just like them. In a horribly planned Public Relations stunt Bush went to a grocery store and had to check out his groceries. He was completely fascinated by the scanner which had already been standard fare in most grocery stores. It showed he was out of touch with middle class America and gave his opponent fuel for the fire. Now granted most rich people in his position aren’t going to be doing daily routines for themselves but it made Bush look foolish.

A few weeks ago Bush made it his position on gay marriage quite clear. Now of course my friends and readers know that I am more conservative than liberal. However I honestly don’t have a problem about letting same sex marriage fly in this country. I mean if they love each other and already live together than why not let them wed? I have more of a problem with all the idiotic “reality” shows on TV that splash clown makeup all over the sanctity of marriage. Marriage should be a wonderful beautiful thing between not the premise for some lowbrow reality series. Strangers that meet each other to film a tv show in 30 days and wed based on money in front of cameras isn’t what a marriage should be about. Shows like Married by America make me sick. At least Joe Gay Guy and his partner actually love each other.

Do I think homosexuality is wrong? If you remember the gay sheep story I tend to agree that people are generally born gay. Granted some people become gay from unnatural ways, many people that were sexually abused turn gay and I doubt many of them would have been otherwise. In some cases is just the person is totally messed up on drugs and doesn’t know either way. I will never understand how another man can’t find anything remotely interesting about amazingly hot women, but it doesn’t mean I think its wrong.

Anyway this article is not about me, its about Bush. I honestly would like to know if that is Bush’s honest feeling towards gay marriage or his if his advisors told him to play the angle a certain way to appeal to the people that are likely to vote for him anyway or on the fence. Now if Bush honestly believes that same sex marriage should illegal (well technically he wants to be left up to the states but he obviously wouldn’t go through the trouble if he was pro-gay marriage) than I give him all the credit in the world. Say what you want about Bush, but he certainly doesn’t take into the consideration what the masses want when he makes a decision but he does what thinks what is good for the country. Agree with it or not he seemingly stands up for what he at least appears to believe in.


Now if Bush did this only as a tactic than perhaps he should fire whoever whispers in his ear. Because I am fairly sure that taking that side of the issue makes you appear out of touch of the mindset of the American people. It is like marveling over the invention of the checkout scanner in the American’s people’s eyes when homosexuality has become so mainstream.

One of the biggest stories of 2003 was how Gay America pretty much turned a corner to being accepted. American’s seems gay crazy! I mean look at all the popular shows, Queer as Folk, The “L” Word and of course Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Numerous prominent gay celebrities and gay sitcom characters had their faces plastered all over the covers of magazines. Queer Eye For the Straight Guy is so popular that countless radio contests, rip-offs and parodies have been made of the young show. One of the FAB FIVE (I think Thom) has been named the new spokesman for Peir One. Do you really think a company would have used an openly gay person to sell their company 5 years ago? It is almost square to be heterosexual anymore, we even came up with the buzz word Metrosexual for the people who don’t like men sexually but want to act and dress really gay.

As of right now I think the election is relatively close race. People need to know about Kerry, but Bush left himself open to be painted “insensitive” and “intolerant” by calling gay marriage to be unconstitutional. It was a bold move to make a statement, since it will likely never be passed. However if the articles I read are true that more younger voters will vote than ever before (I don’t really buy young people are still lazy) than Bush could have cooked his goose by making this move. Regardless I think he lost more potential voters than gained by making that move. I don’t have a problem with gay people (although I hate it when they have to keep reminding us how gay they are like Rosie) but at the same time I really don’t have a problem with people who do think homosexuality is wrong.

***** ECHELON MALL MIGHT BE UP FOR SALE AGAIN*****

“PREIT Ponders Echelon Mall Project”


Well maybe the Courier-Post reads my blog or something. A few days after I broke the story about the Echelon Mall trying to sway IKEA into filling an anchor store the Courier-Post ran an article stating the same. However their sources obviously more informed than mine also talked about how Dave and Busters is on their wish list.

