I Thought I heard a Tweety Bird!

 I did!

(However, in the interest of "accuracy in blogging,"  what Tweety Bird himself (herself?) actually said was,

Tweety Bird

"I tawt I taw a puddy tat!" "I did! I did taw a puddy tat!" )


One thing that still works pretty good on my almost "used up"

 body are my ears.  And this morning I woke up to a sound

that I haven't heard since last year at this time:

The chirping of birds returning from their winter vacation


down South.

 And how do they know that it's time to leave their tropical 

vacation paradise and return North?

Because it's getting warmer up here?


Nope.


It has nothing to do with the temperature.  It's because the 

length of daylight is increasing.



Anyway that's what the experts say.  Furthermore they say the 

reason the birds take the long return journey back, instead

of staying in their tropical paradise, is because it ain't really 

so great down there...for birds:

'Unfortunately, despite what the Jimmy Buffett song indicates, life in the tropics is not as ideal as it might seem. For one thing, the tropics are not chock-full of unused food resources. The migrants from the north have to compete with a huge variety of tropical species that live there year-round. A more subtle issue is that warmer climates also tend to be home to a great many more infectious diseases and parasites.

It also turns out that there are some real advantages to making the trip north. Spring migrants time their return to coincide with a virtual explosion of food resources. As New England emerges from the grip of winter, virtually every local plant and animal begins to reproduce, and it’s not long before there is a huge abundance of seeds, fruits and invertebrates. Migrant species take advantage of these resources to have their own young.

What’s more, day length is more favorable during northern summers. In the tropics, there is little seasonal variation in the number of hours of daylight. As you travel farther north, summer days get longer and longer—in fact, above the Arctic Circle, there are weeks when the sun never sets. These longer summer days mean that there are more hours of daylight in which migrant birds can gather food and feed the hungry mouths of their rapidly growing young. ' -Bird Expert

ELCOME, welcome, little stranger,

Fear no harm, and fear no danger;

We are glad to see you here,

For you sing "Sweet Spring is near."

 

Now the white snow melts away;

Now the flowers blossom gay:

Come dear bird and build your nest,

For we love our robin best.

-Louisa May Alcott

-Ed

Rubbing Elbows

 Reflecting on our many years on this good Earth, I firmly believe we were born in a time and place that has few equals in the "Best Time and Place Ever Be Born" conversation.

It's too bad that fact didn't become obvious to most of us until our journey is almost over.

But, that's the way it always is.  Some things that seem perfectly ordinary and mundane at the time, often become much more memorable in hindsight.

As meaningful and personally significant my move to Washington and working up here was to me, there was also a little bit of "history" involved.  It's talked about a lot at the old "Broadcaster Reunions" I attend. It's called  "Rubbing Elbows" with history.

No matter how good, or how bad a reporter for a major newspaper or radio/TV station was, an interview with the President or Senator or  an important government official...or"covering" news events of significance, etc. had the aura of history about it. The Network reporters were most likely involved in the major events of the day, but even guys on the mostly entertainment end of the media chain, like me, often became involved. I'm thinking specifically of my interview with William Greer, the driver of the Presidential Limousine in Dallas that fateful day our President was assassinated.

I don't believe anybody thinks about "history" as we were go about our daily routines;  just doing our jobs.

Looking back, unknown to me, my first small "brush" came less than a week after I moved to this town. That was Spring of 1961. My employer, WTOP-TV CHS...hadn't even changed my name.  I had hardly unpacked.

 Someone had mentioned to me that if I loved good music, jazz in particular, I should check out a small obscure night spot called "The Showboat Lounge"  It featured a very fine local guitarist by the name of Charlie Byrd. 

Charlie Byrd

Well, it didn't take more than 10 minutes of sitting in that small room listening to the soft and rhythmic sounds of his acoustic guitar accompanied by bass and drums...to get me totally "hooked."
I became a regular at that little establishment, and would insist on showing off my "discovery' to a number of my friends from Charlotte who were passing through town.

They usually agreed with me that there was something unique and different about many of the tunes Charlie performed.

There was.

It was the rhythm.  It was kinda like a "samba beat"...but....different.  Charlie, who later became a good friend,  told me that he first heard it in Brazil, where he, and Washington Jazz Great DJ Felix Grant, had just returned from a State Department sponsored tour of South America.

Charlie Byrd and Felix Grant

Felix and he were both intrigued . Felix talked about it endlessly on the radio....and Charlie played it at that little club on 18th Street in Washington, DC.

He called it simply, Brazilian music.  But he said, down there that call it "Bossa Nova."

That's the name that stuck. 

And, the rest, as they say, is history.

It became THE music of the 60's.  The record album he recorded with Saxophonist Stan Getz, to whom he had also introduced the Brazillian music, became one of the best selling albums ever. 

I'm proud to say that Charlie honored me by appearing on my first TV talk show and a number of times after that.

And what did I personally do to be involved in this small, soon to be forgotten, moment in history?

Not a damm thing.

But, I was there.

-Ed

Super Bowl Sunday Again

Woody Robertson

It was Super Bowl Sunday four years ago, when my good friend and former TV director Woody Robertson passed away at age 78.  A sudden heart attack was the cause. Woody had been hired by the network for their Super Bowl coverage, to help coordinate TV player interviews with stations around the country. He was one of the best TV directors in the country as well a supremely competent administrator.

He was my Director on the morning interview show I hosted for WTOP-TV in the mid 60's, CADENCE. The show was 30 minutes in length, broadcast each weekday morning Monday through Friday. That doesn't sound like much work, but believe me, it was a full time job for several people; but especially Woody and me. Woody owned a yellow Cadillac in those days, and if only...as the cliche goes...that car could talk..........

Well, actually, in this case....it wouldn't be talking;  it would be laughing.

There were many times that Woody would meet and pick up celebrities who were to be interviewed on the show as well as escorting them after the show to their hotel or next appointment...This personalized service made a big difference in our getting more busy celebrities visiting our city than any other of the Washington stations.

I'll never forget that day after the show when I rode with Woody to drop our guest off at his hotel.  You may not remember him, but he was BIG back in the 60's. He was a Danish Comedian named Victor Borge. Back then just about everyone knew his name.

Unfortunately, there was one name Victor didn't remember:

the name of the hotel he had been registered in.

That sounds like a problem, right?

Nope.  What a blessing,....for Woody and me!

It was almost dark when we finally found the right hotel (remember, there were no cell phones then) and, sadly I might add, the most "laugh filled" day of our lives came to an end.

There was one serious topic Victor mentioned a couple of times, and that was his concern regarding his hands. They had been "bothering" him for about six months and of course he was concerned since the piano was such an important part of his success.
That was over 40 years ago, of course, but like most of us, generally, the vast majority of our worries are about things that never happen.

Take a look at what his "old fingers" could do at on his 80th birthday!

-Ed