For some good causes:
Blog regular PBMom needs our support. She writes: “As most of you know, Patrick’s autism school is a 501(c)3 charitable organization (translation–tax write-off). I am always in competition with the Armenta family to try to beat their campaign (never quite do it). Last year was kind of sad in terms of fundraising. The previous year I was able to raise over $1000 for Including Kids. So if you guys feel like you might want to help them, I have a little write up about things Patrick has accomplished just this year. Also have a link to the story our local Fox 26 Houston station did last Christmas as a follow-up to their original story 5 years prior. The news story really gives you a visual of how far he has come since then. Every tiny bit can help. I was thinking that if my 700 FB friends and my 2000+ followers on Twitter all gave $5, I could raise $13,000 for the school. But I know that is not reality. I’d just be happy if I could meet the goal of $1000. Here is the link:
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/hildabowen/fallintogiving
Another great cause is Director T. J. Scott’s “In the Tub”, a project that saw him photograph 150+ celebrities “stripped down and in a tub” for Breast Cancer Research. T.J. financed the shoot himself and all of the models posed for free. The photographs have been collected in a book (titled “In the Tub” – what did you think?) and proceeds from sales will be donated to UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Research Center. So far, $120 000 has been raised in pre-sales. Head on over here (https://inthetubbook.com) to learn more about the project and place your orders. Bathing beauties include Elyse Levesque, Kandyse McLure, and my good friend Tara Yelland. Oh, and some guys too.
Another cause, this one dog-related. A family in Seattle is trying to raise money to help get the word out about their missing bulldog, Deuce, who went missing from his yard in October.
The gofundme link is here: http://www.gofundme.com/5kslm8
And the Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/deucepodhola.
Another good cause – but this time, in reverse. You can help by doing nothing. More specifically, avoid shopping on kleargear.com and get the word out for others to follow suit. The reason? This purported $47 million dollar a year company fined some unhappy customers $3500 for writing a negative review about their crappy experience dealing with the kleargear.com, then reported them to at least one credit agency when they didn’t pay up, negatively impacting their credit rating. “KlearGear (…) has yet to comment on the case and has locked down its Twitter and Facebook accounts in the face of a barrage of criticism.” http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/kleargear-fines-couple-3500-negative-review/ Help put these bullies in their place by taking your business elsewhere.
A mini mailbag:
JeffW writes: “Unfortunately, as of now there is no man-made replacement for cartilage, so after I heal from this, it will be whatever it is.”
Answer: A stem cell treatment might help (Stem cell therapy to repair damaged knee cartilage – Science Daily). Sadly, illegal for humans in your area, but quite legal here for my dog Jelly who benefited greatly.
atlantis-t.v.ru writes: “Rush is villain. Wait, wha?!”
Answer: I included some anti-heroes who definitely walk the line, individuals like The Shield’s Vic Mackey and Tony Soprano. Rush has his good points but he is definitely self-serving, and some of his actions were…let’s call them somewhat unethical. Remember when he tried to frame Young for murder?
PBMom writes: “@Joe Clarification: What is the cut-off for “early pickup?” for Lawren’s game? Would Blacklist pickup be considered “early?” Just so I know how to score it.”
Answer: Not sure. Are you our official score-keeper?
Randomness writes: “The Blacklist just got renewed Joe. No surprises there, great show, pulling fantastic numbers. It’s adding over 6 million live viewers, + over 2.1 18-49 ratings points in the Live + 7, when you add ontop of its live audience the show is getting well over 16 million viewers an episode.”
Answer: Wow. I remember a time when networks didn’t care about Live + 7.
Cartilage repair in Denver, but limited to certain knee problems for now –
http://www.peakorthopedics.com/autologous-cartilage-implantation-peak-orthopedics-spine.html. My cousin had this done and it worked.
Blacklist is NBC’s top rated scripted show, they didn’t even need those stellar Live +7’s (which are still primarily bragging rights numbers anyway) to be renewed.
@Joe:
Thanks for the input, but I think I’ll stick with legal procedures for now 😉
On the KlearGear case, it appears this company is/was run by a bunch of scammers. I had a similar experience with an internet hosting company that held a couple of my URL’s hostage for $5000 each. The hosting company was bought by a spammer who quickly tried to extort everyone who had credit cards on file for renewalls. Fortunately for me I had closed our my credit card (and thus could not be charged) and then ICANN got involved and shut him down so after a couple of months I got my URLs back.
I sure hope the $75,000 fine against KlearGear goes through; although it might be hard to enforce if these people are as slippery as they appear.
On the bathing book, do they have a donation-only link? I’ll have to look. Having that book around might get me in trouble with Barb and provide some awkward moments with the teenagers! It’s best to avoid conflict if you can only run away on crutches! 😀
@Bill Joyce:
Thanks for that link! I checked it out and it looks interesting. I’ll file it away for later use as I don’t yet know what the result of the current surgery is yet. The new procedure looks time-consuming though; after the tissue culture (6-weeks) and following surgery, you then need to be in a knee brace for 3-months and afterwards you have one year of periodic physical therapy.
I’m hoping that the current surgery gets me most of the way there (time will tell over the next month or so), but it is good to know there are other options if things deteriorate later. Thanks again!
@PBMom:
Good luck with the fundraising! I hope you beat the Armenta family this year! 😉
the blacklist got picked up? damn, i want against that in the fantasy pilot TV league thing. 😮 i was really unsure about that one too.
@PBMom – ditto what JeffW said.
@JeffW – some recent adverts in the Chicagoland area – they have a new process to put some material or injection or gel or padding in…to relieve or eliminate knee pain. I will have to pay attention to the advert to get the name – sorry, the mind is first to go. Where do they sell spares? LOL.
