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Madame President and Me On Air America!
This morning I paid a visit to my favorite morning show, Morning Sedition, with Marc Maron and Mark Riley on
Air America Radio. They were doing a remote broadcast from the Strand Bookstore as part of the show's summer tour.
Riley was on vacation so Maron was flying solo today.
Among today's guests was Manhattan Borough President and Mayoral candidate, C. Virginia Fields.
I always liked Fields and I think she is one of the better candidates to challenge Mayor Bloomberg this year. I had attended her forum on the smoking ban last year and I thought that she was pretty fair minded.
After Marc Maron finished his interview with her they opened the floor to questions. I was the first one up and I asked the question that was on every barowner and club goers mind.
"Madame President", I began respectfully, "Last year Mayor Bloomberg tried shutting down bars and clubs and at 1 am. If you are elected mayor what time will you allow bars and clubs to stay open till.?"
She answered with this question,"What time are you open till now?"
"4 am", I shot back.
"Well keep on doing that!" she said to thunderous applause. She said she thought it was ridiculous to consider closing any earlier in this city. When she goes out of town, she said that it is so frustrating to find that bars close at 1 and 2 am.
Marc Maron totally agreed saying how he is ready to go drinking at 12:30 in some towns and they're already calling last call .
I wished her luck with her campaign and signed her petition to get her on the ballot. We could do a lot worse than C. Virginia Fields for mayor this year. I think we may have a real friend of nightlife with her as mayor.
Marc Maron's other guest's were Eric Bogosian ( I won a copy of his new book "Wasted Beauty" which he autographed for me), comedian Jim David, and Village Voice cartoonist Ward Sutton.
Marc Maron (who adopts stray cats from his yard in Astoria) told me he uses the same vet for his cats that I use for mine, The Astoria Veterinary Group. I heartily recommend them to any pet owner in Northern Queens.
Here are some pictures from this morning's broadcast.
Marc Maron with the owners of the Strand Bookstore.
Maron reads one of his comedy bits.
Maron with C. Virginia Fields.
Maron with Ward Sutton and Sutton's new book
Maron with Jim David and Eric Bogosian
Eric Bogosian at the mic.
Maron with Rupert Smalls, a regular Morning Sedition character.
The crowd at Strand having a great time.
Marc Maron with the owners of the Strand Bookstore.
Maron reads one of his comedy bits.
Maron with C. Virginia Fields.
Maron with Ward Sutton and Sutton's new book
Maron with Jim David and Eric Bogosian
Eric Bogosian at the mic.
Maron with Rupert Smalls, a regular Morning Sedition character.
The crowd at Strand having a great time.
http://dailygotham.com/blog/takebackthe_city/madame_president_and_me_on_air_america_0
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Nice.
Any candidate who stays out past 2AM can't be bad.
AA live
I went to the live broadcast last week at City Bakery. I was impressed by just hgow much work appears to go into their shows; Iknew they did research, but I never imagined the sheaths of paper that must have been loose scripts. Along with Rachel's morning show and Laura Flanders, these guys are the best on AA.
"'East Coast elitist?' All I know is I'm from New York city [and] I can actually think on my feet." -- Get Your War On
AA Live
I went to that broadcast at the City Bakery as well. I too was impressed with the amount of writing that these folks do to produce just one morning show. I was surprised by the fact that they read so much, I thought it was off the top of their heads. That's the majic of radio.
I had so much fun last week that I returned this week and I'll probably go the broadcast in Park Slope in two weeks.
I just had a blast watching Marc Marin work, especially that Rupert Smalls bit. I was cracking up.
I listen to Air America all day and Morning Sedition is one of my favorites. I also love Randi Rhodes, Laura Flanders, Rachel in the morning, and Mike Malloy. Majority Report is ok too.
Mike Malloy did an appearence at my bar and hopefully Morning Sedition will too. They did mention it to me yesterday.
Thank god for Air America, they keep me from sane.