Archive for June, 2008
If you read my blog, you know I like to use this forum to share things with you that I find interesting. Whether it’s cereal from the dollar store (Blueberry Muffin Tops) or Dania Jai-Alai, I always like to share whatever I’m “in” to at the moment. This weekend I discovered a great new high-def channel (that I think is only available on Comcast.) It’s called Mojo, and it’s got a few of the best tv shows I’ve seen in a while.
I had been watching Mojo off and on for a few weeks since I got Comcast. (I’ve had the dish for many years, but I just switched because, among other things, I wanted to be able to receive Howard TV.) The first show I started watching on Mojo was called “Dr. Danger.” It’s a show about Dr. Bob Arnot, who you may recognize as a former NBC news reporter. He travels to fascinating places on this show and does “adventure” stuff. I’ve watched shows where he’s gone to Afghanistan, Saudi Arabi, Somali, and numerous other locations. The show is wild- partly because he seems a bit insane. (We’re working to get him on the show with Dan. I think he’d make a really interesting interview.)
So, while I had been watching “Dr. Danger” for a few weeks, I kept seeing promos on Mojo for some of their other programs. So I set my DVR to tape a bunch, and this weekend I sat down to watch. And I have discovered two great shows that I suggest you check out if you get Mojo.
This first is “Wall Street Warriors.” It’s a reality show that follows people in New York that work on Wall Street. There’s a rookie day trader… A fund manager… A stockbroker that seems like he belongs in the movie “Boiler Room…” And a couple others. It’s such a great inside look at Wall Street and people trying to make it. It’s shot in high definition and it’s put together perfectly. I was just sitting there watching- transfixed on whether or not frozen orange juice concentrate futures were going to go up or down. That’s how mesmerizing the show is… Who the hell cares about oj futures? But as you get into the show, you really become attached to the characters and the drama. (You don’t need to know anything about Wall Street to enjoy the program.) I watched 3 episodes of Wall Street Warriors this weekend, and I’m craving more.
The other show on Mojo that I fell in love with is called “Start Up Junkies.” It’s another reality program, this time about people that are “addicted” to building start-up companies. I’ve always been fascinated with entrepreneurs as it is. This show is a great inside look at people that risk EVERYTHING to build a new concept or business. Just like Wall Street Warriors, you get a really great inside look at what it takes to do what they do. I watched an episode where the owner of the new company is trying to get venture capital to keep the business going. It’s fascinating to see the ups and downs of a start-up. (It also gave me a bit of a start-up jones. I’d kind of like to start a business and grow it, but I don’t have the time, capital, or balls to do it.)
So there you have it. My new love for the Mojo network. It’s not all I watched this weekend though. I also watched Celebrity Family Feud on NBC which is so ridiculously terrible that I can’t wait for the next episode. I couldn’t believe that gangsta rapper Ice-T would subject his family to this nonsense. (Man, he has a hot, white wife.) The other families on the episode I saw were Joan Rivers family, Wayne Newtwon’s family, and Raven Symone’s family. (Raven Symone, who I remember as the little girl on the Cosby Show, is so annoying that I actually fantasized about punching her in the face.)
It was also interesting to see Joan Rivers and Wayne Newton in the same room. They are both grotesque looking due to numerous plastic surgeries. I found myself feeling bad for them, and repulsed by them, at the same time. But all four of those shows have made it onto my summertime tv list: Dr. Danger, Wall Street Warriors, Start Up Junkies, and Celebrity Family Feud. And I’m really just biding my time until Big Brother kicks off on CBS.
June 30th, 2008
We left town right after our second Dania Jai-Alai night last Wednesday… Dan, Myself, and some other friends went to The Beau Rivage in Biloxi to do some gambling and have some fun… Was definitely a good time. We got caught there for an extra day, because our flight home on Sunday night was canceled, but still a great time.
Don’t want to admit that I played roulette and video poker machine most of the time, but I did. Usually we play craps. Craps, craps, and more craps. I can stand at a craps table for eight hours and never get bored. But for some reason, Dan and I started playing roulette when we got there, which is a game we NEVER play. Stupid game- but man is it fun when you’re hitting numbers. (I”m always hammering number 23 for Michael Jordan and number 6 for Dan Uggla. Yeah, I’m a dork. So what?)
