Archives for December 2005

We don’t shop in the traditional closed environment shopping malls. I haven’t been to one in months. All of the Christmas presents this year have been either ordered online or purchased at one of the nearby stores.

That’s great for avoiding long lines and traffic but it dawned on me yesterday that there’s one thing a traditional mall is good for at Christmas: Santa Claus.

If you don’t have kids you’ve probably never thought of this, but my kids saw Santa Claus just once this season and that was the day after Thanksgiving when my mom took them to the Galleria in Birmingham.

We went to the new Collierville open-air mall a couple of weekends ago and there was no Santa. We’ve been to the new Southaven open-air mall a few times, most recently today, and there was no Santa. What’s a kid to do?

“But I didn’t tell Santa that I want a Game-Boy Advance” my son said. “And I didn’t tell him I want some Junie B Jones books” said my daughter. What’s a dad to do?

We searched for him today but the closest we found was a Circuit City employee wearing a red Santa hat. Another CC worker told me she had to drive all the way to a Memphis mall just so her kids could sit on Santa’s lap. (I know Memphis isn’t that far away, but DeSoto County folks don’t want to go there unless they really really have to).

If I had thought about this earlier I would have looked into renting one of the empty buildings at the new Southaven mall, rented a Santa and a photographer to meet the needs of the good little boys and girls. Someone will probably do this by next year.

So this is the first year I won’t have video of my kids sitting on Santa’s lap. Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus…he just doesn’t stop in north Mississippi until Christmas day.

of newscasts past.

Noticed on Peggy’s blog that Pam’s bio is still in the web world via google. So I searched myself. You can find her bio and photo via google but you cannot find a link from the WREG website to her bio. Anywhere.

So I did a search for McKelvy on the WREG website and lo and behold…I found myself! Video included!

Wonder how long this will stay up?

.

The Scheme Starts In A Prison Work Program With This Prisoner – Andy Wise Has More GOOD EVENING, I M JAMEY TUCKER, IN FOR JERRY TATE. AND I M PAM MCKELVY. THANKS FOR JOINING US. A STATE AGENCY S FAILURE TO POLICE ITS OWN PRISON WORK PROGRAM LEADS TO AN IDENTITY THEFT SCHEME THAT HAS A U OF M BASKETBALL PLAYER ON THE HOT SEAT. THE FEDS… Last Modified 10/16/2003 9:39:00 PM

We have some good friends coming for dinner tomorrow night, and my job, as usual falls to baking a cake.

It’s a hobby I picked up several years ago because, quite frankly, I like cake.

Tomorrow’s dessert is called a “Lethal Chocolate Peppermint” cake. It’s a devils food cake with a chocolate granache on top and peppermint candy frosting in the center. It also features peppermint Schnapps.

It is the best cake I’ve ever eaten. I’m no Emerile either. The recipe comes from a book called “Cake Mix Doctor“. I found it at the library about six years ago and then bought my own copy. The author, Anne Byrn, creates recipes that use an original cake mix as the base.

I’ll try to post a picture tomorrow afternoon. Sadly, the internet is not good for taste tests.

Found my favorite podcast today. It’s Coverville and it’s awesome for music fans. They find rare and obscure cover versions of popular songs and put them together in a show.

I’ve just listened to Tom Waits sing “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” from James Brown. Now, in this show, they’re playing Waits’ song “Rosie” sung by “The Wandering Sons”.

I know at least one reader of this blog who’s headed there now.

The departure of Pam McKelvy was quick. The station removed her bio from the website and has also removed the pictures of all of the anchors from the main page.

So much for a farewell. That’s a shame too because Pam was one of the nicest people in that newsroom. She spent a long time as one of the primary weeknight anchors and countless hours in the community. And now she’s gone without so much a goodbye from the station.

Seems WREG likes to make anchors and reporters disappear without mention. Pam and I were both kind of like Chuck Cunningham on the old Happy Days show. One day you’re on the show, the next….you’re gone without anyone saying goodbye.

The first Darren on Bewitched. The first Becky on Roseanne. And now a news anchor with a huge following…just disappears from the airwaves.

