February Blizzard/Shoveling/WCWP February 14, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Jazz, Music, Personal, Radio, Weather.add a comment
As I said in the postponed/unpostponed post, we were hit by a blizzard here on Long Island from late Tuesday night to early Thursday morning.
The most significant snow began falling Wednesday afternoon:
My dad shoveled the driveway just as the snow intensified:
I shoveled as much of the driveway as I could early Wednesday evening. Snow continued to fall:
My parents shoveled the driveway Thursday morning with my sister and I shoveling for an hour in the early afternoon. After I’d finished, I took these pictures:
At around 5PM, it was off to WCWP for Evening Jazz. I shot these pictures as I arrived:
During the second hour, I shot a couple of self-timed pictures by mounting my camera on a mic stand:
More snow is expected Monday night into Tuesday. I hope it isn’t much. Honestly, I’m ready for Spring.
February 11 “Evening Jazz” postponed; then unpostponed February 10, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Radio, Weather.add a comment
2/11 UPDATE: I have unpostponed tonight’s show. See you tonight.
Due to the blizzard conditions today and tonight, I have made the difficult decision to postpone tomorrow night’s “Evening Jazz.” The playlist I originally made for tomorrow will be used next Thursday.
Tomorrow will be a day of shoveling for me. I’ll be back with you on Tuesday night at 7:00 Eastern on 88.1 FM WCWP. Fred Camin is slated for Monday night.
2/11 UPDATE: I shoveled for about an hour early last night. Today, my parents shoveled what fell after I finished. Then, my sister and I shoveled a bit more. I’ll have a recap and pictures in a later post.
Cause and Effects; 4/7/13 UPDATE: Drew’s side of the story, What took me (Mike) so long February 6, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Books, Game Shows, Media, TV, Weather.add a comment
5/16/19 UPDATE: I wrote a long overdue follow up after watching Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much.
Terry’s side of the story
4/7/13 UPDATE: Drew’s side of the story comes later in this post.
Terry Kneiss, a Double Showcase winner on The Price is Right in December 2008, sent me the following e-mail (with permission to quote him here) on Wednesday:
I just got word from my publisher that the book “Cause and Effects: The Amazing Story Surrounding the ‘Perfect Showcase Bid’ on Television’s #1 Daytime Game Show” is available to buy online for pre-order. The website is www.perfectshowcasebid.com. Publisher is Langdon Press out of [Minnesota].
That perfect showcase bid led to an unenthusiastic reaction from host Drew Carey. At the time, I didn’t understand why he reacted that way, but I defended him nonetheless:
I believe he was simply in stunned disbelief and shock. Not everyone handles that situation by yelling and screaming. Drew has had the yelling, screaming reaction before, but he is far from perfect. If you want Drew to be wildly enthusiastic every time, you’re going to be disappointed. Clearly, many were disappointed by this. If you want to stop watching “The Price is Right” because Drew isn’t enthusiastic enough for your taste, it’s your choice. But there are plenty of people like me that support Drew and will continue to watch.
I now feel that Drew thought Terry was playing him and the TPiR staff like fools, the same way Michael Larson did on Press Your Luck in 1984. But I could be wrong.
Cause and Effects will showcase, pardon the pun, Terry’s side of the story. On the book’s website, there is this introduction:
My name is Terry Kniess as in the guy who hit The Price Is Right Showcase on the nose — last done in 1973! That earned me a “double showcase!” Oh, and you pronounce Kniess like “niece”, as in ‘my niece hit The Price Is Right showcase just a few weeks after I did!’ But is this a simple story of incredible luck? Or is this the tale– as so many members of the press are asserting — of a diabolical scheme perpetrated by a family of evil geniuses? Well, it all starts with a dog.
My vote is “a simple story.”
Terry is a retired meteorologist and has his own weather website.
2/10 UPDATE: Terry has supplied me with an excerpt from Chapter 15: “Pegging the Stranger Meter, or Just a Series of Coincidences?”:
If there is any reason to believe in a conspiracy theory, it’s because of the strange but true coincidences between the show she (my niece, Jodi) was on and the show I was on. Let’s review:
1. Her show aired exactly one month to the day after the one I was on.
2. She sat in the same seat I did.
3. Her fiancé, Tom, sat in the same seat as my wife, Linda.
4. Both Jodi and I were among the first four contestants called to “Come on down.”
5. Linda had to tell me my name was called. Ton had to tell Jodi her name was called.
6. She got up on stage with the third prize up for bid. The same with me.
7. We were both in the first Showcase Showdown. The Showcase Showdown is when the contestants spin the big wheel at the end of the first half and second half of the show.
