Speed reading

While most Americans have their heads stuck inside the latest Harry Potter book I'm reading other stuff. Believe it or not there are a lot of great books out there that haven't been written by J.K. Rowling. Part of the joy of doing the 9 a.m. show is I get a chance to meet a lot of these authors, and I get a chance to read their books. I have to read them to prepare for my interviews with them. All too often the books show up too late, and I don't get a chance to read them from cover to cover until after I've done the interview. That was the case with the book pictured here to the left.

I figured since I've been reading these books I might as well pass a long a few recommendations. On vacation I wrapped up reading a couple of political books. "No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner." is written by Robert Shrum. Shrum has a winning smile and attitude, but he has a history of tough loses. As a strategist and senior advisor he hooked up with a laundry list of candidates who came up short in their quests for the White House. It's quite a list from Ted Kennedy to Ed Muskie, Walter Mondale, John Kerry, Bob Kerrey, and Al Gore. It's a fascinating read. It will give you new insights into the candidates and the bruising way in which we pick a president.

The other political book I finished chronicles the preparation that went into the David Frost/Richard Nixon interviews. James Reston Jr. wrote "The Conviction of Richard Nixon: The Untold Story of the Frost/Nixon Interviews." It's a quick read, but if you are interested in politics and the business of television, you'll like it. Here's a link to Reston's website=http://restonbooks.com/

It's worth noting that Reston only recently came out with the book, although the interviews occurred years ago. There is renewed interest in the battle between Frost and Nixon. So much so it's now a hit play. It had a run in New York. Frost/Nixon is now playing to enthusiastic audiences in London. Frank Langella plays the role of Richard Nixon. It's also slated to become a film directed by Ron Howard.

This week I feel like I've spent some quality time in China. That's because of the book by Oliver August, "Inside the Red Mansion" August writes about his experiences in China. August became the youngest bureau chief there in the history of the Times of London. It's one hilarious tale after another. It provides remarkable insights into how China operates (it doesn't operate well unless you are a fan of corruption) and how everyone it seems is ready to scam the system if given the chance. Oliver says that he approached the book with the thought of sharing a number of stories from Chinese families. But finally he decided that telling the story of China through his eyes was more effective. He's right, it works.

My final recommendation is "It's Not About The Truth", by Don Yaeger with Mike Pressler. Pressler is the forgotten victim of the Duke Lacrosse case. He was the coach of the embattled team. He resigned after the scandal broke.

Pressler kept a diary of his ordeal and shared it with Yaeger. He dealt with hate mail and threats targeted at his family. He moved his children off to live with relatives and friends out of fear for their safety. It's a story of victims and villains.

The list of both is long. It's an indictment of Mike Nifong. It's an indictment of the University leadership. Sadly it's an indictment of a craft I believe in, the news media.

The saddest part of the book is a letter written by one of the victims most of us have never heard of. It's written by Pressler's teenage daughter Janet. Her life was turned upside down.

She pours her heart out into a short note to the President of Duke University. They are powerful words.

One passage reads: "I would have liked this letter to be one in which I described your heroism in your loyalty, leadership, and decisions during the events of last March, but it didn't turn out that way. the lives of my family and the lives of hundreds of others involved in Duke lacrosse were irrevocably changed because of decisions made by you and your staff. In the end, our sacrifice made no positive difference. No apology or promise can restore the lives we led last year."

Speaking of apologies Janet Pressler and the rest of her family are still waiting for them. As Yaeger pointed out to me before our sit down interview the only person to apologize for his role in the debacle is Mike Nifong. The others who joined or fueled the feeding frenzy have moved on.

If you have time to read my stuff maybe you'll find time to read these books too. I know I enjoyed them.

Grape expectations

So here I am the champ. Yes indeed behind the cheers of an adoring crowd of Nine News Now viewers I won the first annual grape stomp this weekend in Crownsville. I am pictured here with one of my competitors. Jessica Cartalija is an anchor at WJZ in Baltimore. She was in the oak barrel next to me, but she couldn't keep up with my thunderous legs. I also competed against an anchor from the Fox station in Baltimore and a disc jockey from a local DC radio station.

Needless to say it was a lot of fun. But it's a lot harder than you think. The heat was unbearable. They timed us. We had to see how much wine juice we could produce in 5 minutes. When the announcer said we had another 2 minutes left, I was ready to collapse. I thought for sure his timer had broken. I looked at the other pitchers in front of the other competitors. I couldn't believe it they were quickly filling up with the ugly, dirty liquid. There's were filling up fast, mine looked almost empty. I didn't mind losing really, it's not life or death, but I didn't want to be humiliated. You have to remember most of the audience has spent the day drinking, so could you imagine the cat calls?

So what was the deal? Here is the low down. The grapes were getting stuck in the nozzle that led out of the barrel into the pitcher. So an assistant arrived and poked around with a thin, long metal rod. It kept jabbing at my feet, but that's okay, the liquid was beginning to spill out and the contest was getting closer. In the end I was able to fill more than three pitchers of the liquid. I walked away with a trophy, and some very sticky feet.

Look for more on all of this in an upcoming piece in the Washington Post. They are working on a feature story about the popularity of grape stomps for the Sunday Source.

Grapes of Wrath

I've been jumping up and down in the bedroom this week. It is my practice regimen for the International Great Grapes Wine, Arts & Food Festival. Hey it's better than steroids! There is this celebrity grape stomping competition going on Saturday at 3:45 pm. I'm on one of the teams.

