Thank You, Loyal Readers!

Eleven months ago - freshly unemployed, creatively unfulfilled and in need of something to get me out of bed in the morning, I launched this blog! It hardly seems possible now, but nearly 400 blog postings later, the ol' hit counter flipped to the fifth digit on this President's Day... Which means if I had a dollar for every time someone stopped by here to read my daily rants, I'd have a picture of President Eisenhower - and 10,000 extra dollars in the bank!

I'd like to thank my good friend, Jen Richer for leading me to this place last March. She was the first person to convince me that my non-sensical ravings, snarky remarks and sarcastic rants belonged in cyberspace for all the world (or a couple of dozen tolerant friends) to see!

And thank you all for stopping here to supplement your office solitaire and facebook-surfing with a couple of minutes of my minutia a day! Here's to the next 10-thousand hits!

It Doesn't Beat Working, But It Beats LOOKING For Work!

For the past week or so, between beating my head against the wall and poring through endless job search engines, I took a couple of days to build a new website - one that I could have only imagined being able to have done just a couple of months ago, when I had neither the time nor the skills to do so. Unlike my original site, which was all business, this site is a welcome avocation - a search for college friends and for the choir music that at one time bound us together. Combining my recently acquired web skills and video editing skills, I have assembled a simple video trailer for the new site, hendrickschapelchoiralumni.com. The song you'll hear is "The Lord Bless You And Keep You" by Peter Lutkin, then and now the de facto anthem of the Syracuse University's Hendricks Chapel Choir. This version was recorded at the Washington Cathedral in May of 1981, and yes, I am in the recording. Enjoy!

You Can Find Anything On The Internet - Even Time Capsules!

Yesterday, I told you that I found this picture while googling myself. The snapshot took me kind of by surprise because it's 30 years old, and I didn't put it on the internet myself. So where did it come from?

Well, my friends - upon further investigation, I discovered that this is my very first publicity shot! It comes from the website of my high school friend, Stuart Basinger, who had a lifelong dream to make his very own James Bond film. Flashback to the summer of 1978... Stuart had just graduated from Springbrook High School, and I was about to become a senior. With high school out of the way and college just a couple of months off, Stuart gathered his Super 8 camera and a bunch of his friends and proceeded to start production on his own version of "Moonraker". Stuart starred as 007, and I played the villain, the notorious Sir Hugo Drax. We spent much of that summer filming the project, but it was not actually completed until just a few years ago. Stuart did a fantastic job of making his dream finally come true, and I strongly recommend you read the complete story behind the movie here.

For me, discovering Stuart's website was truly a time capsule... You see, much of the film was shot in my childhood home, as well as at my Dad's beach house in Rehoboth.

This is my friend, Ray Whitten, who played one of my henchmen. He's sitting in front of the fireplace in my living room - a room that I basically have not seen since 1979. It was used as Drax' "secret island lair".

This is 007 himself, Stuart Basinger. He used my friend Bob Bell's brand new 1978 Toyota Celica, which actually belonged to Bob's Dad. We used the Celica as Bond's vehicle because it was the closest access any of us had to a "sports car". Stuart is standing in front of my Dad's beach house, which doubled as Drax' mansion.

It's one thing to have this kind of nostalgia stuck in a cardboard box in the garage... but to discover it unexpectedly online was a true delight!

By the way, if you TRULY have no life, the entire movie is now available in four parts on youtube, and it's actually become quite a cult classic for big Bond fans. Stuart's "Moonraker" is regarded as one of the all-time best Bond "fan flicks", and I'm honored to have played a small part in it. If you scroll ahead to the 1:10 mark in the clip below, you can see Bond visiting Drax at his mansion (aka my Dad's beach home). Enjoy my stellar acting job - NOT!

Stuart is now a digital video editor for the Fox News Channel, where he toils daily turning Republicans and Democrats into modern day Hugo Drax-es. Many thanks to him for the trip down memory lane!

You Think There's Only ONE John Matthews? Think Again!

I've been spending a lot of time lately Googling myself. Now before you say to yourselves "that John Matthews is an ego-maniac" (you'd be right, by the way), please note that the main reason for this is to see if my website and blog are popping up properly on search engines. I have found so far that combining the name "John Matthews" with "WMAL" or "news" or "Disney" makes my site pop up right away. However, just googling my name alone has proven there are a LOT of Mamas who have enjoyed naming their children "John Matthews"!



