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THE WAHOO GAZETTE ARCHIVE Mike McIntee's popular Wahoo Gazette is archived here in the aptly- named Wahoo Gazette Archive. You can search by date, keyword, or show number, or even Dave's tie pattern (coming June 2012).
THE WAHOO GAZETTE ARCHIVE Mike McIntee's popular Wahoo Gazette is archived here in the aptly- named Wahoo Gazette Archive. You can search by date, keyword, or show number, or even Dave's tie pattern (coming June 2012).
Denis Leary; Flight of the Conchords; And a Guy Who Will Jump Over a Car on 53rd Street. PLUS:Small Town News; a Top Ten List; and Dave’s Weekend.
“. . . and now, an excellent source of dietary fiber . . . . David Letterman!”
ACT 1
Dave had one of those weekends that come along once every two or three years. He suffered a cooking incident when he sliced a steak and his finger. The sliced finger could use some stitching but Dave decided to let his own natural clotting to take care of it.
And while cooking the steak, Dave forgot to take the necessary precautions. The kitchen became filled with smoke. Dave, who was in sunglasses after coming inside from the sun, didn’t see the smoke. And probably because of busted up nose from the week before, he didn’t smell the smoke. The smoke soon set off the fire alarm. Dave then recognized the smoke. He attempted to turn off the fire alarm . . . but had forgotten the code. He punched his birthday, Harry’s birthday, his mom’s birthday, and any other important date he could think of. Nothing worked. The whining of the alarm went on and on Harry rightfully whined right along with the fire alarm, “Can you make it stop, daddy? Can you make it stop?” Dave muses, “Alarms are good, but you need to know how to turn ‘em off.” The Fire Department arrived. For an hour, Dave and the FD tried their best to turn off the alarm. I don’t know if this was true with Dave, but for me, worse than the alarm would be the need to make small talk with members of the Fire Department. And then Harry’s mom called. She told Dave the code to the alarm. Dave pressed in the code . . . . and in seconds, everything stopped. The alarm was off. “I can’t leave you alone for 5 minutes!” It’s something Dave heard all weekend.
And a week ago, Dave and Harry were enjoying some good father/son roughhousing. The roughhousing led to Harry kneeing Dave right in the schnozz. Dave has some trouble breathing now. He’s got a collapsed deviated septum. Right after this show, he’ll be going to the doctor to get it undeviated. To get this procedure done requires two high school wrestlers. One will be there to hold Dave down. The other will take a pry bar, shove it up Dave’s nose, and pry the septum back into its proper place. It’s not something Dave is looking forward to, but it should provide an entertaining story during Tuesday’s show.
And on our show tonight on 53rd Street is Neil Seaver. He will jump/flip/somersault over the 1993 Honda Civic out on 53rd Street. We visit with Neil and get a gander at the car.
ACT 2
Dave continues from earlier in the program, “…and then I remembered I kept the code hidden in a sock drawer, so I ran upstairs to open the drawer . . . . . and both drawer handles came off. That’s when I said, ‘Oh, I get it. This is an Adam Sandler movie.”
SMALL TOWN NEWS
THE ELY TIMES (ELY, NEVADA): “LITTLE LEAGUE BREAKFAST A SUCCESS; PROCEEDS STOLEN”
THE PEORIA JOURNAL STAR (PEORIA, ILLINOIS): “WANTED: AARDVARK. ANT PROBLEM.”
(septum talk) – you can bend it or cut it
THE POST-STAR (GLENS FALLS, NEW YORK): “FOUR JAILED AFTER BRAWL AT QUEENSBURY HOME. THE BRAWL OCCURRED DURING AN ARGUMENT THAT BEGAN WHEN TWO WOMEN WHO WENT OUT FOR THE NIGHT CAME HOME WITHOUT THEIR UNDERWEAR ON.”
