Sorry, folks, but I
gotta take a sick day. Be back tomorrow for sure.
Monday, December 31, 2018
Sunday, December 30, 2018
Brownies? No, thanks
Good evening, 919 Gang. Our
18-year-old granddaughter and her best friend have moved to Oregon where they
will attend Oregon State University. Hannah called us for our anniversary, and
she reported that the other girl had made brownies. She substituted oil for
butter, which is okay, but they have three varieties of oil on the shelf, and
the girl grabbed the one containing garlic.
Hannah said she doubts garlic-flavored
brownies will ever be a big seller.
----------------------------------------------------------------
REBER: We’ve had
numerous tributes to Fernando Romero, and this one is beautiful.
SCOTT
LINNETT writes:
I had
the honor of accompanying Fernando Romero over a half dozen times to assignments
in the Tijuana area. He introduced me to his favorite taco truck near the
downtown bull ring and if time permitted for a sit-down meal, a restaurant
called Carnitas Uruapan. He liked riding with photographers as we had our own
company cars, allowing Fernando to ride shotgun without being encumbered by
driving. There was nobody I rather have riding shotgun while I navigated the
streets of Tijuana, occasionally at nighttime no less.
Nearly
every time we traveled together in Mexico, it seemed we seldom knew the exact
address of our destination. Addresses for individual homes, especially those in
the poorer sections of Tijuana, were sketchy at best. Armed with just a
person’s family name and neighborhood as a starting point, Fernando would point
me in the right direction. As we started getting close, Fernando would lean out
of the car and ask pedestrians, street vendors or shop owners if they knew
where so-and-so lived. True to the Mexican culture Fernando explained to me,
everyone wanted to help us navigate our way, even if they had no earthly idea
how to find our destination. Many times, we’d get a tidbit of semi-accurate
information along with a healthy dose of conflicting directions. Fernando would
express his gratitude for their help, sometimes pulling a few coins out of his
pocket to share and we would be on our way.
I
remember one night with Fernando, traveling to a poverty-stricken Colonia in
the hills east of downtown Tijuana, looking for a husband and wife, though I
can’t remember the exact reason. After an hour or two we found their home on a
steep and rutted dirt road so rough I dare only traverse it with a
Union-Tribune car. Their one-room dirt-floor house was made from several sheets
of plywood and plastic sheeting. A single car battery powered a 12-volt light
bulb suspended from the ceiling. Fernando interviewed the couple and I shot
pictures. As we left, I saw Fernando, in the most gracious, low-keyed manner
possible, pull some money out of his pocket and slip it to the family we just interviewed.
His empathy and compassion towards these people was so understated and elegant,
it touched me deeply.
In
my 25+ years at the U-T, it was truly a highlight to work with such a talented
and compassionate soul who never forgot his roots.
BILL CALLAHAN writes:
Yes,
I remember “Starvin’ “ Marvin Humphrey: great surfer, great artist, great guy.
And sorry to hear of the health issues of Fernando Romero, another great guy.
REBER: One time Fernando told me of a visit to
the Tijuana police chief’s office. It was almost Christmas, and as Fernando
asked his questions, the chief opened his desk drawer and pulled out an
envelope obviously stuffed with cash. He pushed the envelope across the desk
toward Fernando. Fernando said he explained that he could not accept it. That he
had a job which paid him very well for what he did, and taking outside money
was against the rules.
After some
back and forth, the chief returned the envelope to his desk drawer after
telling Fernando he was “crazy as a goat.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
RICH LOUV writes:
Continuing
to tell a story longer than the border, the U-T's photojournalists have always
been among the best in the country, including Don Bartletti, who reveals the
humanity that some folks fail to see or display.
JOE HOLLY writes:
Don Bartletti, may you live forever.
I was sitting here in my sunroom
feeling down because history was happening 20 miles to the south and I was
housebound here.
Then I opened today's Union-Tribune and saw Don
Bartletti’s name...Bravo, sir. Bravo for your tour de force. Hopefully, you’ll
receive another Pulitzer from this.
You make us proud.
Live forever…
REBER: We’re not
going to get into the arguments or politics surrounding the immigration issue.
As journalists, it is
natural we would admire what Don has produced. I’m not going to summarize the
Bartletti package. Anything I say would be inadequate. Look at the photos and
read the text. Don has been covering the migrant phenomenon for about 40 years.
From the 919 Gang Directory, here are some of his honors: “I was awarded the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Feature
Photography for my six-part photo essay in the Times titled Enrique’s Journey – the saga of Central
American children riding freight trains through Mexico and their searches for
mothers in the U.S. The series also won the Robert F. Kennedy Grand Prize, the
Polk Award, UNICEF photos of the year and many, many other recognitions. In
2015 I was a Pulitzer finalist for my yearlong documentary stills and videos
about the abuse of migrant farmworkers on ranches in Mexico where fresh produce
is grown and exported to U.S. markets. The work was given the Robert F. Kennedy
award, an Overseas Press Club award and the Gerald Loeb award.”
----------------------------------------------------------------
DAVID
FARMER writes:
I
hate it when companies smugly declare that they were established in some year
so recent as to be meaningless. An example intruded itself into my Christmas
festivities:
My
daughter gave me two elegant polo shirts. So far, so good. But when I looked at
their tags, I read, "Ben Sherman Original, Since 1963."
