Friday, December 29, 2017

My New Year Resolutions And More

Well actually I have only one resolution. The same one I had for the last ten years or so-- Not to make any. This for a couple of reasons. First off if I don't MAKE any I can't BREAK any. The second reason--I kind of figure after 69 years I ain't gonna change anyways. Why kid myself. I've always smoked, drank and sweared. Made it this far. So why not?


Reflections And Thoughts On Upcoming New Year
I'm going to focus a whole lot less on the idiotic things politicians and internet trolls will say in 2018. Why torment myself over how bad Donald Trump and his followers will screw things up. I didn't vote for the guy. I had nothing to do with this mess. I'm not going exhaust myself fretting over this kind of stuff in the new year. Sometimes these things need to run their course (no matter how painful) before people wise up. Why resist? Nothing I say will alter the course we're headed. The sooner things get screwed up the quicker it shall pass. MAGA believers- go for it so we can get this over with.

As far as my personal life is concerned. I've had a really great year like those I've had in past. Couldn't ask for a better family life. Great wife, kids and grandkids. Had good health too. I consider myself fortunate.

My blogging life--not so much. Slow year (as usual) when it comes to comment interactions or people providing feedback on many of the things that interested me. Which is why I posted on the subjects I did.

That sums up my annual self review over 2017. Something I know many of you were breathlessly awaiting.

I'm not certain what I'm going to blog about in 2018 but one thing I'm certain. My posts will be far less negative and contain far less political material. Probably fewer posts too.




With that said-- here's to hoping 2018 will be a more compassionate caring and empathic world then the one we've experienced in 2017.






My New Year Resolutions And More

Well actually I have only one resolution. The same one I had for the last ten years or so-- Not to make any. This for a couple of reasons. First off if I don't MAKE any I can't BREAK any. The second reason--I kind of figure after 69 years I ain't gonna change anyways. Why kid myself. I've always smoked, drank and sweared. Made it this far. So why not?


Reflections And Thoughts On Upcoming New Year
I'm going to focus a whole lot less on the idiotic things politicians and internet trolls will say in 2018. Why torment myself over how bad Donald Trump and his followers will screw things up. I didn't vote for the guy. I had nothing to do with this mess. I'm not going exhaust myself fretting over this kind of stuff in the new year. Sometimes these things need to run their course (no matter how painful) before people wise up. Why resist? Nothing I say will alter the course we're headed. The sooner things get screwed up the quicker it shall pass. MAGA believers- go for it so we can get this over with.

As far as my personal life is concerned. I've had a really great year like those I've had in past. Couldn't ask for a better family life. Great wife, kids and grandkids. Had good health too. I consider myself fortunate.

My blogging life--not so much. Slow year (as usual) when it comes to comment interactions or people providing feedback on many of the things that interested me. Which is why I posted on the subjects I did.

That sums up my annual self review over 2017. Something I know many of you were breathlessly awaiting.

I'm not certain what I'm going to blog about in 2018 but one thing I'm certain. My posts will be far less negative and contain far less political material. Probably fewer posts too.




With that said-- here's to hoping 2018 will be a more compassionate caring and empathic world then the one we've experienced in 2017.






Happy New Year From LVCI

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Radio I Grew Up Listening To

Some Of The Great Radio DJ's I Grew Up Listening To

Video Courtesy: Art Vuolo


The problem today is someone could drive from Atlantic City to Los Angeles and still hear the same satellite feed program from coast to coast. Just what if one of the 50,000 watt stations set themselves apart from all the others. I wonder whether it ever crossed their minds. Considering AM radio is dead I wonder if one of them would have much to lose if they tried doing something entirely different by bringing back this kind of uniquely individual format. What do you think?

One of the guys I most listened to was Joey Reynolds when he was at WKBW (1520) out of Buffalo New York. It was one of only five clear channel 50,000 watt AM radio stations in the country. I hoped one day when I later got on radio to be just like him. Fortunately for me when I did I had neither his talent nor his knack for getting fired at just about every station he ever worked for :-)

Note in the following video the 27 stations he either got fired from or left on his own accord

Video Courtesy: Gene Tourangeau



Here's a Joey Reynolds classic from when he worked at WFIL Famous 56 in Philadelphia. It's from February 14th, 1985. Note in the video how after he screwed up he played a WIBG jingle instead of his own at WFIL just in case a listener would report him to the FCC :-)


Video Courtesy: Ellis Feaster


Legend has it the final straw that got him fired from WFIL is when he called a listener and pretended to be from another radio station and gave away that station's rather sizable prize money. LMAO!

