Brian Hickey, Home Recovering

On the good news front: Ex-City Paper editor and Johnny Doc PR man Brian Hickey is home from the hospital and doing well, all things considered.

Yesterday, he gave an exclusive interview to Action News‘ Matt O’Donnell, which they were more than happy to label as such (see photo). O’Donnell says the recovery is “remarkable.” And also:

Freelance journalist Brian Hickey doesn’t like wearing the helmet that protects his fragile brain, or the brace that protects his vertebrae, but he loves being alive.

Ahh, yes, I was hoping he’d like the whole “staying alive” part after the accident. O’Donnell does note, though, that “doctors need to reattach two large portions of [Hickey's] skull.” Yikes. Good to see Hickey is home and best of luck to him on his continuing recovery.

Hit-and-run victim rebuilding life [6 ABC]

Rocket Man, Sort Of

Tomorrow on Action News at some ungodly hour like 5 a.m., anchor Matt O’Donnell will show you footage of his trip in a rocket simulator. It’s like Space Camp, only somehow more exciting.

Local Anchor Almost Bagged James Brown

James Brown — I don’t really need to explain who he is, I hope — passed away Christmas morning. The Godfather of Soul was 73.

All the TV stations, even on Christmas, were naturally covering his death extensively. That extended to Action News‘ Matt O’Donnell, who blogged (!) this morning about his meeting with Brown:

I went to shake James Brown’s hand. I guess I got a pretty good grip on it. He winced.

“Ooooh! You’re a strong young man!”

“You’re not so bad yourself.” And then I threw out one of my typical complementary one-liners:

“In fact, you don’t look a day older than 25.”

In his typical James Brown soul-infused voice, he replied “Oh, you make me feel goooooodddddd!”

It was a wonderful moment. I was jive-talking with James Brown!

Oh, I’m sorry. I meant to write that Matt O’Donnell blogged about the time he and Brown flirted with each other.

Remembering Our Day with James Brown [6 ABC]
Brown had been suffering from cold, cough [CNN]

Next Week on ‘Action News’: Why Does Zeus Hit The Villagers With Lightning Bolts?

And, yes, the report begins with a Darren Daulton reference.

Special Report: Matt Looks Into The Ancient Maya Prophecy of 2012 [6 ABC]
Feb. 17: Daultonian Metaphysics

Blogicized: Do it, Rockapella!

• You knew somebody had to make a local version of it: Where in the world is (beat) Matt O’Donnell? [TinaPoPo]

• Ladies and gentlemen, the most horrifing spam ever. (It’s possibly not safe for work, if you work for William Devlin.) [Starting a Landslide in My Ego]

• A quote from this entry: “Some of you may recall that I wrote a few posts a while back with Cat Shit Coffee as their titles… As I’m sure you suspected, [Cat Shit Coffee] all revoves around Bob Casey.” [Rowhouse Logic]

• Sugar gliders? Oh, just wait until I respond with some red panda photos in the next few days. [The Trouble With Spikol]