This baby is one of the newer John Matthews in the world.

This is one of the oldest John Matthews I found. Judge John "Bud" Matthews was a rancher in West Texas at the turn of the 20th Century.







And there are dead John Matthews, too.

Some John Matthews are black. This one was a Vegas lounge singer. How cool is THAT?

And this John Matthews is a champion fisherman!

Some John Matthews are politicians! I found a couple of state Senators named John Matthews, but this guy is a Green party candidate in Wales!





And this John Matthews was a British soccer star in the 1970's.

Some John Matthews are writers. This one wrote a book about Goat Disease!

And then there's this teenage John Matthews... Wait a minute - that's ME! I found this while looking up the others, and it did not come from any of my family's websites... There's a fun story behind this... but more on THAT tomorrow!

The Shape Of Things To Come

Note - I stole the title for this blog entry from the title of last night's "Lost" episode, but this entry is NOT about "Lost"... I'll be blogging about THAT later today!


No, this entry is about the shape of the anti-illegal immigration sentiments that have swept the nation, and most specifically, Northern Virginia, over the past 2 or 3 years. For pretty much all of 2007, it was the ONLY thing being discussed in Prince William, as the county's top elected official whipped his one and only issue like a flea-bitten nag in a horserace. He won the race, but may have killed the nag in the process. The rest of the board of supervisors went along and unanimously ordered police to check the immigration status of all criminal suspects, and turn over all illegals to ICE for deportation. Well, what happened? The county jail is now filled beyond capacity with illegals, the federal government says it can't keep up with the county's pace of arrests, and now lawmakers are discovering the cure may be worse than the disease... enforcing immigration policy at the local level is proving to be too damn expensive.


How much longer will the residents of Prince William County be willing to fund this loser of a social experiment? Well, guess what? There are already cracks forming in the resolve of the county board:


MANASSAS, Va. (AP) _ Prince William County supervisor Frank Principi says he will propose that the county repeal a policy that directs police to check the citizenship or immigration status of criminal suspects they believe might be in the country unlawfully.
Principi is the first member of the board of supervisors to challenge the enforcement element of the county’s recent crackdown on illegal immigration. The crackdown was approved in October, when Principi was not on the board. The policy denies services to illegal immigrants.
Since the policy took effect in March, the county jail has become more crowded and police have asked for video cameras in patrol cars to protect officers from allegations of racial profiling.
Supervisors voted Tuesday to cut more than $3 million from the next budget that was to be allotted for the cameras and enforcement of the policy.



At a time when inflation is on the verge of explosion (by the way, read THIS if you want a good scare about that!), and taxes are rising for everyone, will people really want to pay to warehouse illegal immigrants who are not going to be moved out anytime soon? And what about the cost of paying for services that are currently being provided on the cheap by illegals? If you scare them away from Prince William, who's going to clean your house or cut your grass? Be ready to pay MUCH more for services like those.


For all of the people who think they've taken the high moral ground by demanding that illegal immigrants be driven out of the country, let's see where that political resolve is when gas hits four bucks a gallon and a loaf of bread costs five bucks. Frank Principi is on to something. It's probably too late in the long run to salvage the political careers of those lawmakers who were elected in the glow of the anti-illegal immigration movement, but here's a piece of advice for you anyway -


It's STILL the economy, STUPID!

Happy Birthday - And Earth Day!

To paraphrase my good friend Bill Shakespeare - "What's in a date? That which we call a birthday by any other name would smell as sweet." Okay, maybe that's a stretch, but today, April 22nd, has different meanings to different people.

To the Prius-driving, granola-crunching, tree-hugging, birkenstock-wearing, carbon-footprint-reducing, Al Gore-loving crowd, today is Earth Day, founded more or less on this day in 1970(thanks, Wikipedia!). I really appreciate all the environmentalists who observe this day so I don't have to. I've never looked good in earth tones myself.

To my teenage son, whose brain may be filled with more useless trivia than mine, today is Vladimir Lenin's birthday. I would be worried about Brad becoming a dirty red commie, except that I know he doesn't share stuff very easily, and I just don't see socialism working out very well for him!

