Sunday, May 28, 2006

SunRocket

does anyone who reads this use, or know anyone who uses, SunRocket phone service?

It is similar to Vonage, which we have now and we're very happy with it, but this service will save us about 130 bucks a year. On paper it seems to be better than Vonage, you get a few more extra stuff, like a second phone number, just wondering if anyone has it, and can tell me about the quality.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

He's such a boy

My baby seemed to take a giant leap from "baby" to "boy"

It's not that he loves to go outside and play with his new tee ball set, or play basketball, or even wrestle with me on the ground. Tonight, while watching the Pistons game, he passed gas, who am I kidding - he farted, multiple times. When he was done he started giggling and then he tried making fart noises with his mouth for the next few minutes.

Nat and I laughed so hard we couldn't breathe.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Urgent Tehillim

I saw this on The Sabra blog.

URGENT TEHILLIM IS NEEDED FOR A YOUNG KALLAH IN OUR COMMUNITY!

Please take a minute of your time and say a Kapitel Tehillim for CHANA BAS RASHA ZELDA - A Kallah, less than a month before her wedding, who has just been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Please say Kapital Chof and Kapitel Chof Beis and in the zchus of everyone's Tehillim may she be able to walk down to her Chupah very very soon!! Amen!

Please pass this message on to at least 5 people...or put it on your blog.(do not not ignore this. please. we know her.)

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Bad coaching

In 7 years in Minnesota Flip Saunders never advanced past the first round, and he claimed that he always went up against better teams. After watching tonight's game I think he might not be a good coach.

Where was Rasheed Wallace for the last half of the fouth quarter? He picked up his 5th foul, and got a tech and then he sat for teh rest of teh game. The Pistons could have used offense late in teh game. What were they trying top save him for? OT?? If I was the coach I would try and get him in for every offensive possesion late in teh game. Ben Wallace isn't helping anything on teh offensive side of the ball. He missed 7 free throws, and two HUUUUGE ones in the last few minutes. Sheed should have certinaly been in the game for the 2nd to last play, coming out of a timeout, with the Cavs two big men already fouled out. They could have fed Sheed in the paint and lived with that. Instead they tried to drive into a crowded paint, and didnt even got a shot to reach the hoop.

I still believe that the Pistons will win this series, but they need Flip to do a better job coaching this team.

Monday, May 15, 2006

Pistons 72 Cavs 71

I know that this isn't the real final score. It is however the score of the points that were scored within the rules of the game. As time expired in teh first half Lebron James, who I am really tired of but that's a different post for a different time, hit a three pointer - with his foot out of bounds. If I know the rules correctly that shouldn't count.

I'm not claiming that this is part of an NBA conspiracy or anything like that, and I don't know the Pistons would have won teh game anyways, they played like crap. The refs or league should have taken a look at the play in during teh half and overturned it.

I don't know what was going with the Pistons tonight, their play was lethargic, they were just terrible on offense, they reminded me of the Pistons during the Carlisle years. Hopefully things will turn around for game 5 at the Palace.

UPDATE
I just saw a replay from a different angle, and it appears that James was inbounds by a hair. I guess the Pistons just sucked on this night.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Press

This past Friday I recieved a phone call from a reporter for the Detroit Free Press, she was doing a story on school bus advertising. She interviewed me and the article was printed in the business section of today's Free Press - MARKETING: Ad lessons.

MARKETING: Ad lessons
School districts raise money through messages on buses
May 9, 2006

BY KORTNEY STRINGER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

"Chances are, when you were a youngster, advertisers most often tried to grab your attention through Saturday morning cartoons on the boob tube.
Now, school buses are becoming the hot place for marketers to sell their wares to children.
Ypsilanti and Hazel Park recently contracted with InSight Media, a Pittsburgh company, to get ads on buses serving thousands of Michigan's K-12 students. And other Michigan school districts are considering the move, including Detroit Public Schools, the state's largest district, which says it could put ads in its 500 buses by fall. At $30 per month per bus, the potential ad earnings would be $6,000, based on the district's portion of the profits. Of Detroit Public Schools' 130,000 students, about 16,000 of them ride buses every day.
"There's some very serious consideration for it," said Jovon Boyer, Detroit schools' director for student transportation.
Under financial pressures brought by shrinking budgets, districts nationwide and in Michigan are looking for alternative funding. Advertising in buses is one way they're drumming up additional money to pay for everything from teacher salaries to school maintenance. InSight Media, which solicits advertisers for districts, said it pays them 40% of the profits from the ads, which require a minimum 3-month contract.
Advertising to kids
Advertising to students, however, raises unique concerns.
Last year when Plymouth-Canton Schools approved a measure to allow the board to sell school naming rights to companies -- think Meijer High School or Ford Motor Elementary -- some parents questioned whether that would be taking marketing to children too far. With school-bus ads, one child advocate is concerned about having ads about fast food and other products that might be harmful to children without the benefit of parental input.
"A growing perspective is that parental involvement is important in mediating what children see through explaining, educating, qualifying, etc., for their kids," said Cheryl Somers, an associate professor of educational psychology at Wayne State University.
Somers said because parents aren't on buses, the ads should be limited to wholesome messages such as those touting the importance of studying or drinking water.
Hazel Park plans to put ads in buses in the fall. The district, which will have a committee decide which ads will be put in the district's 10 buses, said ad content will be considered carefully.
"This day and age, we're looking for sources of revenue anywhere we can find them," said Fred Nix, consultant for general services for Hazel Park schools. "But advertising is something that ... has to be very kid-friendly."
In Ypsilanti -- the only Michigan district to already have ads in buses -- a small group made up of parents, board members, teachers and students picks ads for the district's 40 buses. Since December, the 4,300-student district has made a modest profit of $600 from the bus ads.
"For us, it's a win-win situation because we don't have to do anything but provide the inside of our buses and approve the ads," said Emma Jackson, a spokeswoman for the Ypsilanti schools who said it hasn't gotten any complaints about ads.
Amy Doyle, a mother of a fifth- and seventh-grader and board member who's on the selection committee, said she wouldn't approve any ads the district or parents might deem unhealthy for children.
"We want the ads to promote community businesses, community values and positive lifestyles," she said.
The Ypsilanti Area Federal Credit Union's school-bus ads show a group of kids standing next to a big, blue piggybank overflowing with a dollar bill and coins and say "It's never too early to start saving for your future."
"If they remember our logo now or later in life, that's great. If they learn the underlying message about saving, that's great, too," said Greg Gurka, the credit union's executive vice president.
For many advertisers, being able to reach impressionable students is priceless.
"It's transit advertising, so it's like any other bus -- advertisers have a captive audience," said Bruce Vanden Bergh, an advertising professor at Michigan State University.


