The headliners this year are Chieli Minucci, Ken Navarro, Nick Colionne, Mindi Abair, and Paul “Shilts” Weimar.  They will be backed up by Jay on keyboards, Rohn Lawrence on guitar, Dave Livolsi on bass, Trever Somerville on drums, and vocals by Lomon Andrews.

This will be my fourth SJFS.

More from Jay’s website:

The concert will be held Saturday 5/1/10 at the Parsons Complex located at 70 W. River St. Milford, CT 06460 and tickets for Smooth Jazz for Scholars are $40 each.  You can purchase Smooth Jazz for Scholars tickets here or by sending a check or money order payable to Smooth Jazz For Scholars, Inc. to P.O. Box 3723 Milford, CT, 06460.

Tickets purchased at the P.O. box between now and 3/17/10 will include 1 free Jay Rowe “Laugh Out Loud” CD plus 2 passes good for 4 people to see Rohn Lawrence (with Jay Rowe and Trever Somerville) at Rohn’s weekly Monday night show at the Lilly Pad at Toad’s Place, 300 York Street, New Haven, CT.  This offer does not apply to etix purchases.

Last night, I did the same for “Evening Jazz.”  Here’s how that came out:

See you Thursday at 7PM on WCWP.

2/16 UPDATE: I’ve been told there will be an automated jazz show tonight.  So, listen and prepare to be surprised.  I’m sure I will be.

The most significant snow began falling Wednesday afternoon:

My dad shoveled the driveway just as the snow intensified:

I shoveled as much of the driveway as I could early Wednesday evening.  Snow continued to fall:

My parents shoveled  the driveway Thursday morning with my sister and I shoveling for an hour in the early afternoon.  After I’d finished, I took these pictures:

At around 5PM, it was off to WCWP for Evening Jazz.  I shot these pictures as I arrived:

During the second hour, I shot a couple of self-timed pictures by mounting my camera on a mic stand:

Here’s how I sounded.

More snow is expected Monday night into Tuesday.  I hope it isn’t much.  Honestly, I’m ready for Spring.

Due to the blizzard conditions today and tonight, I have made the difficult decision to postpone tomorrow night’s “Evening Jazz.”  The playlist I originally made for tomorrow will be used next Thursday.

Tomorrow will be a day of shoveling for me.  I’ll be back with you on Tuesday night at 7:00 Eastern on 88.1 FM WCWP.  Fred Camin is slated for Monday night.

2/11 UPDATE: I shoveled for about an hour early last night.  Today, my parents shoveled what fell after I finished.  Then, my sister and I shoveled a bit more.  I’ll have a recap and pictures in a later post.

I just got word from my publisher that the book “Cause and Effects:  The Amazing Story Surrounding the ‘Perfect Showcase Bid’ on Television’s #1 Daytime Game Show” is available to buy online for pre-order.  The website is www.perfectshowcasebid.com.  Publisher is Langdon Press out of [Minnesota].

That perfect showcase bid led to an unenthusiastic reaction from host Drew Carey.  At the time, I didn’t understand why he reacted that way, but I defended him nonetheless (see the “Double Showcase winner” link):

I believe he was simply in stunned disbelief and shock.  Not everyone handles that situation by yelling and screaming.  Drew has had the yelling, screaming reaction before, but he is far from perfect.  If you want Drew to be wildly enthusiastic every time, you’re going to be dissapointed.  Clearly, many were dissapointed by this.  If you want to stop watching “The Price is Right” because Drew isn’t enthusiatstic enough for your taste, it’s your choice.  But there are plenty of people like me that support Drew and will continue to watch.

I now feel that Drew thought Terry was playing him and the TPiR staff like fools, the same way Michael Larson did on ”Press Your Luck” in 1984.  But I could be wrong.

“Cause and Effects” will showcase, pardon the pun, Terry’s side of the story.  On the book’s website, there is this introduction:

My name is Terry Kniess as in the guy who hit The Price Is Right Showcase on the nose — last done in 1973! That earned me a “double showcase!” Oh, and you pronounce Kniess like “niece”, as in ‘my niece hit The Price Is Right showcase just a few weeks after I did!’ But is this a simple story of incredible luck? Or is this the tale– as so many members of the press are asserting — of a diabolical scheme perpetrated by a family of evil geniuses? Well, it all starts with a dog.

My vote is ”a simple story.”

Terry is a retired meteorologist and has his own weather website.

2/10 UPDATE: Terry has supplied me with an excerpt from Chapter 15: “Pegging the Stranger Meter, or Just a Series of Coincidences?”:

If there is any reason to believe in a conspiracy theory, it’s because of the strange but true coincidences between the show she (my niece, Jodi) was on and the show I was on.  Let’s review:
 
1.  Her show aired exactly one month to the day after the one I was on.
2.  She sat in the same seat I did.
3.  Her fiancé, Tom, sat in the same seat as my wife, Linda.
4.  Both Jodi and I were among the first four contestants called to “Come on down.”
5.  Linda had to tell me my name was called.  Ton had to tell Jodi her name was called.
6.  She got up on stage with the third prize up for bid.  The same with me.
7.  We were both in the first Showcase Showdown.  The Showcase Showdown is when the contestants spin the big wheel at the end of the first half and second half of the show.
8.  Her first spin was $.95.  My first spin was $.90.