8. Her first spin was $.95. My first spin was $.90.
4/7/13 UPDATE: Drew’s side of the story
Last week, Pop My Culture podcast co-host Vanessa Ragland was one of three guests (one of them recurring) on voice actor Rob Paulsen’s weekly Talkin’ Toons UStream show (formerly itself a podcast). My curiosity was piqued enough to search for the series on iTunes. As with the Nerdist podcast three years ago, The Price is Right host Drew Carey was on Pop My Culture last year.
About ten minutes in, Drew recalled Kneiss’ double showcase success (without naming him). And similar to that show, he was deadpan while lamenting the situation. Drew said there was a diehard TPIR fan that sits in the front row. The fan knew what the prices of prizes were because they were, at the time, recycled. “I don’t care what that f***in’ guy said,” Drew intoned. “He got it from the guy in the front row ’cause we have it on tape.” He went on to say the fan did that “out of malice to give everybody the exact price and kinda screw over the show.”
Drew wasn’t the only one to say this. Carrie Grosvenor said the same thing at About the day it aired!:
Apparently, according to the message boards at Golden Road, one of their regular members was in the audience on the day this show was taped, and had been shouting out pricing answers throughout the show. This isn’t unusual in and of itself – anyone who watches the show knows that the audience does this, and that contestants look to these shouted answers for guidance. However, in this case, the audience member, who calls himself “Ted” at Golden Road, is an expert on pricing these items and has some experience giving correct dollar amounts away to contestants. If you watch the show again, it’s very clear that contestant Terry was looking directly at a single person in the audience for help.
In Drew’s Pop My Culture appearance, he noted that TPiR now changes up the prizes and prize features regularly so the prices will be different each time. Terry Kneiss’ “simple story of incredible luck” may be simpler than I originally thought, but the show’s new practice make his story unique. His on-the-nose success may never be duplicated.
What took me so long?
You may be wondering why it took so long for me to update this post with that information. First, I wasn’t as big a Price is Right fan as others and as big a game show fan as I used to be. Second, I gave up watching the show in 2011 when George Gray was made the permanent announcer. Forgive me, but George has an exaggerated delivery and I couldn’t stand hearing it. That’s another thing Drew brought up on PMC: fans that don’t like the changes to the show. With my radio background and as a fan of voice acting, this is the only change that I don’t like. It makes me wish that Jim Thornton could double his announcing his duties and work TPiR in addition to Wheel of Fortune. But like my desire for FOX Sports to go back to using unique themes and cues for the sports they cover, neither George nor FOX’s practice of using NFL cues for more than just NFL coverage are going anywhere. So, I just need to accept both unpleasant situations and move on.
More views than MikeChimeri.com! January 27, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Uncategorized.add a comment
Today, The Mike Chimeri Blog surpassed MikeChimeri.com in views/visits. As I type, MikeChimeri.com has 13,212 visits. The Mike Chimeri Blog has 13,307 views and counting. It took only 21 months to get as many views as my website has in 4 1/2 years.
Thank you to all for visiting this blog.
11:04 PM UPDATE: There were 278 views today, a new one day record.
Evening Jazz on Tuesdays and Thursdays! January 5, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Radio.add a comment
Starting tonight, you can hear me host “Evening Jazz” on 88.1 FM WCWP. I’m hosting Tuesdays and, for now, Thursdays from 7PM to 9PM Eastern.
The show runs Monday through Thursday. Mondays and Wednesdays are hosted by Fred Camin.
Listen and enjoy!
1/24 AM UPDATE: I promoted my “Evening Jazz” involvement in a thread at The Magic Island BBS.
Happy 2010! January 1, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Uncategorized.add a comment
Here’s hoping you all have a happy, healthy, and maybe even wealthy 2010.