I'm not pulling any punches here. This posting is aimed at my opponents. Opponents if you are reading this be forewarned this blog is designed to strike fear in your every grape stomping fiber. Simply put you are going down!

First thing you need to know about me is I have big feet. That's an advantage. I'm also pretty good at stomping my feet. I'm one of 8 kids. Imagine throwing a temper tantrum as a child but you have to compete with a bunch of yammering siblings. You learn in a hurry how to stomp your feet.

So come watch me take down the competition at the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds. I can use as many supporters rooting me on as possible. If you want more information on the event here's a link. Come on out to Crownsville where I will be crowned grape stomping King!

http://www.uncorkthefun.com/2007/anna/annaShowInfo.htm

Be like Mike?

It's a tough week to have my name. I remember in the 90's when everyone wanted to be like Mike. That's when the folks at Gatorade were criticized for dropping millions on an advertising campaign with Michael Jordan. The "be like Mike" ad campaign was a hit. Gatorade got quite a payoff in exposure and it seemed everyone did want to be like Mike by drinking Gatorade. That was then, this is now.

As a father of a teenage boy now I wonder who do I look to as role models in sports? This week they are tough to find. And the one's that carry my name aren't doing the other Mikes of the world any favors.

I certainly don't want my son to be like Mike, if Mike is Michael Vick. Nothing has been proven in court, and you are Innocent until proven guilty in our society, but the allegations against Vick are giving professional football a black eye.

Then there is Michael Rasmussen. He was sent packing from the Tour DE France after allegations of doping. Growing up in Southern California I used to look up to athletes. They were role models! Men of character on the field guys like Sandy Koufax.

I had the good fortune to work with a guy who started at quarterback in the first ever Super Bowl. He also started in the fourth super bowl, and won the MVP honors. Len Dawson was and still is a great guy!

Lenny was down to earth. He's just as bothered by the state of affairs in sports. Lenny knew that when he suited up he didn't just represent a team, he represented a city. A city he has come to love, and a place he still calls home. He used to tell me after the season was over the ballplayers would have to find second jobs to keep food on the table. In case you are wondering the most popular job was working at a car dealership. Who wouldn't want to buy a car off one of the star players? Now the players make enough to own the dealerships. I think along the way both the players and our society have lost the way. And the kids of today have lost something too. I don't get the feeling that my son Trevor looks up to any athletes. He has players he likes, but it's not like when I was young. I used to love going to Dodgers Stadium to take in games.

I don't hear my son clamoring for that. Instead he wants to go to the movies. He finds his heroes on the big screen. If you want a hero today it's Harry, Harry Potter.

Nicole workout tape & other tidbits

I know I tend to meander in these ramblings. Hence the title of my blog. Let's be honest though, you read this because at some point you are hoping I will spill the beans. You want me to give you the dirt. You want to know what goes on behind the scenes here on the set in the morning. So I'll begin with Nicole.

Why is it that she is the only person from the morning team who is posed like the thinker on our website? In case you aren't familiar with the scultpure, it's described this way, "It depicts a man in sober meditation battling with a powerful internal struggle." It's pictured below. Well I guess she did have one of those battles today. I'll get to that later. One thing you need to know about Nicole is she could do one of those workout videos like Jane Fonda. It would include the routine calisthenics she does on the set. She runs from her little cubby hole in the back with the last minute updates from the road. She writes all of this stuff in a traffic reporter shorthand which no one can quite understand and it's loaded in the prompter.

Like I said it's sort of written in a different language. So the prompter operator is either jumping ahead or slowing down. So while the viewer looks at maps and traffic shots, what we see is Nicole's arms flailing about like crazy.


One minute she is furiously pushing her arms down (that indicates slow down) the next she is wildly throwing her arms in a circular fashion indicating that they need to pick up the pace. Today everyone in the studio joined her. I have to admit it's a pretty solid workout.


She's also a stickler on words, this morning she was looking for just the right word for a letter she was writing. So all of us are on the set throwing out words like settle, capitulate, acquiesce, give in, and settle. No, no, no, no and no from Nicole. By 7:35 she finally comes up with the word she wants, compromise.


What about Kim? Well normally she's gregarious, and spends time on the set chatting, but lately she's got her head buried in the new Harry Potter book in the weather office. So she is busy tinkering with her weather maps and on occasion diving into the book and reading. She still has the uncanny ability to start singing some of the most wretched songs of all time. Then they become trapped in your head for the day. A couple of weeks ago it was "Dream Weaver." Today it was "Philadelphia Freedom."

How about Andrea. Well I could tell you a lot about my co-anchor, but then she would kill me. So there's really no point in it. She's a private person who works in the public. So she doesn't want me blabbing about her in my blog. I'll respect her wishes.

So as you can see this is really pretty boring stuff. But I won't sign off without giving you some real dish. There is a new tyrant marching around the newsroom these days. Remember the 6 foot 6 Brut of a caveman, Rick Garner? I've blogged about him before, he's our website chieftan. As you are probably well aware, we all cower as he makes his way through the newsroom. That's because he slams his baseball bat on desks and roars, "Blog!!!"



Well you are not going to believe this, but now there is someone else who is even striking fear in Rich Garner. Janet Terry, pictured above with Andrea is now armed with a brand new Christophe hairdo. That hairdo has made her a human dynamo. She's beginning to assert herself in a ruthless fashion. She ordered me to her desk at 8:38 this morning.


