Couldn't wait

Last night it was finally time for our much-anticipated outing to see a live taping of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, the NPR radio news quiz show. In SF, I listened to this show religiously usually while riding my bike to and from work. When we found out they would be taping in Tampa it was not optional to attend.

My mom and Emerson drove me to campus to meet up with Eric a little after 5pm and then headed home.*

Eric and I left his car parked on campus and walked across the river to have dinner downtown before the show. We ended up at a place called Pizza Fusion which makes an effort to use organic, local ingredients and has really decent pizza. I voluntarily ordered a salad with beets in it because even though I usually think beets taste like dirt for some reason that was what I wanted.**

Toward the end of dinner we learned that a group of 150ish bikers doing some sort of event were about to join us at the tiny pizzeria so we got and paid our check quick-like and got out just as the locust-like swarm started to descend but not before I waited the longest time ever for a woman to emerge from the bathroom.

We still had plenty of time before we had to be in our seats so we made our way slowly toward the Straz Center which was just a few blocks away. As we walked, we heard a train and Eric pointed at the clearly defunct, dilapidated train tracks in the middle of the street we were on and said "Is it going to come down this street?" Ha ha, we both said.

And then we saw the light of the engine up the block. The train was moving at about 3 miles per hour and it was either because of that or in spite of that that people kept crossing the street right in front of it. We resisted the temptation to dodge the glacial train and enjoyed watching it go by. It was an engine pulling one car: a huge tank marked as Chlorine. Probably heading straight to the water reclamation facility, or to some really old-fashioned pool supply shop.

The Straz Center was abuzz when we arrived, partly due I think to the number of restaurants that are part of the facility. It seems to be a large complex with a lot of theaters, a lot of restaurants and lot of carpet reminiscent of a roller skating center from the 80s. Eric got a (large) drink and we strolled around to check it out. At 7:15, 15 min before showtime, they opened the doors and flashed the lights, our signal to head inside. Eric was getting ready to down his drink when we noticed people were taking their drinks with them into the theater. What's this? Here's another way Florida, or at least the Straz Center, is unique: you can drink during the show. Remarkable. I suspect I will appreciate that more when I am not pregnant.

This being a radio show I had absolutely no idea what to expect visually from the disembodied voices I so enjoy. My observations (from pretty far away from the stage): Peter Sagal, who I love, is not as warm-feeling in person as he is on the radio; Karl Cassel is exactly as old as I expected and surprisingly spry, Adam Felber was not the skinny young nerd I have always pictured but rather a not so skinny-not so young-not so nerdy comedian type, Faith Salie is much hotter than one would guess from the radio, and Roy Blount Jr is exactly what you would expect.

The Tampa audience was engaged and appreciated Peter's backhanded appreciation of Florida, the governor, etc. The audience did have a hard time not saying the answer out loud in unison during the fill-in-the-blank limerick part of the show.. I think it was Roy who said "This is like church for these people, they can't help themselves."


It was fascinating to hear the unedited show and guess what they would likely take out. I look forward to listening to the podcast (while not riding a bike) and hearing how they edited it. I will also be listening for the sound of myself clapping.


*Actually, as I found out later, to Chipotle for a dinner of burritos
**I don't think it is pica