Trial Balloon: December 12, 2008 Archive

Radio Heartland is underway and in my personal opinion, it sounds great! But then Mike Pengra and I picked all the music so naturally we're inclined to like it. I am a bit embarrassed that everything connected with the effort seems so Dale Connelly-centric. Who does this guy think he is?
Quite a few behind-the-scenes people at MPR gave up lots of precious time to make Radio Heartland happen. They were already working on other important projects but managed to make room for this quite sudden addition to the MPR universe.
If you have access to Adobe Acrobat Reader you can see the list here.
Remember these names. They belong to heroes.

Thanks also to listeners Jane and Tim and Rynda, who were keen enough to notice that we skipped a visit with Bart the Bear during the final broadcast. We were moving into the last segment of the show and I knew something had to be jettisoned if we were going to come in on time (a broadcaster's proudest moment - hitting the mark!). Poor Bart was tossed overboard much to the dismay of our producer, Mike Pengra, who loves Bart like a brother. In fact, they may be related, though Bart is sure to have more meat on his bones at this time of year. If you have access to Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can read the missing script.
We also tossed aside an early bit from Spende-Popper to make room for a lovely recorded tribute from Garrison Keillor. It was not a tough decision.

I appreciate all those who have said the first installment of my Radio Heartland show was reassuring. I admit it was eerie without Jim Ed in the studio. I turned on two microphones instead of one a couple of times, a longstanding habit. I also left a few conversational gaps - openings just the right size for a lightning quick Jim Ed-style amplifying comment, but nothing came. Sigh.