tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80385740151318238092024-02-08T05:16:01.625-08:00"How's It Going to End?""How's It Going to End?" is a business news and features blog with occasionally humorous and outrageous observations about journalism, public relations, marketing and other business practices -- and about puzzled humans interacting with each other -- sometimes very badly. (Original material © 2009-2020 by David Kusumoto. The opinions on this page do NOT represent the views of my clients or my employers.)PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-33156430840154960572010-06-25T19:22:00.004-07:002021-01-27T14:29:21.867-08:00Tom Blair's Return Overshadowed by More Layoffs at the San Diego Union-Tribune.<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.uniontribune.com/"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/5661/keBEXS.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>* A constellation of changes impacting the staff of the <i>San Diego Union-Tribune</i> were announced Thursday, June 17, 2010.</b> <br />
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<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/9758/sQtv6J.jpg" /></center><br />
<b>* As first noted on this blog on Monday, June 14, Tom Blair (above), a near-beloved institution on the landscape of San Diego journalism,</b> was among the changes, returning to the venue that first made him famous. Mr. Blair will return to the <i>Union-Tribune</i> as a columnist, with his first write-up expected to be published Sunday, June 27, 2010. His additional responsibilities will include being a multi-media personality and commentator via the web and radio pod-casts - as well as making appearances with the U-T's broadcast news partner - ABC-affiliate <i>KGTV Channel 10</i> in San Diego.<br />
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<b><span style="color: crimson;">* At the time of this final update (Friday, June 25, 2010),</span></b> the jubilant news of Mr. Blair's return was overshadowed by more than 30 layoffs impacting the editorial and support staff of the <i>Union-Tribune.</i> A partial list of confirmed names follows. If there are names of people looking for work who are missing from this list, <a href="mailto:PRToday@live.com"><span style="color: blue;"><b>please e-mail me here.</b></span></a> All sources are confidential: <span style="color: navy;"><b><br />
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1. Steve Adamek (copy editor)<br />
2. Marc Balanky (multi-media editor)<br />
3. Leslie Berestein (reporter)<br />
4. Michael Burge (reporter)<br />
5. Derrik Chinn (reporter)<br />
6. Leana Dekock (sports desk)<br />
7. Jeff Dillon (web content)<br />
8. Alan Drooz (web content)<br />
9. George Hutti (copy editor)<br />
10. Jose Luis Jiménez (reporter)<br />
11. Anne Krueger (reporter)<br />
12. Tovin Lapan (reporter)<br />
13. Angela Lau (reporter)<br />
14. James Laurin (copy editor)<br />
15. Bruce Lieberman (reporter)<br />
16. Anne Magill (reporter)<br />
17. Marcia Manna (reporter)<br />
18. John Marelius (reporter)<br />
19. Rachel Moore (copy editor)<br />
20. Ruben Navarrette (columnist)<br />
21. Robert Pincus (reporter)<br />
22. Jeff Ristine (reporter)<br />
23. Ozzie Roberts (reporter)<br />
24. Leonel Sanchez (reporter)<br />
25. Basim Shamiyeh (systems editor)<br />
26. Fred Sidhu (reporter)<br />
27. David Gaddis Smith (foreign editor)<br />
28. Ken Stone (web content) <br />
29. Heather Urquhart (copy editor)<br />
30. Nicole Vargas (reporter)<br />
31. Hank Wesch (reporter)<br />
32. Doug Williams (sports editor)<br />
33. Bill Zavestoski (web content producer)<br />
34. Martin Zimmerman (copy editor)</b></span><br />
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<b>* According to long-time San Diego-based public relations guru <a href="http://www.falconvalleygroup.com/">Gayle Lynn Falkenthal,</a></b> prior to last Thursday's layoffs, the management of the <i>San Diego Union-Tribune</i> had composed a list of 34 names to be slashed, 12 of which were to be offered the opportunity to re-join the staff as entry-level reporters. <span style="color: crimson;">(Another report pegged the expected number of lower-level staff writers at 13, plus 3 new videographers and 2 new graphics reporters/designers.)</span><br />
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<b>* One long-time U-T writer who was laid off </b> posted an update on Facebook about being offered just such an opportunity with a substantial pay cut - OR - to take six-months severance after nearly 30 years of service. <span style="color: crimson;">At the time of this post, a small number of laid-off reporters are still trying to decide whether to take the demotions to buy themselves more time during the current recession.</span><br />
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<b>* Nevertheless, it is clear the management of the <i>San Diego Union-Tribune </i> had prepared for every possible contingency</b> before executing last week's layoffs. They included <a href="http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=1176854">composing and posting an online want-ad to recruit entry-level writers</a> -- to replace higher-salaried reporters laid off -- who may choose to reject the paper's offer to be re-hired as lower-paid reporters. <span style="color: crimson;">(These previously senior-level reporters who decide to stay on will be called "associate staff writers." New hires joining the U-T will be called "junior staff writers.")</span><br />
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<b>* As expected, newsroom executives at the <i>Union Tribune</i> reasserted its mantra to "do more with less,"</b> desiring to stay lean and nimble with fewer staff members, while still competing aggressively in the digital age to "be first" with stories breaking in the greater San Diego region. <span style="color: crimson;">(At the time of this post, a flurry of changes continues, including finalizing a preliminary list of new beat assignments.)</span><br />
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<b>* Jeff Light, the recently appointed editor-in-chief of the <i>San Diego Union-Tribune,</i></b> outlined his vision for the paper in <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2010/jun/17/editors-note-u-t-reorganizes-eye-toward-future/"><b>an "Editor's Note" published last Thursday on the <i>Union-Tribune's</i> website.</b></a> He declined comment Tuesday, June 15 about the then impending layoffs, citing confidentiality of personnel matters. (Mr. Light formerly helmed <i>The Orange County Register.</i>)<br />
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<b>* For nearly 10 years, the <i>San Diego Union-Tribune</i> has been hard hit by job losses</b> impacting every department at its main operations center in Mission Valley and at its bureau offices throughout the San Diego county. However, unlike other papers that have folded without a buyer, e.g., the now defunct <i>Rocky Mountain News</i> and the <i>Seattle Post-Intelligencer</i> - the <i>San Diego Union-Tribune</i> found a buyer in Platinum Equity of Beverly Hills - in March 2009.<br />
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<b>* Despite the tremendously somber nature of the layoffs, they underscore</b> renewed confidence by Mr. Light and his bosses about the long-range future of the print edition of <i>The San Diego Union-Tribune,</i> albeit in a continued scaled-back form with its online and broadcast television partners, <a href="http://www.uniontribune.com/"><b><i>Sign On San Diego.com</i></b></a> and <a href="http://www.10news.com/index.html"><b><i>KGTV (ABC) Channel 10.</i></b></a> <br />
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<b>* <i>KGTV Channel 10</i> News Director Joel Davis issued the following statement to this blog site</b> about its partnership with the <i>Union-Tribune</i> and its impending relationship with Tom Blair: <br />
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<b>* "Our alliance with the Union-Tribune has allowed us to strengthen our brand of major news coverage," Mr. Davis wrote.</b> "If you want to know the major news in San Diego, between 10News and the U-T, viewers can be assured we have it covered. The partnership also allows us to have more fresh content – which means more interesting news stories and less repetition. We’re excited to hear about Tom Blair, too. He has been an institution in San Diego journalism, and his addition strengthens the ability of our partnership to bring viewers and readers the best coverage of major news in San Diego."<br />
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<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/7746/HEBZM8.jpg" /></center><br />
<b>* Meanwhile, the return of Mr. Blair (see photo above) to the <i>Union-Tribune,</i></b> means the 63-year-old San Diego journalism icon will come full circle, returning to the publication where his career started more than 40 years ago at the <i>San Diego Evening-Tribune,</i> which merged with the <i>San Diego Union</i> in 1992. (<i>The San Diego Union</i> was founded in 1868, and remains, in its incarnation as the <i>San Diego Union-Tribune,</i> one of the oldest still-standing daily publications in Southern California.)<br />
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<b>* Mr. Blair, who joined <i>San Diego Magazine</i> in 1995, left the monthly publication in April while its owners,</b> CurtCo Media Labs, sought to find a buyer. (The magazine has since been sold to a trio of investors, which includes former owner Jim Fitzpatrick, 64 - who first bought the monthly in 1994 - before selling it to CurtCo in 2005.)<br />
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<b>* Mr. Blair's career reads like a page out of an Horatio Alger short story.</b> His career began in 1968 as a resident "gopher" - an unpaid intern - in the newsroom of the <i>San Diego Evening-Tribune</i> - which, like its rival, the morning <i>San Diego Union,</i> was then located in the same office building in downtown San Diego. After graduating from San Diego State University, Blair then became a paid "trainee" - a participant in the paper's editorial training program - and was among those selected to formally join the newsroom staff of the <i>Evening-Tribune</i> during the early 1970s. <br />
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<b>* He steadily climbed the newsroom ladder as a reporter, later becoming a ghost writer for columnist Neil Morgan</b> at the <i>Evening-Tribune.</i> He then, in 1982, in good-natured journalistic parlance, "turned traitor" - moving to the rival <i>San Diego Union</i> - and continued writing his stand-alone column after the two papers consolidated their operations in 1992. Three years later, he left to become editor of <i>San Diego Magazine</i> - a monthly lifestyle publication aimed at affluent readers - that has remained in continuous publication since 1948.<br />
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<center><a href="https://www.signonsandiego.com/"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/3017/UipLfD.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, for the six months ending March 31, 2010,</b> the <i>San Diego Union-Tribune</i> is the 23rd most-read daily newspaper in the United States, with a circulation of 249,630, ahead of the <i>San Francisco Chronicle</i> and the <i>Newark Star-Ledger.</i> Meanwhile, <i>The Wall Street Journal,</i> with a circulation of 2.1 million, remains the highest-circulation daily in the United States, and the only newspaper among the top 25 that continues to post gains in the face of an industry-wide downturn in print-based advertising revenue and readership.<br />
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<b>Original Material © 2010 by David Kusumoto Communications.</b><br />
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</script>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-83695190525222732242010-06-29T18:34:00.001-07:002021-01-27T14:28:00.621-08:00UPDATED - Who's Covering What Beats at the San Diego Union-Tribune?<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/4277/QkpOZ1.jpg" /></div>
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<b>* What follows is a revised partial list of reporters, editors and photographers</b> still working at the <i>San Diego Union-Tribune.</i> <span style="color: crimson;"><b>This list is PRELIMINARY and INCOMPLETE.</b></span> All information is subject to change without notice as things continue to settle in at the main offices of the U-T in Mission Valley.<br />
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<b>* Please check my main story about the changes at the <i>Union-Tribune</i></b> which were announced on June 17, 2010 by <a href="https://davidkusumoto.blogspot.com/2010/06/breaking-tom-blair-returns-to-san-diego.html"><b><span style="color: blue;">clicking here.</span></b></a><br />
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<b>* As a public service to journalism and public relations colleagues in the greater San Diego area</b> - this blog post contains a partial list of staffers assigned by <i>Union-Tribune</i> editor-in-chief Jeff Light. Mr. Light's vision for the paper, expected to be completed by the end of this summer, <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-editors-note-u-t-reorganizes-eye-toward-future-2010jun17-story.html"><b><span style="color: blue;">was previously outlined in his Editor's Note to readers.</span></b></a><br />
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<b>* If you have information or corrections, please message me by clicking the "Contact" link located in the upper left corner of this blog <a href="mailto:PRtoday@live.com"><span style="color: blue;">or you can e-mail me by clicking here.</span></a> Your identity is CONFIDENTIAL.</b><br />
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<b>* A comprehensive list of ALL staff assignments at the <i>Union-Tribune</i></b> - including administrative newsroom personnel - will be provided to long-time PR professional and friend <a href="https://www.falconvalleygroup.com/"><b><span style="color: blue;">Gayle Lynn Falkenthal - whose website can be reached by clicking here.</span></b></a> She in turn will post this list on her website for friends and colleagues - including members of the San Diego Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America - and the San Diego Press Club.<br />
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<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/3017/UipLfD.jpg" /><br /></CENTER>
<span style="color: crimson;"><b>* Note that 13 entry-level reporting positions are marked "OPEN" in the list below.</b></span> The search for less expensive "junior staff writers" and "associate staff writers" coincides with two (2) job ads that were posted online by the <i>San Diego Union Tribune</i> this month. <br />
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<span style="color: crimson;"><b>* The first ad for entry-level "junior staff writers"</b></span> appeared on June 17, 2010, the same day more than 34 staffers were laid off by the paper. Successful applicants, the first ad reads, "will research and write news and straight-forward short stories with low level of complexity, analysis and narrative, in accordance with identified style and structure." These staffers, the ad continues, will "compile lists, contribute regularly to blogs during the course of the work day; work with reporters as directed to enhance larger trend stories; may 'fill in' in other areas as assigned when reporters are away from their beats." They may also "use social media to enhance readership and find sources, and assist with daily cops calls." <a href="https://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=1176854"><span style="color: blue;"><b>This first ad, which closes July 19, 2010, appears here.</b></span></a> No annual salary is listed. <b>After the ad expires, a disabled screen-shot is visible by <a href="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/3783/0CBLx6.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">clicking here or the thumbnail image below.</span></a></b><a href="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/4486/epuLrt.jpg"><br />
