I Have GOT To Get Out Of This Business, Part VII

Undercover NBC Dateline reporter bolts from DEFCON 2007 by ZDNet's George Ou -- Undercover reporter Michelle Madigan (Associate Producer of NBC Dateline) got a little more than she bargained for when she tried to sneak in to DEFCON 2007 with hidden cameras to get someone to confess to a felony. When DEFCON staff announced the “spot the undercover reporter” game and told the audience that an undercover reporter [...]

We can also file this under "Things People Do To Make Their Jobs Much, Much Harder Than They Need To Be."

Sheesh.

If nothing else, the video's hilarious.

Out and Back: Transformers

Understand this before anything else, friends: There's a decent chance that I'm the biggest Transformers nit you know. The original cartoon was appointment television for me as a kid. (4 o'clock, Channel 29.) I've got over 100 Generation 1 figures in a box somewhere. I saw the 1986 animated movie in the theater when I was 11. I had a subscription to the comic book, for crying out loud. So when word got out that a live-action Transformers movie was actually being made, it got my attention. Then when the news came that Michael Bay was directing it ... well, I was expecting the worst.

Well, what a nice surprise this turned out to be.

The story is typical of a summer blockbuster, which means you can call it "uncomplicated" and "utterly preposterous" at best. It's less important in these comic book/video game/toy line adaptations, where the main sticking point is getting the origin and the characters right. We'll get to the characters later, but there are enough nods to the original canon back story (and an obvious but appropriately-timed callback to the animated film) that old-schooler me found Perfectly Acceptable.

I don't claim to be any kind of judge of acting talent, but Shia LeBouf's Sam stood out among some mostly unremarkable performances otherwise. (Nit Alert: It's Spike. WTF with this 'Sam' business.) Getting Peter Cullen on board to do Optimus Prime's voice was vital. (Apparently he got a standing ovation when he did his character intro at an advance screening.) That voice is so tied to that character that having someone else do it would have been tough to get past. It's not unlike a security blanket. I'm dead serious. Also, you've seen bits and pieces of them in the trailers, but the full transformations and effects are awesome.

However, it takes too long to get to the meat of the story. In fact, this movie manages to simultaneously be about 15 minutes too long and have a scene or two missing, which is no mean feat. Pacing's never been one of Bay's strong suits.

My biggest worry was that the movie would focus too much on the humans and not enough on the robots, since it's the robots' story that's being told. And sure enough, that's what we got. We really didn't get enough time to get to know the other Autobots. It was probably done that way because most of this movie's target audience is Transformers fans, and the assumption is that they already know the robots' characters and already have their own emotional investments in them as a result. But they still aren't developed enough, which leads to something that happens near the end of the film having a much, much smaller impact than it should. Also, I called the ending about 20 minutes before it happened.

It's not quite as good as the gushing reviews it's gotten, but it certainly isn't as bad as a lot of people like me feared it would be when the details started coming out. It's an enjoyable time-waste if nothing else.

Well, It Finally Happened

Yeah, so I haven't been around. What of it?

You can look back all throughout this blog and you'll find next to nothing about my romantic life.

Mostly because I'd be making it all up.

I've never been what you'd call "successful" with women. I think the root of it is an unusual apathy toward the whole thing during high school, where I was never really concerned with the fact that I didn't have a girlfriend at any point. To this day, I don't know why, and I feel like I never really caught up.

And the older you get, the harder it is just to meet single people. Couple that with my screwy work schedule and I just don't get the opportunities I'd like.

So naturally my mom's been getting concerned, because biologically, they've failed unless and until I reproduce. (I actually read this somewhere once that that's why parents make a big deal out of having grandchildren. Their job isn't done until you do.) She actually hadn't mentioned anything about it the last few times we'd talked, though.

I think deep in my heart, I knew this day would come, but I never really expected it.

I got an email from her on Sunday. One of the doctors she works with has an assistant who he thinks I might want to meet. This is all on my mom, though, because she's told everyone she works with that her 32-year-old son is single.

Yep... the other shoe just dropped. I now officially have one of 'those' mothers.

I Have GOT To Get Out Of This Business, Part VI

Courier-Journal blogger ejected from NCAA baseball super-regional

A Courier-Journal sports reporter had his media credential revoked and was ordered to leave the press box during the NCAA baseball super-regional yesterday because of what the NCAA alleged was a violation of its policies prohibiting live Internet updates from its championship events. Gene McArtor, a representative of the NCAA baseball committee, approached C-J staffer Brian Bennett at the University of Louisville's Jim Patterson Stadium in the bottom of the fifth inning in the U of L-Oklahoma State game. McArtor told him that blogging from an NCAA championship event "is against NCAA policies. We're revoking the credential and need to ask you to leave the stadium."

Courier-Journal executive editor Bennie L. Ivory challenged the NCAA's action last night and said the newspaper would consider an official response.

"It's clearly a First Amendment issue," Ivory said. "This is part of the evolution of how we present the news to our readers. It's what we did during the Orange Bowl. It's what we did during the NCAA basketball tournament. It's what we do."

U of L circulated a memo on the issue from Jeramy Michiaels, the NCAA's manager of broadcasting, before Friday's first super-regional game. It said blogs are considered a "live representation of the game" and that any blog containing action photos or game reports would be prohibited.

"In essence, no blog entries are permitted between the first pitch and the final out of each game," the memo said.

