STICKY DOORKNOBS

A photo not soon forgotten

The above photo itself, which has taken on a viral life all its own outside the pages of National Geographic Magazine, is intriguing and sad, especially after studying the faces of the chimpanzees behind the fence. But read this for the full story of Dorothy and the grieving onlookers for the maximum impact.

(Photo by Monica Szczupider, National Geographic Magazine.)

Great moments in parenting: What's worse, showing your drugged kid on YouTube ... or trying to profit from it?

We're all proud of our kids, right? And we love to tell stories about them whenever we can, especially stories that make other people laugh. When our daughters had surgery in 1994, I remember how funny they were when they'd been given a pre-anesthetic and how goofy they started talking. We told a few friends and had some chuckles. But we didn't take photos of them reaching for purple and green clouds, as they said they saw, and then distribute them among our friends.

The recent story of a dad who took a video of his son who was under the influence of dental anesthesia following a pulled tooth doesn't really fall into the category of braggin' about your kid and it seems that what the Devore dad did is not  simply sharing a funny moment between friends. By now, most everyone has seen the YouTube video of the kid. Many people even saw the parents shrug it off as an isolated incident earlier this week on The Today Show. The father, a "stay at home dad," said he videos his son's every movement so he can play it back for his wife, David's mom, Tessie, who has claimed the whole incident is really like a "naked baby picture for the 21st century."

The Devore mom and dad say they're "shocked" so many people have watched the video. At last count, more almost 17 million have watched the kid, who is truly confused and it apepars even somewhat scared. It's not a real flattering thing to do, to show you're kid when he's in an altered state, especially if he's 7. One Chicago columnist even recommended Child Protective Services become involved.

We can argue all day about whether doing this is right and wrong and about whether it is, like mom said, a sort of naked baby picture for this generation, but consider what has happened in the weeks since the video became a YouTube sensation. Dad has started a blog, David After Dentist, and, get ready for this, now there's even a line of merchandise. Now for 18 bucks you can have a t-shirt with some of the doped-up one liners the kid says on the video and make all your friends laugh, I guess in the same way they would laugh at your "I'm With Stupid" and "Jesus is my Homeboy" t-shirts.

I'm not sure which is more distasteful, taking a video of my stoned young 'un and showing it off to the entire world, or creating a little cottage industry at my son's expense and trying to make a few bucks off his misfortune.

Update: Baseball in Alpine a "dead deal" this season

Alpine Chamber of Commerce president J.R. Smith said late Wednesday afternoon that minor league baseball in Alpine this season is "a dead deal." Smith had said earlier Wednesday that he had hoped the city of Alpine could model obtaining ownership of Kokernot Field after what had been done in Texas City, where the school district had sold property to the city for $1 a year. Kokernot Field sits on Alpine ISD property which would mean no alcohol sales at Big Bend Cowboy games. Smith was hopeful earlier Wednesday that a deal in which the ISD would sell the land where Kokernot Field sits could be transacted by the end of this week, but such a transaction would be a lengthy process according to legal counsel representing the school district.

"We have learned such a process takes a long time," Smith said. "And then anything we do has to be signed off on by the Texas Education Agency, which is also a lengthy process.

"We've got a year to work on it. Maybe we can get it done by this time next year."

Smith said Kokernot might still host some minor lague exhibition games, but that alcohol sales would not be permitted since the property remains in the ownership of the school district. Alcohol sales were necessary because it would have been how player salaries and travel expenses would have been funded.

The Continental Baseball League had earlier informed citizens that it would not establish a team where alcohol vending was not permitted.

City's new synchronized light system doesn't work so well if you're on foot

I just walked 20 blocks through downtown Midland and missed EVERY TRAFFIC SIGNAL there is. They really need to fix that.

Keeping track of the doom and gloom in the Fourth Estate

There's no question the American newspaper industry is hurting. That was clearly evident last week with the shutting down of the 150-year-old Rocky Mountain News and what seems like a daily occurrence of some newsroom somewhere chopping jobs. It's a scary time to be quite honest.

