July 2004 Archives
31 July 2004
Are There Any Comical Editors With Any Sense?
The Comical's editorial (mis)judgment can, at times, just boggle the mind.
The latest, maybe greatest, example is this "Viewpoints" piece by Kathryn Prymmer with the following headline:
Face to angry face with personal politics of fear: Kerry sticker sets off driver, emboldening voter
Miss Prymmer claims to have had a bad experience with a vocal anti-Kerry driver who was rude to her in a parking lot, and recounts the incident in great detail:
I WAS recently out doing a bit of shopping at a local department store on a bright, hot Saturday afternoon in northwest Houston. I had unloaded my purchases into my car and was starting to return the shopping cart to the cart holding stand, when a man and his wife passed me and started unloading their cart into a truck one parking spot over from my vehicle. As I returned to my car, I saw that the man had placed his empty cart directly in back of my car.
I looked over at them and spread my arms, hands up in question.
The man, who was driving, rolled down the electric window on the passenger side and yelled out, "That's because you have a f#@%ing Kerry sticker on your car!" Then he peeled out of the parking space and raced away.
I have my doubts that it even happened, although that's just my opinion.
Still, all we can go on is opinion, because this tale is uncorroborated, and most likely unverifiable.
But by printing this letter, the Comical actually endorses that it DID happen, and not only that, but it's LIKELY to happen.
Even worse, they implicitly endorse the woman's conclusion at the end of her story that it was a Bush supporter at fault:
So, Mr. Hateful Bush Supporter, I just want you and all of your friends to know that, like the thousands of women before me, who courageously gave so much of themselves so that I could have the right and privilege to vote...."
How does she know this (possibly fictional) character was a Bush supporter? Her account doesn't mention him saying anything in support of Bush or mention anything on his car to indicate that. Why couldn't he be an angry Nader supporter who thinks Kerry's a sellout? Or an angry Dean supporter who thinks his guy got shafted?
It's an unverifiable assumption (and logical leap) to decide a Bush supporter was the "perpetrator" of this uncorroborated incident.
What that tells me is that this uncorroborated and most likely unverifiable story resonated with the views of the Comical's editors about how Bush supporters might act. So they printed this piece.
The thing is, we don't have major problems in this community with Bush supporters going around and terrorizing those who support other candidates. And in Houston proper, the city actually went for Gore last time and may well go for Kerry this time. It's fairly balanced in its political outlook anyway.
I've always refrained from putting political stickers on my car with one exception (Orlando Sanchez's first run for mayor), not because I believe all Democrats are bad people and likely to do mean things, but because there are nutjobs all over the political spectrum who might key a car with a sticker they don't like if they were drunk or angry, and I love my Jeep more than I love any of the silly b@stards pursuing careers in politics.
If what Miss Prymmer says is true, then it's unfortunate. But it's not behavior representative of most Houstonians, whatever their party. That the Comical implies that it is -- and that it was the work of a Bush supporter -- is another example of irresponsible journalism.
In my view, this piece never should have been printed absent corroboration. Even then, it would be an iffy call for editors who have any sense.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/31/04 12:51 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (7)
Other Voices? Not Really
Anne Linehan has made an interesting point about the Comical's new "Other Voices" feature: It's really not an "other voice" if it just repeats the viewpoint already espoused by the Comical editorial board.
Maybe a better name for the thing would be, "Repetitive Voices" or "Echoes."
Or maybe they could ask MeMo to come up with a suitable name.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/31/04 12:17 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)
30 July 2004
Ringwalds Tonight
We haven't been to see Molly and the Ringwalds in ages.
Probably since around the start of college baseball season.
We've had a few false starts since then, but are determined to get out tonight to see what the Ringwalds are up to.
It's been a long couple of weeks, and a bit of FUN is in order. The Ringwalds always deliver.
And since the Danger Train runs right by the Continental Club, you never know if a fun 80s music outing might be punctuated with a world-class collision.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/30/04 16:52 | Music | Technorati | Comments (4)
Training Camps
Dallas Cowboys training camp is less than 24 hours away.
I'm ready for football. Gawd, am I ready for football!
(Update) Callie is no doubt delighted that I'm streaming the first Bill Parcells press conference of the preseason as I type. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/30/04 09:45 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (4)
From No Longer Updated To Just Gone
Well hell.
Just when I wanted to go poking around the archives of the LA Examiner, it's gone.
I guess I can go the wayback machine route. Blar.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/30/04 00:02 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (0)
29 July 2004
NY Times Public Editor: Yes, We're Liberal
New York Times public editor Daniel Okrent is a real breath of fresh air.
Here's the headline to his last column: Is The New York Times a Liberal Newspaper?
His answer?
Of course it is.
It just gets more interesting.
I'll get to the politics-and-policy issues this fall (I want to watch the campaign coverage before I conclude anything), but for now my concern is the flammable stuff that ignites the right. These are the social issues: gay rights, gun control, abortion and environmental regulation, among others. And if you think The Times plays it down the middle on any of them, you've been reading the paper with your eyes closed.
But if you're examining the paper's coverage of these subjects from a perspective that is neither urban nor Northeastern nor culturally seen-it-all; if you are among the groups The Times treats as strange objects to be examined on a laboratory slide (devout Catholics, gun owners, Orthodox Jews, Texans); if your value system wouldn't wear well on a composite New York Times journalist, then a walk through this paper can make you feel you're traveling in a strange and forbidding world.
[Many good examples you should go read]
Times publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. doesn't think this walk through The Times is a tour of liberalism. He prefers to call the paper's viewpoint "urban." He says that the tumultuous, polyglot metropolitan environment The Times occupies means "We're less easily shocked," and that the paper reflects "a value system that recognizes the power of flexibility."
He's right; living in New York makes a lot of people think that way, and a lot of people who think that way find their way to New York (me, for one). The Times has chosen to be an unashamed product of the city whose name it bears, a condition magnified by the been-there-done-that irony afflicting too many journalists. Articles containing the word "postmodern" have appeared in The Times an average of four times a week this year - true fact! - and if that doesn't reflect a Manhattan sensibility, I'm Noam Chomsky.
But it's one thing to make the paper's pages a congenial home for editorial polemicists, conceptual artists, the fashion-forward or other like-minded souls (European papers, aligned with specific political parties, have been doing it for centuries), and quite another to tell only the side of the story your co-religionists wish to hear. I don't think it's intentional when The Times does this. But negligence doesn't have to be intentional.
Not everyone would agree with Okrent on intent, but he does a pretty clever dance to get to the answer that the Times is sloppy, but not biased. It's a clever dance because most of his examples seem more like bias to me. Bias and all, the Times is still one of the great newspapers of the world, simply for the resources it can bring to bear, the quality of its writers, and the depth and breadth of its coverage. Yes, they have blind spots (because of bias, I contend), but one simply is not fully informed if he ignores that newspaper.
Locally, I would say that the Comical used to come much closer than the Times to meeting the "sloppy but not biased" standard that Okrent describes. I can't think of any of my left-of-center blog buddies who would disagree with me when I call that newspaper truly awful. They tend to get agitated over the accusations of liberal bias -- accusations which admittedly can be overdone in the absence of diligence -- but I just don't think it can be denied that Jeff Cohen has given that newspaper a much more liberal edge. And since he's come on board, good judgment seems to have declined across the board at the newspaper.
Ultimately, that's much more disappointing. To me, at least.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/29/04 23:34 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
I Guess If You've Got The Space To Waste....
My friend Anne Linehan, who's quietly become one of the better bloggers in this fine city, calls attention to this article by Clifford Pugh.
I don't find it particularly offensive (at least not by Comical standards), but I do wonder why they wasted the space.
About the only substance worth taking away from the piece is this quote:
"This is a watershed moment," said David Sifrey, founder of Technorati, a service that tracks over 3.2 million Web loggers. "Just like e-mail revived the lost art of letter writing, blogging is reviving the lost art of civic dialogue. It's a new kind of pamphleteer."
The convention isn't actually the "watershed moment," but the notion of bloggers being a high-tech version of the nation's early pamphleteers is not a bad comparsion, I don't think.
Of course, it comes from someone who knows something about weblogs. Maybe Clifford Pugh should have tracked down a few more of those sorts of people.
I would have struck this:
"It's not a different kind of journalism. It's a different way of interpreting your experiences to other people," said Jessamyn West, a Vermont librarian whose convention blogs appear on librarian.net/dnc.
Interpreting your experiences to other people.
Like I said, I would have struck that one.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/29/04 22:51 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (1)
Drip Drip
This isn't generally a political blog, and this isn't really a political post....
But as I watch Senator Kerry drone on (admittedly a bit less haughtily and monotously than usual), I just have one question:
Did Terry McAuliffe forget to pay the electric bill at the Fleet Center?
