Not Just A Hat Rack

Medill Degree Finally Pays

Seventeen and one-half years ago, I earned my diploma in journalism (which I have since lost, I regretfully admit) from Northwestern University.

My column in today's Salt Lake Tribune is my first column in a daily newspaper since graduation. I've been published in several regional magazines, one national one, game programs, media guides and a handful of websites. But as a classically trained PRINT journalist, I always found the daily newsprint compendium of news, opinion and advertising as the top of the journalism heirarchy.

Although the perception and readership of newspapers has dropped precipitously since I entered journalism school, millions of Americans and billions across the world still dispense a few pennies every single day to follow their favorite sports team, keep their government honest or gather insight into a world far beyond the realm of their commute to work. Others just read the comics, do the crossword puzzle or scan for $0.99/lb. chicken. Fair enough.

My parents have encouraged my desire to think and write freely from the beginning (and paid for a substantial portion of my degree) - and for that I am truly grateful. Mrs. 'Hat Rack encouraged me to start this blog more than a year ago and experience of writing several times a week has been prodigiously important to the honing of this craft. Thanks to you too - and know that I've just scratched the surface of what I want to put on paper.

You can see the journalistic fruits of my peers every day as they report on steroid scandals (Mark Fainaru), the Big Ten Network (anchor Dave Revsine), everything sports related (Mike Greenberg at ESPN Radio), various sports beats (J.A. Adance / LA Times, Victor Chi/formerly of San Jose Mercury News) - and even a few who don't write sports (editors in St. Petersburg, Fla., Chicago)... They have all provided inspiration, unbeknownst to them.

I expect my second Tribune column will focus on the MLS SuperDraft (Jan. 18) - until then, thanks again to each of you who reads me, online or on paper.

Merry Christmas!

To all who held a candle aloft tonight,
For the little ones who believe.
For those without,
And those who know they have too much.

Peace & Merry Christmas.

PS - Norad tracks Santa here.

White Christmas

OK, it's only Dec. 21st, but last night's foot of snow (fourth big storm since Thanksgiving?) ensures there will be some snow on the ground next Tuesday morning when the 'Hat Racks unwrap Christmas presents. That's something we can get excited about, right? We built a snowman and snow dog/reindeer (on a leash!) in the front yard this afternoon.

What a great week... anticipation building for Christmas. We took the 'lil 'Hat Racks to see Santa today and Sophia, our youngest, just lit up when Santa walked in. She was positively dazzled after saying for weeks, "Santa Kitchen!" She wants Santa to bring her a kitchen set - I think she wants to show us she can make biscotti, ravioli and coffee. Don't tell her - but I think Santa is going to oblige.

Last night Snow Lion had its holiday dinner at Cucina Toscana. It could not have been more night-and-day different than my previous employer's two shindigs at a banquet room at Homestead Resort. We drove through blinding snow to a house last night for drinks before the restaurant, then slid down an Avenues hill to dinner. We emerged after a classic Italian meal to 6" of snow on our cars - but the fresh blanket of snow sure beat driving to bum-f*&# Heber for a terrible meal, cash bar, no coffee and a 50-mile drive home. Life is good.

Mrs. 'Hat Rack and I saw the movie of the year - based on my second-favorite book of all time - "The Kite Runner." The early scenes are filled in Kashgar, a "Star Wars bar scene" remote Western China town that is the gateway to some of the most exotic destinations in Asia. (Snow Lion can take you there!)

The film is set primarily in Kabul in the run-up to the Soviet invasion, as two boys from different strata of society grow up - and ultimately apart. It's a powerful film that successfully portrays the anachronism of class-based societies; and how a religious fanatic government can create a chilling societal tone and cast aside basic freedoms in the name of one supreme God. Go see it.

SLC-ites have one more week to catch "Gutenberg - The Musical" ... a Plan-B Theatre production. On the surface, it's a play-within-a-play about Johan Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. Gutenberg, his assistant Helvetica, two playwrights, an evil monk, two town drunks and 25 other characters are all played by two men. "Wearing many hats" is more than a euphemism here - as the characters don mesh hats with hand-written character names every time they switch identities. It's not as compelling as Exposed (see below), but it's pure holiday fun. We heartily recommend...

