I Stalk Myself

We’re talking 1970-71. Is there really someone out who knows my career details from 35 plus years ago? Wow!

It’s true, I stalk myself. Google searches for me across the Internet and when it finds a new listing it sends me an email with the link. Thanks Sergey and Larry.

I don’t get that many hits, but every once in a while it’s something juicy. People forget they’re speaking in public. They don’t realize Google reads sparsely traveled boards.

This was posted around a month ago. It was part of a conversation about West Palm Beach radio.

Before that it was WGMW a rock station, co-owned by Tom Kegel (sp) ex of WIRK. He brought over Geoff Fox ex WIRK, WQXT, WMUM and now a TV weatherman in CT. The odd thing was that they had a night time talk show with an older ex-NY radio guy known as Half beard. Apparently in his early days his stunt had been to shave 1/2 his face

We’re talking 1970-71. This guy has just correctly named four stations I worked at. Is there really someone out who knows my career details from 35 plus years ago? Wow!

The guy with the, then, clean shaven face was Mitch Sandler. He had been Professor Half Beard in an earlier incarnation. I don’t remember his air style, except he was older, smart and very liberal. There were a lot of very liberal people back then. Mitch passed away a long time ago.

This was an interesting station. Physically, we had glassed in studios at a failed mall with little traffic in Riviera Beach, Florida. We were automated, meaning tapes and cartridges fired in sequence or by timer. I designed the format and it was impossible to tell we weren’t live. It was a mostly (not totally) dependable system from Shaffer, who served mostly beautiful music stations back then.

To save money, the owners had me do the morning show, but work all-night. Then, they’d forget to saunter in until 9:30 or 10:00 O’clock. Maybe some day I’ll forget that treatment.

Tonight’s other Google tip was for a more recent post by someone who calls himself “TheNews”

“WTNH’s Geoff Fox Out?,” “His bio is off the WTNH site. It would be sad he’s been there since 1984!”

It would, wouldn’t it? This was a screw-up at the station. They redesigned a webpage and left me off. It happens.

“His pic is still on the storm team 8 banner on top. And other graphics. I never really cared for Geoff Fox. At least at Channel 3 when Hilton left they gave him a be party at the end of the newscast and everything,” – Ken.

For those skimming, Ken didn’t care for me. Hilton is Hilton Kaderli, formerly of WFSB in Hartford and an icon in this market. I’m glad to have him as a friend.

I would be lying if I said Ken’s opinion of me doesn’t make me cringe a little. It’s part of my job and I accept it–but grudgingly.

On the other hand, there’s stuff like this from “oldschooltv”

“I think he was on vacation last week (see his blog: geofffox.com). Personally, I like Geoff. Forecasting in Connecticut is not easy with all the various micro-climates we have due to the hills, valleys, inland, shoreline, etc. He knows our area well and has been around for a long time. They’d be crazy to ever get rid of him.”

This is eavesdropping, right?

At the moment, I’m wondering how many of my co-workers and contemporaries do the same thing with Google? I have no clue. I wonder if Hilton will see this?

Reports Of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

Dan Desjardins, from Weather Central in Madison, WI, called me. He was worried, because word was out I’d been fired!

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. -Mark Twain

Though this story starts back in May, I didn’t even know there was a story until yesterday. Dan Desjardins, from Weather Central in Madison, WI, called me. He was worried, because word was out I’d been fired!

A website called tvjobs.com listed me as “on the beach.”

Had they called and asked, or sent an email? No. It’s not like I’m that difficult to find.

I went to see my boss. “Uh, Kirk, have I been fired, but no one’s told me yet,” I asked? He smiled… but it was a good smile.

Truth is, back in the early 70s I received a call from my friend Bob Lacey. He’d heard I’d been fired from my job in Cleveland. Only, it didn’t happen until the next day!

That was a pretty crappy day.

So, how does this happen? In this case tvjobs probably took a shortcut when they saw WTNH’s website change. For some odd reason, my picture disappeared from its page with the other meteorologists.

