KPIX Weather Guru, Paul Heggen Is Thumbs Up in My Book; Sylvia Chase/Bob Jimenez Symmetry at Old KRON; Dennis O'Donnell KPIX Update; Darn Right The Good Old Days Were Magical; Tribute To My Mother

NORMALLY I wouldn't care about a guy like KPIX's weather anchor, Paul Heggen--too robotic for my taste. And a little too wooden.

But Heggen has a wry sense of humor. It comes out every now and then in his forecasts. He knows his role and understands he's not curing terminal diseases--he forecasts the weather and he puts out the info in a straight-forward manner without any gimmacky shtick. One of the few decent PIXers on the air these days.

And he's not even a LT.

*Old KRON royalty: Sylvia Chase and Bob Jimenez.

She was as classy and gritty as it gets and Jimenez was one cool anchor under heavy pressure but unflappable.

*Dennis O'Donnell is fighting a degenerative neurological disorder that has prevented him from coming back to the airwaves on Bay Area/PIX TV. He was last on the air about a year ago.

PIX can't say anything about him and his condition due to health privacy laws and Dennis himself has not offered to say anything publicaly. I thought I'd update his situation because many of you have asked me and the Bay Area media doesn't care to even remotely ask questions.

*A troll chides me for my frequent homage to the past--yeah, schmuck, when we had real reporters and anchors and when there was legitimate star power and gravitas here. Now, we're reduced to fake, insincere straw-hat POSERS who look and sound ridiculous and can't read or ad-lib worth a damn.

It's revolting and tragic. We've become anemic and numb to their wares. We've adapted to their mediocrity and succumbed to their god-awful ways. No wonder nobody gives a damn anymore.

I, for one, am here to never forget the great talent we once were noted for and describe the serenity that was evuident here on a nightly/daily basis.

Miss Bob Melrose. And Rita Williams and the late, great, Faith Fancher, (who died way too soon)--and damn right, the greats like Van Amburg, Jerry Jensen, Dave McelHatton, and Pete Wilson, will always get love from this site--as long as I write this blog.

You don't like it? Go to SF Gate and look at purple houses and burrito recipes.

*MY MOM, my best friend, Ms. Anne Landau, tough Brooklyn mother, and Oaklander for 46 years, would have turned 100 tomorrow (Friday) --she looked 75 when she passed four years ago--(she was 95)--every day, mom, I miss you and miss taking you to lunch at the Butter Cup and ordering your corned-beef and cabbage at Francescos after the doctor visits on Thursday.

Mom, be well and know it's hard to function without you and your amazing self.