Digitally Savvy

The Chicago Tribune reports that its sister publication, The Chicago Sun-Times, has fired all of its photographers and plans to use freelance photographers and reporters with smart phones to shoot photos. According to the Sun-Times:

"The Sun-Times business is changing rapidly and our audiences are consistently seeking more video content with their news. We have made great progress in meeting this demand and are focused on bolstering our reporting capabilities with video and other multimedia elements. The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve with our digitally savvy customers, and as a result, we have had to restructure the way we manage multimedia, including photography, across the network."



The story did not shock me. It is just the latest in a newspaper taking action to improve its bottom line by the novel approach of cheapening its product. What intrigued me were the words, "The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve with our digitally savvy customers.....". Digitally savvy customers? Sounds impressive but what in hell is a digitally savvy customer?

As I understand it, the modern definition of a digitally savvy person is someone who can use computers or other digital equipment. A digitally savvy person is also one who can use numbers and do arithmetic. Now that explains the "evolve" part of the Sun-Times statement. When all we could do was work with numbers on a sheet of paper we needed professional news coverage. Now that we have evolved into computer savvy individuals and become addicted to smart phones we have no need for sophisticated newspapers; Twitter, You Tube and Facebook will do the trick as well as dumbed down newspapers.




A Missed Opportunity

The Indians, along with the other MLB teams, will feature camouflage colors on their  uniforms to honor veterans on Memorial Day. They will be wearing camouflage colored hats and camouflaged lettering on their jerseys. Unfortunately the grotesque caricature of Chief Wahoo will still appear on the jersey sleeve. It would have been appropriate if Indians management, out of respect for Native Americans who have served their country, had removed Chief Wahoo from the uniforms. Isn't it time to write Chief Wahoo's obituary? Today would have provided the perfect platform to announce his demise. A missed opportunity.

Screwed without a kiss

I've been stewing for months about The Plain Dealer's plans to curtail home delivery to three times per week. It is now official. There it was on page one, a Dear John letter or as The Plain Dealer marketing gurus prefer,  a Dear Readers letter. Yep, starting August 5th, The Plain Dealer will implement changes. As they put it, "these changes will enable us to to meet the evolving needs of our print and digital audiences  while continuing to provide Northeast Ohio with the most comprehensive and up-to-date news and information 24/7". There you have it, we asked for it and now The Plain Dealer will go through hoops to give us what we want. The Dear Readers letter  is brilliant. Essentially we will be screwed without a kiss but we will enjoy every minute of it.

This morning, after going through the Sunday edition of The Plain Dealer, I suddenly realized what all that gobbledygook in the letter was about. I got through the paper in less than 30 minutes and didn't feel much more informed than when I started. Getting along with the local rag 3 days a week will not be so traumatic. My needs have indeed evolved and The Plain Dealer is only a minuscule part of them. So, will I cancel my subscription? Hell no! The High Primal has veto power over subscription decisions - enough said.

I didn't mention that the letter had no information about what changes there will be in the cost of a subscription. Apparently we loyal subscribers will receive a personal letter which will break the news gently. I'm betting that in order to receive The Plain Dealer's version of "comprehensive news and information 24/7', I'll have to shell out a few more bucks. That's what getting screwed is all about.

(This being Memorial Day weekend, I can't help but wonder how long it will be before we commemorate the death of printed news.)

Read all about it!

I try to post frequently but I must admit that lately it has become more and more difficult to come up with a post that I consider worthy of publication. It is customary to blame any slowdown in activities on old age which although it is a cop-out, I'm inclined to embrace. I can't describe how I felt when a prolific blogger, Charles Leck of the blog ad astra, saw fit to post The Buddha In Glory this morning in which he wrote some flattering things about my blogging. Just the shot in the arm that I needed to continue on with my blogging hobby.

 According to Buddha, happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others. According to Tony, blogging is not for sissies.