Our webmaster, Jeff Bailey, said, “Looks to me like it was accidently archived at the end of May.” As big an ego as I have, I don’t look to see my picture on the station’s website. Who knew?

My boss, Kirk Varner, fired off an email.

To whom it may concern at TVJobs.com:

We don’t subscribe to your site, so I can’t verify this personally—but I have it from multiple sources that you are listing WTNH staff meteorologist Geoff Fox as being no longer employed by WTNH (as in “On The Beach”.)

Assuming you are not referring to Mr. Fox’s recreation choices, this information is incorrect and needs to be updated immediately. Mr. Fox is still in the employ of WTNH as he has been in the last 24 years, and a simple check with his employer (that would be me) would have verified this information in less than five minutes.

As I can find no press or internet posting suggesting that Mr. Fox’s employment status has recently changed, perhaps you could also enlighten us as to the source of your information as part of your apology and retraction to both Mr. Fox and this station?

As far as I know, Kirk hasn’t heard back. However, as of today tvjobs requires readers to click through an advisory. Dan, who first brought this to my attention, found this change today. “Now they make you click on a disclaimer about “on the beach” listings before you can look at them. They “clarified” that on-the-beach means the individual has “dropped off the stations web site” And, they’ve changed the text with my photo.

I’ll let you know when my apology arrives. Don’t stay up.

Making News: Savannah Style

This is compelling stuff… well, it’s compelling to me. I’m in TV news. I watched the whole hour without wanting to turn away.

About a week ago, I received an email from Nick Davis. It was unexpected – totally.

Hi Geoff Fox,

Last year it was a pleasure to come upon your blog wile promoting the first season of a reality show my company produces about the goings-on behind the scenes of local news. As I recall, you started out skeptical about Making News: Texas Style – in particular you were annoyed by the station’s almost complete lack of attention to the more serious side of journalism – but you were, I think, (somewhat) won over by the characters by the end of the season.

Well, season two starts Wednesday night on TV Guide Network. I have my own feelings and opinions about Making News: Savannah Style — but would much rather you came to the show fresh. I really would be thrilled to have you check us out again —

All best,

Nick Davis

Executive Producer, “Making News”

He’s right. I wrote a lot about the station Nick’s crew followed in Texas. I really had mixed emotions, because though some of the ‘players’ were interesting, much of what his camera’s saw showed the worst that local TV news is.

I wanted to give it a peek before I wrote about the new show&#185. Again, this is compelling stuff… well, it’s compelling to me. I’m in TV news. I watched the whole hour without wanting to turn away.

As was the case the last time, it’s on TV Guide Channel, sharing the screen with scrolling program listings. Hey, I used to host a science fact show on the SciFi Channel. I understand not everything is a perfect fit.

The newsroom being chronicled is at the low rated ABC/Fox affiliate, WJCL/WTGS, in Savannah, GA. Whether it’s true or not, it’s claimed to be the lowest rated ABC station in America! There’s a distinction.

Savannah’s a market with two other, much more well established stations, both doing news as well. I’m not sure how this one can hope to compete, especially when they’re underfunded and understaffed.

Climbing in the ratings today is more difficult than ever before. Today’s viewing audience is heavily fragmented because of all the choices (TV, cable, computer, etc.) we all have. Simply put, there’s less audience during entertainment programs to promote your news.

I like the news director, Michael Sullivan. I liked him from the get-go. He’s a grown-up who knows stability is key to success. At the same time, he can only pay enough for employees to consider this station a stepping stone.

Reporters, please understand: Viewers don’t want to think they’re being used to advance your career!

A succession of owners has left this station with bad equipment and worse morale. That’s just not good. Unfortunately, by virtue of age and experience, the staff in Savannah does not yet know no station has equipment that always works nor every tool they need. When I filled-in at ABC, live shots died all the time. We just had enough people to hide the problems until they were fixed.

Tonight, I saw some reporters/anchors who ‘get it.’ This is really good news. They understand their obligation as journalists. They seem bright and willing to work.

