This article is from January 2011 regarding the 20th Anniversary of the Canadian Band The Arrogant Worms.

The photo in the article is mine.

http://www.kingstonist.com/2011/01/19/the-arrogant-worms-20th-anniversary/

So men, ‘splain to me. Re: Girls — There’s a girl and she falls all over you, shows you a lot of attention to stroke your ego, and goes out of her way to throw herself at you every chance she gets. Then there’s another girl who doesn’t do all that but is very nice, and is really fun to be with but doesn’t act psycho over you like the first girl when she sees you.

Explain to me the fact that men will fall all over the psycho acting girl and go out of their way to friend them (IRL and online) but doesn’t want to take the time or energy to even bother with the normal acting girl? Is it too much work to attempt to woo the other girl? You want to get to the sex part faster? You want a 30 second commercial instead of a 30 minute paid advertisement? What is it?

From The Buffalo News

NKOTBSB combo takes fans back as the Boys trump the New Kids
By Joe Sweeney
NEWS CONTRIBUTING REVIEWER

Posted: May 29, 2011, 6:32 AM

At the risk of sounding like Andy Rooney, there’s one thing about “the social media” that really gets my goat — everything is an acronym these days.

Not sure that our society’s obsession with hip abbreviations has gone too far? May I present Exhibit A: “NKOTBSB.”

No, that’s not your VIN number. It’s the name of a boy band super group that swung through Buffalo on Saturday night.

The members of New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys have joined forces for a tour and combo greatest hits album, and they gave the HSBC Arena masses exactly what they paid for — candy-coated R&B jams, sexually suggestive dance moves, and loads of opportunities to bask in the nostalgia and scream like crazy.

Purists would’ve been slightly irked by the lineup on display. Kevin Richardson is no longer part of Backstreet, and according to Jonathan Knight’s Twitter, he was MIA due to injury. But honestly, eight heartthrobs on one stage is more manageable than 10.

After a glut of video montages that listed the members’ names at least four times, the group finally hit the elaborate stage, delivering a mash-up of the NKOTB song “Single,” the BSB track “The One,” and Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida.”

The octet set-up wasn’t as chaotic as I feared, partly due to an extended catwalk that delved deep into the crowd, allowing the groups to share the spotlight evenly.

While the music itself hasn’t aged well — especially those ’80s New Kids songs, which sound more like soulless Jackson 5 rip-offs than ever before — the show’s presentation was effective, giving the rabid fans a closer look than they probably thought they’d get. The combination of the catwalk, two pedestals and some tasteful pyrotechnics provided the window dressing that this music needs, without getting ridiculous.

About halfway through the show, after both groups got to strut their stuff on their own, I started to realize that I prefer the Backstreet Boys. There’s just a little bit more going on in their songs. Hear me out. “Larger Than Life,” beyond being the most interesting moment of the show, is more lyrically intriguing than, say, “Hangin’ Tough.” It’s about how when you love somebody, their every movement becomes all-powerful in your mind. “Hangin’ Tough,” on the other hand, is about pretending you’re from the streets.

I’m not going to get carried away and say their music speaks to me, but when separated from the hoopla of a decade ago, those Backstreet songs have some halfway decent melodies. “Larger Than Life” and “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” both went down easy on this night.

Or maybe they just seemed better in the wake of stuff like “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time),” the New Kids’ horrific cover of an old Delfonics song that just should not be. The four-piece backup band, which delivered this music admirably all night long, did its best to bring the soul back into the cut, giving it a synth funk twist that sounded like something from “Purple Rain.” But even The Revolution couldn’t compensate for Jordan Knight’s falsetto, which is as embarrassing as ever.

This night wasn’t about the music, though. It was about remembering a simpler time, when pop stars were so important to you, the mere mention of their names would make you feel something. And judging by the non-stop screams that filled the arena on this night, often making it hard to hear the music itself, thousands of people were having a hell of a time reminiscing.

Concert Review

New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys

Saturday night in HSBC Arena.

Now before you judge me, let’s get one thing straight.

I was 18 when NKOTB were really popular. I worked Record Theatre and hated the fact that every little pre-teen girl would come in with their bagful of change to buy a NKOTB tape. Yeah I had to count all that change.

When the Backstreet Boys were popular, my boy band of choice was Moxy Fruvous. I thought I was too old to be into something like BSB (even though one of my Fruhead friends was heavily into them).

Fast Forward 13 years later. NKOTBSB starts to tour! Why did my inner fangirl self want to see them? I must be nuts! (Or my inner fangirl is.) Yeah. That’s it. No I don’t like their music. No I don’t like the song “Tonight” or “Larger Than Life.” NO WAY!.