Janet: "Mike get over here."
Me: "What?"
Janet: 'You are going to be interviewing Jeff Jacobovitz, we're talking about Michael Vick and the referee."
Me: "What about Lindsey Lohan?"
Janet: "No!!!! We only have four minutes, no way!"



So I'm interviewing Jeff during the 9 am show, and the producer shouts in my ear, "One minute."


I did it, I asked about Lohan. Now I will have to face the wrath of Janet Terry. I may just duck out the back door.


Well I should wrap up today's blog. Now I pose the question are you sorry you wanted to know all this behind the scenes stuff? We are really a pretty boring group. By the way I will give you one tidbit about Andrea, she hates this picture below. Today she got it re-done. Look for the remake on our website soon.

We'll cross that bridge when we get there

I don't know how much Blockbuster has made off of me, but I'd venture to guess it's considerable. Yesterday my son and I went there to pick up a couple of movies. Picking up the movies isn't an issue in my household. Returning the movies is.

I keep hammering my son.

Me: "We have got to get these movies back."

Trevor: "We still have time, we won't own them for a few more days."

See that's the problem my son likes playing chicken with Blockbuster. The much trumpeted end of late fees means that if you don't return your movie by a specific date you own it. My son likes to flirt with that deadline. I don't understand it, well wait a minute, I do understand it, I'm the one who has to pay not him.

So going to pick up movies becomes an issue. We get up to the counter, and are greeted by a pleasant yet earnest kid named Brian. He hits a couple of keys on the computer and then says.

"Oh"

His face is contorted, he's frowning, and perplexed.

"Wow, we've got problems."

I know he's going to say this, so I have a couple of the returns in my hand to show that we are not scofflaws. I present my evidence.

Me: "I know Pan's Labyrinth is late, but look 28 days later isn't 28 days later, it's on time!"

Brian: "That's funny."

My son rolls his eyes. Brian then writes down the titles of 7 movies on a little tablet. One by one he starts crossing them off, until he comes to "Bridge to Terabithia".

Brian: "Bridge to Turnabithia (he says the title of the movie at least three times, each time it's different, and each time it's wrong. Finally he just starts calling it bridge) is way overdue."

Me: "Yeah I know but it's coming.

I turn to my son and tell him he better watch this movie. But he doesn't seem to have a sense of urgency. I ask Brian how close we are to owning this movie, since we already own one movie I will never watch again. "Possession" is in our possession, because we got it back too late. I came in one time and the guy said.

Guy: "Hey I've got a gift for you."

He went to a a shelf behind the counter and pulled out Possession and brought it over and handed it to me.

Me: "But I don't want this movie."

Guy: "You returned it too late. You own it now. You can give it away as a gift or just throw it away if you want. It's yours now."

So there it is sitting in the den, a constant reminder that you don't want to mess with Blockbuster. Now we have Bridge sitting there waiting to join the list.

On the ride home I lecture my son, he insists he still has a couple of days before it's ours for good. But the lecture works. This morning at 2:30 I make my way downstairs to get the coffee brewing and there's my son. You guessed it he's glued to the set watching "Bridge to Terabithia." I know that later today we'll return it and that we'll have the last laugh on Blockbuster. This time at least we've won this game of chicken.

She's gone

My last passage was about my daughters journey to Guyana. That was on Thursday. I had a three day weekend. I'd like to say it was restful, but in many ways it was stressful. That's because of what happened yesterday. The painful call to Courtney before she climbed aboard a bus headed deep into the rain forest. She's on it right now as I write this. She boarded it around 9 pm last night. It will be a sixteen hour journey.

Why so long? It's the rainy season in Guyana. Apparently the pot holes on the roads in the hinterlands are the size of some of the craters on the moon. She's going to try to sleep on the journey. I can't imagine how difficult that will be when you are being jostled around throughout the trip.

She's been gone now since July 7Th. So why am I being such a baby about this. Well she's always been a phone call away at a hotel in Georgetown. Now nothing but silence for 18 days. So we worry! What happens if there is a wreck? What happens if some crazy animal chases her around the forest? What happens if she falls in love with a rain forest tribal leader and decides to stay in the forest forever? See what I mean? This is the first day, can you imagine how many wild scenarios I will have by day 18?

So far she's been having a good time and keeping us updated on what's happening in her life by sending us missives from an Internet cafe. Her first e-mail came on July 9Th.

"Hey Fam!!! This place is fantastic. Its crazy. Its like nothing I've ever experienced and i love it!! Every corner i turn is something i wouldn't expect and its like I'm a little kid learning how the world works all over again. We have class every day from 1 to 3 at the University of Guyana and we had our first class today. I forgot how much i loved taking Mentore's classes cuz everything he says is basically golden."

Two days later she wrote:

"Hey Fam!! I'm just chillin at the Internet cafe and decided to shoot you guys another email. There isn't too much new stuff going on here- i mean each day is still an adventure but i suppose i might be getting used to that mentality. Today me and Sean (a kid on the trip with me) made our first venture out to the city by ourselves. We rode on a minibus, which is the only way to get around here. Minibuses are crazy because they are really just big vans and anyone can get one and then they just drive around in circles from Georgetown to the neighborhoods around it."

Then came her trip to an Eco-tourism resort. She took her family along on the journey with this descriptive e-mail.

