Magical tool David Blaine is pulling every excuse out of thin air for his failed stunt Wednesday night. First it was George W. Bush's fault (well, everything is, really). Now it's Mother Nature's fault, because she had the audacity to ruin his plans for "the most amazing ending for a stunt ever" (his words, not ours) with high winds.
Local news teams just love sending out reporters during hurricanes, tropical storms, and tornadoes to give viewers a first-hand account at what, exactly, goes in to milking Mother Nature for ratings. Eventually, as CBS' Steve Hartman notes, we're going to graduate from Geraldo Rivera slipping in a flooded street to actual injuries and, quite possibly, a reporter dying all for the sake of a live shot. But until then, sending talent into harm's way is hilarious! CONTINUED »
The jerks who run television news stations insist reporters remain outside during major weather events, so the viewer understands just how strong the wind is, just how high the waves are, and just how dangerous the situation is. It's ridiculous, really, and when we're talking about insanely destructive forces like Hurricane Ike, stationing reporters outside only serves the purpose of dramatizing an already sensational event. At some point, the reporters' safety becomes jeopardized, all in the name of a better TV shot. All the networks have local reporters on the scene, in Galveston and elsewhere along the Texas coast, standing against the whipping wind as roads flood and residents scramble. For Fox News, it's Geraldo Rivera who's contributing to the coverage — and it's he who pays for our insatiable appetite for wanting to feel like we're inside the storm. Safety first, Rivera. CONTINUED »
Perhaps you've been made aware that these two things called Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Hanna are attacking Americans like a pair of terrorists, squashing homes, tearing up roadways, and taking aim at our oil fields. Ike is headed to South Florida and the Gulf of Mexico while Hanna is headed to the Carolinas to punish us for embracing gay marriage. So you know what this weather-related tragedy is perfect for?
A marketing opportunity.
Underwear website Nuwear.com — think International Male, but only for skivvies — just alerted customers to its "Hurricane Sale 10% Off Everything at Nuwear.com." Be sure to use promo code "Hanna"!
Not only is storm chasing a rabid hobby, but it's a career subject to the same "professional jealousy" as other industry where dollars and reputations are on the line! In, in language we can understand: Opportunities for gossip that's rife scandal!
As a doctored tornado video — supposedly of a Nebraska tornado last week, but more likely of a a Kansas tornado filmed four years ago with some haphazard editing — made the rounds to some 2,000 websites and 60 digital customers through distribution from Associated Press, blame is being thrown about every which way.
The AP blamed Andy Fabel, who they paid $295 for the video, for faking the clip after fellow storm chaser Dan Robinson of Appalachian Skies Media called foul. But Fabel insists the footage isn't doctored, and that he's being accused of faking it because people like Robinson are jealous of his "success." CONTINUED »
The Associated Press has pulled video footage of a Nebraska tornado that touched down last week after its authenticity has been questioned. The footage is, likely, taken from a Kansas tornado filmed four years ago, with the clip flipped horizontally, sped up, with power lines added and trees removed. The AP had paid storm chaser Andy Fabel an astronomical $295 for the clip. They will likely want their money back. [AP]
Try staying cool by following Samuel Goldsmith's advice, which promises to keep you chilled from Grand Central to Central Park — by navigating air conditioned pathways. (Okay, sometimes you must walk under scaffolding, but that provides shadows!) [Photo: ddc95/Flickr]
"Hot and sticky air is expected to reach the [New York City] area by Saturday afternoon, as temperatures approach 100. This will likely kick off a few days of unseasonably warm and humid weather with temperatures 15-20 degrees above normal." [WCBS]
In other news, the "world needs to invest $45 trillion in energy in coming decades, build some 1,400 nuclear power plants and vastly expand wind power" in order to save the planet. [AP]
Though most news operations dread becoming the story, CNN really hoped its own newsworthiness would chill the F out when, over the weekend, a tornado tore through Atlanta and made its way to the network's CNN Center. A switch from tape to live broadcasting had anchors showing the destruction of their own HQ: Blue tarp covered the workspace of producers, while water began pouring in through the roof and windows in the newsroom were shattered. A computer is rumored to have been sucked out one of the broken windows, but no, Lou Dobbs (or any other staffer) was not.
SeamlessWeb, for which we rely on for a good 65 percent of our sustenance, never misses an opportunity to plug its food delivery service.
