static and the radio

Sara + Steve

2010-08-24T09:07:00.001-05:00

Sara + Steve, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Here's another entry for the Nebraska State Fair. It's a self-portrait of us.

Habitat for Humanity

2010-08-23T17:28:00.001-05:00

Habitat for Humanity, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

For the last few years, we've organized media build days for our local Habitat for Humanity group.

Here's a shot I snapped during last year's build. I like to think I'm more valuable to Habitat with a camera or a microphone than I am with a hammer, but I'm sure every little bit helps this worthy ministry.

The photo is one of my entries for the Nebraska State Fair photo show.

Green Beetle, Colorful Leaf

2010-08-22T10:19:00.001-05:00

Green Beetle, Colorful Leaf, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Here's a photo of a beetle on a leaf at Stuhr Museum that I took this summer. I'm entering it in open class competition at the Nebraska State Fair.

Dragonfly in Flight

2010-08-20T21:35:00.001-05:00

Dragonfly, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Here's another entry for the Nebraska State Fair, of a dragonfly about to land. It took timing and patience to get the shot, and I'm sure I fired the shutter a bunch of times to get this exposure.

Corn Auger

2010-08-20T08:17:00.001-05:00

Corn Auger, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Here's another entry for the Nebraska State Fair. I took this one at Husker Harvest Days, the world's largest working irrigated farm show.

Courthouse at Night

2010-08-19T07:38:00.001-05:00

Courthouse at Night, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Here's another one of my entries for the Nebraska State Fair

State Fair Love

2010-08-18T16:04:00.001-05:00

Punk Love, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

This year the Nebraska State Fair moves to Grand Island.

In honor of that (and because the fair's just a few minutes from home), I'm entering photos for the first time in open class competition at the fair.

I'm going to post my entries here.

This one I call "Punk Love." It's one of my favorites that I've taken at Cornerstone Festival. Hope you enjoy it, and if you're at the fair, come look for my stuff! It'll be on display in the Fonner Park concourse.

No Impact Man

2010-04-27T08:10:00.000-05:00

He didn't just amp up his recycling and go with reusable grocery bags instead of the plastic ones. No, Colin Beavan went as far as cutting the power in his house in an attempt to be the "no impact man" in the documentary of the same name.

I was a bit surprised at what he found, and I don't just mean what happened when he, his wife, and their two-year-old girl gave up toilet paper.

They learned something about consumerism and the values of a consumer culture. When you cut out TV (and the power) you spend more time outdoors. When you need help, it's nice to have a supportive community of friends. You can even tell when the seasons change by what's growing in the ground (you don't need a calendar to know what time of year it is!)

I've been to New York, but guess I didn't fully understand the self-absorbed culture. Ultimately, I think Beavan learned what he does has an impact on people around him. He learned we're interconnected, and it's not all about me. Shocker!

Take or leave the environmental message (strange thing for me to be saying about an environmental documentary) but I think you'll find the things he learned contain lessons for people of faith.

Here are a couple of the key things I took from the film that don't require you to wash clothes in the bathtub.

Community. Colin's wife worried what would happen when she couldn't watch reality TV. By the end, she said she couldn't believe how long days are when spent with others or spent outside doing things.

Be more connected to the land. Living in the midwest, this isn't as much of a problem. I know where food comes from, but apparently many people don't. Thank a farmer.

Stop consuming so much. This is something we could all benefit from.

All Tied Up: Week 2

2010-01-15T19:43:00.007-06:00

Date: 1/11/10
Style: Striped
Colors: Blue, Red
Width: Standard
Shirt: Blue, Red on White
Jacket: Blue
Story: City budget shortfall, sales tax revenue down

Date: 1/12/10
Style: Striped
Colors: Light green and blue
Width: Standard
Shirt: Light Blue
Jacket: Whatever that kind of tan one is called
Story: The stimulus project the White House announced is not a done deal, also had to cover a double fatality on a slick street. I was the first reporter on the scene. Police Sgt. Bud Edwards came up to me, visibly shaken, but an arm around me and remarked how it reminded him how much he hated winter. Police are people too. They'd rather not have to deal with death.

Date: 1/13/10
Style: Striped
Colors: Brown with orange stripes
Width: Standard
Shirt: Orange
Jacket: Brown
Story: Covered release of a report highlighting challenges of immigrant children in Nebraska. Then I found out a prominent local doctor had been arrested for pandering. That kept me a little busy, running to the courthouse, digging for info online, calls to the cops, the clinic. In the end, we ran a 30-second story on it.

Date: 1/14/10
Style: Polka dots! Our first non-striped tie of the year
Colors: Black with pink dots
Width: Standard
Shirt: Black, gray stripes
Jacket: Black
Story: Governor Dave Heineman's State of the State address.
Other: I live-tweeted the State of the State speech, and until someone tells me otherwise, I will take credit for the first person to do that, at least to do it from the event itself. I was tweeting on my iPod from the senate chamber on the public WiFi (Follow me on Twitter @stevewhitenews)

Date: 1/15/10
Style: Striped
Colors: Purple, Silver, Black
Width: Standard
Shirt: Light purple
Jacket: Gray pinstripes
Story: A follow-up to the State of the State, focused on education reform.
Other: News anchor Colleen Williams and her husband Chris welcomed their second child at 12:31pm this day.
And another note: Notice the purple? Once again supporting the Vikings. And I've got plenty of purple to make it to the Super Bowl!

All Tied Up: Week 1

2010-01-15T18:21:00.011-06:00

Date: 1/1/10
Style: Striped
Colors: Pink, Black
Width: Skinny
Shirt: Black
Jacket: Gray
Story: Author who'd written book on fitness medicine, a New Year's resolution piece
Other: I bought this tie at the VOTA concert we hosted at church in December (see pics of the show here including the tie)

Date: 1/5/10
Style: Striped
Colors: Green, Blue
Width: Standard
Shirt: Blue
Jacket: Tan?
Story: Sports reporter who wrote a book on sports journalism. That's two stories to start the year about authors.
Other: That's a very pregnant news anchor, Colleen Williams in the "double boxes" with me.

Date: 1/6/10
Style: Striped
Colors: Tan, Brown, Black
Width: Standard
Shirt: Brown
Jacket: Brown
Story: State budget
Other: Notice my pink forehead? Yeah, that was the last night for that camera. In went in to the shop after that.

Date: 1/7/10
Style: Striped
Colors: Pink, Blue
Width: Standard
Shirt: Blue
Jacket: Black
Story: "No Snow Day for Farmers", talking to farmers to see how they were coping with the blizzard
Other: What you don't see is that I was wearing jeans, long johns, two pairs of socks, and boots. And that it was -15 outside, before the windchill

Date: 1/8/10
Style: Striped
Colors: Purple, Black
Width: Standard
Shirt: Light gray
Jacket: Gray pinstriped
Story: Three stories: Visit to the homeless shelter on a -15 day, a house fire, and a stimulus-related job announcement.
Other:Wore a purple tie because the NFL playoffs were starting, to support my Minnesota Vikings!

And to recap, you'll notice that's five striped ties to start the year. What does that say about me?

All Tied Up

2010-01-01T11:14:00.005-06:00

I realize I was a pretty terrible blogger in 2009, although I was tweeting more (@stevewhitenews). I resolve in 2010 to pursue more creative ideas, specifically writing more for fun.

Last year, I wore a different tie on the air each day until St. Patrick's Day, when I donned my shamrock tie I got in Ireland. But unless you were really paying attention, you wouldn't have noticed that I went that long without a repeat.

So at my wife Sara's prompting, I'm going to try it again this year and see how long I can go without repeating. But this time I'm going to chronicle it for you here!

I'll start with my New Year's Eve tie, worn on the news 12/31/09.

Style: Striped
Colors: Blue, White
Width: Standard
Shirt: Light blue
Jacket: Navy blue

Best Movies of the Decade

2009-08-22T10:21:00.001-05:00

AT-AT used in Empire Strikes Back, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Quick, name the best movies of the decade.

Still thinking? Maybe you can help me decide what we're calling this decade anyway (the aughts?)

If you've come up with more than two at this point, I'm impressed.

With apologies to whatever program I heard discussing this, as the '00s come to a close (can that be?) the decade has not been a good one in theaters.

But when it comes to TV, I can quickly rattle off a list of shows with staying power: Lost, The Office, Arrested Development, 24, House, American Idol, Survivor, Rescue Me, Grey's Anatomy, and on an on.

Not to say there haven't been some great movies, but where's this decade's "Star Wars", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", or even its "Titanic"?

I think as close as we've come are "The Dark Knight" and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Those are the only films I can think of that were box offices successes as well as critically acclaimed.

If anything, the movies from this decade that will last are probably Pixar films like "Finding Nemo" and "Wall-E."

So what am I forgetting?

Lil' Smokies, Brett Favre, and Purple Pride

2009-07-29T08:21:00.000-05:00

I want to use the napkins and the plates. Not just any ones, mind you, the purple and gold I bought 11 years ago. It was 1998, the Vikings were headed to the Super Bowl and I wad headed to the party store. As a lifelong Vikings fan, I was going to be ready when they won. I picked up some napkins and plates with the team logo on them, so I could eat my nachos and lil' smokies with purple pride.

With Cris Carter, Randy Moss, and Robert Smith, they were going to wipe out years of frustration, finally winning the big game. And then it happened. The most dependable kicker in football missed.

As a Vikings fan I should have known better. Of course Gary Anderson was going to miss. After all, he's gotten our hopes up by completing a perfect season until that NFC title game.

Now it's just another footnote on Wikipedia, another sign of this team's failure, along with those four Super Bowl losses, the Herschel Walker trade, and the Love Boat scandal.

But while we've had great offenses and great defenses, the one thing Vikings fans haven't had since Fran Tarkenton is a great quarterback.

We've suffered through guys like Tommy Kramer, Wade Wilson, Sean Salisbury, Rich Gannon, Jeff George, Brad Johnson and Tarvaris Jackson. Along the way there were also forgettable guys like Spergon Wynn and even St. Cloud State's own Todd Bouman.

Sure some of those guys put together a good season here or there, but arguably only one quarterback in that stretch put together a string of success, as Daunte Culpepper gave us glimmers of hope.

Tarvaris Jackson is a tremendous athlete with a strong arm and quick legs. But he hasn't shown he can win consistently. Brett Favre to the rescue -- he could have been the bona fide Hall of Fame quarterback the team has lacked.

But now that too is just another story in this team's ongoing saga of losing.

Guess I don't have to dig up those plates and napkins this season. There's always next year.

Is "Christian" music dying?

