MC Coolidge on Florida This Week … playing politico with the big dogs of sunshine state

So many of you wrote to me over the weekend and today letting me know that you tried to watch Florida This Week last Friday night and the cable company transmission failed about half-way through. Some of you have also asked for the link to FTW’s website video archive.

So, here you go — etched in infamy for all time (more…)

SNN 6 … maintaining the status quo

So, first, thanks for the several inquiries about any new news on SNN. It lets me know that many of you are still very hyped on seeing our fave local news television channel back on the air. As am I.

Second, about my report on the comment made by the husband of DesMarais that there was “misinformation” on my site about SNN — apparently, there isn’t any at all. Misinformation, that is. On the contrary, it would seem that I’ve got the story — what little there is of it — quite right, in fact. (more…)

MC in the Tampa Trib — better than a box of chocolates!

The Tampa Tribune made my Valentine’s Day! They bought and ran my Real Romance Costs Nothing column and it’s in today’s paper! If you haven’t read it already on this blog … you can read it here

Yippee! Wishing you all a gorgeous V-Day!

Manicures, money, and moving on …

Yesterday, I used a gift card I’d been given for a local salon, to have a manicure. I rarely get a professional manicure; just never enough dollars in the budget and even if there were I’d probably rather buy bird food than have my nails done. (Not much of a girlie girl, huh?!)

But, I was going up for the big shoe in Tampa today and figured a mani might calm my jitters and be a good way to spend my $25 card.

The woman who did my nails, let’s call her Cindy. In her fifties, talkative, nice enough. As she filed and buffed and trimmed my raggedy nails into something approximating presentable, she told me her story. (more…)

If the Red Sox can win the World Series …

Can you tell I’m pining for romance? … yet another treatise on the day I like to bash the most (but apparently love despite my bashing!).
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I’m not a big fan of Valentine’s Day. At least that’s what I’ve been telling myself since my divorce.

Before my marriage, I was lucky enough to have been fabulously wowed (and seriously wooed) by some outstanding V-Day efforts. Fireworks, home-cooked meals, five-star restaurants, horse-drawn carriages, mousse au chocolat and champagne, whispered sweet nothings, never better than in French ….

And most romantic of all — one Valentine’s night in Boston, (more…)

Valentine’s Day — real romance costs nothing!

It’s not because I’m divorced that Valentine’s Day fills me with a kind of internal cringing normally reserved for the sound of nails dragging down a chalk board. It’s not sour grapes or cynicism gone amuck. It’s simply that Valentine’s Day has, over the years, evolved into a competition, one that devalues spontaneity, simplicity, romance, and — I’m pulling out the big guns here — most of all, love.

Even as a child I never got into the grade school rituals of sending Valentines. You put them into little boxes and everyone ended up actually counting how many they received in some sort of twisted popularity contest. Now, as adults, it’s even worse. (more…)

Florida This Week — MC’s television debut!

I’m flabbergasted, honored, and a bit humbled to have been invited to appear on Florida This Week — the weekly news television program, hosted by Rob Lorei. It’s a “Meet the Press” kind of format — but for West Central Florida issues, of course. (more…)

Everything but the girl …

I was in Paris the first time I heard everything but the girl … Killer songs about love, separation, Bob Dylan. How could you not love this quirky two-man (well, one girl) Brit band? Then, I moved to Boston, took a swing through Phoenix, back to Beantown, and ended up in Florida … where, guess what? I encountered a store called — yep, Everything But the Girl. (more…)

MC at USF Campus to Discuss “Media in Our Modern World”

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I visited the USF/Sarasota campus the other day (Tuesday, February 3) to speak to a class on “Media in Our Modern World.” The class is taught by Jim Brown, a former mayor of Sarasota and longtime journalist whose work appears, I believe, every other week in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (Editor’s note: see correction in blog comments.)

The class was full of sharp, informed students of varied ages who pummeled me, albeit nicely, on all things blogosphere-related, and then some. I was able to give them my perspective and answer most, if not all, the questions — I enjoyed the dialog immensely and hope they did as well.

What did we talk about? Well, for one, a lot of people have a fear – a healthy one in my book – that there’s too much opinion and not enough researched fact in the blogosphere. (more…)

Will Sarasota’s SNN 6 be back on the airwaves?

Will Sarasota’s SNN 6 be back on the airwaves soon? Would be a sweet Valentine’s Day present if it is.

I just got off the phone with Linda DesMarais, erstwhile General Manager for the station and while she wouldn’t confirm the stories I’ve been hearing last night and this morning (that the station is looking good for a comeback very soon), she did give me a generous amount of time in talking about the station and its future. (more…)