December « 2012 « Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

December, 2012

football / movies / Thursday / video — Comments Off
6
Dec 12

The there-ness of it

What I’ll be doing next May:

I don’t think he’s Kahn. I think he’s Gary Mitchell even less. That’s part of the fun at this point, but you don’t even want to allow yourself that much fun. You know, eventually, you’re going to find out who Benedict Cumberbatch is playing. There will be one too many teasers, or interviews. Someone will see it and write it online. Best not to suspend disbelief at all, then, right?

That shot of the ship stumbling into the water is impressive, though.

My high school was in the state championship football game tonight at Jordan-Hare. I don’t follow them at all — haven’t been to a game since my senior year — but they’ve had a great season. They came into the night 14-0. Their defense hadn’t allowed more than two scores in any one game all season.

The head coach struggled and stammered his way through an embarrassing health class my sophomore year.

They apparently lost their quarterback at the start of the season. The kid calling plays is really a defensive player; still, he’s done well.

Despite a handful of NFL players and more than their share of kids making big college teams this was the first time my school has been in the big game. They let the kids check out early to make the trip to the game. And they’re letting them check in late tomorrow if they made the trip.

They played one of the state’s powerhouses, and they were in rhythm tonight. My school was badly beaten.

They were showing the net yards on the scoreboard. My alma mater broke 100 yards three times. They’d get over and then there was a penalty, moving them back. They’d get over and then turn over the ball. They’d get over and then suffer a sack. This was in the third quarter, when it had become clear that everything was going right for one team and wrong for the other.

The student body cheers, apparently, haven’t changed. The band is not as good as I remember.

One of the players, after the game, said “We had good chemistry on this team … We laughed. We had fun. Now we’re crying, but we did it all.”

But, hey, they made it there. Played on one of the big fields, saw themselves on the big HD screen, got a runners-up trophy for the big display case, met Bo Jackson — the most famous alumni — and dressed in the same locker room he once used. They made it there.

“It was a good season.”

iPhone / journalism / links / photo / things to read / Wednesday — Comments Off
5
Dec 12

That which cannot be argued with

Someone sent me a message, identifying me as a “science nut.” Well, no, but OK. Watch this video, they said, tell me what you think. I watched 32 seconds of it. The logos and graphics did not comport with anything that made sense.

I do not, I said, put any stock in this video.

But au contraire, the person that sent me this video disagreed, as you might imagine. This person put a great deal into it. “There are 14 peer reports and over 27 self funded university studies published.”

There were not. There are 12. Most conducted by the the company marketing the product. Ten of those were performed in a circumstance that don’t actually produce any results, but reads like a fishing expedition. Two human tests have been done. One of them makes no sense, the other disagrees with the company’s marketing.

You often here, in commercials shilling shady products, impressive lines like “double blind” and “independent study.” Sounds impressive at least, and moved the person that wrote me.

The note concluded thusly: “Can’t argue with science.”

Oh, well, then. I had no idea.

Here’s this week’s Crimson. There are a few errors, there are always a few, but generally it is a very sharp effort. Given that finals are looming, I’m proud of all of their hard work.

The story that goes with that lead art is here. You can, of course, go here for the rest.

Charter will pull their people from social media. I’ve found it is best not to try to make sense of anything Charter does. It is also best not to try to make sense of anything Charter doesn’t do. It is best to just not consider Charter.

This is the place where nihilism and solipsism (ahem) intersect. Such Cartesian dualism has no place in dealing with such highly intellectual types like those answering the phones at Charter.

The New York Post photograph? Should have never been published. David Carr minces few words on it. Gawker asked Pulitzer-winning photogs for their takes on the issue.

Lots of great stuff there, including:

Professor John Freeman from the University of Florida: In my classes, I always teach that photographers should help first and take pictures second. In the contest of “a photo vs. a life,” the life should always win. But what if the Post photographer couldn’t help the man on the tracks?
Professor Roy S. Gutterman from Syracuse University: Once a reporter or photographer lends a hand to someone, that journalist ceases being a journalist and becomes part of the story. There’s no way to maintain the independence as a journalist and participate in a news event at the same time.
Professor John Kaplan from the University of Florida: The blame in this controversy lies directly with the New York Post for publishing such a callous, crude and truly tasteless headline while at the same time wrongly splashing the tragedy on the front page.

An interactive global cancer map:

Cancer is often considered a disease of affluence, but about 70% of cancer deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. Explore this interactive map to learn about some cancers that disproportionately affect poorer countries.

