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This week on the "Not My Job" segment of NPR's Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!" with host Peter Sagal, the quiz contest is Katie Couric, with whom host Peter Sagal has a charming interview. Among other things, it turns out that in her very first internship job, her boss was...Carl Castle, who (as listeners of this show well-know) was the long-time announcer of Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! I was also pleased not only that Peter Sagal brings up her famous interview with Sarah Palin, but how he properly describes the interview, about the "terribly unfair 'Gotcha' question of what newspapers do you read?" (Which Couric talks about.)
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Longtime reader of these pages and occasional scientist, Greg Van Buskirk, has often written me about one of his favorite musicians, if not his fave, an Australian Tommy Emmanuel. Calling him a guitarist is accurate, though perhaps doesn't do him justice. Emmanuel himself says he's probably a one-man band. This TedEx Melbourne lecture (and performance) he gives, which the eminent Dr. Van Buskirk passed along to me, goes a long way to explaining why "one-man band" is pretty apt. This week we return to the archives. Here's what I wrote before: "This week's contestant is Andrew Smith from El Paso, Texas -- making his second appearance on the show, going for redemption. At first I couldn't hear the hidden song, then thought I heard a theme, but the music starting getting overlapped and I couldn't be sure...but the theme came through more clearly, and I stuck with original thought. And was right. The composer style though I didn't get. Though I thought I had a reasonable guess. But hearing the right answer, I probably should have gotten it."
The Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully is retiring at the end of this year after a remarkable 67 years behind the microphone. And we're coming down to the wire, not much more than a month to go. As a result, many of the tributes and booth-visits have started in full-force -- though, of course, they've been going on all year.
This is a charming video of one that took place yesterday, when the Chicago Cubs made their final roadtrip to L.A. The Cubs catcher David Ross -- who is also retiring at the end of the year -- made the trek up to the booth before the game, having started his career with the Dodgers. And Cubs manager Joe Maddon came along, as well (because it's just the kind of guy he is, and also because as a young man he lived in Los Angeles briefly and spent a lot of time listening to Scully, not to mention that he was a coach with the Angels who play in nearby Anaheim). Together, they brought some gifts from the Cubs organization. Often, these sort of visits can be awkward and a bit stiff. But in large part because of the people involved, this is quite lovely and more than just a cursory "hello." One added note: at the beginning, Scully brings up to Maddon the name of "Beanie." That's Maddon's 83-year-old mother who works in the family restaurant back in Pennsylvania, who Maddon had discussed with Scully a year earlier. Unfortunately, I can't embed the 5-minute video, but you can watch it here. On this new 3rd & Fairfax podcast from the WGA, the guest is screenwriter Justin Marks who talks about writing the recent live-action version of The Jungle Book, as well as the upcoming sequel TopGun 2, along with other works. This comes on at around the 29:30 mark, if you want to jump forward.
I've posted several videos from the wonderful Bad Lip Reading folks in the past, and they're back. This time, they take on the Democratic National Convention. I think there are a few lapses, but overall it's very funny, and has several passages that are a laugh-out-loud hoot. There was an interview with the fellow who does these. He said that his mother (I think it was...) had a hearing impairment, so he learned lip reading -- but was really bad at it. That's where this come from. Happily, he's done a great job being bad at it. |
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 
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