Big News Time

Since I'm now discovering that the gossip-net is even faster than the Internet, I guess it's time to break the news.

I have accepted a job with WRAL in Raleigh and will be leaving Nashville very, very shortly. It's a huge opportunity and I'm really excited about it. I'll also be getting back to Tar Heel country right in time for some prime basketball. :)

However, Nashville is pretty much my hometown now, and I am leaving my family of birth and my family at WKRN with more than a few pangs. And I will STILL be a Nashville blogger! You'd better keep me on the NIT blogroll, Brittney! And for those of you whom I was lucky enough to meet at blogger functions, I will miss seeing y'all regularly and hope to pop in for future meetups.

Now to figure out how to find an place to live and move in less than two weeks AT CHRISTMAS....

Introducing "CNN: News Junkie's Crack"

We are all aware of how much I love CNN. Therefore, you would expect that I would eargerly anticipate the release of their new VOD service "CNN Pipeline". But to be honest, I wasn't expecting much. As someone who works with online news and video all day, I know a lot firsthand about how much most of the streaming video services really, really suck. But every once in awhile, you find something that bucks the trend, and it appears that CNN Pipeline might be one of those.

First, my main complaint about the service - I have no idea how good or bad the stand-alone desktop app is, because I have yet to be able to get it to work. To begin with, it makes me nervous when any new piece of software requires a 15-minute download and reconfiguration from Microsoft. Too many fresh memories of the Sony debacle come to mind, and I really don't like not knowing what Microsoft and CNN might be sneaking onto my system to monitor my viewing (and other) habits. Moreover, it turns out that this app only works with WinXP Service Pack 2. I'm not cool enough to have upgraded beyond plain ol' WinXP. I would be interested in how many people are actually that upgraded on their home computers (of course, you shouldn't be using this so much at work.)

Thankfully, CNN did have the foresight to make a web-only version for the not-cool kids (and the Mac owners, since over 3 million Mac users isn't enough to make the desktop app multi-platform) that's plenty cool enough. You can see exactly what it looks like and all the things you can do at their website, but it basically consists of three continuous live feeds and a collection of packages that have run on CNN recently. The live feeds are mostly for the real news junkies, since they're basically whatever's showing on the CNN live feeds for stations at that moment. Unless you've got something really visually entertaining (like a good car chase) you're probably not going to get into watching press conferences or whatever President Bush is doing at the moment.

One of the channels also has its own anchor who does periodic updates that look a lot like CNN Headline News, and another channel often runs non-stop weather that looks a lot like the Weather Channel. But at night it's very cool, because they run CNN International live. Since Comcast has never added CNN:I to their digital package (unlike Charter) this is a treat. I slept to the sound of soothing foreign accents last night, until I was woken up early by live coverage of the Saddam trial (I have now established that Arabic is the most uncomprehensible language ever developed, and that this trial is like putting a narcissistic schizophrenic in court without a judge, because that's how Saddam is acting.)

The packages that you can select are pretty cool. It makes me wonder why they don't reair a lot of them more during the daytime on their channel, since it usually takes a lot for me not to see stuff on-air. If you're a Blackberry person, make sure that you check out Jeff Greenburg's package on the possible shutdown of the service. I do NOT recommend watching the story about the 1-hour facelift. I was unlucky enough to catch that on AC:360 last night, and it was bad enough to see once.

In any case, this service rates a "B" right now, and will probably be even more useful when there's some big breaking news going on (boy, I wish this had been around for Katrina, although I overdosed on only watching one channel for that.) Think about how great this will be for the next hurricane season. One live feed of Anderson Cooper, all the time! (You know I wasn't going to get through a whole CNN post without one mention of him, right?)

TAG: CNN Pipeline

TV Moves

Great Idea: Finally release the new Doctor Who on DVD on Valentine's Day, only shortly after its UK release. It's about time, and it's nice to see the BBC acknowledge that they're losing potential ratings and sales across the pond to file downloads. Duh.

Greater Idea: NBC moving "My Name Is Earl" to Thursdays (along with "The Office", but I refuse to watch that.) I'll now get to actually see my current second-favorite show on the night it airs instead of waiting for a Saturday marathon, thanks to the previously-bitched-about conflict with "House".

Very Bad Idea: NBC not moving "Scrubs" to Thursdays at the same time. NBC-Universal produces "House", dammit. Shouldn't they not try to leech viewers from one of its highest-rated properties by putting another snarky show that's had trouble keeping an audience up against it? Not to mention that it's going to be hard to pull a lot of us "House"-addicts out of our obsessions mid-season to watch a show that hasn't been on in forever. Luckily for us, that's why the DVD was invented.

The Blogger's Christmas List

Since it's Cyber Monday and everyone's supposed to be shopping online anyway, it's only fair to support bloggers in the process. I know there's a lot of them out there who are trying to make some extra money while sharing the craft that they love. But as all things are in the blogosphere, they're kinda scattered out. So here's my effort to get a bunch of stuff that people might like to purchase for Christmas in one place.

Starting with the ones I know personally:
Althaea Soaps and Herbals: This is a woman from Johnson City who just went into making her homemade herbal soaps full-time, and does a damn good job doing it. Her soaps are wonderful- the scents actually smell like the real thing instead of chemicals, and she has the best vanilla bean soap that I've ever used, bar none (pun not intended.) She also makes a sugar scrub that really does make your skin amazingly soft, and she offers that (along with oils) in all the scents that her soaps come in, so you can avoid smelling like five different scents at once. And her prices generally blow the retail stores out of the water. If you're a hubby who's looking for the gift that keeps on giving, check out her Soap of the Month Club - I know I personally would love that. I can't recommend her stuff highly enough.

The Dreaming Place: Jeanette makes the most gorgeous filigree jewelry. It actually looks like real antique stuff, but without the overinflated prices. She's also made those bangle bracelets that are so stylish right now, but appears to be out of stock. Plus she's giving out a free gift with purchase for every Christmas order.

Dreaming Crow Studios: Liss lives in the Pacific Northwest, and specializes in nature photography. Check out some of her gorgeous looks at plant and animal life.

Vivid Perspectives: Rayna lives in Montreal, but she travels extensively and has a wide swath of available photos. Her site is brand-new and the store just opened, so contact her if you're interested in purchasing prints of her work.

That's it for a moment. Frankly, I'm leaving out all the authors I know who blog because I could never remember exactly who is published and who isn't, and books usually get lots of pub on their own (although I will give a blatent shout-out to my friend Elizabeth's vampire novels.) But really, anything's game. So comment and leave a link to your stuff or your friend's stuff, and I'll keep this post updated as a blogger's Christmas list.

A Wee Bit 'o News

I don't do very well tooting my own horn, but Brittney from NIT said that I needed to on this one, so I'll take her word on it. In short, I can now say that I'm an Emmy-nominated producer, thanks to a website special section that Jackie Pillars and I did for a weather special last spring.

A few things I've been asked since receiving the nomination last Friday, and the answers:
- Yes, I'm beyond excited, and very shocked. But no, I don't think I have a "special glow", except for maybe some chapped cheeks from the cold.
- No, I won't be on TV. This is the Midsouth Regional Emmys, and while I think it may be shown on some Nashville channel, it won't be on in Atlanta.
- No, I don't know what I'm going to wear (a makeover may be in order.) And no, I also don't have a date yet, but I am now accepting applications. I think free drinks are involved.
- I highly doubt I will win. Not false modesty here, but my competition's really stiff, and this is truly one of those "it's an honor just to be nominated" things.
- In the unlikely event that I do, I will string a big fat gold chain through the globe part and wear the Emmy around my neck. A girl needs to have her bling. ;)

In case y'all are reading this, thanks to Jackie for creating this section with me, and to Jeff for all his work in submitting the entry, and my bosses for judging it worthy to represent the station. Also thanks to my sister for all her moral support, and the friends who kicked my butt when I needed it.

My Rare Personal Post

I know that I talk a lot on here about sports and news and TV and cool events and maybe the occasional drink or two. I rarely talk about what I actually do, because beyond work, I don't do that much. Even more rarely, I actually talk about my past beyond an occasional childhood memory. So feel privileged, because today is different.

Exactly 12 years ago today, I got married at the Maury Co. Courthouse by a judge who had to have weighed around 400 lbs. and wheezed his way through the ceremony. I had the worst cold of my entire life, so instead of "I Do", I said "A-Choo!" Afterward, my husband and I treated ourselves to a wedding reception at the Baskin-Robbins down the street.

In the seven years that followed, we had some really rough times. In January of the following year, our son died before birth and I almost died during labor. A few months later, we dumped our full scholarships at our college and moved to Nashville to wait tables and find our new path in life. Another year later, we set off to North Carolina together. In all the moves and jobs and classes and years later, in sickness and health, we shared a lot of laughs and a lot of stories together that I still tell on occasion to shock my coworkers (believe it or not, I was a candy raver at one point. You can stop laughing now.)

