« March 11, 2007 - March 17, 2007 | Main | March 25, 2007 - March 31, 2007 »
And because I had to work all day today- I've about had it with working on Sunday, you know- here's another highlight from yesterday's trip to La Quinta, a little Shakyvision video from my pocket digital camera of the entertainment for the afternoon. Enjoy!
ShareWhat kind of a day has it been?
Glad you asked. Right now, the plumber's still trying to unclog the drain that is presently blocking the only shower and tub we have, plus the toilet and sinks. No amount of snaking from either end seems to be making a dent. Unless the pipe's being blocked by cement, I can't imagine what the problem is. It's not where roots are a problem, we don't flush anything but what's supposed to be flushed (e.g., stuff that breaks down in a short time), but so far, it's still plugged up. Can't find the blockage. When the plumber is baffled, you know it's going to be a long, tough ride.
So put that atop everything else and I'm in, if anything, a worse mood than yesterday. I haven't left the house all day, I desperately need a shower, I can't even wash off utensils (or my hands) to eat... not good.
YOU try to write funny stuff under these circumstances.
ShareA nation- nay, the world awaits the result of the Great Plumbing Nightmare of '07. Unfortunately, there is no news yet- they're under the house, they've cut away pipe, and Fran heard them say something to the effect of "that's the biggest mass I've ever seen." Fran immediately blamed me.
Don't hate me because I'm regular.
Anyway, I'm still kinda stuck here. I don't know when they're going to be done. In the meantime, that's all I got.
===============
Oh, and farewell, Cathy Seipp. Her writing and attitude and courage in the face of cancer were, to resort to the lamest of terms, an inspiration. Clearly, I am not alone in my opinion.
ShareDrain works! Drain works! Shower, toilet, sinks work! I'm several hundred dollars poorer! And I have to go out and get gallons of bleach and disinfectant to remove layers of sludge and clouds of odor from the bathroom tonight! Hooray!
I swear, if I don't start getting better news soon... although 2007 IS better than last year. The bar's been set pretty low.
ShareThat'll teach me to post anything positive.
This morning, I flushed the newly re-functional toilet and heard a gurgle from the shower drain.
Yep. Back to square one.
I'm going to the Y to exercise and shower now. Maybe there'll be some convenient walls to punch.
ShareThis week's All Access newsletter is about how I learned to stop worrying and love the... er, tolerate celebrity talk radio shows:
I'm going through a difficult week that involves the kind of plumbing problems where you just cower in a corner clutching your checkbook and weeping while a plumber hacks away at pipes under your house and occasionally just stands there scratching his head and saying things like "you know, I've never seen anything like THIS before." So I don't have a lot of time to write anything profound this week, but I wanted to get something out anyway. Apologies in advance for short length and lack of coherent thought, but being without a functioning shower or bath for three days with no end in sight will do that to you.
In the meantime, I note that yet another celebrity host is taking a shot at radio next week. As it happens, I have some expertise in this area, having worked with several celebrities attempting to do radio, so I have a perhaps unique perspective on this kind of thing. (They were, shall we say, unique celebrities. No names. I still get flashbacks to some of them)
First, here's what I'll say to the people whose instant reaction to the news that a celebrity's jumping the line and getting a show is to immediately complain and say that it won't work: do not assume that someone who didn't grow up in this business can't do it. Look, you're right, the number of crash-and-burn celebrity radio hosts is pretty large, and there are times when you just kinda know in advance that it isn't going to work. But you never really know for sure. And there are some people who started out in other fields and adapted quite nicely to the radio medium. Those high profile failures are one thing, but there are stand-up comics and former politicians and ex-athletes who were able to quickly learn on the job, too. Don't be like those anonymous Internet message board posters who trash shows before they even hit the air. You may turn out to be right, but nobody grants you extra points for "I told you so."
