Category: Molly Ivins

In the News QUESTIONS

I’m recalling that the guy who did the In the News segments on Saturday morning s for CBS died last year. What WAS his name? He had a great voice.

Anyway, an extension of a recent Lefty question.

1. Where do you get the news?
Local newspaper? Yes, I read the Albany Times Union, more for the local stories.
National newspaper? Yes, the Wall Street Journal, even though their editorial policy is obnoxious. I do like the cool sabermetric stuff they have on the Friday sports page, their movie recviews are usually spot on, and I like the wine, small business and and technology columns. I USED to read the NY Times daily; those were the days, he sighed. Someone tortured me by getting me a free NYT last Sunday; still haven’t read the book review or the magazine.
Local TV news? I used to, back when this guy was anchoring. But now, I might get “News in a Minute” from the Time Warner folks, unless some major story has broken, when I’ll usually tuirn to the NBC or ABC affiliate.
National news? ABC in the evenings, ABC and CBS on Sunday morning; the ABC show does a best of the late night comedians segment. Also 60 Minutes, for stories such as Brundibar: How The Nazis Conned The World by using a children’s opera to deceive the International Red Cross, which, frankly, made me weep; and GIs Petition Congress To End Iraq War, which frankly gave me hope – check out The Appeal for Redress website for more information. The Today show on those rare times I watch in the morning.
Radio news? About four minutes worth on NPR at 6 a.m., usually. If I’m in the car, I’ll sometimes catch NPR.
Internet news? I tend to note the pieces on Google or AOL, but don’t tend to read them unless they’re breaking stories, usually a storm (Alabama, Florida), a death (Molly Ivins), or a rampage (Utah mall). Occasionally, I’ll check out the local paper’s website, usually when the weather’s dodgy, and I want to know about school closings.
Internet commentary (e.g., Daily Kos)? Rarely, unless someone sends me a link.
E-mailed news? I get a notice from Hispanic Business, which often has news elements.
Most of the above I do NOT watch in real time.

2. Why do you get, or don’t get, the news?
As a librarian, I’ve found it useful context for future questions. Someone reads about a new tax policy and wants to know the implications for themselves. I COULD look it up when asked, but I have found it easier to answer when I have some idea what they’re talking about. Besides, I have that JEOPARDY!-champion-know-it-all burden to maintain. Everyone assumes I know everything (except about cars, where they KNOW I haven’t a clue).
That said, sometimes, I tune out certain stories: another helicopter going down in Afghanistan or Iraq, or the next car bombing that kills scores of civilians, out of self-preservation.

ROG

Some JEOPARDY! fans have WAY too much time on their hands


I’m skimming the Wall Street Journal when I get to this piece on identity theft. One article talked about an “ego search”, so I did one in Google, as I hadn’t done one in quite a while. I found this blog – actually several times – plus references to the Roger Green who’s the Assemblyman from Brooklyn, but who works in Albany, of course. Then I came to the J! Archive, an incomplete, but detailed description of JEOPARDY! games, as though it were a sporting event, plus a wagering calculator.

And guess whose two games in 1998 were documented thoroughly? No, NOT Linda Zusman; only one of the Albany school teacher’s games are shown. Guess again.

So you get to see all the questions I got right – I did know many of the ones I didn’t get a chance to answer; the ones I got wrong, including the brain freeze from Game 1; and the order in which they were answered. I look back at Game 2, and I read the questions that no one rang in on and say, “Hey, I know THAT!” Well, NOW I know it. Anyway, compare and contrast with my recall here, here, and here. You’ll find the misrecollections I had, especially about the second game, which, strangely, I’ve watched a few fewer times than the first one.

Incidentally, only 51 of the 75 appearances of Ken Jennings are documented so far.

Anyway, I suppose it’s no more obsessive than someone who can calculate what offensive guard could be drafted in the fifth round by the New Jersey Jets.
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Newsmeat, which documents which celebs/sports figures gave money to politicians, how much they gave and to whom.
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Wanna have a radio station?
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An appreciation of Molly Ivins.
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A local event, but interesting-

The voice in My Fair Lady, The King and I, and West Side Story for all those actresses that couldn’t sing:

This coming Sunday is the Marni Nixon Master Class, from 1-4 at Bush Memorial Hall at Russell Sage College.

The price for adults is $20, and for students, $5 with a student ID.

The number to call is 518- 462-4531 x236.

There are eight wonderful young singers who have been chosen to participate with a really interesting mix of music, and it promises to be an enlightening event for both the participants and the observers.

ROG

I Talk Well English

Here’s something that I’ve long found peculiar: people saying to me, to my face, “You don’t sound black.” I know this is going on even when they don’t actually voice it. I’ve talked to folks on the phone, usually for work, and then they meet me and they have that “You’re not at ALL what I expected you to look like” look on their faces. It’s quite entertaining, actually. And I get it from black people as well as with white people, except it’s tinged with, “Oh, you’re a BROTHER” vibe; I’m, to their surprise, part of the fraternity.

First time someone said I didn’t “sound black”, I was deeply offended. OK, first several times. Then I started intellectualizing:
PERSON: You don’t sound black.
ME: Oh, but since I AM black, and this is how I sound, I must sound black.
That always confused them.

Now, I just don’t care. The joy of being of a certain age is that stuff which used to hurt now are just funny. Anyway, I blame my father, who was no friend of what later became known as Ebonics. I talk as I talk, and, in the words of Walter Cronkite, “That’s the way it is.”

Your Linguistic Profile::
55% General American English
35% Yankee
5% Upper Midwestern
0% Dixie
0% Midwestern

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Here’s one of those statistical errors that madden. In reporting on the possible Rudy Guiliani campaign for President this weekend, ABC News’ Geoff Morrell noted that Guiliani was in a “virtual dead heat” with Hillary Clinton (Clinton led 49-47), but that he “beats” Barack Obama, 47-45. Since the margin of error of the survey was plus or minus three points, that race is in a statistical dead heat as well.
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“She tried to warn us: With the publication of Shrub in early 2000, syndicated columnist Molly Ivins detailed George W. Bush’s privileged rise and disastrous reign as governor of Texas in the mid- to late ‘90s.” That’s a great line from the Amazon review of Ms. Ivins‘ follow-up book, Bushwhacked. Unfortunately, Molly Ivins died yesterday of breast cancer at the age of 62.

ROG
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