SO FAR, SO GOOD or DOIN' FINE IN 2009

It was an unusually cold Christmas in Southern California, and a fairly quiet New Year's Day. For me, It was almost like being fully employed again. Three weeks of radio work, in the daylight, plying the trade I've studied and executed so well. Sure, I had to endure Christmas music the likes of which must be played for people who can't come down from injections of speed, but we got through it. I could blog for page after page about this dolorous, morose Christmas music...painful dirges that have nothing to do with the merry spirit of the season, but I'll spare you and get to the point of this entry: 2009 has started quite well.

What, You say? With the economy tanking? With the United States in a financial panic rivaled only by the great depression? With jobs being lost by the thousands each week (including the radio profession--not so much panic, there, just expediency. The technology is allowing companies to blow people out by the dozens, and doesn't bode well for my own career interests. More on that, later)?

Yes. We're doin' fine so far in 2009 from the perspective of hope. Any year that starts with a skilled pilot successfully ditching an airliner in the Hudson River, and saving 155 lives, HAS to be a positive year. Add that to the Inauguration of an actually articulate, intelligent person to our highest office, and yes, the year has promise for positivity. Even for those who are not fans of President Obama, just to see his predecessor go is an occasion for revelry. Eight years of that simpleton in charge has left the country in a shape that only his blindest, most ardent minions could ignore.

Before I veer away from politics, I have to express even more than the relief that Mr. Bush has returned to Texas. If we can all suppress our partisan leanings for just a minute, a good look will reveal that the very idea of Sarah Palin even being in the vicinity of the White House (let alone a heartbeat away from the Oval Office) is mind boggling, especially at a time like this. Is it sexist to say that this glib person could probably be entertaining at a meeting of the Wasilla Community Players, and little else? Anyone who voted for that ticket, then viewed the Governor of Alaska holding court with reporters as a turkey got its head ground to bits has to see the light by now. If you didn't see it, there stood Sarah, beaming and prattling on about getting the government out of people's way (I think we've seen what happens when the government gets out of people's way: the government has to bail 'em out!). As she babbled, the guy who ran the farm rammed turkeys head-first into a steel funnel, its legs kicking as it's noggin was turned to a pulpy mass of viscera. We love turkey, but really don't want to see it's final moments in life played out as a woman who ran for Vice President spews disconnected political bullet points, in a bright, cheery manner. Yeah, that's who we want running the country, eventually.

Lastly, no Republican deny what drew nearly two million people to the Inauguration. Of course, the reverence will at some point recede, because he is, after all, a human being. So's The Chief Justice, who fucked-up administering the oath of office. I reflexively hit the jump button on my remote at the embarrassing moment, but it wasn't the President who goofed.

I wasn't surprised when later, on Fox News, Chris Wallace surmised that the oath might not have been legitimate because of the wording goof. Chris is a journalist-- he should be ashamed. But as we all know, there is no shame in the world of Fox. Before the holidays, I read a book about Rupert Murdoch and Fox, and it backed up what many of us had known for years: It's a propaganda arm of the Right Wing, and shouldn't be mistaken for news. You want objectivity? Try what's left of CBS, NBC and ABC...PBS, CNN. If you want to watch a dunderhead (Bush) put on a pedestal, and the new President stalked, then pounced upon at the first scent of blood, watch Fox. Just don't mistake it for news.

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I just watched an episode of 30 Rock, one of the smartest (if not the smartest), funniest comedies on TV. Even after all the Emmys and Golden Globes, the ratings are still awful., and that's too bad. With television programs spread all over hundreds of channels, hilarious, well received, high-rated sitcom are rare. A fabulous talent like Julia Louis-Dreyfus is caged in drek like The New Adventures of Old Christine...well below her ability, and no where near 30 Rock in class.

Tina Fey must be the crush of a million guys who would have been too shallow to dig her twelve years ago, when she was a little heavier and less well known. It's good advice for us all to keep our eyes open for the Tina Feys of our world.

On the subject of ratings, I've said it for 15 years, and I'll say it for 15 more: Letterman beats Leno by miles. No, not in the ratings, but as a show. Where Leno is a practiced stand-up, almost without peer, Letterman is a real broadcaster, with the ability to work the irony and sarcasm out of a bit until it bleeds laughs. After his open-heart surgery, 9/11, and the birth of his son, he dialed back some of smirky Dave, and displayed depth of knowledge and interviewing prowess thatleaves many in the news business chartreuse with envy. This was especially evident when he finally got Senator McCain on his show and grilled him like a smoked salmon. For those who prefer Leno, it's a case of apples and oranges, I guess. NBC certainly is betting on the apples, what with elevating Jay to a nightly prime-time strip on the network, Monday through Friday at 10pm.

My reaction is that NBC is not just keeping Leno out of the hands of the other networks, b ut cutting costs, and taking a gamble. First, what are the odds that his current audience would break habit and follow him to another network like Fox or ABC? Secondly, does NBC really believe average folks in the Midwest who chose Leno over Letterman at 11:35, tune him in at 10? My bet is that they'll pick CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, Without a Trace, and NUMB3RS. That noise you hear is Sarah Palin putting the NBC Peacock into a steel funnel to have its head turned into pate'.

Finally, a note on the evaporation of jobs in radio--I can't say too much, if I still want to land some work, but believe me, there are some folks who are still getting rich in L.A., New York, and Chicago. Filthy rich, and sometimes for no return in the form of ratings. Example: at least one organization is paying two million a year for a morning talent, while scores of jocks are laid off. The lack of equanimity is not quarantined to radio, as anyone who as followed the fiscal crisis knows. Because its entertainment, it's just a little more sickening.

'Til next time.