Short Ribs and Random Thoughts Aug 7 2017

August 6, yesterday,  is the anniversary of the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima, a day which is commemorated but not celebrated.  Let’s hope there is never a repeat.

DANNIEL- I only drive the Old Arcata Road in the summer.  Winter is too icey and dark.  But every time I drive it, I carefully check to see how Danniel is doing at Lost Coast Hay.  When he first moved over there, I was concerned that they weren’t giving him enough room, but he is now in a bigger space, which he shares with a brown cow.  A roommate!   I always take out-of-town visitors to see Danniel.  He is a wonder, and a worthy successor to Bill the Chimp, who will never be forgotten.

The TIMES-STANDARD-  I serve on a readers’ panel which meets monthly to give feedback to Editor Marc Valles, who is showing great good spirits as he struggles to produce a paper in this huge county with only three reporters plus a sports guy. Corporate cutbacks have not been kind to the T-S or other small-town papers. Nationally, even the  “successful” papers have incurred staff cutbacks. God knows, we need our print journalism more than ever in the era of Trump and Fake News etc..  Marc is very open to feedback from the readers and you can reach him at mvalles@times-standard.com  

But don’t waste his time! He’s a busy guy!

ANNALS OF CUSTOMER SERVICE-  Every time we have another AT&T outage I wonder why anyone bothers with AT&T but Suddenlink service is not that much better.  I spent SIX DAYS recently without cable service in half my house (the TIVO sets weren’t working). They were so backed up it took them six days to come  out.  They fixed it,  then a couple of days later I had a freaky evening when the remotes didn’t work. Then the next morning they worked again. This is obviously a plot to make us crazy.  I am miserable without cable, just miserable. I had taped about 30 movies so I started to watch them. I watched Pal Joey, an awful movie that showed how bad an actor Sinatra was without the right direction. But he made up for it in From Here To Eternity, bigly.  BTW, did you know that Kim Novak is an Oregonian? Lives with her retired-vet husband on a 300-acre ranch near Ashland.

HUFFMAN’S OUTREACH- Your Congressman, Jared Huffman, has introduced legislation to “restore and revitalize forests and wetlands” and a whole bunch more.  The Times summarized it HERE

His first meeting is at the Wharfinger on Monday, August 14, from 530 to 830. August 14 is a historical day, too. That’s the day WWI started. 

PEN AIR- I really don’t have a dog in this fight as it is my firm ambition never to fly again, but I do regret the loss of service from Pen Air.  Bad for business, bad for those who still have to fly. Bad, I presume, for the hard working folks at Fly Humboldt. Has anyone costed out the viability of a ground shuttle to Medford or Sacramento, or both?

CAL-ORE LIFE FLIGHT-  Speaking of flying, I sent in my check to Cal-Ore Life Flight the other day and received my membership card and keychain thingy in the mail. A friend of mine says she  would not have incurred $56K if she’d had it when she was  flown to  SF for surgery. Years ago, when I was working for State Rehab, I had to travel to Crescent City weekly and I joined the Del Norte Chamber. They had one of their meetings at Cal-Ore at their facility and I was really impressed with the people and their dedication. And I was really saddened  when they had their crash, losing four people. Anyway, I’m in.   And hope I never have to use it. As they say in their ad insert,  “The best thing to happen on the worst day of your life”.

QUOTE FROM CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER-  “Bungled collusion is still collusion”.

Sunset DISCOVERS SAMOA- on their website they’re featuring those vacation cottages, with nods to the Cookhouse and  our oysters. It’s HERE

END

“The Urge” Is Here

Today’s the debut of “The Urge”.

Will it cause us all to splurge?

Will new ad revenues emerge?

Or will the editors sing a dirge?

All the papers want to merge.

RED ink is a paper’s scourge.

Let’s all hope that this new “Urge” 

Will bring the Times back from the verge. 

 Good luck, guys!

 

   

Is the Times-Standard Committing Suicide?

The hits just keep on coming. Last week I was notified by snailmail that my bill for the Times, digital access included, will be increased from $11.66 to $16.50 effective immediately. That ‘s a 41% increase!! Who does that ? No one who wants to keep customers.  

Then I got another letter telling me that instead of the current TV listing coming with the Sunday paper, it’s now going to show up on Thursday with the revolting title of “URGE”.  I’m not kidding you.  Kim Wear confirmed in Sunday’s paper that “Urge” will contain the entertainment news that was in the TriCity and that the TriCity will be downgraded to a weekly shopper, published on Tuesdays.

It’s been obvious for a long time that the T-S was in trouble and I sympathize with Kim, Clay and the other talented people down there, but really, “Urge”? What urge are we referring to? Is it the urge to go sit on the pot while you read the paper? An “urge” is not a pleasant sensation. According to my dictionary, it’s “a strong need, wish or impulse to do something.”  Has the entertainment scene up here grown that dire? Do you go to concerts or movies because of an “urge” to do so? I didn’t think so.  The urge to vomit is a typical urge. Somehow I don’t think that’s what they meant to suggest, but there it is. Was this revolting nomenclature dictated by corporate powers? 

The T-S has been carrying ads for months now advertising their surplus paper for sale. This is creepy, like a drunk selling his blood, but it was a fair augury of things to come. I literally learned to read on the morning Times (that, and Little Lulu comics) and I take umbrage when people mess with my paper, especially by imposing a title that smacks more of biology than entertainment. Sorry, “urge” just doesn’t  cut it. Go back to the drawing board, folks, and meanwhile I’ll be figuring out where to squeeze out an extra $60 bucks a year for the dubious pleasure of reading a publication called “Urge”.

Urge? Come on, now.  What’s next? Barf?