Wednesday, April 24, 2002

 

I think the whole Roman Catholic Church/priest/pedophile thing is disturbing in more ways than I can write about. But sometimes when something disturbs me that much the only way I can deal with it is through humor. I wonder if that's what's going on with Dave.

posted by Anne 4/24/2002 11:53:00 AM (0) comments

 

Kudos to this guy for sticking it to telemarketers.

posted by Anne 4/24/2002 09:54:00 AM (0) comments

 

I don't understand what the big deal is. Apparently some web surfers found Ronald Reagan's obituary at the Scripps Howard News Service site. Now it seems some people are outraged that the obituary is already written. Duh. Wake up people. I can guarantee that not only is Reagan's obituary written but George W. Bush's, his father's, Jimmy Carter's, Bill Clinton's, Gerald Ford's, Walter Mondale's, Al Gore's, Tom Cruise's, Denzel Washington's, Katharine Hepburn's, Bob Hope's, Oprah Winfrey's etc., etc. etc. That's the way news services operate. Are people naive enough to think news services wait until someone dies before writing an obit? I remember a couple of weeks before Jimmy Stewart died. The Associated Press was running some kind of test and sent Stewart's obit to every one of its member newspapers in Pennsylvania. But, they didn't send an advisory first letting editors know it was a test. There was just write-through after write-through of the obit for over an hour. Finally, someone at the AP realized what was going on and sent an advisory. I'm not sure if any newspapers actually ran with the premature obit or not. Anyway, the reason they did the test was that they were afraid Stewart would die over 4th of July weekend when newspaper staff levels are low. They wanted to make sure everything was set just in case because Stewart was a Pennsylvania native and his death was going to be big news, especially in western Pennsylvania. Sure enough, Stewart died July 2.

My point (and I do have one) is that people shouldn't be outraged that Regan's obit is written already. Scripps Howard should be outraged that there was a breach of security at their site and that anyone had access to news that wasn't ready to be printed yet.

posted by Anne 4/24/2002 09:45:00 AM (0) comments

Tuesday, April 23, 2002

 

Linda Lovelace died yesterday. *sigh*

On a related note, a Swedish woman swallowed a toothbrush after trying to scratch an itch in the back of her throat.

Sorry. That was bad.

posted by Anne 4/23/2002 10:51:00 AM (0) comments

Saturday, April 20, 2002

 

I've lived in California for 11+ months and haven't felt an earthquake. But what happens in the northeast today? An earthquake. And yes, people where I used to live in Pennsylvania felt it. Weird, isn't it?

posted by Anne 4/20/2002 11:42:00 AM (0) comments

 

Is anyone at all, anywhere in the world, suprised that Robert Blake was arrested?

~***~

We've been following this story since December. A 70-year-old Alzheimer's patient vanished while changing planes at a Texas airport. The airline wasn't doing anything to help the poor guy find his wife. No one seemed to be doing anything. Then, a few weeks ago (although it's not mentioned in the article I linked) the man hired Johnny Cochran's law firm to help him. All of a sudden people are falling all over themselves to help this man find his wife. I'm glad he's finally getting help, but I'm disgusted that it took the threat of Johnny Cochran to do it.

~***~

Fox cancelled Ally McBeal. Now that she won't be so busy, maybe Calista Flockhart can find time to eat a slice of pizza or something. She can start slow if she wants. Maybe just a piece of pepperoni at first, until she works her way up to an actual bite of real food.

posted by Anne 4/20/2002 09:41:00 AM (0) comments

Wednesday, April 17, 2002

 

I haven't felt like blogging much lately. I don't know why. There's plenty to write about, but life just gets in the way sometimes. So, just to let you know I'm still alive, here's some stuff:

I'm sad about Robert Urich. He seemed like a cool guy. But maybe his death will convince people of the truth about what he said in an interview with Diane Sawyer. "Even tough guys -- people who play tough guys -- can get (cancer)."

On a totally different note: Some people see this as a bad thing. Well, call me crazy but I think "Dude, Where's My Car?" was really funny, albeit in a mindless, please-don't-make-me-think kind of way. But sometimes you need a movie like that. Besides, I like Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott and I think they make a great comedic movie team.

