Saturday, August 31, 2002

Best way to describe this debacle -- Yuck! I guess it will be a long season after all. Thankfully I was watching at work instead of at the usual location or else I would've been long gone by halftime. But I guess there's still time to see how things progress.
I know my politics sort of lean to the right, but I suppose I feel good about being that way after reading this nugget (which would still be floating around if these people had their way). Then again, I wouldn't be blogging or doing the job I'm doing or most of anything else if they had their way.
I'm not so hung up on old pop/rock songs being used for commercials, but it was odd hearing Genius of Love in a commercial for Kia cars. Couldn't they have at least sold out for a better car?
As I continue to read the train wrecks that are letters to the editor and message boards, remember this one thing -- coverage of something is biased if it's something with which you don't agree.
Don't mess with Hootie
Well, the Masters sent out a message to everyone: Screw you, we'll do things our way. They don't the money that badly, at least enough that they can dictate their own rules. I just wonder how it will be to watch commercial-free golf? You need to give David Feherty and the gang some rest every few minutes, right?

Friday, August 30, 2002

In lieu of my lack of photography skills (that is, hardly taking pictures even when I have a camera), I have to thank my friend Larry for providing pictures from Sam's stateside wedding ceremony from last week.
Whatever did happen to Michael Penn?
Having caught bits and pieces of the MTV Video Music Awards, I'm actually stunned that I've heard of about half of the artists nominated. Granted, I could care less about most of them, but I was happy to see Eminem take Video of the Year and Michelle Branch win Viewer's Choice (which was slightly surprising to me, but then again she probably fits the demographic of those voting for the award best, not to mention whatever N'Sync video that was in the mix sucking). Can't give too much of a review of the rest since I was floating among tons of things on the tube as well.
However, one very interesting related programming note: MTV2 was back to its old purpose -- showing videos of all stripes -- while the mother network is repeating the VMAs about 20 times this weekend. Flipping by the network during the days leading up to the VMAs, MTV2 was turning into an MTV clone instead of keeping its own identity. But then again, maybe I felt good seeing a Beth Orton video for something a bit different.

Thursday, August 29, 2002

Net gains
It took me a day, but I'm now into U.S. Open mode, as I usually am at this time of year. It's definitely my favorite grand slam tennis event. However, I was bit excited yet disturbed to hear the old ECW theme music being used to promote an Andy Roddick match.

A disappointing part of Anna Kournikova's loss was that she was playing better leading up to the Open. No matter -- she's now part of many tennis fans' dream team with Martina Hingis (welcome back, although what in the world was Sergio Garcia wearing in the crowd).

A few other notes about the women's game. (The men's game is a bit dull for me to comment at this point):
--I'm surprised there hasn't been as much Anna-like attention lavished on Jelena Dokic (although it sounds like she's getting there, at least according to some of my colleagues). Her loss was rather disappointing to some admirers. However, I can't help but think she's just a curvier version of Mena Suvari (who I think is rather overrated).
--Let's not go overboard in trying to paint Ashley Harkleroad as another Anna. Sure, she's cute and she's got game. But let everything develop before trotting out the PR machine. She's only 17. At least this year she was appropriately dressed, as opposed to last year's outfits.

Monday, August 26, 2002

Additional travel notes
I suppose this entry works better after my most recent travelblogue, but bear with me. After spending time in Dallas and Chicago in "fancier" hotels while staying at a lot more basic place in Durham, I've realized that it seems like the "lesser" hotels often have better phone and TV service. The fancy places have their in-house TV systems with a chance to see your account on TV, check out of the room, plus pay-per-view movies/TV shows/video games/WebTV. However, the selection of actual channels is often lacking. Sure, you've got your basic major networks as well as ESPN (sometimes ESPN2 as well), CNN and Headline News, Weather Channel, and maybe a movie channel, but good luck trying to find Comedy Central, Food Network, Cartoon Network, etc. (Maybe because I'm spoiled huge by my digital cable) on there. However, it seems like a lot of the "lesser" hotels go with a local basic cable package plus an HBO or Showtime, but minus the rest of the premium stuff. Thus, instead of about 15-20 channels, you end up with 35-40 and more.

