Eugene has a population of about 167,000. It's the third largest city in Oregon but that puts it at 154 on a national ranking. I don't know if it's a function of that size or of the quality of local media but our local news outlets seem pretty lame compared to other places we've lived.
I daily check the site of the NBC affiliate in Grand Rapids (pop. 197,000) and Phoenix (pop. 1.6 million) to see what's going on where we lived for extended stretches. When I go from there to the sites for the Eugene newspaper and the CBS affiliate the contrast is striking. Either Eugene is the definition of "sleepy town" or they don't have the reporters to do the work. It's not quite "Teddy Anderson is now first chair clarinet at Center Jr. Hi." but close. And the lead stories change about every three days.
Local news here in NYC (pop. 8.5 million) is the opposite! The local affiliates cover the "tri-state area" which means they're also doing stories from NY, NJ, and Conn. It would be fun to sit in on the meeting where they decide what stories they'll cover on the nightly news shows (four 30-minute segments).
"Should we do 10 seconds on the manhole fire in Manhattan? How 'bout the dude in a business suit who's on video putting a serious beat-down on a fellow subway passenger? We've also got video of a car plowing through a red light and killing an adult and two kids in a crosswalk."
It makes me wonder what stories don't make the cut.
On TV they're advertising Madama Butterfly at the Met with video snippets. Tickets start at $25.
That's about the same price we pay for the cheap seats at the Eugene Opera. I realize that money puts you sitting in Hoboken at the Met but based on the few seconds of video they show it would sure be cool to see the Met's production. The staging and costumes are in a whole different league from what we've seen in Eugene.
And Madama Butterfly has such gorgeous music.
This morning I walked about a mile to Dunkin' Donuts to go over my Sunday stuff. I'm getting cabin fever and needed to get OUT. When I left a little before 9 a.m. it was 32 degrees but the 15 mph wind had it feeling like the low 20s. My face was so frozen that when I got there I could hardly speak to ask for a cup of HOT coffee. Yikes! And they're talking about yet another Nor'easter on Monday.
I am NOT a fan of President Trump. But it's like cats; I don't like cats but I'll own two because the rodents that were eating my grain are worse. So Trump is what we've got and by God's grace he just might kill a rat or two while he's there.
In that vein I'm struck by the hypocrisy of the media. This morning I read an article on CNN that trumpeted (see what I did there?) the halcyon days of JFK's presidency.
Stormy Daniels??? C'mon, man. How 'bout we give some attention to Kennedy's well-known but rarely discussed affairs with women famous and not. If they applied the same standard to each man's life and conduct as a faithful I'm not sure Trump would come out the loser.
("Happy birthday to you" anyone?)
I did not run today. It was sunny and mid-afternoon the temp was up to 39. But a 15 mph wind with gusts to 26 mph made it feel like FREEZING!! Or, per the weather site, in the mid 20's. As bad as I need the exercise I draw the line at just plain stupid. I can layer clothes but my face remains exposed. A frostbitten nose is not a good look for a preacher.
It's 10:30. I'm just home from a great dinner and better fellowship with a family in the church who had another couple over. We had great conversation and laughed a lot.
I came back here to the house and called Pam so we could catch up on the day's activities.
Now it's almost two hours past my bedtime.
Forgive the abrupt ending to this post.
Goodnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment