IT'S NOT THE SAME!!!
They didn't grow up with four channels, no VCR and ONE chance a year to see the show (and I was RIPPED when we had the Christmas program at school the same night Rudolph came on.)
By the way, all that being said: my 3 favorite Christmas Shows:
3) Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
2) A Charlie Brown Christmas
1) Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
(and yes, it's true---when I was young, I had a crush for Jessica, the schoolteacher, who, of course later became Mrs. Claus, and did the same thing I did after marrying...we both...ah, became more robust.)
UPDATE: 815pm: We Are Santa's Elves in Elf Practice. Santa gives it two thumbs down and hurries out of room.
What's been going on since my last post (embarrassingly two weeks ago..)? Well, we made it through Thanksgiving without a scratch. The dinner was at Bonnie's sister's house in Mechanicsville, with Bonnie and both her sisters, their hubbies, Bonnie's Mom (the dreaded mother-in-law) and all 8 kids. I focused on eating turkey and watching Peyton Manning.
UPDATE: 817pm: Hermie's busted!! "Why weren't you at elf practice?!?"
Friday was, well, sleep the morning away, then the kids and I went to brave the cold and the crowd at the Division 6 Regional High School Football Championship between Robbie's future high school, Hermitage, and the defending champs, LC Bird. Let's see, we get in one LONG line, only to get close to the gate and find out that line was only for ticketholders. Of course, we DID NOT have tickets yet, so to the back of another line to buy tickets, then into a third line to get in. I'm thinking, they'll be no seats, who wants to watch the game sitting on the ground? (They have no visitors bleachers at this stadium).
When we finally got in, there were some seats at the very bottom of the bleachers--not conducive to watching the game (HEY, you second stringers on the sideline! Sit down--I can't see the action!!).
Robbie, though, got a big thrill when he saw his "first girlfriend". Quick explanation: when in kindergarten...
WAIT.....
UPDATE: 821pm---The secret's out. On the next Montel: Rudolph Exposed!!--And why should his dad be ashamed?? Anyway....
Robbie, in kindergarten, had a crush on the 5th grade safety guard in the hallway at school outside his classroom door. Her name was Valerie. We even took a picture of them at the end of the year, and the next year, on her birthday, Robbie took a rose to her house (it was so cute...). So, now,
UPDATE: 822pm: WORST song of the show appears. We'll survive and live to see Yukon shortly....
So, now, Robbie's in middle school, and guess who's one of the conductors of the school band? Yep, Valerie, now a senior. So before we left, Robbie got her attention--it took her a second, then she recognized him; they talked a minute and he was very happy.
Now he's "moved on" to a girl named Emily that he talks to in the cafeteria in the AM before the first bell rings. He's even "mousseing" his hair every morning. Gosh, I never did that. Of course, I didn't have many steadys, either.....(any correlation?)
UPDATE: 825pm:
What do say we both be independent together!!---Hermie, the classic dentist-to-be. Now, a song CUT OUT of the show for many years---actually, part of it aired, now they air the whole song. About time!
Rachel is sick. Yesterday she told Mom
It's boring being sick. Her cough is horrible. She tried school today, and got picked up about 10am. Gotta hand it to her, she loves school and it takes alot for her to miss it. Hope she stays that way!!!
We've been a van short for three days, and don't begin to ask about the wonderful (tongue-in-cheek) job CarMax has done, what with apathetic personnel and people who can't seem to order the right part....and it's still in the shop, so the Cougar has been spotted everywhere! Schools, work, the orthodontist, you name it. I'm proud of my baby!
Let me go back to high school football a minute: Patrick Henry finished their season at 7-3 for the 3rd straight year (will they go 7-3 every year I broadcast their games??), finishing in a disgusting quagmire at JR Tucker November 5th. Let me set the scene:
RAIN, RAIN, RAIN---all day long. Usually a no-brainer, Henrico postpones Friday football. But THIS week, there's a game pitting two 9-0 teams on the last week of the season; they've already sold out the 4,000 tickets to the game, and I guess they were bound and determined to play that game. The rule in Henrico is, one school can't cancel something, either the county does, or the games/events go on.
UPDATE: 831pm: YUKON APPEARS!!! SILVER AND GOLD!!!!---I miss Burl Ives, great voice.
