The consummate Conservative host, Hugh Hewitt, and yours truly!
Shameless of me to post this, I know; however, I'm too jazzed to care. :-p
What a wonderful way to spend a Friday night! After an hour or so wandering through some of the exhibits at the Frazier Historical Arms Museum, I then got to spend three hours with Hugh Hewitt and 599 other fans of his show. I absolutely MUST say that not only was Hugh wonderful and the live show very entertaining, but his fans are absolutely the nicest people! I've seen other radio talk shows done live and mingled with fans of those shows. Hugh Hewitt's fans are the nicest, most down to earth, friendly people I've ever met. It's quite a credit to Hugh that he draws such a fan base.
If you haven't been to the Frazier Historical Arms Museum here in Louisville, it's a must-see. The museum shows an amazing artistry with the exhibits and places them in the context of the times in a very entertaining and educational way. Of course, the many priceless artifacts on display -- Daniel Boone's family bible, Custer's pistols, and pieces from the British Royal Armories, just to mention a few -- make this museum a must-see for any history fan. It's an amazing trip back in the history of warriors and their gear. I haven't seen such great exhibits and history on display since I visited the Tower of London two years ago. Amazing place!
Many of us who were wandering the museum's exhibits were anxiously checking our watches waiting for 5pm to draw nearer. I had attempted to get seats early but, when the elevator doors opened on the fourth floor, I was told by a museum employee stationed by the elevator that no one would be admitted until 5pm. Everyone was champing at the bit to get up there and find seats. Many of us, while standing in line at the elevator on the third floor, told the same story of being told "not until five o'clock!" and sent back down. And so it was that, at 4:45pm, there we all stood waiting to take the elevator up to the fourth floor for the final attempt. Many of us, myself included, had watches set purposely five minutes fast. When our watches hit 5pm there was a small debate in the crowd about those five minutes... but when the "Let's storm the tower!" cry was heard, we all headed up in the elevator to do battle with the lone museum employee. If boiling oil was necessary, I somehow believe we would have come up with some just to take the tower. Thankfully, none was necessary and success was ours. We were the first group to get seats.
As the crowd filtered in, I saw and chatted with many of my friends from local clubs and churches who had come to the show. I was pleased to have made new friends right there in the audience as well. The more we all chatted, the more I realized that I'm simply one of a whole lot of really bright, interesting, kind, funny, and genuine folks who find the same qualities so very appealing in Hugh. "Birds of a feather," I suppose.
If you haven't been to the Frazier Historical Arms Museum here in Louisville, it's a must-see. The museum shows an amazing artistry with the exhibits and places them in the context of the times in a very entertaining and educational way. Of course, the many priceless artifacts on display -- Daniel Boone's family bible, Custer's pistols, and pieces from the British Royal Armories, just to mention a few -- make this museum a must-see for any history fan. It's an amazing trip back in the history of warriors and their gear. I haven't seen such great exhibits and history on display since I visited the Tower of London two years ago. Amazing place!
Many of us who were wandering the museum's exhibits were anxiously checking our watches waiting for 5pm to draw nearer. I had attempted to get seats early but, when the elevator doors opened on the fourth floor, I was told by a museum employee stationed by the elevator that no one would be admitted until 5pm. Everyone was champing at the bit to get up there and find seats. Many of us, while standing in line at the elevator on the third floor, told the same story of being told "not until five o'clock!" and sent back down. And so it was that, at 4:45pm, there we all stood waiting to take the elevator up to the fourth floor for the final attempt. Many of us, myself included, had watches set purposely five minutes fast. When our watches hit 5pm there was a small debate in the crowd about those five minutes... but when the "Let's storm the tower!" cry was heard, we all headed up in the elevator to do battle with the lone museum employee. If boiling oil was necessary, I somehow believe we would have come up with some just to take the tower. Thankfully, none was necessary and success was ours. We were the first group to get seats.
As the crowd filtered in, I saw and chatted with many of my friends from local clubs and churches who had come to the show. I was pleased to have made new friends right there in the audience as well. The more we all chatted, the more I realized that I'm simply one of a whole lot of really bright, interesting, kind, funny, and genuine folks who find the same qualities so very appealing in Hugh. "Birds of a feather," I suppose.
The Fetching Mr. Hewitt!
Hugh entered to a standing ovation from the crowd just prior to going on air. He had an audience of 600 people -- many from across the bridge in Indiana as well as native Louisvillians. I must say, and I hope the fetching Mrs. Hewitt will forgive me, that Hugh is quite fetching himself. His publicity pictures will never be adequate as he has a smile and presence that certainly add to his overall "fetchingness." What a warm and genuine person!
