Odds and Ends

Things are coming along here in The Steel City.  Nothing exciting has happened except for the little odds and ends.  I do have a couple of irons in the fire as far as job possibilities, but nothing concrete yet.  In the meantime, I'm in the process of enjoying the summer.  Here are a few slices of life from Pittsburgh.

"When Pigs Fly" from Primanti Bros.

When it comes to food in this area, Primanti's is synonymous.  The sandwich that that was made famous by the produce wholesalers and truck drivers in the Strip District is now known nationwide.  When I got a call from my friend John asking to meet him for lunch the other day I jumped at the chance. I was looking forward to seeing him, and also looking forward to trying their newest sandwich. This week the "When Pigs Fly" sandwich debuted.  It has the usual fixins: coleslaw, french fries, and tomato, but this sandwich has turkey, ham and bacon, with a fried egg.  The description sounds like it isn't for the faint of heart or those with heart issues, but to sum up this creation in one word: delicious.  If you want to try it get to a Primanti's near you before the end of August, being that it's only available for a limited time.  Proceeds from sales of the sandwich benefit regional food banks in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

On the other end of the health and wellness spectrum, I've been attempting to improve my health this summer by swimming and getting on my bike.  My wife and I picked up one for me to go along with hers this spring at a great bike shop on the North Shore call Bicycle Heaven.  The shop has two stories and is a bike shop and museum that also repairs bicycles.  The upper floor is a museum filled with classic and rare bikes including the X1 from "Pee Wee's Big Adventure."  Pittsburgh is slowly becoming a bike friendly town and there isn't to view the city than the trails along the rivers here.  The North Shore trail goes past Heinz Field, PNC Park and over to Washington's Landing.   This week I went down along the Monongahela River.  Here are some pics that I took that can also be found on my Instagram account:

In my last post, I wrote about the end of "The Mark and Lynda Podcast."  The last show went out with a bang.  Surprisingly, I didn't get too sad.  I came up with a brainstorm this weekend with the idea of putting together a video as a tribute to the podcast.  I took some of the videos that Mark Thompson had uploaded on YouTube, and added music to it.  Here is the result:  

The response was overwhelming from the die-hard listeners to the podcast as well as a shout out from Lynda on Twitter and a note from Mark.  Their kudos meant a lot.

That's all I have for now.  Thanks for letting me share some odds and ends.

Thank You, Mark and Lynda

My heart is sad this week.  The Mark and Lynda Podcast will cease production on Friday afternoon (6/19/2015).  When I heard Mark and Lynda give the announcement it felt like the worst gut punch ever.  I was in a funk.  My friends were going away.

The Mark and Lynda Podcast has been a daily habit for me for two years.  I discovered it one night when I was listening to Tim Conway, Jr.'s show on KFI in Los Angeles. Tim had Mark on  to talk about the podcast and to give an update on what he was up to since leaving "The Mark and Brian Show." I knew of Mark and Brian from their TV show "The Adventures of Mark and Brian" that spent one season on NBC.  I watched the show when I was in college and loved it.  I also followed their exploits in various radio trade magazines.

Mark and Lynda Thompson (From www.markandlynda.com)

I downloaded the show and was hooked.  This was nothing like any radio show that I have ever heard.  Here was a married couple talking about their lives, the latest news, and giving relationship advice, no holds barred.  There were no FCC censors to worry about so the language flew, and the relationship advice dealt with things you couldn't talk about on the radio, such as how to spark things up in the bedroom.

Red, The Radio Dog.  (From www.markandlynda.com)

Mark and Lynda soon became a habit for me, if not a downright addiction.  I couldn't go a day without hearing about their exploits Lake Norman, North Carolina with Red the Radio Dog or how Mark would yell at the old lady who tried to cut him off in the parking lot at the post office.  This was real life, and they were letting us in and making us feel like a family.  The regular listeners became a family and Mark and Lynda were our parents or our favorite aunt and uncle who were taking us along for the ride.  We shed a lot of tears with them when they lost their dog Elvis.  We were there cheering when Mark announced his new radio gig on The Sound in Los Angeles.  We recorded "The Bold and Beautiful" to see daughter Katie make her acting debut as a restaurant hostess, and we learned to make sausage balls with daughter Amy at Christmas.  When their son Matt released a new single on iTunes, we downloaded it.  It was these little moments and the big ones that became a part of our lives.

