THE GUILTY ONES

They have got to be kidding!

An article on my mail.com home page on Saturday reported:

“The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a $1.4 million fine against 52 ABC Television Network stations over a 2003 broadcast of cop drama NYPD Blue.

The fine is for a scene where a boy surprises a woman as she prepares to take a shower. The scene depicted 'multiple, close-up views' of the woman's 'nude buttocks' according to an agency order issued late Friday.

FCC's definition of indecent content requires that the broadcast ‘depicts or describes sexual or excretory activities' in a ‘patently offensive way’ and is aired between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. The agency said the show was indecent because ‘it depicts sexual organs and excretory organs -- specifically an adult woman's buttocks.’

The agency rejected the network's argument that ‘the buttocks are not a sexual organ.’”

The fact that this scene was telecast almost 5 years ago aside, this is ridiculous!

If the definition of “indecent content” requires that the broadcast “depicts excretory activities in a patently offensive way” than just about every show in the genre of “reality tv” should be fined. After all, what is reality tv but the product of an “excretory activity”. And reality tv shows are without a doubt “patently offensive”?

TTYL

A LITTLE THIS-A AND A LITTLE THAT-A – WITH THE EMPHASIS ON THE LATTA!

+ The inside back cover of my Playbill for NOVEMBER had an ad for www.PlaybillRadio.com – “Broadcasting the music you live from the heart of Broadway. 1000s of songs. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Exclusive news and interviews. It’s all FREE!”

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This is great. It has replaced “The Music of Your Life” syndicated radio for my daily online music streaming. It plays nothing but songs from Original Cast Recordings and other Broadway-related albums and dvds (i.e Barbra Steisand's "The Broadway Album") – past and present. Plus it has Broadway news.

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As I have been typing this posts I have heard “Rosemary” from HOW TO SUCCEED, “Meadowlark” from THE BAKERS WIFE, and “Poor Everybody Else” from SEASAW. I have also heard selections from HAIRSPRAY and the recent revivals of COMPANY and SWEENEY TODD.

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+ Have you checked out “Pigasus” the NJ Flying Pig from NJ 101.5 FM radio? Click here for a picture of Pigasus, and here for information on the Flying Pig Coalition.

+ Jim over at BLUEPRINT FOR FINANCIAL PROSPERITY has posted “50 Fun Facts About Banks”. According to the post “Flatbush National Bank of Brooklyn NY was the first bank to issue a credit card in 1946. I wonder if they had any idea of what they were starting?

TTYL

IT GETS LONELY IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Last night I journeyed out in the cold to 47th Street in NYC to see fellow Jersey City native Nathan (formerly Joseph) Lane in David Mamet’s new political comedy NOVEMBER at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

I had purchased the ticket for $78.00 through BroadwayOffers.com (code SAVE13). My seat was in the front orchestra, 5th row on the aisle. It was the wrong aisle – and I wasn’t actually on the aisle but locked against a wall. However it turned out to be a very good seat, with full view of all the action.

Nathan Lane plays President Charles H.P. “Chuck” Smith (the "H.P." is never identified) who is losing badly in his re-election bid. The only way he will win is if everyone stays home on Election Day. Why? As his lawyer, played by Dylan Baker, tells him during the first minutes of the play, “You FU-ed up the country!” Sound like anyone we know?

Mamet has been quoted as saying Lane’s character is not meant to be George W. – and President Smith bears absolutely no physical or other resemblance or connection to the current occupant of the Oval Office, other than invading a country and sending suspected terrorists to hidden offshore locations for torture (“Chuck” constantly threatens to banish those who defy him on the "piggy plane" to a secret detention camp in Bulgaria in manacles with bags over their heads).

As “the Committee” has abandoned him with not enough money for even a Presidential Library, Smith attempts to use blackmail and a chain of “quid pro quos” to get enough money for one last ditch effort to keep his job for 4 more years.

Unlike Lane’s turn as Sheridan Whiteside in the Roundabout Theatre’s revival of the classic THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER, I doubt this production will be broadcast on PBS. This is because of Mamet’s affection for the grand-daddy of all four-letter words, used prominently throughout the show. Lane has commented that one presumably little old lady wrote to him to say the title of the play should be changed to F_ _ K, as the word is used so much in the dialogue (I wasn’t sure if I could use all four letters in a blog).

