Rich Thomaselli's HodgePodgeBlog

CHECK OUT HUDSON VALLEY SPORTS REPORT!

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:27:00 +0000

Haven't updated this in a looooooooong time, as you can see, but there's a reason.

I've started a new online venture that is set to debut on Monday, July 6. It's called Hudson Valley Sports Report, a web-based daily sports page for high schools, colleges and pros in the Hudson Valley.

Please check it out at www.hudsonvalleysportsreport.com.

THE FAMILYHOOD -- TV, or not TV?

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:54:00 +0000

So this is my first blog post in two weeks thanks to a major project at work, some rewrite on the book, and a weekend-long celebration of Tee's birthday.

But some exciting news: last night, the boys came down to the city and were part of a television commercial for my company, Grandparents.com. They were great, and it will be interesting to see if they make it off the cutting room floor and into the actual spot that starts airing next month (it's a new one centered around the holidays that will replace the one currently airing).

SPORTS -- Baseball playoffs start

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:52:00 +0000

It's October, which means it's time for the playoffs in Major League Baseball.

As lamentable as it is that the Yankees failed to even make it to postseason, I can't believe I'm about to write these three words -- Go Red Sox ?

Yes, Go Red Sox.

If my team isn't in it, then I look for great storylines. And, frankly, as warm and fuzzy as it might be to see the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers in the playoffs, having either in the World Series would be a major letdown.

To me, the best World Series potential matchups all involve Boston: Red Sox vs. Cubs (for obvious reasons), Red Sox vs. Dodgers (Hi Manny!) and Red Sox vs. Phillies. The fourth option is either Cubs-White Sox or Dodgers-Angles, although those same-city World Series tend to tune out the rest of the country.

So, Go Red Sox it is, at least until next April.

THE FAMILYHOOD -- Bingo!

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:50:00 +0000

So the wife had a big night out to herself on Saturday -- she went to dinner with a friend, and then the two girls went to ..... get ready for it ........ play Bingo.

I kid you not.

They went over to St. Augustine's in Highland and played Bingo.

Look, at 44, I personally realize I'm not at that age to go out and party three, four nights a week like I did when I was in my 20s -- ah, but if those nightclub walls could talk ..... :) But I'm sure as hell not ready to throw in the towel and go to Bingo, either. But, whatever turns you on, right?

So, then, you're probably asking what the boys and I did on Saturday? Partied like rock stars, of course. First, we caught the 4:10 showing of Space Chimps at the South Hills Mall in Poughkeepsie, which is really not a mall any longer but just a bunch of freestanding buildings as they renovate the place.

Then, after Space Chimps, we held a democratic vote on where to go for dinner, and as much as I tried to lobby for Gino's in Poughkeepsie, or even the Dutchess Diner, I was voted down, 2-1, in favor of Burger King. Following a lovely meal of chicken nuggets and cheeseburgers, we then headed to Cold Stone Creamery for an ice cream dessert.

And, for some reason, my 3-year old decided this was the perfect time to sing. Non stop. Out loud. It was some variation of his own monotone tune called "I love pizza," which he just kep repeating over and over. All of Cold Stone Creamery was cracking up, and the more we tried to stop him, the more he laughed that infectious giggle. It was quite the moment.

Of course, it must have been sensory overload. When we got home, I said to them, "OK, you guys get in your pajamas and we'll watch a movie on the big TV." Ten minutes into "Wallace and Gromit," Dan was down for the count. Thirty minutes after that, Joe was like "Dad ... I'm tired."

Yup. Partied like rock stars :)

POP CULTURE -- Beer Goggles .... It's true!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:43:00 +0000

Beer Goggles -- the metaphorical phenomena that occurs when, the longer you drink, the more attractive somebody gets -- is true !

Don't believe me? Then believe the brainiacs at Oxford Univesity, who conducted a study on the matter that can be found here.

SPORTS -- Michigan back on track

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:09:00 +0000

It wasn't pretty, but Michigan rang up its first victory of 2008 over the weekend with a 16-6 win over Miami of Ohio.

