Wow, I made it seven weeks on KTLK! But as of last Saturday, th-th-th-that’s all, folks. At least for now. Clear Channel’s budgetary axe has swung and I was a part of the log they just couldn’t send sap through any more. (I must admit, I’m expensive…but I’m worth it. Single, well-to-do 40-something men, take note.)

Program director Doug Westerman couldn’t have been kinder about giving me the news. Clearly as pained to say goodbye to me as I was to him, he said he thought the show was going well, but that he had no choice because “ANNE’S SHOW” stuck out like a leafy limb on a wintery tree when CC account-o-bots went scanning the books. In fact, he’s writing me a letter to the effect that we “did radio right” on Night & Day, for which I’m thankful.

Look for me to spring up again soon, either online or on the air, if I can find a new radio home. We have not yet begun to scratch the surface of the Twin Cities art scene.

I may simply blog-it for a bit while I figure out the next iteration of the show, so don’t be surprised to hear from me. And I’ll keep the website up to date with fun events for you to attend.

Thank you for listening, and if you haven’t already…start SEEing art!

I’d like to know what you think of the concerts, plays, gallery shows, museum exhibits and other arts and culture activities recommended on the show. If you’ve attended anything you’ve heard about on the show, or an event we haven’t talked about (but should!), send me your comments! Good, bad or indifferent, your thoughts matter, and I’d love to hear from you!

As always, I invite you to call in with your comments or just to be part of the discussion at 651-989-KTLK (-5855). Thanks for listening and I hope you have a chance this week to see and be seen on the art scene! For links to what you heard on the show, click here.

What a magical night, for a Tuesday!

If you heard the show on Saturday, you know that I was planning to indulge in some live music tonight (Valentine’s Day), date or no date. When listener Terry came through with an offer to escort me, I decided to take him up on it. The show started at 7:00. Thanks to Google and to studio producer Ann Cole for the screening techniques to ensure that I wouldn’t be ditching a wacko at 7:15.

Terry was, in fact, delightful company and the perfect gentleman. Of course, one couldn’t help behaving respectfully in the soulful presence of Thomasina Petrus, T. Mychael Rambo and Ray Covington, not to mention Thomasina’s mother-in-law’s dangerously delicious chocolate cake, served as we were seated.  read more »

I hope you had as much fun listening to the show today as I did hosting it! Thanks to all of my guests: Jennifer Jeanne Patterson, author of 52 Fights (thanks also to Dan at Continental Diamond for taking our picture next to all that gorgeous bling!), filmmaker/foodie Craig Sinard, and movie maven Linda Thomas.

Great callers today, too, from Brit (an actual Brit…a Liverpuddlian even!) in Litchfield, who’s been married five times and counting (she swears it’s her good humor and Estée perfume that seduces them), to Teresa who will be going to bed early rather than crying into a birdbath martini like she did last Valentine’s Day, and Bruce and Maurice who weighed in on what it takes to find and keep a mate. Congrats to Bruce on 25 years of matrimony! Most of all thanks to Terry who doesn’t want me to go dateless Tuesday night—what a sweetie (and a brave soul for calling and admitting that he is dateless too!).

Now, check out my “Heard on the show” listings in the FIND IT section of this website and get out and celebrate Valentine’s Day or UN-Valentine’s Day, as you see fit! Have a wonderful week!

X O X O,

Anne

Only after I had decided that my first show in February would focus on Black History Month did I start to wonder why we still observe such a thing in this melting pot of a country. So I asked you on the air: Is Black History Month necessary? Does it serve to remind us that black history is a vital and inseparable part of American history? Or does it relegate black history to a 28-day spotlight and underline racial divisiveness? Do we make a big deal of Black History Month so the white folks won’t feel guilty?

Your calls were insightful and much appreciated. Guest T. Mychael Rambo and I heard from listeners from Anoka to Faribault. We heard from a couple of history teachers. And we heard from callers whose accents said “first generation immigrant.” While opinions differed as to whether Black History Month has a place in our schools and our communities (most said yes, a few sided with actor Morgan Freeman and said no), the concensus was clear that Americans of all ancestries ought to be celebrated equally as contributors to our cultural cornucopia. To express your opinion, click “Add new comment” below.