Erica Smith, a graphics designer at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has created a site that chronicles the mounting job losses at newspapers across the country. Paper Cuts gives you a clearer picture of just how gloomy the biz is right now.

Tuesday a memorable day in American, Midland history

• I've been in Midland over 20 years and have never seen a crowd assemble for anything like the one that gathered yesterday in Centennial Plaza -- not even for a Lee-Permian game. Some people put it at 30,000.
• The MyWestTexas.com web site received an incredible amount of traffic, and even links from the Drudge Report and Hannity and Colms blog. I guess those would be two good things, right? While the webcast portion of our event went without incident and as well as could be expected given the impromptu nature of the day, we did have more than our share of morons who abused their privilege to chat in our chat area and proceeded to threaten the lives of not only 43 but 44, too. The lack of tact on the Internet in posts by people who don't have the nerve to use their name is astounding and disturbing and we'd be a lot better off without the kind of hatred and ignorance that is prevalent. Sometimes I feel more like a kindergarten teacher breaking up fights between troubled children. It's an unfortunate, unneeded and unwanted piece of an otherwise great technology and hopefully one day somebody much smarter than I am will find a way to fix it; a way to de-moron the Web. Whoever figures it out should be financially set for life as a result.

But on to the good stuff ...

• As it turned out, if you are a non-partisan history buff, Inauguration Day, after all was said and done, did provide a way to enjoy both the inauguration of Barack Obama and the rally for George W. Bush. The speeches and prayers in Washington and the magnitude of the sheer numbers of people were sites and sounds to behold. Obama's ability to shine when he is behind a microphone and his ability to motivate people for good were highlights of his address. President Bush's speech in Midland was touching, memorable and one of his best ever, and he is to be congratulated and honored for his sincerity, his love of home and his loyalty to friends.
• There are few things as goose-bump inducing as watching a 747 carrying two former presidents buzz downtown at such a low altitude. Midland mayor Wes Perry told me the pilot of SAM-28,000 yesterday was on his final flight after a 30-year career.
• All the talk about the entertainment that was allegedly to have appeared downtown made for some confusion in the planning of the rally. You could have thrown out virtually anyone's name and people would have talked about how he or she was on the program. A Hilton employee flat told me that she had taken Hank Williams Jr., and Kid Rock's hotel reservations. Why else would they come if they weren't gonna sing? A part of me wonders if it is not intentional pre-event fabricated buzz, created just to generate hype about the event.
• Finally, I must admit, there is something kinda neat about being able to tell a friend, "Gotta run, the White House is on the other line."

The Miracle of Flight 1549

I don't often get inspired anymore to write about events that happen on a national scale. Too much room for criticism leaving too little personal wiggle room, and if you espouse your views in today's world, you better be prepared to stand beside them til death, and frankly I don't have that kind of energy -- much less desire -- any longer.

But I remain moved at what took place on the Hudson River in New York Thursday afternoon. When a US Airways 1549 was set down on that waterway, it may have truly been a miracle. Not just because all 155 people made it off the airplane with only minor injuries (if they had any at all), but maybe more so because what pilot Chesley Sullenberger did was nothing short of stunning. Sullenberger, a 40-year veteran of flight, did what amounted to one of those rare occasions in which the word "unbelievable" is truly fitting.

Forget for a moment that Sullenberger kept not only his composure, but that he provided a voice of calm for 154 others on board; and forget that he maneuvered a jetliner over Manhattan until it was positioned squarely over the Hudson as if it were just another runway. Remember instead just what it took to bring it down the way he did.

My dad, a 37-year veteran of American Airlines who taught mechanics how to fix those big birds, said what the pilot did was the result of a skilled master at work.

