Category: Uncategorized

Well, not for a while yet anyway. However, Apple Computer announced the new G5 iMacs in Paris yesterday, and they look pretty snazzy. The new computers are up to 2.2 inches thick and pack the new G5 processor.

It’s true that this is Apple’s consumer CPU so it’s missing a lot of the horsepower the professional machines have (on the system bus, expandability, etc.), but I think the simple, elegant design is a winner. Other PC makers have tried this type of form function before (including Apple’s 20th Anniversary Mac), but it’s always looked like a monitor with CPU guts attached. The new iMac brings monitor and CPU together in a very svelte manner.

I was thinking about buying an eMac (essentially a grown-up CRT iMac) as my next computer, but seeing this new machine makes me want to aim higher.

After many hours, I’ve finally finished one of my long-term projects. I’ve been working to clip all of my articles out of old editions of the newspaper. There were a lot to go through, but it’s done.

From slowly whittling down massive stacks of paper to just getting through the last few editions, I pulled it off earlier this morning. The entire second series of The Office was there to pull me through.

It was interesting pulling through all those newspapers. As I delved deeper, I saw old events, headlines and bylines from years past that brought many old memories back of happenings and friends who have since left the paper.

The stories ranged from the mundane or typical, like meetings, and localizations to the facinating and bizarre, like the story Steve did about the guy who drank antifreeze. I found sections that I paginated, but completely forgot about doing. The same with photos.

Many of the more memorable stories were there in my clips. It was fun seeing where the stories began and where some of them ended.

So all of my work for the past three-and-a-half years has been reduced to a single box that I’ll probably carry around for the rest of my life. It’s funny, but I thought there would be more but I’m probably being foolish.

In the end, I’d like to think I did good work. I hope to do even better the next time.

With the end of the Athens games, it’s time for several more competitions to get underway. Which do you think will be more interesting — the GOP Convention this week in NYC or the World Cup of Hockey over the next three weeks?

I’m leaning toward the hockey, especially because of the theory that this is the last chance for hockey before a NHL lockout. In addition, there should be actual competitions on the ice, where the convention is kinda like a week-long commercial for the GOP. Much like the Democrats before the Olympics.

Speaking of competitions, the fall TV ratings war is about to begin. Say didja notice any NBC ads for their fall season during their Olympics broadcast? With an average of 70 hours of broadcasting a day, I’m sure NBC was able to air a couple hours worth of promos for its fall season daily. I was watching mostly the CBC, and they fit in their three promos a couple million times.

For what it’s worth, many TV critics are saying that NBC’s line-up this year is pretty tame — even tamer than a few years ago. I can say that there’s nothing that I really feel like tuning in for — not even the murderous lions getting their own show on Father of the Pride.

I often wished that Poway High School held a five-year reunions. I don’t know why they don’t do it — five years gets nearly everyone through college. We probably still look like our yearbook pictures, but we’ve made progress through the world. Unfortunately, some of our fellow classmates are no longer on the journey with us.

In lieu of a reunion, I occaisionally look at how alumni from the Class of 1996 at both Poway and my first high school Roswell High are doing. In trying to see how some of these people have changed, I once again realize how little I knew them.

Tonight, I saw that Ezekiel Webber passed away earlier this year in April. Zeke was in the theater guild at Poway — he was a funny actor and singer, especially in Guys and Dolls in 1995. The more I recall, I also believe he was a speaker at our commencement.

Doing a Google search, it sounds like Zeke made a difference whereever he went — as an Eagle Scout, an undergrad at Dartmouth College and a UCLA law school student. It also sounded like he fought the good fight for lesbian, gay, bigender and transgender issues.

The mention of Zeke’s passing reminded me of another classmate who died. Just two years after graduation, Mimi Bowles died near Oceanside. The circumstances behind her death were unfortunate.

I feel bad that I wasn’t able to instantly recall her name. It took me about 15 minutes to fully remember her name although I can easily remember the story in the newspaper about her death — including the mention of her progress at Palomar College, her internship at the Poway News-Chieftain and the questions about what happened and why.

I was never close with Ezekiel or Mimi, but I’m saddened to read of their passage. Although I never made many close friends at either high school, I feel that there’s some connection because we experienced the typical trials of adolencence together.

When I graduated high school, I took a positive look towards the future and the opportunities that we’ll be able to create. To hear that some have already left us as young adults is a tragedy.

I saw something on TV Barn that just astounded me:

Clear Channel Expands Progressive Talk To Two More Stations from Radio Ink.

