blog.deanland.com

TOW TRUCK SUPERMAN

What a day, what a night. Whew. Here it is, almost 3 in the morning, and I am first sitting down to compose a blog entry. The original plan was to send out some e-mail and work on the blog at around 10PM, yesterday.

Usually I work in an office in NYC on Tuesdays.

ART IMITATES CRIME IMITATING LIFE

Recently in this space there was mention made of some artwork (an original Dali!) being stolen from Rikers Island prison in NYÖ

Guess who was nabbed: COPS! Prison guards! Yep, it made the paper.

The Powell FCC: Call it "FLOODGATE"

In today's Op-Ed essay in The New York Times, Bill Safire has a piece entitled "Regulate The FCC."
Read it.

Respond. Not to Safire (well, sure, write him if you like), but to your Senator, your Congressional rep.

Safire gives this FCC move a name: FLOODGATE. Steamroll sounds more like it, but Floodgate will do.

Here's the site to visit if you want to make your own voice heard with regard to the FCC's actions on ownership, or any other matters. Knowing how to dash off a note to your Congressional Rep or Senator -- and then doing it -- can help maintain the many voices being heard. Also consider dropping a note to John McCain and Fritz Hollings.

Clear Channel & Spike

Sounds like the name of a buddy movie, doesnít it? Read on, and it will make sense as the headline for today's blog entry.

A few days ago I wrote about John Rook. His reputation as a solid and extremely capable, talented radio professional is a well known fact. But who knew John was also a source for biting social satire?

FCC VOTE ñ THE STORY OF THE MOMENT

I continue to fear a merger of Clear Channel and Microsoft. Or perhaps Clear Channel and AOL (after it separates from Time-Warner). It just seems a likely next step: first they dominate the airwave licenses, they own a substantial amount of the countryís outdoor advertising. What could be next? AOL would get them into loads of PCs.

Evening Update: As readers of this space surely know by now, Michael Powell's wet kiss to Big Business occurred in the FCC vote this morning. That's the bad news.

The good news is that apparent public outcry (in spaces such as the many, many blogs and grass roots organizations which have been making their opposition known of late) is being heard.

Going Long On Shorts, et al

"The Quality of Mercy"
To many this is quickly recognized as the soliloquy delivered by Portia in Shakespeareís The Merchant Of Venice. To others it might bring to mind the title of an Episode of WBís Babylon 5 series .

Give Us Today Our Daily Blog

This blogging business is really quite odd. The more often I write, the fewer page views it seems I get. The less often I post something new, the more traffic, page views, and response it seems the blog inspires.

Recently thereís been a certain invisibility hereabouts. Pressures of all sorts have kept my attentions in other places.

Send a Salami . . .

Tomorrow nightís Bloggersí Dinner will be at Katzís Delicatessen. This is a New York landmark of great, well-deserved reknown.

When Johnny Deppís FBI agent in Donnie Brasco meets with his contact, the place is Katzís.