And to the celebrity and his people who might think this radio thing seems easy, so why not give it a shot: this is not nearly as easy as it looks. The reason radio lifers resent celebrity hosts isn't just that the famous folks get to go to the front of the queue and get nationally-syndicated shows without paying any radio dues, it's that some of the celebrities seem to have the attitude that there's nothing to radio, that they can do it in their sleep with little or no preparation, it's a fun little diversion between "real" show business or political jobs. How hard can it be? Hey, it's just talking for three hours. Who can't do that? A lot of people, it turns out. If you're a celebrity trying your hand at radio- I'm sure there are THOUSANDS of you reading this- insist that your new employers hire someone experienced in making successful radio shows to guide you... and LISTEN TO THAT PERSON. There are reasons to prepare shows a certain way, to phrase a topic a certain way, to book some guests and not others. The radio producer is ideally like a movie director, guiding and shaping the show. There is, of course, no script.
Anyway, it's okay to be skeptical about any new show- I am- but as an industry, we're always talking about trying new things, and talent is part of that. On the other hand, there are a lot of "old" things- or, at least, experienced radio folks- who deserve a shot, too. There ought to be room enough for both, and as the number of new talk outlets grows, especially on FM (where we're now seeing multiple FM talk stations in a single market- amazing!), I hope there'll be plenty of space for everybody.
Whether you're a celebrity or not, you need material to... oh, okay, that was a really painful transition into the weekly plug for All Access News-Talk-Sports and the Talk Topics show prep column, where so far this week you'll find items about why you'll still have to turn off your cell phone when the cabin door's closed, Harvard's new abstinence club, how you, too, can own a piece of wood taken from Eminem's old house, a study about coffee and high blood pressure that may surprise you, a story about attractiveness and jury verdits that may not surprise you, why you need not worry if your kid keeps a "hit list" (or why you might want to worry), all about Sanjaya fever on "American Idol" (warning: may cause chills and projectile vomiting), the wonderful world of eyelash mites, the NFL's proposed "Romo Rule," an update on the Dead Deer Dude, and the brazen theft of a trckful of Cadbury eggs, plus links and commentary about "real news" stuff like the attorney firings and a BBC h ost getting bitten by a rabid cheetah. And there's "10 Questions With..." WWRL/New York morning co-host Sam Greenfield and the Talent Toolkit with more free sound bites and effects for you and the rest of All Access with Net News (first/fastest/bestest), the Industry Directory (most complete/most best/most ut), Mediabase charts, message boards, columns, stock information, and everything else you need in a radio and music industry trade site. All free, too. No wonder so many people drop by. We should set out some cookies or something.
Next week: I finally get to take a shower at home. Maybe. You don't happen to have a really good plunger, do you?
ShareI hesitate to declare victory. After all, two nights ago, I thought I was out of the woods, little realizing that I was in for two more days of clogged-pipe hell. But so far, today's adventure- several more hours, several more hundreds of dollars- ended with me listening to rushing water flow through the cleanouts on the front lawn, a sign that the water running through the shower and bath drains was making it to the sewer system and freedom. It is very possible that the ordeal is over.
But I won't do the victory lap until... well, I'm not sure, but I'm going to keep an eye on the drains for a while. I've had more than enough visions of bubbling brown goo coming up from there to last a lifetime. But it's Friday night, so let's call it a week. This one couldn't end fast enough.
ShareDon't have much today. After a week consumed with plumbing catastrophes, there's nothing much rattling around inmy head other than "can we flush the toilet now?" and "please, please, shower, don't start backing up on us again." So far, we're clear, and while I STILL won't take a chance on declaring the situation stable, we're feeling more confident by the hour.
But I'm still wary about it. Paranoid might be a better word. I just know that the moment I stop obsessing about it, disaster will reoccur.
Meanwhile, I didn't do much else today- my sister arrived at LAX, we had dinner, we watched some TV. That's about it. We watched this special on the history of "Top of the Pops," which was pretty good, and a show about Philadelphia on Discovery HD, also good, and other random crap. How's that for SoCal excitement? Hey, when your mind is still somewhere in the pipes under the house, that's all the excitement you can handle.
ShareThis page contains all entries posted to PMSimon.com in March 2007. They are listed from oldest to newest.
March 11, 2007 - March 17, 2007 is the previous archive.
March 25, 2007 - March 31, 2007 is the next archive.
Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.
