Hello again. I haven't blogged since Thursday I think. The whole thing in Connecticut has befuddled me. I think it's sick how all of these new agencies... jumped on this. I studied news and the media in college and I have worked for several newspapers (including being a news editor and an associate editor), a television news program in a MIDDLE-sized market where I wrote news and I do the blog and the podcast and I am kind of ashamed to be (loosely) associated with some of these people. I am not sure how these types of things should be handled but I don't feel converging on a small town full of grieving people and smothering them just so you can sell toothpaste and cars and dog food... through your advertising is the proper thing to do. It kind of makes me embarrassed to be an American. These poor people are not being able to grieve and then the media circus will roll out of town the people will all of a sudden be smacked in the face with the reality of what has happened and then have to start to heal (if that is even possible).
I was driving through my town this morning about 4:30 AM and came upon a news truck(
Channel 7 out of Chicago) set-up with its satellite uplink and it's flood lights... across from a house where a 19-year-old died about a month ago from, what was just finally determined yesterday, "acute alcohol poisoning." The young man was supposedly rushing a fraternity and during "hazing" drank enough liquor to be over five time the legal limit to operate a motor vehicle. He was not driving but that is how we measure such a thing these days. Vultures.
These types of things are partially why we do the podcast and I write this blog. Though we do sometimes discuss topics like these I think we try to put a different spin on these types of things to help us and readers/listeners understand. To be fair I am sure many of the people who work for these giant media outlets feel that way too but, bottom line for these news giants, it's all about ratings and advertisers. Money, money, money! Though I would like for our podcast to get big and afford us a living so we could leave the grind behind I don't see us caving and destroying our integrity to achieve this. If we are good enough maybe we will get these things without bowing to "the man." Off of the soap box now. I am just trying to make some sense of all of this in my own head/blog/pod.
That being said, we are battling the gun issue in America right after Christmas on the podcast with a member of the
National Rifle Association (NRA) and an owner of a company called
Urban Tanks right after the new year on the podcast (with a name like "Urban Tanks" I bet he's into "fire power"). I think he is in trouble when Cha Cha and my brother from a darker father, Jay Cole, get ahold of him. I would join in but I am not as well-versed in the actual laws and such as Jay and Cha Cha. I will try to act as host and moderator but I am slanted and I will probably not hide that. If you know anything about me I am a guy who shoots from the heart (not the hip). I know how I feel and I lead with my heart which is why Cha Cha sometimes says, "you're so sensitive." She means it as a dig but I always say, "that's why you fell in love with me." I don't know how being sensitive is a bad think. I am a very apathetic person and that will never change (no way to teach this MIDDLE dog new tricks).
Not ironically, this is bumming me out (damn sensitivity). I always try to put my feet in other people's moccasins and that's why I am a moody cuss with borderline high blood pressure. I guess I am a hippie in my head and in my heart. Always have been and apparently always will be. I hope I snap out of this before we record the podcast tonight but maybe it doesn't MATTer.
I didn't know what I was going to blog about when I sat down here but I guess I went on about something from my heart and that is never bad. I yam what I yam and that's all that I yam. It goes without blogging that my heart goes out to all of the people connected to the senseless acts out East and to the parents the brother and sister who were the triplets of the young man who died in my town just trying to fit in. We all need to be ourselves sometimes. I am as guilty as anyone with wanting to fit-in and being liked by people but that is kinda messed-up really. One of the greatest things about the world, to me, is that we are all different. Be yourself without hurting someone else physically, mentally or emotionally; it's tough but it is what I strive for. And, it would be well worth the struggle if we could achieve it. Have a great night; I am gonna try to fight the demons and get into a better mood within the next couple of hours. My daughter being home from college for Christmas break will help. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!
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