Geoff Fox: My Permanent Record
Back when I was in school teachers would always scare me with stories of how my exploits would end up in my permanent record. I believe this is it! – Geoff Fox
I think this Live at Five intro best exemplifies who Don Pardo was and why he was so damned cool.
Word has just come down, Don Pardo has passed away. He was the announcer on Saturday Night Live since day one.
I’ve known his voice and face since I was a little kid. He worked on the NBC network and also Channel 4. In the fifties and sixties he was on my TV all the time.
I think this Live at Five intro best exemplifies who Don Pardo was and why he was so damned cool.
End of an era. Last of the staff announcers. Gone.
It was a shock it happened now. It wasn’t a shock it happened. Robin Williams adult life has been a public struggle.
Stef called this afternoon. Had I heard about Robin Williams? He killed himself.
It was a shock it happened now. It wasn’t a shock it happened. Robin Williams adult life has been a public struggle.
It seems awful his massive success couldn’t also bring happiness. Even more sadly, was the deranged quirkiness we watched just another symptom of his depression?
I remember when he came up on Mork and Mindy. Instant iconic star! The buzz moved quickly, especially considering the pre-Internet world.
Gary Marshall, maybe the most under appreciated comedic genius of our time, cast Williams as a lead. It was his first pro job! Here’s the story of how it happened. Somehow, it’s only been viewed around 400 times until now.
There are a half dozen websites I visit every day–often multiple times a day.
Huffington Post– My go-to news source. I’m not proud to say that.
HuffPo represents so much that’s wrong with journalism. There are click bait headlines and lots of stories based on other people’s reporting (it’s gotten better with time). Often HuffPo’s treatment of a story instigates me to go elsewhere for details.
The far left column is opinion from bloggers and celebs. I never click there.
The center column is curated¹ news. Pretty decent lineup. Huffington now has pretty good writing, plus wire service and affiliate access.
The right column is tabloid. There is at least one salacious link to some young hottie “rocking her bikini.” I click those every time. Mission accomplished, Arianna.
Huffington Post has attempted to create an online video channel with live broadcasts through the day. I’ve gone and been quickly bored. Now the main site reuses clips of the broadcasts always attached to buzzfeedish teases.
When I click a HuffPo link and its one of their in-house videos I click away and feel duped! It really ticks me off.
Editorially, HuffPo is left-of-center.
Reddit— A sparse website, Reddit isn’t much more than page-after-page of links. Its power is in customization. Reddit is individually configured. My Reddit favors geeky stories connected to my interests.
Reddit uses a system of voting to promote or ditch stories. It seems effective. I’ve seen comments saying the system gets gamed. Not to me.
The front page is constantly turning over. I like that.
Hacker News— Compared to Hacker News, Reddit looks like Tiger Beat!
This is a current Hacker News headline:
“TurboFan” – Experimental new optimizing compiler for Google’s V8 JS engine (groups.google.com)
Hacker News is owned by Y Combinator.
Y Combinator provides seed funding for startups. Seed funding is the earliest stage of venture funding. It pays your expenses while you’re getting started.
There are many people much nerdier than I on this site. Lots of talk of startups and failures.
Mediaite— This is from Dan Abrams.
From TV green rooms to the corridors of the senate to the latest hashtag revolt, Mediaite.com is a trusted source on the intersection of politics and media across the political spectrum.
There’s plenty from CNN, MSNBC, Fox, CNBC and the others to give Mediaite fresh fodder, though there’s not as much updating on the weekend.
Every night Mediaite produces its own copy of Jon Stewart’s first block bit. I see it nearly three hours before I legitimately see Stewart! Why does Comedy Central allow that?
ROMENESKO— This is Jim Romenesko’s blog. A newsie from St. Paul he’s been gossipping journalism for 15 years. It’s inside baseball for sure, but always entertaining and often illuminating.
Most of Romenesko’s daily news comes in the morning. This is another site that gets very quiet on weekends.
Times change. My most read sites today are different from just a few years ago. Gone (to me) are Slashdot, Digg, Drudge and a few others. Awful Announcing, Mashable and Boy Genius Report are on the rise.
I’d like to know your favorites, but please, ONLY ONE PER COMMENT. The automated spam detection software goes after multiple links in comments. Too many and your comment will never see the light of day. Sorry.
¹ – When did ‘curated’ actually become a word? It works here, but this is a word I never heard until four or five years ago.
You’re Japan. You’ve set the bar high with your toilets. You need to step it up.
I would love to visit Tokyo, but NHK makes me worry what Japan is really like.
