Pop a la Mode

I’m totally stealing this from Keith’s blog but it’s too funny not to share.

Yes this is my morning weatherman, Mickey Ferguson, and yes we’re in the middle of a drought. So he obviously doesn’t have much to talk about. But that’s when he’s at his best!

I used to intern at a small, weekly newspaper in our county back when I was still figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. I loved working there. The storefront sits on main street in this town that I promise looks like Mayberry. The sheriff’s office was right across the street next door to the courthouse. I wrote articles, took pictures, laid out the paper, wrote headlines and even sold a few ads. It was great.

The best part of working at a small town newspaper was you hear everything! And I mean everything. Fact or fiction, it all comes through the doors. The first summer I worked there, the word on the street was that the married veterinarian had slept with every woman in town. Interesting. He seemed to miss our office building.

I took pictures of the biggest pumpkins, tomatoes and squash that people ever grew. I edited the images of kids with their first deer kill. I interviewed everyone from politicians to senior citizens of the month. And then there was my favorite activity - listening to the police scanner.

On the days it was really slow and I had caught up on my articles, I would sit and listen to the police scanner for any accidents, fires, drug busts and the such. If I heard something, I would grab a camera and my pad and pencil and fly off toward the site, hoping to score some great shots. One time I even made it there before the fire department did.

The point is from all my rambling is that everybody knows everything in a small town. They know if you were arrested (because the warrants are printed in the paper); they know if you are getting married (printed in the paper); they know if you are getting a divorce (printed in the paper); and then know if you bought or sold land (yep, you guessed it).

I don’t listen to country music as much as I did a few years ago, but one song I happened to catch the other day really stuck in my head.

It’s called “Famous in a Small Town” by Miranda Lambert and it reminded me so much of home that I had to buy it off iTunes.

The chorus goes like this:

Every last one, route one, rural hearts got a story to tell
Every grandma, in law, ex girlfriend
Maybe knows us just a little too well
Whether you’re late for church or you’re stuck in jail
Hey words gonna get around
Everybody dies famous in a small town

You’re famous one way or another. My name and occupation is mentioned in the paper this week because my dad is running for delegate (go Dad!) and my aunt asked me, so how does it feel to have your name printed in the paper?

My response: it’s better than an obituary. Or in the warrants. Or a divorce.

I cannot believe what happened up at Virginia Tech this morning. In Blacksburg of all places. It is absolutely horrifying. It makes you wonder where you will ever feel safe again.

I’m at home sick today (stupid cold) so I’ve been inundated with the news conferences all day. Since I work in PR, I feel really badly for the heads of Virginia Tech. The news media is being relentless in their questioning of the handling of the situation and you can tell that no one is comfortable in front of the camera.

Especially that police chief. Poor soul. He’s just trying to do his job and he has the media yelling at him as to why his staff didn’t shut down a campus of 26,000 students and 10,000 staff members after a homicide at one dorm.

Were there mistakes made? Well sure, if anyone handles a crisis perfectly I want to hire them. Can we learn from this? Of course.

As much admiration as I have for the news media, these are the times I wonder why I ever thought I could work in it. Let the people do their jobs; mourn those that were lost; and resolve to keep others safer by learning from shortcomings.

But don’t question the people in charge when they’re only doing the best they can. I’d like to see anyone else do a better job under these extreme circumstances.

EDITED TO ADD:

The producers and directors for Anderson Cooper at CNN are posting some very moving moments on his blog. It’s worth a read.

I’m sure everyone has heard about that bus crash in Atlanta on Friday. The images and interviews from that day are something that will stick with me for a long time. Boys turned to men that morning and it’s not fair.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution did a moving story this morning about the event. It’s one of the best pieces of writing I’ve seen in a very long time. Too bad it was for such a horrible event.

This is the best thing I’ve seen all week: Cockroach Scares Weatherman.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, everyone knows that Katie Couric debuted as the new host of CBS Evening News. I didn’t intend to watch her first broadcast but I happened to be home when it hit. And I must say I was pleasantly surprised.

I was afraid that her new set was going to look something like a talk show and that the new desk would prominently highlight her legs. I was wrong - although she did do one sit down interview where her legs were seen. I don’t remember ever seeing Dan Rather’s legs. Not that I really wanted to that is.

Also I don’t know if anybody else recognized the voice but the opening sequence is voiced by none other than Walter Cronkite. Not bad.

I still need to watch a few more before I make a final decision but I think she’ll be okay. As long as she keeps her personal politics out of the chair, I’ll watch. I watch the news for the news - not her opinion of the news.

Did anybody else see it? What did you think?