Muppets – Mahna Mahna

Angry journalists

I have not posted on this site — I just was told about it minutes ago — but Angry Journalist may be the best Web site ever. (I’m also not particularly angry, although many of their complaints ring true with me — about other papers, obviously.)

It may not be safe for work, especially if you work in a newsroom and your boss catches you posting there.

The reason for the site’s creation is outlined here:

And that led to the third reason why I wanted to create AngryJournalist.com. I thought, “maybe if it became big enough, executives at media companies would take note and realize how frustrated their employees actually are in the industry and do something to change it.�

The site is interesting, and several recurrent themes emerge when reading the posts, especially a clash of generations, with older, more establishment journalists seeing the new crop not understanding there’s a value in the way things have been done in the past, and newer and (typically) younger journalists seeing the old guard as just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic “because that’s how we’ve always done things.”

Anyway, pretty cool site.

The Orchid Station training video

According to this week’s official Lost podcast, this video contains useful insights into what that polar bear was doing in the Tunisian desert. (If you don’t know what polar bear I’m talking about, you’re missing a really good season of Lost.)

Stand & Deliver

A major milestone today:

I was working on my computer in my study, while James was in the playpen behind me. Suddenly, he started laughing like mad. I turn around, and — for the first time ever — he’s stood up all by himself without using crib bars or the like to pull himself up. He was grinning ear to ear and spent the next 15 minutes using his newly standing position to walk around the perimeter of the playpen, with both hands on the upper rail.

Later on, his mom swung by and he did it again, again laughing like mad at his accomplishment.

By evening, when we stopped by at Ellis Truss, it was a matter of course for him, and he was doing it to get at things he wanted to see in the office and to climb up onto his cousin’s toys.

(I know: Screenshot or it didn’t happen. I’ll get a photo ASAP.)

The Greatest [NPR] Story Ever E-mailed

Let me ‘splain. … No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

E-Mail This Story: Of Kittens, Quinoa & Ron Paul

Every day on The Bryant Park Project we do a segment called “The Most,” where we bring you some of the most e-mailed, most viewed, and generally most noticed stories on the Web. We often feature a piece from NPR.org’s Most E-mailed Stories list in the process, but since we’re the low show on the totem pole, we too rarely find ourselves on there.

To encourage as many people as possible to do this, I’ve studied the types of stories that appear frequently on the list and incorporated as many of their key elements as possible. After substantial research I’ve concluded that the following topics are the cornerstones of NPR’s Most E-mailed articles:

* Food stories and recipes
* Neti pots (These ancient homeopathic devices are used for nasal irrigation. A story about them was #1 most e-mailed for 2007.)
* Star Wars
* Student life
* Scientific discoveries
* Quinoa (the super grain)
* NPR’s esteemed science correspondent Robert Krulwich
* The classical arts (theater/opera/symphonic music)
* Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul
* “This I Believe” pieces (stories of personal tragedy/loss and the overcoming of said loss)

With these popular topics in mind, I present the following NPR piece.

You can read or hear the full story at the link. It’s an excellent NPR parody, although not quite as good as the classic Saturday Night Live bit with Alec Baldwin.

And now there’s a follow-up:

NPR Most E-Mailed Stories (Any Day):

1. How [Guy] Uses His Church For [Not-Entirely-Sacred Purpose]
2. Making A Tasty Salad From [Blank], [Pun Word Related To “Blank”]-Style
3. [Foreign Word] [Foreign Word] [Foreign Word] Isn’t What You Think
4. When Your [Area Of The Body] Itches
5. How Nail Polish Remover Is Killing The Fish Of [Country]
6. Getting Your Boneheaded Kids To [Ancient Art Form]
7. Change Comes To The [Thing You’ve Never Heard Of]
8. [Disgraced/Disrespected/Hobbled Musician] Returns With Soaring “[Word From Title Of Song]”
9. Halting [Disease] With [Kind Of Dancing]
10. Teach Your Dog To Play [Board Game]
11. The Dramatic Tale Of The [Mundane Thing]
12. My [Family Member], My [Sturdy Object]
13. [Unlikely Concept]? [Declaration Of Certainty]!
14. [Powerful Institution] To [Upstart]: “Not So Fast”
15. Earth’s [Characteristic Of Planet] Threatened By New [Cosmetic Or Food]
16. [Long-Forgotten Writer] Returns With [Soon-Forgotten Book]
17. A Garden Of [Abstract Concept]
18. Don’t Ignore That [Type Of Blemish]
19. Rediscovering The Humble [Household Object]: From Junk Drawer To [Other Place Starting With “J”]
20. In [Country], Saving The [Kind Of Bird] Takes [Virtue]
21. A Videogame Where [Social Ill] Is The Real Enemy
22. Three Cheers For The [Kind Of Flower]: Is It Pollen Its Weight In Your Garden?
23. [Incredibly Serious International Incident]
24. Sowing The Seeds Of [Desired Outcome] In The Fertile Soil Of [Kind Of Children]
25. It’s A Purr-fect Time To Vaccinate Against [Cat Ailment]