... as we do the Acme Burger Company. Wow. Add it to the list. Any list of SLC's best eateries should now include this best hamburger on the Wasatch front. Hands down, no contest... beats Cotton Bottom, Hire's, Squatter's... great beef, spices, yummy bread, delicious shoestring fries, mmm, mmm.

Finally, more good news about Exposed - the play about the "downwind" effects of 928 Nevada test site bombs on Utahans. The play was nominated by the American Theatre Critics Association as the Best New Play of the year produced outside of New York City! Way to go, Mary Dickson and co.!

An Easy Shot

I'm not going to jump on the "Mitchell Report" bandwagon and make fun of a $20 million investigation that named 80 MLB players as illegal drug users, based on the testimony of a clubhouse manager and a trainer...Kenn.com does it better anyways.

I'm not going to comment on the "this only happens in Appalachia" story about a woman who was chained to an 800-lb. automobile engine block by her boyfriend inside an apartment, who gained her freedom by writing 911 on the condensation of the window... no that really didn't happen in Appalachia - it was in a Salt Lake City suburb.

Rather, I'm going to needless attention to a 5-year-old who really doesn't deserve it. Tre, son of someone named Wheatley, in Arkansas, shot and killed a bear. Right, because we want our five-year-olds carrying weapons capable of killing 445-lb. animals? I don't even want my son to know that bears, or people for that matter, die - and Tre is boasting that the bear kill is a pretty cool feat - on top of the three deer he got last season? Remind me to stay out of the Arkansas woods.

What the Hollywood Writers are Facing

Members of the writer's guild received this email posted below a couple days ago... I guess talks aren't going so well. I still think the writers deserve their fair share of internet and other new media revenue, but did you know they get $21,000 for writing first-run :30-minute TV episodes, and $11,600 when the show first airs as a re-run? The studios' most recent offer was $139/episode for one year of reruns on-line. $11,600 to $139? Ouch. Seems like a pretty dramatic rollback to me. But I am not an expert on these things - I'm just a friend of someone working overtime to put more reality-type TV shows on the air in 2008 to fill the massive void.

Patrick Goldstein at the LA Times has a better handle on it, writing today that the studios are attempting to crush the writer's guild to set a precedent for its negotiations with the Screen Actors Guild who will be out of contract next June. So, as I understand it, they starve the writers through the holidays, they get back to work sometime in the Spring, and then everyone is out of work come summer because the actors and studios are at war? Sounds like baseball, which, is referred to in Goldstein's article. Happy Labor Negotiation Reading.

AMPTP BREAKS OFF NEGOTIATIONS
 
 
Today, after three days of discussions, the AMPTP came back to us with a proposal that included a total rejection of our proposal on Internet streaming of December 3.
 
They are holding to their offer of a $250 fixed residual for unlimited one year streaming after a six-week window of free use.  They still insist on the DVD rate for Internet downloads.  
 
They refuse to cover original material made for new media.  
 
This offer was accompanied by an ultimatum:  the AMPTP demands we give up several of our proposals, including Fair Market Value (our protection against vertical integration and self-dealing), animation, reality, and, most crucially, any proposal that uses distributor’s gross as a basis for residuals.  This would require us to concede most of our Internet proposal as a precondition for continued bargaining.  The AMPTP insists we let them do to the Internet what they did to home video.
 
We received a similar ultimatum through back channels prior to the discussions of November 4.  At that time, we were assured that if we took DVD’s off the table, we would get a fair offer on new media issues.   That offer never materialized.   
 
We reject the idea of an ultimatum.  Although a number of items we have on the table are negotiable, we cannot be forced to bargain with ourselves.  The AMPTP has many proposals on the table that are unacceptable to writers, but we have never delivered ultimatums. 
 
