JSS: "A Christmas Story"-- The Drive's A to Z-- "The Last Jedi"

JSS--  Just Some Stuff

1.  "A CHRISTMAS STORY"--   My all-time favorite Christmas show starts in a few hours and runs a 24-hour marathon on both TNT and TBS.  I will watch it straight through at least twice and definitely will catch parts here and there.  Watch out for whose dogs?  We will be having out Christmas dinner at a Chinese buffet, a regular tradition, but no Chinese goose.

2.  THE DRIVE'S A TO Z--  It started at 6 am this morning and will run until sometime after New Years Day.  They do take a stop from midnight to 6 am.  There will be over 2,000 songs arranged alphabetically by title.  It streams at www.wdrv.com. 

First song was "Abacab" by Genisis.    They are up to "At the Station" by Joe Walsh right now.

3.  "THE LAST JEDI"--  The last two weekends, I have watched all the first seven "Star Wars" movies on TNT as I get ready to see the Rise of Skywalker after schools go back in session.  This Sunday they will run "Rogue One" at 1 pm, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" at 4 and "The Last Jedi" at 7.  I'll be recording on my VHS tape.

--RoadWalker

It's a Numbers Thing

Some Numbers of interest.

7-6     Record of the Chicago Bears as they prepare to play the Packers in Green Bay Sunday.

10-3    The Packer record.

14-0    The 2019 record of the Richmond-Burton High School Rockets.  They won the Illinois State Class 4A Championship!!

5    The number of Illinois State Championships won by Route 66, Lincoln Highway and US-12 high school football teams.

8    The number of days before we start adding daylight time to each day.  I'm really ready for it.

40   The number of new Christmas movies being shown on the Hallmark Channel.

$1,000   How much you win if you have the best WDRV 97.1 FM, the Drive logo in Christmas lights.

I'm Not a Twit.   And Don't Call Me Shirley.  --RoadDog

DID YOU KNOW:  That a pregnant goldfish is called a twit.

JSS: So Tired of Cyber Monday-- New Christmas Movies-- My Favorite Christmas Movies-- Snow Didn't Stick-- The Drive In Lights

JSS--  Just Some Stuff

1.  SO TIRED OF CYBER MONDAY--  If I heard it or saw it once....  They just don't give it up.  By the way, I didn't order anything over the internet Monday or even leave the house on Friday.  Sorry guys, you lost that bit of your advertising dollar.

2.  NEW CHRISTMAS MOVIES--  I heard that Hallmark Channel has 40 new Christmas movies.  One of these days I might have to watch one of their Christmas movies.

3.  MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIES--  I have added a fifth to my list of favorites.  It is "Scrooged."  Hey, Bill Murray.

4.  SNOW DIDN'T STICK--  It snowed over night on Monday, but did not stick on the driveway, sidewalks or street. I sure don't mind snow when I don't have to mess with it.

5.  THE DRIVE IN LIGHTS--  One of the three Chicago radio stations I listen to, WDRV, 97.1, 96.9 FM, the Drive, has a contest where the winner gets $1,000 if they have the best WDRV lights up in their yard.

Thinking About It.  --RoadDrive

DID YOU KNOW.  Telly Savalas and Louis Armstrong died on their birthdays.

JSS: So Tired of Black Friday-- That 70s Music on the Drive-- First Christmas Radio, Now Christmas TV?-- Christmas Toilet Paper?

JSS--  Just Some Stuff.

1.  SO TIRED OF BLACK FRIDAY--  I will be so glad when today is over.  For the last that is just about all I've been hearing.  Black Friday, Black Friday, Black Friday.  Give me a break.  And, we didn't even go out of the house so you wasted all that advertising money on us.

2.  THAT 70S MUSIC ON THE DRIVE--  In case you really like the music from the 1970s, Chicago's  WDRV 97.1 FM the Drive, is playing music from 1976 today.  Tomorrow its 1977 and Sunday 1978.  It streams.

