I want my …

I am the worst blogger in the world, I know.

But I return with some news and an exciting event to pimp, er, promote: I’ll be moderating a discussion with original MTV veejays Nina Blackwood and Mark Goodman at the Gaithersburg Book Festival on Saturday, May 18, at 2:15 p.m. Nina and Mark are promoting their new memoir (co-written with Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn), VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave. I will be peppering them with questions and opening it up to the audience for more.

I couldn’t be more thrilled; I worshiped these people from just about the beginning. When MTV started in 1981, I would only babysit for people who had cable. Our street got cable in 1982 just as I started high school and, well, look at me now. (Hey, you know what? I’ve written about all this more than once. Here’s a piece I did when MTV turned 25, back in 2006.)

So I welcome the veejays with, as Journey would have said, open arms — and I hope to see you all there. Come on out, it’s free.

(Hey, teen Okies of the ’80s: Who remembers when Alan Hunter came to the  Sound Warehouse on May Avenue in 1983 or so for some sort of contest with … was it John Cougar? ZZ Top? What was the deal? I only remember waiting for hours and then giving up and going to the mall instead — it was a rabid mob. Or did I hallucinate the entire thing?)

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