Poor little Conan!

The reason I'm up typing so late is that I feel so badly for Conan O'Brien that I can't sleep. Conan: "I wouldn't have done what Jay did." Oh really? Oh Holy Conan. By the way, by most first-hand accounts, Jay is a first class selfish jerk, but I'm going to torch Conan because his public seems to view him with victim status. First he leverages to take Jay's job years ago. OK, that's business, and he had the leverage. Then, he failed to maintain the ratings that Leno had. He considers that task to be an unfair challenge, but by combining all of his audience with what should have been a big chunk of Leno's, he should have come a lot closer. Both of these megalomaniacs have one job where the network is concerned: get ratings = make people watch commercials = maximize advertising revenue. It doesn't matter which guy is a better guy, or who is funniest. His job was to get ratings; largely in comparison to Leno's and he did a horrific job of this. So ultimately, Leno got busy with the leverage that he then had, as O'Brien had done years ago, and reclaimed a job that Conan had taken from him, and "Coco" has the audacity to complain? Oh, and let me not forget to note that this wasn't some poor shnook who lost his job and went crawling home. He negotiated a boatload of money that Tiger Woods will be hard pressed to earn this year. I think if the penalty for doing a bad job was a deep eight-figure pay-off, more people would be conscientious about doing a lousy job. So my hope for Jay and Conan is that both will admit that they too, like NBC and NBC affiliates, are driven by their own profitablity, that they are big boys, and that they don't deserve the public sympathy which for some reason has attached to Conan O'Brien.

Original Music

Main Line Affair is dedicated to the simple, dedicated task of party entertainment. That being said, almost all musicians have at some time or other created music of their own; music which is by necessity not featured by Main Line Affair (anyone want original music at their wedding?). My colleagues in MLA are no different than other musicians. All eight of us currently, or at some time have, produced original music.

The most prolific of my colleagues is John Glaubitz, the guitarist/singer. John has made himself a full career within music, with gigs in the world of classical, jazz, world, hip-hop, and hard rock, his favorite. He's really good too. Look up 'Vagrant' on myspace or on Ernie Ball battle of the bands. (this thing isn't letting me paste links!). If you like heavy music that's still brainy and melodic, John's stuff is for you.

Ross Fry, our trumpeter, and Meg Rozinski, our female leading lady are also aspiring songwriters. Check them out too.

I've known many deserving songwriters, but I guess there are so many, and so it's so hard to get separation from the many. Sometimes I think that if washed-ups like Rod Stewart would stop trying to make music, there would be room for these kids to succeed. While I'm ending Rod's career, I'd also like to put a lid on so many other lousy acts, but that could be a different blog.

Today's theme is to check out the original musicians within Main Line Affair. Oh yeah, and the theme is always not to have any parties without Main Line Affair (www.mainlineaffair.com).

A couple good pairings still in Philly

I just finished Randy Miller's exceptionally good biography of Harry Kalas. One of the themes covered, as a subset of how truly beloved of a figure Harry was, was how much people enjoyed the pairing of Harry Kalas with Rich "Whitey" Ashburn. We Phils fans knew we loved their presentation, but I'm not sure that we were cognizant of it sufficiently in its time. Of course if you listen to the Phils telecast now, its former greatness is not lost on you. (that's not an implication of Sarge, either)

If you are looking for a modern pair of terrific sports uncles, how about Ray Didinger and Glen Macnow? I think most people like listening to the pairing, but perhaps we are guilty again of not realizing how special the pairing is in its own time. These guys are both very experienced sports journalists and they both come across the air as supremely nice guys. They've even authored books together.

Ray Didinger has worked for the old Philadelphia Bulletin, the Daily News, NFL Films and Comcast Sportsnet in addition to 610 WIP, where he often does a Saturday morning show with Glen. He gained my particular admiration for sharing my opinion, and expressing it that he has "no use" for Michael Vick and can't wait until he leaves town. If you are looking for an opinion of the talent level of some obscure backup offensive lineman somewhere in the NFL, Ray's is about the only researched among the local broadcasters.

While Harry was the the play-by-play man, and Whitey was the king of dry humor, Glen serves as both the lead talker and primary humorist on the Didinger/Macnow show. Glen is the more emotional of the two, and expertly cajoles Ray into taking the same stands. A native of Buffalo, NY, Glen has earned his Philadelphia bona fides with a couple decades in Philly, including a long stint with the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is also our community's leading food critic (not that silly Craig LeBan), having conducted detailed study's on the area's best burgers, pizza, cheeseteaks and more.

