Odds and ends

I am so far behind and I’ve got to hustle if I’m ever going to catch up. I had planned to check out WHBQ’s new News Set which I hear looks pretty good. I had planned to tune in to WREG to see how CB and RR look after a week. I had planned to set my TIVO to see the award-winning weekend newscast on WPTY. I still have time to do all of that, but two of those were planned for last night. Former co-worker and now Religion VJ from WKRN Jamey Tucker distracted me.

He called Monday morning to tell me he was in town and was planning to cover Salman Rushdie who was speaking at Ole Miss. He wanted to know if I wanted to tag along. I said yes for two reasons. One, I wanted to see first-hand how this VJ thing worked and two, I wanted to see this man who gained world wide attention after being put under a death order (Rushdie not Jamey) . For those not up to speed, Salman Rushdie, a Moslem, was condemned to death by the former Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on February 14,1989, after publishing the book SATANIC VERSES.

Rushdie was quite entertaining and later I had him sign a copy of Satanic Verses. I told him I had never had a book signed by an author who was under a fatwa. He laughed and said there weren’t many such authors. Earlier he had called the fatwa "an extreme form of literary criticism."

I watched Jamey work and for the most part it was a simple one-man band as I remembered doing it back when I worked at KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau, MO. It was when he shot his stand-up that I noticed how much things had changed. He set his camera on a tripod, turned the LCD flip out monitor toward the front of the camera and took his place. He made a couple of minor adjustments to the camera and since it is self-focusing, he knocked out a couple of stand-ups with Rusdie signing books in the background. It went much smoother than I remembered since back then no one had cameras that automatically focused and you had to look through the viewfinder from behind the camera to get things framed up. I can see how this VJ thing is poised to take off. I don’t think it will work in ALL applications, but I can see where it will work in MANY applications.

By the way, this is a big week for Ole Miss. While Rushdie had no security and didn’t even want the campus security guards around, the school is ramping up big time for the arrival of the King of Jordan, Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein. He’s scheduled to show up Friday before heading to New Orleans. I was told security was on the level of a Presidential visit. I’m glad I’m NOT going to cover that.

One another note, some folks have asked about me making a big deal about the severe injuries of Bob Woodruff and photographer Doug Vogt in Iraq. The comment was from a fellow blogger and periodic reader of this blog who questioned the big deal that seemed to be made about this as opposed to the U-S soldiers who die there on a daily basis. Hey, the realities are this: here is a recognizable and high profile face. I personally offer prayers to all the people involved in this conflict. It just so happened that here was one person (Bob Woodruff) I was familiar with by virtue of the fact that he was on television. I would not know the photographer if I saw him. I’m sorry if that offended anyone but that’s it plain and simple.

And finally, I think this is the week the new ND jumps into the fray down on the river. I’ve been out of pocket so I don’t know if he’s actually started. Somebody fill me in as I attempt to get back up to speed.

Would I go to Iraq to cover the war?

I’ve thought about that on a number of occasions since the conflict began there. The severe injuries sustained by "World News Tonight" co-anchor Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt brought that back to mind. According to ABC News, they remain in stable but serious condition following surgery at a U.S. military hospital in Iraq. The two and an Iraqi soldier were seriously injured when their convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device in Iraq.

Oh, back in my early days of reporting when I was full of “vim and vinegar” and still thinking I was invulnerable I might. But I guess the realities that there are people here in the good old U-S of A who would love to do bodily harm to news people and some wouldn’t mind those injuries being more serious has changed my mind. Veterans of the business know it can be a jungle out there in the city you cover. I’ve had a beer bottle come sailing by my head after the videographer and I walked away from a story where a riot almost broke out in one section of Memphis. I walked backward the rest of the way to the car so I could watch the crowd. I’ve had bullet ricochets buzz close enough I could hear them. I haven’t seen it yet (at least I haven’t and I hope not to) where someone with a grudge decides to exact some serious revenge against a reporter. I think it will happen in the not too distant future and that’s a little scary.

As Sergeant Phil Esterhaus used to say on the NBC show “Hill Street Blues” Hey, let’s be careful out there." Also, keep Bob Woodruff, Doug Vogt and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Did the world come to an end down on the river?

I TIVOed last Monday night’s news at 10 o’clock from down on the river to see what some say is the end of the world, as we know it. Former WHBQ anchor Claudia Barr began her stint (however long that will be) on the anchor desk. She was introduced and then they were off and running. Did the world come to an end? No. Did the chemistry kick in? No (but then you don’t expect it to in one night). Will the ratings climb through the roof and blow the competition out of the water? That remains to be seen. But to be honest, it’s just another day in TV News land. Since I’ve been out of town, I’ll have to see how things are going one week after the fact.

Up until I had to leave town for personal reasons, I have to say I could not believe the number of hits this blog had received. At last count, it was approaching 400. I have no doubt that it was driven by recent postings about Claudia. She’s easy on the eyes, got a great smile and she’s known around the Memphis area. I hope she helps them in the way that the managers hope she does. It appears they are needing a boost. I say this because of a promo that I saw run about halfway through the newscast. Since I don’t tune in, this may have been running since Jerry Tate’s sign-off but I saw this promo about Jerry Tate’s farewell with Alex Coleman, Richard Ransom and Norm Brewer talking up Jerry. Hey, isn’t he gone? My wife remarked that she saw this as telling the viewers that while Jerry was gone, it was still HIS station they were watching. IMHO, they need to cut the strings on this and let Richard either make his mark or not. If I were RR, I’d be a little PO’d about that promo. Can we expect to see a Pmack promo too? I doubt it.

I'm back

Thanks for keeping my family and me in your thoughts and prayers following the death of my father last week. It was a comfort to know so many people cared enough to post, call and write.
I cannot thank you enough.

Regards

Joe Larkins

A Great Man Died Today

I was planning to post on this blog about the arrival of the interim anchor down on the river. Then something important occurred which put that particular incident in perspective. That’s why I’m posting the following instead. I don't know when I will be back. Stay safe everybody.

A great man died Monday night. He didn’t hold public office nor did he lead any armies into battle. He wasn’t a great statesman. He didn’t even like to speak in public.

He was a man who learned the value of hard work at an early age, growing up in a not-so-well-to-do family with three brothers and four sisters in the delta area of Southeast Missouri near the little town of Dorena, which doesn’t even exist any more.

