Category: News & Entertainment

What are reporters saying about Iraq

After serving as a journalist in Iraq on 21 different trips, what do you think you would have to say and report?
Tom Bullock reports:

My last view of Baghdad will be of the city by air. I will leave frustrated at that death of that golden era of pizza parlors and barber shops; frustrated with Iraqi’s I’ve talked to who proudly say “we are all brothers,” then take up arms against each other; frustrated with American military and civilian officials who stand up and say everything in Iraq is working, then when they leave write books about how everything in Iraq has failed and its not their fault.
And I’m pained by the number of people I’ve personally known who’ve been killed here: journalists, Iraqis and American soldiers.

This is a must listen. Take a few minutes and listen to what Bullock reports.

Colbert on ‘Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me’

Recently announced presidential candidate, and host of The Colbert Report, Steven Colbert, appeared on NPR’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” this weekend.
His segment of the show starts at 17:56 into the show.
Colbert is running as a Republican and Democrat in South Carolina only.
As always, good stuff.
Colbert says he was “genetically engineered for The Daily Show” and he owned his own suit so he was well fitted for the job.

Baby Jessica, 20 years later

Baby Jessica, aka Jessica McClure, is now 21 years old and raising her son with husband Daniel Morales in Midland.
From the DMN:

There was no fanfare here Tuesday to mark the day in 1987 when 18-month-old Jessica McClure was lifted to safety after falling into the open backyard well.
The young wife and mother is living quietly in this West Texas oil patch city.
“Jessica’s just been a wonderful, wonderful mother,” said her father, Chip McClure. “That’s always been Jessica’s dream, to be a stay-at-home mom.”
In 3 1/2 years, however, her quiet existence might change when all the tributes that were sent to her while the nation waited anxiously for her rescue matures into a payment of $1 million or more.
Many of the sympathetic strangers worldwide who remained glued to television coverage until Jessica was freed from 22 feet below the ground showered the family with teddy bears, homemade gifts, cards and cash.
The cash sits in a trust fund waiting for the 21-year-old to turn 25.

20 years doesn’t seem like that long of a time – but it does make me feel old.

FREE: Moby mix

Moby re-did a mix of his song Porcelain for a gig he had over the weekend and (for a limited time I’m sure) you can download the new mix on his myspace page. Just don’t tell the suits. They might get a little angry.
From Moby’s blog:

oh, before ‘degenerates’ on thursday i realized that i didn’t have any remixes of ‘porcelain’ that i wanted to play(although the extant remixes of ‘porcelain’ are good, they’re just not energetic enough for a big room set), so i quickly made a remix of ‘porcelain’ that worked well at ‘degenerates’.
i’ve posted it on myspace if you want to download it and play it when you dj.
hopefully the man won’t get upset with me for giving away music, but it’s
just a simple little remix.

In related news, I’ve been working on a new show/podcast for OrangeNoiseRadio. I’d love to have a mix of all sorts of stuff but it will probably start out with a mix of house/drum&bass/ambient music. The only downside is that for it to be a legal podcast, the music needs to be copywrite free or under a creative commons license. So it’s taking a little longer to find the music.
If you’ve got any great creative commons music you want to suggest – feel free to drop me a note or a link.
[]Deace

Lost and Found

If you haven’t subscribed to the SoundCorps podcast you’re really missing out.
The stories are so personal and touching and I’m sure they probably mean even more to the family members who get to do the interviews and hear the stories.
This week’s podcast is another great one:

During World War II, the U-S military ran prisoner-of-war camps across the country. Jean Thackeray grew up near one of these camps. She came to StoryCorps to tell her daughter-in-law, Susan, about a POW who came to work on her father’s farm.

Make a run for the border

From the DMN and Steve Blow:

An interesting story in today’s business section says Taco Bell is opening restaurants in Mexico. The menu will be the same as here. But because its version of “Mexican food” is so unrecognizable to Mexicans, it’s being promoted there as American fast food.
That’s rich since the chain advertises here with Spanish guitars and thick Mexican accents to sell how “authentic” it is.
One nice thing: The company’s slogan will work in both countries — “Make a run for the border.”