Recently our cable lineup has expanded with One America News Network, Al Jazeera America, NHK, BBC World News and CCTV. That’s a lot of extra news channels. Each is sparsely watched, but worthy of checking out.
The most obscure is OANN, based in San Diego. It’s straight news 24/7 with a few political talk shows, all to the right of what Fox News considers mainstream.
The news is down the middle but suffers greatly with virtually no staff reporters. OANN relies on video services, which have a high percentage of foreign news and plain vanilla writing.
Most of the OANN anchors are young and virtually zombified on-the-air. Seemingly, they’ve been instructed to add no personality to what is already drab. Tough to watch.
OANN does not run cheesy 800 number TV offer commercials! Instead they’ve produced inspirational videos featuring patriotic scenes and unidentified voiceovers. They’re tracks from broadcasts by Edward R. Murrow, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. Lots of Richard Nixon!
Without a doubt One America News Network spends less on news than any other network.
Al Jazeera America is surprisingly good. Watch for familiar faces, once elsewhere. The coverage is smart and first rate. This is not a happy talk outfit.
Ratings say audiences aren’t buying it. Lots of people won’t watch because of the name or the owners. They start with that handicap.
I haven’t watched enough Israel/Hamas coverage to get a feel for AJA’s slant. Qatar supports Hamas and controls Al Jazeera. Can their broadcast be trusted?
NHK is Japans national network. This is the country with the crazy game shows, TV screens full of blinking fonts and J-Pop. NHK is the opposite. NHK is the cure for insomnia.
Some of NHK’s non-news programs are dubbed in English. The voices are laid back and boring. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.
You’re Japan. You’ve set the bar high with your toilets. You need to step it up.
I would love to visit Tokyo, but NHK makes me worry what Japan is really like.
I don’t even stop to sample NHK anymore. Always disappointing.
We got the BBC months ago. I thought I’d watch it a lot. I don’t.
Their reporters and presenters are great, but I find the production cumbersome and intrusive. The gigantic news set is supposed to be part of the production, but gets in the way more often than not. It’s a distraction.
No one has more reporters than BBC. It makes a difference. I have watched them for breaking news, especially in the late evenings when America’s cable networks think everyone is asleep. Great reporters.
I’m a sporadic viewer.
Finally, CCTV. It is on Channel 3602! CCTV is buried in a block of foreign language channels, specifically a section of Chinese language channels. All the other news stations are in the 1200s. There are no other English channels above 2000.
I discovered CCTV by accident while attempting to thumb through all my channels.
CCTV NEWS is the English language news channel of China Central Television (CCTV), the nation’s largest national broadcasting network.
It’s owned by the Chinese government. CCTV does feature many American and British, non-Chinese, anchors and reporters. That was a surprise.
I haven’t known about this long enough to have an opinion. It’s just weird that China has a TV station on my cable system.
Because of Facebook I’ve heard from lots of friends and viewers in Connecticut. Facebook’s great reminding you of upcoming events. It fails pretty badly when it comes to managing that influx!
Let me back up for a moment. Most people assume their friends stream by on the Facebook timeline. Yes… but!
I stopped using my “Fox on Fox” page because Facebook was only showing my posts to 5-10% of the people who liked me. Some meteorologists and TV stations who steered viewers to Facebook pages now find Watches and Warnings are poorly distributed.
Facebook assigns values to your friendships. If Facebook thinks two people really don’t engage it lowers the frequency they see each other. Overall, it probably works fine. That doesn’t mean it’s great every time. And, since the users are not Facebook’s real customers (advertisers are), our problems aren’t that important.
For my birthday I’ve gotten hundreds of greetings. Counting private messages, wall posts and folks who weren’t allowed to post (Facebook rules), but wished me Happy Birthday in a reply to something else, the total will be north of 500 and south of 1,000 by Sunday. I want to acknowledge each one.
If you think they’d be displayed on my wall one-after-another you’d be wrong. Only the last half dozen or so appear. Beyond that you have to navigate to a page of links. Then you open a page for each in order to reply. Finally, you navigate back to the page of links.
It takes three times longer than it should!
So, I’m working on it. It might take a while. Worth it. I am very appreciative of each one of you who has taken the time to write.
I miss you too.
There will be times as you raise your child you’ll be thinking homicide… justifiable homicide. Daughters can do that to you. And you’ll wonder, will there be a payoff to these years of blood, sweat and tears?
You’re waiting for days like today! We went to visit Stef at work. Yes, we’re proud… and relieved.
