I’ve mentioned before that I’m a fan of Malcolm Gladwell, the New Yorker writer. And not just because he’s followed my hoped-for career path (Washington Post to The New Yorker, with a little Canadian flava along the way) — he’s an intellectually interesting writer who does great profiles.

He touched up a bit of a fuss earlier this month, when he gave a speech at Harvard saying most profiles are shallow and awful. Gladwell said journalists fool themselves into thinking they know more about their subjects’ inner lives than they really do, and that their tendency to play “mini-shrink” makes him doubt the very legitimacy of writing standard profiles.

All interesting stuff to someone in my line of work, but here’s the key: look at the guy’s hair! That’s the best journalist hair I’ve ever seen! (For context, this is what he looked like on his recent book jacket.) I aspire to that sort of journofro.

27 November 2002 | 2 comments

I need some tech advice. I’m trying to copy a bunch of files from my old high school/college computer, which has spent the last six years in the smoke-filled home of my uncle. We can’t let cultural gems like COLLAPPS.DOC and RESUME.DOC disappear, can we?

Here’s the deal. It’s an ancient Compaq ProLinea 4/66. Its problems:

- Its monitor’s on/off switch doesn’t work. (I’ve solved this with the careful wedging of a toothpick.)

- The keyboard doesn’t work. I can’t do anything from the DOS prompt; all I can do is within the GUI installed on the poor thing, GeoWorks. (The mouse works fine.)

- The 3.5” floppy doesn’t work. At first, I thought it was just the quarter-inch layer of accumulated junk. But after I cleared that away, I saw the metal guides inside the drive were warped into inappropriate shapes. I can jam a floppy in, but it doesn’t read.

So…anyone got any suggestions on how to get files from this aging PC? I’d love to hear either great ideas on alternate means of file transport (ideas involving the parallel port will get special credit) or from local Dallasites who have a replacement keyboard (PS/2) I could borrow for a few hours. Do they make floppy drives you can use via a parallel port with DOS?

All those with ideas that end up producing success will get the beverage of their choice, not to mention free copies of any of my Western Civ II high school essays.

One aside: I stopped by the neighborhood Radio Shack this afternoon to buy some floppies (back when I thought the 3.5” drive worked). I asked where the floppies were, and the old man behind the counter pointed me to the corner — to a part of the store where it appeared no one had set foot since 1986.

First off, when I said “floppies,” he sent me to the boxes of 5.25” floppies — yep, the old black ones. They had more 5.25” disks than 3.5” ones. Other sightings in the corner:

- A single box of (yes!) 8-inch floppy disks, coated in a decade-thick layer of dust.

- A graphics card for the Tandy Color Computer.

- A 128K memory card (yep, 128K, not 128MB) on sale for $39.99. (For those not up on memory price trends — yeah, both of you — you can now buy 512MB of memory for about $28. That would be 4,096 times as much memory.)

27 November 2002 | 2 comments

My quest for Total Canadian Media Domination is one step closer to completion. See this piece on yours truly in Monday’s National Post. Apologies to Fiona, the college girlfriend I exposed unintentionally as “fairly tone deaf.” Apologies also to anyone who had an image of me that did not involve me saying “like” too much. (Come on, Ms. Grice — clean up those quotes of mine!)

26 November 2002 | 5 comments

In case I’m ever feeling too good about myself, just remind me that one of my college classmates is now general manager of the Boston Red Sox.

25 November 2002 | 4 comments

Mickey Kaus reports back from his cross-country road trip. First off, good on him for picking the southern I-10 route — clearly the finest of them all, and not only because it threads its way through Rayne, my residence for the week.

His two most important observations:

- “Best radio station: KBON 101.1, Eunice, Louisiana.” Well, I could have told him that.

- “Friendliest people: New Haven, Connecticut.” Well, I could have told him that. The homeless people there are extremely nice when they ask for your money.

Vacation is wonderful.

25 November 2002 | 1 comment

I suppose it’s a logical next career move for Snoop Dogg: pee-wee football coach.

I’m off to Louisiana in a few minutes — I’ll be gone for a week. Maybe I’ll actually have time to post!

23 November 2002 | 1 comment

Here’s how you can tell you’ve been coughing a lot for the last two weeks: when you realize you’ve pulled a muscle in your chest.

22 November 2002 | 1 comment

Noticed this story yesterday, from the Denver Post:

The president of the Cheyenne County school board allegedly dumped a pile of horse manure on the counter of the newspaper in Cheyenne Wells on Wednesday.

Publisher Joyce Escudero’s son Gary, who witnessed the dumping, said it happened after school board President Sam Mitchek read a front-page story in the weekly newspaper, published Wednesday, that was critical of him.

But then today I saw the follow-up story:

The pile of horse manure next to the headline “Public Denied Right to Comment” is a “personal affront” to the citizens of Cheyenne Wells, publisher Joyce Escudero said Thursday.

Asked if he felt he set a good example for youngsters, the school board president thought for a moment and said: “It probably doesn’t set a good example for kids in the school - but it lets them know I stand up for the school.”

Hold on — it’s a day later, and the newspaper is still waiting to clean up the manure? It’s day-old crusty poop now?