Okay now having a bar in a mall might seem way out there. However back in the day (before we were old enough to remember) the Echelon Mall actually had a steakhouse with a bar. That was back in the mall’s prime. Not to mention you can wet your whistle at Deptford or Cherry Hill Malls. Putting a Dave and Buster’s in the mall would really turn things around. However I just don’t see it happening. For one thing I am not sure if the people of Voorhees would go for that although their problems with drunks would confined to the mall area and not neighborhoods I think they would fear the people that would take the train from Camden going there causing problems. I know that sounds messed up but it’s the truth.

That doesn’t even take into the consideration of the headache of getting a liquor license. How many bars are there now in the town of Voorhees? Are there any left? As for the IKEA rumor I don’t doubt they were in negotiations, but I don’t see it happening. I would imagine if they were close they would have told all the stores that were jumping ship how close they were in order to keep people there.

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) who purchased the mall over a year ago has failed miserably to stop the ship from sinking. The Courier talked about how clean the mall has been since PREIT bought the mall. Well less traffic means less trash. Not really something to brag about.

Since I wrote my last article Sam Goody left after 30 years of service and I don’t know when but the pet store is gone too. The week that PREIT started feeding the local papers fluff about trying to get more involved in the community rumors surfaced that PREIT is looking to unload their miserable purchase. That is right I am beating the papers to the punch again and telling you right now that PREIT is looking for a buyer for either the mall itself or the actual grounds the later being more likely. Perhaps they have made a deadline first to see if they actually score an anchor store, but I can’t imagine how much that land the mall stands on is worth.

PREIT claims that might use an empty anchor store for job conventions which is a good idea because people would likely wonder off and spend money. However I think PREIT is either regretting getting on this purchase and simply doesn’t have the right people working on the public relations or marketing of the mall (hey I contacted them to try to get them to hire me to do their PR) or this purchase was never ment to succeed. I still stand by my claim that people want to shop at that mall, but they just need a reason to shop there.

Coming soon:

Tucker sizes up Bush's chances

Tucker writes about Hockey related stuff.

EL PLATO LOCO

"EL PLATO LOCO!"

The spot where Cucci's Pizza once stood is now being filled by a Mexican restaurant called EL PLATO LOCO. I don't really for Mexican food, but I have a developed a morbid curiosity toward the business for whether or not it will succeed.

One of these days I will actually go in an try their food most likely with my girlfriend who actually enjoys meixcan food. I feel the same way Jerry did on Seinfeld when BaBo opened a Pakistainan resturant.

I actually drive by after I get off a 10-6 shift to count the people in there. Yesterday one couple. Today nobody. This will be a lot easier to follow than the La Strada the Italian resturant with Cezch. owners. It failed miserably after being located at seemingly cursed location just a few miles down the White HOrse Pike from El PLATO LOCO. I don't know if the owners have resorted to sadly staring out the window like the owners of La Strada just yet.

I sure hope those Cezch. guys are going to be okay. I beg of everyone to go to El PLATO LOCO. Then perhaps I can stop worrying about their business venture and if it will fail or not.

KINGDOM HOSPITIAL
On Ch. 6 ABC on Weds at 9pm Stephen King's Kingdom Hospitial will air. Its based on a book by the same name, and I am calling this one to be a worthwhile. I just want to say that I jumped on board for this early, it might actually become a weekly series. Maybe it will suck and if that is the case you can send me angry emails to me.

I wish I got more people to watch the Handler on CBS which seems as though its going to be cancelled soon. It hasn't aired in over a month and CBS needs another freaking CSI for next fall. Bunch of stupid jerks.

"Tucker Waves a Flag"

Earlier tonight I posted about the film the Passion of Christ and pissed off Drew with a few comments that I made. In order to put it to rest the story has been deleted and I have since apologized to Drew.

I certainly wouldn't worry about it though since no one reads my blog, and certainly not on a Friday night. I still plan to review the film at a later date.