There’s no mention of Pam’s decision on her blog but if I had to guess it was because she wanted to spend more time with her 6-month old son. My source in the newsroom says she left after requesting she be re-assigned to an afternoon/evening schedule and the station refused.

Now the station has every right to say no. It’s their candy store and they can run it the way they want to run it. But if that was the case, why not let her at least work a few more days and then build up to a farewell? Anchors saying goodbye can be a reason for viewers to tune in. It would also do a lot to keep her departure from affecting morale like it will now.

Jerry leaves the airwaves next week. Wonder if they’ll allow him to say goodbye? Wonder if they’ll take a look back at his long career? They should. I’d even tune in, and I haven’t watched them in more than a year.

So both primary news anchors on 3 will be gone in a week. A new news director was named yesterday. And lots of folks are updating resumes, wondering what’s the next shoe that will drop.

Just heard there is a big change at 3. Pam McKelvy, the primary weeknight anchor has resigned, effective immediately.

I’ve confirmed this from an employee at 3 but not from a second source.

It’s rare when I see a forwarded e-mail that I either haven’t seen already or is interesting. This is both.

Last December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful
experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations – extensive
card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet
still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious
family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting
season for a six year old. For weeks, he’d been memorizing songs for
his school’s “Winter Pageant.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’d
be working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining
moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there’d be a dress
rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to
attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas
seemed happy with the compromise.

So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early,
found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I
saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I
waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied
by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one
by one, rose to perform their song.

Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the
holiday as “Christmas,” I didn’t expect anything other than fun,
commercial entertainment – songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes
and good cheer. So, when my son’s class rose to sing, “Christmas
Love,” I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.

Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy
mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in
the front row- center stage – held up large letters, one by one, to
spell out the title of the song.

As the class would sing “C is for Christmas,” a child would hold up
the letter C. Then, “H is for Happy,” and on and on, until each child
holding up his portion had presented the complete message, “Christmas
Love.”

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a
small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter “M” upside down
totally unaware her letter “M” appeared as a “W”.

The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one’s
mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood
tall, proudly holding her “W”.

Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter
continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it
together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In
that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we
celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos,
there was a purpose for our festivities.

For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and
clear:

“C H R I S T W A S L O V E”

Two weeks from right now, I’ll be sitting in an extended stay hotel with a clearer idea of whether I made the right decision on my new job.

I figure that first day will be filled with paperwork and watching the newsroom at work. I’ll meet my new co-workers and observe how WKRN gathers it’s news and begin the new philosophy of the ABC affiliate in Nashville.

Watching their broadcasts over the internet I’ve already noticed one major difference: many of their male reporters don’t wear neckties. On my interview the news director wasn’t wearing a tie. The general manager did, but it wasn’t tied tight around his neck. Some reporters wore golf shirts or open collared dress shirts. One didn’t even tuck!

So I wonder what I should wear for that first day. I wonder how long it will be before I drive my news car home. I wonder when I’ll be assigned my first story and when it will air. I wonder if I’ll be able to find my way to work and to the hotel without trouble. I wonder when our house will sell in Southaven and where we will live in Nashville. I wonder how long it will take me to stop dialing 901 when making a phone call. I wonder if I’ll be able to edit my stories quickly enough to make slot. I wonder if they’ll laugh at my jokes or when I’ll feel comfortable enough to tell them.

I wonder where the best Chinese buffets are located. But mostly, I wonder if I’ll like working in television news again. I wonder how much I’ll miss my current boss (me) and how I’ll like having to report to a job every day. I know I’ll miss wearing my pajamas or sweats until noon when I’m editing. I know I’ll miss watching the Masters golf tournament and NCAA Tournament while working. I’ll miss not taking a day off in February or May or November because I want to take a day off. I’ll miss being home with the kids when they’re home for Spring Break or Memorial Day or Labor Day or when it snows.

But I do know I’ll like Nashville. Over the past couple of months when I’ve told people we’re moving to Music City they invariably say “Oh…you’ll love Nashville”. Some have been downright jealous that we’re moving there. “Oooohhh…I wish we could live in Nashville. We LOVE Nashville” they say.

Funny, but I don’t recall anyone ever, EVER saying to me “Oooohhhhh Memphis. We love Memphis. I wish we could live in Memphis.”