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March 6th, 2007

  1. Please Tell Me None of You Watch CNN

    March 6, 2007 by Gail

    Someone asked me recently why I don’t watch TV. I have all sorts of answers to that question, but my first answer is usually that I would have to do a lot more digging to find something worthwhile compared to, say, the internet*.

    Take journalism, for example.

    I was reading an update on the trial of Elizabeth Smart’s abductors (captured in 2003) and found this July 2006 interview by Nancy Grace televised on CNN. Ms. Smart agreed to be interviewed to discuss a bill being pushed through Washington, D.C., to monitor sex offenders, but Nancy Grace’s line of questioning went in another direction entirely. The full transcript of the interview is here.

    I’ve never seen Nancy Grace before, but this is unequivocally one of the worst television interviews I’ve ever seen. How does this woman get to have her own show?!? Not even a two-o’clock-in-the-morning infomercial, but a prime time network show in the category of Headline News! Just skimming the transcript set off alarm bells, I can only imagine what was going through Elizabeth Smart’s mind as she was being interviewed in this absurdly melodramatic way. (‘Get me out of here!’)

    Back to the flight books before I rant too long into the night…

    * The internet is riddled with junk, too, but I have a lot more than a remote control or TiVo at my disposal to filter it out.

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  2. Note to Self: Falling Ice Slabs

    March 6, 2007 by Gail

    I read about this news-in-my-backyard piece on the BBC website (I should read more local news, yes). I felt how brutally cold it was as I’d walked home yesterday — wearing a knee-length SKIRT, no less — but I wasn’t fully aware of the hazards of falling ice while I was walking downtown. It was even colder this morning!

    The part that caught my eye, however, was the bit at the end of the news article:

    Do you have any photos or video of these ice slabs?

    You can send pictures and video to: yourpics@bbc.co.uk or to send via MMS please dial +44 7725 100 100.

    Do not endanger yourself or others when taking photos. Do not take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.

    So what I read is, “Be careful folks! But, er, did you manage to get any ice pictures while you unintentionally endangered yourself or others? Not the measly shards after impact, no, we want some big SLABS! Falling from the sky!”


  3. Carousel

    March 6, 2007 by Gail

    summertime

    A break from all the chilly winter scenes.

    Berit and Justi last August, at the amusement park on Toronto’s Centre Island. It’s blurry, but I like it, anyway. It captures the feeling of summer, with its colour and motion and expressions. Three-year old Justi, too — when I think of summer I think of children and their carefree nature. With everything we’ve been through (including Helma and Gwen and everyone in my BFO group), the losses of those closest to us and how much life changes afterwards, summer is a season to look forward to.

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