Let’s forgo the formalities and get on with it already…

The Weekend Recap…

1. Spent about 6 days at Kelly’s Irish Pub in Davenport this weekend, beginning at 7:00 p.m. Friday night for the last of the setup and planning for Saturday, and Becky’s birthday party, i.e. “a really nice gathering of people.”

2.  After a quick turnaround, I got to host Kelly’s “6th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Party” all day Saturday. Doors opened at 6:00 a.m. and the last of the crowd left at 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the end of it, but the day was epic: excellent company, fantastic food, great live music and a rock & roll high-kick to boot. (If you have any pictures/video/etc. from Saturday, email me).

3.  Thanks to US Adventure RV for the Holiday Rambler rental this weekend. Being on my feet for roughly 18 hours straight, that was exactly what the doctor ordered…

4. In the flurry of activity on stage late Saturday night, I completely forgot to read a letter that Larry Kirwan, lead singer of Black 47 in New York and host of “Celtic Crush” on Sirius/XM satellite radio sent to me to read to the crowd. His toast to everyone in the Quad Cities? “Let you be in heaven :30 minutes before the devil knows you’re dead.” So cool. So disappointed I forgot I had it in the arsenal…

5. After a series of on-again, off-again naps Sunday, watched “The Serious Man” Sunday night.

Don’t.

… and the Week Ahead…

1. Adios, Todd Lickliter.

2. I’ll start piecing together the first part of the documentary we shot over the weekend, chronicling the Kelly family and their annual party with a history of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the Midwest and the Quad Cities. Thanks to Chuck McClurg for shooting so much great footage over the past week. My home editing suite and I are about to spend a lot of quality time together… More details on it as it comes together.

3.  It’s D-Day for health care reform this week (and some pundits say it could also be D-Day for President Barack Obama’s re-election chances) as the President set a deadline Thursday for Congress to get a version of the bill passed and on his desk. My hunch? The House gets a version passed Friday, but the Senate won’t come close to anything until next week at the earliest. However, I’ve learned that when it comes to Washington, don’t bet on anything… except uncertainty and political posturing.

4.  Came across a new (to me) song from the group Wintersleep called “Weighty Ghost” that’ll get me through ’til Friday.

5. Hey! The start of “March Madness”… and I could care less. I’ve never been a huge fan of the NCAA college hoops tourney, sans the 5th grade when my bracket came in 2nd place in Mr. Mathias’ class and my freshman year of college when Valparaiso and Bryce Drew made one of the most storied runs in history (I think I still have the bruise from where my best bud Brian punched me in excitement).

Bring on the NFL Draft and spring training games with the Cubs’ more realistic lineups…

6. Speaking of the Cubs, just found out that there could be something in the works for me to take a ton of people to Chicago this summer to stay in a 5-star hotel downtown and hit up Wrigley Field for a weekend. Interested? E-mail me: jason.fechner@wqad.com

See you on the tube…

Posted: March 15th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
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The sounds of birds right now are a sure sign of Spring, though I’m not quite sure what the sounds from these birds imply:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89Kz8Nxb-Bg

Posted: March 15th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day, one and all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iUPb7y0hgE

Posted: March 12th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
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The talented 5th graders at New York’s PS 22 are back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mZ1zV1l2KQ

Posted: March 11th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
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It was inevitable– I’ve fallen off the blog wagon for more than a week, but I’ll try to “right the ship,” so to say, with some pretty cool announcements here for you…

The Weekend Recap

1. Attended my first “trivia night” last Friday on Arsenal Island for the McKinley School PTA. Finally, my inability to clear useless knowledge from my brain to clear up space for genuine intellect paid off. 5th place out of 26 teams– not too shabby…

2. Had a chance Sunday to actually get outside and go for a long run. Not quite sure what the groundhog was thinking this year by predicting six more weeks of Winter, but I’m pretty inebriated  with the fact that Winter’s fading away into the grass and local drains. Frigid arctic air and snow, I hardly knew ye…

3. Watched ‘The Academy Awards’ Sunday night. I’d give Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin a ‘B’ as hosts (funny, though nothing overly memorable) and the show itself a C+. For the past two years, I’ve really enjoyed the “Best Actor” and “Best Actress” segments that feature 5 presenters who each give a special little greeting or insight into their respective nominee– nice touch.

3a. That’s all fine and good for James Cameron to come out and say ahead of time that he was pulling for his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow (director of “The Hurt Locker”) to do well at the Oscars, but losing “Best Director” and “Best Picture” to your ex, while being in the background of both shots?! There’s got to be at least a little awkwardness there… Just saying.

… and the Week Ahead…

1. Il. Gov. Pat Quinn laid out his budget plan Wednesday, including a state income tax hike of 33%. It’ll be interesting to see how that proposal goes over. While no one’s in favor of taxes going up, we’ve had so much coverage over the past two years of just how dire the financial situation is in Springfield right now, and we’re seeing first-hand how that’s impacting schools in the Quad Cities. A softened blow? Maybe…

2. Way to go, Chicago Bears. Chester Taylor AND Julius Peppers?! That’s a wicked nice start to free-agency. As I like to explain to my non-Chicago sports fans, “The best part of the season for me is the off-season.” Why? Well, typically the Bears’ and Cubs’ seasons don’t go all that well, so let me revel in my optimistic imagination, Jim Mertens.

3. It’s time to mark St. Patrick’s Day in the Quad Cities, and this year that includes two big events to be a part of. The Annual Bi-State Parade kicks off Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. in downtown Rock Island and heads over the Centennial Bridge into downtown Davenport (the only bi-state parade in the country). Come out and see us… and by “us” I mean “everyone at WQAD but me” as I’ll already be knee-deep in the Irish spirit up at “Kelly’s” on 53rd Street. I’ve got the honor of hosting their annual festival this year, so come up and say hi anytime between 9:30 a.m. and roughly 11:00 p.m. (and while you’re there, take in the skydiving leprechauns, a ton of corned beef, 125 kegs of green beer, 12 bands, Irish dancers and a partridge in a pear tree.

… and a little Bonus

1. It’s now official– I’m headed off to California mid-April for a little special called “Jason Goes to Hollywood.” We’re in the midst of lining up several cool behind-the-scenes looks at “Dancing with the Stars,” “Ellen,” “Dr. Phil” and “The Jimmy Kimmel Show.” Should be pretty exciting stuff. We’ll promote it all ahead of time, but I’ll be inviting you to follow along with me throughout the trip on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. More to come…

Posted: March 10th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
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This can’t be real, can it?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cM9S2AzU28

Posted: March 10th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
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From time to time, we get in some Viral Video suggestions from viewers, like this one from Zach (thanks man!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlKwX2Macso

Posted: March 9th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
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A computer geek’s dream:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijpH6an-JIQ

Posted: March 8th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
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Unless there’s a surge of votes for Thursday’s Viral Video, it appears Wednesday’s OK Go music video for the song “This Too Shall Pass” wins our first Viral Video battle to the death:

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!videos=9dbuXLknlJA&v=qybUFnY7Y8w

Posted: March 5th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
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So yesterday’s Viral Video was apparently a new “official” music video for OK Go’s “This Too Shall Pass.” Here’s the original and tomorrow we’ll have a “Video-Off” to decide a winner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJKythlXAIY&feature=channel

Posted: March 4th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
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