Wednesday « Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

Wednesday

Reporting live, on tape, from my pocket

We went to Momma G’s tonight. The place is rich in history — even if they’ve recently leveled the floors. The walls are littered in posters and old Auburn newspaper clippings. I think they’ve finally done away with the old jukebox. But people still write on everything.

When graffiti is a calling card, your sandwich steamer better have mojo. This is never a problem at Momma G’s.

I like to think this one is a two-part piece. First the cheer and then an autograph by Ricardo Louis:

I wonder if this will be painted over or lost in context first:

I did the thing where I got up and offered to get refills for the table. As I did so I found five bucks on the ground. I wanted to give it back to whomever dropped it, but there was no one around. So, in the pocket it went and that was the most lucrative refill ever.

Adam was upset with this news. He just knew he should have gotten the drinks. Of course, I told him, if he’d topped off our cups he would have found a $100. That’s just the sort of luck he’s had lately. He doesn’t dispute it.

So we all sat there, the last people in the place. The guy trying to close made all the polite “Please get out of here so I can go home” noises. Not to be sentimental about it, but we’re down to counting the days before Adam leaves for his next adventure, so I find I’m trying to drag out conversations when we’re all together.

Things to read … Sign language interpreter at Mandela’s memorial a faker. Maybe you’ve heard about the guy playing knick knack paddy whack alongside world leaders. This is a bizarre story, and a disconcerting one when you consider what could have been. It should be interesting to see where this story goes from here.

More from the It Takes a Village file: Boy, 6, Charged with Sexual Harassment for Kissing Girl on Hand:

A 6-year-old Colorado boy was slapped with the label of sexual harasser and suspended, all because he kissed his classmate on the hand.

ABC News affiliate KRDO-TV spoke with the boy, who in the past kissed the same girl — his “girlfriend” — on the cheek.

[…]

The boy’s mother, Jennifer, is outraged, saying of the female student, “She was fine with it, they are ‘boyfriend and girlfriend.’ The other children saw it and went to the music teacher.

Being a child these days is hard, no doubt. We’re just making it harder.

(Update: A day later all of this nonsense has been happily resolved. Funny how widespread media attention and public scorn can do that.)

Mobile ads forecast to account for more than third of new ad revenue by 2016:

Mobile advertising is forecast to be the most important driver of the global advertising economy over the next three years, accounting for more than a third of the $90bn in new revenue expected by 2016.

Advertising delivered to smartphones and tablets will account for 36% of new global ad spend over the next three years, according to a new forecast by global media buying agency group ZenithOptimedia.

However, the growth in mobile advertising will be in addition to rather than at the expense of traditional media such as TV and newspapers, according to ZenithOptimedia.

If you aren’t planning for this, you’re behind.

Gannett to Add USA Today to Local Papers:

Gannett Company, one of the nation’s largest newspaper chains, will try to expand its advertising and circulation revenue by inserting parts of its flagship newspaper, USA Today, into its local newspapers.

Beginning in January, Gannett will add 12 to 14 pages of USA Today content each day to 35 newspapers in its largest markets.

Good luck to them. Hopefully it doesn’t come off as just trying to pad out the local publication with more wire copy at the expensive of in-house reporting.

If you haven’t seen Videolicious yet, and you make videos, you’ll want to check out this little tutorial on a basic, yet powerful, new tool you should add to your arsenal. It is push-button easy. I downloaded it recently, now I’ll just have to put it to use.

So now you have produced holiday videos to look forward to. This makes two video editing suites sitting in my pocket. Chalk this up to what I’ve been saying for years. Smartphones are just signals of future potential.

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4
Dec 13

I am not suspicious, just grading

The great sign:

A friend of mine’s father owns that place. I like to think that I’ve helped with a few of the football-related messages this season. Every week it is a great excitement to drive down that stretch of College, just to see what they have put up. They are always amusing messages.

Less amusing:

Is this standard, end-of-year fare? Or is it ACA driven? And is the font large enough, because, you know, vision center and all.

The last newspaper of the semester is in the books. They put it to bed early this morning and it was on shelves today and we critiqued it this evening. They are now halfway through their run. It always goes so fast, but they never believe it will.

Also, we had about 19 student projects nominated for awards in the Southeast Journalism Conference’s Best of the South competition. We managed to get those in with about 10 minutes to spare today. There is some great work in there, so we are excited to see how they’ll do next February when the awards are announced.