Late Fall Blizzard! December 19, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal, Weather.add a comment
Saturday, December 19
Tonight, Long Island and much of the Northeast coast is enduring a late Fall blizzard. Nassau and Suffolk Counties have been under a Blizzard Warning since yesterday and through 11AM tomorrow. Accumulations are expected to be anywhere from 12 to 18, or even 20, inches of snow.
Tomorrow, I’ll be shoveling out.
Coincidentally, we got snow on this day last year, too, but much less and it changed to rain by afternoon. Despite the wintry weather, I was still able to make it to IMAC for David Benoit’s Charlie Brown Christmas concert. It would be my last visit to IMAC before it closed six months later.
In the days ahead, this post will be updated with pictures and final snowfall totals.
Sunday, December 20
The National Weather Service reported 14.0 inches in Seaford. So, I guess that’s what we got here in Wantagh.
I spent two hours shoveling with my mom and sister. Our neighbor was nice enough to lend us his snow blower for my dad to use. It’s a good thing I had all that help. There was no way I would have been able to shovel that much snow by myself.
No, I did not wear those shoes while shoveling. I changed into them when I went inside to take pictures. I wore boots when I was shoveling.
Something December 10, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Uncategorized.add a comment
It’s been three weeks since my last post. I have nothing worthy to say here, but I don’t want to go any longer without posting. So, here’s something.
FBN finally comes to Cablevision! November 19, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Media, Personal, TV.add a comment
At long last, after two long years, the Fox Business Network is finally coming coming to Cablevision.
Talking Biz News writes (h/t Inside Cable News):
Fox Business Network is expected to announce Thursday morning that it has secured an agreement with Cablevision Systems Corp.
The deal will expand the business network’s distribution by nearly 3 million subscribers in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area.
Fox Business will be available to Cablevision subscribers on channel 106 thought the provider’s Optimum-branded communications system.
The last major expansion for the business news channel occurred in December 2008, when it struck a deal with Charter Communications to expand its presence in the Midwest and Northeast regions to nearly 200,000 homes.
It’s also in HD on channel 772, which I just put on as I write this post. I thought this day would never come, but here we are. It looks great so far.
11/26 UPDATE: FBN release (h/t The Imus Times):
Cablevision (CVC) and News Corp.’s (NWSA) FOX Business unveiled an agreement Thursday that will make the business news channel available to more than three million additional households in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The deal takes effect Thursday and lands FBN on Cablevision’s channel 106 and in HD on channel 772. Cablevision operates the largest U.S. cable cluster and is in more than 4.7 million households and 600,000 businesses in the New York metropolitan area.
FBN is now available in more than 50 million homes.
“We’re pleased to welcome Cablevision as our newest FOX Business affiliate and look forward to providing the essential and up-to-the-minute breaking business news to the greater New York area,” Tim Carry, FBN’s senior vice president of affiliate relations, said in a statement.
The new agreement will expand FBN’s reach into New York’s surrounding area, including Long Island, Westchester, Fairfield and Bergen counties.
“We are pleased to make FOX Business Network available to our iO TV digital cable customers in both standard definition and HD,” John Trierweiler, Cablevision’s senior vice president of product management, said in a statement.
The announcement comes just over a month after FBN, which launched in October 2007, began simulcasting radio personality Don Imus on the channel.
MikeChimeri.com 
Bold & Fresh Tour at Westbury! January 22, 2010
Posted by Mike C. in Commentary, Media, News, Personal, Radio, TV.3 comments
Tomorrow night, Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck’s Bold & Fresh Tour kicks off at the Capital One Theatre at Westbury. The show sold out only days after tickets went on sale. The same can be said for all other venues on the tour:
Actually, as I type, the early Pasadena show still has tickets available, but I doubt that will be true much longer.
The Norfolk show will be simulcast live in movie theaters across the United States. For more information, check the Bold Fresh Tour website.
On the website, the tour is billed this way:
I will be at the Westbury show tomorrow night. It’ll be the first time I’ve seen either O’Reilly or Beck in person. It should be great.
I’ll update this post after the show.
1/23, 10:55 PM UPDATE: The show was excellent.
The start of it was delayed about 15 minutes because some radical protesters wouldn’t allow cars into the parking lot. Traffic was held up during that time, resulting in a long stationary line of cars, including me and my dad, from the parking lot entrance to the Northern State Pkwy. exit ramps in both directions. After the delay, the parking lot was full and attendants made us park in a neighboring lot.