So now we’re back, trying to get into the swing of things. My main order of business is to get our poker tournament all set up for Wednesday, July 16 at Dania Jai-Alai. It’s a $25 buy-in, and we’re figuring the winner will take home somewhere in the $2,000 range. If you want to play poker with me, Dan, Stugotz, Mike Ryan, and a bunch of other hosts from the station, please e-mail me at cantstanddan@790theticket.com and I’ll send you back all the details on how to get registered for the tourney. Should be a lot of fun.
That’s all I got right now… Just got back into town and getting everything settled…. Thanks to everyone that braved the shitty weather last Wednesday for our Jai-Alai night… They had a great crowd again, and we all had a really good time. Can’t wait to do another jai-alai night. (I proudly wore my Dania Jai-Alai hat all through Biloxi, Mississippi.)
June 24th, 2008
Very excited about our next Dania Jai-Alai night which is this coming Wednesday night. Call me crazy, but I actually look forward to hanging out with the people that listen to our show. I feel like it’s a big, insane, warped, troubled, family… and it just feels so right. Dania Jai-Alai is the perfect place for us LeBatard Listeners to hang out. We’re gonna give away a ton of prizes Wednesday night… A Nintendo Wii, a $100 gift certificate to Texas De Brazil, concert tickets, Marlins tickets, and hopefully more. If you haven’t already planned on joining us Wednesday night, please make plans to do so. Get to Dania Jai-Alai around 7pm and hang out the entire night with us. Also…. just like last time… the hot dogs and beers are only a dollar each, so you’re gonna eat and drink on the cheap.
As is usually the case, a lot of staff members from the radio station will show up… people you hear mentioned on the air occasionally, but never really get to meet. Cyn City will be there; and Jaron the Board-Op, Robot Dave the Board-Op, Kenny The Intern, Ozzie the producer, Steve White, and numerous others. The only real question is whether or not Brandon Guzio will show up. Brandon Guzio, who hosts the midday show with Kevin Rogers, is the only air talent that has NEVER shown up to a Dan LeBatard Show event. Not to the first jai-alai night… Not to the Boomers Kimbo party… not to NOTHING. Will Brandon show up? And if he does, will he be negative?
Anyway, I digress. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone Wednesday night at Dania Jai-Alai…
Here are a couple other bits and pieces that need to be covered. Dan, Stugotz, and I are off this coming Thursday and Friday. Stugotz is going to a wedding in New York and Dan and I are going with some college friends on a gambling trip. Really looking forward to the gambling trip, as our college “group” hasn’t gone on one in a couple of years. I don’t know who’s going to do the show Thursday and Friday, but it’s not going to be us.
In vacation news, we’re also going to be taking vacation for two weeks starting July 21st…. So July 18th will be our last show on the air until August 4th. Sorry to do that to you, but we wanted to get an extended break before football season starts to kick in. Dan actually wanted to take 4 weeks in a row off starting July 18th, but I didn’t think that would be a great idea.
In other news… You may have seen it mentioned in The MIami Herald… Dan, Stugotz, and I have signed brand new 3 year contracts with Lincoln Financial Media, the group that owns our radio station. So we’re signed through 2011, so we’re not going anywhere for a while. I’m really looking forward to continuing to work for this company, as they have been nothing but great to us. Lincoln Financial Media’s corporate offices made the decision to sign us for three years… if it was up to our own local program director Steve White, he would have gotten rid of us by now. He’s essentially being forced to keep us, even though he hates our show. Well, what are you gonna do? Not everyone can love us.
So… I’ll see you at Dania Jai-Alai Wednesday night… and here’s a little sneak preview… We’re going to have a poker tournament at Dania Jai-Alai on Wednesday, July 16th… It’s gonna be like a $30 buy in, and the winner will get a few thousand dollars. So mark your calendar, and more details will be on the way soon about the poker tournament.