For me, today marks the tenth anniversary of the opening of Walt Disney World's fourth theme park, Disney's Animal Kingdom. I remember it well, because it was the first Disney park opening I had ever covered as a reporter, and I would not have missed it for the world. Robin was a little nervous to see me go, because our youngest son, Spencer, was just two months old, but she also knew that was not going to stop me. I remember they held the opening ceremonies in the Animal Kingdom parking lot... there was a lot of African-themed dancing, and the big highlight of the event came when a bald eagle came swooping in and landed on the arm of his trainer right on cue with the musical crescendo at the end of "Circle of Life".

I have covered literally dozens of Disney media events as a reporter, from the openings of the Disney Cruise Line and the Disney Institute to Walt's 100th birthday and the Year of a Million Dreams. I used to take them for granted, but now that my access to those kind of events has been dashed in my current state of unemployment, I have a real appreciation for those days! For a Disney fan, getting to see Roy Disney rededicate Walt Disney World on its 25th birthday in person, or to ride "Expedition:Everest" on its official opening day - those really were "dreams come true".

When I lost my job at WMAL, it wasn't the loss of income - it was the loss of this kind of access that bothered my son, Spencer, the most. He said, "But Dad - you'll no longer be 'John Matthews'" - an allusion to a family joke about my former "superpower" ability to gain backstage access to Disney events. Don't worry Spence - hopefully Dad will be "John Matthews" again someday soon... Until then, Clark Kent wants you to clean up the basement!

Makes Me Laugh EVERY Time!

There is nothing I like more than shopping at Giant Food and using the self-checkout aisles... especially when the people around me are checking out fresh produce.

Nothing gives me the giggles more than hearing the automated attendant say in a loud, clear voice, "Please move your - YAMS - to the belt..." or "Please move your - GREEN BEANS - to the belt...". Of course, some fruits and veggies are funnier than others. Apples... Oranges... meh. Cherries... better. Zucchini... Bananas... a slight chortle, perhaps. Cantalopes? Melons? Gets me every time!

Here Comes The Pope!

Pope Benedict will arrive in Washington tonight for a visit that will include a Mass to be celebrated at Nationals Park later this week. There was a time that an event like this would have merited live and locally-produced wall-to-wall coverage on WMAL. I would have been the manager in charge of putting the coverage together, just as I coordinated inaugurations, major funerals and state visits in the past. Those days are over for me for now, and for the first time in 20 years, I will be watching an event of this scale from the sidelines.

I must say I'm enjoying that fact just a bit. It's been a thrill to work through major news events, but you definitely miss something when you are caught up in trying to get people to the scene of the crime, or to get to the scene of the crime yourself. As tragic as that day was, September 11th was one of the pivotal moments of my career - yet in many ways, I wish I could have experienced it the way the rest of America did, by watching it on TV and sharing the experience in my neighborhood.

As I've mentioned before, I'd also REALLY like to enjoy a big snow storm from the comfort of my own home - I've literally never been able to do that, because I've always had to work. Hopefully, if I can enjoy the snow next winter, it'll be because I've found a job outside of news, NOT because I still don't HAVE a job!

Thank You, Honda!

This is my 1997 Honda Civic. We bought it new in July of that year, trading in my wife's old Plymouth Horizon for 500 dollars, and walking away with this car for just a couple of hundred bucks over cost. I had a choice between the optional cassette deck or the optional CD player, and of course went with the more popular option... the cassette deck! After all, I had all those mix tapes at my disposal... and no one had ever heard of burning their own CDs! The sales manager at Sport Honda in Silver Spring gave me a good deal because I had just purchased two Hondas from him for WMAL that are still being used today as news vehicles. This practice tells us two things, but since I am sworn to take the high road, I will only make the second observation. Hondas are built to last!

I love my Civic. It is neither plush nor cool, and it has a couple of battle scars thanks to a couple of scrapes with pillers in the Jenifer Street garage over the years. However - it gets nearly 30 miles to the gallon, and it is reliable with a capital R. It could also make the drive to Connecticut Avenue to my old job by memory after more than a decade of commuting. The reason I'm writing about my Civic now is that we have observed an important milestone - Today, it reached the big 100 K.