"Sterling Alumni in the Papers"


This is from the Courier-Post I know the girl he goes on a blinde date. To set up the article if you don't read this weekly column (I doubt most of you actually do) it is basically about being single in South Jersey.

http://www.courierpostonline.com/columnists/cxka022404a.htm

"Old Man Winter Says Good-bye"
Since its windows down weather I think its safe to assume that my Snow forecasting is done till Novermber. I never really have much faith in any snow storms in March even though we got a little bit of Snow last April.

Spring is as good as hear with maybe a few cold days here and there but you can pretty much put your shovel away and get ready to jump and skip in the spring weather.

The reason for my calling it quits for the Winter is the weather pattern of the last two weeks. If you notice I didn't even bother mentioning last weeks major storm threat that turned into nothing, simply because are chance to get the big one is about very slim right at this point.

So my record is 4-2 and as a fan of the Canadian like weather January was fun since it was really cold, but we never really got nailed all winter. Februrary was a huge let down snow wise and cold weather wise.


FINAL RECORD 4-2

Oh well there is always Hurricane season.

“Nader Swings into Action”

Some time after I recovered from vomiting and pooping everywhere almost every democrat began doing just that after watching Meet the Press Sunday. Ralph Nader is back in the bid for the White House. Well since Nader had people vote for him in Florida who likely would have voted for Gore the state was lost to Bush. Of course there was that whole hanging chad thing. Depending on who you actually believe about the true winner of Florida it never would have came down to hanging chads if it weren’t for Nader. I honestly think that Bush actually did win the state, but I am not going to open that can of worms.

Nader came out swinging bashing Bush and how White House politics cater to the businesses over the little guy. Bush of course easily the biggest example of having his hands tied to big companies. Even people who may not think he sacrifices the nation’s safety for Oil can’t deny that he has friends in the business. So perhaps Nader thinks this is his year simply because average Joe American thinks the war in Iraq was done in order to make people rich and nothing else.

However many Democrats are now thinking that Nader is in coo hoots with Bush and wants take away votes from the democrat hopeful. I was listening to Howard Eskin and the caller was going on about how Nader is getting paid by Bush to help steer the election in favor of reelection. Even liberal bloggers are starting to think Nader is up to no good. This theory is really starting to get some legs, of course its based no evidence at all.

However I really don’t think Nader is going to do much of anything this time other than blow hot air and help make the democrats make Bush look bad. First off he is not running for the Green Party this time but as an independent which means he will get less money and it will be a challenge to even get on the ballet in some states. You can write him in, but we all know how dumb and lazy people are. So I really don’t see him swinging the election this time if anything the democrats will just steal his words to use against Bush. That would coincide with their early stages of their election plan, turn people against Bush.


Secondly, when most Americans vote (the few that actually do) many of them are going to wonder if the person they are voting for would have to the balls to stand up against terrorism or do anything that has to be done. It really depends on if they feel safe if God forbid something else happens in the US. Or even to keep anyone from messing with us like that again to begin with. People I just think look at Nader as too much of a wimp. I just get the feeling that even people who voted for him last time will likely think that he is in over his head in a post 9/11 world. Hell I think terrorist organizations would see Nader as gift sent from Allah.

So to sum up I really don’t think Nader will do much to throw this election in either direction really. I don’t think Nader is on Bush’s payroll. I assume in his mind he thinks he can win unless he just trying to make a statement. This time it would cost him a lot more to make a statement so he is either very confident or crazy. At best 20 years from now he might be seen as trailblazer for a third party system that I still believe is possible. I mean look how divided this country is on some issues you have to wonder if someone can find the middle market in the next two decades if things continue. Nader is just too washed up, and actually is too far liberal. So if Nader thinks he can win I imagine he has very little fear in his heart from either potential democrat candidate and sees himself on an even plane with who ever comes out of the west. I mean who every gets the nomination. Maybe he thinks the democrat candidates are very weak, and perhaps many people from the Donkey party feel the same way which is why they are so scared.


“My God even Nader thinks he beat are hopefuls!”