The hard part for me is how do you thank these folks that have been a part of their daily lives for the past two and a half years.  There are plenty of memories that you have created and emotions I have that I don't think that I could ever put into words.  Thank you Mark and Lynda for giving us valuable advice on being better husbands and wives, for giving us guidance on raising our kids, for finding the humor in everyday matters, and for valuing "the simple things in life."  It's all about the simple things.

Mark and Lynda, thank you for reading my many comments on the air and for critiquing my radio production with the promos I made about your show.  Thank you for allowing me to call in to the podcast to tell you that I was a faithful listener here in The Steel City.  Thank you for getting me through the rough times as well when I was waiting to hear back on blood tests from the doctors or when I found out that my temporary job was going away.  For an hour or so each day I could forget about the outside world and find a safe place with your podcast. I don't know how I can ever thank you.  My heart is heavy, but I will never forget all of the wonderful things that you have done not only for me, but all of us.  You inspired, informed, enlightened, motivated, and humored us.  For that we are grateful.

Thank you to Jordan, their producer.  Your insight to all of the technical minutia saved us a lot of aggravation.  Your intellect gave us some great food for thought.  You have a bright future ahead of you and you're going to go far.

Thank you for your movie and music recommendations.  The bulk of my iTunes account is made up of the music you both have played and films that you have seen.  You have exposed me to a lot of great tunes and artists that I would have never listened to before and to hear some older things in a whole new way.  Every trip I made to Amazon was through your website, and I am proud to have  a Mark and Skeeter t-shirt and golf shirt in my wardrobe.

I must also thank a group of people here know as The Chat.  These folks, like me are the daily listeners who became a bunch of good friends that talk amongst ourselves when the show is going on.  These folks are AaronA, Alex_Bot, BadApple, BobD, Britincali, Chewie, ChrisAnn, ChrisW, Cleon, DanTheMan, Devin, Dr. Deboze, Ellimoose, Erin, Galen, HavasuSteve, Judie_G, Justin, KerryBear, KristiK, Laura, MikeBrum, PrinceSS, Raq, Renee_in_OC, Smity, SteveE, Taxi, Teddy, and Tvs23.  Thank you for taking me in and making me laugh.  We've been there together through the good times and the bad, and made jokes at each others expense.  I hope that there is a way we can keep the conversations going.  Hopefully, someday I can make it out to California and Seattle to meet all of you.

I also made a great friend, Matt, who moved to Pittsburgh from Pasadena two years ago. We became good friends through their website and have had a lot of great times here in The Burgh.

Mark and Lynda, I hope and pray that the day comes when I can thank you in person.  On the 200th show one of the things I talked about was Primanti's, a culinary trademark of Pittsburgh.  I would personally love to take you both there for a sandwich and an Iron City Beer, and to show you my hometown, my treat.

May you both enjoy all that life has to offer, and remember that there is a group of faithful listeners that love you and your children.  Here's to all of the good times until we meet again.  Thank you.

The Thompson Family (From www.markandlynda.com)

I'm Baaaack!

It's been a while.  My last blog was in December, all the way back in year 2014.  A lot has happened since then.  In the time since my last posting:

• The Steelers didn't make the playoffs.
• The Penguins didn't make the playoffs.
• Bruce Jenner became Caitlyn.
• Leonard Nimoy, Lesley Gore, and B.B. King were called home. Rest in Peace, one and all.
• David Letterman retired.

  

  Source: Youtube/Late Show with David Letterman

• The Government isn't listening to our phone calls anymore (or are they?)
• The world has realized that organized soccer is not as highfalutin as everyone thought is was.
• Prince George got a new sister.  