I’ve also seen at least one reporter who doesn’t get it. He’s the crime reporter, but he’s really all about himself. He doesn’t understand, people are watching his reporting to gain insight, not to help his career.

The series is just beginning. I’m sure I’ll revisit it over the next few weeks. If you’re watching it too, please leave a comment.

Blogger’s addendum: The email from Nick Davis shows how ‘retail’ TV has become. He literally is fighting for every viewer. I give him credit for doing everything he can to promote his show.

&#185 – It’s on cable. Each episode will be repeated – trust me.

The Accident

The car wasn’t going fast or doing anything out of the ordinary when the back end sailed out to the left, the car skidded and then rolled onto its roof.

As part of her internship, Stef had business at my TV station today. I went too.

She was following me this misty morning as we entered the Route 40 connector from Whitney Avenue. The entrance ramp is on the right and you enter a sweeping, climbing, counterclockwise curve. In front of me was a small sedan.

The car wasn’t going fast or doing anything out of the ordinary when the back end sailed out to the left, the car skidded and then rolled onto its roof.

I just got this email from Debra Cumpstone.

You were behind my sister-in-law on the highway when she flipped her car. I just wanted to say thanks for calling it in. She is being checked out in the hospital for an egg on her head. They said she should be fine.

It’s tough to know what to do in a situation like that. I was certain the person in the car was injured… or worse. As I walked toward the car, I dialed 911. I was shaking so much it actually took three tries to put the digits together.

Hi Debra –

Yes, I watched it all unfold in front of me as if it was in slow motion.

If it’s any consolation to you and your family, she dd not seem to be speeding. I was astounded to see her car do what it did. I am not an automotive expert, but I suspect it was her car, and not her, that caused the accident. We’ll probably never know.

I made a conscious decision to call the police before I approached the car. My thought was, whoever was in the car was going to be really injured and the sooner the police/ambulance got there, the better we’d all be. When I called to her, she answered and then popped out. I put my arm around her to hold her close, because I was so scared and so happy.

My 21 year old daughter was in her car following me. As a dad, I’m glad she got this lesson in what to do, and saw this remarkable conclusion.

Please pass along my best to your family and tell your sister-in-law she’s a lucky girl.

All the best,

Geoff Fox

I was not alone in pulling off the road and offering assistance. The three cars immediately following Stef pulled off too. Two people, I think they were tree trimmers, came forward and stayed with the woman in the crash when we left.

Recently, there’s been a news story reported (with gruesome video), of a Hartford man struck by a hit-and-run driver. Though the sidewalk was crowded with people, it was 90 seconds before anyone approached to offer assistance.

It’s not always that way. It wasn’t that way today in Hamden.

Inferiority Is Complex

Often when I watch the evening news on Channel 8, meteorologist Geoff Fox chirps, “Here’s a look at New London.” What we see is a view of the Groton waterfront with the Groton monument looming in the background. Yet the caption reads “New London.” Is that fair?

submarine.jpgThere’s a column from Carol Kimball in this morning’s “The Day” in Southeastern Connecticut. Carol is lamenting the raw deal given to Groton, the town that shares the lower Thames River with New London.

Though normally mentioned first when both names are said together (Groton/New London), mostly Groton gets the short shrift. The home page for the US Navy’s Submarine Base New London says “Welcome to New London.” It’s actually in Groton.

Groton covers more area than New London – 45.2 square miles to New London’s measly 10.76. Groton’s population surpassed New London’s in 1964, and it still leads, 41,336 to 26,174. Yet somehow New London gets all the glory.

Often when I watch the evening news on Channel 8, meteorologist Geoff Fox chirps, “Here’s a look at New London.” What we see is a view of the Groton waterfront with the Groton monument looming in the background. Yet the caption reads “New London.” Is that fair?

Damn you Weatherboy!

Here’s my response, just emailed to The Day’s office… in New London (it is formerly The New London Day).