During the course of the play, Lane’s President Smith manages to hilariously offend just about every ethnic, religious, and racial group from women, Jews and Native Americans to adopted Chinese children and Scandinavians,

In addition to Dylan Baker as Lane’s straight man the cast also includes Roseanne’s Laurie Metcalf as a liberal-leaning lesbian speechwriter who has just returned from China where she and her partner have “bought” a Chinese baby, Ethan Phillips, Star Trek Voyager’s Neelix, as a representative of the turkey farmers’ association who is constantly asking Lane to let the two turkeys (one back-up in case the original does not make it until Thanksgiving) about to be pardoned smell his hands (“the turkeys are very sensitive”), and Michael Nichols as a poison dart blowpipe carrying Indian chief who wants President Smith to turn over the National Wildlife Preserve on Nantucket to his tribe so they can build a 4000-room hotel and casino.

The show was a scream, and Nathan Lane, who is onstage the entire time, is perfect in the role. It is as if it were written especially for him. Nathan’s performance is manic, but not over-the-top like his Sid Caesar-inspired role in LAUGHTER ON THE 23rd FLOOR. The entire cast is great. The plot is a bit silly, with President Smith threatening to replace turkey as the traditional Thanksgiving main course with first pork (“What about the Jews?”, “Do they celebrate Thanksgiving?”) and then tuna, but it works.

The show does point out one truism of politics – everyone, even the liberal-leaning lesbian (say that 5 times fast), has his/her price, that one thing that he/she wants badly enough to compromise or pay for.

Two thumbs way up. Go see it!

Two semi-related items:

(1) A phrased used several times in the play reminded me of a true story.

A friend’s car broke down while in Jersey City and he called the auto club for a tow. The tow truck that eventually arrived had “IDGAF TOWING” printed on the door.

My friend asked the driver if the initials represented the names of the owners - i.e. Irving, David, Gary, Adam and Ferdinand.

“No”, replied the driver. “It stands for I Don’t Give A F _ _ k!”

(2) Many, many years ago I was holding open auditions for a local production of Stephen Sondheim’s COMPANY at the Five Corners branch of the Jersey City Public Library about the same time that Joseph Lane was an upperclassman at St Peter’s Prep. I did not keep the “sign-in” sheets – my director, who has since gone on to his final audition, took them.

I have always wondered if Joe Lane had auditioned for the musical. He certainly wasn’t in the cast. I have vowed to kick myself if I ever do get to ask Nathan Lane the question and receive an affirmative answer.

TTYL

IS IT ALL GOING IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER?

Whenever an individual who is in financial trouble goes to a credit counselor the first thing the counselor does is cut up the individual’s “plastic” – i.e. credit cards. No more borrowing!

The second thing is to set up a “bare-bones budget”, cutting out all unnecessary spending.

Good advice for an individual in financial trouble.

The advice is equally good for a State in financial trouble – like New Jersey.

“Uncle Jon”, are you listening?

TTYL

YOU CAN SELL SHIT AND GET THANKS – THAT’S WHAT I LEARNED FROM THE YANKS

The ongoing writers’ strike may end up doing more damage to the television landscape than one might expect.

As the networks run out of “scripted” shows, and viewers tire of re-runs, they are turning to “reality tv” excrement and dumbed-down game shows (we are not talking about What’s My Line or Password here) and hybrid crap like American Gladiator to fill their timeslots.

In many cases the replacements are doing almost as good, and sometimes better, than the real entertainment that they are replacing. And, as they involve no creative talent, they are a lot cheaper to produce.

In an article on the front page of the LIFE section of USA Today last Wednesday, CBS program planning chief Kelly Kahl is quoted as saying, “When you can do better than the shows you’re replacing at a fraction of the cost, it’s going to drive you to do more. And as time goes by, writers can end up losing slots for scripted shows.”

The writers won’t be the only losers. Their fellow artisans - actors, directors, stunt people, etc, etc, etc - will also find less work. And, as I have always said when it comes to the so-called “reality” offerings, the biggest losers will be the American public, who will be denied the option of true entertaining and educational television. We will be forced to choose between watching excessively fat people be berated while going through hoops trying to lose weight fast, or total “cafones” swapping wives for other than sex, or nothing.

I have heard word that “Challenge of the Network Stars" is returning. Oi vey!

And don’t think cable will offer many alternatives. With the need to fill 24 hours a day with something, cable stations, mostly subsidiaries of broadcast channels, are producing what is undoubtedly the worst steaming piles of human waste ever shown on the small screen (watch THE SOUP on “E” to see clips of just how horrible tv can be).