2009-07-15T08:12:00.001-05:00

tobyMac, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

If you look at the headliners at some of this summer's Christian music festivals, you may wonder what year it is -- 2009 or 1999.

The top tier of Christian bands is largely unchanged over the last decade. Sure dc Talk is no longer together, but frontman tobyMac (pictured) keeps the Talk train moving. Another dc Talker now fronts the Newsboys.

Both acts will be playing this year's Sonshine Festival in Minnesota, a prime example of what's changed, and what hasn't.

Sonshine's headliners include Switchfoot, Skillet, and Relient K, all bands that are well-known in Christian circles.

That's not to say there aren't up and coming bands led by faith-fueled musicians. There are tons of them. It's just they're not following the path of the Newsboys. Like Switchfoot and Relient K, the new bands would rather be market of the general market music scene, not pigeonholed as Christian.

That's great for a festival like Cornerstone that I've been a part of. Cornerstone is more on the fringes of Christian music, and this year played host to plenty of bands that don't neatly fall in the confines of "Christian" music. Bands like Anberlin, Los Lonely Boys, Shiny Toy Guns, Underoath, and Family Force 5.

They're all bands you can download on iTunes, or if you still want a CD you can get it at Target or Best Buy. That's a big change from the '90s where new Christian acts had to get their CDs into Christian book stores.

For more than the last decade, many of the young bands whose members are Christians have gone around the Christian music industry.

That's why the headliners at festivals like Sonshine haven't changed much. New bands don't want to take their place as the top Christian bands. They'd rather be like Switchfoot with hits on pop radio.

Take Anberlin. They play the late night talk shows and chart on alternative rock radio. Or Underoath, a screamo band with plenty of mainstream credibility. They'll top the Billboard albums chart, headline the Warped Tour all summer, only taking a single pit stop to play Cornerstone.

That's the new paradigm. Make music not for the choir but music that goes to the corners of the earth, competing right alongside mainstream bands.

The Christian music industry may still have a place, if nothing else for worship music for the church. But it's probably not going to be what it was. That's not to say Christians aren't still making music. They are, and will. And we'll be better for it.

Anberlin

2009-07-11T10:25:00.001-05:00

Anberlin, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Here's one of my favorite shots from last week at Cornerstone.

2009-06-29T06:32:00.000-05:00

When I plug my iPod in to my computer, every song I've listened to is "scrobbled", that is submitted at the website last.fm where it tracks the artists I'm listening to, suggests similar artists, and creates a radio station based on my tastes.

It comes as no surprise this week that Michael Jackson is the most played artist on the site (and people's iPods) this week.

Top Artists and Top Tracks Charts – Last.fm

The chart shows this past week he had twice the number of listeners of the closest acts (Radiohead, Coldplay, and The Beatles).

And of the top ten songs played for the week, only two aren't Michael Jackson songs. For the record, "Billie Jean", and "Beat It" are the top two. You have to go to #247 to find a Kanye West song or #321 to find U2.

Family Force 5 Honors Michael Jackson's Thriller

2009-06-28T15:13:00.001-05:00

Family Force 5 Honors Michael Jackson's Thriller, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Soul Glow Activatur wears his "Thriller" shirt. And if you notice, his guitar has a Michael Jackson sticker on it too. This was from Cornerstone 2006.

Hooker for Jesus Founder Marries Christian Rocker

2009-06-07T10:04:00.001-05:00

Whitecross & Oz Fox of Stryper, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

So Sara was sitting in the other room, checking out the headlines on CNN.com when this one caught her eye.

"Hookers for Jesus founder, Christian rocker wed in Vegas"
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/05/nevada.prostitute.wedding/index.html

Of course she had to tell me that, and I had to know who the Christian rocker was. I think I'm pretty well versed in Christian rock, and thought there was a good chance it would be a name I'd known.

Sure enough, it's none other than Oz Fox of Stryper. He's the one on the left who can still pull off the '80s metal hair.

Anyway, a former prostitute turned Christian who runs a ministry known as Hooker for Jesus married the Stryper lead guitarist this weekend.

Haleakala National Park

2009-05-28T14:22:00.001-05:00

Haleakala National Park, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Yesterday was the highlight of our Hawaii vacation for me. The one place I really wanted to go was Haleakala National Park. Now that I'm picking up on my Hawaiian language, I can tell you I think it's pronounced Holly-call-uh.

It's a massive volcano. No, you won't see any fiery lava steaming in the pit, but it's still spectacular. You get views you normally only see on an airplane. You see these huge clouds everywhere. Unfortunately, the cloud cover didn't give us a very good view of sunset, but if you're going to Maui, definitely check it out!

Surfer

2009-05-27T18:58:00.001-05:00

Surfer, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

So we were posing for a photo when this guy walked right past us. Since he interrupted, I didn't feel bad snapping a few frames of him with his surf board.

Why I Twitter

2009-04-15T08:22:00.002-05:00

Twitter's @ev at University of Nebraska, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

It's how I found out a plane had safely crash-landed in the Hudson. And how Lance Armstrong recovered a missing bike. CNN uses it to report breaking news.

And chances are you're sick of it.

So what's the deal with Twitter?

I like to say it's not blogging, but it's not instant messaging or email either. It fills some other void. Recently I had a chance to talk with Evan Williams, the Nebraska native who founded Twitter (and blogger.com before that).

But do you really want to know what Ashton Kutcher had for lunch? Celebrities have certainly gotten on the bandwagon. But so have a lot of normal folks.

Here are a few reasons I like it:

1. It allows someone to quickly and easily broadcast a short message to their "followers." Sometimes I'll post a link to a story I've done, or send a short blurb known as a "tweet" about some news item. On election night, I posted updates from the campaign headquarters of a US Senate candidates. That's useful, and I could get tweets out more often than I could on the air.

2. Networking. I've corresponded with the weekend anchor of ABC's World News. A lot of the people I follow are in the field of journalism, so I see what stories they're working on and how they approach them.

3. Solicit feedback. I might tweet that I'm going to be talking to the governor, and ask folks for subjects I might want to cover. Take advantage of what other people know.

4. It's not Facebook. You won't get invitations to join someone's "mob war" or take a quiz. And you won't read one of those "25 Things About Me" lists. If you like the status updates in Facebook, you'll like Twitter. That part is similar. But without all the other stuff.

5. Someone can follow you without you following them. On sites like Facebook and MySpace, you "friend" someone. With Twitter, if someone chooses to follow you, you don't automatically follow them back. For the twitterati like Ashton Kutcher, they might have 500,000 followers, but only follow 500 themselves. So you only follow the people you find interesting.

But there are some arguments against Twitter.

1. Some users think a little too highly of themselves. Those with a big ego will let you know how great they are.

2. The site itself is down a lot. As Twitter explodes, the site hasn't scaled well. A lot of folks don't use it on Twitter.com but rather from a dedicated Twitter app.

3. It's not Facebook. Posting pictures requires a third party app.

4. It can be a huge time suck. You can't be on all the time. And it's super annoying when you see ten messages in a row from the same person. That's a good way for me to unfollow someone.

All that said, follow me at twitter.com/stevewhitenews.

And expect another post on my blog soon with comments from Ev Williams' recent visit to Nebraska, as he talked about monetizing the site, rumors of selling to Google, and where he sees Twitter going.

Fire Foam Test

2009-04-07T19:02:00.001-05:00

Fire Foam Test, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

I have seen the foam and it is wet.

Literally months of work and patience paid off today. More than five years ago, the National Guard picked Grand Island for a helicopter base.

First, it was going to have Apaches, then it became Chinooks. They did the design, but didn't have money for construction. Then the weather slowed things.

Chinooks are monstrous machines. I mean massive. Just huge. I understand why they're the army's heavy lifting workhorse.

Two years ago they broke ground on a 70,000+ square foot building to hold them.

Since then, I've done occasional stories on the progress. I mean, it is an almost $18 million building with 41 full time employees and room for up to 300 soldiers.

It was supposed to be done by December. I called probably November to do a story, but it wasn't ready yet. I've been checking back every few weeks since then.

I learned they had installed a fire suppression system where they were using that fire fighting foam stuff. I knew that was my opportunity.

But it's been delayed time and time again.

Today it all paid off. Here's you see the foam spraying down. I'll post a link to the video later. In about 90 seconds, the hangar filled with enough foam to put out the fire. It was pretty sweet!

Paul Harvey - 1918 - 2009

2009-03-01T08:54:00.000-06:00

Paul Harvey - 1918 - 2009
Standby for news!

One of the pioneers of broadcasting, and a personal hero of mine has died.

Paul Harvey had been on the air nationally since 1951. He was 90.

I have fond memories of sitting at my grandparents' house in Iowa, enjoying a noon lunch at the kitchen table with Paul Harvey giving us his "news and comment."

Later, as a broadcaster myself, I'd listen to his reports to inform my own. Joe High, a photographer I worked with for several years and I would often plan our lunch breaks around Paul Harvey. And if the local station preempted him, we had a list of other stations we could catch him on.

He was known for his unique delivery, full of pauses, and the terrific story telling of his son, who wrote his popular "Rest of the Story" features. His wife, affectionately known as Angel produced his programs. She passed away last year.

He did his own ads, and how effective they were. It's been said he would only endorse products he himself used. And I'm sure his 25 million listeners were more than kind to his advertisers.

He spent time in Oklahoma and St. Louis before spending most of his life in Chicago, not New York or LA.

In many ways, he was the radio voice of middle America. He was a broadcaster not afraid to share his Christian faith, as he often did in this Lenten season, when he'd share the story of the man and the birds, a modern parable about Jesus.

It always struck me to hear how he wore not only a a shirt and tie, but a full suit on the radio, saying it made him stay on top of his game. I respect that.

It's been said he's the most listened to broadcaster in radio history.

He'd often close his program with a "kicker" -- a funny story that he himself would often chuckle at. Sometimes you'd hear the pregnant pauses as he either drew out the suspense, or held back his laughter. And always he ended with a hearty "Good Day!"

And now you know the rest of the story.

Muzak to be heard not listened to

2009-02-15T19:24:00.003-06:00

"Music to be heard but not listened to --a new kind of music whose vitalizing influence subliminally satisfies the desire for sweet music."

So says an article in the KHOL-TV (now KHGI) Telecaster of August 15, 1960.

The headline reads "Muzak Music Emblem Symbolizes Quality."

Of course, now the headlines say "Muzak Files for Bankruptcy" -- just check out the links on Google News.

As synonymous as Muzak is with "elevator music" and soulless, bland background music, it's hard to think of a time when some wouldn't play pop music in their stores because it was too "irritating" (keep reading). But now we're bombarded with the likes of Lil' Wayne, Soulja Boy, and (shudder) Nickelback when we're grabbing a sandwich or shopping for trash bags.

