Loading ...Funny or Die probably gets it right in the video below, and really, why should Comcast, or Time Warner for that matter, care about us that much. We need them, they have us by the balls, and they really, probably don’t give much of a F&%k. I know the answer is probably moot, but I would like to hope it gets better. I wonder: Will the Comcast/Time Warner merger result in better customer service?
That’s it for this one! I’m Andy!! L8R!!!
Loading ...But, will it result in people watching?
As great as all of the publicity is for Jimmy Fallon, and there’s a good change you’ll see coverage of it on your local news, especially if you are watching an NBC station, I don’t think it will make more people watch The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. In fact, and I know I haven’t, but I wonder: Have you watched Jimmy Fallon since he took over for Jay Leno?
That’s it for this one! I’m Andy!! L8R!!!
Loading ...As it is, though, we watch. We get sucked into the red carpet, we wake up the next morning wondering who won, and then don’t really care, and the marketing blitz hits for those “non-mainstream” movies that win big, as now it’s a movie you “must” see because the people that rate Hollywood found it important.
Some years I make it all the way through the telecast, commenting like many of you, and some years I fall asleep. I can’t remember, though, any year I’ve never actually just skipped watching the Oscars altogether. As I type this the jury is still out if I will keep my eyes open this year, but I wonder: Did you watch all of the Academy Awards?
That’s it for this one! I’m Andy!! L8R!!!
Loading ...I do remember a time, though, when we actually scored front-row tickets, back in those days when you didn’t have to rely on scalpers, and it was for AC/DC, where I impressingly remember the security dude telling all of us in the first four or five rows that we could jump up and down all we wanted, that we could generally have a great time, but if we even looked like we were going to rush the stage that they would take us out. Sure enough, a few rows back, someone made that move, and I’ll just say that the security dude wasn’t lying.
Having been lucky to have the best “seat” in the house for many shows, for about three songs at a time, today I wonder: Have you been in the front row at your favorite concert?
That’s it for this one! I’m Andy!! L8R!!!
Loading ...And so, as I’ve done many times before, I’m starting a project on the first of a month. I’ve started many a weight-loss goal on the first of a month. I’ve started many a budget on the first of a month. So, why not an Entertainment Ave! restart on the first of a month?
This will be, as they say, a work in progress. Some of you who have been here before will probably notice a new layout, one that I’ll be tweaking as things continue. Also, the Daily Plight is now called “Andy Wonders,” as I’ve decided to drop the “Dude on the Right” moniker, and I’ll be honest, right now I’m not sure if it will be a daily feature or not.
Reviews will start back up in a bit, I’m still going to try to update all of the archives of reviews, but one project almost complete is getting my archive of concert photos on Flickr. You can find them at Flickr on in my concert series.
And so, here it is, Spring. And here it is, my first wonder, “Have you postponed a project to start it on the first of a month?”
That’s it for this one! I’m Andy!! L8R!!!
It’s Thanksgiving time as I’m writing this, and I have a lot to be thankful for, and as much as a time it is for giving thanks, it’s also a time for reflecting for me, especially about this place, Entertainment Ave!, which has been a part of my life in one form or another since about 1988, some 25 years ago.
This odyssey began as a little article in a college newspaper, Technology News, with my buddy and me looking to make some extra beer money. It was there that The Unknown Reviewers were born (Here’s a link to one of our first articles, found on Page 3), with me, The Dude on the Right, and him, The Dude on the Left, with bags on our heads and a PC with a hard drive topping out at 40Meg I think (Yup, you could fit a whopping 10 songs if they actually had digital downloads back then, but I digress), where we would wake up on a Friday morning with foggy heads and write about bands visiting our college bar the night before. As college years moved on some of the personas may have changed, but the bags remained the same, and The Dudes carried on.
