I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something-something I can use
People love it when you lose,
They love dirty laundry

Well, I coulda been an actor, but I wound up here
I just have to look good, I dont have to be clear
Come and whisper in my ear
Give us dirty laundry

Kick em when they're up
Kick em when they're down
Kick em when they're up
Kick em when they're down
Kick em when they're up
Kick em when they're down
Kick em when they're up
Kick em all around

We got the bubble-headed-bleach-blonde who
Comes on at five
She can tell you bout the plane crash with a gleam
In her eye
Its interesting when people die-
Give us dirty laundry

Can we film the operation?
Is the head dead yet?
You know, the boys in the newsroom got a
Running bet
Get the widow on the set!
We need dirty laundry

You dont really need to find out what's going on
You dont really want to know just how far its gone
Just leave well enough alone
Eat your dirty laundry

Kick em when they're up
Kick em when they're down
Kick em when they're up
Kick em when they're down

Kick em when they're up
Kick em when they're down
Kick em when they're stiff
Kick em all around

Dirty little secrets
Dirty little lies
We got our dirty little fingers in everybodys pie
We love to cut you down to size
We love dirty laundry

We can do the innuendo
We can dance and sing
When its said and done we havent told you a thing
We all know that crap is king
Give me dirty laundry

With the Anna Nicole circus winding down (I hope) and the Brittney Spears in and out of rehab revolving door becoming old, I wonder who will be the "next big thing". Better yet, I wonder why it's news? Do I care about this type of "news" coverage? Not really. Do I care that Dog the Bounty Hunter was arrested for extradition to Mexico? Not really. This kind of "Human Interest" news is worming it's way into the Nightly News on television, and into my local evening newspaper. I suppose it shouldn't surprise me. There are so many people wrapped up in reading the Enquirer, The Globe, The Star and many other periodicals of that ilk, that sooner or later legitimate news media must begin to cover these types of stories. Otherwise televised news will lose it's audience, and newspaper circulation will decrease.

News is no longer reported the way Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley did in my younger days. All these men sat at a desk in front of what looked like one would imagine a newsroom should look. Now it's a setting that could be used for a talk show. It's news folks, some of it good, some of it bad, and very little of it is pretty. Back in the day you didn't have to be pretty to deliver the news. You just had to have the news. Now the news is delivered by the likes of Brian Williams, Katie Couric, and whoever replaced Peter Jennings on ABC. I haven't watched ABC news since Mr. Jennings died. You caught me. Here I am, Mrs Underinformed, running off at the mouth about how there isn't much news in her nightly report.

That's another thing. Why are there so many commercials? I just thought of something. The problem is I'm too busy looking at the pretty sets, the pretty faces and the commercials. Maybe all I need to do is wear a blindfold when I sit down to watch the news. That way I can't see all this pretty stuff, and maybe I'll hear the news, if there really is any. If that doesn't work I'll switch to reading the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and Time Magazine. There must be some news in one of them.

Last night I had the hardest time getting around in the stream. Pages were really slow to open, music wouldn't play at all, and I kept getting blank pages when I'd submit a comment. When I came online 15 minutes or so past 8, I had 16 e-mails from Blogstream. It took me an hour and a half to answer them. This morning, because not to many others are on-line, I can hear my own tune. Finally. Yes it pauses, but it at least plays.

Without the cooperation of the phone company, and I'm not going to get it, we may not find the problem until it begins to affect my other house phone. If Hubby would have let me sign up for DSL when it became available I would be having a whole host of other troubles probably, but at least my boat wouldn't be dead in the water.

Last night at Youngest's, he suggested to his father that he and I share files. He does the mailing of reminders to our customers. It would make his responsibility easier if he had direct access to shared files through his computer. I asked if we could do that because he has broadband, I have dial-up. Youngest wanted to know why I hadn't switched yet. So, I explained his fathers refusal, and he has decided to join me in convincing his father that I need DSL.

He didn't actually say we couldn't share files, but I think he wouldn't be able to download into my computer from his because I'm so much slower. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best It would be so nice to be able to enjoy my Saturday nights.

This week I saw two news items that have made me stop and think. One of them actually sent me off on a trip down memory lane that lasted through two posts. In the news on Wednesday night, Brian Williams prefaced the next segment with the statement that as a parent he was re-examining his methods of child rearing. The segment was regarding todays college aged kids that are the "single most narcissistic group in history". These are our future lawmakers, doctors, politicians and parents. They don't care about anything except what immediately gratifies their desires. This disturbs me on so many levels. Of course the "experts" are now beginning to connect this phenomenon with the fact that we began to teach children that they were "special" simply because they exist. We started that at about the time this batch of collegians were born. The statement "be careful what you ask for" was actually used by one of these "experts". It's too late, the damage is done.

The other noteworthy item was a report about a new web cam. It's designed to be placed in your car. It's activated by sudden moves on the part of the driver and the front seat passengers, or by braking and turning. It captures the antics of your 16 to 20 year old driver and how close they are to accidents. The parent downloads to their computer what the cam captured and allows the parent to see where their driving teen needs extra training. At the moment it is in testing stages, and is proving to some parents that they can't use the "not my child, he wouldn't do that" excuse. One woman was actually shocked at how poorly her 17 year old son actually performed and he knows full well the cam is there. If the driver were my son, he would have lost the use of the car after what I saw.