Oh yes way. My inner fangirl wins.

Until I saw the cost of the tickets.

Good seats $92 (on the floor or in the 100 level). See here for the seating chat:

The rest of the seats were (from the above chart):
$72.00
$52.00
$32.00

My inner fangirl does not want to pay that much for two bands that she kind of cares about but not really.

After the concert was announced, it was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to go but not pay that much.

Fast forward to this past Thursday(May 26 2011)

I was on twitter that day (I TWITTER! Why are you so shocked?) and saw a post from LiveNationBuff regarding winning tickets to see NKOTBSB.

All you had to do was tweet this:

RT @livenationbuff 2 Win: I cant wait for @nkotbsb this Saturday at HSBC Arena! http://bit.ly/fvxZZG

What the hell! I don’t win anything so what do I have to lose?

GUESS WHAT!

I FREAKING WON!

A little after 5pm I saw this in my direct messages:

@livenationbuff: Congrats! You’ve won the pair of tickets for NKOTBSB! What is your full name for will call?

OHMIGOD! LIEK TOTALLY AWESOME! My 13 year old self just Squeed!

These were $92 tickets I just won! TWO OF THEM!

Oh come on! If you won something worth $182 you would squee too! Especially for a concert you really wanted to go to but didn’t want to pay the ticket prices.

@SQUEEEEEE!

Going to this show was an experience. I have never been to a Teenybopper concert even when I was a teenybopper.

My first concert was Donny and Marie at Melody Fair in 1978.

My first concert as a teen was The Monkees in Philadephia in August 1986.

Both concerts did not have an audience of 99.9% girls/women. It was a mixed crowd of all ages.

This concert…well they had to do this for the men’s room because some girls wouldn’t wait that long in line:

That is the first time I have ever experienced a men’s bathroom -> unisex bathroom -> women’s bathroom

Here are some of the girls who attended. I didn’t wear my short skirt because I thought I would look slutty. Turns out, every girl there dressed that way (even the 10 to 12 year olds!)

BUT I will say that if you are a guy, you were STUPID to not attend this show. Every type of girl in the area attended. You would have had YOUR PICK! Young. Old. Fat. Skinny. You name it, she was there!

I got my tickets from Will Call to find out I had AWESOME SEATS — see the 0.00? THEY WERE FREEEEEE!:

Wow. Just. Wow! Section 105 Row 11

So I took some crowd shots from my seats.

Here is the main part of the stage before NKOTBSB came out to perform:

And here they ARE! The show was so well put together. It included fireworks, pyrotechnics and a light show (strobe lights).

I believe this is the setlist for the show and tour:

Single / The One (Mash-up) – NKOTBSB
Summertime – NKOTB
The Call – BSB
Dirty Dancing – NKOTB
Bye Bye Love – BSB
The Right Stuff – NKOTB
Larger Than Life – NKOTBSB
Blow Your Mind – NKOTB
Valentine Girl – NKOTB
If You Go Away – NKOTB
Please Don’t Go Girl – NKOTB
Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely – BSB
10,000 Promises – BSB
I’ll Never Break Your Heart – BSB
Inconsolable – BSB
Drowning – BSB
Incomplete – BSB
Step By Step – NKOTB
Cover Girl – NKOTB
My Favorite Girl – NKOTB
Games – NKOTB
Click Click Click – NKOTB
Tonight – NKOTB
Shape of My Heart – BSB
As Long As You Love Me – BSB
All I Have To Give – BSB
If You Stay – BSB
Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) –BSB
I’ll Be Loving You Forever – NKOTB
I Want It That Way – BSB
Don’t Turn Out the Lights – NKOTBSB

ENCORE
Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) – BSB
Hangin’ Tough / We Will Rock You (Mash-up) – NKOTB
Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) / Hangin’ Tough (Mash-up) – NKOTBSB

I also want to add, I lost my hearing during the show. Not from the music but from the SCREAMING of all the girls around me!

Here is how loud it actually was — this was the closing of the concert (the last 5 minutes):

The BSB owned the concert. That was obvious!

It was an awesome show and I thank LIVENATION.com for letting me attend!

The other night, WIVB, on their Facebook page, Posted this news article written by Lorey Schultz.

Cyber trolls mock the recently deceased

Did you look at the title? Yeah, I did to … and realized that CYBER TROLL is not the phrase they wanted to use or should have used.

But of course, Lorey Schultz must be an internet Guru so she knows what she’s talking about, right?

WRONG!

Do you know what a CYBER TROLL is? Well it’s a person who Trolls Chat Rooms looking for CYBER SEX. You will see this term used on the Terms of Service for some chat rooms like “Do not Cyber Troll the lobby.”

