Greetings. I have been away from the web log for a while -- first vacation and then a trip to Los Angeles. Thank you to Mark Wheat for filling in. I went to the mountainous west for some serious R and R, away from everything electronic, and enjoyed some high altitude air and majestic vistas.

After that I went to L.A. to visit our studios there. L.A. is where we produce Marketplace, Marketplace Morning Report, Marketplace Money and the new show, Week-end America. I met all the staff there and watched (and listened) to them do their work. It is a very impressive work group and I really enjoyed getting to know them better.

There are some big music fans in the L.A. group and it was fun to see The Current's bumper stickers on people's cubicles and bulletin boards. Jane, of "Jane's Music," directs Marketplace and helps make sure it has great music. At Week-end America, music is often front and center, with our own Mark Wheat contributing frequently to music reviews, along with Alan Light and other interesting commentators. Here's a link to their recently featured music.

Over the next couple of weeks, we have some big changes coming to this web log. The Current's DJs are going to take over and they'll be contributing to the web log daily. Everyone is gearing up by learning the software (trust me, it's really easy)and deciding who will write on which days. Watch this space!