What The Heck Was That?!!

I Ain't Skurred!!

mcgintyman — Sun, 03 May 2009 21:25:00 GMT

In the old space opera sci-fi TV series known as
Lost in Space, there is a scene where young Will Robinson has been captured by a wiley rascal who calls himself the Space Pirate--as in an eye patch and saying 'arrrgggg' a lot.

Turns out though he's not a bad sort and when trouble threatens he comforts Will, urging the young boy to repeat after him, "Are we scared? 'Course not!!"

That's how I feel about the so-called Swine Flu. (sorry, I just can't get myself to write 'H1N1', though I've heard the young folks are now calling it the "Swizz-Neezie". I kid you not.)

I'm just not worried. Maybe I'm just loathe to believe the hype. But c'mon!! This is a flu that's killed a few dozen people. That's very bad for them and their families. But the regular flu kills 36,000 folk every year. Call me back when you get a real pandemic.

Am I perhaps, putting the jinx on us? Hope not. Okay, now I'm getting nervous...

Ownership

mcgintyman — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:22:00 GMT

So today, I'm writing a piece of copy about President Barack Obama and his-much-talked-about March Madness Bracket...and I was tempted to say that since he did pick UNC to win it all..."you couldn't really stay mad at a brutha.'

A "brutha"? You know you cannot refer to the President of the United States that way. Its too informal. Hmmmm. How about 'President Brutha'? No?

I know this, so then why would that thought even cross my mind?

The obvious answer is he is a Brutha, as in a Black American ...and therefore on a personal level Black folks feel some sense of kinship--even ownership of this President.

But I actually think its more than that. President Obama is the first urban Commander-in-Chief. He grew up in a little apartment in a big city. He says stuff like.."We're straight." and "I didn't mean to mess up your game." For those of us who grew up the same way and talk that way, it feels like we know him, or at least have friends just like him.

Did southern White dudes who grew up in the Vietnam era feel the same way about President George W? I wonder...

Don't get me wrong. If I'm doing a story on President Obama and he needs to get a journalistic beat down, then he gets one. And if I run into our Chief Executive, I won't lose my mind and say....."Yo...wasssup???" At least not out loud.

Same Old Story

mcgintyman — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:56:00 GMT

The scene: a college campus in the DC area. The young people want to screen an adult film. The older people (or are least some of them) don't like it. Hilarity ensues.

If you think I'm talking about all the recent sturm and drang out at the University of Maryland, you're wrong. The year was roughly 1979. The school is the American University. The movie was The Story of O. How do I know? I was there. Class of '81.

The amazing thing is how little the argument has changed. Even though unlike the Univ. of Md, AU is a private school, we too heard about how school money shouldn't be spent such things. (It wasn't. As I recall the viewing was being funded out of student fees.) We heard about the evils of pornography. We heard about freedom of speech, and how there would also be some sort of educational component. (Am I the only one who thinks that part sounds sort of tacked on. Wink wink --educational. Yeah okay..now bring on the porn!!)

As I watch us cover the heck out of the back and forth at the U of MD and Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge, I can't help but wonder...what's the big deal? These people are young...but they're all over the age of 18. I'm betting at least 93% have seen a porno before.

I know pornography is not a good thing, but while people will argue over how harmful it is or isn't, what they can't deny is its part of the price of living in a society that worships freedom of expression.

By the way, I don't even recall if they showed the Story of O back in my day as a college kid. If they did, I didn't see it. Whatever the case, I think I turned out okay education-wise. I think the U. of MD. kids will too.

Snow, man!

mcgintyman — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:58:00 GMT

Last night, while we all waited for the blizzard-to-come, I was reminded of 8-year-old Derek with his face pressed on the window--waiting for the snow and hoping for a day off from school.

My dad used to say I'd change my mind about snow when I got older and actually had to go somewhere. 'I'm never going to get that old,' I thought to myself. But lo and behold, Pops was right. Snow is great for skiing which I love, but otherwise I can do without the shoveling and mess. Especially since when it snows in my business we absolutely positively must get to work. There is no such thing as 'snowed in' in the TV news biz!!

I've even figured out why Meteorologist-Topper-Shutt and the other weather geeks like snow so much. Its just ...interesting. Forecasters are really only having fun when the weather is interesting. Think abou it--anyone can predict that it will be 102 and sunny in the summer in Arizona. It takes skill to figure out if the snow is gonna be at 8 inches in La Plata, but only 3 1/2 in Reston.

Heck, when this storm broke Topper was in here working on Sunday evening, back again for Monday morning. I don't know if he went home. But don't feel sorry for him. He was having too much fun.

Of course, big snow storms cause all sorts of trouble and even kill people, so the Topper crew has to keep from looking too joyful as they portend the hand of God. But believe me, they're having a blast.

Same thing for hurricanes, I think. But there the potential problems are so great I think they undermine the meteorological good times.

Still, remember when you're enjoying those beautiful spring days that are surely on the way, there's a weather geek with his or her face pressed up against the glass, hoping and praying for a big storm...so they can work more.

GoshDangIt!!

mcgintyman — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:33:00 GMT

"For every problem there is always a solution that is simple, obvious and wrong."

--quote falsely attributed to Mark Twain. Who really said it? Who knows?

So now those geeks at the NY Post have apologized for the now imfamous dead chimp cartoon, which would seem to completely invalidate the elegant theory I laid down in my last blog.

I just couldn't imagine that the powers-that-be could have looked at that cartoon and not known that a vast swath of America would take offense. Therefore I figured it must have been purposeful, and that it was merely a gambit to gain coverage.

But if that was really the case, then why apologize? Unless, of course the whole scam was to get everyone all fired up, get the publicity, then apologize to defuse the situation. Sort of a double conspiracy.

Like I said at the top the last entry--I'm tired.