A few local bytes from Breen
Breen Damage is working in sound bytes this week, because that’s
how I think, so indulge me as I hit on a few topics that struck my
fancy in recent days:
Dance craze
”
The Dancing for Diana
”
YouTube sensation still has legs as a sequel to the
student-produced video hit the Internet this week.
Designed as a way to drum up support for Diana Magana, the San
Benito High School freshman who is battling cancer, the videos
attracted local media attention from newspapers, radio and
television stations. What’s more, some of the students involved
were talking this week about how
”
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
”
has expressed interest in showing a clip from one of the videos
on the show.
A few local bytes from Breen
Breen Damage is working in sound bytes this week, because that’s how I think, so indulge me as I hit on a few topics that struck my fancy in recent days:
Dance craze
“The Dancing for Diana” YouTube sensation still has legs as a sequel to the student-produced video hit the Internet this week.
Designed as a way to drum up support for Diana Magana, the San Benito High School freshman who is battling cancer, the videos attracted local media attention from newspapers, radio and television stations. What’s more, some of the students involved were talking this week about how “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” has expressed interest in showing a clip from one of the videos on the show.
As of mid-week, there was no confirmation, but it certainly would aid the effort to raise money for Magana and her family to help offset medical costs. Nearly $6,000 had been raised as of Wednesday, with the Benefit Ball scheduled for Friday.
‘Idol’ chatter
Darn it if I don’t love me some “American Idol.” The best part of the show is watching the wannabes and never-gonna-be’s singing their hearts out for the judges, only to get shot down and ridiculed.
As hard as it is to understand how some of these people could think they’d have a chance, I do sympathize because I sound pretty good to myself when I have my iPod on or I’m singing in the shower. Then my dreams of stardom are quickly dashed when my wife cringes or my sons beg me to stop or suddenly turn up the television in an attempt to drown out my voice. As long as there’s a song in my heart, I will sing, family critics be darned.
Tie-ing one on
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so it was pretty neat this week when members of the eighth-grade boys’ basketball team at Sacred Heart decided to wear button-down shirts and ties to school on the day of their first home game.
It may seem like no big deal, but they did this on one of the magical free-dress days, where students are allowed to eschew the traditional uniform for “regular” clothes. They like the way that the high school teams dress up before their basketball games so they decided to follow suit.
Some school officials were so impressed that there’s talk that the boys might be allowed to wear ties to school on all game days.
Play ball
The weather says it’s still winter and the calendar just flipped to February, but baseball is getting into full swing in Hollister.
Hollister Little League has already held tryouts and drafted teams and Babe Ruth has spring league tryouts scheduled this weekend, weather-permitting. Barone’s Baseball on San Felipe Road has been busy with kids from first grade through high school taking some cuts in the batting cage or taking lessons from our resident recent Major Leaguer.
Spring now can’t get here soon enough.
Buffet hooray
I’m not a big fan of buffet restaurants. The idea of food sitting around under heat lamps or on top of warmers while gluttons graze and fill their plates like it’s their last meal does not improve my appetite.
When Buffet Express opened on McCray Street near Premiere Cinemas last month, I remained reluctant, deciding to visit only because that’s where my mom wanted to go for her birthday lunch (that’s another column).
I’ve got to say that it was actually pretty good; sort of like Panda Express meets the school cafeteria. There were a lot of Chinese food options along with pizza and meatballs and soup and bread and chicken and all kinds of other things that I passed up because my plate was already full.
With a few exceptions, my meal was satisfying and the price was good. The window by which we sat was the same window my sister used to look out of when her employer, Pinnacle Urgent Care, had its offices there, so I tried not to think about sick people being in this same space.
I’d recommend the place and plan to visit again, this time piling the food a little higher on my plate.
Want more Breen Damage? Check out Adam’s blog at http://thebreenblog.blogspot.com. Adam teaches newspaper and yearbook classes at San Benito High School and is a reporter for The Pinnacle. He is former editor of the Free Lance.
