|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
Blaine made a relatively low-key exit from the Star-Bulletin yesterday
"Kamehameha on Monday. Away we go to a new life," he wrote in an email late in the day.
And here's his final message to the newsroom:
I will miss you, you bunch of maniacs! You guys call ME a nut?? You guys FED me!!! Goaded me on!!! Don't blame me! It's not my fault! =)
The Webmaster's last dayAgain may I say it has been a pleasure and an honor to be allowed to work among you. Mahalo nui for all the kindness and aloha you have shown through the years. And mahalo for your wonderful expressions today.Please, stay in touch. Drop a line occasionally, if only just to say hi. I'd love to hear from you! The email is always on, you know that. zztype@alohatown.com
Kamehameha will not replace the Star-Bulletin. Nothing ever will.
Best of luck and best wishes.
Aloha, a hui hou,
Blaine
The artist formerly known as webmaster@starbulletin.comAnd now to switch gears. An article in the International Herald Tribune adds some additional bite to the note earlier in the week on the U.S. government's preemptory purchase of commercial satellite images:
The Pentagon's motives in buying Ikonos's output could include preventing leaks of politically embarrassing evidence about Afghan civilian casualties or other mishaps in the U.S. military campaign. As noted in the British newspaper, the Guardian, which uncovered the satellite deal, the Pentagon sought the contract with Space Imaging on Oct. 11, the day after the first reports of civilian casualties. The Guardian, a left-leaning daily, said that the Pentagon made the contract retroactive, suggesting that it wanted to cover up evidence of damage caused by bombs that went astray.Finally, Meda was stopped on campus earlier in the week by a woman who said she reads this site regularly. Although not too interested in the media commentary, she checks in for the cats.
So for her, and the other cat fans, here's what greeted us as we prepared to serve up our Friday night dinner. That's Leo (in the background) and Silverman (up front) making their interest in handouts of people food as obvious as possible. I had to evict Leo from my place in order to put my food down on the table, and both the boys followed through with fine performances. For a while, I had to eat with my right hand and push Silverman back from the plate with the left. He persisted after Leo lost interest, and finally had to be shown the door. Of course, it was long after most normal people would have broken. But, hey, they're part of the family. And if they're sitting on the table, we don't have to worry about where they are.
It's webmaster Blaine Fergerstrom's last day at the Star-Bulletin, but he's already done his last edition of the online newspaper he created. That was this past Sunday, when he was responsible for the news, editorial and features sections. Since then he's been burning up accrued vacation.His comment on the transition:
It's amazing. Everywhere in this town I am respected by the readers, the business community, even the guys that we zonked, Kamehameha. Everywhere except in my own company. As S----- would say, "unbelievable"!Yesterday's shocker was the sudden resignation of school superintendent Paul LeMahieu, sending the schools into more chaos and potentially into federal receivership with the appointment of a special master. It's a major meltdown in what is the state's largest bureaucracy. It's going to be interesting to browse back in news coverage and see whether reporters on the education beat sensed how close LeMahieu was to the edge and how willing the board would be to immediately accept his resignation.
I couldn't help choking on the description of a little Thanksgiving goody available from cajungrocer.com.
A Tur-duck-ken is a de-boned chicken that is stuffed inside the cavity of a de-boned duck that is then stuffed inside the cavity of a de-boned turkey. The Tur-duc-ken is also stuffed with either cornbread dressing or Cajun seafood jambalaya to be used as a side dish.Comes ready to cook, easy to prepare, turns every cook into a gourmet chef!! Requires 5 hours of slow cooking. 16 lbs. Serves 15 to 20.
Only $105 delivered to your kitchen door.
At first I thought it was a joke. No such luck. Now how in the world did something come up with this idea?
So what do you write when you've been sick and haven't done anything, talked to anyone, or heard anything new? Yesterday I made it worse by taking an unknown decongestant leftover from some previous trek through Long's that has been lurking in a closet for years. After ingesting that, my brain turned to cotton candy and it was difficult to do anything else except sleep.By this morning, I felt good enough to check out the hate mail in reaction to my recent Honolulu Weekly article. They've posted the letters online at the Weekly's site (see the Politics section in the list of Weekly features). It's a strange feeling to get labeled "Lind Laden". But I've had so many sincerely appreciative comments over the last few weeks, including another telephone message yesterday, that I understand that while I'm getting skewered in public, the published letters are skewed.
I'm hoping to start feeling human again today. We'll see.
Today's entry is abbreviated due to a code. At least, phonetically, that's what it sounds like when I try to describe my condition. I've got a code. Congestion, fever, etc. I don't think it was anything that came in the mail. I think it was a result of last week's doctor's visit. After all, that waiting room was full of sick people. It should have been a clue for an experienced investigator.