This Saturday, it's on to Notre Dame to play the Fighting Irish and their pompous ass of a coach, Charlie Weis.

GO BLUE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

POP CULTURE -- SEC girl disses the Big 10

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 19:33:00 +0000

Playboy magazine will have one of its famous "Girls of...." issues next month when it again features the 'Girls of the Big Ten."

Except, the cover girl, and that month's Playmate, is a current student at the University of Florida, Kelly Carrington.

In a newspaper article, Carrington was asked if it was funny -- the writer probably didn't use the word 'ironic' because it probably would have been over her head -- that a girl from the SEC was on the cover of the issue featuring girls from the Big Ten.

"There weren’t any girls from the Big Ten who were hot enough to be on the cover, so they had to pull someone from the SEC,” Carrington said.

That's right sweetie, you go ahead and think that. Not only are girls of the Big Ten equally gorgeous -- ever take a stroll on Michigan State's campus? -- but in six or seven years, when you're finishing your shift at the Waffle House, one of your counterparts from the Big Ten will be splitting an atom or re-designing the new space shuttle.

POP CULTURE -- The new "90210"

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:34:00 +0000

OK, this goes under either the 'pathetic' or 'curious' labels. Haven't figured out which but .... I watched the new "90210" last night.

I'm not kidding.

You remember "Beverly Hills, 90210," don't you? Brandon, Brenda, Dylan, et al. Well, this is the remake, with a new cast, (although Jennie Garth reprises her role as Kellie Taylor, now a guidance counselor at West Beverly Hills High School, and Shannen Doherty was back as Brenda in a brief cameo).

It was the two-hour season premiere ... and I watched every minute of it.

I have absolutely no clue what possessed me to do this. In the last several years, I've all but given up TV. Between my workload and wanting to spend as much time as I can with Tee and the boys, my TV viewing habits usually come after 10 p.m. and are generally confined to the following: the rest of the Yankees game (if they're tied or winning); "MadMen," my new guilty pleasure; the news and/or ESPN; something pivotal or of significance (last week's convention speech by Barack Obama, or tonight's speech by Sarah Palin, for instance); Michigan football, when it's on here in NY; the Giants on a Sunday afternoon; or "The Sopranos" when it was still on HBO on Sunday nights (the sanitized version currently running on A&E pretty much sucks.

I have never seen a single second of popular shows like "Survivor," "Lost," "Grey's Anatomy," "Heroes," "Desperate Housewives" or "American Idol," although I do confess to watching the early portions of "Idol" when they weed out the idiots.

Yet, for some reason, I dragged my tired keyster away from the computer at 8 p.m. last night and watched the two-hour season premiere of "90210."

No, I wasn't drinking.

Yes, I did have access to the remote.

No, I wasn't lusting after teenagers.

Yes, I thought Garth and 40-something Lori Loughlin, who plays the mom, looked fabulous.

No, I won't watch it again (it was that bad -- a high school student who flies a date from L.A. to San Francisco and back just for dinner??)

Yes, I am pathetic.

SPORTS -- .... And, there go the Wolverines

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 22:37:00 +0000

Utah 25, Michigan 23.

The much-hyped spread offense by new coach Rich Rodriguez was a dud.

Lloyd, old buddy, old sparring partner .... you got out just in time, brother.

SPORTS -- Here come the Wolverines !

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:26:00 +0000

College football starts in earnest this weekend, and, of course, the most famous program of all kicks off on Saturday at The Big House.

As many of you know, Michigan was my favorite college team growing up as a kid. Then, literally days before I got married in 1996, I was offered a job at The Ann Arbor News to come out and cover Michigan's football and basketball programs.

It was the best four years of my sportswriting career.

It was kind of hard to root for the team while covering them, especially with the scandals that happened with the basketball program, but now that I'm a "civilian" again, I can openly show my allegiance again.

Michigan vs. Utah, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2.

Go Blue !!!!!!!!!!!

Of course ....... while my heart remains with U-M, and I'll go to my grave saying the school has the best helmets, best stadium and best fight song in college football, I think we all know where the best college football cheerleaders live: in southern California, of course.

God I love those sweaters.

