Snow Day, Yay?

Working from home has many advantages, but, today I learned of one disadvantage. Denver was struck by a blizzard, and while most everyone got at least a partial snow day, I, who wasn't going to face the asphalt jungle anyway, had no excuse not to work.

I'm feeling ripped off.

While my friends lounge in PJs and enjoy an unexpected, paid day off at home, I'm sitting sadly at my computer screen trying to figure out how to make the situation work for me.

"Um. Didn't you hear? Huge blizzard. Yeah. Kitchen Pass was closed, and I couldn't make it to the office, you can just give me money, right?"

Sure. I could take a weather day, but, there's no money in it for me. Which means, I had to brave the elements, find an alternate route to the office through Bathroom Flats, and make the best of a snowy day.

As I sat in front of my computer, it was sorta like looking out the window at the kids enjoying recess while I served my detention in the classroom with the teacher. They laughed and played, their red, happy faces positively glowing with exuberant joy.

This is not a particularly powerful motivational tool.

"But, Mrs. Larson! All the other kids are making a snowman! We've not had snow in ever so long! I've never even gotten to make a snow ball since last winter, and they're making snow men and snow forts and angels and having a huge snowball fight! Can't I do my detention tomorrow? I promise I'll stay in all next week! Please, Mrs. Larson? Please?"

She ignores me.

I stare at the computer. I hit the reload button. Facebook tells me that everyone else is having the Best.Day.Ever.

I decide I should shovel. That's the ticket! I'll get my responsibilities as contentious neighbor and homeowner done, and take a break from all the nothing I've accomplished, and I'll get it out of my system! Brilliant!

I shovel. There's about four inches, and it's fun to be out in the winter wonderland! I get done way too soon, and go back inside.

It didn't help.

I'm still staring at the computer. The snow continues to fall. Some of my friends, who went to work, have now been sent home. Although it's taking them 8 times longer than usual to get home, they are getting paid to sit in traffic. They've got a nice weather-related war story to share with the other storm survivors for years to come. I've got deadlines and a blank screen, taunting me. They're going to get to stay home Friday, too. I hate them.

Wait a second. Maybe I don't hate them. I can use this. Harness the pain to some sort of lame blog post! Yeah! That's the ticket! But what will I do tomorrow?

Battlestar Galactica's Last Stand

Tonight is the ending of what has become one of my all-time favorite television shows. For the last few years, Battlestar Galactica has been consistently one of the best shows on television, and it is with mixed emotions that I wait for the 2-hour finale.

What's even more surprising to me is that I almost missed the boat entirely. I'm still doing penance for doubting that it would even be worth watching.

To understand this, you have to take a trip in the way back machine. Come along, won't you? It won't hurt a bit.

It's 1989. My favorite show was Star Trek:The Next Generation. I was in high school, and, I'm geek enough to admit, a member of the Official Star Trek Fan Club. (Shhh. I was young and geeky. Now I’m just geeky.) The fan magazine told of the unique opportunity for writers that the show represented. It was the only show where would-be writers could submit unsolicited spec scripts, even without agent representation. Michael Piller, the late, great, executive producer, was the guardian of this program, and he discovered some fantastic writers. Several of these are among my favorite writers working today.

The first writer I'd heard about who got a staff position through this program, was Ronald D. Moore. I remember thinking how cool it was that a fan could get a job on the show, even though I was not considering being a television writer (that idea came to me much later). I also imagined how much competition there must be, and felt a bit sorry for the people who read these spec scripts. I wondered how much crap they had to wade through to find someone whose script was even remotely produce-able. At that moment, Ronald D. Moore became the first television writer whose name I recognized, and to whom I paid any attention.

But, the bad news is that I only seemed to notice when the episode was not my cup of tea. I started to associate him with all the "Klingon episodes" he wrote, and that was it. You know the ones, "Sins of the Father," "Reunion," "Redemption," and "Rightful Heir." I really disliked them, bordering on actual hatred. They bored me, and always seemed pretty one-note. The Klingons, with the exception of our "hero" Klingon, Lt. Worf, were idiots. I started to cringe every time I saw his name in the "written by" credits. Inwardly, I thought "Grrrrreat. Klingon episode." and mentally marked it as a waste of an episode, and checked out. I figured that someone who could only write Klingon episodes wouldn't amount to much once there was no longer any Star Trek in production. I stopped paying attention to him.