By his own admission, he barely got through high school and was preparing to go into World War II when Germany and Japan surrendered. He figured he could make money farming and got down to the business of working long days and what seemed like longer weeks. He got married in 1949 and by the time the conflict in Korea was well under way, his occupation as a farmer was declared important to the war effort. He never served in the military but he believed in the right and might of the United States and he believed in God. He attempted to instill his beliefs in the seven children he fathered. He demanded that his children respect their elders by saying “Yes sir” and “no sir” and “yes ma’m” and “no ma’m”. He made one son apologize to his 5^th grade teacher for behavior he felt was unbecoming for a son of his.

His idea of beauty was a herd of black angus cattle against a field of green winter wheat in the early spring. His idea of good music was Boots Randolph on the saxophone. As he worked six days a week, he dreamed of having time to fish, if and when he ever retired. He never quit trying, even when weather almost wiped out his crops. His advice was to keep moving forward, even if you had to slow down. His years of hard work eventually paid off and he retired in a fashion one might call comfortable. But even then he was reluctant to spend money because he knew from his youth how hard it was to get.

He was fiercely proud and warned his children never to start a fight, but if one got started, make sure to finish it. He taught his children to work hard, that it would pay off. He later changed his mind, saying corporate America no longer appreciated the hard work of Americans.

This great man was not without faults. He had them and he admitted he had them. One of those faults was an addiction to cigarettes that had started by his recollection around the time he was nine years old. He finally quit when he was 67 years old and said it was the hardest thing he had ever done.

That addiction caught up to him this past April, right after he turned 77 years old. An X-ray showed a spot on his lung and other scans showed cancer in various parts of his body. He tried a variety of treatments involving radiation and chemotherapy. In the end, he was just too weak. This great man went to the doctor on a Tuesday and was told he might have eight to 12 weeks to live. A few days later, a hospice worker said the doctor who made the announcement was generous and that the real time frame was half that. They were both wrong. In the course of one week, this man who stood firm and railed against everything that Mother Nature could throw at him, along with working 24 hour days and long weeks that would subdue a lesser man, succumbed to cancer. This great man who loved his family dearly and would have given his life for them, had to be helped from his bed to the sofa and to the kitchen. This man, who had an iron will that could not be bent, was left as helpless as a kitten by the awful ravages of cancer. In the final days his mind was clouded and his speech slurred by the heavy medications used to dull his pain. He finally gave up the fight after each of his seven children and his wife held his hand while he gasped for breath and told him it was okay to let go.

Yes, a great man died today. He didn’t win any medals and awards for his efforts. He was great because he only wanted the best for his family and worked as hard as he knew how to give them the advantages he never had.

He was proud of each and every one of them. I know I speak for my brothers and sisters and Mom when I say, “We will miss you Dad.”

Robert Larkins Jr.

April 15, 1928 – January 23, 2006

The Second Coming

Wow, I haven’t seen anything that has generated blog traffic like the announcement that Claudia Barr will occupy the anchor chair at 3 starting tonight. I’m surprised that some announcement hasn’t been made in the Commercial Appeal about this to drum up interest among viewers. I don’t think I’ve missed seeing it. But then, some of the moves down on the river have been kept under wraps until the last minute. For instance, the announcement of switching Jim Jaggers and Tim Simpson on the 10 o’clock news came the Friday BEFORE the November book started on Monday. I would have thought they’d have geared up for that well prior to the start of the book. Since I don’t have any access to ratings information anymore, I will have to depend on someone out there who has that access to let me know if it made a difference.

As for the Barr move, I think you may see some spikes here or there as word gets out in the community, but then viewers will go back to their usual habits. The reality is, most of the people who really care deeply about this are in the TV business and they don’t get a ratings diary so their vote really doesn’t count.

And one final note, I’ve tried to keep things above board on these posts and for the most part, those who’ve taken time to post a response have kept on the high road as well. Please, let’s keep it that way. If you don’t like this blog, do me a favor and don’t read it. It’s like watching television: If you don’t like what you’re watching, change the channel. If you have a bone to pick with me, I’ve got an email address at the top of the page and you can get a Yahoo account just for blasting me. But on this blog, let’s keep it civil.
Thanks in advance.

A High State of Pissivity: Chapter 2

Before I get into this, I don't want you to think I'm picking on the folks down on the river. It just happens to be where the action is right now. Apparently the feeling of discontent I mentioned in an earlier post is greater than I was first led to believe down on the river. For those just tuning in,the announcement came earlier this week that Claudia Barr would move onto the evening anchor desk to fill the seat vacated by Pam McKelvy. Word on the street says morale has dropped like the proverbial rock among some in the newsroom. I'm hearing that the feeling by some is that things are starting to look a little recycled and some consider such a move to be telling them that "the people we have on staff aren't good enough for the job at hand". On the other hand, some in the business who are not on the river say the effort to bring Claudia in is a smart move since she still has a recognizable name and face in the river city. I've said it before and I will say it again: The departure of Jerry Tate AND PMack from the anchor desk at almost the same time would be a tough situation for any manager. I know I'd sure hate to be the one trying to put the best spin on this effort as they sell it to the troops. Just remember Nietzsche said, "that which does not kill us makes us stronger". It will be interesting to see who is still standing when all this shakes out. Stay tuned.

Nice digs at the station on Union Avenue

There’s nothing like stepping into somebody’s newsroom to start the rumor mill. I had been curious about the upgraded facilities at AN5 since Peggy first posted on them last year. I was in the building on business and was given the opportunity for a tour. I couldn’t resist. I will admit, I had never been inside the building prior to the upgrade but I had heard stories about it. It’s really nicely laid out and it seems like a lot of thought has gone into it. A newsroom designed by news people. It’s safe to say there were a lot of people who were surprised to see me. Some were just surprised to see that I had shaved the beard. I ran into some former coworkers who had crossed over. One of the most interesting things I saw was on the elevator. There are three floors in the building and a button to each floor. But on this elevator, it’s 1, 2 and 5. There’s no 3 in this building. I’m still chuckling about it.

A High State of PISSIVITY

That’s what I’m hearing is the condition of a few folks down on the river these days after the announcement earlier this week that former WHBQ anchor Claudia Barr will be filling in on the anchor desk starting next Monday.

While the lovely Ms. Barr brings her well-known name to the river (as did Jim Jaggers when he came over) this could be a stumbling block for those who aspire to that anchor chair vacated recently by Pam McKelvy.