See how it's raining, out there, through the window? SeamlessWeb did, so now they're "herding animals." It's Noah's Arc, y'all! CONTINUED »
Rupert Murdoch lavished some $5 billion on Dow Jones to pick up leading journalism institutions including the Wall Street Journal and Barron's. Now the Weather Channel, a unit of privately-held Landmark Communications, is looking to score that same amount of cash in a sale. And folks like NBC and Comcast might just pony up the dough for it. [Variety]
This morning, despite the fact that our fifth sense (a.k.a. ESPN) told us it was already raining, we decided to check Weather.com for the daily forecast. Instead, we found a somewhat entertaining, embarrassingly outdated and completely non weather-related poll:
So who will win the 2007 World Series?
We're thinking the answer might be (e) The Sox sweep, A-Rod waits until the start of Game 4 to announce he's totally screwing the Yankees and the Rockies lose the entire thing faster than you can say "The National League sucks."
But hey, that's just a guess.
At Fox News, the studio's fire alarm went off during Shep Smith's live broadcast. CNN's elevators weren't working. And CBS's staff at the The Early Show was forced to evacuate. Maybe there is a God?
Good news, freelancers! While you're sitting around, waiting to get paid for the 400 words you wrote last fall, rejoice: People with real jobs are totally screwed today. You see, the city is advising them to stay home, which means companies like ours – where, on any given day, half the staff stays home already – are the only ones at full productivity.
A New York City transit official said Wednesday that heavy rains have caused major disruptions in the subway system and urged riders to stay home.
New York Transit official Paul Fleuranges said in an interview with NY 1 that no subway line was unaffected and said "if you can stay home, please do so." Heavy rains overnight tapered off Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, at a time like this, good luck reaching those city-sponsored cooling stations.
• Disfigured patients to be exploited for entertainment value on new reality tv show; prudish sorts protest.
• CBS plays its hand close to the vest by announcing that they would be "very interested" if Time Warner ever were willing to sell CNN.
• Nobody is watching local news anymore. Apparently everyone—even your grandfather—recently made the switch to The Daily Show.
• FCC continues to be unimpressed with Sirius/XM radio's proposed merger, Howard Stern's unique brand of lewd humor.
• "Man charged with putting 24 on the web." And the war on terror continues!
• The Weather Channel has apparently become a "hot-button" issue. And here we thought the Doppler 4000 was risqué!
Law & Order's Fred Thompson has reportedly asked to leave the show, indicating he's serious about running for president and ruining our country with Reaganomics.
&bull Dow Jones' largest outside shareholder urges Bancrofts to sell. His argument? "Who's to say Rupert Murdoch is all that bad?" Convincing!
• The prosecution rests their case against Conrad Black, meaning it's just a matter of time before the jury returns with a (guilty) verdict.
• Brooks Barnes ditches WSJ for NYT. Not because Barnes thinks the Times is a better paper, but because he's really psyched about covering "the business of Hollywood in all its fascinating iterations." And because they asked.
• Bill Gates and Steve Jobs continue to perpetuate the nerdiest and most boring rivalry. Ever.
• Meanwhile, weather media personalities have never been bigger! With the exception of Al Roker.
• If NYC drivers would just stop for a nun every now and then, maybe we wouldn't all be going to hell. [NYP]
• Just try to leave NYC today. Just try. [AP]
• The Brooklyn Bridge needs a make-over. It's starting to look worse than Courtney Love. [NY Sun]
• NYU students pay a lot of money so that they will have the view from their dorm room the East Village residents had back in 1978. [NY Sun]
• Maybe it's just that more disadvantaged people are dieting? [NYT]
As many of you know from watching Ellen re-runs this morning, it's been a year since Hurricane Katrina, and our government has basically done shit for the people of New Orleans.
But that doesn't mean we New Yorkers should all go about our lives without the survivors and victims in our hearts.
Especially since you never know when you might be on the other end of disaster.
We're just sayin'.
NBC Weather Watch [WNBC]
Katrina Rebuilding "Long Way Off" [New York Times, Reuters]
Spotted yesterday on Lexington in the East 70s. Clearly the kids had too much fun during the heat wave.
Thank God. It finally, finally, rained, breaking up some of the heat, and bringing the tempeture down about 20 degrees. Er, well, maybe we shouldn't thank God exactly.
We should probably thank these girls,who performed a rain dance in Brooklyn Bridge Park, calling the sweet cool drops and saving us all from melting into one giant puddle of B.O.
Heat Wave Exacts a Brutal Parting Toll as It Disrupts Power [Sewell Chan, New York Times]
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