Re-taking the reigns of The Unknown Reviewers in my never-ending college days, after being in an advisory role for a while, eventually The Dudes became digital, posting our reviews on our college website, and then, back in 1996, after finally ending college fun and pretending to grow up, Entertainment Ave! was born, with cheesy graphics, a cast of characters who mostly just wanted to have a goofy character, and the concert reviews grew from college bands to national acts, movie reviews were added, and through the years we’ve had an advice column, dabbled in animated movie reviews, held weekly podcasts, personal blogs, Daily Plights, and just some general commentary about the world.
I’ve always had big dreams for Entertainment Ave!, and although a lame excuse in the world of entrepreneurship, I generally let my day job and sometimes life in general, get in the way of trying to take this place to the next level, and over the past few months, with some other major changes taking place in my life, I’ve begun to wonder if this part of my life has also run its course. For over two years now I’ve been trying to get all of the pages updated to the newer format, a task I didn’t realize was so huge until I realized that, through the years, I’ve amassed over 750 various reviews and articles, and converting them has proven a much more daunting task then originally thought. I’ve also had a goal to get all of my concert photos updated to go along with the concert reviews, as well as get them posted for all of the world to see on my flickr site, and although a little easier than the page conversion, I haven’t gotten to the individual editing of them, either. Ugh!
“So, Dude, what are you trying to say. I’m getting tired of reading. Get to the point, already!”
I guess what I’m trying to say is that for a while I’m going to be putting this part of my life, Entertainment Ave!, on hiatus, as I ponder its future. There might be a post every now and then, but for the most part I’m going to see if some kind of inspiration comes to re-envisioning the site, its goals, and if it can be a part of my life for the next 25 years. I might try to finish getting the old reviews converted, finish up with the concert photos, play around with some site re-designing, but as a one-man show, and a site this large, it’s been a tough task keeping up with the changes in technology, the changes in how people get their content (I never did get the Facebook nor Twitter connections fully integrated as I envisioned, nor the “Second Life” virtual site, and even though I’ve designed an iPhone app or two, this site has never gotten its own app much to my own disappointment). For the time being I’ll be leaving everything posted, because hey, someone might want to read about an AC/DC concert from 1991, or see if they should rent “Dude, Where’s My Car?”, but don’t count too much on finding out what I think about the latest Christmas movies, read about a bad film coming out on Blu-ray, or a plight about if Cher really did make the gayest video, ever, for her song “Take It Like a Man.”
If this does end up being my last post for this site, I would like to thank all of you for your support through the years, any comments you may have tossed my way, and the chance to share my entertainment world, and sometimes thoughts about life, with you. It’s been a lovely ride for over 25 years, and maybe its not over yet, but in any case it’s a time to re-assess, re-evaluate, and see if some reconditioning can bring a new chapter to the Entertainment Ave! life.
Maybe for the last time…
That’s it for this one! I’m Andrew Labis, I mean, The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Loading ...Me, I prefer the old handset to the ear kind of thing, although the old days were a little easier when you could cradle the handset between your ear and your shoulder thus giving you handsfree-ness that still sounded great. With phones so small and thin this process has become increasingly difficult until we evolve as a species with our heads at 90 degree angles, or the phones implanted into our ears, so until then I guess we have to live with a crooked neck, or the speakerphone.
Remember if you are on the other side of a speakerphone call that you don’t know who might be listening, and I plight: Are you a speakerphone person?
