Here’s Matt Ryan and his Grammy!

"Grammy" and Matt Ryan (photo by Andy Chase)

This is my Grammy, Nell. She and my Grandfather (in their 80′s) still run a successful art gallery in Island Heights. She’s my biggest fan and I wanted to have a little Q & A with her live on the air. Do you think my Grammy knows what LMFAO stands for? Have a listen and find out!

Lee Coursey, Flickr

It’s the middle of the week, and on a beautiful day like this, it’s not hard to picture yourself on the beach with a frozen drink in your hand…well, it might not be quite warm enough for THAT, but there’s no reason you can’t have that drink. After all, it’s National Margarita Day.

The great thing about margaritas is that you can switch them up so many different ways, and yet they are all delicious. Frozen or on the rocks, salt or no salt, blue curacao instead of triple sec…the possibilities are endless.

So in the interest of variety, let’s all raise a glass full of our margarita of choice…(responsibly of course.)

Cheers.

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Freehold native Robert Gibbons and Toms River resident Anthony DeGraaf started the program called United Strong Against Bullying (USA Bullying) along with WWE/TNA superstar and Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle which aims to educate and motivate students to stand up against bullying and stand strong in the face of adversity.

The program is in its infancy now, being started as a joint-venture between the two Garden State residents and pro wrestler, who formed an unlikely friendship after the pair worked with him on several other of Kurt Angle’s side ventures. Gibbons’ says that they plan to use the appeal and personality of Kurt Angle in order to convey the message to participants of all ages.

He says USA Bullying’s goal is to continue building onto the work done by other national and statewide organizations while working to improve wherever possible. Hopefully, setting the standard in some areas for others to follow.

He says what makes Angle’s speeches relatable is that while he is a larger-than-life sports entertainment personality; his struggles through life have been very relatable.

“A lot of times people, especially pro wrestlers like Kurt, they’ve been bullied when they were little, and that’s what actually motivated them to be great and be champions and succeed in all of things that they do. ”

The tri-fold message of unity, responsibility, and perseverance is something Gibbons and his partners want to take to schools throughout the area, making sure to reach out not only to the bullied, but the bullies also. He notes that sometimes the worst bullies could be the school’s best athletes.

“You protect the people. You’ve been given physical gifts, either god given or through incredible hard work, and by having those gifts you are responsible for the people that aren’t maybe as blessed as you are. ”

He says that it’s important to let the victims of bullying know, “it gets better” and that they should continue to persevere. Gibbons references the struggles Kurt Angle has faced, from bullying throughout his childhood, to the murder of his Olympic coach, to breaking his back six months before trials, to the unfortunate passing of his brother. He says that while the bullied feel very much like victims, it’s important to let them know they can rise above it.

“We are living and walking proof that if you just stay focused on the positive and find the positive, there’s a positive in every situation. You want to promote that good things can happen from bad situations; it’s what you make of the situation.”

Gibbons says that Kurt Angle has signed on his own personal time to work with the program however they are currently in talks with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) to expand their roster of speakers to include other performers.

Scott Gries, Getty Images

Rihanna is back with Chris Brown…at least in the studio…and it makes me uncomfortable. The man beat her after the 2009 Grammy Awards. Remember the picture of her with the bruises and the black eyes and swollen face? And now we are supposed to act like it never happened?

I, luckily, have never been in a physically abusive relationship. I don’t know what it’s like, and I hate judging her when I don’t know what I would do in the same situation.

I do think though, that she has a responsibility as a public figure to be a good example to other women. Matt Ryan and I were talking about this yesterday on the air, and a listener called and compared Rihanna and Chris Brown to Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. Will Chris be Rihanna’s downfall?

My heart goes out to Rihanna, and I only hope she stays strong and safe and doesn’t wind up in a dangerous situation again. I don’t know Chris Brown, and maybe he won’t hit her again, but I don’t think that’s a chance she should take.

And please, if you or someone you know is being abused, don’t be afraid to get help. You’re not alone. You can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline or contact a local group like Dottie’s House.

What do you think of the situation? Tell us in the comment section below!