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<center><a href="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/3783/0CBLx6.jpg"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/4486/epuLrt.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<span style="color: crimson;"><b>* A second ad, this time for entry-level "associate staff writers" - to join the paper's "watchdog team" of investigative reporters - appeared a short time later.</b></span> Successful applicants, the second ad reads, "will fill in doing basic beat work throughout the newsroom, to free up reporters to do deeper investigative stories. Subjects will range from the environment to military affairs to San Diego City Hall. Assignments as a beat fill-in could last two days, two months, or longer. Between assignments, there may be opportunities for associate reporters to assist in investigative work." <a href="https://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=1179049"><span style="color: blue;"><b>This second ad, which closes July 28, 2010, appears here.</b></span></a> The annual salary for these positions is $35,000. <b>After the ad expires, a disabled screen-shot is visible by <a href="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/2138/PxFZH6.jpg"><span style="color: blue;">clicking here or the thumbnail image below.</span></a></b><a href="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/5996/yrK0xv.jpg"><br />
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<center><a href="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/2138/PxFZH6.jpg"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/5996/yrK0xv.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* <span style="color: crimson;">All names and assignments of current staff members of the <i>San Diego Union-Tribune</i> listed below were correct as of June 28, 2010 - yet are subject to change without notice:</span><span style="color: navy;"></span></b><span style="color: navy;"><br />
<br />
1. Laura Wingard - Topic Editor - <br />
Public Safety Group Manager<br />
2. Dana Littlefield - Courts<br />
3. Greg Moran - Courts<br />
4. Debbi Baker - Police/fire<br />
5. Kristina Davis - Police/fire<br />
6. Susan Shroder - Police/fire.<br />
7. OPEN (Filled) - Pauline Repard - <br />
"Associate Staff Writer" - Police/fire.<br />
</span><br />
<center><span style="color: navy;">----</span></center><span style="color: navy;"><br />
8. Adrian Vore - Topic Editor - North Zone Group Manager<br />
9. Michelle Breier - Associate Staff Writer<br />
10. Logan Jenkins - Columnist<br />
11. OPEN - "Associate Staff Writer" - North Zone<br />
12. OPEN - "Associate Staff Writer" - North Zone<br />
13. OPEN - "Associate Staff Writer" - North Zone<br />
14. OPEN - "Associate Staff Writer" - North Zone<br />
15. OPEN - "Associate Staff Writer" - North Zone<br />
<center>----</center><br />
16. David Ogul - Topic Editor - San Diego, <br />
South and East Zones Group Manager<br />
17. Karen Pearlman - Associate Staff Writer - Zone(s)<br />
18. Lisa Deaderick - Associate Staff Writer - Zone(s)<br />
19. OPEN - "Associate Staff Writer" - Zone(s)<br />
20. OPEN - "Associate Staff Writer" - Zone(s)<br />
21. OPEN - "Associate Staff Writer" - Zone(s)<br />
22. OPEN - "Associate Staff Writer" - Zone(s)<br />
<center>----</center><br />
23. Hieu Tran Phan - Topic Editor - Uniquely San Diego<br />
Group Manager and Sunday Editor<br />
24. Sandra Dibble - Border<br />
25. Michael Stetz - Downtown & Attractions<br />
26. Steve Schmidt - East County<br />
27. OPEN (Filled) - Sr. Staff Writer - Morgan Lee - <br />
Immigration & demographics<br />
28. J. Harry Jones - North County<br />
29. Matthew Hall - San Diego<br />
30. Janine Zuniga - South County<br />
31. OPEN - Sr. Staff Writer - North County<br />
<center>----</center><br />
32. Ricky Young - Topic Editor - <br />
Investigations & Local Group Manager<br />
33. Jeff McDonald - Investigations<br />
34. Tanya Sierra - Investigations<br />
35. Danielle Cervantes - Investigations<br />
36. Tom Blair - Columnist<br />
36. OPEN - "Junior Staff Writer" - Investigations <br />
37. OPEN - "Junior Staff Writer" - Investigations<br />
38. OPEN - "Junior Staff Writer" - Investigations<br />
<center>----</center><br />
39. Diana McCabe - Topic Editor - Money Group Manager<br />
40. Dean Calbreath - Economy <br />
41. Roger Showley (interim fill-in) - Real Estate<br />
42. Michael Freeman - Technology<br />
43. Tanya Mannes - Small Business<br />
44. Roger Showley - Growth & Development<br />
45. Onell Soto - Energy & Green Business<br />
46. Lori Weisberg - Tourism & Restaurants<br />
<center>----</center><br />
47. Michele Parente - Topic Editor - Life & Entertainment -<br />
Local Group Manager<br />
48. Caroline Dipping - Obituaries & Milestone <br />
49. Blanca Gonzalez - Obituaries & Milestone<br />
50. R. J. Ignelzi - Shopping & Deals<br />
51. Karla Peterson - Everyday Critic<br />
52. Peter Rowe - Sunday/Profiles<br />
53. John Wilkens - Sunday/Profiles<br />
54. Diane Bell - Columnist<br />
<center>----</center><br />
55. Jennifer Crowshaw - Topic Leader -<br />
Entertainment Group Manager<br />
56. James Chute - Critic - Classical Music & Arts<br />
57. Keli Dailey - Eating Out & Drinking<br />
58. Nina Garin - Things to Do<br />
59. James Hebert - Critic - Theater<br />
60. George Varga - Critic - Music<br />
61. Cynthia Zanone - Life & Entertainment<br />
<center>----</center><br />
62. Michael Smolens - Topic Editor - <br />
Government Group<br />
63. Craig Gustafson - City Hall<br />
64. Michele Clock - County / Politics<br />
65. Patrick Flynn - Higher Education<br />
66. Maureen Magee - Schools<br />
67. Robert J. Hawkins - Transportation<br />
68. Michael Gardner - State Government<br />
<center>----</center><br />
69. William Osborne - Editorial Editor<br />
70. Stephen Breen - Editorial Cartoonist<br />
71. Christopher Reed - Editorial Writer<br />
72. Don Sevrens - Editorial Writer<br />
73. Joseph Taylor - Letters Editor<br />
<center>----</center><br />
74. Jim Watters - Topic Editor - Defense & Discovery Group<br />
75. Keith Darcé - Biotech<br />
76. Gretel C. Kovach - Military<br />
77. Jeanette Steele - Military<br />
78. Janet Lavelle - Health Care<br />
79. Mike Lee - Environment<br />
80. Gary Robbins - Science<br />
<center>----</center><br />
81. Jay Posner - Topic Leader - Sports Group<br />
82. Jess Kearney - Deputy Sports Editor<br />
83. Kevin Acee - Chargers<br />
84. Ed Brown - Sports Group <br />
85. Nick Canepa - Columnist<br />
86. Bill Center - Padres<br />
87. P. K. Daniel - Prep Sports<br />
88. Kevin Gemmell - Sports Group<br />
89. Ralph Honda - Sports Group<br />
90. John Jenkins - Chargers<br />
91. Tod Leonard - Golf<br />
92. Don Norcross - College Sports<br />
93. Brent Schrotenboer - Sports Group<br />
94. Tim Sullivan - Columnist - Sports Group<br />
95. Mark Zeigler - College Sports<br />
96. Ed Zieralski - Outdoors / Horse Racing<br />
<center>----</center><br />
97. Kristine Viesselman - Managing Editor & <br />
Creative Director<br />
98. Larry Nista - Page One - Section A Editor<br />
99. Catherine Snapp - Business Section Leader<br />
100. Karen Kucher - In-Depth Reporter - Section A<br />
101. Matthew Tiffany - Sports Section Editor / Leader<br />
102. Lora Cicalo - Quality Editor Leader<br />
103. David Clary - Quality Editor - Section A<br />
104. Andrew Castagnola - Section Leader - Our Region<br />
105. Lisa Sullivan - Section Leader - <br />
Night & Day / Weekend / Arts<br />
106. John Cannon - Section Leader - Quest / Health / Travel<br />
107. Christine Ross - Section Leader - Smart Living / <br />
Passages / Food<br />
108. Tom Mallory - Day Homepage Editor - <br />
Web Desk Digital Group<br />
109. Juliet Hendrix - Night Homepage Editor - <br />
Web Desk Digital Group<br />
110. Andrew Kleske - Digital Quality Editor - <br />
Web Desk Digital Group<br />
111. Michael Price - News Design Director &<br />
Entertainment Designer<br />
112. Peter Nguyen - Features Design & <br />
Entertainment Designer<br />
113. Anita Arambula - Graphics & Design<br />
114. Christopher Barber - Graphics & Design<br />
115. Cristina Byvik - Graphics & Design<br />
116. Michelle Gilchrist - Graphics & Design<br />
117. Hines Grubb - Graphics & Design<br />
118. Leslie Hackett - Graphics & Design<br />
119. Robert Muldowney - Graphics & Design<br />
120. Gordon Murray - Graphics & Design<br />
121. Gloria Orbegozo - Graphics & Design<br />
122. Matthew Perry - Graphics & Design<br />
123. Michael Rocha - Graphics & Design<br />
124. Kathy Rodondi - Graphics & Design<br />
125. Gregory Schmidt - Graphics & Design<br />
126. Aaron Steckelberg - Graphics & Design<br />
127. Tara Stone - Graphics & Design<br />
128. Anthony Tarantino - Graphics & Design<br />
129. OPEN - Graphics & Design<br />
130. OPEN - Graphics & Design<br />
<center>----</center><br />
131. Nirmala Bhat - Quality Editor Group<br />
132. Travis Conrads - Quality Editor Group<br />
133. Mark Dodge-Medlin - Quality Editor Group<br />
134. Steven Droessler - Quality Editor Group<br />
135. Ed Ibardolasa - Quality Editor Group<br />
136. John Keller - Quality Editor Group<br />
137. John Kowalczyk - Quality Editor Group<br />
138. Robert Krier - Quality Editor Group<br />
139. Kelly Murphy - Quality Editor Group<br />
140. Kate Nelson - Quality Editor Group<br />
141. Richard Scannell - Quality Editor Group<br />
142. Mitch Weinstock - Quality Editor Group<br />
<center>----</center><br />
143. Robert York - Director of Photography /<br />
Executive Sports Editor<br />
144. K. C. Alfred - Photographer<br />
145. Nelvin C. Cepeda - Photographer <br />
146. Alma Cesena - Photographer<br />
147. Eduardo Contreras - Photographer<br />
148. John Gastaldo - Photographer<br />
149. John Gibbins - Photographer<br />
150. Earnie Grafton - Photographer<br />
151. Sean M. Haffey - Photographer<br />
152. Howard Lipin - Photographer<br />
153. Gerald McClard - Photographer<br />
154. John R. McCutchen - Photographer<br />
155. Charlie Neuman - Photographer<br />
156. Peggy Peattie - Photographer<br />
157. James R. Skovmand - Photo Editor<br />
158. David J. Brooks - Videographer<br />
159. OPEN - Videographer<br />
160. OPEN - Videographer<br />
161. OPEN - Videographer<br />
</span><br />
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<center><a href="https://www.signonsandiego.com/"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/3017/UipLfD.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>Original Material © 2010 by David Kusumoto Communications.</b><br />
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</script>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-40229532017752998872012-12-13T19:04:00.000-08:002019-09-11T19:01:34.186-07:00Metropolis, Eight Other Posters Sell for $1.2 million.<br />
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<b>* Well-known movie poster collector Ralph DeLuca</b> has won the vaunted three-sheet to "Metropolis" - and eight other rare items - including posters to the "Invisible Man" and "King Kong" - for a record-breaking $1.2 million - in a bankruptcy trustee sale held in Los Angeles today.
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<b>* Although the nine items were bundled in a lot </b>- with a minimum $700,000 bid put up in advance by DeLuca - the additional $500,000 he paid for the collection, which had been "cherry-picked" by the bankruptcy trustee as being "subjectively "the most desirable" - gives, in my view - the Madison, New Jersey collector the crown as the #1 movie poster collector in the world.
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<b>* Although interviews are being conducted as we speak between Deluca and news organizations</b> including Reuters and The Hollywood Reporter - a delighted DeLuca told me that he outbid Heritage Auctions in Dallas - and two or three other bidders for the collection.
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<b>* "I've been saying for years that I'm the #1 poster buyer in America and I proved it," </b>he said. "When it comes down to putting cash on the table - I'm the #1 buyer. I believe in this stuff. I'm into investments - and I believe posters are a hedge against inflation."
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<b>* When asked to comment on the approximate value of "Metropolis" </b>- independently of the other items he won, DeLuca said, "Honestly, in my opinion, the (monetary) equivalent to "Metropolis" in the art world - is $100 to $150 million. I believe it's a minimum seven-figure poster - because even if someone had $5 million to spend right now - he or she would NOT be able to find another "Metropolis" available for sale."
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<b>* The auction was was part of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy settlement</b> involving collector Ken Schacter of Valencia, California - whereby it was agreed by U.S. authorities that significant handling costs, commission fees and labor/time - could be avoided by bypassing conventional consignors and auction houses - by selling the prize items in Schacter's collection - via a direct sale to the public.
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<BR><B> * (Below is a satirical meme and a photo that was posted on an Internet movie poster forum.</B> The photo was taken the day authorities visited Mr. Schacter's home (who can be seen waving his hands in anger) - and seized "Metropolis" and other posters in his collection.)
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<b>* "This was a great victory," said DeLuca. </b> "It's been something I've been thinking about for months and months. I thought the poster was lost and was going to be given to Heritage (Auctions) to sell (in Dallas). But the bankruptcy trustee came back to me - and I responded by offering a 100% cash offer to start the bidding, while others would not put up more than 25 percent of the collection's estimated value."
<BR><BR><b>* Meawhile, the fate of the remainder of the "known items"</b> in Ken Schacter's prized collection isn't yet known. Schacter may keep the rest of his collection if it is judged that today's sale resolves all legal fees, as well as real and punitive damages accrued thus far. If not, the remainder of his collection could also be sold - with less fanfare and by more conventional means, e.g., via an auction house.
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<b>* The U.S. Bankruptcy Court's actions</b> - which took place throughout 2012 in Los Angeles - were the result of collector's Ken Schacter decision to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy - to avoid re-paying a loan - said to be in the neighborhood of $500,000 and $600,000 - owed to Los Angeles investor Robert Mannheim.
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<b>* After "Metropolis" surfaced "for sale" for $850,000</b> on a movie sales website based in North Carolina (Movie Poster Exchange, owned by collector-investor-entrepreneurs Sean Linkenback and Peter Contarino) - Mr. Mannheim, reading forum postings on the Internet and news stories published in The Hollywood Reporter, The London Guardian and other news organizations in early 2012 - had the proof he needed - which he'd long suspected - that Mr. Schacter had been illegally shielding and selling valuable assets to avoid re-paying his loan - to the detriment of himself, to the memory of his late wife's estate and to his surviving daughter. This transformed the Chapter 11 proceeding (asset restructuring) to a Chapter 7 proceeding (asset liquidation).
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<b>* Ironically, Mr. Schacter was an early "business partner" of Movie Poster Exchange</b> before the enterprise debuted this year - amid great publicity over the availability of Schacter's "Metropolis" poster for $850,000 - which had been acquired by Schacter in 2005 for the then astronomical sum of $690,000.
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<b>* After weeks of public silence from Movie Poster Exchange</b> about the sudden disappearance of "Metropolis" from its website - co-owner Sean Linkenback - on May 4, 2012 - publicly detailed how Schacter's "Metropolis" came to him: "Ken (Schacter) later approached us about featuring the Metropolis poster on our website during our launch, and (co-owner) Peter (Contarino) was actually opposed to this, feeling correctly that we have built a sound business model and a fantastic site that will be able to stand on its own. But the price was reasonable based on its prior sale and it did allow us to take advantage of some publicity opportunities we may not have had otherwise, so Peter relented and we did spotlight the poster."
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<b>* In the end, a relieved DeLuca told me. "I'm absolutely thrilled with what happened.</b> This was the highlight of my collecting year and I eagerly await for a phone call for the next batch of posters someone wants to sell."