THE NORTHWOOD ANCHOR (NORTHWOOD, IOWA): A PROFILE OF GRADUATING SENIOR “EMILY ANN CHRISTIAN. FAVORITE CHILDHOOD MEMORY: EATING POP-TARTS IN A CEMETERY NEXT TO COWS WITH DANA”
THE SUN (TRENTON, ILLINOIS): “CUB SCOUT ADVENTURE. BRAVE SCOUT ALEX SCHLESINGER KISSED THE KING SNAKE ON A DARE FROM CUBMASTER ROB BLINN.”
THE TIPP CITY INDEPENDENT VOICE (TIPP CITY, OHIO): “DRIVER SEEN WITH EYES CLOSED. THE FEMALE DRIVER WAS SWERVING ALL OVER THE ROAD AND WAS HAVING TROUBLE HOLDING HER CIGARETTE.”
Dave is getting word that we have something on our satellite feed. Yes, it’s Paris Hilton . . . . being released from prison. We take a look at Ms. Hilton being led out of prison. Life is good, again.
THE TREMONTON LEADER (TREMONTON, UTAH): HERE ARE SOME OF THE EVENTS AT A LOCAL TRACK AND FIELD MEET: “50 MILE DASH. 100 MILE DASH. 200 MILE DASH.” ALL THE WAY UP TO “1600 MILE DASH.”
THE LEADER-TELEGRAM (EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN): “WARDENS TO INCREASE PATROLS AT NUDE BEACH”
Dave is receiving another message. Once again, it’s Paris Hilton live via satellite. We take a look. It’s Paris Hilton being place back into prison.
THE CLARE COUNTY REVIEW (CLARE, MICHIGAN): HERE’S AN AD FOR CENTRAL MICHIGAN COMMUNITY HOSPITAL FEATURING A DOCTOR WITH THE LAST NAME “ATCHOO.”
THE EXCELSIOR SPRINGS STANDARD (EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, MISSOURI): A LOCAL CHURCH HAS A REVIVAL WEEK GUEST: “RICHARD COSS. CONSIDERED DANGEROUS! ARRESTED 32 TIMES! ASSAULTED POLICE OFFICERS! FULL PRESIDENTIAL PARDON”
THE JANESVILLE GAZETTE (JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN): “300 ATTEND FESTIVAL TO EAT LIVESTOCK TESTICLES”
THE WESTWORD (DENVER, COLORADO): HERE’S AN AD FOR A CHURCH’S EASTER SERVICE: “COME FOR THE RESURRECTION, STAY FOR THE CHILI!”
ACT 3
We chat some more with Neil Seaver out on 53rd Street. You can tell Dave is eager to get to the jump but he is told we will do it later.
TOP TEN: Thoughts Going Through These People’s Minds
9. It’s better than flying JetBlue.
Back to Neil Seaver: As a sidenote, the Civic has 216,000 miles on it. I added that bit of info for no reason. It added no pertinent info to the jump and I hoped Dave would say as much. It was a lot of miles, but was really irrelevant to what was about to transpire. And Dave mentioned it just as I hoped, and then revisited that fact moments later deeming it irrelevant.
OK, it’s time for the jump/flip/somersault over the Honda Civic. Neil takes a 30 foot run and begins his jump/flip. By the time he is directly over the car, Neil is upside down with his back facing down towards the roof of the car. He continues his travel over the car and continues his flip. By the time he’s over the car, he is right side up. When I read that Neil was going to jump a car, I didn’t see it as being all that much, but seeing it done this way was very impressive. It was quite the spectacle. Nice job, Neil.
ACT 4,6 DENIS LEARY: From the FX hit show, “Rescue Me.” The fourth season premieres this Wednesday at 10 P.M.
Denis is turning 50 soon. One thing he’s noticed as he approaches 50 is he is becoming selectively forgetful. He saw an actress at a diner the other day whom he really doesn’t like and to whom he still holds a grudge but could not remember her name at all. He could remember the important stuff, the grudge, but his brain got rid of the useless information, like her name. It’s the brain working to make life simpler.
Oh, Denis’ advice to the ringing fire alarm? Shoot it. Just shoot the alarm.
And now as he approaches 50, Denis is thinking of quitting smoking. He’s not quitting yet, he’s only at the “thinking about it” stage. Denis is a heavy smoker, a very heavy smoke, and is afraid that if he quits now he may cause harm to the economy. The President has asked him to keep smoking until at least the election.
And how about his Red Sox? Denis is very uncomfortable with the Red Sox having a 14-game lead on the Yankees. He fears the fall from 14 games up will hurt a lot more than the fall from one-game up. Even though the Red Sox won the 2003 World Series and came back to beat the Yankees after being down 3 games to 0, he and most BoSox fans like him are never comfortable. Bucky “Givl’ing Dent reminded them of that back in ’78.
Update: Last week, the Red Sox had an insurmountable 14-game lead over the Yankees. A week later, the lead is down to 9 games. But don’t think about it, Red Sox fans. Try not to think about it. Don’t think about the eventual injuries to your pitching staff. Don’t think about the batting slumps. And don’t think about this being the year Manny Ramirez goes too far the wrong way. Don’t think about it. Enjoy the summer. You’re still 9 games up. The Yankees could never make up that much in the standings. Oh, don’t even think about. You have nothing to worry about. The Red Sox are 14 games in front . . . I mean 9 games in front. Just enjoy the summer.
ACT 6 Announce: “Are you ready to laugh, America? Well then, log onto the ‘Tony Mendez Show!’ Tune in for the all-new episode: ‘Tony’s Walking Tour.’ Just go to www.cbs.com/lateshow. You’ll be glad you did.
We’ll be right back.”
ACT 7: FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS: They are a very funny duo from New Zealand whose new show premieres this Sunday on HBO. Tonight, they sing the song: “Beautiful Girl.” It was a lovely-sound song but was actually very funny and filled with surprising and comical lyrics.
And that was our show for Monday June 11, 2007.
So, did you watch The Sopranos Sunday night? What happened? It was like opening your birthday present and finding nothing inside. I never lost sight of the fact that The Sopranos was a TV show. I never try to get too involved in a TV show. I like to keep an emotional distance from the program. In fact, this year I only saw three episodes of The Sopranos. My reaction to the ending? Once I realized that that was it . . . . I laughed and laughed. I immediately imagined all over America people jumping up from their couch in anger and screaming, “That’s it!? That’s it?!” I enjoyed the scene played out in my head.
One disappointed guy on the radio said, “It was obvious that David Chase said ‘I’m doing it my way and who cares about the viewers.’” And I said, “Good for him. That’s the way it should be.”
My take – life goes on; every thing doesn’t have a beginning, middle, and ending. Life goes on. Final scene in the simple restaurant . . . each time the bell rang when someone entered, Tony looked up with concern wondering if this guy was here to “off” him. All seems fine with the family, but Tony is always looking over his shoulder as if the next guy he sees may be the guy who puts a bullet in his head. And we are thinking the same. Each time someone enters, we create the final scene in our heads. Our “ending” kept changing. Tony was suspicious of everyone but what I didn’t get was when that one guy who kept looking over in Tony’s direction in the restaurant walked right past Tony on his way to the bathroom, Tony didn’t eyeball him at all. The guy walked past and Tony didn’t even look his way.
So everyone at home is watching the final episode creating the final scene in their head . . . and no one figured on the one that actually happened. I laughed because I imagined every one who taped the episode to watch it later thought they must have ran out of tape at the most crucial moment. But there wasn’t a crucial moment. That was the end of the show. That was the end of the series.
While I watched the final show, I had one eye on the clock. 45 minutes in with 15 minutes remaining, I asked Denise “Is this a special two-hour episode tonight?” I couldn’t imagine everything being wrapped up in the next 15 minutes. She said it wasn’t. It was just an hour show tonight. Ten minutes go by. There are 5 minutes remaining. Denise says, “Maybe it is a two-hour special.”
And why that restaurant? My simple explanation to myself: I pictured Tony and Carmela and the kids dining at a similar simple restaurant many years ago when Tony was first starting out in the “business,” before he became the success that he is. And now after the thinning of his troops, he will be starting over with a new crew. The money is tight again, the crew around him will be new again, and he is starting over. And his family remains happily naïve, refusing to see the reality of the business he is in, just as it was 20-25 years earlier.