The milestone was reached in Gaithersburg, near the Quince Orchard Swim Club, where I was dropping Brad off for a community service project he was involved in. We reached the pool with a mile or so to spare, so I drove around a traffic circle at a nearby school a half dozen times so we could experience the big flip together. A true father-and-son bonding experience!

It was especially signficant that I shared this moment with my oldest son. He is going to be 15 this fall, and it is certainly possible, if not likely, that the Civic will someday be Brad's first car. My first car was my grandfather's 1972 Ford Maverick, which was on its last legs when I inherited it, and which was spewing oil and smoke within a few months on its way to the scrap heap. I'm betting Brad will be getting a much better deal a couple of years from now!

Add This To Your List Of Things To See Before You Die!

Well, I rolled out of bed this morning, and fired up the desktop to look for something to blog about, and Yahoo had my answer for me right on the front page:

Kilauea Volcano has exploded again. Officials say a small explosion that sent rocks more than 200 feet up onto the rim of the volcano's main Halemaumau crater occurred Wednesday night, hours before the park reopened.
The park was evacuated Tuesday and remained closed Wednesday because of elevated sulfur dioxide emissions.
The U.S. Geological Survey says Wednesday's blast at Halemaumau crater was much smaller than a similar explosion in March, but still enlarged the new vent in the wall of the crater about 15 to 30 feet.
Scientists say they found lava splatters and rocks ejected by the blast, which also contained volcanic glass shards.
They say there is increasing evidence that molten lava is collecting about 300 to 600 feet below the new vent.


Now - this might sound pretty frightening and dangerous (and it is), but that's what makes Volcanoes National Park so fascinating to visit. I've been a lot of interesting places... Luray Caverns... Colonial Williamsburg... even South of the Border! - But none of them can possibly compare to the site of seeing and feeling hot steam venting from the ground or watching fountains of boiling lava explode as it pours into the sea.


Unfortunately, the last time we visited the volcano last summer, it was during a quiet period, and there was no visible lava flowing at the park. But in previous trips, we were able to hike in from the end of the road and watch nature's fireworks. There is no Disney theme park ride (yes, I said it, dammit!) on Earth that can match the thrill of seeing the goddess Pele do her thing!

Now, as I mentioned, we did not see live lava on the last trip, but Mrs. Matthews did manage to find several small pieces of shiny lava rock known as "Pele's tears". These are valued because they are smooth and shiny, as opposed to most lava, which is rough and dull. Mrs. Matthews was tempted to pocket the pebbles, but the boys and I forced her to toss the rocks down a vent shaft instead. It is considered KAPU (forbidden) to take lava away from the volcano. Whether that's merely an old wive's tale or not is unclear... But you remember what happened to Bobby and Cindy Brady when they took that idol from the construction site in Hawaii... Big time KAPU! We weren't taking any chances!

Katie - Don't Bar The Door, USE The Door!

It looks like Katie Couric's days as anchor of the CBS Evening News are more or less officially numbered now, as it has become apparent she is never going to rise out of the basement in the ratings race against NBC and ABC. I say the sooner she leaves, the better, and that she never should have been hired to begin with. This is nothing against Katie Couric. I think she is a fine journalist. I must also confess to having a sentimental affection for her because, like me, she is both a DC area native and a former WMAL intern. But the fact is that no one, man or woman, would have brought CBS out of the ashes in the post-Dan Rather era, and handing that task to Katie Couric was simply a disservice to her. CBS would have been better off shelving the Evening News altogether, and that's what they should do now.

Look at the demographics - Very few people under the age of 60 faithfully watch network evening newscasts, and many of the seniors who do tune in do it out of habit. They're not going to change their routines. My 72-year-old mother-in-law watched Cronkite and Rather, and she watches Couric now. If Bozo the clown replaces Katie, she'll watch him, too. There's virtually no potential for building a new audience there, so why pay Katie Couric 15 million dollars a year to inevitably fail?

Between NBC, ABC and CBS, about 19 million people watch traditional evening newscasts, so there is still, for now, a viable market for that particular product. But for how much longer? The future is digital, not TV news. In a speech earlier this week, Disney chief Bob Iger waxed wishfully that ABC News had the same level of resources as CNN, so it could even the playing field in online news. Iger doesn't seem to be too occupied with the future of TV news, does he? Meanwhile, CBS is considering making a deal to outsource much of its news product to CNN.

