When I was first approached about doing this bloggerania, the all-knowing, all-seeing Web-Master! (That exclamation point is part of the Web-Master!'s legal name and must always be included...and it must always be in bold print.) said to me "Merle, (The Web-Master! has never known my name.) we would like you to put something on the web-site every now and then to let people know where you have been visiting and what you have been up to." At first, I was flattered, thinking this must mean that folks are really interested in me and my wanderings. Turns out it was just part of a court agreement reached by the station with the states of Missouri and Kansas regarding the several restraining orders issued against me by fore-thinking, random viewers and most of the other Channel 9 employees. Well, I often neglect that original reason for this cyber-silliness on the interwebs, so, today I am going to, at least, get caught up for this past weekend.

Friday Evening: Lenexa is celebrating its 100th birthday! They have had a bunch of neat things going on in town and one of the best was the Lenexa Starquest 2007 on Friday evening. The local talent on display ranged from nine years old to "I'm Not Telling!" It was my job to introduce the acts and get out of the way. We had a panel of judges from area theatres. When you are talking about fancy, schmancy stuff, you spell that word with an "re" at the end instead of the "er" that I grew up with. The singing talent displayed was exceeded only by the enthusiasm of both the entertainers and audience.

It reminded me a little of the local talent shows held in my hometown way back when. Now, I must say that the production values in Lenexa were terrific and, as mentioned, the talent was impressive but the general idea of giving folks a chance to strut their stuff is the same. Back home, it was the AFS Talent Show...I think that stands for American Field Service which was a way for the school to participate in the student foriegn exchange program. There was an ongoing effort to send me to Antarctica, for example. Anyway, it was fun to watch your friends and neighbors perform. Who am I kidding? It was mostly fun to watch your enemies try to entertain. I know of one upstanding, respectable member of our community...who shall remain nameless...who used to sit with his or her good friend and try not to laugh at some of the acts. It was great entertainment to sit behind this particular person just to watch his/her efforts at stifling the eruption of guffaws as musical notes were just missed and dance-steps were tripped-up. Good times. Good times.

It was at the AFS talent show that my brothers' Tijuana Brass band, called What's New, took the town by storm. They were a big hit. When my brother, the cheesehead version of Herb Alpert, played the opening to The Lonely Bull, the girls swooned. We think they were swooning, maybe it was just nausea. Most of their songs were upbeat and fun but they did a version of Where Is Love?, sung by the bass player that really did seem to make the females in the audience weak in the knees. Us guys thought it was stupid. Just stupid. Get back to the fun music. Let my brother, the drummer, sing Never-Ending Song of Love or something good. Enough with this wimpy, mushy stuff. It was at the AFS, that I first played piano in public. I lost. I didn't even get honorable mention. My trumpet playing brother felt I had really embarassed the family and did not do my part to continue the winning tradition established by What's New. I understood his disappointment but felt that his having my name officially changed to Jocko McLoserdork was excessive.

Saturday Morning: The Truman Run kicked off at 8:00 a.m. and it was a great turn-out. Over 300 walkers and runners made their way through historic Independence. My job was to welcome folks and introduce the dignitaries before the race. Three girls from a local Catholic school did a great rendition of The National Anthem. Father Rost gave a great pre-race prayer: "Dear Lord, Bless our knees. Amen." Apparently, St. Peter did suffer from shin splints at some point. After the race, I helped hand out the awards. My daughter and wife both got medals...which always raises the idea that the fix was in. But, they won them all on their own and, true to form, wore disguises when coming forward to claim them. Congratulations to all the volunteers, runners, and walkers who made the morning such fun-filled success.

Monday Morning: I went to one of my favorite places in our whole area: Kearney, Missouri. For many years I have visited Kearney Elementary and always leave in a good mood. The teachers, administration, parents and students are amazing. Great questions and good fun! We used to drive in and around Kearney a lot when our kids were little because we spent plenty of time at Watkins Mill Park. In fact, our second son Taylor was born the day after one of those round-the-lake jaunts. We're pretty sure that's what forced the issue. Also, my wife has ran in the Jesse James 5K for many years and I even emceed a pet-talent show in Kearney one time! So, Kearney brings back lots of good memories. Thanks to all the fifth graders for inviting me to your class.

By the way, this morning on FirstNews, you got the chance to see more of the newest member of the weather team, Lisa Teachman. You can watch Lisa every Saturday and Sunday morning on FirstNews Weekend Edition. She is a great addition to the KMBC family. Yes, I said family. A little dysfunctional maybe, but still a family!