10/18/2004 #
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Tips for Newscasters and Newswriters:
1. Every time there is a thunderstorm, hurricane, flood, or tornado, entitle your report “Wicked Weather.” You will be the first person to ever think to use this witty aliteration.
2. People always think these clever substitutions, among many others, are funny or cool:
Martha Stewart = Domestic Diva
Michael Jackson = King of Pop or Wacko Jacko
Election year of YYYY = You Decide YYYY
Yankees = Bronx Bombers
3. Report on things that happen on reality TV. The more you report on them, the more real it seems. Your prime time ratings will go up, and your “Wicked Weather” and “What happened at the game?” (see #4) teasers will be better received by larger numbers of people.
4. Make sure weather and sports come last. If there was a close game, show highlights of both teams celebrating and tease your viewers with “the scores…later tonight.” If there is a thunderstorm within 12 hours from your viewing area, show shots of tornado- and hurricane-force winds destroying all in sight and tease with “Will this ‘Wicked Weather’ [remember #1!] come your way?”
5. People do not understand that wind is windy unless you have a reporter getting blown around by it. Make sure there is a close call with an airborne car part or piece of plywood (employ large fans and pre-purchased garbage if necessary). When this occurs, make sure the reporter warns viewers of the dangers of doing what he does.
6. When it comes to high-profile trials, there is only one word to remember: “speculation.” People want to hear gory murder details reiterated in a light, casual banter between ex-OJ trial “experts.” Have your guests throw out random predictions about who will testify and when, who is winning, what the jury thinks, and what trick the defense team “has up their sleeves.” People love it when normal news is preempted by live coverage of pretrial hearings.
7. When it comes to interviews near a crime scene, grab the nearest crackhead from the garbage bin and interview them. They obviously had the best view of what happened.
8. Don’t check your sources, don’t check your reports. Trust politicians, expose your competitors. Use second-hand information. Press kits from presidential campaigns and marketing groups save you hard work. Don’t be biased: just mess up everything on both sides.
10/18/2004 #
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No BS: FNC just used “Wicked Weather.”
Sigh.
10/13/2004 #
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I’m officially tired of the election season. Bush made an obvious factual lapse regarding “not caring” about bin Laden, and Kerry just compared Bush to Tony Soprano. Ick.
It got too dirty too soon. Now we’re just going to have to rake muck for weeks.
10/9/2004 #
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Tuck Fexas baby! 5 in a row.
10/8/2004 #
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Generalized Bush victory. I would consider Bush to gain some momentum in the undecideds, but very little actual vote changes right now.
10/3/2004 #
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Well, I’m building Linux From Scratch (LFS) again, where you compile a “bootstrap” system (a system built to build a system, so to speak) and then compile a fully-functional Linux system on top of the temporary system. It’s cool, and it’s working better this time (as in, actually working). I’m building the C Standard Libraries for the third time now (the first is statically-linked, the second is dynamically-linked temporary, and this is the permanent dynamic link build).
I’m starting to issue two-line command line commands without even thinking about it, so I’m quickly on the upper side of intermediate when it comes to proficiency. It’s been hard work, but it’s good stuff.
10/3/2004 #
(No Title)
Well, I’m building Linux From Scratch (LFS) again, where you compile a “bootstrap” system (a system built to build a system, so to speak) and then compile a fully-functional Linux system on top of the temporary system. It’s cool, and it’s working better this time (as in, actually working). I’m building the C Standard Libraries for the third time now (the first is statically-linked, the second is dynamically-linked temporary, and this is the permanent dynamic link build).
I’m starting to issue two-line command line commands without even thinking about it, so I’m quickly on the upper side of intermediate when it comes to proficiency. It’s been hard work, but it’s good stuff.
10/1/2004 #
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This was taken from the boards at slashdot of all places. Pretty interesting insight.
I was just thinking about this yesterday, when I didn’t recognize 1 of the top 5 songs in the country. A radio show was listing them and playing clips, and I knew a couple of the names, but the songs didn’t ring a bell. I thought they were all terrible, and I happen to like nearly all kinds of music including rap.
But here is my take on rap – it is in its “disco era”. Think about it – Rock and Roll had its roots in the 50s. The 60s were rebellion, and what some consider to be the heart of rock music. The 70s started to slide, we then got Disco. The 80s was an attempt to rebound from that, and alternative music was born.
Rap has its roots in the early 80s. I would call the late 80s/early 90s the “60s” of rap. It really showed that it wasn’t going away and made a mark on the world. But I think that we are now in the Disco age of rap, where it is all just posing and people trying to cash in. For the most part, the art and creativity is out the window. I just wonder what the “80s” of rap will bring.
But you cannot discount rap any longer. It truly comes from the grassroots and I think fits the intent of this article. Now the STATE of rap is questionable, but I don’t think you can question its legitimacy and power.
9/30/2004 #
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I officially declare this website as outside the “Blogosphere.” If I hear that term from another New York journalist someone is getting shot.