The nominee is DRIPPING for gawd's sake.
Not pretty.
(07-30-2004 Update) Orrin Judd described it this way:
The sweat was just odd. You would think the planners would have tried to head that off.Second, at this point in his career it's pointless to look for the Senator to relax and connect with people, but the rush in which he delivered the whole speech, the relentless breathlessness, and the sweat, all made him seem kind of frantic. C-SPAN did something clever, showing George W. Bush's speech in 2000 right after the Senator finished--the contrast of the confident, folksy, measured delivery of the President made for a stark contrast with Mr. Kerry's gerbil on crack routine.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/29/04 21:44 | Other | Technorati | Comments (5)
Danger Train: Collision #53
They always seem to come in bunches, don't they?
And they show no signs of stopping.
That's right, there was another Danger Train collision:
An illegal left turn caused the 53rd accident involving Houston's light-rail system since it began operating in November 2003, METRO officials told News2Houston.
A vehicle carrying two people made an illegal left turn around 9:45 a.m. Thursday, colliding with a train traveling south between Fannin and Dryden, according to officials.
Officials cited the driver for the collision.
No injuries were reported.
Sorry I'm a little slow with the update. I've had a busy day.
A world class city doesn't stop being that way just because its (blog) chroniclers are busy, however!
(Update) Lucas Wall is calling this collision #54 in the Comical, but I think he's wrong. John Gaver's counter is consistent with my count (#53).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/29/04 18:37 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (1)
Danger Train: Collision #52
There's been another collision with the Danger Train:
Houston police say they will ticket the man behind the wheel of a car grazed by a light rail train, Wednesday night.
Officers say the man made an illegal left turn in front of the train and just about lost his bumper in the process. Officially, there have now been 51 accidents involving light rail trains. METRO doesn't count one collision which police determined was a suicide attempt.
At PubliusTX.net, we do count that one. As Laurence Simon put it, every trip near the Danger Train is a suicide attempt, so there's no real reason to distinguish that one from the others.
I love this coverage. The car was "grazed" by the train, and the car "just about lost [its] bumper."
As Dave Ward might ask (if he were paying attention to his teleprompter), so which was it? One doesn't describe the other.
Despite a full-time traffic-beat columnist, the Comical seems not yet to have reported this crash.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/29/04 09:19 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (0)
28 July 2004
Comical's Andrea Georgsson Offers Leftovers To Neighbors, Neighbors Decline
Andrea Georgsson's "editorial journal" piece in the Comical editorial section has to be one of the silliest things I've ever seen there.
And for a newspaper headed by someone as lacking in editorial judgment as Jeff Cohen, that's really a strong statement.
This is an excerpt from Georgsson, one of the EDITORS responsible for putting that laugher of a newspaper together, about her electrical outage:
Not wanting to open the refrigerator -- and rather proud of my cooking -- I arranged what remained of our beautiful London broil, gravy, carrots and potato dumplings (work a little fresh chopped basil into the dough) on a platter and ran it over to our elderly next-door neighbors, thinking they might not be able to make dinner without electricity.
Turns out, they are vegetarians. So is the Greek family on the other side. Finally, my across-the-street neighbors took my platter.
Apparently, it did not cross the clueless journalist's mind that the people probably were not vegetarians, but they couldn't figure out a polite way to tell the nutjob, "WE DON'T WANT YOUR DAMN LEFTOVERS, YOU WEIRDO!"
Why we get to read about it in the editorial section is a complete mystery, which is indicative of everyday editorial judgment at the newspaper.
As Callie put it when she saw it, "that's like a really bad LiveJournal."
Yeah. That's our Comical. Like a really bad LiveJournal.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/04 21:57 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (4)
The End of the Brazosport News
Banjo Jones is shutting down his Brazosport News blog:
This is the last posting for The Brazosport News.
We are moving on to greener, out-of-state pastures, so we bid you a fond adieu.
Good luck with the move, Banjo, and here's hoping when you get settled into your new place, there's gonna be a new Banjo Jones blog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/04 18:40 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (2)
Council Approves Fee Expansion, Czar Saperstein Spins
City Council today approved Mayor White's plan to expand the hours that fees will be required to park at city meters downtown.
Previously, those parking downtown on weekends were not subject to the regular parking fees.
Now, those fees will be collected Monday through Saturday.
The Mayor and his transportation "czar" continue to present what is effectively a tax increase as part of its mobility plan.
In fact, this component of the plan does nothing to enhance mobility. Councilman Michael Berry, who ultimately supported the measure, gave away the game a few weeks ago (in an interview with the now-defunct News24):
"There is a lot of money to be collected by increasing parking meter rates or by adding a number of parking meters," City Councilman Michael Berry says. "But I think you’re doing it in sort of a backdoor way and the public really resents it. Not only was it not popular, it probably wasn’t a really good idea."
That's right -- this is not about mobility, but about the city squeezing even more revenues out of people.
Berry was right a couple of weeks ago -- it's not a good idea, and the public should resent politicians who propose and conservatives who support such stealth fee increases.
Incidentally, the mayor's traffic "czar" denies the move is designed to enhance revenues:
"We are going to look at each block face, walk each block to see where we should meters and how much time is appropriate for each location," Saperstein told reporters after the 13-1 vote authorizing the parking plan. "This is not about raising funds for the city. This is about the rotation of curb space."
It it weren't about the revenues, the proposal would have been made revenue-neutral and fares would have been cut across the board to compensate for the additional fares that will be generated on Saturdays. Instead, rates are also going up:
Houston city council gave the Mayor Bill White the green light for the last part of his traffic plan Wednesday. It includes extending parking meter hours to Saturdays, although street parking at night will remain free.
However, the same can't be said for the daytime.
One of the little prices of life in the big city is about to cost a little more.
"Twenty five cents for 10 minutes is already pretty high, if you ask me," said one downtown parker.
But Houston parking meter rates are going up.
Right now, the top price parkers pay at short-term meters is 50 cents for 10 minutes.
But that maximum rate is about to triple to as much as $1.50 every 10 minutes.
And the top price at long-term meters, currently 85 cents an hour, will increase to as much as $1.50 an hour.
Sorry, Czar Saperstein. Not buying what you're selling.
Of course it's mostly about the revenues. And it's a good rule that when politicians say it's not about the money, it's almost always about the money.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/04 18:29 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (2)
Al Qaeda Suspect Arrested In Texas?
Drudge is currently running the following:
A South African woman picked up in Texas almost 10 days ago may turn out to be a key, high-level al-Qaida operative.
Her name is Farida Goolam Mohamed Ahmed. She was stopped at McAllen Miller International Airport on July 19 headed to New York.
Eddie Flores of the U.S. Border Patrol office in McAllen, Texas tells FederalNewsRadio.com that a review of her papers raised some concerns.
"In looking at her documents, they did not find any entry documents in her passport where she was legally admitted into the United States," says Flores.
Ahmed produced a South African passport to the agents with four pages torn out, and with no U.S. entry stamps. Ahmed reportedly later confessed to investigators that she entered the country illegally by crossing the Rio Grande River. Ahmed was carrying travel itineraries showing a July 8 flight from Johannesburg, South Africa to London. Six days later, Ahmed traveled from London to Mexico City before attempting to travel from McAllen to New York.
Government sources tell FederalNewsRadio.com that capturing this woman could be comparable to the arrest of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of 9/11. It was revealed in court Tuesday that she was on a watch list and had entered the U.S. possibly as many as 250 times.
Tuesday, the South African government issued a warning that Al-Qaida militants and other terrorists traveling through Europe had obtained South African passports, and authorities believe they got them from crime syndicates operating inside the government agency that issues the documents.
This is early reporting based on too many "sources" and too much speculation, but if it turns out to be legitimate, it will obviously be big news.
And it will give those who advocate beefing up border security with Mexico some pretty serious ammo.
On a lighter note, I laughed out loud when I read the term "McAllen Miller International Airport."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/04 17:06 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)
New REI Store Coming
I just got an email from REI (the big outdoors gear chain/co-op), and apparently they're opening a second store in Houston (in the Willowbrook area).
There are more details in this press release.
I honestly don't see the need for a second store in Houston, but surely REI has done their homework on this.
Frankly, I try never to shop at the current store, because it seems like they never have proper inventory of common items that I need.
Maybe a second store will encourage them to improve their practices. Or maybe they both will suck and I'll continue either to order mostly online from CampMor or shop locally at Whole Earth.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/04 16:34 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (0)
Bandit Signs
Pasadena is apparently having problems with bandit signs:
Pasadena officials are cracking down on bandit signs that clutter city property, but they can't do it without the public's help, News2Houston reported Monday.
