Harry Smith joins Sue Scott and Tim Russell on PHC

This past weekend Harry Smith of the CBS “Early Morning Show” joined the “Royal Academy Of Radio Acting” for a night. He performed flawlessly in “The Lives of the Cowboys”, even warbling a cowboy tune.  He also negotiated through a script replete with tongue twisters and the word Piscacadawadaquadimoggin.

Why would he subject himself to such treatment? It fulfills an opportunity to check off an item on a “Bucket List” of dream jobs he created for the “Early Morning Show”. His adventure will be told on that CBS show Thursday morning, October 29th.

Harry was a great guest and his film crew and producer Eric couldn’t have been nicer.

We started a new season of “A Prairie Home Companion” this Saturday an amazing performance by Garrison Keillor. Just three weeks after suffering a “minor” stroke he was in charge and in control, both for the first show, and the street dance, which traditionally follows the opening show each season at the Fitzgerald Theater.

Sam Bush and his band, newcomer singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz, and singers Andra Suchy and Connie Evingson all performed.

Later Saturday night, I attended the cast and crew screening of  “ A Serious Man”, the newest Coen Brothers film opening next weekend. It is terrific, thought provoking, and hysterical at the same time. I predict a Best Picture nomination for the brothers again this year, in spite of my appearance in the film as “Detective#1”. (Watch for me at the :48 second mark in the movie’s trailer).

I introduced my self to Joel Coen and he was most gracious about my participation. Before the 9pm VIP screening I introduced Lucinda Williams, the head of the Minnesota Film and TV Board.

How lucky is it to have survived the cutting room floor in films by Robert Altman and the Coen Brothers?

This Friday we start a three week run at The Town Hall in New York City.

Amy Carlson Gustafson, a writer for The St. Paul Pioneer Press was kind enough to note my return to work in her “Hot Dish” column.

WCCO’s Tim Russell back on air

It’s been six weeks since listeners got their entertainment updates from WCCO radio’s Tim Russell. Blame it on the ice. Last month, Russell took a nasty spill on a patch of ice while taking out the garbage. Not only did he dislocate his left foot, but he also broke two (!) bones in his ankle. It was painful just listening to him describe the incident. As if that wasn’t enough, the ankle surgery preceded prostrate surgery that he underwent earlier this month. (You can read more about his various health issues on his blog.) While he was out recovering, the station was sans an entertainment editor and “Prairie Home Companion” had to do three shows without one of its regulars. Well, we’re happy to report that this week Russell is back behind the mic at WCCO and will be at the “PHC” show in Appleton, Wis., this weekend.  So how did Russell survive weeks of bed rest? “American Idol,” “Dancing With the Stars” and other television shows helped. “I watched Gordon Ramsay’s ‘The F-Word.’ They run that thing constantly on BBC America and his “Kitchen Nightmares,” too. I had never seen Gordon Ramsay before so it’s a revelation,” Russell joked. Check out this amusing video of Russell navigating the WCCO studios with the aid of his “knee walker.”

Posted by Amy Carlson Gustafson in the Pioneer Press on March 24, 2009

Debbie Reynolds

to scoot around since I’m still Non-weight bearing on my broken ankle. I had a few technical issues trying to get back in the groove, but it felt comfortable after  about an hour or so.The mail slot was full but it was lovely to see all the get well cards-thanks to all of you who sent those the kind and caring sentiments. More physical therapy this afternoon, then followup visits with the Urologist and Orthopedic surgeon later this week.Tuesday morning I’ll be chatting with Debbie Reynolds, hope you’ll tune in.

I had a first look at my ankle repair on Monday when they opened up my original splint, it looks like Frankenstein’s neck, neatly stitched on both sides, no bolts sticking out but more screws than I thought., 9 in all, plus the plate on the outside of the ankle.

It felt very weird, but I am starting to move it a little. They outfitted me with an Aircast, a cast that can be removed to wash the foot and ice it down. Next Monday they will take out the sutures and I can get started with Physical therapy.

