My Audience

Once again, I am watching my statistics on my blog.  I do not get very many hits.  And once again, the predominant origin of my hits is Russia.  I am not sure what I am posting the somebodies in Russia like.  But it is something.  I think it mucstbe some sort of search program, because each post is only viewed once. Someone is randomly checking me out.  Hmmmm. I cannot imagine what they find interesting.  I am not controversial or divisive.  

The Tonight Show

I really enjoyed "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson http://www.johnnycarson.com/.  I have to say, I had occasion as I was growing up, to watch "The Tonight Show" with Jack Paar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonight_Starring_Jack_Paar.  I was too young to watch it consistently, but did get to watch it on occasion.

When Jay Leno took over,  http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show I enjoyed watching the show, especially on Monday nights when he did the "headlines." But I was less of a fan than I was of Johnny Carson.  

I will watch his final performance tonight.  I am in hopes that Jimmy Fallon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Fallon  will be as good a host as Jay, Johnny and Jack have been.  He has something going for him: his name begins with J.

    

Lady Raider Basketball

The Texas Tech Lady Raider Basketball team has a new coach this year: Candace Whitaker,
http://www.texastech.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/candace_whitaker_846454.html is a former Lady Raider player under Coach Marsha Sharp.

Kristi Curry, the previous coach has moved on to the University of Alabama http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristy_Curry.  She had a valid contract with Texas Tech, and took a pay cut to make the move.  But she never fit in at Texas Tech.

I am sure that the Athletic Department at Texas Tech, in hiring Candace Whitaker, was hoping to replicate the excitement and interest in Lady Raider Basketball that the hiring of Kliff Kingsbury http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kliff_Kingsbury engendered in the Texas Tech Football program.  Kingsbury succeeded the very respectable Tommy Tuberville http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Tuberville who came to Texas Tech from Auburn University.  Tuberville also never fit in.  It was probably not his fault: he succeeded the immensely popular Mike Leach, and the football community held a grudge against Tuberville that really needed to be directed to the Texas Tech administration, at the way they treated Mike Leach, no matter his faults.

It is my hope that as the Lady Raider Basketball season progresses, the excitement Kliff Kingsbury has engendered with the football program, will transfer to Coach Whitaker and her staff and team.

I am not very happy about the cost of season tickets, though.  Last year, with my employee discount, I paid $80 for season tickets to the Lady Raider Basketball games.  This year, so far as I can discern, the season tickets are $140.  Almost double the price. I have not found an employee discount. Even so, there are 17 games in Lubbock, including an exhibition game, so the cost per ticket is $8.24. This is not a bad deal, but not the bargain I was able to access last year.

I will wait until closer to the opening of the season, to see if there are some other options, discounts, or employee options before I buy season tickets.  But I will probably buy season tickets. 

The last several years, there has been a tournament in Lubbock over Thanksgiving, but this year, the schedule has the team playing in the Barclay's Center Women's Invitational at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, New York over Thanksgiving.  They will play Michigan, and then they will either play LSU or Rutgers.  I have no idea if these games will be televised or even aired on the radio, but at the very least, I would hope for the latter.

The Lady Raider Basketball program has changed. It will be interesting to learn how it has changed.

Does Shelburne Falls Have a New Identity?

I could have sworn that I wrote about the filming of the movie Labor Day, http://www.recorder.com/home/6721923-95/movie-magic-is-latest-draw-in-the-falls based on a novel by Joyce Maynard of the same name.  But, if I did, I could not find the posts.  Well, that is okay, I sometimes have strange titles and strange labels for my posts, that make no sense to me when I go back to read them. So, if I did write about that, why should I think I can find it? 

The reason I would have written about Labor Day last year was because it was being filmed in Western Massachusetts, mostly Shelburne Falls, but also in the Franklin County Jail, and other areas in Massachusetts.  I followed its filming in my home town newspaper, The Greenfield Recorder http://www.recorder.com/ and I read the book, Labor Day http://www.joycemaynard.com/Joyce_Maynard/B__Labor_Day.html. I have been anticipating the release of Labor Day, http://www.deadline.com/2013/05/labor-day-movie-jason-reitman-release-date-december-25-2013/ which is apparently set for near Christmas 2013.  Why it would not be released near Labor Day 2013 is beyond me, but I think this has to do with Oscar politics, and holiday box office numbers. So, maybe, it is not beyond me.

So, today, I was reading The Greenfield Recorder again, and once again Shelburne Falls is being used as a location for a movie http://www.recorder.com/home/6721923-95/movie-magic-is-latest-draw-in-the-falls The Judge http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1872194/.  I think this is a great economic boost for Shelburne Falls, and from all reports in The Greenfield Recorder, the locals are as enamored with this cast and crew as they were with the Labor Day cast and crew. 

