Help local band to inaugural

There is still time to help!


Beef ''O'' Brady's, 10079 W. Oakland Park Blvd. in Sunrise, is donating 15 percent of sales on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 5-9 p.m. to the band.
• Pizza Stop, 8275 NW 88th Ave. in Tamarac, will donate 15 percent of all orders to the trip through Friday.
Also, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation will match all donations up to $20,000 made through Neighbors 4 Neighbors. Donations can be made by mailing checks to Neighbors 4 Neighbors, 8900 NW 18th Terr., Doral, FL 33172
Checks should be made out to Neighbors 4 Neighbors Family Fund, with J.P. Taravella band noted in the memo area and on the envelope.
More information on the band is available online at jptmusic.org.


Here's almost everything you need to know to help the J.P. Taravella High School Marching Trojans make it to Washington, D.C., to be in the inaugural parade. They are scheduled to leave Friday, January 16th, so time is of the essence!

If you show up Wednesday, January 14th, 3:00p - 4:00p at the Whole Foods Market in Coral Springs to see the band perform, you'll also get us! LITE FM, we'll be there from 2:00p - 4:00p with free prizes for you! (810 University Drive, Coral Springs, Florida 33071 - Phone: 954-753-8000) UPDATE: $2283 was raised at Whole Foods! Thank You.

Idol judge has killer resume

I'd thought I'd never heard of her until she was announced as the new American Idol Judge; turns out, Kara DioGuardi has written or cowritten a slew of hits! So we've all heard her, quite often in fact! Some of her creations:

Enrique Iglesias 'Escape'
Christina Aguilera 'Ain't No Other Man'
Pink 'Sober'
Celine Dion 'Taking Chances'
Gwen Stefani 'Rich Girl'
Kelly Clarkson 'Walk Away'
Jonas Brothers 'Play My Music'
Kylie Minogue 'Spinning Around'
Ashlee Simpson 'lala'

With the season premiere of Season 8 next week, at least you know you have a judge with some mad credentials.

Solid as Barack!

UPDATE: The song is out, complete with video!


You may have seen the "Barack Obama Variety Hour" skit on Saturday Night Live, where Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen as President Elect and First Lady sang their slightly altered version of 'Solid (As a Rock)'; now the original artists, Ashford and Simpson, have recorded 'Solid (As Barack)'. The new version, with more apropos lyrics, will be available by digital download by Inauguration Day... that's January 20th to you and me!

Chick-Fil-A fever!

So my coworker - let's call him Vance - mainly because that's his name... he says if he wins the Powerball jackpot, the very first thing he'd do is buy a standalone Chick-fil-A! He was totally serious, and I had to admit my ignorance when it comes to the passion for a Chick-fil-A sandwich. I do remember the amusing campaign with the cows that wore signs readin "eat mor chikin".
There's Chick-fil-A grand opening tomorrow morning and the first 100 adults in line will get 52 coupons, each good for a free Chick-fil-A meal. So popular is the First 100 Fans promotion, people have been known to line up a day in advance. Word is, there have been tents sighted in the vicinity of this new Chick-fil-A!! Doubtful you'd be one of the first 100 at this point, but should you want to try, it's at 8190 W. Commercial Blvd. (that's between Pine Island and University Dr.).

Local dude digs tree power

An MIT Senior in Palm Beach County is tapping into tree power - he's our very own Lorax!
21-year old Christopher Love has been traveling the world, using his science expertise to help others. Love's also the vice president of the company that has figured out a way to use the energy that comes from trees to power sensors which can detect forest fires! What were you doing at 21? Yeah, me too...

Before we branch out too far, make sure you recycle your Christmas Trees!

Powerball lottery is here

The Powerball Lottery has arrived, and the first drawing is Wednesday, for an estimated $105 million! Now 30 states are involved and the starting jackpot will usually begin at $20 million; the average jackpot expected to be in the range of $141 million. The Florida Lotto lottery still exists, and compared to the Powerball, the odds for Lotto seem much sweeter.
Powerball jackpot: 1 in 195,249,054
Florida Lotto jackpot: 1 in 22,957,480

In lottery related news, have you heard the story about the guy who bought a winning lotto ticket the same day he passed away? For 20 years, Donald Peters bought lotto tickets, and when he died, his wife of 59 years put all the tickets aside. She almost threw them out, instead checked them, thinking she'd won $6 million bucks. She was informed she had, in fact, won $10 million dollars. One of the couple's three children said his father's response would probably be, "Figures!".