Clear Channel Radio has announced that two additional stations are adopting a progressive talk format, converting stations in Ann Arbor, MI and San Diego to the programming.

This is from Clear Channel, the radio giant that most creative types love to hate because of its sheer corporate dominance and love of piping pre-taped shows all over the country at the cost of local quality and musical exploration.

Obviously Clear Channel always looks out for the bottom line, and it’s interesting that they’re branching out. It’ll be fun to see where this goes — it’s good having a more diverse marketplace of ideas on the airwaves.

The cities that CC has introduced the format to are an interesting bunch — Portland and Ann Arbor have reputations as towns welcoming of “progressives”. San Diego, the long-time military city that often sides with Republicans in elections, seems to be more of a challenge. Still, it’s a big market with a lot of diverse opinions and issues.

Perhaps Clear Channel is moving to capitalize on the success of National Public Radio and its growing listening base. NPR’s drive-time newsmagazines are among the top-rated programs in the nation after Rush Limbaugh.

I don’t want to wail endlessly about the weather, but I do want to observe that this has been one of the coolest summers that I’ve witnessed in my short life.

As the slow winter thaw dragged on through spring, my friends started complaining about the lack of warm temperatures. Indeed, spring morphed into a half-hearted leap with sweatshirts and jackets remaining on our backs until mid-May. It certainly gave a new meaning to phrase “June gloom.”

Ever the optimist, I bravely tried to push past the naysayers. I pointed to my previous summers in the U.P. — despite the ever-dominating presence of snow from late December through April, summers have turned out alright. It got sad when people around started saying, “It’s all downhill after July Fourth.”

No, no, I said. Wait until August. August has always been the most luscious month in the Keweenaw full of vibrant growth and life.

I was wrong.

Now with kids about to return to school, the leaves have already started to turn. It’s Aug. 26. Sure, we’ve had some really nice days — blue skies, gentle breezes and a benevolent sun shining down, but they seem to be far and few in between the muck. It’s just I don’t think we’ve gotten our fair share of the good weather.

It’s been cool — I’ve only had my fan on twice this summer compared to weeks in years past. In one sense, it’s a good thing. There are fewer pests, and the decreased need for mechanical cooling (or air-blowing) means cheaper power bills.

And the good days have been glorious. The Copper Country Strawberry Fest happened to fall on the best weekend of the year, so far. I got to clear brush on a Lake Superior beach with a college friend on another fabulous day. I’m upbeat about the Houghton County Fair this weekend (starting tonight).

While I’m hoping for a late-season turnaround, I’m going to take advantage of the remaining warm days — who knows what’s around the bend.

It’s been a hectic past couple of weeks, including the high-energy journalism convention. While I’ve been busy, this Web site will undergo a revamp similar (yet totally different) from my professional site.

Over at my UNITY blog, I’ll be posting some final thoughts on that wonderful event.

Stay tuned.

After much effort, I relaunched my professional site earlier today. Take a look at my professional journalism experience and let me know what you think. My address is ryan -at- rtomedia.com.

Also this week, I will be at the UNITY 2004 convention in Washington DC. It’s my first trip to DC and I’m excited to visit the nation’s capital while meeting hundreds of journalists and media professionals. I also hope to hear presidential candidates John Kerry and George Bush address convention members on Thursday and Friday.

I’ve established a special UNITY blog. I will be posting updates from the convention floor when time permits. Stay tuned to this page as well — I’ll be posting here too.

… my freezer box. Nothing like a warm summer day to defrost my freezer. That and the fact that I haven’t been able to open the freezer door for the past 3 months.

I’ve got a classic fridge that’s got to be from the ?60s. It’s pretty nice, but the freezer box is in the same compartment as the fridge itself. The result is that the freezer doesn’t freeze well, but stuff in the fridge freezes.

The freezer also tends to just freeze the water that builds up. When I started on Friday night there was four inches of ice around the edge. I took out at least two gallons of water just a few minutes ago.

So with the whole defrosting and cutting my way through three years of newspapers, my life is totally on track. 😉

Got a new tool to help my writing on the road.

It’s an old Apple eMate 300, based on the Newton. It’s got all the functionality of a PDA with a built-in keyboard. The keyboard sealed the deal — that and the 24-hour battery life.

So if you don’t see me posting on this blog very much lately, it’s probably because I’m down at the waterfront writing under the shadow of the bridge.

Before anyone asks, I purchased this at a price significantly less than the original $800 retail price. And I also completed the purchased before July 14.