July 4, 2008 Archives

Mt. Rushmore with fireworks
Originally uploaded by caveman10

As my weathercast was ending tonight, Brian Coleman our producer, clicked the button to my IFB earpiece and said, "Mt. Rushmore."

I was walking across the studio at the time, moving from the chroma key to the "weather pod." Looking down, I was trying not to trip on cables. Mt. Rushmore? What the hell was he talking about? Was news breaking from Mt Rushmore?

I continued my walk while explaining the details of the extended forecast, which was on-the-air. Then, as I approach the pod. I saw different images in a monitor. The most amazing fireworks were being launched from behind the Mt. Rushmore Monument. The faces of the presidents were brightly lit as the show went on overhead. Quickly I changed gears, now calling for the live video feed.

Fireworks look good on TV, but this was a few steps beyond good. It's tough not to feel a little sense of country with that iconic sculpture in the frame.

It's funny how sometimes you just blindly trust the Internet to have what you want. I assumed when I started writing this I'd be able to find a photo to demonstrate my point. The one above, uploaded by "Caveman10" on Flickr, really captures the essence of what I saw.

Jesse Helms died today. He was the very conservative former senator from North Carolina.

Back in 1972 I was working as a disk jockey at WBT, the 50,000 watt AM station in Charlotte, NC. This was a wonderful, old line station. Under one roof we had an AM, FM, TV and separate video and audio production companies. There were few stations like it then--certainly none like that now.

One day an open call came from Jeffersonics, the audio production house. A political spot was being cut and they needed a voice. Everyone was encouraged to read.

I don't have now and certainly didn't have then "pipes," but I went nonetheless and read. As I remember, the spot paid $800, or a month's pay for me. That was quite the incentive.

I didn't get the job. It went to Jack Petry, our midday man with a voice so deep he once told me he couldn't be heard over a vacuum cleaner!

The three words Jack read: "Nixon needs Helms." In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't get it.

Today is my blog's fifth anniversary. It started 7/4/2003 with a very short entry about fireworks. I had no clue what to write or where the blog would go.

Three thousand entries later, I'm a better writer. I take great pride in that. It's an accomplishment. I've also learned to love writing. That's totally unexpected.

As I type this, the blog has served 1,704,812 pages! Who knew? I couldn't have done it without you. Thanks.