Dear Carol –

Good grief – I have impugned Groton! As your story points out, if I were hoping to be pummeled for my omission, I’d be much better off picking the town with fewer people to do the pummeling… and, of course, I have not.

The real reason for the New London mention is, it’s the site of our camera. It is tradition to identify cameras by their location, not the location they’re shooting. That’s why we fight the urge to claim we have a camera on the Moon.

Please take heart with the fact that Connecticut’s summertime high temperatures are lowest on the Southeast Shoreline. Yes, it’s true. So, no matter what others may claim, on most days you’re the coolest people in Connecticut!

You probably already knew that.

All the best,

Geoff Fox

I’m trying not to be Benedict Arnold to a town that was once actually attacked by Benedict Arnold.

No Way To Make Friends

I’m a non-partisan complainer here, because all three candidates have heard another candidate’s faux pas and latched on to it. Politics gets defined in the gotcha moment.

Barack Obama has said stupid things.

Hillary Clinton has said stupid things.

John McCain has said stupid things.

Geoff Fox… please… you have no idea how many times I’ve stuck my foot in my mouth in nearly 40 year of radio and television ad libs.

In private, I’ve said stupid things that have offended friends in ways I never meant. Actually, I can think of a horrendous example from two weeks ago. These are words I wanted to reel back in as they were going out.

Ask Helaine. She’s been on the receiving end too.

I didn’t mean what my friend heard on the phone, or the words said to my wife in the car seat next to me. They know that. Why can’t politicians act that way too?

I’m a non-partisan complainer here, because all three candidates have heard another candidate’s faux pas and latched on to it. Why must politics get defined in the gotcha moment.

That’s not the way I want to live my life. I don’t want to be picked on because I’ve briefly screwed up. Take me for the sum and total of who I am.

Some of my friends have been friends for 30-40 years. Yes, it’s accomplishment. But if any of my friends, or my spouse, reacted the way ‘pols’ do, our relationships would be over.

I can’t respect anyone who acts that way. I can’t be alone. Are you candidates listening?

Voting On Super Tuesday

I do not like this system at all. I felt no privacy.

Voting at West Woods School

Originally uploaded by Geoff Fox

I voted in the Super Tuesday primary in the lunchroom of Stef’s old elementary school. This is my second time with the optically scanned paper ballots.

I do not like this system at all. I felt no privacy. I will explain more thoroughly later.

Meanwhile, I have no clue how today’s voting will turn out. If there’s a national trend among the Democrats, I don’t see it.


The Snowy Prize

The subject turned to snow and then a little friendly pool the guys were were having. Each threw in $5, with the winner getting the bundle for predicting the January snowfall at Madison’s Dane County Regional-Truax Field Airport.

I am lucky enough to be friendly with a bunch of the service techs at the company we buy our weather equipment from. They are squirreled away in Madison, WI, figuring out ways to make weather a more compelling story on TV.

Last month I was speaking with Bruce, one of those techs, and the subject turned to snow and then a little friendly pool the guys were were having. Each threw in $5, with the winner getting the bundle for predicting the January snowfall at Madison’s Dane County Regional-Truax Field Airport.

I asked in. I know nothing about winter weather in Wisconsin, except it’s cold, windy and snow filled.

My guess was 16″, which led Bruce to post this.

Thought I would give everyone a quick update on the KMSN January snow pool. Geoff Fox jumped in at the last second with a prediction of 16″. So the revised winning snowfall ranges are as follows…

Pat 4.2″, Brian 7.7″, Chris 8.2″ and John and Bruce both picked 8.7″ and Geoff at 16″

So the breakdown is as follows:

5.9″ or less Pat wins

6.0″ – 7.9″ Brian wins

8.0″ – 8.4″ Chris wins

8.5″ – 12.3″ John & Bruce win

12.4″ and higher Geoff wins

After 13 days, KMSN currently stands at 4.5″

My guess was way too high. It was obvious these other (mostly) meteorologists were more attuned to their local climatology than I was.

I sent Bruce $5 via PayPal and forgot about the whole thing until last night. Curious, I fired off an email with just two words: “How bad?”