POP CULTURE -- Jenna Jameson pregnant

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:16:00 +0000

The rumors are true: porn star Jenna Jameson is pregnant by her long-time boyfriend Tito Ortiz.

Now, we ALL have a few skeletons in our closet that we're not proud of.

But when Jenna's baby is old enough to ask, "Mom, did you have a job? What did you do for a living?" what the heck is she going to say??!!?

NEWS -- Pharmaceutical advertising guidelines .... what happened?

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:25:00 +0000

Hey, what happened to those guidelines put out by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of Amerca regarding television advertising of prescription drugs?

No, this not something I lie awake thinking about each night.

Frankly, even though I covered the issue extensively when I wrote for Advertising Age magazine, I pretty much forgot about it.

Until Saturday.

We were watching Fox News in our room, and the boys were getting dressed in their room when, naturally, they started horsing around. One thing led to another and then it was, "He's bothering me." "No, he's bothering me." So we told our oldest to go in our room to finish getting dressed. Tee was in the kitchen, I stepped out for a moment.

When I came back in, a Viagra commercial was just finishing up and, sure enough, my son asked me what a "wreckshun" was. Believe me, I danced around that one.

The point is, it was just after 9 in the morning. According to the guidelines (and I looked them up on PhRMA's web site just to make sure again), one of them is: "In terms of content and placement, DTC television and print advertisements should be targeted to avoid audiences that are not age appropriate for the messages involved."

Now, granted, you usually don't have 7-year old kids watching Fox News, and some of the responsibility certainly lies with me. But it's not like we had the Playboy Channel on when my son came in our room. It was a news channel.

And, it was 9 o'clock in the morning. There has to be SOME responsibility on the part of the marketers and the television network to, as the guideline says, better target their audience.

HUDSON VALLEY HOOPLA -- The Dutchess County Fair

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:27:00 +0000

When we first moved back to NY in February, I said that one of the things I was going to do was to embrace -- probably for the first time in my life -- all the things that my home area had to offer.

I think a lot of us probably don't do enough of that.

We get caught up living in the same place that we grew up in, and we take it for granted. We end up forgetting that we have things like the Dutchess County Fair.

We took the boys to the Fair this week, arriving as the gates opened at 10 a.m. and not leaving until after 5 p.m., until their little legs had enough and THEY were actually TELLING us, "Can we go home now?"

Still, it was probably the first time in my 44 years that I spent that long at the Fair. Usually, I've zipped through it. But this time, Tee and the boys and I really made a point of going through everything. Of course, we hit the rides area three times, but that was fine. The boys loved it, and we enjoyed watching them. But we also wandered through the livestock pavilions, watched a backyard circus show, ate some great zeppole, went through all the arts and crafts buildings, bought a few knick-knacks, even some Christmas gifts for friends and family.

I really loved it. Maybe because, again, like the baseball game, I had a chance to "see" it through the eyes of a 7-year-old and 3-year-old. But it was a great time, and I applaud the Dutchess County and Ulster County fair organizers for putting on great shows.

But that was just the capper to a great two months. Also this summer, we watched fireworks from our front lawn from the St. Augustine's Church Bazaar; Tee has taken the boys several times to the Ulster County Pool; we've walked down from our house to the village of Highland for a couple of town festivals; we've eaten a few times over in the eclectic village of New Paltz (when we haven't frequented our two favorite places: Gino's in Poughkeepsie for Italian and Pete's Famous in Hyde Park for a quickie meal); and last week I went out with two close friends and had martinis at the Blue Martini on the Newburgh waterfront.

Never thought I would say this, but it sure is nice to be home again in the Hudson Valley.

SPORTS -- Yankees: RIP

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:16:00 +0000

It's over.

Normally, I'm reticent about announcing that a team's baseball season is over in August. Baseball is a funny game -- look what happened to the Phillies in '64 or, worse, the Mets last year.

But the season's over for my beloved Yankees.

As of this writing, the Yanks are in third place in the A.L. East, 10 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays, 5 1/2 behind Boston for the wild card. In fact, they're only two games ahead of fourth-place Toronto.