"Yo fam what up? So arrowpoint the resort was AWESOME!! i have never seen so many stars in my life. It was on a creek off the demerrara river- a huge creek so it kinda seemed like a river to me. We got to kayak down the creek and down little tributaries off of it. The kayak trip was so cool because we went down this tiny creek where there were trees covering the sky. It was super green 5000. The rain forest is impressive! We got to stay in little cabins and canoe and swim in the creek. The food was the best food Ive ever had in my life. (except moms of course) "

Nice save on the food comment. Now no more e-mails, no more phone calls, just lots of prayers for our 20 year old daughter. By the way while I read the news, she's making it.

This is the picture from the Guyanese Chronicle. She's pictured in the middle in the front row. Professor Mentore from the University of Virginia is standing directly behind her.

Here is the link to the article on the Denis Williams summer school if you have time to read it.

http://www.guyanachronicle.com/ARCHIVES/archive%2022-07-07.html#Anchor----------13540

Until tomorrow have a great day!

TRANSFORMERS AND TRANSFORMATION

I'm experiencing this transformation into a blogging maniac. This is my fourth post in four days. But you won't find one tomorrow. I'm off, so hopefully this will you hold over until I check back in next week. First and foremost I must begin this blog by thanking Howard Bernstein for an assist with yesterdays blog. He helped me drop in the pictures, "They really make the blog" as he points out. That's why he's earned the nickname Boastful Bernstein.

Now on to the headline transformers and transformed. Today's blog is about my kids, so here is a picture of them from quite a few years ago.

Courtney was 12, she's 20 now. Why put their pictures in from long ago? Because no matter how old they get, they are still my kids, and they almost always make me smile.

TRANSFORMERS

I ended up dropping my head on the pillow yesterday for a little restful slumber. I was in desperate need of a nap. There is nothing quite like a nap in the middle of the week after a couple of late nights and early mornings.

So there I am imagining getting some much needed rest, when the phone rings. I answer it, and after a short conversation, hang up the phone. Back goes the head to the pillow, now my son Trevor enters the room. He asks the question:

Trevor: Dad did you want to go to a movie?

Me: (thought bubble--oh man there goes the nap) Yeah, sure sounds like fun.

So it's off to see Transformers. We pull into the parking lot in Centreville. Out jump two dads with two little kids. I mean little, like they are three or four years old. I tease my son about how they'll be going to the same movie with us. That we are going to the little kids movie. Trevor insists they are going to see Ratatouille. Later we enter the theater and they are seated a few rows in front of me. I smile and he gives me one of those don't say anything looks.

But before we take our seats I ask him if he wants popcorn, he says no. That's because we just ate lunch. So I get in line to buy some popcorn, knowing I'm the only one eating it. So I decide to buy the small popcorn. I brace for the pressure, and the question. This is the usual scenario.

Attendant: Would you like to get a medium for a quarter more?

Me: Man, just a quarter, that's cheap, I should probably do it. Why not!

But not this time...I'm ready, but it doesn't happen. This is what happens instead.

Attendant: That's a small popcorn, and small drink, how about a medium soda instead of a small it's just a quarter more.

Me: Okay.

So I get the soda for Trevor, and my small popcorn. Did I stay small? What a minute how about infinitesimal. I should have just asked him to pour the small amount of popcorn kernels into my front pocket. The price tag for the popcorn, $4.00. When Trevor took a handful from the bag, I rightly pointed out that he was eating 2 dollars worth of food.

Despite the popcorn gouging I enjoyed the film. But I have to admit it, the film doesn't matter, I always enjoy going to the movies with the Trev man.

TRANSFORMATION

I haven't talked a lot about this, but I really miss my daughter. She is in Guyana right now. Yesterday morning I got the chance to talk to her on the phone. She's planning to become an anthropologist, and she's there to do ethnographic research on a rain forest tribe. Pretty heady stuff for a 20 year don't you think?

She begins her trek into the rain forest on Sunday. Right now she's in Georgetown, Guyana studying at the University. The phone line was crackly and the staff at the hotel was somewhat disagreeable. They told me to hold on, I did for a couple of minutes and then Courtney got on the line.

Courtney: "Dad you called the wrong room!"

Me: "I did."

Courtney: "Yeah you called the boys room, I'm in 204"

Three women students are in one room, the boys are in another. This week they are sleeping in a hotel, next week they'll be sleeping in hammocks out in the forest.

Our conversation continued.

Me: "How's it going?"

Courtney: "Goooood"

Me: "So what's it been like?"

Courtney: "Well you know I never think about race, I mean I do, but it's not something I think about every day. But I do here."

My daughter is learning what it's like to be a minority. I told her this trip would transform her, and this conversation is proof of it. She'll come back a changed person, enlightened about the world she lives in. She'll come back transformed.

Courtney: "Yeah, you know I don't think about it, but I do here. We're probably the only white people here. And me being a blond it's even more pronounced. The men shout out to me "Yellow hair senorita come over here."

Me: "That's kind of creepy, be careful."

She is learning some of the things she won't learn in a classroom in Charlottesville. She is learning about poverty, she is learning what it's like to be a minority. To look all around and feel like you are different. Those are valuable lessons. To put yourself in someone Else's shoes, to see the world through someone Else's eyes. There may be no better lesson really. That's why she will come home transformed.

What's in a Name

When I jump behind the wheel of my car each morning I know that only a few people are heading to work or wrapping up their jobs. You've heard of sea world, how about C world? That's the world I operate in when I'm on the road just after 3 a.m.. I like to say the only other people out there are cops, criminals, and cab drivers. Well this morning you can add Congress to the list.

