Woebegone No More

Hey Everyone! Last week I did something I've always wanted to do. I went to hear A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. Luckily for me, Tracy was on the ball with this as she's a member of the Botanic Gardens in Denver. It was the perfect place to hear him and the perfect night. We sat outside on a blanket, brought a picnic and bottle of wine and saw how the radio show is done. Tracy is from Minnesota so seeing Keillor live was a lifelong goal of hers. We can both attest that it was well worth it!

I must admit that I have a love/hate relationship with public radio. I NEVER listened to it before 9/11, but once that happened I turned to them for their constant coverage and got hooked. My favorite program is This American Life with Ira Glass (I love his voice and commentary, though I know it drives some people crazy - yeah, that'd be you, Larissa;). I also try to catch at least part of Prairie Home Companion - and now that I've seen the performers and how it's done, I'm looking forward to doing this more often. I enjoy some interviews that Terry Gross does, though she can really annoy me with her holier than thou schtick. And then there's Car Talk. It always seems to be on on the weekends so I'm forced to listen to a question or two. Click and Clack are very funny and one day I'm going to try my luck and place a call. My 96 Saab always smells strongly of gasoline in the summer. I've had this checked twice and no one can diagnose the problem, and given that I'll have to endure it during the 5 hr drive to Creede this wkend, it's weighing heavily on my mind. So they're my last hope.

The NPR programs I hate are Hearts of Space this trippy music show that's on Saturday AND Sunday nite - Thomas likes it, unfortunately, and What Do You Know with Michael Feldman. I detest him and his smugness.

But anyway, back to Keillor. I wasn't sure what to expect. I've seen pictures of him before and I've read a few columns he wrote for Time magazine, but as Tracy noted he was very quirky in person. He wore a tuxedo with a red bowtie and red socks and red tennis shoes. Somehow it worked for him. The rest of the cast was a four or five piece band, a lady who's been doing the show with him for 30 years who sang and read all the female parts and this crazy voice guy who could make any noise imaginable. I always imagined there were a lot more people putting on this show. The Guy Noir segment was a particular favorite of mine that night. The crowd was definitely the oldest concert crowd I've ever been a part of. There were lots of aging hippies, and lots of people even older. There were young couples with kids and babies. It was the kind of show where one little girl spent most of the night alone dancing up front and sitting on the steps of the stage. She was dressed in a poncho and galoshes and I'm certain a career as a gogo girl is in her future. Just another part of the entertainment. Keillor's voice is so deep and so calming that I could have listened to it forever. The entire experience was like going back in time. If he's ever in your neck of the woods, I highly recommend it.

Oddly enough, I heard there was a movie version coming out (that was the reasoning given for Lindsay Lohan's newly blonde hair - she's playing Meryl Streep's daughter in it). I didn't see how this would work, but just checked IMDB and found that it's in pre-production and being directed by Robert Altman. The plot summary is: "A look at what goes on backstage during the last broadcast of America's most celebrated radio show, where singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty, a country music siren (Streep), and a host of others hold court." Hmm. I'm a pretty big Altman fan, so this could be interesting. If you didn't catch Gosford Park that he did a year or two ago, it's a must-see. His best in years.

Now if I could just get Ira Glass back to Boulder.....

Boulder Bumpersticker of the Day: My other car is a pair of boots.

-sunday

p.s. The photo at the top has nada to do with NPR. It's Thomas in Ruby driving down the Plan B driveway. Can't wait to do that in the snow! I posted the pic to try the new image-posting functionality in Blogger. It is ten BILLION times easier now! So if you're thinking of joining the bloggeratti, the last roadblock has officially been removed.