Today I am posting a few things to the ol’ blog because it’s been a month (?!?) since I last wrote something. It’s one thing to let a free WordPress blog go dormant for long gaps, but since I’m actually paying good cash-type money for “wentyworld.com” I need to get back at it and get my money’s worth! So here are some random notes about the last month.
-On October 12th my pal Dangerous Dave and I took a trip to Denver. Although I wasn’t feeling the greatest during the trip, we did manage to have a pretty swell time. The highlight for me was seeing Phil Collins in concert. He sounded amazing and sang just about every classic hit I could want to hear, except for “One More Night”–which I’m guessing is not in his range anymore. Just an incredibly enjoyable evening of music.
We also saw a Colorado Avalanche hockey game which the Avs won in OT, and a live WWE Raw broadcast in which The Fiend beat the hell out of Seth Rollins. Like I said, a very fun time! But I was really fatigued on that trip…which I dutifully reported to my doctor on my next regular appointment. So I’m going in for another MRI tomorrow to see if ol’ Chiari is changing or worsening. We’ll see.
-The month of October was spent rehearsing not one but two Main Street Players productions! We did a “living book” presentation of Frankenstein on October 17th. We had a wonderful crowd on hand at the Alliance Public Library and the show went very well. And just last night at Newberry’s, we presented “10 Ways To Survive The Zombie Apocalypse.” (It’s a comedy.) The play went off beautifully, we got lots of laughs, and then we did some improv games. Joining our usual gang of Kent, Elaine, Dangerous Dave, the Obershaws and me were our old chum Sue Gerdau, my fellow narrator in the zombie play Elora Bleisch, and a couple of zombies (out of zombie makeup). We had a fantastic crowd for this show as well! It helps when you have a lot of zombies–I mean, kids–in the cast.
-I produced the 3rd annual KCOW Halloween Special. This year’s shenanigans featured Bob S. Bestos, Hot Dog and me trick or treating and running into surprise guest stars including Gles (okay, that one’s not too big a surprise), Kathy Worley, Dangerous Dave Kuskie, Husker womens basketball play-by-play man Matt Coatney, Kevin Horn, Bob’s arch-enemy Kalin Krohe and Alliance mayor Mike Dafney.
I love doing this show every year and I really love the idea that somebody roaming around the dial Halloween night might hear “War of the Worlds” or “Sorry Wrong Number” and become hooked on the story. We’ll be doing a special the day before Thanksgiving on the remastered “Abbey Road” album, and for the Christmas season we are bringing back a certain radio cliffhanger that made the scene for 40 or 50 Christmas seasons on the ol’ K-Cow.
-Friday night Herr Kroheim and I went to a Goo Goo Dolls concert in Rapid City. We started the evening at Red Lobster, where Kalin got crab legs and I got a big juicy steak. I’ve been razzed by a friend for having steak at Red Lobster, which–okay, I get that. But steak places don’t have crab legs, and Kalin so rarely gets to enjoy them. I am a good friend for eating steak at Red Lobster! (Honestly, I so rarely get to eat steak that it’s a joy wherever and whenever it happens.)
The concert was really fun. The opening act was good and loud (mostly loud). But the Goo Goos were in fine form, singing songs like “Name” and “Iris” that made me super-nostalgic for college radio days. The thing I like most about the show is that, with all my medical drama in the first half of this year, I thought 2019 would pale to ’18 in terms of concert attendance. But by God, this year has underselled and overdelivered! Phil Collins, Bob Seger, Goo Goo Dolls…not too damn shabby.