3. FIRST CHRISTMAS RADIO, NOW CHRISTMAS TV?--  Of course, some of the Christmas radio stations fired up on Nov. 1 and all are going now.  Now, we have two cable channels showing pretty much nothing but Christmas movies.  Lifetime and Hallmark.  I've heard that most of these movies have pretty much the same plot.  I haven't seen any yet, but might just have to watch some to make up my mind on them.

4.  CHRISTMAS TOILET PAPER?--  And this pushes the boundaries a bit much.  Charmin even has a Christmas toilet paper song.  We've sure come a long way since "Please don't squeeze the Charmin."

Too Much, Man.  --RoadTP

DID YOU KNOW:  Tigers also have striped skin, not just striped fur.

"Breaking Bad" Obit

From the October 4, 2013, Yahoo! News/ Reuters "'Breaking Bad' teacher-turned-druglord gets obit in Albuquerque newspaper" by Laila Kearney. //// As posted in the Albuquerque Journal as posted by the "Unofficial Breaking Bad Fan Tour" group in a paid obituary. "Walter White aka 'Heisenberg', 52, Albuquerque, died Sunday after a long battle with lung cancer, and a gunshot wound. He will be greatly missed." It went on to urge readers to donate to drug-abuse prevention programs in lieu of flowers. //// "Breaking Bad" was a popular AMC drama, with the final episode drawing 10.3 million viewers, including myself. //// I Was Hooked On the Show. --RoadDog

What's Happening to Baseball?

Despite that unbelievable finish in the National League and the fact that the Cubs (more than a little overdue) are actually in it, the fact is that many Americans aren't going to be able to watch it from the comfort of their own home. Well, about 10% of those who don't have cable TV. They can listen on the radio, or go down to the local watering hole.

There was a time that anyone with a TV and an antenna could get the games, but not now, with all the Divisional Series and the NL Championship games on TNT. At least, one would think that the cities who have teams playing should be able to see the games on local stations. But, no. Money talks and the poor fans are just out of luck.  They walk.

Then, there's the fact that some of the games are on SO LATE. The Cubs started at 9 PM Central Time last night and tonight. That is a bit too late for oldsters like me, and what about young baseball fans who must attend school?

Bring Back the day or Early Evening Games, and Make the Games Available to Everyone. --RoadDog

Good Grief. The Cubs lost 3-1 yesterday, and are losing 4-2 in the fourth right now. Time to get a Move On, Cubs.

Ronco's Been Sliced and Diced- So Much for Those 50-Year Guarantees

The June 16th Chicago Tribune Business section reports that Ron Popeil's empire has filed for bankruptcy in California. Good old Ron sold Ronco two years ago for around $55 million, and the new owners still owe him almost $12 million. Other major creditors are the Food Network, QVC, and Court TV, where much of the advertising was done.

Over the years, Ronco, based in Simi Valley, Ca, has sold $1.4 billion worth of products, $19.99 and $39.99 at a time, "but wait, there's more..." Ron started it in 1964.

It also went through another bankruptcy in the 1980s.

Thanks to Ron Popeil's personal sales pitch, such terms as Ronco, Popeil, and o-matic have become a part of pop culture. "...how much would you pay now?"

He first sold inventions of his father, S.J. Popeil: Veg-o-Matic and Popeil's Pocket Fisherman. Then, in the 70s, he developed products of his own: Ginsu Knives and Armorcote non-stick pans. Obviously, he got big into the infomercial scene in the 1990s. Other products were the compact rotissiere, food hydrators, the bagel-cutter, and Dial-o-Matic.

I believe that at one time, they sold collections of popular music similar to today's NOW CDs, but, of course, they were albums. This was in competition with K-Tel. Anybody remember those good old K-Tel albums with ten songs on a side.

You can watch classic Ronco spiels at www.biography.com.

Hey, Ron, How Much Postage I Gotta Pay? --RoadDog