The Daily News

1  "You're gonna have to feegure that out by yoursailf."

                                                              --Mrs.Gump

2  Ain't it da truth.

3  So far, all is not lost. Things look almost normal around here; posters are being painted in front of Mr. Rocha's room; the announcements still seem to go off, even at 3 in the morning; tractors kick up dirt everywhere and emit obnoxious, high-pitched noises every twelve seconds; golf carts still chase kids down for wearing anything resembling a color, and the Theatre sits, wondering what in the world is about to happen...

4  It LOOKS pretty normal around here.

5  Hmm. No football field. No Class of '05. No school play. No Band outside practicing. So it LOOKS pretty normal around here, but I think Mr. Rocha summed it up when I asked him how things felt around here to him: "It's weird," he said.

6  Yep.

7  It's like it's all in disarray...

8  But "weird" is a perfect way to put it. I still love YB, don't get me wrong. And I don't think that the Class of '05 not being around has made the place weird. After all, a LOT of classes have come and gone, and we always seem to hold it together as a school. The plays are probably affecting the Fall and Spring traditions, but otherwise, I don't think too very many people really even know or CARE that a show is not happening for the  first time in 24 years. Now, personally, I MISS hearing the Band marching around the basketball courts, surrounding my windows with music. I actually always enjoyed hearing that.

9  But having no field is probably putting a bit of a kibosh on that one as well. I always loved the story of the Band guy who said, "Hey, what are all these football players doing on OUR field?"

10  The field, you see, is to the Band...ah, never mind!

11  So many of us are just, well, walking around.

12        "Would you tell me please, which way I ought to
                                          go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

---Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland

13  Ahhyup.

14  YB right now appears to be a school in search of Self. They chained up parking spots, for no apparent reason, and as of right now, the coffee has suddenly been unplugged in the Faculty Lounge. Fire hazard. Oy.

15  Last time I looked, coffee can't CATCH on fire.

16  Amazing. Ms. Conrotto mused that it must be from ALL those Faculty Lounges that have caught on fire because of coffee pots...

17  I'm sorry, but I have a tough time dealing with that one. Teachers at our school can't have coffee on their coffee breaks. Are they going to take away our baloney sandwiches next?

18  She also noticed that once our cars were parked away from the portable wall, that it suddenly got tagged HUGE. I drove up on Monday and saw that the custodians had painted over some huge lettering on the wall. It looks vaguely as though it said, "PARK". Well, even though it may look like it, I had utterly nothing to do with that. It just adds still more to Mr. Rocha's comments about things being "weird".

19  How does one un-weird a year? Well, by moving forward, looking at all this folderol as nothing more than the usual bump in the road, and getting ready to rumble!

20  Now if  the people who want to throw monkey wrenches in all our paths would just back off, and stop doing things like chaining people out of their old routines, and taking away their coffee breaks, we might actually be able to come up with a plan...

21  Yeesh.

22  Against stupidity the very gods themselves contend in vain...

        ---Friedrich von Schiller

23 That's a poster I made years ago, and one that, I always loved. It remains in my room, proud of its sentiment. Everyone reading this should make one, I swear! I originally read it in a Vonnegut novel, and fell in love with it ever since.

24  So with that not-so-veiled editorial, I shall be stepping out now, with a tux, tails, a tilt of the hat, and a dip of the cane.

25  As my good friend Sheryll Marmito says, 'til the next time...

26  Peace.

 

 

The Daily News

1  The fun thing about school opening and all is the amount of excitement going on everywhere. There's massive confusion and insanity everywhere. Karena Ramiriz wrote me congratulating all of us on making it through what she deemed "Hell Week". Actually, she mentioned TWO Hell Weeks, the first week of school, and the last week, which ALWAYS goes ridiculously slow!

2  On Friday, she ended her greetings with a quick thought that I'm sure was intended for a lot of people: live long, laugh loud, love lots.

3  Nice thoughts.

4  Thanks, d00d! Right back atcha!

5  It's been a whirlwind week, but nice, because we all just hit the ground running this year. Classes filled fast, and that peace that seems to lull us almost into sheer boredom in late summer suddenly grabs us before school starts, puts us on a roller coaster, locks us in a menacing seat belt, and before we know it, we find ourselves suddenly and with almost no warning on a terrifyingly insane ride into God knows what.