Eventually, things didn't work out. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't easy, and we finally divorced after seven years. But through the angst of the breakup and the uncomfortableness of getting used to going back to being best friends instead of husband and wife, we always stayed together. Right after the divorce, I abruptly moved to LA for a "new start" (note to anyone who gets the same idea in the future: moving across the country without a job, without more than two friends in the area, and into the largest city in the US after spending your life in the South is not a good idea.) When I ran for my life a month after arrival after my psycho roommate threatened to throw me out a window (and if you're reading this, you WERE a psycho, and it's nice to actually feel strong enough to say it publically) Fox was the person I called when I was stopped in my car on Ventura, crying so hard that I was throwing up. When he was having his bumps in the road in relationships later, he called me and cried on my shoulder. He's been there when I needed him, and vice versa. Since he's nocturnal, he's my primary source for overnight breaking news - he called me when the levee broke in NOLA, and kept me updated on the chaos while I was in Atlanta the weekend afterward. I now have his partners on my speed dial, and I adore them. It's not perfect - we're very different people, and I'm sure we annoy the hell outta each other. But we're actually able to look back on everything that happened and talk about things and laugh and forgive each other. We value our friendship too much to let other crap get in the way.

So today is our 12th wedding anniversary. Yes, there's a part of me that's sad and a bit lonely, because Fox now lives in California and I miss him and his primary partner a lot. But I'm also happy, because despite it all, I still remember us as the two slightly-nerdy kids (you have to admit, Fox, those orange spandex tennis shorts were funny) who first met at a pre-orientation of our honors program in the summer of 1991. We've both changed a lot, but we've been friends ever since, and that's a gift. So Happy Oops Day, Fox. We might not be in love anymore, but I still love you.

EDIT: One other thing that occured to me in responding to a comment elsewhere - I think that a lot of the reason that we were able to become friends afterward was that we both made it a priority not to lose each other. We've both experienced a lot of loss in our lives, before and after we met. Our marriage began shortly before the loss of Carter, and there were a lot of times where the two of us were literally all we had. Neither of us wanted to lose anymore. So even if we weren't a success at marriage, we've fought to do whatever it takes to keep the friendship going. Not everyone has that sort of motivation, but we were lucky to be in it together. And as he said about me, I don't know what I'd do without him. He's been an example that not everything disappears, and I do always have someone who tells me that he believes in me.

Jesus Christ on a Pogo Stick

You would think that God and his angels came down on a shiny golden cloud, took Peyton Manning off the field tonight and ascended into heaven. Give it a rest, people! The result of the game was more due to the Pats looking like a MASH unit than the Colts unbelievable talent, which was just as unbelievable the past three years when they lost.

And anyone who wants to make fun of Doug Flutie should read his Wikipedia page and/or find last month's SI article about him and his autistic son and then be smacked around Boston Common a few dozen times.

(Just continuing in my tradition of Peyton-hatin', y'all.)

A Lot of Football and a Little Reminiscing

- Good thing about falling asleep with the TV on - You're woken up automatically with a Comcast emergency tone when there's a tornado warning in your area.
Bad thing about falling asleep with the TV on - After you're woken up, you get to turn the channel and get the hell scared outta you by Lisa Patton's weather coverage. Then after it's over, you turn the channel to CNN and start watching the coverage of the Indiana tornadoes and end up dreaming about tornadoes. At least now I have a decent idea of what to do if a tornado hits my church while I'm teaching Sunday School.

I've always had a big fear of tornadoes, growing up in Lawrence County, TN, where severe weather goes to roost. The strongest and most violent tornado to ever be recorded in the state of Tennessee was there in 1998, the same day that the tornadoes hit Downtown Nashville, so no one outside of that area even noticed. Practically everytime there's a thunderstorm in Middle Tennessee, Lawrence County is one of the first to get warnings. A signifigant portion of my childhood was spent in my parents' house's basement, where I was reminded that almost all of my family lives within a 5-mile radius and none of them have storm shelters. Both sets of grandparents, my great-grandfather, and a whole passel of aunts, uncles and cousins would show up. The old folks would be ensconed on the couch, and my dad and my uncles would go outside and look for the funnel cloud. As you can tell, they had a noted lack of concern about their own welfare. After 1998, when my uncle saw the F-5 cross the highway in front of him and then a basement collapsed on one of my mom's teacher colleagues, the hanging out and watching for funnels wasn't quite so informal.

What happened in Indiana pretty much encompassed my biggest childhood fear - a tornado swooping down in the middle of the night and blowing me away. I can't even imagine the sheer hell those folks went through and continue to go through. I'm sending out my love to them.

- I have been asked by a fan of my blog (I didn't know that I had any!) to readdress the subject of Pacman Jones. He's of the belief that players shouldn't be allowed to have a nickname unless you earn it. I do believe he's earned a nickname - the title of "Punkman" that Joe Fisher gave him after his arrest this summer. Moreover, I bet that idea that I had of cutting him and signing Eddie George for the season is sounding pretty damn good to a lot of folks right now. You can say a lot about Eddie's decline in yardage, but he has yet to run into any drug problems. Moreover, with the money saved on Jones' contract and Travis Henry, the Titans might have been able to cobble up enough money for a halfway decent non-rookie cornerback on the free-agent market.

The main thing that the Titans have to realize is that they are doing a really crappy job of finding quality talent in their first-round draft picks. The last truly successful first-rounder we've had was Jevon Kearse (Chris Brown doesn't count, since he has yet to stay healthy longer than half a year.) I'm hopeful that Norm Chow will stick around long enough to bring in a quality replacement for McNair in next year's draft, but we've gotta figure out a way to reduce our cap room enough to sign some vets instead of asking rookies to carry the load every year.

- I think the most karmically classic thing that could ever happen to Terrell Owens is for him to be put on the waiver wire and end up playing for the Texans. Then he can see what playing for a truly crappy team is like.

- So Pete Rose Jr. started selling G to his teammates in Chattanooga so they could "unwind" after games. Isn't that the reason that his dad gave for his gambling addiction?

- Titans are 2-7, Vols are 3-5, and the Preds are in the midst of a losing streak. At least my soccer side is winning.

- Is anyone in the U.S. who's not a news freak paying any attention to the fact that over 200 towns in a major European power are embroiled in racial rioting? Thought so.

- I have a feeling that a lot more criminals would be caught if police hung out at liquor stores more.

It's now official

Yay!

Boo!

Indeed

Click here for the AJC post it came from, and here for an enlarged PDF version.

More News About the News

Once upon a time, either here or in comments on someone else's blog, I wrote a list of things that CNN should do to save itself after Jon Klein came on-board. The main thing that I wanted was to switch Anderson Cooper and Aaron Brown's timeslots, since Anderson appeals to a younger demographic that would be home later and might watch him along with Jon Stewart for news, and Aaron is more of a traditional network news host that works better earlier in the day.

Boy, I love it when I'm right.

I kinda saw it coming on Friday, when Erica Hill told Aaron Brown to have a good week off and he said, "It should be an interesting week" in a tone that foretold something big. But I didn't think that the two-hour, two-person NewsNight was so horrible, especially when Anderson was on location (and let's face it - Anderson should be perpetually on location, because he is at his best when he's anchoring from the field.) But it's only natural that things might be a little uncomfortable when the previous star is forced to share his position with the current star. And somehow I see Lou Dobbs' audience eating Aaron's show up.

(BTW, I had no idea that Lou Dobbs Tonight was such a cash cow. That explains why they've kept it as-is for so long, even if it's a sure-fire cure for insomnia.)

I still say that Paula Zahn needs to be sent packing or moved to midday (it's rumored that Daryn Kagan is on her way out) and that Larry King needs to be put to pasture. Maybe the latter will happen sooner than later, since they seem to be trying out new hosts in guesting gigs (and while Bob Costas ruffled feathers with his refusal to cover Natalee Holloway, I think that's kind of refreshing and he did an excellent job. And NO to Ryan Seacrest.) But I do think that things have been moving in a much more positive direction for CNN since Katrina, and no one could be happier about that than I am.

EDIT: Now TVNewser is backing off their earlier posting about what CNN's plans are for Brown. Apparently no one has any idea what's going on. Still think that he'd play better at 7 EST.

My One and Only Comment on the CIA Leak Indictments

Karma really does work, and nowhere does it work better than in politics. What comes around really does go around eventually. But in politics, the main downfall is overconfidence (read: ego.) That's what brought Clinton down, because he thought he could screw around with an intern and get away with lying about it. And that's what's at work here.

Proof that I Watch Way Too Much TV

Dear NBC, FOX and UPN,

What, are you trying to kill me? Please explain to me the logic in putting "My Name is Earl", "House" and "Everybody Hates Chris" in the same exact time slot? (the UPN site has all eps of "Chris" on Thursdays, but my TiVo says next week's on Tuesday, so someone's lying like a dog.) There are other nights of the week that people watch TV, and would it have killed one of you to start a show at 7? In my opinion (which is worth the paper it takes to print this post out) "Earl" and "House", while being dramatically different shows, are the funniest things on American TV right now ("House" is supposedly a medical drama, but try getting through an hour of Dr. Greg House without at least chuckling.) Anyone who is looking for smart comedy is going to gravitate toward these shows. And I only have one TiVo. This is like telling someone that they have to pick out one meal to eat for dinner for the rest of their life and choosing between your two favorite foods. I can't do it! I'm just grateful that "Two and a Half Men" moved into the 7 pm slot, or I'd be trying to commit TV suicide.

Okay, now that I've got the hysterics outta the way, let me offer a polite suggestion to NBC: I haven't watched "Joey" since mid-last season. Once upon a time, Thursdays at 7 was a great slot for you. Move "Earl" over there, and I might watch your 7:30 show just 'cause I'm grateful. "Earl" is the best show I've seen on your network since "Friends", and it deserves the same timeslot. If that doesn't work, let me remind "Fox" of the brief but shining point in your early history where you aired "The X-Files" on Friday and Sunday nights. And those of us who are this obsessed with TV will actually watch it on Friday nights. Wait, "Reba" is on Friday at 8. Scratch that. How's your Saturday lineup?