So, Henrico doesn't cancel games, the big battle in the east end goes on, but so does two other games in the West End, including Patrick Henry and JR Tucker. Now, it's senior night at Tucker, and it's POURING rain. Honestly, the ONLY people at the field that night were those of us in the press box, police, the ticket takers, the teams, the seniors in the band and cheerleaders, and the parents of seniors. That's it. Period.
So, JR Tucker gets the shaft--since most of a school's athletic budget money is collected at their five home football games. Low ticket sales, hardly any concession sales, I'm sure. Programs? Forget it.....
Douglas Freeman had the same problem with their senior night against Deep Run.
Let it be known how UNFAIR it was for the County to play that night just because of one game, ruining the senior nights of dozens of kids and their families at two other schools in the process.
Now, for IRONY: the home team in that "big game" won, thereby winning their District title and a home game in the first round of the playoffs. One problem, though. By the following Wednesday, they realized their football field had been torn up so horribly in the rain game, they couldn't play the playoff game on it on Friday.
So, they move the game to Lee-Davis High, which isn't even in Henrico County! Varina plays all year to win a title, and get home field advantage in the playoffs. One decision causes them to lose home field, and, you guessed it---they lost on the neutral field.
UPDATE: 836pm: Charlie in the house!!!! These misfits should have been in my Sears Wish Book years ago; I'd have played with a Charlie in the Box!!
So, props to Robbie's school for an 11-1 season, to PH for coming so close (they score in OT against Hermitage, and PH could have been in the playoffs instead of Hermitage), and to my broadcast partner Stubby Price, who continues his career foundation-building at the Herald-Progress. He's great to work with, and an NC State fan. What more could I ask for? Free Mountain Dew, maybe, but other than that....
UPDATE: 838pm: Watch out for the shooting jelly!!!
Moving on.....work is work. Church is church. Interesting developments at both places, and of course, a blog is no place to expound upon them.....:)
My shoulder---yikes. The past day or so it's felt like the bone has moved. My "bump" seems to have grown to "two bumps" side-by-side. So, I'm back to Dr. Goradia next Tuesday to see what's up (pardon the pun). I can't do another surgery....AAHHH!!!!!
On the elementary school front, we helped Rachel's teacher make it to the "Turkey Pageant Court" at school. They did a can drive for Thanksgiving, and the teacher whose class collected the most in each grade got on the Court. Then the top three teachers moved to the "finals", a la Miss America, then the "Turkey Queen" was crowned. It was a wonderful event! Mrs Smith (our principal) said it had been done at her former school for years--I'm glad she brought it to Greenwood. By the way, a first-year school collected 2,821 cans of food. I was impressed!
ALTERNATE UPDATE: 843pm: Fat Albert on the Big Screen---Kenan was a great choice.
And, we're still "out" of PTO festivities, choosing to volunteer in the classroom (me) and in the office (Bonnie). It's so sad when politics and personal agendas ruin things like a simple parent-teacher group. Enough said.
UPDATE: 845pm: Rudolph's voice!! What happened? Puberty took less than 45 minutes!!
I will blog on my trip to Mama's gravesite on her birthday (as promised) but in a separate post, for respect purposes. It would diminish her a bit to do it here, although, ironically, my last real conversation with Mama took place Friday night, December 13th, 2002, shortly after Rudolph aired on TV that year. Why do I remember bits and details of information like that? I'll never know....and I'm horrible with names to boot!
Ken Jennings----he quit. How do you NOT know H&R Block??? I didn't know Fed Ex let their drivers operate without white-collar executives 8 months a year....anyway, my theory is: 75 was a round number, 2.5 million was, too, and his wife wanted him home. Most people at work thought the same thing.
I'm sorry Nancy turned around and lost tonight; she was a cool winner
Tom Brokaw---he steps down. I watched it (as I watched Cronkite's final broadcast March 6, 1981) and he left gracefully, focusing on people that obviously has profoundly affected him, and should affect all of us, too. Liberal, yeah, but his was a very classy exit.
UPDATE: 850pm: Hermie gets first appointment, Yukon returns, and bumbles bounce!!!!!" Santa finds his needed 47 pounds in the closet, rues the day he allowed the elf union to get permission to let them sing, and now reluctantly cancels Christmas...well, at least the last point will change....
Next, Dan Rather. Good riddance. Ironically, if I'm at work and am gonna "listen" to one of the big 3 news shows, it's CBS. Don't know why, maybe it's because CBS is on Channel 6 here in Richmond, so its audio is also available on 87.7 FM.