Am I, a traditional media person, shooting myself in the foot by discussing all of this? Perhaps, but I'm adapting to the present. New blog... New website (coming soon).... New Facebook account... Social media is the future. What is NOT the future is the CBS Evening News. It, in fact, IS your father's Oldsmobile.

Making Myself Younger Is Making Me Old!

After studiously avoiding it for most of my career, I am now belatedly learning the value of networking... that the next person I meet may be the source of my next job. With that in mind, and after a prodigious amount of prodding by my millennial associate, Jen Richer, I have joined the world of Facebook! What an eye-opening experience this has been! In a matter of minutes, I found myself potentially in touch with hundreds of people - many of whom I do not know... and many of whom I'd like to forget! Just by enrolling, it gave me a much better grasp as to the marketing potential and potential reach of social media - how each individual person has the ability now to slice and dice and customize his or her world according to his or her interests, yet at the same time, reach out globally to virtually everyone they've ever known. Surfing around, it quickly became clear just how much of a generation gap exists in the world of communications. I did a search for people in my high school class - Springbrook '79 - and found about a dozen of my classmates have discovered Facebook. By the same measure, I bet if my friend, Jen, did a similar search, she'd be able to account for virtually her entire class!

This whole Facebook affair has caused quite a stir in Chez Matthews. When the Missus heard that I'd signed up, she became immediately suspicious. It's that generation gap thing again.... Robin hears the word Facebook, and it conjures up visions of perverts trying to arrange sex online with cops posing as teenage girls... Meanwhile, when my 14-year-old son found out Dad had a Facebook account, he immediately asked for an account of his own. He was disappointed to learn that Dad signed up purely for "business reasons", and that even in my newly enlightened state, I'm not ready to supervise my OWN account yet, let alone worry about what his hormone-afflicted brain would do with his own page!

There's gotta be a way to marry my traditional media background to this new-ish concept of personal social media. At the crossroads where those two forms meet may very well be where my future career will be waiting... I hope.

I'm Too Cool For The Room - Jobless Is The New Black!

I lost my job on the last day of February, but guess what... Joblessness didn't hit a new 2.5 year high until March... Which means once again, John Matthews is ahead of the curve!

From Reuters(a possible, if unlikely, future employer of mine):

Employers cut payrolls for a third consecutive month in March and the jobless rate jumped to a 2-1/2 year high, adding more evidence that a housing downturn and credit crisis may have pushed the economy into recession.

It was the first time the U.S. economy shed jobs for three straight months since a five-month string in 2003, when the economy was mired in a jobless recovery from the 2001 recession.

Adding to the bleak picture, the department said a combined 152,000 jobs were lost in January and February, compared with a previous estimate of 85,000. The unemployment rate jumped to 5.1 percent from 4.8 percent, the highest since September 2005.

"There doesn't appear to be any silver lining. It shows that we're right in the middle of a recession," said Carl Lantz, U.S. interest rate strategist at Credit Suisse in New York. "Our expectation is that it will be a longer recession than the last two, and we're just in the beginning."

The White House said it was "not happy" with the jobs report, saying it expected growth to be flat in the first quarter, but pick up later in the year.

On a happier note, I spent some of my jobless time today replacing most of the old incandescent light bulbs in my house with those new model florescent jobs. I may be a bit late to the conversion, but we had tried "green" bulbs once before - buying up a schissel of them at IKEA about four years ago - and those earlier models just didn't shine bright enough for us. Today's models work just fine, though... and they save a ton of electricity. I wish I could tell you I am being a good earthling doing my part for Al Gore and the environment, but I'm not. I'm being cheap!

There's NO WAY This Boy Comes From My Loins!

A proud papa shout out today for our oldest son, Brad, who, for the first time in high school, has achieved straight A's! This was, of course, de rigueur in middle school, but it took until the third quarter of freshman year to reach the top at Sherwood. By doing this, Matthews fils has reached an achievement level that Matthews pere certainly never achieved! Brad is a budding member of the Sherwood "It's Academic" team, and while he did not make the TV squad this season, we're hopeful of him perhaps being quizzed by Mac McGarry himself in his sophomore year! Congrats, Brad... Now clean your room!

