The California Files

Yes, We Have no Computer!

So here a few weeks back against my better judgment I struggle out of bed of an early morning. While waiting for my turn in the shower, I stumble in here to check e-mail, stock prices, world news.

Wait, that’s not what I did first. First, I made my way out to the kitchen and poured myself that essential first cup of coffee, cream, no suger, courtesy a coffeemaker that turns itself on and brews coffee so that it is available to us as soon as we arise each morning.

So coffee in hand, I come in here, sit down – and spill the entire cup into my computer. This computer. This very one.

It does not take kindly to this kind of anointment. You may not know this – computers don’t like liquids. Not even single-malt Scotch.

It says, in response, “Bzzzt! Bzt!” Plume of smoke arises. Screen goes blank. Odd, too-hot odor fills room. Well, maybe not quite, a bit of hyperbole there; but you get the idea.

Shit. Well, good thing I’ve got everything backed up, right?

Wrong. Can’t seem to figure out how to make the backup drive do its thing, much less determine whether the thing even has my data – many years worth of photos, priceless, unrepeatable information about my ’65 Ducati, recipes, stuff like that – on it.

So I go buy another computer. Bad mistake. I went too cheap. Man, what a piece of crap this thing is. I hate the mousepad, I hate the fact that MSOutlook won’t run properly on it, and I hate – oh, so much else. Grr!

So in frustation I took my old computer down to a technician and told him my sad story. He sez, “Sure, I can fix that.” Revelation! The day looks better.

And he did. For $200 and a new motherboard, it’s working great. I’m a happy camper. My photos are where they’re supposed to be, and so is everything else. Mousepad works great, Outlook works great so I’m back in the e-mail business; keyboard is great, the Cloud connection with my iPhone runs fine, it’s all good.

What to do with the new replacement computer (it's an HP, by the way)? I may just take it out to the driveway, bathe it in lighter fluid and set it on fire.

Maybe that’s too extreme. Or maybe not.

-JFT  

I'm A Grump!

Yes indeed, I'm a grump. But hey, you knew that, right?

Here's the latest proof:

We're on deadline today. It's 15 minutes before we have to send the last pages of tomorrow's edition to prepress. Fifteen minutes - then we all might as well drop dead.

Listen, what I do for a living is a very lonely, solitary thing.

I'm a copy editor. So I read. I read all day long, eight hours a day.

But I don't just read. I concentrate. I read very carefully. I look for misspellings, poor punctuation, breaks in AP and LA Times style. I try very hard to make sure that the news stories make sense. When they don't, I fix them. Or try to.

So distractions are not helpful. Peace and quiet are good. Peace is very good. Yes, and so is quiet.

But a bunch of youthful wankers in the cube across from me laughing and talking loudly about "false eyelashes," whatever the hell that means within the context of today's newsroom problems, that bunch, that din, that racket, is not helpful. Not when there's just 15 minutes to go before we have to send the whole shootin' match, and I'm not done with the final three pages.

So I asked them politely to please shut the hell up and go back to work because some of us were on, like, you know, deadline.

It worked, I'm glad to say.

It also proved the title of this post. I'm a grump. But we made deadline. Just barely. With pages that are more or less error-free. I hope.

Tomorrow will be better. Maybe. I hope.

-JFT

Excellence Gone

Photography and music. Two of my favorite things. But it seems that the technology that each use these days is marching backwards, in terms of quality of reproduction. And so are the expectations of most folks. In fact, many folks seem to be willing to accept standards that are – well, lower than the belly of a snake that’s crawling along the bottom of a ditch. Low.

Photography, for instance: We’re told that point-and-shoot cameras now are nearly obsolete. That’s because every cell phone now has a built-in camera and that’s what people are using. Oh, you think a cell phone is capable of the same kind of photographic quality that even the rankest point-and-shoot is? I. Think. Not.

Some folks still do make prints of the photos they shoot, but most apparently are interesting in sending photos over the Web. I like prints. But when I shopped for a new printer not long ago, I had to work hard to find what I want – most don’t provide the kind of sharpness I require. This certainly is true of hobbyist printers, and it also seems to be true of at least the lower levels of the semi-pro large-format printers. And don’t get me started on those printers that will print directly from your phone, with its crappy little plastic lens – oh, and when was the last time you cleaned that lens?.

I find this curious: Why would you not want your images just as crisp and tack-sharp as possible? And as big?

People these days seem to insist on HD television, so they seem to know what a great image looks like. But they don’t insist on great images when it comes to their own photography. This baffles me.

The concept of high fidelity also seems to be obsolete. When was the last time you saw a store that specialized in high-fidelity reproduction equipment? Sure, you still see speakers and things, but these days they’re oriented toward surround-sound systems for video.

Rather than listening to music over a stereo system that offers actual, you know, high fidelity, people listen over iPods. Or maybe they dock their iPods in chintzy little devices that channel the iPod’s contents through tiny speakers.

Oh, you think your iPod qualities as hi-fi? I. Think. Not. And if you’re downloading music, because of the extreme sampling rate used, you’re getting low-fi material that’s on a par, in terms of reproduction quality, with the old 78-rpm records. And maybe not that good.