Art Vuolo did a great job profiling Joey's long career


Joey Reynolds (Joey Pinto) does has a Facebook account. Let's hope we've not heard the last from this talented guy.


^ ^ ABOVE REPOSTED FROM ^ ^
Thursday, January 1, 2015





~ ~ ~
LVCI Plays DJ (Repost From 05/27/2013)


The songs are clipped down for audition purposes


I made the following audio files years ago when I first retired. They were supposed to be audition tapes to get a part time job back in radio like I did when I worked full time back in the early 70's in my retirement years.

Little did I realize THERE ARE NO JOBS IN LOCAL RADIO BROADCASTING!
That all went away years ago.



So instead I'm posting them here. I kind of figure at least somebody ought to hear them since I went to the trouble.


Rock Oldies
How many of these rock oldies from the 50's/60's have you heard before?
I'll bet very few.

60's SOUL

MOTOWN

Misc. 60's Stuff

60's Dance Hit Singles.

80's- Rock




Older Country
These audio files could be considered the country version of "Off The Chart Oldies". I'm not claiming to be all that and more. What I strived for was to create a bunch of tunes few people have ever heard of. Something that is unique, completely different and not currently being broadcast. So once again I ask.. How many of these have you ever heard before?

70's/80's
Part 1
 
Part 2

Part 3
This one is 46 minutes and contains 27 rare recordings. If you don't have time, you can always come back later. By moving the slider you can pick up where you left off.

Part 4
This one features 'Western Music'. It starts off with some tunes from the 30's but ends up with Western swing/dance music from around 2005. So if you don't like the old stuff, hang in there!

Part 5
This One Features The 80's

I hope you appreciate my efforts and enjoy these rare recordings.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.





Middle Of The Road- Light & Easy Listening
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Who Knew Rob Vaughn (WFMZ) Family Could Sing?

I came across this on Facebook today

Bobby Vinton's Kissin' Christmas LIVE (1996)

I really wanted to watch Bobby Vinton's Branson Christmas special from 1996. That's when I realized it's no where to be found. So I decided to dig into my archives and load some of it here. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. What a talented guy. He ought to re-release a DVD of it. Better yet a TV Special maybe on PBS.

Clips From Bobby Vinton's Kissin' Christmas Show 1996 LIVE

(He turned 82 in 2017)

Friday, December 22, 2017

54 Christmas Videos



Merry Christmas and best wishes to everyone.



Here's to hoping everyone will enjoy my Christmas playlist.










If anyone's interested here are all my favorites playlists

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Sean Hannity What's Wrong With You?

Sean Tweeted these out..





DUH!
Sean you did notice YOUR SOURCE WAS NBC NEWS?


Here's the link to the story if anyone is interested in reading what Sean was referencing to as his source.

Look we all know where this is coming from. Trump watches this crappy network then gets a bee under his bonnet. One of the things I noticed about this bunch. Whenever they point fingers it's as if they're pointing into a mirror right back towards themselves doing exactly whatever it is they're accusing someone of. If you take just about everything Sean and Donald say and flip it 180 degrees you'll be pretty damn close to what's really going on.



Somehow they think the best defense is to go on the offense. Problem is this only works when there's some semblance to the truth. Oh well at least Donald and Sean both have nice hair--even if there's not much going on underneath.

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

2017 Belonged To Obama

Keep in mind the federal budget, economy, military engagements, federal regulations, international relations and all the trade deals were leftovers from the Obama administration. Starting in 2018 going forward all is owned by Republicans and the Trump administration. Also those who enabled him including the voters.

2018 Belongs To Trump
Beginning in January there are no more excuses when things go awry-- AND THEY WILL!

Taxes, Medicare, Social Security, CHIP, wages and all the other issues are now owned by Donald Trump, his voters and Republicans in congress, No more excuses. I don't want to hear a peep from those now celebrating when things start going upside down-- AND THEY WILL!

