January 2010
63 posts
Stocking cap and similar superpowers →
What I need to do is move with a Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears in my pocket all the time. That’s a possible resolution after Friday night.
I put the disc in my jacket pocket as Meghan handed it…
What we never knew about our classmates →
On the front page of today’s Post, there’s a story, “A drug dealer’s son finds a better way to be Tony Lewis.” The story is a solid, worth-it read and very deserved credit. Tony was a classmate at…
Dreaming of summer →
Around the pool. By the barbecue. At the market. On the boulevard. In the window. Beneath the drugstore margarita machine. Then back home.
Donnie in the morning →
Donnie Simpson has only appeared in this blog once, and I blame not keeping notepads in my car. Following Simpson’s WPGC exit, let’s talk.
Simpson was my favorite DJ, and I was sad to hear him go…
Kind of glad to be in the avalanche of thoughts →
Because if you’re in the avalanche, you must’ve had fun in the snow. “I want to tell you / I feel hung up but I don’t know why / I don’t mind / I could wait forever, I’ve got time / Sometimes I wish…
The red hunting hat →
For half a year now, atop my browser at home, there’s sat this link to an article, “Caulfield Preparatory Brings Us Back to School for Fall.” The story is a New York magazine brief about a pricey…
Top five ways you don't turn on the heat all... →
I have yet to use the heat in my apartment this winter. I fired up the thermostat once, before the great Washington blizzard, and no warm air came out. The way the blizzard came out, the fail didn’t…
Today is best expressed through a bullet mic →
This old-timey man will steal your old-timey... →
At this size, he isn’t so suspicious. But look at the high-res version!
Sports Philanthropy Forum →
Can’t tell you how happy I was to see the USA TODAY/Gannett Sports Philanthropy Forum happen today. I wrote the agenda back in August (“Brain dump for a sports-philanthropy summit agenda”), and it…
Stolen helicopter pizza →
Helicopter directions, as discovered by Monica on the 2 Amys pizzeria site this week: “Please call ahead to make heliport arrangements.”
I said that, given my week, if we wanted to go for pizza by…
This week's story that will both break and make... →
The lede: “Here’s the scouting report on 11-year-old Dayton Webber: No arms. No legs. Huge heart.” Read the story. When you are done reading the story, click through the photo gallery….
The Swell Season covers Springsteen, make my... →
Ranks with the best Bruce covers ever. Our beloved Once kids play the always-a-stunner Drive All Night at Radio City Music Hall, with guesting sax Jake Clemons, nephew of E Street’s Clarence. Story….
'A Thousand Men' →
A good song with which to start the week, from Joe Pug, new to me last week in this best of 2009 list. Full lyrics here and a mp3 here.
Some are the means
Some are the ends
Every good idea kills at…
Working my way through the Hell Burger menu →
Trip #1, October 2008.
“The Burger of Seville (Yes, you’re next. You’re so next!)”
Seared Foie Gras, Sauteed Mushrooms, Bordelaise Sauce, Truffle Oil.
Trip #2, September 2009.
Standard grilled, red…
Welcome, Birmingham News readers →
Kathy Kemp interviewed me this week, and her column ran today.
Will the real Patrick Cooper please stand up?
That noise you hear is the sound of chairs pushing back and scraping the floor. It seems…
'A ruptured fire hydrant of pleasurable... →
Thank you, Lotus. After recent sparks of spring with an Audi, where the engine “brims with futurism, a chamfered, beveled cutting tool of high-speed atmosphere,” Dan Neil publishes a truly inspired…
'Darling, here in my heart' →
Seeing Bruce’s We Shall Overcome on the Haiti telethon, what came to mind was something Jim Musselman had said at the fall’s symposium.
As head of Appleseed Recordings, a tiny label with social…
A Salzburg student, right on the truth →
From my friend Sara’s blog:
These social networking sites became more than distractions from our schoolwork and means to waste time. They became a new way of communication that I had never taken…
Conan: 'Nobody in life….' →
A great final show tonight. The final remarks via EW:
All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in…
What's your favorite part of the 1972 book about... →
Probably: “The toast starts life as ordinary sliced bread. An arm in the toaster picks up the bread and passes it in front of heating elements. When it is toasted, the arm throws you the toast.” Or…
A USA TODAY commercial I don't like as much →
The ‘85 celeb jingle commercial is great. Facebook/Twitter friends have been enjoying the jingle and totebag offer, and I’m glad I posted it.
For balance, the following USA TODAY commercial is not so…
I stand with the man who plays John Denver too... →
The man got a $208.50 citation, but I’ve now ripped Denver’s Greatest Hits to iTunes in his honor. You bet I owned the CD. The money grafs:
After a few minutes, the officer knocked again. This time…
Because everybody gets weary →
I’m run down this week and not in a tired way, so sleep’s harder. But an odd thing I’m finding to help has been thinking of other run-down people. Not people I read about or imaginary people, but…
And Teddy Pendergrass? →
Among recent obituaries, what about Teddy Pendergrass? Traditional obit writing always seems to fall down with great musicians, and the Pendergrass passing is no exception. The ledes have trouble…
Alleyways →
We decided Sweet Dog had to be the translation for the Perro Dolcetto wine. Not a bad name, right? But then Emily got a better glance at the Tabard Inn bar’s chalkboard, and maybe the name was Porro…
It's over in Birmingham: Patrick Cooper loses →
The Birmingham mayoral tallies have run close all night tonight, but William Bell has edged Patrick Cooper by about 3,000 votes.