Which begs the question why was I listening to Howard Eskin

"Light Rail Goes Dark"


I wrote on here before about the Light Rail now known as the Riverline and how what a disaster it has been. The project started back in 2001 and has literally cost the state a billion dollars at this point. Pretty sad since it hasn't even started running yet.

The Light Rail is supposed to connect Camden to Trenton and take some cars off the busy highways. However you can't use the train to get to Philly lines or rail lines in Trenton to go to NYC. If you go to Camden from a Northern point you have to get back before 10 pm because the train stops running then. So it can't really be used for Riversharks games or concerts.

When last I wrote I mentioned all the major problems the River Line has suffered. Since than it has gotten worse. It was supposed to start running last week, but of course it isn't. The main reason for this is that the intersections are still not done properly. The drop signs at crossways with intersections have actually come down on cars. I am not making this up.

So the state is still saying when they finally get it up and running (they don't even bother giving it a date anymore) no one is going to ride it. Not to mention it takes well over an hour to get from Camden to Trenton. I imagine that they will just continue with this project. Sadly though all the tax money that went to this mostly the only people that know about it is are the poor people who have this disaster slicing through their town. It can't really be for people without cars either since most of the stops are hard to get to by foot.

So basically are tax money went to people who made horrible decisions with no thought to if anyone would actually use this train. Also people take 4 years and counting to even get the damn thing to work. I guess all the state workers that have had jobs for the past 4 years might by happy to vote a certain way.

People in this state bitch about our taxes. Its one of the reasons they are so high. I can't imagine that this project was ever supposed to succeed. If it was that how come no one that works for the state thinks its a good idea? Anyone who made this decision was either really dumb or got is passed without any else double checking that idea of just a project. No matter how you look at it is just plain awful. My thought is somewhere a group of people got really really rich off this.

The thing that really gets me is how few people know about this total misuse of tax money. God knows how many other examples are out there.

"Be back soon"

Sorry for the lack of posts this week I have fallen ill. I have had a horrible stomach flu...check back later today or this weekend for updates.

"Welcome to Comcast Country V: The Evil Empire"

John keeps telling me no one wants to read about Comcast and no one cares. However Comcast is one of the number of on going stories I have covered on this blog. Most my readers know the way the cable company has blocked their sportsnet work from the DISH giving people in this area no option if they want to see the Sixers, Flyers and Phillies. They are also known for their awful service and dumb repairman who rarely show up.

Anyway this past week they tried buying the struggling DISNEY. WOW. What a huge, huge company this would be. What most people didn't mention is that they would actually own two hockey teams. They would also have the option to pull the dirty trick they have been pulling on South Jersey for years. Disney owns ABC who owns ESPN, could they pull ESPN from all the dish providers? I don't see why not. Would that? Hmmmm... Perhaps.

The hostile take over never happened, but that doesn't mean that mouse won't be a member of Comcast Country before the end of the year. There seem to be a number of questions that could arise if this deal ever happens.

“Sinking Echelon 2: Empty Spaces”



I am expecting to attend a job fair in Vineland later this week and although I have modest expectations for it being worth my time I was in need of a new shirt for a suit I was recently given. I went to Boscov’s in order to get the chore done before the Flyers game. I decided I was in the market for a few other things and figured I would venture out to the mall.

This was a good time to write a follow up to Sinking Echelon an article I wrote on the decline of the Mall from the glory days. I predicted that after Santa Clause made his rounds that it more stores were likely to close up shop for good. For awhile a bit of hope glimmered and rumors drifted around that an Ikea was going to open up in one of the vacant anchor stores, and it would be announced after New Years. It’s almost March and it would appear that this is not the case.

Well things haven’t been going all that great. The popular food court stop Popeye’s closed. It was odd since it was one of the more successful places in the dismal mall. However many rumors surfaced that it closed because it was actually a drug front. The Mattress store above the food court pulled out as did FYE. The mattress store was even reportedly offered a lower lease agreement but balked (that is a word right?) at the offer. The mall also suffered as result of two retail chains downsizing Wilson’s Leather (gone) and Remington (gone in Mid-March) who decided to just sell their products at department stores.