Forget “wardrobe malfunctions” – cable stations VH1, MTV, Oxygen and even “E” (which at least pokes fun at itself on THE SOUP – probably the only show on that station worth watching) should be fined for its content, which does more harm to impressionable younger viewers than a brief peak at a singer’s tit.

Thank God I just found Fan Cast!

TTYL

EXTRA! EXTRA! HEY LOOK AT THE HEADLINE

Just a "quickie" to let you know that Jeremy Vohwinkle of ABOUT.COM: FINANCIAL PLANNING reports that Kiplinger is running a campaign to help people jump-start their retirement plan by offering a day of free financial advice on January 25th. This is a live discussion either online or via telephone with members of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA). Click on Jeremy's blog for more details.

TTYL

F-R-E-E, FREE!

Last night while at my Comcast.net home page I discovered a small text link on the top of the page that read “Full Episodes of 150 TV Shows - Watch Free Online!“.

I clicked and was taken to Fancast, where you can watch full episodes of a large and varied selection of series from Adam 12, Airwolf and Alfred Hitchcock to Land of the Giants, Lou Grant and Lost in Space, to Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Weird Science. The list includes current shows such as Monk, Psych, Bones, House, Heroes, the 3 CSIs, and How I Met Your Mother, and obscure syndicated shows like Team Knight Rider, Jack of All Trades, and Cleopatra 2525. Comedies, sci-fi, police and action shows, cartoons, and soap operas. Even, unfortunately, reality excrement.

I selected the pilot for the police 1992 police series Tequila and Bonetti (1992), which I vaguely remembered, created by Donald Bellisario (MAGNUM PI, JAG, NCIS). According to Wikepedia –

“Nico ("Nick") Bonetti (Jack Scalia), is a policeman from New York City who is proud of his Italian heritage and very fond of his vintage rose-colored Cadillac convertible, which he inherited from his father. After he erroneously shoots a young girl during a gunfight, he relocates to a beachfront Los Angeles precinct on temporary assignment. Here he meets his new partners, Tequila (a large, burrito-eating dog voiced by Brad Sanders), and Officer Angela Garcia (Mariska Hargitay), who joined the police after her policeman husband's death. Their boss is Captain Midian Knight (Charles Rocket) {Capt Midnight, get it – rdf} , who is almost as interested in selling a screenplay as he is in police work. The series shows their investigations about crimes and the relations between the characters. This show has the peculiarity that television viewers are able to hear Tequila's thoughts.”

I also watched an episode of Team Knight Rider, a syndicated spin-off of Knight Rider, which appeared to be a pilot for a series Girl Spies that would eventually become the similarly syndicated She Spies.

Like the other online options for watching past and present tv episodes there are commercials – but only one brief one separating each of the 4 “Acts” of the teleplay. And, of course, you can pause, fast forward and fast back.

Check out Fancast – and look to see if your favorite series of the past is included in its list of episodes.

TTYL

THE THEATRE, THE THEATRE

I just ordered a ticket for the new David Mamet political comedy NOVEMBER starring fellow Jersey City native Nathan Lane, ROSEANNE’s Laurie Metcalf and Dylan Baker for next Thursday night. One last night out on the town before I am chained to my home office desk for the two and a half months of the tax filing season!

I hadn’t heard of the show until a friend gave me a booklet of discount coupons at lunch yesterday.

The coupon promised a 30% savings for a price of only $69.00. Of course the price of the ticket was not $69.00 - with the various “service charges” it ended up at $78.00. Still, that’s better than the $99.50 box-office price. Now watch - NOVEMBER will be included in my next tdf offering for only $35.00! But then my $78.00 ticket is for the 5th row of the orchestra – while a tdf $35.00 ticket could be in the nosebleed section.

Anyway, to get the discount I went to www.broadwayoffers.com and typed in promotion code SAVE13. This discount is not just for NOVEMBER, but for most current Broadway offerings.

I also signed up my email address over at www.20at20.com to be notified of the next “20 at 20” promotion. Apparently during this promotion you can see an off-Broadway show for only $20.00 if you but the ticket 20 minutes before curtain. This promotion is offered by www.OFFBROADWAY.com. I learned about this in the same booklet that contained all the coupons.

TTYL

GREY SKIES ARE GOING TO CLEAR UP – PUT ON A HAPPY FACE!