They brought in the cots and pillows and they debated. So I figured as long as they are working my hours I ought to watch. So I flipped on the set at my desk and settled in for the long haul.

Normally I begin my day by watching the news at my desk. But this morning it was the live feed from the Senate. Now let me digress a little. We have a terrific sports staff, the photographers Dave Satchell and Mark Daughterty are easy going and gifted. Then there is our on air staff of Brett Haber, Levan Reid, and Sarah Walsh. What on earth does any of this have to do with members of the United States Senate?

Let me explain. These sleep deprived Senators kept uttering the name of one of our sports staffers. They did it, over and over again. I first noticed it with New York Senator Hillary Cliinton. She kept saying Levan Reid this, and Levan Reid that. At first it kind of caught me off guard. Of course she was talking about the Levin-Reed amendment. The Levin-Reed amendment doesn't have anything to do with sports or Levan Reid. It's named for Michigan Senator Carl Levin and Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed.

Just so there can be no confusion we have been kind enough to include pictures of Jack Reed, Carl Levin and Levan Reid.

The Levin-Reed amendment deals with Iraq and most observers say it isn't likely to pass. Now there can be no doubt the war is a serious issue, and I don't want to make light of it. But there is something funny when you string together a bunch of Senators saying Levan Reids' name over and over again. So this morning I mentioned it to our Executive Producer Jay Mishkin and our five a.m. producer Jessica Glasser. I thought it might be a fun part of our morning buzz. I've got to tell you this small staff in the morning is quite nimble. They pulled it off. Here's a link to the segment.

So Levin-Reed is likely to die today, but Levan Reid will live on. He must be pretty happy, this week a new promo featuring him hits the air. In it a living legend and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson says his name, then a couple days later esteemed Senators and perhaps the next President of the United States are busy saying his name over and over again. Not bad for one week! Levan if you are reading this what do you have planned for next week?

Research

I'm up every morning at 2:30 in the morning. I'm here around 4. I'm on the air by 4:55 and off by 7am. That's when research begins in earnest for the next show.

The 9 am broadcast is a chance to showcase my interviewing skills. It's also a show where you are far more likely to look like a cretin. So that means research. Every day we get guests in as varied as dancers, actors, authors, members of congress. Take for example today, I'll be interviewing someone about Harry Potter, and then talking to someone else about Fidel Castro.

Naturally you have to get on line and do some research. You try your best to read the books if you are talking to an author. Unfortunately that can be problematic. Here is yesterdays exchange with Janet Terry who books our guests.

Janet: "You got the Castro book right?"
I thought about that for a few minutes, then with a puzzled expression I responded.
Me: "Uh, no I don't think so."
Janet: "What do you mean you don't have it?"
Me: "I mean I don't have it."
Janet: "Well I gave it to your son Trevor on Friday and told him to give it to you!"
Me: "That explains why I don't have it."

So yesterday I went to play tennis with my son. I mention it to him after taking a thrashing on the court. If you are keeping score at home, he won the set 6-2.

Mike: "Janet says you've got a Castro book for me."
Trevor: "Yeah."
Mike: "Well it would be nice if you would give it to me."
Trevor: "It's right there."
At this point he lifts up a book that's on the floor of the car and thrusts it at me.
Trevor: "There!"
Mike: "It would have been nice if you had told me about it."
Trevor: "I did, I said Janet's got a book for you. I told you Friday. You never listen to me."
Mike: "What?"

Okay the last part is a joke, I didn't say what. But just like the tennis match I lost this verbal skirmish with my son. Did he really tell me about the book? I'm not sure. What I do know is when it comes to research, the poor Castro author is going to find that I didn't devour his book. Hopefully my questions won't be imbecilic.

Another form of research is movies. Here's something you probably don't know but a lot of actors want you to see their movies. I know it's shocking isn't it. So they start by making us watch their movies. The premise is you won't be a moron when you interview them. Here is what they are trying to prevent.

Interviewer: "Wow so you've got a new movie."
Actor: "Yes this film was a real stretch for me I played a leprechaun, and since I'm 6-7 that was really tough."
Interviewer: "So what's the movie about?"
Actor: "Ireland stupid!"

Now after watching the movie that same interview can take on a whole new look.

Interviewer: "So you've got a new movie where you play a leprechaun, how do you do that when you are 6-7?"
Actor: "I don't know it was tough."
Interviewer: "Wow, tough huh, this is really a film about Ireland isn't it?"
Actor: "Yes."

I'm sure you can see how improved this interview is over the first. I had to interview Laurence Fishburne right after "Akeelah and the Bee" was released. He insisted that I see the film before the interview, or he wouldn't do the sit down interview. I have to admit, I'm a fan, I like his work. But the interview was in the morning and to put it mildly he was a little grouchy. It wasn't the leprechaun interview, but it was close. His answers were short, and not very insightful, and I got the distinct feeling he enjoyed being interviewed by me just about as much as I enjoy root canals.

The best form of research is the type I did last night. Once again I return to a conversation with Janet Terry.

Janet: "The people from Fogo de Chao are here tomorrow and they want you to come eat there so you can see what it's all about."
Me: "Okay."

So last night Kate and I went to the restaurant with the name that is difficult to pronounce. It's a wild place. They give you these little cards. One is red, the other is green. It's a form of green light, red light for your stomach. Green means bring on big slabs of meat. Red means I am so full I'm going to die.

