09/12/08, Friday Afternoon; Galveston, Texas:

12:30 AM, Saturday Morning, at the Height of the Storm:

There he was, early the next morning in the dark of the storm, holding on for life to a palm tree while broadcasting live with 120-mph wind gusts, lightning flashing, driving rain in his face, waves washing over the Galveston seawall lapping at his knees in a 23-foot storm surge, debris flying around his head -- reminiscing about when ZZ-Top recorded their Lallapalooza* album in Galveston's Balinese Room back in the 70s and what great music that was.  He reminded us that George Burns, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra performed there in the 40s just as debris struck his cameraman and the live audience got a sudden view straight up into the darkness. Fox News cut to commercial. 

When the 60-mile wide eye of the storm brought some respite, Geraldo relaxed his grip on the palm tree then waxed philosophic, remarking how "surreal" and "bizarre" the frontal portion of the storm was, just as a group of people walked behind him carrying a picnic table and bar-b-que pit.

This is classic shit. Kafka could not have even imagined a guy like Geraldo, these Texans or a storm like Hurricane Ike.

*Fandango was actually the name of the album on which the song Balinese appeared.