Although these homemade signs, advertising everything from free pets to garage sales, are not meant to cause a nuisance, officials said the build-up over time cause an eyesore for the city.
"Bless their heart, probably just kids looking for dogs, but they saturate these intersections with these things," said Mike McAnnally, a Pasadena building official.
In addition, bandit signs are illegal and can cause distractions for drivers.
Bandit Sign Czar sounds like a perfect job for former Mayor Pothole, who's not doing much these days anyway.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/04 06:31 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (0)
Breaking The Bad Streaks (For Other Teams)
I should have mentioned that this loss by the Astros on Monday actually broke Arizona's 14 game losing streak.
The Astros have been all too happy to help out other teams that way this season.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/04 06:20 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
I Got So Busy Drinking...
Well, I meant to come up with new CONTENT for you folks.
But instead, I went out exploring Houston tonight.
I hung out at Byzantio.
That's one of the best "just off downtown" Greek bars most Houstonians have never heard of.
And then I hung out for a bit at the West Alabama Icehouse.
No excuses on that one -- it's the best Icehouse in the whole damn state, and it's gotten press from the NY Times because... well, just because.
It was fun.
For those of you who haven't been able to experience these things... that's too bad. They're just part of what makes our Bayou City the best in the state, whatever the DFW (or Austin or SA) weenies might say.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/04 00:00 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)
27 July 2004
D Magazine Blog Shoots From Hip, Blows Off Foot
For the most part, the majority of folks in "big media" just don't get blogging.
Certainly, that's true at the Comical, where they think this is a fine example of a blog.
And certainly that's true at the Kennedy School, where elitist nitwits spend way too many words to tell us blogging isn't journalism.
But this one from D Magazine's pathetic attempt at a blog just rams the point right home:
Just judging from his picture, I think the guy on the left (from Reason) will have the least-readable blog from the convention.
Yeah, well, thanks for your opinion Tim.
You'd only be talking about Matt Welch, the guy who coined the terms "warblog" and "warblogger" way back when you were wondering "blog, what's that?"
You'd be talking about the same Matt Welch who, with buddy Ken Layne, had a smart weblog about LA (LAexaminer.com, now defunct) that made your little effort to "blog" about Dallas look pretty pedestrian in comparison (because they actually had little features common to most blogs, like comments and a blogroll, and they could write).
You'd be talking about a guy who turns a great phrase and and has a nose for interesting angles to most any story, whether he's blogging or writing for "big media."
Nice job, Tim. You've confirmed that you're pretty much clueless about the blog world.
A tip of the hat to Scott Chaffin, who found this and began to give it the ridicule it deserves.
Maybe when Layne and Welch and crew bring the band to Texas, Scott can invite the D Magazine dude down to the ranch to get to know 'em.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/27/04 19:32 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (3)
26 July 2004
The Jerruh Translator
Jerry Jones and Bill Parcells have met with wide receiver Antonio Bryant, whom Parcells threw out of a minicamp earlier this summer, and everyone's happy now:
[Jerry] Jones said Bryant had a "lengthy" meeting with Parcells, followed by a 20-minute meeting with himself, and that Bryant would go to training camp as any other player trying to win a spot on the final roster.
"Antonio is going to work and going to work for the Cowboys," Jones said. "Bill met with him and then I met with him. So that's that. He's going to be a practice and looks to be in good shape. He wants to be on the team and do what it takes to be here. And he's someone that can help us.
"I truly believe if your heart is in the right place, you should have a second chance."
Let me translate: Bill Parcells needs a real receiver to go with aging Terry Glenn and aging Keyshawn Johnson, and there were no free agents comparable to Bryant, so he's not going anywhere.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/26/04 23:12 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (0)
Coleman Guilty
Bad news for the Texans:
Houston Texan Marcus Coleman was convicted Monday afternoon of driving while intoxicated, News2Houston reported.
Jurors reached the verdict after deliberating Friday until 11 p.m. Coleman, 30, was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence.
Coleman could serve up to six months in jail and face a $2,000 fine. The trial's sentencing phase begins Tuesday morning.
The Texans' cornerback was arrested May 6 after crashing his Mercedes into a tree on Kirby near Richmond in southwest Houston.
When are athletes ever convicted of DWIs? Especially in this town?
That's a shocker.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/26/04 23:05 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (2)
At Least They Didn't Hit The Train
Some people really are too stupid to be allowed to drive:
A wedding may be on hold after a fight between a bride and groom ends up inside a fabric store near downtown.
A 23-year-old woman and her 24-year-old fiance argued outside the High Fashion Fabric Store on Louisiana at Elgin Monday morning. Police say the woman tried running the man over, but he jumped out of the way and she crashed right into the store.
If they were smart, they would have claimed Sudden Acceleration Syndrome and called a trial lawyer.
Obviously, they are not smart.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/26/04 23:00 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)
The Future Of Journalism Is Not MeMo
True to form, the Comical has discovered an op-ed that the LA Times ran one week ago.
True to form as well, an elite (this time from the Kennedy School) feels the need to point out to us that blogs aren't "journalism."
Handy to know, I suppose, for anyone who's confused, although I don't think anybody really is. How appropriate that the message in this "olds" the Comical chose to run is pretty tired itself.
Given the Comical's pathetic attempt at a blog, it's easy to discern the newspaper's attitude that blogging is simply frivolous and idiotic.
But then again, the fact that some newspapers (like the local one) are frivolous and idiotic does not mean that all newspapers are frivolous and idiotic.
The same is true of blogs, many of which are written by educated, thoughtful people with a passion to share their insights.
At least one big-media type seems to get it:
It will always be possible for someone to point to many of the millions of amateur bloggers and dismiss them as nerdy faddists and their work as largely trivial. Most bloggers will burn out and move on to something else. But a handful are slowly building a shadow media infrastructure that will become a significant component of the media in the 21st century.
Yep. And MeMo damn sure ain't included in that infrastructure.
Really, we've only just begun to explore the possibilities of personal publishing unleashed by blogging. There's so much more potential for local and regional group blogs, not to mention topical blogs. They're not going away, and that's (mostly) a good thing.
Peter Schramm has these thoughts:
The mass media is in decline, newspaper circulation is down, and, most important, there is less trust in the established media than ever (see the New York Times’ coverage of the Sandy Berger matter, just to cite the latest example). So it is not surprising that alternate, often literate and even thoughtful, daily commentary is becoming--has become--quite interesting (with a lot of readers) and the media elites are forced to pay attention. What really makes them angry is that bloggers are honest and they encourage conversation. They don’t hide their opinions and like defending them. There is something quite democratic (and even populist) about all this. And it is an irritant to the elites. So far so good.
Very good.
(Update) If you've ever wondered how an "expert" who doesn't know what the hell he's talking about might sound, here's Rice's Bob Stein on blogging:
"The fact that it occurs as a cultural phenomenon is a factor that we can’t ignore and probably influential in this regard. It clearly gives a vehicle of political activism that we didn’t have before," said Bob Stein, KHOU political analyst.
Huh?
(07-27-2004 Update) Related thoughts from Alex Whitlock and Greg Wythe.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/26/04 22:48 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (9)
David Webb Chaney, RIP
Somehow, I missed the news early earlier this month that David Webb Chaney had passed away.
Chaney led the team that developed "Astroturf" (one of the innovations of the Astrodome "back in the day").
There's no doubt it was a fine technological development, and even seemed like a great idea at the time. Now that we've retired so many of the awful "multipurpose" stadiums it found its way into (not to mention athletes with blown out knees and turf toe), maybe we can concede it wasn't such a great idea. Who knew?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/26/04 07:30 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)
25 July 2004
Once a Flake....
Former UT running back Ricky Williams has apparently decided to "retire" at the age of 27:
Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams has told the team he plans to retire after just five NFL seasons.
Williams told the team this week of his decision, a team source told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Sunday.
"He wants to get on with his life, wants to move on to bigger and better things," Miami Herald reporter and ESPN commentator Dan Le Batard told SportsCenter.
According to the Herald's report, Williams wants to travel the world and is tired of the demands and restraints of a professional football career.
"I just don't want to be in this business anymore," Williams told the paper. "I was never strong enough to not play football, but I'm strong enough now. I've considered everything about this. Everyone has thrown every possible scenario at me about why I shouldn't do this, but they're in denial. I'm happy with my decision.
"I'm finally free. I can't remember ever being this happy."
The Dolphins are left in quite a bind by this surprise move, and probably aren't so happy.
At the very least, Williams ought to return a pro-rated portion of the signing bonus that came with his last contract.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/25/04 13:30 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (13)
The Power and Politics of Blogs
Daniel Drezner and Henry Farrell have posted a draft of a paper they will give at the American Political Science Association convention at the end of the summer, The Power and Politics of Blogs.
