The other day I wrote about how I felt ambivalent about The Spokesman-Review’s finally-launched new website. Well, today I am comfortable saying that I am impressed.
The Spokesman’s effort in reporting and presenting this week’s snow storm is commendable. With 25 percent fewer newsroom employees than last year, the Spokesman folks regularly updated thier written stories, took 40-plus photos, shot a video (that was Colin), recorded audio interviews and posted PDFs.
And all of it is easily accessible on the Spokesman’s new website.
That’s a link to Thursday’s story. Today’s story doesn’t have video but does have PDFs. Doesn’t look like too many people have caught on yet to the ability to comment — though a few have on SportsLink. The majority seemed hesitant about having to get used to a new website, and gone is the old backdoor through which people could read an entire news story, without being a subscriber, if they were linked to it from SportsLink.
Give ‘em time. For big stories like the snow storm, the new multimedia-friendly web design is just great.
Filed under: Random
This morning I woke up to four inches of snow on the ground, and a whole lot more still falling from the sky. Word is a lot of roads are closed, including the West Seattle Bridge, the main way out of here.
We had snow a few days ago, but it was just a dusting compared to this. Sure, this is not anywhere near the most snow I’ve seen, but it’s a lot for Seattle. I’m glad I have my all-wheel-drive Subaru!
UPDATE: Three hours later, we’ve got about eight inches — if not more — of snow. It’s absolutely dumping here.
Looks like The Spokesman-Review’s new website is finally up and running. I questioned whether this day would ever actually come.
Unfortunately, when I opened up SpokesmanReview.com and saw the refer to Spokesman.com this morning, I became instantly agitated. Why, I’m not sure. I feel a little left out, yes, but more ambivalent. I think because I waited so long for this while I was there — my excitement waning each time the launch was postponed. Now I’m gone, along with most of the other journalists doing video, and there’s not really anything newfangled to post on this newfangled site.
Nice to see, however, that the Spokesman’s flag is at the top, instead of plain text. And it looks like most of the advertising spaces are filled. Also, I’m glad Colin Mulvany has been able to put together a few videos.
But welcome to the 21st century, Spokesman-Review. Your website now looks like every other newspaper’s, except for the cutting-edge navigation system conveniently located near the top of the page.
I know a lot of hard work went into the new website, and I know the people who did it. And I thoroughly commend them; it was a frustrating ride for even me, way on the outside of the process. The new website looks and functions great — it really does — but it’s not really anything new. Which, ya know, at this point is just fine.
Now, Spokesmen and Spokeswomen, take this new site and run with it. Seize the opportunity and make some great journalism. There may not be much time left to do so. (Boy, that sounded cynical.)
Filed under: Random
… but pretty close. I was at some friends’ house the other night, and for some reason they had this. It’s Bud Chelada, a mix of Budweiser and Clamato. What’s Clamato? It’s a mix of tomato juice and clam juice.
To be fair, I don’t really like tomato juice — V8, for instance — in the first place. Clam juice, while admittedly good, is most delicious in pastas or soups — at least not by itself. And I couldn’t really taste the beer.
But after a sip, I could see why some people might like it. I didn’t, but I get it. Apparently it’s a thing in the Southwest and Mexico.
Through her Rickrolling post, Lisa led me to the Wikipedia page for Rickrolling. There, of course, is information about the now-famous Rickrolling at multiple Eastern Washington University basketball games. The perpetrator was some dude named Davin Perry.
Wait. Davin Perry?
No, couldn’t be. How could I not have noticed this?
Davin Perry. This guy, below, whom I interviewed on camera for my EWU Swoop tryouts video.
Holy f*%king crap.
Filed under: Random
NYTimes.com
I have often pictured my dream home as a two-story penthouse on top of a 70-story skyscraper. Right above is, of course, my private helicopter. I’d also have a swimming pool on the roof.
But this potential home is the complete opposite. It’s a mile-long tunnel with adjacent rooms under the streets of London, part of a network built by the British government as bomb shelters during WWII. But the public never used the tunnels, and they became secret military headquarters during WWII and the Cold War.
From The New York Times:
The BT tunnels soon became a temporary base for troops before D-Day while another tunnel was turned into the European headquarters of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1944, the tunnels became a base from which the Allies helped resistance movements in Nazi-occupied countries. Members of the secret service, in offices equipped with telephones and teleprinters hidden beneath the war-torn streets, helped coordinate as many as 10,000 men and women gathering support against the Nazi regime across Europe.