That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
They’re called “Dental Floss Picks” on the Oral B website, or as I call them, “Floss Thingies,” or as I also call them, “gross litter.” The confusing thing about the Oral B site is that in the top paragraph they discuss how floss picks are a great alternative to dental floss, that they are easier to use to floss your back teeth instead of wrapping dental floss around your fingers, and that “there’s a bonus—the other end of a floss pick features a small plastic pick that can be used instead of a wooden toothpick to remove large food particles that can get caught along the gum line or between the teeth.” But then, as if to contradict itself, at the end of the page, under “Avoid Using Toothpicks,” it states, “Don’t use a toothpick to clean your teeth. Despite the name, a toothpick is not designed for dental cleaning, and it could break off and become stuck between your teeth”
I’m not sure why I ended up on that little rant about floss picks, or at least my analysis of the Oral B website, but what I do know is that I somehow have a knack of spotting those little floss picks everywhere, and it really grosses me out. Sure, I’m all for the benefit of flossing your teeth, my mom flossed her teeth all of her life and in a testament to good oral hygiene had her full set of teeth when she died, but what confuses me at times is the proliferation of the litter that is caused by the floss picks, and my ability to spot them. I guess I also don’t realize that they are so popular, which is probably good for the floss pick industry and making dentists happy, but seriously, are you that person who, in a random parking lot at a day care center, at the post office, at the gas station, at the Wal Mart, decides “I have some food in my teeth” or “I feel the need to floss right now” and pull out the floss pick, do some cleaning that will help promote healthier teeth and gums, and then decide “What am I going to do with this dental pick? I know, I’m going to toss it on the ground so that The Dude on the Right can be grossed out!”
Maybe I need to look up more instead of down at my feet, and sure this plight could have simply been about if you are a dental pick user, but as I saw one the other day on the ground at the post office, I couldn’t help but plight: Do you notice floss thingies a lot?
That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
It’s hard to believe. My how the year flies by. There’s no looking back. Time flies when you’re having fun. Where has the year gone?
I guess I could throw out a few more cliches about how we look back and suddenly realize a year, season, month, day, hour has gone by, but I did just that the other day thinking about this football season. I know, it’s a little weird in respect to a football season, but as it’s past the middle of October, and I was thinking about it, the NFL regular season is nearly half over. Sure, there are the playoffs and Super Bowl that extend things another month or so, but here we are, past week seven of the 17 week/16 game season, and I’m at a weird point of still being half wrapped-up into my teams, and half thinking they’ve both got no chance to make my football season continue into the playoffs.
My teams are the Cleveland Browns and the Chicago Bears. I’ve got the Browns because I grew up in Lorain, OH, just outside of Cleveland, and I’ve got the Bears because I’ve now lived in the Chicago area longer than I lived in Ohio. Both teams show flashes of goodness, and then, just when hopes get a little higher, both teams show a blast of reality, especially after the past weekend with Jay Cutler confirming he has a groin, and the Browns confirming they don’t have a quarterback. The thing is, depending on the next run of about five games moves on, I may be at a very weird position of not knowing which team to cheer on as, and it doesn’t happen that often in the regular season, the Bears play the Browns on December 15th in a game that just might have playoff implications for both teams, although, by then, both teams may have achieved total suckiness, thereby making the game just another December football game to watch because, well, they are your team, and you watch them until the end of the season.
My teams are both teetering at this stage of the season, but I’m just wondering how your team is doing, and so I plight: How’s your football team doing?
That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
Yes, I know, the title of this plight technically reads “Are you paying attention to the Major League Baseball baseball playoffs?”, but much like going to the ATM machine is redundant, it just reads a little better. In any case, it wasn’t until yesterday when I went to turn on “The X Factor,” and I know, I’m probably one of about ten people still watching the show, but there it was, the MLB playoffs. I’m not really sure what teams were playing because, as you might be able to guess, I haven’t been paying attention to baseball much this year. Sure, there was a little interest as the Cleveland Indians were teasing Tribe fans with a potential playoff run, only to lose in the wild-card game, and Lord knows the Cubs and White Sox are on the road to, well, suckiness right now, but football is here, my Cleveland Browns were surprising people until reality set in, and the Chicago Bears keep showing glimpses of busting out, only to relapse back into Chicago sports suckiness again.
Yet, there they are, going on, the MLB playoffs, interrupting my Simon Cowell fix and my continually complaining to my wife how I can’t stand Paulina Rubio on “The X Factor,” how she comes off as a bad Shakira ripoff from “The Voice,” and how I’m betting the boy competitors are pissed she is their mentor. As it stands I totally forgot about baseball until I tried to watch something else, and so I plight: Are you paying attention to the MLB baseball playoffs?
That’s it for this plight! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!
