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30
Nov 11

Christmas arrives, Beeker sings

He sees you when you’re sleeping.
He knows when you’re awake.
He knows when you’ve been bad or good
so shop the endcap for goodness sake.

Those are foam stickers, Santas, presents, stockings and trees. They have the thin white peel-back paper and will stick pleasingly onto some clean surface for exactly four days, three if there is any curvature of the stuck upon surface, 36 hours if you do it more than a week before Christmas.

There’s something about that Santa Claus’ face that is unnerving. How can he see me? How can he knows? His eyes are closed. And yet he still has that wan smile. Maybe it is the economy. The strain of it all is probably getting to him too. Like in this story:

The result is a Christmas season in which Santas — including the 115 of them in this year’s graduating class of the Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School — must learn to swiftly size up families’ financial circumstances, gently scale back children’s Christmas gift requests and even how to answer the wish some say they have been hearing with more frequency — “Can you bring my parent a job?”

Santas here tell of children who appear on their laps with lists that include the latest, most expensive toys and their parents, standing off to the side, stealthily but imploringly shaking their heads no. On the flip side, some, like Fred Honerkamp, have been visited by children whose expectations seem to have sunk to match the gloom; not long ago, a boy asked him for only one item — a pair of sneakers that actually fit.

“In the end, Santas have to be sure to never promise anything,” said Mr. Honerkamp, an alumnus of the school who also lectures here. He has devised his own tale about a wayward elf and slowed toy production at the North Pole for children who are requesting a gift clearly beyond their family’s price range. “It’s hard to watch sometimes because the children are like little barometers, mirrors on what the country has been through.”

And if that story doesn’t tug on your heartstrings, I present to you the Press-Register’s Neediest Families, like the Colemans:

The 33-year-old Prichard native says that it takes a lot to keep them smiling. And even as she battles sickle cell anemia and struggles to support Ashley, 7, and Michael, 14, she believes that with a few key breaks, her household will come out OK.

Cooking, for example, is an issue since Coleman has only a microwave and hot plate, but no regular stove.

Or the Hodges …

In June, 51-year-old Norman Hodges saw a doctor for what he thought was a pulled muscle. Testing revealed lung cancer.

The five months that followed were filled with chemotherapy and radiation treatments, sudden paralysis, long hospital stays and severe complications from infection. The father of two passed away at home on Nov. 2.

It’s not even December yet, and those stories just grow more and more heart-rending. I read them all when I worked at al.com. I’ve read them all every year since.

The building in which I work, the best I know, is now 54 years old.

Not much has changed over the years. This shot was from last fall:

There’s probably no way of knowing how many roofs have been on the building in those decades, but there’s no getting around the need to fix at least portions of it now.

The layout is a bit unusual. As the building stretches back out of the frame there are second-floor wings on both sides. Those roofs are flat, which does not promote drainage. And water freezes nicely on it too, as you might have noticed if you were on the site last February:

My office, on the third floor, commands a view of the second-floor wing roof on one side. Walking to the stairs on the front end of the building shows the other side, where the leaks are.

Today they’ve been destroying the old roof coating, which appeared to be a tar-based material. There’s been precisely rhythmic hammering — you could gesture, like a conductor, and keep perfect time with the worker — and some sort of mechanized tool. If anyone on that side of the building got any work done this morning you should be impressed.

But we worked anyway.

Later. The promotional sticker on the CD case calls it the “greatest Muppets soundtrack ever.” Track 11 is “We Built This City,” so I doubt that claim.

To your everlasting amusement, however, the Muppets Barbershop Quartet covers “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

You should be singing that for a day or two. You’re welcome.

journalism / links / Monday / movies / music / video — Comments Off
14
Nov 11

“It transpires that the lifeboats are useless”

Gov. Bentley, on the state’s new immigration law.

That’s via The Daily State. (Update: That site later noted the most prominent sponsor of that bill has lost his job as head of the senate rules committee. Sen. Scott Beason has been … less well-measured than the governor.)