"What he did can be done," dad told me on the phone Thursday night, "but it has to be precise. If he brings it down and the wings are perfectly still and even, and if he lands it tail first, it can be done."

And that is precisely what Sullenberger did. A little to the left or to the right, dad said, and the wings could have easily scraped the surface of the water and the plane could have cartwheeled down the Hudson, broke up and resulted in mutiple casualties brought on by any number of injuries.

But a sklled professional -- and the hand of God -- would not hear of it.

And what happened afterward was almost as impressive. New York's water police, the New York Fire Department and even ferries and tourist boats descended in almost the snap of a finger to help the people off the plane. Just one more example of New Yorkers working together. One more testament to the quality of the people in a great American city.

Don't doubt the existence of pure miracles. We may have just witnessed one this week.

Baron Batch: Hometown kid shows his character after Tech win

• Like a lot of you, I've heard scores of athletes thank God after a big game, but I've never heard a player "Thank all those people who prayed for me before today's game" like Midland High graduate Baron Batch said following Tech's game with Oklahoma State Saturday. I've heard from many people how quality the kid is, and that just seems to solidify it even more. It's good to see when a Midland young person makes good, but it's better to hear that kind of character shine through in a post game interview.
• I am being picky I know (and perhaps even a bit obsessive about this whole thing), but the people in charge at Jones AT&T Stadium STILL haven't corrected their grammar on the big north end zone scoreboard a year after I first told them about it (they probably thought I was nuts). Every first quarter during Tech games, the notice is put up on the big board: It is prohibited to throw things on the football field. Still, with that wording, Tech really can't use quarterback Graham Harrell anymore, because he and the opposing quarterback are the only two who are actually throwing things on the Jones Stadium field. If the intent of the message is to prevent people from throwing tortillas and other items from the stands, it should of course read, It is prohibited to throw things ONTO the football field. We really need to get this fixed so people won't think we're hicks.
• The Top 10 finish last Tuesday at the UIL Class 5A State Marching Festival at the Alamodome in San Antonio:

1. Flower Mound Marcus HS
2. Hurst LD Bell HS
3. Coppell HS
4. Cedar Park HS
5. Austin Bowie HS
6. Duncanville HS
7. Richland HS
8. San Antonio Churchill HS
9. Austin Westlake
10. Carrollton Hebron HS.
    
    All 10 of the finalists are from major metro area schools. The three finalists that participated at Ratliff Stadium at the area finals here two weeks ago? They were all excellent bands. At state, Keller High School finished 18th, El Paso Hanks 21st and Keller Fossil Ridge HS finished 27. That's some stiff competition to finish that low and have each of those bands be so good.

• Ron Baron, president of the Continental Baseball League, looking to expand to Alpine and in effect bring back to life the old Alpine 06 Cowboy minor league team, told me last week that he is stil hopeful investors will be in place and a deal struck by year's end in order to have baseball returned to the Big Bend region by Memorial Day 2009.
• This story is an great piece of history ... and it's a wonder it's never been made into a movie or written about in book form.
• ... and sympathies to Eric Siegmund and his wife at Fire Ant Gazette after the death of their beloved dog Abbye.

Real change for America

November 4.

Finally here. A day we have all waited on for so long. A day that means so much more than exercising our rights as an American; more than history in the making and more than "the most important election of out lifetime."

What's more important than all of that?

Well for starters, it's the day my email inbox can breathe easy again. The day when -- finally -- unsolicited, unwanted political rants finally slow to a trickle -- and those are just the emails that come from the organized political campaigns, the parties and their national committees that have flooded in asking me for my money, my trust and my vote and promising in return nothing but "change," a word that can be defined in a great number of ways and is about the only campaign promise on which either candidate can deliver.

The emails from the organized campaigns, though, come nowhere close to matching the dumpster full of emails I received trying to get me to change my heart and my vote even if neither needs to be changed.

