Monday, September 24, 2007
QUICK HITS
A few random bits:
~ I've been interested in "The Tirade," an outburst by Oklahoma State University coach Mike Gundy against Oklahoman sports columnist Jenni Carlson. She wrote a column that upset Gundy, leading him to launch a missive against her during a press conference. Gundy said that 75 percent of Carlson's column was wrong, but won't say what. ESPN's Monday night coverage: All they showed was the tirade. None of the aftermath -- or before-math.
~ President Bush and I agree on something! My father would be so proud. I did a story on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking at Columbia University, and local students' reactions. My personal view: What better way to show a Holocaust-denier what America is all about than to let him speak? Bush agreed with me. His quote to the Associated Press: His appearance "speaks volumes about really the greatness of America."
~ I wish I could receive KSPR-TV, based out of Springfield. After seeing a few Internet videos of their newscast renovation, I'm mighty impressed. Heck, I'm just glad to see Joe Daues back behind the desk and out of Hammons Field. At the new gig, Daues comes across as more relaxed and authoritative than he ever did at KOLR-10 -- and he was pretty good for that station, too. But I'm most impressed with the diversity of stories the news staff is getting. They are probing deeper, asking tougher questions, and producing solid reports. I hope Joplin TV stations are paying attention.
~ I've been interested in "The Tirade," an outburst by Oklahoma State University coach Mike Gundy against Oklahoman sports columnist Jenni Carlson. She wrote a column that upset Gundy, leading him to launch a missive against her during a press conference. Gundy said that 75 percent of Carlson's column was wrong, but won't say what. ESPN's Monday night coverage: All they showed was the tirade. None of the aftermath -- or before-math.
~ President Bush and I agree on something! My father would be so proud. I did a story on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking at Columbia University, and local students' reactions. My personal view: What better way to show a Holocaust-denier what America is all about than to let him speak? Bush agreed with me. His quote to the Associated Press: His appearance "speaks volumes about really the greatness of America."
~ I wish I could receive KSPR-TV, based out of Springfield. After seeing a few Internet videos of their newscast renovation, I'm mighty impressed. Heck, I'm just glad to see Joe Daues back behind the desk and out of Hammons Field. At the new gig, Daues comes across as more relaxed and authoritative than he ever did at KOLR-10 -- and he was pretty good for that station, too. But I'm most impressed with the diversity of stories the news staff is getting. They are probing deeper, asking tougher questions, and producing solid reports. I hope Joplin TV stations are paying attention.
Labels: GOVERNMENT, NEWS, TIME-WASTERS, TV
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
BLOGGER GOES MAINSTREAM: DAVIS TO LEAD KSPR
One of Springfield's best has accepted a position with one of Springfield's worst.
Ron Davis, chief wordmonkey at the Chatter blog, has accepted a position with KSPR-TV as a senior producer. KSPR, recently purchased by the same company that owns KYTV, has long suffered at the bottom of the ratings. The quality of the news product is not exactly known as the cream of the crop.
That's about to change, if I know my old boss.
Davis took me under his wing at 417 Magazine, and taught me much about journalism, growing a spine, being a community journalist and believing in the cause of journalism for journalism's sake. He is one of a few who believe that journalism is still a noble profession.
An interesting twist for his new job is his newspaper background -- Davis spent many years with the News-Leader, back in the Randy Hammer days. His story about the Acid Tunnels is stuff of legend. But, after landing a cake job with the NL, he and shutterbug extraordinaire Mike Wingo left the 800 lb. gorilla to start a little something called 417 Magazine. Since then, he's held the occasional talk-radio gig, run a media company, managed a campaign and started the occasional talk TV show. True, his strongest experience is with the written word, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a new technology with which he is unacquainted. My guess is he already has two of these in his pocket, and one is just for playing with.
Will KSPR news be -- dare I say it -- exciting to watch? I wish I could. Sadly, KSPR doesn't reach into the Joplin market. But, I suspect Davis will be changing that with the Internet. Other changes at KSPR will be revolutionary. At the very least, I suspect the David Kadushin drinking game will come to an end.
I wish the best of luck to Davis and everyone at KSPR. You're in for a wild ride.
Ron Davis, chief wordmonkey at the Chatter blog, has accepted a position with KSPR-TV as a senior producer. KSPR, recently purchased by the same company that owns KYTV, has long suffered at the bottom of the ratings. The quality of the news product is not exactly known as the cream of the crop.
That's about to change, if I know my old boss.
Davis took me under his wing at 417 Magazine, and taught me much about journalism, growing a spine, being a community journalist and believing in the cause of journalism for journalism's sake. He is one of a few who believe that journalism is still a noble profession.