The waiter is kind enough to explain that we can go back and forth between the green and the red. It doesn't take long before I'm ready to surrender, my red card is out. But then I feel guilty because everyone else is smiling and gleefully displaying their green cards. Plus all that meat looks so good. So of course I eat, and I eat, and I eat.

After dinner I think about calling Joe Bugel, the offensive line coach of the Redskins. He's the guy who gave us the Hogs, the heafty offensive line of the Skins back in their glory years. I play out in my mind how the conversation will go.

Me: "Hey Joe do you need a hog?"
Joe: "What?"
Me: "Joe I admit it, I'm a hog, I don't know that I can block anyone, in fact I'm not sure I can move,. But I have to be as big as one of your offensive linemen, because I sure ate like one tonight."
Joe: "How did you get my number you jerk!"

At any rate I've done my research. I can at least talk knowledgeably about one subject today. Now I better run down to the garage and grab the Castro book, at least I can skim through it before the author gets here. I know what you are thinking it's the leprecaun interview all over again. Please, I'm not that dumb! I know that Castro is from Cuba and not Ireland.

Chance Encounters

It was a busy weekend. Aren't they all? Part of it was spent at the 40Th wedding anniversary party for Peter and Mary Jay Michel. Married in 1967 they are still going strong. I asked Peter if someone had asked him as he walked down the aisle to predict the next 40 years would he have predicted this? He smiled and said, "Who knew!"

Well he never could have predicted a friendship with me, and neither would I. I met Peter through one of those chance encounters. Kate and I were at a black tie affair. We were in line for a drink, looking for a familiar face. You've been there before you are in a sea of unfamiliar faces. At some point you just have to dive into that sea and we did. We struck up a conversation with a nice couple that had just moved back to the area from Pittsburgh.

Peter Michel and his wife Mary Jay were charming and talkative. At some point Peter tugged at Mary Jay's arm and informed us they would have to circulate. They did, and we did too.

It was probably about 20 minutes later when we finally made it to the other side of the room. Having drained our beverages we got in another long line for a drink. When we got to the front, ordered our drinks and turned to leave, we noticed the people right next to us. It was Peter and Mary Jay.

That chance encounter, followed by another chance encounter has led to a close friendship. Peter is the kind of guy you instinctively go to for advice. He's been a CEO at several corporations. At this anniversary party, family members let me know that Peter is good at offering advice even when you don't want it.

Just a few weeks ago the family made the journey to New York to send our daughter Courtney off to Guyana. While we were there we managed to sit down for breakfast with my long time friend Rory Markas. Rory is the voice of the Los Angeles Angels. http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/team/broadcasters.jsp?c_id=ana We've been close friends ever since a chance encounter in college.

I remember it well, I was the nervous teenager just out of high school arriving for my first day of class. Naturally I sat in the back of the classroom. In walked Rory, he plopped down in the seat next to me. We didn't talk. No one talked. We were all terrified. The professor of this broadcasting class Bill Nelson was known for making you speak into a microphone on the first day.

Mr. Nelson called out my name. My knees were banging into one another. My hands were shaking. I held the copy right in front of my face and delivered my lines, stumbling like a maniac. When I sat down I was embarrassed and crestfallen. The stranger in the seat next to me said, "Hey man you sounded pretty good!" Those were the first words Rory ever uttered to me. That one sentence sparked a friendship that has lasted decades.

So next time you are sitting next to a stranger, or run into one at a dinner party, jump in and say hello. It could be the start of a great friendship. Speaking of friends, make sure you check out Kim Martucci's blog. It's all about a great restaurant you'll want to take your new friend to.

HIGH ACHIEVERS

One of the best parts of my job is meeting people who make a difference. It's rare though that you get to meet hundreds of them all at the same time. But it happened yesterday at the Reagan Building.

I was honored to be a part of the Junior Achievement Worldwide Leadership conference yesterday. It was a day of inspiring speeches. The talks centered around how you meet the needs of students worldwide. These are some of the best and the brightest discussing the pressing issues facing the world of education. People like Penn State President Graham Spanier who gave the keynote address.

It's remarkable to be in a room where people speak so passionately about how they are trying to reach kids. Take the example of the leader of the campaign in India. He points out how tough it is to make a difference when millions of students are in need of help. Many of them will never complete school. But he keeps plugging away. Or the woman in the Middle East who confirms that lots of doors were slammed in her face, but she kept going to door after door, never giving up. The result: In Jordan she has grown the number of students in JA from one thousand to 70 thousand. Or the woman from South Africa who talked about how difficult it is to discuss the high tech revolution taking place in our country as students she works with live in squalor in the township of Soweto and report to schools without windows.

You walk away marvelling at the issues they all face. Each person at this conference is confronted with their own set of challenges. The challenges aren't just confined to countries overseas. You'll hear people here in the U.S. talking about at risk kids in inner city neighborhoods. The tasks seem so daunting until you look at these people of passion.

I got to meet the Worldwide CEO Gerry Czarnecki who is helping to guide JA forward during these turbulant times. He gave an inspired speech about the future of Junior Achievement. For those of you who don't know Junior Achievement takes the skills students learn, like math, science, and economics and they make them real. They demonstrate how the skills you pick up in school are needed once you go to work in the real world.

I want to applaud their efforts and welcome all of the JA reps from around the world who are in our town this week. Keep up the good work. As I said in my remarks there is no greater legacy then touching the lives of children, and it's something they are doing every day.

So dependent on Independence Day

There are two holidays I have a tough time with. One happens on December 31st, the other is the fourth of July.

