Archives for December 2005

to admit this. I like Barry Manilow.

I wouldn’t go saying it around the hunting lodge (much like I wouldn’t talk about “Brokeback Mountain”) but since the 1970s I’ve enjoyed Manilow’s music.

I think of his music every New Year’s Eve because when I was growing up, Manilow was a featured performer on Dick Clark’s Rocking Eve. During the 80s and early 90s, after the ball dropped, Clark would introduce Manilow who would sing “It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve”. It sure beat Auld Lang Syne since we didn’t have a clue what that meant.

In high school a few of us guys would have a New Year’s Eve party which pretty much amounted to bringing your girlfriend to my house and making out for a few hours. I got a lot of sugar through the years to this song.

Manilow isn’t invited to sing on the New Year’s Eve show any more and you won’t hear that song anywhere else tonight. But it brings back great memories of high school parties and kissing your best girl when the clock struck midnight. Thought I’d share it with you.

I had lunch today with a couple of my favorite Memphis morning anchors.
Mary Beth and Joe met me to laugh about old times and predict the future.

When I first started at the station on the river back in September of ’97, I had the pleasure of working with Mary Beth as one of my first assignments.

Joe had taken a two-week vacation and I was tabbed to fill in with Mary Beth. She and I hit it off right away and it was perhaps the best introduction to the station and to Memphis that I could ask for. At the time it was Mary Beth, Todd Demers and Joey Hadley with traffic. The format wasn’t as stiff as it is today so there was lots of chit-chat time built into the rundown.

After a few mornings I was feeling pretty good and getting more comfortable. After every morning show ended we produced a 30-second promo that would be used during the 10pm show that night. Mary Beth would write the script which would include some story we knew we would run, then tease traffic and weather. Joey, Todd, Mary Beth and I would all stand in front of the chroma key wall with some generic background computer generated behind us.

This was the week of the Mid-South Fair and somebody (maybe it was me) got the bright idea to try to make it look like all four of us were riding a roller coaster during the tease for the fair, the weather and the traffic.

We stood so that it looked like we were all sitting on a roller coaster. We had the director put a shot of the sky behind us. When the tape rolled, we leaned back like the roller coaster was going up hill, then we read the script. Then…we all leaned forward and yelled (like the coaster was going downhill) and then sideways left, and then sideways right (screaming too). Then we’d stop screaming and lean back like we were going up hill again.

The promo was a hit in the newsroom. They rolled it back and most everyone laughed. I just knew this was a promo that people would remember.

Not five minutes later, we were all called into the news director’s office and told we were wrong and that the promo would never air. We got yelled at and told we were unprofessional and that “this kind of promo might work at a college station, but not in Memphis”.

Somewhere, someone’s got a copy of that promo. If I ever get one, I’ll post it here.

Joe and Mary Beth are two of the people I miss most from my days at 3. Mary Beth and I clicked from the beginning and my days filling in on the Live at 9 show are still my fondest memories of 3. If I could find a show like that to be part of, I’d do it until the day I die.

“Memphis Police will put up roadblocks this New Year’s Eve weekend to catch drunk drivers. Coming up, we’ll tell you where those checkpoints will be.”

I’ve never understood why these stories make the newscasts prior to the holidays. It always seems to me that if police put up these roadblocks to catch drunk drivers, why should they tip off those drunks on which streets to avoid?

Police departments release the information and then the tv stations broadcast it. What purpose does that serve, other than to tell drunks where not to drive?

I saw the first tease for these stories last night on WPTY during the PrimeTime Live special on Pope Joan. The other stations will broadcast the story too in the coming days. I’ve questioned producers and executive producers and news directors on why we would give out that information and they’ve always told me “if police didn’t want us to release it, they wouldn’t tell us would they?”

Isn’t this kind of like a police department cracking down on bank robberies and then broadcasting which banks have alarms and armed guards? If I was going to drink and drive this weekend, I’d make a point to watch the news today to find out which streets I should avoid.

“Police will set up roadblocks on Riverdale at Shelby, Poplar at Kirby and Winchester at Mt. Moriah”. Now, even a drunk would know it’s best to go somewhere else.

So why do police departments release this information? And why do tv stations choose to broadcast it?

I brought out the suitcase today. Lots to pack, lots to transfer to the laptop. It dawned on me today that I don’t know what time to show up on Tuesday.

Been reading more blogs than writing my own. Joe’s has been interesting, especially the comments. If you haven’t checked it out and you like local Memphis tv news coverage, you ought to make it a favorite.

I didn’t watch the Channel 3 special last night. I enjoyed the first few minutes but the moment “smug” made an appearance I switched channels. Producer Mike Suriani did a brilliant job with the production. Lots of good looking interviews and the best edit job on local tv in a long time. Heard some good comments about the special around town today.

I’m addicted to XM radio. Got one for Christmas and it’s terrific. One tip though, if you get one, splurge on the home kit. It comes with a remote which is almost a neccesity to change channels while you’re driving down the road. Now I’ve got a remote in one hand and a cell phone in the other.

Had lunch yesterday with some Channel 3 employees and will lunch with a couple more tomorrow. Wrapping up things before heading to the 615 area code. We’re hot on Hendersonville right now.