Thank you to all for visiting this blog.

11:04 PM UPDATE: There were 278 views today, a new one day record.

• Tampa, FL (two shows)
• N. Charleston, SC
• Norfolk, VA
• Pasadena, CA (two shows)

Actually, as I type, the early Pasadena show still has tickets available, but I doubt that will be true much longer.

The Norfolk show will be simulcast live in movie theaters across the United States.  For more information, check the Bold Fresh Tour website.

On the website, the tour is billed this way:

It’s time for the truth — straight up, whether you like it or not. Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck are teaming up and going on tour.
Your town may never be the same.

I will be at the Westbury show tomorrow night.  It’ll be the first time I’ve seen either O’Reilly or Beck in person.  It should be great.

I’ll update this post after the show.

1/23, 10:55 PM UPDATE: The show was excellent.

The start of it was delayed about 15 minutes because some radical protesters wouldn’t allow cars into the parking lot.  Traffic was held up during that time, resulting in a long stationary line of cars, including me and my dad, from the parking lot entrance to the Northern State Pkwy. exit ramps in both directions.  After the delay, the parking lot was full and attendants made us park in a neighboring lot.

Just as we got to our seats inside, the show began.  We were four rows from the stage and four seats from the aisle where Glenn and Bill walked to and from the stage.

Glenn came out first, dressed casually with a mic attached to his ear.  He spoke for 20 minutes.  After that, it was Bill’s turn.  I knew he was 6′4″, but I had no idea how tall that looked up close until tonight.  Bill was in a suit and tie and held a wireless mic.

Then, there was a 20-minute intermission, during which, I tried in vain to get to the concession stand because the lobby was packed.

Following the intermission, both Bill and Glenn sat in chairs and interviewed each other while the stage revolved.

There seemed to be more Glenn fans than Bill fans, but that’s okay.

I’m happy to report there weren’t any hecklers during the show.

1/25 UPDATE: Dave Marcus had his own recap yesterday in Newsday.  Bill replied to the recap tonight on “The O’Reilly Factor” in the Talking Points Memo:
FOXNews.com Video
FOXNews.com Transcript
BillOReilly.com Summary

The tour website links here for info on the movie theater simulcast.  It’s live this Saturday at 8PM Eastern with an encore replay next Tuesday at the same time.  Three Long Island theaters will carry the simulcast live: Port Washington Cinemas, Farmingdale Multiplex, and Island 16: Cinema de Lux in Holtsville.  Farmingdale Multiplex and Island 16 will also carry the encore along with Westbury Stadium 12.

1/26 UPDATE: The following viewer e-mails were read on “The Factor” tonight:

Bob DeFliese, Garden City, NY: “Bill, my wife and I attended the Bold Fresh tour show at Westbury and your talking points was spot on.  Newsday distorted what happened.  Neither you nor Beck made any political play for the Republican Party.  You were fair, entertaining, and informative.”

Bridget O’Shea Burns, West Springfield, MA: “Bill, my husband and I drove down to see the Bold Fresh show.  You and Beck have great on-stage chemistry and I was quite surprised how funny you guys were.”
Bill’s response: “Well, I appreciate the good review, Bridget.  Glad it was worth the trip.  By the way, the Bold Fresh show [in Norfolk, VA] is playing at nearly 500 movie theaters this coming Saturday night.  Check the theaters out on the website BoldFreshTour.com.  BoldFreshTour.com.”

Marissa Singer, Farmingville, NY: “O’Reilly, I know Beck teased you about wearing a suit during the show, but I thought you looked dashing.”
Bill’s response: (grinning): “Well, Beck is just jealous, Marissa.  We all know that.  Thanks for coming to see us.”

Thank you, Bill and Glenn, for such a great show.  Thanks also to those that have checked out this post after I linked to it in the comment thread for this post at Olbermann Watch.

1/27 UPDATE: Thanks further to those that were referred from Johnny Dollar’s Place.

1/29 UPDATE:

Tonight’s Talking Points Memo and At Your Beck & Call segment flashed back to last Saturday’s show at Westbury.

The Bold Fresh site has news regarding the Norfolk show tomorrow:

Our January 30 show has been postponed to Friday, May 21 due to inclement weather. January tickets will be honored in May with refunds available through February 6. Call 888-3-COXTIX for help.

As a result, the movie simulcast site said this:

On Saturday, Jan. 30, the Bold & Fresh Tour Fathom in-theater event will now be a delayed broadcast of the O’Reilly and Beck tour recorded in Tampa, Fla., on Friday, Jan.  29.  Due to the weather-related state of emergency declared by Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, the original Bold & Fresh tour date in Norfolk, Va., has been rescheduled, making a simulcast from Norfolk tomorrow evening impossible.  Not wanting to disappoint fans who purchased tickets to the Jan. 30 movie theater event, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, Fathom and participating theater circuits worked together to ensure Saturday’s theater event will still be held, using the production taking place in Tampa on Friday.

2/3 UPDATE: Excerpts from the simulcast Tampa show were shown Monday night on “The Factor”:

I’m hoping the simulcast is released on DVD or Blu-ray.

The show runs Monday through Thursday.  Mondays and Wednesdays are hosted by Fred Camin.

Listen and enjoy!

1/24 AM UPDATE: I promoted my “Evening Jazz” involvement in a thread at The Magic Island BBS.