Let me explain why. Sleep! On Independence Day I'm reminded how dependent I am on sleep. I am dependent and often deprived. How sick is it that all I think about is the issue of sleep when these two holidays roll around each year.

So here's what happens if you work my schedule. You begin to fret about the fourth well in advance. You also begin to come up with your plan of attack. Do you take an ambien and try to go to bed at 5pm so that you are out cold before the fireworks? Or do you take a nap and just stay up and watch the fireworks?

I decide early on that the sleep aid is a bad idea. Why? Well I took one on July 3rd assuming that if I got a really good night of sleep in advance I would be refreshed on the fourth. Bad idea! I turned on the air conditioner in our bedroom, and it started to hum. I clutched my pillow and dropped into a deep slumber. Next thing I know I wake up pretty refreshed, glance at the clock radio and see that it's 2:15 a.m.. I figure I can still get a few more minutes of shut eye. So I close my eyes and wake up shortly after 4 am in a panic. I slept right through the alarm. I pride myself on not being late to work, but it won't happen on this day, since I'm always in by 4. So of course I'm apopletic and I race out the door. The fourth is already off to an awful start.

So I spend the day vacillating back and forth, still undecided on what to do. Finally I decide in a panic to run upstairs and jump into bed as its getting dark. Get to bed before the explosions I keep telling myself. I dive into bed and start willing myself to sleep. I will myself to sleep, when that doesn't work I wish myself to sleep, when that doesn't work I pray for sleep. Concentrate, concentrate, go to sleep, go to sleep. Please, please go to sleep! Go to sleep you idiot you are running out of time! The more I try to pressure myself to sleep the more I can't. So they begin, boom boom here, boom boom there, boom boom everywhere. I know it's a lost cause. I'm wide awake in a war zone.

So I walk downstairs and join my daughter and wife who are sitting at the kitchen table talking. "Were we too loud? Why are you up?" I explain that it's no use. I am officiallly doomed.

An hour later I'm out at the local lake watching a beautiful light show, with the fireworks reflections shimmering off the lake. It was awesome, inspiring, and I have to admit fun. We joined our pals from across the lake Paul and Kay and their kids and some other friends. They brought along cupcakes and beverages. They were all talking about how nice it was to have the day off. Paul assured me, "Mike I'd like to say I'll be watching tomorrow morning, and Friday, but I'll be sleeping in!" All I could think is I'm going to pay for this on Thursday.

So yesterday I struggled through the day. Had one of those mind numbing, oh no I'm drooling on my pillow naps. Despite the long nap I still spent most of the day walking around in a fog. So another holiday has passed and I'm making myself a promise. It's the same promise I made last year at this time. I must make sure I get the 5Th of July off next year. In a couple of weeks I'll forget. So next year at this time I'll feel like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. But you'll be reading my blog thinking didn't I read something just like this last year at this time.

Things I hate

I know yesterday I said I would talk about Gator today. Forget it, I'm talking about things I hate instead. And that is one of the things I hate. The big tease! Getting you to read or watch something because you've been teased to do it. I believe there is a rule about the big tease. It goes like this, you get sucked in, but there never a payoff! So let me begin:

THE BIG TEASE: I hate it, but I fell for it. It happened last week. Kate and I were hanging out with the TV on. I admit I'm on TV, but don't get to watch it much at night because I have to get to bed early. We were channel surfing when the big tease came on. The big tease isn't really the big tease unless it's accompanied by the voice of God.

Announcer: "Tonight (the big tease usually always starts with the word tonight) don't miss (don't miss is also an essential part of the big tease) the exclusive (it goes without saying this is also an important feature) interview as Paris Hilton sits down for her first interview since leaving jail with Larry King. This big tease just jumped out at me. To make matters worse as Paula Zahn prattled on there was a countdown clock at the bottom of the frame. It was counting down to the Paris Hilton interview. All of this worked. You begin to calculate as you look at the clock, do I have time to turn to something else and still get back in time for the Paris interview. Trust me I should know better. We stayed glued to the set, before and during the interview. After watching an hour of Paris I knew that she was claustrophobic, has a learning disability, just loves the bible, but when pressed couldn't remember her favorite passage from it. Bottom line after listening to her and King for an hour I clearly felt dumber then I did when we began watching.

BURIED UNDER E-MAIL: Admit it, you can't control it, it controls you. On our vacation I banned the laptop computer. Let's leave it behind I declared! Finally we broke under the pressure on Thursday of last week and we took a trip to the public library in Fort Walton Beach. It was time to check our e-mail accounts. There it was hundreds and hundreds of e-mails. I was buried under the stuff. At the public library you were given 30 minutes on the computer. So I keep looking up at the countdown, trying to trim through all the junk mail. First it's Paula Zahn with the clock, now it's the library computer. With 2 minutes left I figured I would never get through all this stuff. Mercifully, the computer flashes this message, "Would you like a 15 minute extension?" I readily accept. So I am tied to the computer for 40 minutes, and I still didn't get through all the e-mails. I relinquish the computer to let Kate get on. She has more than 300 new e-mails. She starts shredding through the mail and time runs out. It just demonstrated to me how much time we consume by reading and responding to e-mails. Kate tried to get her own 30 minute pass and was denied. So she got to tackle her account when we got back on Sunday.

