Who knew I could come up with enough material to last a month blogging, especially with an emphasis on life in Owensboro. With no real promotion, I think I've gotten quite a few eyeballs to my site and I think those numbers are going to grow. I'm a bit of an internet geek and I think it is interesting to watch a site grow organically as this one has. Heck, I guess you could call this site eco-friendly, I've used no artificial fertilizers to grow its popularity, just a ton of bull*$%!. The blog is a bit wormy though!
Bear with me now, I know this blogging about blogging can be a little inane. I must say I have been not-wanting for material to write about, I was a little concerned that I wouldn't have enough good subjects to write about but I am happy with the quality of crap I've put out (this post being the exception).
I think I'll add a little bit more bluegrass to the mixture, I'm quite a fan of the stuff, but I warn you, my tastes can be a bit eccentric.
It has been quite a month for me, almost half of it I wasn't with real power and the town was torn all to pieces from the big ice storm. Maybe it was a sign from above of disapproval of this blog. If it was, it was a pretty big sign. I hope I haven't made the Big Guy upstairs that mad. I paid a visit to another country (the Bahamas), thats something that I don't do often. All-in-all, it was quite a unique month. I'll take the trip outside the country, that was quite refreshing, but I can do without another one of those friggin' ice storms, heck, I think now I could stand a couple feet of snow as long as that ice stays way far away from here.
Alright, enough with the self-promotion, back to being a crusty old curmudgeon. Shout out your thoughts or ideas from the peanut gallery (comments section), I'm a bit deaf but maybe I'll hear them, I won't guarantee I'll listen to them though.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Some quick rants
GM's balance sheet now stands at -60 billion and they want another 16 billion from the Government. At what point do you throw in the towel? I love a good GMC pickup truck but when do you quit? And how the heck does the CEO still have his job?
The local Toyotetsu factory laid off a quarter of their workforce. 175 workers were laid off. So far I think Owensboro has been pretty recession proof, but the loss of jobs are starting to mount. Our dependence on low-paying manufacturing jobs are going to start biting us in the you-know-what.
The Owensboro Airport board has hired a new director, the old one hasn't resigned yet though. . .huh. . .
eh. . .thats all I got. . .I've had a few other things preoccupying my thoughts. . .maybe some more on that later. . .lets just say that sometimes living in Owensboro can sometimes be personally frustrating for me. . .
I rant and rave on this blog about the shortcomings (and sometimes good things) about this fair city and have a little fun with it. I think everyone likes to put down their hometown. Sometimes though, the shortcomings of opportunities in this city can be really frustrating and I don't know if I have the patience or willingness to personally sacrifice certain things just to live in my hometown with friends and family. I've lived in other parts of this country and have seen what opportunities there are out in this here big ole' world of ours. Sometimes, wants for those opportunties put up a big fight against my satisfaction of living back home. We will see who wins this fight.
The local Toyotetsu factory laid off a quarter of their workforce. 175 workers were laid off. So far I think Owensboro has been pretty recession proof, but the loss of jobs are starting to mount. Our dependence on low-paying manufacturing jobs are going to start biting us in the you-know-what.
The Owensboro Airport board has hired a new director, the old one hasn't resigned yet though. . .huh. . .
eh. . .thats all I got. . .I've had a few other things preoccupying my thoughts. . .maybe some more on that later. . .lets just say that sometimes living in Owensboro can sometimes be personally frustrating for me. . .
I rant and rave on this blog about the shortcomings (and sometimes good things) about this fair city and have a little fun with it. I think everyone likes to put down their hometown. Sometimes though, the shortcomings of opportunities in this city can be really frustrating and I don't know if I have the patience or willingness to personally sacrifice certain things just to live in my hometown with friends and family. I've lived in other parts of this country and have seen what opportunities there are out in this here big ole' world of ours. Sometimes, wants for those opportunties put up a big fight against my satisfaction of living back home. We will see who wins this fight.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Chinese bluegrass
I don't care where the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) calls their home, right now it is the home of country music, Nashville trashville, the heart of bluegrass music is still located in Rosine Kentucky, the home of Bill Monroe. Now Rosine is right down the road from Owensboro and therefore, this region is the TRUE HOME OF BLUEGRASS MUSIC.