On a similar note, you hardly see ads for free local calls at the fancier hotels, where as the motels often have it (although some tack on a small daily service charge on the bill to cover such calls). It matters to me only because of things like this where I can log in thanks to the wealth of local numbers on Earthlink. It's interesting that I'll have a handful of 50-cent or one-dollar charges for each local call just to add to whatever charges are already there (thankfully I don't bother with the eight-dollar beer in the minifridges). And in the case of the Doubletree Rosemont, you get free local calls only for a handful of exchanges in the immediate vicinity of the hotel -- everything else is at least a dollar, even for calls just a couple of miles beyond the boundaries.

I suppose for staying in the lap of luxury, you'd be willing to pay for anything and everything (Thankfully the Doubletree didn't charge me for the cookie at check-in). And yet some of the most effective tools for travelers are easier to find at a basic motel/hotel. Weird, I suppose. Then again, I'm a bit more used to staying on the cheap, so maybe all of this stuff is just a bit strange for me.
Travels with JQ
I'm heading down the homestretch of my multiple travels. This is coming from pretty much halfway between the Duke and North Carolina campuses. Kinda neat how reasonably close both places are. Did get to see both campuses just driving around after my friend's Sam's wedding today. Got a little glimpse of the Dean Dome and saw a lot of the Duke campus -- including Cameron Indoor Stadium and Krzyzewskiville. Also amusing to find myself on the Duke campus just as freshmen were starting to move in -- at least it made the campus looked lived in.

The wedding (or more specifically, the ceremony celebrating the wedding since Sam and his wife Anya were married in Moscow last month) was a nice occasion at a pretty fancy garden/inn/restaurant complex south of Durham/Chapel Hill. If anything, it was nice to reunite with my old roommates from my senior year at college. This was the first time we had everyone together in a couple of years (for another wedding).

Before the wedding was a jaunt to Chicago for some fantasy football conferences. The trade event was pretty good -- it was good to network with a bunch of other people in the industry. Just too bad, the consumer part wasn't as well attended, and that I didn't get a chance to take part in one of the expert drafts because of a lack of time. I suppose the consumer conference is a decent idea, although it was a bit interesting to see about 50 or so fantasy fanatics sitting through a few hours worth of "expert" seminars talking all about fantasy football.

However, since I was in Chicago, I was able to get a few things done/people to see/etc. Got to spend some time with Alexis (in her really nice new apartment), hop back to the alma mater and load up on more gear, including some good stuff here (right across the street from the stadium facility formerly known as Dyche Stadium) , and see Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind with Alexis, Greg and Kirsti. I hadn't see it in more than five years and it's still as good and goofy as ever.

Obviously things change a lot over time. I've kept up with a lot of changes at Northwestern and Evanston via The Daily, but I hadn't realized how much things seemed to have change in Chicago itself. There seemed to be a lot of very new-looking apartments/lofts/condos, especially down Belmont somewhat west of the main drag off the El. There were also plenty of newer looking shopping plazas. I suppose there are enough more options out there should I ever happen to move back.

Still got a little bit more of the actual "travel" portion, but it looks like this trip seemed to work our reasonably well. As always, it's good that it seems like I know people almost no matter where I go on business.



Wednesday, August 21, 2002

I didn't vote in the elections today, but it was interesting to see some local races get a lot of publicity, especially the 4th Congressional District race between Cynthia McKinney and Denise Majette. I just got moved out of McKinney's district, which is too bad, if only because I would've been part of the big group voting against her. People were as much voting against McKinney as opposed to voting for Majette -- but whatever works, I guess.