Speaking of politics, Newsweek is dropping the best feature they had:

It has been one of Newsweek’s signature ventures and a staple of American political journalism since 1984.

Every presidential election season, the magazine detached a small group of reporters from their daily jobs for a year to travel with the presidential candidates and document their every internal triumph and despair — all under the condition that none of it was to be printed until after the election.

Then two days after Election Day, the sum of their reporters’ work would appear in the magazine. But the ambitious undertaking, known inside the magazine simply as “the project,” is no more. Newsweek, bleeding red ink and searching for a fresh identity under new ownership, has decided the project would not go forward this election season.

They’re blaming the faster news cycle, because rich, in-depth coverage gets trumped in 140 character increments. But not always.

As indulgent journalism goes, this was good stuff, but the bigger problem for the series is money. Following the campaigns at length is an expensive proposition. Shame, too. I stopped reading Newsweek years ago, but always picked up this election edition, but it will be no more.

There is an alternative.

Politico and Random House have teamed up to produce serialized campaign e-books that will be released in four installments as the presidential race unfolds. The first is due out Nov. 30 and already has a title: “Playbook 2012: The Right Fights Back.”

Might be worth checking out.

Speaking of e-books, the Los Angeles Times is publishing their first one, an expanded version of a two-part series, one of their most popular stories of the year. They’ve got several more in the pipeline, which seems a good idea. That might be a nice piece of supplemental content in the near term.

Otherwise your typical Monday, preparing for classes and things. Wrote a current events quiz I decided not to give. Did some more reading. Watched Pirate Radio, marveled at the music and the musical anachronisms. The movie was set in 1966, but a lot of the songs were newer than that. And there was a great Seekers line, but they were never played, as far as I noticed. This wouldn’t fit into the feeling of the film:

The writing was rather witty, the title of this post comes from late in the action, though not much that took place was unexpected. Still, a fine thing to listen to in the background. This was in the movie, but it is from 1968:

Same deal here, two years too young, but a fantastic song:

Cutting edge Australian rock from 1966:

And I could have put Dusty Springfield here, or the Isley Brothers. But a 1962 Otis Redding track is in the movie, and so it really isn’t a consideration:

Wondered where the day went, even as it was full of little things here and there that filled up the afternoon. Today having already slipped into some realm of memory, and tomorrow remaining out there on a horizon of possibility, maybe it is more important to know where tomorrow is going.

I have a pretty good feeling about that.

Friday / movies / music / video / YouTube Cover Theater — Comments Off
4
Nov 11

Bullets

Go to Google. Type do a barrel roll. This is important to designers there. Their users opinions? Not so much anymore.

I need a new RSS reader, stat.

Here’s a nice interactive chart from NPR. It examines unemployment across the country, breaking it down demographically with respect to age and education.

Watched Thor. It wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t as good or as bad as it could have been. I’m detecting the comic book-turned-movie theme, though. The better ones are the movies without love stories. Thus, Iron Man is the best of the comic book movies, as a function of Tony Stark’s character flaws.

This isn’t an anti-romantic movie statement, just a comic book observation. Thor had to love interest in the comics, one an Earth woman and another from his home realm. I’m embarrassed to say I looked that up on Wikipedia just now. But I’m guessing kids didn’t pick up Thor for the love story. They wanted flying and hammers and thunder.

And since director Kenneth Branagh is beyond blame, this can only fall to Natalie Portman.

Oh someone will blame Loki later, but you’ll know better.

A little something different from YouTube Cover Theater this week. Here are three different perspectives on Hey Ya. Makes you think.

This is the most clever video cover I’ve seen so far:

The obligatory ukelele version, with lovely vocal accompaniment:

Goofy songs deserve goofy covers:

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must go cook dinner.

Auburn / journalism / music / Samford / Tuesday / video — Comments Off
1
Nov 11

“The beat don’t stop”

Sent the in-laws home today. They’re lovely folks, full of fun and I’m glad when they get to visit. It seems we’re making this an annual thing, though, their fall trip for a weekend. Last year they made it down for a homecoming game. This weekend they saw Auburn host Ole Miss. Next year, a big-time game perhaps.

