The They Might Be Giants concert that I went to in March was being taped for DirecTV; they got the editing turned around quickly enough that it was running all during May, and fortunately, I got DirecTV installed at my new apartment quickly enough that I got to see myself, as the cameras scanned the crowd during "Particle Man"...



On a follow-up to my previous post, within the past year, I've been to two A&W restaurants, and both times they've assumed I wanted my order to go, so I didn't get the root beer float in an authentic frosty mug. The next time I go to an A&W, I have to remember to stress that it's for here.

Sorry I haven't updated this in a while, but various things have been going on in my life. Which, I know, means I should have updated this sooner. I moved to a new apartment, for one thing, but I don't have DSL installed there yet -- and because of various bizarreness involving the phone company, I may not have it for a month. (See, even though I've been a customer since 1999, I have no credit history with my new phone account, so getting DSL would involve a $200 deposit and I wouldn't be able to get the special price, at least until my credit history catches up with me, as they said on the phone.)

Right now, I'm posting this from the Apple store at the Victoria Gardens mall in Rancho Cucamonga. What am I doing here on a normal business day? Well, that's another story in and of itself.

I decided I might as well go for a drive today, so I took old Route 66 east and ended up here. There didn't seem to be too many old-timey buildings along Route 66, just a couple old-looking motels and a drive-thru shoe repair place that claimed "since 1919" and had an old sign. Everything else along the drive was just the random trappings of suburbia, although I did see what looked like a brand-new A&W/KFC restaurant in Upland, so I'll probably stop there for lunch on the way back.

All the old-looking stuff is here at Victoria Gardens, which is an outdoor mall that opened fairly recently, and which is supposed to look like a downtown shopping area, to the extent that they have fake old-looking signs, presumably for businesses that used to be located in the buildings, above the modern signs for Banana Republic, the Gap, and such, and they also have fake old ads painted on some of the walls. Also, there's music playing from hidden speakers, just like at Disneyland. The most egregious problem is that they seem to have decided that "Main Street" should be spelled "Mainstreet"; there's a South Mainstreet and a North Mainstreet.

That's about it for now. I think they want me to buy a G5, but I don't have the money right now, so I'd better stop taking up space at this computer.

I've never been a really big fan of "The Price Is Right," because I prefer the more intellectual-type game shows -- at one point, when "Scrabble" aired on NBC at 11:30, I'd only watch the first half of "TPIR" and then switch over. Yes, that's a strange thing to do, because then you don't get to see the overall winner on "TPIR," but you do get to see four of the six pricing games and one of the Showcase Showdown wheel spins. You also get to hear the announcer give the same spiel every day: "If you would like to see 'The Price Is Right' in person, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to 'Tickets, "The Price Is Right," CBS Television City, 7800 Beverly Boulevard, Hollywood, CA 90036.'"

"Scrabble" has been gone for over a decade, but "TPIR" remains, and yesterday, just as I'd been hearing all those years, I saw "The Price Is Right" in person. I kind of knew what to expect, not only because I'd read various other accounts of "TPIR" tapings, but because I'd been in its studio before, when I saw an episode of "Dennis Miller Live" there in 2001.

The taping was a lot of fun, for no other reason than just about anything is more fun than sitting on uncomfortable metal benches outside a TV studio for several hours. When you're finally getting to sit in the slightly more comfortable upholstered audience chairs in the studio, you'll be wildly excited about a college student winning a hammock and a dinette set, too. Actually, from my perspective, the fun part was seeing the behind-the-scenes action: the cameramen furiously steering their cameras from place to place on the stage, the stagehands and producers pointing the contestants in the right direction when they walk up on stage, and the box with the flashing lights on it that plays such a vital role in the opening of the show. In fact, that was all I had; because I didn't want to ruin my "Jeopardy!" eligibility, I had declared myself ineligible to be called to "come on down," so I knew I wasn't going to get to be a contestant. It was because I was ineligible that I coerced the CBS page into writing my name on my tag as "Jim"; normally, they write your full legal name, which is why you see so many people named "James" on the show.

The episode airs next Friday, May 13th. I recommend watching not necessarily to see me in the audience (I'm about halfway back, a little bit left of center in the middle section, wearing a bright orange T-shirt), but to see the contestant in the second Showcase Showdown who did a spectacular job of finessing the big wheel.

Oh, and something else you may have been wondering about: the winning contestants left with the rest of the audience, albeit clutching stacks of paperwork. They don't make you take the sofa or the spa home with you, apparently.

My contestant number/place in line (the "X" means I'm ineligible)...