This past Saturday I got the best treat ever. Not many of you will know that I am a huge fan of the NPR radio show A Prarie Home Companion. My love of NPR begin with my grandmother while visiting her in New York every summer. It was the soundtrack of her life and by the time I was about 18 I was hooked. I like hearing the news through them because it leans in my direction and is just enough information for me to think about without depressing me, like the TV news and newspapers. Anyway, I don't remember when it happened but I fell in love with the great variety and gameshows they have and secretly wished I could see one in action. Well, on Saturday Bridgette and I went to see a live taping of A Prarie Home Companion at the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville. What an incredible treat! She has liked the show for a long time also. Not only was it great fun, but there were no kids, yummy wine related snacks and a bottle of wine!
Though these grapevines are beautiful and actually growing grapes, most of the grapes grown for their wines are grown in Eastern Washington. Appearently it has something to do with the fact that they get more sunshine over there then we do. As you can tell by the thickness of the vine stalk, these are still pretty old. At least 10 to 15 years. Really cool to see.
Some pictures of the sound stage and the homey setup. There were even advertisements for "Powdermilk Biscuits," "The Catchup Advisory Board," and "Guy's Shoes." Pretty cool to get to actually see what we have been listening to for so long.
The Bridge and I before the show started and before to much wine!
After having babies and being off the sauce for so long, both of us were light weights! 2 glasses each and we reached our limit.
Before the show was actually broadcasting over the airwaves Garrison Keillor actually warms up the audience by walking around, through the crowd, shaking hands and singing littles tunes. I was bold enough to go up and shake his hand. He really is very tall! And I love a man in a seer sucker suit!
There is also this awesome sound effects guy, Fred Newman. He makes ALL of the sounds for the show. Animals, cars, airplanes, you name it. If it's in the script he does it. It was super cool to see him in action. He was totally not what either of us pictured.
The rest of the radio acting cast. My apologizes to Tim Russell for cutting him off of the picture. He does great accents and is really funny and great at ad-libbing. Sue Scott is the female voice.
There was a great a capella singing group called the "Bodacious Ladyhood," that really jives and a young lady singer named Sara Jarosz who performed as well. You should really go to the Prarie Home website and listen in. Sara Jarosz has a voice that channels a little bit of Patsy Cline, with a little backroads, blue grass feel to it. (http://www.prariehome.publicradio.org/)
There I made it easy for you! But keep reading, there's more.
I don't know how much he writes down in preparation and how much is off the cuff, but he really just goes with the flow and it can be really funny one minute and very thought provoking the next.
He did Guy Noir, Private Eye, and used the Alaskan Way viaduct as the back story. There were some really passionate people in the audience. You could tell he does some homework before he comes to town.
Truth be told, we did talk about the boys a little bit. Sometimes you just need to hear that someone else is going through the same thing and feeling just as frustrated in order to know that you're not doing anything wrong and everything will be alright. We also talked about the daddies too. I guess we have more in common then I knew. I won't get into here, but it involves remote controls, helicopters and airplanes. I won't bore you with the gory details.
Thank you Bridgette! It was an amazing afternoon! I am so blessed and grateful to have such a good friend in my life!
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