I think it is great that Shelburne Falls, and the surrounding area is being used for movie locations. That is so neat.

This is not the first time that movies have been filmed in Western Massachusetts http://www.mafilm.org/made-in-mass/.  The most memorable for me is Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061184/.  Another was The Edge of Darkness http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1226273/ but frankly, the movie stunk.

So, does Shelburne Falls have a new identity as a movie location?  Does two movies, two years in a row, make it so? And why do people in the film industry know about Shelburne Falls.

I have to wonder. Shelburne Falls has a very famous resident, Bill Cosby http://billcosby.com/ , who has a residential compound in Shelburne Falls.  Mr. Cosby resided in Shelburne Falls because he was a post-graduate student at the University of Massachusetts, http://www.umass.edu/ in Amherst, Massachusetts. Early on, the University of Massachusetts had liberal "university without walls" standards. Mr. Cosby could actually use some of his television programming as part of his PhD thesis material.  That is as it should be. It was so educationally about appropriate family and parenting values, and the television venue ensured it was mass marketed in a way that other educational material would not be received.

I do not know if Mr. Cosby was influential in the filming of these new movies.  If he was, I think Franklin County owes him a thank you, at least.  If not, well coincidences  are not always as coincidental as we believe.

So, now, I have another movie for which I have to anticipate the release.

Jackie Robinson Day 42 and

The first Jackie Robinson Day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson_Day was celebrated by Major League Baseball in 2004, and was designated as a celebration annually in 2005 http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130410&content_id=44442254&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb. This year, Jackie Robinson Day is 4/15/13.  If teams do not play on 4/15/13, they celebrate the next day.  If they are not in their home stadium on 4/15/13, they honor Jackie Robinson at their next home game.

If you do not know who Jackie Robinson is, he was the first Afro-American baseball player, hand picked, to play in the major leagues.  This occurred in 1947, and frankly he faced a lot of racism as he traveled with his team and played baseball across the country. He handled the situation with courage, grace, respect, and dignity. 

His number, 42, was retired in 1997 by Major League Baseball, but Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees, whose number is 42, was allowed to continue to wear the number, as he did before the number was retired 

In 2007, Ken Griffey Jr. asked permission to wear 42 on Jackie Robinson Day in Robinson's honor.  In 2009,  all players were allowed to wear the number on Jackie Robinson Day. Now, everyone wears 42 on Jackie Robinson Day.

The movie "42 The Jackie Robinson Story"  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453562/  has a line: "Someday everyone will wear 42."  The point is symbolic: if we are all 42 we are all the same: race, creed, color, whatever, we are all the same.  The movie was nationally released 4/12/13, timing it to coincide closely with Jackie Robinson Day 2013.

I went to see the movie today.  I wanted to get to it early in its showing in Lubbock, because Lubbock is not a baseball town, and I did not think it would stay around long.  I was surprised by the crowd, including many women, even solitary women as myself, without a companion, in the audience. During the movie, when there were good baseball plays, the audience clapped (I did) like it was a real game.

I appreciate the struggle and pain Jackie Robinson went through as the first black player in Major League Baseball. But I can not imagine what that was. 

I am glad Major League Baseball recognizes him. And, that Major League Baseball (the national past time) recognizes its role in the integration of our nation.

I have to wonder what Thomas Jefferson, Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King, Jr. would thing about Barak Obama being the President of the United States of America.

If anyone says that sports does not have an impact on our culture, they are wrong.  And, while it is not the end all and be all of integration, sports has had a very large impact on integration in this country.

The News

Until a few weeks ago, I was a subscriber to the local newspaper, the Lubbock Avalanche Journal.  I am not sure when the last avalanche occurred in Lubbock, but the journal makes sense.  When I moved to Lubbock in 1977, the Lubbock Avalanche  and the Lubbock Journal were a morning and evening newspaper. I can not tell you when they merged into a morning edition only. But I can tell you that for most of the time that I have lived in Lubbock since 1977, I have been a newspaper subscriber.

The cost of the newspaper has skyrocketed. Last year, the cost was $130 or so.  I thought it was too much, but I did like having the newspaper hard copy at home, and I used the newspaper for linings under the cat litter pans and food dishes. 

This year, the price went up to $180. That was more than I wanted to spend. I will do something else to  have underlinings for the cat pans and dishes.

It has felt very uncomfortable not to get the newspaper every day. I did not read it thoroughly, as did Lisenby, but I checked it out.  Headlines, stories to my interest, events, sports, entertainment, puzzles and games.

