Tales from the Trail

Spoiler alert: Reading this may or may not (we don’t really know) spoil a surprise in a pilot for a new CBS action series called “Washington Field.”

But Washington-area residents probably should read this so they don’t get alarmed at the 20- to 30-foot fireball from a simulated explosion on Wednesday near a bridge that connects Georgetown to Virginia.

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments issued an advisory saying there will be a fake explosion on Wednesday between 9:30 a.m. and noon near Key Bridge that will produce a fireball that will last for about two minutes.

The explosion on the Potomac River will be for a scene in which one of six sculling boats blows up in the pilot for a television series about the Washington field office of the FBI.

The Homeland Security Department, Washington police and fire departments, and the Washington Airports Authority have been alerted.

Republican White House hopeful John McCain will appear as a guest on the CBS ‘Late Show’ with David Letterman this week, after relentless ribbing by the comedian for the candidate’s last-minute cancellation last month amid the financial crisis.

The Arizona senator skipped his appearance on the late night show, telling Letterman he had suspended his presidential campaign so he could immediately return to Washington to participate in the negotiations on a financial bailout package in Congress.

However, McCain ended up staying in New York for another day, drawing repeated blasts by Letterman for standing him up as he tried to fill the empty airtime.  To fill some of the show, the comedian discovered footage of McCain getting prepped for an interview with CBS News’ Katie Couric instead of coming on his show.

SAN FRANCISCO – Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin called Afghanistan “our neighboring country” on Sunday in a speech that could revive questions over her tendency to stumble into linguistic knots.

Three days after a mostly gaffe-free debate performance, the Alaska governor fumbled during a speech in which she praised U.S. soldiers for “fighting terrorism and protecting us and our democratic values”.

“They are also building schools for the Afghan children so that there is hope and opportunity in our neighboring country of Afghanistan,” she told several hundred supporters at a fundraising event in San Francisco.