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New York, New York, It’s A Heckuva Town

Published
by
Tim Russell
on April 8, 2009
in News
. 0 Comments

Prairie Home Companion is back at The Town Hall for a three week run. Last week we enjoyed meeting the talented Wynton Marsalis, who joined us in a Guy Noir script.

Wynton Marsalis Post Show

Wynton Marsalis Post Show

He’s a magnificent musician and the crowd loved hearing his Quintet.

Our other guest is the wonderful singer Heather Masse.

Singer Heather Masse

Singer Heather Masse

She is a member of The Wailin’ Jennys . They are taking a break for a few months so Heather is free to sing on the show with some regularity.

This week we will hear some talented duos with “The Great American Duo Singoff” on “A Prairie Home Companion”.

Tim is learning how to walk again after ankle surgery so his sightseeing adventures are somewhat limited, but it’s supposed to rain this weekend anyway. Enjoy the show from New York City.

On the road with again PHC

Published
by
Tim Russell
on March 31, 2009
in News, Prairie Home and Tim Russell
. 0 Comments

I had my maiden voyage last weekend with crutches on a flight to Appleton, WI to do “A Prairie Home Companion” at their beautiful Performing Arts Center. My foot responded by swelling like a Johnsonville Brat with 5 fat sausage toes attached. fortunately we stayed at the boutique Copperleaf Hotel. They have a wonderful spa in the building so I had a massage, which did wonders. The 5pm broadcast show was great and Garrison did a second non-broadcast show at 8:30pm. We finished at 11:20pm so the in-room whirlpool tub was a lifesaver the next morning before checkout.

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

Tim Russell: Hallway Terror

Published
by
Tim Russell
on March 24, 2009
in News
. 0 Comments

Dave Lee is WCCO radio’s new cinematic auteur, he created this Oscar worthy live action short demonstrating my new skills with the “Knee-Walker”. Cue Darth Vader:”Luke Knee-Walker, I am your father.”

Back In The Saddle

Published
by
Tim Russell
on March 23, 2009
in News, Prairie Home and Tim Russell
. 1 Comment

Today was my first day back to work as Entertainment Editor at WCCO Radio. I’m still not comfortable trying to drive, so Judy had to endure the 4 am wake-up to drive me to work. I used my “knee-walker”

Debbie Reynolds

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.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Published
by
Tim Russell
on March 17, 2009
in News
. 1 Comment

I had hoped to be with you Liiiiive! ( OK, I’m hooked on “Dancing with the Stars”) on WCCO, Monday the 16th, and this weekend on “A Prairie Home Companion” at the State Theater In Minneapolis, but when I made the announcement about returning to work one week after TURP prostate surgery, my Urologist said not so fast, I need to go back on the 23rd at the earliest, so that’s the new plan. I’m glad he did because, as I’m learning, it does take a while to heal those innards.

I’m going to have to miss another week on “A Prairie Home Companion” and that kills me, but they are bringing in Fred Newman so how can you go wrong with two Sound Effects guys. I hope Garrison arranges another “Sound Off” between Frad and Tom Keith.

I did have my first meaningful physical therapy session yesterday, and my range of motion with my broken ankle is coming along although my foot turns dark purple when I put it toward the floor. The therapist says that once the muscles learn how to fire up the blood should learn how to pump out of that foot again. It was a shock to be out of the house in 70 degree weather, I loved it. Two more weeks before any weight bearing on that foot, but I’ll be back on WCCO’s “Morning News with Dave Lee” doing entertainment news next and on Prairie Home Companion in Appleton,WI on the 28th.

Prostate Surgery (Where’s my Karma?)

Published
by
Tim Russell
on March 11, 2009
in News
. 0 Comments

Monday, March 9th, I had prostate surgery. The February 9th ankle surgery triggered a urine retention crisis that resulted in the Urologist recommendation that the time had come to deal with my BPH (Benign Prostate Hyperplasia). They had hoped to do a Laser procedure that normally takes around 50 minutes, but it wasn’t up to the task so the surgeon decided to revert to the TURP (Transurethral Resection of the Prostate) procedure that carves out the prostate tissue rather than vaporizing it. An hour and a half later, he took out 30 grams of tissue, which is about twice what they usually remove. This means a longer recovery with continued light bleeding and other issues that may last 8 weeks or longer. I had to stay in the Hospital overnight to monitor bleeding. I had some wicked spasms; the nurse said “that’s as close to a menstrual cramp as you’re going to get” (ladies, my condolences). They were terrific at flushing the clots out and making me more comfortable. I found an informative website, http://users.isp.com/keoni/turp/Whatis.html, full of information and personal experiences with TURP. I will get the requisite Foley Catheter removed on Friday and I’m hoping for the best. Meanwhile my broken ankle continues to heal. I have two more weeks of non-weight bearing crutch work. I’ll be visiting the Physical Therapist for weeks and they say 6 months from now my ankle should be back to normal. Here’s hoping. Next time someone says, “break a leg” before a performance I may request a new phrase. A simple “Good Luck!” will do just fine.

Broken Ankle Update

Published
by
Tim Russell
on February 25, 2009
in News, Prairie Home and Tim Russell
. 2 Comments

Complications

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.

Inside of ankle Outside of ankleIt 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.

AircastI 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 Russell Has a Broken Ankle

Published
by
Tim Russell
on February 16, 2009
in News, Prairie Home and Tim Russell
. 4 Comments

I had a nasty slip on the ice taking the garbage out before work at my day job ( as Entertainment Editor for “The Morning News with Dave Lee”, 5-9 am on WCCO Radio). I was walking back up the driveway my right leg slipped out from under me and my left foot, was dislocated, breaking both the tibia and the fibula right at the ankle. It felt like a compound fracture and when I looked at my foot after hitting the ground, it was dangling off to the side at a right angle.