For sure, I take pictures with the camera in my phone. And I listen over an iPod (though the music is all transferred direct from CDs, so actually is quite detailed). But when I’m serious about photos and music, I used a real camera, a real printer that will produce killer, tack-sharp 8 x 10s. And when I want serious music, I crank up a stereo system – one of several in the house – that will provide a near-concert-hall experience.

Otherwise, what’s the point?

Or maybe I’m just showing my age and general crankiness.

-JFT

 

An Old Friend

I feel as though I’ve rediscovered an old friend, and I’m thrilled about it.

The “old friend” is Masterpiece Mysteries on PBS.

I don’t know why we stopped watching it, but somewhere back in time, I guess somewhere about the time that the last “Inspector Morse” was aired, we did.

For sure people’s tastes and viewing habits change. But what Laura and I both have found is that we’ve missed this show. We’re both thrilled to find that there’s a whole new crop of shows.

Let’s see, there’s “MI5,” a very well-done and very fast-paced spy drama shot in London.

There’s “Case Histories,” set in gorgeous Edinbrough, about a former cop who is chasing not only old cases, but also his own ghosts.

There’s “Foyle’s War,” which I’ve not seen yet, but which is getting great reviews. I’m recording that on our DVR.

There’s Doc Martin, which also is getting great reviews, which again we’ve not yet seen but have our DVR set up to record.

There’s “Zen,” which purports to follow the late Michael Dibden’s excellent Aurelio Zen novels, but doesn’t. I’m a fan of the novels, but don’t much care for these adaptations as they don’t seem to follow the books at all closely, and the actor chosen to play Zen is nothing like the books describe him – not in appearance and not in manner. Ah, well. At least it’s shot in Italy, so the scenery and cityscapes are beautiful. So is Zen’s girlfriend.

And of course there’s “Inspector Lewis,” which is the sequel series to “Inspector Morse,” staring the same man who played Lewis, as Morse’s sergeant, now bumped up to inspector status. Really excellent.

All in all, these BBC fares are reason to watch TV again. We both really look forward to them. We’re a little surprised at how much more interesting these shows are than the crap found on domestic TV. But we’re just happy someone is showing these British gems and we’re happy to have rediscovered our old friend, Masterpiece Mysteries.

-JFT

What Work Looks Like

Actually, I guess it’s what most any modern newsroom looks like. What you see here is a shot of the cube in which I work in the offices of the Glendale News-Press. This photo was made late one evening, so there’s not a lot of activity to be seen.

Mid-afternoons to early evenings the place is a bee hive. But by this time of day, it’s pretty much down to the sports guys, who sit to my left and who natter about playground games as they work, and we copy editors and designers, who all sit in a little group and don't talk much because we've got our heads stuck deep into our computers.

And yes, my cube is among the tidier examples in the place, I’m happy to report.

This is the first week of our new schedule. We’ve added a couple of new people – amazing, considering the hammering the newspaper business has taken in the last few years.

The reason for this is that as of this week, we’re publishing a new paper, the Pasadena Sun. Tonight marks our first deadline for that paper, which will appear in readers’ driveways on Fridays, and also as a joint Sunday edition with an existing paper, the La Cañada Sun, just as our Glendale and Burbank papers are published as a joint Sunday edition.

Small pleasures: My name appears in the staff box of the Sunday papers. Haven’t had that pleasure since I departed the magazine business. It’s a small thing, but even after all these years in journalism, I find that it pleases me.

-JFT

And the Wheel Goes 'Round

A whole long time ago, right after I was graduated from journalism school, I had the immense good fortune to become involved in something called the Copley Editorial Careers Program.

This was run out of the offices of a paper called the Burbank Review by a fabulous old pro called Charlie Ohl. His brief was to find likely candidates and plug them into the 13 or 14 Copley-owned dailies around L.A. at the time in a kind of rotating cub-reporter training program.

I went and pounded on Charlie’s door, we got along great, and he hired me. First stop was the South Bay Daily Breeze, where I worked for six weeks. My second six weeks was supposed to be spent at the Glendale News-Press. I went there, and after just two weeks, the city editor at the Breeze called and offered me a job. Which I naturally took. I mean, who could turn down $160 a week?

I was working as a dolly grip in the studio business at the time, making pretty good money. Taking this job cut my income in half. My wife at the time later told me that it was at this point that she decided to divorce my sorry ass.

So I went to work at the Breeze, then Autoweek, then, answering the Siren song of magazines, Road Test magazine, then Pickup, Van & 4WD, another newspaper stop at the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, then Cycle World, and eventually Four Wheeler, where against my better judgment, I held the top job.

But newspapers beckoned. And eventually I found myself back to the Glendale News-Press, now owned by the Los Angeles Times, where I was night city editor/copy editor, working happily in a career that has provided more satisfaction than I ever could have imagined possible. Then, in a move I now greatly regret, I left for a gig that promised that elusive specter, “more money.”  Shortly thereafter, journalism crashed, taking my prospects with it.