Feeling better now (but extremely lacking in a life),
Dana

Random Thoughts from the Blogger Meetup

- When a waiter says, "No, we don't have Bass, but *insert random microbrew* tastes just like it." DO NOT believe him. It's just an evil plot to get you to pick something out for "2 for 1 Beer Night." For the record, Red Seal tastes worse than the Beast.
- On the other hand, Rosemount Riesling is very, very good. *hic*
- I am now in love with Rex Hammock's iPod Nano. It was tiny and shiny and very, very nice. Alas, I had to leave it behind. But I'm now afraid to go to the Apple Store to see the ViPod, because I may never be able to leave.
- I still have my doubts about gathering all Nashville bloggers together and giving them guns and live ammo. But I'll take your word for it, Blake.
- I was told tonight that my writing here and on NIT is "intriguing". I was actually really touched. I'm a sucker for a good compliment.
- Bonus points to Pink Kitty for letting Big Orange Michael and I talk football around her without smacking one of us in the process.
- I was so happy, because I was a meeting of bloggers, many of whom are very opinionated and political, and I didn't hear a word about the CIA leak investigation, Perry March, Sounds stadium funding, or the recent NIT megathread about the morning-after pill and rape. I was glad to get to know the folks and not debate them in the process. However, Miers was brought up and promptly dismissed. No need to ruin a good party.
- I have now decided that MafiaOzos is like Hogwarts - you have to have some sort of special enchantment to actually see it. I have now been there twice, and have tried to find it and failed about five times. That said, they might have the best pizza in town.
- Thanks to Rex for the pizza, kind folks for the drinks, and everyone for the entertainment.

Wilma Roundup

Seems that the Today show is not doing so well with the severe weather liveshots these days, are they?

I do give Miles O'Brien a ton of credit for managing to co-anchor a show while being blown around like a rag doll this morning in Naples. And Anderson Cooper once again risked life and limb, this time with a storm surge. Even though I prefer Andy's on-scene coverage to him behind a desk, he seems to have some sort of a death wish. Maybe he can just drive Hurricane One around for the inevitable Hurricane Delta (which would doubtless hit nowhere near the Mississippi.)

Since I Haven't Written About Him For A Week...

Anderson Cooper writes a column for Details magazine, which CNN.com has now started reprinting on their site. Today's featured writing is about parents and the hold that they have on adult kids. I guess he's know a lot about that, considering how famous his mom is and the fact that they are each other's only family now (dad died when Andy was 10, brother committed suicide.) I have to admit that his writing style definitely takes some getting used to, but I love his whole "get over it" spiel. It's definitely worth a read.

Now Here's A Sport With Mass-Market Appeal

Okay, somehow I have missed out on the beer pong phenomenon, but it has to be something if the NYT picks it up. And there's even a World Series of Beer Pong! Next up there will be an ESPN-televised Quarters tournament. But at least this gives hope to scores of guys who hang out at bars on weekends and invent new ways to occupy themselves, like that Fireball game that Chandler and Joey invented on Friends. But wait, don't they play that on PPV now?

Awesome!

There are several reasons that my mom despairs of ever making a proper woman out of me. My taste in decor is one.

I HAVE to have this:

Info here. Who needs a real table when you can play Ms. PacMan on something like this? I've been wanting a foosball table for years for the same reason.

Then there's this:


Not quite sure how my candles would do in this, but the books sure would look cool.

Cribcandy is like weird-postmodern decorating crack.

Sending Out Some Virtual Chicken Soup

Get Well wishes for a couple of folks - Salukis football coach Jerry Kill, who apparently suffered a seizure during Southern Illinois' game against Illinois State on Saturday night and is still hospitalized, and Terry Heaton, who's about to undergo surgery for possible breast cancer. I'm hoping for the best of luck and a speedy recovery for both guys.

A Truly Mixed Bag

I debated on even posting about our experience at the Opry on Saturday night, because it was such a special night for a lot of folks that I hate to even bring my own complaints into it. But it's hard not to, because it touches off a subject that I think needs to be addressed.

Long story short: I got free tickets to the late show, which was celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Opry, through my work as a Red Cross volunteer. I brought along my friend D., who is a Fort Campbell soldier and had never been before. It turned out that some company who was holding their national convention at Opryland had bought out half the tickets for that night and invited servicemembers, fire and police officers, and others who donated their time and effort to helping their fellow Americans. Really, really cool of them to do. Also cool to offer a tent beforehand with an open bar and lots of food, as well as flashing American flag pins that blinked red and blue. Porter Wagoner said during his set that it was a rare night when the audience flashes more lights than the Opry performers' costumes.

The show started out nicely, and we were having a good time. Little Jimmy Dickens was hilarious. I was happy to see Steve Wariner again (I'd seen him tour with Reba as a teen) and he sang the sweetest song that Bill Anderson wrote called "Two Teardrops". Willard Scott was there as a guest announcer, and said that he'd eaten 140 biscuits before the show to "get into the spirit." Travis Tritt was awesome. The square-dancers were fun. And there was this hilarious drunk guy who kept running up to the stage and dancing around and making the performers laugh. I swear, the Opry should bring him back for every show.

But then Diamond Rio came back onstage (they were hosting the middle segment of the show.) And after doing the requisite "I hear there's a bunch of soldiers out there tonight, and I wanted to give them props for their service" spiel, the lead singer went one step further and said something along the lines of this:

"The soldiers being here has inspired us to play another song tonight. I think it's a shame what they're doing by taking God out of the schools and the government and everything, and this song is about that."

And then Diamond Rio launched into this song called "God in America", which was basically about putting God back in America. I can't find the lyrics to it online, but it was something similar to another song of theirs, "In God We Still Trust".

This really bothered me on several levels. For one thing, I don't go to the Opry to get preached to. I know that country music is hardly known for being a welcoming place for liberals, but there are some of us out there, and we're not sitting there fiendishly plotting to add satanic rituals to the public school workday or to kick fundamentalists out of the workplace or something. I just really didn't feel like this was the place for them to make their own political statements and incite reaction in the name of patriotism. It's a place for entertainment, not propoganda.

But this went way beyond that for me and my friend. Like I said, D. is with the 101st in Air Assault. He's scheduled to deploy to Iraq in less than a month. And he's pagan.

So basically, in my view, D. is about to go put his life on the line for our country. He's not doing it in the name of one God for all, but to give us as Americans the right to feel free to believe in whatever we choose, without fear. But instead of getting credit for what he's doing, his own religious beliefs were minimized by people who claim to be standing up for "what's right" for all. And who are they to judge? How would they feel if they went to a concert where an artist got up and started singing "America for Allah" or something similar as they sat there? They'd be horrified. But as we sat there in shock and didn't clap and everyone around us jumped up and hooted and hollered, we got a lot of nasty looks for not being adequately patriotic or something.

So frankly, that kind of ruined the show for us. We ended up leaving before Garth Brooks came onstage (not too upsetting - I've seen Garth twice, and the only reason I was hugely interested in him was in hopes of hearing his new single about Chris LeDoux.) And while pretty much anyone else would have said that the Diamond Rio song was the highlight of the show for them, it was kind of a wakeup call for me. As a Unitarian Christian, I've adopted a "live and let live" philosophy of religion and life. It's a shame when the same courtesy is not afforded to others.

Since It's Now A Few Weeks Into the Fall Season

...I can actually write about sitcoms that are non-reruns! And for a change, the new series aren't all total crap.