I won't go into the fact that I think the bluegrass community must embrace the newer bluegrass bands such as the Yonder Mountain String Band, I may save that for a later post. All I want to say here is that you've got to like what these guys are doing and give a BIG YEE-HAW out to Mei Han's Red Chamber.
I won't go into the fact that I think the bluegrass community must embrace the newer bluegrass bands such as the Yonder Mountain String Band, I may save that for a later post. All I want to say here is that you've got to like what these guys are doing and give a BIG YEE-HAW out to Mei Han's Red Chamber.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Now that's Owensboro
After putting together tomorrow's post, I kind of came across a neat little epiphany.
Here's the backstory:
With the recent news that Owensboro can't come up with a new "Brand", I've been trying to help them out with a few suggestions.
1) Visit Owensboro, Future Ghost Town!
2) Owensboro! You Can't Get Here from There
Now here's one that dag-nabbit, actually makes a little sense:
(once again, feel free to use at no cost to the taxpayer)
Bluegrass, Burgoo, and Biotech - Now that's Owensboro!
We all know that the true home of Bluegrass is the 'boro. It's also the only place to get real Burgoo. And hey, we want to be a biotech hub so there you have it. We don't need no big-city marketers to tell us who we are.
Update - why this is on my brain at midnight I don't know but I came up with a whole slew of ideas on the theme of "Now that's Owensboro!"
So
1) Great schools, Great living, Great times - Now that's Owensboro!
I've lost the alliteration on the following but they work
How about tailoring it for some Nascar notables
2) Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Green, Jeremy Mayfield - Now that's Owensboro!
Maybe a little local flair
3) "It's Hot Don!" - Now that's Owensboro
An economic push - a little gangly but it may work
4) Emerging Ventures, Life Science Partnership, Greater Owensboro Venture Club - Now that's Owensboro!
A barbecue flair
5) Moonlite, Old Hickory, Bar-B-Que Festival - Now that's Owensboro!
Local trivia
6) World's Largest Sassafras Tree - Now that's Owensboro!
Of course the curmudgeon's take
7) Empty hotels, low-paying jobs, aging population - Now that's Owensboro!
I think you can get where I'm going with this. Ideas, comments, concerns or complaints are all welcome in the peanut gallery (comments section)
Here's the backstory:
With the recent news that Owensboro can't come up with a new "Brand", I've been trying to help them out with a few suggestions.
1) Visit Owensboro, Future Ghost Town!
2) Owensboro! You Can't Get Here from There
Now here's one that dag-nabbit, actually makes a little sense:
(once again, feel free to use at no cost to the taxpayer)
Bluegrass, Burgoo, and Biotech - Now that's Owensboro!
We all know that the true home of Bluegrass is the 'boro. It's also the only place to get real Burgoo. And hey, we want to be a biotech hub so there you have it. We don't need no big-city marketers to tell us who we are.
Update - why this is on my brain at midnight I don't know but I came up with a whole slew of ideas on the theme of "Now that's Owensboro!"
So
1) Great schools, Great living, Great times - Now that's Owensboro!
I've lost the alliteration on the following but they work
How about tailoring it for some Nascar notables
2) Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Green, Jeremy Mayfield - Now that's Owensboro!
Maybe a little local flair
3) "It's Hot Don!" - Now that's Owensboro
An economic push - a little gangly but it may work
4) Emerging Ventures, Life Science Partnership, Greater Owensboro Venture Club - Now that's Owensboro!
A barbecue flair
5) Moonlite, Old Hickory, Bar-B-Que Festival - Now that's Owensboro!
Local trivia
6) World's Largest Sassafras Tree - Now that's Owensboro!
Of course the curmudgeon's take
7) Empty hotels, low-paying jobs, aging population - Now that's Owensboro!
I think you can get where I'm going with this. Ideas, comments, concerns or complaints are all welcome in the peanut gallery (comments section)
A Failed Business Model: The Messenger-Inquirer
A warning - this is going to be a pretty blunt post, sorry if I step on some toes but that is just how it is going to be, and a disclaimer - I have no professional experience with journalism or advertising (as is probably already evident), therefore, you should not pay attention to anything I say below, I am just a regular joe with an opinion and an outlet.
Way back when. . .I spent some time living outside of Owensboro. . .way outside. Feeling a little homesick, I could always go to the Messenger-Inquirer's website and catch up on the local news. Heck, I could even get tomorrow's news if you visited the site the evening before. When it was time to move home, the first place I looked for apartments was the online classified section (this was way back when craigslist.com was just a California thing).