Continuing in the 1960 promotional piece, it says "Muzak is functionally planned and specially recorded music that soothes nervous tensions and fosters the friendly feelings of customers and employees alike."

"Muzak dose not require active listening. It filters the irritating noises of the modern age. Customers feel better, more relaxed and more congenial when they're surrounded by Music by Muzak."

2009-02-08T19:40:00.002-06:00

U2 opened the Grammys tonight, even if they aren't up for any awards until next year.

Nearly five years ago, I blogged by favorite U2 songs.

Now here's another try, probably much the same. Let's see how things change (or stay the same). In no particular order:

Until the End of the World
Beautiful Day
40
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Please
North and South of the River (favorite non-album track by far)
I Will Follow
Sunday Bloody Sunday
With or Without You
Desire
All I Want is You
Yahweh
City of Blinding Lights

U2 single most likely to skip: Stuck in a Moment

Other songs I can't quite put on my list but I would like to: The Fly, Mysterious Ways, One, Elevation, Vertigo, Walk On, Lemon, Stay, Pride.

Song I hope U2 closes their last ever show with: 40. No question about that one.

Lesser known songs I really like: Lady with the Spinning Head, Gone, When Love Comes to Town, Mofo, Dirty Day (Junk Day mix), Acrobat, Lemon

I do like the new single, Get On Your Boots. It's growing on me. I've been especially feeling the bass line. I think I was so caught up by the lyrics / delivery and guitar part to think about the bass part, but I like it more on each passing listen.

How many US presidents can you name in 5 minutes? - Quiz from www.timedquiz.com

2009-01-29T20:51:00.000-06:00

I named 37 US presidents in 5 minutes

1474 Megapixel Image of Inauguration

2009-01-24T15:19:00.003-06:00

This is pretty cool. A 1474 megapixel shot of Pres. Barack Obama being sworn in.

You can zoom in. It's pretty cool to see all the people there, to zoom in and just look around.

When Candidates Become Presidents: How Media Coverage Changes

2009-01-23T09:07:00.004-06:00

Journalists are pressing our new president, trying to judge how media-friendly Mr. Obama will be.

First link:
News access issues concern those covering Obama

When Pres. Obama re-took the oath of office, TV crews were not allowed in. And the article says major wire services like the AP refused to distribute White House photos of the new president, instead pushing for access for their photographers.

And a couple of links from Politico:
Obama flashes irritation in press room
Media frustration spills into briefing

I'll take Politico to task for the first. Looks like they tried to ambush Pres. Obama at an impromptu stop by the new president. There are times to ask tough questions, but that looked more like someone looking for a gotcha moment. Not classy, Politico.

The second piece shows how reporters are treating an administration that promised transparency and change.

I'm not trying to pass judgment on the new president, but look how members of the press (and White House) are drawing lines. I know the critics said reporters and the Obama campaign were too cozy, but I think those things do tend to change when candidates become presidents. I think reporters will keep a watchful eye, and I think the new administration will be a little more leery of news coverage than they were during the campaign.

Silhouettes

2009-01-17T17:03:00.001-06:00

Silhouettes, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

So I have some toys lined up against a basement window. Looked pretty cool that way, so here's a shot of General Grievous.

Best of 2008!

2008-12-31T20:34:00.001-06:00

Anberlin

2008-12-20T19:03:00.002-06:00

Anberlin, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

If you need a new music fix this Christmas, Anberlin's new album _New Surrender_ is available to download for $3.99 from Amazon for a limited time.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001GO790S?tag=absolutepunk-20

If you want a sample, check out "Feel Good Drag"

Into the Groove

2008-12-14T10:56:00.002-06:00

This is one of those silly put your iPod on shuffle games.

Rules…
*Put your music player on shuffle.
*For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
* YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!

1) IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY...
Alright, I was wrong

2) WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Christmas in Hollis

3) WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?
The Ground Beneath Her Feet

4) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Liberation

5) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Hanging by a moment

6) WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Rewind

7) WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Retrace

8) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Livin' on a Prayer

9) WHAT IS 2+2?
Windowsill

10) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Five Iron Frenzy is either dead or dying

11) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Get to Heaven

12) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Extreme North of the Compass

13) WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Fabulous, like you

14) WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Wake Up

15) WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Always Yours

16) WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Don't Wait (but I'm already married...)

17) WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
1979 (that would be a few years off)

18) WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

19) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Summer Rain

20) WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
No One Like You

21) HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Only Time

22) WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Someplace Worth Being

23) WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Berlin Kitty

24) WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
X&Y

25) WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Nothing Like a Train

26) WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
More Everything

27) DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Mysterious Ways

28) IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE
40

29) WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
I'm Not Letting Go

30) WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Into the Groove

Go Jacks!

2008-11-26T21:30:00.001-06:00

Finally! Five years after going to Division I, my alma mater is making news for its athletic program, most notably the women's basketball team. I did manage to get to quite a few games in Frost Arena, so this is pretty cool to see.

ESPN - South Dakota State Jackrabbits ready to make a run toward NCAA tournament

Waving the Flag

2008-11-05T09:10:00.001-06:00

Waving the Flag, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Those logos on the microphones are called mic flags. Election night's always a good time to fly the flag high.

Shark Attack!

2008-11-03T10:57:00.001-06:00

Shark Attack!, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

For more on sharks, enjoy this video :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBdIEMdHNR8

What's Palin have in common with Steven Curtis Chapman?

2008-11-02T07:40:00.000-06:00

What does Sarah Palin have in common with Steven Curtis Chapman?

Thanks to Peter Chattaway for pointing this out, originally from 92Y blog.

Q: My final question is: Sarah Palin. Discuss.

A: Sarah Palin is "Becky." That's the industry term for the typical
Christian radio listener --the churchgoing working mom who doesn't want to
think too hard about anything. She wants programming that affirms what she
already believes and that's safe for the kids in the backseat. Nothing
makes it on to the airwaves if it's going to upset or confuse Becky.

Becky likes to say things like, "God has a plan for your life" and "God
doesn't give you more than you can handle." Usually I have no problem with
anyone who wants to believe that, because if it helps them keep going when
they lose their job or get a serious illness, more power to them. My
concern about Sarah Palin is that she really thinks God thinks she's ready
to be vice president, otherwise why would he have put that on John
McCain's heart (to use the Christianese). A more contemplative Christian
might have prayed about this situation and been forced to admit that she
wasn't really ready to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. When Becky
prays, she almost always hears the response she wanted in the first place.

I have always argued Christian radio is aimed squarely at 45-year-old white woman in red state America. They're the ones who listen to James Dobson's "Focus on the Family" and enjoy "safe and encouraging" music by the likes of MercyMe and Steven Curtis Chapman. Never dawned on me that Sarah Palin is that listener. Interesting.

Study: Media coverage has favored Obama campaign

2008-11-01T11:22:00.000-05:00

Study: Media coverage has favored Obama campaign

Always interesting to see these reports. But it does reach the same conclusion I have, that ABC's World News Tonight has been the most balanced of the major newscasts.

PRE$$ PA$$

2008-10-25T08:17:00.005-05:00

I'm in the end zone. The crowd erupts. TOUCHDOWN!!!

It's no fantasy. It's really happened. No, I wasn't the one with the ball, but the guy with the camera shooting highlights for the evening news.

One of the perks of being a TV reporter in Nebraska is the access to big time college football. Texas, Oklahoma, USC, and Virginia Tech are just a few of the schools I've seen.

It takes a press pass to get that kind of access. Of course, I'm not always the guy on the sideline or in the end zone. Sometimes I have to go to the photo box on top of the stadium. You have to take stairs up to the roof to get there.

Make no mistake about it, covering a game is work. I've put in 16 hour days, schlepping a camera for hours. You take a play off, and so does the defense. As soon as you turn the camera off, someone scores.

While we don't pay to get in, we do pay to get there, and pay to park.

Big time politics is the same way. From what I understand, it's not unusual for the TV folks to pay to park their satellite trucks. Those on the campaign press planes pay for their travel. Reporters at big campaign stops pay for internet access and phone lines.

But paying just to cover the event? I thought that was unheard of.

Until now.

This year the two presidential campaigns have what amount to a pay-for-play plans for election night.

No media get in free to John McCain's post-election party according to a columnist with the Chicago Sun-Times.

Barack Obama has a free option -- if you want to huddle into a tent watching a TV with other journalists. If you want a good seat, be ready to shill out $1000 or more. Main riser? Pay $1870. Don't believe me? Look at Obama's website.

Columnist Lynn Sweet said in this piece about Obama's plans, "This is an outrageous pay to play plan that caters to national elite outlets with deep pockets."

I agree.

Journalists are considered the fourth estate. They play an important role, that frankly shouldn't be restricted by who can afford to pay.

Yeah, it's not a problem for CNN, ABC, or the Washington Post. But is it limiting coverage by alternative voices or smaller market outlets?

Every journalist should be able to cover this historic election freely, unhindered by finances. I think this sets a dangerous precedent.

Even with the TV contracts in big time college football, members of the local media still get in free. But we're not talking sports, we're talking about the next president. Do you want to limit news coverage to those with the deepest pockets?

Snoop Does Cash: Johnny Cash Remixed

2008-10-24T20:00:00.000-05:00

I don't know how to describe this. Snoop Dogg does a posthumous duet with Johnny Cash on "I Walk the Line."

Johnny Cash Remixed

Go to this site and listen to the remixes from various folks. Bizarre.

I like Johnny, and I like remixes. This, I'm not sure about.

Behind the War of the Worlds

2008-10-23T18:32:00.002-05:00

I was in the newspaper today, because I'm one of several local broadcasters teaming up for a stage remake of the classic radio broadcast of War of the Worlds.

I'm officially Announcer #3, which means I have about 5 lines. But it'll still be fun!

A step back to ‘War’ - Grand Island, NE - Grand Island Independent

The show is next Thursday in Grand Island at the historic Grand Theatre. It's a fundraiser for the Grand.

President and the Media

2008-10-21T08:06:00.002-05:00

Pres. George W. Bush, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

It's been nearly two years since President Bush visited Grand Island, and eight years since Pres. Clinton came to central Nebraska.

Each time I was fortunate to cover the event on the news.

Without fail, when a president, vice-president, or even a big time candidate comes to town, everyone wants to know if I got to meet them, and interview them.

It might surprise you that presidents, and those seeking the office don't give many interviews.

