Well it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything personal on this space. It’s been a busy first week of summer, but I’m ready to get back into the swing of things. The last thing I spoke about was Graduation Day a week ago today. I’m actually not finished yet with graduation as I’ll be going to a party of one of my students this evening. I’d better get ready to use my Spanish! Anyway, here’s what’s happened in the past week, my first week of summer vacation…

Atlantic City

On Tuesday I went to Atlantic City with my mom, my sister and her friend for three days. They’re the ones who first introduced me to the East Coast gambling mecca several years ago and ever since I like to go down there a couple of times a year. This is the first time I’ve gone with them since last summer and though I was apprehensive about it, the trip went well…with them anyway.

The recession has definitely hit AC hard, as evidenced by the appearance of the city itself and the non-payouts they’re sooo not giving away. Just about five short years ago, it seemed like the place was on the cusp of making it better than ever, with a new outlet center adding premiere shopping to its array of activities and building new casinos. The Sands was torn down a few years back and they were going to replace it with an all-new casino called the Pinnacle. For awhile there, billboards heralding the new place were literally everywhere, but since the recession hit hard, plans for the new state-of-the-art place were abandoned as evidenced by the removal of such signs.

Now I like to gamble…it can be fun, but I never go to Atlantic City thinking I’m ever going to win anything big. Of course winning money would be nice, but I’m happy if my losses are kept to a minimum. If I throw $20 into a slot machine and play with it for an hour, I’m satisfied, but it seems these days the casinos are still putting up all the bells and whistles to attract people yet they’re not paying out what they once did. A twenty dollar bill is gone in a flash, before the player ever knew what hit em’. None of us were winning anything for three days and we had to force ourselves to find other things to do to keep away from the “one-armed bandits.”

Looking around, it didn’t seem as if anybody was winning at any of the casinos. Oh sure, there are one or two hundred dollar ‘jackpots’ being paid out, but not much more than that. Of course, all this is being said from my own observations, and I could be wrong, but I do believe it to be true. Even some acquaintances of ours who we met for dinner said the same thing. They were losing fast and big, too. All this did for me was to put off for a long, long time my next trip there.

I mean, really, don’t these jackasses who run the place know that they’ve still gotta make some payouts so the people will come back? Even the comps they used to give out have dwindled to practically nothing. Sure, I still got a free room, but my mom had to pay up the nose for hers, and my so-called ‘cash and comps’ were either expired or close to nothing, and I had just gone there back in April.
Well, that’s enough of a rant about Atlantic City. Like I said, it’ll be a long while before I head back down there again, unless of course I fall into big money somehow, lol…

The Grove

Since I’m going to that graduation party tonight, I figured I’d take a trip to the Grove last night for some 4th of July Weekend fun. A whole crew of us is going tomorrow, but still I just can’t stay at home on a Friday night. Though the ferry schedule had changed and I was a bit confused, there was definitely a festive mood in the air from the moment I arrived at the ferry terminal. Everyone was in a good mood anticipating a fun evening. I paid my ticket and rode the top of the ferry on a gorgeous night, weather-wise.

All in all, it was a great night. Cherry’s was having a burlesque show and even though it was by girls for girls, I thoroughly enjoyed it! There were three pretty chicks doing all sorts of dance-skits to music and it was fun to watch. As always, there weren’t many dudes there, but at least the ones that were there were hot and friendly. There was this one guy, very cute and very tall, that was dancing around with everyone, including me. I learned from dancing with him that dancing with tall people makes me feel awkward, so I must remember that for my future guy-seeking endeavors, lol.

At one point in the evening, I was dancing on the side of the dance floor with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other, and this really big, kind of adorable dude named Kyle just grabbed me to dance with him. I had a lot of fun with him, dancing and singing along to Taio Cruz, Nicki Minaj and more, but I think he mistook my friendliness for something more. Not wanting to give him the wrong impression, I went off on my own every now and again and at one point he seemed very upset. I’m not sure if it was because I left him or something else, but I kind of think it had something to do with me...

