November 9, 2003 Archives

Steffie and I usually watch SNL together. It's good to have her there because there are always some social references she needs to explain to me. To a lesser extent, I do the same, like with Bud Collins last night.

I saw SNL live March 11, 1978. The host was Art Garfunkel. It was less than memorable. I do remember having really bad sight lines and being disappointed.

Last night was the best show, so far, of this season. The host, Andy Roddick, was adequate. He seemed less than adept at sketch comedy, but very game - that counts for a lot.

There was a very funny Mary Poppins bit with Rachel Dratch early in the show and Horatio Sanz as straight/butch Rosie O'Donnell during weekend update, but the best bit of the show came near the end. The premise was a small time television station with huge, overpowering music that wouldn't quit and major technical problems on-the-air. Somehow, I felt I had lived that nightmare more than once.

Horatio Sanz is the breakout star of the current cast. He was good last year, but it's obvious that the writers have learned to tool bits toward his more physical comedy. I am surprised that he continues to giggle during sketches, as I was under the impression that Lorne didn't like or put up with that.

I read the excellent Tom Shales SNL book this past summer. It was a fast read. More importantly, the book was really a well edited compilation of interviews which explained everything I never understood or even questioned about the show.

A few weeks ago the antenna to my Motorola V60t cellular phone snapped off. It was under warranty... or so I thought. When Motorola opened the phone up, they found evidence of water on the circuit board. Of course, that was no part of the antenna problem. Still, they decided not to fix the phone and to declare it out of warranty.

Since that time, I have been using an older Motorola Startac. It's actually a nice phone, but analog. So, there's always a fair amount of static as I drive along. And, analog phones suck down battery power very quickly.

I had the snapped antenna from the digital phone on my desk, so today I tried a little experiment. With some crazy glue, I reattached the antenna housing to the housing of the phone. Guess what - it works!

Back to the Cingular store, where they re-enabled the digital phone, and I'm again, good to go.

I continue to hope there will be GSM reception at my house now that a new site has been turned on at Quinnipiac University, not very far away. Hopefully, within the next week or so, I'll find out.

I should be able to get a better plan with a new phone and more minutes for less money. Is this a great country or what?