And the ending? It was your basic, “Lady or the Tiger.”
And it had a Woody Allen Crimes and Misdemeanors ending.
My girls’ team won a small basketball tournament this weekend. My one daughter Danielle is a shooter. Too much so, in my opinion. I encourage her to pass more and to not take so many shots. I had been preaching that all year and hoped I had made some progress. In the championship game, she took two wild shots that missed the mark in the first minute of the game. The coach took her out and gave her a soft lecture. When she returned, she thankfully cut out the wild shots. I was relieved that she learned that taking wild shots like that is a recipe for losing. And then later in the game with 3 minutes left, she dribbles down along the right sideline. I can see she is being closely guarded and going right towards the corner. You want to stay away from the corner because you’ll get trapped there without a chance to escape. As she nears the corner, without slowing down she heaves the ball up over her shoulder towards the basket. The ball swishes. I hadn’t seen a shot like that since Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s running hookshot from the corner against the Celtics back in ’74 for Milwaukee. And now all that teaching of Danielle to pass first and shoot second goes right out the window.
And as I finish this up, I’m watching the Today show Tuesday morning. Matt Lauer teases this big story: What are Webkinz and why are they all the rage with the kids? Webkinz . . . . you can learn about Webkinz today on the Today show, or you can learn about Webkinz six months ago in the Wahoo Gazette.
The Today show: “We’re good, but we’re not the Wahoo Gazette.”
You can’t blame the Today show . . . they don’t have the staff the Wahoo Gazette has.
And so ends another issue of the Wahoo Gazette, the world’s longest continuous-running blog on the internet . . . . I think.
CAMEO MENTION OF A WAHOO READER
1976 Ramapo Senior High School graduate, it’s Elise Weiner Blomer.
This concludes another installment of CAMEO MENTION OF A WAHOO READER
Denis Leary; Flight of the Conchords; And a Guy Who Will Jump Over a Car on 53rd Street. PLUS:Small Town News; a Top Ten List; and Dave’s Weekend.
“. . . and now, an excellent source of dietary fiber . . . . David Letterman!”
ACT 1
Dave had one of those weekends that come along once every two or three years. He suffered a cooking incident when he sliced a steak and his finger. The sliced finger could use some stitching but Dave decided to let his own natural clotting to take care of it.
And while cooking the steak, Dave forgot to take the necessary precautions. The kitchen became filled with smoke. Dave, who was in sunglasses after coming inside from the sun, didn’t see the smoke. And probably because of busted up nose from the week before, he didn’t smell the smoke. The smoke soon set off the fire alarm. Dave then recognized the smoke. He attempted to turn off the fire alarm . . . but had forgotten the code. He punched his birthday, Harry’s birthday, his mom’s birthday, and any other important date he could think of. Nothing worked. The whining of the alarm went on and on Harry rightfully whined right along with the fire alarm, “Can you make it stop, daddy? Can you make it stop?” Dave muses, “Alarms are good, but you need to know how to turn ‘em off.” The Fire Department arrived. For an hour, Dave and the FD tried their best to turn off the alarm. I don’t know if this was true with Dave, but for me, worse than the alarm would be the need to make small talk with members of the Fire Department. And then Harry’s mom called. She told Dave the code to the alarm. Dave pressed in the code . . . . and in seconds, everything stopped. The alarm was off. “I can’t leave you alone for 5 minutes!” It’s something Dave heard all weekend.
And a week ago, Dave and Harry were enjoying some good father/son roughhousing. The roughhousing led to Harry kneeing Dave right in the schnozz. Dave has some trouble breathing now. He’s got a collapsed deviated septum. Right after this show, he’ll be going to the doctor to get it undeviated. To get this procedure done requires two high school wrestlers. One will be there to hold Dave down. The other will take a pry bar, shove it up Dave’s nose, and pry the septum back into its proper place. It’s not something Dave is looking forward to, but it should provide an entertaining story during Tuesday’s show.
