Wall Street Journal
April 1, 2009
The Onion Wins a Peabody Without Even Trying
The 68th annual Peabody Awards were announced today, and among the winners are widely praised radio journalists (NPR and This American Life’s “The Giant Pool of Money”), popular TV shows (”Lost,” “Entourage”) and the Onion’s online-video unit, Onion News Network, which is best known for segments like “Prague’s Franz Kafka International Named World’s Most Alienating Airport” and “Congressman Offers Preemptive Apology For Extramarital Affair.”
Another April Fools’ Joke?
“We were afraid people would think that,” says Horace Newcomb, director of the awards, which are given by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
“We think they’re just rather wonderful satires, and as much as we want to reward outstanding journalism,” he says, “we’ve also been quite aware of the kinds of humor that poke fun at, and, in some ways, keep the news organizations on their toes.”
Dr. Newcomb pointed out that other satires have won in the past, including Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” and Stephen Colbert’s “Colbert Report.” Other online winners included YouTube and the New York Times’s video section.
The award came as a surprise to the Onion, since it didn’t submit an entry. The New York-based operation, which also publishes a newspaper and Web site, was notified of its win by the university today.
“The Peabody Board has complete freedom to nominate on its own,” Dr. Newcomb says.
It may also complicate the Onion News Network’s anchor bios page, which is sprinkled with tongue-in-cheek references to Peabody Award recipients. “It’s an odd moment of comedy meeting reality,” says Will Graham, the network’s 28-year-old executive producer.
“But it was incredibly nice of them,” he says. “We weren’t expecting it, but it’s a real honor.”
The video site launched in April 2007 and has a staff of about 20 people. It contains about 200 clips, including regular segments like “Today Now” (a morning-show spoof), “In the Know” (fake “Meet the Press”) and “O-Span” (based on C-Span). Its voice is meant to parody CNN and Fox News “on seriousness steroids,” Mr. Graham says.
Like the Onion’s printed matter, the Onion News Network’s faux-earnest tone sometimes results in its jokes being taken seriously, like a viral hit called “Child Bankrupts Make-A-Wish Foundation With Wish for Unlimited Wishes” that eventually merited its own entry on Snopes, a site that debunks rumors, email hoaxes and other urban myths. And because the Onion’s videos air on the Internet, they tend to get embedded on unaffiliated sites and take on a life of their own, Mr. Graham says.
“We’re the people outside the party making fun of everybody who’s in there,” he adds. “Sort of a cynical, outsider perspective that’s pointing out the things that are terrible in the world, but hopefully in a way that lets you laugh at them.”
Friday, April 3, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Fashion + Common Sense
Love this idea! http://www.shuella.com/dc/ Especially on a day like today in Chicago. Spring is here. Unfortunately, so are the showers.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Horoscope: February 19, 2009
I take horoscopes with a grain of salt, yet I was particularly excited about this one today.
Leo: July 23 - Aug 22
Your thirst for knowledge may well seem unquenchable. Later on, you can begin to put a new lesson to use in a highly creative manner.
Leo: July 23 - Aug 22
Your thirst for knowledge may well seem unquenchable. Later on, you can begin to put a new lesson to use in a highly creative manner.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
So we meet again
Ok, back at it. I suppose I should pick up from where I left off. 2008 brought a lot of self-reflection and self-education. I have learned how to better define my relationships, most importantly my relationship with myself. Through make-ups and break-ups, death, arguements, pain, self-expression, love, and learning I am more optimistic about trusting myself; about picking myself up and charging forward. I am putting myself first more, embracing my independence while also opening myself up more to whatever lands in my lap, bad or good. I am inspired by this time in my life where I learn about myself, my life, and what impact I want to make. I'm inspired by making mistakes, falling hard, but also by how I will overcome what I've done and how to do things differently.
For starters, I've decided to engage in more cultural activities. Be it music, dance, art, theater, I feel so fulfilled when exposed to something so unique, so expressive. A new friend has taken me to a few good music spots in Chicago. The Green Mill for jazz; Danny's for Soul Night. It amazes me how music can almost literally seep into someone's blood, limbs, soul and invoke so many different feelings. At Danny's they begin the night with Soul/Motown music then later the beat progresses into some great funk music. Watching everyone dance, shake, shimmy, slide created the heart beat of the entire bar/venue. There was this rhythmic pulse throughout the entire (small) space. People from all different backgrounds, different stories, different minds joining together to celebrate this music together. Strangers finding common ground.