I love Blacklist!
I was mentioning the Live+7 because they are quite frankly extraordinary, not because it was relevant for renewal. You know, just pointing out the overall success of this show.
I think I am going to cry. You guys are wonderful. I get really down in the dumps that our blood family members, many of whom are very able financially to give, just don’t. Not even $5.00. And here you all are, people who have become near to my heart, but not blood relatives, have been so generous. I can tell you that they are among the few organizations that are good stewards of donations. In the 4 short years I have known them, they have done so much that if all 3 of us die in some tragic thing, they get everything we have, which will go a long way for their capital campaign of building their own space instead of renting a space from a shopping center. I will continue my connection to them long after Patrick leaves their facility in 4-5 more years. They are family. Bless you guys.
Now–about the score keeper thing–not at all. I said “yes” on The Blacklist getting renewed, but I don’t know if I get 2 points for it or 1 point. This is what you posted (yours or Lawren’s scoring system):
“I’ve laid out the list of the network fall pilots of which some have already had their premieres. Feel free to just write Yes or No beside the show whether you think it’ll get a 2nd season or not. Remember this is not based on the quality of the show (clearly) but the insane and sad reality of the world we live and work in. If a show get’s picked up or cancelled (pulling the episodes from their original dates will count as cancellation) your choice will be multiplied two fold. So +1 for a correct choice. -1 for a wrong choice. -2 if you bet against a show that get’s an early pickup. +2 if your correctly choose a show will get cancelled and has it’s airing cut short.”
Oh wait, I think I answered my own question. I guess I get 1 point for that. I am keeping my own scoring sheet.
Almost Human got its air date pushed forward a week or two, so I guess even if it is picked up (which I don’t have info on yet), because it got aired later, I get zero regardless of choice? You know I don’t understand fantasy football so this is the first time doing something like this.
And what you said above about good to see a network taking Live + 7 into consideration–Fox renewed Sleepy Hollow on its second airing based on the numbers coming in from ALL platforms which I think is pretty awesome (includes Hulu views, DVR, FoxNow views, social media, etc.) When they pulled in all those totals, they were getting about 22 million viewers.
“Wow. I remember a time when networks didn’t care about Live + 7.”
The times, they say, are achangin’
Sleepy Hollow was renewed because it was the highest rated(At the time) show on the network and wanted to emphasize the fact they thought they had a hit on their hands, they went a bit overboard releasing press releasing talking about viewer gains up to 30 days after the original episode aired. Also Almost Human is looking like a poor choice for renewal, it’s likely this will be cancelled, and Bones fans may get the show back in its original slot again instead of Friday.
On the ABC subject I can’t see Once Upon a Time going beyond a 4th season, the ratings are getting lower and lower with each episode and people are losing interest(Which is a shame), the Wonderland spinoff is basically dead too), give it a little time and the Once team will be gone from Bridge Studios, It’s a good show but it has run out of steam now.
Oh and one show I’m interested in is Revolution, I’ve heard nothing about it being cancelled and also believe the show will end up being renewed should it retain its existing audience. The fact remains its a show on the edge of the abyss and could go either way. It’s doing well on Wednesday but isn’t pulling the kind of audience that would keep it safe for certain. I just love this shows stability, it has been rock solid for 9 episodes now, with 13 to go.
@ PBMom – Done! 🙂 Not sure if you’ve started reading The Reason I Jump yet, but just wanted to say (to everyone!) that it is a wonderful and insightful book and a must-read for anyone who has an interest in autism. I can’t praise this book enough!
das
I made a donation Hilda but the site froze for a while when the payment was being processed. Let me know if there is a problem. We got a confirmation e-mail, so I think it’s ok. The good news is Hubby’s company matches donations! Whenever I get frustrated with his work, I just keep that great charity benefit in mind.
JeffW: Be good and I hope you are back to a good normal again soon!
I explained Jelly’s procedure to my Vet and now she wants the same thing done to her hips. I hope it’s approved for use in Humans in the U.S. soon. I bet there would be a high demand!
@TamDixon I see it showing up. WOW you guys! I am so overwhelmed. I’m actually almost to my goal in the matter of 1 day. Humbled and grateful. And yes, still tearful (grateful tears).
@JeffW A friend of mine went to Germany and they grew some of his own cartilage to use in his knee. He had to wait a year for sufficient growth but now his knee is like new with his own cartilage. I wish Canada had something similar because my knee cartilage is shot.
@ PBMom Good luck with your fundraising. I do a lot for favourite charities and I’m always surprised at who is most generous. When you think certain individuals would be the most supportive, others outshine them.
PBMom: Sent something the charity’s way this morning. Hope you meet your goal and well beyond!
Thank you @GForce and @Das and @JeffW and @Baron and @Anonymous and @Skua and @From Joe’s Blog and @Ponytail (and anyone else I missed).
Vic Mackey wasn’t an anti-hero! He was a straight up bad guy from the first episode on.
“I remember a time when networks didn’t care about Live + 7”
Nielsen ratings now publish daily twitter figures to determine popularity/demographics/etc. The times they are a’changin’.
One thing I’ve learned from the kleargear.com issue is to check a company’s Terms and Conditions. If it makes customers agree not to write a negative review, then you know the company’s reviews, as a whole picture, are bogus.
PBMom, Sorry to be tardy donating to Patrick’s charity but hope you get even more! Nearly forgot why I’d kept Joe’s blog in “active” mode, have been super-rushed trying to prepare for surgery tomorrow on my torn rotator cuff, tough to get all the Christmas stuff done ahead of time. Glad I suddenly remembered, because after tomorrow I’ll be reduced to pecking away at the computer with one (non-dominant) hand. Warmest best wishes to you and your family this holiday season.