NewscomaGot A Two-Pack Habit And A Motel Tan

Sam Cooke would be 77 years old this weekend. And there is a celebration this weekend.

[youtube=[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGOVZPKeRQA&hl=en]

If you don’t know Cooke, well, you should. Here he does Bob Dylan on Shindig.

Died too young, I’m telling you. Musical Genius if you ask me. You didn’t, but he was.

Here he is with Muhammad Ali.

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Thank me later if you don’t know him. If you do, then just listen and know the way.

Bad Bad Ivy, writing over at Shak In Style, writes a story about her son being afraid of monsters.

I can only share what I know but I realize little kids are terrified of monsters under the bed.  When I was a kid, my mother demystified the whole monster thing for me over time by saying that they were friendly monsters but that they were cursed and had to scare me to live. They were protecting me but they had to act gruff. If they were played nice with me, they would disappear.

She wanted me to feel sorry for the monsters. And, after awhile, I did. Hell, I was a kid. Parents know this stuff, but kids, well there are other things scarier than monsters (can you say greedy politicians), but not when you are four.

Monsters scare the hell out of you.

We left the monsters a cookie and pieces of candy for a week and they went away. So ultimately, we sent them away by being kind to them.

I think it’s why I’m a monster/horror junkie to this day.

Is the Thomas Beatie story a hoax?

Reports are coming in that a press conference has been called for tomorrow which is incidentally April Fools Day regarding the “pregnant man.”

News outlets are deeming it a possible hoax. I guess we will have to wait until tomorrow.

Head here for more details.

UPDATE: No hoax. 

So, there you go.

Last week, I was feeling like I lost my mojo. I was a bit disconcerted, not a bit of fun to be around and just felt peculiar and odd. It was one of those times that I just couldn’t get my rhythm.

Have you ever gone through that? It’s very strange. I just felt tired and cranky and a bit depressed/angry. Friday night, I felt really strange. It was almost like my head was coming off my brain stem.

Well, there must have been a reason I’m finding out.

Squirrel Queen, the nieces and I have had a lovely bout of the flu this weekend. As none of us could lift our heads off the cool tile of the bathroom, the idea of going to a doctor was not possible.

We are talking a house full ‘o sick.

I feel as bad as bloated up roadkill on one of our roads here in Hoots.

I would give you the lowdown on the nastiness, but I’m thinking you would sort of gross out. God knows I have.

Just hoping the week doesn’t kick my hiney this week. Bronchitis and now this is making me wonder if I need to move to Arizona or seriously forget about a life coach and get a damned doctor’s visit.

Bear with me, campers.

For some very good reading about small business and the election, go see Vibinc.

And then go over to Squirrel Queen’s. And then hit Jack’s for a really good essay on news and the Internet which is fierce.

Going to pass out in front of the game.

Send Squirrel Queen and I reinforcements if you don’t hear from us.

And R. Neal is back with this week’s round-up at TennViews

 Glad to have him back.

My congressman spoke in Millington Thursday night about NATO and used the word “conditions” when speaking out the war last night.

From the Commercial Appeal:

U.S. Rep. John Tanner told military and community leaders in Millington Thursday that the real enemies of the United States are no longer countries or armies, but “conditions.”

Conditions of poverty, ignorance and hopelessness in some areas of the world help create suicidal attacks from people who don’t care about the nuclear submarines, bombers, missiles and other weapons in the U.S. arsenal, the Democrat from Union City said.

Tanner goes on to talk about NATO’s value in Afghanistan, and he’s meeting at The Hague this weekend and I’m guessing “conditions” which will be topic of discussion.

The word “conditions” is a good one in the world of political spin, however, the rest of the story was a bit, in a word, confusing. Par for the course when it comes to politics. What he’s saying in the story is we need “friends” around the world now more than when we were in the Cold War.

Tanner is in a district where there are a ton of National Guard units. I’m thinking they are looking at new tours in the Middle East. When he announced for reelection in January, he said his primary objective is to help support military families. The CA story was regarding Tanner speaking at Millington, a naval base.

I agree with that one. If our military is going to be in Iraq and Afghanistan, they need to be taken care of. I’d rather this war be over, but if we are sending soldiers in harm’s way, then we need to make sure they get what they need.

This election year is key. A recent letter sent to one of his constituents talks about credit card business practices. There was some talk about him being on the short list for VP a few weeks ago. I don’t think that’s going to happen by a long run but I do believe right now, if a Democrat is elected into the White House, senior leaders want to position themselves. It’s politics.

Now, if we could just get Steve Cohen back into office, then I would be a happy camper. Cohen and Tanner are speaking tomorrow morning at the  Pat Thompson Conference Center in Millington. I’m assuming Tanner will be back from Holland if this is scheduled.

And, I’ve been looking, but is Farmer John officially jumping back in the race?

Jay Leno has pissed some folks off.

Find out why here.

I don’t watch Leno anyway.

Viva La Letterman. (Who am I kidding, I watch him virally. I watch Adult Swim.)

I’ve gone and got myself a nice version of the flu (I knew I was feeling weird this week). You may now call me VomitingComa.

Demarcationville gets it. Some of the things I’ve been talking about for the last five years, she has managed to put in one post.

And if news sites and blogs aren’t real news, what are they then? Speculation? Pretend? The Dark Side? A passing fancy? Holy shit, someone should alert all major markets because most have invested loads of money in developing a user-friendly, multi-media formats.

They obviously have no clue this is all an illusion!

