Faces from the past

          Good evening, 919 Gang. The vacation is over. It was fun, and not as expensive as I figured it would be. We went to Las Vegas to see Don Rickles. Great stuff. Can you imagine that guy doing a song and dance routine at his age?  Okay, call it song and shuffle, but we liked it.
          I am happy to report that the tired old thing about "What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas" appears to be dying out. The new saying, according to my T-shirt survey is "What happens in Las Vegas stays in Facebook."
          I'm still a bit worn, and there is a load of material, so I will carry some messages over to tomorrow night.

------------------------------------------------------

          DAVE FELDMAN writes:

          Jack, a new member to add to our stellar assemblage. Jen Lebron Kuhney, a reporter at the U-T and a graduate of the journalism program at Point Loma Nazarene University, would like to join the 919 Gang. She’s also a leader of the Multicultural Journalism Workshop for high school students being held at Point Loma June 17-27 this year.
          A nice lady – she helped Joe Schneider (and me) with the latest edition of the newsletter for Stars & Stripes.

          JEFF McDONALD writes:

          After overhearing my chuckles reading the 919 report for so many months, my able colleague Aaron Burgin would like to join the esteemed circle of U-T alums. I have copied him here so he sees the invite, and knows the only entry rules are an introductory biographical note and DOB.
          Keep up the good work,

          REBER: Thanks, Dave and Jeff, for your recruiting work. And welcome, Jen and Aaron. I have asked you for some input. Also, it is important that you reply to a message I sent in which I informed you you needed to reply to make the link to our mailing list. Oh, and don't worry about DOB. Some of us don't like to talk about that anyway.

-------------------------------------------------------

          DON HARRISON writes:

          A teaching position at Grossmont will be available for Fall 2012.
          Some of you may recall that I said last year I'd be leaving my teaching spot at Grossmont, but my department persuaded me to stay on another year. Now, this year is elapsing, and I'll definitely be completing my assignment as an adjunct instructor of journalism at the end of May. Grossmont's search is on for someone to take over the class in the Fall 2012 semester, which starts in mid August.
          The class publishes the student website (www.gcsummit.com) as well as the monthly Summit magazine (you can see copies of the magazine using the pull-down menu on the website.) The class (Media Comm 132A) meets 7 hours a week, M 11-12, and T, W, Th 11-1 p.m.
          Emphasis in this multi-media program will be on integrating video clips (through YouTube), audio files (in concert with Griffin Radio), photos (with the art department) and of course written journalism. The successful applicant should be familiar enough with Wordpress to serve as the administrator of the site.
          If any 919ers would be interested in teaching this course, please contact the Media Communications department chair, none other than our very own Michael Grant. He may be reached at michael.grant@gcccd.edu. He is in charge of the hiring process. Meanwhile, I will be happy to answer questions that anyone may have about this teaching position. Please write to me at editor@sdjewishworld.com, or phone (619) 265-0808

---------------------------------------------------------

          JAY JOHNSON writes:

          Submitted for your approval -- rabble from U-T at Big Bear. Taken Feb. 5, 1984. Lots of photographers, lots of hair. Not exactly what I envisioned when I read Orwell's "1984" in middle school in the '60s.

          JACK GREGG writes:

          This photo is from the golden days at the Tribune. One of these chaps was fired on direct orders from Helen; another got his Purple Heart on the island of Choiseul, in the Solomons, under the leadership of Capt. Brute Krulak, and the third grows geraniums on Point Loma. The young stew in the PSA jetpod is another tale untold.

          CAROLINE FENTON writes:

          I had some old black and white negatives scanned this week. Here are a few from a chili cook-off held at the home of Charlie and Geri Ross sometime around 1978, give or take a year on either side.
          My mom is wearing a blindfold in shots 132 and 135. My dad (Rolla Williams) is in a striped cardigan with Don Freeman to his left in No. 145. I can't identify any other people.

Photo 132

Photo 135

Don Freeman, far left, and Rolla Williams

          REBER: Many thanks for sending these photos. I can identify a few of the people in Jay's photo, but not all, so I will keep my mouth shut. Caroline sent a bunch of photos. I have picked a few. I assume the blindfolds were because they were judging competing chilis.