Then, the Paxton Media group bought the paper from the Dallas Morning News. After this, a paper subscription or online subscription was required to view stories on the paper's website - on this I call B.S. Now to be fair to the paper, the classifieds and the obituaries section is still available without a subscription.
Let's be frank, the traditional newspaper industry is dead. In our region, the traditional paper has a little more life because of the number of computer illiterate and older population that is unfamiliar with the new information age. In order for a newspapers to survive, they must transform themselves into a media outlet who's main reach to the population is through the internet. It seems that almost all the other newspapers in this region and Kentucky have grasped that concept and have moved to free-access over the web. If not free, then all that is needed is to hand over an e-mail address (which can then be unscrupulously sold off and I'm cool with that). For a list of those papers, just check the sidebar on this blog.
From my understanding, a paper makes its money from advertising. Don't you think that driving more eyeballs to your website by offering free QUALITY content would drive more people to your advertisers? If you guys can't learn how to make money off of online ads, then I suggest you find someone that can.
During the ice storm, complaints for news from outside the area was heard and the M&I opened their site for a couple of weeks, but now that the storm is over, apparently once again, no one outside this area is interested in our little community. If I was still living outside this area, I would not pay for access, I'm sorry, but your product is not worth the price.
And talking about price. . .WHY THE HECK DOES IT COST $1.00 A DAY FOR ACCESS TO THE INTERNET VERSION WHEN IT COSTS $0.75 FOR THE PAPER VERSION. Really, everyone else thinks it is cheaper to transfer the news via all those little electrons streaming through the tubes, does the M&I know something everyone else doesn't? I guess discouraging access via the internet is a way to boost paper buy rates, but as a matter of principle, I for one, will not buy a paper if you the internet version is not free.
Owensboro wants to be a hub for high-technology businesses and wants to recruit young, talented people to the area. What do you think their first impression of this area is when the local two-bit newspaper demands payment for online access when the New York Times or the San Jose Mercury News doesn't? If one of the most visible businesses in Owensboro is clinging to a failing business model, what does this mean for the rest of the businesses in the area. I wonder if someone at the M&I has even heard of a Kindle?
I think the calls for the M&I to open up during the ice storm shows that there is a demand for local news from people outside this area, however, these people, like me, aren't going to pay a subscription fee for this information. If the M&I won't open up, I think there is an opportunity for someone else to move in and be the source of Owensboro News. For my money (or lack of use thereof), I think the best free-access Owensboro news comes from Stuart Peck and the Owensboro newsdesk at WFIE.com (a local TV station).
Don't worry though, the Curmudgeon will always be free (I'm not fooling myself, I know you wouldn't pay for this crap). Lord help us all if this site becomes a leader for online Owensboro news!
Update even before post is published - just saw that the M&I is maybe putting some fresh efforts into their website development. Mr. Shafa's health reporting has been respectable, let's see if he can make a difference in their web department.
Way back when. . .I spent some time living outside of Owensboro. . .way outside. Feeling a little homesick, I could always go to the Messenger-Inquirer's website and catch up on the local news. Heck, I could even get tomorrow's news if you visited the site the evening before. When it was time to move home, the first place I looked for apartments was the online classified section (this was way back when craigslist.com was just a California thing).
Then, the Paxton Media group bought the paper from the Dallas Morning News. After this, a paper subscription or online subscription was required to view stories on the paper's website - on this I call B.S. Now to be fair to the paper, the classifieds and the obituaries section is still available without a subscription.
Let's be frank, the traditional newspaper industry is dead. In our region, the traditional paper has a little more life because of the number of computer illiterate and older population that is unfamiliar with the new information age. In order for a newspapers to survive, they must transform themselves into a media outlet who's main reach to the population is through the internet. It seems that almost all the other newspapers in this region and Kentucky have grasped that concept and have moved to free-access over the web. If not free, then all that is needed is to hand over an e-mail address (which can then be unscrupulously sold off and I'm cool with that). For a list of those papers, just check the sidebar on this blog.
From my understanding, a paper makes its money from advertising. Don't you think that driving more eyeballs to your website by offering free QUALITY content would drive more people to your advertisers? If you guys can't learn how to make money off of online ads, then I suggest you find someone that can.
