Comcast newsmakers

By the powers vested in me as your fearless leader of New Directions, I figured it was time to make a new appearance on the 5-minute interview show known as Comcast Newsmakers. My last appearance was May 2008. At that time I borrowed flowers from a neighbor's garden and used them as props. I also held up our last Compass that was published by Johnson and Johnson, before we had to pay for it ourselves. Not cheap! I said to the interviewer Carla Showell-Lee that we had just received a grant and we were hard at work putting out a new issue.

Truth be told, I was hard at work procrastinating. The endeavor seemed so monumental I couldn't think how it would ever get done.

You know how to do it? You assign people articles. One-third will never produce. But as soon as the first article comes in, you will feel so grateful and so beholden to them for taking the time and energy to write, that you'll do everything you can to publish the magazine.

I'm still not driving due to my sciatica, which alarmingly spread to my friggin neck and back....oh, listen to me complain for just a minute and then I'll shut up...I've finished...so Ada drove me to the Penns Landing studio where we arrived very early. I sat in my preferred seat, the backseat, unbelted, and had taken off my cervical collar for the first time in a week.

In other words, I was a tiny bit better today. If on a scale of 1 - 10 my pain had been 10, today it was down to 5. I walked w/o limping.

Ada and I met two interesting politicians who were recording before we were. Two very liberal Democrats who had done wonderful things for their constituents, made real changes. One woman was Babette Josephs, a state rep from Center City and environs. The other was state senator Larry Farnese. They had no interest in us whatsoever but I shoved a Compass in their hands and suggested they use their influence to have the eyesore property across the street (orig. scheduled for a casino but nixed) to be replaced with something the city can use. For example, how bout a nice actor's studio sponsored by Comcast, who as the largest cable operator and home Internet service provider in the world, could certainly afford it. Why not take kids from inner city schools and get them excited about acting.

Comcast has had some exceedingly bad publicity and their own customers rate them foul, so this would be a nice way of mending fences. Of course they're not gonna do it, but, hey let's put the idea out there anyway. Maybe Brian Roberts will read my blog.Yes, and maybe the Pope will convert to Judaism.

My anchor woman this time was Jill Horner. She was very good. You discuss the points to make in the interview and she'll direct your questions that way. I'd brought in my Compass mag which she held up and also my autobiog Yes I Can.

The one thing I feared the most was being cold. That studio is always freezing. Today was the only day that the A/C stopped working so it was actually a comfortable temperature.

Roberto, thanks, as always for your support. He came to my party and had a great time. I carefully chose my 40 guests to make sure they'd all get along well with one another and have plenty to talk about.

Everyone loved Claudia Beechman who sang her trademark song, La Vie en Rose. What a voice! Her husband Barry baked a banana bread for us. Homemade food is the very best. Lee Ann baked brownies which I ferreted away in the freezer so I wouldn't be tempted.

After the Comcast interview, and after blogging, what should I do? Any ideas?

Oh, they always give you the DVD after the interview and my son will load it onto YouTube and my website. While I'm happy with the interview, there was so much more that I wanted to say. I tried not to repeat myself.