Catching Up

Well, my post-a-day promise has gone by the wayside ... but I'm still here!

It's funny how a visit from your folks combined with a holiday weekend will keep you from writing.

Anyways, not a whole lot to add today ... other than a reiteration of how much I love living in modern times.

I've added some words here before about using Facebook to reconnect with old friends who I've lost touch with in the days since high school.

Well, another one has come out of the woodwork ... after Googling my name and being led right to this blog!

I know that a lot of people argue that the Internet makes the world a lot less personal, and that can be true.

But, it can make the world a lot more personal as well.

I think the key is this ... if you're young, you can't live on a computer.

Get outside, breathe some air, cause trouble with your friends.

Laugh, dance, have fun.

But, when you get to be a little older ... and you've lost contact with the people who you laughed and danced with in the first place .. this is a great tool to reconnect, share some memories, and relive the old days. Even if they weren't necessarily the GOOD old days.

Not only that, I discovered that he's a blogger as well!

Well, his blog is now part of my blog, joining the honor roll on the right ... and I look forward to reading his thoughts and words as well.

So anyways, to my old/new friend, welcome aboard, and I'm glad you found me!

Hopefully, the modern world will keep us in touch.

I'm Back Baby!

I just realized something ... today is the 1st anniversary of this blog.

I have to admit to both of my regular readers, I've been remiss in writing over the last few weeks.

The reason?

Well, first off, I just didn't feel like doing a lot of writing ... mainly because I didn't think I had anything interesting to say.

But, to celebrate my blog's 1st year of existence, I'm deciding to recommit to it.

My goal, a post a day ... about something.

Anything.

I'll need to put my thinking cap on, but it will come.

I hope.

So, anyways, happy birthday little blog ... and I promise not to be so neglectful as we head into Year 2!

My Anonymous Friends

Seems my blog has gotten intensely popular the last few days ... especially among the anonymous commenters.

It appears as those some folks with a personal grudge against me have made my little slice of the web their playground for attack.

I'm really not sure why, but it's forced me to make a small change.

First, at least until these folks get the boredom out of their system, I'm moving toward "moderated" comments.

I still intend to post most of them (and I'm sure this will be taken as a challenge by my new "friends" to post the ugliest stuff they can come up with ... see the new post under my "Hi Mom!" entry as an example.)

I came here for fun, and as a way to keep my writing up to date, but it appears as though some want to ruin the experience.

I intend for that not to happen.

I also have to admit, it's kind of fun.

For one thing, the fact that I'm so deep in someone's head after all this time, kind of makes me laugh.

It also makes me feel bad for these folks at the same time, that they feel the need to resort to childish games in order to try and get my ire up.

And thirdly, it's kind of a fun detective game.

See if they drop enough clues, It's pretty simple to figure out their identities.

Google Analytics helps a lot too! :)

Hi Mom!

Well, I'm officially climbing off the Springsteen soapbox for a bit here ... after receiving some startling news.

My mother reads my blog.

Now, you have to understand something, I've never told her this blog exists.

And, while my parents aren't computer illiterate, I did once have to write them a note on how the VCR works with the TV (such as how to change the channels to see tapes, etc.)

So, imagine my surprise when I talked to Mom on the phone, and she began peppering me with questions about my entries.

Seems she got curious why using Google one day, and searched my name.

Lo and behold, it brought her here.

Now, on one hand, I think it's a little embarrassing that Ma and Pa can now comb through all my entries ... although there really isn't anything here to get embarrassed about.

On the other hand, I think it's pretty fun that Mom was able to navigate cyberspace on her own to land in my corner of the World Wide Web.

So, in the words of everyone that's ever had a camera pointed in their face ... I say "Hi Mom!!"

I'd Like To Thank The Academy

Imagine my surprise yesterday when I found out that cleveland.com had discovered my little bloggy blog.

Yes, apparently a few of my non-pithy words about the inauguration appeared on the site's "political blog" ... along with a link right back here!

And it happened one day after a 2 friends of mine had their blogs linked to the same website.

Of course, I mercilessly teased one of them, who made sure we all knew about her achievement. (I still love you Mom2Amara!)

Turns out ... somehow, someway, the same honor was then tossed my way. So, following her lead, I bragged about it as well!

After making the discovery ... I had a couple initial thoughts.