As I’ve mentioned on previous postings, it’s a tough call on whether to promote current station personnel from posts where they are doing well and risk disrupting their current shows. These people who are interested in the job may find they are victims of their own success. Look at Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer. Chuck wanted the nightspot and some said he should have had it. But they’ve been giving the Today show a good run and management doesn’t want to fix what’s not broken.

Bringing in someone from the outside on an interim basis almost always gives that person the inside track on the fulltime job.

Of course all of this is happening with the station manager running the newsroom and the news director scheduled to arrive around January 30^th.

I’m told some folks are looking at this move as recycling. Hey, I’ve always contended there are only about 300 people in the business and every few years, there’s a huge job swap. It looks like we're in that cycle. Now, where did I put my IFB and my make-up kit.......

Okay, now I’m stuck with a loaf of bread and gallon of milk.

I saw snowflakes falling and the first thought that flashed through my mind was: It’s WEATHERGASM time! I was planning to tune in to the local snooze to see how this weather event was being treated but a phone call concerning family matters derailed my train of thought. Did anybody cover the salt trucks to see them standing by to be called into action? Did anybody cover the grocery stores to see if they had started filling up with people buying bread and milk? Did anybody talk to school kids or the highway patrol or the highway department about anything involving snow? See, this is what happens when you miss the news. Questions go unanswered, chaos and anarchy ensue, lambs lie down with lions, we beat swords into plowshares and dead voters cast ballots. Oh wait a minute that last one happened already in Memphis. Anyway, I'm going to be really disappointed if we didn't have at least one road report on what the snow was doing to traffic. Come on folks, you've got to try harder.

She's baaaacccckkkkkk!!!

It appears my concerns were premature that Peggy Phillip pulled the plug on her blog.
She has indicated that Blogspot apparently had burped and she had disappeared into the ether-world. A number of folks who regularly check in on the Pegster thought they had computer problems and that was why they couldn't find her.
The bottom line: Peggy is back and has a new post. I hope it warms the cockles of her heart to know that she was missed.

It’s a blog-eat-blog world out there.

Has the plug been pulled on yet another local blog? It appears so and at least one other has gone on hiatus. I discovered this as I went through my morning routine of jump-starting the computer and seeing what’s out there in the blogosphere. Mike, who posts at Half-baker.blogspot.com announced he was going on walkabout and would return when he returned. I always enjoy his rants on local politics. When I went to check peggyphillip.blogspot.com I got nothing but a blank page. Peggy had scaled back over the last few months after dealing with vicious anonymous posts. I’m sure that could be tiresome and I’ve been fortunate that I’ve not had to deal with such things, but then I will admit, I’ve never really jumped into the fray as Peggy did. I would hope that she would take this as the compliment intended but if I were ever in a bar fight, I’d want Peggy to watch my back. Yah, I know she’s always had a dog in the fight, but I generally thought she made some fair observations about the local media and I thought she gave as good as she got. I know it left the former ND down on the river rather PO’d when I told her that I read the Pegster’s blog. I know the ND did too as did most people in the newsroom. That’s why there were attempts to stop people down there from reading it. Nothing like forbidden fruit to whet the old appetite.

When I started this blog just prior to Christmas, my first post questioned why someone would want to do this and questioned how long it would continue. Both are questions that I haven’t fully answered yet.

So, is the station down on the river about to become WHBQ West

Word out there on the street is that the folks on the river are wooing Claudia Barr. I have not been able to get it independently confirmed at this writing but that’s what I’m hearing. The lovely Ms. Barr who left 13 to sell real estate would take over the seat vacated by Pam McKelvy. If that turns out to be the case, she would join Jim Jaggers who came over not long ago to join the weather department on the river adding to their stable of talented and well-known folks. Could Steve Dawson be far behind? There’s already been some talent switch over the years from 3 to 13. Former sports guy Les Smith is now a reporter on Highland and Joey Sulipeck left a part time position on the river as the bowtie wearing weather guy to take on the post full time at 13.

I know that twice now, the folks on the river threw everything but the kitchen sink to get Joe Birch to jump ship and play ball with them. They found out that loyalty is big with JB and he stayed put.

Maybe a draft along with trades will come into play in Memphis TV. I can see it now; we’ll take Claudia along with two future reporter picks.

Sounds like a plan to me.

I’m back amongst the Nacirema and their daily rituals.

My wife doesn’t recognize me these days. I’m now a clean-shaven man and according to her I look about 15-years younger. As I stood there whacking my beard, I remembered something one of my favorite professors at Western Kentucky University shared with us in a freshman level sociology class. Some of you may be familiar with it. It’s called "Body Ritual among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner”

Here’s a brief excerpt from American Anthropologist 58:3, June 1956.

Professor Linton [3] first brought the ritual of the Nacirema to the attention of anthropologists twenty years ago, but the culture of this people is still very poorly understood. They are a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. Little is known of their origin, although tradition states that they came from the east....

The fundamental belief underlying the whole system appears to be that the human body is ugly and that its natural tendency is to debility and disease. Incarcerated in such a body, man's only hope is to avert these characteristics through the use of ritual and ceremony. Every household has one or more shrines devoted to this purpose. The more powerful individuals in the society have several shrines in their houses and, in fact, the opulence of a house is often referred to in terms of the number of such ritual centers it possesses. Most houses are of wattle and daub construction, but the shrine rooms of the more wealthy are walled with stone. Poorer families imitate the rich by applying pottery plaques to their shrine walls.

While each family has at least one such shrine, the rituals associated with it are not family ceremonies but are private and secret. The daily body ritual performed by everyone includes a mouth-rite. Despite the fact that these people are so punctilious [5] about care of the mouth, this rite involves a practice, which strikes the uninitiated stranger as revolting. It was reported to me that the ritual consists of inserting a small bundle of hog hairs into the mouth, along with certain magical powders, and then moving the bundle in a highly formalized series of gestures.[6]

Professor Linton referred in discussing a distinctive part of the daily body ritual, which is performed only by men. This part of the rite includes scraping and lacerating the surface of the face with a sharp instrument. Special women's rites are performed only four times during each lunar month, but what they lack in frequency is made up in barbarity. As part of this ceremony, women bake their heads in small ovens for about an hour. The theoretically interesting point is that what seems to be a preponderantly masochistic people have developed sadistic specialists.

Okay, for those of you not familiar with these particular observations or didn’t get it, Nacirema is AMERICAN spelled backward. He’s talking about bathrooms, brushing one’s teeth, men shaving and women having their hair done once a week at a beauty shop. It’s all about the context.

