Tuesday Tidbits

Just a few random items today!



I received yet another reminder this week that I am, indeed, the parent of a teenager, and that, as a whole, teenagers are not nearly as innocent in thought as we would like to think they are. My 15-year-old were discussing his friend group - perhaps 8 to 10 strong - who like to hang out on weekends at various town centers and go to movies and whatnot. It's more or less an equal mix of boys and girls, so naturally, I asked him if there are any boys in the group who "like" any of the girls in the group. He told me he doubted it, because two of the girls are self-proclaimed lesbians, and one is bi-sexual. O-kayyy. He then found it incumbent to inform me that HE is straight. Not that there's anything wrong with that.



I considered doing a full-blown piece on Nadya Suleman, aka "Octomom". But I realized as I read some news stories about her that there's no real need to blog on her, because the woman is a media whore and just plain nuts to boot. I find it hard to believe that most people don't already have the exact same opinion of her, so what would the point be in blogging? Her children are going to grow up with significant developmental delays and psychological problems, and she's out there trying to pitch a reality show out of it? Spare me... and spare the rest of us, too!

Speaking of reality TV, the newest season of "Dancing With The Stars" debuted last night, and for a show that had made its fame by going after C-list celebrities, let me tell you. Producers have sunk straight down to the D-list. You might not find some of these people even if you googled their names! I always enjoy watching the competition, and frankly, I watch more now for my favorite pros (Julianne, Mark, Cheryl, Maks and Derek) than I do for the stars. But the casting has become predictable. I can tell you now that 3 of the final stars will be Shawn Johnson, Lawrence Taylor and the girl who just got dissed on the Bachelor. Everyone else - lambs for the slaughter.

Finally - this may be funny to no one but me, but I made a ha-ha, and I have to share it. My former boss posted this as his status message on Facebook on Saturday:

Chris Berry is in Chicago for Paul Harvey's funeral and memorial service.

If you are at all familiar with Paul Harvey, you know how he opened every broadcast... So, with that in mind, knowing that Chris would be spending several hours in church, I responded with this:

Stand by - for PEWS!

You may or may not find that to be funny, but I think it is... and I think Paul would have as well.

John Matthews... Good Day!

To Paul Harvey... Good Day!

Doesn't it just figure that I blew my best nugget of Paul Harvey material just a couple of weeks ago on the Michael Phelps story? Timing is everything, which just goes to prove that when my ship comes in, I'll be at the airport!


There's not much I can add about the passing of Paul Harvey, except to say that many people of my generation have heard the name "Paul Harvey", but still don't really know who he WAS. My generation, of course, was the first to abandon the AM radio band, where Paul Harvey was largely heard.


For those of you in the dark, then please allow me to tell you that Mr. Harvey was the idealized grandpa you never really had... The master storyteller who worked every word - every syllable and every breath - to improve the flow of the story he was telling. He could express in five words what it would take any other human 15 words to say.


Too often, we blow off people who are older than us - we don't have time to consider their wisdom - or we want something new to look at. I worked at WMAL for all of those years, and for ALL of those years, people were asking when Paul Harvey was going to retire. Well, now those people have their answer, don't they?


I REALLY think people wanted Paul Harvey to retire because they secretly knew they'd never be as good at what he did as he was.


I met Paul Harvey only one time - on the inaugural cruise of the first Disney cruise ship - the Disney Magic. The radio studio on board that ship was being christened in Paul's name, and we had him on WMAL as a guest. This would have been in 1997, so Paul would have been 78.

He seemed frail even back then, and he had the aura, at least to me, as being somewhat like a silent era movie star. Even as the temperature pushed 90 degrees, Paul wore a leather bomber jacket, a sailing captain's hat, and an ascot. Yes - he wore an ascot! Paul's wife, Angel, was resplendent in canary yellow. It was like having Mr. and Mrs. Thurston Howell the Third with us... First class passengers riding in steerage with the rest of us.

Paul was about as gracious as he could be - and he seemed genuinely thrilled to be meeting other radio professionals.

Mrs. Harvey died less than a year ago, and it come as no surprise to anyone that Paul was not long for the world. After all, he spent half-a-century on the radio talking about how much he loved his wife.

I can only imagine how Paul would have delivered his own obituary in his own unique style... "Doctors in Arizona say Mr. Harvey died of natural causes. But in actuality, he really died (long pause)... of a broken heart.

Paul Harvey... Good Day!

Paul Harvey Has A Bong, Too!

With everything in the news and on my blog recently about Olympics star Michael Phelps smoking a bong, it reminded me of a cleverly edited comedy bit that someone else put together - an ad in which legendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey advertises a bong. If you are familiar with Mr. Harvey's work, I hope you will find this amusing. Mr Harvey's distinct delivery has made him a friendly target among people who like to edit audio for fun for decades...

And now... Paul Harvey News!