Fast forward to fall 2003.

Carnivale had just premiered, and I went over to a friend's house to watch the first few episodes of the new series. It looked interesting. We watched the first episode, I really enjoyed it, and settled in to watch the second, when I noticed a name in the credits. Executive Producer, Ronald D. Moore. The cringe came back involuntarily. And yet, I'd liked the first episode. Surely, this wasn't the same guy.

About that time, I learned that the Battlestar Galactica miniseries is in the works. I had fond memories of the original show, but, by now I'd seen it as an adult, and knew it really was a terrible show. Why would they try and resurrect it? And there were all these rumors. Starbuck is a woman. So is Boomer. Sounded sketchy. Helming the show? None other than Ronald D. Moore. The Klingon guy. I was no longer even remotely interested.

Then the miniseries aired. I didn't have cable, and, I wasn't really interested, so I didn't watch it. But, the reviews were surprisingly good. And Edward James Olmos was on the show. There were rumors that it was going to be a series.

When it aired as a series, again, I didn't tune in, no cable. Some friends had it on tape, however, and set the miniseries and the first half season in my hands. Semi-reluctantly, out of obligation, I sat down to watch it.

It was riveting. I was hooked. I wanted more. This was exceptional TV.

I still couldn't believe this was the same guy, so, I IMDB'd him.

Yup. Same guy. But, this was a chance for me to see the whole picture, which I'd missed. He hadn't *just* written Klingon episodes. there was "Tapestry," one I quite liked. And "Data's Day," which was also good. Plus, several others were "non-Klingon," and certainly above average.

Which meant I was very, very shamed, and it was time to eat a whole bunch of crow. And to get cable.

I really, really, really loved this Ronald D. Moore guy. His "re-imagining" of Battlestar Galactica capitalized on the things from the original series that I had always wanted to know more about, but were never really more than "flavor" in the original series. I'm really going to miss being on this journey. Thank goodness for DVDs. Bring on Caprica. So say we all.

Thank you, Mr. Moore. I'm sorry for being a stupid kid, and for thinking uncharitable thoughts.

Requiescat In Pace

Today the Rocky Mountain News published its final issue, 55 days short of its 150th birthday. Even though I knew it was coming, it was hard to think that Colorado will be without the paper older than the state itself.

After I'd read through the issue, the first physical copy of the Rocky I've read in ages, what I most lamented was the sense that the Rocky grew along with Colorado, and is more inextricably linked to the state's heritage as any current institution could ever be. This solid thread to our pioneer past has been cut.

As I pondered these thoughts, I had a brilliant idea. I would go and visit the final resting place of the founder of the Rocky, William Newton Byers.

I was not the only person to have this idea. Maybe "brilliant" is the wrong word.

As I drove into the entrance to Fairmount Cemetery, the local NBC affiliate had a news van exiting the cemetery. Of course, they may've been there for some other purpose, but, I like to think they'd swung by to pay their respects.

When I got to the grave site, I found that it had been decorated with a black wreath, circling today's final issue of the newspaper that Byers had started with the printing press he'd hauled across the plains. Well, he didn't haul it. Oxen did. But he drove. Byers was 28 years old.

Byers was one of those people who really saw the potential of Denver. His paper was the first published, just days after arriving in town, and beating the nearest competitor by a mere two hours. That other paper didn't last.

The Rocky's first "home" was a very rickety hint of a building, closely matching its frontier environs, where all the buildings were held together with good thoughts and a handful of nails. In the fifth year of operation, there was even a flood which carried the "building" and the printing press floating down the Cherry Creek.

The paper survived despite these things. The biggest reason? Byers had an over-riding vision for the paper's role. He used high quality paper, and made the content indispensable. He was widely respected, and people wanted to hear what he had to say. These ingredients never go out of style, and had the current owners of the paper been as foresighted as its founder, those qualities would've carried the Rocky for another 149 years, 10 months and and 5 days.

Byers sold the paper after 19 years, but, remained committed to promoting the city of Denver, which he dubbed "The Queen city of the Plains," and to the state of Colorado. There's a town, a street, and a middle school named in his honor.

I'm sad that the Rocky Mountain News has moved from a record of Colorado history to a part of it. Rest in Peace.

Requiem for the Rocky?

The Rocky Mountain News, the oldest newspaper in Colorado, is for sale. Far from being a portent of strength and prosperity, it seems that in Denver's 150th year, the Rocky could be in its final one.

