Baby, It's COLD Outside!

Waking up is never easy, but when it is THIS frigid, even a house with heat betrays what lies outside. It’s DARN cold out there-and this permeates the inside of the Moore household, too.

In order to save fuel, we keep the upstairs heat off-except to take the chill off as we head to bed. We have oil-fired baseboards downstairs and electric heat upstairs. So, after a night sleeping under a MOUNTAIN of covers, that first foray out of bed is tough! The shower can’t get hot enough fast enough—and you never saw anyone dry themselves off so fast upon exit.

While Northern New England is getting hit hard, what we have seems like NOTHING when compared to the Midwest, where double-digit below zero temps are being reported—BEFORE the wind chill is factored in.

If you too are suffering from the cold temps, the following video clip should warm you up…it is of a guy swimming AT THE NORTH POLE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1szqfXouPOk

Enjoy this idiot and realize that you are warmer than he is regardless of your locale.

If you’d like this blog delivered to your inbox daily, just e-mail me below and let me know! (FREE!)

Tim.moore@citcomm.com


Stay warm!

American Idol Is Back....Again!

Hard to believe the EIGHTH season of American Idol began on Fox last night! Certainly every show has its run—and then becomes old hat…but it seems like Idol is gearing up for another big year.

Never mind that most of the past winners—and some of the runners-up have enjoyed tremendous commercial success. American Idol is that unique mix of the best and worst that vocal chords have to offer!

Now, I'm not a HUGE fan, but I do watch occasionally-and the best time of the season is right now, when we see (and hear) the auditions of the truly horrible. As I mentioned on the air, it’s my belief that none of these off-key, pitchy, forget-the-lyrics and destroy the tune contestants are under any illusion that they will win. Rather, their mission is to be SO weird, SO bad, SO annoying that they will make it to TV. While it may be cruel to laugh at these folks (since any one of them sings better than me), I am truly entertained more by the crappy singers than the good ones.

The new judge (Kara DioGuardi) is a nice twist to the familiar trio of Randy, Paula and Simon. I’m looking for some fireworks between the two women, since it is rumored that Kara is poised to take Paul’s place next season.

Here is a clip of the Kansas City auditions(promo video) which drives home how incredible the journey is for the eventual winner, from neophyte audition victim to that year’s American Idol—in this latest case, David Cook:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ1MtHBkthg


It should be fun again this year to watch it all unfold!
If you would like my blog delivered to your e-mail INBOX daily, just let me know by e-mailing me below-no charge!

Tim.moore@citcomm.com

The Mom Song

Maybe I should save this for Mother’s Day, but I just can’t wait. Although it has been out for awhile, I forgot about “The Mom Song”—until someone e-mailed it to me. My own mother will celebrate her 85th Birthday this Friday in a nursing home in Virginia. Although she never spoke MANY of the words in this video, I post this as a salute to HER—and to my wife Peggy, who essentially runs our family.

A mother’s work is NEVER done…and this funny tribute drives it home. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM


If you’d like to receive my blog in your INBOX daily, just let me know via MY e-mail below:

Tim.moore@citcomm.com

Don't Anger The Plowguy

I won’t give my address out—since that might make my situation worse. What is my situation, you ask?

I believe that I have a passive aggressive city plow truck driver.

It started a year ago-when I had a disabled minivan in front of my house. As such, the plow had to go AROUND the car and then resume plowing. For this inconvenience to my valued city employee, he then made a point of really laying it on thick in front of my driveway.

Really? Yes, really. The bank in front of MY driveway is twice the height of my neighbors. Coincidence? Maybe if that happened once or twice….but EVERY TIME?

It’s true…the end of my driveway is constantly a WALL of snow and ice. Oh my aching back!

I can understand the plow driver’s frustration, but like the postal worker who bitches that there is a wall of snow blocking him from our mailbox, there are some things beyond my immediate control!

Perhaps the driver’s animosity towards me stems from the early morning when I had JUST cleared the end of my driveway to leave the house—when I saw the big truck looming at the top of my street. I actually stood out in the street, waving my arms to have the plow guy pass my house without dropping the blade. No way. With a big smile on his face, he lowered that plowblade and drove hard to the right, erasing an hour’s work in about 5 seconds!

Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the work of the city plowing crew. Just keep in mind that a car in the street may not be our intentional way of making your life tougher than it is. Maybe…just MAYBE…..there is more to the story. As for me, I’ll be poppin’ the Advil and heading out again to scrape, lift and toss!If you’d like my blog in your e-mail inbox each day for free, just e-mail me and let me know-I’d be happy to forward it!
Tim.moore@citcomm.com

Blogstipation

The above term is not used in front of children or small animals. Not generally for mixed company of any kind and hard to weave casually into cocktail party conversation.