After all that intensity, T. Mychael and I started talking snacks and discovered that we both secretly love Arby’s roast beef sandwiches. And those bacon- and cheese-loaded Potato Bites—yum! How convenient of them to situate a restaurant so close to the KTLK studio.

For a listing of the Black History Month programs and activities we talked about on the show, and for listings from past shows, click here.

Just finished this week’s show and am planning tonight’s ultra-casual wardrobe for the Theatre Unbound 24-Hour Play Project at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, followed by Minneapolis City Council member Lisa Goodman’s birthday party, a fly-by at Jitters Cafe and Martini Bar, where friends-of-friends are gathering, and finally the Funky Beat party at sculptor and eventioneer Brant Kingman’s northeast Minneapolis studio, featuring live music by Chill 7 and, at midnight, aerialist Risa Cohen, whom I saw on New Year’s Eve and can’t wait to see again.

I want to thank everyone who called the show today, especially those of you who called from the St. Paul Winter Carnival after the Grande Day Parade. We heard from the Royalty, the Klondike Kates, the Ice Sculpture event, the Snow Sculpture event, and the Vulcan Krewe. We did not hear from Mayor Chris Coleman, however, and I am a bit disappointed about that. I figure he must be a bit overwhelmed with the sheer fun of it all, given that this is his first Winter Carnival in elected office.  read more »

Wow, I’d forgotten what it’s like to give birth! All that labor and then, bloop! The baby’s out and screaming. That’s what it felt like to finally get on the air today. And now I’m on that high you get when the baby falls asleep and you think, “I did it!”

But of course the birth is just the beginning. Then you’ve got to feed, clothe and nourish the new offspring until it takes on a life of its own. For tonight, though, mom and baby are resting and we’re both doing fine.

Many thanks to funsters Gail Weber, publisher of Exploring T.O.S.C.A., and Kathy Berdan, arts and entertainment team lead at the Pioneer Press, for their midwifery today. I wish we’d had four hours instead of two.

Gratitude also to my producer, Dave Harrigan, who played excellent music, from The Cars to U2, and even Boy George, just to humor me. At 21, I’m sure he’s accustomed to being embarrassed by us mom-types. He liked my reference to Cash Only night at The Cabooze, though. I saw fists in the air on that one.  read more »

Friends,

If you’re checking in to see when the show starts, relax—it’s not until next Saturday the 14th (update: 21st), as the station is still juggling producers. (Rather amazing to watch, epecially when they light ‘em on fire.)

Great crowd Thursday night at Marysburg. So much fun to see y’all and sing some tunes again after a month-long hiatus for the holidays. Of course now there’s one more reason to hang out at Washington & 3rd on Thursday nights, in addition to J. D. Hoyt’s, the Monte and the Burg—it’s The R Factor at the new Trocadero’s, just up the street. My heart is still racing a full day and a half after hotboy Emil Campbell (red suit, at right) brought that portable mic all the way into the dining room and sang to me. (Hear it? Thumpity-thump thump!) Jimmy May, I hope that photo you took turns out.  read more »

Wednesday night, and I am happy to report that a good day was had by all. Well, by me, in any case, because I got THE CALL!

“P. Dougie” has spoken and if he doesn’t fire me for calling him that (which I do out of love and respect, don’cha know), I will be starting my new radio show at 5pm Saturday, January 7.

To celebrate—and because I promised—I took my son Jonathan and his girlfriend Nicole out for sushi at Tom Pham’s new Anemoni.  read more »

Okay, so it’s midnight on Tuesday, December 27, and I’m climbing the walls (which isn’t hard, since I live in a split-level home in suburbia, the ceilings of which are not that high) and I don’t know for sure if I am starting a new show in two weeks.

New Year’s Eve is a Saturday night (how perfect is THAT?) and then on January 7th I’m supposedly behind a mic at Clear Channel studios in St. Louis Park, funnin’ up your Saturday happy hour with chat about “what’s there to do around here?” Supposedly. I’m waiting.

Specifically, I’m waiting for a call from Doug Westerman, fill-in host on KFAN shows and program director (or PD, as we call ‘em in the biz) of the new KTLK, the FM talk station, at 100.3 where “smooth jazz” used to be.  read more »