I stayed home yesterday. Silverman jumped up on the dining table about 8:30 a.m. and didn't move (except to roll from one side to the other) until Meda came home at the end of the day. Leo crashed on the counter. Kili on top of the computer. Miki in on our bed. Wally on the deck. Lizzie and Harry? Not sure, although they appeared from time to time. Cats know how to rest. It was an inspiration.
Click on photo to see
Monday's rainbow.Two items caught my eye this morning. First, another afternoon newspaper bites the dust. The Atlanta Journal is being folded into its morning partner, the Atlanta Constitution, with morning only delivery. The paper cites declining afternoon circulation, especially during the last 2 years. Thanks to Jim Romenesko's MediaNews for the link.
And the U.S. government, apparently in an attempt to block the public from obtaining details of our attacks on Afghanistan, has purchased exclusive rights to commercial satellite images of the region from Denver-based Space Imaging Inc. The Chicago Tribune has the write-up. The move avoids what might otherwise have been a controversial foray into censorship. This, apparently, is not censorship. It's business. Right.
More on the Advertiser's reorganization. It now appears to be a shift in the balance away from features and light stuff over to hard news. Their features section is being cut back, apparently with several positions being shifted elsewhere, while business, government, and city reporting will be boosted. It could be viewed as a competitive move to further differentiate the Advertiser from the Star-Bulletin, which has been rushing in the opposite direction towards the soft side of the news, reflecting the background of owner David Black in community weeklies.Could we now see a race back towards hard news by both papers? We can always hope, but it doesn't seem likely. That could change, though, if the public responds favorably.
Footnote on media history. Brill's Content magazine folded this week without ever paying for the photo of mine used in their story on the Star-Bulletin published earlier this year. They'd promised $100. Received--zip.
And an alert reader spotted another milestone in new speak:
Reuters story about the bomb that went astray and wiped out as many as 200 civilians 38 miles from Jalalabad quotes Navy officer. The quote unveils a brand new U.S. military euphemism:An officer aboard the USS Carl Vinson, from which many of the planes that are bombing Afghanistan have been launched, said the 2,000-pound bomb that went astray would cause ''a significant emotional event for anyone within a square mile.''
I'm battling a cold, picked up at the end of last week, just in time to wreck much of the weekend. By yesterday I was learning the fun of phlegm, the Synchronicity of snot. But out here in dengue country, I'm thankful that it's just a common cold.
It's mid-October, so I shouldn't be surprised by the appearance of Halloween paraphernalia, even here in Kaaawa.
But this year, the mixed symbols of patriotism and goblins add a special dimension. This house is just a couple of blocks away, and I grabbed the photo when we walked past yesterday morning.
And don't miss the updated photo gallery and morning dogs. Just click on the appropriate banners at the top of the page.
Click photo for larger versionHere's a challenging web site which shakes up our perceptions of recent events. The authors obviously have their own bias, but the images are astounding.
Yesterday's Star-Bulletin included a US Postal Service Statement of Ownership dated October 1, but it won't clear up any of the questions raised by Gannett during the recent war of words over circulation.First, paid daily circulation is put at 66,396, essentially unchanged since March 31, the date of the last circulation audit. But then things get sticky. Saturday sales are estimated to exceed both daily and Sunday sales, suggesting that the Sat/Sun columns were accidentally switched. Even if read that way, however, paid Sunday circulation of 73,043 in the latest period would be way below the 85,072 claimed earlier for the April-June quarter, at least according to published reports of figures being distributed by Star-Bulletin sales execs.
The number of free copies distributed has been cut to 7,800 from 13,643 daily and Saturday and 21.225 on Sunday, with many of these apparently converted to paid subscriptions, yesterday's statement indicates.
And just who owns the Star-Bulletin? According to this statement, the newspaper is owned by Sound Publishing Holdings Inc., a Washington State company. But Sound Publishing Holdings isn't registered to do business in Hawaii, according to state records, and the Star-Bulletin normally states that it is published by Oahu Publications Inc. Perhaps the form was improperly filled out, and they mean to say that Sound Publishing Holdings is the only holder of more than 1% of the stock of Oahu Publications, since such stockholders are required to be disclosed.
I'm sure we'll hear more about this, at least from Gannett.
Another sign of the times. It was likely just a coincidence, but since we've all been advised to be alert for suspicious circumstances, it deserves a note in passing. When I stopped into my office in town Friday, I noticed the phone was out. So I put a service call in to Verizon. So far so good. A couple of hours later I received a call on my cell phone from the Verizon tech.
"I checked at the central office, and somebody cut your wires," he said. "I reconnected, and it should be working now."
Did someone take offense at the opinions I expressed in the Honolulu Weekly and give a little snip? I'll never know, and it probably doesn't matter anyway, but the possibility continues to bother me.
I expect to have new photos posted by the end of the day. Here's a teaser, Ms. Lizzie in a new spot she's occupied for the past couple of days.
But check back later today for a Photo Gallery update (done!), as well as another round of Morning Dogs (finally done).
Search this site,
courtesy of the folks at Atomz.com
\*/.