And when they do, they're with the likes of Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric, not Steve White of NTV News. Somehow the White House doesn't seem to understand the value of small market TV. Go figure ;)

In this campaign, I know Sarah Palin's done high profile interviews with the news anchors I listed previously. But did you know she's been more available to the press than McCain, Obama, or Biden?

That's what a CBS reporter on the campaign trail says.

For all Palin's jabs at the mainstream media, she's been as accessible as any one as of late. That surprises me. I haven't seen that reflected in the coverage. Could just be that her ticket's down in the polls. But I can tell you reporters following her appreciate it.

Getting back to the point that candidates don't give interviews very often, think about the soundbites you see on the evening news.

Most often they're lines taken from stump speeches. Reporters consider themselves lucky if the candidate stops at a coffee house or ice cream shop. Because then the horde of assembled journalists might be able to ask a couple of questions in a more informal setting.

So when the next president visits Grand Island (and I hope he does!) I'll be there. But don't expect me to score an interview. Even the press corps that follows day in and day out doesn't get that. Sure there's the occasional press conference, but mostly they fly on planes from one speech to the next.

Jesus is a friend of mine

2008-10-14T20:53:00.001-05:00

I think I wanna be on McCain's Plane

2008-10-09T08:32:00.001-05:00

In his Reporter's Notebook, Dean Reynolds of CBS explains "how the other half lives."

It's a fascinating report behind the scenes of a presidential campaign. I've covered plenty of campaigns, mostly congressional and gubernatorial.

I've run into poorly planned campaigns that can't keep their candidate on schedule. But most of the time campaigns here are easy to cover. There's plenty of access to the candidate for one on one interviews. We don't generally travel with the candidate, although I have. And there are plenty of photo ops, with tours of industrial plants and farms.

Reynolds writes of the Obama campaign, "The national headquarters in Chicago airily dismisses complaints from journalists wondering why a schedule cannot be printed up or at least e-mailed in time to make coverage plans. Nor is there much sympathy for those of us who report for a newscast that airs in the early evening hours. Our shows place a premium on live reporting from the scene of campaign events. But this campaign can often be found in the air and flying around at the time..."

For as polished as Obama looks, this really surprises me. Even local U.S. Senate campaigns e-mail us daily agendas with media availabilities scheduled.

Reynolds continues, "The McCain folks are more helpful and generally friendly. The schedules are printed on actual books you can hold in your hand, read, and then plan accordingly. The press aides are more knowledgeable and useful to us in the news media. The events are designed with a better eye, and for the simple needs of the press corps. When he is available, John McCain is friendly and loquacious. Obama holds news conferences, but seldom banters with the reporters who've been following him for thousands of miles around the country. Go figure"

I guess there's nothing saying candidates have to be nice to the media, but to traverse the country with what seems like no regard for the press corps that's getting your word out -- that's poor.

There's a saying, "Do to others as you would have them do to you."*

Good advice for reporters and candidates alike.

* Luke 6:31

How Much Oil is Actually Left On This Planet? Should We Care? : Gas 2.0

2008-10-08T14:22:00.000-05:00

Hey, looky here... we've actually got enough oil to last us at least a few decades:

How Much Oil is Actually Left On This Planet? Should We Care? : Gas 2.0

Debt: Reader Pays Off $14,330 In 20 Months

2008-10-07T08:40:00.000-05:00

Instead of CNN's approach of telling us how people are resorting to violence (harming themselves others) to handle their financial woes, Consumerist actually gives helpful advice for getting out of debt:

Debt: Reader Pays Off $14,330 In 20 Months With Our Tips

CNN what are you thinking?

2008-10-06T20:46:00.000-05:00

I know the economy is rough. But this is your lead story on CNN.com?

Police: Jobless father kills family, self

That's low. Capitalizing on someone's pain?

And what's that say to others contemplating ending their lives, to see that it'll get you attention?

If you're out of work, on a downward spiral, this is not the answer. There's hope. Christ invites those who are weary and heavy-burdened. Remember that.

But...

CNN, what are you thinking?

In my newsroom, we generally follow a no-suicide rule. Rarely does it do any good to report on

Here, CNN is clearly trying to put a face on the economic story. I get it, people are depressed. But to sensationalize that as the lead story on CNN.com? That's too far.

Commentary: Bankruptcy, not bailout, is the right answer - CNN.com

2008-09-30T08:33:00.000-05:00

I think I'm beginning to feel like the economist, who wrote the following:

Commentary: Bankruptcy, not bailout, is the right answer - CNN.com

Government-chartered institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are part of the problem. Why now should government bail others out?

And what happened to market economics? If a small businessman gets in over his head, no one bails him out. Maybe some of these big finance companies should go bankrupt.

Let me be clear, I don't want people to lose their homes or jobs. That stinks.

But for companies that took risks, what's the risk if the government bails them out? Maybe they should have to look at bankruptcy.

From the article:
Bankruptcy punishes those who took excessive risks while preserving those aspects of a businesses that remain profitable.

Instead, it looks like taxpayers will be punished.

Finally from the article:
The right view of the financial mess is that an enormous fraction of subprime lending should never have occurred in the first place. Someone has to pay for that. That someone should not be, and does not need to be, the U.S. taxpayer.

Packing Plant Protest

2008-09-23T07:43:00.001-05:00

Packing Plant Protest, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

There are weeks when a proposed $70 million dollar plant coming to town, creating 300 jobs will lead the news.

Other weeks, a story about 600 goats mowing down weeds alongside the interstate might be as good as it gets.

And then there was last week.

An estimated 500 Muslim employees of JBS Swift & Co., a beef packing plant, walked off the line, asking to pray during the Muslim observance of Ramadan.

After two days of protests, the union and plant agreed to move the evening meal break closer to sundown.

That brought on two days of counter protests from White, Hispanic, and Sudanese employees, mostly Christian.

There was plenty of shouting, strange for a situation about prayer. But it's not all about prayer; to the employees at the plant it's about what they see as special treatment.

By Friday the police stepped up their presence, with dozens of cops posted around the plant.

Now Somali leaders threaten to sue.

Instead of arguing about prayer, I think people need to go to prayer. Certainly sounds better than shouting.

Case IH Combine

2008-09-13T11:02:00.001-05:00

Case IH Combine, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

I got to ride in a combine this week, during Husker Harvest Days, billed as the world's largest working irrigated farm show.

It's a big farm show, although I'm not sure how many working irrigated farm shows there are in the world. At any rate, they show off all the combines and tractors in the field. It's kind of fun to jump in the cab of a $350,000 machine.

New Surrender

2008-09-06T10:41:00.001-05:00

Anberlin, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

I'm getting excited to hear the new Anberlin.

I see they've re-recorded "Feel Good Drag" and are releasing it to radio.

I hope it hear it there.

And don't forget to check out New Surrender, coming Sept. 20th from Anberlin!

(photo taken at Cornerstone this year)

Don't mess with guys with badges

2008-09-06T10:23:00.003-05:00

As I've said before, I always feel like I'm doing something noble when I have to defend my First Amendment rights.

In this case, it was hardly worth having to defend.

Our small town airport now has direct flights to Vegas. And with 150 seat planes, it's a real flight on a real plane, not some puddle jumper.

So when the first flight was leaving, I made sure to shoot generous amounts of what we in the business call b-roll. A-roll is your interviews, and primary stuff. B-roll is what fills in a TV news story. And who knows when I'll be able to see this many people getting on a plane here again.

So I needed it for file video.

I walked right up to the counter, as I've done before, and got shots of people checking their bags. I should point out, when you walk in the door to the airport, you're basically at the counter. It'[s not big.

I made some small talk with the TSA agents about the fact that it was a busy day for them, considering we haven't even had an airline here in months. I grabbed about a 10 second shot of them picking up a suitcase, and went on with the people in line.

At this point, some TSA guy came me the business about that was private property and I couldn't be there. When I had to remind him it's a taxpayer funded airport, and I sure could. He wanted me to "erase" my tape, whatever that meant. So I told him I'd back off and went back to the passengers in line.

At which point some guy whips a badge out of his pocket and asks me to come with him. He told me it could be a threat to national security to show the TSA screeners on TV.

It was so blown out of proportion. The screeners stand at the counter in plain sight. There's no screen, no visual deterant. And I got one 10 second shot just to cover my bases, that would probably never even been shown.

Maybe I was just charged up because of the reporters arrested in Denver and St. Paul, but I don't appreciate being lectured by government types. If they're really worried about terorrists finding out how they screen luggage, why wouldn't they do it behind a wall?

Is there really a need to flash a badge? Just ask me not to do it. Local cops do that all the time. They'll explain why they don't want something shown, and I won't show it. Often that's something like an undercover cop attending an awards ceremony. They don't want his face getting on TV because it could compromise his safety. I get that.

So that's my rant for today. I'm not a pushy reporter. Not by a long shot. But I will defend my rights.

AT-AT used in Empire Strikes Back

2008-08-20T15:23:00.001-05:00

AT-AT used in Empire Strikes Back, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Monday we saw an actual AT-AT used in Empire Strikes Back! And Darth Vader! And dozens more models, costumes, and props from the films at the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota.

You can see the whole set of pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevewhite/sets/72157606844099737/

Pink and Black

2008-08-13T21:36:00.001-05:00

Pink and Black, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

I liked how this came out. But it wasn't the shot I first went for. First, I posed her for a portrait.

But I wasn't crazy about it. Then I got a shot of her walking, where her face was turned profile. That's the shot you see here. I like the contrast with the pink, considering like everything else is black, even the goth girl with the umbrella. The timing was great. But I wouldn't call it luck. You take thousands of shots, you're bound to get a few where you get the timing right.

Deas Vail

2008-08-12T21:32:00.001-05:00

Deas Vail, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

I was happy to see less of the hardcore, and more melodic rock at Cornerstone this year.

Deas Vail is one of those bands. Thank goodness for bands like this.

Flippin' Out

2008-08-12T21:30:00.001-05:00

Flippin' Out, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

I'm flippin' out, because I'm still uploading photos from Cornerstone.

Well, not really fillpin'; out, but I'm backlogged on the photo uploading.

Cornerstone's Candlelight Service

2008-07-27T08:47:00.000-05:00

Here's a slideshow of the 25th birthday celebration at Cornerstone, complete with Candlelight Service led by Charlie Peacock, including his song "In the Light."

Cornerstone 25th Birthday

2008-07-21T09:41:00.001-05:00

Cornerstone 25th Birthday, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

I continue to post the hordes of photos I took at Cornerstone. Here's a shot of the frenzy that is a Flatfoot 56 show. Their fans really get into it.

Registration Volunteers

2008-07-13T14:12:00.001-05:00

Registration Volunteers, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

I really need to get a fisheye lens. Look at the fun you can have?