In no particular order (except for the first one):
- My Name Is Earl: If you, a relative, a friend or even someone you've met at a bar or at work or something would fit the label of "redneck" (and no, not the glossied, feminized, Gretchen Wilson/Big & Rich version) or one of its regional synonyms (i.e. "hillbilly", "river rat", "countrified", "Central Cali", etc.) you are hereby ordered to watch this show at least once. It is hilarious for not only parodying hick-life better than even the Blue Collar Boys can, but it's actually "deep". Hell, a large part of the premise is about the concept of karma, when Earl hears the Hollywood 2-second definition on Carson Daly and decides that's what he's got to fix by making amends for his past misdeeds (no matter stupid they are.) Not only Zen, but very Catholic and 12-steppy. Not that Earl has any concept of that. And if these characters had any brains and actually learned a deep lesson from this, we wouldn't enjoy it so much.
- Before I Met Your Mother: For some reason, this show made me think of Seinfeld. Rather, I thought of how it was supposed to make me think of Seinfeld. Y'know - zany friends, speaking their own language, just real enough to relate. Problem is, these guys are way too nice. It's like they put the cast from the U.S. version of Coupling into Seinfeld. I want to like Alyson Hannigan in this, because she's the only Buffy character I really liked, but she's just too damn sweet! It doesn't fit. However, Neil Patrick Harris is a gem of a stereotypical, late-20s egotistical jerk, and he needs a better show to show that off in.
- Out of Practice: Saw this kinda by accident, and I think it might grow on me in a fungusy-sorta way. The casting is great - best thing I've seen Stockyard Channing or Henry Winkler do in decades. Props for building in a lesbian character who is so non-stereotypical that you barely notice she's gay. In a Fab-5 world, that's a concept. Watch this one for the cast and pray they're allowed to improvise more, since this is supposedly a critical hit.
- Oh, and BTW...you know that your new show is tanking when the star's name becomes part of the title in promos. As in "E-Wing, with Benjamin Bratt!" Just do us all a favor and make sure the clip of the actor right afterward doesn't suck. And if that doesn't work, add, "Used to sleep with Julia Roberts!" after the name.
- The Office: Hated the US version when it dropped, despite NBC's valiant efforts to tell me otherwise. Watched the beginning of Season 2 and realized that this is a show that is built to showcase one star and one star alone. In the UK, of course, that was Ricky Gervalis as David Brent. However, Steve Carrell doesn't do it for me, and no $100 million movies or SNL skits can convince me otherwise. But Rainn Wilson is my man. Loved him in Six Feet Under, and enjoyed his bit part in Entourage. He makes being so freaky he's scary into a real comedy act. I would say he's a new Jim Carrey, but like Steve Carrell, I never got him either.
- Extras: Speaking of Gervalis, I'm so glad he got all those Golden Globes, because it gave him enough star power to sell his new series to HBO so it airs in the States at almost the same time as across the pond. Dear BBC: please take notes. We know that no one over here has a clue who Billie Piper or Chris Eccleston are, but if you'd ease up on the US distribution deal so that all of us who know about Doctor Who could actually watch it legally, you might get a nice deal for the next series. Seriously. /end rant
Anyway, I liked Extras. Not sure if everyone else will agree, because it's unapologetically British, and I think that might annoy everyone who's not already watching BBC America and reading The Sun regularly. But I always watched The Office for David Brent, so I was expecting another character like that. But it's not. This show I'm watching for Ricky Gervalis, who actually managed to develop a character with a lot more depth than Brent ever had. Once again his character is the guy who's trying to be more than he is and has people openly snickering at him. However, he's also got a lot more faith in himself and his talent (as you can gather from the title, he plays a film extra) and shows a little more heart. So even if this isn't the smash hit over here that The Office was, I think this was a much better sophomore effort for Gervalis than I was honestly expecting. And HBO, it might be a good idea to add a bit of a glossary to the show website. I have a feeling that a lot of viewers have no clue what EastEnders is.
- Finally, tonight's episode of Two and a Half Men reminded me of why I started watching the show and why it continues to entertain me. With lines like this...
Charlie: "Better watch it. You don't want your mouth to write a check that your ass can't cash."
You had to be there...

We Interrupt This Blogcast Silence...

It's hard to blog these days. Between hurricane drama and Supreme Court hoopla and more death and destruction in Kashmir and Guatemala, it's hard to snark about celebrity breakups and makeups or wax poetic about how the rest of the world now loves Anderson Cooper as much as I do now.

But I did find a site that's doing something that I've wanted to do for a long time - focusing on good news that gives you back a little faith in humanity. So as I await proper motivation to write the 352,873rd post about Katie Holmes' pregnancy, check out the GoodNewsBroadcast and get your cheer on.

A Great Day at the Game

Last week a friend of mine unexpectedly gifted me with tickets to the Titans/Colts game. As much as I love the Titans, I had only been to one game previously - a preseason game against the Bills that was notable mostly because it was the game where Frank Wychek suffered the concussion that ended up pretty much ending his career. So going to the game was a big deal for me. Going to THE game of the year against the Colts was icing on the cake. So much that I noticed that the seats were Club Level, but didn't actually notice where the seating was.

So I set out for the game yesterday morning, wondering if the Coliseum was a hot spot so I could borrow a laptop for liveblogging (yes, I really am a sports geek.) I met Big Orange Michael, who was equally pumped about the game, and waited till we were searching for parking to break the news to him. Yes, I am the only Vols fan in the state of Tennessee who dislikes Peyton Manning. Since he is, well, Big Orange Michael, I was afraid that I'd get kicked out of the car posthaste. Luckily, he decided to keep me around. And he only joked once as we were crossing a busy street that if I got hit by a car, he'd at least leave me his headphones so I could listen to the game as I waited for an ambulance, and he'd come by the hospital afterwards. Twerp. ;)

After waiting far too long for what Titans security calls a "pat-down search" and I call a useless inconvinence, we got in and got to our seats literally at kickoff time. That's when I discovered what "Club seats" mean.

1. We were seated in chairs (not stadium seating) on our own level at the 50-yard line, a few rows above the CBS cameras. I could actually stand up without blocking the view of the people above me. I could prop my feet up on a barricade and not come close to touching the hairdo of the woman below. I am certain that I will never, ever again have such great seating for a sporting event, unless I someday sit in Bud Adams' suite. And even then I have my doubts.
2. The concession stands for the level were in an air-conditioned "lounge" with a "Stress-Free Zone".
3. They served REAL beer. No Bud for me! Amstel Light on tap!
4. They had bartenders. The one who served me was a fellow Red Cross volunteer, so I got the best double margarita of my life. Michael didn't drink, but I managed not to get drunk enough to be annoying. Be thankful, Michael.

So Michael and I sat in the lap of luxury, pretending to be rich and pretending that the game didn't suck. And suck it did. The highlights:
- The Colts have exceptionally dirty defense. I know that the losing team always says something like that, but trust me - it's true. They kicked Drew Bennett on the ground after the play had ended. They fake-called McNair's voice to create false starts. They just sucked. And I'm fairly certain that the refs left their penalty flags on the sidelines when the Colts were on offense, because they just sucked.
- Nice to see that the Colts do have an offense. Just wish they'd waited a week to show the world. Thank you, Reggie Wayne, for finally justifying my fantasy pick.
- I am contemplating buying Drew Bennett a lifetime supply of Super Glue. Is it in his contract that he only catches passes when Volek plays?
- Boy, it was cool to see Travis Henry play twice - first with the Bills and now the Titans. Oh, wait...
- Is it me, or does my idea about dropping Pacman and picking up Eddie George sounding better and better? Other than a couple of good runs as the kickoff returner, Pacman was pretty much a big ol' dud. And thanks for the taunting call, pal. Nevermind that the Colts had been doing plenty of that on the other side of the ball....
- However, Jarrett Payton did a very nice job as a fill-in RB. Please keep him on the roster when Henry comes back, Titans. I think he has a promising future.
- The one nice thing - I was very glad to see that Steve McNair has finally learned how to slide instead of falling forward. Only took 10 years to learn, right? And he still was the star of the Titans offense, which is having some problems getting going under Chow. McNair proved that he still has legs, and at least the offensive line managed to give him some room to work with.

Despite the game, we had a great time. Michael is cool enough to not think I'm wacko when I do my form of Football Aerobics (jump up and yell and do stuff that's just not cool in a sports bar.) We got a kick outta feeling like rich folk for a day. And unlike 1/3 of the crowd, we actually stayed until the end (why bother paying for tickets if you don't stick around, guys? Talk about disrespect.) And I managed to refrain from going to buy ice to pelt the Colts fans sitting below (at least they were cool enough to not all be wearing Manning jerseys - the sign of a true fan is to actually spread the love around.) All in all, it was a success.

Now This Makes Sense

I've seen this around several places. It's definitely fun reading.

Intelligent Design by Paul Rudnick

Day No. 1:

And the Lord God said, “Let there be light,” and lo, there was light. But then the Lord God said, “Wait, what if I make it a sort of rosy, sunset-at-the-beach, filtered half-light, so that everything else I design will look younger?”

“I’m loving that,” said Buddha. “It’s new.”
“You should design a restaurant,” added Allah.

Day No. 2:

“Today,” the Lord God said, “let’s do land.” And lo, there was land.
“Well, it’s really not just land,” noted Vishnu. “You’ve got mountains and valleys and—is that lava?”
“It’s not a single statement,” said the Lord God. “I want it to say, ‘Yes, this is land, but it’s not afraid to ooze.’ ”
“It’s really a backdrop, a sort of blank canvas,” put in Apollo. “It’s, like, minimalism, only with scale.”
“But—brown?” Buddha asked.
“Brown with infinite variations,” said the Lord God. “Taupe, ochre, burnt umber—they’re called earth tones.”
“I wasn’t criticizing,” said Buddha. “I was just noticing.”

Day No. 3:

“Just to make everyone happy,” said the Lord God, “today I’m thinking oceans, for contrast.”
“It’s wet, it’s deep, yet it’s frothy; it’s design without dogma,” said Buddha, approvingly.
“Now, there’s movement,” agreed Allah. “It’s not just ‘Hi, I’m a planet—no splashing.’ ”
“But are those ice caps?” inquired Thor. “Is this a coherent vision, or a highball?”
“I can do ice caps if I want to,” sniffed the Lord God.
“It’s about a mood,” said the Angel Moroni, supportively.
“Thank you,” said the Lord God.

Day No. 4:
“One word,” said the Lord God. “Landscaping. But I want it to look natural, as if it all somehow just happened.”

“Do rain forests,” suggested a primitive tribal god, who was known only as a clicking noise.
“Rain forests here,” decreed the Lord God. “And deserts there. For a spa feeling.”
“Which is fresh, but let’s give it glow,” said Buddha. “Polished stones and bamboo, with a soothing trickle of something.”

“I know where you’re going,” said the Lord God. “But why am I seeing scented candles and a signature body wash?”
“Shut up,” said Buddha.
“You shut up,” said the Lord God.
“It’s all about the mix,” Allah declared in a calming voice. “Now let’s look at some swatches.”