If you want to read the full text (and it’s worth your while) click on this link www.msu.edu/~jdowell/miner.html .

By the way, my picture on this blog will stay the same for a while. I may post both and let one be my evil twin Skippy.

After 25 years in news, I finally found myself on the other side of the camera.

I was in the shower when the phone rang. It was a reporter from one of the television stations who was aware of my former life as an outdoor show host and the fact that I'm an outdoor enthusiast. (i.e.: I like to hunt and fish) Her message said she was doing a story on the possibility of Bass Pro Shop taking over the Pyramid in downtown Memphis and turning it into one of their Superstores and basically wanted to talk to me on camera for reaction to the news. I called her back and told her I was willing to talk and she said she had an interview at 2pm and she could talk to me right after that. I agreed. It was right after I hung up the phone that I broke out into a cold sweat. I had never been interviewed on camera before and I asked my wife if I had made the right decision. My wife just laughed and said I would just fine. I thought back to all the interviews I did with people who were quite nervous about going on camera. I always told them, “Look, you KNOW what you’re talking about. I’m the one who should be nervous. When I do my stand-up later, I have to look like I know what I’m talking about.” That always made them laugh and they’d relax and generally do just fine. The big deal is this: nobody wants to look like a fool for the world to see. So I thought about what answers I would give. Then I realized that most of what I would say would end up on the cutting room floor or at least lost in some digital editor. I felt better.

The piece ran at 6 on AN5. Other than sounding like a high-pitched Howard Dean in his famous rant, my part didn’t sound too geeky. But it was the first time I’d seen myself outside in a beard. I figure it’s time to get out the razor. I looked like some 50-year old gray haired geezer. Wait a minute; I AM a 50-year old gray haired geezer. By the way, thanks Ursula for not making me look like a goob.

Where there’s smoke, there are firings

I wish I could claim credit for that line but it’s from MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann. It’s from a story about how the CEO of the company Scotts Miracle Gro told employees who smoked that they had one year to kick the habit or he would kick them out of the company. It was a matter of good health for the company and its employees. All of this came after the company spent five million dollars on a health complex for workers. The story went on to say that some companies have started charging more for employees who smoked or whose spouses or significant others smoked. One company said you couldn’t come into the building if you smelled like cigarette smoke.

As a reformed smoker (and there is nothing worse than a reformed smoker) I avoid cigarette smoke like the plague. I will wait at a restaurant for 20 minutes to sit in the non-smoking section even when seating is immediately available in the smoking area. I smoked about a pack a day for about 15 years and kicking the habit was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I’m coming up on ten years of being smoke free and quitting is one of the best things I’ve ever done.

But there was a time when just about everyone in a newsroom smoked. I’ve been in some newsrooms where you couldn’t see from one end to the other because of the haze of smoke.

But should an employer be able to tell you what to do in your private life? The question was raised that if they get on your case about smoking, can being overweight be far behind. It’s enough to drive someone in the business world to drink.

Dieting is a real pain in the gut.

I hate dieting. But, no two ways about it, I need to lose some poundage. According to a “height/weight “chart I found, my weight is ideal if I were just five inches taller. So, with encouragement from my wife, I’m trying to watch what I eat so I can start working my way toward having less of me around.

The problem is, I’ve always been able to eat what I wanted without an appreciable gain in weight. As I’ve approached the age of 50, that’s changed and I have to be more careful.

When I was reporting on a daily basis, I usually didn’t eat but once a day. My day usually started around 3:30 and when I was anchoring in the morning and then reporting, I was usually just trying to get to a story and get it done. Lolly gagging around meant I would end up being at the station for a 12-hour day. My rush-rush attitude usually didn’t endear me to the videographer I was working with since he or she generally came in during more normal hours than I did and wanted to take a lunch break. You can’t blame someone for that. Quitting smoking on my 40^th birthday didn’t help my weight either.

So now I’m fighting the battle of the bulge.

You really don’t have to be a scientist to figure out that there is a simple “cause and effect” situation going on here. The simple fact of the matter is that if you want to lose weight, you have to eat less or burn more calories. It’s hard to exercise and burn off the fat you carry without reducing your intake to help burn that fat. Fad diets don’t work in the long term although they may help kick start your weight loss. Once you get to your target weight, then you need to eat a balanced diet and exercise on a regular basis.

If you are serious about losing weight you learn a lot about what goes into your body. Things I’ve learned: Three and a half ounces of dry white wine have 70-calories. A non-light beer has 150 calories. Beer does not go well with carrot sticks and wine does not go well with celery. Oatmeal doesn’t go well with anything.
But we’re trying.

The problem is, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and it appears to be a train. On January 20th, I’m emceeing Opera Memphis’ Wild Game Dinner fundraiser. Imagine a starving man being turned loose in a banquet hall filled with food prepared by gourmet chefs. Oh the humanity. Thank goodness for cummerbunds. I’ll keep you posted.

Why do we bother with the Supreme Court nominee hearings?

Okay, folks, I’m getting on my soapbox here.

I’m done with the cat and mouse games that are played out with the U.S. Supreme Court nominees. The senators who question the nominees drone on and on in their pontifications, thinking they are going to catch these folks in a contradiction. Meanwhile, the nominee is going to be specifically vague, even if there is some written statement from 20 years ago that indicates a position by the nominee. Hey, who hasn’t changed his mind about something in 20-years?

Some people and commentators seem to be surprised that Samuel Alito isn’t just spilling his guts there on the stand. Hey, here’s a media alert: judges tend to be smart and politically savvy. Unless they really know somebody, like Harriet Myers did, they never would have gotten where they are. And, unless they get trapped like Robert Bork, they will work their way through things. Yah, I know what’s at stake. If the nominee is young, he or she will be seated on the court for up to 30-years, until dying or retiring. This person will have a great amount of influence on the laws of the country and therefore on society in this country. But unless the nominee really says something of a boneheaded or controversial nature, they’ve got the job.

And by the way, I figure if you vote, you can have a say about things like this. This is a generalization, but your vote and the candidates elected tend to reflect the overall views and the mood of the country. If more conservative candidates are elected, the government tends to be more conservative. If you didn’t vote (and so many do not bother voting at any level) then you really don’t have a lot to say about the issue. That’s what I don’t get. I vote every time the doors at the polling place open. My wife and I discuss the candidates and issues. We don’t always agree, but we try to go into the booth informed. Yet, it amazed me the people who don’t bother or will tell me, “Oh, I forgot!” If you didn’t vote, it’s because you didn’t want to.