Spec-ta-cles, Flickr

18 year old Amanda Librizzi from Manasquan is one special teenager.

Amanda was diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition in October of 2010 and has now turned her attention to helping other young people that have cardiac arrhythmia.

Amanda has spent the past two years raising money for research by selling red “I Love Hearts” bracelets.

Amanda says she felt perfectly healthy and her heart was fine until she came down with the flu when she was 16 and couldn’t recover. After the flu, she began to suffer from chronic fatique, heart palpitations, and chest pain. For the next ten months she saw several specialists who couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Many attributed it to stress and anxiety.

Finally, the family made an appointment at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where a stress test revealed Amanda’s arrhythmia.

Amanda is student council president and a senior at Communications High School in Wall and has raised money at school to deliver presents to young patients at CHOP’s cardiac ward. The money she raises from the bracelets also helps fund research at the hospital.

Amanda has made some lifestyle changes too. She maintains a diet rich in fruits and veggies and avoids caffeine. She also has to make sure she doesn’t raise her heart rate above 120 beats per minute by wearing a wrist monitor. But she tries to keep her life as normal as possible with a great attitude.

Amanda says she still suffers from fatigue and chest pains and doesn’t have as much energy as she used to, so she has had to learn to say ‘no’ to some things and scale back her social life a bit. But overall, she is doing better than she was two years ago and that some weeks she feels almost completely normal.

(Manasquan-Belmar Patch)

Patrick McDermott, Getty Images

There is nothing that gets me more pumped up than hearing it’s time for baseball’s spring training. It’s a sign that summer is right around the corner, and that my Mets are gearing up for another mediocre season. I know that men and women alike love baseball. But is spring training a guy thing?

It’s weeks of prospects (better known as players you’ve never heard of) and practices that get scrutinized like they were Game 1 of the World Series. And when they finally get around to playing games, all the best players only play an inning or two. To me, following spring training is kind of like watching the NFL network a few weeks after the season is over. Kind of a guy thing. What do you think?

Andreas Rentz, Getty Images

With the Academy Awards just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to take a look at some categories, make some predictions and find out what you think. Today, let’s focus on the “Best Actress” category. The nominees aaaare…Glenn Close, Viola Davis, Rooney Mara, Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams.

I firmly believe the Academy has it’s favorites, so Meryl Streep immediately jumped out at me as a good prediction, but as I checked out predictions from some movie “experts’ it seems many of them are leaning toward Viola Davis. This is a tough category, but I’m going to stick with my original thought.

Best Actress prediction: Meryl Streep

Check out additional videos, photos, and more from the performance here.

geograph.org.uk

94.3 The Point and Schneider Nelson Audi want to send you to Ireland with $5,000 spending cash this St. Patrick’s Day! Text LUCKY to 40301 to enter. We’ll chose 50 lucky qualifiers to join us at the Parade After Party on Sunday, March 4th from 3pm to 5pm at the Headliner in Neptune!

You’ll also have a bonus shot to qualify at the Headliner! Each qualifier will roll the dice to spell out ‘LUCKY.’ If no one correctly rolls all five dice, the person closest will win a guaranteed $500!

Look for Laurie Cataldo & Matt Ryan in the Belmar St. Patrick’s Day Parade in an A5 Audi Convertible, courtesy of Schneider Nelson Audi, the Jersey Shore’s Largest Audi Dealer. Visit them in West Long Branch on Route 36 or at SNAudi.com.

Party at the Headliner after the parade with the B Street Band performing live!

Deadline to enter is Friday, March 2nd at noon.

FOX

Regionals are here, but this week, ‘Glee”s not about hogging the spotlight. The show takes on a very important issue this week, and PopCrush is here to recap everything.

Rachel, while pouring over bridal magazines with a less-than-enthused Kurt, is approached by the Warbler that everyone loves to hate, Sebastian. It seems like, after nearly blinding Blaine, he’s at it again, blackmailing Rachel into not performing at Regionals. He’s photoshopped some naughty pics of Finn, and threatens to put them online unless Rachel drops out of regionals, giving the Warblers a shot at winning. Finn is mad, but Rachel won’t back down, proclaiming “I love you and we’re gonna get through this together.”