----------------------------------------------------------

          DAVID FARMER writes:

          Those of us who worked at 919 Second Ave. may remember the pneumatic tube that carried news stories and headline orders between the copy desk and the composing room. It may have had other routes, but I'm not sure. When I left in 1968 the system was still operating.
          Department stores also used pneumatic tubes, which employed air pressure to send capsules from one floor to another. They carried sales slips and money from customers to bookkeeping or somewhere, returning change and receipts for the purchaser.
          But that was small change compared to Paris's Carte Pneumatique. From 1866 to 1984, its 269 miles of underground tubes carried mail around the City of Light. Time magazine reported that it could take two hours to transport a pneu, including final delivery by a bike messenger. Time said this was faster than a postal letter and cheaper than a telegram.
          And Paris was not the only city to use such tubes. They sped mail under London, Vienna, Prague, Berlin and New York City, plus more than a dozen others. Some entrepreneurs even built versions big enough to carry passengers. They worked, but for various reasons were eventually given up. It must have felt like being in a moving MRI machine.
          Even the postal tubes were expensive for cities to maintain, and eventually all expired (NYC's in 1953). But Wikipedia says they're still used in hospitals to transport medicines, factories to carry small items, and a few stores for receipts and change, as well as bank drive-through lanes. And a McDonald's in Minnesota dispatched food from its kitchen in a shopping mall to a drive-through in a parking lot until last year. Presumably there were no lawsuits over being scalded by hot food.

          REBER: Until late 1992 the U-T had pneumatic tubes running from the main building to the Union and Tribune departments housed across the street in the Golden Building, and it wasn't the building closest to the main office, so it was a very long run -- many hundred feet. The first installation wasn't done correctly, so when it rained water would sometimes creep into the line. That problem was corrected. Those tubes saved many a clerk from braving bad weather and heavy traffic on Camino de la Reina while they transported photos, page proofs, etc. to the outlying offices.

------------------------------------------------

          LOLA SHERMAN writes:

          I took enough umbrage at David Ogul's remarks re the superiority of the Los Angeles Dodgers over my Padres and the Angels to do a little stats research.  I compared records over a 10-year period  - 2002 season through 2011.  David is right, of course, about my poor Padres - record 715-848.  The Dodgers were 852-767 over the same period.  But the Angels were best by far: 909-704. I know David discounts the Angels because they are AL, but they still had to win all those games.

          CARL LARSEN writes:

          It's been ordained by editors at The Register in Orange County that news will break on April 6 in only one place -- at Angel Stadium.
          Following is a memo from an editor on the paper's plans to cover Opening Day, picked up by the Washington Post from L.A. Observed.
          The arrival of Pujols is clearly a big event, but just wait.
          Maybe someone can pry loose a similar memo from the L.A. Times honchos on their plans to ramp up when Magic Johnson and his crew take over the Dodgers.

From: Keith Sharon

Date: March 27, 2012 5:58:53 a.m. PDT
To: Newsroom Assoc_OCR
Subject: The News Mob
          (Note: if you want to get involved, contact Keith Sharon)
          You’ve heard of the flash mob – surprise dancers at the mall.
          You’ve heard of the cash mob – concentrated group of shoppers pump money into businesses.
          You’re about to see the first-ever News Mob.
          On April 6, the Orange County Register will cover the Angels’ Opening Day in Anaheim like no news organization has ever covered a baseball team. We will have more than 100 writers, editors, bloggers, photographers, videographers, graphic artists, designers, advertising representatives, marketing staff members and FANS working together to contribute to the Angels coverage for desktop web, mobile devices, ipad and in print that day (and throughout that weekend).
          Since the Angels signed Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson on Dec. 8, we have seen an incredible surge in interest among Angel fans, so we decided to try to match that surge with a News Mob approach – choreographed overwhelming focus of media resources. In other words, we’re about to throw in our kitchen sink.
          For one 24-hour period beginning April 6, we will unveil (just wait until you see the homepage at OCRegister.com) a massive number of Angels stories, blog posts, tweets, Facebook status updates, photographs and videos produced by journalists who usually cover business, rock n roll, television, movies, cities, police, trends, plastic surgery, celebrity gossip, social issues, Latino issues, travel, human interest, OC Moms, food, theater and, of course, sports.

------------------------------------------

          REBER: There was no information on the web site for the following link, but looking at the URL, I am guessing it is in Peru. Also, I wonder if this isn't a regular event. Note that the camera starts shooting before the sharks are visible. Also, there seemed to be a number of strong hands who knew what to do. This is definitely worth a look.

          BOB ELLEDGE forwards:

          Great way to start the day!
http://elcomercio.pe/player/1384898

          TIM WILSON forwards:

          The real reasons why almost half of all American households do not pay any federal income tax:
http://tinyurl.com/3sjv5fx

          REBER: This next one starts slowly, but stick with it.

          GENE CIECHANOWSKI forwards:

A Glass of Red

          TIM WILSON forwards:

          Here is a fantastic graphic of world religions, including numbers, beliefs and subsets.
http://tinyurl.com/c2vxjuc

          TIM WILSON forwards:

             Where do you get your news? Who is reading what and where:
http://tinyurl.com/c8h2pmk

Jack Justus Reber

P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.

Time out

          Good evening, 919 Gang. Mary and I will be gone a few days. Not sure of our return. My next post may be Wednesday, March 28, or may be Thursday, March 29. If you don't hear from me by then, please start collecting bail money.

------------------------------------------------

          REBER: Last night Welton Jones shared a promo story from the New York Times in which a reporter talked about the discomforts of following a presidential candidate's campaign.

          RAY KIPP writes:

          I would gladly swap places with Ashley Parker for a few days or weeks to get a taste of life on the campaign trail again. Long days, crappy food, the same damn speech over and over again from a candidate you can't wait to see lose. Does more to stimulate an old political reporter than Viagra. Of course there would have to be some accommodations such as a senior section on the bus, Preparation H on the hotel night stand and plenty of soft food -- or at least a blender -- at the crappy diners. But one mainstay that must never change is an ample supply of Jack Daniels or other drink of choice to help dull the pain and make you think you're having fun and doing some real important.

          REBER: I feel certain Ray Kipp and many others could share interesting stories about adventures on the campaign trail. It would be great if, upon my return, a bunch of those stories were waiting.

          JOE GANDELMAN writes:

          Yes, stories about how hard reporters work to bring the news to YEW seem mostly like a commercial or a promotion or an attempt to keep a plum job rather than anything a reader cares about. A journalism professor used to say before any story is written the question should be answered "Who cares? So what?"
          Of course if that had been applied we never would have seen the publisher's yearly inspirational Christmas message on page one.

          REBER: I'm allowed to grouse. Check my birth certificate; I'm of that age. I read a lot of magazines. In each one there is a column by the editor, telling readers about what is in that edition. Isn't that the job of the table of contents? Hey, magazine editors, use that space to add one more story to your coverage.

-------------------------------------------

          GLENN GRANT writes:

          I want to thank all the Gang members who contacted by email and in last night’s post regarding reliable plumbers. We’re going through the list and will make a decision soon. Who needs Angie’s List with this Gang ready to help in so many ways!

          REBER: On the subject of leaky faucets, I will share this experience. We had some problems. The plumber who replaced the valve in our shower was amazed by the damage done to it. He said leaky faucets often were caused by excessive water pressure, and he remarked that ours appeared to have been struck by a horrendous force. Other problems followed. The cause, we discovered, was a neighbor who frequently connected his water truck to the fire hydrant near our meter. When he shut off the water to his truck, it caused a pressure surge that impacted our plumbing. We had a pressure valve installed near the meter (we already had one at the house), and our problems disappeared.

--------------------------------------------

          JERRY RIFE photographs:

          REBER: I am wondering if there isn't a book to be made from your photos San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

-----------------------------------------

          T.R. REINMAN writes:

          RE: The winter that wasn’t. Syracuse averages 123.8 inches of snow annually. On this date last year it had 174.2 inches for the season. It has had 50.6 this season, and every day this week has been warmer there than in San Diego. I am in Orlando for the third of five days and would appreciate anything anyone has to say in defense of this partially reclaimed morass. The only redeeming quality I've discovered over several years is a chain called the Orlando Ale House, each unit of which has upwards of 60 TV screens tuned to sports of all sorts, including SU's march to the NCAA basketball title.

