Out of control in Control.

As I speak. Running Radio Theatre now, nothing to do but monitor levels, and John Bergund's levels are solid and predictable.

News Dept. barbeque last night was wonderful. Too much food, but had some amazing conversations. Steve's got an *amazing* house and is an excellent host.

Disastrous weather report at 5:38:30 tonight. Was getting all fancypants, what with high-altitude low pressure systems and cyclonic remnants moving this way and that before drier air punched in even though a cold front's expected to bring unsettled weather and moisture on the periphery of our broadcast area by the end of the week. Had it all scripted out and everything and still flubbed it completely. Skipped a line, and then tried to go back. Not wanting to apologise and start over, for which I didn't have the time, everything I said from that point on came through as total gibberish. Then wound up cutting off the first words of the satellite feed anyway, even though I didn't get to the "punchline" about the cold front's effects -- even though I'd done my transition *flawlessly* transitioning to NPR at five o'clock. What a mess.

The lead-in to the 5:18 report was sloppy, too -- left the "This American Life" CD in the player and faded up the wrong fader -- fixed it -- same mistake I made my first day playing on board but kind of fixed it this time. Since I had a minute to kill at six (there were two carts missing and Radio Theatre's 56 seconds short) I went right back and un-flubbed my 5:38:30 report.

Played Brubeck underneath the weather since he's *great* for moisture. It's also the 50th anniversary of his performance for the Monterrey City Council, which led to the establishment of the festival, and since NPR's been talking about it intermittently I thought it made sense thematically.

I'm figuring out a routine for the weather reports, though -- predictable, reliable, so listeners know when to listen for what they care about. I'm leaning towards something like Current Temps at 5:18 with Forecast Lows and Highs, then sunset/sunrise times and even lunar phase if I have time. At 5:38, discussion of weather patterns with current temps, if they have changed since 5:18. Pad at 5:59:30 if need be with Currents if changed and -- well, whatever I have got time for.

This was frankly an embarrasing broadcast, but, I think, productive.