Found out two more of my good college friends are in Nashville and we’ve chatted by phone the past couple of days. They love it there and I’m sure we will too.

Getting lots of interest in the house the past few days. It’s kind of a nuisance to run out of the house when a realtor wants to show it, but it has to be done. We’re praying it sells quick. The extended stay hotels aren’t really meant to be THAT extended stay.

What’s the future of this blog? I think it’s already jumped the shark. I’ll keep it going but I doubt it’ll be interesting to those looking for local tv news talk. I don’t watch it enough now to comment much.

By the way, I notice that some of the vjs who left WKRN after the switch have returned and according to another vj there, morale is really good now. That’s encouraging.

Looks as though I won’t make it to a few of the things on my “Memphis to do list”. I still haven’t been back to Graceland, still haven’t seen Al Green preach and still haven’t been to a Grizzlies game.

One of the most uncomfortable situations for a reporter or host to be in is when, as my mom used to say, their giggle box gets turned over.

I found this clip today from a tv talk show in Holland where the topic was sex with a handicapped person. Judging from the first few seconds of the video, this was a very serious subject for the host. But watch what happens when his giggle box is turned upside down when he first hears the voice of his interview subject.

Bet you can’t keep a straight face either.

http://www.fazed.org/video/view/?id=120

I should have paid more attention in my college Spanish classes. If for no other reason than to bail me out this Christmas.

My kids opened up their “Sorry” game today and it’s been a loooong time since I’ve played. I grabbed the instructions which were printed entirely in Spanish. No English instructions at all. The box was printed in English but I had to go online to download English instructions.

My daughter also received a Junie B Jones book which I ordered online from Wal-Mart. The receipt I have never mentions a language and I assumed it would be English just like the other books I ordered. Nope. Instead of Junie B Jones it was hunie b hones.

Doesn’t anyone speak English?

It’s been a nice Christmas. Saturday night I took my two youngest kids to a Christmas Eve service. Our church service started at 5 and we were going to be late, so we went to a Methodist Church up the street where I know the pastor and lots of members.

As Baptists, my kids have never taken part in communion. Baptists believe one must be saved to take the Lord’s supper, and since my kids go to children’s church this was their first communion service. The church was packed and the kids were well behaved.

At the time of communion, Delaney, my 6 year old daughter wanted to participate. We went forward and I told them to kneel at the altar so the pastor could give us the bread and juice. I suppose my son heard “this is my blood” when the pastor spoke of the juice and probably didn’t process or understand the word “symbolic”, because when the pastor brought us the juice Trey looked frightened and asked, very loudly “WHAT IS IT?”

I tried to explain but despite the seriousness of the time of communion, it was hard not to laugh seeing the confusion on their faces. But the funniest moment was still to come.

Once we got back to our seats, the congregation began lighting candles that each person would hold as we sang “Silent Night” and bring the service to a conclusion. This is always a meaningful time for me as each person holds their candle up as we sing. I don’t know if there’s a better demonstration of a church family than during this song.

Well, during the preaching Trey had totally destroyed the drip-guard that is wrapped around each candle to protect your hands from dripping wax. I tried to tell him to leave it alone, but boredom breeds busy fingers.

After the flame was passed to each of us and the congregation was singing, Trey lifted his candle and sang along. It was quiet in the church except for the singing. It was an emotional moment for each person in the church. But….. before the second verse the wax began to drip. And since Trey’s drip-guard lay somewhere crumpled on the floor, his 10-year old hand took the wax head-on.

So, while we sang my 10-year old son felt the hot wax and shouted “HOLY….”
I cringed, thinking what might come next after the years of watching cable television and his “Smokey and the Bandit” DVD.

“CANNOLI!”

Thank God.

Moving is always hard. This move to Nashville will be tougher than others because of the friends we’ve made here. No matter how much you say or think you’ll keep in touch, time has a way of making close friendships nearly disappear.

I’ve moved away from lots of close friends before. In college it was my buddies John Dinkens, Mark Turner, Rick Greene and Brian Daniel. We stayed in touch for awhile, but now we’re spread across the country and touch base only once in a while.

I’ve been fortunate to have some friends that were so close we pick up right where we left off whenever we talk. In Huntsville there’s Steve Johnson, a reporter at WHNT. We talk by phone often, at least once or twice a week during football season. Funny that we rarely ever see each other but when the phone rings we talk like we were working together earlier in the day.

Leaving here means saying goodbye to a couple of close friends: Mike McCoy and Joe Larkins. Mike and I have been tight since we met at church 8 years ago. Our families vacationed at Disneyworld together a few years ago and they just left our house after dinner and a not-so-great game of Trivial Pursuit. Larkins and I enjoyed each other’s company while we were working at 3 and even anchored together on a few testosterone heavy Daybreaks. We’ve actually talked more these last few months than when we shared a newsroom. I’ll miss that.

Orison Swett Marden once said “We are part of all we have met. Everything we have seen, heard, felt, or thought has had its hand in molding us, shaping us.”

I hope that is as true for the people I’ve been around as much as it is for me.