I’m all for standing on journalistic principle, but please, Joyce Escudero, clean up the poo! For the children!

22 November 2002 | No comments

Geez, I haven’t been doing such a great job of feeding the crabwalk.com masses of late, have I? My apologies for the unanticipated week-long hiatus. A few random thoughts.

- Flew back from El Paso Tuesday night. (And boy, are my arms tired.) One thing I like about my job is that I travel enough that trips sneak up on me now. Monday morning, I woke up and said, “Damn! I forgot! I’m going to Mexico tonight!”

- Yep, did cross the border into Mexico, my first foray into that fine nation. With my Toronto jaunt earlier this fall, my NAFTA cred is officially established. Stopped in at the Kentucky Club, which appears to be the official gringo stop in Juarez — a handful of A&M frat boys were the only other customers, as Monday Night Football played on the TV. (Juarez on a Monday night isn’t the most exciting place in the world. I walked back across the Rio Grande after about an hour.)

- Went to see the DFWbloggers last night. They’re still blogging at breakneck speeds, making me look bad.

- Canadian readers, keep an eye out for Monday’s National Post — you may see a little crabwalk goodness therein. (If not then, later in the week.)

- Two more days of work, then a week’s vacation in lovely Rayne. If my posting frequency hasn’t convinced you I’ve been too busy lately, trust me — I need a vacation.

21 November 2002 | No comments

Want to feel old, longtime web surfers? Salon is turning seven years old. Seven years old. Whodathunkit?

I also had an image of my own mortality today when searching my Eudora archives brought up an email I’d sent in September 1993. Man, turning 27’s been rough.

13 November 2002 | 5 comments

I’m headed to El Paso for the first time next week. Any suggestions for things to do?

12 November 2002 | 9 comments

If you watched SportsCenter last night, you may have seen l’il ol’ me during the Mavs-Blazers highlights. I’m the guy in the grey shirt, just to the right of the Mavs basket on the floor level in the second half.

One of the perks of being a Big Brother is that folks like the Mavericks give tickets so you can take your kid places. Unfortunately for Bocephus (as we call my Little Bro here on crabwalk), he had to cancel at the last minute, leaving me with a free ticket. Matt was the lucky one.

Face value of these two seats: $1,000. Seriously.

Highlights: The oft-maligned Rasheed Wallace playing basketball catch during a timeout with a seven-year-old. Several Mavs Dancers. Red Dot whoopin’ up on his brothers Blue, Yellow, and Green. And of course, the Mavs winning, 82-73.

12 November 2002 | 2 comments

In a way, it’s for the best that the Senate races didn’t end up being closer nationwide. If it was currently 49 Dems, 49 GOP, 1 Independent, the runoff race in Louisiana, my home state, would be absolutely crazy. Still, lots of reporters are descending on my old turf for the next few weeks. I predict a average net gain of 10 pounds in the D.C. press corps.

The Times-Picayune has a great set of advice to those reporters. Among the hints:

- “Please try to avoid food metaphors when discussing Louisiana. Howard Fineman of Newsweek referred to our open primary as a ‘jambalaya primary’ — whatever that’s supposed to mean — in an interview on MSNBC. You also may be tempted to throw in words like “cayenne,” “Tabasco” and “spicy” when you’re talking about our politics to a national audience. Please don’t.”

- “You also should keep in mind that although New Orleans has a French history, it’s wrong to think of it as a Cajun city. Despite what you may have seen in some movies and TV shows, people in New Orleans don’t usually call each other ‘cher.’”

- “New Orleans is in the South, but not really of the South. Except for “y’all,” you’re not likely to find much in the way we talk that sounds like what you’d hear in Mississippi or Alabama or on reruns of ‘The Andy Griffith Show.’”

- “But if you go north of, say, Alexandria, you may come across areas that seem more ‘Southern’ to you. Northeastern Louisiana may seem like a westward extension of Mississippi, while northwestern Louisiana may seem like eastern Texas. Boy-howdy, you might even find some people up there who cheer for the Dallas Cowboys instead of the Saints. We are constantly looking to see if there’s any legal way to revoke the Louisiana citizenship of Cowboys fans.”

11 November 2002 | No comments

Here’s my story from today’s front page, on a Dallas-area school that (close your ears, children) kicks a little booty. It’s the third story in my Schools That Work series.

By the way, I’ve been crazy busy the last month or two, and I’m way behind in my email correspondance. My apologies if I owe you a missive or eight. All I can promise is that my life is supposed to let up briefly in a couple weeks, and I’ll be better then.

11 November 2002 | No comments

Fools! You decide not to go to the Calexico show, and you miss a special guest appearance by Richard Buckner! Richard Buckner, singing a cover of Tom Petty’s “The Waiting,” with either very little or lots of irony! You fools!

11 November 2002 | 1 comment

Today I was interviewed as an “expert” on domestic partnership laws in northwest Ohio — a matter I had given no thought to before today — and as a “cool older guy” by a Pennsylvania high school newspaper.

I need a drink.

08 November 2002 | 3 comments

An unfortunate accident has befallen my previous date for tomorrow night’s Calexico concert — namely, that she won’t be able to attend with me. (Could there be anything more unfortunate?)