Bennett had filed Internet reports from U of L's NCAA Tournament games at the Columbia (Mo.) Regional and did so from the first two games of the super-regional.

He was told before yesterday's game by U of L assistant sports information director Sean Moth that he was violating NCAA policy by filing periodic reports for The Courier-Journal's Web site, courier-journal.com.

After consulting with his editors, Bennett filed a report at 4:12 p.m. after the top of the first inning and added 15 more reports before he was asked to leave. U of L won 20-2 to advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

"It's a real question that we're being deprived of our right to report within the First Amendment from a public facility," said Jon L. Fleischaker, the newspaper's attorney.

"Once a player hits a home run, that's a fact. It's on TV. Everybody sees it. (The NCAA) can't copyright that fact. The blog wasn't a simulcast or a recreation of the game. It was an analysis."

During the middle of yesterday's game, Courier-Journal representatives were told by two members of the U of L athletic staff that if the school did not revoke Bennett's credential it would jeopardize the school's chances of hosting another NCAA baseball event.

"If that's true, that's nothing short of extortion and thuggery," Ivory said. "We will be talking to our attorneys (today) to see where we go from here."

Said U of L athletic director Tom Jurich: "As an NCAA institution, we must abide by all NCAA rules, including those in hosting NCAA events. Our staff sought an amicable solution to this situation from many angles.

"It's unfortunate that it led to the actions that were taken. This is not an issue that should mar the most fantastic day for college baseball in this state."

McArtor said he did not "think it serves any purpose" to answer questions and declined further comment.

U of L's associate athletic director for media relations, Kenny Klein, referred questions to Michiaels, who did not return a telephone call yesterday.

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Yeah, it's high time the NCAA moved into the 21st century. Or at the very least, the 20th.

Best line so far comes from Deadspin poo-bah Will Leitch: "The First Amendment vs. the NCAA. The battle we've all been waiting for."

Here's more.

Doomsday Scenarios

I'm not sure what ours is at work, but a few days ago we almost reached it when our servers were down for almost four hours (at least), giving us two hours to do what we usually do in, say, five or so. We got the paper out - we actually had a closer call about four years ago, when a globe-crossing virus got into our system and crippled our old network.

It underscored two things: how reliant we are on computers these days, especially in our business, and that we really didn't know what would happen if we were unable to produce a paper. At least when I was working in Trenton we may have had the option of going down the street to the Times. I'm not even sure about this.

But this got me thinking...

The Democrats in 2008: Hillary winning the nomination. I think there are enough people who don't like her and won't vote for her that she's the most beatable Democrat out there.

The BCS: No undefeated teams. (I'm shocked this hasn't already happened, honestly.)

The Boston Celtics: Just happened.

New Jersey Is Burning

Apparently Maxim thinks it's 2004.

Granted, I'm sure we'd all be okay with it if it was...


Ah, memories.

*sigh*

(Also, how does only one Olsen twin make the list? What's going on up there?)

Out and Back: Roy Rogers

Yes, really.

Surely you thought this once-sprawling franchise had been eradicated except for a few random outposts in rest stops on toll roads. That is, if you've thought about it at all. (I'm willing to accept the fact that you likely haven't.) And for a long time that was true - when Marriott sold the chain to Hardee's parent company, many Roy Rogers were converted to Hardee's, which basically meant reducing chicken to jobber status. But it turns out that the restaurant is making something of a comeback.

(Route 9 North, Pine Beach, N.J.)

This particular location was one of the survivors from the 1990 sell-off, though there's a decent chance the building's been renovated. I first stumbled upon it nine years ago when I was still working in Trenton, covering a Little League softball team in the state championship in nearby Beachwood. I happened to be back up in the area again recently and saw that it was still there, prompting today's trip.

It's been exactly that long since I've even eaten at a Roy Rogers. They still have the Fixin's Bar, where you can roll over with your burger and make it look presentable with lettuce, onions, tomatoes and pickles. I topped my bland-looking bacon cheeseburger with lettuce, onions, pickles and ketchup. The white onions threw me, as I've become accustomed to using red onions when I make burgers at home.

But let's be honest: Nobody ever went to Roy Rogers for the burgers. This is why you went:


Original Roast Beef, yo. Note the foil wrapping straight out of the environmentally-unfriendly 80's. At least they're not still using styrofoam. Mine got injured during packing (I still don't quite understand why they put it underneath the chicken box):


That's what it really looks like. Well, except for the blur. I am glad to note that it retained some juiciness even after a 45-minute drive.

Now, the appeal of Roy's for me as a kid was always that you could get burgers and fried chicken at the same place:


Dark meat is the default for the two-piece combo; white meat costs a little extra. Drumstick on the left, thigh up top. I don't remember the biscuits being about the same shape as foccacia bread, though. Must be a recent development.

Tasting the chicken reminded me that Roy's has always had a different "bite" to it for me than KFC's has. I can't quite explain what it is, though. It's not a spice thing, it's not really noticeably crispier than KFC's Extra Crispy (in fact, it's maybe a little less so). If you were to ask me which is better, I'd say it depended on my mood at the time. I do think it's somewhat ironic that from my hazy childhood fast food memories, Roy's was more likely to have chicken ready when you walked in than the chicken-only KFC, which can be a crapshoot depending on location whether you'll be waiting in there for three minutes or 15.

FYI, there are no Hardee's located in New Jersey. I think we know who won that battle.