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<b>* Ralph DeLuca's poster website is at</b> <a href="https://www.ralphdeluca.com/">https://www.RalphDeLuca.com</a></left>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-29272564430028820042018-05-16T17:06:00.002-07:002019-09-11T16:11:07.841-07:00Test of Video Embedding<BR><BR><iframe width="425" height="280" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GDY3UTxI_Ks" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-1830910206504000942012-02-15T20:21:00.000-08:002019-09-11T16:10:05.476-07:00WARNING: Are you still yapping or texting from your cell phone?<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">* (Note: This blog entry was first posted on August 23, 2009, and is being re-posted as a public service.) </span>WARNING – THE ABOVE CARTOON IS DARKLY FUNNY</b> -- (Portland, Oregon-based cartoonist Shannon Wheeler is a fabulous talent who inspires humor and thought-provoking topics for discussion) – <b>BUT THE IMAGES BELOW are screen shots take from a SERIOUS and GRAPHIC public service film from the United Kingdom - whose makers have authorized me to upload to my own You Tube Channel - and post a story about it on this blog.</b><br />
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<b>* On July 1, 2008, California's ban against</b> using cell phones while driving went into effect.<br />
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<b>* While the law created a greater awareness</b> about the dangers of using cell phones while driving – the sad truth is it will probably take more accidents – and more tickets – to get more people in line. (Full disclosure: I haven't invested in hands-free technology, but I don't use my phone while driving.)<br />
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<b>* Try this: The next time you're at a red light,</b> count the number of cars going by with drivers using cell phones in broad daylight. I've done this several times and admittedly, it's not scientific, but about 3 cars for every 10 – contain drivers yapping away on their phones. (I've even seen drivers dropping/tilting their heads a little bit to avoid getting caught.)<br />
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<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/7104/rsIXsk.jpg" /></center><b>* Between 2008 and 2010, the California Highway Patrol (CHP)</b> issued more than 120,000 tickets against lawbreakers throughout the state. <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_13047608?nclick_check=1">And when you include tickets issued by city and county police officers,</a> that number balloons to about 250,000 citations. The average fine is about $120, depending upon where you live. <br />
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<b>* And most of those tickets were for yapping. </b>It's harder to catch people texting in their cars – which many believe is a greater scourge. Texting while driving is equivalent to an idiot using his thumbs to write a message – while at the wheel of a 2,000-pound killer clocked at 50-miles per hour.<br />
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<b>* According to a release issued </b><a href="https://www.dot.gov/affairs/2009/dot11409.htm"><b>by the U.S. Department of Transportation,</b></a> several deadly accidents involving texting behind the wheel have raised the possibility of even tougher laws and penalties. In 2008, a commuter train in Los Angeles -- whose driver was texting on a cell phone -- led to accident that killed 25 people and injured 135 others. <br />
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<b>* "In another incident, a Florida truck driver</b> admitted to texting moments before a collision with a school bus that killed a student," the release noted. And last month, "a 17-year-old high school student from Peoria, Illinois was killed when she drove off the road while texting with friends."<br />
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<b>* And this is just the tip of the iceberg.</b> It's hard to tell which accidents are caused by cell phone use and which aren't – because drivers who survive them won't admit using their phones – and it's hard to prove in the aftermath of cleaning wreckage from a crash.<br />
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<b>* In the United Kingdom, a graphic public service film</b> depicting the ravages of using cell phones in cars has spread virally on the Internet. The four-minute sequence involves British actors and creative talent – and is part of a larger 30-minute drama produced and directed by <a href="https://bit.ly/AeYB4">Peter Watkins-Hughes</a> -- an award winning, former BBC TV producer with 15 years experience in documentary, animation, comedy and drama -- with credits in every genre from melodramas to gardening shows.<br />
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<b>* Moreover, Mr. Watkins-Hughes is also a lecturer</b> for the Documentary Film and Television department at the Newport School of Art, Media and Design in Wales. He enlisted his own students to work on the film, which was made for - and with - the Gwent Police Department, located about 150 miles west of London. Mr. Watkins-Hughes says the longer-version of this film will be shown at schools this year, to be incorporated within what's called the Personal and Social Education (PSE) curriculum. And he's now in talks with the BBC to have the film, presently entitled "COW" – to be broadcast later this year throughout the U.K.<br />
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<b>* WARNING – the graphic, four-minute video clip below is professionally staged </b>-- but appears very realistic and does a fine job hammering its message home. <b>In my view, every parent should see it.</b> It should be imported and licensed from Mr. Watkins-Hughes for broadcast throughout the United States. His contact information is available by <a href="https://bit.ly/AeYB4">clicking here.</a><br />
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<b>* The clip above is part of a longer drama called "COW."</b> According to its representatives, the film's synopsis is as follows: "It's all about Cassie Cowan, a nice girl from a Gwent valley's family who kills four people on the road because she used her mobile and lost her concentration for a few seconds. Gwent police is proud to have helped Brynmawr filmmaker Peter Watkins-Hughes in the production, which stars local drama students Jenny Davies as Cassie, and Amy Ingram and Laura Quantick as her friends, Emm and Jules." <b>More credit information is available at the bottom of this post below.</b><br />
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<b>* Many years ago I remember getting ticketed </b>for not wearing a seat belt. At the time, the motor cop was almost embarrassed to hit me with a ticket for something other than a gross moving violation. Those days are gone. Today the state's seat belt law is vigorously enforced – and police officers no longer apologize. The combination of seat belts and air bags have dramatically lowered fatalities. You don't even have to look it up. Traffic accidents are still abundant, but lives are being saved. Most "higher-thinking primates" feel buckling up is an automatic reflex. <b>So why then, are people still using their cell phones while driving?</b><br />
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<b>* According to Governing Magazine, </b>what's more astonishing is <b>"while 29 states have passed some kind of limit on cell-phone use...none has gone so far as to enact a total ban on drivers’ phone conversations."</b> This means millions of people are still yapping and texting away, in spite of, the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-cellphone21-2009aug21,0,1362621.story"><b>Los Angeles Times</b></a> reports, a "growing body of studies which show that texting, conversing on hand-held phones or even chatting hands-free...makes us dangerous drivers, as likely to get into an accident as if we were legally drunk."<br />
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<b>* The news isn't all bleak. According to </b><a href="https://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Auto-Club-Of-So-Calif-1011695.html"><b>Steven Bloch of the Automobile Club of Southern California,</b></a> cell phone use in cars is down about 60 percent since the law went into effect. But not in New York. "In New York State, where a 'hands-free cell phones law' took effect in 2001, almost no effect of the law was found a year later," said Bloch. <br />
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<b>* What's being done? </b>Beyond the video above that should be licensed and imported for schools in the United States – there's <b><a href="https://bit.ly/1596r3">the ALERT Drivers Act</a> – which punishes states without laws against texting -- by cutting off millions of federal dollars for transportation. And U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has also taken a strong strand investigating texting and other driving distractions.</b><br />
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<b>* Mr. Bloch of the Automobile Club reports </b>that since the cell phone ban in California, the citations issued by the CHP alone – represents about 6 percent of all moving violation citations. "Hand-held cell phone use appears to have crept up slowly over the months, but contrary to a general perception of much higher usage, it's still far lower than it was before the law took effect..."<br />
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<b>* Well OK, then.</b> But I still see a lot of people using their cell phones, inviting an accident to happen. Obviously if you catch someone doing this, get as far away from them as possible. Or call 911 or honk like hell. <br />
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<span style="color: crimson;"><b>* UPDATE: After posting this video at </b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ttNgZDZruI"><b>You Tube -- click here,</b></a><b> the bandwidth on my news site exploded.</b> Thousands of viewers seeking the full context of the video's creation -- came over here, blowing past the standard settings on my photo-hosting account, temporarily knocking down many images.<b> This problem has now been permanently resolved.</b></span><b><br />
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* I wish to make clear that I was NOT the first person to post this video.</b> The major difference is that my version is "authorized" by its makers to be posted on my own You Tube channel and is the ONLY one that provides news and other information about how the film came to be. Many production artists and creative talents in the U.K. who deserve due credit for its creation, have rightly expressed irritation about "losing control" of their film to the Internet. I wish to correct some of that now.<br />
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<b>* This 30-minute drama is available in additional snippets which have been largely ignored</b> -- (compared to the video of the crash itself)-- but can be seen by visiting the work posted by film editor Richard Jon Micklewright, who worked on this production with producer-director Peter Watkins-Hughes -- and goes by the handle, "richardjonm" at You Tube. I encourage you to visit his video channel, where you will find the crash video clip, production credits and his contact information. <b>(Parenthetically, it also also features my own verbatim introductory words and phrasing with my permission, presented in my standard news summary format).</b><br />
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<b>* You will also find a series of "tasters"</b> (which are equivalent to the word "teasers" in the United States) -- from the drama that surrounds the four-minute crash video clip. My only role was to frame the video's titanic importance for the very news column you're reading -- in order to point out the woeful lack of comprehensive bans against the use of cell phones in cars in many states here in the U.S. My intent is to call attention to a problem that, when corrected, will serve the greater good.<br />
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<b>(Original material © 2009-2012 by David Kusumoto Communications.)</b><br />
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</script>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-68553005646948912392011-09-23T15:16:00.000-07:002019-09-11T15:59:16.742-07:00One Year Later - The Book Version of San Diego's Viral Hit Is Still a NY Times Bestseller.<br />
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<b>* <span style="color: crimson;">UPDATE, September 23, 2011 -- The book above has been #1 for eleven of the last 72 weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers List. The book finally dropped out of the top 25 on September 18, 2011.</span></b> The CBS Television series, "$#*! My Dad Says," which debuted in September 2010 to mostly poor reviews, was cancelled in May 2011. <b> </b><br />
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<b>* On May 4, 2010, "Sh* My Dad Says,"</b> the "R-rated" social media phenomenon that began in August 2009 on Twitter – attracting millions of followers as it moved to Facebook and to other social media platforms around the world – entered the rarefied air of the printed page. <b> </b><br />
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<b>* It Books, an imprint of Harper-Collins, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sh-t-My-Dad-Says/dp/0061992704?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0061992704" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />released a 176-page hardcover version of "S** My Dad Says"</a></b> – filled with hilarious and sometimes poignant stories - supplemented by only a few of the more than 100 profane, ribald and politically incorrect quips posted on Twitter and uttered by Samuel "Sam" Halpern, the 74-year-old father of Justin Halpern of San Diego. <br />
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<b>* The book does NOT replicate nor re-hash what's available online. It is a stand-alone product, a memoir of sorts,</b> filled with short chapters - whereby son Justin provides the "back story" about his relationship with his father. The publisher's marketing notes describe the book as an "all-American tale that unfolds on the Little League field, in Denny's, during excruciating family road trips, and - most frequently - in the Halperns' kitchen over bowls of Grape-Nuts." <b> </b><br />
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<b>* While some of the quips seen on Twitter do re-appear,</b> the book is filled with fresh material. It is an equally hilarious but more fully formed (and surprisingly touching) collection of stories that paint an almost loving picture of what it was like for Justin to grow up in the shadow of his brainy and brutally blunt father.
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<center><a href="https://twitter.com/shitmydadsays"><img src=https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6128/nnHXWf.jpg" /></a></center> <b>* Justin's story has been told numerous times</b> – and is available at so many other online venues – <a href="https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/09/mydadsays-twitter.html">(the best, in my view, was published last year in the Los Angeles Times)</a> – that I'm not going to get into an in-depth recap of how he got here today. In short, after being dumped by his girlfriend in Los Angeles, Justin Halpern, now 29, founder of the humor website, "Holy Taco" – and a senior writer for Maxim.com – moved back with his parents in San Diego.<br />
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<b>* On August 4, 2009, he began posting a string of outrageous quips spun by his father</b> – some dating back to Justin's own childhood – to a <a href="https://www.twitter.com/shitmydadsays">Twitter account,</a> which in turn spread virally, capturing the attention of celebrities, literary agents and entertainment producers.