See you Wednesday
June 16th, 2008
Sometimes it’s nice to share the wealth. Sometimes you find something and you just need to tell the entire world. Sometimes you discover something and you need to tell the 6 people that read your blog. That’s what I’m doing… I’m going to share some information with you now that may change your life for the better, as it has mine. That would be a nice direction for this blog to take… We all share important information with each other- information that makes all our lives easier.
Here’s the information I need to share with you: I have found a delicious new breakfast cereal called “Blueberry Muffin Tops” and it’s made by Malt-O-Meal. Most of you are probably too young to remember Malt-O-Meal, but us 38 year olds know the brand. But you’re not going to find this cereal at your local Publix or Winn Dixie, my friends. You’re going to have to go somewhere you may never have gone before to buy food… The Dollar Store!
Here’s how it happened… My wife and I took our son to Chuck E. Cheese in Boca the other day, and as we were leaving we noticed that a new dollar store had just opened next to Chuck E. Cheese. Neither of us could ever recall having been in a dollar store before, so we decided to go in and check it out. (Times are tough- four dollar gas and all.) I thought the dollar store was a wonderful experience… This may seem obvious, but it really is shocking when you’re walking around and EVERYTHING is a dollar. EVERYTHING.
I’m starting to digress. This blog was supposed to be about cereal. Well, we’re walking around this dollar store and I’m fascinated by it, but I’m thinking there’s no way in the world I would actually buy food from a dollar store. (Maybe candy.) And then I saw it… It was calling to me… A box of cereal called “Blueberry Muffin Tops.” Now, you should probably know that I’m already a cereal guy. I love cereal. I’ll often eat cereal for lunch or dinner… I ALWAYS check out the cereal aisle at Publix looking for new things. I’ve even ordered “Quisp” online before because you can’t get it in stores. So even though it was a dollar store, the cereal aisle piqued my interest.
Something about this “Blueberry Muffin Tops” cereal was calling to me. (I don’t even like blueberry muffins.) I figured, for a dollar, why not give it a shot… So I did. I bought a box. And a couple days later I opened it and sat down to eat a bowl. OH SWEET NECTAR! It was the greatest cereal I had ever tasted. I’m not joking… I’m not trying to be funny… I’m not getting paid for this. I’m telling you that a one dollar box of “Blueberry Muffin Tops” cereal made by Malt-O-Meal, bought at a dollar store, is my new, favorite cereal of all time. I recently returned to that dollar store and bought FIVE boxes of “Blueberry Muffin Tops” cereal. That was a five dollar investment in my future happiness.
So, there you have it. I’ve shared the wealth. Search it out… Find it… Drive to Boca if you must. But do yourself a favor, and try “Blueberry Muffin Tops” cereal by Malt-O-Meal. You can thank me in person at Dania Jai-Alai on June 18th.
June 11th, 2008
We’re heading over to Dania Jai-Alai again… this time on Wednesday, June 18th… We’re going to have a lot going on that night… so pay attention! First of all, we’re going to have 100 commemorative “Play With My Pelotas” t-shirts, but this time to get the shirts you’re going to have to e-mail me at cantstanddan@790theticket.com and get on the t-shirt list. I want to avoid what happened last time, when people who just happened to be at Dania Jai-Alai saw us giving away shirts and just came up and grabbed them. I want the shirts to go to actual listeners, so e-mail me at cantstanddan@790theticket.com and if you’re one of the first 100 listeners to confirm you’re coming, you’ll receive an e-mail back from me telling you you’re on the t-shirt list and telling you how to pick it up that night.
In addition to the shirts, we’re going to give away a lot of great prizes that night, including a Nintendo Wii. All you’re going to have to do is come out that night and put your name in the register to win box and after every game we’ll pull out a name and give away a great prize. Not only do we have a brand new Nintendo Wii to give away, but also a $100 gift certificate to Texas De Brazil, a Marlins 4 pack of VIP tickets that will get you VIP treatment at the game, and more! We had a great time the last time we were at Dania Jai-Alai and this time we’re going to be giving away a lot more stuff, so make sure you join us. (It’s Wednesday night, June 18th starting at 7pm and going until about 11:00pm…) Also, don’t forget Dania Jai-Alai does dollar hot dogs and dollar beers on Wednesday nights, so it’s gonna be a cheap night!