Tuesday, August 20, 2002

Well I guess my game show debut will be on hold for the time being as I missed the cut today during the written test for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire -- the Meredith Viera edition. After going over most of the questions with my friend Rodney, I still can't figure out how I didn't make it through, but I suppose I missed enough (or they saw the fact that I found out about it via their Web site) was enough to stop me from advancing further. I guess next up is Pyramid tryouts in November.

Sunday, August 18, 2002

It ain't cheating if you don't get caught ...
The Southeastern Conference has some of the best college football in the country. And for people in many parts of the south, it's there only connection to a big-time sports team. Thus, I shouldn't be too surprised that they'll cheat to win. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is doing a big report on SEC cheating this week, just in time for the start of the season. Granted news of cheating in the SEC is pretty much like saying the sun is rising in the east, but it's interesting to see the different reactions to the scandals on different levels. There's a reason why all of this keeps continuing.
I've thought that the news media has gone a tad overboard in the covering of kidnappings this summer, although I guess if I had kids, I'd probably be very concerned about this as well (never mind that kidnappings are down this year this year -- when it concerns your kid, it is big news). And I'm sure that in the great struggle against obesity and the big food manufacturers and such, you'll have more paranoid parents watching the news keeping the young ones inside even more than usual.

But with that said, what in the world is up with this bizarre take on abductions. At least with bungee jumping and skydiving, it's pretty much just you doing the wild and crazy stuff. I suppose I don't have as much of a bone to pick with "extreme" sports anymore -- at least there's some decent athleticism going on there.

Friday, August 16, 2002

I've been less than motivated to blog lately for a variety of reasons, but when some good nuggets come up, I can't resist the temptation. So here goes:

-- I suppose we should feel relieved that there's a two-week window before a possible strike. However, we all know how people work with a deadline -- nothing until just before d-day. I'm a huge baseball fan but if they're wondering about timing with regards to fans, well, college football will have already started and the NFL is right around the corner. We'd be more sympathetic in July and August when we need something to do during the summer.

I won't bother getting into the "national pastime" stuff -- I think I tend to think/skew older than I really am, so I buy into the tradition and nostalgia (and not just because it looks good). And if baseball is on strike during the 9/11 anniversary, so be it. The players aren't thinking about the here and now, they're thinking about later on, and screw records or some anniversary. It's just business.

-- I'm knee deep in fantasy football stuff. The results of the QB Football League draft have to be seen to be believed. Or maybe it's just weird because I've done so many damn drafts that all seem to be pretty similar in terms of strategy because we're all dealing with a similar template. Maybe it will go closer to normal at another draft tomorrow.

-- For a change of pace on that, though, check out the fun story arc in the comic strip "Zits" on fantasy football -- emphasis on fantasy. It's at least different from the variety of NCAA-style tournament brackets out there.

-- I've done the drive on I-57 from Chicago to Champaign once while in college, but never really paid a whole lot of attention to what's out there. I guess there isn't much, but here are the highlights for Bears fans needing to make the trip for home games this season, plus stuff on shortcuts, speed traps and radio stations.

Tuesday, August 13, 2002

The Southfork Report
Still trying to get my bearings back after a fun week in Dallas for the AAJA National Convention (although I think whatever is slowing me down happened while at dinner back in Atlanta last night, but I digress). It was my first time going to one of these things, despite being part of the organization in one way or another off and on for five years and pretty much a regular member for the last four. But time, money and other factors prevented from going until now. It helped that my department was going to pay my way as well as the fact that I knew at least a few people going as well from our local chapter.

Anyways, here are some of the highlights from the trip: (I would've posted a little more often, but it took me a while to figure out why I couldn't log in on the road despite the right local numbers.)

Wednesday: After starting to get used to the blistering heat in Dallas, I did get myself acclimated to The Fairmont, your standard issue fancy hotel/convention center. Very nice place, although it seemed like the rooms were a bit more spread out than I would've liked, but then again with the hotel and convention center in the same place, you at least get to avoid the heat for the most part.