It's not that, though. Here's what tells me the Yanks are dead: Carl Pavano is supposed to start on Saturday.

Good Lord, run for cover. The heavens are crashing.

POP CULTURE -- Wedding etiquette

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:38:00 +0000

On the Yahoo! home page today, there was a link to a piece entitled "10 Things to Never do at a Wedding."

They included such tips as don't be late, turn off your cell, don't talk trash about others, don't come bearing gifts (envelopes, yes. Microwaves, no.), don't dress down, don't just bring a random guest if you're single, don't steal the show (i.e. dial it down a notch if you're a notorious partier), don't pig out, don't drag out old skeletons (such as the groom's dating habits prior to getting married) and don't hog all the party favors.

Here are few of my own.

1. DON'T pick your nose. You never know if the videographer is across the room adjusting his focus on you.

2. DON'T hit on the bride. Big no-no, for some reason. I don't know why.

3. DO hit on the bride's mother. You know, if she's MILF-y.

4. DON'T volunteer to watch the big purse with all the money in it, and then take off for Vegas.

5. DON'T drink like a fish just because it's an open bar.

6. DO order expensive drinks if it's an open bar.

7. DO tip well if it's an open bar.

8. DO wait to see who catches the bouquet of flowers before participating in the garter toss.

9. And, finally, above all, DON'T dance in a conga line. These things just don't end well, and they look goofy on the video.

NEWS -- Thankyouverymuch

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:17:00 +0000

This is Elvis' famous peacock jump suit. It just sold at auction for $300,000.

I definitely would have gone to $301G.

POP CULTURE -- Guinness beer commercial

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:45:00 +0000

Greatest beer commercial, ever. I would find it hard to believe, however, that it made it onto American television.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuyT9STDO78

POP CULTURE -- Technological marvels

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:32:00 +0000

This is a picture of the Skywalk, which juts out over a rim on the east side of the Grand Canyon.

Visitors can walk out there for a small fee. Supposedly, it can hold 71,000 pounds at a time and withstand winds of up to 100 MPH.

Three words: No. Freaking. Way.

SPORTS -- Michigan football

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:44:00 +0000

Of course, I have a soft spot in my heart for the University of Michigan. The Wolverines were my favorite college team when I was a kid and, later, I took a job at the Ann Arbor News as a sportswriter covering football and basketball.

So, as we get closer to the football season, you'll definitely be seeing some Maize and Blue updates on this site.

I should have linked to this sooner, but my former paper did an outstanding series on academics and athletics at the school.

SIDE NOTE -- I read the whole series online when it came out and, predictably, Michigan fans looked at the series with disdain. In the comments section, I even saw someone who said it hearkened back to the Rich Thomaselli days and "yellow journalism." Oh, you mean like when I broke all those stories about the Michigan basketball players who took money from a booster, and it turned out later to be true?? :)

SPORTS -- My Yankee Stadium memory

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:43:00 +0000

The All-Star Game is being played at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night, in this final season for the great stadium. Next year, both the Yankees and the Mets move into new facilities.

As a lifelong Yankees fan and a former sportswriter, I have great memories of my hundreds of trips to the Stadium. I remember my uncle 'Bones' took me to my first game. We once went on an IBM-sponsored bus trip to a game and my cousin Donald got stuck in the bus bathroom, which was quite funny to us as kids, not funny for him. There were probably a half-dozen times I ... well I don't want to say 'skipped' classes while attending college at Fordham University to catch the D Train to see a game. So let's just say I postponed them :)

Last year, I took my two boys to their first game at Yankee Stadium, an experience I blogged about earlier.

I don't know how many times I told people, "I'll meet you outside at the bat at (fill in the time."

The memories could fill a whole book.

But my greatest memory happened at Game 1 of the 1996 World Series, which I was covering as a writer. The series, of course, was memorable. The Yanks came from an 0-2 deficit to beat the mighty Atlanta Braves 4-2 for their first Series title since 1978.

Game 1, though, was fairly forgettable -- a 12-1 Yankees loss, unless you'd like to recall that it was the game where a star (Andruw Jones) was born.