However WIVB believes that the term has nothing to do with Cyber Sex because of a Mass Media definition found on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)

For example, mass media uses troll to describe “a person who defaces Internet tribute sites with the aim of causing grief to families.”

The problem here is the word CYBER is not found before the word TROLL. Why? First, to Cyber is short for “To have Cyber Sex” and Second, Trolling happens online in the Cyberworld, so using it would be redundant.

Did you ever see anyone Troll in real life besides where the term originated from (The Vietnam War)?

Me Neither.

So where did WIVB come up with this phrase that they are so adamant is correct?

Well I wondered that and started to use google. It’s obvious that Channel 4′s Social Media Facebook person and Lorey Schultz did not do.

No wait, I stand Corrected. On Facebook, the Social Media person who runs their site did quote Wikipedia. HOWEVER the word CYBER is not found in their definition so yes they are still WRONG. But unfortunately, if you disagree with the person on that page, you will get banned as I did when I corrected them.

That my friends is how Channel 4/WIVB handles their page. If you post a correction they WILL ban you from further commenting on the issue instead of admitting they are wrong.

BTW, the others who posted the same correction, were not banned. It was because I wouldn’t back down regarding the definition.

I did find ONE OTHER STATION in the country who used the term CYBER TROLL. That station is KCTV5 of Kansas City MO who did the story first back in November of 2010. (Here)

Their Article: ‘Cyber Trolls’ Attack Facebook Page Of Fallen Teen

Two stations out of hundreds in the country use the term CYBER TROLL incorrectly YET they think they are correct.

They think they are SO correct that the Kansas City article doesn’t allow comments AND WIVB stopped comments after two people posted that Cyber Trolling meant to look for Cyber Sex.

Do you trust a news station that will not admit they are wrong in informing the public about internet terms?

Do you trust a news station that would rather be Nazis in censoring those who report corrections?

I would not suggest to anyone to watch this lame ass news station who cannot even report a simple article correctly. What are they doing to the HUGE articles in WORLD NEWS?

Oh yeah, no one in this area even reports on world news because all that matters is “the Buffalo connection” to anything.

A 2 year hiatus from blogging. Well, at least it’s not as long as Moxy Fruvous’s hiatus.

The last time you read my stupid posts, I was a drone doing tech support at a national intarwebs company and completely unhappy. I thought that was the worst job on the planet mostly for two reasons:
1. Not being able to get up and pee when needed.
2. Not being able to get up and take a dump when needed.

Yes people, this company made you cross your legs and squeeze your cheeks until your scheduled (scheduled by a department who thought that 3.5 hours after you clock in was a NORMAL break time) break and lunch time and not one minute sooner.

Each time I made a job change, the next one always is worse than the last.

Here are some examples of the crap I had to put up with from supervisors who took their positions a little bit too seriously. Now mind you, initiating a chat wasn’t necessary as their desks were near where ever I was sitting. This interruption actually threw off the work I was doing as I was in a “groove” copying and pasting the information into internal tickets and submitting them.

Retaliation from supervisor due to the fact that his BFF (an employee) put in a complaint about me “talking” too much during my shift (even though Paul Zeeeee wore headphones playing music all night). The next day, that same supervisor cherry picked through the QAs until he found one he could fail me on making me lose a bonus for the month. What a man Supervisor Jim Aaaaaaaa (for ass) was! [/sarcasm] That was the first unsuccessful QA I ever received while I was at the Intarwebs company.

BTW, the pussy boy who reported me (and nicknamed me “Play By Play” during his short employment time) wound up getting fired by management for “chat avoidance” not too long after this. It’s obvious who was doing their job and who wasn’t since I wasn’t fired from this shithole. I quit.

Some other classic moments by upper management:

Call Center Manager who would play chords on the guitar every night between 9 and 10pm. One night, a supervisor was looking for this d00d and asked one of the agents. He said “yeah he’s backstage.” That was the last time he ever played guitar in his office.

And the topper, Mr Mark (upper management) who told a whole room full of agents eating a lunch provided by the company that he abused his dog in front of his small children to teach them a lesson. WHAT?! You beat an animal to teach your children a lesson? Where were my brains back then. This piece of shit should have been reported to CPS and SPCA?

This was not a professional environment. The head honchos were not located here. Their main offices were in NYC and Virginia. They honestly had no idea what was going on unless they came to visit and held a “town hall meeting.” Once that happened, they were made aware that we were never told “Good Job.” Only the the things we did wrong. Unfortunately, nothing ever came out of our report.