For starters, I've decided to engage in more cultural activities. Be it music, dance, art, theater, I feel so fulfilled when exposed to something so unique, so expressive. A new friend has taken me to a few good music spots in Chicago. The Green Mill for jazz; Danny's for Soul Night. It amazes me how music can almost literally seep into someone's blood, limbs, soul and invoke so many different feelings. At Danny's they begin the night with Soul/Motown music then later the beat progresses into some great funk music. Watching everyone dance, shake, shimmy, slide created the heart beat of the entire bar/venue. There was this rhythmic pulse throughout the entire (small) space. People from all different backgrounds, different stories, different minds joining together to celebrate this music together. Strangers finding common ground.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Running towards a renewed life
An incredible Philadelphia running organziation helps homeless men and women get back on their feet, literally.
baltimoresun.com
Homeless men will run for their new, better lives
15 of those competing in city marathon represent program
By Mike Klingaman
October 10, 2008
Watch here.
Mike Solomon will hit the streets tomorrow for all the right reasons. Homeless last year, and hooked for much of his life on drugs and booze, he has since recovered and will compete in the half-marathon at the Baltimore Running Festival.Gone are the long hair, the scruffy beard and the feeling of despair that had turned Solomon's life into a hopeless fetal tuck. Clean-shaven, hair trimmed and a transient no more, he'll start the 13.1-mile race looking like any other hopeful Joe.
"I'll be running alongside chemists, accountants and cops," said the Philadelphia man. "I used to run away from the police. Now I'm running with them."
Why the turnaround? Solomon, 43, said his life began to change that day at the rescue mission last year when he was offered a clean T-shirt, shorts and running shoes - and asked to jog a mile.Jog he did. It made him feel ... good."I was sweating but when I finished it was like I could do anything," Solomon said. He has since completed a marathon and two half-marathons. He said he has also stayed clean, taken computer training and moved into his own apartment. A widower, he gained custody of his 13-year-old daughter. All thanks to a Philadelphia program that tries to heal the homeless through long-distance running.
Founded in 2007, "Back On My Feet" seeks to boost their self-esteem, literally, step by step. Three mornings a week, an eclectic group of men and women from five city shelters gather before dawn to lace up their complimentary Nikes and traverse the streets of Philadelphia. Volunteers run beside them, shouting encouragement. Participants start slow, adding mileage in a planned, goal-oriented regimen.
Results have been positive, said Anne Mahlum, president of the nonprofit organization. From a startup of nine members, "Back On My Feet" has grown to 75. Success has prompted a spin-off for Baltimore, where organizers plan to start a sister program in 2009. To showcase its progress, BOMF is bringing 15 homeless runners to compete in tomorrow's races."That's pretty neat," said Lee Corrigan, head of Corrigan Sports Enterprises, which manages and markets the event. "We've never had the homeless here before. A few of them have jumped into races [spontaneously] in the past, but nothing organized."That speaks to the nature of running. It's mentally therapeutic and it creates a can-do attitude."Statistics bear him out. Of the homeless who have participated in BOMF, said Mahlum, "nine have moved into their own homes and 14 have found jobs. Eighty-nine percent have suppressed their smoking habits and 100 percent feel better about themselves."To date, Solomon is alone in having done a full marathon, finishing one in Delaware in four hours, 10 minutes. "At the end, I was prayin' and screamin' and singin' and laughin,'" he said. "I was delirious, man. Who'd have thought this wild child from the 'hood, who acted stupid all his life, could make his mark like that?"
Running, he said, requires discipline, commitment and responsibility - all requisites for managing one's life. The homeless learn those lessons early on, BOMF members said."I've taken shortcuts all my life, but you find out real fast that you can't cheat in a race," said Abdullah Dorch, 35. "You can't get from one mile to the next without running it."
The demands of the program - sobriety, a drug-free life and regular attendance at practice - cause some to drop out. Others are dismissed for hocking their running gear. But more than 75 percent of the homeless who embrace BOMF stick with it, program director Wylie Belasik said."One guy told me, 'When you do drugs, you feel great for an hour, then terrible, even paranoid, for the rest of the day. With running, you don't feel great while you're doing it, but you're terrific the rest of the day,'" Belasik said."Running isn't the sole answer to homelessness. But by getting these people involved in a positive activity that strengthens them physically and mentally, and giving them a support network, you see neat thing start to happen."
When he landed in a Philadelphia shelter last spring, Darrin McNair said he was "going nowhere fast. There were drugs, alcohol. I was homeless, hopeless, a nonexistent entity. I felt less than human."Yet a group of his brethren seemed happy."At the shelter, I'd see these guys come back from running with smiles on their faces," McNair said. "I thought, in the midst of adversity, how could they be enjoying life by running?"I wanted in."Back On My Feet fit McNair, 39. He'll not forget his first race, a 5-kilometer, in June:"To run with a number on my chest and with people cheering at the finish line sent thrills through me," he said. "Here's this old homeless dude receiving applause and the respect of his fellow man. For me, it was a whole new high that I didn't have to pay for."
