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March 20, 2004 - Saturday
Former Star-Bulletin editor Chuck Frankel had a substantive reaction to my Tuesday comments about the S-B:
I do not believe that reporters should be swayed by editorials on political, economic and social issues. I never was as a reporter.
Nor do I believe that editorials should be determined by the contents of stories.
While I support Rob Perez's criticism of Vili the Warrior, nonetheless the Star-Bulletin editorials may reflect a different tack on the same subject.
My slightly edited reply:
Perhaps.
You're right that editorial policy should not determine reporting and vice versa.
But I don't think it's unreasonable to expect editorials to be informed, and to reflect on new or unexpected information turned up or highlighted by that newspaper's enterprising reporters, especially when they shine a light on topics shied away from by others as sacred cows.
It is, perhaps, a matter of respect.
Too great a disconnect, as in this case, signals to me a lack of respect for the efforts of those on the news side. I would think it is terribly disheartening for someone in Rob's position. There aren't a lot of other rewards for taking on sacred cows, and being denied that bit of respect by one's own colleagues would be most difficult.
That doesn't address your concern about editorial independence. But I don't think it contradicts it, either.
But Chuck correctly diagnosed the fuzzy edges of my earlier comments. I'll have to ponder this.
| On the feline front: We're convinced these two guys are brothers who were separated soon after birth. Both were rescued from the same area in the overgrown 4-acres below our house. We brought Toby up the hill as a 2-week old kitten. |
Toby
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Tony
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| Tony was rescued soon afterwards by folks down by the fire station (next door to Star-Bulletin Sports Editor Paul Arnett), and Tony was named totally independently of Mr. Toby. It's one of those amazing coincidences.
We walk by Tony's house every morning, and we were startled by their similarities once he started being let outside. He's just as friendly as Toby, the same age, size, shape and nearly the same color, and has the same set of behaviors. No papers, of course, but they've got to be from the same litter. As usual, click on either photo for a larger version.
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March 19, 2004 - Friday
Here's an interesting story from MTV.com which asks, "Does Howard Stern Have More Political Muscle Than Ralph Nader?"
Bush administration officials have been trying to distance themselves from the WMD debate by now claiming to have never described Saddam's Iraq as an imminent threat to the U.S., but MoveOn.org is now circulating a short video clip of Donald Rumsfeld tripping over his own earlier comments. It's definitely worth a quick look.
Gannett has confirmed that it is considered making a bid for Hollinger International, which owns the Chicago Sun-Times, Britain's Daily Telegraph, and other assets.
| We were happy to get a message at the end of last week from Larry Pace of Pace Art Conservation, who has been restoring the old painting of Mount Hood that we bought at an auction in late 2001. The painting was beautiful but in poor condition. |
"Mount Hood" by
Harry Cassie Best
click for before/after photos
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Paint was cracked and peeling on the upper third, including the sky and the top part of the mountain. Although it appeared dirty, we didn't realize at the time that the layer of dirt obscured delicate colors and details.
In any case, we decided to splurge and have it professionally restored. A few calls led quickly to Larry Pace, who is considered the best in town. It was, it turned out, an expensive proposition, requiring painstaking treatment to capture and reattach the peeling paint, then fill in areas of paint loss, provide new backing, and carefully clean everything. But we finally got it back this week and the result is fantastic. We are happy campers.
March 18, 2004 - Thursday
Interesting item about the Gannett mindset from Jim Romenesko's media column at Poynter.org:
Former Louisville Courier-Journal editor Paul Janensch recalls attending a Gannett management-training seminar: "A corporate executive asked us, 'If you are a Gannett publisher, what is your first priority?' Serve the public, said one of the attendees. Sounds noble, but no, said the executive. Add new customers, I volunteered. Nope, said the executive. Make money, said another. You're on the right track, but not quite there, said the executive. Then he told us the right answer: Your first priority is to make MORE money."