1. I sure wish I had taken a little more time on the post. It wasn't one of my finer works, but I did manage to get a "nice work" from a commenter who I assume worked for the website. So, I guess I wasn't too bad.

2. I'm amazed that people are actually reading this. So many times, I really think I'm just writing this stuff for about 3-4 friends that bother to come by and humor me. To see a major media source print a few of my words and link here, honestly, stuns me a bit.

So, to anyone who might have discovered this blog through cleveland.com, welcome, and I can't promise I'll ever write anything interesting again. But, I promise to try.

Also, since I mentioned the Academy in the title ... a jeer today to the folks who vote for Oscar nominations.

Somehow, Bruce Springsteen's "The Wrestler" failed to get nominated, after winning the Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

While I haven't seen the film yet (culture is apparently taking longer to reach NE Ohio), the song is simply incredible, one of Bruce's best tunes in years.

It's a shame the Oscar folks failed to realize this, especially considering they nominated just 3 songs, 2 from the same movie.

The only good news for this music fan, is hopefully, it improves the chances of Peter Gabriel's "Down To Earth", from Wall-E, winning the award.

It's another simply fantastic tune, that makes me wish Mr. Gabriel could put out an album more than once every 10 years.

And if you haven't heard either, give them a listen!

Laying low

Sorry for the lack of posts ... I don't know if it's the holidays, the gray-sky winter blahs, or whatever else, but my blogging has been off-track the last few days.

Another thing has happened of late as well ... I'm getting a little tired of the Facebooking/Twittering generation we live in.

I sometimes miss just picking up the phone, and asking folks what's new.

And at the same time, I'm also realizing I don't think I need CONSTANT updates on some folks.

I always welcome updates from my close friends (the ones who are standing by me in a time of mini-crisis) ... but the rest ... well, I guess I don't need to know when casual acquaintances are suffering from the sniffles, pimping their hometown, or watching TV.

I guess like anything else new, it was a novelty at first, and the fun is beginning to wear off.

You know, like the video game you got at Christmas ... and conquered within a couple months, only to watch the cartridge sit on the shelf and collect dust for the rest of its life.

Like I said, maybe it's just my mood, the winter weather, or whatever ... but I'm finding this whole online world is beginning to bore me.

Election Night Wins and Losses

With apologies to my friend, Struke, over at Media Matters, it's worth discussing the winners and losers of the local media from last night's election.

This was my first election in 15 years where I wasn't a member of the media, and I always remember those nights as exciting, yet always teetering on the edge of disaster.

This year, more than ever, local stations had to balance the old (reporting results on television) with the new (embracing the power of the internet.)

So who succeeded and who failed? Here's one man's opinion. And for full disclosure, I used to work at WKYC/Channel 3.

First, the HUGE losers of the night, in my mind, were Channels 3, 8, and 19. I was ASTONISHED when all three cut away from network programming at 11pm to go to local news.

11pm, of course, is when the networks chose to call this historic election for Barack Obama, and the party in Chicago began.

So, instead of Brian Williams, Katie Couric and Shepard Smith, I was left with the local anchors talking over live pictures. Now, I will confess to not know whether Fox's network coverage planned to go past 11 or not. If it did not, 8 is excused from this rant.

Seriously, an election of this magnitude, and you go local at 11???? Brian Williams, at 10:45pm or so, even teased that viewers would "want to stay with them" at the top of the hour, as some big races would be called.

I can't even begin to tell you how stunned I was.

The big winner here was Channel 5. They had the foresight to stay with ABC News and Charlie Gibson through the calling of the race ... before going to local news 10-15 minutes later.

Of course, even the best decisions end up poorly. Once 5 took over, their first live hit from a reporter was with Curtis Jackson ... standing in the newsroom!!!!!

As for the rest of the wins and losses, I'll go by station. Also, since I live in Summit County, the race I was following the most was Issue 8, the Sewers for Scholarships proposal. As you'll see, each station handled its coverage a little differently.

WKYC/Channel 3: I kind of felt bad for my old friends last night, as it appeared to be a rough night for them.

The Good: The station embraced the new era, hosting Meet The Bloggers in their newsroom for the evening, once again. wkyc.com provided a live stream of them working, although it really just turned out to be a webcam shot of 7-8 people's backs ... their heads buried in laptop screens.
For the life of me, I can't figure out why they couldn't have had someone hosting this online, although there was a chat window open.
WKYC also used Facebook as a means to supplement their coverage.
Unfortunately, the videos they posted were "behind the scenes" items, which involved people waiting in line for food, and telling us what they were eating.
I would have preferred to see Tom Beres and his political experts providing some online punditry, since they were only used in some of the stations cut-ins.
The station also promised election results on my cell phone, but I did not test this out.