One of the things I knew would end up being an interesting issue when I registered was that I put my full title -- Fantasy Sports Producer -- on my badge, as opposed to something more generic like producer. On the one hand, those in the know will find it an automatic conversation starter. On the other hand, I could explain myself -- although it's often a fruitless exercise if you're not a sports fan. And yet for most of the time, I could see some people wondering what the heck I'm doing at a journalists' conference to begin with, considering my position. If I'm still in the same position next year, I'll have to think long and hard about what to put down on my badge.

The first "official" function was a reception for Joie Chen -- somewhat of a belated goodbye from the Atlanta chapter, which she helped found. She's now at CBS in Washington after getting unceremoniously dropped by CNN. It was good to see her again, especially after her tumultuous year. We won't get into the rock that we gave as a little gift, other than the look on her face when she got it was priceless.

After that was the opening reception at the Dallas Museum of Art, a wholly unimpressive building, although we didn't see much of the museum. Got the requisite free food and drinks, and it was a good way to meet some new people, primarily through my colleagues down here. The cool thing, though, was running into a couple of old classmates from Northwestern -- one a reporter at The Oregonian, the other a reporter and the San Diego Union-Tribune. The funny thing was the reaction from both of them, "What are you doing here?" Despite the fact that I was a journalism student and worked at the school paper, and now work in a very high-profile media outlet, sometimes it just doesn't resonate that I belong here. In any event, I was, and it was great to see some old familiar faces.

A nice highlight of the evening was helping out at the student function over at the Sixth Floor Museum (i.e. the Texas School Book Depository). Met a bunch more folks doing that and there was a nice presentation going on. However, thanks to the access, I was able to go through the museum for free -- and it was an outstanding experience. They did an amazing job chronicling not only the Kennedy administration and that fateful day, but they also gave good time to discuss the conspiracy theories and the huge story that followed. What was very striking was how little that area right by the museum and the grassy knoll has changed since 1963. The Pulitzer photo gallery was also stunning. I would've paid to go see it, but I got in for free, so double bonus there.

Thursday: The one panel I knew I should've gone to was the sports writing one, and it was a nice mix of panelists, including ESPN's Michael Kim, Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury-News and Ohm Youngmisuk of the New York Daily News (who is about my age). It was more of a panel on sports reporting, but it was good to find a nice concentration of sports journalists here. There is a decent number, but still a very limiting amount, I guess. Michael was one of the few people to make the connection about what I do, so that was cool. My only disappointment with the panel was that it was at the same time as one about race and entertainment, featuring the Asian friend from "Gilmore Girls" as well as comedian Henry Cho. Although in terms of finding other "celebrities," Ann Curry had a nice speech about the business.

The other highlight of the day was getting an advanced screening of "Better Luck Tomorrow," a film that got rave reviews at Sundance. It was a great movie all the way around, and it was a great twist on Asian American stereotypes. My only concern is that MTV Films picked it up and will likely market it to younger audiences (since it does concern high school students), but with the R rating and the some of the subject matter, it can be a dicey proposition. I may do a longer review later as I wonder how I've dived into Asian American cinema.

Friday: Did some wandering around the job fair, although my path may be best described as one of those aimless "Family Circus" Sunday comics with the dotted lines. Many of the recruiters had some interesting trinkets. I was doing a little shopping around for positions, getting the resume out there, etc., but I was not in any dire straits jobwise, which was a good thing because of the places I stopped by (and I was a bit picky as it was), a number of them had little clue about their online departments/hiring/etc. In one case, I was trying to follow up on a position I put in for last week. Not a good sign for an online person, although I suppose if I wanted to re-make myself back into a print person, I might've had a bit better luck. However, I did make some strong contacts with one company thanks in part to someone I met at one of the panels.

