No, I will not be talking about Michael Jackson’s death in this blog. Mainly because he never really mattered too much to me. Instead I will be blogging about a legend in television that passed away last week, Ed McMahon at the age of 86.
For years I watched Mr. McMahon be the side kick for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, hosting Star Search and co host another favorite of mine, TV’s Blooper and Practical Jokes (with Dick Clark). The later was a mix of America’s funniest home videos and Punk’d. The show really made actors look bad but fun. Ed played the foil to Dick Clark’s straight man to a tee while on Star Search he was the MC with a lot of class and kind of words for the future entertainers performing for their supper on his stage.
Some of my best memories of him were of his laugh and his smile. Even with the rumors of him being drunk most of the time, he was always smiling, always knew his role on each of his shows and didn’t speak out of turn. He never seemed to mind being the butt of the joke if it meant making the person telling the joke look good. Yet when Carson retired from the show, he also retired McMahon but for him there was no fanfare, no Bette Midler singing to him.
Since the weather sucks in Brooklyn, NYC, Stugots Puppet tries to get himself in the summer time mood drinking a Pepsi Throwback and listening to his favorite song of the summer “On A Boat”
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When I first got Wii Fit a year ago I loved it but saw right away that it needed to be improved. It is still a lot of fun but after a few weeks, I grew bored with the limited amount of exercises and not picking up all of my moves. I love the yoga and step work outs and still do them once in a while. I have tried a few other products that promised to “get it right” with not much luck. Well, 2 weeks ago that changed. EA Sports has done better then get it right, they got it almost perfect.
The amount of different exercises and range of motions is great. After a few minutes testing it every muscle was burning. You can make custom workouts for yourself, take the 30 day challenge or use the preset regiments. I am having a lot of fun with this program/game. I am waking up earlier in the morning just to get the workout in. Inline skating, batting practice, cardio kickboxing all are kicking my ass and I am loving every calorie burning minute. The program registers all calories burned as you go along so that you can see how you are doing.
Now, I said before that EA Sports got it almost perfect. Sadly, it is not perfect but it might not be all their fault. I am a bigger guy with broad shoulders. The wire connecting the nunchuck and controller is about 2 inches too short causing some of my arm movements not be register. Another problem is when you are doing calf kick ups, you have to keep your form and weight shifting perfect or it shows your pace slowing down even if it is not. I am not sure how to fix that but the first problem would be fixed with a wireless nunchuck.
All in all, I highly recommend this game if you are looking to get in shape and have fun doing it. EA Sports took Wii’s Fit game and did it right, well, almost perfect.
Another thing I have to thank Grammy for is my love for Late Night TV. We would watch the shows together most nights and she would talk to me about the feuds and how Carson would run with the Rat Pack. Watching The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson became an almost every night thing for me. I would have to do it on the sneak sometimes since I was supposed to be sleeping and it was worth it. To see Carson hold court with Ed Mcmahon was inspiring. Carson had a way of making you feel like you were hanging at the cool kid’s table even though we were a square.
Today though there are many choices for your late night viewing pleasure. Jay Leno sat the helm of the Tonight Show for 17 years. He battled David Letterman for every viewer, some times he won, sometimes he lost. David letterman went from the goofy guy on late night to king of it and proved he should have taken over for Carson. With Leno moving on, Conan has taken over the tonight show. Jimmy Fallon for Conan and Ferguson still on The Late Late Show. ABC is holding on tight to Kimmel unless Leno fails in his new gig and NBC fires him. Kimmel would be moved back in a heart beat.
I can’t explain what about late night TV appeals to me. Maybe its because the shows i used to watch felt so natural and un rehearsed. Just two or three people talking about what ever they want. No plugs, no preinterview, no notes or cue cards. Just talking, laughing, telling stories to make the other one turn red.
Since taking over the Tonight Show Conan has been on fire. Really, there is no awkwardness or anything that he did when he took over Late Night. I am very happy for him and hope that he is sitting at the desk for many years to come. Sorry Jimmy. My only gripe is that it is in LA and not in NYC. I may have to take a trip out there just to see the show.
On Late Night, Jimmy Fallon has been doing a bang up job. I dont like him, since he is a Boston guy but he is doing well. I will be going back to Craig Ferguson though, Kimmel will continue to get DVR’ed.
Over the years though there have been many different hosts of many different shows. Pat Sajak and Arsenio Hall were going to be the kings of the night. Arsenio was going to “kick Jay Leno’s ass when Carson is gone” and I dont think he last 2 years after that. Sajak had no respect for the true King and didn’t last a year. Chevy Chase, Magic Johnson, Ross Shafer, Joan Rivers (we will talk about her in another blog on Celeb Chameleons) and David Brenner (who was great by the way) all tried their hands to wrestle the crown from its true holder and failed.
On Wednesday June 3rd at 4:20 AM, my Grandmother, Josephine Ermilio passed away in her sleep. She was 84 years old. The last few years of her life were hard. Four years ago Grammy had a small stroke that cause her to be in a coma for 2 months. Before I get into that, I would like to go back and take a look at her life and how she fit into mine.
When people hear that my grandmother was 84, the first thing they say is “well, she led a full life.” Truth be told, she didn’t at all. She never traveled, always took care of her family. She grew up in a post depression Brooklyn, the middle of 3 sisters. Over her life, she was the primary care giver for both of her parents. Her husband left her for another woman. Both of her sisters tried to throw her out of her home after their parents had died and left them nothing.
We were forced to move into her house with her so that she wouldn’t be alone. We didn’t mind. Grammy was great. She cursed, cooked and gave us hair cuts. After my father left us, she made sure we went to school, with clean clothes and were always fed. Grammy covered for us when we get caught cutting out from school and would let me drive the car when my mom wouldn’t. She also acted a go between for my sister and I with our mom when we were both going through our rebellious teen years. I can remember my mom being FURIOUS over my sister bleaching her hair blonde during her MADONNA stage. Grammy would step in when my mom would be giving me a beating for my rotten attitude.
As I grew older her and I became close friends. She saw me through two failed marriages and one great one. When she got sick a few years ago, the first time she went out to be around the family was at Regina’s bridal shower. Grammy had said that she would not have missed it. One day while in her coma, I was sitting there alone with her and she was coming around slightly and talking to “her parents” while under meds. She introduced me to them and said “he is such a good man. I am proud of him.” Those words will always stick with me for the rest of my life.
Grammy introduced me to different foods and music. Her love for Sinatra and Jimmy Roselli made me listen to and enjoy their music and films as well. She often told me stories of how Sinatra killed Roselli’s career and how she loved “Ol’ Blue Eyes” but if she ever got the chance, she would tell him off for doing that. I have to imagine that where ever she is, she did just that.
Once in a while, I like to break free of the norm and check out different stuff. It could be music, which, my friends Casey Elan and PAULISDEAD has turned me on to some cool stuff via blip or stuff to read, like the Sandman books, thank you JustJon. Lately though, I have been looking at some amazing photos online.
A great site that I am loving right now is www.myblueheaven.com. It is run by Scott Wood. I met Scott through twitter. Not only are his pics unique and different but I find myself getting lost in them. His photos are perfect for capturing your imagination. I find that my some of my daydreams lately have incorporated Scott’s photos.
There is a perfect example. I imagine who those people are. What are they doing. Where are they going? The pic makes me want to get in a row boat and sit out on that lake for hours and watch the day go by.
When you have some time to kill or what to forgot about the crap going on around I encourage you to get lost in some of Scott’s photographs. They will take you away from it all.