Dan and I and some others from the radio station went to jai-alai last night just to have fun… I couldn’t believe how many young, hotties were crawling around Dania Jai-Alai last night. I’m not even joking… The place was crawling with young people, and lots of college girls. I always thought that I still fit in with young people… I thought that I could still pass for a college kid, but according to Kenny “The Intern” who was with us last night, I’m just a creepy 38 year old. That was a buzz kill. Kenny got killed playing poker, so I was happy about that.
The most exciting thing to happen last night at Dania Jai-Alai was that Roy Bellamy, one of our underpaid employees, won a $380 trifecta! Roy’s gonna get to eat! Always exciting to see Roy do well!
So, that’s the scoop… Join us at Dania Jai-Alai on Wednesday, June 18th and you might win a Nintendo Wii… And if you want one of the commemorative “Play With My Pelotas” t-shirts, be one of the first 100 people to e-mail me at cantstanddan@790theticket.com.
June 5th, 2008
First off, I’ll say that our Kimbo Slice “Watch Party” at Boomers in Dania Beach was a HUGE success… I’m guessing 400-500 listeners packed that place with us and it was a great time. I always love meeting the listeners… Love when people come up to me and introduce themselves as “Fake Inner Circle” or “Limited Fake Kung Fu.” Always makes me laugh. Boomers was electric during that Kimbo fight… many thanks to everyone that showed up!
My initial reaction to the fight was that it was a little “fishy.” I thought the fight could have been stopped in the second round when Kimbo was on the ground taking an unholy beating from James Thompson. I’m not enough of an MMA fan to know whether or not they usually stop a fight at that point, but Kimbo was taking head shot after head shot and it was uncomfortable to watch. I felt as if I was witnessing a father of 6 get brain damage, and people were cheering for it. I also thought the fight was stopped a little too soon in Kimbo’s favor. I mean if you’re going to let Kimbo take that savage a beating, then you should let James Thompson take a beating too before stopping it like that. (I’ve since watched the fight again on YouTube, and after watching it a second time I’m ready to give Kimbo a little more credit than I did after the first viewing.)
After watching it again, Kimbo did actually show some ground skills. The truth of the matter is that everyone questioned whether Kimbo could fight at all from the ground, and I would now say he did a decent job. (Not great, but decent.) He was able to escape from some bad situations solely with brute force. I don’t think he’d be able to get away with that against a better MMA fighter, but he was able to do it against this opponent. After watching the fight, I think Kimbo has lost some of the “aura.” He certainly looked vulnerable, even though he walked away the winner. I still give him props… and MAD props to James Thompson. All in all, I would say it was an extremely entertaining MMA fight.
I thought CBS did a pretty good job with the broadcast. I’m sure all the MMA purists thought it was all too “over the top,” bordering on professional wrestling. But I enjoyed it. I like the big entrances and fireworks and all the “cheese” that came along with it. It made it more entertaining for me. Our listeners that were there seemed to love it too… There were a couple of James Thompson fans in our crowd… They made me laugh as they were taunting Dan throughout the fight when it looked like Kimbo might lose. All in all though, we had a great crowd at Boomers. I beat all comers in “pop-a-shot.” Our program director Steve White, who played Division I college basketball lost to me 53-17. I don’t have great basketball skills, but when it comes to pop-a-shot, I can’t be beat.
One of the real treats of the night was trying to watch Andy King, the producer of Sid’s show, try and climb the little rock climbing wall. Andy couldn’t make it to the top, even though plenty of 7 and 8 year olds were doing it all around him. I would say he gave a valiant effort, but he really didn’t. It was pathetic, and Sid should be embarrassed that Andy is his producer. (Andy’s girlfriend looked hot as usual.)
So, now it’s on to the next event… It’s not completely firmed up yet, but it looks like we’re going to do another Dania Jai-Alai night… This time on Wednesday, June 18th… And not only will there be dollar hot dogs and dollar beers this time… but we’re also going to give away a Nintendo Wii that night… Stay tuned for details… And congratulations Kimbo.
June 2nd, 2008