Since the last time I posted, there have been several more articles about blogging. After this, I probably won't comment on them anymore. It's pretty much all been said. I keep this blog because it's a release I didn't have when I was being paid to be a journalist. I'm sure there are as many reasons for blogs as there are bloggers. I'm sure the traditional media will see the light in regard to blogging eventually (years too late, probably). So, that's it. I'll still update my list of blog-related articles, but I just won't comment. It's getting kind of boring to write about.

posted by Anne 4/17/2002 10:35:00 AM (0) comments

Friday, April 12, 2002

 

Are bloggers journalists? I'm sure this debate will go on until the mainstream figures out a way to successfully co-exist with bloggers. I, for one, don't consider myself a journalist any longer. If I had to put a label on what I do here, I'd say I'm more of a columnist.

posted by Anne 4/12/2002 11:01:00 AM (0) comments

 

According to this article smoking may be a major cause of mental illness. Personally, I think this is another guy trying to make his findings fit his pre-conceived conclusion.

posted by Anne 4/12/2002 10:36:00 AM (0) comments

 

Paul McCartney said The Beatles did drugs while they were working on Sgt. Pepper. Really Paul? I'm sure no one would have ever figured that out.

posted by Anne 4/12/2002 10:30:00 AM (0) comments

 

Dave at Diary of a Mad Monk has some interesting observations and opinions on the "priest scandal" in the Roman Catholic Church.

posted by Anne 4/12/2002 10:19:00 AM (0) comments

Thursday, April 11, 2002

 

This column in Editor & Publisher includes some interesting thoughts on the state of online news and how interaction (including blogs) between readers and the traditional media could benefit both.

Here's a sample of what the columnist wrote:

"Online news, if it is to succeed, needs to get more adventurous about trying new forms of story presentation. It needs to focus more on the "stuff you do" and not the "stuff you read." Then, Internet journalism becomes something new -- and not just a variation of content as presented in other media formats.

Could this be the heart of what's wrong with online news? I think so. And you can look back through media history to find precedent. Television began as "radio with pictures" -- that is, cameras were trained on people reading from scripts. As the medium matured, television adopted its own native content forms. The Internet is still in the middle of this transition -- where it's beginning to develop its own unique story forms, but tradition-based content is still the rule."

Here's more:

"Why are blogs important for news organizations? Because they can give a voice to the public. ... I think that Weblogs haven't caught on in the news industry in a widespread manner yet because they threaten the status quo. ... But blogs and other Internet-native trends are exactly what news organizations need to embrace."

I whole-heartedly agree. If nothing else, blogs and other forms of getting the reader involved can show editors what readers are interested in. During my last two years at the newspaper, one of the things that irked me the most was city editors saying "The readers want to know ..." In those two years the city editors, collectively, had covered three stories. Three. They rarely left the newsroom. Their social lives weren't all that active, meaning they didn't get out much to interact with people (readers). So, how did they know what readers want to know? They didn't. As a reporter, I got out a lot. I interacted with people (readers). I listened to them. I knew what they wanted to know. The majority of readers don't care where the construction company doing renovation work on city-owned building is located. The readers don't care much about the construction at all beyond what it means in terms of taxes and inconvenience (i.e. Can I still park in front of the building where the work is being done?) But I can't tell you the number of times the editors insisted I add Joe Blow Construction of Wherever. That's the not the best example, but the headache I've had for two days is preventing me from thinking of a better one. The point is, however, that editors need to be more in touch with what readers actually want to know so they can communicate that to their reporters and guide them in the right direction. The best way to do that is interaction with readers. Maybe someday they'll get it.

posted by Anne 4/11/2002 10:41:00 AM (0) comments

Wednesday, April 10, 2002

 

Looks as if, if nothing else, Michael Bloomberg will be an entertaining mayor. He admitted to smoking pot and liking it. Now, a NYC advocacy group is using his picture and quote in its campaign to get the city to stop arresting and jailing people for smoking marijuana. Bloomberg's response to this? He's not happy but "I suppose there's that First Amendment that gets in the way of me stopping it."

posted by Anne 4/10/2002 11:26:00 AM (0) comments

Monday, April 08, 2002

 

I really didn't feel like blogging today. It's just a blah day for me. But as I was taking my (almost) daily trip through blogdex a news story caught my eye. Survey: Many students say cheating's OK; Confessed cheater: 'What's important is getting ahead', the head and sub-head say.

I must be getting more jaded as I get older because that really doesn't surprise me. It scares me, though. The kids who, right now, are saying cheating is OK are potentially going to be this country's movers and shakers just a few short years from now. If we think this country's in trouble now, just wait 'til then.

To the best of my recollection, I didn't cheat in high school. I didn't really need to. Everything was way easy for me back then. But I do have a cheating story. Back in eigth grade social studies I let another girl, Dorie, look at my paper during a test. Well, I didn't "let" her. I just didn't prevent it. I didn't want her and her friends to beat the crap outta me. The next day, our teacher, Mr. Perry, called us up to the front of the classroom and told us there was a problem with our tests and we had to retake them in the library. He put her at one end of the library and me at the other. The next day he kept me after class. He showed me the original test papers. Dorie and I both got As. Then he showed me the second tests. I got an A. Dorie got a D. Mr. Perry was very nice about it. He said he knew it wasn't my fault (Dorie was a well-known low-life) but I'd have to be punished anyway because I didn't tell him about Dorie cheating on the day of the test. The punishment was that I got a B instead of an A. Oh, and that I spent the rest of the school year defending myself and trying to explain to a moron that I didn't squeal.

posted by Anne 4/08/2002 03:58:00 PM (0) comments

 

Peer to Peer Review Project

I'm supposed to review this blog for the Peer to Peer Review Project. However, as you'll see, there's not much there to review. The last -- and lone -- entry was posted on Feb. 21.