If you are dead and you voted anyway, you must live in Memphis, but that is a different story altogether and you should be getting a note or phone call from former congressman Harold Ford Senior.

Okay, I'm off my soapbox now.

The folks at Homeland Security and Transportation Security Administration have reached out and touched my life.

Okay, I’m on a rant here. I understand the need for tougher restrictions and tighter security when you prepare to board a plane at some place like Memphis International.

My younger brother and I were flagged as “risks” last April when the two of prepared to board a jet at Memphis International to fly to Las Vegas to pick up a Cessna 172 he had bought on Ebay. That’s a story for another time.

I told my brother we would trip just about every security protocol because of how we were traveling. Here’s the scenario: Two males, one of them doesn’t look like his photo ID (me, I had grown a beard). We’re flying on one-way tickets, we didn’t have any carry-on luggage, the carry-on bags we had were filled with aviation headsets, GPS, devices with wires and batteries and aviation maps for flying. I can honestly say my medical doctor would have been proud of the job the security people conducted. They did everything but a cavity search and I really was expecting that. They patted us down, scanned us, had us take off our belts and roll down the waistline of our jeans. We took off our shoes and they checked there. I figured that if I kept on removing clothing, someone was going to owe me dinner or a nice breakfast. All of this and two of the people involved in the security procedure knew me. But I understand the need for tight security at an airport like Memphis International.

What I don’t understand are the new security restrictions at Charles Baker airport where my partners and I keep our private plane. First, let me tell you, general aviation aircraft tend to be small. Our Piper Warrior has four seats but is basically a two seater with space for luggage. It holds a total of 50 gallons of fuel. Some SUV’s carry that much. Except for that bonehead kid in Tampa, who stole a plane and flew it into the side of a building to commit suicide back in 2001, small planes are not effective for causing intentional damage. When they crash, they tend to kill those on board and leave only a modest sized impact crater. Small planes are just that: small.

So, imagine my surprise when I first heard of rumors that pilots would need a fingerprint scan to access Charles Baker airport north of Frayser and its sibling airport, General Dewitt Spain airport in downtown Memphis. It seems Homeland security gave grants to both airports to tighten security and by golly, that money was going to be used for just that. They raised the security fences around the airport perimeter to about eight feet, installed security cameras at key locations and installed a fingerprint scanner. Previously, you had to enter a code at the gate to drive onto the tarmac. My wife and I went in yesterday to have our fingerprint scanned and to be screened by the same guys who see us there on a regular basis.

But here’s the rub: Anybody who arrives at the airport can WALK right through the building and onto the same tarmac area WITHOUT HAVING TO GO THROUGH SECURITY AT ALL. No access code, no secret handshake, no nothing. And the airport building is generally empty!

Let’s see, if I wanted to steal a plane, would I drive out on the tarmac or would I sneak through the building and walk out there to do my dastardly deed. On top of everything else, this past summer, spillover traffic from the Memphis Motorsports Park located just to the west, was parked on airport property. Were all of these people who drove their RV’s from out of town screened? That I don’t know, but I will bet they weren’t.

This whole thing with airport security at Charles Baker puts me in the mind of “Officer Obie” from the Arlo Guthrie song “Alice’s Restaurant”. It’s about overkill. If you don’t get the reference, listen to the song. It will do you good.

Okay, I’m done with this rant.

Will the station on the river soon have more brothers and sisters to play with?

So, can anyone confirm that the New York Times is buying four stations from NBC? I know NYTimes has wanted to buy stations for years but couldn’t seem to find the deal they wanted. Word on the street has it that this is their deal now to get four of NBC’s smaller stations. Hey, if it helps the stock price, I’m all for that since it dropped like a rock over the past year.

If anyone has any information, please share.

Here’s something I found about NBC and the selling of the stations. Source: Broadcasting & Cable

Following the lead of other broadcasters pruning away their smaller stations, NBC is putting four of its owned-and-operated stations on the auction block, hoping to raise more than $600 million, according to people familiar with the deal. The properties are in NBC’s smallest markets: Raleigh, N.C.; Columbus, Ohio; Birmingham, Ala.; and Providence, R.I. They’re generally healthy, with each ranked among the top stations in late news, a good sign of vitality. NBC stations group President Jay Ireland wants to shed smaller markets and concentrate in markets where NBC can own a station duopoly or in markets with strong Hispanic demographics to feed the owned-and-operated stations of NBC’s Spanish-language broadcast network, Telemundo. For example, NBC recently bought a station in the increasingly Latino Las Vegas market. The company owns 29 stations, 14 NBC properties and 15 Telemundo affiliates. All NBC’s O&Os are being pinched by the steep slide in the parent network’s ratings.

Make way for the Radio Revolution

The arrival of Howard Stern on Sirius heralds the beginning of a radio revolution that some predict will have music formats leaving FM radio for satellite. That’s the word from one Michael Harrison of Talkers Magazine. In an interview Monday night on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Harrison described satellite radio as the evolution of radio. He said just as FM took music away from AM, Sirius and XM radio would take the music away from FM. He predicted that AM will become the location of specialty focused radio shows such as foreign language broadcasts and that FM will become the home of talk radio. Music formats will move to satellite. But shock jock Howard Stern also predicted that the Rushes and O’Reillys (his words) who can afford to move to satellite would move there as well.

I can remember when people laughed at the 24-hour news channels and movie channels such as HBO first went 24-hours. There’s no way such channels can survive one general manager told me. No one will pay for these channels or for TV for that matter and these start up channels will fold in less than a year’s time. And if man were meant to fly, God would have given him wings! (Okay, the GM didn’t make that last statement but it makes just as much sense.)

So, whether you like Howard Stern or not, consider him a pioneer because he is the first big name to make the move to the future.

I’m starting to think these computers and this Internet thing may be here to stay too.

Much ado about nothing

Did the world come to an end Friday night and I forgot to catch it.

The Book of Daniel aired Friday night on all but a handful of NBC affiliates and as of this morning, the world is still turning.

I did see some lambs lying down with lions but I do live in Midtown where you expect to see things such as that along with other unusual events taking place on a daily basis.

Seriously, the pre-show publicity probably did more to drive people to the show than it would have if such a big deal hadn’t been made about it.

It’s been pointed out that other shows have generated a lot of controversy. Remember the soap opera comedy spoof “Soap” with Billy Crystal playing the part of a gay guy. Predictions of ABC’s demise were premature back then.