Day No. 5:

“I’d like to design some creatures of the sea,” the Lord God said. “Sleek but not slick.”

“Yes, yes, and more yes—it’s a total gills moment,” said Apollo. “But what if you added wings?”
“Fussy,” whispered Buddha to Zeus. “Why not epaulets and a sash?”
“Legs,” said Allah. “Now let’s do legs.”
“Are we already doing dining-room tables?” asked the Lord God, confused.
“No, design some creatures with legs,” said Allah. So the Lord God, nodding, designed an ostrich.
“First draft,” everyone agreed, and so the Lord God designed an alligator.
“There’s gonna be a waiting list,” Zeus murmured appreciatively.
“Now do puppies!” pleaded Vishnu. “And kitties!”
“Ooooo!” all the gods cooed. Then, feeling a bit embarrassed, Zeus ventured, “Design something more practical, like a horse or a mule.”

“What about a koala?” asked the Lord God.
“Much better,” Zeus declared, cuddling the furry little animal. “I’m going to call him Buttons.”

Day No. 6:

“Today I’m really going out there,” said the Lord God. “And I know it won’t be popular at first, and you’re all gonna be saying, ‘Earth to Lord God,’ but in a few million years it’s going to be timeless. I’m going to design a man.”

And everyone looked upon the man that the Lord God designed.
“It has your eyes,” Zeus told the Lord God.
“Does it stack?” inquired Allah.
“It has a naïve, folk-artsy, I-made-it-myself vibe,” said Buddha. The Inca sun god, however, only scoffed. “Been there. Evolution,” he said. “It’s called a shaved monkey.”

“I like it,” protested Buddha. “But it can’t work a strapless dress.” Everyone agreed on this point, so the Lord God announced, “Well, what if I give it nice round breasts and lose the penis?”

“Yes,” the gods said immediately.
“Now it’s intelligent,” said Aphrodite.
“But what if I made it blond?” giggled the Lord God.
“And what if I made you a booming offscreen voice in a lot of bad movies?” asked Aphrodite.

Day No. 7:

“You know, I’m really feeling good about this whole intelligent-design deal,” said the Lord God. “But do you think that I could redo it, keeping the quality but making it at a price point we could all live with?”

“I’m not sure,” said Buddha. “You mean, what if you designed a really basic, no-frills planet? Like, do the man and the woman really need all those toes?”

“Hello!” said the Lord God. “Clean lines, no moving parts, functional but fun. Three bright, happy, wash ’n’ go colors.”

“Swedish meets Japanese, with maybe a Platinum Collector’s Edition for the geeks,” Buddha decided.

“Done,” said the Lord God. “Now let’s start thinking about Pluto. What if everything on Pluto was brushed aluminum?”

“You mean, let’s do Neptune again?” said Buddha

Perfect for the Insomniac

Highlander in 30 seconds. Reenacted by bunnies.

And since I'm now eating an inordinate amount of ramen noodles, here's a site with a zillion things you can do with ramen, including cooking it in beer (?) and some interesting looking candy Choco-ramen things. Some of the stuff defies the "eating for less than $5 a day" thing, but they also sound pretty delicious, especially since my Shrimp Ramen with Cajun seasoning is getting a wee bit monotonous. And through that site, I also found a really great place for Japanese tea.

Speaking of which, I wonder if decaf green tea cures insomnia? *toddles to the kitchen*

Short Sports Snarking

- I'm very happy that Vandy is now 4-0, but it's hard to get too excited when your latest win was over the Spiders.

However, when you think of it, that's actually a pretty good mascot. What single creature strikes more fear in the hearts of usually-manly-men than a tiny little spider?

- It sure was ironic to hear Frank Wychek talking about the definition of a lateral on the Titans play-by-play yesterday. As for the Titans, they're much better than their current record indicates.

- However, the same cannot be said for my fantasy team. Ugh.

- I sure will be glad when tonight's UT/LSU game is over, so I won't have to hear anything about it ever again (sorry Michael, it's not you.)

- Less than a week till the Preds drop their puck for the regular season!

I'd write more, but I've got an appointment to discuss becoming the Bears new QB. C-ya.

Edit: If you want to hear a truely touching sports story or cry for 10 minutes, here's the article for you. Charlie Weis rocks.

The Things I'll Do To Get A Free Movie Ticket

I signed up to get two free passes to Serenity on Wednesday night. One of the requirements to get the free pass is to post this synopsis on here and review the movie later. Not a big deal.

Joss Whedon, the Oscar® - and Emmy - nominated writer/director responsible for the worldwide television phenomena of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE, ANGEL and FIREFLY, now applies his trademark compassion and wit to a small band of galactic outcasts 500 years in the future in his feature film directorial debut, Serenity. The film centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family –squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal.

Now don't y'all wanna go too? Thought so. Ironically, most of my online friends have seen this in preview screenings and/or will be there Opening Day, no matter what I say.

BTW, any marketers for Rent can feel free to contact me. I'll be more than happy to attend a preview and hype the hell outta your movie too.

For Your Evening's Entertainment

First off, I mean no disrespect to anyone dealing with the awfulness of Rita. Hurricanes are serious stuff, and I don't want to make light of a bad situation. However, I can distract myself from the bad news with the help of alcohol. Thus, my cousin Kelly and I present to you...

The Hurricane Rita TV Coverage Drinking Game
- Every time John Zarrola, Anderson Cooper or Geraldo Rivera stand out in the wind, 1 drink.
- Every time they talk about how they've been told not to stand there or that they're in danger, 2 drinks
- Every time a reporter actually gets blown away -- chug
- Mentions of the satellite truck - 2 drinks
- Every time a reporter stands in surf when he really shouldn't be - 2 drinks
- Every time something goes flying off in the distance and it's mentioned - 2 drinks
- Shots of blowing street lights or overblown street signs - 1 drink
- Every time Rita is compared to Katrina - 1 drink
- Every time Rita is compared to Allison, Camille, Audrey, or that Labor Day Hurricane - 2 drinks
- Every time a grizzled local official mentions Camille to a reporter who's probably not old enough to remember Hugo -- 2 drinks
- Every time you see locals partying while the winds rage - 2 drinks
- Every time a plucky local states they're not going/not afraid of the hurricane/not in their right mind -- 1 drink
- Every time you see someone trying to surf -- 2 drinks
- Every time a reporter goes off on a government official -- 1 drink
- Everytime the meteorologist goes off on the anchor on-air - chug and cheer "Fight! Fight!"
- Every time a government official is interviewed who has no idea what's going on - 1 drink
- Every time you see a cop car driving down the street when no one else is - 2 drinks
- Every time a reporter says that "they've never seen anything like this" - 2 drinks
- Every time a reporter says "this isn't bad at all" - drink the whole damn bar

Heh

I'd forgotten how funny some of the stuff in the Huffington Post is.

Looking for Rita News?

Here's some of the best links to find the latest as Hurricane Rita heads for the coast:

Click2Houston, which has a live stream of KPRC's coverage
KHOU - live stream and blog
Houston Chronicle's Rita blog
WWL-TV, which still has live video from NOLA
NOLA.com
WSDU.com, with another live stream
KRIS's (Corpus Christi) hurricane blog

And there's also HurricaneNOW.com, although their text storm updates are much better (and cheaper) than the video. They also have their own blog.

Here's an interesting 3D visualization of what Rita could do to Galveston (they have the same thing for NOLA and Katrina.)

FLHurricane.com, which includes this really cool Google Maps hack that tracks the path of Rita.

More later...

Irony, Thy Name is Rita

Kinda reminescent of those maps that showed all the hurricanes of '04 going through districts that voted for Bush. Weird.

(Thanks to Shawn for the altered NOAA 5-day track)

Hard to Read, But Necessary

The next time you feel sorry for yourself, read this blog. I know that I will. I just wish that I'd discovered it a little sooner...

Here's another person who's still fighting her own battle. I've known Kristen through her LJ for a long time, and she's an amazing person. Right now she's in a really hard place, and I know she'd appreciate some thoughts and prayers on her behalf.

About My Weekend - Pt. 1 and 2

My whole weekend kinda got split in two pieces.

Part 1 - Spent Saturday morning participating in the Hands on Nashville citywide school event, where a team of us from the station did handywork at Cole Elementary in Antioch. This is the second time I've done this, and it's actually become a highlight of my year. Plan on writing more about this on Nashville Is Talking when I get some pictures from the school's administration.

Part 2 - The beginning of this actually happened earlier in the week, and keep in mind that I'm the biggest klutz in the world. Long story short - I turned my right ankle and landed on my left knee on concrete. Twice. The second time on Saturday afternoon as I was walking to my apartment.

My knee's pretty messed up, as you might imagine, and I spent the rest of my weekend on my futon with my knee elevated (wish I could do that here at work, but for some reason our computers don't come with chaise lounges.) Thus I discovered:

....how incredibly great House is. Why didn't anyone tell me this before? The last medical drama show I've watched consistantly was Chicago Hope, and that's just because I had a thing for Mandy Patakin. But House is a snarky drama that just happens to be set in a hospital. And Hugh Laurie was robbed at the Emmys, I tell ya (more Emmy talk later.) His character reminds me so much of some of the more, um, cheer-challenged people in my past.