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<b>* Justin's father Sam, who's described as being "like Socrates, but angrier, and with worse hair"</b> – is a retired scientist from the University of California, San Diego. He's not only corrosively blunt – but he's also, according to the Los Angeles Times, <a href="https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/09/mydadsays-twitter.html">reported to be extremely protective of his privacy, refusing all requests for interviews.</a> Whatever else we might want to know about this secretive but sometimes hilariously crude man - can only come through his adoring son - who describes his dad as "awesome."<br />
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<center><a href="https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/09/mydadsays-twitter.html"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/218/dWrlkT.jpg" /></a></center> <BR><b>* "My dad went to medical school," Justin Halpern</b> <a href="https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/02/stuff-my-dad-says-cbs-tv-pilot.html">told the Times in February.</a> He lectured at Harvard. He's [expletive deleted] way smarter than I could ever hope to be."<br />
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<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/5077/4got3d.jpg" /></center> <b> </b><br />
<b>* Sample quips from Justin's dad:</b> <i> </i><br />
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<i>"Look at that dog's rear. You can tell by the dilation of his a** that he's going to take a s*** soon. See. There it goes."</i> <i> </i><br />
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<i>"Oh please, you practically invented lazy. People should have to call you and ask for the rights to lazy before they use it."</i> <i> </i><br />
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<i>"You ranked the 25 Christmas presents you want, in order of how much you want them? Are you insane? I said tell me what you want for Christmas. I didn't ask you to make a f****** college football poll." </i><br />
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<i>"I'm sitting in one of those TGI Friday's places, and everyone looks like they want to shove a shotgun in their mouth."</i> <i> </i><br />
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<i>"Your brother brought his baby over this morning. He told me it could stand. It couldn't stand for sh**. Just sat there. Big let down."</i> <i> </i><br />
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<i>"Why am I going to pay $200 (for a plane ticket) so a six-year-old can see a wedding? You think that's a moment he cares about? Two years ago he was still sh****** his pants."</i> <i> </i><br />
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<i>"The worst thing you can be is a liar. . . . Okay, fine, yes, the worst thing you can be is a Nazi, but then number two is liar. Nazi one, liar two."</i> <i> </i><br />
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<i>"My flight lands at 9:30 on Sunday...You want to watch what? What the f*** is Mad Men? Well I'm (going to be) a mad man if you don't pick me the hell up."</i><br />
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<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/4124/AHot5c.jpg" /></center> <b> </b><br />
<b>* The thing most surprising to me as a reader are passages in the book that illustrate the humanity of Justin's Dad.</b> There are numerous "father-to-son" conversations whereby Justin's Dad, almost surreptitiously, dispenses advice based on his own experiences with the business of living and being a parent.<br />
<br />
<b>* For example, when Justin forgets to meet his Dad to help tend the garden - and decides instead to have a fun time with pals in Mexico</b> - Dad is at first enraged, screaming that he almost called the cops. Then he calms down, motions Justin over, and in a rare display of open affection, grabs and bear-hugs his son and says, "You dumb s***. I can't wait until you have a kid of your own and you have to worry about what happens to him. You never stop worrying about your children. It sucks. You watch what you (get into), because this is your life, this bulls*** right here." <b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>* More quips from Justin's dad:</b> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>(While watching "Schindler's List"): "What do you want? You want me to pass you some candy? They're throwing people in the f****** gas chamber, and you want a Skittles?"</i> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"How the f*** should I know if the food's gone bad? Eat it. You get sick, it wasn't good. You people, you think I got microscopic f****** eyes."</i> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"You're being f****** dramatic. You own a TV and an air mattress. That's not exactly what I'd call "a lot to lose."</i><br />
<br />
<i>"I wanted to see Detroit win. I've been there. It looks like God took a s*** on a parking lot. They deserve some good news."</i><br />
<br />
<i>"Remember how you used to make fun of me for being bald?...No, I'm not gonna make a joke. I'll let your mirror do that."</i> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"Give your mother the front seat...I don't give a s*** if she said you could have it, that's what she's supposed to do, and you're supposed to say, 'No, I insist.' You think I'm gonna drive around with my wife in the backseat and a nine-year-old in the front? You're a crazy son-of-a-b****."</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/184/T85r6F.jpg" /></center><br />
<left>
<br />
<b>* In my view, the greatest of ironies – one that has been missed by many observers amid the fun and frivolity about a cantankerously funny old man – is this: </b> It's not about how popular Samuel Halpern has become – it's about how we accept and laugh more readily – at off-color remarks coming from a senior citizen. <b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>* My theory is because we enter and exit this world in diapers</b> - we're reflexively more tolerant of people who are very young or very old - than we are of people who are "in the middle." We know this to be true because if Sam Halpern was a 30-year old man, he wouldn't be as funny. It's not just his words that make us howl – it's the fact that they're coming from a 74-year old man – to whom we've given more latitude to say or do whatever he wants. We give him a pass, a badge of wisdom for seeing it all. Conversely, for a toddler, we impart an aura of innocence and cuteness onto a being who's seen very little. In sum, we tend to let the very young and the very old - get away with things - that we'd never allow from others.<br />
<br />
<b>* More pearls of "wisdom" from Justin's dad:</b> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"I don't give a s*** how it happened, the window is broken... Wait, why is there syrup everywhere? Okay, you know what? Now I give a s*** how it happened. Let's hear it."</i> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"So he called you a homo. Big deal. There's nothing wrong with being a homosexual. No, I'm not saying you're a homosexual. J*s*s Chr*st, now I'm starting to see why this kid was giving you s***."</i><br />
<br />
<i>"Why the f*** would I want to live to 100? I'm 73 and sh**'s starting to get boring. By the way, there's no money left when I go, just fyi."</i> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"You need to flush the toilet more than once...No, YOU, YOU specifically need to. You know what, use a different toilet. This is my toilet."</i> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"Sometimes life leaves a hundred-dollar bill on your dresser, and you don't realize until later that it's because it f***** you."</i> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"Can we talk later? The news is on... Well, if you have tuberculosis it's not gonna get any worse in the next 30 minutes, J*s*s."</i> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"A parent's only as good as their dumbest kid. If one of them wins a Nobel Prize but the other gets robbed by a hooker, you've failed."</i><br />
<br />
</left><br />
<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/8022/jgMNKy.jpg" /></center> <br />
<b>* Why are we more forgiving of senior citizens delivering off-color remarks?</b> In fact, there are educated answers that go beyond our own sense of intuition.<br />
<br />
<b>* <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmichaelmantell">Dr. Michael Mantell,</a> a clinical psychologist, author, television correspondent and columnist for <i>San Diego Magazine</i></b> - and a former chief psychologist for Children's Hospital and Health Center of San Diego and the San Diego Police Department - believes this phenomenon is partially rooted in "a fundamental respect for elders that many still have in society." <b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>* "Those who don't have it," <a href="https://www.facebook.com/michael.mantell?">Dr. Mantell says,</a> "are not tolerant of seniors, and are likely not tolerant of people who are younger as well. </b> We tend to equate seniors with our grandparents. And again, for those (of us) who have positive, living relationships - our sense of respect for them continues."<br />
<br />
<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5083/NVJ1sb.jpg" /></center> <br />
<b>* Even more gems from Justin's dad:</b> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>(On finishing last in the 50-yard dash): "It kinda looked like you were being attacked by a bunch of bees or something. Then when I saw the fat kid with the watch who was timing you start laughing... Well, I'll just say it's never a good sign when a fat kid laughs at you."</i> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"You're like a tornado of bulls*** right now. We'll talk again after your bulls*** dies out over someone else's house."</i> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"I need to change clothes? Wow. That's big talk coming from someone who looks like they robbed a Mervyn's."</i> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"If mom calls, tell her I'm sh*****g. Son, marriage is about not having to lie about taking a s***."</i> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"Happy birthday, I didn't get you a present...Oh, mom got you one? Well, that's from me then too, unless it's sh***y."</i> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"Mom is smarter than you...No? Well, ask yourself this; has mom ever unknowingly had toilet paper hanging out of her a**?...Mom 1. You 0."</i> <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>"No. Tell 'em we're not doing Christmas dinner at a casino. Don't be an a** about it, but tell them why it's a f****** stupid idea."</i><br />
<br />
<center><a href="https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/02/stuff-my-dad-says-cbs-tv-pilot.html"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/35/g5SFpJ.jpg" /></a></center> <b> </b><br />
<b>* Meanwhile, as you read these words, the latest chapter in the saga of "S___ My Dad Says" has come to an end.</b> Justin Halpern, who co-wrote and co-produced the television sit-com version of his Twitter feed (with William Shatner playing Justin's Dad) - was cancelled last month by CBS. The show just wasn't any good.<br />
<br />
<center><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sh-t-My-Dad-Says/dp/0061992704?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969"><img alt="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6289/2gHPr2.jpg" src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6289/2gHPr2.jpg" style="cursor: -moz-zoom-out;" /><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0061992704" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></a></center> <b> </b><br />
<b>* Situation comedies featuring curmudgeonly parents have been a television staple for decades.</b> It was too much to ask the television series to defy the stark reality - that there was only so much "funny" - that could be squeezed out of this formula - and more specifically - from Justin's dad.<br />
<br />
<b>* So how much longer will the "Sh** My Dad Says" phenomenon last?</b> With the death of the television show, I can't help thinking this is just a passing fad, a bright star that will quickly fade.<br />
<br />
<center><a href="https://www.twitter.com/shitmydadsays"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6826/l01UQ3.jpg" /></a></center> <b></b><br />
<b>* So I'll stop thinking about it for now.</b> We already know few things last forever. We don't know whether Sam Halpern is a passing fad or a potential institutional fixture on the landscape of American humor. So let's just sit back and enjoy the moment, and see how long we can continue to be lifted by our own gales of laughter. <b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Original Material © 2010-2012 by David Kusumoto Communications.</b> <script type="text/javascript">
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</script>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-5765515746356302232011-07-19T08:33:00.000-07:002019-09-11T15:22:42.127-07:00Men vs. Women -- and Their Material Things <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/9566/8KbeJA.jpg" /></div>
<br />
<b>* Bringing back an "oldie" – just because it was a hit before. <span style="color: navy;">(The real reason is it will give me more time to outline and finish my next news post.)</span> Until then...</b><br />
<br />
<b>* I don't usually comment on the quality of television commercials,</b> but ten months have gone by and I'm still laughing. The Heineken spot below is fantastic, because it illustrates in a dynamic and humorous way -- the different values men and women place on material things. The commercial is entirely in Dutch (except for the end logo) and has aired unaltered on American television -- and is often seen on ESPN and during sporting events.<br />
<br />
<b>* Since its original debut in late 2008, its viral version on You Tube</b> has been viewed nearly 3 million times. It has spawned two "sequels" by Heineken itself -- as well as a number of "knock-offs."<br />
<br />
<b>* A simple English translation of what the woman in the black dress</b> says to her girlfriends touring her new home is: "Now this is the living room....and over here is the bedroom....(pause)...with...."<br />
<br />
<b>And everyone starts screaming.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>* Does it make people buy more beer? </b>I can't say because I'm biased. I've been in love with the Heineken brand since our first visit to Amsterdam many years ago. But in my view, this is already one of the funniest beer commercials of all time. (To be fair, if this commercial was "flipped," it could show men's unending fascination with gadgets and power tools.)<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
<b>(Original material © 2009-2012 by David Kusumoto Communications.)</b><br />
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</script>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-39199819443390791802011-04-08T19:02:00.000-07:002019-09-11T15:20:33.793-07:00** BREAKING / EXCLUSIVE - Pat Brown Promoted to Chief Weather Anchor at KGTV 10 (ABC - San Diego).<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<center><a href="https://www.10news.com/kgtv/21546033/detail.html"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/1962/IyyiO1.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* "How's It Going to End?" has learned <a href="https://davidkusumoto.blogspot.com/2009/11/update-breaking-exclusive-pat-brown.html">that nearly 18 months after her return to San Diego television news</a> - Pat Brown has been promoted to chief weather anchor at KGTV Channel 10 (ABC) in San Diego.</b> Although terms were not disclosed, she has signed a multi-year contract and will assume her new post on Monday, April 25, 2011. <br />
<br />
<b>* "I'm just jazzed to be back on the air on a regular basis on one of the top stations in San Diego,"</b> she said. "There's no place else I'd rather be."<br />
<br />
<b>* According to Jay Maloney, multi-platform marketing director for KGTV,</b> Ms. Brown will return to a weekday schedule, delivering weather reports Monday through Friday during Channel 10's 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. news broadcasts. She replaces Byron Miranda, who had been the station's chief weather anchor since May 28, 2009. <br />
<br />
<b>* Jeff Block, KGTV vice president and general manager,</b> expressed enthusiasm about Ms. Brown's promotion.<br />
<br />
<b>* "We are excited to have one of the most trusted forecasters joining San Diego’s most experienced news team," said Block.</b> "Pat Brown knows and loves San Diego. She understands what it takes to accurately forecast our weather. San Diego trusts Pat Brown to forecast the weather, but she’s also a great person with incredible warmth and personality."<br />
<br />
<b>* The pioneering host of the "P.M. Magazine" show on KFMB (CBS) Channel 8</b> during the 1980s – Ms. Brown, (like KGTV 10's Hal Clement, who also worked at KFMB) - has been a near continuous presence on the landscape of San Diego television. A former state pageant queen from Sheperdstown, West Virginia – Ms. Brown effortlessly re-invented herself into a news reporter and TV personality – before settling into her present incarnation as a weather anchor armed with a consistently sunny disposition.<br />
<br />
<b>* In an ironic twist, the man Ms. Brown replaces – Byron Miranda</b> - will leave KGTV Channel 10 San Diego to join KNBC 4 in Los Angeles. According to a press release issued by Vickie Burns, vice president of news and content for NBC - Mr. Miranda will join KNBC on May 2, 2011, helming that station's weekend weather segments at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. - as well as providing "fill-in" work during the weekdays as necessary.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<center><a href="https://www.10news.com/index.html"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/7338/PFuBEc.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* <a href="https://davidkusumoto.blogspot.com/2009/07/one-month-later-what-does-pat-browns.html">The changes come nearly two years (late June 2009) after a controversial decision by NBC brass to replace Pat Brown at KNSD (NBC San Diego, formerly NBC 7/39)</a></b> - with Fritz Coleman, a meteorologist delivering news about San Diego's weather - from a network studio based in Los Angeles (KNBC Channel 4). The decision was controversial not only because it angered Ms. Brown's fan base, but more significantly, it marked the first time in San Diego television news history that the region's weather forecasts were broadcast to local viewers via satellite from Los Angeles. As one journalist noted to me back in 2009, it was a phenomenon that would never occur between NBC network-owned stations in Philadelphia and New York - two cities comparable in distance from each other as San Diego is to Los Angeles – with distinct cultural and demographic differences that can't be dismissed.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/155/dk8X79.jpg" /></center><br />
<br />
<b>* While it's not yet formally known if Mr. Miranda will now go head-to-head during weekends at KNBC 4 Los Angeles against KGTV 10 in San Diego -</b> it's still widely expected that he'll be delivering San Diego's weather on KNSD NBC San Diego - via satellite from KNBC's studios in Los Angeles (Burbank). <br />
<br />
<b>* Mr. Miranda has logged many stops in his career, working at stations in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago,</b> as well as appearing on CNN and CNN International. Industry sources requesting anonymity pointedly noted that Mr. Miranda's exit comes just before the two-year anniversary of his contract with KGTV Channel 10 - consistent with a long-term desire to return to Los Angeles - even if it means, as it does here, reappearing in a limited role on KNBC Channel 4 - as a stepping stone to "bigger things," i.e., a larger career in news and/or in entertainment - in the nation's second largest media market.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<center><a href="https://www.10news.com/index.html"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/6284/NYlX3V.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* With the impending departure of Oprah Winfrey's talk show as a lead-in for San Diego CBS affiliate KFMB Channel 8's 5 p.m. news broadcast</b> - the race to be #1 at 5 p.m. appears to be wide open in 2011-2012. Industry observers and advertisers are eager to see whether KFMB - minus Oprah's lead-in audience - will be able to hang onto its ratings lead during the 5 p.m. news hour.<br />
<br />
