My Shore Leave Schedule

Posted by Bob Greenberger on July 6, 2009

I’ve been going to Shore Leave since the early 1980s and it’s become a fixture on the summer calendar. And here it is, after many months of anticipation and planning. The preliminary schedule just went live and here’s what I know I will be doing:

Friday

7-8:30 p.m.

Keith DeCandido Roast: As roastmaster, I get first crack at insulting one and all and then get repeated opportunities to poke him. It’s a charity fundraiser and when I wrote the first draft of my remarks, ringleader David Mack asked, “Are you not comfortable working blue?” then proceeded to rewrite my script making me sound nastier than I knew I was capable of being. The tech crew, Conventional Magic, is going above and beyond to dress the set, practice with their cameras and this is certain to be a show stopper which is odd since we’re the first major event of the show.

10 p.m.-Midnight

Meet the Authors Party: Presuming my fellow roasters are sober enough, we and a horde of other writer guests will be signing books and chatting with anyone who turns up. Shore Leave has to be America’s leading writer-friendly media con.

Saturday

10-11 a.m.

I have my usual hour to kick off the day and will talk about upcoming books, my life, and then show movie previews (ably assembled for me by Alan Chafin).

Afterwards, I’ll be emceeing the major guests, ensuring I get to say to them at least once this weekend.

4-5 p.m. Comics to Movies: The Trend Continues

I’ll be sharing the table with know-it-alls Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, Glen Hauman, Rigel Ailur, and Allyn Gibson.

Sunday

10-11 a.m.

The Bob & Howie Show

What was once programming filler has become a tradition as Howard Weinstein and I sit and gently jibe one another while chatting about news plucked from the headlines, our current projects, our families and there’s always some TV show or movie we find ourselves diametrically opposed about – what will it be this year?

5-6 p.m.  Mystery Trekkie Theater

Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman and yours truly continue what has become a Shore Leave exclusive since 1992 (yikes!). We have selected another Star Trek television show (no hint as to which series or season) which we will mercilessly mock in the style of Mystery Science Theater 3000. This comes complete with an opening skit, which will spotlight Mr. Chafin for a change. If you are there Sunday, you won’t want to miss this and go home happy.

There are two other items on the program I call your attention to. First, as always, my hour on Saturday is followed by the Boogie Knights, which includes Kate. This year, they will have a fishbowl to collect requests and will select songs from their 25+ year catalogue.

The second is the first annual Robbie Greenberger Memorial Poker Tournament, Saturday night from 11 p.m. until 1 a.m. It’s a charity fundraiser honoring one of the activities the kid usually participated in and masterminded for several years. Shore Leave decided this was a good way to honor his memory and I urge all card players to turn up.

Governor Rell Never Fails to Disappoint

Posted by Bob Greenberger on July 3, 2009

Yesterday, Connecticut governor Jodi M. Rell vetoed seven bills including an omnibus health care bill that included the bone marrow testing item I had testified in favor for.

The state has been without a budget since the fiscal year began on Wednesday since the detached Governor and the state legislature are seemingly miles apart on how to deal with the budget. The Governor wants cuts everywhere but none that will effectively deal with the projected $9 billion deficit projected over the next two years.

The state legislature wants a budget that sharply raises fees and taxes along with cuts.

In an effort to appear fiscally responsible, Rell vetoed each of the seven bills yesterday noting how they will wind up costing us money we don’t have “Each of these bills is problematic in some fundamental way,” Rell said in today’s Hartford Courant. “Some — like the ‘menu bill’ — are attempts to legislate what should be common sense, and would impose burdens on the people of Connecticut and add costs for businesses and agencies in the midst of a deep recession.” The menu bill would have required nutritional information be included in chain food restaurants. While the state was recognized as the third fittest (or third least obese) this week, she felt this was an unnecessary act. And a bill that would have required the state to apply for federal stimulus funds to create “green jobs,” and promote “green energy” seems not only cost-efficient but forward-thinking.

“Does it come as a surprise to anyone that a vegetable salad is healthier and more nutritious than a bacon cheeseburger?” Rell asked. “There has been a growing and troubling tendency by some to legislate nearly every aspect of our lives and society, including personal responsibility. Such legislation always comes at a cost to the taxpayer and to individual freedom.”

Closer to home, the veto included the health care bill which would have obligated health insurance companies to cover various medical treatments, including hearing aids for children, prosthetic devices, bone marrow testing, wigs for certain patients who suffer hair loss, and ostomy supplies.

I want to thank everyone for the lobbying effort last month but clearly the governor is disinterested. I am deeply disappointed in the specific bill being rejected but the larger issue appears to be our governor playing chicken with every aspect of our lives in order to appear prudent when she is instead showing a distinct lack of leadership during a time of fiscal concern.