The Bad: Election results on wkyc.com took forever to load (at least for me.) The station was ambitious by trying to deliver results for more than 600 races. But, it was slow going.
I couldn't understand the station's decision to not use the end of the hour cut-ins.
Instead, we were left with Pete Williams doing some secondary anchoring, which was really dry, and as one friend of mine put it, a "buzzkill." Why 3 didn't use the opportunities for more local cut-ins is beyond me,
Anchor Tim White also went out of his way to show a great level of disdain for the "new media," at one point telling viewers, after a segment with Meet The Bloggers, that most of the television viewers had "no idea" what blogs are. You might be surprised Tim.

The Ugly: This was the truly ugly. Issue 8, the election issue I followed most closely, was reporting zeroes all night on wkyc.com. As were most of the Akron area issues.
It's great to show me people eating pizza on Facebook, but when that's delivered instead of the results, it's a big fail.
Luckily, Akron Bureau Chief Eric Mansfield was trying to keep folks updated on his blog. The station does get kudos for allowing Eric to cover reaction to the loss, which resulted in a great soundbite from Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic.

Channel 5/WEWS: They might have been the big winners of the evening, for reasons beyond sticking with the network for the calling of the race.

The Good: While their numbers were slower, they had the first updated figures from Issue 8 on newsnet5.com.
5 also took a big step forward in delivering election updates through Twitter. This was a big undertaking for someone, but you know what, it worked for those of us subscribing to Channel 5's feed. It actually delivered information, and while none of it drove me to watch them, it may have worked for a few folks.
The station also devoted reporter John Kosich to providing online reports on the latest from the election, and I believe also had Duane Pohlman blogging from the BOE.

The Bad: I didn't see a whole lot to complain about to be honest. They were the only station not to host a live web chat online, which was probably a mistake on a night like this one, where people are looking to discuss the results. If there was one there, I failed to find it.


Fox 8/WJW: Channel 8 had a solid, if unspectacular showing.

The Good: 8 embraced the web age with a live chat on their website, much like Channel 3 had on their Mogulus channel with Meet the Bloggers. Didn't see too much more in the way of innovation, however. They stuck with what they do best.

The Bad: While Channel 8 did deliver my Issue 8 results, they were woefully behind. Also, while the station included Issue 8 in their online results, they did not include the companion Issue 9.

19 Action News/WOIO: Some interesting leaps forward, combined with one terrible stumble.

The Good: 19 also embraced the web age in a couple ways. First, they were the third station to include a live chat on their webpage. Seems like a simple enough inclusion, although Channel 5 did not do one.
19 supplemented the chat with a live stream of discussion hosted by one of their anchors. Nothing fancy, in fact it looked a lot like you see when you watch Mike and Mike on ESPN. Just some people sitting around microphones, talking about the results. While it wasn't fancy, it was effective.

The Ugly: I'm skipping right to ugly here, because, despite all the things they did above, they failed to even list Issue 8 on their results website. Not good.

So, if I had to list the stations in order of how they handled election night, Channel 5, to me, is the clear winner.

The second, third and fourth spots I'll leave up to you. 3 was the most aggressive, but also had the largest failings to me. 8 was conservative, but steady. 19 delivered fresh online content, but forgot to, you know, give me the numbers.

Also, a couple notes to other media sources. Ohio.com may have been the smartest in dealing with results, providing a direct link right to the Summit Co. BOE website.

Also, akronnewsnow.com pretty much copied and pasted the BOE results right to their website. However, some of their analysis was a bit lacking ... such as this update:

"In the race for the 41st Congressional District seat, Latourette is still in an almost dead heat against O'Neill. In the rest of the Congressional races and those vying for a spot in the House of Representatives, the Democrats are taking the cake at this time."

Apparently, the author forgot that this race actually stretched OUTSIDE the boundaries of Summit County, where LaTourette was crushing O'Neill.

My final conclusion, if you want to find out how your local race is doing ... the best plan is to seek the info for yourself ... by heading right to your county's BOE website.

I've been tagged!

Normally, I don't get into this kind of stuff ... but, when Mom2Amara is doing the tagging ... you pay attention.

