On pageants: A scholarship contest that requires a bikini competition starts out as a suspect issue. But if you want to take part, good for you. I don’t have an opinion one way or another, but you can’t help but notice that pageants do allow for odd reactions.
If you want to feel a bit feminist, stick with this disparaging bit of video for 60 seconds:
Kevin Scarbinsky calls Katherine Webb a golddigger.. and other creepy analysis from adults. from TheAuburner on Vimeo.
The host, the guy on the right, has Emmy awards and Best Sportscaster awards and the guy in the middle is the local columnist, radio guy, bomb thrower. Makes you proud, doesn’t it?
Need some regional bias? A New York City reporter went out to get the pulse of the city. “Ms. America is Ms. New York! And she is from … how do you say the name of that little town? Not important.” Here’s a report on the groundbreaking report:
But, according to a television news report from WPIX in New York [WARNING: Video begins playing automatically], some Brooklynites are not following the lead of their state’s senior senator.
WPIX reporter Magee Hickey took to the streets of Brooklyn, where Hagan eventually wound up after leaving Opelika (which Hickey pronounced Opel-EEK-uh) to interview her neighbors.
“There’s enough pretty women in New York that could run for Miss America. She shouldn’t be allowed to,” said one interviewee.
“Born in Alabama? That’s a lot of South to recover from,” one neighbor told Hickey.
We do have a terrible and tiresome affliction, I’ll grant you. How Mallory Hagan managed to stand upright and not gawk at everything in Brooklyn is a question for the ages.
Wikipedia tells us this: She is a native of Alabama, where she had been runner-up in the Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen Program, and non-finalist talent winner at Miss Alabama.
Less pretty, I waited out the rain and road back and forth on the two little hills that dip down into the creek bed near our house. This is the easiest little ride, a road perpendicular to the stream as it meanders through the neighborhood. (Maybe Miss America has been on this road!) My legs think it is a climb. The map says it is a gentle incline. I hate when the map is right.
For no reason in particular, my rear brakes:
That little part of the neighborhood is buzzing with activity. I’d have taken a picture of that, but I was too busy with my head down trying to catch my breath. There was an older guy slowly riding a bike. Two older gentlemen were walking. One lady walking a dog, another walking a cell phone. Kids were playing. A school bus stopped to let off reinforcements. A red car ran through the school bus’ stop signs and did not heed the bus honking a warning.
He had. Places. To Be. Man.
The kids got off the bus and all turned to the other side. He put the thing in gear and passed an SUV that obeyed the law and then me. By then the bus driver had already recovered and gave me a nice wave, which is better than you usually get from the buses. They are the most dangerous people in town for cyclists, I’m convinced.
Anyway, the point is hills and humidity. It was 70 degrees with 78 percent humidity when I got off the bike. I think I bumped every wall with my sweaty arms when I came back inside.
Also, the bike felt really good today. Got way down in the gears, had the wind in my ears, kept thinking there was a noisy car behind me. Felt great.
“Investigative journalism, what ever happened to that? John Oliver investigates in his new investigation investigating investigative journalism.”
The piece got a great reaction on Twitter.
Former Chicago Sun-Times editor and SIlicon Valley CEO Alan Mutter likes investigative journalism on YouTube. A little Kickstarter, a little labor of love, a good pitch to the right editor and you’re off and running.
Investigative journalism and watchdog reporting are what we need the most. Those are usually the second and third things cut, however, right after the copy editors. But at least we can do man-on-the-street reports about Miss America.