What's
the big deal? To me, 1963 is basically last week. If Ben had proudly announced
his founding in 1863, I would have been impressed. As far as I'm
concerned, 1938 is the year the earth was formed from space gasses,
debris, and a stray North Korean nose cone. Also, I was born.
The
latter event was supposed to be accompanied by angels touching their harps of
gold, shepherds snoozing in nearby fields, and three guys on camels bearing
loot. But I was informed later that the budget for that kind of extravaganza
had been used up on another baby who might have been marginally holier than me.
(I know that's supposed to be "I" but we're all friends here.)
I'm
not entirely sure that a fledgling company like Ben Sherman's will even survive
its infancy. Fifty-five years is a blink of a cosmic eye (one of which I have).
----------------------------------------------------------------
PRESTON
TUREGANO
writes:
I recommend the currently showing movie “Vice.”
I classify it as a horror film with some funny moments. Christian Bale should
be a Best Actor Oscar shoo-in for his role as Dick Cheney.
------------------------------------------------------------------
DAVID
FARMER writes:
I
can understand one country sanctioning another's oil, steel or soybeans. But
North Korea seems to have erected trade barriers against just one article of
women's apparel. Real headline:
"Complex
web of international banks, shell companies said to help North Korea skirt
sanctions."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REBER: The
last birthday of the year is an honor going to Steve Perez. Happy Birthday,
Dec. 31, Steve.
P.O.
Box 2239
Ramona,
CA 92065-0938
United
States
Saturday, December 29, 2018
No news is bad news
Good morning, 919 Gang. Worst
breakfast ever today. I had no newspaper to read. A cyber attack believed to
have come from overseas took down the production system on Tribune newspapers,
causing a widespread newspaper outage. No, the
U-T is not a Tribune newspaper, but the U-T and Los Angeles Times are
still using that system, so they got hit hard, as did the Chicago Tribune,
Baltimore Sun, the West Coast editions of the Wall Street Journal and New York
Times, and other newspapers.
The outage wasn’t total, but the U-T
says 85-90 percent of the papers were not delivered. Partly that was because papers
arrived so late that many carriers had already gone to their day jobs.
The U-T has been putting out
advisories all day. At one time they said the Saturday paper would be delivered
with the Sunday edition. Not sure that still is the plan.
The Sunday paper will be scaled back,
and some features will not appear.
This reminds me of 1988 when there was
a fire in the press room. About 9 a.m. a bunch of folks from the Union and
Tribune huddled as we sought to reconfigure the paper in such a way that we
could still publish. I was miffed because my section was ready to go. This
thing of moving ads and reconfiguring pages was a pain. Don’t know if it is
true, but I heard that the Union still was delivering papers at curfew, so they
had to call the kids off the street.
Here’s the story on Saturday’s problem:
REBER: Walt Baranger tells me I had a choice today. I could have been
without a U-T in Ramona or without one in Europe.
WALT
BARANGER writes:
As previously reported by someone else here,
our favorite San Diego daily is unavailable in Europe.
Virtually all of the major news
organizations (including the L.A.Times) long ago solved this problem. Guess
I’ll have to do without for a few weeks.
The L.A. Times screen shot was taken at the
same time, and it works fine here in Brussels, both using the app and using
the web browser.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
REBER: We’ve reported that Fernando Romero has serious health issues and is
under hospice care in his home.
DAVID
OGUL writes:
I
had the honor of working with Fernando Romero at the San Diego State University
Daily Aztec, the Press-Enterprise in Riverside, and the San Diego
Union-Tribune. I had the privilege of jamming with him in for a few hours in
the garage of his home in Chula Vista, and - if memory serves me right - in the
garage of my house when I was a senior in college. If I could ever be half the
gentleman he was, I would consider myself to be a success. God bless you, my
friend.
PAT FLYNN forwards:
FERNANDO
ROMERO IS GRAVELY ILL by John Michael Glionna
REBER: Glionna has written a great piece about Fernando. Highly recommended,
even if you didn’t know Fernando. John writes that Fernando handled the subject
of his great weight without rancor. Many, many years ago, Fernando and I were
traveling through Ensenada, and he said, “I’m going to show you what real
Mexican food tastes like.” So, we went into this restaurant, and the greeter
asked, “Dinner for two?” Fernando didn’t miss a beat. He said, “No, just one.
My friend is on a diet.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DAVID
FARMER writes:
Add
to end credits of mythical broadcast: Anne Athema, corporate witch assigned to
pronounce curses on competitors.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
DAVID
FARMER writes:
I
saw the unusual word "bespoke" in a news headline today. It looks
like a grammatical error or at least an archaic word, but it's not a mistake
and it's still used.
I
figured out long ago that it means "spoken for," like a custom-made
suit or pair of shoes. The tailor or shoemaker is also described as bespoke.
A
person who uses bespoke in America seems a bit pretentious, but in Britain it's
fairly common. It can refer to a kitchen, a software system or the itinerary of
a trip. The word is the past tense of "bespeak," an old verb that
today commonly means indicates or signifies: "His use of 'bespoke'
bespeaks a large vocabulary."
Bespeak can also mean to hire, engage, or claim beforehand. I'm going to
"Stan and Ollie" tonight after buying tickets online. So when my wife
and I get to the theater we can sit in our bespoke seats.
P.O.
Box 2239
Ramona,
CA 92065-0938
United
States
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