Blogstipation is the condition that was formerly known as “writer’s block”. Updating for the web-savvy crowd that expects sheer excellence daily from a blog (surely not THIS one), it may simply refer to having all these great ideas, but no coherent way to spew them onto paper---or digital doc.

I am regularly afflicted with this embarrassing condition, but today’s poor excuse for a blog is simply a lack of time. An all-day business conference on the web-followed by my radio show has prevented me from the pearls of wisdom and humor you have come to expect. (insert sarcastic laugh here)

Anyway, I hope to see you at Top Furniture in Gorham, NH tomorrow (Saturday the 10th) from 11-2 as we broadcast live on 94.9 WHOM.

Have a terrific weekend!BTW, if you’d like this blog (such as it is) land in your in-box daily, just click on the link below and e-mail me! It would be my pleasure-and honor!tim.moore@citcomm.com

Eating Right in 2009

One of my resolutions for the new year is to “eat right”. The very wording of this pledge implies that I am now eating “incorrectly”. It’s not like I’m stuffing food into my EAR! (now THAT would be eating incorrectly)

Eating “healthier” seems to sum it up better. What are the things I love? Butter is almost at the top of the list. I am also fond of chips…ANY chips. Potato chips were designed by the devil to keep me watching football on TV for hours on end. I love peanut butter—which I think is good for you, but not in the quantities I consume it. I love the raw material of peanut butter too---peanuts!!!! Oily cocktail peanuts are best, but dry roasted are cool, as are honey roasted, glazed, candied, beer nuts…you name it!. If I had a peanut allergy, I would have been dead in kindergarten.

I adore fast food. Although I don’t go everyday, this may be the hardest habit to curtail. Why? Because I don’t see fast food as “unhealthy”. Nutritionists haven’t been to a fast food restaurant in decades and don’t know that menus at all of them have been overhauled. Why is a cheeseburger from, say, McDonald’s any worse than one that I make at home? First of all, the home burger will be A LOT larger than I need. I read the fast food Nutritional Facts menus—and I must say that I truly believe that many of the meals I order from my car window are healthier than some of the stuff I would prepare for myself at home!

Pizza! Spaghetti! Steaks! Mashed potatoes, with gravy! Ice Cream, cake…PANCAKES!!! Quick, someone get me to Denny’s!! I need a Grand Slam Breakfast!

Ahem….sorry about that….I’ll re-set that resolution to start…..well….tomorrow.

If you’d like to receive the Tim Moore blog in your INBOX daily, just click the link below (my e-mail) and let me know! It’s free-and I’d be happy to personally forward it to you daily!

Tim.moore@citcomm.com

Got anything to eat? I’m starving.

18 Years...Hey, I'm Legal!!!!

Hard to believe that it was 18 years ago TODAY that little old me, your genial host Tim Moore first landed at 94.9 WHOM!

Hired as the Program Director, I started doing the afternoon show on January 7, 1991. My son was not quite 2 years old and my wife Peggy was pregnant with my daughter Christina.

Fast forward (and it HAS been fast!) to 2009…my “little boy” is a strapping 6’4” college sophomore, my beautiful daughter Christina will graduate from Portland High School this year—and a “new” addition since, young Kevin will turn 9. My lovely wife still looks like she did 18 years ago…..ME? Not quite.

After doing the PM Drive show, I moved to mornings (the original “More (Moore) Music Morning”), came off the air except for weekends and fill –in from 1995 until late last year. Now, full circle, here I am back in afternoons.

So much has changed—the music, the technology, streaming the WHOM signal around the world, not to mention moving our studios from Congress Street to Warren Ave. to One City Center. Three different owners and I am still around. It has been a great ride!

I remember telling my wife that this job might only last 6 weeks—after all this IS radio. I am fortunate to still be here, working with terrific people everyday-I am truly privileged to be on the air broadcasting to YOU each day!

If you would like to receive this blog in your in-box daily (free!), just e-mail me:

Tim.moore@citcomm.com

Cheers!

Ohio State Football Is Painful

First of all, this blog is not really about football, per se.

It is more about how people (mostly men) get wrapped up in their various sports teams to the detriment of everything around them…like their families. And their self respect.

I was guilty last night, as I witnessed another bowl game disappointment-my alma mater Ohio State fell to the Texas Longhorns in the Fiesta Bowl 24-21.

Never mind that the game was close when Texas was favored to blow the Buckeyes off the field. Never mind that OSU had a 4 point lead with just over two minutes to go and somehow allowed their opponent to drive the length of the field to score with only seconds left. Never mind that the Ohio State team, which was embarrassed in each of the last two years in the National Championship Game (by Florida and LSU respectively) has been the butt of jokes for two years (BCS stands for “Buckeyes Can’t Score!”).
All of these facts don’t matter. What matters is that I somehow still CARE!