6  Everything hit fast last week. And like the roller coaster concept, we now jerk forward, start slowly going up, read the warnings about bad hearts and pregnancies, jerk again, click up, up, up 'til we can't see what's on the other side, and there we sit, anticipating, scared, tensing up, but excited, because we know there's no turning back.

7  It is there that we sit, for our lives change forever in the next few seconds. We're all prepared, cocky, acting as though it is really nothing, and yet...

8  We are, deep down, all of us, buckled, frightened, but ready.

9  To my '05'ers, a whole lot of us outsiders realize all the emotions going through you right now. Go into it with huge smiles, because it's going to be the ride of your life! Hug one another, love one another in these final days; hold on to one another forever, but move forward with everything you have, because the time is here. Close your eyes, throw up your arms, and scream, but have the time of your life.

10  And to anyone going through massive changes right now, when you get there, and the ride stops, throw up a huge, "YEAH!!" and let the world know you have ARRIVED! Give 'em all you got, 'cause you got a LOT to give!

11 I'm guessing that covers just about everybody...

12  I always liked the Grateful Dead's angle on the whole life thing. It's a song written by the venerable poet Robert Hunter, and it's called The Wheel:

The Wheel's turnin' and you can't slow down;
you can't let go and you can't hold on;
you can't go back and you can't stand still
if the thunder don't get you then the lightnin' will...

13  For years, I thought the last line read "...if the buzzards don't get you then the lightnin' will...", a mistake that is just one of those things. Ever discover a lyric that you thought said one thing and then it said another? I actually like both. Is it okay to change some other guy's lyrics? Under ordinary circumstances, Robert Hunter can out-lyric most of us. But I always played it the wrong way...

14  The Wheel. Great old tune about life's changes. You all really should pull it off the internet, the studio version off an album called simply Garcia. At Jerry Garcia's memorial service in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on August 13, 1995,  the song played after everyone spoke. A large tie-dyed flag flew majestically in the wind, as San Francisco mourned the passing of one of its own.

15  It's late as I write this. I began last night at midnight, and it's now 1:35 a.m. and I'm still tacking away on the keyboard. Conan just said good-night, but I find myself jumping all over the internet searching for lyrics, and pictures of roller coasters, and all the rest, until I just fall on these keys and tumble into a well-earned slumber.

16  School starts in around six hours, so I'd probably better sign off for today. Yesterday I did the same thing and almost threw one of my freshmen through my window and on to the lawn, just due to my own lack of sleep.

17  I took a peaceful Buddha breath, crossed my legs like the guru I am, and channeled it all into colorful rainbow chakras. We can all probably thank Jerry Garcia for that one, but maybe with a little Shirley MaClaine thrown in for good measure.

18  Today's DN goes out to my '05 grads, all of whom are scared, excited, ready for change, wishing the world would slow down, wanting things to speed up, confused, confident, euphoric, sad, and realizing that only they and their friends REALLY know what's going on inside of them yet still, feeling alone, but completely brave, and now completely ready for God knows what.

19  In many ways, that describes a lot of us.

20  Godspeed, my wonderful friends. Thanks for everything you gave to all of us; thanks for all the lovely things you gave to me, and most of all, best wishes to you all. I love you all, everything.

21  So that would be it for this morning. Tell someone you love them today. Hug a friend. Say hello to someone who misses you. Pray that everyone you know and love is safe and happy.

22  Live long, laugh loud, love lots.

23  Peace.

 

 

The Daily News

1  Have you guys been following Hurricane Katrina? I was just sort of watching teevee last night, but looking at the radar, I found that, well, I don't know the first thing about weather radar.

2  Katrina should be slamming into New Orleans by the time many of you will be getting up to face a nice, warm, dry day out in these parts. Serious stuff, and I guess we all ought to be keeping watch on that one. The New Orleans Saints took flight to the Bay Area YESTERDAY, readying for Thursday night's game here against the Raiders. But what a scary thing. What a scary thing.

3  Movin' on...So Friday I get to school, and that huge chain? The one that set me off on the SECOND DAY OF SCHOOL? Gone. I tellya, you shouldn't leave stuff lying around YB. It'll get legs, every time.