I was shocked to see the muscle loss on that calf. I’ve got my work cut out for me.
Complicating everything, my surgery has evidently been the trigger point for a urological issue. I have always had an enlarged prostate but the problem of urine retention has now become something that must be addressed surgically. I will have a Laser Prostate Reduction on March 9th, it’s an outpatient procedure under local anesthesia., with a few days recovery time. Wish me well. The interesting part of all this is I had to learn Intermittent Male Self Catheterization, not for the faint of heart.

Tim's left ankle before surgery.

Screaming ensued, at that point you think of all the things you wanted to do , clean the garage, move furniture for a sale, start the Nordic Track training again, things that you know are out the window for a while. I had my Cell with me so I called my wife, in bed sound asleep ( it was 4:45am), then I called 911. Some of my neighbors heard the screaming and they called 911 and came by to help. We had to salt the driveway so no one else would be hurt. I was there on the icy driveway for about 20 minutes waiting for the ambulance, it seemed like an hour. I like it when they say “which foot is it?”. That would be the one dangling off to the side, I believe! They loaded me up with morphine and took me to Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital. I cursed every one of those Minnesota potholes while calling the boys at WCCO to tell them I wasn’t going to be around for a while. My wife followed armed with a small Kodak Z16 HD pocket video camera to document the proceedings. The sight of my ankle in the ER is perfect for viewing at family gatherings at holidays… like HALLOWEEN! My first holding room was so small that the personnel kept bumping into my foot; it was a “Three Stooges” routine. After some X-Rays, they reset the dislocated foot. This is where in the old Western movies, they would say “Drink a swig of this and bite down on this leather” but today they have these things called drugs, I didn’t feel a thing. I couldn’t eat or drink before surgery, which finally happened at 8pm, it was 1 hour and 40 minutes long, took 8 screws and a plate and the orthopedic surgeon did a great job.

Tim's ankle with all the new titanium.

I stayed in the hospital until Thursday afternoon (2/12), resting; being poked and prodded, learning to handle the crutches and the bathroom.

I needed some grab bars installed at home, so my wife arranged the installation for Friday morning. I moved to a transitional care unit near our house Thursday to have an extra day for Judy to get the house ready.

Valentine’s day I went home to my new bed/office/media center. Judy cleared out the area rugs, had the bars installed, moved the furniture around and had everything just right. Luckily, I had a Valentine present sitting in the back seat of my car for a couple of weeks so I had some small way to thank Judy for all the hard work.

I need to stay in bed until Monday (2/23) when the surgeon will open up the splint and wrap to check and hopefully remove the staples and sutures. She would then put a removable cast on and I’m on a non-weight bearing situation for another 4 weeks. She says it will be another 6 months or so before the ankle will be somewhat normal.

The biggest loss in all of this is missing work for a couple of weeks. I so enjoy the camaraderie and good times on the morning show on WCCO, and the movie preview screenings 4 or 5 times a week. I hope to look into an ISDN installation for voice-overs and WCCO, but losing the chance to be on stage live with Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” is particularly rough.

Fortunately, PHC has a three-week break before a 3/21 show at the State Theater in Minneapolis and by that time I should be hobbling around with skill. I look forward to it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEq7ADBGW-8

We recorded this on a Friday night for broadcast the next day. It’s one of the few times Garrison will do this, out of deference to the LA audience who would bake in the sun if we did the show live at 3pm LA time.

We were pleased to work with Martin Sheen and Bonnie Raitt. Martin has been with us twice before and is a huge Garrison fan, having listened from the earliest days of the show. He took part in the “Guy Noir” and “The Lives of the Cowboys” scripts as well as a tribute to Robert F. Kennedy. Garrison also poked fun at his “struggling actor days” with a presentation of several fictitious appearances on TV and the big screen.

