I just wanted to make sure that this story was on my record of events. Just to keep a running tally of how “fair and balanced” some news agencies are.

from “‘Die-ins’ Target War and News Media
Published on Friday, March 28, 2003 by The Record (Hackensack, New Jersey)

Fox News had its own response to the demonstrators. The news ticker rimming Fox’s headquarters on Sixth Avenue wasn’t carrying war updates as the protest began. Instead, it poked fun at the demonstrators, chiding them.

“War protester auditions here today … thanks for coming!” read one message. “Who won your right to show up here today?” another questioned. “Protesters or soldiers?”

Said a third: “How do you keep a war protester in suspense? Ignore them.”

Still another read: “Attention protesters: the Michael Moore Fan Club meets Thursday at a phone booth at Sixth Avenue and 50th Street” – a reference to the film maker who denounced the war while accepting an Oscar on Sunday night for his documentary “Bowling for Columbine.”

Tonight was a fun-filled night of listening to Marc Abrahams from the journal Annals of Improbable Research talk about the journal and the infamous Ig Nobel Awards. There’s a certain amount of irreverence about the whole thing that just tickles the funny bone. Abrahams really showed the highlights.

Now it’s time for me to get back to work. I’ve got the BBC World Service streaming on my desktop. Something about Britons reading the news helps keep me awake and focused.

Blogging for fun and profit

I don’t plug my family enough (I don’t know why really), but my sister Sarah has her own ‘blog at her Xanga Site.

Like the Caveman Lawyer: I’m a stranger to this new fantastical blogging world. I don’t understand your e-mail or that glowing box that has small people in it. What I do know however is that my sister’s Xanga page has some interesting content I would advise you to check it out.

‘Now more than ever’
The winners of the 2002 Michigan AP Editorial Association newswriting, newsphoto and graphics contest were announced today. A news column written by li’l ol me about standardized testing won second place in Division I (up to 15,000 circulation).

Other Gazette nods include Steve Neavling’s coverage of the Rainbow Family gathering in Ewen last summer (2nd place, sustained coverage of a single news event), Zac Anderson’s story breaking down the ins and outs of standardized testing (3rd place, public service) and Dave Strang’s photographs from the Copper Country Firefighter’s tournament (3rd place, picture stories).

Steve and I won a previous AP award for our joint coverage of the attempted firebombing at Michigan Tech University in 2001 (3rd place, sustained coverage). It’s nice to be honored, but there’s more work to do.

[Edit: Updating 2001 awards….]

$52.00
Well, the first two seasons of Homcide are up for pre-order via Amazon.com and AandE TV Online Store (It’ll cost $70 to get the show on April 29 — a month early).

There’s no word regarding if it will be in widescreen format (some are assuming it will be just a screen transfer which is disappointing). Some of the extras look like Krap — the “To Catch A Killer: Homicide Detectives Episode of A&E’s Signature Series American Justice®” for example. Things like music from the show and commentary with Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana on the pilot episode “Gone For Goode” do look promising.

The question is whether I’ll be spending $52 for the show. Hmm, probably, but I’ll need to really think about it.