Reason # 108 On Why I Want A Job Soon!

I have applied for several dozen jobs in the past month, and I'm generally encouraged by the progress I've made so far. Some of the possible careers are in news (radio and otherwise)... some are in media relations... and there are others involving varying degrees of writing and P.R., among other things. I'm really anxious to see how this search is going to turn out for many reasons. First and foremost, of course, is that I could use the money! But beyond the obvious, there is also this... Friends, you may find this hard to believe (ha!), but I have opinions! The problem is, because I've worked in news, I have not been able to share most of those opinions publicly. Instead, the patient people I worked with in the WMAL newsroom had to endure my diatribes over the years.

So where am I going with this? See - I'm still reading the newspaper and scanning the internet on a daily basis, and I'm seeing plenty of foolish stories involving foolish politicians and other public figures out there. I'm anxious to find my next career path, because if it's not in news, I'm gonna open my mouth and let it GO! If I do go back into news, you won't hear a peep, because I can't be slamming people who I might have to cover again someday...

I can say this... Lord, there are a lot of TOOLS running our governments... and we only have ourselves to blame.

Post-Vacation News And Notes

I'm still getting caught up with the news after returning from Hilton Head...

• A big congrats to the Washington Nationals, winning the opener in their new ballpark, a 3 - 2 dandy over the dreaded Altanta Braves!

I was not able to make last night's game, however I do have a couple of very memorable opening days in my past! My Dad took me to what turned out to be the last opening day ever for the Washington Senators in 1971. Frank Howard slammed a homer as the Senators shut out the A's, 8 - nothing, and I got to miss an entire day of school! And in a personal career highlight, I covered the opening of Camden Yards in Baltimore in 1992! I co-hosted the Harden and Weaver show on WMAL that morning, because the great Jackson Weaver was out sick. My lingering memory from that day was that we were given commemorative train whistles by the O's, but mine didn't last long! When O's Vice President (and baseball legend) Frank Robinson came up to the press box for an interview, he pocketed my whistle. I've always wondered why!

Two other news items of note that occured during my absence...

• In an obvious concession to my riveting commentary on the foolish effort by lawmakers to pick and choose which distractions should and should not be legislated while driving, the Maryland House has killed a proposed handheld cellphone ban. Thank God! I'll be prepared to go hands-free on the cell phone just as soon as they ban every other potentially dangerous driving distraction. If they want us all to be safe, maybe they should ban driving, too!
• My Congressman, Albert Wynn, was so badly beaten and humiliated in the Democratic primary by Donna Edwards, that he's decided to step down in June... six months before the end of his term. Wynn's departure leaves Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley with two BAD choices... Either A) - fill Wynn's seat via an expensive and no-doubt sparsely attended special election or B) - Leave the seat open until January. Considering that I was one of Wynn's constituents for nearly all of his 15 years in Congress, and that as far as I know, he never even visited my part of Montgomery County, I say let the seat stay vacant for now... It's not like it was being filled for the past 15 years! Thanks for nothing, Al... and don't let the door hit your backside on the way out!

The Unemployed Need Vacation, Too! (Don't They?)

Hello from sunny Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, where Life On The Beach reports this week from an actual BEACH! Yes, the Beach Bum is three weeks removed from getting the ax, but here I am with my family, staying at a timeshare that I bought way back when I was a Disney cast member and all was right with the world. I must admit... being here when no job is beckoning upon my return does seem a little extravagant, and every vacation tchotchke that Mrs. Beach Bum looks at now seems like even more of a waste of money than it did when I was working... However, these reservations were made seven months ago, and thanks to cell phones and wifi for my laptop, I can just as easily be surfing for work here as I can at home. Plus - it's nice to spend this time with the wife and kids... When we get back, it's back to rushing them off to school and work while I stay home!

I saw that Georgetown lost in the second round of the NCAA's... I ALMOST wish I was home so I could listen to John Thompson cry like a baby that his kid's team was somehow screwed out of making the Sweet 16... Sorry - I hate the Hoyas. That's what going to Syracuse will do to ya!

If anyone has a job for me, I'm all ears... Even down here in Low Country!

