Anheuser-Busch has just announced that they are cutting 1,400 jobs.  The beer company also announced a new slogan, “Tastes great, less jobs.”

After being convicted by a jury last week, O.J. Simpson was sentenced with 9 to 33 years in a Las Vegas jail.  Sometimes what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas for 9 to 33 years.

The European Union has formally launched its new anti-pirate mission off the coast of Somalia.  The new task force consists of a young boy who can fly and approximately 9 lost boys.

Breaking the News actually began back in October of 2002 when we were regulars on the ‘DVE Morning Show with Jim and Randy.  We did this skit weekly for well over a year and then started writing it as a column for a local newsweekly.  Well, for the past 2 years we’ve been doing a weekly national column but unless you live in places like Shreveport, LA or Dayton, OH, you don’t have an opportunity to read it.

But now you do!  We created a fan page for the column that you can check out on Facebook.  The plan is to put some of our current material on there and have updated news daily on the site.  Plus we’ll dig some funny stuff out of the vault.  And you don’t have to be a member to read it.  Just click on this link and it will magically take you there:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dave-Dave/43175520702

You can also click the pretty blue “Facebook” blue bar on the left side of our page. Facebook is pretty cool.  If you are already a member, you can add yourself as our “fan,” and then YOU can add in your two-cents about some of the crazy news we hear about everyday.  If you’re not a member, go ahead and join.  It’s free and easy, much like Dave H.  We’ll see you there and remember, let’s all be safe out there!

- Dave R

#10  Julie B’s house  3/11/03

As many of you know, Julie Bologna is a meterologist at Channel 11.  What many of you may not know and what we’ve been lucky to find out is, Julie B is one of the coolest, funniest, nicest - and plenty other good adjectives - people around.  We went to do a “cribs” episode with her and toured her old house and had a great couple hours going through her closets.   She is the best!

#9  Hot Air Ballooning  8/21/02

 This is one of the best shot stories we’ve ever done, too bad we weren’t in Hi-Def back then.  If you haven’t had a chance to go up in a hot air balloon, do it.  It’s kinda pricey but was really, really cool.  I’m not a huge fan of heights, but this felt totally safe and was not scary at all.

 #8  Day Spa with Eva Szabo   3/31/00

This was actually the 2nd story we ever did and this one is kind of a no-brainer when you have foreign women touching you all day long.  The marked the first (and last) time I’ve had a pedicure, the first (and last) time I’ve had a mud wrap, the first (and last) time I’ve had a facial, the first (and last) time I’ve had a manicure, and the first (and last) time I had a hand wrap.  But I was stunned how great I looked after this shoot!  If you see this show, it really is noticable.

 #7  Backyard Castle  6/26/08

This was part of our show Strange PA and this guy we met named Ron Hall took 30 years to dry-lay this huge castle in his backyard.  Not only was the castle cool, the yard was equally great with landscaping to complement the castle.  I would kill to have his backyard and we were all inspired by him to start constructing our own stone things.  Of course nothing we build will ever match this.  If you are ever in the northeast part of the state, find this place and check it out!

#6  The River Tunnel  5/16/08

We’re guys so any large machines that can dig a tunnel under a river is pretty cool to see.  So last spring we got a chance to literally walk underneath the Allegheny River to see the boring machine at work.  Now for the chance to say “I’ve walked under the Allegheny River” is enough, but seeing how this whole thing works was damn impressive.   Dave H put it best when he said to the guy in charge, “I can’t keep water out of my basement, yet you’re building a tunnel under a river!”

#5  Pierogi racing at PNC Park  9/16/05

Ok, let’s be honest.  The only reason to go to PNC Park right now is for the food, fireworks, bobblehead dolls and the pierogie race.  We were lucky enough to get invited to become a pierogie for one night and race.  Ok, I finished last and I had to be the girl pierogie, but it was a blast.  Of course, it was super hot and kinda clausterphobic inside those things too.

 #4  Penn State Tailgating  9/3/05

We shot this for our first state special Eat Pennsylvania.  I should say that Dave and I grew up Pitt fans which means Penn St. was the enemy.  No longer. We both fell in love with State College, the people in the parking lots were awesome and the numbers where overwhelming.  Inside the stadium, the atmosphere was electric unlike any other football game I’ve been at.  I’m now a Penn State fan, although they never play Pitt anymore so it’s kinda easy now.  We are….

#3  Driving Hummers at Nemacolin  2/5/03

Let’s face it, I work for a PBS station so I’m never going to own a H2 Hummer.  But I got to drive one through the woods as part of a program at the swanky Nemacolin resort.  And they put us up for a night.  And we didn’t just drive it through the woods, they had a course set up where we got to drive over trees, through creeks, up and down hills, awesome! 

#2  Inside Quantico & the FBI Academy Spring 2001

We got to spend a couple days at the FBI training academy in Quantico, Virginia courtesy of special agent Bill Crowley.  Going behind the scenes here and to see what these recruits do is amazing.  We also ran their famous obstacle course “yellow brick road,” drove skid cars while getting yelled at by a real DEA agent, checked out Hogan’s Alley, the firing range, and found out they had a Starbucks on the premises.  Now that is government efficiency!