… In 1963, the hot line established between Moscow and Washington after the Cuban missile crisis ran through the London tunnels. The buzzing complex soon became known as “underground town,” with its own recreation room complete with dartboards and billiard tables, a movie theater and two dining halls.
If I lived there, I apparently would “enter through an inconspicuous iron door on Furnival Street, a quiet path behind busy Chancery Lane, close to the Royal Courts of Justice and not far from the River Thames. Apart from an old industrial crane attached to the facade of the windowless building, nothing hints at the vast underground labyrinth below it,” the NYT says.
Oh man. Can you imagine? It’d be like you were James Bond or Bruce Wayne.
Granted, there aren’t any windows, and the London Underground regularly rumbles by a few feet overhead. Apparently, the air is hot and stale. Oh, and the asking price is $7.4 million.
Worth it? Hell yes.
Getty Images
Filed under: Football
Heckuva final hour of that game!
Everstine and I found a Coug-friendly bar in Pioneer Square, where we watched and yelled at the TV. A few straggling Huskies were gloating toward the end of regulation — little did they know. Those last two minutes were amazing, and the overtime induced some real nailbiting.
How cool it was to finally see Paul Wulff smiling. I don’t think I’d seen that all year. This season had been written off for months, but an Apple Cup victory makes it successful enough in my book.
Hopefully the game puts some heart and drive back in the football team. They’ll need it next season (I know, there’s one more football game this season against Hawaii, but whatever). Now we can all turn our attention toward the basketball team.
Filed under: Football
I guess we’ll see what happens. Hold on to your butts.
If you have been following my blog since February and know a few of my dorky blogging habits, the following announcement shouldn’t surprise you. Because I have now moved to Seattle, my dateline policy has been updated. From this post on out, all entries without a dateline are written in Seattle.
OK, onto the fun stuff.
Due to my boredom and lack of any reason to stay in Spokane, I have moved back to Seattle to live with my parents for a while. It’s a step back in the ol’ walk of life, I know, but it’s a lot cheaper than the alternatives. Because my parents are divorced — and have been since I was 3 — I’ve decided to switch between houses every week. There are a few reasons for this: 1) so I get to see everyone, including my brother; 2) so I don’t get bored out of my mind; 3) well, that’s pretty much the gist of it.
Now that Brad and I have completed a terrifying drive over the mountains — terrifying, thanks to an overloaded U-Haul trailer — and now that I have moved most of my stuff into a storage locker, I can start to settle back into my hometown. (By the way, monthly rent for a 5-by-12 storage locker is a little outrageous.)
I have no real projects or anything. I’m continuing my both exciting and frustrating search for work in the journalism world — applying to at least three a week to I can stay eligible for Washington unemployment. (The checks have not started coming yet. Argh.) I also bought a membership to 24 Hour Fitness, both for the obvious purpose of exercising and the purpose of getting out of the house at least once a day.
Somewhat unrelated — my recent fascination is NPR. Man, that would be fun to do.
EDIT: Oh, I spent a little time today adding a “writing” section to my website. It has links to and excerpts from a few writing examples.
Filed under: Sea Change
I suppose it’s time for another update on what I’m doing. I’ve decided to move back to Seattle sooner rather than later — meaning Monday. I’ve been slowly packing up the apartment this week, ready to load it all into a U-Haul trailer Sunday.
My step-dad, Brad, is flying out Monday morning to help me drive back to Seattle that afternoon. I’m assuming he’ll be driving the Suburban+U-Haul, because I also have my Subaru, but I wouldn’t mind if we did it the other way around.
Good thing I haven’t sold the Beast yet; I can’t tow the trailer with my car. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been trying to sell it. If only Craigslist were working as well for my Suburban as it has this week for some other stuff.
Because of the move, I decided to get rid of my old TV/surround sound set-up and my old couch/ottoman. I listed them both on Craiglist, and they were both gone within 24 hours. It was unreal. Sold the TV, DVD player and speakers for $100. Gave away the couch for free.
So now it’s pretty empty in the living room, especially now that I’ve packed up all my books. There’s just empty bookshelves standing in a very echo-y room, along with my dining-room table. It makes these last few days in Spokane even lonelier.
