What Charles Barkley And I Have In Common

Truth is my public stand was taken after a very public forecast went bust… actually KABOOM! And unlike a politicians misdeeds he mentions which might harm us in small doses over time if at all, my error had an immediate impact on many lives.

snowy-wood-pile.jpgBack in 1993 Charles Barkley declared, “I’m not paid to be a role model.” He’s spent the last 17 years trying to prove himself right! I’m thinking the same thing right now because Ben Davol writing in the New London Day has tried to make me a role model.

Of my on-air apology of a few weeks ago he writes, “Can you imagine if our politicians decided to be as forthright and honest as Fox? ” He then produces a laundry list of pols basically saying, “Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?”

Truth is my public stand was taken after a very public forecast went bust… actually KABOOM! And unlike the politicians’ misdeeds he mentions which might harm us in small doses over time if at all, my error had an immediate impact on many lives. To me there was no choice but apologize.

The real shame is that apology in general is a big deal. One columnist, Charlie Walsh writing in the Connecticut Post, thought it lessened my continuing credibility. He said my right move would have been to “soldier on.” In other words make like it didn’t happen.
Charlie follows his own advice. I sent him an email about that column a week ago. He seems to be soldiering on.

We teach this act of contrition to our children and then forget it as adults. We all need to be more responsible for our actions. We all screw-up. We all need to apologize a little more.

In inviting your comments on this post I’d rather have them relate to the subject in general and not what I did. Apologies and responsibility are valid topics for discussion. Another pity party for me is more self serving than even I can take. – Geoff

Half Q

When we saw Avenue Q in Las Vegas, we were surprised at the half empty theater. As it turns out, what we saw wasn’t unusual.

From Norm’s column in the Las Vegas Journal Review&#185:

Steve Wynn reportedly has his hands full of “Avenue Q” challenges.

According to the New York Post, Wynn’s naughty puppet show is struggling, and he’s pulling strings to head off a flop.

Michael Riedel, who writes the “On Broadway” column for the Post, reported in Friday’s edition that Wynn has lured a top Broadway marketing executive in hopes he can revive the Tony Award-winning show.

The unidentified executive was part of the team that helped propel “Chicago” to its long run on Broadway.

The 1,200-seat theater at the Wynn is half-filled, and the balcony has yet to open, Riedel wrote, citing “theater people in Las Vegas and New York.”

Wynn “thinks he made a mistake,” a Broadway producer told the Post.

Kevin McCollum, who co-produced “Avenue Q” on Broadway, “is also going to take a more active role in the Vegas production,” Riedel wrote.

&#185 – It’s true – he’s known simply as Norm. He also wears a patch over his right eye, making him seem more pirate than columnist.

Gene Klavan

When I was growing up, my parents (mostly my dad) listened to WNEW. To me it represented what adult life was about. It was sophisticated and upwardly mobile. The stars of that era of popular music hung out at WNEW and socialized with the disk jockeys.

It was a Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Jack Jones, Steve & Eydie kind of place.

The morning show was Klavan and Finch. Gene Klavan was the comic and Dee Finch his straight man. This past week Gene Klavan died at 79.

I was speaking to my dad tonight, looking for the right moment to tell him about Klavan, when he told me.

I stopped for a minute. Is it right to tell a 78 year old about the death of a 79 year old? And then I asked him.

I didn’t want to pry, but I wondered how my dad looked at death. I think (and he reads this so he’ll tell me if I’m wrong) that he just sees it as a part of life. Where he lives, in Florida, he is surrounded by it.

His life now is the best it’s ever been. He and my mom are incredibly active – much more so than ever before. He says, 78 is an age he never imagined, much less consciously thought of.

I see my parents living forever. But they are so much better at dealing with reality than I am.

Continue reading “Gene Klavan”