Still, that said, I look back at that day and night with great fondness. I got to the game early. Extremely early. If you knew me from my days as a sportswriter, I usually got to every event AT LEAST three hours before game time. I would set up my computer, make sure I had power, go through early notes, etc., etc.

On this particular day, I got to the Stadium early, left my stuff in the pressroom and headed down to the field just to look around and take in the feel of my first World Series game. At one point, I actually went and sat in the Yankees dugout and it was just me and one other person there. At I'm sitting there, closest to where the tunnel leads back up to the Yankee clubhouse, and I hear a faint voice that 's getting stronger and stronger as it comes toward me. The voice is saying, "And then we'll walk this way, stop here for a moment, and then you'll be introduced, and then you do your thing. Same as always."

It was a Yankees public relations person talking to the man who would throw out the first ball later that night -- Joe DiMaggio.

I didn't say anything, didn't try to introduce myself or anything like that. I wasn't star struck, but to say it was a great thrill to just be within a couple of feet of Joe DiMaggio would be an understatement.

And that's my greatest Yankee Stadium memory.

THE DADDYHOOD -- What's this made of?

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:07:00 +0000

So the other day my 3-year old picks up a spoon off the table and says, "Daddy, is this made of glass or of wood?"

And I said, "Actually buddy, it's something called stainless steel."

"Stainless steel? What's that?"

"Well," I said, "it's something that's very hard and will last a long time."

He then proceeded to take it and whack it on our dining room table as hard as he could, leaving a visible mark.

"Yup," he says. "That's stainless steel."

POP CULTURE -- This is creepy.

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:46:00 +0000

Take a look at the photo.

The man is Hulk Hogan, putting suntan lotion on the buttocks of a woman.

The woman? His 20-year old daughter.

Yuck.

Maybe Hulkster and Billy Ray Cyrus should join some sort of, I don't know, 12-step program?

POUGHKEEPSIE POOP -- Feature on foreclosures

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:30:00 +0000

Following up the previous post about the ridiculous price of apartment rents in the Poughkeepsie area, check out this link. It's a feature on MSNBC.com about the foreclosure problems about to hit Potown.

POUGHKEEPSIE POOP -- $1,569 ?!? Are you kidding me?

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:06:00 +0000

Here's one of the things that boggle my mind about the Hudson Valley -- the rising cost of rents. I mean, we're 75 miles from NYC folks. I know a lot of people from the city have moved up here, but it's not exactly like we're a borough, or even a suburb.

Yet housing costs continue to skyrocket.

For instance ..... just saw that Hudson Harbour Apartments in Poughkeepsie, just off Route 9, is touting a 3-bedroom apartment starting at $1,569.

$1,569. Ridiculous. Even if you get heat and hot water included, $1,569 for an apartment is absolutely crazy. It's an apartment. You probably don't have a garage, you're surrounded by people and separated by paper-thin walls. It's not a single family house. It's not even a two-family house.

When we lived in North Carolina last year, we rented a single family house that was 4 bedrooms, an office (or fifth bedroom), 2 1/2 baths, 2 car garage, enclosed backyard and was on a cul-de-sac. It was also 2,400 square feet. The rent? $1,325, and this was in Mooresville, a rather high-end suburb of Charlotte where a ton of NASCAR drivers, owners and crew chiefs live. Moreover, if you check out the housing trends on a month to month basis, you'll find that Charlotte is one of only one or two cities in the Top 25 metro areas where the real estate market is thriving.

So, to recap: 3 bedroom apartment, surrounded by tons of people in the same building, small space vs. 4-5 bedroom single family house, 2,400 square feet, and it's almost $250 LESS.

All I can say is, wow.

SPORTS -- Mets fire Willie Randolph

noreply@blogger.com (Rich Thomaselli) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:47:00 +0000

The Mets finally fired Willie Randolph -- in the middle of the night, at 3:14 a.m. EDT, to be exact.

Whether Randolph should have been fired is an argument that has merit on both sides. But that's not the issue right now.

The issue is the embarrassing way in which the Mets did it. My feelings are pretty much summed up by my good friend Mike Vaccaro, sports columnist for the New York Post, in this piece.