Otherwise, there are the things that always fill this time of year. The paperwork that approaches wrapping things up. The administrative work that goes along with it. Sign this, establish hours for that, consider what’s next. And, oh, don’t forget to grade everything. It is a great time of year. The only downside is that my hands are covered in newsprint and red ink. If I found myself in a conversation with a police officer he or she might be concerned.

We’re watching the Iron Bowl again tonight. I’m going to make a lot of references to this video:

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27
Nov 13

Avoid the shade

Bright. Clear. Cold. Not so bad in the sun, but it was a different story in the shade.

So I tried to run in the sun, but of course all of our preferred routes have nice tree cover, which is a great idea for most of the year. Only tonight did I think of visiting the actual track.

Ah, well, freeze and learn.

The high was 45. We are diving toward 27. Like I said, cold. But I got views like this:

I ran 3.64 miles, and the cold made it hurt. It has been a long time since I’ve ran in a serious chill. It doesn’t feel any better now than when it did back then. But I ran. Someone who runs in cold weather needs to tell me how to dress appropriately.

Things to read …

Chart of the Week: A minute on the Internet:

Keeping up with what people do online is no easy task — just ask the researchers in our Internet Project. Nor is it much easier for those seeking ways to make money off online activities — they’re changing almost too fast to keep up with.

But the folks at Quartz, the business-news site from Atlantic Media, have given it a good shot. They pulled together data from Intel, investment bank GP Bullhound, and a Facebook-led consortium called Internet.org to create this neat summation of what happens in a minute on six of the Web’s biggest services

The numbers are staggering. And speaking of which, This Map Of Planes In The Air Right Now For Thanksgiving Will Blow Your Mind.

Gov. Robert Bentley says report that Medicaid expansion would create 30,000 jobs is ‘bogus’:

“Because the studies are all bogus,” Bentley said. “The jobs are already there. You’re not creating new jobs. You’re not creating new people by bringing this money in. You have the doctors are already there. The nurses are already there. You don’t produce a new doctor in a year. I went to school 24 years to become a doctor. You don’t produce these type people immediately.”

The governor said he did not dispute that expanding Medicaid, which states have the option of doing under the Affordable Care Act, would create some ancillary jobs.

“I’m not saying it couldn’t create some jobs,” Bentley said. “That’s not the reason we’re doing this though. That’s not the reason we’re making this decision. We’re making this decision philosophically.

“And we’re just going to have to see how this plays out. I personally think the entire Affordable Care Act is falling apart. The people of this country do not like it. The majority of the people of this country do not like it. And I’m not going to be a part of it.”

There’s a lot to unpack there.

Love stories like this one. Secret to a long marriage revealed; Birmingham couple in nursing home renews vows:

He was walking into the JC Penney in Jasper more than 72 years ago. She was walking out.

Wednesday at a nursing home in Birmingham where they both reside, Hercule, 95, and Kathleen Henslee, 89, renewed their wedding vows in a ceremony that brought tears to the eyes of family, friends and nursing home staff alike.

“Do you promise to love, honor and cherish, in sickness and in health, to be faithful, forsaking all others, for as long as you both may live?” asked the Rev. Herman Pair, pastor of Sandusky First Baptist Church, where the couple have been members since the 1950s.

I saw this young man in the background of a football game the other night. He has a remarkable story. Alexander in wheelchair, but UAB lets him work toward football dream:

Practice is for players and Timothy Alexander was not a player, not in his condition. But before he could dream to be upright again, he had a proposition for McGee: You let me live that dream and try to become that player.

“I just fell in love with the person,” McGee remembers. “Then he started talking to me about, ‘Man, the Lord is going to bless me. I’m going to be back on the field.’ I started saying, ‘You know, I believe that, too. I think you’re right.’ ”

So Alexander, seven years removed from his car wreck that paralyzed him, practices football. Each afternoon. It’s not the kind of practice any of them is used to. Alexander does push-ups during practice periods, does leg lifts in the weight room. He once benched 315 pounds.

McGee has given him a locker, his own jersey. This bio even says he’s playing football. All this because when the Lord decides to bring Timothy Alexander all the way to the field, he wants to be in shape.

That’s a great personification of the human spirit.

Auburn fans may be able to see this on Facebook, though for some reason they are having takedown orders on YouTube. Despite the left-hand, right-hand confusion this is a fairly intense video for the Iron Bowl this Saturday. We have reached saturation point. We don’t care. There is a video to see.

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20
Nov 13

A day of links

We all have those very normal days where we do things — perhaps not enough things, or perhaps a great many things — but none of it strikes a triumphant chord. I call this day Wednesday.