Can I just say I find this attitude incredibly frustrating? I am losing my ability to feel sympathetic here.

These changes in the market were NOT sudden. This wasn’t something unforeseen or unpredictable. The consumer shift from traditional media to online outlets has been occurring gradually for years now.

We’ve talked about this many, many times.

I’ve pulled my Paul Revere of the Press: “The Internet is Coming. The Internet is coming. We must develop a plan!”

The standard reply has been: (scoff) “We are a reputable newspaper. We are not in the business (shudder, snort) of running a website. That is not what we do. That is not our primary focus.”

Well, la-di-da.

And how is that working out for ya? Since online news is no longer popular as much as it is commonplace – have we arrived at a point yet where we accept newspapers either get with the program(ing) or try not to let the door hit em in their reputable asses on the way out?

I’ve been preaching this for years. For YEARS. I recently did an informal study of the local college in the area and there were more kids on Facebook and MySpace then I could keep count of. That, my friends, is the generation that will be buying advertising in five to ten years.

When folks have video on their cell phone and $100 cameras, anyone can break a story. It’s not a fly-by-night thing, it the way of the world now.

But alas, one can only be a preacher for so long without a local congregation.

Change is hard. Some of us know, however, and if/when it hits the pocketbook, then I think we will start seeing proactive maneuvering. Old School still clashes with the realities of technology and communication tools changing daily.

It’s not a new school, it’s just the way that it is.

Here’s the thing, it can’t be just done in a reporter’s spare time now or a secretary uploading content. Positions in the newsroom are evolving. I shoot video now but I’m having to train myself how to edit just like I did when radio through out the vinyl and reel-to-reels. I’ve destroyed a ton of content during the learning process but I’m trying to learn it nonetheless. It has to be it’s own entity. Larger newspapers know this. Smaller newspapers will have to recognize it soon and some of them are.

I’m 42 years old and I’ve seen a ton of changes in the past 24 years. Ever use wax and paste. I have. Even know what that is other than something spoke of fondly in Journalism 101 classes? Angela and John do.

Angela also says this which I agree with. Her post was incredible and you need to go read it all and she makes a good point here.

I believe there’s a way for the markets to not only coexist – but complement each other. In fact, I think they must.

I don’t think newspapers are dead by a long shot. But I do think they are going to have to quit living in denial. Als0, Put Demarcationville in your RSS feeds immediately.

Here is an example of how fast news spreads. Yesterday, Killa told me of a lockdown due to a bomb threat at MTSU that she had heard about on her RSS. I put it on Twitter, Rachel Walden at Women’s Health News sent me a link to a message alert she had and within fifteen minutes, Christian Grantham picked it up and was making phone calls about it. Lissa Kay also talked to us from East Tennessee about it on Twitter. Here is the story at WKRN.

Newspapers, this is the new world of communication and how news is evolving.

Ferris Bueller

Something odd is happening. I thought it wouldn’t but then again, the presidential candidates did something yesterday so unusual and fascinating that I couldn’t help but have to sit back in my recliner and weep tears of joy.

They actually talked about things other than each other.

Praise the Lord and Pass the Cheetos! I had gotten so disillusioned in the past couple of weeks with all of the static that I thought seriously of going and getting a cat so I could cat blog. As you know, I’ve never really owned a cat. I hear they own you. I guess I’ll stick with Mabel.

From USA Today:

Obama was in New York City, where he was introduced by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-independent. Obama reiterated his proposals for helping homeowners faced with foreclosure, including a $10 billion fund to keep some mortgages afloat. Bloomberg rearranged his schedule to be at the speech, but Stu Loeser, a spokesman for the mayor, said his boss’s courtesy doesn’t constitute an endorsement.

Clinton campaigned in North Carolina on the start of a six-day, three-state tour focused on the economy. She proposed a five-year, $10 billion program to help displaced workers get job training.

Whaaa!?! Get OUT!

The Dems are finally talking about the sorry state of the economy in this country? Seriously, I thought it was all about faux sniper stories and Obama and the preacher but after this I think Clinton will knock it off.

By sniping at each other, both candidates put me off and I’m a political junkie. I have heard people, just common folks here in Hoots, that have been so disgusted with it that they are talking more about that then the actual race as they look at the gas signs screaming $3.39 a gallon at them.

Howard Dean has got to get this together and keep on task. From yesterday:

Democratic Party chief Howard Dean is expressing concern about the angry tone of his party’s presidential campaign.

Dean says Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and their supporters should beware of tearing each other down, demoralizing the base and damaging the party’s chances of winning the White House in November.

About time, Howard. With this said, damage has been done. But it can be fixed.

Talk about the issues and the party’s mission. Unity good, BS bad.

From Pat Oliphant

Katherine wrote this last night about death. It resonates with me because it’s absolutely the truth written eloquently.

It goes like this, though, the way death sits with you like the hiccups.  You think it’s not bothering you anymore and you have moved past it, and then you start with a wee break and you’re gone again.   Those five stages of Elizabeth Kubler Ross are very neat and antiseptic and make you feel like you can spreadsheet the whole thing when your turn comes–and your turn is coming–but it doesn’t work like that.   There is no “Okay I had denial, now let’s bargain for awhile.”   After the first few days when you realise that nothing is quite the same you are sort of normalish and then angerbargainingdenialgrief  come burbling out at the oddest times.   No amount of scaring it away, of drinking water while standing on your head, makes it any easier.

Grief comes is so many ways, but it’s that little moment that finds you and doesn’t let you get away with anything. It’s like momentarily being blinded.