‘Twas the night of Thanksgiving…
And all through the home
I was looking for my car keys,
My wallet and phone…
The stores in my city
Were lit up in the night…
Bringing shoppers in early
To trample and fight.
And up from my credit cards
There arose such a clatter.
If we’re broke one day sooner
What does it matter?
Happy Cashgiving… -Brian
The Great Get-Out… The Escape actually started early here in the Northeast. Roads have been packed since last Friday. I think car dealers are just putting their left over supply on I-95 and leaving there for the rest of us to park behind…
I will try to get some stuff up here later today, but first I have to go out there and adventure-drive a bit on the highways…
THE VOICE COOKS UP HIS MAIN COURSE… here is a 
pre-Thanksgiving dish for you… The Voice has whipped up some hot picks for the long four day weekend… including the NFL, College Football, the UFL, boxing, words of wisdom… and of course, the CHEERLEADERS… read The Voice, click (here)… or just click on “SPORTS PICKS” on the right…
SEE… THE VOICE… and if you are too bloated to read this weekend, check out The Voice’s picks on video… visit DoingItLocal.com…
You have to love Thanksgiving week… three days of work spent mostly making plans about either getting out of town… or avoiding relatives who are coming to town. This is also the week when everyone starts blaming the holidays for their year-round flabby waistlines… Yup, can’t stop eating during the holidays… Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and all the way to Memorial Day and then it starts again.
I went to The Store the other day, and I mention it without being specific just in case they are looking for me… I wanted to buy a pump bottle of anti-bacterial handsoap because it will save my life from the dangers of either Swine Flu or shaking hands of parents with kids. I have a pump bottle in my bathroom already, one of those ones you pour liquid soap into, but the stupid pump has never operated correctly. I have to pump it 30 or 40 times before it starts to work, and frankly, I just didn’t want my neighbors hearing that sound a couple of times a day. They would talk.
So, I went to The Store to buy a one-time pump bottle of soap… I went to one of the bargain stores where the word “soap” is sometimes spelled wrong on the bottle, and the liquid soap itself comes from a foreign land where it may have once been sitting in a dumpster outside a medical lab labeled with a skull and crossbones. But…with a little perfume… and a picture of fruit and flowers on the front… it’s on sale for half the price of expensive grocery store prices.
So… I wanted to smell what I was buying before I buy it. I’m really not the type of guy who should smell like lavender. I want to be clean, but I want to smell like weeds or dirt… guy stuff. I was hoping they would have soap with a picture of a hamburger or fireworks, but no luck. The next best thing was coconut… which to me says Pina Colada… but the pump part of the bottle was pushed down inside the bottle… however… with a little bit of a twist and a pull, it popped up to working position. I gave it a sniff, it was ok.. but I wanted to look around some more… so I tried to close the pump back to where it was. Which means (I thought) I would have to push the pump back into the bottle. No, it doesn’t. That only successfuly launched a big squirt of liquid soap down my hand, my arm, and onto the floor.
You would think that one pump like that would tell me that was not the correct way to close the bottle. No, it wasn’t. That part of my brain that said “Just put it back on the shelf” was shouted down by the guy side of my brain that said “Try it again, but this time try harder”… Five or six pumps (and squirts) later, I finally did just put it back on the shelf, my hand and arm covered with soap. And, maybe, but I’m not saying definitely (for legal purposes) the shelf as well. And the shelf below it. And the one below that. And maybe the floor. Then (again, not definitely), I walked to the towel department to feel how soft the 2009 towels are… and how absorbent they could be. I’m happy to say… they were quite soft and absorbent, and I understand some of them now… you can buy pre-soaped… from That Store.
