It’s like castor oil: distasteful but good for you.
Suzanne Banning, director of development for Rocky Mountain PBS, is familiar with castor oil. She grew up in Minnesota. She is also in charge of the 42nd annual PBS April Auction, which starts today.
Take your medicine.
Public television is supported, in part, by the public. The annual auction of art, restaurant nights, travel and sporting goods pours $775,000 into the station’s coffers. “It’s vital for us,” says Banning.
In the past, the auction has butted into PBS’s regular programming. The channel has learned, she says. “We made a conscious decision to try to do less interruption of our core programming.” Instead of holding the auction over a nine-day period, it airs on three consecutive weekends.
The auction’s first weekend, which runs from 8 to midnight tonight, features almost 1,000 artworks. Following weekends will feature wines, sporting goods and restaurant packages.
The auction has gone high-tech, too. “We get bidders from all over the country,” says Banning. Viewing and bidding can be conducted at rmpbsAuction.org.
Don’t be shy. Things move quickly at auction, an estimated 56 items an hour. Take part. It’s important for the station and for TV viewers who want more than car chases and cold cases solved in 30 minutes.
Weekend highlights
Today
Kristianna Loken stars in the new series “Painkiller Jane,” spawned by the comic book, premiering at 8 p.m. on Sci-Fi Channel.
Saturday
Charlie Chaplin spoofs Adolf Hitler in the 1940 classic “The Great Dictator” (6 p.m., Turner Classic Movies).
Sunday
Competitors race for their lives in the premiere of “Drive,” an illegal cross-country road race (7 p.m., KDVR-Channel 31).
Around the dial
Rush Limbaugh isn’t in two places at once, it just sounds that way. Limbaugh’s daily radio blast on KOA 850-AM goes to Internet streaming when it conflicts with Colorado Rockies coverage and he’s also on KHOW 630-AM. … KKZN 760-AM, local outlet for Air America Radio, has rattled its lineup. On weekdays it’s “The Bill Press Show,” 4-6 a.m.; Alan Colmes, 9 to midnight; and “The Lionel Show,” midnight to 3 a.m. “The Satellite Sisters” join the station from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturdays. … Renan Almendarez Coello, a.k.a. “El Cucuy de la Manana,” whose syndicated radio show is carried mornings on KBNO 1280-AM, was acquitted this week of a charge of making a criminal threat involving his son in a domestic dispute in Los Angeles. Eight other charges also were dismissed. … Quotable: “You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.” Winston Churchill
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-954-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
