Instant analysis of debates is generally tedious and boring.
However, Laurence Simon proves the exception with this.
Spot on.
Check Out Best Leader
Friend Steve Casburn sends along this “Best and Worst of Congress” from the Washingtonian.
Rumors that Ronnie Earle is investigating the results and preparing to bring racketeering or other charges are, at this time, unconfirmed. 
Lence Students Blog
I’ve been reading Tom Kirkendall’s Houston’s Clear Thinkers blog for a while now.
And I’m sure I’ve even glanced at his bio page.
But I actually read the thing carefully today, and noticed for the first time that Kirkendall counts Ross Lence as a mentor.
Small world.
I count Lence as a mentor as well (although I studied more with another political philosophy prof, Don Lutz). And legal-eagle-in-training Amanda Strassner is a former Lence student also.
So, two of the smart Houston blogs I read count Lence as an influence. That’s cool. And then there’s this one to drag down the smartness, but please don’t blame The Good Doctor for that. The man is great, but he can only work with the raw materials he’s given.
If you’re a blogger who also studied with The Good Doctor, leave a comment!
Staff Restructurings and Layoffs at the Chronicle
The Chronicle buried the following ominous information in the “Around the Region” column of its Business section today:
The Houston Chronicle is undertaking a restructuring that will include both the creation of new niche products — in the newspaper and as separate publications — as well as reductions in operating expenses, including the elimination of staff positions.
“We are working hard to adjust the cost side of our business,” said Chronicle Publisher and President Jack Sweeney. “We will not compromise our commitment to quality journalism and service to our advertisers.”
In a letter to Chronicle employees released late Monday, Sweeney said he is committed to keeping up with the changes in the Houston community with vibrant new products, pointing to the recent redesign of the Chronicle and the company’s commitment to Spanish-language products such as La Vibra, a weekly Spanish lifestyles supplement and La Voz, a weekly newspaper published in partnership with the Chronicle.
A restructuring of the company’s expense base is critical because the newspaper needs to invest in the future, Sweeney wrote. The newspaper has already reduced operating expenses and will continue to do so, including cuts in staff. Cutbacks will be achieved through attrition, a voluntary buyout program and, if necessary, involuntary layoffs.
Many of us have been writing about the Chronicle‘s problems for some time, and have more recently suggested that the design changes really haven’t done much to address those problems. They must finally be starting to affect the bottom line.
Publisher Jack Sweeney seems to be spinning what appears to be significant downsizing. While he claims that new niche products will be created, the only examples cited are the redesign — which isn’t a new product at all — and an emphasis on a weekly Spanish language supplement. However, the new Spanish product being introduced would seemingly be balanced by the old Texas Magazine being discontinued, for no net gain in product, and an actual loss of product for English-only readers.
The last paragraph is the most ominous. Press releases and internal company memos don’t bring up the possibility of “involuntary layoffs” if there’s a good chance that payroll can be reduced to desired levels through attrition and incentives. Sweeney must be planning a massive manpower reduction.
While I have problems with the Chronicle‘s editorial decisions — and think staff reductions might actually be avoided if the editorial product were thoroughly remade into something of higher quality — I don’t have problems with most of the fine folks who make the newspaper go on a daily basis. It’s unfortunate that some of them will pay the price for the newspaper’s poor editorial choices over the years.
(Update) I should have added, if anyone knows what’s really going on, or has hard numbers on the staff reduction, please leave a comment or drop me an email (kevin-at-publiustx.net). It can be anonymous either way.
Danger Train: Collision Update
Thanks to the work of Tom Bazan, John Gaver has posted an updated figure for Danger Train crashes. It’s now up to 65, with two crashes that were unreported by local media.
From Bazan’s earlier Open Records request, Gaver determined that several accidents in the Metro database had gone unreported by local media (and several accidents reported by local media and documented by Gaver that were not in Metro’s own database).
Metro apparently now counts what it had earlier classified as as “suicide attempt” as a collision.
Like a good member of the pajamahadeen, Gaver continues to maintain the most comprehensive list of crashes in town.
It's Always Good When The Redskins Lose To The Cowboys
Joe Gibbs sure didn’t look too happy about shaking Bill Parcells’ hand after tonight’s game.
It almost made me wish I had a tivo just to run it back and forth a few times.
(09-28-2004 Update) Scott Chaffin posts the photo in all its glory. Poor Joe Gibbs. He should be happy that Parcells never put together a race team at least!
Audio Tech Goodness From Slim Devices
I’ve been looking at devices that will interface directly with my home audio system and allow access to my mp3 collection stored on a huge hard drive on a file-server computer in another room.
Since the AudioTron has apparently been discontinued, I’ve been looking a lot at the Squeezebox made by Slim Devices.
What sets the Squeezebox apart from other devices like it (including consumer offerings from Netgear, Creative, and Linksys) is that it doesn’t require the user to install the retarded Microsoft .net framework on the server computer. Rather, the proprietary software that powers the server computer is open source. And it can be used to serve the Squeezebox (or several squeezeboxes) as well as other remote computers anywhere on the network. Just enter the streaming url of the server computer into any local box, and you have full access to the server software, which (as mentioned) supports multiple sessions. And because it’s open source, all sorts of interesting plugins and other developments are being refined constantly by an active development community.
