SHARK WEAK

The Discovery Channel owes me two more days. The network's enormously popular Shark Week wraps up this evening, a mere five days after it began. Forgive me for saying so, but isn't that false advertising? It isn't Shark Business Week, after all.

I love Shark Week. I love those miraculous shots of sharks jumping from the water. I love the toe-curling sequences of ill-advised underwater excursions in a shark cage. I love the survivor stories. I love it all.

So please pay heed, ye keepers of the Shark Week. I want my full seven days of primordial eating machines, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone. Anything less is just cold fish.

FINE, I'M BEGGING

Forgive me, for I've let my pride get in the way of what could be a special tradition.

After last Friday's Jessye Norman and Friends concert, I asked Ms. Norman whether there was any possibility the concert could become an annual event. She smiled and laughed and said that, with a little begging, perhaps it was possible. I did not take her up on the offer.

I'm pretty sure my supplication alone would not have been enough, but I could have gotten the ball rolling.

Perhaps I'm not too late. Here it is, Ms. Norman. I'm begging. I'm doing it in the most dignified manner possible (a guy has to have some pride), but I am begging.

An annual Jessye Norman show would do enormous good not only for the Jessye Norman School of the Arts but also for the community. We sometimes forget that Augustans like you and Damien Sneed and Wycliffe Gordon are out there in the world representing our community with enormous talent and honor. It's easy in the hothouse environs of the city to forget, and having the opportunity, every once in a while, to acknowledge those people would be good for the performers, good for the audience and good for the city.

Begging concluded.

The next move is yours, Ms. Norman.

JESSYE II

There's a hip new venue in town that has promoters scurrying to secure dates. It was built 20 years ago.

It's the Jessye Norman Amphitheater. The 1,600-seat amphitheater on the Savannah River at Riverwalk Augusta has been idle for far too many years.

There have been some changes made recently at the amphitheater. The stage canopy, which had become tattered and torn, was recently replaced, and a coat of paint was added.

The most important change, according to Coco Rubio, who has participated in bringing a couple of upcoming shows to the stage, is an active approach by the amphitheater's management. He said that instead of waiting for promoters to inquire about the facility, they are actively shopping it.

It's good to have the Jessye back -- and I didn't have to beg.

Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.