If CBS was smart (and I wouldn't count Moonves out here from doing something this radical), they would hire to people under age 40, one man, one woman---they'd ditch the "desk" for an "ET" type studio (except more stately for news coverage, as opposed to glitz coverage), make the music theme very contemporary, and go after my generation and younger. Another 47 year old white guy anchoring in the same room as his predecessor won't cut it. NBC just did it, ABC's holding on to its French-Canadian view of the news fronted by Peter Jennings, so why not take the chance to re-invent the tiring format of evening news so 25-49 year olds might care about it. One reason why Fox News is so popular, I believe, is their fast pace and "fast-looking" presentation (watch Shep on the Fox Report and you'll see what I mean).
Shepard Smith and Allison Stewart?
How about Shepard Smith and Soledad O'Brien?
UPDATE: 856pm: Another crushing Christmas Eve on the island of Misfit Toys (they weren't cast in "Lost", either...), but WAIT, WAIT!!! Stop dreaming about next year, Charlie!! IT SURE IS!! IT'S SANTA!!! Life will never be the same (I hear Charlie, sadly, ended up in Sid's house from Toy Story....)
Final thought: Santa's "Merry Christmas" at the end of this always gave me a good shiver; like a "make-me-cry" shiver. Gee, like I need to cry any more than I do.....
Back to the dream teams:
Russ Mitchell and Julie Chen (if they want to keep it in the CBS family--except Julie's Big Brother ties probably rule her out)
Russ Mitchell and Lara Logan (Lara--easy on the eyes, and LOVE the accent!)
People NOT to consider:
---Anyone over 50
---John Roberts (too vanilla)
---Lester Holt (he sounds like he's yelling all the time)
---Tim Russert (why is he a popular choice? He's NOT an anchorman, he's precisely where his skills fit him at Meet the Press and with political analysis.)
---Anderson Cooper
---Aaron Brown
OTHERS TO HIGHLY CONSIDER:
--Andrea Koppel (CNN)
--Liz Cho (formerly ABC, now on local news in New York)
--Campbell Brown (NBC--Richmond TV alumnus)
--the ghost of Edward Murrow (he'd work cheap and he's already in the building, according to Dan....)
Don't bring anyone from 60 Minutes over. I'd rather see Bob Schieffer take it over for a few years than a 60 Minutes retread or another 47 year-old white guy. Honest. Did you compare CBS' Election Night Coverage with the other networks? Here's my take on that night:
CBS: catered to 65-to-grave demographic; could have run truck through conversation and analysis; broadcast would have been great....in 1984.
ABC: were they on timeout for being too loud or something? Seemed subdued (maybe they knew the inevitable was coming), and, actually, a little graphic-starved in the studio.
NBC: WOW! They knew what to do--get out with the people; hire guys to change electoral vote numbers to higher floors of a building; use the ice rink; heck, even Tim got a hi-tech white board. Far and away the best technical coverage. Poor Tom Brokaw, though; sounded like he was announcing a funeral when he called Ohio for Bush. :)
CNN: TOO MANY graphics. Seemed like CNBC, not CNN (and not because they were at NASDAQ). Then, they went completely the other way, from loud graphics and too much "stuff" to CBS-like commentary from the likes of Larry King (why was he even there???)
FOX: Brit, your time has come...and gone. Brit is NOT an anchor, period. Never has been. Good host for a program like the one he has nightly, but he should NOT anchor election night coverage. He stammered all night, and the Fox News coverage was very "un-Fox like". No energy at all. Meanwhile, on the Fox Network, there's Shepard Smith (who SHOULD have been Fox News' anchor). If you're only going to do 2 hours of coverage on FOX stations, just simulcast FNC for heaven's sake!
PMSNBC: Boards? Graphics? Ah, did they spend their election night budget on Jesse Ventura and Deborah Norville? Looked like another Hardball on the Road to me, though Joe Scarborough was on target throughout the night. Andrea Mitchell probably sobbed openly the next day in private, and Dee Dee Myers saw her return to Washington postponed another four years.
So, there. Can't give you a better reason for CBS News to re-invent themselves, beginning with 630pm. 60 Minutes is left for the die-hards (and their staff is going to be going away, one way or another, very soon), and they can build on the new-ness, and in the meantime, make Brian Williams look like a Tom Brokaw wanna-be, and NBC's news look "so 90's".
Okay. Rudolph's over...I'll let you digest this one, and I'll be back later. Out!
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