So onward and upward. I kept looking for a job which felt like forever. Eventually I got a nibble in October 2008. I thought this would be my freedom from “40 something would be Hitler manager types.”

Oh how wrong I was! I found a job where it wasn’t 40 something but 50 something would be Hitler COWORKER types and freakish 50 something managers! Can you believe it!?

To be continued…

http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageServer?pagename=adv_cleancar

Fourteen other states have adopted California’s standards and are also waiting for the green light. These states cover 40 percent of the U.S. auto market. Implementing clean-car standards would make a huge dent in our global-warming emissions

Can you attend via photo? Just take a picture of yourself, your family and friends, holding car keys and email it to us. At the hearing we’ll present thousands of photos with this message: EPA Holds the Key to Clean Cars!

1. Send an email to:

2. Take a moment to customize the subject line and body of the message:

Subject Line: EPA Holds the Key to Clean Cars

Message: First name, last initial, your state. Feel free to add a comment in your message!

3. Attach the image of yourself holding up your keys — and send!

4. Notify The Sierra Club that you sent the picture on the above web page and they will add you to their flickr photostream.

From the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7891770.stm

Fatal US plane ‘was on autopilot’

A plane that crashed onto a house in New York state, killing 50 people, was on autopilot when it went down in icy weather, investigators have said.

The Continental Airlines pilot may have breached federal safety recommendations by flying in such conditions, investigator Steve Chealander said.

Pilots are recommended to fly manually in icy weather, he said.

Analysis of the plane’s data recorders shows the crew noticed significant ice build-up on its wings before the crash.

“You may be able in a manual mode to sense something sooner than the autopilot can sense it,” said Mr Chealander, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

He told the Associated Press news agency that the NTSB recommended pilots disengage their craft’s autopilot facility in icy conditions.

Pitches and rolls

The Bombardier Dash 8 was approaching Buffalo’s airport when it crashed flat on the house in Clarence Center, a suburb of Buffalo, last Thursday.

The pilots did not tell air traffic controllers of any problems during the flight, and a recording of communications appears normal until shortly before the crash.

At that point, the crew are heard discussing snowy and misty conditions and asking for permission to descend.

The crew then discussed “significant ice build-up” on the windshield and leading edge of the aircraft’s wings, Mr Chealander said on Friday.

The plane’s de-icing system had been switched on before the crew talked about the ice, he said.

Preliminary investigations suggested the plane was pointing away from the airport at which it was meant to land when it crashed.

Analysis of the data recorders shows the plane made a series of severe pitches and rolls seconds before plunging into the house.

The dead include 44 passengers, four crew and one off-duty pilot on board, and one person on the ground.

The twin-prop Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft, operated by Colgan Air for Continental Airlines, was flying from Newark airport in New Jersey to Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

Beverly Eckert who was listed as one of the passengers of Flight 3407 was a graduate of Sacred Heart Academy and Buffalo State college.

In our Winter Edition of our alumni paper, she was given the award of Distinguished Alumnae Christus Super Omnia Award at the annual “Spirit of SHA” Awards Dinner, formerly the SHA Gala dinner.

Beverly Eckert ‘69

Distinguished Alumnae Christus Super Omnia Award

After graduating from Sacred Heart Academy and Buffalo State College, Beverly pursued a rewarding career in insurance, working in Boston and New York City. She became a vice president at General Re, a Fortune 500/Berkshire Hathaway Company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. But, it was the events that unfolded on September 11, 2001 that forever changed her life, when her husband, Sean Rooney was killed while working in the World Trade Center.

Inspired by her husband’s unflinching courage in the face of his impending death, Beverly rejected the conventional victim’s role, and instead co founded an advocacy group called “Voices of September 11th”, helping to represent the interests of 9/11 families on a variety of contentious issues. Most notably, she lobbied in Washington for a full investigation into the terrorists attacks. She helped orchestrate country-wide support for a 9/11 Commission, participating in press conferences, testifying on Capitol Hill and organizing rallies, protests, and vigils in Washington and New York. She then helped Congress pass legislation implementing 9/11 Commission recommendations that were critically needed to prevent future attacks.

Beverly’s efforts and those of her colleagues have been acknowledged on the floor of both the House and Senate, and in 2007, she and five other 9/11 family leaders received special recognition at an awards ceremony at The Center for National Policy in Washington, DC. She has been interviewed on national TV and radio, and the story of her life with Sean and her work as an activist after 9/11 was featured in an “NBC Dateline” special with Tom Brokaw. Beverly believes her decision to help others and make the country safer, rather than focus on her personal loss has been beneficial to the slow, but steady process of healing.