<b>* Meanwhile, KGTV Channel 10 News Director Joel Davis</b> said Pat Brown's return to the station's weekday broadcasts on April 25 will be seamless.<br />
<br />
<b>* "Pat Brown fits right in with Kim (Kimberly Hunt), Steve (Atkinson), Hal (Clement) and the entire 10News team," he said.</b> "Anyone who lives here knows it’s not always 70 degrees and sunny. You want someone who's been here and has the experience to understand San Diego's weather. And that’s Pat Brown."<br />
<br />
<b>* Ms. Brown, who has been doing fill-in work</b> for KGTV (ABC) Channel 10 since November 2009, said she is overjoyed to return to a weekday schedule.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<center><a href="https://www.10news.com/kgtv/21546033/detail.html"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/6276/yiOlk9.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* "I'm never planning to leave San Diego and this is a wonderful opportunity for me to do what I love to do," she said.</b> "I want to continue to re-connect with the fans and viewers who have followed me through the years. I've missed them and I hope they've missed me."<br />
<br />
<b>* This column's last story about Pat Brown</b> - posted on November 4, 2009 - appears below.<br />
<br />
<b>(Original material © 2011 by David Kusumoto Communications.)</b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><b></b></span><br />
<br />
<center><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><b>* * * * *</b></span></center><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;">WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2009</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://davidkusumoto.blogspot.com/2009/11/update-breaking-exclusive-pat-brown.html"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">* BREAKING / EXCLUSIVE – Pat Brown Returns to San Diego Television News.</span></b></a><br />
<br />
<b>* "How's It Going to End?" has learned <a href="https://davidkusumoto.blogspot.com/2009/07/one-month-later-what-does-pat-browns.html">that four months after leaving KNSD (NBC) Channel 7/39</a></b> – long-time San Diego news and weather anchor Pat Brown – has a new weekend gig.<br />
<br />
<b>* She will join ABC-affiliate KGTV Channel 10 as a weather anchor</b> beginning this Sunday, November 8, 2009, at 6pm and at 11pm. She will work Saturdays and Sundays through the end of January, 2010.<br />
<br />
<b>* Pat Brown declined to comment about her status other than to say she is "happy" to be returning to San Diego television.</b><br />
<br />
<b>* However, Joel Davis, news director for KGTV Channel 10</b> – confirmed that Ms. Brown will fill in for weathercaster Kerstin Lindquist, who is on maternity leave.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<center><a href="https://www.10news.com/index.html"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/6284/NYlX3V.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* <a href="https://davidkusumoto.blogspot.com/2009/07/one-month-later-what-does-pat-browns.html">“We’re thrilled that since KNSD (NBC Channel 7/39) has farmed out their weather duties to Los Angeles,</a> that we have the opportunity to bring someone of Pat’s stature and popularity to the 10 News weather team," Davis said.</b> "It reinforces our commitment to bring San Diegans important local weather information – with the best weathercasters and the most advanced technology.” <br />
<br />
<b>* This development means Pat Brown will have worked at all three major network affiliates</b> – KFMB CBS Channel 8, KNSD NBC 7/39 and KGTV ABC Channel 10 – since the late 1980s. Sources say she'll spend her weekdays continuing to serve the community as a tour guide for DayTrippers, a San Diego-based travel firm.<br />
<br />
<b>* My original story, posted on July 27, 2009, appears below.</b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><b></b></span><br />
<br />
<center><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><b>* * * * *</b></span></center><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;">MONDAY, JULY 27, 2009</span><br />
<a href="https://davidkusumoto.blogspot.com/2009/07/one-month-later-what-does-pat-browns.html"><b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">One Month Later -- What does Pat Brown's departure mean for local TV news?</span></b></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/6276/yiOlk9.jpg" /></center><b>* On Friday, June 26, 2009, Pat Brown gave her last weather report</b> on NBC-owned KNSD 39 (Cable Channel 7) in San Diego.<br />
<br />
<b>* The pioneering host of the groundbreaking "P.M. Magazine" show on KFMB Channel 8</b> during the 1980s – Ms. Brown had a near continuous presence on the San Diego television news landscape. The former state pageant queen from Sheperdstown, West Virginia (1977), moved west – and effortlessly re-invented herself into a beauty-with-brains TV personality and news reporter – before settling into her last incarnation as a weather anchor armed with an effervescently sunny on-air disposition. In an industry never known for stability, Ms. Brown's admirers knew her to be just that – a consistently productive and positive force for San Diego television programming – and for the community she continues to serve.<br />
<br />
<b>* The following Monday, Ms. Brown was replaced by Fritz Coleman,</b> a nearly 30-year veteran of the TV wars from KNBC Channel 4 in Los Angeles, one of NBC's flagship-owned stations (alongside WNBC in New York).<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/155/dk8X79.jpg" /></center><br />
<br />
<b>* But that wasn't the headline to some of us.</b> The headline was that the award-winning Mr. Coleman, by all accounts a "nice guy" with broad appeal – <a href="https://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/10/1c10karlam195526-fritz-coleman-ready-report-climat/">is now broadcasting his San Diego weather reports from Los Angeles – on a custom-built set back at KNBC.</a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<left><a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/weather/stories/?type=Article"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/6753/Vo8IKR.jpg" /></a></left></div>
<br />
<b>* Though such "arrangements" aren't new – the move was the first of its kind involving a network-owned news station in San Diego.</b> It illustrates the dire economic health of local television news – with KNSD NBC 39 (in my view) – probably faring the worst, budget wise, among its competitors. Station managers everywhere have been slashing budgets – first dumping behind-the-scenes staff and "superfluous programming" – while saving their biggest (and most visible) cuts for last.<br />
<br />
<b>* Pat Brown's departure wasn't your garden variety "revolving door" personnel change.</b> It was emblematic of something worse that has cast a chill in the rooms and halls of KNSD NBC 39 – and beyond. Wishful-thinking station heads might be blocking out the precedent – and scoffing at satirically minded suggestions that any station that "jobs out" any portion of its local identity to a distant area code – is setting itself up to be wiped out entirely - by a thousand paper cuts afflicted over the next several years. Some TV insiders are quietly saying that "it could've been worse." Well, that's true. Maybe they should be thankful. They believe the tempest surrounding Ms. Brown's departure will "blow over." And likely it will. Fritz Coleman has already won over some skeptics – and I give credit to news director Greg Dawson for trying to manage the ill-smelling winds of anger still blowing after this change.<br />
<br />
<b>* But the bigger picture that's unique to KNSD NBC Channel 39 – has less to do with Pat Brown </b>– <b>and more to do with the station itself being owned by NBC.</b> Ms. Brown's departure raised eyebrows, for sure. But what was more ideologically significant to journalists – was that her departure and subsequent replacement by talent based in Los Angeles - was the first blatant evidence of what's been going on for a long time at network-owned stations in markets smaller than San Diego, e.g., <b>the creeping decentralization of news and weather information – led by network executives who work in distant offices.</b> Thus we have a classic instance whereby it's not always good to be OWNED by a network – and why it's sometimes better to be a network affiliate operating with greater independence.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/838/aBo7u3.jpg" /></div>
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<b>* Since about 2002, TV news stations have been trending toward</b> hiring more versatile reporters and anchors. These so-called "video-journalists" carry their own cameras and edit their own news segments – and sometimes get the privilege to present them live on the anchor desks where their higher-paid colleagues sit. Everyone knows that every "hybrid journalist" invited to the anchor desk to present his or her story – is being "screen tested." Such "hybrids" save big-time dollars for station managers – and equally significant, they can serve as "leverage" when the contracts of highly paid news anchors come up for renewal.<br />
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<b>* On the surface, it appears to some that Pat Brown's "Achilles heel" was not being "versatile" enough.</b> If so, you can count on other anchors at NBC 7/39 to be reviewed similarly for "fitness and compatibility" with the network's finance department. Hence the oft-heard advice during the last few years remains sound, e.g., "if you're still in TV news – the faster you can jump on the "hybrid train" the better – thus avoiding obsolescence and/or getting dragged or tossed behind.<br />
<br />
<b>* Local news anchors draw salaries that are double, triple or even higher</b> than those working behind the scenes. An anchor's "work" is to bring in ratings. So what's that got to do with Pat Brown? Nothing unless you think she was a drag on ratings. I personally don't. It was all about saving money – but in a way more pernicious because the station is owned by a network - that decreed that news about the weather – does NOT require a local person to deliver it, hence can be pared less painfully than other departments.<br />
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<b>* Everyone working in television news sees the handwriting on the wall.</b> But in the past, even when times were good - that handwriting was mostly about being dumped in a budget cut and being replaced by someone cheaper, usually someone younger from a smaller market.<br />
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<b>* But at a network-OWNED station – you have the additional fear of watching</b> departments consolidated or phased out in stages, replaced by talent or crews located hundreds of miles away at other stations bigger than your own. It's analogous to newspapers shedding staff while publishing articles by news syndicates or wire services that are written in other states.<br />
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<br />
<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/8347/fD6vZ9.jpg" /></center><br />
<b>* What's unfortunate is despite the acknowledged downturn in local TV news nationwide</b> - (because web-based news keeps siphoning viewers away) – the band-aid patches applied by network-owned-and-operated "suits" can't stop the bleeding. And watering down a station's local news product – under the aegis of saving money during a recession – also risks washing away the higher purpose of targeting audiences and advertisers in a region that will drift further <b>away</b> from KNSD NBC Channel 39 – and <b>toward </b>competing stations that remain committed to San Diego.<br />
<br />
<b>* It bears repeating that San Diego is the ninth largest city in the U.S. </b>Yet corporate America and NBC keeps treating San Diego as if it's geographically, demographically and politically identical to Los Angeles. I sense that Mr. Dawson knows this to be true, even if he can't say it. Corporate America has always acted as if San Diego is a suburb of Los Angeles – and even believe its WEATHER is the same – despite San Diego's location on a harbor and Los Angeles's location on a smoggy basin. <br />
<br />
<b>* NOTE: Philadelphia is about the same distance to New York (and yet so different in character) - as San Diego is to Los Angeles.</b> But NBC knows that replacing Philly-based weather anchors at WCAU NBC Channel 10 - with their counterparts at WNBC 4 in New York - would be greeted with outrage. Yet network executives continue to have a "blind spot" about San Diego - seeing it as being the same as L.A. - despite the polarizing political and cultural differences that are obvious to viewers in both cities.<br />
<br />
<b>* Pat Brown will re-invent herself like she always has – and will turn up soon because of her strong ties to the community.</b> But in my view, <b>intra-state or interstate consolidations</b> – involving network-owned news stations like KNSD Channel 39 in San Diego – are incompatible with efforts to maintain revenues from local advertisers. Magnify that when you consider NBC's prime-time lineup is weak on every evening except Thursday – and that its sports product is limited to golf, NFL Sunday Night Football and the Olympics.<br />
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<b>* The final irony amid all these words is this. <a href="https://www.nbcsandiego.com/">A visit to KNSD NBC 7/39's website on Monday, July 27, 2009 at 9:45 p.m. Pacific Time – yielded the following banner slogan:</a></b><br />
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<img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/4416/M8kjYw.jpg" /></div>
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<b>* * * * * *</b></div>
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(Original material © 2009-2012 by David Kusumoto Communications.)</div>
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</script>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-51232556921461839362010-12-15T20:19:00.000-08:002019-09-11T15:08:33.042-07:00Why will "Ayn Rand and the World She Made" never go out of print? <b><span style="color: crimson;"><BR>* UPDATED DECEMBER 15, 2010 - (Originally posted on November 29, 2009). Editor's note: The controversial best-selling biography, "</span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ayn-Rand-World-She-Made/dp/1400078938?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">"Ayn Rand and the World She Made</span></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1400078938" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> <span style="color: crimson;">is now out in paperback.</span></b><br />
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<center><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ayn-Rand-World-She-Made/dp/0385513992?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0385513992" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/3581/CDXJTo.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* On October, 27, 2009, publisher Nan A. Talese (an imprint of Random House) released <a href="https://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=94487">Anne C. Heller's</a> new book, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ayn-Rand-World-She-Made/dp/0385513992?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969">"Ayn Rand and the World She Made"</a></i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ayn-Rand-World-She-Made/dp/0385513992?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969"></a></b> – about the life of Russian-American author Ayn Rand (1905-1982) – whose 1957 classic, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Centennial-Ed-HC/dp/0525948929?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0525948929" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><i>"Atlas Shrugged"</i></a> – seems eerily clairvoyant today. <br />
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<br />
<center><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Centennial-Ed-HC/dp/0525948929?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0525948929" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/7569/MrRSmC.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Centennial-Ed-HC/dp/0525948929?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0525948929" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><i>"Atlas Shrugged"</i></a> is a doomsday novel of heroes, villains, love triangles and politics</b> – set against a backdrop of an American economy in collapse, e.g., gifted innovators disappear, industries merge and close, millions of people are thrown out of work – while the federal government tries to help by subsidizing, bailing out and taking over whole industries – issuing "greater good" directives which pushes the United States closer to socialism.<br />
<br />
<b>* Sound familiar?</b> <br />
<br />
<b>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand">So who was Ayn Rand and why is she still relevant today?</a></b><br />
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<br />
<center><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ayn-Rand-World-She-Made/dp/0385513992?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0385513992" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/3581/CDXJTo.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* You don't have to be an Ayn Rand follower to get into <a href="https://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=94487">Anne C. Heller's</a> spectacular new book.</b> You can even be a "cafeteria-fan" like I am - picking and choosing parts of her ideas that are compatible with your own – while still getting tremendous enjoyment reading about what made Rand a larger-than-life figure in American philosophy and literature.<br />
<br />
<br />
<center><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ayn-Rand-World-She-Made/dp/0385513992?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0385513992" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/4156/qqeft0.jpg" /></a></center><b>* In my view, what's most impressive – and what makes <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ayn-Rand-World-She-Made/dp/0385513992?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0385513992" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /><i>"Ayn Rand and the World She Made"</i></a> feel like a book that will never go out of print</b> – is author Heller's even-handed (and easy-to-read) summaries of Rand's complex ideologies about American individualism, capitalism and democracy, along with synopses of ALL of Rand's books and lectures – explained in ways that are sometimes more lucid than Rand's original works, making them more accessible to mainstream readers.<br />
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<br />
<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/8159/OAMnHf.jpg" /></center><br />
<b>* Don't believe what others say.</b> While it's obvious the author is NOT a Ayn Rand disciple - (which she tells readers up-front) – it's ALSO clear that she is NOT a comprehensive hater of Ayn Rand. <a href="https://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=94487">Anne C. Heller's</a> book reads like a journalistic strike down the middle of the plate, with no political agendas or axes to grind.<br />
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<br />
<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/4589/kdgmax.jpg" /></center><br />
<b>* Ayn Rand's published works are brilliantly controversial – but to many readers, they're also riddled with mind-numbingly dense passages that require a level of concentration so intense – that you feel like your head might explode.</b> Heller tackles this problem by simplifying what's impenetrable – while opening a window onto what Rand was like - as a flesh-and-blood person. The author's work has a story-telling momentum that's unusual compared to other biographies – in that her obligatory chapters about Rand's childhood – aren't those that you'll want to "skip over."<br />
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<br />
<center><https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/5636/7Omjxa.jpg" /></center><br />
<b>* With the help of researchers digging through archives in Russia and throughout the United States, <a href="https://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=94487">Anne C. Heller</a> brings Ayn Rand's childhood and adult years excitingly to life – </b>making more clear to mainstream readers why Rand's experiences were critically important to understanding how her ideas against socialism and collectivism were formed – and how she refined them over time. The author further illustrates how Rand integrated these ideas into all of her novels, particularly <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fountainhead-Ayn-Rand/dp/0452273331?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0452273331" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><i>"The Fountainhead" (1943)</i></a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Centennial-Ed-HC/dp/0525948929?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0525948929" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><i>"Atlas Shrugged" (1957) </i></a> – and how she subsequently became world famous – while carrying a torch of stubborn dismissiveness toward her detractors, all the way to her death in 1982.<br />