With a very honorable and respectful mention to Merrill Reese and Mike Quick, who unfortunately just don't work as many occasions but who are also awesome, we should all be grateful for the talk-radio pairing of Didinger and Macnow. Let's not wait until Chris Wheeler and some bobo take their slot before we acknowledge just how good they are.

P.S. Hire Main Line Affair (www.mainlineaffair.com) for your next wedding, event, pool party or anything else!

Weight management

Well, I'm in my last five days of MediFast, the latest diet. I'm not like people who try these, mix in a few donuts and pizzas, and then say the diet didn't work. Oh no. This is the 4th time in the last couple years that I've taken off more than 25 lbs. I've eaten nothing but what the diet says I can eat. I've had an incredible in-take of diet soda, which presumably is terrible for me (it has to be terrible because everything tasty is bad for me). My wife isn't even happy about the weight loss. She wants me to sign an affadavit not to gain back the weight before she'll even notice that my pants fit again. But, Main Line Affair (www.mainlineaffair.com) is shooting a video this weekend to feature Megan Rosinski, the new star. I must be thin for that. With the tux on, it just shows in the face.

I'm hungry. Since Saturday is the end of the diet, and the video, we're going to do a post-shoot celebration at one of NJ's finest diners.

Bye bye Donovan, Can you take Chris Wheeler with you?

Well, now I guess I'm just addicted to this blogging thing.

My post-script on observing McNabb for the past 11 years-
1. Never was a human being so adept at difficult physical feats while simultaneously being so incompetent with little ones.
2. It should be unlawful for Clownovan (my own nickname!) to run for a first down against the Eagles since he was dedicated to not running for first downs for the Eagles.
3. Kolb may not turn out to be 5% of the athlete that McNabb has been. He's already fifty times more skilled at speaking to the media. Clownovan was always such a contradiction and sometimes a downright buffoon. "I don't let the fans bother me." "The fans bother me." "I'm the leader of the team." "A lot of guys don't know a lot of rules." "We showed our youth." "I don't throw people under the bus and I never have." "I played great. (he got benched)

Hey Phillies advertisers - I watch the game with no sound now because the Wheels broadcast is so horrendous. Oh yeah, and there are like a million Phillies fans who feel the same way. The Phillies broadcast quality has loosely mirrored AIG stock prices.

Brian Boucher - the moment is yours

In search of the end-goal (Championship), we should also be able to savor little moments along the way, maybe even moreso if the championship isn't going to happen.

Tonight, after a telescopic shot by Claude Giroux, Brian Boucher had the ability to single-handedly assure the Flyers trip to the playoffs. Boucher has been criticized a lot lately and his play has been very unpredictable. But never could a moment provide a more basic referendum on an individual's season than this one did. Save/no save. Win/lose. Winner/loser. Well, Boucher saved, won and is thus a winner, and a hero of the moment for history.

True, this will likely just serve to momentarily preserve a season which may not have deserved to be prolonged, but the moment was worth having.

My first ever blog

I have never blogged before, but I do like to write and I do like to promote http://www.mainlineaffair.com/.

Main Line Affair is truly a great product. I work with seven other extremely talented people, and they are all nice, and they all do what is needed to be done to make sure that clients who hire Main Line Affair are very happy. If you look at the testimonials on http://www.mainlineaffair.com/ you will see a history of very happy people. These remarks are absolutely true and unaltered.

The question I most often get seeks to understand how we are so affordable compared with other bands of similar quality. The answers are:

1. We have been around 3 years. Many of these bands have been around for a decade + and they have had a long time to fill out their calendars and be more choosy about what they do. I am trying to build a track record and a reputation like theirs. I want Main Line Affair to be considered great like Jellyroll, or CTO or Big City (for whom I used to play).

2. My overhead is low. I do not support a facility. I do not advertise on the radio, nor on buses, nor billboards.

3. We do not outsource production. We use our own owned sound system and we set it up ourselves. In short, I think we work harder by combining long engagements with set-ups and tear-downs, and we save our clients money that way. Maybe because the average age of my seven helpers is under 30, and I don't think any other comparable band is in that boat. Still, don't be put off by them being overly young either. Their youth makes them run more energetic, and maybe care more than other bands because they are not burnt out on playing affairs. (and if you think the musicianship isn't as good, then you really need to see Main Line Affair).

Brandywine Valley, CTO and EBE all provide truly terrific products, and you will get a good result if you hire one of their bands. If you want something very high quality, and perhaps to save meaningful money (and not everyone can afford one of theirs), then you need to check out Main Line Affair.

Best regards to all people planning a special party!

Howard "The Goldster" Goldstein