HAVE YOU HEARD THE ONE ABOUT…

A tourist walks into a curio shop in San Francisco. He notices a very lifelike life-sized bronze statue of a rat. It has no price tag, but is so striking that he decides he must have it.

He takes it to the owner and asks, “How much is the bronze rat?”

The owner replies, “$12 for the rat and $100 for the story.”

The tourist gives the man $12 and says, “I’ll just take the rat. You can keep the story.”

As he walks down the street carrying his bronze rat, he notices that a few real rats have crawled out of the alleys and sewers and begun following him down the street.

This is disconcerting, and he begins to walk faster. But within a couple of blocks the herd of rats behind him has grown to hundreds, and they begin squealing. He starts to trot towards the Bay, looking a-round to see that the rats now number in the THOUSANDS, and are racing toward him.

Concerned, even scared, he runs to the edge of the Bay and throws the bronze rat as far out into the water as he can. Amazingly, the thousands of rats all jump into the Bay after it, and are all drowned.

The man walks back to the curio shop.

“Aha,” says the owner. “You are back for the story.”

“No,” says the man. “I came back to see if you have a bronze lawyer!”

TTYL

ON THAT GREAT COME AND GET IT DAY

On Saturday I attended the annual NJ State Tax Seminar sponsored by the NJ chapter of the National Association of Tax Professionals held each year at the Woodbridge Hilton. One of the speakers was from the NJ office of “Unclaimed Property”.

The speaker estimated that 1 in 10 New Jersey residents have “unclaimed property” being held for them by the State of New Jersey or another state.

I was able to find $4,500+ in “unclaimed property” for my father last year through the NJ Unclaimed Property office. Check out my WANDERING TAX PRO postings on “How I Made Over $4,500 by Watching Good Morning America” Part I and Part II.

NJ residents should go here to begin a search for unclaimed property. Each state has a similar office of Unclaimed or Abandoned Property. Check out the home page of your state’s website, or the website of the Revenue or Taxation department or division of your state.

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TTYL

MY BOY, BILL! HE’LL BE TALL AND AS TOUGH AS A TREE

I recently received a forwarded email with the following story about a speech that Bill Gates recently gave to high school students. If you ask me his talk contained some good advice for today’s youth:

“Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1 - Life is not fair - get used to it!

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Rule 2 - The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

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Rule 3 - You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

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Rule 4 - If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

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Rule 5 - Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

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Rule 6 - If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

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Rule 7 - Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

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Rule 8 - Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

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Rule 9 - Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

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Rule 10 - Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

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Rule 11 - Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.”

TTYL

CAN YOU USE ANY MONEY TODAY?

“If there is a better plan . . . put it on the table.”

So challenged New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine in his State of the State address on Tuesday.

Instead of following the annual custom of balancing the budget by nickel and diming NJ residents and businesses with a variety of tax and fee increases, Corzine has chosen put all his increases in one place by raising the tolls on the NJ Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway and the Atlantic City Expressway by about 800% over the next 14 years!

Well I certainly have a better plan – cut spending!

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Corzine’s reply to this was “Pigs will fly over the Statehouse before there is a realistic level of … spending cuts that can fix this mess.” He estimated that to achieve his goal with spending cuts would mean cutting $5 Billion, or 15%, of the state budget.

So what – so cut! You don’t mean to tell me that the NJ budget does not contain at least 20% in pork! What about all the politicians with two and three paying jobs that are getting double and triple health and pension benefits? What about the fact that while 99% of employees in the private sector are paying at least a portion of their own health insurance premiums through payroll deduction, NJ state and local employees continue to get excellent coverage 100% free of charge?

As I have said in my blogs time and time again – the typical response of the politician to budget gaps nowadays, on all government levels, is to raise taxes and fees and never to cut expenses.

Corzine has proven to be a great disappointment. Many of us in New Jersey were pleased that an “outsider” - someone from the private financial industry - was elected to such a high office. His inaugural address was full of promises of fiscal responsibility and getting rid of the corruption that has existed for decades throughout New Jersey government. But he has done none of what he promised. Any reforms that have managed to pass during his tenure have been so watered down so as to accomplish nothing of any consequence.

The increased homestead rebate checks were a joke. Corzine paid for them with an increase in the sales tax – so “Uncle Jon” took money out of your right pocket so he could put it in your left pocket! Real estate taxes continue to rise in NJ.

As I have said before, as soon as my parents go on to their final audit I am moving to Pennsylvania!