Smarty pants…you smoked us…everyone else picked less than 10 inches. We are smarting from that.

We got 23.2 inches…which is was the eighth snowiest January on record. December-January of this year was the second snowiest 2-month period in Madison records…which go back to the 1880s. Since we got hit so hard in December, the thinking was that the odds were against back-2-back snowy months. However, La Ninas—if they have any trend at all–tend to make winters over the upper Midwest a bit more potent…whether that be cold or snow…or both.

In forecasting, as in life, it is much more profitable to be lucky than skilful.

A Brief Status Report

In other related news,, it now looks like the attack on my site produced over 69,000 spam pages! Mind boggling, isn’t it? That’s how many pages Google indexed before I cleaned things up

I guess I’m sort of pleased with how quickly the site has come back together. Movable Type 4.1 is very different, but I’m getting the hang of it. Not being a programmer or web professional, there are a lot of head scratching moments for me. So far, I’ve been able to do just about everything I’ve attempted (except getting the archives to display in proper chronological order).

My friend Peter has a weird text problem, where entries are truncated in such a way as to be unreadable. I haven’t been able to replicate the problem, though I’m sure it’s real.

My friend Wendie isn’t thrilled with the narrower columns, though the prevailing wisdom is, they make a site easier to read.

It looks like I will be staying with this reddish look. Once I built my new masthead with the grunge font, the color scheme was locked in.

I have made some minor tweaks to become more search engine friendly. My quote: 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,” was at the top of every page. It was the except you’d see in search engines.

Now the words are integrated in a graphic, not spelled out in text. The actual page content will now show up in the except. That’s as it should be.

If you have any problems with the site’s operation, suggestions or questions, I’d like to hear from you. You can leave a blog comment or send me an email.

In other related news,, it now looks like the attack on my site produced over 69,000 spam pages! Mind boggling, isn’t it? That’s how many pages Google indexed before I cleaned things up

After a few weeks off their site, Google has resumed indexing me. My traffic is way up – nearly twice normal numbers. Much of that is due to people looking for the pages posted by whoever broke into my system. I guess there’s a market for that stuff.

I’ve posted a robots.txt file, which tells search engines what they should and should not index. Hopefully that will clear away the bogus pages they’re still pointing to.

Blogger’s addendum: Tonight I created a new page, explaining to those who get here by accident, why they’re here. It shows up automatically to anyone who enters a bogus page on this site.

The Forecaster’s Burning Ears

I have my name ‘forward searched.’ If a new entry comes on the Internet, or gets published in a newspaper, and if Google sees it (and they see everything) , they send me an email. I get asked for quotes about the weather all the time and I like to see what people write.

A few minutes ago, Google sent me a link. They’d found a new webpage with my name on it.

The link led to a site where there is an argument going on about me. How absolutely weird&#185. How many other problems must you solve before you get to me on life’s giant to-do list?

The combatants are on a site populated by weather lovers. By and large, these people like active weather and are disappointed when the forecast doesn’t follow. What they do is called ‘wishcasting’.

I think most forecasters overforecast snow. My forecasts tend to be conservative. On a seasonal basis, I would guess I forecast fewer inches of snow than any other meteorologist in Connecticut. No one gets them all. My forecasts are pretty accurate.

The link led directly to a post ridiculing my forecast. I learned a long time ago you don’t do that until AFTER the event.

Did anyone see Geoff Fox’s snowfall forecast. My jaw almost hit the ground when i saw 0-1″ for the shore and 2-3″ well inland with 4-7″ for the northern counties. That microcast is frying his brain or something. Anyone with a half a brain could forecast this storm better than that. Look at this consensus…

Another poster added:

he just went with precision microcast. Didnt even make his own forecast. I guess that leaves you the easy out…”the model was wrong” if you bust.