For the last 10 or more years, I have not watched the local news.  I have watched the Weather Channel http://www.weather.com/, and that is the site that gave me most of my news.  In addition to the local newspaper, I did get headlines, online from The Austin Statesman and The New York Times.   I also read the online version of The Recorder the newspaper for my hometown area, published out of Greenfield, Massachusetts.

So, with the end of my hard copy newspaper subscription, I have changed my habits and lifestyle.  I watch the morning, evening, and sometimes night time news. I do not listen closely, but pay attention if a story means something to me. I get frustrated that something that I hear during the early evening news is presented not only in the late news, which I understand, but the next day's morning news, as if it is fresh information. But it is not.  I think that is shoddy reporting.

During my drive time to and from work, I listen the the local NPR radio station: KTTZ. The Morning Edition  and All Things Considered has wonderful news stories, in depth interest stories, and is generally of high quality.

I was visiting with co-workers today. I was amazed at their lack of local awareness about the news.  So this makes me wonder. If they do not know about the local news, are they also unaware of the national news. Are they unaware of "The Sequester" that will impact all of our lives, mostly negatively. What else do they not known about that is happening in our world?

I thought I was not very aware or informed, but when I compare my awareness to my colleagues, I know A LOT!

Russia is Really Watching Over Me

I like to look at the stats for my blog and am not sure exactly what it all means.  But recently the map has indicated that Russia has been looking at my blog more than anywhere else, and the only other place anyone looks at my blog is in the United States.

I have no followers, although I know a friend reads my blog regularly.  I receive very few comments.

With all of the news about the hacking of US accounts by the Chinese, I wonder if these Russian viewers are reading my blog to see if it is worth hacking.   And, of course, if you are reading my blog, you know it is much drivel about nothing, and not worth hacking.

I am, however, very concerned about the outcome of the hacking by the Chinese, on US government and business.  I think we can not feel safe, if we are being invaded by the cybernet.  But, I do not know the answer. It is kind of like having worms crawl over you, but not knowing what to do with them.

I have to hope my government is doing a good job of deflecting these hackers. But I am not optimistic. 

Boston Celtics Basketball

I am an intermittent fan of the Boston Celtics http://www.nba.com/celtics/. The biggest reason I am an intermittent fan is because living in Lubbock, Texas, I get to view so few of their games. Because they are not winning well this year, I am seeing fewer games than I have seen when they were doing well. I never stop cheering for the Boston Celtics. I just do not get to see them play much.

Last night, I watched them play against the Los Angeles Lakers http://www.nba.com/lakers/. 
The announcers of the game were extremely complimentary of the Celtics, especially because Rajon Rondo http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/player/rajon-rondo/410839?q=rajon-rondo was not playing, and the other players had to step up and fill his spot. Well, I am a big Rajon Rondo fan, but a bigger Celtics fan.

Really, though, tonight, given the wonderfully complimentary comments of the announcers last night during the game, I wanted to look at the Celtics results for this year.  When I went to the website, this is what I got http://www.nba.com/celtics/schedule/results/2012-13-results.html.  I could never figure out how to get to the results that I wanted. I wanted a composite summary, not a game by game listing. There was this listing that also gave results, but not in a form I am accustomed to: http://espn.go.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/Bos/boston-celtics. Well, maybe I need to be more flexible.

However, I think the Boston Celtics exist in a tech-no rich part of the world, and whoever has designed their website, has designed it out of the reach of untechno savvy fans like me.  Boo. Hiss.

Comments

I blog for myself.  I would love to develop an audience, but I am realistic that I blog for myself, and if anyone else reads my blog, so be it. I look at the statistics that reflect site views and from where the traffic generates.  Lately, most of my traffic has been from China and the United States.  For a while, Russia was a big source.

I was surprised when I received a comment from someone who identified themself as from Suddenlink.  That was nice. This person apologized for my problems, and said they would forward the kudos to the representative who helped me the most. So, this makes me wonder if Suddenlink pays someone to troll the Internet to see what is being said about them, and maybe their competition? I can believe a company that is high technology will do that.  That must be an interesting job. 

I think my comments about Suddenlink are fair. 

Trolling

I watch the statistics of who is viewing my blog.  I do not believe anyone follows it regularly, except maybe one very dear friend.

For a long time, my viewership was largely in Russia, and China. But for some months, that  has changed, and the viewership is dominantly in the United States, with China second.  But my viewership is very small.  And, mostly, I think, commercial sites trolling for something.  What, I do not know.

But not anything I have on my blog.