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Dick Clark New Year's Eve, "The Emperor's New Microphone," updated...

G

Garrett

Ok,

I just read an article that has come accross in the past day or so, http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051231/en_nm/clark_dc , where it has been admitted that Clark's speech has indeed been affected by his stroke.
Now, before Peter George jumps on top of me, let me say that I wish all the best for Dick in his recovery, and commend him for doing his broadcast.

But you know? My question is this: Why all the secrecy and dishonest? Couldn't they have been straight forward from the begining? I mean, talk about PR! Does everything have to be so tidy and neat, that they (Dick's publicist and the media), can't trust us to give it to us straight? Even if it's Dick Clark's decision, he should have had enough courage to let every one know from the very begining.

Instead, what do we get? All this fakery and beating around the bush. IMHO, there's something to be said for honesty and sincerety. But I guess that's what it's come down to. We are so numb from years of being lied by the media and our politicians (and I'm talking about both parties).

Understand, I'm trying to be political here, just making a point. It think it's time for the press to get back to being straight with us, and to get back to being probing. We shouldn't have to go read the Drudge Report to get the full story, it should be journalistic standard.

Sorry for getting sidetracked. But the whole smoke and mirrors show surrounding Dick Clark really has me irritated. I guess we're just going to have accept that It's going to be the Ryan Seacrest Rockin' New Years Eve for now on. I just wish they'd have told us sooner...
 
> But you know? My question is this: Why all the secrecy and
> dishonest? Couldn't they have been straight forward from the
> begining? I mean, talk about PR! Does everything have to be
> so tidy and neat, that they (Dick's publicist and the
> media), can't trust us to give it to us straight? Even if
> it's Dick Clark's decision, he should have had enough
> courage to let every one know from the very begining.

Celebrity or not, none of us has any right to know every aspect of Dick Clark's life. If he or his publicity team don't wish to disclose the truth about his condition, so be it. Let him have his privacy. And who are you to question his courage?<P ID="signature">______________
Dave</P>
 
> > But you know? My question is this: Why all the secrecy and
>
> > dishonest? Couldn't they have been straight forward from
> the
> > begining? I mean, talk about PR! Does everything have to
> be
> > so tidy and neat, that they (Dick's publicist and the
> > media), can't trust us to give it to us straight? Even if
> > it's Dick Clark's decision, he should have had enough
> > courage to let every one know from the very begining.
>
> Celebrity or not, none of us has any right to know every
> aspect of Dick Clark's life. If he or his publicity team
> don't wish to disclose the truth about his condition, so be
> it. Let him have his privacy. And who are you to question
> his courage?
>

You know that is not what I was talking about.
 
> > > But you know? My question is this: Why all the secrecy
> and
> >
> > > dishonest? Couldn't they have been straight forward from
>
> > the
> > > begining? I mean, talk about PR! Does everything have
> to
> > be
> > > so tidy and neat, that they (Dick's publicist and the
> > > media), can't trust us to give it to us straight? Even
> if
> > > it's Dick Clark's decision, he should have had enough
> > > courage to let every one know from the very begining.
> >
> > Celebrity or not, none of us has any right to know every
> > aspect of Dick Clark's life. If he or his publicity team
> > don't wish to disclose the truth about his condition, so
> be
> > it. Let him have his privacy. And who are you to
> question
> > his courage?
> >
>
> You know that is not what I was talking about.

Actually, I thought it was, but if I misunderstood, then I apologize and ask you to clarify.<P ID="signature">______________
Dave</P>
 
> > > > But you know? My question is this: Why all the

I never paid much attention to DC's health question but I always assumed things were not going well, if he were not out there making an occasional appearence to plug something. Why he worked so hard to hang on to this particular franchise I can't imagine,it's pretty awful. Hopefully he's in dencent shape and able to deal with some of the difficulties that were apparent even if he hasn't been upfront about it, which is his right.
 
> > > > But you know? My question is this: Why all the secrecy
>
> > and
> > >
> > > > dishonest? Couldn't they have been straight forward
> from
> >
> > > the
> > > > begining? I mean, talk about PR! Does everything have
>
> > to
> > > be
> > > > so tidy and neat, that they (Dick's publicist and the
> > > > media), can't trust us to give it to us straight? Even
>
> > if
> > > > it's Dick Clark's decision, he should have had enough
> > > > courage to let every one know from the very begining.
> > >
> > > Celebrity or not, none of us has any right to know every
>
> > > aspect of Dick Clark's life. If he or his publicity
> team
> > > don't wish to disclose the truth about his condition, so
>
> > be
> > > it. Let him have his privacy. And who are you to
> > question
> > > his courage?
> > >
> >
> > You know that is not what I was talking about.
>
> Actually, I thought it was, but if I misunderstood, then I
> apologize and ask you to clarify.
>

My complaint is about giving mis-information. Dick Clark is a public figure, for whome we will sooner or later find out the true health of. Thus, his ability to speak publicly is something that should not be top secret gaurded information. But, when I say that, I in no way am trying to imply that every part of Dick Clark's life should be public.

