Vacation... That is where Lino and crew are this week-when we are at home, working, slaving away to earn the twenty bucks for our Sirius XM radios.

An important note for all listeners. BLAME LOU AND MAUREEN! That's right, we all know how much Lino likes to vacation, but this one is all on the producers... Lou and Maureen both had scheduled this week off for themselves forcing the show to take the week off. I think Lino is great, but if he were left with no producers the show would be lots of talking to himself and being the only one laughing at his jokes. No Lou"Board Master" Ruggieri to hit the Laugh Track... sad, sad, sad. No Maureen "Smarter than a Bad Catholic" McMurray to throw under the bus... sad, sad, sad.

Maureen said on Facebook that she will be spending her time off in Mexico. Lou is probably catching up on his sleep since he works 14 jobs. Lino is in Peru with Brett getting lost I am sure. I hope they get a nice break full of relaxation and rejuvenation, 'cause I expect them to be full-on, back-at-it, when they return.

I also expect cool souvenirs- Key Chain, Magnet, the tackier the better.. YOU HEAR ME? Ok, so I won't get any cool presents because, well, who wants to lug something back from vacation for family let alone a practical stranger... but a girl can dream!

Have fun Catholic Guy Crew, wherever you are this week. The Fans will just have to survive without you for a week. It will be a week of "Best Of" shows but we all know a Best Of The Catholic Guy Show is better than NO Catholic Guy Show.

I know many of us look for alternate radio stations when a replay is one we have heard before. Remember to check the Catholic Channel (sirius 159/xm117) before switching in case it is one you haven't heard... OR it is the one when Heather, dustin and I were in studio (No one should miss that!) You never know when you will catch a little Catholic Guy Replay Love. If you find the replay is one you don't want to listen to I would recommend The Message, Classic Vinyl, The Blend, or The Highway (being some of my favorites)...

We should all say a little prayer of thanksgiving that The Catholic Channel is smart enough not to play Gus Lloyd in TGCS spot when they are away! Yes, I encourage you all to pray for this.


With a wink and a smile,
;)Ambassador Allicia

Producer Maureen McMurray, along with John Kennedy, the producer from 'Seize The Day' (Gus's dog-and-pony show), appeared on the best three hours of morning radio, Dave and Susan Konig's 'Speak Now.'

When asked about what she is going to be doing at NPR, McMurray revealed the type of show she'd be working on.

"I'm going to be producing a variety show. I'm really looking forward to it, no offense to anyone I've left behind."

After Susan asked about people's reaction to McMurray leaving, Maureen said that people had a positive attitude, joking with her about leaving. But when it came to their sadness about McMurray being gone, she stated that nobody would care.

"Honestly, they're going to forget in a week...We've had people come and go on the show before, and nobody cares," a laughing McMurray said.

Dave played a great clip, featuring Maureen, about giving Wedding vows. I wasn't able to catch more specifics (I've got no pause or rewind button on my Sirius), but the clip had Maureen reading these extremely sappy, pseudo-meaningful wedding vows to the groom. The groom replied with something short and sweet, which prompted outrage from McMurray, who yelled "That's a hallmark card! I stayed up all night writing this f****** thing."

Classic.

Playing off of Gus's reading of Pope Benedict's homily earlier this year, audio of "Gus Loyd " (I think it was Dave doing a great impression) reading the lyrics from "Be Our Guest" from Beauty in the Beast made an appearance. I seriously hope that Lino replays the segment, as hearing a mock Gus Loyd recite Disney lyrics makes for quality radio.

McMurray did give a final sendoff to listeners, which was very sweet and touching.

"I have two things. One I want to say ... I really did learn a tremendous amount of Catholicism. I got to go to the Vatican with Lino, and it was incredible. In terms of listeners on our show ... that is probably one of the saddest things about leaving. I'm really going to miss the listeners alot."

Before McMurray's appearance, Susan Konig talked about the worst send-off (The Washington Post giving the best send-off) after leaving a job. At Seventeen magazine, Konig was taken out for coffee, and told that her position was being eliminated. On her last day, Konig said that the editor-in-chief actually called her in the office, and told her that she was a 'bad writer' (not true).

"She decided to knock me down a few pegs," Konig recalled. "... I said to her, 'If I'm such a bad writer, I'm going to take all the writing for the next issue with me." Konig did say that the security guard, Stitch, that removed her from the building seemed a little sad. An older man, he showed great remorse in having to remove Susan from the job.

I thought Monday was a great day of catholic radio. From the unique segments, such as Gus singing to Maureen (the line about kissing was fantastic), to the banter (calling Lino out for the sin of lust) between the group, every part of the show seemed fresh and fun.

Lino goofing on us, making us think that he could actually leave, was original, slightly infuriating (thought to myself, 'Well, there goes this blog!'), but now that I think back on it, was a well-timed joke (I think I nearly hung up on a customer at work today trying to hear the end of the segment). No doubt, it left program-director Ron in a little bit of a panic.

I think what also made the show great, and some might not agree, was that it didn't get bogged down in calls. I love the phone calls, especially the hang-ups, but today, it was nice to see everyone's personality take center-stage.

Tomorrow should be a great show: since I have the day off, I can update during the show, instead of formatting Dear Abby columns for page 2B, and wondering why BluMonkee, our paper's automated photo-editing program quit working.

Great show today, especially Gus singing. I don't think that will be topped for quite some time.