catesta

They say we can expect 8-12 inches of snow here. A blizzard warning is in effect until Sunday.

I've not decided yet what entourage guy I want to be. Look Mean Guy Straighten Joe G's Tie Guy or Guy on Cell Phone But Not Talking to Anyone Guy ( do they still have these guys?)

haha Okay, I'm sold.

She was on Howard Stern a couple of months ago and definitely said she was no longer on the show.

Have a great day, Michael.

That was my thought as well. To the Org boys, can some of us be in your entourage? Congrats!

The answer to your question is, fuck no! I'm scared as hell of shit like that. We got into the tracking stuff so as we could catch people perhaps cheating the clock, or speeding and make sure our customers were being serviced as per contract. It also helped planning for routes and schedules and track areas serviced for reports. For those employees that took cell phones home I allowed them to turn off the fuction. Even though it was my phone and all, I really could give a shit what they were doing on their own time.

Finally! The new season will be starting March 12th. I'm not sure what to expect, but something tells me it's going to be major. Some speculation that someone else (not just Ray) close to Tony flips. Maybe it's Tony himself. Any thoughts or predictions?

I'm actually amazed how few people do the fast food thing. What was it PFunk Jazz said about the crew here and junk food? He may have been right about the porn, but he was wrong about the food thing.

Wow! I've been using a GPS tracking service (Nextel Ulocate) for the business for a couple of years now. We were actually one of the customers they used as a pilot program. It's amazing how accurate it is. It has helped in a major way for mapping, route verifications, and to catch the occasional employee screwing off.

There's money in them fast food restrents.

I was going to post something deep like that.

Things have changed. It's been cold all week. Looks like Saturday we will get the biggest snow storm of the year.

rhetorical question: and where is he today?!? The same place Kanye West and some of the other recipients from lastnight will be in a couple of years. Although Chuck D still gets respect.

Other than shitty performance with Jamie Foxx. Sorry.

I didn't see any of the show, but heard the awful clips on the radio this morning. That was Mary J Blige doing her screaming act with Bono. I think she is supposed to be playing Nina Simone in a future movie.

More quacks than not.

I had one over 10 years ago when I was having some fucked up headaches. The test for me was negative, but my doctor has since died of complications from a brain tumor.

I try and stay away from most if not all fast food chains. However, sometimes when you travel there may be very limited options. With that said every once in a while I may hit some place like McDonalds.

BADOOM...CHING!

Radio conglomerates target of `payola' probe By MICHAEL GORMLEY Associated Press Writer February 8, 2006, 4:23 PM EST ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said Wednesday he has subpoenaed many of the nation's largest radio conglomerates in his "payola" investigation of major artists and songs that he claims got air time because of payoffs by recording companies. "A lot of the major songs have been implicated in this and it showed how pervasive the payola infrastructure had become," Spitzer told The Associated Press. "Probably many of the songs that were beneficiaries of the payola scheme would have succeeded without it, but certainly payola became part of the promotional structure and was integral to the game to get songs to the top. Major artists, major songs were sent up the charts through improper payments to buy spins on the air that translated into sales." He said the victims of payola are listeners who didn't hear music based on objective criteria, including popularity, and artists who can't get their big break because they had no player in the payola scheme. Spitzer is investigating the largest nine radio corporations in a scheme that involved Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real" and John Mayer's song "Daughters." Songs by other artists are also being examined, including those by Jessica Simpson, Celine Dion, Maroon 5, Good Charlotte, Franz Ferdinand, Switchfoot, Michelle Branch and R.E.M. The radio companies that have received subpoenas control thousands of stations nationwide, including Clear Channel Communications Inc., Infinity which now operates as CBS Radio, Citadel Broadcasting Corp., Cox Radio Inc., Cumulus Broadcasting Inc., Pamal Broadcasting, and Entercom and ABC. "Cox Radio has cooperated fully with Attorney General Spitzer's investigation," said Bob Neil, president and CEO of Cox, in a prepared statement. "Years before this investigation began, Cox Radio was the first radio group to terminate all relationships with independent record promoters to avoid any suggestion or appearance of `pay-for-play.' We continue to be a leader in our industry on this issue." The other companies had no immediate comment. "Our policy couldn't be clearer," said Andy Levin of Clear Channel. "We have zero tolerance for pay-for-play. Any employee who violates that policy faces disciplinary action up to and including dismissal." Jason Finkelberg, general manager of Pamal Broadcasting based in Beacon, N.Y., said he knows of no payola being practiced. He said music company representatives take radio personnel to lunch, but there is no cash or gifts exchanged at his company or others he's worked in. He said a couple decades ago record company "junkets" were provided to radio executives, but that has ended. "We never accepted anything in exchange for air play," he said. "It's not something we'd ever do ... we base it entirely on its merit." The practice has evolved but appears to be have been underway in its current form since the mid- to late 1990s, said Terryl Brown Clemons, assistant deputy attorney in charge of the payola investigation. She said the practice was found across the spectrum of music, from Top 40 to urban to rock, she said. Artists and writers are not targets, she said. In fact, they have supported the probe and provided several complaints that assistant investigators. News that Spitzer was widening his probe into alleged payola was reported Tuesday by the ABC and CBS networks. Last year Warner Music Group Corp. agreed to pay $5 million to settle its part of the investigation and Sony BMG Music Entertainment agreed to pay $10 million. A 1960 federal law and related state laws bar record companies from offering undisclosed financial incentives in exchange for airplay. The practice was called "payola," a contraction of "pay" and "Victrola," the old wind-up record player. In the 1950s and '60s, most payola involved direct payments of cash to DJs. Today, payola is in the form of "direct bribes" to radio programmers, including airfare, electronics, iPods, tickets to top sporting events and concerts; as well as payments to radio stations for expenses and for use in contests. Spitzer said companies had hired "independent promoters" to act as conduits for payments to radio stations and pay for "spin programs" to increase airplay of some recordings that are supposed to be based on popularity among listeners.

I thought Tod was in Mass, which is closer to me, unless he's out West[!] a lot, then he's closer to you. I wasn't expecting a personal visit from him. I just meant to check in here and post a little.

Have a great day, Tod. Stop by and see us sometime.

Thanks for that.

The original big wheel.