#1  Super Bowl XL in Detroit  2/5/06

This one is not even close.  The coolest thing we have ever done and probably will ever do is going to the Super Bowl.  That alone is great.  But to spend a few days there prior to the game, get in the locker room after the Steelers victory, and get on the field after the game was about as good as it gets for huge Steeler fans that we are.  I called my Dad from the locker room after the game, then called just about everyone in my phone from the field after the game.  We got to talk to about 10 players, eat free food during the game, get cool swag like pins, seat cushions, etc.  My press pass for that game is still one of my most prized possessions from anything I’ve ever done.

The only complaint that I had was the weather was really crappy since they had the game in Detroit, and we couldn’t get into the Playboy or Maxim parties held the night before the game.  But to be a part of Steeler history like that is without a doubt my favorite thing that I’ve ever been a part of here at WQED.

Honorable Mention

There have been so many cool people and places during our time, I would like to throw a shout-out to a couple other places:  Nancy B’s cookies in Homestead.  She sends cookies over a couple times a year for us and she and her son really are the best.  It helps the cookies are about the size of a hubcap.  D’z Six Packs and Dogz in Regent Square.  When we were there back in January of 2002, it was just this little hole in the wall place with great hot dogs and fries plus root beer on tap to die for.  Now they’ve expanded and are so crowded, we have a hard time getting a table.   Rock & Bowl at the world famous Arsenal Lanes was a lot of fun and it was so nice to see so many young people (no they didn’t all leave Pittsburgh) enjoying themselves while drinking, bowling, and rocking.  Bingo at the Lithuanian Club on the South Side to this day remains our signature segment.  I got slapped by an old woman, we shaved 2 years off our lives because of the thick layer of cigarette smoke, and we learned what a dauber is.  That bingo segment was the funniest segment we ever shot.  And one last shout-out to North County Brewing in Slippery Rock.  This is one of those great places that everyone here needs to visit.  You know we’re never sure what a place is going to be like the first time we visit, but this place was light years better than anything we could have expected.  Plus the owners were tremendous.

Here’s to the next 175 stories!  -  Dave R

#1 When the hell are you two going to make some new shows?  We actually hear this question quite a bit from OffQ and Black Horizons host Chris Moore.  He’s our biggest fan..although that may have something to do with the fact he doesn’t have cable.  Anyway, to answer this one quickly, we got 4 new ones coming in February, so there!

#2  What’s the deal with the jerseys and why don’t you ever wear jerseys for Pittsburgh teams?!?

When we first started doing our show, we always wore Hawaiian shirts.  Dave H had a big collection of them and he thought we should have a “look” so for about 2 years, that’s what we would wear.  Then we were told by a member of upper management (who’s no longer here) that we need to lose the shirts.   Now, for some reason at that point we switched to sports jerseys.  I’m not sure how that is any different from Hawaiian shirts, but no one bothered us anymore. 

Now, Dave and I are like the Indiana Jones of sports jerseys.  We hunt them down in obscure places for rock-bottom prices, no matter what the team.  We do give bonus points for finding players who are awful or just plain jackasses.  I got a pot-smoking Ricky Williams jersey, a Chad Johnson Bengals jersey plus about 25 others that I found in varous places.

But Dave H gets the prize for most obscure/inane and just plain horrible jersey… Ryan Leaf.  True NFL fans know that Ryan Leaf was a quarterback who was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in 1998 as the #2 pick in the whole draft, right after Peyton Manning.  He then proceeded to be possibly the biggest flop in NFL history.  I don’t know where he found this jersey, but damn I’m jealous.  And I thought my Kordell Stewart jersey would never be trumped.

But while we wear a lot of jerseys, we do have and wear a lot of Pittsburgh jerseys.  I have 2 Steeler and 2 Penguin jerseys.  Dave H has a couple Steelers, a Penguins, a Pirates and a Pitt jersey.  So you will find no more die hard Pittsburgh sports fans then us, but we have a lot of jerseys so we got to wear them.

And if you know of any good places to find cheap jerseys, let us know!  I’m guessing a Plaxico jersey would look pretty good right about now.

-Dave R 

But if you missed the big hour documentary, WQED has already scheduled a repeat for Monday night, December 29th at 10pm.

Here’s what Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV critic Rob Owen had to say about our show!

Our pal Sally Wiggin also did a story on us that aired on WTAE News the night of our premiere.  You can check it out here on the WTAE Video page.  For the life of me I can’t get it to play, but you can give it a shot.  You may have to do a search for the video.  It is called “Sally Wiggin talks Pittsburgh n’at with Dave and Dave.”  Thanks Sally!  – Dave H.

This is going to be the place to learn more about us, our show, and what goes on when the cameras aren’t rolling, which trust me, is much funnier and more entertaining than our show.

If you have any questions, send them our way.  If you have any comments, let them be heard.  And yes, we will be getting some new episodes soon.

Beginning in June 2008, Dave and I will be working on our new statewide 1-hour special called Strange Pennsylvania.  That should take until late August and air in September.  We’re also supposed to be shooting a new show about Pittsburgh’s 250th anniversary…that’s coming in the fall as well.

We’re going to try and update the blog as often as possible and we’ll also be able to tell you about the many shenanigans that we find ourselves involved in.

Thanks for watching, and now thanks for reading.