Friday, April 30, 2004

I'll admit it: I shed a tear or two listening to Bob Edwards' final interview and farewell as host of NPR's Morning Edition earlier today.

The phrase "end of an era" is one that's often overused, but in this case is completely fitting. Bob's twenty four and a half years as ME host is an amazing run, and in broadcasting such a long tenure is a true rarity.

I've been along for the ride with Bob and ME for the last decade, starting right about the time I graduated college. I still remember the day I realized that the show was more than just something I used to pass the time while heading in to work.

It was December 29, 1995. I was listening to the show while walking to the Dunn Loring Metro station. Carl Kassell had just finished the top-of-the-hour news, and Bob introduced a story about the NFL playoffs. But rather than the usual hype and bluster associated with major league sports, Bob simply said:

"The National Football League begins its annual post-season tournament this weekend with four games."

On the surface, it was a simple, declarative sentence. But Bob delivered it in that wonderful rich voice of his, with an inflection that simultaneously acknowledged how many people were excited about the playoffs and made it clear that he was just talking about a few football games. That completely resonated with me, and as a huge grin spread across my face I realized that Bob Edwards, Morning Edition, and NPR meant something special to me.

Thanks for ten great years of listening, Bob, and for the fifteen before that I missed.

Posted @ 8:10 AM

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Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Thought I'd just go ahead and stretch my blogging muscles, even though I don't have anything in particular to talk about right now.

I do have one thing that happened a few days ago and could use some help with. I was on the Beltway driving home one evening and saw a specialty license plate that made me do a double-take. I'm not ruling out that I either hallucinated this or that it was a custom job, but for the life of me it looked completely legit and official.

I could have sworn I saw Florida plate featuring Spongebob Squarepants.

I checked out the site which lists all of Florida's official plates, but couldn't find it there. I've also queried some Sunshine State savvy friends on the matter, but none had ever seen such a thing.

Can anybody point me toward some evidence that this thing really exists, or will I have to chalk it up as an exhaustion induced fever dream?

Posted @ 1:35 PM

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Saturday, April 24, 2004

Anything Goes has opened, and I am well pleased. Last night I saw four months of hard work by dozens of people come together in an absolute gem of a show. I'm the proud papa of a bouncing, dancing, singing, scintillating baby musical.

And now, I rest. Time to smell some flowers, eat some junk food, and vegetate in front of the tube.

See y'all in a couple of days.

Posted @ 12:59 PM

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Monday, April 12, 2004

With week-long gaps between posts being the norm of late, I don't expect this will come as much of a shock. Nonetheless, a small notice seems in order...

I'm taking a brief break from the blog. The main cause of my recent silences has been the time and energy I've been pouring into directing Anything Goes. We open a week from Friday, so until then my time will be spent exclusively on the show, my job, and daily body maintenance (food, sleep, grooming).

Actually, I think the maintenance thing will being getting pretty short shrift, too.

I should be back in full swing in about two weeks. Until then, muddle through somehow without me, okay?

Posted @ 7:27 AM

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Monday, April 05, 2004

Who had "4 episodes" in the "How long before FOX strangles Wonderfalls in its crib" pool? Step on up and collect your money.

Wonderfalls was an engaging, creative and immensely promising new show. Naturally, that meant FOX felt honor-bound to kill it before it had a chance to find an audience. But not before teasing those of us who were watching with just a little taste of its freshness and potential. Wasn't that sweet of them?

Once again, I let FOX fool me. I thought, "Maybe this time FOX really will give a different and daring new show a chance to succeed. Maybe this one won't end up like Firefly, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Greg the Bunny, The Tick..."

Yeah, I'm an idiot. Or a glutton for punishment. Take your pick.

Adios, Wonderfalls. We hardly knew ye.

Posted @ 1:32 PM

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