In the meantime, here's what has happened since you last tuned in:

• The temp job I had came to an end.  (I'm looking, so if you know anyone who wants to hire an energetic, creative, witty, conscientious, and hard-working blogger, please let me know.)
• I turned another year older. . .and notice a few more gray hairs.
• Saw Barry Manilow in concert. (Awesome show! Barry still has it!)
  
• Vacationed in San Francisco and San Diego.  (I now have a new appreciation of the hills of Pittsburgh after spending almost a week in the City by The Bay.)
• Downloaded a ton of great music on iTunes.
• Purchased a bike.  (Trying to do the healthy thing.)
• Made a couple of appearances on the radio. (One in Los Angeles, the other in Beaver Falls, PA)
• Did some audio production work that wasn't too shabby.

As for that last bullet point, you can check out the new stuff by clicking here.  I did three promos as spec spots for The Mark & Lynda Podcast as a way to build up my portfolio.  Little did I realize that Mark and Lynda aired them and critiqued them.  The verdict:  they liked them!

Download the fun by clicking on this link: api.spreaker.com/download/episode/6025962/markandlynda_20150505.mp3.
It comes up at the 7:25 mark. (Caution: foul language flies freely here. It's one of the charming aspects of podcasting.)

I also made some inroads into getting back into radio and podcasting.  More to come on that end.  

That's all I have for now.  Stay tuned as I make more attempts to put some thoughts down here in this rest stop on the information highway.

And now for your moment of Zen. . . .

Truer words have never been tweeted.  

Introducing: Rumer

The ability to pick a song that will be a hit is an art.  That was one area in broadcasting where I missed the mark.  Some people have an ear on what makes a song popular.  These days, however, the art of a disc jockey or music director of a radio station picking which hits will click are rare.  A lot of music played on the radio is determined by the big music companies and consultants.

There are some signs that this is changing.  With the advent of the internet and websites like SoundCloud and YouTube, the listener has a greater role as far as what makes a song popular.  The antiquated formula or sales and times a song is played on the radio is being replaced by the number of times a song is streamed online.

I mention this because I discovered an artist a few weeks ago who I think will make a big splash in the music world in the coming year.  May I present for your listening pleasure, Rumer.  

One of my hobbies online is to check out music and I frequently check out the offerings on iTunes.  Under the "Featured Pre-Orders" section I found an album called "Into Colour" by Rumer.  I honestly thought that the performer was the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.  There were two tracks that you can purchase now.  I listened to the samples and was blown away. 

The album has already been released in Europe, and will be available here in the U.S. this coming February.  "Into Colour" is her third album and she has received lots of acclaim in her native England.  Fans of her work include Elton John, Burt Bacharach, and Jools Holland.  The Guardian and many other critics have compared her voice as being reminiscent of Karen Carpenter's.  

She hasn't had much notice here in the United States except for an episode of Live From Daryl's House and a segment on CBS' Sunday Morning in 2012.  That could all change this coming February.  I predict that her label, Warner Music, will work to land her on a lot of talk shows.

The song that won me over is "Dangerous."  Forget that this song was produced in 2014.  It sounds like it was produced in 1978.  One response I read on SoundCloud nailed the song's arrangement perfectly: a mix of Thom Bell's Philadelphia sound mixed with Burt Bacharach's trumpets.  

The video is outstanding as well.  It tells a story in less than five minutes.  I don't know if the words in the song match up with story, but it's better than most of the videos out there today.

Check out Rumer's website here.  Included is a free download of the song "Sam" off of "Into Colour."  I've downloaded it and it is great.  I can definitely hear the Karen Carpenter similarity in her singing of this song.

So there you have it, my vote for the breakout artist of 2015.  I have a feeling that you'll hear a lot from her soon.

Late Show Predictions - An Addendum

In my last post I wrote about David Letterman setting May 20, 2015 as that date for his final "Late Show."

There were be a lot of memorable moments between now and then.  Here are some predictions of things I think will happen between now and then.