Just as we got to our seats inside, the show began. We were four rows from the stage and four seats from the aisle where Glenn and Bill walked to and from the stage.
Glenn came out first, dressed casually with a mic attached to his ear. He spoke for 20 minutes. After that, it was Bill’s turn. I knew he was 6’4″, but I had no idea how tall that looked up close until tonight. Bill was in a suit and tie and held a wireless mic.
Then, there was a 20-minute intermission, during which, I tried in vain to get to the concession stand because the lobby was packed.
Following the intermission, both Bill and Glenn sat in chairs and interviewed each other while the stage revolved.
There seemed to be more Glenn fans than Bill fans, but that’s okay.
I’m happy to report there weren’t any hecklers during the show.
1/25 UPDATE: Dave Marcus had his own recap yesterday in Newsday. Bill replied to the recap tonight on “The O’Reilly Factor” in the Talking Points Memo:
FOXNews.com Video
FOXNews.com Transcript
BillOReilly.com Summary
The tour website links here for info on the movie theater simulcast. It’s live this Saturday at 8PM Eastern with an encore replay next Tuesday at the same time. Three Long Island theaters will carry the simulcast live: Port Washington Cinemas, Farmingdale Multiplex, and Island 16: Cinema de Lux in Holtsville. Farmingdale Multiplex and Island 16 will also carry the encore along with Westbury Stadium 12.
1/26 UPDATE: The following viewer e-mails were read on “The Factor” tonight:
Bob DeFliese, Garden City, NY: “Bill, my wife and I attended the Bold Fresh tour show at Westbury and your talking points was spot on. Newsday distorted what happened. Neither you nor Beck made any political play for the Republican Party. You were fair, entertaining, and informative.”
Bridget O’Shea Burns, West Springfield, MA: “Bill, my husband and I drove down to see the Bold Fresh show. You and Beck have great on-stage chemistry and I was quite surprised how funny you guys were.”
Bill’s response: “Well, I appreciate the good review, Bridget. Glad it was worth the trip. By the way, the Bold Fresh show [in Norfolk, VA] is playing at nearly 500 movie theaters this coming Saturday night. Check the theaters out on the website BoldFreshTour.com. BoldFreshTour.com.”
Marissa Singer, Farmingville, NY: “O’Reilly, I know Beck teased you about wearing a suit during the show, but I thought you looked dashing.”
Bill’s response: (grinning): “Well, Beck is just jealous, Marissa. We all know that. Thanks for coming to see us.”
Thank you, Bill and Glenn, for such a great show. Thanks also to those that have checked out this post after I linked to it in the comment thread for this post at Olbermann Watch.
1/27 UPDATE: Thanks further to those that were referred from Johnny Dollar’s Place.
1/29 UPDATE: Tonight’s Talking Points Memo and At Your Beck & Call segment flashed back to last Saturday’s show at Westbury.
The Bold Fresh site has news regarding the Norfolk show tomorrow:
As a result, the movie simulcast site said this:
2/3 UPDATE: Excerpts from the simulcast Tampa show were shown Monday night on “The Factor”:
I’m hoping the simulcast is released on DVD or Blu-ray.
8/2 UPDATE: Bill and Glenn returned to Westbury on Saturday night. I was not there, but plenty of people were. It was another sold out event. Mediaite’s Steve Krakauer and Glynnis MacNicol were among the crowd and have their take on the show here and here.
The following e-mails were read tonight on “The O’Reilly Factor”:
Marilyn Fulton, Kings Park, NY: “O’Reilly, attended the Bold Fresh tour at the Westbury Theatre. Loved it. You and Beck are a great team.”
Bill’s response: “Well, I appreciate that, Marilyn.”
Gail Fischler, Bellmore, NY: “Saw the show at Westbury. You were hysterical, O’Reilly.”
Bill’s response: “In a humorous vein, right, Gail? I wasn’t literally hysterical, was I? I don’t think I was, but…never know what that word means.”
I’ll answer that: it was indeed a humorous vein. Bill was joking, of course.
1/22/11 UPDATE: The simulcast of last year’s Bold Fresh Tour event in Tampa is now available on DVD!