...that Tennessee's QB swap-outs aren't working anymore, and they need to just figure out who they're going with and just do it. I think Ainge is losing his confidence, especially with the national [expletive deleted] that's being given to Chris Leak. I hope this is just a slow start for the team, and that they won't become the overrated team of '05.

...that the Titans could be pretty good this year if they can stay healthy. McNair finally figured out his new style of play yesterday, and it showed. We've also got some young guys on D that can make the big plays. And it was good to see the Coliseum rockin' again.

...that nothing will make me bored enough to actually watch "Dancing With the Stars" for longer than 10 minutes.

...that Ellen needs to be able to write her own material when she's doing a show. It was very obvious that neither she nor her brother Vance touched the scripts, and it showed. The best part of the evening was when she talked about New Orleans and the magnolias that she and others were wearing in honor of the city, because it was so heartfelt.

...that CBS and the Emmys are under the very mistaken impression that Everybody does Love Raymond. I have always hated the show, because it made the same five jokes every week and was ridiculously self-important. And forgive me for begruging it a nice farewell, but I think everyone but the janitor's already gotten a few awards on that show. I'm not the biggest fan of Desperate Housewives, but it was a far better show last year, if only because it was so clever.

...on the other hand, I'm glad that Felicity Huffman won her Emmy, because she's the unsung cast member of that show. She doesn't vamp or do slapstick or anything else - she acts her butt off. Not to mention it gave her a great place to give props to the late, great Sports Night.

...also glad that Blythe Danner won her Emmy, even if I didn't see whatever movie it was for. She's another great unsung talent whom I have enjoyed in anything she's touched.

...I felt for the woman who lost her speech in her bra. As a woman who is, um, similarly endowed, it does make a nice storage space for things like money, but it also looks pretty strange to pull things out. For some reason, that also seems to enthrall men.

...never, ever thought that I'd see Donald Trump in a pair of overalls. Thought that my muscle relaxers were working a little too well for a few minutes there.

...that Blue Bell Ice Cream is too good to be legal.

I know I had more to say, but it's hard to think and write clearly when your lower leg feels like it's being sawed off without anesthesia. BTW, anyone got any physician recommendations for me in the area? My doctor's nurse practitioner has left his practice, and I'm not loving the three-hour wait to even get an appointment later in the week.

Pimping for a Friend

One of my very best friends, Elizabeth Donald, released her latest book, "Nocturnal Urges: A More Perfect Union" today at Ellora's Cave Publishing. Make sure to check it out and pick up a copy of the ebook, especially if you like vampire fiction or books set in Memphis. Plus there's a cool new female reporter in this book that some of you might recognize. ;)

Yes, I'm Biased, But Hear Me Out

TV Week's Tom Shales thinks that Anderson Cooper is the perfect candidate to replace Dan Rather permanently at "CBS Evening News". You won't be able to read that link unless you're a subscriber, but here's the pertinent part:

Probably the most criticized performer of the coverage so far has been Anderson Cooper, the insanely telegenic anchor of his own nightly CNN news hour. In the early stages of the coverage, when the incompetence of government officials and bureaucrats was becoming shamefully obvious, Cooper became openly emotional on the air, berating at least one such official for the lack of preparedness.

Maybe Cooper's involvement in the story became extreme at that point, but I, for one, was not offended. Indeed, if I were Leslie Moonves, I would right now be trying to entice Mr. Cooper over to CBS to anchor the remodeled "CBS Evening News," if such a thing ever does actually appear on the air. Ironically or not, Cooper's status as a newsman-with-a-heart makes him television kin to Dan Rather, whom Mr. Moonves coldly "nudged" out of the anchor chair earlier this year. (Ironically, too, Rather first made his name during coverage of a deadly hurricane, and marched bravely into many a storm long after becoming anchor. He has been greatly missed during coverage of Katrina.)

Beyond that, Cooper has a newness to him, a wry touch of attitude that he very effectively modulates on the air. It is something that, combined with his visual appeal, could help bring young viewers to news-thus bucking or perhaps even reversing a long and dismaying trend in the other direction. Cooper, uh, still, um, has, uh, trouble ad-libbing, but when reading, when talking into the camera and making viewer contact, he is all poise and polish without being slick. He's no Stepford Anchor, and he deserves a bigger and better chance than CNN can give him.

At first I disagreed with Shales. I think that Cooper has a huge chance to shine at CNN. After all, beyond hosting AC360, he's now cohosting "NewsNight with Aaron Brown", and appears on "Larry King Live" pretty much every night. Whether those will be temporary, I don't know. Cooper's ratings now beat Shephard Smith's on FNN. I could see them going higher if he ever gets moved into the 10pm EST slot, when the younger demographic can actually tune in.

But Shales is right. Ultimately, people will look for network news before switching to a cable channel, if they even have cable. And Cooper now has built a name and reputation that would carry over well to a network. But I don't think CBS is the right fit. But there is another network that's looking for a permanent lead anchor, whether they want to talk about it publically or not. Therefore...

Reasons Why Anderson Cooper Should Co-Host "ABC World News Tonight" w/ Elizabeth Vargas

(Note: This in no way reflect the views of my employer, or my coworkers, or anyone who knows me, etc. etc. etc. yaddayaddayadda)

1. Cooper's been at ABC before. Remember his stint at "World News Now"? I certainly do. And let's not forget his short-lived tenure on "The Mole", although I'm fairly sure he'd like for us to.
2. He's a better fit at ABC, which skews younger and edgier than CBS. And does he really want to singlehandedly revive the reputation of an entire network's news coverage? I don't think so.
3. He's more Peter Jennings than Peter Jennings. He prefers being out in the field (he's already stated that he doesn't want to come back from NOLA) and does amazing reports from places that most of the media hasn't touched (Zaire.) The common folk love him. And he's willing to ask the hard questions and isn't particularly afraid of angering anyone while doing it, much like Jennings was with Big Tobacco.
4. The demographics for a Cooper/Vargas team would be an ad-man's dream. Cooper is young, metrosexual (nope, not touching the rumors here) and charming. Vargas is young, female and Latina (and really good in her own right - sorry that I don't know enough about her to target her more specifically.)
5. Cooper works really well with Erica Hill, who does the CNN Headline News newsbreaks. In fact, their interplay is one of the more entertaining parts of AC360. Even as stern and stodgy as most network news shows are, this might be a nice time to actually test something you don't see a lot of there - chemistry.
6. Cooper downplays this big-time, but you can't really forget that yes, he is a Vanderbilt. And yes, that does open doors with New York power players. It's actually kind of entertaining to see him try to make us forget about that (the best segment I've ever seen on AC360 was when he interviewed his mom Gloria Vanderbilt about her car, and she was Chyron-ed as "Anderson's Mom".)
7. Cooper shares something else with Peter Jennings - a true love of the craft of news and a willingness to do whatever it takes to get the story. You know how he broke into the biz? He bought a camera and hopped on a plane to Somalia to film packages to submit to Channel One. Not many of us are willing to go out on such a limb to do what we love to do. That kind of single-minded dedication is what it takes to make things work.

So that's my useless media advice for the day. Stay tuned for "Why Paula Zahn Needs to Get Off My TV NownowNOW!"

EDIT: Just found this excellent New York article about Cooper. It made me a bit teary-eyed and drove my point on even more. I never knew that his dad was from rural Mississippi and wasn't wealthy, or how the deaths of his dad and brother shaped his career choice. But really, his natural empathy makes more sense now. That's what pain does to you.

Since credit should be given where credit's due

- Yesterday I bitched about how no one has taken any direct responsibility for screwing up with Katrina. Today the last person I expected to do that stepped up to the plate:

"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government," Bush said at joint White House news conference with the president of Iraq.

"To the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility," Bush said.

Wow, this might be the most brutally honest and factual statement to come from him in over five years in office. But I do have some reservations about that "federal government" caveat, especially since certain former FEMA directors seemed to be awfully eager to find reasons why this was all the fault of local and state authorities. So in case he can't find specific things to take the blame for, here's just a few: underfunding FEMA to where they couldn't prepare for the projected "Hurricane Pam" catastrophe, taking the funds for fixing the levees to fight a war, putting a political crony who couldn't even run a horse association in charge of FEMA, and generally acting like the first few days of this crisis were just an unfortunate distraction to his vacation time. Shall I go on?

Yes, the local and state people fucked up. I have little doubt they won't be around for the next election cycle. Unfortunately, we can't take back last year's election retrospectively. So the least that can be done now is to focus on this question - Do you feel safer now than you did on 9/11/05? What will it take for that to happen? And I'm not talking about going out every possible terrorist on earth, because that would be futile. There are a lot of changes that need to be made to this nation's infrastructure, and NOW is the time to do it. Quit sending Homeland Security money to Wyoming (#1 receiver of funds, per capita) and figure out what would need to be done if the New Madrid Fault erupted, or a tanker with cyanide gas breaks open in downtown Wichita. No one is immune to tragedy, no matter how affluent they are or who they vote for. The best that we can do is make the impact as small as possible.

- In related-but-not-really news, I did something pretty cool last night. I trained to be a Red Cross shelter volunteer. They've asked for 1,000 volunteers for one (possibly two) evacuee shelters in Nashville, and outlying counties also have Red Cross shelters. Personally, I thought it was the least I could do. I don't have much money to contribute, but I'm single and have a fair amount of weekend time to burn. It's only right to help. As a Southerner, I really feel like these are my people, no matter what, and I would only hope they'd feel the same if things were reversed.