Dear Fathers of Daughters,
There will be times as you raise your child you’ll be thinking homicide… justifiable homicide. Daughters can do that to you. And you’ll wonder, will there be a payoff to these years of blood, sweat and tears?
You’re waiting for days like today! We went to visit Stef at work. Yes, we’re proud… and relieved.
Stef is an associate producer on Family Game Night. It’s a kid oriented game show that runs on Hub, the cable network owned by Hasbro.
FGN is produced at Delfino Studios in Sylmar.
“You go past the Adult Superstore,” Stef included, more to describe the neighborhood than provide landmarks for navigating.
Delfino is one of dozens of small studio complexes in the LA area. An impressive control room truck was parked alongside the sound stage. The studio itself was huge and fully staffed in the Hollywood tradition!
I have never been in a studio which looked bigger in person than on-air… until today. Big studio. Big set. Very impressive.
Delfino may be off the-beaten-path but it’s a pro operation with a large pro crew. The show went smoothly¹.
The host is Todd Newton who’s won national Emmys for this show. Deserved. He was effortless. More importantly, he exuded empathy for the contestants. There are hosts who don’t get that part of the job.
The games themselves are larger-than-life for-camera adaptions of classic kids games, like Monopoly, Connect4 and Jenga. We saw plenty of cash dispensed and (after we left) a few cars!
We watched Stef carry her clipboard and walkie across the studio, checking on games and staff. She was in her element.
After we left Helaine and I discussed our 140 mile roundtrip journey.
“She’s like an adult,” Helaine said, “when did that happen?”
¹ – People who work on shows see a more ‘backstage view.’ They know what’s supposed to happen. No show is ever 100% clean to them.
Blown forecasts are the bane of a meteorologist’s existence. Painful! I’d bow my head in shame and speak in a softer than normal shout after a miss.
I’ve apologized for blown forecasts more than once. Everyone knew.
Some of you have personally made sure I understood your anger. Not easy to deal with.
However, I’ve never had Kim Jong-un as my boss¹. In North Korea he’s the last word in everything.
Kim Jong-un says there have been “many incorrect forecasts” because the Hydro-meteorological Service’s methods aren’t “modern or scientific”, state newspaper Rodong Sinmun reports.
Ooh. Bad employee review.
The North Korean leader says weather service staff must “fundamentally improve their work”, because good forecasts are needed to “protect the lives and properties of the people from disasters caused by abnormal climatic phenomenon”
Must I explain how downsizing works in North Korea?
After a bad forecast I’d try not to go out in public too much. Seriously. No one wants to subject themselves to that!
But North Korea. Tough crowd.
¹ – The lovely and talented Ann Nyberg often called his late father, Kim Jung-“Mentally”-Il.
Here’s what’s guaranteed at a Rick Springfield concert. He sings Jessie’s Girl. He plays his guitar with roses brought by adoring fans. He goes into the audience–usually by climbing on the seats and with anxious women grabbing for body parts. He takes off his shirt.
Helaine and I took a short (and exhausting) trip this weekend to Lincoln, CA to see Rick Springfield. He was on the bill with Eddie Money and Loverboy at the Thunder Valley Outdoor Amphitheater.
Lincoln has 43,000 people and a large Indian casino. It’s a happening place. The only downside: it’s 456 miles away!
Helaine has been a fan of Rick’s since his early days in the states. She has seen him lots of times, mostly with Stef.
Stef, now an associate producer on Hub’s “Family Game Night,” was taping this weekend. She was out. I didn’t volunteer. I begged to go!
I’ve also seen Rick in the past. He puts on a killer show with lots of energy. Plus, he’s photographer friendly. His large base of rabid fans stay loyal because he accommodates them.
It was around 100° when we got to Thunder Valley. Both Helaine and I had seen Eddie Money before. We took a pass. Three plus hours in the heat would be too much.
We walked into the venue around 7:30 and headed to our seats — front row center — as Loveboy was getting started. Seriously, I think we had the best two seats in the house.
We met Michael on-the-way. Michael is a large security guard. Though everyone at the concert was shooting pics, my camera and lenses was one step too far. I begged, pleaded and cajoled until I convinced Michael’s boss (also Michael) to walk my business card with a few scribbles on the back to a Rick rep backstage.
My guess is they said, “You know, we don’t really care.” We continued to our seats.
Things had backed up during the previous two acts. Rick hit the stage at 9:05 with a very firm 10:00 PM curfew. The band wasted no time.
You go to a concert to hear songs you know sung by an artist you like. That’s exactly what we got. The only non-Springfield song I remember, Katy Perry’s “Roar.” It adapted perfectly to his style.
