T Mac Stays Cool Under Pressure
Last week WGBH released a trailer for "Rough Cut – Woodworking with
Tommy Mac," the newest woodworking show coming from Boston’s PBS network.
Links to the trailer were posted on so many sites that it had to look
like a ping-pong ball in cyberspace. The show is big news in woodworking
circles. Of course, most everyone has watched
the trailer and is fully up to date with everything Tommy Mac (if you
haven’t caught the trailer, click here), but there are a couple things
about Tommy and his shop and show that you might not know – things we
read about in the online edition of the Canton Citizen, the local
newspaper in the town where Tommy has his shop.
For
starters, much of the new show is being filmed in Tommy’s shop. You
might think that’s a good idea due to his familiarity with the tools and
the shop layout, but there is one problem he and the crew have to deal
with. Tommy’s shop is not air-conditioned and if you’ve been watching
the weather news lately, you know about the hot, humid days they have
been having back East.
Some of the guests that visit the
show are from Canton, too – including Tommy’s sidekick for three
shows, Al D’Attanasio, a long-time woodworker. And
here’s a cool twist, Tommy’s sixth-grade shop teacher shows up in an
episode. The real story is that his teacher is part of the Canton
Veterans Honor Guard and is on hand to properly demonstrate how to fold
an American flag to fit into the flag box built during the show. Nice
touch.
For more information about Tommy MacDonald, details
about the show and his hometown of Canton, MA, click here to read the Canton Citizen article. — Glen D. Huey
Read other entries by Glen D. Huey
Tuesday, July 27, 2010 9:45:27 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00) 
|