First of all, we'd like to apologize that we haven't managed to fabricate and display, anywhere on this site, an artist's conceptualization of the Dalai Lama in Larry's Man Shower. Sometimes, there's just not enough time to accomplish all the truly worthwhile things in life.

The request for an interview with Yukon's Member of Parliament went out by e-mail to Larry on August 5, and he promptly replied that he was in town and available to meet. True to the narrative in the radio piece (for once), Larry met Mark the next morning in Rotary Park. Contrary to the narrative, no candy changed hands and Larry was seated on neither the dinosaur nor the airplane in the playground; in fact, he and Mark weren't even in the playground, but at a picnic table nearby. It was a warm, sunny morning—and yet Larry arrived in a suit jacket. No need to get into Mark's attire.

Before the interview began, Mark wanted to make one thing very clear to Larry:

"Smells Like Yukon isn't in the news business," he explained. "It's in the entertainment business."

Larry, who had never heard the series or met Mark, offered a surprising response.

"I know," he said. "My wife kind of warned me about that."

Nonetheless, for the next hour or so, Larry was extremely generous with his time, and his various gadgets rang just enough to reinforce how busy he was—but not enough to ruin the conversation's flow. And, fortunately, Larry didn't seem overly disturbed by Mark's desire to physically harm the Parks & Rec groundskeeper who decided to mow the lawn for the duration of the interview. (The playground sounds in the finished piece were actually recorded after the interview and used in an attempt to mask the sound of the lawnmower.) The interview covered a pretty wide range of subjects, so listeners may be hearing more from Larry in future stories. (A clip from this interview was also used in the segment "House Hunting".)

When it was all over, Larry completed Smells Like Yukon's first-ever Interviewee Satisfaction Survey and, as the lone outtake confirms, deemed the experience "very entertaining." But had things gone the other way, Larry probably would have been saved by a certain Liberal backroom operator who was lurking suspiciously, along with his family, in the playground for much of the interview. And after Larry left, Yukon Liberal MLA Darius Elias suddenly popped out of bush.

Coincidence? We have our doubts.

The story was edited over the next few weeks and probably would have aired sooner had it not been for the federal election. Thanks to Larry's re-election yesterday, and the baby's decision not to get too big a head start on his or her (not "its, Larry) November due date, we're fortunate we can still share this piece. After seeing all the money the Conservatives were pouring into the riding—not to mention the potential vote split on the Left—we were worried for a while.

If there are doubts that Larry would do anything to help a constituent, well... his willingness to cooperate for "Papa's Got A Brand New Bagnell" may put those to rest once and for all.

(Posted October 16, 2008)