Being the kind of person I am, I felt the need to go back over to him and make him feel better. We danced some more, which made him happy, but then he got a little too touchy-feely. After a couple of songs I knew I had to break away for good. It’s too bad because he was cool and I would’ve liked to maybe make friends, but it seems that when guys like one another they don’t want anything else but… It’s funny, but I couldn’t help but think of 'him' when I was thinking that last night. He said he wanted to remain friends, but I couldn’t handle it and look at where that got me. I guess I’m not that different than everybody else, huh?

And of course, as always I attract the straight women and the lesbians, ugh! There was this one woman who mistook a smile for I don’t know what, and for awhile there she was literally chasing me around the dance floor!

It was a shame the last ferry left so early, though, as Cherry’s was getting really crowded at that time. I don’t know why they would have such an early one (12:40) on a holiday weekend, but they did. Judging by the people who went over there on the same ferry as I, they were all staying for the weekend! Ah, one day!!!!

Well that’s all folks. Hopefully I’ll be posting regularly once again now that summer is officially here and my work has ebbed to a minimum. Now to get back to that Z-A Challenge, lol. As always, thanks for reading!

Here's a little snippet of what I hope will be a full video for J-Lo's song off of her new album "LOVE?" The song's called "Good Hit" and it is just soooo funky!!!!

Got that New York swagger, Miami base
Got my California looks on all up in your face
Midwest pimp type, Texas
Don't you want me to have your baby,
Don't you wish I was your boo



Pick up "LOVE?"...the whole album's slamming!



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Today is one of those Tuesdays that feels like Monday. That’s because in addition to having the whole week off last week, my school gave us an extra day, which is okay because we work more days than any other district on Long Island. So not only is Monday gone, but Tuesday as well and we’re only three days from the weekend. Hoorah!

Success and Gratitude

Once again, I am astonished at how well this blog is doing. Clearly my “Songs of the Day” posts are popular, and I’m happy for that since music is such an integral part of my life. As a deejay, I always had a knack for playing the right songs at the places I worked, because I was told so often enough, and hopefully you, my readers, are enjoying my selections. I have such a wide variety of tastes that it’s sometimes hard to choose a song for the day, but usually it just comes to me.

Some of my other posts get a lot of attention, too. There are several non-musical posts that are doing exceptionally well these days. ‘Remember Me’ is one I’m very proud of and I’m glad it gets read a lot, as is ‘Express Yourself.’ Having a mix of both my musical likings and my own writings is something I enjoy doing and I’m forever grateful to those who follow the blog for one or the other, or maybe even both!



A Nice Vacation

This spring break was all that I hoped it would be. After having a literally miserable Christmas break and then an equally dismal winter break, I definitely needed a nice vacation, and I got it. From the very first day when I got to meet a really great guy to Atlantic City, wine tasting, nice dinners, Lady Gaga, and a great Easter, the entire week was just what the doctor ordered. At the moment I’m contemplating not working during the summer so I can do more writing, relaxing and of course have fun not working! We’ll see…






Shiny Happy People

After posting the B-52’s as “Song of the Day” this morning, I was thinking of how great the two ladies in the group, Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson, sounded together. Their voices flowed in perfect harmony every time. Then I remembered a little collaboration that Kate did with the group REM and I wanted to post it here. Rather than post it as “Song of the Day,” I figured I’d just add it here for you to enjoy in advance of tomorrow’s song, which I already have planned. The song is as shiny and happy as its title, and so is the video. Enjoy!