Yo no hablo Espanol

Yo no hablo Espanol. Asi que per que Hispanos insisten en hacer su comentarios en Espanol y en Ingles. I'm sure that I just murdered the King's Spanish and I really don't care. Well, maybe I should care.

In the past when I visited the Canadian province of Quebec, I was impressed with how  easily conversations slipped from English to French and back to English. At the same time I felt sorry for the Canadians whose signage budget was twice as high as it should be in order to satisfy the French Canadians. Little did I know that  the United States would be going down the same road.

 Increasingly, Spanish is creeping into our signage and packaging, not to satisfy Spanish Americans but to satisfy Hispanics and Latinos. I mention both Hispanics and Latinos only because the terms are used interchangeably. Spanish Americans have no political clout. Hispanics and Latinos have political clout. More importantly, Hispanics and Latinos love the Spanish language and are stubborn enough to consider English only as a second language.

I've referred to Latinos and Hispanics as though they were one and the same. I guess for politics they are but I discovered that there is an important difference between Hispanics and Latinos.

• Latino generally refers to countries (or cultures) that were once under Roman rule. This includes Italy, France, Spain, etc. Brazilians are considered to be Latino, but are not considered to be Hispanic.
• Hispanic describes cultures or countries that were once under Spanish rule (Mexico, Central America, and most South America where Spanish is the primary language). 

Santa Maria! My parents were Latinos. They didn't speak a word of Spanish so they definitely were not Hispanic. All those politicians going after the Latino vote have been wasting their time translating everything they say into Spanish (how do you say bullshit in Spanish? Mierda?). There is no Latino voting bloc. There is however a Hispanic voting bloc which apparently needs to have all the issues facing the country explained in Spanish. No hay sentido en la lena del abrol caito a la muerta, Spanish is the Hispanic language of choice.

Given the trend, I wonder how soon there will be a push to translate the Constitution into Spanish  If it happens , I hope there is nothing lost in the translation.

So where is this all leading? To your favorite bookstore where you can shell out a few pesos for Rosetta Stone. In ten days you will be speaking Spanish like Marco Rubio. You might even try downing a few Dos Equis'; your speech will be slurred enough to fool even a Mexican. If all else fails, apply for a green card and emigrate to Canada. Make sure you head for Ontario and not Quebec.

ESO ES TODO POR AHORA!

 

Will Nero Fiddle While Rome Burns

There is enough in the daily headlines to make one scream, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore" (Peter Finch in the 1976 movie Network). One recent headline, Heat - Trapping Gas Passes Milestone, Raising Fears, was upsetting enough to make one scream, "Stop the world, I want to get off". The headline appeared in a New York Times article which reported:

The level of the most important heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, has passed a long-feared milestone, scientists reported Friday, reaching a concentration not seen on the earth for millions of years.

I'm fearful that we are not ready to make the commitment to effectively reverse this deadly trend. President Kennedy had the chutzpah to get us into space. I hope that President Obama has the chutzpah to get us back to earth. I hope President Obama has the balls to put together the meaningful programs required to reverse the carbon dioxide trend. I hope that we will give him our unqualified support.  I hope that it is not too late.

(The forgoing admittedly was written out of frustration. Realistically I'm afraid that an offensive against carbon dioxide levels will have to wait for the Administration to fight its defensive battles concerning Benghazi, IRS blunders, Justice Department seizure of AP phone records and Republican vendettas. The danger from rising carbon dioxide levels must reach a crisis before politics puts it on the front burner. In the meantime Nero must fiddle while Rome burns. )

Mamma!

 

 One of the most poignant arias in opera, Mamma addio from Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticano", beautifully captures a son's love for his mother. Turrido's farewell to his mother as sung by the great Luciano Pavarotti  can evoke many emotions. Auguri a tutti le mamme on this Mothers Day. 