I was on the street, and not liking it one damned bit. I continued shaking the tree down at the GNP, as it is known. And I picked up a part-time gig, working at another Times Community News paper.

Apparently I haven’t screwed up too badly, because the editor at the GNP has asked me to come back aboard at that paper fulltime as a copy editor.  Well, I thought about this for maybe a fifth of a second and said, “Well, hell yes!”

I couldn’t be more pleased by this. I continue to think that journalism – this process of helping to create and maintain an informed electorate – is incredibly important, maybe more important now than ever before. Our editor at the GNP has all the right equipment and impulses and I’m incredibly proud to be once associated with this paper.

So I’m writing headlines, decks and captions, proofing pages, and helping reporters to craft their stories for both the GNP and the Burbank Leader – which, interestingly, is the child of the old Burbank Review. It’s satisfying work and I’ve maybe even learned my lesson. I think I’ll stay at the GNP for a while, right where I started out so long ago. If they’ll let me.

-JFT

More Bad Newspaper News

Just how bad are things in the world of newspapers? Pretty damned bad, and getting worse.

News broke yesterday that the owners of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, which publishes the Daily Breeze in Torrance, the Daily News in the San Fernando Valley, the Long Beach Press-Telegram and the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, plus others, announced significant pay cuts for those employees still left at those papers. The papers all have seen significant staff cuts. All, at one time, were players as what's called sub-metro papers, i.e. smaller than the big metropolitan papers like the L.A. Times.

Pay for managers will be cut by 10%, while pay for everyone else will be cut by 5.5%. The only exceptions are those poor souls already making less than $10 per hour.

I’ve worked for both the Breeze and the Trib at various points in my career’s arc, so I feel especially bad about this, since both were great experiences.

There was a time when a well-run newspaper in a halfway healthy market could make some pretty good money. Those days are long gone, it seems.

-JFT

Unfriending Facebook

I’ve neglected the California Files for a long time, and I’ve decided that that has to end. As of now, I’m back in business here. Might as well be.

Because I’m out of business elsewhere. A couple of weeks ago, I bailed out of Facebook. I just don’t get the point. I never really have.

I signed onto the thing at a time when I was deeply involved in the social-media outreach of a major corporation. As editor of the corporate blog, I thought it logical that I be involved in as much social media as possible. So I signed up for FB, and more. Now I'm out of it all. Feels awfully good.

Yesterday I got a Facebook “friends” request from a couple of family members. I thought this was odd, since they already were on my “friends” list, and I hadn’t “unfriended” them. That would be a pretty rude thing to do, after all.

Ah, but I did suspend my Facebook account. So perhaps in not finding me on Facebook, they suppose I’ve “unfriended” them. Perhaps you, or others, think the same thing.

Not so. I’m just done with the bad language, triviality and rudeness of FB posters, except for just a couple of notable exceptions. So here’s the deal: You want to say something to me? Call me. Or e-mail me. Or leave a comment here on The California Files.

It’s been going for a number of years now, so there’s lots of stuff to read there, if you’re of a mind. There also are a number of photos. So come visit. It’s going to be the best way to contact me. Uh, I mean, except for phone or e-mail.

-JFT

On Trust, the Media, Corruption and Great Reporting

We hear a great deal these days about how little the public trusts the media. I think that largely it’s a mistake to lump the print and broadcast media into one untrustworthy group - I have great faith in the print media, having worked in it for my entire career, but think that the broadcast media, particularly TV, is pretty stinking lame.

Anyway, here’s the deal, for those of you who have lost your faith: Think of Bell, California, a town that’s been in the news a great deal this past week. The greedy sons of bitches who ran that town pretty much pillaged the place for their own enrichment. They’d still be doing it if it wasn’t for a couple of reporters from the Los Angeles Times.

Now, God knows the once-mighty Times has had its problems, and God knows the paper is capable of some incredibly sloppy reporting and editing. (And here is where I should point out that for what it’s worth, I work as a freelancer for Times Community News.) But in this case, it was the Times that uncovered the incredible greed and corruption in the SoCal city. Not Fox News, not some blogger on the Web. It was reporters from one of our finest institutions, an old-time newspaper.

I’m proud as hell of my colleagues there, and proud as hell of the continuing fine job most of the print media does. You should be too. And you can be.

-JFT

Wait, Wait! I Get to Shoot NPR!

I had one of my better experiences Saturday night. Laura asked me to attend the grand opening of the new studios, in Pasadena, of our local National Public Radio station, KPCC, which I think is at 89.3 on the FM dial here in the Lost Angeles area.

She asked me to do this because her company produced the grand-opening event. As her (more-or-less) tame, in-house photo maven, I do this sort of thing for her a lot – sometimes she uses the photos for the Your Great Event Web site, and sometimes my photos reach such a stunningly sufficient degree of mediocrity that she forwards them on to her clients for their use.

My assignment was to shoot a pair of informal panel discussions featuring NPR reporters Guy Raz and Sylvia Pogiolli. I thought that these might turn out to be mildly interesting. And of course after listening to them for years, I was curious what they both look like.