Either I or they are fools
Time will tell which. A few months from now (or by the end of next year) I'm prepared to either admit how wrong I was in this post OR rub it in Trump's supporters faces.

Everything this congress or Trump does goes directly against all my beliefs. One of us are dead wrong. Next year will determine whether I or they are the bigger fools. For the sake of the country better hope it is I. Otherwise this country and it's people are headed into a very uncertain future. One which we may not be able to recover from.

Saturday, December 16, 2017

21 Trillion Dollars In Unauthorized Government Spending

Michigan State University Today
MSU SCHOLARS FIND $21 TRILLION IN UNAUTHORIZED GOVERNMENT SPENDING; DEFENSE DEPARTMENT TO CONDUCT FIRST-EVER AUDIT (12/11/2017)
"Earlier this year, a Michigan State University economist, working with graduate students and a former government official, found $21 trillion in unauthorized spending in the departments of Defense and Housing and Urban Development for the years 1998-2015."

COMMENTARY:
Think about it. That's nearly $1 trillion more then where our national debt currently stands. Course I always understood there never was such a thing as government accountability. Just keep printing fake money. So long as everyone still accepts U.S. dollars and bitcoins we'll all be fine.

Till they don't...



Friday, December 15, 2017

End Of Net Neutrality

It's part of Trump's promise to deregulate anything that impedes rich people from collecting all the marbles.

3 commissioners at the FCC decided to end net neutrality for 300 million Americans


Here's how it could affect you.




Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Why I'm Not Inspired To Blog As Much

It's not unusual for me to speak negatively at this time of year. It's usually after I reflect over the past year on people's comments. For the large part most are extremely negative and uninformed.

For example Bernie O'Hare created a informative post about Ron Beitler wanting to run for a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.. It so happens I have great respect for Ron, his opinions and his successful business. BUT--check out the vile uninformed comments. For certain Ron already has a successful business and family. He has no need to put himself out there for this kind of abuse. No wonder few decent people are willing to run for office. Bernie has far more patience then I for this kind of stuff.

Another example is the negative uninformed comments on Molovinsky's blog which keeps hammering away at the Strata Apartments insulting it's tenants. Look I happen to know a guy who lives there. He earns close to $500,000 and says most units are indeed occupied. Besides the point here isn't about whether someone else thinks people are stupid for renting them or the Morning Call is lying. The main point seems to be bitching about them for whatever reasons that elude me for doing so.

This is why I'm hesitant to post anything with substantial content. If there is a comment left it usually requires me to explain why they're uninformed. Check out the comments on on this prior post regarding the fairgrounds and stormwater fee's impact on it.

I'm almost convinced at this point most people just want to bitch. It seems the internet is made up of uninformed people all too willing to bitch about stuff having no ambition whatsoever to do background research before they speak. Thus why Trump has appealed to the masses which are too lazy and uninformed to fully understand what the hell is going on. He bitched and complained his way to the top. No wonder he's their hero-- they're just like him.

Thus why my reluctance in this environment to publish frequently anything of subsistence in detail. Besides I'm the kind of guy who always tries to look on the bright side of life. Yeah right--no not really :-)

Joe Biden What A Decent Man!

Joe Biden Speaks With Meghan McCain About His Late Son Beau's Battle With Cancer | The View (12/13/2017)

Thursday, December 7, 2017

End Is Near For Allentown Fairgrounds

Although nothing officially has been said I don't see how the Lehigh County Agricultural Society (Allentown Fairgrounds) can survive this new rainwater tax fee.

Emily Opilo of The Morning Call posted a list of the top 75 who will be hit the hardest.

Number 5 is the Lehigh County Agricultural Society (Allentown Fairgrounds) for $56,440. I think you'll agree the fairgrounds along with it's farmers market and Ritz are likely to become a relic of the past. That's a damn shame for the small independent stand owners we strongly support. I'll tell you one thing. We aren't going to drive 10 additional blocks, pay to park and walk to some seasonal market downtown--THAT FOR SURE !