A couple of things really struck me at the training session. For one, it seemed like 9/10ths of the people are women. I don't know why I think this is strange, but I do. The only reason I can think of why this would be the case is that there are a lot of stay-at-home moms who want to pitch in. The training time was late in the evening, which is the only time I could do it after working all day. So I can't see a lot of men saying "I had to work" unless they worked till 8 pm.

Also, the Red Cross is completely funded by contributions. They receive no government funding whatsoever, and the only group affiliation I could see was their partnership with the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Brotherhood in providing hot meals in disaster areas. And they go to great, great lengths to make sure that you think of and treat all people in the shelter equally. Everyone was affected by this disaster, not just in one racial or sociological group, and they all get the same help from the Red Cross.

And the aim is to not treat evacuees like they're poor or victims or inferior in any way, but as people just like us who need help to get through something that's disrupted their lives. That's one reason that they almost never take donations of food or clothing from individuals - they want to give people the independence to eat or buy what they normally would. And that's really smart, because when you give someone a little control over what they're doing, even in the little things, they'll take charge more with the rest of their lives. And they talked a lot about the people in the Nashville shelter who have already gotten jobs here and moved into their own housing. These aren't independently wealthy people - they're just taking charge of their lives. And that's a pretty big feat for two weeks after you lost everything you owned thousands of miles away.

The final thing I really noticed is the organization. Everything that the Red Cross does has a name and is part of a plan for either starting, running or closing the shelter. That might be a little daunting in some things (I filled out four forms last night, and I was only a volunteer) but it seems to keep things running smoothly.

In any case, they have so many volunteers that my first shift in Nashville isn't scheduled till the first of October. Maybe I'll try to see if they need help in Franklin and Smyrna in the meantime. But I can only hope that the people affected will soon not need our help. In the meantime, I strongly urge you to volunteer your time with your local Red Cross chapter or America's Second Harvest. Neither group seem to have an agenda beyond helping, and really, that's the only agenda that's needed right now.

Assorted Stuff

- So the Titans lost. Anyone who was shocked by this raise your hand.

.....

Yeah, thought so.

C'mon Nashville, we barely won five games last year, and we were playing the team favored by many to win the AFC Championship last year. Yeah, McNair is healthy. He's also having to play a whole new brand of QB to avoid injury, and don't think that the opponents don't know that. Yes, we have a nice young WR corps, but remember the word "young" there. Plus we've lost practically everyone who's made a name for themselves on defense, and our #1 draft pick didn't make it to training camp till the last week. None of these are good signs for burning up the league at the beginning of the season.

Do I think that this means that the Titans are going to stink to high heaven all season? No. We're going to have a huge trial by fire the next few weeks vs. the Ravens and Colts. But eventually our receiving corps is going to gel, the offensive line will give Travis Henry something to work with, and we'll be decent. No one with an ounce of pragmatism in them expected an incredible season, but we're going to have to get used to something that other cities have dealt with for decades - rebuilding years. And in the process, we need to support Jeff Fisher, the best damn coach in the AFC (I can hear someone laughing - shut it) and not call for his head at the end of the season. That would plunge us into "rebuilding decade".

- Oh, and yeah, there are other teams in town. Vanderbilt is now 2-0, and I haven't gotten my ice skates out for hell yet. And is there anyone around here that remembers the Nashville Sounds? Since I know you've missed it, they're now in the Pacific Coast League championships. No one's going to their games, and no, it's not because there's no support and thus no need to build a new ballpark. It's because no one knows where their current ballpark is. This team deserves our support, both on the citizen-level and the city government level, if for no other reason than it's shameful for Memphis to actually beat Nashville in support for their hometown team.

- I swear that I never want to write another Katrina post again. But here are a couple of good points.

1. Rick Santorium sucks. For that matter, everyone in government (local, state and federal) who is passing the blame along to someone else sucks. Whatever happened to public officials who stand up and say, "Okay, I screwed up"? It really makes me admire JFK taking the blame for the Bay of Pigs, because he apparently was the last government official to say that he was wrong for doing anything. I am happy with no one in this mess, no matter what political party they ran for office under or voted for. And before anyone says that I and others are to blame for even pointing fingers, let me just say that's a big part of democracy. I pay my taxes, and I vote. Therefore I have the right to hold people accountable when things get screwed up. If I didn't, the whole "this is not accurate and the media's twisting things around" might actually work.

2. And may I just say that it's pretty hard to twist pictures of bodies floating through NOLA and someone with their head cut off at the Convention Center. I've seen them. And when multiple people give the same story to different media outlets, there's a good chance that they're telling the truth. My hats are off to all of the reporters, photographers, and production crews that have been in the Gulf Coast for two weeks. It's not an easy job, and you should be commended for remembering what the purpose of journalism is - to tell the truth.

3. I really think that most of us have reached the limit of what we can give to the Red Cross and other organizations, monetarily. But it's important to help our hometown shelters with our time and our goods. Like Second Harvest, or Katrina Shoes, or local churches and organizations that are taking evacuees in on their own. As the media cycle turns and the stories become less noticable, it's important not to forget that these people are going to be here for a long time.

- In closing, I'm going to reprint a lovely Zen koan that I found from a site provided by Brittney:

Gudo was the emperor's teacher of his time. Nevertheless, he used to travel alone as a wandering mendicant. Once when he was on his way to Edo, the cultural and political center of the shogunate, he approached a little village named Takenaka. It was evening and a heavy rain was falling. Gudo was thoroughly wet. His straw sandals were in pieces. At a farmhouse near the village he noticed four or five pairs of sandals in the window and decided to buy some dry ones.

The woman who offered him the sandals, seeing how wet he was, invited him in to remain for the night in her home. Gudo accepted, thanking her. He entered and recited a sutra before the family shrine. He was then introduced to the women's mother, and to her children. Observing that the entire family was depressed, Gudo asked what was wrong.

"My husband is a gambler and a drunkard," the housewife told him. "When he happens to win he drinks and becomes abusive. When he loses he borrows money from others. Sometimes when he becomes thoroughly drunk he does not come home at all. What can I do?"

"I will help him," said Gudo. "Here is some money. Get me a gallon of fine wine and something good to eat. Then you may retire. I will meditate before the shrine."

When the man of the house returned about midnight, quite drunk, he bellowed: "Hey, wife, I am home. Have you something for me to eat?"

"I have something for you," said Gudo. "I happened to be caught in the rain and your wife kindly asked me to remain here for the night. In return I have bought some wine and fish, so you might as well have them."

The man was delighted. He drank the wine at once and laid himself down on the floor. Gudo sat in meditation beside him.

In the morning when the husband awoke he had forgotten about the previous night. "Who are you? Where do you come from?" he asked Gudo, who was still meditating.

"I am Gudo of Kyoto and I am going on to Edo," replied the Zen master.

The man was utterly ashamed. He apologized profusely to the teacher of his emperor.

Gudo smiled. "Everything in this life is impermanent," he explained. "Life is very brief. If you keep on gambling and drinking, you will have no time left to accomplish anything else, and you will cause your family to suffer too."

The perception of the husband awoke as if from a dream. "You are right," he declared. "How can I ever repay you for this wonderful teaching! Let me see you off and carry your things a little way."

"If you wish," assented Gudo.

The two started out. After they had gone three miles Gudo told him to return. "Just another five miles," he begged Gudo. They continued on.

"You may return now," suggested Gudo.

"After another ten miles," the man replied.

"Return now," said Gudo, when the ten miles had been passed.

"I am going to follow you all the rest of my life," declared the man.

Modern Zen teachings in Japan spring from the lineage of a famous master who was the successor of Gudo. His name was Mu-nan, the man who never turned back.

9/11/01

Never Forget

A Frame of Reference

This is a hack of Google Maps that shows how flooding the size of what's covered NOLA after Katrina would cover other U.S. cities.

The link shows you Nashville. For those of you who aren't Nashvillians, I-440 is our outer loop that borders our Downtown area. It goes signifigantly past that, out to Briley Parkway (the outer loop of Metro Nashville. I live near Donelson Pike past the airport, so I'm just barely out of the flooding area, and I'm only barely in the Davidson County limits.

Friday Memage

Friday's Feast
Appetizer
Who is the easiest person for you to talk to?
I really don't know anymore, because I've had some pretty signifigant changes behind-the-scenes lately. Maybe my sister.

Soup
If you could live in any ancient city during the height of the quality of its society and culture, which one would you choose?
Classic Greece.

Salad
What is the most exciting event you've ever witnessed?
Franklin St. in Chapel Hill after the Tar Heels won a berth in the Final Four in 1997.


Main Course
If you were a celebrity, what would you do for a publicity stunt?
I'd have sex with Brad Pitt, because that seems to be fashionable. Nevermind that I don't really find him attractive. Maybe he learned some moves from Ange...

Dessert
What do you consider the ideal age to have a first child?
28. Young enough to be able to run around after them, but old enough to not miss your freedom.

Aloha Friday
Choose a unique item from your wallet and explain why you carry it around.
I have a Strong Bad coaster in my purse (from Homestar Runner.) Comes from getting a Strong Bad autographed picture at the convention last weekend.

What are you wearing today that is most reflective of who you are?
I have a LiveStrong bracelet and a ONE bracelet, because those are two charities I strongly believe in. They're always on my left wrist.