Anyway, we had breakfast at Barbecue House, as has become a weekly tradition. Some football players were there, including an offensive lineman. My mother-in-law barely came up to his shoulder blades. Mr. Price now remembers me. He asked my mother-in-law if if I was back or visiting.

And this is the sign that I ate here too much in undergrad — several times a week for breakfast and sometimes for lunch as my class schedule allowed — he now recalls me by name. That’s a powerful memory.

I graduated a decade ago.

Saw them off and headed to campus. Did a little work, graded some papers, mingled a bit and went to class.

I learned what relief sounds like. I told the students they would have no quiz today and the room got brighter, louder and the barometric pressure dropped two degrees. The escape of tension can be a tangible thing.

At the paper, where the student-journalists are hard at work … showing each other videos. Rapper’s Delight shows up in here, as well as other high points of the genre:

There are three things about that. First, I’ve now seen Jimmy Fallon do something funny — he’s just … not. Second, I think I’ve found Jimmy Fallon’s audience — the college student. Third, this is the jumping off point where I can no longer relate to that audience — I’m old.

They are also putting together a paper, alas, there is no compelling video of this herculean feat. There will be news copy tomorrow, however.

Google is making changes. They are horrible. More on that tomorrow.

Friday / iPhone / music / photo / Samford / video — Comments Off
28
Oct 11

Many heads nodding together

Beyond that window is a brightly flaring tree. Beyond that tree is a campus covered in low clouds. Beyond that non-fog is rain.

And that’s what the world looks like today.

The big JMC Advisory Council was today, where the faculty welcome back alumni, recent grads and local industry pros to get a ground-level sense of the industry and where we should be heading as a department. These sorts of meetings can be insightful, particularly if you’re prepared to hear what the advisory council comes to say. When this happens there are many thoughtful nods, supportive gestures of considerable heft from important people. Also, there are snacks and jokes.

I found myself taking minutes of the meeting. Never done that before. I typed, single-spaced, eight pages of notes.

Outside of the room where this took place were two floor-to-ceiling book shelves filled with old books free for the taking. I went a little crazy. When I stacked them up later my haul was up to my knee. A lot of writing books and a few tomes of literature, which will all look good in the office, and then a few more that will look good as I read them.

One day. I now have two full shelves of books at home waiting to be read.

Shot this video and edited it on my phone, for fun, while waiting on a table at dinner tonight:

I hate the music to it, but it was the only track that fit the edited footage of nothingness that I had on my phone. I need more bumper music! He said to an uncaring world.

“You and everybody else, bub.”

My in-laws are here. They flew in today for a weekend visit, since we don’t have the chance to make it New England for Thanksgiving. Also, they’re missing the first snow fall of the year, apparently. That’s early and unwanted by everyone in their part of the world, but they’ll be enjoying sun and a breeze here.

I really think they come for the football. They were down for the Homecoming game last year. This season we’ve upped the ante a bit, having them for a conference foe in pitiful Ole Miss. Next year they’ll have to come for a more heated rivalry.

Anyway, I was editing that video as they made it to the restaurant. The Yankee, her parents and Brian, who is also in town for football, went to the charity home run derby at the baseball park tonight. I made it home in time to put our name on the wait list. We had corn nuggets and fried pickles and sandwiches and a lovely time all together at dinner.

Feeling sort of wimpy, I may have to call it an early evening. This was a fairly long day after about four hours of sleep. (I was writing things.)

So, just so you don’t go without, YouTube Cover Theater, where we demonstrate the power of the video camera, the Internet and passion for music, in the form of talented people covering tunes because they like the way they sound. This week’s featured artist is Ray Charles.

We’ll start with people in wigs and bad hats covering the tune that was the precursor to soul music:

Who likes harmonica?

Ray. Willie. Must have it here:

Ray Charles covered a lot over his great career. Here he is re-imagining Eleanor Rigby: