Roses to Russ
WLOS has had Russ “Beefcake” Bowen reporting the hurricane’s aftermath from Mississippi the past couple of days. Russ has been following a local nonprofit, Hearts with Hands, as it does relief work.
Russ’s reports haven’t been anything outstanding, but his personal commentary Monday night stood out. We like it when reporters show some compassion and tell us, in their own words, what they’ve been seeing. Of course, we’ve been seeing a lot of talking heads doing this with this story, but it’s nice to hear it from our own man on the ground. Good for Russ. Keep at it.
‘Valedictorians at summer school’
syntax has been picking up the slack for us lately, what with the recent award to WLOSers and now this, as part of a recent post on watching, and actually liking, the MDA telethon this weekend:
it probably would have been better if i weren’t watching it on fucking wlos, though! … they were doing their own little low-rent mda telethon live at the asheville mall (oooh, classy!), and… i just have to ask – why the fuck were the wlos “personalities” wearing gowns and tuxedos when everyone else that was on the set were just wearing what they planned to sleep in when it was naptime?
i’m guessing it’s partly the same reason why every time h has ever bumped into darcel grimes on line at ingles or something, she got this really impatient sort of “don’t you recognize me?” expression on her smug little face. she’s better than we are. they’re better than we are, and they need to be recognized, adored. placed on a pedestal and worshipped. given free paul mitchell hair products at the “beauty salon” or free “happy endings” at the massage parlor, just because they’re huge local celebrities. big fish in a small pond. valedictorians at summer school.
Tell it like it “tee-eye-is,” syntax.
5 Comments
Boy, sounds like “syntax” has some self-esteem issues. Threatened by the local celebrities, are we? Maybe that expression on Darcel’s “smug little face” is the best she can manage after getting stopped every five feet during her Ingles shopping trip by the people for whom WNC is a big enough pond, to whom she is very much a celebrity, and to whom she must always be accessible when in public. It surely can’t be easy to never be anonymous in your own town, to always have everyone think you’ll take time out of your dinner or grocery shopping or whatever to sign a piece of paper or pose for a picture with their kids or say “hi” to grandma, who doesn’t get out much and can’t put together a coherent sentence and can’t tell the difference between Darcel and Tammy, but sure is thrilled to meet you, anyway.
And to accuse Production of “sinclair asskissing” for defending the hard work of the people who’ve been enabling the local MDA segments since long before Sinclair owned WLOS (or River City before it, or Anchor before it, or probably Wometco before it — can’t remember exactly when 13 became the MDA station) seems a bit harsh. It’s people like Production and the rest of the production, news, engineering, traffic, promotions, sales, and business departments who keep that station afloat despite the best efforts of Sinclair. If you don’t like the way -Sinclair- is doing things, send your complaints to the home office in Hunt Valley. But don’t confuse the ownership with the (mostly) hard working plebs at the local level.
Oh, and nice cheap shot with the “(unregistered)” jab in your reply to Production. His/her profile looks a lot like yours:
“Author Profile for syntax (Unregistered)
This author is an unregistered website member, meaning that he or she does not have a personal account with this website. Unregistered members can come from anywhere on the internet.
Website (URL): Not specified.
Email Address: Not specified.”
And, yes, I’m unregistered, too. But here you go: My name is Mike, and I’m a recovering WLOS-er. And as much fun as it is to bash ’em (and there are times when I like nothing more than a good WLOS bashing, much to my wife’s and former coworkers’ chagrin), sometimes you’ve just got to remember that those are real people, our neighbors and fellow Ashevegans, doing the best they can with the resources available to them. And while they may only be “valedictorians at summer school,” my guess is that’s a lot closer than syntax ever got.
so as to not appear completely insensitive, mr. “production (unregistered)”, i have known several people with md over the years, and it’s a painful thing to deal with, though the pain doesn’t even come close to what the victim of any kind of neuromuscular disorder has to live with. i give regularly to the mda. and i know that eventually a cure will be found, thanks in part to the efforts of you and your fellow telethon workers. but no matter how much of an apologist you are, my perception of sinclair broadcasting and the over-inflated they foist upon the public of our community remains the same.
kudos for your efforts in helping to find a cure for md; but please, take your sinclair asskissing elsewhere.
As a person who worked the telethon, let me say that it takes A LOT of work to get that show on the air. Many of the production staff at WLOS have worked long hours the past couple of days and I am personally proud of our team. The depiction of Darcel is so far off base, it’s not even worth debating. Darcel makes our job easier because she knows where to be and knows what she’s going to be doing. That’s all we ask for in an anchor.
I also think that the MDA will be more than pleased with the amount that we were able to raise. With all the negativity that usually surrounds a WLOS post, I just wanted to throw something positive out there.
And you’re feeling sweet today…handing out roses. Good weekend?
Go get ’em, Syntax! You may have to hire him, Ash.