----------------------------------------------

          GLENN GRANT writes:

          Regarding Suzanne Mack’s question about Amtrak service to the Bay Area: I took that trip many years ago and don’t think the procedure has changed. You take the train from L.A. to Oakland first. If you want to go over to San Francisco, a bus is waiting to take you to a downtown SF bus depot. Whether you are continuing on to Seattle or returning to Southern California, you can take the bus back to Oakland, even days later. I suggest Suzanne call Amtrak to verity that this is still the way it’s done.

          TOM NOLAN writes:

          Hi Jack--For Suzanne Mack, I'm sure Amtrak's Coast Starlight from L.A. to Seattle still is running. You take Amtrak's regular early morning passenger train from San Diego (or Oceanside) to Los Angeles' Union Station, then transfer to the Coast Starlight, which, as I recall, leaves at 9 or 10 a.m. It gets into Oakland's Jack London Station about 12 hours later, and there is cab service available there (but at a cost). There's also a shuttle to a nearby Holiday Inn or Marriott (can't remember which) where you spend the night and rent a car the next morning. Start out by checking Amtrak's schedule and take it from there.

---------------------------------------

          REBER: I am surprised at how few birthdays occur while we are gone. Have you told me yours? Happy Birthday wishes to Rick Davis (March 25) and Bob Laurence (March 29).

Jack Justus Reber

P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.

And now, answers

          Good evening, 919 Gang. Last night we had questions; tonight we have answers, but first this.

          BRUCE BIGELOW writes:

          I thought this was worth sharing with 919ers. I particularly like the quote from former Philly Inquirer editor Amanda Bennett. I remember hearing Ron James and Chris Jennewein talk about the newspaper's impending digital future, in which reporters would shoot their own video and post stories online before print. It wasn't a vision I embraced.
http://tinyurl.com/73d4rqq

          REBER: I suggest you follow the link to read it all, but I agree with Bruce that Bennett's quote is very insightful, and I think it has special relevance for our group. Here's the quote:

          "We are surprisingly weak at facing down the stares from within our own newsroom. I should have been braver at recognizing the difference between a reverence for the past and a reluctance to face the future."

----------------------------------------------

          REBER: Last night Bruce Bigelow asked about re-using 919 Gang photos for Xconomy. He also wondered about other sources for San Diego photos.

          JOE HOLLY writes:

          Bruce Bigelow, I'd be delighted for you to use anything that I have sent to 919 in Xconomy. It would be very nice to see my name in print once again after all these 20 years (What??? How long? OMG!). All I ask is for you to send me an email if you can, so I know when to look for it. ( photo@macholly.com )
          Typical winter's afternoon scenes in San Diego:

          LAURA EMBRY writes:

          Hi Jack. You can pass along to Bruce Bigelow that he could Google, "San Diego creative commons" and then click "images" as his filter to find San Diego photos that he could use. Or, of course, he could hire one of his former colleagues to make a unique San Diego photograph for him!

--------------------------------------------------

          REBER: Glenn Grant asked about a plumber.

          SUZANNE MACK writes:

          You can give Glenn Grant my son, Corbin's phone number for his leaky La Mesa faucets. (619) 519-9431. He lives just up the road and is very reasonable. He isn't working for a company at the moment.

          LEANA DeKOCK writes:

          Glenn, I have a great plumber who is reasonably priced and incredibly efficient. (858) 272-2029 is Greg DeRenski at Five Star Plumbing.

          PETER KAYE writes:

          To Glenn Grant. Dan Bernard is your plumber. Completely honest. Reasonable. And will come on short notice. He's a treasure. (619) 461-2696 or cell (619) 672-1884.

          ALISON DaROSA writes:

          Re Glenn Grant's request: Wayne Milton is a good, honest reliable plumber -- 265-8288.

          ELLEN BEVIER writes:

          I have long depended on Shelton Plumbing,  (619) 281-3602.  For those who know the family, Harold has retired but his son David is still in business.

          REBER: And we have one more question.