And on our show tonight on 53rd Street is Neil Seaver. He will jump/flip/somersault over the 1993 Honda Civic out on 53rd Street. We visit with Neil and get a gander at the car.
ACT 2
Dave continues from earlier in the program, “…and then I remembered I kept the code hidden in a sock drawer, so I ran upstairs to open the drawer . . . . . and both drawer handles came off. That’s when I said, ‘Oh, I get it. This is an Adam Sandler movie.”
SMALL TOWN NEWS
THE ELY TIMES (ELY, NEVADA): “LITTLE LEAGUE BREAKFAST A SUCCESS; PROCEEDS STOLEN”
THE PEORIA JOURNAL STAR (PEORIA, ILLINOIS): “WANTED: AARDVARK. ANT PROBLEM.”
(septum talk) – you can bend it or cut it
THE POST-STAR (GLENS FALLS, NEW YORK): “FOUR JAILED AFTER BRAWL AT QUEENSBURY HOME. THE BRAWL OCCURRED DURING AN ARGUMENT THAT BEGAN WHEN TWO WOMEN WHO WENT OUT FOR THE NIGHT CAME HOME WITHOUT THEIR UNDERWEAR ON.”
THE NORTHWOOD ANCHOR (NORTHWOOD, IOWA): A PROFILE OF GRADUATING SENIOR “EMILY ANN CHRISTIAN. FAVORITE CHILDHOOD MEMORY: EATING POP-TARTS IN A CEMETERY NEXT TO COWS WITH DANA”
THE SUN (TRENTON, ILLINOIS): “CUB SCOUT ADVENTURE. BRAVE SCOUT ALEX SCHLESINGER KISSED THE KING SNAKE ON A DARE FROM CUBMASTER ROB BLINN.”
THE TIPP CITY INDEPENDENT VOICE (TIPP CITY, OHIO): “DRIVER SEEN WITH EYES CLOSED. THE FEMALE DRIVER WAS SWERVING ALL OVER THE ROAD AND WAS HAVING TROUBLE HOLDING HER CIGARETTE.”
Dave is getting word that we have something on our satellite feed. Yes, it’s Paris Hilton . . . . being released from prison. We take a look at Ms. Hilton being led out of prison. Life is good, again.
THE TREMONTON LEADER (TREMONTON, UTAH): HERE ARE SOME OF THE EVENTS AT A LOCAL TRACK AND FIELD MEET: “50 MILE DASH. 100 MILE DASH. 200 MILE DASH.” ALL THE WAY UP TO “1600 MILE DASH.”
THE LEADER-TELEGRAM (EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN): “WARDENS TO INCREASE PATROLS AT NUDE BEACH”
Dave is receiving another message. Once again, it’s Paris Hilton live via satellite. We take a look. It’s Paris Hilton being place back into prison.
THE CLARE COUNTY REVIEW (CLARE, MICHIGAN): HERE’S AN AD FOR CENTRAL MICHIGAN COMMUNITY HOSPITAL FEATURING A DOCTOR WITH THE LAST NAME “ATCHOO.”
THE EXCELSIOR SPRINGS STANDARD (EXCELSIOR SPRINGS, MISSOURI): A LOCAL CHURCH HAS A REVIVAL WEEK GUEST: “RICHARD COSS. CONSIDERED DANGEROUS! ARRESTED 32 TIMES! ASSAULTED POLICE OFFICERS! FULL PRESIDENTIAL PARDON”
THE JANESVILLE GAZETTE (JANESVILLE, WISCONSIN): “300 ATTEND FESTIVAL TO EAT LIVESTOCK TESTICLES”
THE WESTWORD (DENVER, COLORADO): HERE’S AN AD FOR A CHURCH’S EASTER SERVICE: “COME FOR THE RESURRECTION, STAY FOR THE CHILI!”
ACT 3
We chat some more with Neil Seaver out on 53rd Street. You can tell Dave is eager to get to the jump but he is told we will do it later.
