For Darin and JW
Anniversary #28. Halfway point.
Barb and I dated for six years before we got married so we’ve been together for 34 years. Looks like a lotta years as I type it but seems like no time at all in my head.
I can’t distill my affection down to single blog post but if you dig around here at smays.com, you’ll discover how much better life is with a friend and partner like Barb.
Chimps Kissing Test
You know I’m a sucker for chimps.
Jeff McVey studies Kung Fu in China
Back in May, I posted on Jeff McVey and his wife (Deborah) who I live in a martial arts academy in a small village in the mountains outside of Yantai, China… studying Kung Fu from the Shaolin Monks who teach there. (I shit you not)
“I had my first kickboxing match this week. I think I did pretty well. They weren’t actually keeping points, but I controlled the fight and got in some good hits. It’s a little nerve racking to just put on a pair of gloves and go at someone. I know we practice this stuff daily, but it’s a different story when someone is trying to knock you out. However, I really liked it. It’s the best practice you can do for that sort of thing. I think I’ll be a bit more confident the next time we do this.”
Can radio go home again?
Jeff Jarvis is doing the Snoopy Dance over this story in the NYT about Clear Channel:
Clear Channel, the poster child for evil media conglomerates, bought up stations and sucked cash out of them but now there’s not much left to suck. Consolidation is the act of a dying industry. Well, broadcast won’t die. But it sure as hell won’t grow.
I was in a lot of small and medium market radio stations before and during the The Great Consolidation. I saw a lot of locally owned stations get gobbled up by Clear Channel. I thought it was a bad idea then and haven’t changed my mind. But I’m a “hometown radio” guy. Local ownership. Local programming. I want to see the station owner at Rotary.
But it’s all moot now. The Internet and related technologies have changed the media landscape forever. I’m not sure radio can go home again. I hope so.
Large American bottoms
Or, perhaps, a tiny love seat for midgets who like to sit in the back of the theater.
We saw The Departed this afternoon and it was gripping. For two-and-a-half hours. Sombody(s) gets an Oscar for this movie.
The Fog of War
The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara is a documentary film directed by Errol Morris and released in December 2003.
The film depicts the life of Robert Strange McNamara, United States Secretary of Defense from 1961 to 1968, through the use of archival footage, White House recordings, and most prominently, an interview of McNamara at the age of 85. The subject matter spans from McNamara’s work as one of the “Whiz Kids” during World War II and at Ford to his involvement in the Vietnam War as the Secretary of Defense under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson
1. Empathize with your enemy.
2. Rationality will not save us.
3. There’s something beyond one’s self.
4. Maximize efficiency.
5. Proportionality should be a guideline in war.
6. Get the data.
7. Belief and seeing are both often wrong.
8. Be prepared to reexamine your reasoning.
9. In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil.
10. Never say never.
11. You can’t change human nature.
We have learned none of McNamara’s lessons. A powerful documentary. And, please, you can’t have an opinion about this movie unless you’ve seen it. Happy to discuss with anyone that has.
ABC World News Webcast
Working late tonight. Had my dinner at my desk while watching ABC’s World News Webcast. Ran almost 17 min with no commercials except for a little spot at the beginning and end. Perfect. It had a more relaxed feel but that might have been my imagination. The quality of the video was exceptional and the 320 pixel video is fine when you’re 18 inches away. I paused a couple of times while I tended to other business. If you think you’re pretty fast on the Blackberry, watch this piece from the webcast.
Our networks are streaming our newscasts but –as Mark Ramsey warns– simply repurposing your existing programming won’t be enough. Not by a long shot.
More stations, same content
Mark Ramsey on the transitional nature of technology and what it means for broadcastsers: “In a shockingly short span of time – perhaps five to ten years – the Internet and/or other wireless-based audio entertainment and information channels will be widely distributed substitutes for radio as we know it today. And your content will either be there or it will not be. … If you think all you need is a website and some podcasts and a frequent listener club, you’re wrong.”
Bush uses “the Google.”
“One of the things I’ve used on the Google is to pull up maps. It’s very interesting to see — I’ve forgot the name of the program– but you get the satellite, and you can — like, I kinda like to look at the ranch. It reminds me of where I wanna be sometimes.”
— George W. Bush (2006)