          SUZANNE MACK writes:

          Last week everyone was talking about trains. I have a question the Internet hasn't been able to answer. Is there train service from San Diego to the Bay area? I assume you'd have to change trains somewhere, but it looks like the train stops in San Luis Obispo and you have to take a bus north from there. Is there no connecting train going further north? I wouldn't mind taking a short bus connection to the next train station but don't relish a bus clear to San Francisco. Help!

-------------------------------------------------

          TERRY RODGERS writes:

          I was very moved by Carl Larsen's account of what has happened to his hometown Chicago and his perception of the media's apparent callousness toward murder and violence. That same threat of "anything can happen'' has deterred me from going to my favorite surfing grounds in Baja, Mexico. I still want to go, but my wife says she would be worried sick the whole time I was gone. So I don't.
          Carl's writing was so eloquent and heartfelt...I felt every beat of his drum. He has a great future should he ever decide to turn pro.

-----------------------------------------------

          STEVE BEHRENS writes:
          There was a prominent obituary in the L.A. Times Wednesday for a former Times reporter named Dorothy Townsend, who died March 5 at 88. She was with the Times from 1954 to 1986.
          According to the obit, "After insisting on being reassigned from 'the women's pages' in early 1964, she became the first female staff writer to cover local news in a city room long populated only by men." Running with the obit was an "official" newsroom photo of the Times team that earned a 1966 Pulitzer for its coverage of the Watts riots. Townsend stands out in the middle of a sea of men in suits.
          I wasn't familiar with her, but I was wondering if any members of our group have any thoughts or memories to share about her.

----------------------------------------------

          JOHN MUNCIE writes:

          Wonderful response from Michael Kinsman on the "Golden Age" issue. He's right, you add up all your moments of real journalism and you make your own Golden Age. I guess it's called a career. Still, there is a U-T time I do look back on with enormous affection. Sorry, Michael I can't help it. For me it's the 10 years or so prior to the merger. We aimed so high and though we missed a lot, we came so far. The Union of 1982 and the Union of 1992 aren't recognizable as the same paper.  Then came the merger. When the dust settled, I ended up with a phenomenal staff (I was Features AME). With the infusion of Tribune talent, I thought we were as strong as any Features department of our size in the country. 
          Strangely, though, while we did distinguished work (we won, hands-down, the best Homes section in the nation) it wasn't the same. The competition was gone. We had lived so long with that daily oneupmanship that, without it, things seemed a bit hollow.  The truth was, the Trib made the Union a much better paper and made me a better journalist. I hope the reverse was true.

          REBER: I feel the reverse definitely was true, and don't forget the impact of the L.A. Times' San Diego edition. We could justify almost any expense if we explained we needed to buy some gizmo to compete with the Times.

------------------------------------------------

          JOE BROWN writes:

          I echo Peter Koeleman's question this morning about winter weather in Minnesota, only in my case it involves Maine. This has been the warmest winter of the 22 I've lived in Maine with some curious results. It's 75 degrees as I write on Thursday morning on March 22. Maine snow resort operators have lost millions this year. The last Sunday in March in Maine is designated as "Sugar Sunday," when maple sugar farmers hold open house to demonstrate the skill of making maple syrup (and sell bottles full of this delicious stuff.) But most maple trees have yielded their sap early this winter, and the quasi holiday may have to be cancelled. Crocus have bloomed two weeks early. And there's a question whether the early summer harvest of elvers will yield much profit because of the warm winter. Elvers are tiny eels about the size of a pencil which are caught in nets strung across Maine rivers as they migrate inland after a long swim from the Sargasso Sea. Although it takes a lot of tiny elvers to make a pound, a pound of these critters can bring as much as $600 from markets in Japan where they are a delicacy. On the plus side, cities which set aside huge stockpiles of salt for snow removal have great surpluses of that left over, a cost-saving advantage for next year.