 

 

About Lists

Lists are what keep a household functioning. There are shopping lists, grocery lists, to do lists, short lists, Christmas card lists, phone lists and the dreaded shit list. To my surprise, I recently found out that there is a “list to stay” and a “list to go“. This knowledge was acquired when I looked over the list that the High Primal composes every morning. In our household this list is pretty much an orders of the day list. As usual, I found the list confusing but this time I challenged the High Primal to explain what the hell she had planned for the day - the list didn’t make any sense. I was informed in no uncertain terms that I was looking at the wrong list. Stupid me, I had tried to decipher what she referred to as a “list to stay“. I should have consulted the “list to go“. Apparently a “list to stay” is merely a draft of the final list. The “list to go” is the list that leaves the house.

Preparation of a “list to go” is something the President‘s Chief of Staff would do well to observe. The High Primal not only makes out lists but manages lists. She actually makes a draft of a list or I should say drafts of a list. The drafts are massaged several times before a final draft is made. The final draft is left sitting on a kitchen counter while the High Primal completes her toilette which is in its self a complicated process the description of which I would not touch with a ten foot pole.

Once the toilette is completed the list progresses from a “list to stay” to a “list to go” and becomes a working document. Unfortunately, more often it becomes a lost list buried in the bowels of a High Primal purse.

Hail The Dandelion

 I hereby proclaim the dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) this blog's official weed; long live the dandelion ( and it will)! The dandelion is a lion among Mother Nature's gifts to the environment. Those who detest dandelions might as well put away their weapons of mass destruction. Dandelions are indestructible and are unsurpassed in loyalty. They roar back each Spring and their yellow flower brings color to drab green lawns. A dandelion's vibrant flower eventually turns to seeds which are seized by friendly winds and deposited on lawns all over the neighborhood so that endless generations of dandelions will rise up to torment landscapers.

Before those lovely dandelion flowers turn to seed, wine connoisseurs have been known to harvest them and turn them into wine. I must admit I have never imbibed in dandelion wine in spite of the urging of an eccentric friend of mine. I just did not trust his wine making ability after a case of homemade beer exploded in his basement. Speaking of basement, what sane person would build a sailing boat in his basement? He did and as far as I know, the only floating that the boat did was during a heavy rainfall which flooded the basement.

The fondest memory I have of dandelions goes back to my youth; yes, that was a long, long time ago, proving that Alzheimer is not at my doorstep. Now, what was I saying? Oh yes, as a youngster I watched little old Italian immigrant ladies walk east by my house carrying an empty sack. Later in the day I watched them walk west by my house with a full sack over their shoulder. They had been to the municipal park and spent the afternoon picking dandelions. My mother told me that the content of those sacks would provide some tasty meals. Let me be quick to add that my mother was not a dandelion picker and never prepared a dandelion meal.

So what's with dandelion meals? It turns out that dandelions are a rich source vitamin A, B Complex, C and D, as well as minerals such as iron, potassium, and zinc. Not surprisingly, like most greens, dandelions find their way into salads, sauces and bread . I would hasten to mention that since civilization is bent on eradicating them by .the liberal use of herbicides it should also make them suspect as a food.

One might ask that since I don't drink dandelion wine or eat dandelion salads full of vitamins, why have I honored dandelions as the official weed of this blog? More to the point, is it really necessary? The answers my friend are that I don't really know and no, but if you got this far - mission accomplished. All hail the dandelion!

May Day! May Day!

To be inert is inexcusable. To be alert is commendable. To be an introvert is not all bad. To be an extrovert is not all good. To be a pervert is definitely all bad. They all find their way to the social media.

Twitter encourages an introvert to assert himself, while Facebook is an extrovert's dessert. Both medias are a home for perverts anxious to exert hurt with their dirt.

Writing this post was a lark but its bark may not hit the mark. Inert as it is , I will insert it anyways. Oh what the hell, it is better than ranting and raving about things better left to the experts. Or is it?

Stay tuned for my post about  dandelions.

 May Day! May Day! Blog in trouble!