4  And movin' on...

5  "It's great to know that rock music still has a place at MTV."

                                                    --Billy Armstrong, lead singer of
                                                      Greenday, who won 7 MTV
                                                      Moonmen last night at the
                                                      MTV Video Music Awards.

6  "Owwww!"

                                                   --Rap luminary Marion "Suge"
                                                     Knight, who was shot in the leg
                                                     early yesterday, while attending
                                                     a party in celebration of the 
                                                     MTV Video Music Awards.

7  It took place on the Boulevard of Broken Femes...

8  <<groan!>> 

9  I walk alone, I walk alone...

10  Well, theatre fans, I already let you know about free Shakespeare at Shady Shakes, which could be reached by going online and visiting http://www.shadyshakes.org, so looks like the thesbians around here have something on which to chew (so how ABOUT those prepositions, man!). So this goes out to all the music people who read this drivel:

11  Santana Row throws FREE jazz shows every Tuesday, through October 25, from 6-9 p.m. right in front of Maggiano's and Starbucks! This Tuesday, Vission Latina, a Latin/Cuban band will rock the place. For more info, you could either call them at (408)551-4611, or go to http://www.santanarow.com/events  and it will get you where you need to be.

12  Ha! I totally LOVE the internet, man. It's almost close to being able to fly! PLUS you can find out about ANYTHING.

13  Here. Watch. I'm going out into space right now, and I'll return with the funniest joke ever written. Stand by.

14

15  Okay, I'm back. So some scientists in Great Britain CLAIM this is the funniest joke in the world:

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: "OK, now what?"

15  Hey, it was worth a shot...that joke is clearly NOT the funniest joke in the world. It's not really my fault. I'm just reporting the facts here. Ya gotta admit it was AN heroic attempt to cheer you up on this wonderfuly beautiful Monday morning.

16  So yeah.

17  That's my new answer to everything. So yeah. It somehow works to get you out of having to think, or even to attempt to further your stream of thought. It just SEEMS to explain whatever it is you were just yammering about. About which you were just yammering.

18  So yeah...

19   Okay, so THAT joke is what some geeky British scientists came up with that received the most universal laughs, and all sorts of other...experimenty things that scientists do.

20  Personally, I don't think it's even in my own top hundred. Howzbout if WE go on a search for the funniest joke in the world? You can submit it to me at gfharrington@aol.com, or throw one up in the comment column on the online DN.

21  Keep 'em SHORT and reasonably clean. This is, after all, the Daily News, and we DO have our standards.

22                                                             ?

23  Okay, everybody, it's Monday morning. Coffee break's over; back on your heads...

24  Old joke. Funnier than the funniest joke in the world, but let's just get through Monday, always a feat!

25  Peace, y'all.

 

                                         

 

 

The Daily News

1   You know, sometimes when things calm down around here, the school rewards us with just being the school. Things seemed to settle in today; the morning yawned along; leaves clung to the trees for dear life; red squirrels ran in and out of holes around the quad, and Linda Nguyen has appeared on every billboard in town, as well as on a guy watering his lawn's underpants, AND, I think, on myriad boxes of Wheaties in the cereal aisle at Albertson's.

2  That kid sixth period has taken to INSISTING that Charlie Chaplin is Hitler, and I can do nothing to correct the fellow. Yesterday he seemed adamant, little guy...

3  Emerson continues to amuse and bemuse me, even if he is my boom box.

  Always do what you are afraid to do.

4  Yeah, thanks guy.

5  Last night I hit a brick wall with this piffle. I guess you might say I got stage fright, in a manner of speaking. The DN audience expanded tremendously this year, as I added people from all the way back to the 80's, which both they AND I will insist was NOT that long ago.

 The best effort of a fine person is felt after we have left their presence.

6   Ain't it the Truth.

7   All those quotes floating about today!! Emerson, d00d, unless otherwise labeled. In my search for the perfect Emersonian quip, I discovered that one I have been throwing around this year was a misquote, which stunned me a little, but not too much. For the record, here is the corrected version:

Write it in your heart that every day is the best day in the year.