TOP TEN: Thoughts Going Through These People’s Minds
9. It’s better than flying JetBlue.
Back to Neil Seaver: As a sidenote, the Civic has 216,000 miles on it. I added that bit of info for no reason. It added no pertinent info to the jump and I hoped Dave would say as much. It was a lot of miles, but was really irrelevant to what was about to transpire. And Dave mentioned it just as I hoped, and then revisited that fact moments later deeming it irrelevant.
OK, it’s time for the jump/flip/somersault over the Honda Civic. Neil takes a 30 foot run and begins his jump/flip. By the time he is directly over the car, Neil is upside down with his back facing down towards the roof of the car. He continues his travel over the car and continues his flip. By the time he’s over the car, he is right side up. When I read that Neil was going to jump a car, I didn’t see it as being all that much, but seeing it done this way was very impressive. It was quite the spectacle. Nice job, Neil.
ACT 4,6 DENIS LEARY: From the FX hit show, “Rescue Me.” The fourth season premieres this Wednesday at 10 P.M.
Denis is turning 50 soon. One thing he’s noticed as he approaches 50 is he is becoming selectively forgetful. He saw an actress at a diner the other day whom he really doesn’t like and to whom he still holds a grudge but could not remember her name at all. He could remember the important stuff, the grudge, but his brain got rid of the useless information, like her name. It’s the brain working to make life simpler.
Oh, Denis’ advice to the ringing fire alarm? Shoot it. Just shoot the alarm.
And now as he approaches 50, Denis is thinking of quitting smoking. He’s not quitting yet, he’s only at the “thinking about it” stage. Denis is a heavy smoker, a very heavy smoke, and is afraid that if he quits now he may cause harm to the economy. The President has asked him to keep smoking until at least the election.
And how about his Red Sox? Denis is very uncomfortable with the Red Sox having a 14-game lead on the Yankees. He fears the fall from 14 games up will hurt a lot more than the fall from one-game up. Even though the Red Sox won the 2003 World Series and came back to beat the Yankees after being down 3 games to 0, he and most BoSox fans like him are never comfortable. Bucky “Givl’ing Dent reminded them of that back in ’78.
Update: Last week, the Red Sox had an insurmountable 14-game lead over the Yankees. A week later, the lead is down to 9 games. But don’t think about it, Red Sox fans. Try not to think about it. Don’t think about the eventual injuries to your pitching staff. Don’t think about the batting slumps. And don’t think about this being the year Manny Ramirez goes too far the wrong way. Don’t think about it. Enjoy the summer. You’re still 9 games up. The Yankees could never make up that much in the standings. Oh, don’t even think about. You have nothing to worry about. The Red Sox are 14 games in front . . . I mean 9 games in front. Just enjoy the summer.
ACT 6 Announce: “Are you ready to laugh, America? Well then, log onto the ‘Tony Mendez Show!’ Tune in for the all-new episode: ‘Tony’s Walking Tour.’ Just go to www.cbs.com/lateshow. You’ll be glad you did.
We’ll be right back.”
ACT 7: FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS: They are a very funny duo from New Zealand whose new show premieres this Sunday on HBO. Tonight, they sing the song: “Beautiful Girl.” It was a lovely-sound song but was actually very funny and filled with surprising and comical lyrics.
And that was our show for Monday June 11, 2007.
So, did you watch The Sopranos Sunday night? What happened? It was like opening your birthday present and finding nothing inside. I never lost sight of the fact that The Sopranos was a TV show. I never try to get too involved in a TV show. I like to keep an emotional distance from the program. In fact, this year I only saw three episodes of The Sopranos. My reaction to the ending? Once I realized that that was it . . . . I laughed and laughed. I immediately imagined all over America people jumping up from their couch in anger and screaming, “That’s it!? That’s it?!” I enjoyed the scene played out in my head.
One disappointed guy on the radio said, “It was obvious that David Chase said ‘I’m doing it my way and who cares about the viewers.’” And I said, “Good for him. That’s the way it should be.”