-----------------------------------------------

          DAVID FARMER writes:

          Jerry Schultz mentioned that he and his fiancee had to get a blood test before marrying in Indiana in 1961. Such tests were common 50 years ago, but almost all states have dropped them. The idea was to determine whether the bride or groom had a sexually transmitted disease, and presumably forbid them to marry until cured. Folks my age will remember hearing about the famous Wassermann test, which looked for syphilis.
          I guess states eventually decided that VD (the old term for STD) was not a big problem. Or maybe they figured (gasp!) that public agencies had no business intruding that deeply into the wedding process. But Indiana still demands one test of potential brides under 50. It has the forbidding title of State of Indiana Premarital Examinate (cq) Certificate. It boils down to a test for rubella, also called German measles.
          Indiana is magnanimous in one way, though. Its official website says: "Cousins may marry as long as both are over the age of 65." Apparently, people that age can't reproduce and bring forth children possessing six fingers on each hand. Good old Indiana, still protecting its citizens against themselves.

---------------------------------------------

          DAVID OGUL writes:

          To Ellen Bevier : Sadly, my Dodger bobbleheads were kidnapped and never returned. I heard they were put up for adoption into a Padre loving family, or maybe it was a family of American Leaguers (Padres, American League, second-rate either way).

----------------------------------------------

          REBER: The story Welton refers to below is available only to NYT subscribers, so I can't provide a link. I have reprinted only the top of the story, but I think it's enough to get the point across.

          WELTON JONES writes:

          This is an in-house type of promo that the NYT sends to subscribers.
          Whatever happened to, "The readers don't care how hard you had to work to get the story, kid!"?

The Romney Campaign

By Ashley Parker
          I cannot remember the last time I went to the gym.
          I eat most of my meals — lukewarm chain restaurant food, if I’m lucky — from a plastic foam container precariously balanced on my lap, as whatever bus I’m on trundles through whichever early primary state I’ve just landed in.
          And in one epic, 18-hour workday, I woke up in Ohio before dawn, connected in Minnesota, covered an event in Idaho, and finally drifted off to sleep in Utah.
          When friends and colleagues ask me what covering Mitt Romney for The New York Times is like, the best analogy I’ve come up with is that it’s a bit like a day at the circus: incredibly fun, full of heightened drama and more than a little surreal.
          In fact, covering a presidential candidate, much like being a presidential candidate, is a series of highs and lows, often all at once, more frustration and elation than you ever imagined possible, all in a single day. Day, after day, after day. After day.
          A typical day on the trail goes something like this: Baggage call at 6:45 a.m., so Secret Service dogs can sweep your gear to make sure it’s “clean” and not a security threat. Pile onto the press bus to drive to an early morning rally at a fence-post manufacturing company in Ohio. Back on the bus after the rally, where you try to file a quick story to The Caucus blog, while making calls to sources for that larger feature you’ve been putting off. Arrive at the next event, a town hall several hours south of where you began. Cover the town hall, and pile back on the bus (where takeout lunch from a nearby Applebee’s awaits) to the drive to the airport, where Mr. Romney’s charter flight is ready to whisk you away to North Dakota. Wheels down and — you guessed it — back on the bus to drive to Mr. Romney’s final rally of the day, in a high school gym. Finish up a story for the next day’s paper before deadline, and head to the hotel, around 8 or 9 p.m. And then, of course, hit the hotel bar or a local restaurant for dinner, ideally with a source or two.

          REBER: One might also wonder about the value of bragging on your paper in a story that goes only to subscribers. Shouldn't you be talking to the non-subscribers?

---------------------------------------------

          JACK REBER forwards:

          Here's a video clip for you. It's in German, but the words aren't necessary ...the dialogue is a young woman asking her father if he is enjoying the iPad the family bought him.
http://wimp.com/dadipad

          TIM WILSON forwards:

          For all of you who love dogs, here is the heartwarming story of a remarkable greyhound:
http://tinyurl.com/cx7kwq

          TIM WILSON forwards:

          Birdman was a hoax.
          It was reported in the national media a few days ago, and so I felt that was good enough for me. I was wrong. Here is the story:
http://www.newser.com/story/142491/bird-man-yep-its-a-hoax.html
          Oh well, it was a nice dream while it lasted…

          RICK SMITH forwards:

          This a video taken by a state trooper dash cam. See how quickly your life could change by taking your eyes off the road for a split second.
          Think about this next time you see someone texting, reading a book or putting on makeup while driving.
http://rmirror.net/r/videos/comments/q5hu9/car_accident_nsfl/

Jack Justus Reber

P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.