An interesting twist for his new job is his newspaper background -- Davis spent many years with the News-Leader, back in the Randy Hammer days. His story about the Acid Tunnels is stuff of legend. But, after landing a cake job with the NL, he and shutterbug extraordinaire Mike Wingo left the 800 lb. gorilla to start a little something called 417 Magazine. Since then, he's held the occasional talk-radio gig, run a media company, managed a campaign and started the occasional talk TV show. True, his strongest experience is with the written word, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a new technology with which he is unacquainted. My guess is he already has two of these in his pocket, and one is just for playing with.
Will KSPR news be -- dare I say it -- exciting to watch? I wish I could. Sadly, KSPR doesn't reach into the Joplin market. But, I suspect Davis will be changing that with the Internet. Other changes at KSPR will be revolutionary. At the very least, I suspect the David Kadushin drinking game will come to an end.
I wish the best of luck to Davis and everyone at KSPR. You're in for a wild ride.
Monday, June 11, 2007
HUZZAH! MST3K SNARK RETURNS
MST3K is back!Well, sorta.
Wired News reports that the creators of Mystery Science Theater 3000 have returned with more snarky comments about popular B-movies. At Rifftrax.com, you can download Mike Nelson's commentaries and listen to them alongside many popular DVDs.
The one thing I wished MST3K would have done is slaughter popular B-movies and other sci-fi classics. Nelson does that: For $3 a pop, you can hear his commentaries about The Matrix, Star Wars 2: Attack of the Clones, the pilot episode of Lost, Eragon, Casino Royale and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory -- old school style, not that Tim Burton abomination. Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot won't be appearing, but the guys who did the voices -- Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett -- will.
Here's a freebie from their Web site. Enjoy.
Labels: GEEKS, SCI-FI, TIME-WASTERS, TV
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
POINTLESS ADVERTISING
So the Mailbox is watching Lost on KSPR-TV, trying to clean the kitchen during the commercials, when it heard something that grates its nerves: "Tonight on (the news), you'll see a report YOU WON'T SEE ANYWHERE ELSE..." Sure enough, during said report on the news, anchor Kyle Bosch repeated the phrase.
This bugs the Mailbox because No.1, it will precede a sensational story that's not really news. If it were news (a euphemism for "if it was important"), it would be on all the stations. The story was about Strafford middle school girls not being allowed to bring purses to class. The horror. It's not news.
No. 2, it's pointless advertising to say you'll see this report only on this station. The reason to say something like that during commercials is to draw viewers to the news. Only journalists switch channels back and forth while the news is on. The rest of the sane world keeps the station where it is. With that in mind, saying the "only seen here" phrase is either desperate wankery or illusions of grandeur.
Petty gripe here? Yeah, pretty petty.
OFFICIAL MAILBOX "LOST" GRIPE #21
This week's gripe is just a continuation of last week's gripe, since this week's episode confirmed the fact that Locke is a bleeding moron. After Locke attempted to keep Sayid out of his backpack, it's discovered that Locke kept a nice little brick of C-4. Read last week's gripe again.
What, you want a new one? OK, fine. Charlie must be crazy in love, because you'd have to be crazy to love a woman like Claire. After Charlie appeared non-committal about her bird plan, she flipped out to almost the same degree as when Charlie went crazy and kidnapped Aaron. Sheesh! How about some perspective?
On the other side of the coin, this week's episode was pretty kick-butt. We finally got confirmation that Claire and Jack are siblings. And we see Jack in a new situation: Playing a little football with ol' Zeke. The promo promised that next week we would see how Locke got into that wheelchair. The promos are notoriously bad for overpromising (which affects the show's ratings and fan base), however. Wait and see...
What, you want a new one? OK, fine. Charlie must be crazy in love, because you'd have to be crazy to love a woman like Claire. After Charlie appeared non-committal about her bird plan, she flipped out to almost the same degree as when Charlie went crazy and kidnapped Aaron. Sheesh! How about some perspective?
On the other side of the coin, this week's episode was pretty kick-butt. We finally got confirmation that Claire and Jack are siblings. And we see Jack in a new situation: Playing a little football with ol' Zeke. The promo promised that next week we would see how Locke got into that wheelchair. The promos are notoriously bad for overpromising (which affects the show's ratings and fan base), however. Wait and see...
Friday, March 09, 2007
OFFICIAL MAILBOX "LOST" GRIPE #20
"Enter 77" was one of the best episodes of this season. Kate, Sayid and Locke go with Rousseau to go hunting for Patchy. Find him. Interrogate him. And come across the same chick who seemed to lead the Others at the dock where Kate, Jack and Sawyer were taken.
