......




This morning I woke up thinking about change.
By breakfast I was telling my so of 29 years  that there might not be a year 30.
Nothing puts the "oh" in our oatmeal like a breakfast conversation about leaving.

Change is good. It's going to happen because of and inspite of our 5 year plans. Some of it's expected. Some happens because of hard work. Some change happens because of bad luck or bad timing.

Then there is the change that sheer force of will or denial we refuse to see until it's grabbed us by the collar and yelled in our face.  So close it finally is that you can feel it's breath. "I will not be ignored." it says.  And finally it won't be.



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My son asked," If you don't like the way the LLS is now, why do you watch it at all?" Why do I?

It's funny.  When I first saw CF's tryout for the LLS gig, I was instantly taken with the "something about the man" behind CF.  His producer called him "lightning in a jar".   I laughed because he was like the uncle with the dry sense of humor who married your aunt.  He's the one that says what we might love to but can't.  At the time the world was still smarting from the aftermath of September 11th.  For an hour, 5 times a week, there late in the night it was okay to laugh at just how insane the world had become.  While Uncle Sam was going on and on about the evils of this and what we should do about it, this Uncle was cracking jokes about the situation. We could laugh and we could breath. We could remember that no matter how scary things were, we could still laugh.  To me that was Craig Ferguson.

He was the fearless and creative that I wished that I could be.

Now?

Not so much.

So why do I still watch?

Because.

Because somewhere a long the way, I began to think of this fellow not as just another late night talk show host. I began to think of him as a friend.

And that is why I still watch. If you've had a friend for a long time, you'll understand when I say that you don't give up on your friends.  so night after night I've been watching and hoping that I'll see something new.  That he'll get tired of the robot and the horse. Maybe he'll try something new or bring back something old and I'll see the  CF that I got me to laugh.

That said...


Dear @Craigyferg,  The time has come to push the robot out of his nest and make room for something new. JRT is a talented man. He'll do fine. You, on the other hand need to get out of your rut. Try something. Try anything. You might not be tired of the penis jokes but as a fan? I am. 
Please, I'm running out of excuses to watch your show.  cAnn in Blogspotville.


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I was reading on the Internet about a new project for Josh Robert Thompson. He's the voice of the LLS's Geoff Peterson.  He's launching an online variety show with characters that he's created and impersonations of actors and celebrities. As I looked at the photos of the characters,  I was reminded of all the characters that Craig Ferguson used to do on the LLS. This was before JRT came along. 

It got me to wondering why the LLS stopped the skits and characters.  Why there is only CF riffing with the robot and the pantomime horse.  Why is the show now, the Geoff Peterson show with CF and the horse?  If the puppets and the skits and characters are so dated, why is JRT introducing an online show that pretty much looks like the older LLSwCF?

www.rsanews.com  posts older videos from before JRT's GP showed up.  These shows are inventive and highly entertaining.  The meta joke on line was that with each creative bit there would be a time when CF would grow weary of it and then replace it with something new.  It looked exactly like JRT new Internet show.




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I used to work in a family business.  It allowed me to see both sided of who and why folks who worked there where hired.  The woman who did the hiring and managing had a theory that it was best to hire people who were destined for better things. She expected that all her hires would go to college or go on to manage/own their own businesses.  While they worked for her, she made sure to train and encourage them so that they'd be prepared for college. Like every skit on the LLS show, from the very moment they stepped into the door, it was understood that they would leave for a better future and  would be replace with another person. It was a very good policy because she always had excellent staff who had new ideas and weren't "stuck"  in a job that they hated.  Everyone was better for the process.

...

You must be wondering what the paragraphs above have to do with  each other.  I can't say that I woke up thinking about either CF or JRT.  I actually woke up thinking about change in general.  I was thinking about the planned for changes and the changes that happen while we're planning something else.  I was thinking about how my mother hired people with the expectation that they were going to leave.  Must have been the teacher in her heart to train them to take the things that they'd learned from her and then use it.

Each morning I wake up to a slightly older and slightly different me.  Try as I might, there will be something new, welcome or unwelcome, that has changed in my life.  If I use that notion, ride my life changes like a surfer does a wave,  I stand a chance of having some control over what happens.  I might even grow and be happy with the results.  It might be good to look at life like my mom hired, "her girls".   Maybe I should wake up with the expectation that I should learn what I can here because I'll be somewhere else tomorrow.

...

I love to look at the old LLS videos.  They're still as fresh and inventive as the very first time that I saw them.  I've enjoyed the novelty of the robot as well. However, I feel as if the show has stopped changing.  It's stopped riding the wave of what is happening now. It's stuck.

I'm glad to see this new endeavor by JRT. I would expect him to grow and then, like my mom's hires, I would expect him to leave for better things.  I expect the LLS to be different and better for his  involvement.  I would encourage him to go follow his creative dream. Then I'd expect some new influence to take his place.

