Latest TPiR double showcase winner March 11, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Game Shows, Media, TV.add a comment
For third time in a month, and the fourth time in three months, a contestant on “The Price is Right” wins both showcases in the Showcase round. Today, the lucky contestant was Lorna Baker.
Lorna was the fourth of the first four contestants to come on down at the top of the show, and the fourth contestant to make it on stage, winning a Traeger Lil’ Pig grill in One Bid. Once on stage, she played Freeze Frame and won Wesley Allen bed with a Laura Ashley mattress.
In the Showcase Showdown, she spun 1.00 on the Big Wheel, winning $1,000, but nothing more in her bonus spin.
In the Showcase round, Lorna passed the first showcase to the runner-up, Catherine. The first showcase consisted of a Kitty Hawk Kites kiteboarding kit, a Segway scooter, and a Toyota Prius hybrid car. The second showcase contained Broyhill’s Affinity living room collection, Noritake dinnerware, a private chef from Big City Chefs, and a trip to Brussels, Belgium! (Sorry, I morphed into announcer Rich Fields for a second.)
Lorna’s bid for that second showcase was $17,250. The actual retail price…$17,333! With a difference of $83, $4 less than Zachary Newton’s difference two weeks ago, Lorna Baker won both showcases. In all, she won $56,150 in cash and prizes. What a day.
Video of today’s show can be found here. Skip to 16:55 to see One Bid and Freeze Frame, 28:34 for the Showcase Showdown, and 31:23 for the Showcase round.
Winter pre-order update #2 March 1, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal.add a comment
I made three more pre-orders today.
Gregg Karukas, “GK” (3/31)
Marc Antoine & Paul Brown, “Foreign Exchange” (4/7)
Bernie Williams, “Moving Forward” (4/14)
I also ordered saxophonist Darren Rahn’s “Talk of the Town” album, which was released two weeks ago, and guitarist Paul Jackson Jr.’s “Lay It Back,” which came out on October 7.
I listened to Jeff Kashiwa’s “Back In The Day” and Pieces Of A Dream’s “Soul Intent” Wednesday through Friday. They were fairly good, but as always, it’ll take a few more plays for the songs to grow on me.
Latest 200+ Wii Bowling game February 28, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Bowling, Personal, Sports, Video Games.add a comment
Early this morning, I bowled the latest 200+ game in Wii Sports’ Bowling: a 202! I was able to get marks in every frame but the last, where I got a 6-7-10 split.
Here is a picture of the final score that I took of the basement TV, where the Nintendo Wii has been back in for two weeks:

A vidcap of video I shot while I had the Wii connected to the VCR:

And finally, the video itself:
Winter pre-order update #1 February 25, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Football, Jazz, Personal, Sports, TV.add a comment
The first round of pre-orders came out yesterday (Tuesday) and promptly arrived at my front porch. The items were:
Jeff Kashiwa, “Back In The Day”
Pieces Of A Dream, “Soul Intent”
“Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder” (DVD)
“Super Bowl XLIII Champions: Pittsburgh Steelers” (DVD)
After bringing everything in, opening the packaging, and unwrapping, I ripped (loaded CD tracks from) “Back In The Day” and “Soul Intent” to my computer. I didn’t get to watch the “Futurama” DVD or listen to the CDs, but I did watch the Super Bowl XLIII DVD. It was in widescreen format, which was zoomed by my HD upconversion DVD player. That’s why I love the player.
I’ll get around to CD listening in the next day or so.
Another Double Showcase Winner on TPiR! February 19, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Game Shows, Media, TV.add a comment
Today on “The Price is Right,” Lindsey Marie Kowal won both showcases in the Showcase round! Lindsey Marie – a Cleveland, Ohio, transplant living in Las Vegas – came within $116 of the actual retail price of her showcase, which featured Jo Malone products, a bedroom set (with mattress), and a jet ski. (If a contestant is within $250 or less on their bid, they win both showcases.) She was the first Double Showcase winner since Terry Kneiss, another Vegas resident, won in December. Host Drew Carey exhibited much more enthusiasm than last time, which means there won’t be an uproar from fans on the internet. (I’d be surprised if there is.)
