News of the Weird 2.0 (1-27-2013)
The News of the Weird 2.0 Blog
Angst, Confusion, Cynicism, Ridicule
Hand-Picked and Seasoned by Chuck Shepherd
Sunday, January 27, 2013
No Longer Weird: Yrs ago, Yr Editor started cataloguing stories that Ordinary Media thought were weird but which we pro’s knew were evergreens. Then, after 80-some, I sorta lost interest. (Here’s a list of the first 66, which Iwas prevented by law from updating was too lazy to update. Still, I think there are “legacy” NLWs that must be preserved, notable because (a) they keep happening, relentlessly, and (b) common or not, they remain weird. Case in point: Peng Xiahua, in Guangdong province, China, became the most recent person to arise from the dead--literally, just about to be entombed, surrounded by grieving family, she sprang back to life. Coroner’s error? Or miracle? It’ll probably happen again this year, somewhere. Shanghai Daily
Tampa: Imagine that Howard Stern and Don Imus, at their peak of popularity and young enough to think “nasty” was an attractive attribute rather than a business model, waged a continuous metaphorical knife fight. In Tampa, that would be the premier radio shock jocks Bubba The Love Sponge Clem (his legal name now) and “MJ” Schnitt, and it has been ugly and immature and funny and sad. Except Schnitt tired of it first and has sued Clem for defamation and harassment (e.g., for calling Schnitt’s missus a “whore” and coaxing Clem’s fans to threaten Schnitt and creatively hassle him, such as by egging his car). The long-awaited trial is now on, loaded up with gossip, tears, laughter, outrage, ridicule, and so on--until Wednesday evening, when Schnitt’s lawyer was arrested for DUI. Turns out (1) “someone” had alerted police that there would soon be a DUI leaving the restaurant where the lawyer was dining; (2) a yowza paralegal at Bubba’s lawyer’s firm (masking that fact) had bought Schnitt’s lawyer's table drinks; (3) the paralegal talked the lawyer into innocently driving her car home (maybe because her own license is suspended--even though, how’d the car get to the restaurant in the first place); (4) when the lawyer was arrested, his trial briefcase remained behind in the paralegal’s car; and (5) the paralegal, questioned by the judge (straining to avoid a mistrial), took the Fifth "about a dozen" times (reported the Tampa Bay Times). And a good time is being had by all (except MJ’s lawyer, who is in deep trouble with the judge and the bar association). Tampa Bay Times
Recent Poor Journalism: Ahhhh, the headline-hungry, search-engine-optimizing, click-manic, entry-level-editor-on-duty mainstream press! (1) No, a Montreal councillor wasn’t about to introduce an ordinance to require dogs walked in city parks to understand commands in both English and French. (2) No, a Harvard geneticist isn’t looking for an adventurous woman to surrogately bear a Neanderthal-gened baby (but was just chin-stroking about distant possibilities). (3) No, there’s no evidence that “Brazilian” waxing is about to make pubic-hair lice extinct. (4) As Weird Universe’s Patty correctly wondered, can it be true that restaurants’ “calamari” dishes are really the cheaper and visually-similar “pig rectum”? (No.) (5) Portuguese media have been falling for the comforting, $100-word jargon of “economist” Baptista da Silva who had simply figured out that the Portuguese were desperate for an “expert” who would tell them that their fiscal woes were not their fault. [It’s possible that these (except for number 2, which is pure sloppiness) are classic “hoaxes” intended to fool the media. Maybe not. Maybe all five are just sloppiness. Of course, when the subject of “hoax” comes up, may I remind you to visit Alex’s Museum of Hoaxes archive.] Canadian Broadcasting Corp. News /// Reuters via Yahoo News /// Mental Floss /// Slate.com /// NPR
Angst, Confusion, Cynicism, Ridicule
Hand-Picked and Seasoned by Chuck Shepherd
Sunday, January 27, 2013
No Longer Weird: Yrs ago, Yr Editor started cataloguing stories that Ordinary Media thought were weird but which we pro’s knew were evergreens. Then, after 80-some, I sorta lost interest. (Here’s a list of the first 66, which I
Tampa: Imagine that Howard Stern and Don Imus, at their peak of popularity and young enough to think “nasty” was an attractive attribute rather than a business model, waged a continuous metaphorical knife fight. In Tampa, that would be the premier radio shock jocks Bubba The Love Sponge Clem (his legal name now) and “MJ” Schnitt, and it has been ugly and immature and funny and sad. Except Schnitt tired of it first and has sued Clem for defamation and harassment (e.g., for calling Schnitt’s missus a “whore” and coaxing Clem’s fans to threaten Schnitt and creatively hassle him, such as by egging his car). The long-awaited trial is now on, loaded up with gossip, tears, laughter, outrage, ridicule, and so on--until Wednesday evening, when Schnitt’s lawyer was arrested for DUI. Turns out (1) “someone” had alerted police that there would soon be a DUI leaving the restaurant where the lawyer was dining; (2) a yowza paralegal at Bubba’s lawyer’s firm (masking that fact) had bought Schnitt’s lawyer's table drinks; (3) the paralegal talked the lawyer into innocently driving her car home (maybe because her own license is suspended--even though, how’d the car get to the restaurant in the first place); (4) when the lawyer was arrested, his trial briefcase remained behind in the paralegal’s car; and (5) the paralegal, questioned by the judge (straining to avoid a mistrial), took the Fifth "about a dozen" times (reported the Tampa Bay Times). And a good time is being had by all (except MJ’s lawyer, who is in deep trouble with the judge and the bar association). Tampa Bay Times
Recent Poor Journalism: Ahhhh, the headline-hungry, search-engine-optimizing, click-manic, entry-level-editor-on-duty mainstream press! (1) No, a Montreal councillor wasn’t about to introduce an ordinance to require dogs walked in city parks to understand commands in both English and French. (2) No, a Harvard geneticist isn’t looking for an adventurous woman to surrogately bear a Neanderthal-gened baby (but was just chin-stroking about distant possibilities). (3) No, there’s no evidence that “Brazilian” waxing is about to make pubic-hair lice extinct. (4) As Weird Universe’s Patty correctly wondered, can it be true that restaurants’ “calamari” dishes are really the cheaper and visually-similar “pig rectum”? (No.) (5) Portuguese media have been falling for the comforting, $100-word jargon of “economist” Baptista da Silva who had simply figured out that the Portuguese were desperate for an “expert” who would tell them that their fiscal woes were not their fault. [It’s possible that these (except for number 2, which is pure sloppiness) are classic “hoaxes” intended to fool the media. Maybe not. Maybe all five are just sloppiness. Of course, when the subject of “hoax” comes up, may I remind you to visit Alex’s Museum of Hoaxes archive.] Canadian Broadcasting Corp. News /// Reuters via Yahoo News /// Mental Floss /// Slate.com /// NPR
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