I won a framed poster of the front pages of the Palm Beach Post during the election fiasco at the silent auction. While it would've been hell to bring it home on the plane, I have to thank Brian in advance for shipping it back to me from Dallas.

Saturday: A torrential rainstorm in the morning (while at breakfast at Bread Winners -- the place where John Rocker had his most recent incident) eventually canceled the swimming portion of a chapter challenge event, which pleased us Atlanta folks, since we tried to back out of the pool part and avoid looking like Joe Frazier in the Superstars competition years ago. We didn't tank anything, I showed off my trivia skills at one point, but we were glad not to make it to the finals, which would've involved a karaoke presentation that a couple of chapters practiced for a few weeks. Then again, the New York folks did some great improv with a local TV reporter playing the role of Danny Aiello in a repriese of "Papa Don't Preach."

The closing celebrations brought us to Fort Worth and Billy Bob's Texas, the world's largest honky-tonk. The barbecue was good and the line dancing lessons were cute (although I bailed after one). I could almost see the looks on the faces of everyone else in the joint watching a few hundred Asians learning to line dance. However, the place seemed pretty overrated -- the bull riding exhibition was a bit on the short side, and it seemed to cater more to tourists than anything else.

Eventually got back and had a bizarro series of events hitting some of the bars and clubs in the Deep Ellum area of Dallas. We got free cover at one place that everyone eventually bailed after just a few minutes. That led us to another place that took us 30 minutes or so to cut the line after some strange haggling with the bouncer. Just picture about 25-30 reasonably young Asians trying to get into a club right in front of the door. One of the guys in our party had a great way to describe the music -- "schizophrenic." Had some of the usual current dance favorites, some disco and old skool rap, the occasional house, then Gary Glitter and then the generic Linkin Park/Limp Bizkit-esque music to drive people off the floor (or in my case, the club after getting separated from some of my group). More amusing was walking back just figuring I'd wing it on my own -- I ran into a handful of New York-based people from the convention I knew, who just happened to be all in sports. Made for a cool walk back -- as I somehow stumbled across people I met on my own, as opposed through other people.

I met a lot of great people over the weekend. In some cases, it was reconnecting with local people in a more concentrated situation as opposed to just the hour or so every few months at chapter meetings or events. In other cases, it was just finding nice people from around the country who share common career goals, not to mention ethnic/cultural backgrounds. And not to take away from a lot of the people I know locally, it was good to meet women journalists not in broadcast. We're always striving for diversity even among ourselves, and yet it sometimes seems like it's primarily men in print with a handful in broadcast, and plenty of women in broadcast (at least in proportion to their print counterparts). Another thing I noticed was the obvious emphasis on reporting (given we're trying to broaden the horizons of the community and the media outlets that employ us), whereas I definitely think of myself more of a copy editor-type. Of course, awareness of all of these issues is important no matter what your position.

To think, I've got a long way to go before really finding my niche at a convention like this. It seems like a no-brainer that I'll go to next year's festivities in San Diego.

Tuesday, August 06, 2002

Escape from Chattanooga
Another week, another quizbowl tournament up in Chattanooga. I had a blast at Muck Masters, although I failed to defend my title from last year despite a much stronger supporting cast that ended up going 10-0 in the preliminaries. Lost in the semis to the eventual champs in one of the more thrilling matches I've ever played in. We were down 240-40 at the half, then stormed back to score 250 consecutive points to take the lead before allowing them to take the last three tossups -- on things I knew pretty well -- and the victory. Otherwise, it was plenty of routs throughout the day. Can't complain about the single-elim format since my teams have won twice up there as 3 seeds; guess it works the other way as well -- it was a 5 vs. 6 (out of eight playoff teams) for the title. Seemed like one of those conference tournaments in March.

