Yearly Archives: 2009

R.I.P. Whitey

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Richard Whitehorn died last week. Following a long slug-fest with cancer. Richard was just a year ahead of me in school and we weren’t close growing up. But I have lots of memories of him.

I don’t know if Richard was a bully or I was just intimidated by him. But he projected a kind of tough guy image. He and his BFF Tommy Crunk were like Butch and Sundance, tooling around town in Whitey’s ’57 Chevy. When the Honda motorcycle craze hit, Crunk and Whitey were among the first to own them. Yes, they were dashing.

One hot summer night during high school, my friends and I pooled our money and gave it to Whitey to buy us the beer we were not quite old enough to purchase ourselves. We also gave him a detailed list of what each of us wanted. He returned with a case of Champagne Velvet. Nasty stuff that was much cheaper. (“You guys had just enough money.”) A really bad guy would have just taken our money. Whitey gave us beer and a little lesson in free enterprise.

As an adult, Richard (I don’t know if anyone still called him Whitey by then) became a crop duster. Hard to imagine a more fitting occupation. Our friend Pam attended Richard’s funeral this past  weekend in Kennett.

“It was sad as hell. They had visitation starting at 11:00 and a graveside service at 2:00.  The funeral was over, the preacher had just said “amen” and closed the Bible when I heard someone say “here they come” and I wondered, who’s coming? I looked in the direction I heard some noise and here came 3 Pawnee crop dusters in formation, streaming smoke like they were Blue Angels, tree top high right over the funeral tent. Once past the left and right planes peeled off and the middle plane pulled up. I think everyone lost it at that point.”

To which Richard would have growled, “What are you pussies crying about?”

Terry Heaton: Field of Dreams and broadcasting

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“The geeks of the world built their own Field of Dreams years ago in this thing we call the World Wide Web, a disruption of Biblical proportions to the status quo. Like Busfield’s character, however, media companies walked right through it. We could see the playing field, but we couldn’t see the magical players. We scoffed and viewed it with contempt, because, after all, we are were “the media.” Now is the season of our tragedy, and our eyes are suddenly opening. Let’s hope it’s not too late.”

— Terry Heaton on Field of Dreams and broadcasting

Looking for pork in the stimulus bill

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The Huffington Post is asking readers to dig through the compromise Senate stimulus bill and report any examples of “wasteful pork-barrel spending or corporate giveaways.”

This just seems a great example of the Net empowering people. Thousands of folks who care enough to dig through this mother, taking notes and sharing them. And when they find the bull-shit we know is there, we all scream bloody murder. Has anyone turned the kitchen light on the the DC cockroaches like this before. We used to leave this stuff to the AP or the Washington Post or some other MSM entity. I love the idea of anyone with time and inclination to get involved. Shoot, this seems almost as useful as voting.

More photos of ice storm damage

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Photo above –taken by Matthew Howard– shows why many homes in southeast Missouri are still without power. Matthew managed to get some photos on his Facebook page and give me permission to share a few here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a utility pole snapped in two. Or this much ice damage to trees. And this close-up sort of tells the story.

Laptop Etiquette

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Dear Ms Manners:

I was chillin’ at the local oxygen bar today when I needed to show my girlfriend something on my MySpace page. One of the regulars had gone to make wee wee so we just scooted over and used his laptop. When he came back he got all pissy about it and took the laptop away from us. I think this was the rudest behavior EVER! You got my back on this one, girl?

Bruised Feelings

Sorry, BF, but it’s the yellow flag for you and your BFF. You don’t go into someone’s home just because the door is unlocked. Even if you know them. You don’t use their car to run down to the Vietnamese Nail Salon, just because the keys are in it. And you don’t use someone’s computer, without asking their permission.

Would you have been upset if you discovered this gentleman going through your lingerie drawer? I mean, you are friends, right?

Ms. Manners

50s and 60s new prime?

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Major U.S. companies are retaining workers over 55 even as younger workers get the ax. That’s the gist of an article in Feb edition of BUSINESSWEEK:

“Figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics tell the tale: The number of people aged 55 and up with jobs actually rose nearly 900,000 from the start of the recession, in December 2007, through last year. By comparison, people aged 25 to 54 lost nearly 2.9 million jobs. The share of older Americans who have jobs has risen during the recession, while the share of younger Americans with jobs has plunged.”

And a “mature” dude such as myself, who is comfortable on the Internets… let’s get us some of them!

Steve Outing: The all-digital newsroom

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“What will it take to get one of the remaining jobs in the all-digital newsroom? Certainly an understanding of, and probably enthusiasm for, new forms of media and storytelling. The transformed newsroom will be filled with multi-functional journalists who are comfortable carrying around a digital camera and tiny video camera; who make it part of their routine to record audio for possible use in podcasts or multimedia project sound clips; who are regular users of social networks and understand how to leverage them to communicate with and attract new readers, and share some personal information about themselves as well as promote their work; and who are comfortable and willing to put in the time to engage and communicate with their readers or viewers, including participating in reader comment threads accompanying their stories.”

“With blogs at the center of a reporter’s work universe, there’s still much to do in this new kind of news operation.

Here’s what the reporter/blogger will routinely do:

1. Long-form stories and features. But in this new environment, a reporter may do fewer of these because of other duties. And they may be in a variety of formats, from simple text and video to multimedia presentations, audio or podcasts.

2. Regular blog entries (basically short articles) through the day. The reporter in this organization doesn’t wait till all the facts are in when it’s a big breaking story, but reports what’s known quickly. Additional blog updates can be added as the news event progresses. (Again, don’t take “blog entry” to mean “text.” A reporter might post video or audio to the blog, as well.)

3. Instant updates. When relevant, a reporter will put out short alerts to mobile phone news alert subscribers; to an e-mail list; as a “tweet” on Twitter or brief report on other social networks to update the reporter’s “friends” and “followers,” etc. This can take but a minute (with proper systems in place to streamline the process), and then it’s on to the write-up for the blog.”

— From Steve Outing column at Editor & Publisher

Lucy and Barb

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Lucy –the junior pup at our house– is extremely camera shy. If you pick up something that even resembles a camera, she runs under the bed (her sanctuary). I thought I could fool her with the iPhone. No way.

But I got this shot (with iPhone) last night. Hardly a great photo but I like the monitor glow on Barb and you can just spot Lucy’s nose peeking out from beneath the table.

For some reason it appears I’m about five floors up but it’s just one.

Job interviews

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Lots of folks looking for jobs and many more will be. I’ve been trying to remember the last time I interviewed for a job. I blush to recall that Clyde recruited me 25 years ago and “insisted” I accept his offer.

In 1972 I got a job at the radio station where my father worked so there was nothing that resembled an interview. If I was willing to work 10p-6a, the job was mine.

The short-lived gig as a postal inspector was more of a pass the test, fill out the form kind of thing. Another instance of me “falling into” the job.

I can only recall a couple of job interviews: one for the Memphis TN police department; another with a community theater in Kansas City. I wasn’t qualified for either and was damned lucky I didn’t get hired.

During my Management days, I interviewed lots of people for jobs but don’t think I ever got very good at it. And I wouldn’t be very good at applying for a job now.

I wish the very best to those now “on the bricks.”