TTYL

WHAT KIND OF FOOL IS HE?

I couldn’t wait until the next “A LITTLE THIS-A…” posting to report an article I discovered on the home page of my email provider Mail.com titled “Dr. Phil Criticized for Britney Brouhaha”.

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According to the article, the professional psychiatric community has echoed my concerns about the jury consultant’s intrusion into Britney’s problems. The article quotes Dr. Jeffrey Sugar, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry, crisis and emergency service for the University of Southern California (who, by the way, does not have his own talk show):

"It's true people sometimes need to be placed under involuntary mental health treatment because they can't take care of themselves. But there's a difference between being detained involuntarily for psychological treatment and being forced to endure Dr. Phil involuntarily."

TTYL

A LITTLE THIS-A AND A LITTLE THAT-A – WITH THE EMPHASIS ON THE LATTA!

+ The AARP BULLETIN provides a good review of reverse mortgages in “Making Your House Work”. Jim of BLUEPRINT FOR FINANCIAL PROSPERITY also discusses the issue in “What Is A Reverse Mortgage?”.

Speaking of the association for retired persons, AARP can now join AARP as this year marks the 50th anniversary of the organization.

+ Chris Pummer’s column “Shades of Green” at MARKET WATCH brings us some disturbing news with “Cracking the Whip: Credit-Card Issuers Sock Late Payers with 30%-Plus Default Rates”

Chris reports that, “Faced with mounting account delinquencies, major U.S. banks are penalizing credit-card customers late on payments by hiking their accounts to maximum default interest rates of 30% and more -- even those with good credit records”

+ Here’s a good idea – start 2008 off right by setting up an automatic savings plan. Jeremy Vohwinkle of ABOUT.COM: FINANCIAL PLANNING tells you how in his post “Make Saving Automatic”.

+ MARKET WATCH reports that “Treasury Plans Social Security Debit Card”. According to the article –

“The Direct Express debit card, set to be announced today, will be introduced in a handful of states this spring and rolled out nationwide by the end of the summer. Dallas-based Comerica Inc.'s Comerica Bank has been selected as the card issuer for the program, which is targeted at Social Security and Supplemental Security Income recipients who don't have a bank account.”

I am not quite aboard with this new idea. I am concerned that this creates another card that can be stolen. SS beneficiaries with a bank account can have their check directly deposited and then use their bank’s own debit card. And it also creates additional bank processing fees for seniors. I can, however, see a possible benefit for recipients who do not have a regular bank account.

+ I noticed a headline on my Comcast home page on Monday that indicated that Britney Spears may not have been pleased with jury consultant “Dr Phil” sticking his nose in her business.

McGraw was correct when he said that Ms Spears needs professional medical and psychological help. However what she does not need is for Phil to try to pull a “Pat O’Brien” and exploit Britney’s woes to get himself another truly unnecessary prime time special.

TTYL

A LITTLE THIS-A AND A LITTLE THAT-A – WITH THE EMPHASIS ON THE LATTA!

+ When I tuned in to KIXI-FM streaming online from Seattle WA on the morning of New Year’s Day guess what I found?

HOA, Herb Oscar Anderson, has joined the roll of syndicated MUSIC OF YOUR LIFE radio hosts – replacing Deanna Martin (Dino’s daughter) and husband in the 6:00–10:00 AM est slot. Deanna and husband have moved to the noon to 3:00 pm est spot.

Those of you who grew up in the 60s in the NY metropolitan area are certainly familiar with the former WABC-AM “Morning Mayor”, father of Dynasty’s John James.

Welcome back HOA! It’s déjà vu all over again.

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+ The DOUGH ROLLER takes an interesting slant on personal financial planning in his post “To Make Good Decisions, Think Like Mr. Spock but Act Like Captain Kirk”.

+ An article on the MARKET WATCH list of the 10 best personal finance stories of 2007 reported that, based on an annual Relocate-America survey, “Asheville, N.C., Tops America's Best Places to Live”.

I visited Asheville a few years back to attend an NSTP year-end tax update seminar. Actually I celebrated the 50th anniversary of my birth in Asheville. It was certainly a nice place to visit, but at the time I was not looking to relocate. It is the home of the humongous Biltmore Estate.

The article lists America's Top 10 places to live for 2007” from the survey. The list includes Chicago and San Francisco. I was not surprised that the top 10 didn’t include anyplace in New Jersey.

