2 NOV 06: EARLY TO RISE

First came a train blocking Tenth Avenue near Tenth Street. Then came a long train blocking Buena Vista Road, near St. Mary's Road. If the Columbus morning rush hour began at the same time Atlanta's did, these tracks would be clear before 5:00 a.m.

I had to drive around both rail blockages early Wednesday, to get to a Columbus TV station on time for an appointment. So come to think of it, the old phrase "here comes the 5:15" applied to me....

Yet despite the obstacles, I turned off Buena Vista Road onto "NBC-38 Drive" around 5:35 a.m. WLTZ had a private road with that name long before Mayor Poydasheff gained one of his own - which reminds me: has the mayor pulled a "Sonny-Do," and bought some land on his own street yet?

But I digress: I needed to be at NBC-38 by 6:00 a.m. to appear on "Rise-N-Shine." Every Wednesday morning the talk show turns into an hour of gospel music, and co-host Nan Floyd had invited me to appear and sing. She apparently clicked the link to my album page, and heard a sample of the music there. I suspect some of you haven't even admitted loading it on your iPod yet....

(Yes, Nan Floyd of Rise-N-Shine has read this blog a time or two. When she invited me to appear, I wondered if she was trying to get me into a surprise debate with Judge Bobby Peters.)

When I talked to Nan Floyd on the phone a couple of weeks ago, she had trouble spelling my last name. "That's an unusual name," she said. I explained it didn't seem that way to me - but then, I'm used to it after more than 48 years.

So with the invitation offered, I drove to NBC-38 - which can be a bit hard to find, if you're not looking for it along Buena Vista Road. The station is tucked away in the woods, on land along the border with Fort Benning. It would be a perfect hiding place from terrorists - well, except for those two tall TV towers sticking up outside the building.

It turned out I was the first musician to arrive at NBC-38. The producer of Rise-N-Shine let me in the back door, and led me down a hallway to the studio. It's used not only for the morning show, but the Sunday morning Church of Christ program "Know Your Bible." Apparently all the gospel singers did, because I didn't see anybody bring one.

After a short wait, the regular singers arrived. Two of them had a familar last name - "Hess," as in the late gospel singing star Jake Hess. One member of the group even showed off a little Jake Hess bear, which he obtained recently at a music convention. Hopefully Jake wouldn't mind the little hairpiece on the top -- stuck on with Velcro and removable.

"We're not really professional here," the woman in the singing group admitted to me before the show. Indeed. There was hardly any rehearsal time, no organized list of songs for the hour, no group prayer before we sang - and yet they dared to have a BAPTIST hymnal around the piano?!

I was able to join the singing group in a couple of their songs - which I should note were NOT really memorized. The musicians pass around a songbook, to whomever is the lead singer for a particular verse. This wasn't formal "corporate worship" at all. It was so informal and down-home, they actually seemed to have fun doing it.

But don't misunderstand: these singers know their gospel music, and they do it very well. They jumped right into their first selection at 6:00 a.m. as if they'd been doing it for years. Mr. Special Guest Me was invited to join them - but when you don't know the song "First Morning in Heaven," all you can do is sing a rhythmic "doo" on the beat like you're playing bass.

Nan Floyd does NOT sing with the gospel group. Instead, she's at the "kitchen set" and serves as host of the program. She read the weather forecast right off the TV screen. And if someone had colored a couple of maps -- well, Nan's not quite Nicole Mitchell at the Weather Channel (ahem), but she might have passed for Harmony Mendoza.

Husband Calvin Floyd usually appears on Rise-N-Shine, but he was absent Wednesday morning. He wanted me to sing "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" -- and when Nan hinted in advance that viewers "like the old hymns," I knew which song they had in mind. They probably hadn't heard of the songs on the album which I wrote, since Amy Grant still hasn't stopped by to hear them.

If you missed Rise-N-Shine, you missed me singing songs, plugging my CD, mentioning a couple of Wednesday blog items - and chatting with a pianist who had attended an American Dental Association convention in Las Vegas. I borrowed an old Bible Broadcasting Network joke, annd asked if he'd sung the dentists' official hymn: "Crown Him with Many Crowns."

(BLOGGER'S NOTE: If you DID tune in, please don't tell anybody about our squirrel hunting story -- we're holding that here for another day.)

The live Rise-N-Shine gospel hour passed surprisingly quickly. I guess that's what happens when the singers show up for worship, and the preacher doesn't....

I didn't realize until the closing credits at the end of the hour that Rise-N-Shine now has its own web site. Imagine my surprise to check it Wednesday afternoon, and find a banner ad at the bottom of the home page for "gay and lesbian" commitment rings! Next Wednesday, maybe the gospel group should sing a little louder.

As we all left NBC-38 shortly after 7:00 a.m., Nan Floyd recalled someone who met his wife in a parking lot. She said they're still married years later. Don't worry, Calvin - I really was NOT tempted at all by this.

E-MAIL UPDATE: This message reached us Wednesday, and was a bit surprising:

Hi,

My name is Jennifer Lapuz.

I had come across your blog when searching for any recent articles

about my cousin Richard Davis.

His case is still unresolved.

Thank you for posting all the information you had.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Lapuz

www.memoriesofrichard.tripod.com

Richard Davis is the Fort Benning Captain who was killed in the woods near Milgen Road in 2003 -- the case that's been the subject of a "48 Hours" report [21 May], and a possible future book [15 Sep]. With three guilty pleas and one guilty verdict, why would Jennifer describe this case as "still unresolved?" Isn't it a bit late to sue the dancers at the Platinum Club?

Now to the Wednesday news headlines:

+ Columbus Police reported a Shaw High School senior was arrested, for having a hunting rifle in his pickup. The student claimed he forgot to remove the rifle, after going hunting Tuesday night. Now hold on - he went hunting on Halloween night?! Is it zombie and goblin season in Georgia yet?

+ Columbus Mayor/candidate Bob Poydasheff told WRCG's "TalkLine" he knows of no "unwritten agreement" about the Firestone car repair shop next to the main library. So if the mechanic tells you the engine needs new belts, he'd better put it on paper.

+ Columbus mayoral write-in candidate Bert Coker told the evening news you should vote for him because, "I know the problems that people have, and I have the problems that people know." Hmmmm, let me guess - dandruff? Bad credit? Erectile dysfunction?

(Bert Coker also declared if he's elected mayor, he'll privatize the METRA bus program. And we all know how much that's inspired Amtrak to send train service through Columbus....)

+ Some residents of Seale complained a woman's backyard business called "Diane's Pretty Pups" is really a puppy mill, with animals sold at flea markets. If you ask me, this smells like a racket. She sells dogs at flea markets - and then is someone at another booth, selling flea collars?!

+ AFLAC chief executive officer Dan Amos predicted the company will have double-digit earnings growth again next year. For many of us, this potentially means even more difficult sports trivia questions.

+ WRBL's Midday news had the anchor introducing a "live report" from the Opelika-Auburn News. Only then, reporter Jamie Lakin stood for 13 seconds before saying a word (yes, I counted it). Either WRBL's Opelika reports are NOT live, as some people are telling me -- or Lakin has to wait for a fax to arrive telling her to start.

+ A guest on Troy Public Radio's "Community Focus" referred to a homeowner-boatowner as an H.O.B.O. That settles it for me! I'll never live at Lake Harding, since only HOBO's hand out there.

+ Instant Message to Senator John Kerry: Believe me - I know all about botching jokes. But at least you could have blamed yours on a faulty speech writer....

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