Here’s what’s guaranteed at a Rick Springfield concert. He sings Jessie’s Girl. He plays his guitar with roses brought by adoring fans. He goes into the audience–usually by climbing on the seats and with anxious women grabbing for body parts. He takes off his shirt.
Rick Springfield will be 65 this summer. He has the best body I have ever seen on someone 50, much less a guy ready for Medicare!
We left Irvine late Saturday morning. We were home early Sunday afternoon. Whirlwind!
(Clicking any of the images below brings up a slideshow where you’ll see each of the pictures in a much larger view)
Before the switch I listened mostly to NPR talk. Now it’s mostly music… mostly oldies–60s through 00s.
Is this proof a high commercial load drove me from music radio? I think it is. Thirty percent of the hour is stuff I don’t want to hear. I now have options.
My new car has satellite radio. It has AM, FM and weather band too.
Too late. I have moved.
Before the switch I listened mostly to NPR talk. Now it’s mostly music… mostly oldies–60s through 00s.
Is this proof a high commercial load drove me from music radio? I think it is. Thirty percent of the hour is stuff I don’t want to hear. I now have options.
I hear Cousin Brucie on satellite. I’ve listened since I was a teen. I met him while I was in high school. He was a very big deal.
He is currently doing the best work of his career on Sirius/XM. This is the perfect format for him, a guy who was always nice to everybody. The show is built around him, not the reverse.
I’ve also found myself listening to old radio shows. This is way before my time. I enjoy hearing the credits. Some big show biz names used to do network radio dramas.
In those less enlightened times, cops often did things that would be frowned upon today–or so said the scripts. Entrapment and street justice were the rule!
I am disappointed by the fidelity on some channels I listen to. Each is separately compressed to squeeze more content onto the satellite. The cost for that is music that has fewer highs and bass bottom. Some news channels sound like they’re on the phone! I’d sacrifice some choice for higher fi.
Sirius/XM covers network commercials on CNN, FNC, MSNBC, etc. with ‘per inquiry’ ads for dubious products. There are no commercials on the music channels, which is why it doesn’t annoy me to the point of cancelling.
I will renew when my free period ends.
Isn’t Friday when you release news you want forgotten? Then why has Comedy Central chosen today to say who’s replacing Steven Colbert?
NEW YORK, May 9, 2014 – Comedy Central has pulled from the ranks of “The Best F*&#ing News Team Ever!” and today announces the Emmy® Award-winning Larry Wilmore as the host of the #1 brand in comedy’s next great late night franchise. Wilmore will take over the highly-coveted post-“Daily Show” time slot in January 2015 as host of “The Minority Report with Larry Wilmore,” a comedic look at news, current events and pop culture from unique perspectives not typically on display in late night television. The series was created by Jon Stewart and will be produced by Stewart’s Busboy Productions with Stewart and Wilmore serving as Executive Producers.
Much will be made of Wilmore’s race and how this hiring adds diversity to TV. Sure. However Wilmore is the funniest intellectual voice on TV today. He’s the right choice black, white or transparent.
Smart move on Comedy Central’s part. I can’t wait to watch.
Mickey Rooney died this weekend. He was a big deal from my parents generation, one of the last few surviving Hollywood movie stars.
Rooney was a member of a very small club. He could do nearly anything in show business. He sang, he danced, he acted. He played the drums. He did Broadway. He toured. He was a frequent talk show guest in the 60s and 70s.
The more people got to know him, the less starstruck they were. Make no mistake, he was exceptionally talented. He was just more talented than popular. It happens.
Mickey Rooney was best known for the Andy Hardy movies. They made 16.
Andy lived in small town America where everything was tidy and everyone was white. His father was a wise, yet warm, judge.
The Andy Hardy movies were often on daytime TV when I was a kid. These were lighthearted morality plays where the good guy triumphs in the end–always. I watched, but it was no childhood I recognized.
Rooney also did a bunch of successful musicals with Judy Garland. Later in his career he transitioned to character roles.
People were surprised to see he was only 5′ 2″.
He was married eight times. After three or four shouldn’t you understand marriage isn’t for you?
I’m trying to think if anyone’s ever been in the public consciousness longer than Mickey Rooney? Maybe not. He was a star nearly 80 years. That’s an incredible accomplishment.
Even 93 years isn’t enough, is it?
I did something tonight I would guess is a first for California. I walked to attend an event. It was a v/o workout.
I didn’t know what it was either!
I do know I’d like to dip my toe into the v/o pool. This seemed a way of learning more about a side of the business I know little.