For those not familiar with the pure magic of Calexico: “conjures images of sand-blasted fence posts, cattle skulls, and wind-blown expanses of rock and sand…draws nearly as much from Mexican musical traditions as it does from American indie rock…Burns and Convertino have rapidly crafted what began as a side project into one of the best bands on the American indie rock landscape…great lyrics…resonates in gloriously cinematic tones…virtually everything bears an obscene attention to detail.”

If anyone else wants to join me, lemme know. After a few days of working on this beef jerky project, I need a little mariachi-postrock.

07 November 2002 | No comments

I’m working on another supersecret project this week. I can’t tell you much, but it involves a superconducting supercollider, a bunch of PhDs, and two piles: one of scrap tin, the other of beef jerky.

All I can say is the tin pile keeps getting smaller, and the jerky pile keeps getting bigger.

07 November 2002 | 4 comments

And oh yeah, happy birthday to me.

06 November 2002 | 17 comments

Strange how the newsroom’s a lot quieter at 7:30 a.m. after an election than it is at, say, midnight the night of.

No big surprises here in Texas: a G.O.P. sweep statewide, all the local incumbents winning without difficulty. (Here’s my uninteresting contribution to the day’s news.) Nationally, the Dems got whooped up more severely than I’d expected, but then again, that’s why I cover education, not politics.

Unfortunately, last night was just hectic enough that I couldn’t do a bunch of things I needed to, so after a few hours sleep, I’m back. After mid-morning, I may be out of the office for the rest of the week, so posting may be minimal.

06 November 2002 | No comments

Remember that woman a few years ago who had uncontrollable seizures every time she heard the voice of Entertainment Tonight’s Mary Hart?

I’m the same way whenever I see Liddy Dole.

05 November 2002 | 1 comment

Breaking news: Rick Perry elected governor of Texas.

In related news: sun rises in east, milk left out too long spoils, dogs and cats “not the best of friends,” and a stitch in time saves nine.

05 November 2002 | No comments

Damn that Jack Shafer! He points out something I’ve been meaning to, that the Sunday Boston Globe’s new Ideas section is top-notch. (It’s done by the ex-editor of Lingua Franca.) It’s aimed at the “casual brainiac,” in Shafer’s words.

Meanwhile, I’ve jonesin’ for reliable exit-poll data! How can I relax without knowing who’s leading the New Hampshire Senate race? Calgon, take me away!

05 November 2002 | No comments

Go out and vote, people.

05 November 2002 | No comments

I think the days immediately before a major election are often when journalism is at its worst. In close races, it’s when political operatives are most trying to play reporters for fools with last-minute revelations. (I’m still a little bitter over one of those four years ago, when I was covering the ‘98 Ohio governor’s race.) But it’s also the time when editors are most cautious — because they don’t want to unduly influence the outcome of an election — and end up burying newsworthy items inside the paper.

Sadly, it’s also the time when politicians’ minions do their dirtiest of dirty work, which we in the business often don’t catch until it’s too late. So bravo to Josh Marshall, who’s found a nasty attempt at voter intimidation in Maryland. (Here’s the document in question.)

04 November 2002 | 3 comments

Yesterday was the finest kind of day: a four rides on Titan day.

In addition, a corn dog day.

Note to self: one ride on the Texas Giant is enough. The second time, one’s brain becomes loosed from its casing. Such an event is unpleasant.

04 November 2002 | 2 comments

Months ago, I wrote about my favorite political candidate from my days working in Toledo, Ohio — Ed Emery, The Crazy Republican.

Well, Ed’s back running for office again. Notice the headline on that story: “Colorful Republican challenges Kaptur again.” “Colorful,” of course, being the term newspapers use when they can’t say what they mean, which is “stone-cold nutso.” Luckily, weblogs suffer from no similar restraints.

Things you’ll learn about Stone-Cold Nutso Ed from that article:

- “Emery, according to his resume, is a designer, urban developer, sociological worker, criminologist, publicist and property owner. “

- “Most recently, he was convicted by a jury in August 2001 of one count of criminal damaging and two counts of criminal trespassing in Toledo Municipal Court. Emery was sentenced to 150 days in jail. During the trial, prosecutors showed video footage that reportedly shows Emery popping his neighbor’s car tire and throwing feces in her yard, according to the Toledo Blade.”

- “During a News Herald interview, he denounced [his opponent, incumbent Rep. Marcy] Kaptur as a ‘nuclear terrorist’ who ‘suffers from gender confusion.’”

- “He said President Bush is the greatest American orator since Martin Luther King Jr.”

01 November 2002 | 3 comments

Here’s my story from today’s front page, on the University of North Texas suddenly banning alcohol in its frat houses.

My original lead, which I later decided was too jokey: “There’s apparently no truth to the rumor that the University of North Texas plans to ban reading in the library. But drinking beer in the frat houses — that does appear to be on the way out.”

As an aside, if you’re trying to reach www.dallasnews.com (as you all should be, everyday), don’t mistype it as www.dallanews.com. Your employer might not like it.

01 November 2002 | 1 comment