Another Passing? BC Hangs up the Headphones on Saturday Morning Open Phones

I didn't actually hear it. But according to some reports, WTVN morning host Bob Conners announced he was giving up his popular Saturday Morning Open Phones program. He still plans to host his Monday through Friday morning gig.

Saturday Morning Open Phones began as something of an anomaly and until this weekend remained one. The former reason was at the time, WTVN was for the most part playing music when this show began. The latter one is that largely the callers could have their say without much moderation.

Indulge here while I stroll down memory lane for just a moment to give some background.

Sure, WTVN had began to make the transformation to talk radio (other than the Speakout public affairs program that aired Sunday evenings)in the late 70's when Dale Ulmer , just released from WBNS was named evening host at the station. Dale was to begin blending music and chat. Ulmer stuck around for a few months and returned to his native Minnesota. He was replaced by Paul Davidson, who was overnight host of the station at the time. Paul was a nice guy. He wasn't cut out to be a talk show host. Talk radio didn't really take hold at the station until Steve Cannon came south from Akron to host the evening show at WTVN about 1979 to begin playing phonograph records and to share fancy patter. Cannon, then using trivia and star interviews instead of politics struck a chord with Columbus audiences. For an evening radio show, Steve brought the station a lot of attention.

Sometime after that Bob began opening the phones to Central Ohio on his Saturday morning show. I can't remember for sure, but my guess is sometime around Desert Storm.

What came after that was a eclectic collection of callers and listeners. Callers promoting everything from the latest from the John Birch Society to the Cat Lady with pets to adopt to someone promoting a local ice cream social, spaghetti dinner, church yard sale or community festival. Politically it was libertarian/fringe in terms of tone, however there were more people from both sides using the show to "showcase" their political leanings.

All came on, all had their say and were largely left unchallenged. Even those who were talking events on the political fringe. It actually became something of the charm of the show.

Fast forward to today. Bob was one of the few major market talents still holding down a 6 day per week shift. Old timers like me will remember that the man who held the morning show shift, John Fraim, exited WTVN in part because his demand to only work a 5 day week was pushed back. (Maybe Bob figured the dust had settled after more than 30 years and he could finally get the day off!)

Listeners reportedly heard Bob say he could now take his wife out to dinner Friday night like most others do without having to worry about getting up early Saturday to make the show by letting the Saturday show go.

Now well into his 70's maybe Rockin Robbin and Don Howard as Bob was known in his days in Pittsburg at WEEP and KQV is slowly beginning to hand over the reins of the morning show. If so, then so be it. Columbus loses what is possibly one of its most identifiable radio personalities when that happens. Bob has became our Walter Cronkite and Paul Harvey all rolled into one.

Bob has created a legacy here in Columbus. As entertainment and radio especially begin to become more of a homogenized commodity, standout local personalities/entertainers like Bob will become fewer and fewer.

Bob, all the best in whatever lies in your future.

I Now Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans

Don't have time to post some of the pics, but we did a whirlwind of New Orleans. Stayed just around the corner from Bourbon Street. Pricelined a great hotel room for only $44.00. 30 feet and we were on the street of night life in NO.

My first thought was New Orleans reminded me of the photos of Havana, Cuba I've seen over the years in their entertainment district, only the 1950's vintage autos are year 2000+ in New Orleans.

Only found one club playing Dixieland Jazz, but it was great to hear the music of the Big Easy in a small intimate club. We enjoyed it so much, we stayed til closing, which is unusual for us.

Had some great food. Rode the streetcar. Heard some great rock and roll music by cover bands that sounded like the real groups they were playing the songbooks of.

Diana was shocked at some of the clubs in the French Quarter. Adult themed. I saw a Hustler Club that had as its motto, "Relax. It's only sex." While we got no further than the sidewalk, maybe they do have a point.

Walked over the Mississippi River this morning and watched some of the boat traffic.

Throwing Rolls At You

I first heard of a restaurant that threw rolls to their patrons on the Sonny Bloch financial show in the 1990's. He was talking to a listener somewhere in Missouri and the topic of a diner that threw your rolls to you came up. Based on that conversation I knew I had to go there someday.

We made it to their Foley, Alabama location tonight. And loved it.

Lambert's is famous for their thrown rolls. Rolls fresh from the oven were brought down aisles and tossed to waiting patrons.

But the food was something else. Generous portions, fair prices and friendly service in a clean place to eat. Who could ask for more.

