American Morning
Phish returns: A 'phan' reflects
Phish is back… again!
After a nearly five-year absence, the kings of the jamband scene reunited for a three-night run at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton Virginia last week. The venue occupies a special place in the hearts of many Phish fans because their incredibly popular live album Hampton Comes Alive was recorded there.
Phish opened the show with their classic anthem “Fluffhead,” a lengthy, multi-sectioned tune from their debut 1988 album Junta..
It was the band’s first performance of the song since 2000 and the fans responded with raucous applause.
The crowd’s raw emotion can be clearly heard on a clip posted on youtube by a fan here.
By all accounts, they not only played “Fluffhead,” they nailed it. This also goes for the rest of the Hampton shows. In all they performed 86 songs over three nights. Internet message boards still lit up with comments about songs they didn’t play; I leave it to the reader to name another band that can play nearly 90 songs and still manage to leave something out!
John Roberts: Honored by Canada
There are moments in life where you look back and take stock of everything that has happened over the years – a sort of reflection of where you started, where you ended up and where you might go in the future. I had one of those moments on Thursday when I was inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame.
It was in Canada, because that's where I started my career – as a newsman in the proverbial 5000 watt radio station in the middle-of-nowhere. I did the requisite tour of small town radio before landing at the nation's powerhouse station. From there, I embarked on a hectic, tortuous and sometimes calamitous road through music journalism, the launch of a 24 hour cable music channel, local news in Canada and the US, a network morning show back in my birthplace, CBS News, a 6 year stint as White House Correspondent, then to CNN and American Morning. Somewhere in between, 34 years went by, which is just absolutely stunning to me.
Men vs. Shark: Two Hour Battle to the Death
They are the pictures everyone is talking about today. A spear fisherman going head-to-head with a tiger shark in the Gulf of Mexico.
A two-hour battle – caught on tape. They say they did what they had to do – so everyone could get out alive. Spear fisherman Craig Clasen, photographer D.J. Struntz and videographer Ryan Mcinnis joined us live to give their first-hand account.
Girl Scout Cookie Controversy
One girl scout turned to the internet to sell more Girl Scout cookies for her troop. With the help of her dad she linked a page to Facebook where people can order cookies online and even posted a cute you-tube video.
Seems innovative and innocent enough, right? But the Girl Scouts of America says she's breaking the rules that clearly state you cannot sell cookies online and they want her to stop. Bryan freeborn and his daughter, wild, joined us live.
Minding Your Business – Cramer vs. Stewart
Watercooler consensus this morning is Jon Stewart won the battle of the funny man and the money man. Stewart's ratings are up 20 percent since this 5-day feud erupted. Cramer's are down. No way to measure the value of all the free publicity these guys are generating because of it. (Though Stewart poked fun at being able to raise advertising rates because it.)
Stewart made the most eloquent assessment yet about how Wall Street's side-bets in complicated derivatives and its aggressive leveraging hurt the responsible buy-and-hold investors who are the backbone of the financial system. And CNBC was nothing more than a cheerleader, he blasts.
Leave it to the Daily Show's staff: They certainly watch ALOT of cable tv news tape. The big showdown last night between Stewart and CNBC Mad Money man Jim Cramer was chock full of embarrassing videotape of Cramer. Clips from 2006 (some featured a couple days ago by CNN's own Jim Acosta) that showed Cramer seeming to talk about manipulating the market.
Dental Gold for Cash
As the economy sours, Americans are finding surprising and novel ways to just to get by. In pawn shops, shopping malls and jewelry stores across the nation people are parting with sentimental and not-so-sentimental gold jewelry to pay off the bills. Helping all this along are scores of television ads from “cash for gold” companies that promise to pay up.
In Wauwatosa, Wisconsin this week, Lyssa King of Gold Buyers set up a booth in the Mayfair Mall and was overwhelmed by long lines of customers. At two in the afternoon she ran out of cash and was forced to go to the bank to pay off people wanting to trade in their rings, necklaces, and bracelets.
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