I wanted to extend a wish for a very happy 32nd birthday to Tommy Evans, who has been Michael's producer ever since Michael joined CNN in 2006.

You may think you don't know Tommy, but you'd be surprised how often you've seen or heard about him. For instance, here he is on the right, greeting the Iranian ambassador during an interview back in September:

And here he is back in October in Paris during the coverage of the Rugby World Cup, stopping an over-excited fan from tackling Michael during a live shot (while never letting go of his cellphone!):

He's also won the Beat360 competition:

...served as unofficial Australian/American translator:

...and did a two-part podcast with Michael back in May of last year:

Covering Iraq

He has also written a couple of blog posts, notably from Haifa and Beirut in July of 2006.

(By the way, Tommy is also the guy who was credited with picking out the fantastic "bump" music that is played on AC360. He was a producer for the show for two years before heading overseas.)

But this week he has branched out and added two additional talents to his already impressive resumé -- photographer:

Baghdad, Iraq during the recent sandstorm.
July 2, 2008 at 2pm. Photo CNN's Thomas Evans.

...and most impressively... reporter! Yes, he has finally followed in the footsteps of Nic Robertson, Peter Bergen, Arwa Damon, etc, and gone in front of the cameras:

(A full-size version of the clip is available here.)

Something tells me that won't be the last time we'll see him on that balcony... much as I hate to even think about the Ware/Evans team being split up!

Anyway... happy birthday, Tommy -- and thanks so much for looking after Michael. Something also tells me that's a much tougher job than it sounds!


[I also set up a page on the blog for birthday wishes...]