Andy Wonders Archives - Page 7 of 19

Do You Have Any Desire to See an Opera?

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Sitting in front of the TV there was an add for Shen Yun at the Chicago Opera House, which I guess is also where the Lyric Opera happens in Chicago, and it occurred to me that one of the weird things on my bucket list is to go to an Opera. I don’t really know why. I guess part of it is that scene in “Pretty Woman” where Richard Gere explains to Julia Roberts that some people enjoy the opera, but for others, it becomes a part of their soul, or something like that. Also, back when I used to work in downtown Chicago, I would walk past the Chicago Opera House and sometimes the backstage doors would be open I would be fascinated by the stage props that I could see. Part of it also probably has to do with my enjoying a good musical, and although different, what the hell.

In a not-so-weird juxtaposition I suppose, another thing on my list is to see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.” My guess is you probably have heard the song “O Fortuna” in a movie yet have no idea what it is (Go ahead, Google it), and back in the day, in the search for the song, I came across a CD of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Levine, and realized I like the entire thing.

There are a lot of operas to choose from so in the end my challenge, in thinking about seeing one, is finding one that would be a good introduction to see if I’m one of those that would enjoy it, or if it would become part of my soul. I’m sure I’ll find my way, someday, to the opera, but I wonder: Do you have any desire to see an opera?

That’s it for this one! I’m Andy!! L8R!!!

Do You Have a Digital Picture Frame?

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Fine, here’s my answer. Yes. I have a digital picture frame. It was a gift from my wife, one to help me get a boatload of concert pictures off of a cluttered wall, and two, because it was an awesome gift for someone like me who took boatloads of pictures that, like many folks, have them just in boxes or stored digitally for no one, not even me, to see. It’s a nice one, larger than most, from Kodak, and used to have a feature to connect to some Kodak website that you could store your pictures on, a site, of course, no longer supported. But the frame still lets you connect wirelessly to a computer, or use a media card to store pictures on, and will display them.

Like many a digital picture frame, though, I should probably update the pictures on it as right now it’s still all of our wedding pictures and a few other ones I like. Not that it’s not an important date, short of my birth it ranks up there as number two. Aw, hell, it’s number one as I don’t remember being born. In any case, I’ve taken more pictures since then, have been archiving older pictures, and should probably do a media card update, just to get some new stuff for me to see.

I do know a few people who do the scrapbook thing, but in this day and age of taking pictures everywhere with your phone, I wonder: Do you have a digital picture frame?

That’s it for this one! I’m Andy!! L8R!!!

P.S. Yes, in that picture, it’s me, as a young lad, in front of a TV, with the Johnny Cash show on.

Have You Used the “Near Me” Feature on the iPhone App Store App?

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Maybe I need to get out more, or maybe I need to go to some more exciting places, but the other day I started to become fascinated with the “Near Me” feature on the App Store app on my iPhone. Supposedly it shows what some of the most popular apps are around you that people are downloading, and for them most part the people around me are really concerned about the news or how to get from here to there, although it also seems like my neighborhood has a lot of radio legend, Steve Dahl, fans, as his app is displayed prominently among the choices.

I’ve tried it a couple of times at places I’ve been, and usually it’s been a similar result – local news apps, travel times, train schedules, but oddly enough, never seeming to be anything fun. I think I might need to head to some fun parts of the area and see what comes up, but for now I wonder: Have you used the “Near Me” feature on the iPhone App Store app, and what the heck, I’m curious of any wacky ones that might show up near you.

That’s it for this one! I’m Andy!! L8R!!!

Do You Zipper Your Clothes Before Putting Them in the Laundry?