Another unique feature is they walk around with bowls of fried okra, pan fried potatoes, pinto beans, mac and tomatoes and cabbage. All you cared to eat. And with an abundant meal.

I had the hog jowls. Diana settled for a cheese burger. The hog jowls tasted like pan fried ham.

No one can ever claim to walk away from Lambert's with an empty stomach. They see to that.

All in all, a great experience and a highly recommended place.

Stars Fell on Alabama

The song mentioned in the title was written in 1934 by Frank Perkins and the lyrics were written by Mitchell Parrish. One of the first known recordings was by Guy Lombardo orchestra, with his brother Carmen doing a vocal. This version was recorded on August 27, 1934 and issued by Decca Records

The song was later performed by over 100 artists. Among them are: Lee Wiley, Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong; Jack Teagarden; Jimmy Buffett; Billie Holiday; Anita O'Day; Dean Martin; Kay Starr; Frank Sinatra; Doris Day; Frankie Laine; Erroll Garner; Kate Smith; Mel Torme; Renee Olstead; Ricky Nelson; Stan Getz; Ben Webster; the Radcliffe Pitches; and Cannonball Adderley.

On our way to Gulf Shores, we stopped in Montgomery. It was only 6:00 pm local time, but the sky was dark and starry. We captured some of the historic downtown, including the first Confederate White House, the state house and the church where Martin Luther King pastored in the late 50's in pictures as the stars fell on us in Alabama.

It's Almost Time for the Annual Fight to Keep Christ in Christmas

Sometimes those who are trying to maintain a great tradition too often sound and look like the caracature in the cartoon. Sad, isn't it?

I actually saw a similar situation in a department store a few years ago. A lady let rip on a store clerk that didn't say have a great Christmas. The words used from the "Christ in Christmas" ambassador were more colorful than the cartoon.

What wonderful ambassadors we sometimes are.

Sometimes I believe Dan Merchant's book Lord, Save Us From Your Followers: Why is the Gospel of Love Dividing America? is spot on.


From a more commercial perspective.

Children and Saturday

This one is a little late in getting posted.

Two weekends ago Diana and I had her grandchildren over night. On Saturday we decided since the weather was nice this late into fall, we needed to get out and explore!

After running some errands we were off to Blendon Woods Metro Park to walk some of teh trails and get some last minute leaf playing in before dampness killed the fun.






But the jackpot portion of the day was a trip to Marion.

Friday evening Renee had said that she would like to see the big Lincoln statue. We told here that it's located in Washington DC and that Diana and I had gone there before and had seen it. I loaded the pictures up on the computer and showed her our pics and also showed here where we saw the Lincoln tomb in Springfield, Illinois over Labor Day weekend.

Renee said she would love to see that too!

Putting my thinking cap on, I quickly thought we could head off to Marion and show Renee and Dylan the Harding Memorial and tomb.

So off we went.

What was neat was to see these kids light up when they saw the memorial. They really thought it was neat to see where a President was buried and the beauty of the facility. Most impressive to them was an area that told of the monument being built and that children had saved their pennies to make the memorial a reality.

We wrapped up the day with a quick stop at the Harding home also in Marion.

Sarah or Palinized

Sarah Palin came to Columbus for a book signing Friday evening.

Although not a huge fan, I thought if it were possible to get a book signed by the former Governor and current toast of all things to the right of Rush Limbaugh, I figured what the heck. Maybe she would even kiss it with her pit bull/soccer mom lipstick and leave an imprint.

So we headed up to Dublin to check out the scene.

When we arrived, we found a large line snaking out of the bookstore and down the sidewalk past several store fronts. Although I have no true experience estimating crowd size, my best guess was there were somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 people attempting to get a chance to meet their hero and get a book signed.

Standing at the end of the long line, I decided to actually walk into the store and find out what the deal was.

Palin had agreed to sign 500 books between 6 and 9 pm. Wrist bands were distributed on a first come, first serve basis when the store openned. My chance to see and get a book signed was quickly estimated to be somewhere between nil and zero.

So I thought I'd get a shot of the Palin bus, a few shots of the crowd and a picture of the signs (and I was surprised there were so few either supporting or not supporting her). The only exchange I witnessed was between the two sign holders and each respectfully advanced their views without yelling or taunting. That was pretty neat.

The guy selling buttons wasn't doing much business for some reason.