Contact KORTNEY STRINGER at 313-223-4479 or stringer@freepress.com.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Pistons Vs. Cav

Pistons will win this series in 5 game's. I wouldn't be surprised if Lebron steals a game, probably game 3 in Cleveland.

My only fear with this series is that it's so obvious the League wants Cleveland to win so they can keep on marketing LeBron, that the calls may go his way. And the Sheed will get hit with some technicals if he feels slighted.

To see a nice list on how badly the Cavs want to be the Pistons check out Need4Sheed.com: The Cleveland Cavaliers Want To Be The Detroit Pistons

Thursday, May 04, 2006

One less freedom

The Detroit City Council voted 8-1 to ban talking on your cell phone while driving in Detroit. All that is left is for Mayor Kwame to put his stamp of approval on the bill, and within two weeks it will become a law.

What ever happened to this being a free country, if I choose to drive while talking on my phone that should be my right. When I go for a long drive alone I prefer to speak on the phone because it keeps me awake and alert. It should be a preference, if you feel safe talking and driving that's up to you. The driver should be a semi-responsible person, and capable of making his/her own choices.

There are things far more dangerous while driving then cell phones, but they haven't been outlawed, like kids. There are many times when Jonah drops something and he needs it, like a pacifier or drink, and I have to feel around behind my seat for the object, so he'll stop screaming. I hope they don't ban driving with a child under 4 on the car, that would make life really tough.

If your driving is erratic because of being on the cell then you should get a ticket for reckless driving, much like you should for any kind of reckless driving. But to get pulled for being on a cell phone, even if you are driving just fine, that is just plain wrong.

I know that other states and cities have this law, and I hate it when I'm there.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Game 5

There's nothing like going to a playoff game. sure, if you watch it home you get a better view and have the luxury of instant replay, but you lose out on the atmosphere. You can't compare the enjoyment of watching at home and actually being at the stadium. Up until today the closest I got to going to a playoff game was Palace Vision for game 7 last year - and Joe Vision for the clinching game of the Wings last Stanley Cup.

Around 3:00 this afternoon Air Time called and told me that a friend of his had extra tickets for tonight's game, (6:00 tip) and he couldn't go, if I wanted them I should call. I made teh call, rearranged our evening plans and went off the game.

Jonah, who has been to a few baseball games and one exhibition basketball game, was a bit scared at first, but once we gave him some thunderstix and he had a great time.

Jonah was involved in a humorous but strange story. Nat was taking him downstairs and his pacifier fell out of his mouth, bounced off a step and landed in a guys beer. An embarrassed Nat had to tell the guy that there was a paci in his beer, and we bought a new one. The guys sitting in front of me were very impressed with Jonah accuracy and predicted he will play basketball when he grows up. For more on this story check out My Life By Donuts Mom.

One of the strangest part of the game was when the "Spare Tire" dance team came out and did a dance. They are a bunch of middle aged very fat men. Is this what the girls at a ball game enjoy looking at?

Kids shows

Every couple of mornings I watch morning TV with my boy, with the exception of Sportscenter the shows are kids shows. We see the Doodlebops, the Wiggles, Little Einsteins and exciting stuff like this.

I always wonder these guys are like off stage. I wonder if they are normal or just as weird in real life. There is a great movie "Death to Smoochy" about the seedy underworld of kids television, this is what I imagine the Wiggles are like when they aren't on TV. Cursing, drinking, and involved with the mob.

Also, is this the pinnacle of their careers, or do they aspire to do adult shows, sitcoms or soaps. They should make either reality show about the real lives of these people, or perhaps VH1 should do a special "behind the show" episode.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Dead Wings

So much for my prediction a few days ago. I guess there won't be a double parade down Woodward this summer. The Wings choked away another season with a disastrous first round playoff series.

Up 2-0 going into the 3rd period in a huge game the Wings disappeared. They gave up 4 goals and only scored 1. This was a team that was 38-0-3 (or something like that) in the regular season when entering the 3rd period with a lead.

Edmonton did get a goal on a play that should have been whistled dead because the puck was hit with a high stick, but that's no excuse for how the game ended. Edmonton entered the zone with a little over a minute to go, 1 on 4, and the wings couldn't clear the puck out of the zone, and apparently they forgot how to play Defense and the Oilers scored an easy goal to win the game.

Go ahead Ali, your team beat mine. Gimme your best shot