Larry Mantle
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When best laid plans go potluck
Tuesday morning on “AirTalk,” one of our planned segments completely fell apart just a few minutes before airtime. Though that’s not unheard of, fortunately, it’s fairly rare. We usually have at least 45-minutes to book an open segment.
Faced with a gaping half-hour hole in our show, I revisited an idea that I’d dismissed the day before from our producer, Katie Sprenger. That suggestion, which I thought would have only limited appeal to listeners, led to an impassioned on-air and online conversation.
Katie had been complaining about spending hours cooking a turkey for her child’s daycare potluck, only to see some of the other food having been purchased at restaurants or supermarkets. To Katie, “potluck” means it should be handmade by the participant, not purchased.
I was surprised by Katie’s take, as I figured the quality of the food was the issue, not where it came from. However, Katie went so far as to say it’s better to have something of lesser quality that’s personally cooked or baked than a higher-quality item that’s purchased.
Listeners took off on this topic and had wonderful anecdotes and personal opinions on what “potluck” means to them. Opinions were varied and descriptions were mouth-watering – so much so that I closed out the segment and the hour as though the show was over. We had another hour to go, but lunch was clearly on my mind after all the great culinary descriptions.
I can’t ever remember mistaking the end of “AirTalk’s” first hour for the end of the entire show. I got lost in the pleasure of the conversation and assumed the segment was so much fun that we must be closing with our usual “softer” topic that we typically do at the end our second hour. Regardless of my error, it was a blast.
A music lover's dream
That’s what I experienced last week at the historic recording stage at Sony Pictures in Culver City. The stage was where musical soundtracks for numerous classic MGM films were recorded, including “The Wizard of Oz.”
I was there at the invitation of Academy Award-winning composer Michael Giacchino, who was recording the score for next year’s Disney action release, “John Carter.” The film is adapted from a series written by “Tarzan” creator Edgar Rice Burroughs. Giacchino had an orchestra of over 100 musicians, being recorded in-synch with scenes from the film. Time-coded sections of the movie were projected onto a huge screen at the back of the room, facing the conductor.
Given how rarely full orchestras are recorded with all the musicians together at the same time, it was particularly fun to see. Standing in various parts of the room, with the orchestra playing around me, was an experience I won’t forget.
A particular treat was seeing the number of instruments and miscellaneous toys and devices available to the six or so percussionists. They had one case after another loaded with oddities that could create different sounds – toys, pieces of metal, wood, and plastic. Percussionists clearly look at every object as having unique sound potential.
I was joined on the field trip by “AirTalk” producer Karen Fritsche and “Offramp” producer/reporter Kevin Ferguson. We’re planning soon to add video from our visit and, hopefully, a fully-produced piece for “Offramp.”
A powerless couple of days
Two of our four “AirTalk” producers, and our technical director, were still without power in their homes Friday morning, after Wednesday night’s historically high winds hit parts of the Southland. They’re representative of thousands of our listeners who are trying to cope with outages.
Hopefully, this is a good reminder of our vulnerability to a major earthquake, which could leave us without electricity or safe running water for weeks. With this outage, there were at least places to go that had power. In a big quake, we’ll be on our own.
As I was working around the lack of electricity at our home, I took it as a challenge to get our household better prepared for a natural disaster. Maybe this time I’ll thoroughly follow through.
If you’ve seriously prepared for a disaster, was there a particular event that prodded you?
Believing the unbelievable
Tuesday morning on “AirTalk,” we reported on GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain’s conference call with aides in which he seemed to pave the way toward dropping out of the race. This followed Monday’s claim from an Atlanta woman that she and Cain had, until just before the campaign was launched, been romantically involved for 13 years.
I find this whole story unbelievable. I don’t mean that I disbelieve either person’s account. What doesn’t make sense to me is that if Cain and the woman were in a relationship, why he didn’t figure out how to deal with it first. By the same token, I don’t see any reason why a woman who’s known Cain for 13 years would falsely claim they were lovers. Neither scenario makes sense.
The nature of their friendship or relationship may never be known. However, the allegation is almost certain to hurt an already reeling campaign. As you read this, Cain may have already dropped out. If so, it’s another example of the power of allegations of sexual behavior to determine many a political fate.
As for me, I’m far less interested in a politician’s personal sex life than strong, detailed, allegations of abusive behavior. We hear many stories of politicians behaving poorly with staff and others within their sphere of influence. That’s, to me, the real indicator of character – how someone behaves when they think they’re free to act however they like.
It's especially important to give thanks in difficult times
This Thanksgiving season couldn’t come at a better time, as our government drives us to fury and our economy drives us to…well, name your coping mechanism. This is the most negativity I’ve sensed from the American public in my adult lifetime. Folks are struggling, angry, and don’t have a lot of hope about what’s going to pull us out of partisan standoffs and economic malaise. Even back in my childhood and teen years of the Vietnam War and race riots, there was a sense of hopefulness amid the rancor. People really believed the war would eventually end and that racial equality would one day arrive.
However, this time around, I don’t hear many hopeful words about government problem solving nor economic resurgence. We’re in the dumps with nothing to look forward to but uncertainty.
So why is this a great time for Thanksgiving? Because, in the aggregate, things are rarely as bad or as good as we perceive them. We’re down now not just because of objectively tough times, but because we’re angry, frustrated, and getting burned out, too. Thanksgiving gives us a chance to briefly stand back from the accident scene and be thankful we’ve survived. This is also our chance to remember that life is about more than the economy and government.
Thanksgiving is about the steadfastness of family and friends, as the institutions around us are reeling. It’s about surviving life’s toughest challenges with resiliency, kindness, and empathy. These qualities are in abundant supply in our world and provide many reasons for being thankful.
I’m personally thankful for a family that has consistently accepted me for who I am and encouraged me to follow my instincts. I’m thankful for a tremendously supportive audience that encourages me every day and cares enough to offer valuable critique that I can use to improve. I’m thankful for an employer that’s driven by the mission of both informing and bringing together Southern Californians to honestly face our challenges. I’m thankful for a dynamite “AirTalk” producing staff that goes well beyond the norm in its devotion to making the best possible program for listeners.
I could go on and on, but I’d rather hear what you’re thankful for. In the comments below, please let me know what’s going well in your life, what challenge you’ve successfully faced, who’s making a difference in your life, or what the best thing is that’s happened to you this year.
I’ll share some of these thankful postings on Wednesday’s “AirTalk,” to help ease us into the spirit of Thanksgiving. Remember that the more succinct your posting, the greater the odds that I can do justice in sharing it on the air. Thanks for sharing your thanks with all of us.
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