It was standing room only at Cosmos Sports Bar and Grill in Norwood,…
Drag racing, strong men, brave men, and pasta?... →
We start our review in the Chicago Tribune with an obituary lede.
Jan C. Gabriel died Sunday.
Or as he might say, “Sunday! Sunday!! SUNDAY!!”
The voice of the once ubiquitous radio commercials for…
Needles and pins: Will Patrick Cooper become mayor... →
And what will his win or loss do to my Google ranking? WBRC today:
Monday may have been a holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr., but it did not stop candidates who are running in the special runoff…
MLK's speech to junior high students… and the... →
If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the…
Consideration songs for the month →
On work. Recommended by friend Christine: Crowded House, Weather with You. Consideration: Make changes for the right reasons or don’t win long-term. A new locale can’t make everything better on its…
When today reminds you of last week, and vice... →
With the planned bar somehow closed Sundays, we found a corner at a place in the next block. We grabbed stools in one of the room’s two window boxes, and I kept my coat on. A cab had flown into the…
USA TODAY's 1985 jingle… the video! →
Two years in this space, we talked about the mysterious USA TODAY jingle mentioned in Making of McPaper and tracked down Real Audio.
Today, I’m happy to report video has since made it way to YouTube….
Note to poets: Stop killing yourselves →
When people search on Google for big news, they don’t end up here. The random Web lands here when interest in some small corner of the world meshes with mine. The sporadic audience lands here when it…
Happy steps →
Most of New York magazine’s “50 Steps to Simple Happiness” focuses on mini-workouts and other activities you can do around the Big Apple (a 3 a.m. soak doesn’t sound bad), but some items work…
Morning in the Big Shiny →
Photo from Shashi Bellamkonda, during his recent visit to USA TODAY and Gannett. I cropped a bit to fit the width here. Link via friend Brian.
Katz's first-person account of the Haiti quake →
Amid his reporting yesterday and more stories today, Jonathan filed a first-person story on experiencing the quake and the aftermath. It’s a must-read. Thanks to fellow Daily friend Vivi for posting…
For Patrick Cooper, days to go in Birmingham's... →
I’m still not the Patrick Cooper running for mayor, but I continue to get mail from voters. Their letters keep me interested. As I’ve told them in replies, I’m now more curious about a race in a…
Reporting from the Haiti quake →
Friend Katz, last mentioned here in the blog, is AP’s man in Haiti. When you click on Yahoo’s lead tonight, you are clicking into his story. When you click on any story about Haiti tonight, his…
Nicholas Cage things amuse me, over and over again →
Last week was a plethora. You had Andy Samberg as Cage: And you had the rise of the Nic Cage as Everyone blog: What will this week bring for Cage? I wait and wonder.
Embed codes for poems →
It needn’t be tinder, this juncture of the year,
a cigarette second guessed from car to brush. -Conor O’Callaghan, “January Drought”
“Use quotation marks for the titles of works published within…
Heed no bullhorn when it calls →
Again, internal momentum moves business (but it's... →
Let us take a minute to cross-pollinate for our beloved news industry.
From Nicholas Lemann’s review of the new Harold Evans memoir:
The best passage in the book is an extended set piece about the…
A very special… Blue Moon →
The label? “In Belgium, a Grand Cru is traditionally brewed for special celebrations. This holiday season, there’s definitely something to celebrate: a blue moon on New Year’s Eve. To honor this rare…
Recruited at the supermarket, what happens next? →
Remember the spring? The warmth? The flowers? The time a woman recruited me at the supermarket? As I bought $5 wine, she wanted to talk to me about jobs at a financial company, and your reactions…
The little things with Elvis →
The 75th birthday was yesterday, and you saw experts and fans give favorite songs. I’ve done that enough here in the past, so I wanted to post something different. Andy Kaufman’s impersonations did…
Weekend song: What If I Came Knocking →
Full lyrics. Underrated in the canon of possible, risked, willful, mutual self-destruction, and you have to like a moment with only questions.
What if I came knocking on your front door some…
What the dates made me do, what the bacon told me →
Dates are the foie of fruit. They get close to liquid and stop at flavored butter. So, when a menu says, “Dates wrapped with bacon and stuffed with Stilton blue cheese served with a balsamic glaze,”…
How you take person-on-the-street to the next... →
If you are J. Freedom du Lac of the Post, you give your story strong framing: “In Washington, the story of Gilbert Arenas and his guns is yet another in a long line of sports embarrassments for a…
The Hitler meme comes to Northwestern football →
Via Casey. Subtitle editing here is worthy of our comm school, but as Katz points out, the meme is suppsosed to show Hitler stupid/wrong, instead of so very right. In case you need a game recap, mine…