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The blogging lamp will dim for a couple of days as we motor down to Destin for a week for R&R. This must be what movie stars feel on the drive out to the Betty Ford Clinic for a month of detox. I know I need to spend less time online, but...
Bob Edwards XM's New Morning Star. "It'll be loose. It'll be long interviews, short interviews, and then maybe departments...You've got to have the news...it's not going to be all features, yet it's not going to be the Financial Times, either." October 4, 8-9 a.m. daily.
Last time a speech gave me goose bumps, Jimmy Stewart was doing the talking:
Jefferson Smith: Just get up off the ground, that's all I ask. Get up there with that lady that's up on top of this Capitol dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you won't just see scenery; you'll see the whole parade of what Man's carved out for himself, after centuries of fighting. Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so as he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color, or creed. That's what you'd see. There's no place out there for graft, or greed, or lies, or compromise with human liberties. And, uh, if that's what the grownups have done with this world that was given to them, then we'd better get those boys' camps started fast and see what the kids can do. And it's not too late, because this country is bigger than the Taylors, or you, or me, or anything else. Great principles don't get lost once they come to light. They're right here; you just have to see them again! [Mr. Smith goes to Washington]
David Weinberger sums it up nicely: "The Convention folks think their job is to script an event for the news media, and the news media don't want to cover an event that's been scripted."
A co-worker discovered ego-surfing today and emailed to report it. I couldn't resist checking "Steve Mays" [don't forget the quotation marks] and admit to being pleased to see smays.com is still ahead of all those clones. Early on, the Reverend Steve Mays had the Google Juice...but no longer. And don't tell me you never did it.
Friend and colleague O. Kay Henderson is covering the Democratic Convention in Boston. She's filing "real" news reports but her blog posts are much more interesting.
Lance Armstrong was cycling in and around Kennett, MO last Thanksgiving and this weekend he made sports history.
"You're standing in a puddle of shit and you don't have the shoes for it." Brian Cox in The Bourne Supremecy.
My friend Jeff really gets the blog thing and does it well. I'm really proud of helping him get started.
Prison inmates in Norway have turned to cameraphones to help plan their escapes. [engadget]
"A bad carpenter thinks his shiny, new tools are going to save his sorry ass from oblivion." gapingvoid
A community site for bloggers participating in the DNC.
Jeff Jarvis' starter list of blogs. See how much easier this is than creating a bunch of bookmarks?
Henry Domke has been my doctor for years and he's a terrific guy. And a hell of a photographer.
Three of our reporters are heading for Boston to cover the Democratic Convention. As reporters for state news networks, they focus on the state delegations and do a lot of their work at the hotel where the delegates are staying. Along with our "regular" news coverage, each of the reporters will take a stab at blogging the four-day event as well. Radio Iowa's O. Kay Henderson posted some wonderful reports (via email) from the 2000 convention, but we just didn't have tools (or the word "blog"). The other two guys are experienced reporters but are new to this kind of writing (as far as I know). Should be interesting.
What came to be known as The Tulsa Summer started in St. Louis. At least, that's where it started for me. My uncle was some sort of supervisor at the General Motors assembly plant and he pulled the necessary strings to get me a summer job on "the line." He also gave me a place to live so it meant a half-hour drive in from Wentzville every day. I worked the second shift (3-11p?) and usually car-pooled with other GM workers. To this day, I've never had a worse job. [From The Basement Diaries]
That's what I've always heard about family reunions but can't say I've found it to be true. Our upcoming Destin vacation will be shared with Barb's brothers --Chris and Lew-- and their families; her sisters Jan and Beth; long-time friends Pam & Paul; and Nancy and Terry McVey.
"I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job."