The second showcase was James Bond-themed with a watch, an assortment of “007” movies on blu-ray disc, a home theater system with blu-ray disc player and a 46″ plasma TV, and a trip to Monte Carlo.
In addition to the showcases, Lindsey Marie won snowboarding equipment in One Bid, the game played in contestants’ row.
Video of the full show can be found here. The Showcase round begins at 31:37.
2/24 UPDATE: Today, only three airdates later, “The Price is Right” had another Double Showcase winner! Zachary Newton, the top winner in the Showcase round, came within a mere $87 of the actual retail price of his showcase. The showcase featured a bedroom set (with mattress), snowboarding and skiing equipment, and a snowmobile.
Zachary passed the first showcase, which featured nine iPod Nanos, a monthly home spa party for a year, and a trip to Sweden.
His One Bid prize was a refrigerator/freezer.
Video of the full show can be found here. The Showcase round begins at 32:22.
Smooth Jazz for Scholars 2009 date/lineup February 17, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal.add a comment
I spoke to Jay Rowe on the phone yesterday and he confirmed the lineup for this year’s Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert in Milford, Connecticut, along with the date.
The concert is set for Saturday, May 16. The headliners are Chieli Minucci, Ken Navarro, Nelson Rangell, and Marion Meadows, who grew up in nearby New Haven. They’ll be performing with Jay and his band, Best Kept Secret. Besides Jay, the band consists of Rohn (pronounced “Ron”) Lawrence on guitar, Dave Livolsi on bass, and Trever Somerville on drums.
This will be my third year in attendance. I’ll post a recap within a week afterward.
Meanwhile, click here, here, and here for a look back at last year’s concert, and here for Mary Bentley’s review in last June’s SmoothViews.
7/18 UPDATE: A recap of this year’s concert can be found here.
New blog header February 9, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Internet, Personal.add a comment
Here is The Mike Chimeri Blog’s latest blog header:
Previously unposted WCWP aircheck February 9, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Music, Personal, Radio.add a comment
Last night, in my boredom, I went to the Musicradio 77 WABC tribute site. On the homepage was an interview with Joe McCoy, the former program director at WCBS-FM. In the interview, he reflected on the former WABC personalities he hired at CBS-FM. Those personalities included Harry Harrison, Ron Lundy, Bruce Morrow (a.k.a. Cousin Brucie), and Dan Ingram.
On the page housing the interview, there was an aircheck of Dan Ingram filling in for Ron Lundy over a three-day period in January 1991. Reading the interview and listening to the aircheck made me think back to my days at WCWP, and a show I recorded in June 2005. It was an evergreen show with a Classic Top 40 theme. I hadn’t listened to it since a month or so after recording it because I was ashamed of how I sounded. I channeled Ingram and Cousin Brucie at times, but felt I sounded corny and forced.
But I’ll let you, the reader, be the judge. Here’s the aircheck:
Classic Top 40 Evergreen – June 2005
Winter pre-orders February 9, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Animation, Football, Jazz, Personal, Sports, TV.add a comment
It’s time for another round of pre-orders on Amazon.com. The pre-ordered items range from jazz CDs to animation DVDs to a Super Bowl Champions DVD. Here’s the list:
Jeff Kashiwa, “Back In The Day” (2/24)
Pieces Of A Dream, “Soul Intent” (2/24)
“Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder” (DVD) (2/24)
“Super Bowl XLIII Champions: Pittsburgh Steelers” (DVD) (2/24)
Rippingtons, “Modern Art” (3/10)
Down to the Bone, “Future Boogie” (4/21)
Check back in the coming weeks for pre-order updates, which will come when the items arrive or if I pre-order anything else.
2/10 UPDATE: Chuck Loeb, “Between 2 Worlds” (3/24)
5,000 views! January 29, 2009
Posted by Mike C. in Uncategorized.add a comment
Today, The Mike Chimeri Blog crossed the 5,000 view mark! Thank you, as always, to everyone that has visited this blog.