Very nicely done project. Helpful, too.

Remember, you can’t argue with science.

music / Samford / Tuesday / video — Comments Off
4
Dec 12

Caledonia Soul music | Tell me what it is

Last class of the semester. There were cookies and hugs and television scripts and newspaper copy.

Also the last late Tuesday of the semester.

There were bleary eyes and late copy and other assignments begging for attention.

Now to the grading.

And that is finally done, there will be the traditional playing of Van Morrison:

journalism / links / Monday / things to read — Comments Off
3
Dec 12

A difference in need

Much as you don’t want anyone to have to go, but I do love to hear the success stories from people’s encounters with modern medicine.

This young lady, for example, lost four fingers in a car crash. Now she has a working hand again. Three decades ago this was only television and a sound effect, but she may still be playing softball:

Two weeks ago, Higdon received a $112,000 myoelectric prosthetic hand that will enable her to do many of the things she did before.

She’s already learned how to pick up a cup and pick up a softball – a sport near and dear to her heart, and she’s eager to learn how to do more.

Higdon and her mother said they’re thankful for the opportunity she’s been given by the generosity of the Inner Wheel USA Foundation, a Rotary affiliate that has picked up most of the tab for the advanced prosthetic hand.

“My insurance paid next to nothing on this,” said Higdon’s mother, Judie Cummings.

Naturally there is video:

Speaking of hospitals, a new law shows you which ones to watch out for:

The law also honors the memory of Denton’s son, Mike, who died at age 42 from an infection acquired after knee surgery in 2002.

Mike Denton never really healed after that surgery, his father said; he would eventually spend seven weeks at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital before he died.

“It was a traumatic experience, to say the least,” Denton said from his home recently. “At least we got to be with him that long. They never could turn it around.”

The experience moved Denton to sponsor legislation to require Alabama’s hospitals to collect and report healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The Alabama Department of Public Health is responsible for analyzing the data and making the results available to the public.

“It ought to give the public information that they should know about the track record of infectious diseases in the facilities,” Denton said.

First they came for the money and electronics. And then they came for the copper. And now … I try to attach some larger meaning, some economic indicator, to stories like these

Missouri Farm Bureau president Blake Hurst says thieves are actually targeting those big bundles of hay that are left out in fields prior to being harvested, hauling them off and selling the valuable commodity.

“Of course, no one brands their hay so if you hook onto it with your tractor or your pickup and make it out the gate, then it’s impossible to prove where the hay came from,” Hurst said.

With winter approaching and grass dying out, the price for fresh hay to feed livestock is on the rise, and Hurst says that makes unguarded bales a tempting target.

Of course, without hay being branded in some way, it is also only a matter of time until someone commits hay fraud.

You might have noticed the story of the New York police officer Lawrence DePrimo giving shoes to the homeless man. Well, turns out that Jeffrey Hillman isn’t homeless. (Don’t worry. He didn’t build that.)

Also, he’s shoeless again. All weather shoes get in the way of panhandling, you know:

Mr. Hillman, 54, was by turns aggrieved, grateful and taken aback by all the attention that had come his way — even as he struggled to figure out what to do about it.

“I was put on YouTube, I was put on everything without permission. What do I get?” he said. “This went around the world, and I want a piece of the pie.”

God bless America.

photo / weekend — Comments Off
2
Dec 12

Catching up

The day where I post extra pictures, because they are sitting here doing nothing otherwise. So let us put them to work, giving us something to look at, shall we?

This is an old one, but after the coaching changes at Auburn recently, and the likelihood that the assistants will soon be dismissed, and the timeless, awesomeness of this picture … After a game early last year we saw Trooper Taylor riding around campus on a golf cart celebrating with fans. I asked The Yankee if she wanted to take a picture with him.

“Nah,” she said.

And then we noticed that someone else was taking photographs, but Trooper was insisting people wore his national championship ring. So, yeah, we want to take pictures, and I would like to wear that ring:

The ring fit me perfectly. I looked at the coach. He was a wide receiver in college. I wondered, “Can you still run? Because maybe I should keep this … ”

Nice guy, and he always looked like he was having the time of his life.

You’ll be surprised to learn that it is hard to get Allie to wear hats, even when she is in the Christmas spirit:

We saw this on the interstate and could not figure out what purpose it may have. Our best guesses included a duck blind and a kitchen re-sizer.