Peter Schramm at No Left Turns describes it as "a bit too 'academic' for my taste ... but for all I know these guys are trying to get tenure."
It's too academic for my taste, too. In fact, it just reinforces why I'm not an academic (because social scientists seem determined to axe their way through open doors, as I believe George Carey once described it), along with the fact that political scientists waste a perfectly good three-day weekend at the end of summer each year to talk about (mostly) shite.
Still, it may interest some folks. We link, you decide. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/25/04 12:28 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (0)
Wha?
Anybody know what has happened to Amanda Strassner's blog?
I click over, I get what appears to be the main domain instead of her subdomain.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/25/04 12:11 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (3)
Jason Varitek Goes For The Face
I don't really have a dog in the Yankees-Red Sox race. I'm just waiting for NFL training camps to open.
But it strikes me that it's below lame for a catcher behind a mask to start clawing at the face of a guy in a brawl.
Even if the guy getting clawed was pretty-boy A-Rod.
Throw the mask down before you go for the guy's face.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/25/04 09:43 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
24 July 2004
It's Almost Like Lee Brown Is Still In Charge
The choo choo had a little problem on Friday:
A low-hanging wire damaged two MetroRail trains Friday morning, disrupting service for almost an hour and forcing both trains to be towed to a railyard for repair. The trains traveling on Fannin Street through the Holcombe underpass struck the wire, damaging the pantograph that connects the trains' power systems to overhead electrical wires along the rail line. One train made it to Preston Station downtown. The other stalled shortly after striking the wire.
Definitely not world class.
One hopes that METRO had old, reliable, non-world-class buses ready to roll.
No word in the blurb whether METRO has fixed the system that is supposed to notify passengers of delays. Unless there's been a change, that system has not functioned properly since the choo choo began service.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/24/04 22:26 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (0)
For Geeks Only
This guy has some strong opinions on the deficiencies of WordPress, a dynamic blog tool that's been growing in popularity.
He seems to like Blog:CMS well enough, which is an (amped up) outgrowth of the Nucleus software that powers this site.
Personally, I'm just amused when folks can get THIS worked up over well-formed content. Your reactions may vary.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/24/04 22:18 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (3)
Wythe on the Warpath
Greg Wythe recently caught something in the New York Times that didn't sit too well, and he's swung into action:
This one bothers me. It bothers me, not because it raises a good point about security concerns (it does raise one particularly good one), but rather ... it bothers me because Houston's own Rice University prof. Dan Wallach makes himself come across as blatantly irresponsible as I can possibly imagine.
Much more is located here. You'll have to scroll down a bit because it's in a rather large post.
Thankfully, Greg isn't yelling about me anywhere in the post. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/24/04 16:51 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (2)
Google Ads
I'm playing capitalist on the site again.
Readers will probably remember that I experimented with blogads for a while, decided it was a pain in the ass, and scrapped it.
Lately, I've been playing around with Google Ads over at Reductio, and I like them, so I've now added them here.
In some ways, I love the sophistication of the Google targeting. On specialized websites, it seems to kick rear.
On the other hand, it produces inadvertent humor on oddball sites like this one and The Fat Guy.
Poor Scott had dental ads stuck on his site for weeks because of a couple of dental horror story posts ages ago.
I see that right now, I'm generating google ads about traffic signals (Danger Train!), and toilets on one page (World Class!).
It may not make a damn bit of cash, but it certainly is amusing. So watch those ads, and click on 'em! Consider it part of the fun here at PubliusTX, where we strive to keep readers entertained, even with the advertising. Click click click! :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/24/04 12:54 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (1)
There They Go Again
The Comical editorial board has been laying the groundwork for a term limits push by clumsily working their opposition to term limits into mostly unrelated editorials, so you had to figure something was up behind the scenes.
Now, unsurprisingly, comes the news that a "group of political insiders" (which surely hasn't been pumping the Comical editorial board with info because that would never happen) is considering a push to revise the city's term limits:
A group of political insiders will decide soon whether to push for a measure on the November ballot that would allow Houston's mayor, controller and council members to stay in office two years longer than term limits now permit.
"We are leaning strongly toward going forward," said Bill King, managing partner at the law firm Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, which collects delinquent taxes and parking fines for the city.
King and other proponents of the plan would need to move quickly to gather more than 20,000 signatures by a deadline in late August.
They would propose that city officials be limited to four two-year terms and that former officials be allowed to run again after sitting out two terms.
The new limits would apply to current officeholders.
The existing limit, set by city voters in 1991, is three two-year terms.
The dozen or so business and political leaders considering the push are working out technical issues such as ballot language, and practical matters such as whether they have time to get petitions together and money to mount a campaign.
They hope to make a decision next week. They would have a month to collect signatures and estimate they need $400,000 to run a campaign.
King said the proposal likely would require two separate referendums, one extending the term limits and the other allowing former officials to run again after four years out of office.
Among those who have been in on the discussions -- many of whom are lobbyists or do business with the city -- are lawyers Darryl Carter and Joe B. Allen, former Port of Houston Authority Chairman Ned Holmes, developer Ed Wulfe, Greater Houston Builders Association President Jim Box, and Rob Mosbacher Jr., chairman of the Greater Houston Partnership.
Generally, when that many "political insiders" decide some radical change is a good idea, I prefer to trust the voters who obviously disagreed (in 1991). Maybe that comes from growing up in Will Rogers's state. Beats me.
The original Comical story misrepresented Barry Klein's position, and a correction was issued today. Klein does not believe supporters will be able to push through the changes they are advocating. I don't think so either, even though they will spend a ton of money on it.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/24/04 09:36 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (2)
23 July 2004
Quitters and Losers
Against my better judgment tonight (blame a bottle of wine), I watched the last few innings of an Astros game.
I shouldn't have wasted my time.
They looked like quitters and losers, and sure enough, they manufactured a way to lose.
It's disappointing from a team that should be better.
Maybe I was just spoiled hanging out at Cougar Field so much this spring. Those guys never quit, even though they were overmatched most of the season because of injuries and the last Major League draft. They were frustrating at times, but they never quit, and like most Rayner Noble teams, they were well worth following because of the improvement through the season.
The Astros in comparison just need to go away. And they will soon (at least for me), with the opening of NFL training camps and the anticipation of college football. I'm really looking forward to following UH football this season, even though those OU and Miami games are going to be brutal.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/23/04 22:32 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (3)
Of Course Layne Couldn't Stay Away From Blogging
I just noticed this from Ken Layne.
I wish the crazy fool would just move to Texas.
Then he could stay busy playing his music all over this fine state, do some blogging in between gigs (and probably sell some writing to rags like the Press), and all of us fans (of blog and music) would be better off.
As Randy Rogers says, there's a country music revival going on every night in this fine state.
If you aren't here, you're missing out.
Maybe TFG could set him up in a cabin on the Brazos. Whaddya think, Scott? Maybe we could even hold some sort of building event, like a Texas/Music version of Habitat for Humanity? Put Cindy to work coming up with some radio sponsorships.... this could work. He could be your Smoking Musical Bard in Residence down there at the ranch.
Thoughts?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/23/04 20:39 | Music | Technorati | Comments (3)
Good Move for the Cowboys
The Cowboys signed former Titans running back Eddie George today:
Star-Telegram columnist Jim Reeves seems critical of the move:
From Emmitt Smith to Eddie George ... from one future Hall of Famer to another ... anyone else see the irony here?
When the Cowboys were messily divesting themselves of Smith a year ago, there were snickers among the local pundits when the lowly Arizona Cardinals, of all teams, stepped up to offer him a $7.25 million, two-year contract.
At the same time that we media cynics in the Fort Worth-Dallas area were wondering if the Cardinals had any idea what they were really getting, the Arizona brass and local media were hailing the arrival of a certain future NFL Hall of Famer who could teach the team what being a champion really meant.
We know how that's worked so far.
What goes around, comes around, which makes me wonder if they'll be snickering at the Cowboys in Tennessee today when George is announced as the newest running back in town, assuming he passes his physical.
Maybe not, because George isn't considered to be quite as far over the hill as Smith was when he was dumped by the Cowboys.
Nobody will be snickering at a Bill Parcells team.
Reeves is right that George probably isn't as over the hill as Smith was. He's also not costing the Cowboys as much money as Smith costs the Cardinals. This is a good deal for all parties.
The additional problem with Smith in Arizona is that he brought precisely the WRONG aura to the team -- the coach seemed afraid to bench him for a more productive running back, because how does a non-Hall-of-Fame coach bench a certain Hall of Famer?
Unlike Arizona's coach last year, Parcells IS a Hall-of-Famer, and won't have any problems with George. If George can still play, he will for Parcells. If not, he'll be gone. He will not overshadow the Tuna.