That's "in the year" and  not "of the year" as I previously had quoted. I don't see that there is a tremendous difference, but I had noticed online that Google had different versions. I defaulted to Bartlett's, which is THE last word on quotes, and they set the record straight. Let's hear it for the geeks!

8  It's still a lovely thought. Want another?

Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail.

9   < <snaps.>> <<sunglasses>><<lip jewelry>><<green hair>><<black turtlenecks>><<dark MACLA joints<<>>@@

10  Anyway, all was peaceful last night. Sometimes no news is delectably good news, all by itself. I get worn out sometimes when I sit and ponder what to write. I begin looking at my e-mailbox to see if anything has flown in, and that becomes ridiculous, because I find myself anxious to answer an e-mail instead of staring at a blank page trying to put something readable out there.

11  So let's just write it in your heart that it is a FRIDAY, and if you are a smart person, you'll honor that by doing as little as is humanly possible today. If you work, it's okay to goof  off today. You not only have my permission, you have my encouragement! If you don't work, then you already have a Master's. Go back to bed, yo. It beats watching commericials for Geico, or Bad Boys Bail Bonds. Just, listen to the birds on the hot wire sing...

12 If you are a student, act as though you are intensely interested in all your teachers yammerings. Act as though it's the most sensational miracle since the invention of liquid bubbles. Look to them as the new Messiahs and Gandhi's. And THEN keep the <tilt> signs hidden behind your pupils!!! And THEN think about go-karting, or water slides, and always, the BEACH!!!!

12 In fact, Fridays are to a GOOF what Sundays are to Pat "Bombs Away" Robertson: You won't see Robertson assassinating people on the Lord's day, so you, likewise, should work at doing absolutely nothing on a Friday!

13  M'bad. Just keep thinking, "Anywhere but here. Anywhere but here! Anywhere but here!" and click your ruby slippers. The world will suddenly open a door and turn to full color.

14  It's Friday. We made it. Thanks everybody; it wasn't an easy ride. Emerson, you da man. Little boring, but hey, you're a literary figure; it's allowed.

12  Well, that's about all. I hope you all have a rockin' weekend, and congrats to everyone who walked around in Zombieland for getting through opening week. It's time to wake up and live again.

13  And Linda, whoever you are, hot campaign, babe.

14  Peace, and chocolate.

Win as if you were used to it; lose as if you enjoyed it for a change.

15  Late.

 

 

 

The Daily News

1  I could wile away the hours...

2  It's unutterably amazing to me how quickly good ol' YB can suddenly make one burst into song...

3  For example,  yesterday I was driving to my parking spot right outside my portable when I found, to my dismay, that a bicycle chain the length of the Ganges stretched across the path, preventing my car from going to it's parking spot that I have used for the past eight years. ACCESS DENIED! it seemed to say to me. So I parked next to the Theatre, in the same spot I parked for the first SIXTEEN years I invested here.

4  Well,  Ms. Conrotto poked her head into my first period class and told me that I had to move my truck, or that it would be cited and towed. So after class, I meandered outside to see what all the hubbub was about.

5  I was told by TWO administrators that my truck needed to be moved, that it was parked illegally, and that if I didn't move it, that it would be towed. No fooling about. Move it or lose it.

6  As calm as I could get in such a situation, and most of  you KNOW I'm a calm guy, I politely questioned them with a gentle, "But why...?"

7  Okay, so I flew way into their faces and demanded to know why, on the SECOND day of school, they would want to create a situation that was going to cause MASSIVE anger, and that it was clearly an IDIOTIC idea to piss people off on the SECOND DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!!

8  They politely told me that my truck was parked illegally, and that it had to be moved.

9  I asked WHY it hadn't been considered parked illegally for the past eight years, but the answer seemed to keep coming: my truck was parked illegally, and that it had to be moved.

10  As you may well imagine, I politely thanked them for their time, and moved my truck. Well...I MAY have allowed a little, teensy-weensy oral editorial to blast their way, causing massive winds and lightning, but later, I found myself apologizing and cooperating, as is my gentle wont.

11  After a full day of spinning in utter disbelief, repeating what Buzz had whispered during the exchange, "Heart rate, man, heart rate...," I decided that bursting out in Wizard of Oz songs was the only answer.