This is with a 10.5mm Nikon I borrowed for Cornerstone.

Flyleaf performs "All around me"

2008-07-12T15:15:00.001-05:00

Flyleaf performs "All around me", originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

I'm still uploading photos from Cornerstone. Here's Flyleaf performing their hit "All Around Me"

Cornerstone: Breaking the Silence

2008-07-07T18:22:00.001-05:00

Cornerstone: Breaking the Silence, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Here's a shot of the band Breaking the Silence, playing at Cornerstone.

I noticed a few trends -- more female fronted bands, in the vein of Evanescence and Flyleaf (the latter of which played at Cornerstone too).

Night Parade

2008-06-30T22:24:00.001-05:00

Night Parade, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

One of my last shots of the day may be one of my favorites. As happens at Cornerstone, it's not unusual to see a makeshift, ragtag parades through the grounds. But this time it was at 10:00 pm. My only hope was to silhouette them against the merch tent, and then I saw the mohawk kid. It worked.

Cornerstone registration

2008-06-30T16:21:00.001-05:00

Cornerstone registration, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

The festival gate is open, and cars are streaming in.

Shane Claiborne is Stalking Me (or Jesus for President)

2008-06-29T18:37:00.001-05:00

Shane Claiborne, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

So last weekend I'm wondering through Barnes and Noble looking at cookbooks, when my wife brings me a book.

"I think you'd like this," Sara said.

"What is it," I asked?

"It looks really interesting," came the answer.

It was a book by Shane Claiborne,a guy who I'd been interested in for a year. More than that, I'm interesting in what he has to say.

Turns out CNN is interested too.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/29/evangelical.campaign/index.html

Of course, had the story not lent itself to a title like "Young evangelicals not a lock for Republicans", I'm not sure CNN would care.

But read the story, and read Shane's book. And if you're at Cornerstone, check out what he has to say.

Shane calls himself "an ordinary radical" and not in the scary left-wing radical kind of way, the sell-everything-you-own rooted-in-the-Bible kind of radical.

Cornerstone: We're here!

2008-06-29T12:28:00.003-05:00

There's my ginormous new tent. It already got rained on, for all of two minutes. And it held up!

Favorite Movies

2008-06-12T21:00:00.003-05:00

Tag, I'm it! Courtesy Ben Reis, it's my turn to play one of these blog games.

The rules of the “game” are simple:
1. list your top ten favorite films (in no particular order).
2. if you’re tagged, you’ve got to post and tag 3-5 other people.
3. give a tag back (some link love) to the one who tagged you in your post
4. give a hat tip (HT) to Dan

So here we go… My Top Ten Favorite Films (in no particular order):

1. Star Wars trilogy

2. Indiana Jones triology

3. Lord of the Rings triology

4. Wallace & Grommit films

5. Spider-Man (I liked #2 best)

6. Chronicles of Narnia (mostly because I like the books)

7. The Final Sacrifice -- Rowsdower! (youtube link) OK, this isn't a *good* movie, but maybe my favorite MST3K movie. I've got to have at least one movie that's so bad it's good on this list, and this is it.

8. The Goonies. I had to pick an '80s movie. Sorry Ferris Bueller and Better Off Dead.

9. Planet of the Apes (the original, you manaics. you blew it up! damn you, damn you to hell!)

10. I'm going to cheat and put everything else I can think of: The Matrix, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Princess Bride, Army of Darkness, Blues Brothers, UHF (Weird Al!), Dances with Wolves, Equilibrium, 2001, Forbidden Planet, Andromeda Strain, Christopher Guest movies (Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, Best in Show, etc).

Now I'm tagging: Lisa, Jeff, and Colleen!

Rain, rain go away!

2008-06-06T07:44:00.006-05:00

Three years ago it was flooding. Other years it's been hail.

This year it's been multiple tornadoes, multiple hail storms in one day, flooding, high winds, heat, humidity, and about every kind of spring and summer weather you could imagine.

Last Thursday an hour to the west in Kearney, NE they got hit by a tornado. It was the lead story on Good Morning America the next day. It ripped open an apartment and destroyed the expo building at the fairgrounds. That storm skipped over us (at least the bad stuff) and reformed tornadoes in Aurora, the next town to the east.

The damage in Aurora wasn't as widespread as in Kearney, but those who got it got it even worse. Here's my story on that. It's amazing. You have to watch it.

Then this week, when Grand Island has gone smoke free (w00t!) it's been overshadowed by day after day of rain. The worst came Wednesday night, and resulted in flooding several miles north of our home. Again, the video tells the story.

Anyway, we're ready for a dry spell. After years and years of drought, this isn't any better. A nice, normal spring would be nice. Not that I know what a normal spring is anymore.

Still Lost after the Tornadoes

2008-05-30T08:35:00.002-05:00

Not only did I not see Lost last night, I had to be the one to tell the TV viewers of central Nebraska that they wouldn't see it either.

But I hope people are understanding that tornadoes take precedent over TV. Even a season finale.

We did get some email from upset viewers. But we got ten times as many people emailing storm stories, video, and pictures.

Grand Island seemed to have been spared. But our neighbors to the west in Kearney and east in Aurora got nailed by tornadoes. Thankfully, it sounds like no one's hurt.

But it's a mess. It was a long day, and looks like another long day's ahead of us.

Go over to www.nebraska.tv to see video.

Lost: Predictions

2008-05-28T20:57:00.002-05:00

Thursday is TV night in the White household (established April, 2008).

We really have only two shows we watch. The Office, which has replaced Arrested Development as our favorite comedy.

But the show we have to watch weekly is Lost. I don't know why we were slow to catch on. Maybe it seemed like a Castaway rip-off. Beautiful people crash on a desert island and try to survive. Guh. Doesn't sound like much.

It's more Twin Peaks or X-Files than Castaway. There are elements of sci-fi (time travel, smoke monsters, the dead coming back), action, adventure, drama, plus it's told in serial fashion. You really can't miss a week. It's not like the X-Files when Cigarette Smoking Man would show up a few times a season. With Lost, there have only been a few throwaway episodes. On the flip side, that means storylines stretch out forever. But I can live with that.

Really, I think it's setting a new standard for postmodern storytelling. The story is by no means linear. Not only do the writers use flashbacks, but flashforwards, showing us snippets of what will happen. Heck, we even know who gets off the island. The fact that millions still tune in to find out how and why tels you something. They can give that away and still leave you wanting more.

Plus they have characters named Locke and Rousseau. This season they even introduced a character named after C.S. Lewis. How could I not like that?

Did I mention the biblical allusions, including a scene that came straight out of the old testament history of the temple? Not to mention a drug lord turned priest who carries a "Jesus stick".

Anyway, if you're still reading, here are my predictions for the season finale. And if you don't watch, this stuff won't make any sense.

But here goes. Here are the questions this episode has to answer.

1. How will they move the island?

I've heard speculation that it's a move in time or a physical move. A physical move seems unlikely. I also think there could be another purple sky episode, where the Island goes haywire and somehow the electromagnetism hides the island from the outside world. But I'm going with a move in time.

2. Is Claire dead?

Well, she's walking around talking to her dead father, so I'm going with yes. She's dead. Don't know when for sure she died, but I'm saying she is.

3. Will Jin, Michael, and Desmond die?

We know by way of a flashforward that there's a grave for Jin in South Korea. Even if he dies now, I think Michael and Desmond won't. The island won't let Michael and Desmond has unfinished business. He's not done.

4. Will we meet Jacob?

I think they might string us on a little more on this, but they have to give us more than they've given. I think Jacob appears and talks, but I don't think we really will learn his identity and story here. That comes next year. That's my prediction.

5. Who's in the coffin?

I say it's gotta be someone who we previously thought wouldn't be dying -- i.e. someone the island wouldn't let die. That could narrow it down to Ben and Michael, maybe Locke, or I'll got out on a limb and say Richard Alpert. Ben and Michael are too obvious. Just for the sake of making a guess, I'm going to say Locke.

6. Crackpot theory

Locke sacrifices himself in the Orchid station to move the island and save everyone, but since it moves the island in time, he's brought back. So his body ends up in the coffin, but he's basically cloned in time and stays on the island.

So I'm probably dead wrong on all this, but we'll see tomorrow night!

No Time for Wal-Mart?

2008-05-20T22:04:00.003-05:00

Perusing Wal-Mart's magazine aisle tonight, I noticed Hot Rod, Hot Rodder, Street Rodder, and about two dozen other car magazines not having anything to do with rods, hot or otherwise.

But did I see Newsweek or another news periodical?

In the checkout you'll find People, Teen People, TV Guide, some mags about soap operas and country music. Plus those who need no last names, Martha, Oprah.

Still no Time?

I'm sure Wal-Mart has plenty of marketing data that shows which magazines sell, and specifically which celebrity-driven rags sell in the checkout aisle. I can't fault them for making money. That's their business.

I didn't expect National Review or the New Yorker, but no Newsweek?

I know news is my business, but even if I weren't on TV I'd still be reading some sort of newsmagazine. And I know the internet has changed the landscape. But the people who aren't reading newsmagazines aren't reading blogs and aren't watching TV news.

Those who watch me on the local news generally read their local paper and check a site like cnn.com. I don't mind when someone doesn't know who I am if they watch another news program. But when they tell me they don't follow the news... then I understand why voter turnout is 25%.

Not quite a close shave

2008-05-17T16:06:00.003-05:00

No close shave in either of the U.S. Senate primaries I covered this week. (Video of me & the governor here) Nor a shave for me either. The beard continues to grow.

Bleed Into One

2008-05-14T08:46:00.000-05:00

Here's a trailer for Bleed Into One, the story of Christian rock.

It's got a lot of the usual suspects, and some shows I was at. Looks pretty interesting.

Election Day

2008-05-13T12:53:00.000-05:00

Finally, months after not-so-super-Tuesday, Nebraskans get to cast their vote.

Sara and I just voted. We were #s 93 and 94 on the day at our precinct. Pretty quiet there.

Tonight I'm covering too US Senate campaigns, Democrat Scott Kleeb and Republican Mike Johanns.

Johanns is a popular former governor and former US Secretary of Agriculture. He'll have no trouble.

As for Kleeb, he's facing Republican-turned-Democrat Tony Raimondo, who owns a manufacturing plant. I have no idea who's going to win that.

If you're in Nebraska, go vote today!

And now, the rest of the story. Angel Dies at 92

2008-05-05T22:05:00.000-05:00

ABC News: Paul Harvey's Wife Dies at Age 92

The rest of the story is this. Behind Paul Harvey is a wife whose contributions live on beyond Paul's legacy. The "kicker" is used on nearly every local TV newscast.