Source: Gannett's #1 priority is making more money, says Janensch: Hartford Courant (reg. req.)
According to the Newspaper Guild, off-shoring of jobs is hitting journalism for the first time with Reuters project to hire Indian journalists to cover a sector of American business from a distance.
| We're in the part of the year where the sun rises a full minute earlier each day, forcing us to constantly adjust our morning schedule. Sunrise today will be at 6:37 a.m., some 35 minutes earlier than two months ago. It will be at 6:30 a.m. in just a week. By the end of May, the sun will be rising at 5:48 a.m. before slowly changing direction and repeating the cycle. |
Kaaawa at dawn,
St. Patrick's Day 2004
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You can view a full year's worth of sunrise/sunset times courtesy of the U.S. Naval Observatory.
March 17, 2004 - Wednesday
Pat Bigold offers up this observation in honor of St. Patrick's Day:
Every St. Patrick's Day restaurants like Murphy's offer corned beef and cabbage as a genuine Irish dish.
But it's not.
It was eaten by poor Irish immigrants to America who couldn't afford anything better. When restaurants in Ireland serve it, it's for the benefit of American tourist
According to Hormel's web site, the Irish origin of corned beef & cabbage is a myth: "Corned Beef and Cabbage is a food adopted by the Americans. A customary meal in Ireland would likely be ham and/or bacon and cabbage."
When I was in Ireland several years ago a number of people remarked to me about how strange it was that Americans think corned beef and cabbage is a favorite in Ireland. Irish people actually have much higher tastes in food.
Okay. Now we know.
The State Senate has scheduled hearings on two House bills that would create large new areas of government secrecy. You can email testimony on these bills via the legislature's Public Access Room at (testimony@capitol.hawaii.gov).
Please include at top of page: committee name; bill/resolution number and title; the date; the time and place of hearing; and number of copies needed (as listed on the hearing notice).
If submitting testimony via email, please do not also submit through other avenues.
On Thursday afternoon, two Senate committees (Tourism and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs) will hold a joint hearing on HB 2781 HD2, which would allow the Convention Center to book secret conventions and withhold all information, including both income and cost to the state, until after the meeting is held. It would allow years of secrecy, since most conventions are scheduled years in advance, and create a setting in which lots of mischief can take place at public expense.
And on Friday afternoon, the Senate Committee on Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations will hear HB2361 HD1, which would exempt numerous government committees and activities from the Sunshine Law. It would allow the mayor's controversial "vision teams" and other advisory groups that may have substantial control over public policy to do all of their business in secret.
| The recent flurry of stories about UH women's basketball coach Vince Goo's retirement sent me into the closet again for another bit of Kahala history. This time it's Ms. Yamasaki's 6th grade class at Kahala School (1958-59) with Vince second from the left in the front row, and yours truly in the back row. Just click on the photo to see a larger version. |
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March 16, 2004 - Tuesday
Did you check out Burl's photo of Star-Bulletin publisher Frank Teskey on stage with Vili The Warrior?
The photo is priceless. The message is depressing.
Just two months ago, Rob Perez reported on the controversy surrounding the Vili character--digging into the violent antics, refusal to follow rules, crude gestures and remarks, personal assaults, and more. I'm sure it wasn't an easy story to do since local sports figures take on the character of sacred cows, and critical reporting means tackling these issues--and powerful interests--head on. Rob's story did just that, and the AP rewrite was picked up by both broadcast and print nationally and internationally.
Then, just a few days later, the Star-Bulletin itself undercut Rob's efforts with a dismissive editorial in praise of Vili's antics. It came across as a less than subtle rebuke of Rob's reporting.
So the weekend photo of the grass-skirted Vili alongside the S-B's publisher was more than enough to leave me with a bad case of indigestion. The fact that the scene took place at the newspaper's big birthday bash just added to the symbolism.
Auwe.