+ The PERSONAL FINANCE MORON rightly points out what a bad idea a “Home Equity Debit/Credit Card” is. Moron states “It's bad enough that there are millions of people that can't use an Unsecured Credit Card responsibly, but now the banks are going to make it as easy, and as tempting as possible, to access every last dime of your home equity. No wonder the financial sector, particularly the lenders, are in such trouble right now”.

+ Kristine McKinley of FINANCIAL TIPS FOR WAHMS reports that “2007 A Winning Year on Wall Street”.

Kristine also provides a good review of “What Makes Up Your Credit Score?”

TTYL

SWEET CHARITY

While I know the holiday gift-giving season is over, here is an interesting alternative to giving a store gift card. You can give a gift card for a donation to charity.

Tisbest.org sells charity gift cards that work just like other online gift cards, except that instead of buying stuff in a store, the recipient spends it to support a charity, or charities, of their choice.

You purchase a card in someone else’s name online at Tisbest.org for between $10 and $5,000. You can choose from 50 meaningful images for your Charity Gift Card, and each card can include a personal message from you. Tisbest.org will deliver the gift card via email to the “giftee”, who can choose to whom to donate the money from among 200 carefully chosen and responsible charities representing a wide range of causes, from animals to arts to environmental preservation to education and humanitarian efforts.

The 200 charities include the Red Cross, Amnesty International, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Habitat for Humanity, American Diabetes Association, ASPCA, and National Public Radio.

There is a flat $3.95 transaction fee regardless of the amount of the card and a 3% credit card processing fee. So if you chose to give a $100.00 Charity Gift Card, the charities will ultimately receive $93.05. The person who buys the card will receive a receipt for a $100.00 contribution, which may be tax deductible if the charity qualifies as a tax-exempt “501(c)(3)” organization.

As I have pointed out in THE WANDERING TAX PRO in the past, the person who pays for the donation is entitled to the tax deduction, and not the person in whose name the donation is made, or, or in this case, the recipient of the Charity Gift Card.

TTYL

IS ANYBODY THERE? DOES ANYBODY CARE?

On November 30th I posted the first ANYTHING BUT TAXES online trivia contest.

Here is what I asked:

(1) What was my source material for the titles of the November (and future) posting to ANYTHING BUT TAXES?

(2) One of the titles strays a bit from the source material, although there is a definite link. Identify the title and explain why it is different.

I did not receive a single entry!

I don’t think my questions were that hard. I guess you guys aren’t interested in such a contest – so it will be a long time before I post another one.

For anyone who is interested, here are the answers:

(1) Each title of a posting to ANYTHING BUT TAXES from its beginning through the end of December was either the title of or a lyric from a musical number that appeared in a Broadway musical.

For example - the title of my initial post, “WILLKOMMEN, BIENVENUE, WELCOME!”, was from CABARET, as was “"WELL, THAT’S WHAT COMES FROM TOO MUCH PILLS AND LIQUOR” (from the title song). ”EVERYONE WILL LOVE YOU IF YOU BE A SANTA CLAUS!” is from the song “Be A Santa” from SUBWAYS ARE SLEEPING. The title of the post introducing the contest, “WILL EVERYONE HERE KINDLY STEP TO THE REAR AND LET A WINNER LEAD THE WAY” is from HOW NOW DOW JONES. And “A LITTLE THIS-A AND A LITTLE THAT-A – WITH THE EMPHASIS ON THE LATTA” is a song from DAMN YANKEES.

(2) The one posting title that strayed a bit was “ONCE, YES, ONCE IS DELICIOUS – BUT TWICE WOULD BE VICIOUS, OR JUST REPETITIOUS". This was from the song “I Never Do Anything Twice” written by Stephen Sondheim - not for a Broadway musical but for the Sherlock Holmes movie THE SEVEN PERCENT SOLUTION. The link to Broadway is, of course, Stephen Sondheim.

It has been fun searching for Broadway song titles or lyrics to use as the titles for my posts, but not always easy. Since I am becoming much busier as I prepare for the upcoming tax filing season I will take a break from this practice. While I will attempt to continue to try to use song titles or lyrics for my titles, they will not always be from Broadway.

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Hey, can anyone out there tell me what Broadway musical had a song with the lyrics “LBJ TOOK THE IRT DOWN TO 4th STREET USA. WHEN HE GOT THERE WHAT DID HE SEE? THE YOUTH OF AMERICA ON LSD!", the title of my November 23rd posting on acronyms? Same prize!

TTYL