THAT PERSON IN A COMA MAY BE LISTENING… a man in Belgium who was in a coma for 23 years… says he heard everything that was going on around him, but just couldn’t respond… story, click (here)… there is another medical condition that resembles that… it’s called “a hangover”…
Happy Friday… The Voice has checked in today with his usual soon-to-be-proven-correct sports picks for the weekend. For entertainment purposes only, thank you. Check out his picks at SPORTS PICKS on the right, or just click (here)… and don’t forget to check his video picks at DoingItLocal.com later today…
FREAKY CONNECTICUT WEATHER… the second half of November and it’s sunny and near 60 here for a few days… I’m not complaining… this is the baseball weather we didn’t get in May and June… even the insects are still flying around…
USUALLY… usually the fruit flies in my kitchen are gone by now… fruit flies are my burden and plague for trying to eat healthy and having a lot of fruit in the house… someone told me to try wiping my bananas with vinegar… I tried it and that is as close to being an Army doctor that I ever will be… and it didn’t work. The fruit flies seemed to enjoy the vinegar as a nightcap…
FLORIDA, THE LAND OF UNENDING COMEDY… last week I didn’t get much of a chance to contribute material to BrianSmithRadio.com… and wouldn’t you know the whole staff is on vacation. My friend Dan in Florida called just to make sure I wasn’t dead. He also sent me some of the funny news in Florida (which like Texas and California, seems to be on the list of Hilarious and/or Heinous Crime States)… here is one about a St. Petersberg, Florida man who called 911 and used it for what appears to be a phone-sex call… click (here)… hey, I guess everyone’s definition of an emergency is different…
For more daily headlines and events from the Connecticut, NYC area, check out DoingItLocal.com
LOCAL SPORTS NOTE: TONIGHT… BIG COLLEGE BASKETBALL NIGHT… TRIPLEHEADER AT THE ARENA AT HARBOR YARD… The Connecticut 6 Classic… after this year it will be at the Mohegan Sun Arena… 3 games… doors open at 4:30… Sacred Heart vs Yale at 5:30p… Fairfield vs. Sacred Heart at 7:30p… and Hartford vs. Quinnipiac at 9:30p… adult tickets $12, student tickets and kids $5… more info, click (here)…
and hey… Brian Smith will be your announcer… stop by and say hello…
and while we are on sports…
THE VOICE was up late last night finishing up his picks for this week… he almost missed opening time for The Prognosticator Cafe and Grill this morning, but he was there by 5am making the pancakes and eggs… check out all his predictions… The NFL… College Football… The UFL… NASCAR… Boxing… and of course, CHEERLEADERS… click on SPORTS PICKS on the right, or just click (here)… and check out THE VOICE on video for NFL week #10… at DoingItLocal.com…
Coming up… The Voice’s predictions… are they accurate?
Here is The Voice in his own words…
THE VOICE is here with his weekend predictions… and if you are new to the World of THE VOICE… he’s not just football picks and cheerleaders… oh no, buddy… he has weekly wisdom and movie quotes and insights that go far beyond your wildest ESPN expectations… check out this week’s column from THE VOICE… with more on THE YANKEES… NASCAR… BOXING… COLLEGE AND PRO FOOTBALL… and of course, yes, CHEERLEADERS… click on “SPORTS PICKS” on the right, or just click (here)…
AND DON’T FORGET… THE VOICE ON VIDEO… check out our weekly video visit with THE VOICE… this week we return to GIPPER’S restaurant in Milford to watch EL VOCE dish out his predictions fresh and free… go to DoingItLocal.com to see this week’s main course…
PEANUT’S LOOK-A-LIKE CONTEST… Charles Schulz’ family is putting a Charlie Brown and friends look-a-like contest together to celebrate the Peanuts 60th 
Anniversary… the contest idea is good… but honestly, I can’t make any sense of it… I wish they had labeled the photographs a bit better… take a look, click (here)…
CHARLIE BROWN… JAPANESE MANGA STYLE… I just ran across this… what would the Peanuts gang look like if drawn by Japanese anime artists?… click (here)…
DECATUR, ILLNOIS: 101 YEAR OLD MAN BUYS CHEVY “TRANSFORMER” CAMARO… would you believe the car dealership actually checked to make sure he was ok to drive the 400hp car before they sold it to him?… he was, they did… story, click (here)…
Thanks for listening… have a good weekend… if you have any local events you think we should cover at DoingItLocal.com, email me…-Brian
THE VOICE predicted the Yankees would win the World Series back in the spring, before the first overpaid pitch was thrown… don’t forget to read THE VOICE’S weekend sports predictions every Friday here at BrianSmithRadio.com, and see THE VOICE at DoingItLocal.com… and now, from THE VOICE himself… here is THE VOICE…
Two days after the elections and has your life improved yet? Throw the bums out.
Congratulations Yankees fans. I wonder if anyone out on the West Coast even bothered to check the scores of this World Series (besides the gamblers).
The Yankees parade starts tomorrow at 11am in NYC… up the Canyon of Heroes and then to a meeting with Mayor for Life Bloomberg for the Keys to the City. Or in A-Rod’s case, the keys to Kate Hudson’s room at the Ramada. For info on the parade, from the New York Daily News, click (here)…
Shouldn’t Hideki Matsui know enough English by now to speak to the press on his own? All these years and all that money and no one on the staff could introduce him to a Berlitz or Rosetta Stone lesson he could listen to on his iPod? He’s still a great player, and always the one who will step up and single-handedly beat you, just like the Phillies found out last night. Then again maybe we all need a translator when we speak to the press. Or a lawyer. Or Kate Hudson.
OXFORD, OHIO: DRUNK MAN ARRESTED IN BREATHALYZER COSTUME… he was 18… driving drunk… and dressed as a breathalyzer… I’m sure it seemed like a great idea in the beginning of the night… story, click (here)… report from the Smoking Gun, including the police report, click (here)…
MORNING SHOW REUNION? Hey, I’ve got still more people asking me about a morning show reunion… Marylee is in… I’m hearing from people I haven’t talked to in a long time… I’ll continue to work on logistics… email me if you are interested…