Tim's left ankle before surgery.

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.

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.

tim-in-hospitalI 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.

Tim Russell’s Oscar Blog

Published
by
Tim Russell
on February 4, 2009
in Tim Russell
. 0 Comments

OscarOscar

Hats off to the Academy for putting together a very entertaining show last night. Hugh Jackman proved to be a great pick as  host, kicking things off at 7:3o with a recession shaped musical tribute to the 2009 nominated movies, and later anchoring an overblown big-time production number created by Baz Luhrman with Astaire like grace.”Slumdog Millionaire” was the night’s big winner with 8 statues and it was a joy to see the entire cast hit the stage to accept, especially the adorable child actors who were flown in from India for the event. I had “Slumdog” as Best Film and Danny Boyle as Best Director but overall my picks were not quite as successful. I was skunked on several peripheral categories, I missed with Mickey Rourke as the best actor,  but was impressed with Sean Penn’s acceptance. I had Kate Winslet as Best Actress and even though I thought Amy Adams would win as Best Supporting Actor I was right in saying Penelope Cruz should win, and she did. My pick tabulation: 9 right, 11 wrong, and in four categories I was correct with my “should win” predictions. This is why I stay away from VegasThe attempts at comedy were thankfully more successful than not. Tina Fey and Steve Martin set the bar high with some clever writing, Ben Stiller hot the mark with his parody of a distracted Joaquin Phoenix , and Judd Apatow delivered a clever “Pineapple Express” segment with James Franco and Seth Rogan reprising their stoners in a salute to the Comedies of 2009.I really liked the concept of having past winners deliver their well written tributes to the nominees in each of the major acting categories. The emotions seemed quite heartfelt.The show has it’s legitimate detractors, it’s always too long, but I must say I was very impressed with what seems to be a very successful reworking of the production. Way to go Academy, I’m looking forward to another year of cinema.

These were my picks for the 81st Annual Academy Awards as the Entertainment Editor for WCCO Radio:

1.        Best Picture: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Should win: Slumdog Millionaire

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire

2.        Actor: Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”; Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”; Sean Penn, “Milk”; Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler.”

Should win: Mickey Rourke

Will win: Mickey Rourke

3.        Actress: Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”; Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”; Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”; Meryl Streep, “Doubt”; Kate Winslet, “The Reader.”

Should win: Melissa Leo

Will win : Kate Winslett

4.        Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, “Milk”; Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”; Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”; Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”; Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road.”

Should win: Heath Ledger

Will win: Heath Ledger

5.        Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, “Doubt”; Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”; Viola Davis, “Doubt”; Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler.”

Should win: Penelope Cruz

Will win: Amy Adams

6.        Director: David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”; Gus Van Sant, “Milk”; Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”; Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Should win: Danny Boyle

Will win: Danny Boyle

7.        Foreign Film: “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Germany; “The Class,” France; “Departures,” Japan; “Revanche,” Austria; “Waltz With Bashir,” Israel.

Should win: “Waltz With Bashir”

Will lwin: “The Class

8.        Adapted Screenplay: Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”; Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”; David Hare, “The Reader”; Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Should win: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Will win: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

9.        Original Screenplay: Courtney Hunt, “Frozen River”; Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”; Martin McDonagh, “In Bruges”; Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”; Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter, “WALL-E.”

Should win: “Frozen River”

Will win: “In Bruges”

10.     Animated Feature Film: “Bolt”; “Kung Fu Panda”; “WALL-E.”

Should win: WALL-E

Will win: WALL-E

11.     Art Direction: “Changeling,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Duchess,” “Revolutionary Road.”

Should win: “The Curious case of Benjamin Button”

Will win: “The Curious case of Benjamin Button”

12.     Cinematography: “Changeling,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Should win: “ Slumdog Millionaire”

Will win: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

13.     Sound Mixing: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “WALL-E,” “Wanted.”

Should win: “The Dark Knight”

Will win: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

14.     Sound Editing: “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “WALL-E,” “Wanted.”

Should win: ”WALL-E”

Will  win: “Slumdog Millioaire”

15.     Original Score: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Alexandre Desplat; “Defiance,” James Newton Howard; “Milk,” Danny Elfman; “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman; “WALL-E,” Thomas Newman.

Should win:” Slumdog Millionaire”

Will win: “Slumdog Millionaire”

16.     Original Song: “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E,” Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Gulzar; “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam.

Should win:”Down to Earth”

Will win: “Sown to Earth”

17. Costume: “Australia,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Duchess,” “Milk,” “Revolutionary Road.”

Should win:” The curious Case of Benjamin Button

Will win:” The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

18. Documentary Feature: “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon),” “Encounters at the End of the World,” “The Garden,” “Man on Wire,” “Trouble the Water.”

Should win: “ Man on Wire”

Will win: “ Trouble the Water”

19. Film Editing: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Should win:”Slumdog Millionaire”

Will Win: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

20. Makeup: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.”

Should win: “ The Curios Case of Benjamin Button”

Will win: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

21. Visual Effects: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man.”

Should win:” The Curious Case of Benjamin Button “

Will win:” The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Sue Scott and Tim Russell on You Tube!

Published
by
Sue Scott
on January 27, 2009
in News, Prairie Home, Sue Scott and Tim Russell
. 1 Comment

Yes, Tim and I can now be heard AND seen doing our thing each week on A Prairie Home Companion.  Various sketches from the radio show are now being video taped and uploaded to YouTube.  You can peek in on what we’re doing live on the air for listeners all across the globe! Check out the videos of our APHC scripts posted on You Tube. Just to get you started, here we are (with Garrison and Tom Keith) in “Ruth Harrison: Reference Librarian”… Enjoy!