As we prepared our counter-offer, at 6:05 p.m., Nick Counter came and said to us, in the mediator’s presence:  “We are leaving.  When you write us a letter saying you will take all these items off the table, we will reschedule negotiations with you.”   Within minutes, the AMPTP had posted a lengthy statement announcing the breakdown of negotiations.
 
We remain ready and willing to negotiate, no matter how intransigent our bargaining partners are, because the stakes are simply too high.  We were prepared to counter their proposal tonight, and when any of them are ready to return to the table, we’re here, ready to make a fair deal.
 
 
John F. Bowman
Chairman, WGA Negotiating Committee
Contract 2007

Comedian Jon Stewart has the holiday spirit, paying dozens of out-of-work staff from his show, which has been shut down by the writer's strike. (Photo: LA Times/Getty Images)

No One Asked Me But...

The Chicago Fire should hire Denis Hamlett as their fourth head coach in the team's 10-year history:

* He has been there from day one - but it's not just for his loyalty.
* Players like him, but you don't want to crash heads with him (literally or figuratively). He was a tough SOB as a defender before injuries forced his premature retirement.
* The draft is five weeks away - he's been through 10 of them (plus an expansion draft). The Fire found CJ Brown, Carlos Bocanegra, Damani Ralph, Chris Rolfe, Gonzalo Segares, among others. Someone has an eye for some talent - and I know Denis has spent many October and December days watching college soccer in the past decade.
* Speaking of drafts, the Fire acquired Diego Gutierrez, Zach Thornton and Francis Okaroh from the first expansion draft... plus traded selectees Danny Pena, Kevin Hartman and AJ Wood for Chris Armas and Jesse Marsch.
* Daryl Shore is a capable assistant - and you can add Chris Armas to the staff if you want to ensure continuity and competitive fire.
* Finally, Denis is bilingual and bicultural - someone has to keep Cuautemoc Blanco happy.

If they don't, I wouldn't want to be the person who tells him. C'mon John - give him a chance!

Catching Up Again

I have had no shortage of topics to muse upon in recent weeks, but I've neglected this part of my life - the holidays will do that to you, too much going on, being pulled in too many directions. What did we miss?

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RavioliFest VI was another saucy success... a half dozen pasta-facturers reported for the morning shift, with another dozen roll-and-crimpers came in the afternoon. And that's just the adults. A sextet or so of charging children carried on in the background, occasionally interrupting their Power Ranger video marathon to roll out a batch of dough. These final numbers are in from the Division of GRMP (Great Ravioli Making Production)...

☒ Approx. 63 official dozen of raviolis made...
☒ For the first time in PRH (Pastorino recorded history), ravioli di formaggio outnumbered ravioli di carne...
☒ More than 98% of all raviolis passed RGI (Ravioli Geometric Inspection) standards, as no Jamaican guests produced triangular ones this year...
☒ Approximately six dozen squash ravioli are also rumored to have been assembled but, obviously, do not meet RCS (Ravioli Content Specifications) and are not included in official counts.

Thanks all who helped... If you'd like to be a part of TamaleFest I in February, let me know.

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35 years ago next week, OJ Simpson became the first running back in NFL history to run for 2,000 yards in one season when he ran for 200 yards in the season finale at the New York Jets. If I recall correctly, this five-year-old aspiring sports fan was left at home while my Dad attended this game. Not that I'm holding a grudge :)

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Asia Dispatches, the new weekly-ish newsletter from Snow Lion Expeditions hit 10,000+ e-mailboxes last week. It's one of the communications upgrades I'm bringing to my new employer. I'm having a blast and, if you want to know anything about Asia from K2 to Pyongyang and Mongolia to Angkor, I'm your guy now. Check us out at www.snowlion.com. Did you know that if you get your picture in the local paper in the little section that announced new hires and promotions , all sorts of strangers cold-call you to sell you financial services, advertising opportunities, etc.? It's kind of creepy actually.

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Major kudos to the residents of Northwestern's Communications Residential College (CRC)... this past week they executed Radiothon XX, in honor and memory of my friend Will Arnold who passed away across the hall from me during my sophomore year. A tradition we started perseveres two decades later. Makes me proud, but kinda makes me feel old, too.