December 29,2003

Hey Everybody

   I hope everyone had a Happy Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanza/ Festivus. And I hope you are looking
forward to your New Year. I will be working New Year's Eve till 12:30, then I may hit one of the bars
around the city. Failing that, I'll hit KC Moore's. Of course you may see me sitting in a park with a 40
dogg.
    Anyway, I also wanted to let you all know that on Wednesday afternoon at around 3 PM (note: I said
AROUND 3 PM, Bernadette) I will be sending out my annual awards, for Woman of the Year and Nerd of
the Herd, plus a Year in Review special. So keep your eyes open for that.
Also want to wish Danielle a Happy Birthday (Monday)
That's about all I feel like writing, here is a Weekly Mail Repeat from December 2, 2002:

Weekly Mail
December 2, 2002

Hey Pass the Aspirin

       I knew that with the crew assembled and the location of it, that the party for Patti-Ann's birthday was
going to be insane.  So many people actually made it out. They gave us a great deal. 40 bucks got you
an open bar till 12 AM. The place was packed, but we had our own little section, complete with chips and
dip and other hors'dourves. There was a poster board of Patti-Ann photos that ranged from when she
was a baby till just a couple of weeks ago. My personal favorite was the cake with Patti-Ann's picture on
it. That was Mary's idea. A very nice touch.
              Amongst the guests were Joann's sister Susan (who makes a mean baked ziti) Amy (whose e-
mail address I need) Michelle (who I met for the first time) Vinny Mac showed up with John McGovern. I
also ran into some guys from high school, the crew I went to my reunion with. Greg Hearn said to me "Yo
that girl Nichole was asking for you." The stalker from the Irish Circle. I needed her walking in like I
needed a sledgehammer to the stomach. Thankfully she didn't show up.
       It was a slammin party and everybody semmed to have fun.
             
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My personal highlight for the rest of the weekend was the welcome I got from little Brendan when I went
to pay him a visit Friday night. He laughed, clapped his hands and crawled over to me. My own family is
never that happy to see me.
       Wednesday night was another booze fest. I had some drinks with coworkers then met Karl, Ray and
Auggie at Shelley's. The usual gang was there, including McGrath & Frankie, Gary & Ann Marie, Ed &
Bernadette, and my sister and Steve. Then we went across to see the crew at Donovan's. The night is a
big blur after Shelley's. Oh well, at least this year I could sleep late. Thanksgiving was in Queens this year
and not in Poughkeepsie, so that meant I got to sit and watch the Magic Garden Reunion on Channel 11.
I had been alerted to this by Mary's friends Rob and Sheila. And I'm not ashamed to admit I watched the
whole thing.
       Thanksgiving was mellow and so was Friday night. I needed to rest up for the big party.

News Item: More Terrorist Attacks
       On Thursday, there were three terrorist attacks. In Kenya, a bomb went out at a Jewish run resort
killing 15 people. A shootout at an Israeli polling booth killed 6 more. But the scariest attack was the one
in which no one was hurt. That was the missile attack on an airplane leaving Kenya for Tel Aviv. The
missiles missed their target, but this brings new concerns. If Al-Qaeda has these capabilities, what's to
say they won't be able to use them here in America?
       Another thing that surprised me was that this was the first time that Al-Qaeda is suspected of
attacking Israel, though Osama Bin-Laden has been lumping Israel in with the U.S. and Britain for years.
Up until now, the support he's given the Palestinians has been verbal. Now there is evidence that he's
supporting them with weapons and money. The only good thing that may come out of this is that maybe
with all the ducks lined up in a row, maybe it will be easier to track down and destroy these groups.

NFL 2002
The Giants dim playoff hopes got much dimmer with their heartbreaking loss to the Titans. The Steelers
held on to beat the Jags. The Dolphins lost to the Bills and the Jets play in Oakland Monday night.

Britney Spears, and Jenna and Barbara Bush all turned 21 last week. Let's toast them with some
marguritas

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Patti-Ann's birthday marks the time of year where radio stations damn their formats and inundate us with
Christmas songs. Everybody from Perry Como to Elvis Presley to Snoop Doggy Dogg has a Christmas
song. And there's no escape either. Whether it's Z-100 or Lite FM they're playing Christmas music. The
people I feel sorriest for are the people who work in stores, who have the music playing over the
loudspeakers over and over again. No wonder they're such grouchy f-ckers.
       As a public service, Weekly Mail is presenting it's top 5 Christmas songs of all time. Feel free to
disagree, but it's a tough list to argue with

5) Blue Christmas-Elvis-Actually there's a version by Porky Pig that's much better, but this is Elvis at his
pre war best, before like Porky, he became an overweight gravy sweating pig.

4) Wonderful Christmastime- Paul McCartney- This is a typical McCartney song from the 70's, sappy,
harmless and fun. This song was playing over the loudspeakers at the petting zoo where we had our
pictures taken during Ray and Maureen's wedding.

3) Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer-  The novelty of this song had worn off, but after hearing Bing
Crosby sing White Christmas over and over again, it's a welcome diversion.

2) Happy Christmas (War is Over) John Lennon & Yoko Ono- A cynic might find it hypocritical that a
newsletter that calls for the annihilation of certain Middle Eastern countries (like Iraq and Afghanistan)
would rate a song that calls for peace this high. But this song with the Harlem Boys choir in the
background, is a Christmas classic. Try listening to it on December 8th without a chill going down your
spine.

And number 1)
Do They Know It's Christmastime? Band Aid- Again a song calling for aid to countries that I couldn't give
two sh-ts about, but still a great song, very well put together. This song is such a classic, that Jamesy
sometimes plays it
In July.

There are a ton of birthday's this month. Patti-Ann (Tuesday) kicks things off. Weekly Mail wishes her a
very happy day. (It's a big one folks)

That's all from here. It was cool seeing you all last week.
Have a Great Week
Bill