• Jay Leno will be a guest.  Jay and Dave started out together on the L.A. comedy scene in the 1970s.  They were good friends until Leno got the nod to take over the "Tonight Show."  That marked one of the longest feuds in the history of television.  I have a feeling that the booking of Leno as a guest will be a huge TV moment.  It will be a huge ratings win for Dave and one that will be talked about for years to come.  
  

• Harry Letterman will make an appearance.  Dave's son is now 11 years old, and from the stories he tells, there is no one that means more to him than his son.  We rarely get to see hm except for an occasional picture that he shows every so often.  I think it would be neat to see the two chat on TV.  
  
  
  
• Bill Murray will be his final guest.  Bill was Dave's first guest on "Late Night" in 1992 and "Late Show" in 1993.  Murray has always been a great guest, and always finds a way to top himself with each new appearance he makes. There is no other guest that could send Dave out in style.  It would be the perfect bookend for Dave's late night career.  
  
  
  
• Dave's final show won't have guests.  I believe that Dave will take a page from Johnny Carson's book and will do his final show by himself.  It will consist of some of his most favorite moments over the years, and it will be a time for him to speak from his heart.  No one on television today can do that quite like Dave.

Dave Sets A Date

A date has been set for David Letterman's final "Late Show."  It will be Wednesday, May 20, 2015.  Letterman made the announcement during Wednesday's taping of the show. The date is two days shy of the 23rd anniversary of Johnny Carson's final night on the "Tonight Show."

Letterman will leave the late night arena as it's longest serving host.  By the time he hangs up his microphone he will have 6,028 episodes of "Late Night" the "Late Show" under his belt.

The news comes with finality.  Beginning next summer, Dave won't be there to provide his take on current events, give us a Top 10 list or banter with Paul.  The occasion will be a somewhat sad one for me, but it doesn't seem to have the gravity behind it as when Johnny Carson retired.  Maybe it's because Johnny was the only game in town when he left compared to these days where there are many other offerings at 11:30.  It could also be that maybe my tastes have change.  Maybe it's that Dave has changed.

I was one of those teenagers that would fight sleep to stay up on Friday nights to watch Dave.  It was the night when he read viewer mail, one of my favorite bits.  Sometimes I would tape his show during the week just to see what he would come up with to break the barriers of TV.  To say that he was an influence on me is a huge understatement.  Tina Fey remarked during Letterman's induction at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2012 that most of the guys she knew in high school and college wanted to be David Letterman.  They repeated his jokes, his mannerisms, and even the way he dressed.  Tina Fey described me as I was in the 1980s.

But things changed.  I don't watch much TV after 11:00 pm anymore.  I usually keep up with the late night shows the next day either on the DVR or online.  Chalk that up to job responsibilities.  

Maybe it's because that I got tired of Dave.  I think that it started to happen in 2009 after the news came out regarding his affairs with staffers of his show.  It was unconscionable to think that Dave would cheat on his marriage.  I'm not one to judge, but the whole situation left a bad taste in my mouth.  I give him credit for working on that problem and for working on saving his marriage.  

Another reason is that his humor wasn't as cutting as it used to be.  Letterman was a master at turning broadcasting on its ear back in the day.  He broke the conventional wisdom of how a talk show was done.  He took ideas from Steve Allen and Ernie Kovacs and worked them for a new, young audience of TV viewers who weren't around to see those two comedians in their prime.  Whether it was being dunked in a vat of water wearing a suit made of Alka Seltzer or disrupting the Channel 4 news down the hall at NBC it was inventive.  We had never seen anything like it before.  Dave also wasn't afraid to take on his guests and would find a way to knock them down a peg or two.

The David Letterman we see today is a shadow of what we saw in the 80's and early 90s.  His talk show is more conventional.  He is more polite to his guests, and we rarely see him attempting a stunt that would be talked about at work or school the next morning.  His monologues are often one-sided politically and sometimes it seems as if he is phoning it in.  