My take – life goes on; every thing doesn’t have a beginning, middle, and ending. Life goes on. Final scene in the simple restaurant . . . each time the bell rang when someone entered, Tony looked up with concern wondering if this guy was here to “off” him. All seems fine with the family, but Tony is always looking over his shoulder as if the next guy he sees may be the guy who puts a bullet in his head. And we are thinking the same. Each time someone enters, we create the final scene in our heads. Our “ending” kept changing. Tony was suspicious of everyone but what I didn’t get was when that one guy who kept looking over in Tony’s direction in the restaurant walked right past Tony on his way to the bathroom, Tony didn’t eyeball him at all. The guy walked past and Tony didn’t even look his way.
So everyone at home is watching the final episode creating the final scene in their head . . . and no one figured on the one that actually happened. I laughed because I imagined every one who taped the episode to watch it later thought they must have ran out of tape at the most crucial moment. But there wasn’t a crucial moment. That was the end of the show. That was the end of the series.
While I watched the final show, I had one eye on the clock. 45 minutes in with 15 minutes remaining, I asked Denise “Is this a special two-hour episode tonight?” I couldn’t imagine everything being wrapped up in the next 15 minutes. She said it wasn’t. It was just an hour show tonight. Ten minutes go by. There are 5 minutes remaining. Denise says, “Maybe it is a two-hour special.”
And why that restaurant? My simple explanation to myself: I pictured Tony and Carmela and the kids dining at a similar simple restaurant many years ago when Tony was first starting out in the “business,” before he became the success that he is. And now after the thinning of his troops, he will be starting over with a new crew. The money is tight again, the crew around him will be new again, and he is starting over. And his family remains happily naïve, refusing to see the reality of the business he is in, just as it was 20-25 years earlier.
And the ending? It was your basic, “Lady or the Tiger.”
And it had a Woody Allen Crimes and Misdemeanors ending.
My girls’ team won a small basketball tournament this weekend. My one daughter Danielle is a shooter. Too much so, in my opinion. I encourage her to pass more and to not take so many shots. I had been preaching that all year and hoped I had made some progress. In the championship game, she took two wild shots that missed the mark in the first minute of the game. The coach took her out and gave her a soft lecture. When she returned, she thankfully cut out the wild shots. I was relieved that she learned that taking wild shots like that is a recipe for losing. And then later in the game with 3 minutes left, she dribbles down along the right sideline. I can see she is being closely guarded and going right towards the corner. You want to stay away from the corner because you’ll get trapped there without a chance to escape. As she nears the corner, without slowing down she heaves the ball up over her shoulder towards the basket. The ball swishes. I hadn’t seen a shot like that since Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s running hookshot from the corner against the Celtics back in ’74 for Milwaukee. And now all that teaching of Danielle to pass first and shoot second goes right out the window.
And as I finish this up, I’m watching the Today show Tuesday morning. Matt Lauer teases this big story: What are Webkinz and why are they all the rage with the kids? Webkinz . . . . you can learn about Webkinz today on the Today show, or you can learn about Webkinz six months ago in the Wahoo Gazette.
The Today show: “We’re good, but we’re not the Wahoo Gazette.”
You can’t blame the Today show . . . they don’t have the staff the Wahoo Gazette has.
And so ends another issue of the Wahoo Gazette, the world’s longest continuous-running blog on the internet . . . . I think.
CAMEO MENTION OF A WAHOO READER
1976 Ramapo Senior High School graduate, it’s Elise Weiner Blomer.
This concludes another installment of CAMEO MENTION OF A WAHOO READER
ACT 1 • Show Open • Dave's Monologue Watch now • Neil Seaver on 53rd Street
ACT 2 • Small Town News • Paris Hilton Released From Prison • Paris Hilton Sent Back To Prison
ACT 3 • Top Ten Thoughts Going Through These People's Minds Read now
• Neil Seaver Somersaults Over a Honda Civic
ACT 4 • Denis Leary
ACT 5 • "Tony Mendez Show" Promo
ACT 6 • More with Denis Leary
ACT 7 • Flight Of The Conchords perform "Beautiful Girl"