March 15, 2004 - Monday
It's a relief to be back from Las Vegas. I'm sitting at our dining table with my laptop, along with Annie, Duke and Leo. Toby is curled up on the Sunday Advertiser over on the "island" in the kitchen, and Ms. Wally is keeping track from across the room. Kili and Miki are still in bed. Only Harriet and Silverman are out.
On the flights back yesterday, I added another bit of Las Vegas ambiance to my "least favorite" list--the incessant outdoor music. It seems that every casino or hotel feels it necessary to blast constant music--at least I think it was music--through speakers out on the sidewalks, sometimes hiding them in trees. So you can't walk down Las Vegas Blvd without the sonic bombardment.
Our bag of nickels, collected from months of pocket change and intended for the slots, ended up with us back home, an indication of how aversive we found the whole Vegas environment.
Let's see. One reader, referring to the annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, asks: "Is that the same convention Hunter S Thompson attended in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?" Short answer: No. Although if I had been in Hunter Thompson's frame of mind it might have elevated the experience.
Another reader had a "hot tip" for me on Friday:
Today's hot tip: Take the "over" in the Oregon/Stanford game at your closest sports book, the game (PAC 10 tournament) tips off at 4:15 p.m. your time today.
I think they set the over/under at 147 or so, and there's no way these two teams' combined score will be less than 175. The line is just plain out of whack....the OVER 147 is a lock.
Having failed to watch the game, I got online early the next day for the score to find a combined score of just 133. So much for that "lock".
My tipster replied:
Ian, I was so hoping you'd been out sightseeing or something and didn't get my message until after the game tipped off. If it's any consolation — and I know it isn't — I probably lost more than you on that one. Hey, I know a guy.
Actually, I never did make it downstairs to put money down on that game. And the Megabucks slots? Don't think we even ran into them.
So who needs Las Vegas? After all, according to the Dallas Morning News, we can all look forward to next month's Waikiki Spam Jam!
The second Waikiki Spam Jam promises plenty of food fun April 23-24 in Honolulu. The kickoff on Friday features the making, unveiling and eating of the world's longest Spam musubi. Organizers hope to break the record of 300 feet, which will take nearly 800 cups of rice, more than 1,300 slices of the canned lunchmeat and almost 600 feet of seaweed wrap.
If that's not enough, there will be a lucky winner of a trip to the Spam Museum in Austin, Minn. Tourism promotion, island style--give 'em a trip to Minnesota.
Hey, don't miss Burl's description of the "new" Star-Bulletin's 3rd birthday party yesterday! The photo is priceless.
March 14, 2004 - Sunday
It's the third anniversary of the end of the "old" Star-Bulletin--the last edition, the symbolic exit from the old building, and the survivor's march to the "new" S-B newsroom at the other end of South Street, the exodus that left several of us behind.
As I wrote at the time: "I have to admit to a moment of loss and profound emptiness as I watched the group of friends and coworkers cross the street and keep walking, leaving me on the corner with a handful of Gannett folks who watched the line of marchers for a few minutes before going on with their own affairs."
I haven't managed to totally shake that sense of loss, which creeps up at certain unexpected times. I guess I miss the newsroom in lots of ways, while enjoying being free of it in others. That may not make sense, but that's the way it feels.
In any case, though, it's quite incredible that the S-B has survived everything that Gannett has thrown at it over these three long years. So here's wishing the Star-Bulletin a long publishing life, and I'll be looking forward to many more of those days when it outshines the better funded competition.
Here in Las Vegas, the virus outbreak at the California Hotel hasn't been big news. Television station KNRV just reported it a few days ago, and we haven't seen a word in the Review-Journal while we've been here. Of course, the city of Las Vegas gets more visitors in two months than the State of Hawaii does in a year, so perhaps it's just not too relevant.
| In any case, it's time to head home. I'm getting cat withdrawl symptoms. That's always a sign that the trip needs to be over.
So I'm just throwing this photo of Annie and Duke in to boost my spirits for today's return flights.
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