Because I was looking forward to particpating in this project, I was more than a little disappointed that I have very little to work with. Rasmus gave me the option of not doing it. He also said I could wait and see if someone dropped out and I could pick up that review. Since option two didn't materialize, I'm opting to review this blog, such as it is.

Let me start by saying I was slightly annoyed by the fact that the author, Irv, didn't even give the correct URL when he submitted his site. Then, when I finally get there, I find out there's only one entry. It's not as if he hasn't been there since he submitted to the project. At sometime or another he changed the name of the blog from "On Women and other creatures" to "Ordinary."

After reading his entry, I'm annoyed for another reason. Of course it's hard to judge by only one entry (have I mentioned that yet? *s*), but from what I can tell, this blog had/has the potential to be very interesting. I don't remember the last time 24 lines touched me that much. That one entry, those 24 little lines, packed more of a punch than some blogs do in 24 days worth of entries. I'm annoyed because I wanted more but there wasn't any.

I don't know what happened to Irv and why he abandoned his blog, but I hope he comes back soon. If he does, I'm sure I'll be a regular reader.

posted by Anne 4/08/2002 03:28:00 PM (0) comments

Friday, April 05, 2002

 

Reading this story takes me back a little. I wrote and edited many stories about Adelphia and the Rigas family. Now, it seems, stockholders don't want the family involved in the business anymore. Of course I can understand that. They (allegedly) screwed up so they should be ousted. But I'm worried about what will happen to that part of northern Pennsylvania if the Rigas family isn't involved anymore. There used to be nothing -- except a few cows -- there. Now it's a booming area with lots of new construction, new jobs, new businesses and, until word of the problems at Adelphia surfaced, hope for the future. I guess everyone in Coudersport, Pa., and the surrounding areas will just have to wait and see.

Now that I think of it, my college alma mater has something to lose by this as well. The Rigas family is a major financial contributor, especially to the arts programs. In fact, the auditorium in the fine arts building is The Rigas Family Theater. I guess we'll have to wait and see, too. I suppose it's also anyone's guess as to what will happen to the Buffalo Sabres hockey team, which Mr. Rigas owns.

posted by Anne 4/05/2002 09:52:00 AM (0) comments

 

This is something I'm really looking forward to. Little Steven rules!

posted by Anne 4/05/2002 09:34:00 AM (0) comments

 

So, did you ever wonder what happened to Tawny Kitean after the Whitesnake videos? Well, she dated O.J. for a year. She's appeared on Howard Stern's show. She also got married to baseball player Chuck Finley and had two daughters. So, everything's hunky dory and peachy keen now, right? Wrong.

posted by Anne 4/05/2002 09:17:00 AM (0) comments

 

This is good as well.

However, this loser is at it again.

posted by Anne 4/05/2002 09:08:00 AM (0) comments

 

Wow. Here's a newspaper columnist who understands, or seems to anyway. She summed it all up by using a quote someone else used to sum it up. "As one popular blogger, Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist James Lileks (lileks.com), put it: "The newspaper is a lecture. The Web is a conversation." Amen."

posted by Anne 4/05/2002 09:04:00 AM (0) comments

 

I got a nice surprise by clicking on a BlogSnob link today. This made me smile.

posted by Anne 4/05/2002 08:43:00 AM (0) comments

Thursday, April 04, 2002

 

Further proof that some people shouldn't have children. This woman tried to sell her baby for a chihuahua puppy. Disgusting.

posted by Anne 4/04/2002 09:56:00 AM (0) comments

 

Just when I thought the problem couldn't get worse, this survery says rudeness in America is, in fact, getting worse. According to CNN "A full 79 percent of the 2,013 adults surveyed by telephone in January by the research group Public Agenda said a lack of respect and courtesy in American society is a serious problem. Sixty-one percent believe things have gotten worse in recent years."

In my opinion, the rudest people in America are fast food workers. I don't care if they're getting minimum wage to do a nasty job (I've been there. I know.), they're getting paid to do the job, they might as well make the best of it. And they shouldn't take their frustrations out on the customers (who can be pretty rude themselves, I'll admit) because without them, they might not have a job at all.

posted by Anne 4/04/2002 09:53:00 AM (0) comments