In my view, Dick Clark's health is one of those grey areas, particularly becuase of the spin right after it happened. I hate to say the word 'spin' because it is over used by a certain Fox correspondent. But 'spin' is exaclty what took place last year. At first they said, "Dick had a minor stroke." Then, it slowly and quietly slipped that it was not so minor.

It's kind of like when you find out that your parents were lying to you about something. Think of it this way, ABC has been hyping the New Year's Event because "Dick Clark is going to be back." So if they have the right to hype it, shouldn't we have the right to know the truth?"

And by the way, at 9:34 CST, we still have not seen Dick Clark yet, but Ryan Seacrest has managed to tease him every break, even though it has already been announced that he won't be on until 11:35 EST. Way to go ABC...
 
Dick Clark, no courage huh?. What a horrible Post.

You have the 'right' to know nothing...

> Why all the secrecy and
> dishonest? Couldn't they have been straight forward from the
> begining? I mean, talk about PR! Does everything have to be
> so tidy and neat, that they (Dick's publicist and the
> media), can't trust us to give it to us straight? Even if
> it's Dick Clark's decision, he should have had enough
> courage to let every one know from the very begining.
>
> Instead, what do we get? All this fakery and beating around
> the bush. IMHO, there's something to be said for honesty and
> sincerety. But I guess that's what it's come down to. We are
> so numb from years of being lied by the media and our
> politicians (and I'm talking about both parties).
>
> Understand, I'm trying to be political here, just making a Point.

Yeah the "Point" you made is on the Top of your Head
<P ID="signature">______________
Caveman 1) "I’ll take the Roast Duck with the Mango Salsa.”
Caveman 2)“I don’t have much of an appetite,”.</P>
 
Hi Garrett and crew:

I will NOT "jump all over you". You basically have stated an opinion. I don't exactly agree with it, but I respect it nonetheless.

Dick showed a lot of courage in coming back to the air since his stroke. Sure, he was hardly 100% but neither was I, one year after my series of strokes, either. He sounded much like I did back in 1992, one year after my near fatal stroke. Please take into account that Dick is 76 years old. But, he still has a few more good years ahead of him. He's still going to need more speech and physical therapy. But be assured..... this will NOT be his last hurrah on New Year's Eve.

I salute Dick on his return to television. It's good to have him back!

Happy New Year!


> Now, before Peter George jumps on top of me, let me say that
> I wish all the best for Dick in his recovery, and commend
> him for doing his broadcast.
> <P ID="signature">______________
Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
Whitman, Massachusetts</P>
 
> > But you know? My question is this: Why all the secrecy and
>
> > dishonest? Couldn't they have been straight forward from
> the
> > begining? I mean, talk about PR! Does everything have to
> be
> > so tidy and neat, that they (Dick's publicist and the
> > media), can't trust us to give it to us straight? Even if
> > it's Dick Clark's decision, he should have had enough
> > courage to let every one know from the very begining.
>
> Celebrity or not, none of us has any right to know every
> aspect of Dick Clark's life. If he or his publicity team
> don't wish to disclose the truth about his condition, so be
> it. Let him have his privacy. And who are you to question
> his courage?

"Privacy" is key here,and it typifies Dick Clark's long time role in the entertainment industry. He didn't play the show biz game. Simply put, he had talent, prepared himself forwhatever the gig was, showed up and gave his best, then went home. He didn't lay open his life as a "star" for all to see. When the stroke hit him he most likely told the people arounf him to put a lid on it, again typical of his role in life. In this mold, people "weren't told" because he didn't want anyone watching his New Year performance because of his health issue and "out of pity." Instead it in all probability was his wish that people watch because of the personna and history he brought to the show, not because anyone felt sorry for him and it might be the last time he's part of the celebration.

Some good points made and appropriate questions asked about all this, but it's really no different regarding Clark's private life now than ot has been in the past. To him, his notoriety was just another part of his life that he managed well, and not something he imposed on the world to make himself feel like a star. He WAS a star and it formed a comfortable part of his existence as both a public and a private figure. He doesn't have to show people "who he is." It shows.
 
> Dick showed a lot of courage in coming back to the air since
> his stroke. Sure, he was hardly 100% but neither was I, one
> year after my series of strokes, either. He sounded much
> like I did back in 1992, one year after my near fatal
> stroke.