Every day for the last two months, five or 10 emails would pour in every single day, none of them containing one iota of positivism about the sender's presumed candidate. Instead, every one I received carried a subject line that spread fear, half-truths and lies, and disparaged the honor of the opponents of both candidates.

I'm proud to say I was able to get through the election season without reading any of them, and without viewing one video. (OK, I watched one video, but only because it came from my sister and it was early).

I may be the only person in America who didn't buy into any of the emails I received. The assumption would be that if just one person refrains from watching and reading all this garbage, it won't mean anything. But this morning I voted just one vote, and I like to think that vote will make a difference.

We have four years to correct our ways. Four years to stop all the hatred. Four years to begin a practice of spreading good instead of character assassination. In 2012, make a vow to send only emails that espouse your candidate and promise yourself not to send anything that destroys your candidate's opponent. Then maybe it would be worth reading.

You're right, of course. It won't happen. I have been called an idealist before and I will be called one again. But we have four whole years, guys. As one email I received from a supporter of a nationally known Man of God, pretty much anything can and likely will happen if a particular candidate moves into the Oval Office. So anything's possible, I suppose.

I confine my political conversation to a very small group of people, not all of whom share my views. Any emails that try to change my point of view by harping on an opponent instead of building up the person they feel strongly about is useless.

Maybe the real reason such lies are spread about campaign opponents is because the candidate the emailer supports really has nothing worth supporting via email -- or any other means of communicating.

It's a lot like a person bragging about their fantasy sports team or their golf game. I'm happy for you, really I am, but exactly what useful information can I possibly take away from it?

In four years, promise only to build up your candidate when sharing your opinions. Tell me something good.

Now that would be real change for America.

Size matters. Or does it?

If you even remotely notice things about the periodical world, you might have seen recently a couple of interesting changes.

In most any other circumstance, when asked the question "What do the two magazines pictured here have in common?" the answer would likely be absolutely nothing. Yet, within the last six weeks, The Sporting News and Rolling Stone, two pioneers in the magazine publishing industry that have been around long enough to have both once published on pulp stock, unveiled radical changes to the sizes of their magazines.

The Sporting News has been trying to recapture its audience and spirit since it quit publishing baseball box scores in the late 1980s. Once a baseball only newspaper, it held the majority of national readership among the sport's fans with excellent columnists, team reports and the always reliable box scores, which can now only be found in print in the USA Today's Sports Weekly.

About six weeks ago, TSN announced it was scaling back from a weekly to a biweekly while increasing its width about a half inch. Personally, the size change makes the magazine harder to hold and thumb through. Its content has also changed from weekly team reports in the four major sports every week to 3-4 major features and an abundance of short, bite-size articles. Many items published are strictly responses to questions posed to athletes and put into a form to make them look like articles when in fact they are not. It's not necessarily a bad feature, just apparently another attempt to appeal to the  ESPN The Magazine audience. Neither TSN -- or ESPN -- have ever had the quality of Sports Illustrated's overall writing, so they are instead appealing to the younger, shorter-attention-span reader with their layout, content and fast read look.

On the other side, after beginning as a pulp product and then slipping into a slicker stock with still an oversized, wider and taller presentation, Rolling Stone has now adopted the standard magazine size. Sadly, it no longer sticks out on the racks like it did before and it blends in too much with the endless array of periodicals on the shelves. In an obvious "out with the old, in with the new" political statement, a caricature of John McCain was featured on RS's last oversized edition two weeks ago, and a portrait of Barack Obama was featured on its smaller format premiere. It's the third time in seven months the magazine has put Obama on its cover, pretty much all you need to know about its political slant.

Politics aside, Rolling Stone continues to provide above average writing on what it's best at: music and those who make it.

A final observation on the changes to these time-honored publications: In 2008, more than a decade after the full-scale advent of the Internet, a medium from where most all people receive their news these days, do these changes really mean anything? I would think not. What's more, chances are millions of typical consumers, even those who call themselves sports and music fans, likely have not even noticed.