Can I get cast? Who knows? It’s exceptionally competitive. So, probably not. But it’s still worth a shot.
Helaine thinks my voice is distinctive. She just can’t explain what makes it distinctive. And to me… well, it’s the only voice I have.
I do know in Connecticut I was more often recognized by sound than face!
There were four men and three women, plus our host, Ann. Everyone took a turn reading. We all listened and discussed. Then advice was passed out.
It was interesting to hear other reads and to hear about mine.
People came from as far as San Diego and Los Angeles for tonight’s session. It was two blocks from here!
Tuesday was an edit day for my project at UC Irvine. It’s a training video for distance learning instructors.
A project like this has three stages: writing, shooting, editing. You try and follow a roadmap, but ideas change, things are fluid.
Editing is where stories are made or lost. It’s critically important, but functionally unknown to most outsiders. Video editors often work alone in windowless closet sized rooms with video monitors and the constant whir of computer fans.
Shaunt Kouyoumdjian, who shot our video, is editing. All the clips are in a server. Sony Vegas is running, mathematically pasting together snippets of video. Shaunt commands an arsenal of electronic wizardry which treats video like Photoshop treats stills! Even for this simple production, some sections have a half dozen simultaneously overlapping layers of video.
Video editing is one of the few computer applications where faster processing power really matters. The calculations necessary to edit HD video are mind boggling, but easily within the reach of modern high end PCs.
We pick it up Thursday morning. I love this stuff. It’s just in my blood.
It’s my understanding the Dodgers just swept a pair from Arizona. Did Vin Scully accompany the teams to Australia? I don’t know. Forty miles from Los Angeles, I’m shut out!
Cable subscribers comprising two thirds of the market are in the same boat.
There’s a money dispute with the new Dodger network. New owners paid lots for the team and broadcast rights. Now they have to recoup.
They probably paid too much. They want me to make it better.
Friday night’s game was on MLB Network. It was blacked out for us even though it wasn’t played locally and there was no other way to see it. That’s a slimeball move.
Once again viewers are caught in the crossfire.
The Weather Channel’s off DirecTV. Some markets have temporarily lost their local network affiliates. It’s a mess.
Lots of people pay for ESPN every month though they have no interest in sports. You’ve got to take the package. Got to!
I can watch some channels and shows on my tablet, but I’m not allowed to plug the table into my TV. One cable! The rights owners say no.
From where I sit the only parties not represented are us, the viewers.
The technology exists for all of us to watch what we want when we want it and on whatever platform we choose. It’s fair to say we want what technology could easily bring today. Why aren’t we getting it?
Established businesses will suffer, but that’s always a risk of business. We are entitled to benefit from technological advances. Instead, deals made out of our sight restrict our access. How are these in the public interest?
There will be an upheaval in what used to be called television. The legacy operators are fighting it, but how long can they prevail?
David Brenner died today. 78. Didn’t look it.
Interesting story. He started in local TV at KYW Philadelphia. He produced filmed documentaries, many fronted by Tom Snyder. David was an Emmy Award winner for his work at 3rd and Market.
I remember him coming up as a comic through the seventies. Carson was in New York then. One shot on the Tonight Show and David Brenner had a career (see video below). The show was that powerful.
My parents, Helaine and I saw David Brenner perform in Las Vegas. Here’s part of what I wrote July 7, 2004.
After dinner, Helaine, my parents and I went to see David Brenner. He’s playing as the ‘house act’ in the David Brenner Theater at the Westin Hotel on Flamingo. The hotel is low key and subdued which is a weird juxtaposition against the small casino which sits in the center of the entry area. In design, it’s tough to have a casino look right without having over-the-top decorations. That doesn’t necessarily mean garish – though garish usually works.
Brenner was great. Helaine and I had seen him before. He’s very bright, very much in control and confident on stage. He worked a solid hour and a half and had the audience every step of the way.
It’s a small theater, and even then it was less than half full. He made a reference about 100 people, which sounded about right. With promotion and good word of mouth, this guy should be packing them in. It’s a shame. I’d see him again in a second.
He stood on stage with a thick deck of file cards. Probably not jokes, but incidents and observations to be included.
I said then, “very much in control.” How many other comedians can make that claim?
As we get older the pace at which those in our lives die, increases. David is among a blur of names from my life that have disappeared recently. That sucks.
David Brenner was a sharp wit and very funny man. I’m glad for the memories.
Brenner’s final request, according to family spokesman Jeff Abraham, was to have $100 in small bills tucked in his sock — “just in case tipping is recommended where I’m going.”