Seriously, when I grow up, I want to be just like her. Except, you know, still a guy.

Apparently, these are the rules I must follow.

Post the rules on your blog.
Write 7 random things about yourself.
Tag 7 people at the end of your post.
Pass on the tag.

I'm skipping Rule 3 ... for a very good reason ... that you can help me with. Yes, I'm adding homework to the tagging.

Ok ... onto my 7 random things.

1. I have sleep apnea. My friends noticed that I nearly died in my sleep on a couple road trips, so I got it checked out. The result? I can now sleep. But if you thought it was possible for me to get even less sexy, you should see me at night!

2. I still collect baseball cards. Yup. Avid baseball fan. Collected them since I was a kid. Still do. They've evolved into my therapy. Bad day at the office (or no day at the office!) ... open a few packs. If you get something good, your stress melts away.

3. I'm active on an internet message board. Weird, huh? Know what it's for? The band Genesis. My absolute favorite group growing up re-formed last year for a tour, and launched a new website to match. For some reason I began posting on it. You know what's weird? I've actually met some of the people on it ... and have made some pretty good friends as a result.

4. My online "handle" is the same as the former name of my fantasy baseball team. Stengals. The rule in the fantasy league was that you had to name your team using part of your real name. My co-owner's last name was Case. So, we became Case's Stengals, in honor of legendary manager Casey Stengel.

5. I'm WAY too into my fantasy baseball team. It's a super-competitive league, with some really funny, cool, smart guys. The draft is 8 hours long, pretty exhausting, yet hilarious. I've won the league 3 times in 13 years. Doesnt sound like much, but its actually a pretty good ratio.

6. I've done stand-up comedy professionally. It's a long story ... but, it was extra cash while I made $13,000 on my first "real" job out of college.

7. I don't wear crazy costumes for Halloween ... but I do for St. Patrick's Day. Ah, if only I could find those photos of the green vintage tuxes with the puffy shirts underneath.

So, there ya go. Random facts.

I'm not tagging anyone else ... because frankly, I only read a few blogs. And, some of them are by "real" writers who do it as a job.

So, help me out here ... both of you who read this ... ship me some more blogs I should be reading!

Lucy, I'm home!

Sorry, dear readers, that it's been so long between posts.

I really haven't written much because most of the past couple weeks have been spent going back and forth to the hospital.

And for all of you who asked how my Dad is doing ... thanks, you all continue to be the best friends a guy could ask for.

And, for those of you who haven't asked, he's doing fine. He's finally relaxing at home after surgery, and a quick bout of pneumonia as well.

He's still being held together by about 76 staples ... but those should come out soon as well.

So, here I am, back in Ohio after a 7-hour drive from the Shore. And promising not to neglect my poor bloggy blog as I have the last few weeks.

So, what to write about?

I have some ideas ... I know the next entry will include the words "love" and "hate."

So, you have that to look forward to!

Welcome Aboard!

Well, I'm entering the world of blogging.

Why? Well, I have some time on my hands!

You see, after a kick-ass 2007, 2008 is kicking my ass!

After 11 years of dedicated service to my place of employment, they've let me go, for apparently no other reason than I make too much money.

So, while I'm job hunting, I might as well keep my writing skills sharp, and this seems like the easiest way to do that.

I've always been reticent to begin blogging, because I'm not really sure I have anything interesting to say.

I remember an old Dennis Miller joke (on his Off-White album I believe), about camcorders. He basically joked that there should be a law that prevents people from buying them, unless they can prove their lives are interesting enough to be recorded.

I kind of feel that way about blogs. They're a great way for eveyone to publish their thoughts, hopes and fears online, but how many are REALLY trying to say something. How many keep me interested?

As it turns out ... there are a lot that really do keep my attention. And there are some I read just because they're authored by friends of mine. Of course, there are others that just come off as rants authored by people I now add to a list of potential future Unabombers.

So, where will mine fall?

I don't have any idea just yet (although probably not on the Unabomber fringe.) I have a MySpace page, and a Facebook page ... and while they're nice to keep in touch with folks on ... I'm quickly losing interest in both.

So, will this keep my attention, and will it keep yours? We'll see!

Oh ... my next post will explain why I've chosen the title and URL that I have! I promise.

In the meantime, if anyone needs a competent writer/producer/public relations/media/garbageman/security guard/urinal disc replacer ... drop me a line!