3/12/2007

Guess what today is…that’s right, the Girl Scouts Anniversary. NO!!! GUESS AGAIN !!! …Liza Minelli’s birthday? Well, okay, but- who else?…okay, James Taylor…but, who else that sings? No, not Al Jarreau- I mean, it IS his birthday, but…who else? Beat poet Jack Kerouac ? Okay, but…astronaut Wally Shirra ? Never mind, time’s up…it’s…me. It’s my birthday. How old am I? Well, let’s just say that my age is plastered over a lot of speed limit signs…on the local expressways. Which usually are moving a lot slower than that, but, then again, so am I, at this age. To be honest, aging has never really bothered me much. I remember, as a grade school kid, being assigned to figure out how old I would be in the year 2000. I recall just being aghast at the prospect of hitting Y2K- and being in my late forties!!! Wow- that seemed so OLD!!! Your perspective of what you consider old when you’re a kid is very different from your adult viewpoint. When I was a teenager, I remember being very surprised that some of my favorite people on television were in their late 50s or early sixties. I would have guessed that they were, at the very least, around forty. At the time, I marveled at how some of these people probably struggled in obscurity, doing lesser gigs, before finally hitting it big at such an “advanced” age. I wondered if I would EVER get anywhere before I was well on my way to an AARP card. When I had the opportunity to work side by side with some of the people I admired and grew up listening to- like my mentor, Jerry G. Bishop, Dick Orkin of the “Chicken Man” series, deejays like Jim Stagg and Joel Sebastian- I didn’t really consider how much older they were than I. They were just guys that I really respected and whose work I’d enjoyed, and it was so cool to actually be working with them. I hope that my younger co-workers have the same viewpoint of me (maybe not so much the respect, maybe…I’m a guy who gets hit with rubber chickens, fer pity’s sake…) The next landmark “Birthday” or anniversary date for the Svengoolie show would probably be June of 2009-if we make it that far- which will be thirty- that’s right, THIRTY- years since I first appeared on TV as the Sven character. Would I ever have expected to still be doing it today? Nope. Consider that Jerry G.’s original Sven show really only lasted about three years. How could I hope to even make it that far?! I’ve had a lot happen to me in my life- some amazing things, some tragic things, but, mostly, a lot of good things. I guess I’ve survived a variety of pitfalls, both personal and professional- and had the help of a lot of people, some in big ways, some in small- but help nonetheless. So- thanks to everybody who helped me find my way thus far. That includes you guys who’ve watched my shows, and supported what I do. Now, I’m going to rest up for a while…it’s gonna take a heckuva lot of breath to blow out all those candles…oh, and it’s also Barbara Feldon’s birthday- but she’s got it easy- she was always 99! (…get it? She was Agent 99 on “Get Smart?” She…don’t mind me, I’m just a babbling old man…)