His list of guests for this show was wonderful but we were all especially pleased to hear from our very own Congresswoman, Anne Northup, who handily won her race this November. I was sitting in the audience with a few friends who helped in that effort as well as in the re-election of President Bush. It was great hearing Hugh interact with our Congresswoman. I think he should spend more time getting to know her... she's done great things for us here in Louisville and is, in my humble opinion, right up there with Mitch McConnell as far as being a credit to Kentucky and improving the image of Kentuckians.
My friend, a veteran blogger named "CD" Dodd Harris, and I got in line to shake hands with Hugh toward the end of his show. Let me just say that Hugh is not only a huge proponent of blogging but he is very actively involved in the community. He was familiar with Dodd's blog, Ipse Dixit, already but he had just met some other Louisville bloggers at the show that he mentioned by name. Hugh is actually responsible for helping introduce me to a fellow blogger here in town, GotDesign. I have been blogging as part of the Cardinal Coalition, started by GotDesign, and yet had never met him. The blogging world is so funny really... we blog, comment, email, and link each other but rarely ever seem to meet in person. Hugh's live shows are a great conduit to facilitating that. Thank you, Hugh!
Salem Radio presented Hugh with a genuine, personalized Louisville Slugger
and a replica Civil War sword. Looks like there's gonna be a rumble, doesn't it?
It was actually kind of funny seeing how the crew back on the Left Coast (Duane and Emmett) handled the "Kentucky backdrop" of the broadcast -- hillbilly tunes and really lame movie choices. Fellas, I know you are capable of better. Okay, okay, I admit to enjoying the Grandpa Jones tune, "Eight More Miles to Louisville" and the choice of "The Fighting Kentuckian" for the top 10 Kentucky movies list, but that's all I'll admit to at this moment. I suppose my reactions to Emmett's movie choices were entertaining for Hugh as he asked me to come up and make a choice for the top movie in/about Kentucky. I was torn... Seabiscuit or Stripes? I had to go with Stripes. Thanks to Hugh, I am now known to friends as "the girl in the second row."
There seemed to be a little confusion, even on Hugh's part, about the differences between Kentucky and Tennessee. Don't get me wrong, it's not like this doesn't happen all the time. It's a common problem. So, for those Hugh Hewitt fans who want to feel a bit better informed and stop confusing Kentucky with Tennessee, here's a little primer:
Jack Daniels and any other whiskey -- TN or elsewhere
Maker's Mark, Woodford Reserve, and any other bourbon -- KY
(bourbons are only made in Kentucky)
Davey Crockett -- TN
Daniel Boone -- KY
16th State Admitted to the Union (1796) -- TN
15th State Admitted to the Union (1792) -- KY
Rocky Top -- TN
Blue Moon -- KY
Wear shoes (sometimes) and mostly speak with a Southern accent -- Anywhere in TN
Wear shoes and speak without a Southern accent (sometimes) -- Louisville, KY
(mostly just Louisville -- we're snobs here)
All in all, a great show and a wonderful Friday night thanks to Hugh's appearance here. Thank you, Salem Radio and sponsors, for bringing Hugh to town. Thank you, Hugh for being such an entertaining, warm, and wonderful host and human being! Y'all come back now, ya hear?
Comments
I wish I could have been there Friday night. I have lots of friends at Salem. I love Hugh and Medved and especially Dennis Prager. And though I work for the competition, I'm a big fan of WGTK.
I was so ticked off yesterday that the CJ said the Laura Ingraham show isn't available in Louisville. Did you see that? I was ready to spit! So I sent a letter to Pam Platt.
"Dear Pam,
I am beside myself over the misstatement in today's Courier Journal, saying the Laura Ingraham Show could not be heard on any radio station in the Louisville area.
This is an article by Paul Farhi of the Washington Post. One of your editors apparently took it upon himself to add that Louisville doesn't have the show. Who says? How does he know? From whom did he get his information?
You know, when you make a negative statement like that, you'd better know what you're talking about. Saying that something doesn't exist can only reasonably be said by someone who knows enough about what does and does not exist that they can confidently make the claim.
In fact, I've been listening to Laura Ingraham on AM-970, WGTK, Louisville, for over a year now. Where in the HECK has your editor been?
Did he bother to check the Laura Ingraham website?
I guess not, because it's there as plain as day.
Did he bother to check the WGTK website?
WGTK 970AM - The Talk of Louisville
Nope. It's there too. The thing that totally gripes me about this is that the article would have been FINE if you had just kept the darn CJ comment out of it. Instead you went and added something that is wrong and untrue.
Did it never occur to anyone there that if Laura Ingraham was on 290 radio stations that maybe, just maybe, she might exist in market 55? What a great time to mention that you can hear her here.
But to me this is just inexcusable. How, oh how, oh how did this ever happen?"
==============
Ok, so Pam writes me back today:
"Greg, with all due respect, get a grip. We made a mistake that we corrected today."
-- Greg