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<br />
<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/8153/O7IqPk.jpg" /></center><br />
<b>* <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ayn-Rand-World-She-Made/dp/0385513992?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0385513992" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />"Ayn Rand and the World She Made"</a></i> reads more credibly than all previous treatments of Rand's life to date</b> – because author Heller approaches Rand as a critical admirer – and not as a blind-faith fan. Her ability to make Rand's ideas come alive demonstrates her admiration and respect of Rand's intellect. This "closed the sale" for me as a reader – and wipes out criticisms written by some of Rand's followers - who are obsessively parsing every word in Heller's book. Even <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Cliffs-Andrew-Bernstein/dp/0764585568?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0764585568" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><i>Cliffs Notes</i> versions of <i>"Atlas Shrugged"</i></a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fountainhead-Cliffs-Notes-Andrew-Bernstein/dp/0764585584?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0764585584" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><i>"The Fountainhead"</i></a> are somewhat tainted by being written by authors possessing an over-eager zealotry of her ideas. Not once did I feel Heller was presenting Rand - as being anything more than a tremendously intelligent, charismatic and charming figure - who could also be frighteningly eccentric, petty and cruel.<br />
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<center><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Centennial-Ed-HC/dp/0525948929?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0525948929" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/4305/QFPln8.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* Most reviews have been favorable. But while reading a few negative reviews, I detected an undercurrent of resistance to Ms. Heller's work from people, 1)</b> who believe themselves to be more intellectually gifted than Heller to discuss Rand's life and work (hence are perhaps too biased), <b>2)</b> who are horrified that lurid and less-than-flattering material about Rand's life is included (despite being too compelling to be ignored), <b>3)</b> who are upset that they weren't contacted for inclusion – or if they were included – that their testimonies weren't published in full, <b>4)</b> who take issue with the lack of cooperation from the <a href="https://www.aynrand.org/">Ayn Rand Institute</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Peikoff">Leonard Peikoff,</a> Rand's "intellectual heir," or <b>5)</b> who hate Rand so much that they feel any book about her should be treated with contempt.<br />
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<center><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fountainhead-Ayn-Rand/dp/0452273331?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0452273331" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/708/uemafo.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* In my view, these complaints are a by-product of Rand's fans or haters who are dissatisfied with the content and approach of Heller's book.</b> Had the author included comprehensive interviews from peripheral supporters and detractors – <b><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ayn-Rand-World-She-Made/dp/0385513992?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0385513992" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />"Ayn Rand and the World She Made"</a></i></b> would have exceeded the page counts of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Centennial-Ed-HC/dp/0525948929?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0525948929" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><i>"Atlas Shrugged"</i></a><i> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fountainhead-Ayn-Rand/dp/0452273331?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0452273331" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />"The Fountainhead"</a></i> combined. (Yet Heller's book is exhaustively researched, with 151-pages of notes and an index.) The author's positive summations of Rand's complex ideas – mixed with true tales which reflect poorly on her behavior and treatment of others – proves that Heller is neither a Rand follower nor a detractor. This obviously irks rabid fans and haters of Ayn Rand alike.<br />
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<br />
<center><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Centennial-Ed-HC/dp/0525948929?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0525948929" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/7569/MrRSmC.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* The most important figures in Rand's inner circle are included in this book, </b> e.g., those closest to Rand from the late 1930s to the late 1960s, arguably the most critical period of Ayn Rand's adult life. <b>Hence as a reader, it's mildly bizarre to see people dismissing this book because it includes "ex-Rand-followers-who-left-the-fold," which infers their testimony carries no weight today.</b> Nearly ALL the individuals interviewed by Heller – still express joy and sadness – while acknowledging their time with Ms. Rand was the most vigorously enriching and rewarding of their lives.<br />
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<center><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Centennial-Ed-HC/dp/0525948929?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0525948929" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/4497/19phkk.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* Ayn Rand's key journal entries and letters have already been published worldwide and reside in several locations outside of the Ayn Rand Institute.</b> Hence I don't believe there's much left waiting to be discovered that will be earth-shattering. <b> Ms. Heller's success is consolidating Rand's ideas into a marvelously coherent single volume - and finding new, previously untapped sources to construct a more fully formed picture of Rand - that goes beyond what we already know. <br />
</b><br />
<b>* <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Peikoff">Leonard Peikoff's</a> testimony from the <a href="https://www.aynrand.org/">Ayn Rand Institute,</a> while useful had he agreed to cooperate - would have added little that's new – </b>because he himself has already published numerous analyses about Rand's work. Peikoff's contributions to Rand's legacy HAVE been noted by Heller. But in fairness, Peikoff's testimony would have been only relevant, in my view, to those mainstream readers who would've wanted him to ADD to what Ms. Heller has already satisfactorily provided - about Ayn Rand's final months AFTER she stopped making public appearances - before eventually succumbing to cancer. <br />
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<center><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fountainhead-Ayn-Rand/dp/0452273331?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0452273331" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/1696/KJMoMm.jpg" /></a></center><br />
<b>* In sum, this book is NOT aimed at Ayn Rand intellectuals, and this is NOT a criticism.</b> (Though I believe they will still enjoy reading every page.) <b><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ayn-Rand-World-She-Made/dp/0385513992?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0385513992" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />"Ayn Rand and the World She Made"</a></i></b><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ayn-Rand-World-She-Made/dp/0385513992"></a></i> feels aimed at mainstream readers seeking an unbiased, all-in-one-reference of Rand's ideas. I do NOT know <a href="https://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=94487">Anne C. Heller</a> personally, but I believe she has painted a superb image on an enormous canvas – of a controversial genius of titanic and electrifying importance – that will still feel relevant many years from now. If you doubt this, then why are people still talking about Ayn Rand today – nearly 30 years after her death – and more than 50 years after <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Centennial-Ed-HC/dp/0525948929?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0525948929" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><b><i>"Atlas Shrugged?"</i></b></a><br />
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<b>(Original material © 2009-2012 by David Kusumoto Communications.)</b><br />
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<center><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ayn-Rand-World-She-Made/dp/0385513992?ie=UTF8&tag=dkusumoto&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=dkusumoto&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0385513992" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/3581/CDXJTo.jpg" /></a></center><br />
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</script>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-66045404765918479022009-07-27T15:29:00.000-07:002019-09-11T14:51:34.398-07:00One Month Later -- What does Pat Brown's departure mean for local TV news? <br />
<img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/4215/5yrDEh.jpg" /><br />
<br />
<strong>* On Friday, June 26, 2009, Pat Brown gave her last weather report</strong> on NBC-owned KNSD 39 (Cable Channel 7) in San Diego.<br />
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<strong>* The pioneering host of the groundbreaking "P.M. Magazine" show on KFMB Channel 8</strong> during the 1980s – Ms. Brown had a near continuous presence on the San Diego television news landscape. The former state pageant queen from Sheperdstown, West Virginia (1977), moved west – and effortlessly re-invented herself into a beauty-with-brains TV personality and news reporter – before settling into her last incarnation as a weather anchor armed with an effervescently sunny on-air disposition. In an industry never known for stability, Ms. Brown's admirers knew her to be just that – a consistently productive and positive force for San Diego television programming – and for the community she continues to serve.<br />
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<strong>* The following Monday, Ms. Brown was replaced by Fritz Coleman,</strong> a nearly 30-year veteran of the TV wars from KNBC Channel 4 in Los Angeles, one of NBC's flagship-owned stations (alongside WNBC in New York).<br />
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<br />
<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/6699/tLtBtc.jpg" /></center><br />
<strong>* But that wasn't the headline to some of us.</strong> The headline was that the award-winning Mr. Coleman, by all accounts a "nice guy" with broad appeal – <a href="https://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/10/1c10karlam195526-fritz-coleman-ready-report-climat/">is now broadcasting his San Diego weather reports from Los Angeles – on a custom-built set back at KNBC.</a><br />
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<left><a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/weather/stories/?type=Article"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/2953/LdG6fF.jpg" /></a></left><br />
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<strong>* Though such "arrangements" aren't new – the move was the first of its kind involving a network-owned news station in San Diego.</strong> It illustrates the dire economic health of local television news – with KNSD NBC 39 (in my view) – probably faring the worst, budget wise, among its competitors. Station managers everywhere have been slashing budgets – first dumping behind-the-scenes staff and "superfluous programming" – while saving their biggest (and most visible) cuts for last.<br />
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<strong>* Pat Brown's departure wasn't your garden variety "revolving door" personnel change.</strong> It was emblematic of something worse that has cast a chill in the rooms and halls of KNSD NBC 39 – and beyond. Wishful-thinking station heads might be blocking out the precedent – and scoffing at satirically minded suggestions that any station that "jobs out" any portion of its local identity to a distant area code – is setting itself up to be wiped out entirely - by a thousand paper cuts afflicted over the next several years. Some TV insiders are quietly saying that "it could've been worse." Well, that's true. Maybe they should be thankful. They believe the tempest surrounding Ms. Brown's departure will "blow over." And likely it will. Fritz Coleman has already won over some skeptics – and I give credit to news director Greg Dawson for trying to manage the ill-smelling winds of anger still blowing after this change.<br />
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<strong>* But the bigger picture that's unique to KNSD NBC Channel 39 – has less to do with Pat Brown </strong>– <strong>and more to do with the station itself being owned by NBC.</strong> Ms. Brown's departure raised eyebrows, for sure. But what was more ideologically significant to journalists – was that her departure and subsequent replacement by talent based in Los Angeles - was the first blatant evidence of what's been going on for a long time at network-owned stations in markets smaller than San Diego, e.g., <strong>the creeping decentralization of news and weather information – led by network executives who work in distant offices.</strong> Thus we have a classic instance whereby it's not always good to be OWNED by a network – and why it's sometimes better to be a network affiliate operating with greater independence.<br />
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<img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/4925/voHDzF.jpg" /><br />
<br />
<strong>* Since about 2002, TV news stations have been trending toward</strong> hiring more versatile reporters and anchors. These so-called "video-journalists" carry their own cameras and edit their own news segments – and sometimes get the privilege to present them live on the anchor desks where their higher-paid colleagues sit. Everyone knows that every "hybrid journalist" invited to the anchor desk to present his or her story – is being "screen tested." Such "hybrids" save big-time dollars for station managers – and equally significant, they can serve as "leverage" when the contracts of highly paid news anchors come up for renewal.<br />
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<strong>* On the surface, it appears to some that Pat Brown's "Achilles heel" was not being "versatile" enough.</strong> If so, you can count on other anchors at NBC 7/39 to be reviewed similarly for "fitness and compatibility" with the network's finance department. Hence the oft-heard advice during the last few years remains sound, e.g., "if you're still in TV news – the faster you can jump on the "hybrid train" the better – thus avoiding obsolescence and/or getting dragged or tossed behind.<br />
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<strong>* Local news anchors draw salaries that are double, triple or even higher</strong> than those working behind the scenes. An anchor's "work" is to bring in ratings. So what's that got to do with Pat Brown? Nothing unless you think she was a drag on ratings. I personally don't. It was all about saving money – but in a way more pernicious because the station is owned by a network - that decreed that news about the weather – does NOT require a local person to deliver it, hence can be pared less painfully than other departments.<br />
<br />
<strong>* Everyone working in television news sees the handwriting on the wall.</strong> But in the past, even when times were good - that handwriting was mostly about being dumped in a budget cut and being replaced by someone cheaper, usually someone younger from a smaller market.<br />
<br />
<strong>* But at a network-OWNED station – you have the additional fear of watching</strong> departments consolidated or phased out in stages, replaced by talent or crews located hundreds of miles away at other stations bigger than your own. It's analogous to newspapers shedding staff while publishing articles by news syndicates or wire services that are written in other states.<br />
<br />
<p align="center"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/4215/5yrDEh.jpg" /></p><strong>* What's unfortunate is despite the acknowledged downturn in local TV news nationwide</strong> - (because web-based news keeps siphoning viewers away) – the band-aid patches applied by network-owned-and-operated "suits" can't stop the bleeding. And watering down a station's local news product – under the aegis of saving money during a recession – also risks washing away the higher purpose of targeting audiences and advertisers in a region that will drift further <strong>away</strong> from KNSD NBC Channel 39 – and <strong>toward </strong>competing stations that remain committed to San Diego.<br />
<br />
<strong>* It bears repeating that San Diego is the ninth largest city in the U.S. </strong>Yet corporate America and NBC keeps treating San Diego as if it's geographically, demographically and politically identical to Los Angeles. I sense that Mr. Dawson knows this to be true, even if he can't say it. Corporate America has always acted as if San Diego is a suburb of Los Angeles – and even believe its WEATHER is the same – despite San Diego's location on a harbor and Los Angeles's location on a smoggy basin. <br />
<br />
<strong>* NOTE: Philadelphia is about the same distance to New York (and yet so different in character) - as San Diego is to Los Angeles.</strong> But NBC knows that replacing Philly-based weather anchors at WCAU NBC Channel 10 - with their counterparts at WNBC 4 in New York - would be greeted with outrage. Yet network executives continue to have a "blind spot" about San Diego - seeing it as being the same as L.A. - despite the polarizing political and cultural differences that are obvious to viewers in both cities.<br />
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<strong>* Pat Brown will re-invent herself like she always has – and will turn up soon because of her strong ties to the community.</strong> But in my view, <strong>intra-state or interstate consolidations</strong> – involving network-owned news stations like KNSD Channel 39 in San Diego – are incompatible with efforts to maintain revenues from local advertisers. Magnify that when you consider NBC's prime-time lineup is weak on every evening except Thursday – and that its sports product is limited to golf, NFL Sunday Night Football and the Olympics.<br />
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<strong>* The final irony amid all these words is this. <a href="https://www.nbcsandiego.com/">A visit to KNSD NBC 7/39's website on Monday, July 27, 2009 at 9:45 p.m. Pacific Time – yielded the following banner slogan:</strong></a><br />
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<img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/1719/QN1gAm.jpg" /><br />
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<div align="center"><strong>* * * * * *</strong></div><div align="left">(Original material © 2009 by David Kusumoto.)</div><script type="text/javascript">var _sttoolbar = {}</script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://w.sharethis.com/widget/stblogger.js"></script><script type="text/javascript">stBlogger.init("https://w.sharethis.com/button/sharethis.js#publisher=ce3a240a-27c3-494b-8f23-b48577a46cf5&type=blogger&embeds=true&post_services=email%2Cfacebook%2Ctwitter%2Cgbuzz%2Cmyspace%2Cdigg%2Csms%2Cwindows_live%2Cdelicious%2Cstumbleupon%2Creddit%2Cgoogle_bmarks%2Clinkedin%2Cbebo%2Cybuzz%2Cblogger%2Cyahoo_bmarks%2Cmixx%2Ctechnorati%2Cfriendfeed%2Cpropeller%2Cwordpress%2Cnewsvine");</script>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-71298077216609238772009-08-07T15:31:00.000-07:002019-09-11T14:46:35.271-07:00Why is getting published in the New Yorker a career-changing event? <br />