Lies And Falsehoods!

I have two items on the plate for you this morning, my readers (or is that reader? or is that NO ONE?)... and both of them have to do with the truth - or lack thereof.

Item one is personal and possibly affects my future employment. I offer you this headline from DCRTV.com:

Carlson & Matthews (Not Chris) To Fox News? - 3/18 - DCRTV hears that Tucker Carlson is planning to heard straight to Fox News as soon as his NBC/MSNBC contract is up, and his non-compete clause expires. Carlson ain't happy that his MSNBC show got axed. Also, look for former WMAL News Director John Matthews to also wind up at Fox News, in some behind-the-scenes gig, we're told. More soon.....

The problem with this headline is that there is not one shred of truth to it. To my knowledge, I have never spoken with anyone from Fox News in my entire life. I am not opposed at all to working for Fox News, but this rumor is simply made up from whole cloth! Let this be a lesson to all - Not everything you read on the internet is true... and that goes DOUBLE for DCRTV. (This blog is a notable exception, of course!)

Item two is, by comparison, totally trivial... but it also speaks to a lack of credibility. I am talking, of course, about the judging on "Dancing With The Stars"! In general, I usually agree with the judges' marks on the show, but every once in a while, you just KNOW they received their marching orders from on high. Priscilla Presley, who, by the way, should have a lawsuit pending against her plastic surgeon, received glowing remarks and scores! See for yourself!
A 24 out of 30 for her first dance of the competition... ABC has been pimping (yes, I said PIMPING, Nehman... whadda ya think about THAT?) Presley as THE star for the new season, and they made damn sure their star wasn't going to be the first woman out the door! If she had a 24 in week one, how long will it take for her to reach perfection? Week 2? I smell FIX!

First Musings Of A Beach Bum...

Well, here I am... joining the navel-gazing world of blogging. Two weeks ago, I would have told you (as I told everyone) that I spent my day writing stuff for a living - why would I spend my free time writing as well? Well - God (or Farid Suleman, take your pick) had other plans! Now, I suddenly have some time on my hands... and I'm not getting paid to write - at least not at the moment, so here we are!

I've never been unemployed before, so I had no idea what to expect...but my friend, David Burd, explained it to me like this...

Step one - At first, you'll hear from everyone you know in the radio business... the rubber-neckers who can't resist looking at the roadkill (me) as they drive on by... The roadkill appreciates all the attention, and soaks it up like a biscuit to gravy.

Step two - After that, the tedium of updating the resume and the audition tape (how dated - of course I mean the audio file) sets in, followed by hour after hour of repeating your hard work on an online application forms, because employers really DON'T want to read your resume...

Step Three - (sounds of birds chirping)


Suffice it to say we're at step two now... and we don't want to see step three, hence the "Life On The Beach" blog.

Just a couple of personal observations before I bring this inaugural blog posting to a close...

1/ My kids like my new "arrangement", because for the first time in their lives, Dad is home to help them get ready for school in the morning. And while this is a big help to Mom, Mom is not so thrilled to see Dad home. This simply serves as a reminder to Mom that Dad should really be off someplace else...

2/ I used to get in to work in the morning and groan at seeing at least a couple of dozen new emails waiting for me. Be careful what you wish for. I pine for email now... even to the point that I've signed up for some selective junk email because it ensures I'll have something new to read every day! For those of you who might want to contribute to the cause, the address is jematthews2@gmail.com.

3/ Old habits die hard - or in some cases, don't die. I still find myself sitting with a cup of coffee at 6 am every morning, scanning the Washington Post and making mental notes on how to cover each story. I suspect some of my soapbox rants concerning these stories that used to be released to my newsroom cohorts will be released here on the beach instead. Lucky you.

4/ When I used to hire people, one of the last things I did before making an offer was to google the applicant's name and see if anything interesting came back. To be honest, more than one person was not hired because the person they portrayed themselves to be on myspace or facebook was NOT the person I had just interviewed. I suspect discerning employers may also use this practice... so don't expect to read any stories of debauchery or other tawdry tales here. Those will have to remain the stuff of legend and vivid imagination!

Let me hear from you - ESPECIALLY if you find me getting whiny. I can't STAND whiny... Thanks!