Union Square

Turns out, anything can prompt a bomb scare after a real car bomb left in an SUV at Times Square failed to explode on May 1st.

'Does anyone have a 1991 Cutlass?'" said Shari Newman, 32, announced during the british punk band Buzzcock's concert. The band had stopped their show at Irving Plaza to make the announcement for the police.

Turns out the suspicious car, which had a couple of 5-gallon gas cans in it's back seat, belonged to a gardner who uses the gas cans to fill his mower and was attending the concernt. The owners were none too happy when they finally did return to their car to see that the police had blown the windows out to get inside.

The bomb scare was the fifth in the city since Faisal Shahzad's failed Times Square car bomb two weeks ago. Some residents are wondering just how many more threats are going to come?

Missing Money

Who forgets they have money in a bank account? Who forgets to pick up a last paycheck when they switch jobs? According to the US Treasury department, lots of people to the sum of over 33 billion dollars worth!

This is actually easier than you may think. During my divorce and relocation period, I had forgotten about a little bank account I had opened and only remembered it a few years later clearing out old papers. Now there wasn't that much in there when I went back to the bank to see if it was indeed still open, but it made me realize just how easy it can be. Things happen in life, tragedys, hard times, separations, divorces, deaths and so on that we forget some little things because we are focusing on the big things.

If you think you may have some unclaimed money or even if you don't believe you do, it doesn't hurt to go check it out. It is as easy as searching for your state's treasury department online and and then searching the unclaimed property section on their website. Just type in your name, remembering to use variations of your name and your maiden name or other married names if you have been married in the past, and then sit back and watch the screen tell you if you have hit it big!

Apple iPod Touch

So my middle son asked for an iPod Touch to replace the one he has, which is cracked and about dead. Doing a search online for an iPod Touch, I had no clue just how many different models there were nor how many different generations!

So I started with the newest model (for now) the Apple iPod touch 32 GB (3rd Generation) and this sounds like a great iPod. It's a great pocket computer, and a great portable game player. You can listen to a mix of songs automatically put together by the new Genius Mixes feature. Maybe you want to watch a movie or just surf the web. There you can downlad countless apps, view your email. Plus so many other things that this is quite a convienent little piece of machinery.

Looking at the stats here:
- 32 GB capacity for 7,000 songs, 40,000 photos, or 40 hours of video
- Up to 30 hours of music playback or 6 hours of video playback when fully charged
- 3.5-inch widescreen Multi-Touch display with 480 x 320 pixel resolution
- Supports AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible, Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV audio formats; H.264 and MPEG-4 video formats; JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF

I don't know, maybe I should get this for myself instead, what do you think?

YouCut

What is this YouCut that I'm seeing in the news lately? After a bit of research I discoverd that YouCut is a new project by Eric Cantor that allows the public "to vote, both online and on your cell phone, on spending cuts that you want to see the House enact."

This is the first time this kind of program was launched wherein people are asked to actively participate in government activities. It allows American Citizens to participate and choose on 5 Government money saving program to enact. These 5 programs are as follows:

1.Presidential Election Fund ($260 million in savings)
2.Taxpayer Subsidized Union Activities ($600 million in savings)
3.HUD Program for Doctoral Dissertations ($1 million in savings)
4.New Non-Reformed Welfare Program ($2.5 billion in savings)
5.Eliminate Wealthier Communities from CDBG ($2.6 billion in saving)

Since there isn't too much information about this yet, I'm unsure on how I feel about it. Anything that allows the public more participation in what goes on the government can be a step in the right direction. People like to sit around and complain or say there is nothing they can do. If this works, now Americans can say they did something about it.

Speaking of American Idol

So who was surprised that Mike went home last night? Yeah I know, someone had to go, there are only four left and only one can win. But was it that surprising that it was Mike and not one of the others to go? I think that Mike has been consistent this season, consistent in singing the same stuff over and over, withouth much range in style or song choice. And it was obvious that the duet with Casey was Mike's song choice. Mike didn't even have to tell Ryan when asked who picked the song, it was so obvious. The judges thought they pulled it off, well judges have been wrong before :)

I was sad to see him go for the fact that he is a good guy, he can sing and he has a good personality. But he has the tour, he can still fulfill his dream in some way as it is obvious he does have a following.

I myself haven't decided yet on who is going to win. I love the last three, Lee and Crystal more than Casey. I wouldn't be upset with any of them winning this. But I think it woudl better for Crystal musically not to win, then she wouldn't be locked into a contract that could stifle who she is. Because thee is no way around it, she is unique, she has her own style, and if anyone tried to box that style in it would kill the music.

Jon Bon Jovi

Now who was more excited than I to see Jon Bon Jovi on American Idol last night? Who hated the fact that he hasn't aged much, if at all, in the past twenty years? But he still rocked it like he did twenty years ago!

Playing their second single "Superman Tonight" from their 11th studio album, The Circle, the band showed that they still have what it takes to rock even a stage like American Idol. "The harder we work, the luckier we get" is how Jon Bon Jovi seemed to sum up his band's success over all the years. It isn't easy going from one generation to the next in music and stil stay on top. But the band did it with style and screams from fans young and old in the crowd.

I don't know about the rest of you, but listening to Bon Jovi on American Idol was like listening to Bon Jovi on my walkman twenty years ago, walking down the street singing "Runaway". Classic Bon Jovi, is there anything better?