Bonnie Raitt has been with us once before and, in addition to her fabulous musical performance, aided by Richard Thompson, Keb Mo, and The Guys All-Star Shoe band, she showed her acting skills in the “Guy Noir” script.

The amazing Jearlyn Steele had her usual show stopping performances.

After the show the backstage crowd included Martin’s family, Emilio Estevez and his significant other, Sonja, plus several more.

Vince Vaughn and Peter Billingsley showed up with Peter’s 103 Great Aunt Blanche. She was lively and loved the show.

Vince and Peter came back to say hello after our Minnesota State Fair Show last September. Writer Greg Fiedler is a contributor to A Prairie Home Companion in addition to writing for “The Soup” on the “E” Network. He often appears on the live comedy segments with host Joel McCrae on “The Soup”.

Thursday, June 5th, we drove to the offices of our LA agents Vox, Inc. on Wilshire Boulevard. We met with Tom Lawless, Jerome Titshaw, and Jason Merrell. Jason came to the show with a friend and enjoyed the backstage scene as well.

Tim had a call Friday night from Vox booking him for a series of spots Monday morning at LA Studios near Universal City. Turns out it was an ISDN patch with a Twin Cities Agency. Technology has made this a small world, we can do a job on a moment’s notice wherever we are.

Some of the Tourist highlights for Tim and his wife Judy include the new Glendale shopping attraction, Americana at Brand, from the folks who did the popular Grove Shopping Mall near The Farmers Market. We enjoyed a great meal at the new Katsuya Restaurant at Americana.

The Griffith Park Observatory has just completed a 93 million dollar renovation and is a must see attraction. The Planetarium Show is spectacular.

The Huntington Library and Gardens has also undergone a total renovation, 20 million dollars worth, and proved to be a lovely place to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The Cactus Gardens were surreal for a couple Minnesotans.

If you go to Old Pasadena, we would recommend the Santorini Café for outdoor dining with a Mediterranean flair.

Los Angeles in early June with the Jacaranda Trees in full bloom, is a great place to be and we always look forward to our visit.

McCain Might Not Like the Sound of This

By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts
Friday, May 16, 2008; C03

The man’s been the presumptive GOP nominee for two months already, so it’s about time someone mastered a John McCain impression.

That person is voice actor Tim Russell, a 16-year veteran of Garrison Keillor‘s “A Prairie Home Companion” public-radio show, who in a skit last week showed off a delightfully husky Bill Clinton and a somberly resonant Barack Obama– but whose McCain voice was so eerily evocative you’d think the Arizona senator himself stepped in for a cameo. (With all due respect to Darrell Hammond, who recently debuted a solid McCain on “SNL.”)

“Let me tell you something, my friend,” Russell-as-McCain warned the show’s Hillary Clinton ( Sue Scott). “When you and the skinny guy get done cutting each other up, I’m waiting for the winner in the parking lot.”

How does he get that voice so right? “It’s a little bit of Ronald Reagan,” Russell told us on the phone from Minnesota, “a little bit of Carol Channing, and Liberace.”

Carol Channing?! “It’s the ‘s’ [sounds] — there’s a little sibilance involved. It’s the nasality that comes from Liberace. From Reagan, it’s just that breathy tone.”

Plus, there’s McCain’s trademark verbal tic. “I saw him doing a town hall meeting and I was struck by the number of times he said, ‘my friend.’ I thought, ‘Holy cow, there’s a hook.’ We always have our ears open to that kind of thing.”

McCain is easy, he said, compared with Obama, whose tics are subtler, as Russell demonstrated for us: “He only talks [pause] in two or three words [pause] at a time.” And he contracts “you know” to “yo.”

Russell’s big concern: That Minnesota’s own Gov. Tim Pawlenty may end up as McCain’s VP pick. “He’s got a good talk-show-host voice, very straight, nothing to pick up on,” he said. “Anyone who’s normal is always trouble.”