As quitting time came unusually late for me tonight, here’s a little later version of the QTBS:
– Got an email today from USA Today telling me that they weren’t going to publish my letter to the editor. Seemed strange as I’d never sent them one, so I did the logical thing and just deleted the message. Of course if you’ve ever been part of an email list that got spammed, you know what happened next: No fewer than 80 people wrote back to the entire list saying they hadn’t sent a letter to USA Today and demanded to be taken off of “this list.” Immediately, we got two other spam messages, which evoked similar responses. Then, as a matter of course, half of these idiots admonished the other half of these idiots for sending back letters to the whole list as this was obviously spam. Then, the half that was being castigated decided to rail back at the other half saying that group was creating just as big of a problem with packing people’s in boxes by responding. The list, as best I can tell, was from my alma mater, so you’d think these people with high-end degrees from a top-tier educational institution would have something better to do. Nah. What did we do before email and listservs and spam? I think we just went to the bar and drank until we had the courage to call our boss a jackass to his face…
– From the “OK, you’re so smart, you figure it out” department: Think it’s easy being the head of the Treasury department?Give this a whirl.
– For those of you hoping to get a glimpse at the amazing and insightful world of the newsroom, try this on for size. Having lived many a life in a few of these gin joints with printing presses, I keep reading the comments and thinking, “I bet I know that place…” or “That sounds just like…”
– What does it say about the state of our affairs when I can’t watch a half hour of Friends at 11 p.m. without seeingat least two commercials for this.
– Someone needs to tell Bill Simmons he’s risking his status as a complete asshole when he writes this well and with this much feeling. If you have ever loved a pet or had a kid who loved a pet, you need to read this.
– It’s interesting to see what the different channels did for MLK day. Most of them went to inauguration coverage, which made sense. Some did race retrospectives. ESPN Classic ran “The Jackie Robinson Story” and handful of Sports Century episodes, focusing on important black athletes. Perhaps the worst approach was that of TV Land which ran a Sanford and Son marathon.
–Then again, it could have been worse…
Thanks for letting me share your air. See you next Friday
Doc