Followed by the closer:

Geoff fox may be right for THE WRONG REASONS based on the available data its STUPID to forecast what he did. Whoeever said it was based on that POS microcast was right. Thats exactly what he used he didnt forecast at all, use thermal profiles, etc. I refrained from emailing him but its sad. Even Brad Field told me “WOW…hes nuts, i would sell my house if we dont get accumulation on the shore”

This is one of the saddest things ive seen come out of that weather center

Brad is my friend. I’m sure I’ve said worse about him. No foul.

You know, it wasn’t too long ago this stuff would have bothered me. I’m on TV. I understand people will judge me.

Some people did come to my defense. They’ll be receiving something extra for Christmas.

Here’s the payoff:

Well, it look like Geoff Fox’s forecast will verify yet again. YOU are the crazy one. he was right about everything. The sleet mixed in early and i only got 2 inches here in monroe which northern sw ct. Geoff Fox is RIGHT most of the time. he forecasts reality. don’t get me wrong, I LOVE SNOW! but the pattern we are in is not bringing much of it here and Geoff has forecast basically every storm right so far this year. so don’t bash his forecasts till they bust, because in this case, you and everyone else busted.

Ah, sweet revenge.

Truth is, any forecast can be a bust – even one prepared with all due diligence. That’s why I sweat them all out. It’s the most nerve wracking part of my job.

Though one poster accused me of using a single computer model out of the box, I put a lot of thought into what I finally forecast and use a lot of tools in getting there. There are charts and maps and columns of numbers from multiple computer models.

I’m a math geek. I love this stuff.

I am ultimately responsible. It’s my decision… my voice… not some suite of models and simulations. I apologize when wrong. Thankfully, not often enough that the guy who said I’d blame the models would have ever seen me do it.

I’ll tell you a secret. This is real ‘inside baseball’ stuff and I won’t be offended if you’re bored.

My number one job is not accuracy. Please, don’t get me wrong, accuracy is important. If I’m not accurate, people will stop watching. It’s just not number one.

My main goal is to tell a useful and memorable story. I need to leave the audience with an understanding of what will happen. If I’ve done my job right, they will viscerally understand the weather to come.

A forecast is worthless if it can’t be conveyed to the audience in a useful fashion – no matter how accurate

And, in reality, there is no practical difference between 3″ or 5″ or 7″ of snow. They all have virtually the same effect. They are dealt with the very same way. With 3″ or 5″ or 7″ of snow, schools will close, plows will roll, traffic will snarl and nighttime activities will stop.

That’s why using graphics derived from a single model is OK, even when they differ slightly from my ideal forecast. I would rather use an effective tool to connect an idea to the viewer rather than throw it out, especially when its deviation from my thoughts is inconsequential.

&#185 – I’m not going to publish the link and would rather it not be included in comments.

Whizzing For Dollars

I often hit the site DownloadSquad. It’s a good place to find interesting software to acquire.

Today, I found this entry under the title, “Looking for a few good geeks”:

If you’re software obsessed, motivated and, a whiz with english, Download Squad could have a spot for you on our team.

We’re looking for a few new faces to join the Squad. You’ll cover software like a blanket and, get exposure to a huge audience all while tracking down interviews and news from the big names in the business.

I couldn’t resist.

This person… this “whiz with english”… he/she would know English is capitalized and whiz is actually wiz – right?

I’m a frequent reader. Please don’t mistake this comment as a rip on the site. Or, to put it in your terms, I’m not whizzing on you.

Posted at 2:05PM on Nov 7th 2007 by Geoff Fox

I feel better now.

Long Time On The Internet

I am appearing on a panel at Southern Connecticut State University tonight, talking about blogging. What expertise could I have?

Among the subjects I hope they touch on are the permanence of things placed on the Internet. Stay something stupid… do something stupid… it lasts forever. Who can live through that scrutiny?

I needed a good, practical way to demonstrate what I’m talking about, so I searched for my first recorded Internet comment. As it turns out, it was from 15 years ago this coming Sunday.

