Some pretty good chatter,if I may say so myself, took place today with Shari Elliker of WBAL Radio and Paul Harris of HarrisOnline.com. In fact, I can practically guarantee when you're done listening you won't be saying, "Boy, I wish I had those 40 minutes back."
Which is what you were probably saying after the first 40 minutes of the ABC debate.
Last week I loaded the slick new Yahoo player on this page. It's so slick, in fact, that you may not even notice it at first. But basically the way it works is when you see a link to an audio file, look for this right next to it: 
Click on that and up pops the Yahoo player. Not only will it play that file but it will immediately load every single MP3 on the page, which you can scroll through like a jukebox. You'll never need this again.
First up, Shari and I talked about "Idol" and its slipping ratings. We also discussed tonight's "Deal or No Deal" and what might possibly be motivating the POTUS to go onto a game show.
WBAL 4/21/2008 - Shari Elliker
Next, Paul and I discussed upcoming HBO programs, I batted down some of the recent uncalled-for trashing of HBO, Barack Obama's and Bryant Gumbel's and Pam Ward's names came up, as did those of Charlie Gibson, George Steph, Stephen Colbert, Dick Enberg ... it's a packed half hour, let's just leave it at that.
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I was as snookered -- I'm sorry, surprised as anybody to turn on KCUR-FM one morning and behold the voice of Dan Verbeck. After all, I had just written his retirement story.
As it turns out, what Verbeck had retired from was well-paying union work as a commercial crimes-and-fires reporter. At age 63, he has embarked on a new career as general assignment reporter for KCUR, the NPR station serving our area.
I just spoke with news director Frank Morris, who confirmed that it is a full-time position and that it came as no surprise to either him or Verbeck. "He and I had been talking for eight years or so about getting over here," said Morris. "It was a good time for him to take (laughs) a massive pay cut."
I can't get too sore at Verbeck, since I should've spotted the warning signs myself. Two weeks after my story, Tana Guthrie -- another long-timer who had just been pushed out at a station owned the same radio company -- said to me, "Wasn't it obvious when they put him on the 2 a.m. shift?"
And anyway, the "poet of yellow tape," as Morris affectionately refers to him, has landed on his feet at a station likely to make better use of his talents than the one he just left. It's kind of what might happen if George Stephanopoulos were forced out at ABC and took a job at the "NewsHour."
Ha! We can only dream.
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This just in: The three remaining presidential candidates will be appearing on pro wrestling's "WWE Raw" tonight.
Make up your own jokes. They're just too easy! I'm moving on ...