Fact is, I suspect Parcells might have kept Emmitt Smith around if he had thought last year's team actually was going to be in the playoffs. I think that surprised him.
I don't think he was surprised to learn that last year's team, with no running back, couldn't win in the playoffs. With his rookie and the veteran George, it seems like he's got a pretty good backfield mix now -- and the combined price tag is certainly right.
In other Cowboys news, apparently Chad Hutchinson is miffed because he's about to be cut. As a Cowboys fan, I'm miffed that the team spent any money at all on his sorry arse. Instead of bitching, the ingrate ought to be thankful the team sent him to NFL Europe -- he obviously needed the playing time, since about all he could do was fumble every time he touched the ball in his few appearances with the Cowboys.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/23/04 17:03 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (4)
Ah, Mack
College football season is closing in, and that means Mack Brown is talking to the media and saying dumb things.
It seems he's repeating himself at the start of each football season:
"At Texas, we’ve probably done as good a job as anybody in the country except those four games," [Mack] Brown said during Tuesday’s session at Big 12 media days. "Now that we’ve lost to them four times in a row, it has gotten huge. But it’s really not about me."
[snip]
Brown is 59-18 in his six years at UT. "At our place, it’s only about the ones you lose," he said. "The thing that I’ve been disappointed is I haven’t done a good job in two of four of those games."
[snip]
"We could’ve won the conference championship two years and not beaten OU," Brown said.
Coulda. Shoulda. Mighta. Didn't.
Doesn't that just seem like a strange attitude?
I bet Shorthorn fans are happy that Mack thinks he's done a good job in two of the four games he's lost to Oklahoma. Even Mack's not enough of a nutjob to claim he did a good job in the 65-13 and 35-24 losses.
Running back Cedric Benson seems to have some doubts:
"He handles it and deals with it," Benson said. "I’m really not too fond of how Mack deals with it."
[snip]
"My focus the past four years has been capitalizing on my job and doing what I’m asked to do on the field," Benson said. "I try not to get into too much of the negative things that might float around in the team because it can kind of take away ... it can take away from the team."
[snip]
"A lot of (the losses to OU) has to do with the players, personally," Benson said. "They are probably not buying into the whole scheme of things, the whole aura of what Mack and the coaching staff is trying to bring. Guys have their own opinions about things and things like that and sometimes it can affect how much they put out on the field."
Look for silly comments from Mack to increase as the season draws closer. Thankfully, I haven't seen any "fight fight fight" outbreaks so far. But then again, those tend to come in August.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/23/04 13:58 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (0)
News24, RIP
John Gaver, well known for the Wham Bam Tram Ram Counter, emails that News24 has apparently ceased operation.
I'm working at home today, and sure enough, I flipped over and CSPAN-3 is now occupying channel 24. A blurb is running across the bottom that "News 24 Houston programming has been discontinued."
That's too bad. While their reporting was not always of the highest quality, their reporters did get out and scour this town for stories, and they ran things that no other media outlet in town did. Because the daily newspaper is truly awful, Houston needs all the alternative news sources it can get. I'm sad to see News24 go under.
(Update) The invaluable Houston Business Journal reports on the end of News24:
Time Warner Cable and Dallas-based Belo Corp. have discontinued their joint venture that operates News 24 Houston and two other 24-hour cable news channels in San Antonio and Charlotte, N.C.
News 24 Houston and News 9 San Antonio ceased operations on July 23, resulting in the termination of 190 full-time and part-time employees, effective immediately.
The companies said they evaluated alternative business models and cost structures before deciding to cease operations.
"Each of these markets has well-established competitors, including Belo's own broadcast stations, that made it difficult for a new brand to gain a foothold," said Jack Sander, Belo's president of media operations. "Belo continues to provide outstanding news leadership to its local communities through KHOU-TV in Houston, WCNC-TV in Charlotte, and KENS-TV in San Antonio."
Time Warner will take over the cable news channel in Charlotte. Unfortunately, no such luck in Houston. The announcement came as Belo released quarterly results.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/23/04 11:09 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (5)
Danger Train: Collision #51
The Danger Train suffered collision #51 yesterday:
No one was injured in a collision between a MetroRail train and a sport utility vehicle near Reliant Park on Thursday.
The train and SUV were northbound on Fannin when the SUV driver turned left at Holly Hall across the tracks, a Metropolitan Transit Authority spokesman said. The SUV driver was ticketed for an illegal turn.
Although the accident was the 51st between a light rail train and a vehicle or pedestrian since testing of the line began last fall, Metro is counting it as No. 50 because Houston police have determined that a July 8 collision downtown was an attempted suicide.
That bolded part is mighty interesting.
METRO should really hire Iraq's former information minister. That guy at least provided some entertainment with his incredible spinning.
One can't help but wonder how many minor collisions (no downtime for the system) have gone unreported and uncounted by METRO.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/23/04 09:19 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (3)
22 July 2004
Whee
I had a minor little in-office surgical procedure done earlier, and now I'm coasting on Vicodin.
Whee!
I would describe the procedure, but I'm planning on putting Google Ads up over the weekend, and I would hate to have them constantly serve weird ads related to what I had done (like they constantly serve dental ads to TFG).
No more posting tonight. Gotta go enjoy the buzz. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/22/04 21:57 | Other | Technorati | Comments (11)
21 July 2004
More Surreal than World Class
Sometimes, this city is just surreal:
Flush with success from projects that put decorative paving bricks on Main Street, expanded the downtown tunnel system and helped renovate the Rice Hotel, central Houston's redevelopment authority is turning its attention to matters more primal: public pay toilets.
"It evokes so much laughter," said Vicki Rivers, executive director of the Main Street Market Square Redevelopment Authority, "but it is a serious situation. My board members are very supportive of doing this."
Plumbing for five toilets was installed along Main Street during downtown's recent face-lift, and Rivers and her staff have started researching the array of self-flushing, self-sanitizing toilets on the market. But the project has been stalled by a bureaucratic clog: While Rivers' group, the business arm of a tax increment reinvestment zone, can buy the toilets, it can't pay to maintain them.
I don't know what what is worse -- the toilet that the redevelopment board can't afford to buy AND maintain (but wants us taxpayers to do so), or the sentence that begins this article.
It is nice, though, that even though we can't figure out how to pay the upkeep on the dang things, we've already figured out a pricing structure:
Rivers said the toilets anticipated for downtown likely would cost 50 cents per use, but free tokens would be available for children, the homeless and pedestrians in dire need. Money raised would go to toilet maintenance. Rivers said her agency would like to begin the toilet program with a single trial unit, possibly situated in a park such as Allen's Landing or on a sidewalk or parking lot.
Remember the homeless guy who dashed in front of the Danger Train recently?
Somehow, I'm guessing it's probably a bad idea to give the homeless access to the self-cleaning toilet. I'm just having visions of one of 'em getting their head stuck in the thing as it retracts into the wall for cleaning. Not a pretty vision. Not at all.
It's good, though, that the redevelopment board has ruled out some possibilities:
The redevelopment authority has rejected a Swiss-made toilet unit with walls that are one-way mirrors, allowing users to view passers-by and activities outside the building as clearly as if through a normal window.
"People might be uneasy in this unit," Rivers said. "They might feel as if their privacy had been violated."
Ya think?
I know Kuffner expects me to make a world-class comment, but I don't even think it needs to be said. TFG has some further thoughts.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/21/04 20:38 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (4)
20 July 2004
A 12th Game? How About a Playoff?
It's hardly a shocker that one of those megaconferences GaryC loves, the Big 12, is lobbying the NCAA for a permanent 12th football game:
Two years ago, when the NCAA allowed a 12th game in certain years, depending on the calendar, most people believed it was the camel's nose under the tent to get the 12th game for good.
On Tuesday, in his State of the Conference address, Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg announced the arrival of the rest of the camel. The conference has filed legislation with the NCAA that would allow I-A teams to expand their schedules to 12 games.
"We thought it would be useful to have a dialogue about a 12th football game on an annual basis," Weiberg said at the Big 12 Kickoff. "We're putting this into the [NCAA legislative] system because we want a dialogue on it."
[snip]
"We are cognizant that the timing might not be right," Weiberg said. "From the standpoint of flexibility in scheduling, for the schools struggling to build attendance, struggling to build financially, we believe the 12th game will be a benefit. From a health and safety standpoint, it has not been a problem. If you talk to the athletes, they would prefer to see a little more competition and a little less practice."
Here's a thought. Ditch the 12th game and ditch the 13th game (the Conference Championship round), throw in 2-3 weeks of bowl games, and you have plenty of time for a real playoff.
And since, "from a health and safety standpoint" it's not a problem, and the athletes would rather have "more competition and a little less practice" it sounds perfect!