12  Hence, the first item in today's DN.

13  It's a song by the late, great Harold Arlen, and it's entitled, IF I Only Had a Brain. Because CLEARLY, if I HAD a brain, I would have known EIGHT YEARS AGO that I was parked illegally, and that my truck had to be moved.

14  So I moved my truck. No point in going a step further with this. I could wile away the hours, but it probably is a waste of perfectly capable wiling.

15  Moving on, I have been meaning to give a huge plug for the Shady Shakespeare Theatre Company, which is currently doing FREE plays on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, 7 p.m. at Skyline-Sanborn Park in Saratoga, thru September 18.  They are doing a pair of shows they call Shakepeare in Lust, and they include a very saucy Measure For Measure, directed by Jeff Bengeford, and Merry Wives of Windsor, directed by Dinna Myers.

16  Last weekend I sneaked a peek at M4M, and it ROCKED! They had a 70's feel going the whole night, so the music, costumes, etc. just made you smile. I understand that Dinna's Merry Wives, which opens this weekend, is done in 50's chic.

17  It's a simple thing to do, too! You just take Highway 85 to Saratoga Ave., and drive through the town of Saratoga, up Big Basin Way to Sanborn, and turn left. It's the same place they have Science Camp. It costs $5 to park, and everything else is free!! You can bring a picnic basket, wine (if you're over 21!) and low-back folding chairs (not really neeeded) and set camp right in the front area. Of course, you should bring warm clothes, layered, and enough money for a nice donation. Otherwise, it's a beautiful place for Shakespeare, with redwood trees, a running stream, summer-camp lights, and stars o'erhead.

17  If you look carefully, you MIGHT even catch glimpses of Pigeon Players' folks roaming that forest as well!

18  It is a magical romp into the forest, and deeper into the beautifully crafted playwriting of the greatest in the King's English. These folks completely deliver the goods. Very intelligent, and very entertaining! A perfect combo! Fun music too!!!

19  Their website is www.shadyshakes.org  so you could go there for further information. This weekend is Merry Wives, so grab some friends, and set out for a Shakespsearean treat! AWESOME acting, awesome lighting, sound, location, and directing!

20  Meanwhile, I think I'll move outta here and place a big smile on my face, because nothing can bring smiles better than wonderful theatre, especially the venerable Bard of Avon!

21  I just hope when I get there, that they don't tow my truck away during the show...

22 Peace.

 

 

The Daily News

1  If-I'd-a-Knowed-You-Were-Comin-I'd-a-Baked A Cake, Dept. What an awesome outpouring yesterday's DN caused! I was pretty overwhelmed by everybody's reaction. It was like a celebration, so thank all of you who sent me your thoughts. I was especially touched by all the alumni who remembered those wonderful posters, and sent condolences, and memories. Just a wonderful show of support. I salute all of you, and thank you from the bottom of my heart.

2  It's a bit funny, but by sixth period yesterday, there I was, thinking about all of the good thoughts and wishes, when the bell rang, meaning I was about to teach a group of utterly CLUELESS freshmen, who had no idea of ANY of this. Just to get things going, I asked who they had last year for their English teacher. Although it wasn't really a loaded question, there was that first-day pause, when finally, after a fashion, one wiseguy decided to break the silence."Doug," he blurted, to the delight of LOTS of goofballs with braces.

3  I stared the little bastard down. I looked him right in the eye, and said, "MY name is MISTER Harrington!" and gave a look that would have turned a fresh gargoyle to stone. The class fell silent as I walked away from the insolent little vermin, and I moved toward the front of the room. The room proper had fallen unabashedly silent, and there suddenly appeared damp candles flickering on the stone walls of the dark castle.

4  After a short period of strained silence, the same student broke the tension. "Umm...Mr. Harrington?" He was clearly respectful and courteous.

"Yes?" I answered.

"Would it be okay if we called you Mr. H?"

5                                                                 ?

6  Whew. I'm guessing someone out there gets it.

7  It's times like these, time and time again...

8  Well! I managed to get them working on something or other, and soon, I found myself walking about the room, watching over papers, looking at the clock, and the board, and the posters. One poster brought a smile; it is this poster I had moved to a prominent place next to the whiteboard. It is an older poster of Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in The Kid.  It looks like this:

9  I continued around the room, and the students began chatting and making noise, when one kid said, "Hey, Mr. H?"

10  Pleased at the salutation, as well as the professorial respect, I raised an eyebrow so as to say, "Yes?"

11 "Why do you have a poster of Hitler on your wall?"