As I walked through the mall it seemed like a better place to take a nap than shop. The lights are soft, the music is soothing, there surroundings are familiar and it’s a quiet as library. Three stores I went into I was literally the only customer in the entire store. With exception of Boscov’s and Waldenbooks I don’t think any other store I went in broke double digits in customers. You almost feel like you are interrupting after hours inventory in some places.

Anyway from what I heard PERIT who purchased the mall has no plans to change as much as a light bulb for another year or so. They are just waiting and seeing. That makes some sense since the Mall sign hasn’t glowed at night for over 3 months. However at the same time the paid someone for their new slogan “Friendly faces and Friend Finds” or something to that nature that they plastered all over the empty mall stores. Perhaps they should have gone with friendly faces empty spaces.

I can’t imagine that the mall can go through another year of ghost town business. So I am predicting that the Mall will close in by May or at the latest August. Despite recent rumors that the owners told the remaining store owners that the Mall plans to stay. The also tried to sell store owners a bag of magic beans I imagine.

“The Other Brother 2: Dinner Time!”

Well most of my readers who are mainly people I see offline were quite surprised to hear that I had a half brother named Rick walking around out there. To be honest I totally forgot myself and recently after years of a falling out with my Father (his father too obviously) he decided he wanted to burry the hatchet. Of course I can’t fault him for that. However leading up to the dinner I was still void of any emotion or nervousness. We all set down for a Hughes Family Dinner.

The dinner went well he showed up with his wife and her child from a pervious marriage who they call “Binky” who thankfully doesn’t have any resemblance to the clown from Garfield and Friends. He is I guess eleven years old and I don’t actually recall his real name. He apparently has a sister and can’t figure out if I am actually related to either of them.

Lets see Rick is my half-brother and Binky and this random girl are his step-sons and a daughter So I guess that makes them my half step-niece and nephew. Carry the one, subtracted by the square root of 16. Um. So if this girl is really my half step-niece her half step-uncle type guy is a few years older than her cause I think I was told she was 21 or something.

We all had dinner together and I spoke more to Rick than Bill (my full brother) and could not get over that fact that he looks exactly like my father. It really bugged me out. If anyone sees Liza with her digital camera be sure to ask to see the picture, because its uncanny. Thankfully Rick who is in his late 30’s (odd for me to have such a gap) has a full thick head of hair which puts me at ease. That would also

I have seen him once again since the dinner and although I don’t see us entering the three legged race anytime soon I certainly see another family at the dinner table for holidays and such.

"Tucker at the Movies: Miracle"

The film Miracle tells the true story of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team that pulled off the impossible and ousted the USSR team on route to winning the gold medal. The game was much more than a simple hockey game it came during the peak of the cold war. The event came at a time when Americans were down on their luck, the king was dead, gasoline was in limited supply and overpriced, Russia had invaded Afghanistan, Americans had been taken hostage, and Americans were shocked by the Nixon debacle.

This was in a time when the hockey team wasn’t made up of a bunch of spoiled millionaires who were given free vacation to a far off location to pretend they care about the gold medal. The team played together for almost a year together before they went to the winter games. The team was a collection of college and junior hockey league players. An actual team.

The movie produced by Disney resulted in taming the language that likely spewed out of the young team and potty mouthed coach, but that sacrifice aside the writers tell true to the actual events. Of course the story itself of the underdog no one believed in doing the impossible seemed like a Hollywood fabrication so not much tinkering had to be done. However that is the beauty watching this film and knowing almost the entire events in the films narrative actually happened, and HBO’s documentary “Do You Believe in Miracles?” has the footage and interviews to prove it. In fact Miracle is just almost a motion picture remake of the documentary that I perhaps I should have hold off on letting Liza see till after our trip to the Cinemark.