<strong>* The following was written and drawn by Portland, Oregon-based cartoonist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_Wheeler">Shannon Wheeler</a> -- </strong>and appears in the August, 10, 2009 issue of <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/">The New Yorker.</a><br />
<br />
<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/5695/57bzSM.jpg" /><br />
</center><center></center><strong>* No further information is required to get the joke above,</strong> but it's worth noting that many people subscribe to the New Yorker -- just for its cartoons alone. According to figures released by the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), this seemingly "recession-proof" magazine still boasts a weekly circulation of 1.05 million copies.<br />
<br />
<strong>* Shannon Wheeler is better known for his previous efforts, e.g., his alternative comic-strip series,</strong> "Too Much Coffee, Man" (which will soon be re-printed in book format) -- and for his Postage Stamp Funnies in the satirical publication, "The Onion." His cartoon collections have also been published by Dark Horse.<br />
<br />
<strong>* But many believe Mr. Wheeler's career will soon shoot into the stratosphere</strong> -- because the New Yorker Magazine <strong>only began publishing his cartoons this year.</strong><br />
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<strong>* "My age is 'old,'" wrote Mr. Wheeler in an e-mail reply to this column, </strong>"though when I met another New Yorker cartoonist, he recently called me a 'young cartoonist.' I'm 42 -- a very nice 'meaning of life' age to start getting published in the New Yorker."<br />
<br />
<strong>* Nevertheless, getting published in The New Yorker remains a dream achievement</strong> for many budding artists and writers. It's believed to carry an instant stamp of acceptance by higher literary and artistic circles in the United States -- even though there are no guarantees that a creative talent will subsequently achieve long-term commercial success. Still, imagine what it means to an artist to get paid to do what he or she already loves -- with near complete freedom to "color outside the lines."<br />
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<strong>* No matter how agreeable or disagreeable one might feel about</strong> the New Yorker Magazine's politics, its cartoons are univerally admired for their dry wit. From the legendary James Thurber, Peter Arno and Charles Addams -- to today's Roz Chast and Leo Cullum -- the magazine's cartoonists have consistently entertained millions of readers for more than 80 years. (The New Yorker's first issue was published in February 1925. The cartoon below was drawn by Ward Sutton and appeared in the July 21, 2008 issue of the magazine.)<br />
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<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/8355/5MiDJy.jpg" /></center><div align="left">(Original material © 2009 by David Kusumoto.)</div><script type="text/javascript">var _sttoolbar = {}</script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://w.sharethis.com/widget/stblogger.js"></script><script type="text/javascript">stBlogger.init("https://w.sharethis.com/button/sharethis.js#publisher=ce3a240a-27c3-494b-8f23-b48577a46cf5&type=blogger&embeds=true&post_services=email%2Cfacebook%2Ctwitter%2Cgbuzz%2Cmyspace%2Cdigg%2Csms%2Cwindows_live%2Cdelicious%2Cstumbleupon%2Creddit%2Cgoogle_bmarks%2Clinkedin%2Cbebo%2Cybuzz%2Cblogger%2Cyahoo_bmarks%2Cmixx%2Ctechnorati%2Cfriendfeed%2Cpropeller%2Cwordpress%2Cnewsvine");</script>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-59633640063139812152009-09-10T15:24:00.000-07:002019-09-11T14:44:05.109-07:00Why are some dog-loving atheists choking up over a two-minute cartoon? <br />
<center><img src=https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/6165/Ll5UP9.jpg></CENTER><br />
<strong>* On August 4, 2009, <a HREF=https://bit.ly/60dyW>Wendy Francisco,</A></strong> a 54-year-old artist-musician-animal breeder from Del Mar, California (north of San Diego) – who now lives "somewhere in the mountains of Colorado" – uploaded a 1 minute, 58 second music video on You Tube.<br />
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<strong>* Her lyrics are so simple</strong> that a child can understand them. That makes sense. Mrs. Francisco is an editor of children's books.<br />
<br />
<strong>* Her melody is so simple</strong> that it seems mined from an old nursery tune pulled from the public domain. It's not. It's original. Mrs. Francisco learned guitar at age 8, had a record deal by age 24 and has toured the country "and beyond," giving concerts for decades. <br />
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<strong>* Her hand-drawn images are so simple</strong> that they seem almost primitive. But Mrs. Francisco has been a self-taught artist since she was a child. In sum, she's not a novice.<br />
<br />
<center><img src=https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/3301/133HiK.jpg></CENTER><br />
<strong>* But what's NOT so simple</strong> - is explaining the explosion of emotions that have poured forth from hundreds of thousands of people who have seen "GoD and DoG" since its debut on August 4. <br />
<br />
<strong>* I know what some of you are thinking.</strong> Being a secular sort of fellow, I thought the same thing. I told myself, <strong>"I'm not going to watch some sappy tribute about dogs and religion."</strong> A pal forwarded it to me by e-mail and I dismissed it. I don't even own a dog, even though my love for canines is well known. If you've ever owned a dog (or still own one), you know what I mean. They ARE family. <br />
<br />
<strong>* Then another friend forwarded the video.</strong> Full disclosure: I dislike some (not all) "pay it forward" inspirational notes, because some feel like canned chain letters sent by people who let greeting cards carry messages - that they themselves – cannot articulate. <strong>Sincerity doesn't require perfect sentences or phrasing inspired by great poets. All that's required in my book – are words from the heart, fractured, imperfect, incomplete but real.</strong> Nevertheless, I clicked on the video.<br />
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<strong>* In less than two minutes, using a child's grasp of melody, lyrics and images</strong> – <a HREF=https://bit.ly/60dyW>Wendy Francisco</A> builds a case about the relationship between a higher being – and the co-existence of dogs and man. She doesn't cite scripture, she makes no references to Christianity – <strong>and she avoids conventional, confrontational and controversial dogma.</strong><br />
<br />
<center><img src=https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/3199/n3i337.jpg></CENTER><br />
<strong>* In other words, Wendy Francisco delivers a message</strong> with such deceptive simplicity that it appears purposely designed to avoid trouble. She sings softly with an acoustic guitar, amid a montage of scribbled images and stock fonts which push her lyrics forward. She wrote, recorded and animated everything in about three days. She says her work was inspired by her dog, "Caspian." <strong>(See picture above.)</strong> This snow-white creature is described as being "3/4 Great Pyrenees and 1/4 Anatolian Shepherd Cross." Dog breeders will know what that means. I don't, but it doesn't matter. <strong>Nor apparently do you have to believe in a deity - to still be moved – by what Mrs. Francisco has to say.</strong><br />
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<strong>* <a HREF=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eNKUv6tyVo>If you want to watch this video with with a higher quality image, click here.</A></strong> Otherwise, click below.<br />
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<object width="410" height="340"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/5eNKUv6tyVo&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="https://www.youtube.com/v/5eNKUv6tyVo&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="410" height="340"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<strong>* "Religion masks the character of God,"</strong> Francisco says on her website. Perhaps she means this: the ceremonial trappings of organized religion have stripped away the power and emotion associated with being in the presence of a higher being and of all living things. Mrs. Francisco admits she "struggles with modern day religion" because it "limits most people...women in particular."<br />
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<strong>* Ironically, I think it's the "religion" part</strong> that may stall the "mainstream media" from writing lengthy stories about Wendy Francisco, at least not until her view count at You Tube goes over 2 million hits. And I predict it will within the next two months. (As I write this, it's sitting around 860,000 views). While the evangelical press has fully embraced this work (no surprise), I found only two glancing references thus far in news stories on the Web (one in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the other in Atlanta for the Examiner group of newspapers).<br />
<br />
<center><img src=https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/4347/ePRO9Z.jpg></CENTER><br />
<strong>* In my view, Mrs. Francisco has smartly taken a path of least resistance</strong> to get her message across. <strong>Mucking her work up with provocative language and complicated dogma would have stunted the video's reach beyond the church choir.</strong> Take away just ONE of the four elements in her music video: her lyrics, her melody, her calm singing voice or her hand-drawn images – and the power of her work goes from extraordinary to ordinary. Her message is NOT the analytical think piece you're reading now. Just read the comments that have been left behind. Many viewers say they cried or were deeply moved. Believers have expressed their thanks. And I believe many non-believers will acknowledge the video's emotional power, even if their views remain unchanged. <br />
<br />
<strong>* While the video is unlikely to convert atheists</strong> – it does capture their deep appreciation for dogs. <strong><i>I will go further and say it may cause many dog-loving atheists to yearn to believe, that is, to want to believe – (even if it's no more than wishful thinking as from a child) – that a higher being "of some sort" is indeed responsible for putting dogs on Earth</I></strong> – for the express purpose of meeting man's instinctual need for companionship.<br />
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<center><img src=https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/3086/MR02ZQ.jpg></CENTER><br />
<strong>* But this is all mushy stuff. This is NOT the language of atheists.</strong> Atheists tend to be educated. I don't even have to look it up. They just are. Religion may have once worked at some level, perhaps at an early age. Or maybe it never worked at all. <strong>But the video is tantalizing because it conveys an abstract meaning (feelings) – and an appreciation of something beyond the reach of words.</strong> <br />
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<strong>* Most educated people, myself included, get visibly uncomfortable</strong> about things that can't be broken down into parts that can be objectively analyzed. <strong>"An 'A' equals an 'A' and that's that," we say.</strong> So why then, do our tear ducts squeeze a little while we're watching this video? What's that all about? If I knew the answer, I wouldn't be writing this.<br />
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<center><img src=https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/6165/Ll5UP9.jpg></CENTER><br />
(Original material © 2009 by David Kusumoto.)<br />
<script type="text/javascript">var _sttoolbar = {}</script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://w.sharethis.com/widget/stblogger.js"></script><script type="text/javascript">stBlogger.init("https://w.sharethis.com/button/sharethis.js#publisher=ce3a240a-27c3-494b-8f23-b48577a46cf5&type=blogger&embeds=true&post_services=email%2Cfacebook%2Ctwitter%2Cgbuzz%2Cmyspace%2Cdigg%2Csms%2Cwindows_live%2Cdelicious%2Cstumbleupon%2Creddit%2Cgoogle_bmarks%2Clinkedin%2Cbebo%2Cybuzz%2Cblogger%2Cyahoo_bmarks%2Cmixx%2Ctechnorati%2Cfriendfeed%2Cpropeller%2Cwordpress%2Cnewsvine");</script>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-67419480614371751362009-11-04T18:17:00.000-08:002019-09-11T14:37:37.766-07:00** BREAKING / EXCLUSIVE – Pat Brown Returns to San Diego Television News. <br />
<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/4730/Am7Gpn.jpg"/></CENTER><br />
<strong>* "How's It Going to End?" has learned <a HREF=https://davidkusumoto.blogspot.com/2009/07/one-month-later-what-does-pat-browns.html>that four months after leaving KNSD (NBC) Channel 7/39</strong></A> – long-time San Diego news and weather anchor Pat Brown – has a new weekend gig.<br />
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<strong>* She will join ABC-affiliate KGTV Channel 10 as a weather anchor</strong> beginning this Sunday, November 8, 2009, at 6pm and at 11pm. She will work Saturdays and Sundays through the end of January, 2010.<br />
<br />
<strong>* Pat Brown declined to comment about her status other than to say she is "happy" to be returning to San Diego television.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>* However, Joel Davis, news director for KGTV Channel 10</strong> – confirmed that Ms. Brown will fill in for weathercaster Kerstin Lindquist, who is on maternity leave.<br />
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<center><a HREF=https://www.10news.com/index.html><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/3263/z3YLVD.jpg" /></CENTER></A><br />
<strong>* <a HREF=https://davidkusumoto.blogspot.com/2009/07/one-month-later-what-does-pat-browns.html>“We’re thrilled that since KNSD (NBC Channel 7/39) has farmed out their weather duties to Los Angeles,</A> that we have the opportunity to bring someone of Pat’s stature and popularity to the 10 News weather team," Davis said.</strong> "It reinforces our commitment to bring San Diegans important local weather information – with the best weathercasters and the most advanced technology.” <br />
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<strong>* This development means Pat Brown will have worked at all three major network affiliates</strong> – KFMB CBS Channel 8, KNSD NBC 7/39 and KGTV ABC Channel 10 – since the late 1980s. Sources say she'll spend her weekdays continuing to serve the community as a tour guide for DayTrippers, a San Diego-based travel firm.<br />
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<strong>* My original story, posted on July 27, 2009, appears below.</strong><br />
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<span style="color: #000000; font-size: medium;"><strong><center>* * * * *</CENTER></strong></span><span style="color: #000000; font-size: medium;">MONDAY, JULY 27, 2009</span><br />
<a HREF=https://davidkusumoto.blogspot.com/2009/07/one-month-later-what-does-pat-browns.html><strong><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-large;">One Month Later -- What does Pat Brown's departure mean for local TV news?</A></span></strong><br />
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<strong>* On Friday, June 26, 2009, Pat Brown gave her last weather report</strong> on NBC-owned KNSD 39 (Cable Channel 7) in San Diego.<br />
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<strong>* The pioneering host of the groundbreaking "P.M. Magazine" show on KFMB Channel 8</strong> during the 1980s – Ms. Brown had a near continuous presence on the San Diego television news landscape. The former state pageant queen from Sheperdstown, West Virginia (1977), moved west – and effortlessly re-invented herself into a beauty-with-brains TV personality and news reporter – before settling into her last incarnation as a weather anchor armed with an effervescently sunny on-air disposition. In an industry never known for stability, Ms. Brown's admirers knew her to be just that – a consistently productive and positive force for San Diego television programming – and for the community she continues to serve.<br />
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<strong>* The following Monday, Ms. Brown was replaced by Fritz Coleman,</strong> a nearly 30-year veteran of the TV wars from KNBC Channel 4 in Los Angeles, one of NBC's flagship-owned stations (alongside WNBC in New York).<br />
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<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/6699/tLtBtc.jpg" /></center><br />
<strong>* But that wasn't the headline to some of us.</strong> The headline was that the award-winning Mr. Coleman, by all accounts a "nice guy" with broad appeal – <a href="https://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/10/1c10karlam195526-fritz-coleman-ready-report-climat/">is now broadcasting his San Diego weather reports from Los Angeles – on a custom-built set back at KNBC.</a><br />
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<left><a href="https://www.nbclosangeles.com/weather/stories/?type=Article"><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/2953/LdG6fF.jpg" /></a></left><br />
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<strong>* Though such "arrangements" aren't new – the move was the first of its kind involving a network-owned news station in San Diego.</strong> It illustrates the dire economic health of local television news – with KNSD NBC 39 (in my view) – probably faring the worst, budget wise, among its competitors. Station managers everywhere have been slashing budgets – first dumping behind-the-scenes staff and "superfluous programming" – while saving their biggest (and most visible) cuts for last.<br />
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<strong>* Pat Brown's departure wasn't your garden variety "revolving door" personnel change.</strong> It was emblematic of something worse that has cast a chill in the rooms and halls of KNSD NBC 39 – and beyond. Wishful-thinking station heads might be blocking out the precedent – and scoffing at satirically minded suggestions that any station that "jobs out" any portion of its local identity to a distant area code – is setting itself up to be wiped out entirely - by a thousand paper cuts afflicted over the next several years. Some TV insiders are quietly saying that "it could've been worse." Well, that's true. Maybe they should be thankful. They believe the tempest surrounding Ms. Brown's departure will "blow over." And likely it will. Fritz Coleman has already won over some skeptics – and I give credit to news director Greg Dawson for trying to manage the ill-smelling winds of anger still blowing after this change.<br />
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<strong>* But the bigger picture that's unique to KNSD NBC Channel 39 – has less to do with Pat Brown </strong>– <strong>and more to do with the station itself being owned by NBC.</strong> Ms. Brown's departure raised eyebrows, for sure. But what was more ideologically significant to journalists – was that her departure and subsequent replacement by talent based in Los Angeles - was the first blatant evidence of what's been going on for a long time at network-owned stations in markets smaller than San Diego, e.g., <strong>the creeping decentralization of news and weather information – led by network executives who work in distant offices.</strong> Thus we have a classic instance whereby it's not always good to be OWNED by a network – and why it's sometimes better to be a network affiliate operating with greater independence.<br />
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<strong>* Since about 2002, TV news stations have been trending toward</strong> hiring more versatile reporters and anchors. These so-called "video-journalists" carry their own cameras and edit their own news segments – and sometimes get the privilege to present them live on the anchor desks where their higher-paid colleagues sit. Everyone knows that every "hybrid journalist" invited to the anchor desk to present his or her story – is being "screen tested." Such "hybrids" save big-time dollars for station managers – and equally significant, they can serve as "leverage" when the contracts of highly paid news anchors come up for renewal.<br />
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<strong>* On the surface, it appears to some that Pat Brown's "Achilles heel" was not being "versatile" enough.</strong> If so, you can count on other anchors at NBC 7/39 to be reviewed similarly for "fitness and compatibility" with the network's finance department. Hence the oft-heard advice during the last few years remains sound, e.g., "if you're still in TV news – the faster you can jump on the "hybrid train" the better – thus avoiding obsolescence and/or getting dragged or tossed behind.<br />