Oh, I had turkey for lunch. And Chic-fil-A for dinner! So there’s that. Strike all the above. There are amazing things to write about.

There was a man with his son at Chic-fil-A, where apparently the kid qualified for a free ice cream cone somehow. The boy wanted his father to have one too, but dad did not qualify. Their conversation sounded vaguely like the two had been apart a while. Maybe dad was out of town working. Maybe this is a visitation night.

Three tables away a woman in scrubs was dining with her two children. They finished eating and spent some time in the playground. It seemed a nice respite for mom.

There were some college students and an older couple. And there was me and my book.

So, yeah, my day in the office, then. Like I said, nothing really stands out. In a week it will all be a blur. Some links, then. You can find all of these on Twitter, and it’d be swell if you followed me there.

Things to read …

This won’t go over well. Perks Ease Way in Health Plans for Lawmakers:

Members of Congress like to boast that they will have the same health care enrollment experience as constituents struggling with the balky federal website, because the law they wrote forced lawmakers to get coverage from the new insurance exchanges.

That is true. As long as their constituents have access to “in-person support sessions” like the ones being conducted at the Capitol and congressional office buildings by the local exchange and four major insurers. Or can log on to a special Blue Cross and Blue Shield website for members of Congress and use a special toll-free telephone number — a “dedicated congressional health insurance plan assistance line.”

And then there is the fact that lawmakers have a larger menu of “gold plan” insurance choices than most of their constituents have back home.

While millions of Americans have been left to fend for themselves and go through the frustrating experience of trying to navigate the federal exchange, members of Congress and their aides have all sorts of assistance to help them sort through their options and enroll.

Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius took a visit to Miami for a photo opportunity. Things didn’t work as, I’m sure, she’d hoped. Here’s the video package:

Meanwhile, hear at home, if you liked your canceled BCBS plan, you can’t keep it, period. BCBS of Alabama decides against renewing canceled plans:

Blue Cross said the decision was not reached easily, but the company said continuing the non-compliant policies could create “significant legal and financial risks to our policyholders, the state and our company.”

Sentiment seems to be changing. More Americans than ever want government to stay out of healthcare business:

A new Gallup poll shows 56 percent of Americans think it’s not the government’s responsibility to provide healthcare coverage. Forty-two percent feel it is the government’s responsibility. Both numbers represent the highest – and the lowest – figures reported since Gallup began asking the question in 2000.

Sports! Here’s a funny story: Where did Cam Newton celebrate win over New England? Waffle House, of course:

Cam Newton turned in the biggest win of his short NFL career on Monday night, then headed to a familiar post-game spot for a certain Auburn coach, according to the Charlotte Observer.

Newton and his family headed to Waffle House, the preferred post-game spot for Auburn coach Gus Malzahn after big wins.

Two paragraphs later, we learn that Newton also visited the Collinswood Language Foundation and presented checks for $25,000 to three Charlotte-area schools. I suggested the lead was buried. Someone replied “Have you ever eaten at Waffle House? It’s awesome.”

That person is in the news industry.

Also in sports, I love smartphones. I love YouTube. This is from the South Carolina game last weekend. One person is explaining to another person how the Auburn game played out:

Finally, some quick journalism links. First, something I suggested years ago at al.com that is now taking place elsewhere: ‘New York Times’ introduces ‘The New York Times Minute,’ thrice-daily video news update.

The paper debuted a new video series this morning called “The New York Times Minute,” a thrice-daily, one-minute news segment highlighting three top stories of the moment. It will air every weekday on nytimes.com at 6 a.m., noon and 6 p.m. The segments can be updated continuously to accommodate fresh reporting on any of the given stories.

It is nice when you see others coming to the same conclusions that you have.

Q&A with Marguerite Sullivan: Why Citizen Journalism Makes Media Literacy Crucial

You need high standards of media literacy when literally anyone can be a citizen journalist. The public needs to be very discerning with what they read and believe.

Why Journalism Needs to ‘Do’ Ethics, Not Focus on Defining Journalists

Considering Ethics for Anyone Who Commits Acts of Journalism

This is a slideshow: These Astonishing Images Convinced Us That Google Glass Will Change Photography Forever. The pictures are by the immensely talented Trey Ratcliff, who makes two great points in that essay about stability and about spontaneous hands-free shots.

But your regular camera is still better. Which is why I should pull mine out of my backpack. Not that either would have gone over well at Chic-fil-A this evening.