Anyway the addition fleshing of the story lies in the life of the colorful coach Herb Brookes brilliantly played by Kurt Russell. Trust me I don’t throw around the term brilliantly when it comes to movies. However Russell manages to dissolve every ounce of his persona into the legendary hockey coach. He even nails the stature and you will forget almost entirely that it is Russell playing make believe. The film takes us occasionally into the home life of Brooks revealing that he had two true loves the game of hockey and his actual wife. Brooks was old school and never minced words and theorized that a system played by hard working well conditioned athletes could be an All-star team that relies on individual talent (are you listening Glen Slather?) . The story line is clearly more interested in studying Herb Brooks life than marketing the fresh faced actors playing the hockey team to young horny high school girls which could have made for a Freddie Prinz Jr. like flick.


As far as hockey movies go this the best hockey film ever made by far. Of course that is not saying a lot (to be fair I haven’t gotten around to seeing D3 or the one that the Duke starred in) but making a hockey film is extremely hard since you can’t fake the sport like baseball for football. First the casting department must find hockey players and turn them into actors or actors that can actually skate. However you don’t need to be a hockey fan to enjoy this film just like you didn’t need to be a horse racing fan to enjoy last year’s depression piece Seabiscuit. The acting is surprisingly solid for the mostly rookie cast, and Russell’s role is to anchor the inexperienced cast. Although a first viewing it might be hard to distinguish one fresh faced long haired hockey player from another especially if you don’t most know the story. Most notably Eddie Cahill, who plays goalie Jim Craig will is not only talented but stunningly handsome (Liza says he looks eerily like me) stands out in a few intense scenes with his windower father and Brooks.


Russell deserves an Oscar nomination for his performance but of course he won’t get it with the timing of the films release. However the release couldn’t come at a better time, the condition of the country’s morale easily rivals that of 1980 with the country divided over policies, evaluated terror alerts, war, and truck loads of corrupt politicians and political lies.

As for the hockey fan in me I am glad to see they didn’t make the movie too vanilla and gave us references to the IHL, Joey Mullen, and Pelle Lindberg that will likely zip over the heads of most movie goers like Mike Eruzione’s shot over a falling Commie goalie’s shoulder.

"Does Size Matter?"

The AHL always the place for the NHL to experiment with no rules increased the size of the neutral zone for 8 games this past month. The red line and two blue lines were widened from one foot to three feet. This was the brain child of former NHLer Bobby Smith who propsed it in the hockey news.

The idea behind the experiment is to see if a wider neutral zone will actually prevent the trap. The NHL really wants scoring up in the league and Gary Bettman wants the puck in the net more. Attempts this year like goalie equipment crack downs and the posting the list of "divers" in lockerrooms hoping to get more powerplays have done nothing. Scoring is actually down AGAIN this year.

The line changes down in the AHL for a few games didn't do much either. Although there is still potential in the idea of having longer passes that won't be considered two line passes the rule is confusing. The player with the puck has to actually clear the larger blueline before his teammates make it into the zone. This caused much confusion and coaches claimed the rule wasn't caught as many as 3 times during one of the games.

Former NHL players making their way in the AHL chimed in.

Karl Dykhuis claimed it gives you a chance to make longer passes, however that things become trickier at the blueline.

Aaron Gavey a former Dallas Star said didn't even notice a difference.


Coming up:

Bid for the Whitehouse stuff

and

a follow up to the Echelon Mall Story, Dinner with my Half Brother.

"Tucker's World Democratic Pick"


Okay the democratic primary is heating up. So I think its time for my to make an endorsement for my candidate to bid for the White House.

Well I am endorsing Joe Liberman!

Oh wait. He dropped out already. Hmm.

Seriously I did like Liberman because a lot of what he said made sense. The guy was just too far right for the nomination and matched up Bush too much. I never really thought he had much of a prayer obviously. Oh well.

I honestly can't wait to find out who is coming out officially to challenge Bush so I can make my actual endorsement that actually means something. Or at least to the 3 readers of my blog.

"The Rest of Winter"

Well the groundhog came out of his little hole and told us that winter is not quite over yet. Well I would have to agree with him.

However I don't see us getting the "big one", but we will get "nickel and dime" storms where a few inches of snow will fall than another few will fall again days later on top of the old snow. The kind of snow my friend Drew hates, well okay that everyone hates simply cause it doesn't get anyone off of work.