What is it about sports that we men wrap up our self esteem into how well our TEAM does on the field? Crazy, isn’t it? Even my wife will tell you that I’m better than I used to be, but that’s little consolation when I am screaming at the TV. Hide the children! Protect the dog!

When will we ever learn? When our team wins, we boast, “WE beat so-and-so”. However, when the squad we’re rooting for drops the contest, the removal of our own affiliation starts immediately: “THEY totally screwed up”

As the saying goes, “Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan”

I feel like an orphan. Maybe next year…GO BUCKS!!! ( but get rid of the coach!)

If you’d like to receive my blog in your e-mail inbox daily (FREE!), just click on the link below (my e-mail) and let me know..I will personally forward my missives to your INBOX daily!

Tim.moore@citcomm.com

Thanks!

A Brand New Year!

A fresh start! Renewed energy and unlimited possibilities! I’m wearing my new Christmas sweater! I’ve put away my new gifts and taken down the Christmas tree!

There is something about a brand new year….the calendar is blank-a great metaphor for the “clean slate” outlook….lots of open spaces to fill in with new and exciting activities!

Do I have enough exclamation points? !

As I came into work today, I decided to work out next door at the Bay Club here at One City Center. Certain I would come into direct contact with what I call the “New Year’s Resolution Brigade”, I was frankly surprised to see only the usual faces. Those who made a decision to “get fit in ‘09” apparently are putting it all off until NEXT Monday!

Whatever your resolutions for the new year, here’s hoping you make them happen! There is actually a “fresh start” each day, so you have a daily opportunity to improve.

I am a fan of the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen, which, loosely translated means “constant and never-ending improvement”. Say you want to improve your performance in any area in the coming year. If a 50% improvement is desired, that can seem OVERWHELMING. Well, how about a 1% improvement? If, each day, you can improve your performance by only a percentage point, how many days would it take to reach 50%? If you answered 50 (which would in and of itself be a reasonable amount of time), you’d be overstating things, since on day two, a one percent improvement is now defined on the existing performance level (or 101%, since you grew a percentage point on Day 1). The answer is then 41 days—or about 8 work-weeks---you would then reach your goal for 2009 in TWO MONTHS!! Excellent! Like compounding interest, the improvement builds upon itself.

Take 2009 by the horns and make it yours! Good luck!

If you’d like to receive my daily blog in your e-mail inbox, just click the link below and e-mail me! It is absolutely free—and since I will be doing it personally each day, I guarantee that your e-mail address will NOT be forwarded for use by anyone else!

Tim.moore@citcomm.com

Thanks!

New Year's Toned Down Celebration

Is it just me-or are we moving away from the huge New Year’s celebrations of the past?

Maybe it’s an age thing, since I certainly see the millions of idiots on TV shoehorned into Times Square and places like that to get intoxicated publicly, wear silly hats and glasses and generally make fools of themselves at midnight.

The last few years, I have enjoyed the New Year quietly, staying at home worrying about my teenagers, who were out doing…well…hopefully none of the above.

This year, my wife and I enjoyed the company of my mother-in-law (watch it! No jokes needed here-she’s terrific) and another couple who are our closest friends. There were munchies, there was beer and wine, but no party hats, noisemakers (if you disregard the dog) or 2009 fake eyeglasses.

There used to be “New Year’s Portland”, “First Night Portsmouth”-and the like, but the fear of drunk drivers and safety issues have mostly curtailed many of these activities.

We spent the evening watching ESPN College Football…and then, a couple of driving idiots. One attempted to flip a truck a full 360 degrees and land on all four wheels—he made the flip, which is saying something, since last time he tried it, he landed on his roof and broke more bones than he has brains. Although this time he failed to land upright and drive off (which he considered a complete failure), he survived—which I think his wife considered a success (although I’m not entirely sure)

The Main Event at the same location in Las Vegas involved a motorcycle rider, who was attempting a 2-part stunt:

1) Drive up a ramp a leap to the top of the replica Arch d’ Triumphe (sp?)—if he didn’t splatter into the side or fly completely over it to a gory death on the other side, he would:
2) Jump OFF the Arch (96 feet up) to another ramp.

This crazy nut was successful, although he seriously injured his hand on the part 2 landing. There I was, drinking a beer and thinking that I would start the new year off witnessing a death-a senseless one at that. Luckily, this fool lived to jump another day-which he will surely do.

The most dangerous thing I did on New Year’s Eve was to use a corkscrew without protective gear…living on the EDGE!!!

If you would like to receive the Tim Moore daily blog in your e-mail INBOX daily, simply e-mail me below—I would be happy to do so personally-at zero cost! Thanks!tim.moore@citcomm.com


Happy New Year!