During the ice storm, complaints for news from outside the area was heard and the M&I opened their site for a couple of weeks, but now that the storm is over, apparently once again, no one outside this area is interested in our little community. If I was still living outside this area, I would not pay for access, I'm sorry, but your product is not worth the price.
And talking about price. . .WHY THE HECK DOES IT COST $1.00 A DAY FOR ACCESS TO THE INTERNET VERSION WHEN IT COSTS $0.75 FOR THE PAPER VERSION. Really, everyone else thinks it is cheaper to transfer the news via all those little electrons streaming through the tubes, does the M&I know something everyone else doesn't? I guess discouraging access via the internet is a way to boost paper buy rates, but as a matter of principle, I for one, will not buy a paper if you the internet version is not free.
Owensboro wants to be a hub for high-technology businesses and wants to recruit young, talented people to the area. What do you think their first impression of this area is when the local two-bit newspaper demands payment for online access when the New York Times or the San Jose Mercury News doesn't? If one of the most visible businesses in Owensboro is clinging to a failing business model, what does this mean for the rest of the businesses in the area. I wonder if someone at the M&I has even heard of a Kindle?
I think the calls for the M&I to open up during the ice storm shows that there is a demand for local news from people outside this area, however, these people, like me, aren't going to pay a subscription fee for this information. If the M&I won't open up, I think there is an opportunity for someone else to move in and be the source of Owensboro News. For my money (or lack of use thereof), I think the best free-access Owensboro news comes from Stuart Peck and the Owensboro newsdesk at WFIE.com (a local TV station).
Don't worry though, the Curmudgeon will always be free (I'm not fooling myself, I know you wouldn't pay for this crap). Lord help us all if this site becomes a leader for online Owensboro news!
Update even before post is published - just saw that the M&I is maybe putting some fresh efforts into their website development. Mr. Shafa's health reporting has been respectable, let's see if he can make a difference in their web department.
Monday, February 23, 2009
"How are you today?"
So I drove up to my local Taco Bell drive-through the other day and was greeted with:
"How are you today?"
Now being the sociable southerner I am, I answered back with,
"Fine, thanks," and wait, and wait, and wait. . .
Two minutes later "you can go ahead with your order anytime you want."
Well, why didn't you tell me that earlier, were you just busy or was I supposed to start blurting out my order.
This isn't the first time I've encountered this phenomenon and most of the time when I get the "How are you today" I just start in with my order and usually get a "your order comes to $x.xx, please drive-through"
This totally goes against my southern morals. When someone greets me with a "How are you" I switch into friendly smalltalk mode. I think it is rude to just start in with my order, but it appears to me that is what I am supposed to do. So now, I'm thinking I'm the rude customer with no cares about you or your family or that your cousin Ed caught a 10-pound bass the other day.
If my boss came up to me and I greeted him with "How are you today", I wouldn't expect a reply of "I need these 2 TPS reports by noon", I would expect an "i'm fine thanks and how about you" and at least a little smalltalk before getting to the meat of the discussion.
When I go into a drive-through, just ask me what I want to order, don't try this friendly greeting crap, it really doesn't work. The person behind the register doesn't give a hoot about how my day has been and all I want is a burrito and a coke and to get on with the artery clogging.
"How are you today?"
Now being the sociable southerner I am, I answered back with,
"Fine, thanks," and wait, and wait, and wait. . .
Two minutes later "you can go ahead with your order anytime you want."
Well, why didn't you tell me that earlier, were you just busy or was I supposed to start blurting out my order.
This isn't the first time I've encountered this phenomenon and most of the time when I get the "How are you today" I just start in with my order and usually get a "your order comes to $x.xx, please drive-through"
This totally goes against my southern morals. When someone greets me with a "How are you" I switch into friendly smalltalk mode. I think it is rude to just start in with my order, but it appears to me that is what I am supposed to do. So now, I'm thinking I'm the rude customer with no cares about you or your family or that your cousin Ed caught a 10-pound bass the other day.
If my boss came up to me and I greeted him with "How are you today", I wouldn't expect a reply of "I need these 2 TPS reports by noon", I would expect an "i'm fine thanks and how about you" and at least a little smalltalk before getting to the meat of the discussion.
When I go into a drive-through, just ask me what I want to order, don't try this friendly greeting crap, it really doesn't work. The person behind the register doesn't give a hoot about how my day has been and all I want is a burrito and a coke and to get on with the artery clogging.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
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