Don't get me wrong, I am still a fan of David Letterman's.  He was an influence to me when I started out in broadcasting, and when I try to use humor in everyday situations.  There are many moments and memories that he created over the years and they will be ones that we will remember for a long time.  I'll be one of the millions that will fight sleep on May 20, 2015 to tune in and salute a TV legend.

Meeting The Fonz

I crossed two items off of my bucket list this weekend.  The first was that I finally attended a ComicCon.  It wasn't the big one in San Diego.  It was at the Convention Center outside of Pittsburgh.
The second item was about who was appearing at this show, Henry Winkler. 

As a child of the 70s and 80s you could find me on Tuesday nights as well as the rest of America in front of the TV watching "Happy Days."  It was 30 minutes depicting what life was like in the 1950s.  It was one of my favorite shows to watch.  Things stopped at 8:00 in order to see what dilemma Richie and the Fonz got into that week.  On Wednesdays, my friends and I would dissect and breakdown the plot lines of each episode with the same intensity as those that have studied the Kennedy Aassassination.

I had heard a few weeks ago that Winkler would be making an appearance.  It would give me the chance to meet him and get an autograph as a gift for my brother. Saturday morning found me up earlier than I would have expected.  A trip to Monroeville from my home takes about 30 minutes.  With the inbound lanes of the Fort Pitt Tunnel closed, my drive time would be longer with the detours.  I was surprised when I pulled into the parking lot of the convention center a little before 10.  I realized that this was a big deal when I found the parking lots filling up quickly.

After paying the admission I quickly found the room where the autograph signings were taking place.  I quickly made my way to the area where Henry Winkler would be signing.  Luckily, I was the eighth person in line.  While waiting, I struck up a conversation with some ComicCon regulars.  We didn't have a lot in common.  These guys were hardcore comic fans who told me about the ins and outs of these shows. They were nice and we discussed some of the hallmark moments of "Happy Days;"  the fire at Arnold's, and jumping the shark to name a few.

After a half an hour of standing in line it was announced that Mr. Winkler was on his way.  A few minutes later he appeared.  I was a little gobsmacked.  The man was dressed in green corduroys and a yellow sweater and was wearing a well worn fedora carrying a leather satchel.  He looked more like an English professor than the man who fixed cars at Bronco's Auto Repair.

When he came to the area where we were standing he made a beeline to a handicapped lady sitting in a chair.  His eyes lit up and he gave her a hug.  I was immediately struck that Henry Winkler was as genuine as I have heard.  He made that lady feel as if she was the Queen of the World.  He then walked the entire length of the line of autograph seekers and thanked them for coming and said that he wanted to meet everyone.

When he got back to the front of the line he stood and greeted everyone individually.  Some folks had their pictures taken with him, others had pictures and personal items for him to sign.  The line moved quickly, but he afforded enough time for everybody to have a short conversation with him.  

As soon as it was my turn to meet him, he offered his hand and asked how I was doing.  For a second I felt as if I was 6 years old.  I pulled myself together and introduced myself.  Mr. Winkler is shorter than I thought.  For some reason I thought he would be at least 6 feet tall.  Another illusion shattered by television.  I thanked him for the many hours of entertainment that he gave me during my formative years and he smiled.  We talked like old friends would who would meet by accident on a street corner after not seeing each other for many years. I also mentioned that to this day I can't go past a jukebox without striking it with my fist.  His smile got even bigger.  I was thrilled to say the least.  He signed my pictures and we wished each other happy holidays and then it was over.

After walking back to the front of the room I turned around and looked at the line again.  He was having the same conversations with everyone else. I felt like I had made a dear friend if only for a few minutes.

There's an old warning about wanting to meet your heroes.  Often times celebrities aren't like what you would imagine and your left being disappointed because they don't match your expectations. This wasn't the case.  Henry Winkler was every bit as I imagined him to be, even more so.  He is a genuinely nice man who cares about everyone he meets and is interested in what they have to say.

Thank you, Mr. Winkler, for giving me a few minutes of your time.  It was an honor and a pleasure to have met you.