...

I am worried that the person who'll leave will not be JRT but Craig Ferguson.  With the same thing night after night? Maybe he already has.

From one of the Internet review sites

"

I Want the old Late Late Show Back

7.0

By airstreamer, Jun 09, 2013

Let me start by saying I Tivo Craig every night so I haven't missed a show in years.... I used to have such a crush on him... was actually disappointed when he got married... as if... He used to be so hot, and his show was, and still is the best late night show.... but its lost a lot of what made me love it... He used to be cute, but then he got that Mr. Cleaver crew cut hairdo... and started wearing three piece suits and got rid of the puppets and his monologue is now about his penis instead of interesting stuff that he used to talk about.... . I anticipate everything he's going to say now, because he says the same thing over and over... "See what I did" for example. The only part of the show that's good is the opening before the intro, with audience members, and guests if they're good.... the penis monologues the tweets and emails... terrible.... I rarely watch the whole show past the monologue unless a guest is someone I really like. Its a shame its going downhill.... it seems to be related to moving to the bigger studio, although he had the bad haircut before that.... if you look at the picture he shows sometimes, with his ferrets that's the haircut that made him so hot! "

 

 

I know that there are other fans who love the Geoff Peterson with Craig and the horse but people are beginning to complain.

 

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.Two AM.

And chocolate milk.

Have replaced tequila straight.

I still have the heels.

And the dress.

Just not the time

Nor the energy.

Which considering

Isn't bad.

Just different.

I don't miss it.

Well -

Sometimes.

Flying free

Only myself to blame

Or to consider.

Now?

It's spaghetti O's

or Not.

Organic.

 

 

 

You sit in my lap.

Oblivious.

Eat the cookie in your hand.

Inhale it.

Chocolate chip.

No nuts.

 

 

 

.

 

 

Your are the first person who I ever said "I love you. " to without the baggage and complications of life.

 

It's like jumping off the high dive.

 

You commit in a second but then relinquish the control to Fate or God or something primal.

 

The rest of your life or my life or both given over to an accident of tequila, bad choices, and  faulty birth control.

 

But now, sitting here, you look like a conscious, "big girl" choice.

 

It's not easy but it's a good idea.

 

Someday

 

Someday in our future.

 

We are going to miss this.

 

We'll argue like demi gods throwing lighting bolts at each other.

 

About what?

 

I dunno.

 

I do know it will seem important.

 

I hope that at that moment someone will remind us of chocolate milk and hugs.

 

About the day you smiled.

 

In your blue jumper.

 

When I looked down at you and by some miracle the corners of your mouth curled up and you laughed.

 

Astonished at the miracle of it.

 

 

.

 

 

I am so mad at you.

 

I told you NO.

 

I told you NOT to do it.

 

But you stood there.

 

With mud in your eye and a glimpse of your fierce independence you screamed ,"NO!" back at me.

You hurled it at me like a rock or a chunk of something.

That was when my mom smiled and said under her breath, "See, You pay for your raising."

 

I won't do that to you.

 

.

 

If it were up to me you would be spared all the "character building" moments that my mom wished on me. 

 

 

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2AM

Chocolate milk.

Empty glass.

You've gone to sleep.

Your head rising and falling on the dogs stomach.

I tried to get you to sleep but all that happened was more conversation.

But there now both of you are asleep on the couch.

Good night.

 

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House Divided

....



 

 

 

 

 

I've finally figured out how to solve my college football problem.

 

 

 

 

This is a what is known as a "house divided".   In Alabama people take their college football very seriously.  The Iron Bowl rivalry here in Alabama is legendary.  People have been known to get shot over the game. True, alcoholic beverages are usually involved but shot is shot and it is over this game and the rivalry between the two universities.

 

 

Which kind of leaves me in a tricky place when it comes to football. 

 

 

 

I've tried.

 

 

I've been to watch football at my folks house (the Auburn side of the family) and I've been to WB's folks house (the Alabama side of the family).  Everyone talks a big talk about it just being a game but I'm here to tell you that that talk gets a bit loud on both sides and it can follow you right into the local Dollar General.

 

 

I've tried and I'm tired of it.

 

 

And I've found the solution.

 

 

After much thought (4 or 5 minutes) and research (Google) and a random mention of a 1960's tv cartoon,  I have decided to become a fan of the Golden Gophers or Minnesota.  Not only do they have cute tshirts, they will never play either Alabama nor Auburn. 

 

They also won their last game.

 

(No drama about losing seasons and legal problems with their coaching staff.)

 

 

It's all good.

 

 

 

So Roll tide, War Eagle, and Go, go, gophers.

 

 

 

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