I would just about bet the farm that the movie “Oh God” with George Burns as God and John Denver as a grocery store person who is told by God to spread his word. I don’t think it could be made these days because some might find it offensive. I liked the movie when it first came out and have seen it once since then. I’m not sure, but the preacher at the church I attended in Bardwell, Kentucky, may have encouraged people to watch it and there may have been talk years later of showing it in the church. (For those of you who never saw it, George Burns played God while wearing a golfing hat and a sweater) He didn’t look omnipotent but he did a great job in the role.

Anyway, one other thing on this post. In my previous post on “Book of Daniel” amnewsboy posted a link from a GM down in Louisiana who had a response for all of the protestors and supporters alike to read. AMNewsBoy said... KPLC-TV's General Manager actually stands up for himself and his station re: Daniel... I gotta say... that's one of the best things I've ever heard a person in TV management (news or otherwise) say.

Check it out. It’s a good read

Just when will we see Memphis area newscasts on Hi-Def

That question was posed to me by a person reading my blog.

It was prompted by the fact that Jamey Tucker had mentioned that he was picking up his HD camera on his first day as a VJ at WKRN in Nashville. The writer said “So my question; do you have any inside knowledge as to when Memphis is going to start doing local broadcasts in HD? I have had my HD TV for several years. I was one of the lucky few folks that saw the first HD picture from WMC-DT during the 2002 Winter Olympics. What a sight that was. However, HD programming has been slow in coming. Things are picking up now though. The more you see of HD, the more you want HD to be 100%.”

I will be the first to admit that when it comes to technical issues, I’m sitting at the back of the room. But I told the writer that in Jamey’s case, while the camera is capable of shooting in HD, they might not be shooting video that way. And I'm pretty sure that a story that is shot in HD has to be edited that way as well. I would imagine that studio cameras and other cameras used for input such as satellite and live truck shots all have to be HD or there has to be some sort of conversion. Am I on track here? Somebody help me out.

I know most stations have an HD transmitter on line or are moving in that direction. However, because of the expense involved in a full-scale conversion of a newsroom, I would think there would be no great rush to until necessary to “git-r-done”.

I will admit I don’t have any HD TVs at stately LarkSmith Manor and will wait until it becomes necessary to do so.

So, what is the word out there? When can we expect to see true HD newscasts here in the Bluff City. Which station, when it runs its 75^th Anniversary special will get to say it was first with HD?

Let me know.

You can’t buy publicity this good.

NBC affiliates; especially those in the south within the so-called Bible belt must be getting hammered these days. I’ve heard that if you try to contact the GM at the station on Union Avenue, the receptionist wants to know if it’s regarding the series “The Book of Daniel”.

The “Hollywood Reporter” describes the series as depicting “ an Episcopalian minister, played by Aidan Quinn, struggling with an addiction to Vicodin, among other problems in his diocese. Jesus is actually a character on the series, depicted in imagined conversations with the minister”. The Reporter goes on to say that two NBC affiliates in Arkansas and Indiana have decided not to carry the show.

There’s nothing like this kind of publicity to drive people to a show that they might have missed otherwise. Remember the movie “The Last Temptation of Christ”? I understand the reason people rally to protest something. But on the other hand, if the movie or show is crap, people won’t watch and it will fade into obscurity. On the other hand, if you rant and rave and try to block it, it just draws attention to the object of the protest. It becomes the forbidden fruit and may whet the appetite of those who otherwise really wouldn’t have bothered to see it. I’ve never seen the show and now I want to see it.

Still, I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of those phone calls from people not wanting to watch it.

I’ve dealt with phone calls down on the river from people who were angry when weather warnings interrupted their favorite soap operas. I’ve had what sounded like elderly women give detailed descriptions of my ancestral lineage because we dared to break into their soap operas. I actually asked one woman if she “ate with that mouth”. She could have embarrassed truck drivers and sailors with the venom she was spewing. Besides, I know who my father is and what the caller was suggesting was not physically possible anyway.

More reasons to quit smoking.

I made the mistake of eating while watching my favorite evening television news program: MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann. If you’ve watched Countdown then you know that after the death of Peter Jennings, Keith (we’re on a first name basis) went on a tear and now has a semi-regular stop smoking segment. He aired a report by Matt Lauer that showed new antismoking ads that will run on television. To say these are graphic is like saying there was a little fracas that started back in December 1941. One of these ads showed a close-up of a section of artery of a 30-something year old smoker. The person holding the foot long section of artery, which was about as big around as a finger, then began squeezing this artery like you would a tube of toothpaste. The nastiest looking yellow gunk you ever saw began oozing out of the artery. This was, according to the report, the buildup caused by smoking.

Hey, I quit smoking almost ten years ago and I know how hard it is. If I had seen this antismoking ad back when I first started lighting up, I would have given it up immediately. It was nasty. The other ads are pretty graphic too but the glopping yellow stuff left an indelible image etched into my brain. I hope it helps those of you who light up kick the habit. I’m waiting now to see how they convince those who dip and chew that they should quit.
When you see these ads and at some time you will, try not to be eating at the time. You could start losing weight at the same time.

Just the facts ma’m, just the facts.

The tragedy in the West Virginia coal mine and the subsequent misinformation that hit the air makes me think of how many times people have skated on thin ice in the effort to be first on the air with the info. I know, newspapers ran with the wrong information too, but breaking news is what TV and radio are about.

I’ve seen it happen it happen so many times in a newsroom where, word comes in that something is happening and everyone should standby to hit the air. Everyone gets into place and the anchor is begging for information so he or she doesn’t look like a doofus and actually has something to say. Then the anchor is told off air that a live truck is almost at the scene and he or she needs to fill time while the mast goes up and the signal is locked in so the reporter on the scene can get on the air live. Too often, this is where the facts will sometimes morph into speculation and then get transformed into erroneous information as the anchor kills time trying to stretch, especially if there are only a few bits of information. Most of the time it’s minor. In the case of “breaking news” where a traffic accident has closed down one lane or one side of the “loop” the anchor can talk about the video he or she is seeing while waiting for the reporter.

But too many times, the whole point of the exercise is to be first on the air so it can be built into a promo. It’s pretty much just bragging rights in the newsroom. I think it’s safe to say most viewers don’t really care who got on the air a few seconds ahead of someone else. They just want information. Not the same old, same old repeated over and over. They want information, especially if you are interrupting their soap opera. And that interruption had better be important. Too many times, what is billed as “breaking news” in Memphis is not breaking news at all and could have waited. Too many times TV news has cried “wolf” and when I worked in the business, I felt I was one of those crying “wolf”. A tornado sighting is a legitimate reason for breaking into programming. I’ve questioned some other reasons.