I have to say that I looked forward to seeing him on TV tonight and was hoping for the best based on the vague details his publicists had been providing over the year. I was a little shocked at first. But Clark at his worst is still better than others at their best. You could hear this trying to come back at times tonight.

Not meaning to be too personal, but since you brought it up in a couple of posts here, how much additionally have you improved since your stroke(s) compared to your first year after?

I have no personal experience with anyone thats experienced a stroke and this had made me curious.

While I know it's an entirely different animal (not a stroke), do any of you remember seeing the WAY overly bloated Jerry Lewis on his annual telethon 2 or 3 years back? He looked round like a puffy cartoon version of himself. He was looking MUCH better this last year. An amazing improvement.

Here's hoping for the same for Mr. Clark.

By the way, if anyone wants to hear his weekly radio show, it airs on OldiesRadio 1520 at http://www.q1520radio.com on Sunday's at noon. MP3PRO and Windows Media streaming available.
 
Not at all. I'll be glad to give you my experiences in a nutshell. Today, 15 years after my stroke, I basically have about 90% of my original speech ability. I have most of my motor abilities, but I still have permanent numbness on my right side. I had to go through 4 years of speech and physical therapy. I was out of work for 4-5 years until I returned to a job in audio/visual department at a local college. In the first year after my stroke, I was able to do some engineering work at Bob Bittner's WJIB in Cambridge, MA. Bob, gave me a job at a time that nobody else would. This job was very helpful for me to be able to regain my strength, my self-confidence and a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build a radio station from the ground up. Bob and I have been very good friends for nearly 25 years.

I still do have some residual speech problems, mainly when I get tired or if I get frustrated when I try to get a point across. The brain knows what I want to say.... but the mouth sometimes does not recognize that. Today, in spite of my problems, I work full-time at a local college. In addition, I do engineering at several college FM's and I am in the midst of purchasing a lower-powered non-commercial FM (WXRB-FM, Dudley, MA).

I do not do much "air-work" anymore, especially when it comes to reading "copy" (for obvious reasons). But I am doing some production voice-overs for my internet and FM stations. Thank goodness for digital workstations and CoolEdit Pro! So, there you have it. So, I DO know what Dick Clark is going through. But he WILL improve. He just has to be patient with himself and continue to get the treatment he needs. I almost guarantee that come next New Year's Eve, he'll be doing much better. This year's appearance on "New Year's Rockin' Eve, '06" will go a long way to improving his chances for a more fuller recovery.

73,

Pete
>
> Not meaning to be too personal, but since you brought it up
> in a couple of posts here, how much additionally have you
> improved since your stroke(s) compared to your first year
> after?
>
> I have no personal experience with anyone thats experienced
> a stroke and this had made me curious.<P ID="signature">______________
Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
Whitman, Massachusetts</P>
 
Mr. George / stroke recovery

> Dick showed a lot of courage in coming back to the air since
> his stroke. Sure, he was hardly 100% but neither was I, one
> year after my series of strokes, either. He sounded much
> like I did back in 1992, one year after my near fatal
> stroke. Please take into account that Dick is 76 years old.
> But, he still has a few more good years ahead of him. He's
> still going to need more speech and physical therapy. But
> be assured..... this will NOT be his last hurrah on New
> Year's Eve.
>
> I salute Dick on his return to television. It's good to
> have him back!
>
I missed DC last night--had to work. I'm pleasantly surprised at his progress. Mr. George, it's encouraging to hear of your progress, as well. My mother is a stroke victim herself. She went 2 days without her blood thinner meds about 2 1/2 years ago, and ever since, a nursing home resident--surely one of the saddest decisions my sister and I have ever had to make. She can speak, but it's mixed--sometimes it's clear, sometimes too soft to hear, other times jumbled. She recognizes most who greet her, but there have been a few short-term memory issues of late. My mom is currently unable to use her left arm/hand, to stand, to feed herself, or push her own wheelchair. She's had recent therapy to try to regain some of her most promising abilities--lifting her feet while in the chair, squeezing/flexing her right hand, working on sitting up straight. I was just down there for Christmas Eve and again on my recent birthday...my mom lights up when she realizes I'm in the room. How nice it would be to see her at a point of recovery resembling your's or DC's; I don't want to think that her life before June 2003 is the only time, and last, that I will see at her fullest.

Cheers, and happy 2006 to you, Mr. George, and to Dick Clark.
 
To Easttxtv:

To Easttxtv:

It's very possible that the Monday (January 2nd) editions of "Access Hollywood", "Entertainment Tonight", and "Extra" may all have segments about Dick Clark and may each play a clip of him from his New Year's Eve broadcast.

You may want to set your VCR or Tivo to record these shows. That way, you would end up being able to see at least a couple of short excerpts of Dick Clark's return to TV.
 
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