EDICTS: I hate edicts. The latest edict in my life came from one of the meanest men you'll ever know. His name is Rick Garner. He's a 6 foot 6 bear of a man who carries a baseball bat around with him. He stomps around our newsroom shouting out thunderous edicts. His latest, "You must blog, blog, blog!!!" Some of the description I just gave you is an exaggeration. Okay pretty much all of it is an exaggeration. But he did come out with an edict that we must blog more. I really don't know much about the edict because I was so bogged down by e-mails that I inadvertently deleted his. So I can't vouch for what he wrote. I'm just going on what I'm hearing from Howard and Andrea this morning. Howard seems to think the edict is all Statter's fault. Andrea isn't sure we should be blogging so much, and sharing so much about our personal life. She maybe right, but now back to Statter. Dave is a good friend, but his blogging habits are unforgivable. Statter even blogs in his sleep. Here's a typical exchange from the Statter house during dinner.

Hillary: Dave can you pass me the mash potatoes.
Dave: I'm sorry sweat heart I'm just too busy blogging...I'll pass them to you later, when they are cold and you won't want them!
Hillary: But Dave dearest, don't you think you are going too far!
Dave: No, I plan to be the king of blogging!

He's blogging 24-7. It's always about fires. I mean really you haven't seen this many fires since Sherman's march to the sea. Dave is the model for the rest of us, and let's just say he's on fire. But I believe I'm up to the challenge. He can be the king of blogging, but I am going to be the King of bloggification!

PASSWORDS: I have too many e-mail accounts. There is my work one, and I have three personal e-mail accounts. Don't ask me why. So quite obviously I have four passwords. But I have other passwords too. There is one for my e-bay account, my pay pal account, my hotwire account, my airline frequent flier accounts, the list goes on and on. I've got passwords up the wazoo. I can't remember half of them, if not more. I am a walking password disaster man. I forgot the password to one of my e-mail accounts and now can't remember it for the life of me. I guess I'll just have to add a fifth e-mail account and hope that one day I'll remember the password to the fourth.

I'm writing all of this in hopes that: Tonight as the Independence day approaches we won't miss our exclusive chance to take a step back and see that we are slaves to some of this stuff and it's time to declare our independence and improve our lives!!

Hey wait a minute, I'm pretty sure that's the big tease...don't fall for it!

Valuable Vacation

Okay I'm back and the poor blog has been suffering for the last week or so. My apologies to all of you who can't make it through the day without reading my blog. So where did I go? What did I do?

I can answer both of those questions. I went to the redneck riviera. I don't call it that of course, but that's the rather course nickname the Destin-Ft. Walton Beach area has earned over the years. We stayed in a really nice condo on the beach and spent a lot of time in the sand. I have this love affair with the ocean. So each night, even though it was humid and hot, the sliding glass doors that led to our patio were open so we could hear the crashing waves as we gradually fell asleep.

Some nights I would wake up and just go stand and watch the reflection of the moon on the waves. I would think about how lucky I was to have a vacation where the only thing scheduled was relaxation. One night Kate and I returned from an evening out and at 1 a.m. we walked down to the beach during high tide and walked around in the water.

This love affair with the water stems from my childhood, when my father would reserve a place on the beach in Malibu. The whole family would invade the home and stay for a week or so. I still have fond memories of my time there.

Normally the kids would come along on a family vacation, but not this time. Kate and I were celebrating our 25Th wedding anniversary.

I'm a typical guy so I really struggle to come up with gifts for anniversaries. But if you don't have a good gift for the 25Th then there is something wrong with you. So I went on line to see what you are supposed to get for the 25Th. It's the silver anniversary by the way. So you are supposed to buy something silver.

I don't know who came up with these ideas of what to give each year. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a guy. If a guy created the list it would look something like this. This is just a list of the really important anniversaries of course.


First anniversary--tickets to a Lakers game

Five year anniversary--HDTV big screen--the bigger the screen the better

Ten year anniversary--More tickets to the Lakers

25 year anniversary---It's time for another big screen TV, Laker tickets and perhaps a Cuban cigar


For good measure in off years the gifts could me more tailored to the Mrs.. You know like a washing machine, new ironing board, stuff like that. Actually when the anniversary was approaching I mentioned to Andrea and Kim that I was thinking of getting something really big for Kate, something like a washing machine. It created the desired affect, as both of them looked stricken. Of course I was kidding.

So I finally settled on a great gift. A few years back Kate and I went shopping for a new ring. We were pretty poor when we started out 25 years ago. So the ring I gave her wasn't the greatest. So finally we had some extra money and we picked out a nice new one. But then a year or two years ago she managed to dislodge the diamond. It was gone. Ever since the ring has been stored away. She has been too angry about losing the diamond to get a new one. So on our anniversary night I produced the ring with a new larger rock. She was surprised and elated. I'll update you on more of the vacation as the week progresses. Tomorrow I'll introduce you to Gator!

You get the idea. So I'm sitting here thinking what little jewelry trinket could I get for Kate that has silver in it? It seems like this should be something simple, but no way, this is a big time problem. Kate is a jewelry aficionado, so she knows gram weight and everything you would want to know about this. Guys can tell you about Nolan Ryan's era from 1983, women can't because they use that same part of the brain to recite gram weight and that other stuff that women care about. I'm off point, let me get back to another concern. Price! Women can tell you exactly how much they spent on this or that, It's always a bargain. So when I buy jewelry, she's always asking me, "How much did you spend?" If I spend too much I'll hear about it.

So you see I have a steep hill to climb. But I made it. I had a brainstorm, and I got the job done.