-- President Bush, quoted in the Lancaster New Era, during a private meeting with an Amish group. [via Scripting News]
Most of my in-car radio listening is XM these days. But at home I still tune in to a couple of the local stations. And it dawned on me this week that the little transistor radio I listen to is more than 20 years old. We brought it with us when we moved to Jefferson City in 1984. And it could have easily been 10 years old then. I love this little radio (made in Hong Kong for General Electric). On the front it proudly announces "Integrated Circuit" and, on the back, there's a little plasic clip for attaching to your belt. I'm trying to think of other things in my life that have worked as well or as long as this little transistor (when did we drop that adjective?) radio. I so clearly remember when a small, portable radio like this was the ONLY way to listen to music or news away from your home, car or office.
If/when this one breaks or dies, with what sort of device will I replace it? I'm sure they still make them but for how much longer. Will they become integrated with some kind of mobile device (cell phone)? That doesn't seem practical. I'm not going anywhere with this. Just a small ode to a long-time companion.
Couple of my more faithful readers have emailed to ask if I'm okay. Last entry here at smays.com was Wednesday. That might be the longest I've been dark since starting this journal. It's a combination of pre-vacation burn-out and 12 hour work days that involve maintaining websites. I'm guessing that people that work in bakeries don't go home and make cookies.
Just finished Live Bait (P. J. Tracy)and The Stone Monkey (Jeffery Deaver)
Off to Springfield (Missouri) tomorrow for Allen's wedding. Allen and Dan introduced me to the joys of html.
In some strange, twisted way... this makes me like Dick Cheney a little bit. I might forgive all those fuckers their sins if they'd just put it out there. The guys that used to intimidate me in grade school never felt the need to lie to me.
I have been working out regularly (3-5 times a week)for three years. I thought that milestone was coming up in August but I had 'em check my record at the fitness center and the madness started in June, 2001. I've already become something of a bore on the subject so I'll stop here. But I feel great.
"Welcome fellow bloggers and blog readers! Blog doggers and blog loggers. Blogging away for the common good or just to keep from watching whatever crap is on TV right now. What is on TV right now? No new 6 Feet Under tonight. The Practice has been bounced. Can't Jon Stewart do a Sunday show?"
No way to know if Michael Moore is doing his own blogging or some savvy web monkey is doing it for him. I'd like to think he's writing his own stuff. But this is a great example of "voice." Sounds like he's sitting in front of the tube with his notebook in his lap, banging out a few thoughts for his new blog.
The movie stats trivia ("Fahrenheit 9/11" beat the opening weekend of "Return of the Jedi.") and Letterman's Top 10 List ("George W. Bush Complaints About "Fahrenheit 9/11")are worth the read. And Michael Moore says he starts blogging tonight.
Mr. Steve's Virtual 4th of July. You can fight the traffic, mosquitoes and screaming children...but it's not absolutely necessary. This short video (2 min) is about an 11 meg download.
"...that point in life when you stopped hoping the next year would be better than the last, and started hoping that it wouldn't be as bad. That's what happend when you you hit middle age. Old people you loved got sick and died, young people you hated got promoted over you, the market crashed and took your retirement funds with it, and your body started to look like your father's did when you used to think you would never, ever let yourself go like that. If anyone every told five-year-olds the truth about life, there'd be a rash of kindergarten suicides." -- Live Bait by P.J.Tracy.
"soft-yet-durable, 100% cotton, made-in-the-USA, banners of freedom today." The guy that designed this one is from South Africa, so... more designs like the one above at Reason8. [via Boing Boing]
Okay, I'd go early to get a good seat for this.
XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio could have more than 42 million subscribers by the end of 2009, according to a report by SkyWaves Research. Two week ago, XM announced that it had surpassed 2 million subscribers. On May 11, Sirius said it had reached the 400,000 mark.
The Tshirt thing is a good example. And the idea of 30 second videos. Lists of 5 (instead of 10). Or cartoons on the back of a business card. This probably has something to do with fear of commitment.
Original Cyber Twin, Allen Hammock, is now married to his soul-mate, Ellen. The stories (