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6
Nov 13

The red ink is on my hands

A few more leaves to mark our fall, which seems to be happening in more pronounced stages than usual this year. The oaks are, how you say, reticent:

Not that I mind. We’ve all shifted clocks and grumbled about that to ill effects. We’re all in various stages of layered clothing — depending on where you live or the thinness of your blood, as some people say — and now the betrayal of the trees. I’m always glad the oaks stick around. Mostly because we have several pin oaks.

Whomever plants pin oaks has never raked the leaves from a pin oak.

Critique meeting of the Crimson today. Story count is up. Layout is good. Quality is sturdy. Art is coming along. Now I need new challenges for them. You can see some of the students’ work here, if you like.

Also did some grading. I entered grades into a spreadsheet. Doing some other things with spreadsheets. I know some people that like spreadsheets. Well, how well can we really know someone who likes spreadsheets?

I prepared files. I printed documents.

Also, last night, I finished the files for the large present that we are delivering this weekend. I got the thing down to 26 pages. It includes maybe 16 sources and three appendices.

Never let the geek in your family prepare documents as gifts.

So that got printed out. It looks nice and clear on the good machine, the machine so important we named a room after it — the copy room. It has color maps end everything.

The document, I mean. Though the copier also probably has maps in its manual. It also faxes. And makes a mean espresso, from what I hear.

Anyway, this was the next thing that happened: I briefly explained the purpose of this file to one of the nice people in my office. She thought it was great. Then she gave me two different types of protective things to keep the file in. Everyone likes this gift. Everyone has thought the idea was nice. Four different people have chipped in. And none of them know the recipient.

But, to know the recipient, you’d want to help even more. That kind of guy.

All will be explained this weekend. I write vaguely about it because it is fun and mysterious, but also just in case he decides to explore the Internet beforehand.

Things to read …

Corpsman! Mother! Jesus! A Marine remembers Iwo Jima for the last time. Chuck Dean, you’ll see, is one of the stronger writers at al.com, but how can it be for the last time?

Jarvis struggled as we spoke. He often had a hard time catching his breath. He told me his doctors were treating him for pancreatic cancer.

“It’s not good,” Jarvis said.

As we talked Jarvis said that years ago he had not wanted to talk a lot about the battle. But later in life, Jarvis changed his mind.

“I came to see that it was important, very important that people understand what happened over there to us, to my Marines. It was important because people need to understand the horrors of war so that they think long and hard before getting into one. And they need to understand that those who fought in the war were just boys, really. That’s all I was. The day after Pearl Harbor every boy at Minor High School went down to enlist, including me. Some of them didn’t make it back. People need to remember them and what they did and why they did it.”

Jarvis paused after a while and looked at me with a thin smile.

“You know Chuck, you might be the last person I tell my story to.”

I told him I hoped not. I told him I was honored to hear it and would be honored to tell it.

He smiled again. “Well, I think you might be the last person I tell it to, and I want to ask you a favor. When you tell it, please tell it good.”

These next two stories? These are not the thing those young men fought for:

Man charged with using stun gun on wife after football bet in Mayville:

Before the game, avowed Packers fan Nicole Grant allegedly bet her husband, devoted Bears backer John Grant, that she would allow him to use a stun gun on her for three seconds if Green Bay lost, according to a criminal complaint.

Grant, 42, found himself in Dodge County Circuit Court the next day after allegedly making good on the bet. He was charged with possession of an electric weapon during an initial appearance. If convicted, Grant could face up to six years in prison.

And this one, Hijacker returns to the United States:

Instead of becoming the next Che Guevara, Potts found himself a foreigner who spoke little Spanish in crowded and often violent prisons. But he refused Cuban offers to return home.

“If you are not able to suffer for the cause you are just a play revolutionary,” he said.

[…]

But the one-time hijacker will return to an uncertain future. Potts was unable to negotiate a plea deal and, while he hopes any sentence he faces in the United States would be reduced by the time he has served, there are no guarantees.

That story is just full of quotes that are the opposite of genius.

Quick links:

I know people that work here: Job fair held for more than 1,100 workers who will lose jobs when International Paper closes

Third cyclist killed near Springhill Avenue in two weeks

ProPublica has found the one “sob story” worth your while: Loyal Obama Supporters, Canceled by Obamacare

When the data mountain comes to you

Independent Campus Journalists Vital

And, finally, I’ve been hanging on to this for a while. May as well use it here. #Story50 tips for the factual storyteller from Adam Westbrook