Friday, August 31, 2007

Come On, Larry! The Clock's Ticking!

It's the Friday before Labor Day weekend. If you've got bad news, best get it out now while the country's not looking.

  • White House spokesperson Tony Snow is out - to be replaced by Springfield's own Dana Perino. I wonder if she'll have any more luck explaining this administration's many insanities. Poor Tony had better poise than his predecessor Scotty, but he still looked like a beaten puppy half the time up there.

  • Virgina's last Republican holdout, Senator John Warner announced that he will not seek re-election in 2008. This opens the door for the ragingly popular ex-governor Mark Warner - a Democrat. This is a big pickup opportunity for the Democrats.

  • Republican operatives have been providing soldiers and civilians in the Iraqi Green Zone with oppositional research on all Democratic congressional leaders who visit. And if that weren't bad enough, it turns out that most of the stuff they're putting out is not true.

    Paging Senator Larry Craig. There's a podium and a press conference with your name on it.
  • Wednesday, August 29, 2007

    This is a great little piece two young friends of mine did for a show on ABC News last night. It's based on submissions to our i-CAUGHT section. We asked people to upload themselves displaying three words that conveyed their thoughts, activities, or feelings during the past week.


    Monday, August 27, 2007

    The Death of Self-Image

    Sure, Gonzalez resigned this morning, and we're all very happy about that. But it's no shocker.

    The shocker of the day came when I dragged my ass out of bed this morning before 6 a.m. to deal with the kids, glanced in the mirror, and saw this:



    Unshaven, unwashed, overweight, hair mussed, hanes undershirt stretched by tiny hands perpetually pulling me down, my reflection looked more like Khalil Sheikh Mohammed than the once-young-and-dapper Isaac I used to know.

    Sigh.

    Monday, August 20, 2007

    Where Where You When...?

  • Ten years ago this month, Phish performed for two straight days at a festival of their own making in a remote corner of Maine. Called the Great Went, the event marked the end of a long and winding summer tour - my last one with the band. I was at the Great Went with my then standard Phish travel partners - Josh, Giles and Susie. The music was mediocre. I got separated from my friends and lost in the rain for a full twelve hours. And, we had to drive for 30 hours straight to get back to Chicago in time for work. All in all, not the greatest experience. But, an experience nonetheless.

  • Twenty years ago this month, Def Leppard released the multi-platinum LP Hysteria. I was never a big fan of big hair metal, but these guys were the exception. Tom, Dave and I stood on line from 4 a.m. to get tickets to their concert at the Prairie Capitol Convention Center that summer. We went to the show with some Catholic school girls we'd been hanging with. One of them - a thirteen-year-old tramp-in-training named Julie, threw her bra onstage.

  • Twenty five years ago this month, the CD was born. It took me until college, though, to get my first CD (Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magic). I was a cassette guy through high school, and still have yet to convert some of those old Husker Du, Smiths, and Modern English releases.

  • Thirty years ago, Elvis died. Shortly before that, I allegedly visited Graceland and threw a tantrum because I wanted to play the piano.
  • Tuesday, August 14, 2007

    Today's Meeting Schedule

  • 9:00 - Discuss potential expanded Health section
  • 10:00 - Weekly Video Player check-in
  • 11:00 - Product Task Force check-in
  • 12:00 - ESPN video call
  • 12:30 - special project template discussion
  • 1:30 - Elections products and schedules
  • 3:00 - Evaluation of Company X
  • 4:00 - Video ad discussion
  • 5:30 - Archives logistics

    Shit. I'm going to be late for my 9am!
  • Friday, August 10, 2007

    Thursday, August 09, 2007

    Classic New York Tale






    Yesterday morning, a terrible storm hit New York City. All of the subways in Brooklyn went down, and tens of thousands of pissed off commuters were milling around one of the main areas (Flatbush/Atlantic) trying to figure out how to get into Manhattan for work.

    After two hours, I gave up and began to trudge back home. About three blocks from my apartment, I ran into a guy driving one of those tour buses with all of the seats on the top. He was stopped at a light. I knocked on the door.

    "Excuse me! Where are you going?"

    "Times Square," he said.

    Turns out his company yard was in Brooklyn, and he was just driving to work in the morning. So... the obvious question:

    "Can I have a ride?"

    At first he said no, and started to drive away when the light changed. Then, after I chased him for three blocks, he agreed and let me on. A few blocks later, we turned the corner onto Flatbush and ran into the teeming mass of Brooklynites. I shouted down from atop the bus.

    "HEY! ANYONE WANNA GO TO TIMES SQUARE?!"

    The resounding cheer made me feel like a rock star, and tons of people piled on. Then, as the rest of the borough walked to work, and people all over the city were bogged down in a variety of transportation issues, we all enjoyed a leisure ride, al fresco.

    I'm famous - See this blog's coverage of the event!

    Monday, August 06, 2007

    In Case You're Wondering

  • Last week was probably the most stressful stretch of work I've had since starting at ABC News. Hence, the lull in blogging.


  • Here is what a "successful" weekend looks like for a tired family with two small children: Saturday - Barnes & Noble kids section, pizza for lunch, public pool in the afternoon; Sunday - Trek out to Long Island to visit Sarah's brother & family, swinging in the backyard, another pool, pasta at Sarah's parents' house.

  • It's not all boring and domestic. Tonight, we might take the kids to a jazz salon with Arturo O'Farrill.