And she gets credit for developing "The Rest of the Story", one of the finest programs in radio history.

Paul never called his wife Lynne. One of these days we will lose Paul. But this weekend we lost an "Angel".

The Falls of Sioux Falls

2008-04-12T17:48:00.001-05:00

The Falls of Sioux Falls, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

On my iPod, I have a playlist called "Good stuff I haven't listened to lately."

This is in the geographical equivalent. Places I like that I haven't been to lately.

I present to you the falls on the Big Sioux River in Sioux Falls, SD.

New Google Feature Turns Back Time

2008-04-01T07:57:00.000-05:00

Gmail now lets you turn back time with Custom Time.

Forget to respond to an email? Send it now, but roll back the time. That way the reader thinks you sent it earlier.

So if it's 5pm on the second, make it 9am on the first. It's that simple!

I'm going to have to start using this!

Principal for a Day

2008-03-01T16:23:00.000-06:00

What would you do if you were principal for a day? Watch and find out what I did!

Quick hits

2008-02-23T10:09:00.002-06:00

Between planning for marriage (and a wedding), sweeps month, sickness, tons of activity at church (new facility, search committee to find pastor), I haven't exactly had tons of time for an update.

Some quick hits:
- Plenty of updates at www.SteveAndSaraW.com so check that out for wedding-related stuff.
- Chelsea Clinton paid Grand Island a visit.
- Nebraska passed a smoking ban. And Grand Island could have one even earlier than the state's.
- The faith is back in Nebraska football. And I mean it when I say faith. Longtime assistant coach Ron Brown is back, and his prayer at a recent fundraiser received applause. That says something. That wouldn't have happened with Bill Callahan's staff. I'm liking new coach Bo Pelini thus far. If nothing else, he's got Tom Osborne on his side, and seems to be listening to him.
- We've been going through marriage counseling, which has been helpful, if for no other reason than to help us articulate what we already know. Although I'll say teen abstinence campaigns (and the True Love Waits card I signed in high school) seem woefully inadequate in an era when many wait longer to get married, but I'll save that for another post.

I've been meme-ing to tell you...

2008-02-04T23:09:00.000-06:00

Tag! I'm it!

Lisa tagged me for a meme, sent to her by someone named Karen, whom I don't know, but what the heck. This is the internet. We have to keep this thing alive!

Here are the rules to Karen's meme:
(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

(1) Done.
(2) Done.

(3) Six quirks? Come on, don't you know that's primarily what blogs are for? Every post is about my quirks. But I'll do my best to narrow it down.

1. I like a neatly folded newspaper. I don't like my paper to be wrinkled and creased before I get to it. Somehow that makes it seem like old news. I'm a news guy; I'm allowed!

2. I have to eat breakfast before I shower. Showering's (and getting dressed) about the last thing I do in the morning.

3. I'm a grammar snob (just ask my bank). You wouldn't write "alittle" as one word, so don't write "alot". It's two words. If you work in a professional field, I expect you to know basic grammar and spelling. Is that too much to ask?

4. I often leave part of my grooming until I get to work, whether that's tying my tie or shaving. Even when I shave, I often shave again before I go on the news.

5. Like Lisa, I'm also a music snob. But you knew that.

6. As part of our pre-marital counseling, I had to make a list like this one. I put down that I need time to create. I need creative outlets. So don't be surprised when I fire off my camera shutter a time or two (or 300). Or I need to make something, or even scrapbook with Sara. Something. Fortunately, my work allows me a lot of opportunities, but I still need more.

For my six people to tag for this meme, I choose my sister (whose blog is private, so no sense linking it), the aforementioned graphic design genius Brian, as well as Jeff, Chuck, and Steve (all semi-sane mostly online friends who happen to have blogs). It'll be interesting to see if any of those five come up with quirks I don't know about (I know we're all music snobs). Hee hee. And for my sixth, I choose Tammy from my small group. She needs a good excuse for a post.

(4) Tag six random people
1. My aunt Colleen (who's closer to my age than my mom)
2. Middle school youth pastor extraordinaire Buffalo
3. Prairie Roots (aka Erin)
4. Youth pastor intern extraordinaire Ben
5. Bill Grip
6. Fellow Nebraska-based lover of good music and ministry Kyle

(5) Done.

New Band Discovery: Silver Trail

2008-02-03T14:19:00.000-06:00

Instead of a thoughtful blog entry, I give you this silly internet meme, taken from Jeff who in turn was just copying Chuck.

1. Go to Wikipedia’s random page generator.
The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2. Go to Random Quotations.
The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3. Go to Flickr’s Interesting Photos from the last seven days.
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

So without further ado, I present to you:

Silver Trail, with their album Truth and Pardon Error as seen below

Anberlin

2008-01-30T00:05:00.001-06:00

Anberlin, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

According to iTunes, here are the albums I've rated highest for 2007. I meant to do this a long time ago, but hey, I've been moving. Using iTunes helped me do this a little more analytically. I looked at which albums from 2007 I had rated highest in iTunes and also looked at which albums I had listened to the most. That seems to create a pretty good way of determining what I really liked, not what I should like or what I thought I liked, but didn't really listen to much.

So let's jump right into it.

Anberlin Cities
Anberlin Lost Songs

Cities is not only a great album, but the rock album I've been craving. Straight forward rock, crunchy guitars, soaring melodies, and a great front man. Lost Songs is rarities and b-sides, but a nice companion piece. "Hello Alone" and "Godspeed" in particular seem to be in heavy rotation on my iPod.

The Brothers Martin The Brothers Martin

Indie rocker Jason Martin of Starflyer 59 collaborates with synth pop maestro (and brother) Ronnie Martin. The album works best when both sounds come together, for a new wave-esque feel. "Fears to Remember" is definitely one of my favorite songs of the year.

The Echoing Green Suffer EP

I'll always take a new song from Joey B. and some remixes, but this is more. First, Suffer is a cool dark synth track, and the remixes are strong. But it's also got a couple of other new songs which are equally as good, if not better.

Mae Singularity

Some albums take time to grow on you. Mae's previous effort, The Everglow, was not one of them. I just put it in and couldn't stop listening to it. Singularity on the other hand took some time to get into. But having seem these songs live (when Mae was in concert with Anberlin and Motion City Soundtrack), they sound great. "Brink of Disaster", "Sometimes I Can't Make it Alone", and "Crazy 8s" are among my favorites. Nothing tops "Someone Else's Arms" from the last album, but it's still a strong collection.

Honorable Mention for 2007:

Arcade Fire Neon Bible

This was one of those I'll-take-a-chance-and-get-this-on-iTunes albums. But I tend to like it.

Deas Vail All The Houses Look the Same

Got this at Cornerstone. Glad to hear more new bands that play melodic rock.

Eisley Combinations

I don't like this as much as their last CD, but it's OK.

Fauxliage Fauxliage

Leigh Nash of Sixpence worked with the guys from Delerium for this electronica / chill-out album. It's not bad. Not as good as I'd like either, but for what it is, it's OK.

Kanye West Graduation

Yeah, I listen to Kanye. Actually saw him open for U2. I was like not even ten feet from the guy. This has a couple of songs I really dig, and a whole lot of filler. Not as consistent as his last CD, but he's one of the few mainstream hip hop artists doing anything remotely interesting.

Neon Horse Neon Horse

Another Jason Martin collaboration, but I can't get into it as much as The Brothers Martin. I should like this more, but the songs kinda all sound the same.

Relient K Five Score and Seven Years Ago

There are a couple of killer tracks, and several I just don't listen to. It's a shame these guys still haven't hit the airwaves in a big way on pop radio. This is fun, accessible pop punk, and definitely radio friendly. But probably a little safe and boring too.

Bank puts grammar on trial

2008-01-27T07:47:00.001-06:00

Deli-Cat, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Delilah sure is enjoying the new house, and so are Sara and I, even if she doesn't get to move in for another two months.

But I'll admit, all the paperwork involved in a mortgage can be a bit intimidating.

Still, I didn't expect the bank to send me a letter using the words arraigned and Feb. 1 in a sentence together.

Maybe it's just because I'm a reporter who hangs around courthouses, but that word has a specific meaning. If you're being arraigned, someone is filing charges against you in court.

Assuming they meant arranged instead of arraigned, the letter still told me payment would be made out of the account I established Feb. 1. Um, that's next week. I can't establish something in the future.

And they screwed up on a there/their/they're too.

I just hope they're better with numbers than they are with words!

(ps - most of the people at the bank have been extremely helpful, but whoever sent this letter needs to learn to run spell check and grammar check).

Delilah in the Sun

2008-01-11T18:41:00.001-06:00

Delilah in the Sun, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

I uploaded a ton of photos to my Flirckr account. Check them out!

Mute Math Cracks Top 25 Videos List

2007-12-28T08:32:00.000-06:00

Mute Math has cracked the top 25, on Rolling Stone Readers' Twenty-Five Favorite Videos of 2007 list

w00t!

The Stuff VH1 Missed

2007-12-22T08:21:00.000-06:00

I've already told you what I think about VH1's "Greatest Songs of the 90's[sic]"

Now it's time to talk about what they left off.

Since VH1 seemed to have quotas to fill based on various genres and categories, I'm going to do the same. I thought it was interesting no one had two songs on the countdown, except Dr. Dre, and one of his was with Tupac and the other with Snoop Dogg, so that's a little different.

I know it's unrealistic to include all these, but pick at least one from each category.

Career artists who weren't one hit wonders, but not alternative enough either:
This is where the VH1 list really falters. It leans heavily towards the Right Said Freds of the world. But look at whose expense.
Janet Jackson. Hello?! I can think of like 8 or 9 hits she had in the '90s right off the top of my head. This is a glaring oversight. Marcy Playground makes the VH1 list, but not Janet?
Bryan Adams - "Everything I Do (I Do it for You)" This song must not be hip enough.
Amy Grant - "Baby Baby" is the obvious choice here.
Tom Petty - I think "Free Fallin'" was '89, but he had a string of hits into the '90s.
George Michael "Freedom" still sounds great.

Non-American alt rock bands with names that don't have radio or head in them:
Depeche Mode "Enjoy the Silence"
The Cure "Friday I'm in Love" was '90s, right?

Christian Music:
So we left off Amy Grant, but there were other Christian artists who broke into the mainstream.
Sixpence None the Richer - "Kiss Me" was more popular than anything by the Geto Boys that made the list.
Jars of Clay "Flood"

Straight up pop music, that's neither hip nor ironic:
Paula Abdul
New Kids on the Block
Ace of Base
Boyz II Men "Motownphilly", "End of the Road", etc.