Because it was a good episode, it makes the Mailbox's gripe even more painful: Locke is a dumbass. He beats the chess program, gets the secret codes. He then gets popped by Patchy, but Kate and Sayid help Locke get the upper hand. He goes back to the game, beats it again, then enters the code to indicate hostiles have seized the compound. And then he looked surprised when it sploded.
Was the Mailbox the only one in America screaming, "Don't enter 77"? Those manuals in the basement sure would have been handy! Surely Kate and Sayid would have told Locke that the whole place was wired with C4! Surely he could have put 2 and 2 together... especially if he can beat a computer chess program! Crichton on a corn dog what a dumbass!
Best moment of the show: When Sawyer looks at Paolo and says, "Who the hell are you?"
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
OFFICIAL MAILBOX "LOST" GRIPES #17-19
It's been a while since the Mailbox has had a gripe worthy of airing. First off, the Mailbox has to admit it was wrong. It originally said, "There was no freaking way" that there is a second island. Funny story: There is a second island.This week's episode featured Hurley. The Mailbox loves these episodes, since Hurley's string of bad luck is so bad it's comical. This week in Hurley's flashbacks, a meteor destroys the Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack he buys with his lottery winnings, and his dad shows up after 17 years. His dad tries to break the curse by rigging a psychic reading. The psychic had some cool looking tarot cards.
Meanwhile in reality, Hurley discovers a Dharma V-Dub Bus. complete with beers in the back. Who knows how long the beers have been there, but Sawyer eventually starts sucking them down.
The Mailbox's gripe: Who knows how long those cans of beer have been in a van, in the heat of a tropical island. And they drink them anyway?! The Mailbox has seen what happens to beer kept over a long period of time. Gets filled with nasty floaties.
Another gripe: Why does Hurley's father show up after 17 years? Should be 15 or 16, shouldn't it? For a show that has worked so hard to use 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 and any combination or computation those numbers can make, it doesn't make any sense to NOT use those numbers everywhere.
Yet another gripe: Hurley's bad luck provided a great opportunity to kill off Nikki and Paolo in a hugely hilarious and awesome way. Yet they still live. WHY?!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
IS THIS WHAT I MISSED?
OK, this is admittedly old, but I laughed anyway. Michelle, official friend of the Mailbox, posted this video on her blog. I can only hope that some of the talking heads in Joplin are as creative and fearless.
The Mailbox is a big fan of the original "Lazy Sunday." For the most part, the video is funny, despite being painful at parts. Best part: "And I'm gone like Snyder!" The line about Dowe and Justice was pretty funny, too. Apparently, the Mailbox has a lot to learn about Joplin's Medialand (with apologies to Ron Davis).
The Mailbox is a big fan of the original "Lazy Sunday." For the most part, the video is funny, despite being painful at parts. Best part: "And I'm gone like Snyder!" The line about Dowe and Justice was pretty funny, too. Apparently, the Mailbox has a lot to learn about Joplin's Medialand (with apologies to Ron Davis).
Labels: HUH?, TIME-WASTERS, TV
Sunday, October 29, 2006
OFFICIAL MAILBOX "LOST" GRIPE #16
Oy vey. As much as the Others are torturing Jack, Sawyer and Kate, they are torturing Lost viewers with their outright cruelty and complete lack of justification. These episodes are flat out painful to watch.
For the record, there is NO FREAKING WAY there is a second island. The Losties have been over a whole lot of that beachfront. The plane fell apart over the Others' quaint village, and two of the Others went to intercept immediately. And Sayid, Jin and Sun had access to a boat and sailed across a good portion of the island's coastline without seeing a second island. Most likely conclusion: They're messing with Sawyer...it's the only way to take the fight out of him. As Benry said, "The only way to gain a con man's respect is to con him."
But that's not the Mailbox's gripe. Before their hike across the island, the Others claimed to put a pacemaker in Sawyer's ticker, which would make his heart explode if he reached a heart rate of 140 beats per minute. Afterwards, he's sitting in his cell, watching Kate get naked (the Mailbox believes the proper spelling of that word should be nekkid). Heart rate goes up, which we hear thanks to the handy dandy monitor the Others thoughtfully provided. Realizing the danger, Sawyer hatches a brilliant plan to lower his heart rate by looking away and dousing himself with water. It works, because we immediately hear his heart rate go down.
Huh?
The Mailbox doesn't think that was the warmest of water. Chilly at worst, tepid at best. And that is going to encourage the growth of goose bumps (or, as Jack, official father of the Mailbox, used to say: It would be a titty-bit nipply). Sure as hell ain't gonna slow an already fast-beating heart.