In 16 years down on the river, I’ve seen some pretty good live, breaking news on TV. I’ve also seen some bad live, breaking news on TV and I was part of it. I’ll even take the blame for some of it.

I will say that one of the best examples of what local TV does best came at the hands of the competition and sold me on the idea of a dedicated TV news chopper. It was about five years ago and some little boy and his dog had wandered away from his home on a chilly winter day just north of the Memphis/Shelby County area. Law enforcement along with friends of the family had searched all night for the little boy. The big concern was hypothermia since the weather was pretty cold. Memphis PD had sent their chopper with infrared scanning to the area and news choppers were working the area as well. Apparently the police chopper spotted something but I think couldn’t stay in the area because it had to refuel. A chopper from the competition must have heard about what the police chopper found and moved into its position. That station broke into programming and the chopper, using its stabilized camera, zoomed into an object on the ground. It was the little boy and almost on cue, the little boy looked up at the camera. His dog was with him. People in our newsroom broke into a cheer to see he was alive. Yah, we got beat on the story, but that was great TV. That made it worthwhile to break into programming.

How much time does a reporter or anchor get before he or she hits the air?

I guess it depends on the shop and the circumstances. I talked to Jamey Tucker who started his new gig as religion reporter at WKRN in Nashville. He was told to take the first couple of weeks to get to know the community, the religious leaders and the gear he would be using. Oh, don’t think he’s going to kick back and eat bon-bons. He told me he was ready to hit the ground running on his first day, but they told him not to worry about it. He plans to go shoot some stuff and get to know the system around the station. You need to check out his blog for details. His observations are interesting. It’s www.Jameytucker.blogspot.com

Most places I’ve worked (and I’ve worked at five TV stations) gave you a day to get through the paperwork and dragged you around to grip and grin with everybody. (It’s a good thing I was never tested on names from that first day because I would have failed miserably.) More on that in a minute.

When I first started work down on the river, I was told to be there about 8a.m. I was driving in from Germantown and had only been to the station once. I didn’t make the exit and found myself about to cross the bridge into Arkansas. I could see the station but couldn’t see how I was to get over the railroad tracks to get to it. I saw the correct exit sign a few minutes later and managed to get there about 15-minutes late. I was told to hurry and fill out the paperwork because they needed a live shot from me from West Memphis. I raced through the forms, and was sent out with Mike Suriani. I don’t think he was too pleased to be working with the new kid. The story focused on the new tornado sirens being installed one year after a deadly twister tore through the town. I knew no history on this story and was fortunate that Mike helped me through that day. My live shot at six was a “Sony sandwich” and it was okay and I turned a package for 10.

The next morning, I sat through the 30-minute morning show anchored by Steve Hayslip and Todd Demers. My turn at the anchor desk came the next day. We did shoot a promo for the morning show, which impressed me that the station was jumping on this new guy. Little did I know that was the last promo I would be involved in for six years!

Now, back to meeting everyone at the station on my first day. I have to admit; the faces and names, especially those folks in sales and administration on the 2^nd floor were pretty much a blur.

About three weeks after I started work on the river, my wife had flown into to town so we could start looking for a house. We had stopped by Houston’s in East Memphis for lunch and were waiting for a table when this older guy walks up to me from the bar area where he had been waiting for a table. He said “You’re Joe Larkins, you do the morning show and report down at 3. You do good work.” I have to admit, I was impressed with the viewership the station had. Here I was, only three weeks in town, and this stranger walks up, calls me by name and tells me something like that. I turned to my wife to introduce her to this nice gentleman. He then identified himself as Frank Roberts, former GM who was now Broadcast Group President for New York Times. It seems I had actually met him on my first day at work but his face and name had gotten lost in the shuffle until then. So, if you’re a manager, don’t introduce the new employee to everyone on the first day. Save some for the second day too.

How do you feel?

At some point today, some reporter, maybe green, maybe seasoned, will ask some grieving family member the question “How do you feel?” My reaction is always the same. I want to reach through the television, grab the reporter by the throat and respond, “How the hell do you think they feel?”

The mining disaster in West Virginia made me think of how many times the question “How do you feel?” will be asked today. When I went to bed last night, there was still no word on the fate of the miners. When I woke up this morning, my wife, who stayed up to watch the Florida State/Penn State game, told me they broke into the game to announce all but one of the miners were found alive. We turned on the TV to get an update and it turns out somebody got it all wrong. We watched an interview Miles O’Brien had taped earlier on CNN talking with some of the townspeople who were upset with mining officials. It seems mining officials knew 20-minutes after the information came out that it was wrong but failed to correct it for three hours. I thought we were headed for a “how do you feel” question although it was pretty obvious how the people felt. They were P.O.ed in a big, big way.

As a reporter, I always dreaded having to cover something like the murder or tragedy of the day. In Memphis, with more than 200 murders committed one year, it almost got down to covering the murder of the day. If you got assigned to the story, you knew the drill. You had to go knocking on the door of the family, figure out a way to talk to them and “oh, by the way, do you have a picture of the victim.” I never found a way I felt comfortable with doing this particular job. I always felt like a vulture and it was on those days I wished I were in another profession. You didn’t dare come back without the interview or picture, especially if there was a possibility that the competition might get it.

I remember in the aftermath of a deadly train crash in Bourbonnais, Illinois where five people from the MidSouth were killed when the train they were on hit a truck at a crossing. We, along with every other station in town, had team coverage of the funeral services. I was scrambling around to get some sound and video after the services. I felt like an intruder and in fact was. I later wrote a note of apology to the spokesman for the family. He called me a week later to tell me that he appreciated the note.

I know that covering tragedy is a big part of news. It will get done. I just know that if something bad happens to my family, don’t come around with a news camera and never stick a microphone in my face and ask, “how do I feel”. My resulting actions and your attempt to remove both the camera and the mic from some body orifice will let you know in no uncertain terms “just how I feel”.

Tree condoms, Fried Glass Onions and over-used words and phrases.