Anyways, enough babble from here. I'll be spotty (like I hadn't been already) for most of this week as I'll be in Dallas for the AAJA National Convention. Maybe I'll update from Texas if I'm in the mood. We shall see.
Aight, blah!
No real reason for the subject line really, other than I've been fortunate to find Fox burning off episodes of Greg the Bunny on Sunday nights between Futurama and The Simpsons. The material doesn't seem appropriate for 7:30 Sunday night, but I guess to paraphrase to Harry Doyle in Major League, "Ah who cares, no one's watching!"

Also intriguing was the airing of the Puerto Rican Day episode of Seinfeld that I don't think aired in syndication until now because of a handful of controversies, such as the burning of the Puerto Rican flag. It's a very odd episode and I guess it helped to set up the love it/hate it series finale that would air a few weeks later.



Friday, August 02, 2002

I guess the punchline has already been filled in, but ...
I imagine he won his 10 bucks, although he'll need a little more to make bail.

Thursday, August 01, 2002

Pick your guilty pleasure ...
I know a bunch of Blind Date fans, and all of those prime time reality shows are ridiculously popular, although I've only caught onto Survivor. However, when I can remember it's on, Elimidate is my trashy show of choice. It's got the bizarro elimination/game show aspect of it, but the cattiness of the usually impossibly beautiful contestants is entertaining. However, it's a bit of a crap shoot watching it each time since I have to watch it with the four girls/one guy setup as opposed to the four guys/one girl dates, but I suppose that's a natural reaction.

Ad watch
--I always thought Empire Carpets was a Chicago-based thing, since I only ever saw the ads on WGN, usually during Cubs games. They were memorable enough because of the phone number, which had a melodic quality to it. Now I see the ads, complete with the phone number, down here in Atlanta. I guess it's spreading. Next up, more ads with that goofy Menard's guy.
--It's nice to see Jason Giambi get some TV spots now that he's with the Yankees, but it's a bit disconcerting seeing him doing a very bad deodorant commercial, especially all cleaned up and nice looking. I still remember him best for the that SI cover with the stringy hair, tattoos, goatee, etc.
We'll see how this all posts now that yet another lightning strike has limited the effectiveness of my modem. But somehow I secured a cheap replacement on eBay, so we'll see how that works out. A good guess that it won't come in before I head off to Dallas for the AAJA Convention next week.

Are you ready for two-a-days?
I liked it a lot last year, and this year's edition of Hard Knocks is looking reasonably promising as well. Having Jerry Jones (aka Michael Jackson) on screen is actually a good thing in this case because he can help move the show along. The other coaches don't come off as arrogant and domineering as Brian Billick did last year, which could be a hindrance down the line. However, there are still some entertaining personalities, especially Joe Avezzano, who stole the show with his great profanity-laced tirades on the sidelines of the Cowboys-owned Dallas Desperados in the Arena League. Too bad we don't get more "raw" footage of coaches on the sidelines. Then again, those bleeped out tirades make for great TV.

We do get a bunch of Emmitt Smith early on, which is good, and they're slowly but surely trying to focus on some rookies and other longshots. I guess it'll take a couple of episodes to remember what's his face and that late-round draft pick like last year's edition. I wonder how much longer we'll get to see Richmond Flowers, although he was always an intriguing player when he was at Duke. Chad Hutchinson does have a great chance at a roster spot despite coming back from a stint in baseball; however, I'm not sure I need to hear him sing Pearl Jam's "Black," but that's just me.

On another football-related note, I guess that SNL Farley skit a few years back about Bocephus was close to accurate.

Deja video
I've been meaning to watch Degrassi: The Next Generation but always seem to miss it. So I turn it on today, and it happens to be the same damn episode I saw in the spring. Oh well. It is funny to hear these kids speak really Canadian. It's also a bit odd to see a couple of the kids from the original series coming back as teachers. Then again, if a couple of my classmates from high school have already done it, it's probably done everywhere else.

On a similar tangent, it was sad to hear that my freshman year English teacher, Br. Regis, passed away over the weekend. He was definitely a character and will go down as a legend at the school, even though he stopped teaching about five years ago.