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When I was a young lad and my mom was showing me how to do laundry, there were many tips and tricks she instilled in me that I still perform to this day. Fine, I will admit that when it comes to emptying my pockets I’m not always the most diligent which has led to one or two washings of the few Washington’s and Lincoln’s, as well as the occasional pen and the loss of those annoying collar “stays” that somehow get sucked into the bowels of the dryer. I’m also not one to always “shake” out my clothes after the washer portion as opposed to just putting a giant ball of wet clothes in the dryer, as the “shaking” out leads to a quicker drying time and the less likelihood of hidden “wet” spots in the clothes when the dryer stops, and, I admit it, I’ve done my share of mixing lights and darks (took me a few minutes one day to realize why my yellow towel turned slightly pink, even though there was a dark, red towel in the mix), but the one tip I still try to keep up with to this day is zipping up all zippers before putting the clothes in the laundry. As I asked my mom why the one day, she simply said that it eliminates the chances of the zipper snagging your other clothes, thereby maybe tearing them, or leaving you with that snagged thread that can ruin your clothes should you now try to “break” it by being lazy and pulling on it, instead of taking the couple of minutes to get some scissors.

Do I zipper the clothes all of the time? No, but I do wonder: Do you zipper your clothes before putting them in the laundry?

That’s it for this one! I’m Andy!! L8R!!!

Will the Comcast/Time Warner Merger Result in Better Customer Service?

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The website Funny or Die has done it again, putting out a short of how most of us figure Comcast really feels about us, the customer. Yes, there is a merger coming between Comcast and Time Warner which results in a company where competition really isn’t an issue. Much like there wasn’t a choice in phone companies, and there really isn’t that much of a difference now even with all of the “breakup of the telephone monopoly” from way back when, we are at the mercy of the major players when it comes to cable TV or internet service. Really, what are you going to do? Sure, you can go for the digital antenna and still get broadcast TV, sort of if you aren’t that close to your city, and a company called Aereo, who had an interesting way of trying to bring broadcast TV to people who wanted to get rid of their cable TV, now finds itself heading to the Supreme Court to protect their business model, but when all is said and done, until the next technology breakthrough comes along, we are tied to the giants with the infrastructure, and political contributions.

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!!!

Comcast Doesn’t Give a F*CK from Tarik Ellinger

Have You Watched Jimmy Fallon Since He Took Over for Jay Leno?

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Now that the Olympics have been over for a while, and the hubbub of his replacing Jay Leno is dying down, the Jimmy Fallon publicity machine now really needs to work it. The latest bit – thanks to some prodding from Rahm Emmanuel, Mayor of Chicago, was a dip in 32 degree Lake Michigan for the annual Polar Plunge, a fundraiser for Chicago Special Olympics. Happily for most, but probably not for some, they both survived, with Jimmy wearing a nice suit for his dip in the lake. The story made the Drudge Report, hit all of the news wires, and if Jimmy Kimmel thought picking up the Mayor of Toronto at the airport would get him tons of publicity, sadly Russia invading the Ukraine and an event that involved what was probably a lot of shrinkage pretty much assured a win for Fallon in this round.

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!!!

Did You Watch All of the Academy Awards?

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With another Oscar season over, and some of the complainers spouting how it was the night for Hollywood to say “Look how important we are!”, it was also a night of consistently one of the most watched television events. A lot of people watch their TV’s wondering who some of the nominees are, many have never heard of the films that are either nominated, or win for that matter, yet, for some reason, every year, we gather around our televisions, and this year we might have gathered around our handheld devices because ABC was streaming the Academy Awards to their app, as long as you actually subscribe to a specific cable provider, which I find bassakward because really, don’t you want as many eyes as possible watching so you can shove commercials down people’s eyeballs?

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!!!

Have You Been in the Front Row at Your Favorite Concert?

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Posting all of my concert photos on Flickr got me to thinking how lucky I was, for at least three songs at a time, to be in the front row at concerts. Having seen quite a few shows, it was generally pretty cool to be up there, right at the foot of the stage, as the lights would go down and the band or singer would come out. The crowd would go crazy with the mosh-pit type shows being the craziest as body-surfers would generally find their way over the barrier, sometimes kick you in the head, and be escorted back into the crowd, although even some of the the “calmer” shows still had their version of crazy fan.

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!!!

Have you postponed a project to start it on the first of the month?

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It’s the first day of March. It’s also the first day of meteorological Spring. It’s also the first post I’ve done in over four months. I’ve been toying with when to restart Entertainment Ave! after a hiatus, and the end of winter, especially this winter, seems like a good time to give it a shot.

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!!!

Thanksgiving – Time for a Break or To Move On?

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!!!