From the Fab Four to 4G

09Feb13

Today, Saturday, Feb. 9, marks a significant anniversary for Baby Boomers. On that date in 1964, a British band known at The Beatles made its US debut on the Ed Sullivan Show. For the benefit of those under 50, the Ed Sullivan Show was a TV staple. It was a variety show that families could […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Humor, News, Opinion, Television, Wakefield   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Beatles, Beyonce, Ed Sullivan Show, Mark Sardella, phones, telephone, Television, Wakefield Daily Item

Super Bowl Scorecard

02Feb12

Everyone in the Northeast, not to mention the entire nation, will be impacted by Sunday’s Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Everybody has a role to play, whether they realize it or not. You may not need a scorecard to identify the players, but you’ll need one to categorize […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, Opinion, Television   |  2 Comments
Tags: american pop culture, Daily Item, fans, football, game, Mark Sardella, new england patriots, New York Giants, parties, party, patriots game, players, season ticket holders, sports, Super Bowl, Super Bowl party, Super Bowl Sunday, super bowl xlii, Superbowl, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item

Sound Advice

12Apr11

We’ve all heard the expression “political echo chamber,” but until the recent debates who knew that the term referred to Wakefield‘s own Galvin Middle School Auditorium? I don’t know what it sounded like to the live audience of a dozen people who packed the hall, but for those of us on stage there was more […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Opinion, Politics, Television, Wakefield   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: cable TV, Daily Item, debate, debates, echo, Galvin Middle School, Politics, reverb, sound, Television, TV, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts, WCAT

College, Cops & Computers

07Jan11

New Year’s Day is the day on which many people embark on self-improvement programs. Not me. On January 1, I subjected my self-esteem to a beating by going to see The Social Network, the 2010 movie about the founding of Facebook by a brilliant Harvard student, Mark Zuckerberg, who has gone on to become the […]

Filed under: Art, Columns & Essays, Humor, Opinion, Television   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Campus PD, COPS, Daily Item, Facebook, film, films, Fox, G4, Harvard, Item, Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Sardella, Mark Zuckerberg, movie, movies, police, Television, The Social Network, TV, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item

Don’t Eat the Messenger

04Sep10

When I tuned in to Fox 25’s morning news on Friday, August 27, I wondered why it had been pre-empted by an episode of the Phantom Gourmet. Seriously, I understand that Wakefield wanted to grab the opportunity to showcase itself as a “dining destination,” but Friday’s “Zip Trip” show from Wakefield Common featured enough food […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Humor, News, Opinion, Reviews, Television, Wakefield   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: Angel Fund, Bellino's, Bellino's Trattoria, Billy's, Billy's Famous Roast Beef, Billy's Roast Beef, Billy's Roast Beef Wakefield, bistro, bistros, Café Jag’s, Channel 25, Channel 25 Boston, Channel 25 Boston MA, Chuck Wagon Diner, Cindy Fitzgibbon, CnD’s Barbecue, Cravings, Daily Item, Dunkin’ Donuts, eateries, eatery, food, Fox, Fox 25, Fox Boston, Fox News, Fox25, FoxBoston, Gene Lacanchy, Guillow's, Item, John Encarnacao, Lake Quannapowitt, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, Meletharb, Phantom Gourmet, Phyllis Hull, Pleasure Island, Pleasure Island Jazz Festival, Rada Boutique, restaurant, restaurants, Ristorante Molise, Sew Trendy Studio, Television, The Farmland, The Gingerbread Construction Company, TV, VB, Wakefield, Wakefield Common, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Farmers’ Market, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield World War II Memorial, World War 2 Memorial, World War II Memorial, Zip Trip

Faking Public Support

06Mar08

The best thing to come out of last week’s FCC hearing into Comcast Corp.’s Internet polices had nothing to do with the subject of the hearing. The purpose of the hearing was to look into the communications giant’s network management practices. But the thing that tickled me about the news story was the fact that […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, News, Opinion, Television, Wakefield   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: cable, cable television, cable TV, Comcast, Daily Item, FCC, Federal Communications Commission, Harvard, hearings, public hearing, verizon, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts

“Committed” Cable Companies & Price “Adjustments”

08Feb08

Every year at around this time, just as the shock of your holiday debt is beginning to set in, the telecoms (formerly known as the cable companies) send out their own Season’s Greetings – in the form of a rate “adjustment.” Somehow, the rates never seem to get adjusted down.

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Humor, News, Opinion, Television, Wakefield   |  1 Comment
Tags: cable companies, cable rates, cable television, cable TV, cable TV rates, Comcast, Daily Item, FiOS TV, Jason Whittet, Jill Reddish, verizon, Wakefield Board of Selectmen, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item

Few Sparks in Rep Debate

26Jan08

Democrats address casino gambling, local budget problems The three Democratic candidates vying to replace Michael E. Festa as the Representative from Massachusetts’ 32nd Middlesex District addressed issues ranging from casino gambling to unfunded state mandates last night in a live televised debate from Wakefield’s Galvin Middle School. (Debate sponsor WCAT is providing a DVD to […]

Filed under: Community, Feature stories, News, Politics, Television, Wakefield   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: 32nd Middlesex District, casino gambiling, Daily Item, Democrats, Deval Patrick, election, Gil McCarthy, Gilbert J. McCarthy, Gilbert McCarthy, Guido Federico, Katherine Clark, Mark Hutchinson, Massachusetts, Melrose, Melrose Aldermen, Melrose MA, Melrose Mass, Melrose Massachusetts, Melrose School Committee, Michael E. Festa, Michael Festa, primary, primary election, Republican, Ronald Seaboyer, state representative, Wakefield, Wakefield Community Access Television, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield Selectmen, WCAT

A BAD START FOR VERIZON

22Jun07

A major corporation comes to town and says whatever it needs to say so that local officials will let them do business here, and then waits for the town to threaten legal action before living up to its agreement. I know–it’s shocking. But that’s exactly what communications mega-giant Verizon did to the town of Wakefield, […]

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Opinion, Television, Wakefield   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: cable television, cable TV, Daily Item, Jim McGrail, PEG channels, Phyllis Hull, public access television, selectmen, verizon, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield news, Wakefield newspaper, Wakefield newspapers, WCAT

NEW MONOPOLIES

05May07

I never thought I’d say it, but I’m starting to miss the cable companies. Whipping boys don’t grow on trees, you know.

Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Opinion, Television, Wakefield   |  Leave a Comment