Category Archives: npr

China Earthquake Reporting

Last night on my way home from work I was listening to National Public Radio’s All Things Considered. Their hosts Robert Siegel and Melissa Block were originally in China to do a series of reports on Chinese culture and state of the country leading up to the Summer Olympics – then the earthquake happened.

Last night’s story by Melissa Block was, without a doubt, some of the most amazing and heart-wrenching journalism I have ever heard on NPR. It put a human face on the tragedy, as we followed the efforts of a husband and wife in the city Dujiangyan as they attempted to find someone to help dig out their parents and their two-year-old son. I would urge you to listen to the story – it’s difficult listening, but it is very worthwhile.

Here’s two ways to help:
American Red Cross – China Response
Americares

WWDTM, or “I blame those damn greedy Alaskans!”

Holy cow, that was fun! Last night, takaza and I made use of our respective Valentine’s Day gifts: Dan got home at 5:50 PM, and we raced out the door shortly thereafter to head downtown for a taping of Wait Wait Don’t Yiff Tell Me, “the NPR news quiz”. Getting there was easy, a short walk to the Brown Line, transfer to the Red Line at Belmont, and then a short walk to the Chase Building at Madison and Dearborn. We made a hurried stop at a nearby Wendy’s for dinner, then got to the auditorium at about 7:15 PM; the doors were only opened at 7 PM and the auditorium was already about 75% full! It wasn’t that big of a space, though – it only seats 400 (here’s a crappy phonecam picture of the stage).

It was a very, very funny show, I have to say (the show we saw should air starting tomorrow, February 18, I believe). If you listen to the show on NPR and enjoy it, you’re hearing maybe half of what is actually committed to tape – some of it is too off-topic, too blue, or just plain too silly to squeeze into the allotted fifty-some minutes. Taping started a little late, at 7:40 or so, and the gang was all there: Peter Sagal, Roy Blount, Jr., Amy Dickinson, Charlie Pierce, and Karl Cassell was even back, fresh from vacation. Peter is crisp, professional, and very smooth and very funny, and Karl was amusing, though mostly business. As for the panelists, Roy came off like your curmudgeonly grandfather, though he still snuck in some wisecracks; Amy had a couple of funny comments, but she really needs to be a bit more forthcoming. The real surprise was Charlie Pierce, who had a wisecrack for every topic and at one point got off on a truly hilarious rant about money-grubbing Alaskans that became a great running gag through the rest of the show. The “Not My Job” guest was the great Chicago harmonica player Corky Siegal, a true character in his own right. He favored us with a couple of impressive “blues harp” performances, at least one of which should make the show.

After the show was over (it took about and hour and forty minutes to tape), they recorded a couple of short segments for what will be the pledge week versions of the show. Because the material had to be “evergreen” (i.e. not topical, since it could be run any time), those segments were mostly pre-written and unfortunately a little more stilted and less funny, but still fun to watch. That was followed with about ten minutes of re-takes, where the various cast members re-did lines and comments that got flubbed or stepped on or were a little inappropriate for airing (Caller: I’ve never heard of The Thistle and Shamrock. Peter: Man, Fiona Ritchie is going to come kick your ass! Director: You can’t say that!). I thought it was pretty cool that Peter and the panelists went out to the lobby to meet and greet after the show, but unfortunately we had to head out due to the lateness of the hour.

Naturally, this was the time that the El had to have problems with signals at Belmont, and we wound up sitting on a Red Line train just south of Fullerton for the better part of a half-hour. At least the Brown Line train went express from Southport to Western to make up some time. We didn’t get home until 11:15 PM or so, and didn’t get to sleep until almost midnight. Five hours is not enough sleep for me. Ugh. I’m dragging today, for obvious reasons, and I may pass on hitting the gym tonight, electing instead to go tomorrow morning.

As for tomorrow? Well, the gym in the morning, of course. mirkowuff is due to join us in the afternoon and we’ll probably hang out with siriuswolfstar as well. And of course there’s the Midwest FurFest staff meeting on Sunday, which will be the big kickoff meeting for 2006. Yay!

Finally, we had so much fun , we’re thinking about going to another taping of Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me. Tickets are $20, and it’s general admission. It’s on a Thursday night, starting at 7:30 (we’ll be there by 7 PM, though), and typically runs until 9:30 PM. If we go on March 16th, Rasslor can join in the fun (assuming he’s interested, of course). Panelists that night are Adam Felber and Paula Poundstone, plus a Panelist To be Named Later. So, who’s interested?