On-air links for today...

Maroon 5's song that was completed with fan help has been finished! The final song will be available as a free download on Coca Cola's website starting Friday (Coca Cola was the sponsor for this experiment). Here's the link for that.



I'll also be talking about one of Five For Fighting's songs being used in a NASA video! John Ondrasik has got to be psyched about this...

Captain America movie trailer...

Some movies are meant to be seen in theaters. After seeing the trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger, I think this is definitely one of those movies. A regular TV just wouldn't do this justice. Check it out...



Captain America: The First Avenger will be in theaters July 22nd!

Amazing Race's Phil Keoghan...

He's the "Philiminator" on Amazing Race, my favorite reality show. Phil Keoghan has hosted the US version of the show since it's start in 2001.

Amazing Race is now in it's 18th season! This season is subtitled "Unfinished Business" and features favorite teams from the past six seasons. It airs Sunday nights at 8pm Eastern time on CBS.

Earlier today, I talked to Phil. The first surprise for me: how to pronounce his name. I've messed this up constantly over the years. I always thought it was pronounced "kee-gan", but it's actually "ko-gan".

Phil talked about what goes on at the pitstops, the cameras focusing on things the contestants miss, the consequences of one of the crew helping the teams, and revealed some of his favorite teams. He also gave a suggestion if you want to be on the show and talked about the earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan.

Here's the full 9-1/2 minute interview (portions aired on Star 102.5).

And here's a bunch of links that go along with it...

Amazing Race - CBS website

Amazing Race - Season 19 Application Form (deadline very near - keep watching the CBS website for Season 20's casting call)

Phil Keoghan's No Opportunity Wasted (NOW) TV Series

The Ride - Phil's documentary on his 3,500-mile bike ride across the US

Red Cross website (to support disaster relief)

New Zealand Tourism

Red Riding Hood & other on-air links...

Red Riding Hood is now in theaters. I'm a huge fan of dark fairy tales, so this is one I think I want to see.

But I originally thought it was only going to be a dark retelling of the story. Then I heard it might be more like a "Twilight" version of the story focusing on a love interest between Red Riding Hood and a werewolf - that I wouldn't be interested in.

Aside from this short 15-second trailer, I haven't seen anything else about the movie as I'm trying to avoid having it completely spoiled. But I'd hate to bother with it if it's too much of a love story. If you've seen it, let me know what you think. If it sounds scary enough, I'll probably go see it sometime this week.



Here's a few other links to things I talked about on-air today...

Maroon 5 / Pepsi FaceBook page where you can help the group write their new song. And here's the website where it will happen.

Miley Cyrus going after a paparazzi this past week.

Sugarland video: Behind the scenes on their tour.

Pothole resolution...

Last weekend was not fun due to the giant pothole I hit that messed up my right tires (the picture is the pothole covered in ice). $550 in damage to my car thanks to hitting that pothole the town took their time fixing (and they won't help paying for it). In fact, thanks to a WBEN report this week, I learned that towns aren't responsible for potholes during the winter months at all.

I talked to someone from the Department Of Transportation about it (Brian Skok) and he told me it's just a way of life in western New York during the winter and it was just bad luck on my part. Nice, right? Well, I did get a response from someone else at the DOT and here's her apology for what happened and an explanation of why the DOT isn't responsible for these potholes...

From: Surdej, Susan (DOT)
Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2011 2:57 PM
To: Dave Debo
Subject: RE: MEDIA REQUEST Skok on Potholes

Dave,

Let me first apologize for the manner in which information may have been relayed to Mr. Anthony regarding his pothole claim. The Department of Transportation strives to provide excellent customer service with a positive attitude.

The information that should have been given to Mr. Anthony is that Section 58 of the State Highway Law specifically addresses the liability of the state for damages over the winter months. Highway Law states that “The state shall not be liable for damages suffered by any person from defects in state highways, except between the first day of May and the fifteenth day of November…” Essentially, the Courts have held that the State Highway Law limits the state’s liability for winter-related defects in the highway. Therefore, unfortunately, the claim for the pothole damage incurred by Mr. Anthony, even if it was reported, will therefore be denied.

The Department of Transportation continues to encourage motorists to report any potholes on state highways using 1-800-POTHOLE. We promise to get those reported potholes filled within three work days of notification unless inclement weather limits or prevents the repair. The Department will even respond back to the caller to them know that the repair has been made. Sometimes these repairs are not long lasting due to the continued freeze/thaw cycle over the winter months, even with the use of high performance asphalt cold patch mixtures, and may require a more permanent repair during the construction season.

I hope that this information provides you some background on pothole claims. If you have any other questions specifically regarding this claim, please feel free to contact our Regional Claims Coordinator, Marc Prentice at mprentice@dot.state.ny.us.

Thanks,

Susan

Guess that takes care of that. The picture to the right is the town fixing the pothole six hours after me and a bunch of others hit it.

I can't wait for that charge card bill to come next month. So much for my tax refund.

Melodifestivalen 2011!

The best music on the planet comes from Sweden. This year's Melodifestivalen CD proves that yet again. And don't disagree with me, because that's a battle you won't win. :)

Here's my favorites from this year's 32 tracks...











Here's some others with just the links to the YouTube videos...

The Hunter - Melody Club

Run - Anders Fernette

Something In Your Eyes - Jenny Silver

I Thought It Was Forever - Shirley's Angels

Popular - Eric Saade

7 Days And 7 Nights - Brolle

Elizabeth Hurley in Wonder Woman remake...

Pilot season has begun for the networks and the fates of those shows will be decided in May. This is one that I hope makes it to the fall schedule for NBC. Especially now that Elizabeth Hurley will be one of the villains in it (according to her at least).

I've been a fan of hers ever since she was The Devil in the 2000 movie Bedazzled. And that's huge for me, since there's very few movies I've actually liked and watched more than once...



So fingers crossed that this show happens. We'll know in a few months...