OH MY GAWD...HERE WE GO AGAIN!

Just when I thought we were about finished with all these freaking hurricanes and other tropical systems, here comes Jeanne! Now, this track could change all over again before the weekend ends, but most of the computer models point generally toward us. And to make things even more freaky, what remains of Ivan just WON'T GO AWAY! It did a turnaround from interior Alabama/Georgia, went back into the Gulf of Mexico, and now is hounding the northwest Gulf Coast. This is simply a crazy hurricane season for our region!

Some other random notes this Thursday afternoon...

---Sad news from New Orleans, not weather related: The death over the weekend of Ellis Marsalis, Sr., patriarch of the great family of jazz musicians including grandsons include Wynton, Branford, and Delfeayo. He was 96 years young. His funeral was earlier today in New Orleans. It would only be fitting if there were a traditional jazz tribute to this stalwart of the Crescent City and civil rights activist through the French Quarter with the band playing "When The Saints Go Marching In", because this is one gentleman who brought so much to so many through his family.

---Speaking of music, heard the latest work from a wonderful artist on radio yesterday. Josh Grobin is only 22 years old, but he has a talent that is well beyond his years. The song, "Remember When It Rained", is such a moving piece that you get easily taken into the emotion of the moment. Discovered by music producer David Foster when he sought vocalists for California governor Gray Davis' inauguration, he signed the then-16 year old and soon had him filling in for opera superstar Andrea Bocelli during the dress rehershal for the 1999 Grammy Awards. Heard by comedianne Rosie O'Donnell, she invited him on the spot as a guest on her show, and that was followed by numerous other appearances, highlighted by a PBS "Great Performances" special and a spot with Charlotte Church at the closing ceremony of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. After working with a wide variety of artists throughout his stellar career, including Chicago, Celine Dion, Madonna, and The Tubes, Foster has found his best project yet. This is a truly gifted young man who will be along for a very long time.

---Now, I've got to comment here about the whole CBS "Memogate" scandal. Let's be blunt here...there were simply some STUPID individuals on West 57th that didn't dot all their i's and cross all their t's to insure that everything was as it should be, and made some DUMB decisions. That's what happens when some people are anxious to get a story on and hopefully make a name for themselves in the meantime. There will be the appropriate bloodletting to save some face among people who were involved, but it will not reach CBS News President Andrew Heyward or CBS Nightly News anchor/managing editor Dan Rather. Some, especially in the conservative community, will not be happy with that, saying that Heyward and Rather have liberal leanings and should either step aside or be fired by parent company Viacom

---And close to home, if you let people know they can get free food (read: food stamps) on an honour system with lax rules...they will come...and they did! THOUSANDS DID! Word got around Lakeland like wildfire, and people came to the Lakeland Centre FAST.