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<strong>* Local news anchors draw salaries that are double, triple or even higher</strong> than those working behind the scenes. An anchor's "work" is to bring in ratings. So what's that got to do with Pat Brown? Nothing unless you think she was a drag on ratings. I personally don't. It was all about saving money – but in a way more pernicious because the station is owned by a network - that decreed that news about the weather – does NOT require a local person to deliver it, hence can be pared less painfully than other departments.<br />
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<strong>* Everyone working in television news sees the handwriting on the wall.</strong> But in the past, even when times were good - that handwriting was mostly about being dumped in a budget cut and being replaced by someone cheaper, usually someone younger from a smaller market.<br />
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<strong>* But at a network-OWNED station – you have the additional fear of watching</strong> departments consolidated or phased out in stages, replaced by talent or crews located hundreds of miles away at other stations bigger than your own. It's analogous to newspapers shedding staff while publishing articles by news syndicates or wire services that are written in other states.<br />
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<strong>* What's unfortunate is despite the acknowledged downturn in local TV news nationwide</strong> - (because web-based news keeps siphoning viewers away) – the band-aid patches applied by network-owned-and-operated "suits" can't stop the bleeding. And watering down a station's local news product – under the aegis of saving money during a recession – also risks washing away the higher purpose of targeting audiences and advertisers in a region that will drift further <strong>away</strong> from KNSD NBC Channel 39 – and <strong>toward </strong>competing stations that remain committed to San Diego.<br />
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<strong>* It bears repeating that San Diego is the ninth largest city in the U.S. </strong>Yet corporate America and NBC keeps treating San Diego as if it's geographically, demographically and politically identical to Los Angeles. I sense that Mr. Dawson knows this to be true, even if he can't say it. Corporate America has always acted as if San Diego is a suburb of Los Angeles – and even believe its WEATHER is the same – despite San Diego's location on a harbor and Los Angeles's location on a smoggy basin. <br />
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<strong>* NOTE: Philadelphia is about the same distance to New York (and yet so different in character) - as San Diego is to Los Angeles.</strong> But NBC knows that replacing Philly-based weather anchors at WCAU NBC Channel 10 - with their counterparts at WNBC 4 in New York - would be greeted with outrage. Yet network executives continue to have a "blind spot" about San Diego - seeing it as being the same as L.A. - despite the polarizing political and cultural differences that are obvious to viewers in both cities.<br />
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<strong>* Pat Brown will re-invent herself like she always has – and will turn up soon because of her strong ties to the community.</strong> But in my view, <strong>intra-state or interstate consolidations</strong> – involving network-owned news stations like KNSD Channel 39 in San Diego – are incompatible with efforts to maintain revenues from local advertisers. Magnify that when you consider NBC's prime-time lineup is weak on every evening except Thursday – and that its sports product is limited to golf, NFL Sunday Night Football and the Olympics.<br />
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<strong>* The final irony amid all these words is this. <a href="https://www.nbcsandiego.com/">A visit to KNSD NBC 7/39's website on Monday, July 27, 2009 at 9:45 p.m. Pacific Time – yielded the following banner slogan:</strong></a><br />
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<div align="center"><strong>* * * * * *</strong></div><div align="left">(Original material © 2009 by David Kusumoto.)</div><script type="text/javascript">var _sttoolbar = {}</script><script type="text/javascript" src="https://w.sharethis.com/widget/stblogger.js"></script><script type="text/javascript">stBlogger.init("https://w.sharethis.com/button/sharethis.js#publisher=ce3a240a-27c3-494b-8f23-b48577a46cf5&type=blogger&embeds=true&post_services=email%2Cfacebook%2Ctwitter%2Cgbuzz%2Cmyspace%2Cdigg%2Csms%2Cwindows_live%2Cdelicious%2Cstumbleupon%2Creddit%2Cgoogle_bmarks%2Clinkedin%2Cbebo%2Cybuzz%2Cblogger%2Cyahoo_bmarks%2Cmixx%2Ctechnorati%2Cfriendfeed%2Cpropeller%2Cwordpress%2Cnewsvine");</script>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-12840500184235695582010-03-04T18:01:00.000-08:002019-09-11T14:25:31.724-07:00Nearly 7,000,000 Views Later - The Triumphant Return Of The Piano-Playing Elderly Couple.<b>(Story © 2010 by David Kusumoto Communications.)</b><br />
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<b>* On February 24, 2010, a piano-playing elderly couple</b> from the small town of Ankeny, Iowa, north of Des Moines – returned triumphantly to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota – to re-visit the piano that made them world famous – thanks to a video posted almost 18 months earlier on the Internet.<br />
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<b>* This time, television cameras and newspaper photographers were everywhere,</b> including an audience of hundreds – who came to see the "return engagement" of 91-year-old Marlow Cowan and his 85-year-old wife Frances – who unknowingly thrilled millions of people back in September 2008 when their impromptu piano-duet of "Put on Your Ole Gray Bonnet" was captured by cancer patient Sharon Turner of West Virginia – and subsequently posted on You Tube by Turner's daughter Jodi Hume of Baltimore.<br />
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<b>* How did this all begin?</b> The original September 2008 video wasn't "staged." It was an extemporaneous event captured by a patient, a bystander. It was not a promotional stunt designed to make money nor to bring fame to its subject or to its makers. In my view, most people who "stage" a video with hopes it will be watched and spread by millions, fail miserably unless their material is fall-down funny or poignant in an original way.<br />
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<b>* Conversely, a happy accident occurred after the Cowans</b> – who were visiting the Mayo Clinic to enable Mr. Cowan to undergo a comprehensive health exam – discovered a piano in the Gonda building's atrium. What they did next was captured on video by Sharon Turner and posted by Jodi Hume – and it had all the makings of a viral success written over it. The video was funny, engaging and charming. (See original viral posting below.) In my view, had the Cowans been younger, it would not have been as popular. Its appeal had everything to do with their age (they've been married 63 years), their joy while playing – and their "novelty" as performers. In fact, the Mr. and Mrs. Cowan call themselves "The Noveliers" – and they're hardly entertainment rookies.<br />
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<center><b>ORIGINAL VIRAL POSTING, SEPTEMBER 24, 2008</b></center><br />
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<b>* According to reporter Marc Hansen of the <i>Des Moines Register,</i></b> the couple has spent nearly 30 years touring the world, giving lessons and attending recitals, while directing the Des Moines YMCA Boys Chorus and two musical bell-ringing clubs. Some elements of their act are inspired by the late Victor Borge, the classic pianist whose signature was to interrupt performances with jokes, malapropisms and other pranks. Today, the Cowans "touring circuit" consists of "schools, churches, service clubs and retirement homes," which writer Hansen noted, "is interesting, seeing as they're older than most of their audience members."<br />
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<b>* The original September 2008 video was shot</b> at the end of a euphoric day for cancer patient Sharon Turner, who has spent three decades in chronic pain related to several jaw reconstructions. She bit into her first sandwich in 25 years and she and her daughter Jodi Hume were already in a festive mood.<br />
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<b>* "And then we heard the piano and the laughter," </b><a href="https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2009/04/23/a-bite-of-life/">wrote Ms. Hume on the Mayo Clinic's blog site in April 2009.</a> "From the balcony, we could see an older couple sitting side-by-side at the piano playing together and entertaining a host of people. Some were in wheelchairs, others were sitting with canes beside them or standing. Everyone was smiling with all burdens forgotten for the moment. The joy was absolutely indescribable." A video of mother Sharon Turner and daughter Jodi Hume – relating their experiences at the Mayo Clinic – was shot in April 2009 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUeAFUSS5e0">and can be viewed by clicking here.</a><br />
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<b>* Within days after Ms. Hume posted her mother's video</b> – it went viral – and has captured nearly seven million views thus far on You Tube. It has led to scores of news interviews, more concert appearances and an invitation from ABC's <i>"Good Morning America."</i> "They flew us out to New York," Marlow Cowan told the <a href="https://www.startribune.com/local/86080917.html"><i>Minneapolis Star-Tribune. </i></a> "Imagine: Traveling that far just to play the piano."<br />
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<b>* The Cowan's reaction?</b> Happily astounded and dumb-struck. "We had no idea it was going to mushroom like this," Marlow Cowan told the <i>Des Moines Register.</i> Moreover, the Cowans had never heard of You Tube. "We didn't even know what a Web site was," wife Frances added. "We're still not sure."<br />
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<b>* The video interview below was conducted by Lee Aase,</b> manager for Syndications and Social Media for the Mayo Clinic – and<a href="https://social-media-university-global.org/about/"> Chancellor of Social Media University, Global</a> -- in May 2009. <br />
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<center><b>MAYO CLINIC INTERVIEW WITH THE COWANS.</b></center><br />
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<b>THE COWANS (BELOW) REPRISE <br />
"PUT ON YOUR OLE GRAY BONNET."</b></div>
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<b>* Last week, Marlow and Frances Cowan returned to the Mayo Clinic</b> with a full set of numbers, closing with the standing duet that made them famous, "Put on Your Ole Gray Bonnet" (which he jokingly re-named, "She Was Only the Bootlegger's Daughter, But I Love Her Still") whereby at various intervals, the couple swaps places and taps each other's bottoms – just as they were seen in the original 2008 video. (Click below.)<br />
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<b>* In my view, the best compilation video of the Cowan's "return engagement"</b> was captured by <a href="https://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=440665">photographer Jerry Olson of the <i>Rochester Post-Bulletin. </i></a> © 2010, Jerry Olson, <i>Rochester Post-Bulletin</i> (click below).<br />
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<b>* <a href="https://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=440665">According to the <i>Rochester Post-Bulletin, </i></a> at the end of their mini-concert,</b> Marlow Cowan told his audience, "Keep a song in your heart, keep singing and God bless you all." <br />
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<b>* Their reaction to all the fuss?</b> "We think they're crazy!," Frances Cowan told the <i>Post-Bulletin, </i> "because we're nothing special. We just have fun. I guess people just need to have some joy and fun and clean entertainment."<br />
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<b>* Meanwhile, over at You Tube,</b> the Cowan's "return engagement" video has been broken into seven parts by the Mayo Clinic. (Just the first part appears below.) For more information about the Mayo Clinic's support services, <a href="https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/">click here.</a><br />
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<center>==================<br />
<b></b><center><b>RETURN VISIT TO THE MAYO CLINIC <br />
FEBRUARY 24, 2010<br />
PART 1 OF 7 BELOW<br />
(Remaining six parts have been posted at You Tube; <br />
search "Cowan Concert at Mayo Clinic.")</b></center><br />
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<b>(Original material © 2010 by David Kusumoto Communications.)</b><br />
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</script>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-81093000613828464132010-04-11T11:03:00.000-07:002019-09-11T14:10:16.292-07:00One Week Later -- Southern California's Great Easter Earthquake.<div style="text-align: center;">
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<b>* By now, everyone has their own stories about where they were and what they were doing</b> -- during last week's "monster" 7.2 earthquake that began in northeastern Baja California, Mexico -- and rumbled through southern California and Arizona -- shaking hearts and unsecured objects as far north as Santa Barbara. (I'll explain why I put the word, "monster" in quotes in a moment.)<br />
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<b>* Other than my irritation with television stations refusing to "cut-away" from their infomercials</b> -- AND with national news outlets initially focusing on the quake's impact in Los Angeles, as if San Diego is still a surburban "afterthought" (which by the way, New York editors wouldn't dare to attempt if the quake was situated in Philadelphia, roughly the same distance as L.A. is to San Diego) -- I heard very few people expressing thanks about stringent building codes in the United States, which played a big part in minimizing casualties and damage. <br />
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<b>* While heavy damage was reported in El Centro, Calexico, Mexicali</b> -- and throughout the rest of the Imperial Valley located roughly 100 miles east of San Diego -- the loss of life within the region's municipalities was greater than 1 and less than 10, according to conflicting news reports. Quakes of such magnitude and their subsequent tsunamis have killed thousands of people in other regions of the world, even when their epicenters are 150 to 300 miles away. <br />
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<b>* But not here in the U.S. I'm not saying this would hold if last Sunday's quake involved the legendary San Andreas Fault.</b> But a "7.2" is still a "7.2," especially if you're located a mere 100 miles from its epicenter. The post-quake result was a "monster" shaker by every standard measure -- but it turned out to be "merely" one of the "scariest but safest roller coaster rides" in county history. We heard a lot of talk about broken dishes and plate glass windows -- but nothing as traumatic as the evacuations of 500,000 people during the enormous brush fires that hit San Diego county in October 2007. <br />
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<b>* Today's blurb collects two of the scores of videos I inspected about the quake</b> that have been posted throughout the Internet. The first is from <a href="https://bit.ly/bXHar3">Sharon Weaver-Anderholt</a> -- whose home is in Brawley, California, located about 130 miles east of San Diego and 20 miles north of El Centro. Mrs. Anderholt, a retired school administrator in the Imperial Valley, consented to my posting her 59-second video on You Tube, which has thus far has recorded more than 100,000 hits. <b>Click below.</b><br />
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<b>* According to Mrs. Anderholt, "We lost 6-7 inches of water out of our pool.</b> We were really rocking and rolling, slow and easy. It was splashing much higher prior to me filming."<br />
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<b>* The second video was posted yesterday by Arturo Marin and Adam Lazarin.</b> They were filming an Easter party in progress in Calexico, California -- when the shaker hit. This 108-second video is more frightening because the people in it are clearly panicking. <b>Click below.</b><br />
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<b>* We'd all like to think that we'd be cool and calm under pressure.</b> But the video above, which was closer to the quake's epicenter, shows otherwise. Equally frightening is how long it took for people to just fall to the ground and stay out of harm's way. Despite all the lessons we've been taught about what to do when the "big one" hits, I've heard from many people who confess that they did all the wrong things. They just "rode things out" -- or stayed in dangerous areas of their homes -- not even getting close to their doorways. <br />
<br />
<br />
<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img921/8884/7mcAyd.jpg" /></center><br />
<b>* What's unsettling is geologists continue to predict that we're still due</b> for "a big one." Having gone through a shared communal experience, how long will it take before the lessons of the Easter quake of 2010 -- dissipate -- leaving us equally unprepared when the "big one" does hit?<br />
<br />
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<center><img src="https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/7562/7BroFT.jpg" /></center><br />
<b>* I know one writer from the <i>San Diego Union-Tribune</i> who said he felt nothing during the quake.</b> He said he was pulling weeds in his backyard when it happened. Why do I feel sorry for him? I'm not sure, but I think it's because he missed experiencing something great, that is, the full power of something that's beyond man's control.<br />
<br />
<b>Original material © 2010 by David Kusumoto Communications.</b><br />
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</script>PRTodayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17938160445807981796noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038574015131823809.post-28401122678700514982009-05-28T15:24:00.000-07:002012-04-20T22:22:23.439-07:00What a way to get into the Wall Street Journal. <br />
The following is probably the only context whereby a PR-type like myself -- whose signature is to write prolifically while working behind the scenes -- will ever see his name in any publication, let alone the <b>Wall Street Journal.</b> The following was published on Thursday, May 28, 2009, on the Letters Page of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">WSJ</span>:<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #ff6600; font-family: arial;"><b>WALL STREET JOURNAL – OPINION – LETTERS</b></span><br />
<b>Dry the Starting Tear For This Mortgagee</b><br />
<br />
James <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Hagerty's</span> excellent review of Edmund <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Andrews's</span> book "Busted" ("<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124328880454952177.html">Nice House, Big Loan</a>," Bookshelf, May 26) underlines the small window of shelf relevance of titles trying to "cash in" on a recession that's still being referred to in the present tense.<br />
<br />
Mr. Andrews trivializes his woes with the home loan meltdown by setting them against a backdrop of a mildly lurid midlife crisis. Mr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Hagerty</span> correctly notes that, contrary to Mr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Andrews's</span> assertions, most economists and housing analysts did, in fact, buy into generations of accepted thinking about how real-estate markets work, which makes all the more puzzling Mr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Andrews's</span> alternating bouts of inward-directed self-loathing and outward-directed rage. Amid this recession, I want instructive and cautionary insiders' tales, not confessionals.<br />
<br />
<b>David <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Kusumoto</span> </b><br />
<i>San Diego</i><br />
<i></i><br />
(Original material © 2009 by David Kusumoto.)<br />
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