But it won't line the pockets of the Big 12 or other megaconferences as well as adding that 12th game will, so don't get your hopes up, playoff advocates.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/20/04 23:14 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (6)
Does Richmond Have Room for a Danger Train?
Surely, this is just KHOU-11 being... well, KHOU:
Morning, noon or night, Richmond Avenue is abuzz because it’s lined with office buildings, apartments, and businesses.
It’s where the people are, where the cars are and, just maybe, where we will see the future of rail.
“I think the ridership would be huge because you’re passing through so many important job districts,” said David Crossley, who studies urban transit issues at the Gulf Coast Institute.
Crossley is enthused that Metro, which had planned to run its southwest rail line from alongside Hwy. 59 and the Westpark Toll Road, might run it down Richmond instead.
There's a brilliant idea. Because Richmond is much more congested than Main, with much more potential for accidents! If the first effort is the Danger Train, what to call this one? No answer given, but there is this conclusion:
It’s clear, after just six months, people like to take the train.
No, actually, it's not clear at all.
KHOU-11 should imitate KRIV-26 and just avoid posting their stories on their website. At least on television they have the benefit of being pretty and dumb. The web versions just come across as dumb.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/20/04 22:33 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (0)
Funny
My friend DB (I don't know if he wants his name to be associated with such a shady enterprise as this weblog) emailed me this description of something I asked him to have a look at earlier:
that really is terrible.... the kind of terrible that is more terrible than you could even make up if you were trying to make fun of something being terrible.
I can't really elaborate, but I will say, Yes! Yes, it was!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/20/04 22:14 | Other | Technorati | Comments (3)
Angst
CNNSI pseudo-blogger Albert Chen focuses on the Diminutive B, Jeff Bagwell, today:
Find me an athlete in the sports world more frustrated right now than Jeff Bagwell. (Yes, Tiger, you're a close second.) Bagwell belongs on baseball's list of Mr. Nice Guys, somewhere next to Sean Casey, Eddie Guardado, Miguel Tejada, Torii Hunter, Luis Gonzalez, Jim Thome, Mike Sweeney and Ned Yost. For most of his 13-year career Bagwell has also been Mr. Astro, as much a fixture of Houston as Goode Company Barbeque or Enron. For the last month, the first baseman, a career .300 hitter entering this season, is batting .265 and on pace for his puniest home run total (22)?since 1995. He's been playing with the weight of the state of Texas on his shoulders, and as if he is the main reason the Astros are fading from playoff contention -- his collapse is as perplexing as Sharon Stone's attendance at the ESPYs. The soul of the Astros is hurting inside, and his teammates can sense his pain. Last Saturday morning in the Astros' clubhouse at Minute Maid Park, in a bit of a strange moment, a young teammate who lockers near Bagwell was the one consoling his well-accompished elder, a four-time All Star and one-time MVP, who is in the fourth year of a five-year, $85 million contract. "Hey, don't worry about what that guy in the stands was saying last night about the $17 million," he told Bagwell, after hearing the heckler the night before. "Don't let it get to you. He's the only one in the whole stadium saying that stuff."
Morale is low in the morgue-quiet Astros clubhouse, where you could literally hear a clock ticking. More daunting to them is not that they face a six-game deficit in the wild-card race, but that they have eight teams ahead of them. The Astros' season comes down to their next nine games, of which five are against the woebegone Diamondbacks. If the Astros haven't cut into their wild-card deficit by the end of those nine games, get ready for an onslaught of Carlos Beltran-Nomar Garciaparra-three way trade rumors....
Jeff Bagwell is a really nice guy, and has been a great player over his Astros career. No doubt about it.
But that career is winding down in an unspectacular fashion, and the team is hurting because of his production/salary ratio. No doubt about that, either.
Not that it's really worth obsessing over. Realistically, this season was over a while ago for the Astros. Thankfully, Dallas Cowboys training camp opens in less than two weeks. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/20/04 18:11 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
Texas, Our Texas, Indeed
Scott Chaffin found the best photo.
Just go have a look to see what I mean.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/20/04 17:59 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (1)
When It Rains....
So, this week, I had to get a couple of fillings repaired (minor, didn't even require a local).
I discovered a metal piece about to break in my glasses (overdue to be replaced, overdue for an eye exam anyway).
And I have a minor (I hope) medical matter to attend to Thursday.
Maybe I should schedule the (minor) recall service that my Jeep needs for Friday, and hope nothing else breaks in the meantime.
Geez.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/20/04 17:46 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
19 July 2004
I Am SO Ready For Football
According to the Dallas Cowboys website, training camp opens in 11 days, 10 hours, and 21 minutes at the time of this post.
Not a moment too soon.
I'm sure Callie is looking forward to the nightly streaming audio updates from Coach Parcells. Who isn't!? :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/19/04 22:40 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (7)
Dr. Phil? Try Dr. Kevorkian
Dear gawd, can someone make John Lopez stop writing crap:
THIS is by no stretch Phil Garner's first baseball drama, so he knows when to play the role of Scrap Iron and when to be Dr. Phil, amateur psychologist.
Through the first three games of his Astros managerial career, we certainly have seen more of Dr. Phil.
There has been more analyzing and interpreting. There has been more stroking, encouraging and supporting.
And Sunday, in his effort to get everyone on the same side, everyone pulling in the same direction and not "taking on too much," Garner even wooed the media with a contest.
The rules, sent to the press box by Garner, were simple. Pick a time of day when the Astros would score four runs in an inning. The prize: $100.
You gotta give the man his due. He knows his audience. If Garner tosses in a round of golf, a couple of koozies and some blank receipts, we'll be his for life.
You're already practically tonguing him.
Stop it. It's embarrassing.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/19/04 22:09 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
Shocker: Rail Boondoggle May Skirt "Scary" Neighborhoods
There's only one media outlet in town that's generally behind the Comical at covering "news" and that's Comical partner KHOU-11.
They're finally getting around to the latest on the next phase of the world-class light-rail boondoggle:
The next line for the Metro rail was suppose [sic] to go north, eventually to Intercontinental Airport. Now that may not happen and a lot of people on the northside say they feel betrayed.
"The streets are already wide. All you need to do is run two rails, coming up the middle, one north, one south.," said Ed Reyes as he surveys Fulton Street just inside The Loop.
That is where Metro had planned to begin phase two of its light rail master plan. Only now, he's hearing that may not happen.
"To leave these neighborhoods out would be terrible at this point." Reyes says.
He’d hoped Metro's route going past Moody Park, up Fulton to the Northline Mall would revitalize the neighborhoods. But now Metro is considering moving it alongside the Hardy Toll Road.
At Festival Furniture, on Fulton, Eva Mendez says she was counting on rail. "More people come in, more people see the business. Something like that," said Mendez.
You were played for fools, you silly people. Did you ever really think that a promise to extend light rail through your low-income neighborhood would actually be honored after you turned out voters to get the dang thing passed? You served your purpose! Now be quiet and go away! Shoo!
You poor SOBs will be lucky to have bus service through your neighborhoods after the boondoggle invariably loses more money than anyone ever anticipated, and other city services will have to be pared to support it.
But hey, it's worth it so affluent downtown patrons can ride the tram instead of the bus! What part of "world-class" didn't you people understand when you helped the light-rail proponents win their little referendum?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/19/04 21:34 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (0)
Two Week Old "News"
The Comical just got around to reporting on this bit of "olds" that took place right by their offices:
In shackles and wearing black bikini bottoms, a woman posed at the corner of Milam and Capitol in downtown Houston recently to demonstrate what she considers mistreatment of animals by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Drawing hundreds of spectators and several news cameras during the lunch hour, Annie Judah, an activist with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, kneeled and turned her back, covered with what looked like lashmarks, to the intersection while other activists passed out fliers.
Bloggers had this one covered two weeks ago.
The Comical really is pathetic.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/19/04 21:22 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (0)
Bias, Dumb, or What?
My blog buddy Banjo Jones, who would probably be a drinking buddy save for the fact that driving home drunk from the greater Brazosport area is a very bad idea for the Kevster, sends along the link to this column from Star-Telegram reader rep David House:
Some readers who believe the Star-Telegram splatters the paper with left-wing bias got an edition dripping with proof last Monday. Or so they felt.
What they actually received was proof of momentary blind spots in our editing process, the subjective nature of our work and an example of the perils of newspapering in this age of media-bashing.
It all began at the top of Monday's Page One, where we promoted Life & Arts' light-hearted comparison of Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. John Edwards, the presumptive Democratic candidate for vice president.
Some readers found outrageous bias in the promo strip's pictures of the candidates. There was Edwards on the left end of the promo, flashing a cherubic smile, while Cheney glared sourly from the right end -- clearly, some readers concluded, a deliberate twist in using facial expressions to manipulate sympathies.