Comments: Gated by NETN…@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU

Path: sparky!uunet!stanford.edu!bcm!convex!darwin.sura.net!paladin.american.edu!auvm!WCSUB.CTSTATEU.EDU!FOXG

X-Vmsmail-To: SMTP%”INGRAFX%PSUVM.Bit…@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU”

Message-ID: <921111123853.2b436aed@WCSUB.CTSTATEU.EDU>

Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ingrafx

Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 12:38:53 -0500

Sender: “Information Graphics”

From: F…@WCSUB.CTSTATEU.EDU

Subject: RE: examples, please

Lines: 2

Please… more on the UIUC thunderstorm simulations.

Geoff Fox

The message itself was sent on Usenet, a network of discussion groups. Back then it was a large part of the net. Today, it’s a repository for tech discussions and porn… not necessarily in that order.

Pithy, right? It was my response to a previous posting. Obviously, I wasn’t satisfied with the depth of information available.

As unimportant as this posting was, it’s been saved. Today I am glad it wasn’t a flame or curse filled rant. I had no clue it would live on beyond that moment.

Parts of my life aren’t pretty. I went places and did things I’d rather not remember. I’m glad the Internet didn’t start archiving my stuff until I was past 40!

The Problem With Being Quoted

Abe Katz wrote a winter outlook story for yesterday’s New Haven Register. I was one of the ‘experts’ quoted.

Let’s just say my quotes weren’t the ones you’d put in the first paragraph.

What does this mean?

Not a whole lot, said Geoff Fox, meteorologist at WTNH. “I’m a real non-believer in long term forecasts,” he said.

My problem, however, comes with a quote deeper in the article. I’m not sure whether I was misquoted or just didn’t say exactly what I meant.

There are two problems, Fox said: The forecasts are not accurate, and people live day to day, not season to season.

“If someone said it would be 3 degrees below normal for three months, how would that change your life?” Fox said

What I meant to say, or possibly did say, was:

“If someone said it would be 3 degrees below normal for three months, how would that change your life day-to-day?”

Adding day-to-day makes all the difference, because you would notice a season that’s three degrees below normal. That small temperature difference would take marginal rain days and make them snow days. Your heating bill would be significantly higher. You just wouldn’t notice it on any particular day.

It’s a tiny difference in meaning, but a significant one.

Continue reading “The Problem With Being Quoted”

Don’t Let Studio 60 Die, Please

Dear NBC,

Hi, my name is Geoff. I’m not sure you know me. I compete against you in Connecticut.

Over this past TV season, I’ve become hooked on “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” It’s the best show on television.

I know it’s expensive and it’s not pulling the numbers you want, but most viewers wrote it off before it hit its stride. It’s so much better… so much more well defined… so much more compelling now. With a little lot of promotion, it could reach its potential.

Like I said, it’s the best show on television.

I was just watching the episode entitled, “What Kind of Day Has It Been?” I assume it was the last one. All the story lines were tidied up. Nothing was left dangling. In an arc drama, that’s a bad sign.

When Tom found out his brother was alive, I cried. I think my crying pretty much guarantees I’d watch every episode of another season… and I wouldn’t be alone.

TV history is replete with shows that needed time to find an audience. “All in the Family” was #34 its first season on-the-air. “The Odd Couple,” “M*A*S*H” and “Star Trek” also had trouble catching on.

You have the chance to save actual quality television. HBO shouldn’t have a corner on that market. The power is in your hands.

Is quality ever more important than money?

All the best,

Geoff Fox

ps – I don’t really expect you to reinstate the show, but I still feel better asking.

My MLB Beef

I just sent the following to the Major League Baseball site. It was actually longer at first, but there’s a 500 character limit.

I subscribe to the MLB TV. This year you are running a commercial for MLB merchandise at Dick’s every half inning.

The commercial is much louder than the game audio. If I adjust for the game, I get blasted every half inning. If I adjust for the commercial, I can’t hear the game. It isn’t quite as easy as adjusting your car radio.

Please have a little more compassion for those of us who pay to watch the games. This is something under your control.

All the best,

Geoff Fox

I’ll let you know if anything develops.