This glass is half-full…

Wednesday, April, 30, 2008 by Mel Phillips.

Optimists see ‘half-full’ glasses, pessimists see them ‘half-empty’.  I saw a headline saying that “40% of Promo In-Car Satellite Radio Subs Don’t Dig It” as meaning 60% do dig it.  Of those new car buyers who received free satellite radios fully installed, 66% plan to keep their service through the end of the year, according to a recent New York Times article, based on Jacobs Media research.  Let’s say only a quarter of that 66% decide to pay for the service on their own when the year is done - if my math is correct, that’s about 16% which ain’t bad…

Combined, Sirius and XM added about 3.7 million subscribers last year of which 79% were from those new car buyers who sampled their satellite services.  Of those 79%, 52.7% continued to subscribe.  That return is phenomenal!  If you ever tried to pitch any kind of service and got a 50% return, you are not merely happy, you’re calling your Lexus dealer…

Speaking of ‘half-full’, ‘half-empty’ I was a jock at 3 radio stations in resort areas that would never mention rain unless it was already raining.  Your forecast read, “partly sunny’ never ‘partly cloudy’.  If it was raining, the forecast would mention when the rain will end and when the sun will return.  Back then I thought it was fraudulent, now I kinda like the idea…

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1789]  Father Figure:  George Washington  takes office as our first President of these United States.  Washington is sworn in on Wall Street…1931]  The George Washington Bridge, linking Manhattan to New Jersey opens…
2. 1901]  Start to finish:  Pitching for the Boston Americans, Cy Young beats the A’s 8-6 in Philadelphia.  Since the Americans will become the Red Sox, this is the first Sox game in history…1939]  The great Lou Gehrig  plays his last game.  In that game, Gehrig goes 0 for 4 against the Washington Senators in a game played at Yankee Stadium…
3. 1939]  That’s Fair:  The New York World’s Fair, billed as a look at ‘The World of Tomorrow’ opens in Flushing Meadow…
4. 1961]  Foursome:  Using utility player Joey Amalfitano’s bat, Willie Mays  of the San Francisco Giants becomes the 9th player in history to hit 4 home runs in a game as the Giants pound Milwaukee 14-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium…
5. 1991]  Death by cyclone:  An estimated 125,000 perish when a cyclone hits Bangladesh…
6. 1993]  Stabbed in the back: Top-ranked women’s tennis player Monica Seles is stabbed in the back during a match in Hamburg, Germany by a 38-year old Steffi Graf fan.  Seles will never be the same player after the stabbing as she tells Barbara Walters… 
7. 1997]  I’m coming out:  ABC-TV airs the “coming out” episode of “Ellen” in which the title character played by Ellen DeGeneres admits to being a lesbian.  five days earlier she comes out herself in this ABC-TV interview…
8. 2001]  Washington mystery:  Washington intern Chandra Levy  is seen for the last time at a health club near her apartment.  Her remains are found more than a year later in a D.C. park.  California Congressman Gary Condit was questioned in the case due to his relationship with Levy.  He is not charged in her murder…
9. 2004]  This case is not over yet:  Former New Jersey Net star Jayson Williams is acquitted of aggravated manslaughter in the shotgun slaying of his limo driver at his New Jersey mansion.  This case will be re-tried.  The date is pending.  In 2007, Williams  was back in court…
10. 2007]  ‘Happy Trails‘:  Comedian Tom Poston passes away after a brief illness.  Poston, 85, is seen in this YouTube tribute…2007]  Former original member of the Platters, Zola Taylor, 69, dies from pneumonia following a series of strokes.  Taylor was once married to Frankie Lyman…

Music Memories:

• 1957]  Recorded on this date:  “Jailhouse Rock” - Elvis Presley…

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday”:

Kirsten Dunst (26), Akon (35), Isiah Thomas (47), Jill Clayburgh (64), Bobby Vee (65), Johnny (Santo & Johnny) Farina (67), Burt Young (68), Willie Nelson (75) and Cloris Leachman (82)…

Timeline Countdown:  3 days until the Kentucky Derby, 10 days until Mother’s Day and 26 days until Memorial Day…

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