Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"

[GwenOnBass]

Paul Harvey has a gig, right? It's a good gig, as these things go. He's got syndication. His gimmick is a one-trick pony, but it's a good one. More of a cash cow really, and nobody's faults him that. It's the sort of thing you might listen to on the way in to work. And derive a good feeling from it, unlike listening to the daily news.

Thing is, Paul Harvey recycles the daily news. It's very rare he does breaking news. It's months-old news with his own spin ....

So yeah Paul Harvey is a trigger. Takes me way back to the beginning of some alleged career, where

in a functioning newspaper with a functioning newsroom, different editors have different duties. It's a vertical hierarchy. There are generals, and there are sloggers. Above the managing editor, and above the executive editor, is The Editor.

The Editor's name is Tom <ahem>
and he listens to Paul Harvey every day on his way to work. Gets this great idea for a lead story. The slot editor gets the order, that is handed to a rim edtior
who digs through our own paper to find the edition when we ran that exact story six or ten months ago. Present it to the slot editor, and it goes on up the line until
the order comes down we need a fresh story.
The slot assigns the job to a rim editor, again, who calls the wire service who ran the original story. We need an update to ....
as a client paper of the wire service that means some slogger there is going to go through the same routine and, begrudgingly, files a worthless "update" to news that's so old it's got hair on it.

If there's a bright side to any of these recollections, it's Tom The Editor was outfoxed daily by Johnny the Composing Room Foreman. And when the paper's put to bed and its time to go, we sloggers are are the after-hours lemonade stand with Johnny.

 

[Winslow]

Thing is, Paul Harvey recycles the daily news. It's very rare he does breaking news. It's months-old news with his own spin ....

Like I said: Harvey /= regular news. It (was) more of a fireside chat type show. He wasn't sitting in an office just off the newsroom, waiting to jump in on a breaking story.

The Editor's name is Tom <ahem>
and he listens to Paul Harvey every day on his way to work. Gets this great idea for a lead story.

See, right there was Tom's mistake: Radio syndicates in a way newspapers can't/don't (USA Today et al notwithstanding). Depending on the subject, the lifespan of a radio segment can be much longer than anything a daily will turn out. There's also the wrinkle that most stations keep some "evergreen" segments on hand to fill the slot, because if the wire (or later, satellite, or even later, internet) goes down for whatever reason, when that sweeping red hand on the clock hits the "12" (or later, when the unblinking digital ":59" becomes ":00") you still have to have something to go into that five minutes. And as you well know, Harvey's brand of human-interest material is just about the definition of "evergreen."

So yes, Tom got burned on his story suggestion. But that's not Paul Harvey's fault.

Tom just didn't realize how radio works.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Loader (dot) to
Copy & paste URL, select your format. No software needed.

It looks good. I wonder about those sort of internet based downloading sites. My fear is security. You don’t know who owns them and what they might piggyback with the video onto your computer.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Never listening to radio or tv news helps keep me calm and relaxed.

 

[Winslow]

It looks good. I wonder about those sort of internet based downloading sites. My fear is security. You don’t know who owns them and what they might piggyback with the video onto your computer.

True, and a fair point. Thus far, I've not had a problem with that. My anti-virus software sniffs incoming files, and has never raised an alarm. I also use another program to strip out the embedded metadata on pretty much anything I download (mostly just to save space, but also to get rid of junk bits and URLs they sometimes include).

 

[GwenOnBass]

Oh yes, we knew who Tom was. That "Paul Harvey" became a trigger for Tom is just how things work ...

A heartwarming, fireside sort of chat story about Tom and Johnny

well first, Johnny changes the minute hand on Tom's office wall clock randomly ...
and changes the height of his desk chair randomly ...
and so on ...

There's a huge plate glass window that provides Tom with a full view of "his" newsroom. There's a newspaper rack on the news-side of the window. It's the kind with wooden dowels, like in libraries.

One day at start of shift, Johnny's wife Kelly selects a paper, and opens it so Tom's view is blocked as ...
as Johnny pennies Tom in his office. A locksmith has to be called .... Next Christmas party, there's a penny inside Johnny's card from the managing editor

 

[Winslow]

There's a newspaper rack on the news-side of the window. It's the kind with wooden dowels, like in libraries.

Indeed. Unfortunately, my wooden-dowel-newspaper-rack story would flout local forum rules...


...an' I'm a good boy, I am.

 

[Spidey2112]

 

[gtmalone]

They even market air today. The price of air on Mars is pretty dear. There's a need to believe that my life will be better when I own a

​

My life was better before I heard that.

 

[gtmalone]

Putting on socks is difficult as well. One reason why old people buy shoes without laces or simply slip their running shoes on and off.

If you sit on the bed or a chair instead of standing, it's much easier. My wife pointed that out to me the other day.

 

[notJaco]

Indeed. Unfortunately, my wooden-dowel-newspaper-rack story would flout local forum rules...


...an' I'm a good boy, I am.

Are you a seal clubber?

 

[GonePlaid]

They even market air today. The price of air on Mars is pretty dear. There's a need to believe that my life will be better when I own a

​

Somehow I missed this yesterday. Still, it's better than most of the (c)rap being recorded these days. Also noticed that the dancers actually moved their feets instead of standing in one place flailing about. Although I'm in no position to criticize having not danced since some time in '76.

 

[gtmalone]

Yes, we on the news desk learned to
:: hate ::

Paul Harvey

Page two.

 

[spiritbass]

Elliott was invited out to California to record by his old friends Becker and Fagan. He used to play on their demo tracks in NYC when they were unknown. The three played in the Jay and the Americans touring band. He went into the studio, they played what they had for this song. He asked for the lyrics, read them and made up this lead on the spot. Everyone thought that they had nailed it. The tape guy didn’t bother rolling because it was a practice. So they did the song a second time, that was what was used on the album.

Cool. Elliot was approaching the point of having too much fun. Cliff was making that G&L bass sound great!

I usually use 4k video downloader, but I haven't installed it on my laptop yet...

 

[beans-on-toast]

If you sit on the bed or a chair instead of standing, it's much easier. My wife pointed that out to me the other day.

Isn't it easier to simply have your wife dress you?

 

[GwenOnBass]

Isn't it easier to simply have your wife dress you?

This sounds backwards to me.

 

[GonePlaid]

This sounds backwards to me.

You put it better than what I was thinking.

 

[beans-on-toast]

This sounds backwards to me.

Someone in the first grade came to school with his pants on backwards, zipper in the back. His sister helped him to get ready for school. He never lived it down.

 

[Polish Thunder]

Someone in the first grade came to school with his pants on backwards, zipper in the back. His sister helped him to get ready for school. He never lived it down.

When did you notice that your pants were on backwards? When you sat down? BTW, how is your sister doing these days? (just kidding, of course...)

 

[G-Dog]

Isn't it easier to simply have your wife dress you?

My wife technically doesn't dress me (no matter how much I beg), but she does roundly critique my apparel choices under the guise of helping the colorblind! The few times I get to dress without her help she shakes her head and gives me this pitiable look like, "You poor ragged waif!"