Like Fox News would ever make you look bad

If you are a big name, when there isn’t a microphone and/or camera on you?

… I don’t know how Jesse Jackson can say the words “I want to cut off his nuts,” then say that you hope those words are not taken out of context.

Unless you followed that statement by saying, “I heard he likes peanuts. I’m calling Jimmy Carter to see if he can let me on his peanut farm so I can cut off some nuts for him.” I don’t know how else to take it.

I’m sure he had his reasons for saying what he did, but to say that while sitting in front of a camera ready to go television on the Fox News Channel may not be the best time.

One of the things I learned from journalism school when talking about Freedom of Speech is the concept of Time, Place and Manner. I see a new side of it. You can say what you want, but if you violate all three, you have some explaining to do. Especially if you are about to be on Fox News saying you want to emasculate someone running for President.

… For the first time in years, I got a toy in my cereal; Corn Pops in case you are wondering. It was kind of a shock. I didn’t know it came with anything when I bought it.

It actually wasn’t much of a toy really. It was a plastic spoon with a red light attached to it.

Like I said, it had been years that I got a toy in my cereal. I don’t remember the last time I actually bought cereal knowing it came with something.

Maybe it’s a sign that I’m becoming older. Or maybe it’s a sign that there are no good prizes in cereals.

… I can only recall two funerals I’ve ever been to before last week. Each time they were people I wished I got to know better: my grandfather and the managing editor at the last paper I worked at.

Last Monday, I went to a Celebration service for my friend James Melroy who died less than three weeks ago. I’ve never really had to deal with something like that before: mourn someone that I had an almost daily interaction with as a friend.

I’m at a different stage in my life in where all the changes are coming with my friends. They are all involved in relationships, engaged or married. I’m happy for all of them but at the same time I think about my life.

Then I think of James quoting the movie “Swingers” to cheer me up by saying “You’re so money.” But he’d also remind, “You don’t look at the things that you have, you only look at the stuff that you don’t have.”

While I miss James, I know he’s always with me.

By the way, I have his memorial T-Shirt. Get yours at www.cafepress.com/jamesmelroy

Life on Union Island

Reality came around/and without so much, as a mere touch/cut me into little pieces

There are things I have yet to do in life.

What I did yesterday was something I never had to do. Personally, I could have gone without.

I was in Fresno with my sister and her family checking my e-mail on my cell phone and saw an e-mail from my friend James. It was a reply to a message about me being able to attend next weekend’s UFC fight in Las Vegas.

I opened it to discover, this was not the case.

It was a message from his mom, and to call her as soon as possible.

As many of you know by now, James Melroy passed away.

For the rest of the day, I was on the phone. Each call reminded me off a story. I must have walked at least two miles in the back yard of my sisters’ house as I’m calling and remembering other people to call.

I had begun a mini-vacation with stops in Fresno (Thursday) and Stockton to take my father to the doctor as he continues his radiation therapy. After that, I may just cut my trip short.

The strange thing is the e-mail sits in my Gmail, marked as unread. When I check my Gmail on my phone, it doesn’t always mark it as unread. When I checked it on my computer, it’s still marked unread. I don’t want to open it again.

James was such a great friend. He was there for me so many times when I needed a friend to talk to; always giving sound advice. I’m sure I’m not alone in this category. I’m richer for having known him in my 2 and half years working at the Press-Telegram.

Despite his limitations, he lived a much fuller life than me, an able bodied person. But that was James, he never let anything stop him, something I’ve yet to learn.

My thoughts and prayers go to his mom and his family. They have had to endure so much recently with the passing of James grandfather a week ago. I can’t imagine what they are going through now.

James’ last story is his grandfather’s eulogy. I was told by a college professor that the best story you’d ever write would be writing about a loved one that died. James, you did the profession proud with that story.

I miss you.

http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_9710196

His final story:

http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_9694797

For more tributes:

http://lbguild9400.blogspot.com/2008/06/farewell-james.html

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/index.php/topic,57956.0.html

James' favorite cutout.

Fashion nonsense

I could buy a pair of pants at Saks Fifth Avenue or three shirts, pants, a tie and shorts at Kohl’s.

… For the first time in I don’t know how long I went clothes shopping. Not just buying a t-shirt here and pants there. I mean I bought a lot of stuff.

The reason I haven’t been clothes shopping in a while is because whenever Christmas rolled around and my ex-girlfriend asked me what I wanted so she could tell her family, I’d say clothes. So I’d make out with clothes.

Well, that is no longer happening. So I ventured to Kohl’s just to buy pants and got so much more. I was able to find a black neck tie, something I’ve been looking for but could never find. Solid colors, that’s how I roll.

I’m just doing my part to stimulate the economy. Although, I think lower energy prices will do that a lot faster. But what do I know.

… The PGA U.S. Open took place over the weekend and I saw a player I used to cover when he was a freshman and sophomore in high school. He qualified for the Open as an alternate and when a player withdrew, he was entered.

Currently, he is a star golfer for Oklahoma State and won the Ben Hogan award for best college golfer – becoming the first freshman to win the award.

So you can imagine what I was thinking when, at the end of the first round, he was in tie for seventh place after shooting a 1-under-par 70. Not only that, he was a better golfer on that day than players such as Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods. How many of us could wish we could say that once in our life?

The next round wasn’t as great, but he still made the cut and played the entire weekend finishing in a tie for 60, still better than Singh and defending champion Angel Cabrera who didn’t even make the cut.

I’ll be honest; this player was going to be my ticket to the ESPN show, “Sportscentury” until I was fired. He is a guarantee to be on that show. He was an amazing high school golfer winning the CIF-Southern California Regional by going 10-under-par. The next year he helped lead his team to a second place finish at the State meet by shooting an even-par 72 at Poppy Hills in Monterey – all with having the flu and throwing up that morning.

I hope he keeps being successful.

… Recently I went back to my home town newspaper website to find out that high school graduations had taken place. I had also found out that my high school, West, also has a completed football field complete with field turf and all-weather track with stands. It looks amazing.

One of the comments was someone who had taken aerial photos of the football field. Next to the field was a swimming pool, something that wasn’t there four years ago. This also got me looking at Google Earth to see more aerials of the high school. Although, the photo is from 2004, the school looks nothing like it was when I was a student.

All we had when the school was started was one building with 30 classrooms, a library, cafeteria, administration building, and athletic building. There was a football field, but it was just thrown together. By the time I left, there were just trailers to help the overcrowding, but nothing else.

Seeing all these changes also made me wonder how the country K-8 school that I went to – Delta Island – was doing. Of course from above, it still looks the same. So I went to the school website and found things had drastically changed. The school had been annexed by the Tracy school district a couple of years ago. Between here and there, the school had become K-5 with its students that in the 6-8 grades going to a junior high, something I never did.

The school was opened in the early 70s and always had a member of my family there until I graduated from the eighth grade in 1992; of course I had to spend the last six years there with no family. I also didn’t like the principal that was there for seven of the nine years I was.

I would have done anything to get out of there three years sooner if I could’ve. But I feel like I missed out on a somewhat normal childhood. Everyone, for the most part went to junior high. So I wonder how that experience would have changed me in anyway. I didn’t really care too much for my high school experience. Had I gone to Jr. high, would I’ve adjusted better and had an easier time making friends.

Or had I always been ahead of my time, so to speak.