Monthly Archives: July 2009
Dan Rather Asks Obama to Save the Corporate News Media; America Asks “Why?”
I personally encourage the president to establish a White House commission on public media. – Dan Rather I don’t use the word “media.” I don’t use the word “news.” I don’t think that those words mean anything anymore. They defined … Continue reading
Total Lack of Celebrity Deaths Means Next Week Could Get Ugly
Michael Jackson, Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett, Walter Cronkite and probably a few other famous people we haven’t noticed yet recently died just a few days apart. The line of star-studded coffins seemed backed up all the way from 30 Rock to Ventura … Continue reading
Evaporative “Swamp” Coolers Work; Western Heat Wave Proves It Again
They typically use between three and 10 gallons of water per day. That’s equivalent to a few toilet flushes or, on the high end, a short shower. For similar sized units, the annual utility costs for an air conditioner are … Continue reading
My Company Gets a Makeover; Catching the New Economic Wave, Learning to Spend
I was pretty grumpy the last few weeks. The great year I was having came to an abrupt halt in June. The old clients suddenly didn’t have anything: budgets were frozen, bookings stopped, the brakes were officially on. I knew … Continue reading
Rick Astley with Nirvana: Getting Rick Rolled Is Fun For Some
The late 1980s-1990s are widely considered a sort of dark age of popular music. Dominated by samplers, rappers, posers and producers, it’s pretty grim to look back and see that the most popular “musician” of the era was Britney Spears. But one of the great … Continue reading
Jackson Browne Slaps Down Republicans Who Are Really “Running on Empty”
The Republican Party not only got a hard lesson in political payback in the 2006 and 2008 elections. Thanks to musician Jackson Browne, they also hopefully learned what happens when you steal someone’s property, then audaciously use it for your own gain by attacking … Continue reading
CBS Keeps Cronkite’s Intro to Katie Couric’s Evening News; Considers Using His Hologram to Anchor the Show
You know the reason CBS reversed its decision to drop Walter Cronkite’s intro to the network’s evening news. The CBS Evening News stinks and needs the ghost of Uncle Walter haunting the airwaves just to rattle a few chains and hopefully … Continue reading
Walter Cronkite Exemplified TV News’ Golden Age as Corporate Criminals Plotted Its Demise
Like a lot of kids who eventually got into TV news, I idolized Walter Cronkite. I didn’t even know during the 1960s when I watched him that he was a World War 2 correspondent, I barely knew who Edward R. … Continue reading
“The Sentimentalist”: Web Comedy Videos Take the Lead in Satire
It’s a struggle to laugh when you feel like screaming. But I still believe that laughter is the antidote to anger. It’s why I love satire- I know, what a surprise. Finding humor in things that should make you angry … Continue reading
Addicted to Anger: Tim Kreider NYT Essay Hits Me Right on the Head
When I scan the daily headlines of prestigious publications like (the New York Times), I’m semiconsciously seeking out stories that will provide fodder for the sadomasochistic pleasures of outrage and vindication, of being wronged and proven right. Currently my very … Continue reading