I figure we have a few shots towards the end of the month of snow storms like we had a few weeks ago. No blizzards this year. My record is a 4-2. I actually though the one last week was going to be bigger than it was. My bad.


Liberals are going to tell us that Bush controlled the weather so his oil buddies could get rich. Bush will tell us that it is the work of Saddam trying to make freedom loving Americans slip and slide to their horrific deaths. Trying to destroy the economy.

"The Boobie Network 2"

Okay so Drew emailed me and asked me how I figured out that Janet flashed her tit for the sake of getting media attention for her new CD. Okay well I guess that was mostly my personal take on the story. That's what blogs are for. I based my comments on the line of the song that was uttered before it happened, the fact the fact that she had an intention to do something during the halftime show, and that she wore something on her breast that flung out has to make you think. Just reading between the lines and personally painting this one was publicity stunt that's all.

I hope no one here actually gets their news from me. I stand by my comment on thinking Janet made it pop out for attention. Just like I stand by my statement that CBS only pulled the Reagans because they knew they could still easily win sweeps without and didn't want to tick off their lovely advertisers. I am sure the truth will come out one day about if the boob was supposed to come out or not.

As for the FCC being stupid about it, well I guess they were just doing their job. Yeah Drew in his email made a good point that its hard to see how some things are more offensive than others. Just look at the topics of storylines in most sitcoms these days. Or how did they justify Bono dropping the F-bomb?

The thing of it is the FCC always investigates stuff like this it just doesnt always make the headlines. I think they are and trying to warn people of a crack down( made public weeks before the Super Bowl) for one reason, the up coming election or ousting of Bush. Its and election year and they want to make their organization something that is mentioned in the debates. I am sure you haven't heard the last of this. Heck lots of organizations are going to be holding out their hats for cash all year long.

But the thing of it is an FCC regulation rule was broken, and they are just going to investigate if it really was intentional. I mean you can't just take Janet's word for it an close the case. What is the point of the FCC? Drew might not want it but many others do. People will be questioned to see if anyone actually was in on a little surprise and if Janet is just lying. No one is getting locked up or anything it is just they want to make sure they weren't trying to just break the rules. Given the fact that people are ticked that the FCC wants to crack down on some stuff again I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a bunch of artists thumbing their nose at the suits. Damning the man.

The FCC gets paid for a reason it is their whole point. I am sure some people out there especially single parents would like to know to some extent what their child will be exposed to on TV. Who would have thought a boob would have made an appearance during a Super Bowl?

Some Conservatives think that non-cable should have to be limited to what the can show and will likely use this next year showing examples of how the networks have gone too far. I agree with that considering all the kids watching TV and all. Of course they can just flip the channel to HBO or play a violent video game, but I don't get paid to solve these problems. TV ratings help a little so parents don't have to guess if penis jokes are going to be made in the next 22 mins or not. I certainly understand people wanting to know generally if content might surface during family night around the boob tube. ::cough, cough::



Liberals will use this investigation as a way to tell us that Bush is going to rob everyone of their civil rights and wants to censor the world.

"The Boobie Network"

Okay everyone is sick of the Janet Jackson story already. I know I am. ACtually at the Super Bowl party gathering I was at Liza was the only to actually see the full frontal part of the lame ass show.

I usually steer away for any Jackson related stories. However this is just another example of how I get sick of famous people doing something stupid and getting props for it. Okay let just face it the halftime show is not the place to show breasts. WIP callers were saying how they cameras creeply zoom in on the Cheerleaders, but that is different in my view because not nudity. Also Janet did this on purpose to promote her stupid new CD.

So let see if you write for the New York Times and flat out lie you can get a great book deal. If you purposely make a sex tape of yours public your reality show will get killer ratings. If you do the wild thing with a woman old enough to be your mom who wants to have a comeback it will help her and make people suddenly care about your movies. I could go on but my head hurts. Why do we have to fall for these stunts or a least why does the media fall for it each and everytime.