McNair will participate in the 5K tomorrow. He recently moved out of the mission and said he hopes to find a job working with at-risk youths."People with the disease of addiction have a self-defeatist attitude," he said. "But I will never disqualify myself from anything again. And I'll run a full marathon before it's all said and done."If not for running, I'd probably be dead."
baltimoresun.com
Homeless men will run for their new, better lives
15 of those competing in city marathon represent program
By Mike Klingaman
October 10, 2008
Watch here.
Mike Solomon will hit the streets tomorrow for all the right reasons. Homeless last year, and hooked for much of his life on drugs and booze, he has since recovered and will compete in the half-marathon at the Baltimore Running Festival.Gone are the long hair, the scruffy beard and the feeling of despair that had turned Solomon's life into a hopeless fetal tuck. Clean-shaven, hair trimmed and a transient no more, he'll start the 13.1-mile race looking like any other hopeful Joe.
"I'll be running alongside chemists, accountants and cops," said the Philadelphia man. "I used to run away from the police. Now I'm running with them."
Why the turnaround? Solomon, 43, said his life began to change that day at the rescue mission last year when he was offered a clean T-shirt, shorts and running shoes - and asked to jog a mile.Jog he did. It made him feel ... good."I was sweating but when I finished it was like I could do anything," Solomon said. He has since completed a marathon and two half-marathons. He said he has also stayed clean, taken computer training and moved into his own apartment. A widower, he gained custody of his 13-year-old daughter. All thanks to a Philadelphia program that tries to heal the homeless through long-distance running.
Founded in 2007, "Back On My Feet" seeks to boost their self-esteem, literally, step by step. Three mornings a week, an eclectic group of men and women from five city shelters gather before dawn to lace up their complimentary Nikes and traverse the streets of Philadelphia. Volunteers run beside them, shouting encouragement. Participants start slow, adding mileage in a planned, goal-oriented regimen.
Results have been positive, said Anne Mahlum, president of the nonprofit organization. From a startup of nine members, "Back On My Feet" has grown to 75. Success has prompted a spin-off for Baltimore, where organizers plan to start a sister program in 2009. To showcase its progress, BOMF is bringing 15 homeless runners to compete in tomorrow's races."That's pretty neat," said Lee Corrigan, head of Corrigan Sports Enterprises, which manages and markets the event. "We've never had the homeless here before. A few of them have jumped into races [spontaneously] in the past, but nothing organized."That speaks to the nature of running. It's mentally therapeutic and it creates a can-do attitude."Statistics bear him out. Of the homeless who have participated in BOMF, said Mahlum, "nine have moved into their own homes and 14 have found jobs. Eighty-nine percent have suppressed their smoking habits and 100 percent feel better about themselves."To date, Solomon is alone in having done a full marathon, finishing one in Delaware in four hours, 10 minutes. "At the end, I was prayin' and screamin' and singin' and laughin,'" he said. "I was delirious, man. Who'd have thought this wild child from the 'hood, who acted stupid all his life, could make his mark like that?"
Running, he said, requires discipline, commitment and responsibility - all requisites for managing one's life. The homeless learn those lessons early on, BOMF members said."I've taken shortcuts all my life, but you find out real fast that you can't cheat in a race," said Abdullah Dorch, 35. "You can't get from one mile to the next without running it."
The demands of the program - sobriety, a drug-free life and regular attendance at practice - cause some to drop out. Others are dismissed for hocking their running gear. But more than 75 percent of the homeless who embrace BOMF stick with it, program director Wylie Belasik said."One guy told me, 'When you do drugs, you feel great for an hour, then terrible, even paranoid, for the rest of the day. With running, you don't feel great while you're doing it, but you're terrific the rest of the day,'" Belasik said."Running isn't the sole answer to homelessness. But by getting these people involved in a positive activity that strengthens them physically and mentally, and giving them a support network, you see neat thing start to happen."
When he landed in a Philadelphia shelter last spring, Darrin McNair said he was "going nowhere fast. There were drugs, alcohol. I was homeless, hopeless, a nonexistent entity. I felt less than human."Yet a group of his brethren seemed happy."At the shelter, I'd see these guys come back from running with smiles on their faces," McNair said. "I thought, in the midst of adversity, how could they be enjoying life by running?"I wanted in."Back On My Feet fit McNair, 39. He'll not forget his first race, a 5-kilometer, in June:"To run with a number on my chest and with people cheering at the finish line sent thrills through me," he said. "Here's this old homeless dude receiving applause and the respect of his fellow man. For me, it was a whole new high that I didn't have to pay for."
McNair will participate in the 5K tomorrow. He recently moved out of the mission and said he hopes to find a job working with at-risk youths."People with the disease of addiction have a self-defeatist attitude," he said. "But I will never disqualify myself from anything again. And I'll run a full marathon before it's all said and done."If not for running, I'd probably be dead."
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