REM - Shiny Happy People by damned78



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I just got back last night from a short trip to Atlantic City and I have to say it’s good to be home. Not that I didn’t have fun, but the three hour drive is a tiring. At least I had my music to keep me company in the car! That’s the best thing about long drives, don’t you think? I already knew from my impending trip what my “G” post was going to be about from Saturday, since I was in Atlantic City, so here goes:



“G” is for gambling

I have a love/hate relationship with gambling. I never gambled until I started going with my parents to Atlantic City a few years ago, other than the occasional lottery ticket. Of course gambling is never really a good thing, but there’s something about the possibility of striking it big that keeps people (including me) going. I have enough sense not to expect to win when I do gamble, but sometimes you can definitely get caught up in the heat of the moment.

My one win…

About three years ago, I was in the Tropicana casino in AC with my family and we had all split up for a couple of hours to do our own thing. I was playing one of my favorite slot machines, a five-cent ‘Blazing 7’s’ machine. I put a twenty into the slot and on the very first pull I hit five blazing 7’s….a jackpot of over $5,000. I was stunned! I’d never won anything even close to that.



I needed to get somebody’s attention. There wasn’t a soul around. I tried calling each of the four members of my family who were with me, but no one was answering their cell phone. Finally, after about 45 minutes, an attendant showed up to check me in and get me my winnings. By that time, my dad had shown up and was waiting with me and soon my mom and sisters were there to help me celebrate. Ah, if only that happened more often, but alas it doesn’t. That’s why they call it gambling!
AC, we have a problem…

Gambling can be a dangerous addiction, as so many billboards in AC demonstrate:

Have a gambling problem? Dial 1-800-GAMBLER

I find these billboards and advertisements so ironic since the casinos do so much to feed people’s addictions to gambling. I’m not a table player, so I can attest to all of the bells, whistles and enticements that go into the so-called “one armed bandits.” With state of the art graphics and surround-sound motivators, today’s slot machines are more like video games than the traditional slots of yesterday and thereby attract more people.

Slots as video games…

There are so many different kinds of slot machines these days and they’re all meant to entice gamblers not only with their graphics, but with their themes. Slot machine themes are often based on favorite characters, television shows and movies, making them even more attractive to slot players like me, and thought they’re fun to play, they still take your money. There’s the ‘Wizard of Oz,’ ‘Wheel of Fortune,’ the all-new ‘Sex and the City’ and many, many more. They’re designed to imply fun, all the while intended to take your money.

Playing with pennies is better, right?

Slot graphics and themes aren’t the only way casinos entice gamblers into losing their money. Slot denominations come in virtually every denomination these days, the most recent and the most popular being what they call “penny slots.” Penny slots are all over the place these days, and the very notion of playing with pennies gives players the idea that they’re spending less money gambling, right? Wrong! In order to win anything on a penny machine, you often have to play 50 to 100 and even up to 600 credits per pull! So, oftentimes you’re really betting more with penny slots than with the traditional quarter ones.

State sponsored gambling

There’s so much more I can say about casino gambling…enough to fill a book probably. But I want to talk about another form of gambling, and that’s the lottery. Whenever I walk into a stationery store or a 7-11 these days, I’m amazed at the huge variety of lottery games out there. There has to be at least 50 different kinds of scratch off tickets, each as enticing as the video slots in AC. Daily numbers have gone from once a day to two or three, and the number of ‘mega’ lotteries has increased from once a week to practically daily.



Now all of this is perfectly fine, but why is it that if you and I play a poker game for money it’s illegal, but the state can target lottery players relentlessly? Usually it’s the less fortunate who play the lottery anyway, so I think that they unfairly target poor people by promising “a dollar and a dream.” States are the biggest purveyors of gambling and I think this is government hypocrisy at its worst!

There, I think I’ve said all I want to say about gambling. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with it, but it needs to be done moderately, like anything else. I go to AC only once or twice a year and yes, I do play an occasional ‘Mega Millions,’ but I know that the odds of ever winning anything big are slim to none, so I don’t put too much faith in that. Neither should you! Thanks for reading!

By the way, if you get the chance, check out this article on Atlantic City:

Weekend Getaways: Atlantic City, New Jersey

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