Sue drops a bomb on Quinn. She’s pregnant, but she’s not telling who the father is. Quinn tells Sue that she wants to rejoin the Cheerios, and Sue shoots her down in classic Sue fashion.

Blaine has been working on a new song for Regionals, and as he sings ‘Cough Syrup’ by Young the Giant, we see David Karofsky at a new school and on a new football team, coming into the locker room to find anti-gay graffiti on his locker. As Blaine sings the emotional song, Karofsky goes home to find bullying on Facebook, and finding it too much to take, he decides to take his own life.

Karofsky is alive after his attempted hanging, but the attempt has hit home at McKinley High. Principal Figgins claims that it wasn’t the educators job to know what was going on in David’s life, but as Emma says, “then whose job was it?”

Kurt, after rejecting David at the end of the ‘Heart’ episode, feels especially responsible for his attempted suicide, claiming that he should have been there for Karofsky, even after what he put him through.

Finn and Rachel have also felt the effect of the tragedy, and feeling that life is too precious to spend waiting, have decided to get married this week, right after they compete at Regionals. Finn has decided that he wants Rachel to perform, but Sebastian’s threats have proved to be moot, as it appears the Warbler has had a change of heart. Sebastian apologizes to Blaine for the Slushee incident, tells Rachel that the blackmail pics are gone, and says he is going to dedicate The Warblers’ performance at regionals to David Karofsky.

Will opens up to the Glee Club, giving them a speech about the importance of valuing your own life. He tells of his own suicide attempt in his junior year at McKinley. “Look at all the things I would have missed out on,” he says, and he tells everybody to think of something they’re looking forward to. They all share, and Rory says what everyone’s thinking: “I’m looking forward to winning at regionals.”

At Regionals, Sebastian leads The Warblers in a heartfelt performance of ‘Stand’ by Lenny Kravitz and ‘Glad You Came‘ by the Wanted. Both songs are obviously nods to David Karofsky, and to the courage to stay alive.

Finn announces backstage that he and Rachel are getting married after the performance, and while not everyone is thrilled, nobody lets it ruin their momentum. The New Directions start with an epic mashup of ‘Fly’ by Nicki Minaj and ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ by R. Kelly, showcasing Rachel, Artie, Santana and Blaine. Following this, Brittany, Santana and Mercedes do a powerful rendition of Kelly Clarkson‘s hit single ‘Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You).’ Everyone is into it, including Sebastian and (gasp!) Sue. Rachel, backed by the New Directions, then sings ‘Here’s to Us’ by Halestorm, and looks at Finn the whole time. The crowd is on their feet, feeling the love.

The New Directions take home a much-deserved regionals trophy, and even though the Warblers are disappointed with second place, it appears that Sebastian has made his peace with the New Directions.

Sue tells Quinn she’s an inspiration, and gives her old Cheerios uniform back to her. Quinn is thankful, and decides to tell Rachel that she wants to come to the wedding. Rachel makes her a bridesmaid.

Kurt visits David in hospital, and apologizes for not returning his calls. David understands, considering all that he put Kurt through, and rasps “why would you?” Kurt tells him that the road to acceptance is not going to be easy, but offers him a vision of hope: In 10 years, he’ll have left all of this behind, will have met the man of his dreams and forgotten all the heartache. David asks Kurt to be friends, and Kurt accepts.

Sue congratulates Will on the Glee club’s win. She tells him she’s pregnant, and he’s happy for her. She also tells him that she wants to help the club out in preparing for nationals. She’s so genuinely, sincerely nice about it, we can’t help but wonder what she has planned.

At the wedding, the parents are frantically trying to devise a plan to deter the bride and groom while Rachel frets over Quinn’s absence. She said she’d be there, but is running late. Rachel sends Quinn text after text, asking where she is. Quinn is in the car, running late, and as she is texting Rachel “on my way,” a truck comes out of nowhere, hitting the car. Cut to black. To be continued…

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