Talking to TV on the Phone (or My Chat with Anthony Wiggle)

For years, I've been blogging about how television is Paige's true parent. All the way back in 2007 (she would have been about 18 months old), I wrote this about Paige's first encounter with her beloved Wiggles:

Months ago, Paige mastered waving goodbye. The wave is now accompanied by her only recognizable word, “da-die.” (It’s not bye-bye, exactly, but we were still pretty excited about it.) Paige only waves when she thinks someone is leaving – or when she thinks someone should be leaving – but she never waves hello. Well, she never waved hello. About a week ago Traci let her watch The Wiggles for the first time. She was hooked instantly. By day two she was waving to The Wiggles the second they came on the TV – with both hands. Did this translate into her waving to real human beings? No. She only waves to The Wiggles. The other night we were at my sister’s house. Surrounded by millions of toys, Paige spent the whole time clipping and unclipping a booster chair safety belt. Nothing could distract her from this task. She would stop periodically, however, to wave at The Wiggles on the TV.

Though that annoying Dora the Explorer stole the spotlight for a little while, The Wiggles have always held the key to little Paigey's heart.

A few months back, I was looking over the list of upcoming shows in Salt Lake to put together a list of bands I'd like to interview. Amongst Ben Folds, Teenage Bottlerocket, and Tokyo Police Club, there was one show that really caught my eye--The Wiggles at the E Center.

I wasted no time. I immediately emailed their Australian press contact and requested an interview. I figured if I could talk to one of the Wiggles, Paige would think I was the coolest dad ever.

A week or so later, their US rep called me back and gave me my choice of having a few minutes on the phone with either Jeff or Anthony. (Well, Anthony, of course.)

I was just as nervous for the call as when I talked to Weezer or Death Cab for Cutie. (But not as nervous when I talked to Vanilla Ice.)

The Blue Wiggle was just as friendly as I thought he'd be (though there was a little piece of me that wanted him to be a monster--wouldn't that make for some good blog fodder?) and we had a nice little chat.

I record all of my interviews and couldn't wait to get home and play it for Paige.

"Paige, guess who I talked to on the phone today--Anthony Wiggle?"

"What?" she giggled in surprise.

"Yeah, Anthony. Do you want to hear it?"

"Sure."

We went over to the computer and turned on the MP3.

She was impressed for about 15 seconds.

I'll take what I can get.

[Maybe I can impress you, loyal reader, with my interview skillz. Read it here.]