Turning to the Life & Arts package, readers found another loaded situation: a package headlined "Veep vs. Veep."
A large illustration combined already-existing stock Knight Ridder caricatures of Edwards and Cheney, both smiling. However, Cheney held a leaky oil barrel under one arm; Edwards was drawn simply as a preppy Mr. Smiley Guy.
Readers felt, and rightfully so, that the illustration demonized Cheney as a big-oil czar but presented Edwards as an innocent pretty boy, ignoring his law career and connections with powerful trial lawyers.
"You should've drawn [Edwards] chasing ambulances," one reader complained.
Not only that, but the first lines in the text of the comparison referred to Cheney as an "oldish 63" and Edwards as a "youngish 51." Readers protested the descriptions as ageism.
Angry readers barraged our Customer Service representatives and me, the reader advocate, with phone calls and e-mails that ranged from reasoned chastisement to furious denunciation and a few cancellations of subscriptions to (in those people's words) a "liberal rag."
I don't know that I'm buying into this. The choice of photos was unfortunate, but was it bias or just a little clueless? I dunno. I look at my favorite list of bias indicators, and I'm not so sure.
It's good, though, that the newspaper is being responsive to reader allegations of bias, and it's also good that they have a reader advocate who actually addresses readers and issues, unlike invisible Comical reader rep James T. Campbell.
One thing I've discovered from my dabbling in things over at CB is that readers are sometimes a little quick to cry bias (pot calling kettle? maybe). Indeed, it gets easy to read bias INTO writing when that's what you're trying to do. One has to be extremely careful not to do that. It helps to have hung out with Straussians (who would have a heart attack over ideological perversion of "the text" -- any text), but it still doesn't make one infallible.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/19/04 21:16 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)
18 July 2004
Bold Thieves
Last week, I drove by a funky little burger shack/icehouse that's been along Westpark in the Galleria area about as long as this Houston transplant can remember.
Crazy thing is, I just sort of assumed the Westpark Tollway construction would have eliminated the thing -- eminent domain in the name of progress, and all that crap.
Instead, they pretty much built the dang Tollway around the thing.
How cool, I thought.
Apparently not, though, because the place keeps getting robbed:
Bubba's Texas Burger Shack owners told News2Houston their restaurant on Westpark near Rice has been hit three times by burglars, the last burglary being Monday. They said before the Tollway went up, they were robbed maybe twice a year.
The owners said they thought the Tollway would bring more traffic in to the eatery; however, the recent string of burglaries now means the owners may have to close their doors after 19 years of business.
"It is getting out of control," employee Erin Reed said.
Reed said in the past four weeks, the restaurant has been broken into three times, and that the third robbery, which happened Monday night, cleaned them out.
"They stole 18 cases of beer from (the freezer), and they always steal one of our coolers from the kitchen. This our third new cooler within a month," Reed said.
News2Houston also reported that the burglars left knives in ominous positions and smashed their buffalo mascot Buffy.
Bubba's owners said the restaurant was beginning to recover from the Westpark Tollway construction.
"The last few years has been devastating. We took ourselves off salary in October," co-owner Bill Grasser said.
Bubba's Texas Burger Shack
The owners said they have done everything from replacing doors to reinforcing in whatever way they know how, but nothing seems to stop the people from getting inside.
"We really don't want to make it into an armed camp," Grasser said.
The owners said they are now looking into installing a third alarm system as a last resort before they make a decision on the burger joint's future.
"I thought with all the traffic it would be real safe. (Someone) breaking into the place ... makes me not want to be here at night," customer Shawnie Malone said.
It doesn't reflect all that well on policing in our world-class city.
I hope Chief Hurtt and Mayor White can send some of those folks they've armed with tasers by the place every once in a while. It's sort of a Houston landmark, and it would be a shame if it had to shut down now, when it should be doing better than ever, because the city cannot fulfill basic policing obligations.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/18/04 16:33 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (2)
Chrysler 300
Because I'm a happy Jeep owner, the DaimlerChrysler folks apparently think I need to be involved in various loyalty events.
I just signed up to attend the Chrysler Art of Driving event at Sam Houston Race Park in August, thanks to a courtesy code sent by DC.
Callie and I both are registered to drive the new Chrysler 300 on their test course. That bad boy sedan has an available Dodge Hemi V8 that puts out 340 horsies. I think it should be a fun test drive. My friend R emailed this reaction:
Oh yeah, drive that 300-that's a car we both need, if we needed cars-much more practical than a Mustang or 'Vette, and the kind of car you'd stumble into after a three-martini lunch at some Italian joint where they serve really good steaks and pasta and play Sinatra, and after stumbling into that car you'd head off to the family sanitation company to make plans to rub out Sammy the Snitch.
It DOES seem like that kind of car, actually. I can't wait to give it a spin.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/18/04 16:17 | Other | Technorati | Comments (3)
Buck Fush
We just returned from a brunch at Cafe Noche.
It was wonderful, as usual.
But there was an elderly lady at a table of five near the front, who had on a rather nongrandmotherly button.
It said BUCK FUSH in all caps.
Ha ha ha ha. That's so clever and witty. I aspire to be a crotchety old battleaxe so I can come up with stuff like that.
Oh wait, I do sometimes say Tuck Fexas during OU-Texas week.
Never mind, I guess.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/18/04 12:33 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
17 July 2004
DEA Update
My buddies in the Dead End Angels have finally scored a Houston date, after much pestering from a few of us.
They are set for Dan Electro's on August 20.
I hope to see some of you blog regulars out there.
After not seeing those guys much so far this year because of conflicts with the UH baseball schedule, it looks like I'm going to see 'em about four times in August alone.
It's good they're getting out more.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/17/04 11:58 | Music | Technorati | Comments (2)
The Root of the "Personal" in Personal Blog is PERSON
I hate it when personal blogs go hybrid.
It's hard for a personal blog to morph into a group blog without losing some of what made it compelling in the first place.
If it's a one-person, mostly political blog that's growing into something larger, it's not always a big deal if the bloggers are largely on the same page. That can actually make the blog more compelling (see Brothers Judd and Jane Galt among others).
But personal blogs are a different critter. They gain a following largely based on the unique voice of the proprietor. To me, disruptions in that unique voice are akin to Coke changing its formula. Why would they DO that?
Lately, it seems like my favorite personal blogs seem determined to head in that direction I don't like.
Take Richard Bennett's place. Like his views or not, Richard's is certainly a distinctive voice in bloggyland. And I've gotten used to his politics and to his style. It's great stuff. So when he added a guest blogger whose style and substance couldn't be much more different, it was a bit of a shock. Regular readers who are fans of Bennett don't necessarily give a crap about shrieking posts like this from his new co-blogger. It's too different substantively and stylistically.
Likewise, buddy Scott Chaffin has added a co-blogger. Gentlemanly thing to do. She seems like a nice lady, with the right interests in Texas music and Texas in general. I don't go read Scott so I can know what someone else thinks, but I was adjusting to the notion, until I get to this part:
I can't stand these guys, the sleaziest bunch in the White House since Dick and Henry. Well ok, not in the White House....we know who that honour belongs to. However, I'm no Kerry fan either....that's the best the Democrats have to offer?
Great. I don't get enough of that from my liberal friends who have blogs. In fact, I was just sitting around and thinking the other day, man, that Scott Chaffin is too conservative and too pro-Bush. I wish to hell he would add a blogger who would talk about sleaze in the White House. Err, no. No, I was not.
Maybe it won't be a regular feature, and maybe the stuff they have in common will tie it all together, but I just wish folks who have established a unique personal blog based on their unique personality and name wouldn't drop such (unpleasant) surprises on their readers. Or if they're gonna do it, find some way to categorize posts by author.
Yeah, I know, we can all do what we want with our blogs, and I shouldn't be whining about the free content that so many bloggers provide to entertain me, for free. But hey, the whole narcissistic enterprise of "personal blogging" almost demands that we praise, bitch, whine, and moan about ourselves and other bloggers. So count this as an obligatory post in that genre, and proceed to give it the attention it deserves (ignore it! ha!).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/17/04 11:11 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (15)
Banjo on Jimy
This post from Banjo Jones on Jimmy Williams made me laugh out loud a number of times.
Excerpt:
The day after Houston Chronicle columnist Richard Justice wrote a piece that suggested the Astros should place Jeff Bagwell second in the batting order rather than sixth following the acquisition of Carlos Beltran, damn is Jimy didn't do just that.
I think he did it just to spite Justice, as if to say, "OK, you're so smart, we'll do it your way."