I’ve been playing with the software a bit tonight (as I put some finishing touches on a little web project I’ve been working on for a few weeks now), and I have to say that it’s really impressive. It hardly bogs down the server computer at all, yet remains highly responsive. If I decide to buy any of the devices I’ve been considering, having a chance to try out this software beforehand, and the fact that it’s open source, DEFINITELY give Slim Devices the advantage.
Oh, and the fact that the server software allows (with a bit of tinkering with my router) for streaming music anywhere over the internet (say to work) is another big plus.
Big 12 Wrap: Week 4
There were hardly any games in the Big 12 this week, which suits me just fine since I spent much of today running around checking out Texas beaches and am feeling awfully lazy tonight.
So, here’s this week’s action:
Texas 35, Rice 13
This game was never in doubt, as Texas sprinted (and threw) to a 21-3 lead in the first quarter and seemed to play around after that. Cedric Benson had another monster game against physically outclassed defenders. The game commentators raved quite a bit about the Texas passing game, but in the game I watched, the passing game seemed to revolve around getting the ball to tight ends who were too much for Rice to handle. The passing game is not sophisticated, the wideouts are not highly involved, and Vince Young does not appear to have great accuracy. That will work fine against outmanned teams like Rice — which DeLoss Dodds suggests will be the sorts of teams Texas plays for its nonconference schedule in the future — but it remains to be seen whether it will work against marquee teams. Up next: a similar practice session against Baylor.
Texas Tech 31, Kansas 30
Kansas really should have won this game. They had it under control almost all the way. But an inability to put the game away — and especially missed field goals — kept it close until the end. And with two minutes remaining, Texas Tech’s Taurean Henderson busted off a 70 yard run to tie the game for the Red Raiders (the PAT put them ahead). Kansas couldn’t answer, and Mark Mangino must be beating his head against the wall over this one that his team let get away.
Baylor 37, North Texas 14
Baylor got stomped by North Texas last year, and by all accounts, their players remembered. That Baylor’s big rival seems to be North Texas suggests that another conference might be a better fit for the Bears. UT will, no doubt, drive home that point next weekend.
(09-27-2004 Update) Tom Kirkendall has his regular local football wrap here. I tend to share his thoughts on the UT passing game. [link updated to point to Kirkendall! sorry for the error!]
A New Son Volt Release
A couple of days ago, my friend Dave passed along the great news that Jay Farrar will be getting together with his old mates to put together a new Son Volt CD:
Midwest-based Son Volt, with songwriter Jay Farrar at the helm, will begin recording their fourth full length album at the end of September. Following a five-year hiatus, with the exception of the April 2004 recording of “Sometimes” for the Alejandro Escovedo tribute album, multi-instrumentalist Dave Boquist, bassist Jim Boquist and drummer Mike Heidorn will reconvene at Farrar’s St. Louis studio. Speaking about the “Sometimes” session, Farrar says: “It felt like we hit the ground running when we recorded Al’s song for Por Vida. Five years seemed like five days at that point. It proved that more recording and performing as Son Volt is something that should happen.”
I can’t wait. Jack Sparks seems excited also. Hell, Ken Layne even comes in from Move On Cuckoo Land to comment on the news.
In my opinion, Son Volt’s Trace CD is pretty much a standard of the genre. One can come up with all sorts of lists of important alt-country CDs and artists, but it’s hard to imagine leaving Trace or Son Volt off any of those lists. Farrar’s post-Son Volt stuff has been interesting enough, but I wouldn’t call it genre-defining. I hope he/they can recapture the earlier energy.
I’m looking forward to the release, and associated touring promised for 2005 (if Farrar doesn’t flake out before *sigh*).
Good Press For Mandy Smith
A couple of days ago, I mentioned the Mandy Smith Group.
Funny enough, the band makes an appearance in the Comical‘s entertainment section this weekend:
Mandy Smith doesn’t like to waste time.
The Mandy Smith Group, clockwise from top left, is Mandy Smith, guitar and vocals; Wynn Ann Chaney, drums; and Phil DeVille, bass.
The Houston native has released three albums since September 2003 and is already in the studio recording a fourth effort with guitarist and producer Phil DeVille and new drummer Wynn Ann Chaney.
While a self-titled album was first, Smith considers West Texas Sun, released earlier this year, her official debut. Coming Home, the follow-up, was written during a relaxing week in Galveston, and the album’s six sprightly tracks are a reflection of her band’s travels throughout the state. It was recorded in less than a day and unveiled on May 23.
“The thing for us as artists is that it seems like it takes a really long time to do stuff,” says Smith, munching on French bread and brie at Café Brasil. “Even six months, that’s like way too long. You have the energy with the music and the songwriting, and you’re excited. It shouldn’t really take that long, and (Phil) really has proved that with what we’ve turned out.”
Before music, Smith was in the “corporate world” and DeVille was an art dealer at the now-defunct October Gallery in the Heights. The pair met two years ago in Kemah, while playing with different bands. They clicked, and the Mandy Smith Group was born.
The whole thing is worth reading.
As I was looking at the photo of the current incarnation of the band, I noticed a familiar face (in addition to Smith). The drummer actually is a barista at the Starbuck’s I stop at on the way to work most mornings. Small world.