Play the Boo-Yay game. Tell us about a “boo” and a “yay” from the past week.
Boo--Let's see...not sure what's the bigger Boo - being sideswiped by a hit-and-run 18-wheeler making an illegal left turn onto Elm Hill Pike this morning, or needing an emergency battery change after running out of gas on I-40 Wednesday night. Neither one is very cool.
Yay--My dad coming out of surgery this morning well and happy (at least until he found out about Boo #1) Having a fun time last weekend in Atlanta. And hey, I came out of the side-swiping this morning without a scratch (well, to me.) That's worth a lot.

Back from vacation, but not back entirely

Atlanta was hot, but the convention is cool. More details later, maybe.

I'll be filling in as guest blogger for NashvilleIsTalking.com for the rest of the week. Make sure you check it out for the latest from me and the Nashville blogosphere, et. al.

When Home Hits You Smack in the Face

The thing about working in the news is that it sometimes takes a period of time for the subject that you're focusing on to sink in at a personal level. When a story breaks, you're busy covering it as quickly and accurately as possible, and then you need time to get over the exhaustion of dealing with it. Even when your coworkers get pulled into the story somehow, you're looking at it on a professional level to an extent. But eventually, if you have a morsel of human heart inside the cynical shell we have to put on, it hits you, and since you've seen so much in the course of covering the story, it sometimes hits you harder.

Today I had that moment with the destruction of Katrina. It was a day off, and I had a lot of very important personal things to do. But in the background, I had CNN on. In between tasks, I read my personal weblog of people I've grown to know on the internet, and heard heartbreak and anger and loss all over the place. Then I found out that at least one person I know, who was one of the first people in my memories of childhood, is - at the very least - unaccessable in the area. And over time, I started seeing all of those pictures and video and it crept in that no, this wasn't a faraway place where people I didn't really know about lived. And this wasn't an intentional act where I could lay my grief and anger down on a specific target. This was the toughest part of the cycle of life, a natural, unavoidable catastrophe, and it's playing out in a place that I know. I've been on that corner of Bourbon Street where the shop caught fire today in the middle of the flood waters. I've eaten Po-Boys in a little Mom-and-Pop joint in Biloxi that most likely is not even there anymore. I rode across the Gulf Coast multiple times, from Gulfport to Navarre Beach, when it was vacation time and my relatives wanted to see the beautiful sites of our heritage, from Jefferson Davis' home to the USS Alabama. And now if I am ever blessed to have another child, I won't be able to share that same experience with my kid. Even more awful, entire families aren't around to have ANY experiences, and a whole beautiful city has been, for all intents and purposes, lost. And as hard as it is to comprehend, it's even harder to stare that reality in the face.

There's so many thoughts jumbled up in my mind about this. I could put on my usual media analyst cap and critique the (mostly excellent) coverage on CNN, as well as the amazing coverage of WWL-TV under the worst of circumstances. I could link to a million sites that I've found with a mixture of information and devastation, where people are using the Internet to try to find each other and help each other. I could bitch about the President (however, the NYT did it for me.) I could go off on a rant about the rants that people have been posting all over the blogosphere. I could talk about Southerners and how we've lost everything before and rebuilt again. I could talk about how thankful I am to have what I have, and how ungrateful and unworthy I feel. I could even talk about hearing Alan Jackson's "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning" at Wal-Mart and almost falling to pieces. But I can't. Words don't fit anymore in any of this. And I don't feel like it's my place to say anything, or do more than try to support those whom I can. This is the one time in my life where I think that it's important to just stop and listen, and then grieve quietly. So I will.

Since I have no time right now to post about Katrina...

...I'm going to let my friend Ann's post about why people don't evacuate/why people live in those areas speak for me. She's from that area, and she's spot-on.

So why doesn't everyone just leave? It's not always possible to evacuate. You can be too old, too poor to have a car, too sick to move. You can be a tourist in the airport. You can be a storm-hardened native who's used to sitting out hurricanes in a Bourbon Street bar, watching lawn chairs hurtle by at chest height, barbequing everything in the freezer and drinking beer. Sometimes you go home to find nothing worse than a broken window and a power outage - if the storm hits at all. I remember being warned to evacuate back in 1998. Baton Rouge declared a two-day shutdown of all schools and businesses; everyone left work and went home to tape up windows and pack cars, and we got two days of muggy sunshine instead when the storm pirouetted into Texas.

And no, nobody has any sympathy for the stubborn ones who don't leave, especially the people who could and did leave when told. A rescue worker gets hurt or killed trying to save your sorry ass? It's better to just move out of state afterward.

So why doesn't everyone just move? Who's going to work the offshore oil refineries? Who's going to fish the shrimp, crabs, catfish, tilapia, redfish, drum, and oysters? Who's going to farm the rice and soybeans and sugarcane and corn? Who's going to man the chemical plants, deliver the fertilizer, ship the petroleum? Who's going to uproot an extended family and known way of life and move somewhere rife with tornadoes, earthquakes, and/or Yankees?

Her whole post is here. In the meantime, I'll be working on this.

EDIT: Now THIS is how you liveblog a disaster.

And per WWL's live coverage, people in Jefferson Parish are going to be allowed to go back to their homes for one day next week to collect as much stuff as they can, and then they'll have to leave and not come back for another MONTH. Wow.

The Beauty and the Horror of Nature

Proof that the scariest things in nature can be the most beautiful.

Obviously, this was not the saddest or most shocking event of the day, but CNN's Hurricane One was damaged in Gulfport. Awwwwww. I thought that pimped-out Hummer would make it!

Oh, and the Weather Channel's website had a 350% increase in traffic on Sunday. Wow.

EDIT 10:30 pm: Hearing Jeanne Meserve break down on a phoner while talking about the rescuers trying to save people in East New Orleans was the most heartbreaking interview I've heard since the tsunami. Between that and the unbelievable pictures and sad tales like our weatherman Justin Bruce's family losing five homes in flooding today, it's just overwhelming. If the area was spared the worst, I don't want to think about what the worst could've been. And once the pictures start coming out of Biloxi tomorrow, it'll probably be even more terrible. Sometimes me and others in the news biz may get lost in the drama of the action, but we never lose our hearts. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this, and I truly hope that all those who are refugeed in Nashville right now have a place to go home to in a few days.

Crazy Reporter of the Day in Nola

I didn't see Anderson Cooper do anything slightly nuts during this hurricane. (Damn) But Brian Andrews from WFOR takes the cake (he's been on WWL's live streaming coverage here.) A pretty accurate description of his foray onto Canal Street in the middle of the storm is detailed here. Even I think he was absolutely insane, but it was damn good TV.

EDIT: The guy who ran out into water that was almost as deep as the overpass was high to save a stranded motorist wins #2. Gets extra points for being a Good Samaritan, but still #2.

In other news, Tennessee will probably get our first tropical storm in many years overnight. Make sure to keep an eye on NashvilleWX.com and WKRN.com's special section for the latest. /shameless pimp

Hurricane Katrina Coverage

In case you want to see hurricane coverage and not a New Orleans traffic report, here's some links to online coverage:

HurricaneNow
WDSU-TV (MSNBC has been simultcasting them a lot)
WWL-TV
WTIX-AM
WSAO-AM
And if you want a Louisiana soundtrack (i.e. business as usual) Radio Margaritaville or Mr. PoBoy

Also, two of my station's meteorogists are natives of the Nola area. They've got their own memories of Camille and Betsy, as well as how this is going to impact Middle Tennessee (we're under a tropical storm wind watch, y'all) at http://www.nashvillewx.com/ .

You know it's a bad storm when CNN's been doing phoners since this morning instead of live shots, and most of the correspondants are no closer than Gulfport (although CNN claims that Anderson Cooper will be doing coverage out of Nola...hurry up!)

My mom lived in N'awlins after graduating from college, and my cousin lived in Metarie and Kenner for years. I went down there a lot as a teen to visit, and it really is one of the prettiest places on earth. I just hope that it doesn't drown half of the Garden District (French Quarter also, but let's face it - you can drink and party anywhere.)

EDIT: According to Miles O'Brien's liveblogging of the storm (lucky!) CNN's live coverage of the actual landfall is moving to Baton Rouge, basically because they fear that their satellite truck will float away. Damn. I'm infamous for my desire to actually cover a hurricane on the coast, but this is one where I'm not really feeling the need to jump in my car and head south. Unless I could ride along in Hurricane One, that is.

Glad to see that other people are missing Anderson. Wonder what he might almost get hit by this go 'round? Hurricane glasses? A zydeco band? Or a floating riverboat casino?

Oh, and the best quote ever from Miles:
My iPod shuffled its way to Pete Fountain mid flight. Listening to "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans". Wish I was on my way to hoist a Hurricane from Pat O'Brien's - instead of covering one named Katrina.

Never been a huge Miles fan, but he just earned about a 1000 cool points for this one.

FYI. I sure would hate to be stuck somewhere where the authorities are telling you to have something that you could hack a hole in your ceiling with, just in case.

EDIT 2: My cats are going to all the doors and windows and growling at nothing. I know that animals have weird instinctive reactions to incoming weather. I wonder if Katrina is already causing something to make this happen.

And hoo boy, that live shot of WVUE's parking lot is really exciting, y0. Yes, I know I'm bitchy and that news crews have no business being anywhere near a coastline right now. But after watching the World's Longest Traffic Jam all day, I feel a wee bit whiny about it.