Friday, October 20, 2006
OFFICIAL MAILBOX “LOST” GRIPES #13 AND #14
A reminder: Because of the night job, the Mailbox doesn’t get a chance to watch Lost until it appears on iTunes, so that’s why these official gripes appear two days late. And if you haven’t gotten lost in the Wiki yet, the Mailbox highly recommends it. That site writes show summaries much better.
~ In “The Glass Ballerina,” Sayid, Jin and Sun try to track down Kate, Jack and Sawyer by setting a trap for the Others. Doesn’t work out too well; Sun pops a cap in Colleen’s stomach. We find out that Sun is really good at lying and keeping secrets. We also see Sawyer and Kate in hard labor, and Sawyer plants a big one on Kate (finally). The episode ends with Ben making an offer to Jack: Help with something and he gets to go home. To prove that the Others have access to the outside world, Ben shows Jack a tape of the 2004 World Series where Boston beats St. Louis -- significant because Jack’s father always said the Red Sox would never win the World Series.
The Mailbox’s gripe: Of all the things that Ben could have put on the tape that shows connection to the outside world, he chooses the World Series? That implies that the Others know a whole heck of a lot about Jack. That’s way out there...it implies pre-selection of the plane passengers by the Others. But that’s not possible, because Desmond is the one that caused the crash, and Ben and the Others were genuinely surprised to see the plane breaking up in the sky. For Ben to know about Jack’s father’s predilection of Boston’s losing prospects is just too far out there.
~ In “Further Instructions,” Locke rescues Eko from a polar bear (who is probably just sad because he doesn’t get any more fish biscuits), Hurley makes it back to the beach and Desmond does his best Scott Stapp impersonation (link NSFW, but hilarious: “Babies come from my SACK!”). As Charlie and Locke struggle with Eko, two new faces --Paulo and Nikki -- burst out of a tent to assist.
The Mailbox’s gripe: Who are Paulo and Nikki? GOOD FREAKING QUESTION! The only way the Mailbox knew their names was from reading the Lost Wiki. Two new characters not named Steve or Scott get close enough to the camera, but we don’t know a thing about them. If you only watched the show, you don’t even know their names. TLP, official girlfriend of the Mailbox, said it best: “It’s like on a sitcom, when they trot out new characters because the show is failing and it needs some new blood, but it never works out.”
A reminder: Because of the night job, the Mailbox doesn’t get a chance to watch Lost until it appears on iTunes, so that’s why these official gripes appear two days late. And if you haven’t gotten lost in the Wiki yet, the Mailbox highly recommends it. That site writes show summaries much better.
~ In “The Glass Ballerina,” Sayid, Jin and Sun try to track down Kate, Jack and Sawyer by setting a trap for the Others. Doesn’t work out too well; Sun pops a cap in Colleen’s stomach. We find out that Sun is really good at lying and keeping secrets. We also see Sawyer and Kate in hard labor, and Sawyer plants a big one on Kate (finally). The episode ends with Ben making an offer to Jack: Help with something and he gets to go home. To prove that the Others have access to the outside world, Ben shows Jack a tape of the 2004 World Series where Boston beats St. Louis -- significant because Jack’s father always said the Red Sox would never win the World Series.
The Mailbox’s gripe: Of all the things that Ben could have put on the tape that shows connection to the outside world, he chooses the World Series? That implies that the Others know a whole heck of a lot about Jack. That’s way out there...it implies pre-selection of the plane passengers by the Others. But that’s not possible, because Desmond is the one that caused the crash, and Ben and the Others were genuinely surprised to see the plane breaking up in the sky. For Ben to know about Jack’s father’s predilection of Boston’s losing prospects is just too far out there.
~ In “Further Instructions,” Locke rescues Eko from a polar bear (who is probably just sad because he doesn’t get any more fish biscuits), Hurley makes it back to the beach and Desmond does his best Scott Stapp impersonation (link NSFW, but hilarious: “Babies come from my SACK!”). As Charlie and Locke struggle with Eko, two new faces --Paulo and Nikki -- burst out of a tent to assist.
The Mailbox’s gripe: Who are Paulo and Nikki? GOOD FREAKING QUESTION! The only way the Mailbox knew their names was from reading the Lost Wiki. Two new characters not named Steve or Scott get close enough to the camera, but we don’t know a thing about them. If you only watched the show, you don’t even know their names. TLP, official girlfriend of the Mailbox, said it best: “It’s like on a sitcom, when they trot out new characters because the show is failing and it needs some new blood, but it never works out.”
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