This rainwater "fee" is a perfect example of trickle down economics. Hospitals will have to increase their billings. Allentown, county and school taxes all will have to be raised. Apartment rents will go up and retail prices. This on top of property owners paying their own individual fees.

All of this is supposed to be used for cleaning up our storm water, My question is--how the hell are they supposed to do that? So far I haven't heard anyone speaking about the specifics.

Then what would become of the fairground's land?
We don't need one more mini mall that's for damn sure. Don't need another city park. I'm 100% positive none of the hospitals are interested in it either. Hey I got an idea. After we put the fairgrounds out of business why don't we channel our rainwater into one great big water retention pond? Maybe that'll satisfy the EPA's demands.

Monday, December 4, 2017

The Absolutely Amazing Voyager 1 Spacecraft

CNN
Voyager 1 spacecraft thrusters fired up for first time since 1980
"NASA scientists needed to reorient the 40-year-old Voyager 1 -- the space agency's farthest spacecraft -- so its antenna would point toward Earth, 13 billion miles away... Tuesday [11/28/2017], engineers fired up the thrusters and waited eagerly to find out whether the plan was successful. They got their answer 19 hours and 35 minutes later, the time it took for the results to reach Earth: The set of four thrusters worked perfectly...

It is expected that in the year 40,272, Voyager 1 will come within 1.7 light years of an obscure star in the constellation Ursa Minor (the Little Bear or Little Dipper)...."





Is that all?
I can hardly wait.





Speaking of 'Voyager' anyone remember this 'Star Trek' classic?




Hey, one never know, do one :-)

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Pontiac Silverdome Failed To Implode Today

Sunday's (12/03/2017) planned implosion of the Pontiac Silverdome didn't go quite the way expected






Dat's some damn good work by the structural engineers who designed it, Geiger Berger Associates back in 1975 ain't it?

Saturday, December 2, 2017

What's In The Senate Tax Bill Just Passed?

Yeah that's what a lot of people would like to know...






This Senate passed the bill just before 2:00 AM Saturday (12/02/2017) by 51 to 49 votes. Now it goes to the House for reconciliation with the one they passed last month before being sent to Donald Trump for his signature.

I'm going to hold off trying to nail down specifics (since there are none)-- but there are a few concerns I have with some of the things I've heard were in the bill. One being a deficit cap that would kick in if the bill fails to generate the revenue predicted. In that case cuts would kick in to Medicare, Social Security and education amongst others. I heard also there's a bunch of amendments giving breaks to special interests so certain Senate members would vote in favor of it.

As this bill moves forward one thing is almost certain-- neither members of the house or senate nor the president himself will know all it contains. Only a fool would buy a house or a car not knowing what they're signing. Then again if you're buying a car or house on somebody else's dime and have no conscious why care?



Alternet (12/02/2017)
Republican Tax Plan Is Only The Start of GOP Effort To Spread Inequality and Economic Anxieties by Shredding Safety Nets
"Before the Senate voted, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a past presidential candidate, said the Republicans must make additional cuts to Social Security and Medicare,.. The Senate’s $1.5 trillion tax plan would trigger a federal law, known as PayGo, which limits Medicare to 4 percent of the annual budget. It is projected to impose $400 billion in cuts to senior healthcare in the next decade..

The Republicans intentionally mislabel Social Security as an entitlement program. In fact, it is an earned benefit program where workers contribute via payroll deductions. It cannot spend money it has not collected under federal law...

In the early 2030s, the large size of Baby Boom generation will prompt roughly a 20 percent cut in benefits unless the Congress enacts a revenue measure—such increasing the wealthy’s tax contribution to the program. Now, only the first $120,000 or so of income is taxed for Social Security."

For the life of me I can't understand why people keep voting for these candidates. If anyone is counting on a company pension plan they're deluding themselves. 401K's are subject to stock market fluctuations. There's even some talk of taxing them differently then they are now. Unless someone is planning on dropping dead on the job Social Security is the way to go. Heaven help if someone is struck with a medical condition before then.

The way I see it whether someone is a Republican or Democrat everyone is going to get sick at some point and old. Do people really want their kids living with them till 30--then moving in with the kids till death do you part?

Yeah there's a lot of jerks in Washington--but who put them there!