The World Has Spoken...and We Are FINALLY Listening!

Well, the world has changed since we last spoke. It has gotten very, very interesting. There are some people that would like us to believe that our current leader has NO IDEA WHAT HE'S DOING. Well...how does it feel, now??? That's how WE FELT for the PAST EIGHT YEARS!!!

Today's WHAT THE HECK??? When will people stop with the AMNESIA???

Here in Alabama, the biggest morning show is Rick and Bubba. These are two guys from Birmingham (from where I am writing to you now...I'm in a coffeehouse called OKafes) and they syndicate their show to several states...of course nothing really further west than Louisiana. This morning they made sure to raise a stink about Obama bowing to the prince in Saudi Arabia. The fact is, this supposedly light hearted morning show will pitch a stink about anything our new president does. They basically are in lock step with Hannity, Rush and anyone else subscribing to the "bash our president now that he's not a republican" newsletter.

Remember, not so long ago, a president that did everything he could to destroy any relationship with any other country on this planet? At least this president is making the appearance of getting us on track with the rest of the world. He bowed to a Saudi prince...didn't the last guy in the White House completely black out any reference to the Saudi prince, going out of his way to protect him and his family, when the 9/11 report was released? Amnesia. Whine whine whine. Bleeding heart conservatives.

Alabama is a good ole boys haven. Wherever three true blooded Alabaman MALES get together, there is sure to be bad mistakes made. In my last job, it was my immediate boss and my boss at the corporation level who "friended up" and threw my California rump out and brought in another Alabama male to complete "their link." Kennedy warned us of "group think." Here in Alabama it's "good ole boy GROUP THUNK." The need for tradition and the hatred against the unknown or the unfamiliar is at such an unmatchable level here. Don't move here from another state unless you plan to be forever lost in the fringe.

By the way, the day Americans don't observe other country's customs WHILE IN THAT COUNTRY is the day you and I will be asked to leave the planet...permanently. They have been saying for 40 years that it's a small, small world. Technology has shrank it down. Finally, in 2009 we have an administration that understands this. Alabama needs to digest this fact, too.

My minute's up. Maybe a nano over.

Blogging As The Sky Falls Down

So yesterday in my blog I complained about how the weather people were always wrong. Well, I'm still right about that basic observation, but the one's working on the local tv station did a fantastic job last night as ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE and, yes, the winds came, the tornadoes came, the thunder and lightning came. They did something that I think will morph into something bigger in years to come: a blog that was constantly updated as people wrote in with questions about specific areas being hit by the impending weather. You could read the answers and scroll up to see if the question you were wondering about was answered earlier. Fantastic idea. Of course, I could see this on cellphones (at no extra cost) in the future.

Todays WHAT THE HECK??? My podcast yesterday (at http://michaelmatthews.podomatic.com OR http://michaelmatthews.mypodcast.com OR just to the right in that column there). I went to start the show, and when I start I don't like to stop. It's only 30 minutes so what the heck, I should be able to get through it. However, all the thunder rumblings and lightning flashes coming through my window overlooking the Messy Desk TOTALLY THREW ME OFF!!! Not to mention, like an idiot, I didn't turn my lights on. It was 4:30, why should I? It's summertime basically so we should have light outside till 6. But no! When severe weather is on top of your head there's generally not so much illumination. So much for getting through that snap bang article about Kava, the drink from Fiji.

So to sum up for today's minute, these are tough times. I'm hatin' on the shrinking local media outlets, but not on the hard-workin', on-the-front-lines people who are giving it all they've got to give us as much of the same service as we had once upon a time when those same businesses had twice or three times the staff. I salute you my brothers...ex-brothers since I'm out of that biz.

And here's to you, you hard workin' individual who found time to actually read this blog. Enjoy the weekend, you deserve it!

Calibama Weather Poorcasts

Let me quote for you the weather forecast as of 7pm last night:

A strong storm system will kick off showers and thunderstorms as early as tomorrow (Thursday) morning. Some heavy rain is possible as well as strong wind gusts.

Let's look outside shall we? This morning, right now, there is sun so blinding I've had to tip my window shades. Not a cloud in the sky. WHAT THE HECK???

Back in California, no one could get the forecast right either. There's a guy named Fritz Coleman, who's been doing the tv news weather forecast for at least 30 years and even had a slogan "Fritz said it would be like this." We never went by what he said. In California, since everyone is spoiled, it's just assumed we're going to have sun, but how much HAZE are we going to have? And along with that, how much smog? Maybe it was asking too much of poor Fritz, but we could hardly go by anything he said.

Here in Alabama it's ten times worse! I know this because I was on the other end of that doppler radar. The information is so sketchy, all you get is a couple arrows and lines and an occasional triangle. Of course, you would think my local tv could get the best meteorologist they can to interpret this. No! Radio and tv stations locally, probably all over the country by this point, just rip and read (now cut and paste) whatever's on the AP weather wire, and that ain't based in my town!

Times are hard. My local media, newspaper included, is holding on by a thread. Not to mention, the old media model has been shifting for years now and is finally coming to a head: tv stations are cleaning house, radio stations ARE being run completely by ONE person, newspapers are migrating to online and downsizing to a 3rd of their size in the process. Meanwhile, the weather is better predicted by that little yellow almanac you bought at Lowe's.

That's my minute. Gotta go out and enjoy the sunny day.