Breaking news. This is so surreal. I’ve decided to hunker down in this community of learners and find a person of interest to write about. There will be no up or down vote on this designer breed. A first time caller can contact FEMA if he or she is so inclined to protest my talking points. But if you do, I may dismiss your opinion out like junk science or toss it altogether like a used holiday tree. You may look at my ramblings as an accident that didn’t have to happen, but I’ve put a lot of thought into this and it’s 97-percent fat-free. If you want, drop me a line and if you are a first time caller, I’ll pass the savings on to you. I’m now finished with this rant, so Git-r-done Dawg.

Okay, forgive me folks; I went through the 2006 “List of Words and Phrases Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness” as compiled by Lake Superior State University. These are words and phrases that simply managed to get under people’s skin this year.

And speaking of phrases and words that will get under someone’s skin, please news people, when we get to that first snow or ice of the winter season, avoid the clichés. I know you will be tempted to use the phrase “winter wonderland” when it snows, “jack frost nipping at your nose” when it turns cold and the road has “become a parking lot” when it ices over. A former EP I worked with told me once that if you think it sounds like a cliché, it probably is. So when the “white stuff” falls, call it snow. That’s what it is. I can’t wait until I hear how “Mother Nature” has turned the MidSouth into an icebox or deep freeze. I know this admonition will fall through the cracks at the first sign of a snowflake as we collectively rush to the grocery stores to buy milk and bread. All it takes is one reporter, anchor or producer to say, “Today, I will not cliché”. Make me proud folks. I know you will.

Now, off my soapbox. My wife and I took down the Christmas tree yesterday. We’re leaving some decorations up until the Epiphany but the tree needed to go, as it was dry. It was a good tree. We put a tree condom on it to get it out of the house. A tree condom is what we call the large plastic white covering that keeps the needles from falling everywhere in the house. I took a picture of the tree in all of its glory in the house and then out on the curb. In my opinion, there are few things more sad looking than a used Christmas tree left on a curb. I did remove the tree condom after the picture so the tree can be recycled.

While Bethany and I took down and boxed up ornaments, we put on some non-Christmas music to work to. If you are a Beatles fan, you really need to listen to the “Fried Glass Onions/Memphis Meets the Beatles” Volumes 1 and 2. The covers say, “The Memphis music community comes together on this collection of Beatles songs to create a uniquely soulful tribute to the band who not only helped define a generation but also changed the course of popular music.” It was quite enjoyable and at times I was almost doing the white man’s under bite while attempting to dance. Thank you Billy Crystal for that image.

And two quick notes here. Good luck to Jamey Tucker today. He starts his new news gig at WKRN where he will be religion reporter in the new VJ shop. I’m sure today will be spent doing paperwork and being introduced to a bunch of people whose names he won’t be able to recall because there are so many of them.

And good luck to Dick Clark. I didn’t see his New Year’s program but I did see a clip of him last night on MSNBC’s Countdown. He’s a guy who apparently just does not give up.

Farm Teams for anchors and new anchor team takes over ABC

First, for those of you who haven't noticed, I've put a "dig me" picture off to the right side of my blog for those of you have wondered what happens to you after a year away from the news business.

Now, on to business. Nice spread by the CA on Jerry Tate. Technically his last day at the studio down on the river was December 31^st, but I think he cleaned out his desk, and stopped by the business office to sign the necessary papers on December 23^rd, which was his last day to anchor. Yah, he hosted the 50^th anniversary retrospect, but that was Memorex. After seeing the postings about finding a replacement for Pam McKelvy on the anchor desk, I was thinking about how smart the folks at AN5 were in grooming Joe Birch for the desk. I don’t profess to know the details, but as I understand it, former anchor and news director Mason Granger wanted to come off the 10pm news to tend to his duties during the day. He had reporter JB slide into the night side spot alongside an already popular female anchor to help solidify things. By the time Mason announced he was coming off the anchor desk altogether, AN5 had a solid male anchor with name recognition in place. They never missed a beat and the competition has been salivating since. Word on the street has it that twice now the honchos down on the river have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at JB to get him to come on over. Some people just can’t seem to understand the concept of loyalty and that it’s not always just about money.

But in these days with increasing focus on the bottom line, how do you get and keep “young Turks” with the rising star in your shop. They want to see something tangible in their future. They want to sit at the “adult” table as soon as possible and don’t want to wait too long to get there. They’re hungry now. If you tell them they need more experience and seasoning, they may leave. Some will come back. But if they leave and come back, you run the risk of losing the momentum they may have been building.

On another note, I see Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff debut as co-anchors tonight on ABC. I guess this is an indication of how much I watch network news at its regular time anymore. I had to look up their bios to find out what all the fuss was about. The only thing I really knew prior to that was what PP from AN5 posted a while back about having worked with Vargas in Reno. It was interesting reading and I think PP mentioned she taught Vargas to edit or something like that. Vargas must have a PR machine already rolling after seeing the postings that followed. Folks claiming to be coworkers from ABC came out of the woodwork to blast PP and I’m not really sure why.

I did tune in one night a couple of weeks ago and caught Bob Woodruff. A nice looking guy but my wife said he was too much of a “pretty boy”. That was the only time I’ve seen what ABC has to offer. I’ve not watched Nightline since Ted the Head left and probably won’t. Just call me a “shifting demographic”.

Someone has broken into our house and taken up the waists on my slacks.

I’m not sure when it happened but someone must have slipped in while we were out enjoying Christmas celebrations and either washed all of my slacks in hot water causing them to draw up or actually taken up the waists on those same slacks. They all seem to be a bit more snug that I remember.

That of course didn’t stop me from enjoying the traditional black-eyed peas and cornbread on New Year’s Day. Let the good luck roll on in.

I actually thought that during my past year I would spend more time getting fit, but I guess unless you have the discipline you really have to be on a schedule. I was, going for a morning walk, at least during the first part of the year. That routine tapered off when the weather got hot. It looks like I’ll be back on track in a big way now, starting with a little “pushback” from the table. A good friend and former co-worker who lives in Atlanta managed to shed a lot of weight by simply watching what he ate, and working out each day. Last time I saw “Snoop Dougie Doug”, he looked pretty good. I also met a guy at a New Year’s Eve “Eve” party and he was telling me about running in this year’s marathon. He just about has me convinced that I could be running a half marathon by next year. I know it’s easy to talk about exercising when you have a flute of champagne in one hand and chips and dip in the other. But, the way I look at it, it’s kind of like when I quit smoking almost ten years ago. Sometimes you just have to say you are going to do it and then DO IT. We’ll see how this goes. Maybe I can put a “pound o’meter” on my blog site to help keep track of things.