July 28, 2010

A note about the Bear


Jack just moved.
I just moved.
Chase moved somewhat recently.
Econ is about to move.

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by Tony at 2:00 PM | 3 comments (create) - (View)

February 15, 2010

Flickr, ASL, etc.


Staying busy lately. I'm enrolled in a (miraculously cheap) beginners' American Sign Language course through a local rec & parks department. Yes, they say "Rec & Parks." Just like "they" don't pronounce the U in Staunton.

We've also joined a gym. Trips to Charleston (done) and Baltimore soon, then the Luray Caverns and the Newseum later this year. Maybe Philly too; NYC; Oatess in Athens, Ohio.

I wanted to post a few items as tips -- for lack of a better word -- and maybe calls to action.

1. Heard this on the radio today: RefreshEverything is giving out $5,000 grants for lots of different ideas, based on popular vote.
2. Photogs should check out the Getty Images call for artists on Flickr. Consider submitting.
3. If not already using Google Reader to follow blogs and news and friends, get with it.
4. Perhaps the best way to track Web site stats is Google Analytics. Who else?
5. Katie has a blog!

I'll soon post a video of my ASL skills.

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by Tony at 8:00 AM | 0 comments (create) - (View)

March 30, 2009

Crime, grief and bank takeovers


On November 4, 1991, my little brother was born. I was at home though, sitting at my kitchen table, staring into the plastic wrap of a gift basket. At the same time, no more than 300 miles away Oscar Bills, Jr. was shot to death in his driveway. He was in his twenties, like I am today.

I always find it a little eerie when I discover something horrible happened during a time where I can match my exact whereabouts to the event. When you become aware, it's kind of like you momentarily draw a link with the victim or the victim's family. You become witness, at least in some strange way, to something terrible and your brain isn't quite sure how to react.

I found out about Oscar Bill's murder after listening to episode #342 of This American Life ("How to Rest in Peace"). It was easily the most disturbing episode I've ever listened to, but interesting nonetheless. In it they reference to this article in The Atlantic (1997) about the families of murder victims. It's long, so if you don't have some time to spare I'd wait till the weekend.

"She came out of the neighbor's house and asked, "Is she dead?" Al said, "Yes," and Harriett blacked out. Moments later she heard horrible screaming and wailing, like the sounds of a wounded animal way off in the distance, and then she suddenly realized that the sounds were coming from her, that she was screaming and wailing and pounding on Al's chest. In an instant she came to, and saw that Al was sobbing..."
The story talks a lot about grief, which was consequently a huge part of the theme in TAL #342. The article begins with a note on America:
"Americans are fascinated by murders and murderers but not by the families of the people who are killed -- an amazingly numerous group, whose members can turn only to one another for sympathy and understanding."
The story made me think more about a crime reporter's role in telling those types of stories. NPR actually hosted a roundtable of crime writers in July 2008. They spoke a lot about how race affects their jobs, but also a bit about their actual work routine. One of them said:
"My passion was to cover the communities where the crime happened, rather than the crime."
I like that statement. It's true, reporting like this should be more about how it affects the community you cover, not just the defendant, and certainly not just the crime. Maybe this is a common point, and I'm just new to thinking about it. But it's something I want to remember when I go into the business of journalism.

I am an avid fan of The Wire (Omar! Word). It's a television show about crime in Baltimore, Maryland - which superficially got me obsessed with following The Baltimore Sun. I recently ran across a Sun blog post entitled "A Reporter's Lament" (just one of the posts at the Sun's crime blog).

They post about a lot of things, including how they (the reporters) see themselves as part of the community, their dealings with police, what the murder numbers mean for individual communities, and even a few personal stories from the job. In one post they linked to this man, a retired police captain turned citizen-crime blogger (remind anyone of a particular character in The Wire?). He has a different perspective, and it's interesting to compare some of his notes with those authored by the newspapermen.

It's all fascinating. Hearing these people and looking at their crime maps (2006), it makes me super-curious and even more interested in covering these types of stories, at least for a bit.

ALSO CHECK THESE OUT
Photobucket NPR: Anatomy of a bank takeover
Photobucket NYT: New 1 in 8 Million profile

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by Chase at 11:51 PM | 4 comments (create) - (View)

June 23, 2008

Who's that a writin?

It seems like we all tend to not post anything for days, then all at once we all choose to write something on the same day. Which is convenient for me, actually, since who's writing makes a nice (albeit loose) segue to my reason for posting tonight: (found on my favorite former Stylus writer Ian Mathers' blog):



I've been trying to get into more sweet stuff like this...usually I do so by listening to the aforementioned Rice radio's Monday evening Americana show. Like I said, it's a pretty good station. Today I heard a Jens Lekman song I've never heard before, and yesterday afternoon I rose around Houston to the sounds of the "Africana and African Diaspora" show (but I have yet to listen to their Funk hour).

-I'm not sure if I've posted these before, but the commercials that ESPN is (at least, was using - I haven't seen them since before the tourney) using to promote Euro 08 are pretty good pieces of advertising. It got me wanting to watch soccer, at the very least.

-And finally, because I couldn't resist: how about those White Sox? (C'mon! It's entertaining! Although, admittedly, is almost, but not quite, as bad as this).

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by JHitts at 12:46 AM | 1 comments (create) - (View)