I have long and fond memories of the Rocky. In elementary school in Summit County, it was the newspaper we read once a week. I loved its tabloid format, which meant easy handling for my small arms, the only "grown-up" newspaper that I could easily manage.

That simple tabloid format was like a friendly little welcome to me, and when I got older, I naturally sought its familiar form as my newspaper of choice. The Denver Post was bulky, and its fonts looked foreign and stand-offish. I understood the Rocky, I knew its rhythms. It was a comfortable, old friend that I recognized even when I'd not picked it up in years.

In high school, I sat in football games and graduations (including my own) at Damon Runyon field, long before I knew anything about him or his role with the Rocky Mountain News. I knew of Harvey long before I knew of Rocky writer Mary Coyle Chase.

As an adult, I admit, I adored the largest comic section in any daily I've ever seen. Sure, the Post had Dilbert, but, that was a small loss in the overall comics war. Gene Amole and Dusty Saunders were must reads.

When it was announced that the two newspapers in Denver were going to be merged, and a joint operating agreement was going into effect, I feared only doom for the Rocky. The E.W. Scripps Publishing Company, which now owned both papers, assured us "Denver is still a two paper town! Nothing will change!" Riiiight. Was that a *Sunday* Rocky Mountain News you wanted?

Soon after the merger, I stopped taking the newspaper. I didn't really want it any more. In part, it felt like drinking the Kool-Aid (Should I say, instead, "Unbranded fruit drink made from powdered concentrate?"). The other part was that I wasn't reading much of the paper beyond the comics and the columnists that I really liked. I, like so many others, was finding more relevant news from other sources on the internet. I still read my favorite columns online. Admittedly, it was no longer a regular habit. Clearly, the declining revenue at the paper is all my fault. I've betrayed my good friend.

And, yet, betrayal aside, I didn't miss the paper. Comics and columns online were actually *archived.* If I missed a day, I could catch up. (And I didn't have to waste a single bit of bandwidth for Rex Morgan, M.D.)

This is happening to newspapers all over the country, and while I can't claim to have brought my mighty newspaper slaying ability to bear in every instance, the story is not new. Newspapers have struggled to understand and compete with the internet as a news source. The delivery model and revenue sources are completely different. Simply taking the print publication online is not the answer.

It is likely too late to save the Rocky, and I'm sad that it wasn't able to adapt to stay ahead of the extinction comet. At the same time, the big old comet worked out okay for everyone, right? Well, except the dinosaurs.

(Speaking of dinosaurs, I actually prefer my dinosaurs in natural history museums and Spielberg films, so, I'll stop being distracted and go back to talking about newspapers...)

What are some lessons that newspapers could learn?

* Stop covering everything. Newspapers always try to cover everything, which means having the same re-hashed Associated Press stories that every other paper had. Part of this was to "keep up appearances" of having "all the news," and part of it was to keep the correct content-to-ad ratio. Now, anyone can find those AP stories themselves, directly from the AP, so there's no reason to carry them.

* Go with your strengths. Sounds cliché, but, the things I most valued and associate with the Rocky? Columnists and Comics. They were things I could get no where else, and still seek out to this day. Eliminate anything that is mediocre and irrelevant. Unique and excellent content is valuable content.

* Information not data. I can get data anywhere, from a zillion different sources. What I can't get is information. I need insight. I want experts who tell me what something means, and how to make sense of all the data. I need a trusted source that helps me understand.

* Find a niche. This may sound like a combo of the first two, but, it's more than that. Covering a niche that is under-represented can be a gold mine. Probably, it can even be something that the newspaper did the occasional story on, but, never put much effort into. Like local governments. Civic groups. What rich content could a team of experienced journalists find if they stopped paying attention to the same things everyone else is watching? Be the first source your audience thinks of for information on the local government, and focus on following it better than anyone has ever followed it. Get those microscopes out, and expose corruption or sing the praises of things that are working really well. The key is depth, not breadth.

The deadline for the Rocky is tomorrow. The Rocky Mountain News reported today that E.W. Scripps has asked potential buyers to submit bids for the newspaper by close of business on Friday, when it will begin evaluating the offers. I wish my friends at the Rocky well, and may they find a home.

Note: There is a group of Rocky staffers working to save the paper, if you are interested, check out: http://www.iwantmyrocky.com/