It didn't matter. So far, nothing has mattered. The team is misfiring no matter what batting order is thrown together. Point proven, I guess. Whatever, Jimy.
Whenever KILT sports talk show host Charlie Pallillo would talk about Williams' public relations skills (which is to say, the way he treated the media), Pallillo's voice would instantly rise three octaves, and he would start talking in that squeaky little girl voice of his, which he does whenever he tries to make an emphatic point.
It takes real writing talent to rip Justice, Jimy, and Pallillo so well, with such efficiency of words, AND be so dang funny.
That's why it's a regular daily stop.
Just think -- Jeff Cohen could have had THIS quality of material when he decided the Chronicle needed a blog. Instead, he has MeMo. More proof that Cohen is a doofus. Maybe even the Jimy of journalism.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/17/04 09:13 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)
16 July 2004
The Whiny Angsty B
Richard Justice is such a silly columnist that it's really not even worth pointing it out anymore, although this Bagwell Affirmation column is probably one of his worst yet.
Still, it was good for this quote:
"It seems like the negatives have been worse than ever," Bagwell said. "It's not just that I'm not hitting. It's almost like I've become a bad person because I'm not hitting. I feel it from the media, the fans and from inside the organization. That's tough to deal with."
The whiniest, angstiest B should be feeling it. He inked his name to that huge contract happily, and fans expect him to produce. That's part of the deal.
Fans have been awfully supportive of him over the years, despite his repeated failures in the playoffs. Anybody who can remember Dave Winfield's travails with the New York Yankees and his own owner calling him Mr. May knows that Jeff Bagwell has had it EASY in Houston in comparison.
If he's this whiny over the first substantive -- and justified -- criticism of his career, then I can only imagine how badly he would have melted down in a city that is less forgiving of its stars.
I'm tired of these underachievers. Thank goodness NFL training camps are just about to open. I can't wait.
(Update) The safety experts have spoken on Bagwell. It's not pretty.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/16/04 20:09 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)
15 July 2004
Music To See This Weekend
I've not been in much of a live music mood lately, but this weekend is full of good stuff.
Friday, the Derailers are at the Mucky Duck. Minus their former front man. Not sure how that will be, but I'll be checking it out.
Saturday, Stoney Larue opens for Wade Bowen and West 84 at the Firehouse. I've seen both acts as openers before, but haven't seen either in a while. This should be a good one.
That ought to take care of the weekend pretty much.
PS: GaryC, if you're reading this, come look us up at one of these shows! Anyone else, for that matter. Unless you're a psycho. Then stay away. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/15/04 23:30 | Music | Technorati | Comments (4)
Wine Time
Callie and I had a chance tonight to pour some wine into Owen, who is leaving Houston shortly for law school.
Not Texas wine, mind you, so I hope we didn't offend.
Anyway, he's not headed too far, and will still be keeping an eye on Houston, so don't you local liberals get too excited. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/15/04 23:20 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)
I Am Not Aerodynamic
I got some strange looks at work today.
It seems the water line supplying the fancy schmancy single-serving coffee machine at work burst overnight a couple of nights ago, flooding the office.
So various filing cabinets were moved off of the carpet to a dry place, and fans were brought in to dry the place.
Massive fans.
Loud fans.
Think jet plane in the silly office.
Several times today, I stood in the middle of it all striking various poses.
When co-workers asked, I told them I had never had a chance to test my own aerodynamics, and I was trying to improve it.
I don't think most of them actually got it. Oh well.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/15/04 23:15 | Other | Technorati | Comments (4)
14 July 2004
Noodling Update
My mom sends me this bit of news from the local newspaper where I grew up.
I went to high school with one of the "noodlers."
Some of us moved on. Others became apprentices in the art of noodling.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/14/04 22:53 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (8)
UH Coaches' Caravan
I roadtripped over to Skeeters at Gulfgate Mall earlier this evening for what Cougar Pride billed as a session with the coaches of UH's major sports programs.
Baseball coach Rayner Noble and women's basketball coach Joe Curl both spoke, and were upbeat about things to come. Noble basically announced he has shaken up the whole program and is bringing in a bunch of freshman to get a fresh start; he only singled out Brad Lincoln and Kevin Roberts as returning lettermen whom he expected to step in and do the job (both showed great promise this season, and Roberts was probably team MVP). Joe Curl has to replace Kodak All-American Chandi Jones, but seems upbeat about his recruiting at the moment.
Unfortunately, football coach Art Briles canceled at the last minute. His defensive coordinator stood in for him. Brave man. UH had one of the worst defenses in college football last season, although they were playing quite a few young players. I can't recall him saying much of note.
Basketball coach Tom Penders, the main reason I made the roadtrip, also canceled at the last minute. That was unfortunate. I was hoping to hear his assessment of how things are looking. Michael Young said things are looking good. Of course, things are always looking good during the offseason. :)
I'm looking forward to college football this fall. I actually went for UH season tickets, and am planning on heading to Rice for that game. It should be fun.
One more coaches' caravan to come, in August, at the West U/Greenway Skeeters location. I hope to hear Briles and Penders at that one.
(Update) I forgot to mention that Coach Noble says that UH will (of course) again participate in the early-season Minute Maid tourney, and that Oklahoma State will be part of the tourney this year. That's good. I like that they're upgrading the schedule somewhat after years of weak schedules under the last coach, and it will be good to bring in another Big 12 power.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/14/04 20:35 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (2)
Clueless 610
Hmm. I just went flipping by AM 610 hoping to hear the Astros press conference, but they are covering the stupid WNBA.
How retarded is that?
The key demographic for sports talk radio (AM 610) is youngish males.
So they get to hear women who play bad basketball?
When the Astros are about to announce their manager has been fired?!
I haven't listened to the brain dead local personalities on 610 in ages, but I thought maybe I could switch over and listen to the press conference. Thank goodness for AM 740, which has just gone to coverage of the press conference and is NOT covering girlies playing basketball.
(Update) News24 is the only TV station that seems to be covering the press conference. Good for them.
(Update 2) Okay, Jimy Williams is gone, Phil Garner is in. Burt Hooton and Harry Spilman also get the boot. Gary Gaetti, who's supposed to be an up-and-comer in coaching circles, gets a big chance to prove himself as the new hitting coach. This team could stand to improve a lot in that area.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/14/04 13:05 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (3)
13 July 2004
Simmons Likes The Aquarium
Bill Simmons is back in Houston, and he has much more love for us this time than he did when he was here for the Super Bowl.
Fun excerpts:
On Saturday night, July 10, 2004, I made my triumphant return to Houston. You probably remember my previous visit, when I spent 10 straight days here and shattered the record for "Most time anyone ever spent in Houston without actually living there."
Houston is a special place for the Sports Guy after the Pats won their second Super Bowl there.
And yes, there was some bitterness at the time. Any city that can be described as "gigantic," "sprawling," "confusing" and "blustery" has absolutely no business hosting an event like the Super Bowl. Houston wasn't even remotely prepared for its turn in the spotlight. Some hastily-opened hotels and bars still reeked of paint. Cars careened off the new Light Rail as if it were Billy Joel's Mercedes. The traffic made the L.A. gridlock seem free-flowing by comparison. You couldn't get a cab to save your life. The weather was more unpredictable than Johnny Rodz. And since I couldn't get over these things, I spent much of my time pumping out Super Bowl blogs at an alarming rate, complaining about the city every step of the way.Then my beloved Patriots held off the Panthers to win their second title.
What did this change about Houston? Everything. I feel a goofy sense of attachment to the city now, just like any of the crappy apartments I had back in college. We won the Super Bowl here! Good times! I guess I'll always feel that way coming back here. It's like returning to any rundown casino in Vegas where you once enjoyed good luck.
and
If I could change anything about Enron, er, Minute Maid, it would be the goofy setup in left field -- one section of bleachers, flanked by a ridiculous cement wall with a train and train tracks on top of it. It looks like something Method Man and Redman created with a set of Legos after polishing off a bong the size of Yao Ming.
Why not add more seats? Why the train? What's up with the hill in center? Why do the seats in right field face third base? It's like the place was built by some stoned architect who never actually watched a game before, but his kids were telling him, "Daddy, you should put a train in left field, and Daddy make a hill in the outfield!" I understand how every ballpark needs to be different, but this seems too contrived -- vaguely reminscent of the first time Jonathan Lipnicki appeared in public wearing a throwback jersey and gold chains.
On the bright side, the retractable roof makes up for everything. Even when it gets dark in Houston during the summer, the temperature vacillates between 120 and 130 degrees, with 156-percent humidity. The roof saved everyone from a miserable night. Maybe it looks better with the roof opened; but even with the roof closed, it looks OK. Certainly better than the giant space vulva in Milwaukee.
We are world class.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/13/04 22:25 | Houston |