The camera does not lie. He was guilty of horseing around with his front seat passenger, trying to grab her breasts, grabbing at her legs, trying to pull her towards him, all while driving at speeds in excess of 50 miles per hour. He didn't brake well at stopsigns and crosswalks, nor did he pay attention to kids riding bicycles along the side of the road. His eyes were off the road for extended periods of time while fiddling with the radio, and he was making lane changes without any effort to look at what was behind him or coming up along side. Data gathered from the cams in this test all show this as being NORMAL driver behavior for both genders between the age of 16 and 20.

Some things to consider here. According to the statistics I found on an internet website, motor vehicle accidents caused by the 16 to 20 year age group account for a death toll of 38 people per 100,000 of the nationwide population annually. Deaths among that age group account for 2500 of that total. This 2500 deaths do NOT include any statistics on alcohol or drug consumption. These 2500 deaths occur entirely because of speed, reckless behavior, and failure to wear seatbelts. With a total population in the US of somewhere around 200 million, we are talking 76,000 deaths annually because we are failing to accept that 16 to 20 year olds are not always responsible. When behind the wheel of cars, otherwise good kids behave like idiots.

Fact: kids behave, away from our eyes, in ways that we don't expect them to, nor do we approve of it. Peer pressure accounts for 80% of what a kid will or won't do if they think they can get away with it. It doesn't mean you're a bad parent, it means they are kids. If you have a driving teen, stop them from taking passengers. They DO NOT pay attention to their driving when they have someone else in the car. Limit the amount of driving they do when you can't go with them. Don't let them ride with other teens all the time either. While you are at it, consider whether or not they are mature enough to even get a drivers license at 16. If they aren't responsible enough for keeping their room clean, or doing their homework the way they are supposed to. If they don't give full effort to the chores you assign them. If they argue with you all the time. If they try to get their way by shedding tears so you'll feel sorry for them, or if they threaten regularly to report you for child abuse, they are NOT responsible enough to drive.

If your child regularly does all these things and all ready has a drivers license. Take the keys away from them. Trust me... the life you save may be theirs.

5 Ding Dong School



Seen Monday through Friday, the Ding Dong School was one of the first educational shows for kids. It pioneered the style later used by Mr. Rogers and others. Our "teacher" was Dr. Frances Horwich, who was head of the Education Department at Roosevelt College in Chicago. But we knew her as "Miss Francis."

The opening sequence was a hand ringing a bell. This prompted producer Reinald Werrenrath's three year old daughter to give the show it's name! My Mom bought me a fingerpainting set, probably because it looked like so much fun in "school"

4 Captain Kangaroo



Captain Kangaroo taught us good manners, respect and fair play. Mr. Green Jeans taught us to be nice to animals. We learned a lot from that show and had fun doing it.

3 Howdy Doody



The show took place in Doodyville, a circus town which had both puppet and human inhabitants. The audience of kids was called the Peanut Gallery and there was a huge waiting list for tickets to the show. Everybody wanted to sit in the Peanut Gallery! The show typically had a short film, a song or two and visits by the various residents of Doodyville. The original Clarabell the Clown was Bob Keeshan who left to become Captain Kangaroo. Other residents included Mr. Phileas T. Bluster, Dilly Dally, and Princess Winterspring Summerfall. I vaguely remember there was a Heidi Doody at one time.

2 Mickey Mouse Club



Although the Mickey Mouse Club TV series premiered on October 3, 1955, the Mouseketeers made their first television appearance on July 17, 1955 - on the ABC broadcast special celebrating the opening of Disneyland.
Walt Disney was adamant that the Mouseketeers be regular kids, not actors. Producers searched schools looking for kids with that special spark. The Mousketeers went to school 5 days a week on the Disney lot. Not only did they work 6 days but Sundays were often spent performing for the public. Being a Mousketeer wasn't easy.

The original Mousketeers were:

ºoº Sharon Baird
ºoº Bobby Burgess
ºoº Lonnie Burr
ºoº Tommy Cole
ºoº Annette Funicello
ºoº Darlene Gillespie
ºoº Cubby O'Brien

Days of the Week themes for the shows.

Monday - Fun With Music Day
Tuesday - Guest Star Day
Wednesday - Anything Can Happen Day
Thursday - Circus Day
Friday - Talent Round-Up Day

Meeska Mooska Mouseketeer, Mouse cartoon time now is here. LOL.

1 The Cisco Kid



These guys operated a lot like Robin Hood. Although the law regarded them as desperados, they defended the weak and helpless. One of the reasons for this show's longevity in syndication was the early decision to film in color. I never saw it in color, we had black and white TV.

Their signature signoff was "Oh, Cisco" and "Oh, Pancho" as they rode off into the sunset. My other nickname came from my parroting their sign off. In my case Cisco was Crisco and Pancho was Spancho. Dad alternated between Crisco and Spancho until he finally settled on Spancho. It got shortened to Spanch and he calls me that to this day. Hey, it's better than Crisco...fat in the can.

We are getting an ice storm that is pretty impressive here. It's still dark and I'm on-line because at the moment I have the power to do so. I can't guarantee that I will keep my electricity today. I'm also swamped at the moment with calls from girls that can't get to work. Talk to you all later, if I can.