Tuning in to the tiny screen

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I love how smart Apple is with its line of iPods, and more important, the content it makes available for iPods. I got a video iPod for Christmas (good thing, since my 40GB 4th generation iPod is filled up with over 11,000 songs), and in addition to putting all my classical music and odds and ends like podcasts on the thing, I’ve been putting videos on it. Continue reading →

Backtracking: Remembering John Lennon

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It’s been 25 years since John Lennon was murdered in front of his New York City apartment building by a crazed fan. Over time, the media have covered the anniversary with diminishing interest, but this year resonates because of its quarter-century milestone.

I’ve been listening to a pretty good two-CD compilation, “Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon,” released by Capitol Records (and compiled, with “definitive” decisiveness, by widow Yoko Ono), and appreciating Lennon’s solo work more than I have in years. Continue reading →

“Material Girl” upgraded

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A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, I wrote a rhapsodic review of Madonna.

I thought back then that she was a perfect encapsulation of American consumerism, and though that’s kind of an icky concept, I thought she was special because her music was so good. She captures (or at least back then, captured) the American “zeitgeist” (sorry to use such a geek crit-term, but it’s a good one) with pure pop for all people. Anyone who didn’t like her music were just plain high-culture snobs or didn’t have an ounce of humor and/or rhythm in their bones. Continue reading →

Food porn

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Buttermilk fried chicken from Chef E’s, with fried green tomatoes, spicy cabbage and mashed sweet potatoes.

Ain’t it great when a dining experience is positively orgasmic? I for one, live for those meals.

The first meal with the AAJA Link student staff at the AAJA convention in Minneapolis was one of those great foodfests. Continue reading →

The future of journalism

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The future of journalism, of course, is in the hands of the young journalists and journalism students who are about to enter the profession.

That’s why I’m happy (and honored) to be volunteering as one of the professional mentors working with a group of students on AAJALink, the student-run Web site covering the annual convention of the Asian American Journalists Association.

The confab is in Minneapolis, a city I’ve never traveled to. So far, I haven’t seen much of it except what I’m sure must be the world’s largest Target (a two-story department store a block away from the retailer’s corporate offices, which is also on the downtown Minneapolis Nicollette Mall). Continue reading →