12  And so it goes...

13  For goodness sakes.

14  To this minute I love the fact that the Creator of the Universe has a sense of humor. Well, needless to say, I assured the student that the guy in the poster wasn't Adolph Hitler, but was a guy who probably Hitler wished he could be, but within seconds he was corrected by his peers, who had such perceptive and poignant comments as "Nah, foo! That's that doo who was in all those silent movies, doo; that's not Hitler, foo!"

15  And quite soon enough, perhaps just in time, the bell rang, ending the first school day of school, the first day of the rest of my life, my new dawn, my new horizon, my whole new world, and don't EVEN sing or I shall strike you.

16  Ya gotta love it.

17  So thanks again to all of you who have enjoyed this pooprag for TEN years. It's been quite the pleasure, and I am really glad to hear that for many of you, it is just the lift you need first thing in the morning. 

18  That's it for today; we'll see you again. Hope you had fun. Enjoy your bowl of Total, and your morning cuppa. Throw some smiles out there today.

19  Peace.

 

The Daily News

1   Welcome back! I hope y'all had a great summer! To the new alumni, my Class of '05 guys, welcome to the wide, wonderful, wacky world of the Daily News!!! To my old readers and fans of the DN, it looks like it'll be around for its 10th year!

2  Despite the Drama Workshop not really existing this year (VERY weird!), there was never really a question that the DN would continue. Or there might have been. I can't remember. Anyway, to some, this is like a warm cup of coffee each morning. To others, it's an instant delete. To others, it's a great way to start each day. To me, it's a lark, a spree, it's very clear to see!

3  Hmm. It doesn't bode well when you start busting out in Julie Andrews' tunes the first day of school...

4  As always, each year I select a few alumni and add them to the DN delivery service. If you would rather not receive the DN,  just write me an e-mail, and I'll not send these out to you. Otherwise, welcome to my Daily News! It is now a tradition going back TEN years this Spring!!! This is where you get the REAL news, not only about the school, or the Workshop, or anything, but about the WHOLE world!!! It doesn't get any better than this!

5  Okay, that being said, the school year began yesterday with a District meeting with about 4 billion teachers who dyed their ears, plucked their eyebrows, and cried on the scales, as yet another year had taken away any hope of personal dignity.

6  I, on the other hand, worked out, tanned, swam, visited canyons, plundered and pillaged white rafters on the Sea of Green, dressed in full PIRATE regalia, put a gold cap on my first tooth left of center, and smiled with a bright twinkle, ready to take all this to the next level.

7  In short, I'm uglier than ever.

8  Yeesh.

9  Drama Workshop people: one of the first items on my agenda is to attempt to hook something up for a full season of plays. While I'm NOT going to direct plays, nor will I teach a Drama class, I never intended last year for the Workshop to go away; I just thought I'd be replaced, which didn't happen. But the Workshop has been around for almost 25 years, and is clearly a classic YB tradition, so rest assured that I am working on it. It will be a huge task, and maybe one I won't be able to fulfill, but I promise at least to look into it.

10  The PA office and entire area has had a huge facelift thanks to Ms. Hooper and select members of the Band, who came down during the summer and cleaned, organized, and got the place in ship-shape. Great work!

11  Along the way, a sad thing: my posters came down and were in a box, and I accidentally put them with a bunch of normal garbage, which the janitors tossed. This box included a lot of original office posters, including the Chaplin poster, the mime sitting on the crescent moon, and the guy with the duck hands, the first poster I ever hung in the building! Awwwww...

12  Somewhere I still have pictures of those. I took them last year during a exquisitely painful afternoon alone in the office, when I decided to take pictures for the slide show that ultimately made it into my last show, A Love Letter. So they are still somewhere...

13  Anyway, welcome back everybody! Let's write it in our hearts that every day will be the best day. I'd say that was a paraphrase of Emerson, but I've reached the point where the only Emerson I know of is an affordable boombox at Target.

14  I better leave.

15  Let's get it started!

16  Peace.