Pop punk:
Offspring "Come Out and Play", "Pretty Fly for a White Guy"
Blink 182 "What's My Age Again?"
Any single from Green Day's Dookie

Remnants of the '80s hair metal days, even though that music lasted into the '90s:
Extreme "More than Words"
Poison and Motley Crue had some '90s hits
Guns N Roses "November Rain"

Third Wave Ska Influence:
No Doubt "Just a Girl", "Don't Speak"
Mighty Mighty Bosstones "The Impression that I Get"

Electronica:
Fatboy Slim "Going Out of My Head", "Praise You", etc
Moby "South Side"
Garbage "Special"

Alternative Artists Who Aren't Soundgarden:
Blur "Song 2"
Nine Inch Nails "Closer". This omission really surprises me. I totally saw VH1 carving out a spot for this song, as the quintessential '90s industrial-pop song.
Smashing Pumpkins "Bullet With Butterfly Wings", "1979", "Disarm", "Tonight, Tonight". Again, this really surprises me.
Bjork "Human Behavior"

Jangly College Rock that's not R.E.M.
Soul Asylum "Runaway Train"
Gin Blossoms "Hey Jealousy"

Somebody's Top Songs of the '90s

2007-12-21T22:30:00.000-06:00

Tonight we finished watching VH1's "Greatest Songs of the 90's[sic]". Hey, Viacom graphics people, the apostrophe goes before the decade. It stands in for the omitted characters, like do not is don't. So it's '90s, not 90's.

Grammatical blunders aside, on to the rest of the list. I'll post some stuff left off the list later.
Again, selections on my iPod in bold.

100 Greatest Songs Of The '90s Full List
01. Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Guh. Didn't see that coming. ;) I get why it's here, but I'm 31, not 15, so the teen angst just do it for me anymore. Yeah, I know, it blew out the '80s pop and hair metal, yada yada yada. The song still has this visceral appeal, and I get it. Just too predictable on this list.
02. U2 "One" - No argument here. This would be on top of my list. It beautifully captures this kind of gripping ambiguity. But whatever it is, it's got just one of those songs that makes my hair stand on end.
03. Backstreet Boys "I Want It That Way" - I must admit, it's a perfectly crafted pop song.
04. Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You"
05. Madonna "Vogue" - I'm a little surprised she's not on the list again, but I'm not sure anyone showed up more than once, did they?
06. Sir Mix-A-Lot "Baby Got Back"
07. Britney Spears "...Baby One More Time"
08. TLC "Waterfalls"
09. R.E.M. "Losing My Religion" - When it got to the top ten and I hadn't seen R.E.M. I nearly freaked it wasn't going to be on the list.
10. Sinéad O'Connor "Nothing Compares 2 U"
11. Pearl Jam "Jeremy" - I know there's plenty of grunge on this list, but where's the Smashing Pumpkins? Disarm, 1979, Bullet With Butterfly Wings, something?
12. Alanis Morissette "You Oughta Know"
13. Dr. Dre (featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg) "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang"
14. Mariah Carey "Vision of Love" - I was struck by how young (and modest) Mariah looks in this video. I'll give her one thing, she can sing.
15. Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under the Bridge"
16. MC Hammer "U Can't Touch This" - I still remember seeing, and getting close to Hammer at Cornerstone '98, where I was bummed he did none of his hits, not even Pray. Plus I remember The Echoing Green's poster that said, "Please Hammer, Don't Hurt Us." Heehee
17. Destiny's Child "Say My Name"
18. Metallica "Enter Sandman" - Oh my goodness, I just remember how big this song was among the guys I knew in high school.
19. Beastie Boys "Sabotage" - Classic video, plus they showed they weren't just party rappers, they could rock too.
20. Hanson "MMMBop"
21. Celine Dion "My Heart Will Go On"
22. Beck "Loser" - I remember cranking the radio when this came on. And I remember thinking we'd never hear from this guy again. I love songs that feel on the verge, like the whole time you're just a step from losing it.
23. Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue "Whatta Man"
24. House of Pain "Jump Around"- They got more rhymes than the bible's got psalms.
25. Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun" - I have a cover of Copeland doing this. Weird.
26. Eminem "My Name Is"- Never got into Eminem, but I see the appeal.
27. Counting Crows "Mr. Jones"
28. Ricky Martin "Livin' la Vida Loca"
29. Vanilla Ice "Ice Ice Baby"
30. *NSYNC "Tearin' Up My Heart"
31. Radiohead "Creep" - Anberlin covered this. Personally, I would have put "Karma Police" on the list over "Creep", but whatever.
32. BLACKstreet "No Diggity" - I had totally forgotten about this song, but I dig the beat.
33. Spice Girls "Wannabe"
34. Third Eye Blind "Semi-Charmed Life" - I never got into these guys, or Matchbox 20.
35. Oasis "Wonderwall" - Not as good as say U2's "One", but I do like the song. Green Day apparently does too. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is essentially the same song.
36. C+C Music Factory "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"
37. Green Day "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" I like how people think it's this sweet sentimental song, when the title is "Good Riddance." Come on people, think about it. He's telling someone to get lost.
38. Christina Aguilera "Genie In A Bottle"
39. Goo Goo Dolls "Iris"
40. Color Me Badd "I Wanna Sex You Up"
41. Spin Doctors "Two Princes"
42. Collective Soul "Shine" - Glad to see the guys make this list.
43. En Vogue "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)"
44. The Fugees "Killing Me Softly With His Song"
45. Hootie & the Blowfish "Only Wanna Be With You" - I would have picked "Hold My Hand" but you have to include Hootie on this list.
46. Shania Twain "You're Still the One"
47. Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch "Good Vibrations" - Come on, who out there figured this guy would not only still be around, but would be an A list actor. I mean, he was the brother of a New Kid.
48. Matchbox Twenty "3 AM"
49. Jewel "Who Will Save Your Soul"
50. Alice in Chains "Man in the Box"
51. Tupac (featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman) "California Love"
52. Sugar Ray "Fly"
53. Naughty by Nature "O.P.P." - They don't do rap anthems like they used to, what with stuff like this and "Jump Around."
54. Joan Osborne "One of Us"
55. Fiona Apple "Criminal"
56. L.L. Cool J "Mama Said Knock You Out"
57. Jay-Z featuring Amil and Ja Rule "Can I Get A..."
58. Sophie B. Hawkins "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover"
59. Weezer "Buddy Holly"
60. Bell Biv DeVoe "Poison"
61. Sheryl Crow "All I Wanna Do"
62. Live "I Alone" - I forgot how compelling Live was.
63. The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Mase & Puff Daddy "Mo Money Mo Problems"
64. The Presidents of the United States of America "Peaches"
65. Digital Underground "The Humpty Dance" - I can't believe I have this song. It was on some compliation.
66. Edwin McCain "I'll Be" - Edwin apparently has some time on his hands. I think he commented on like half the songs on the countdown.
67. Deee-Lite "Groove Is In The Heart"
68. Will Smith "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It"
69. Korn "Freak on a Leash" - Can. Not. Stand. Korn.
70. Jamiroquai "Virtual Insanity"
71. Arrested Development "Tennessee" - I really liked this album. The whole positive rap vibe works for me.
72. Barenaked Ladies "One Week" - OK, why is this not on my iPod? That's got to be some mistake. I'm glad there was a pop song name checking Smoking Man from the X-Files, one of my favorite '90s shows.
73. Marcy Playground "Sex and Candy"
74. Cher "Believe" - You've got to be kidding me.
75. Kris Kross "Jump"
76. Blues Traveler "Run-Around" - The royalty checks must still be coming in on this. I still hear this on the radio.
77. Ice Cube "It Was a Good Day"
78. Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way" - Probably my favorite song of his. He hasn't done anything I've been interested in yet this decade.
79. Meredith Brooks "Bitch"

Darn You, VH1, Darn You to Heck

2007-12-20T22:21:00.001-06:00

VH1, don't you know I'm closing on my first house, getting ready for Christmas, and getting married in four months? I don't have time for you. Yet, you sucker me in with another one of your insipid countdowns, this time from a decade I lived.

Some thoughts on songs 100-81... songs on my iPod in bold:

81. Paula Cole "I Don't Want to Wait"
82. Geto Boys "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" - I barely recognized this. Have no idea why it's on here. There's much better '90s hip hop than this. What about Coolio (Fantastic Voyage, Gangsta's Paradise), or something poppy like PM Dawn, or even Biz Markie's "Just a Friend".
83. The Breeders "Cannonball" - Reminds me of Viva Voce's Wrecking Ball, another low-fi catchy girl rock song with ball in the title.
84. Snow "Informer" - You've got to be kidding me. This made the list why?
85. Cypress Hill "Insane In The Brain"
86. The Cranberries "Linger" - Why don't I have this on my iPod? I kinda dig the Craberries.
87. Billy Ray Cyrus "Achy Breaky Heart"
88. Duncan Sheik "Barely Breathing" - Saw him open for Jars of Clay at the Fargo Dome. Can you say that?
89. Liz Phair "Never Said" - Never got Liz Phair, to be honest.
90. New Radicals "You Get What You Give" - Dang this song is catchy. From the moment it came out, it just sounded like a classic. Reminds me of Fine Young Cannibals "Good Thing", a band who in similar fashion disappeared as quickly as it came.
91. Sarah McLachlan "Building a Mystery"
92. Public Enemy "911 Is A Joke" - If this is on the list, surely "Fight the Power" will be on the list, unless it came out in the '80s.
93. Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories "Stay" - Great song, cool chick with glasses, what's not to like?
94. Fastball "The Way"
95. Montell Jordan "This is How We Do It" - Another one of those stupidly catchy songs. If I could write something half as catchy, I'd be happy.
96. Nelson "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection" - Didn't three generations of Nelsons hit the charts? Ozzie, Ricky, Nelson?
97. Prince & The New Power Generation "Gett Off" - I'd have picked "Thieves in the Temple" or "7" or something else from the '90s, but Prince needs to be on this list.
98. EMF"Unbelievable" - Another one of those riffs that will never die.
99. Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)"
100. Gerardo "Rico Suave"

20 songs so far, only four on my iPod. Let's see where this takes us...

Zubaz

2007-12-18T08:31:00.000-06:00

Hey Vikings fans, your team is back, and so are your Zubaz pants! (not that I would ever wear them).

Relive the days when we thought Herschel Walker would be the Vikings savior, when an endless string of QBs (Wade Wilson, Rich Gannon, Sean Salisbury, et al) got AC and CC* their touchdowns.

Why there's a clamor to return these puffy pants, I don't know. They were favorites of fans of pro-wrestling and upper midwest football teams, who could munch away knowing the elastic in the Zubaz would grow with their bellies.

* before Randy Moss, the Vikings had Anthony Carter and Cris Carter as two pro-bowl receivers.

No longer competitive

2007-11-25T14:31:00.001-06:00

"Since that game is no longer competitive, we're going to take you to a much better match-up."

Words a Vikings fan would have expected the FOX studio host to say as the Purple People Eaters got crushed. Not something you expect when things are going your way, while the Vikes were winning 41-10 at the start of the 4th Quarter.

But that seems to be the way things go in the NFL these days. Parity reigns. Only a couple of teams are honestly good (Patriots, I'm looking at you). But for fans of lowly teams like the Vikes, you know you can blow out somebody once in a while, which is strangely satisfying when such a pathetic team wins.

Bill Callahan Fired

2007-11-24T09:49:00.001-06:00

Bill Callahan Press Conference, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Here's a shot of Bill Callahan, following Nebraska's loss to USC.

This morning Tom Osborne fired Callahan, saying Nebraska has lost its identity.

It's always a trying thing when a well known organization like Nebraska football does indeed lose its identity.

Here's hoping Dr. Tom helps them re-find it.

First snow

2007-11-22T08:32:00.001-06:00

First snow, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We got our first snow of the season yesterday. It started mostly as those flurries that don't do anything, but there was some (slight) accumulation on the ground and a couple of accidents.

This week, God saw fit to give us his weather equivalent of stopping on a dime. We dropped from 70 on Monday to snow on Wednesday. That'll bring you screeching to a halt. But I like the snow, so I'm not complaining :)

Announcement!

2007-11-13T08:16:00.000-06:00

After getting on a roll where I was going bloggy, bloggy at least one a week, I've been floating on the outer edges of the blogosphere.

But I can explain if my head's been elsewhere.

Sara and I are getting married!

New website is up at http://www.steveandsaraw.com/

Including a new wedding blog.

Thank you, thank you!

Quick hits:
* I present to you last week's Story of the Week -- a pheasant chasing a tractor. I kid you not. No one prepared me for that one in journalism school.

* At the TV station, we ordered up a big controversial story just in time for the November ratings period. It's the story of a 25-year-old teacher who fled to Mexico with her 13-year-old student. Pretty weird, and pretty sensational. Not necessarily a lot of substance, but when us TV folks find a story like this, we latch on.

* Interesting article on a subject I was wondering about. How Shyness Became a Mental Illness. I hate these ads that try to make people feel they need drugs to cope with life. Just because I tend to be introverted doesn't mean something's wrong with me.

* Had an interesting discussion yesterday with my youth pastor/history teacher/all-around-smart-guy friend Matt. It was about giving birth at home, something he and his wife did. We talked about making pregnancy a medical condition to be treated, a commodity in a sense. Interesting philosophical discussion too of why Nebraska allows home birth, but does not allow midwives to be present.

* Can you believe we'll have a new president in less than a year? I have no idea who I'm going to vote for. That's not for a lack of looking. I just don't know.

* Our church surveyed us last weekend, as the church begins the search for a new senior pastor. I'm glad they're seeking input. And while such an exercise is certainly useful, I hope it doesn't dictate what the search committee does. I'm confident it won't. It's like teaching to the test. The kids all look like they know what they're doing, but aren't well rounded. I hope we don't search to the survey. What people think they want could differ greatly from what God wants for them.

All righty... that's it for now. Hopefully if I throw a dozen topics in a post, something will stick. Discuss away.

Story of the Week: Corn Crop

2007-10-24T23:09:00.000-05:00

Tonight, loyal reader, I launch a new feature.

The news story of the week! Yeah, I'm on TV, and it's probably about time I show some of the folks around the country what I do.

Here's a story combining the two biggest things in Nebraska -- corn and the Cornhuskers.

Enjoy!

(ps, for the record, I shot, wrote, recorded, edited, and fronted the piece all by my lonesome)

$180 Burritos

2007-10-19T09:07:00.000-05:00

I'm officially *not* a fan of standalone ATM card swipers at restaurants.

What pushed me over the edge? Paying $180.80 for burritos.

Some places, like the Arby's down the street here have the integrated card readers. It's built right into the register. The kid takes the card, swipes it, and gives it back.

But we have some of these joints with two cash registers and they share the ATM reader. So the kid has to manually punch in the amount.

So the girl at the local Mexican joint keyed in $18.08 as $180.80. When I pointed out the error, I asked for a refund, so she reached into the till and started pulling out cash. Woah, woah, woah! I want that on my card. But she couldn't figure out how to do that! Yikes! Fortunately I had a bank branch across the street so I took the cash and immediately deposited it.

But still!

And it happened to me just two weeks ago. The fine young man working at Taco John's couldn't figure out his card reader. This after he was daydreaming and never saw us even come in the place to begin with. It was stellar. Apparently their ATM swiper runs through a phone line. Not even a dedicated line. So he kept yelling in the back "who's on the phone!? I gotta use the thing"

So he kept swiping my card, and swiping my card. I looked at the receipt he gave me, and it was accurate, so I breathed a sigh of relief.

Until my bank statement came and showed two identical charges at that Taco John's. Doh!

George Lucas planning 'Star Wars' TV series - Los Angeles Times

2007-10-17T08:45:00.000-05:00

George Lucas planning 'Star Wars' TV series - Los Angeles Times
w00t!

Do it for the least of these

2007-10-16T23:16:00.001-05:00

Bill Callahan Press Conference, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

For those not versed in Nebraska football, let me enlighten you.

On seven or eight Saturdays a year, a football stadium becomes Nebraska's third biggest city. More than 80,000 people squeeze together to be part of something.

Being called "the greatest fans in college football" is surely hyperbole, but volumes of anecdotal evidence would support it.

For a state with no pro sports, where the two biggest cities are 45 minutes away (and on the far eastern side of the state), Husker football is the one thing that brings people from 93 counties together.

So when the team gets crushed by not only USC but Missouri and Oklahoma State there's trouble. There was that win over the something-or-others of Ball State. Yeah, I couldn't even tell you their mascot.

Coach Bill Callahan (pictured) takes the blame, although he's keeping his job. But what about the guy who hired Callahan?

So exit Steve Pederson, the much-reviled Athletic Director. Enter Dr. Tom Osborne, THE coach, THE Congressman, THE Nebraska legend.

I've been thinking. What's the deeper significance of this? One guy got canned, another guy took his job. Happens all the time.

So why will Osborne succeed? And more to the point, what can I learn from it?

Leadership starts at the top.

I firmly believe that. The guy (or gal) in charge sets the tone.

If the guy at the top is a tough as nails, black-tie-on-black-shirt-with-black-blazer wearing Vietnam vet, run for Canada and hope your draft number isn't called. This guy is scary. I worked for him. Fortunately, he's long since moved on, but you get the point. A militaristic regime doesn't work when you're dealing with creative types in the TV biz. People like that don't respond well. And to make matters worse, when they need something, they bark orders too. Ugly. That's what it is. Everyone watches their back, and not their work.

When the boss is soft-spoken, encouraging, and honest, guess what... everyone else will follow suit. They'll quietly deal with problems, help their fellow employee, and go home with a sense of accomplishment. Fortunately, I've had this boss too.

That boss is also Tom Osborne. I'm fortunate to know this man, ever so slight as I do.

Not only is he the soft-spoken, intelligent, educated, encouraging, honest leader, he cares about people. So much he'll give troubled kids (cough cough, Lawrence Phillips, cough) second, third, and fourth chances. He'd rather take the fall for the kid again and again then to send the kid packing, knowing that kid might not live to see another year.

What's my point?

‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ (Mt. 25:40 NLT).

Servant leadership. The Kingdom Christ ushered in operates this way. Turns the kingdom of this world on end.

That's the message I find on the football field that bears Tom Osborne's name. He puts others first. And now he'll be in charge. Guess what will happen? How radical would it be for others to follow suit! There are superstars, wannabes, and never-weres in this world who owe Osborne, because to him they were all the same. The equipment guy was just as important as the Heisman winner.

I know a few of the 80,000 who fill the stands Saturday afternoon will worship the game, the team, and the feeling it gives them. But I have to believe, a good number are living out Sunday morning too -- standing beside a brother who would stand beside them.

'Greatest Fans' in football leave early as Huskers suffer worst home

2007-10-14T08:26:00.001-05:00

Good thing they match, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

On Saturday the Huskers suffered their worst home loss since 1958.

Usually when the Huskers play, the state shuts down. It's a great time for non-fans to shop, because they can go to the mall or grocery store without trouble. No one goes out. Everyone's either at the game or someplace watching the game.

Just to give you an example of how bad it's gotten, even the governor took a shot at the team the other day, joking how some long-time state employees should suit up on defense.

It's getting ugly.

Like Republicans bailing on the Bush Administration, fans have actually been leaving early. These are fans who cheer for kickers who send kickoffs into the endzone, and linemen who get pancake blocks. They know football. And they can't even bear to watch this.

The thing that makes me nervous is how people will cope with this. The state takes its identity in part from how well the football team does. Nebraskans can't relate to lovable losers like the Cubs or perennial losers like the NBA's Clippers. People here don't know how to lose. They may have to take a crash course in losing, because it doesn't look like this trend is turning around.

Free track

2007-10-12T23:23:00.000-05:00

If you like techno/industrial/rock stuff, check out this Celldweller track "Switchback". It's probably familiar to you from Spider-Man trailers. And now you can download it free. I dig the song. I've had it on my computer from before I even had an iPod and I like it pretty well, so check it out. And if you don't like it, that's cool too. But it's free, so why not give it a shot?

The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME

2007-10-09T23:01:00.000-05:00

Time Magazine has released The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME, which includes several of my favorites, past and present.

* ABC's Wide World of Sports
* American Idol
* Arrested Development
* The Daily Show
* King of the Hill
* Lost
* MTV 1981-1992
* My So-Called Life
* Mystery Science Theater 3000
* The Office [American]
* Pee Wee's Playhouse
* The Price Is Right
* Saturday Night Live
* Seinfeld
* Sesame Street
* The Simpsons
* SpongeBob SquarePants
* SportsCenter
* Star Trek
* The Super Bowl (and the Ads)
* Survivor
* What's My Line?
* The X-Files

It makes me smile to see MST3K on the list. We like it very much!

More Mute Math

2007-10-08T23:43:00.000-05:00

Or view on black background

Mute Math

2007-10-07T22:53:00.001-05:00

Mute Math, originally uploaded by echobase_2000.

Check out my new Mute Math photos! Just part of a crazy weekend!