Evolution of an Aspiring Educator

Updates

sbutki@gmail.com — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:34:35 GMT

A few personal updates:

I finally got a new computer:
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/07/06/1643231-scoop-belatedly-joins-the-21st-century?threadId=307466&cmt=2144047#c2144047

I listed all the movies I've seen so far this year:
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/07/08/1646366-what-movies-have-you-watched-so-far-this-year-how-were-they-ill-share-first

I confessed my Tetris addiction:

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/06/29/1623313-memoir-my-name-is-scott-and-im-a-tetrisholic-

I'm soliciting questions for interviews with Matt Taiibi
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/06/06/1548246-hey-newsvine-lets-interview-gonzo-journalist-matt-taibbi-about-his-new-book-and-his-career

and Bob Shrum
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/07/01/1628653-what-would-you-like-me-to-ask-political-consultant-robert-shrum-for-a-newsvine-interview

and have been doing lots of articles and seedss regarding the olympics
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/06/27/1618209-a-newsvine-interview-with-author-david-maraniss-about-his-new-book-rome-1960-the-olympics-that-changed-the-world

and did interviews with the latest book by Robert Crais
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/07/01/1629074-interview-with-thriller-author-robert-crais-about-his-new-book-chasing-the-darkness

and about the 1960 Olympics

Two new pieces

sbutki@gmail.com — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:50:27 GMT

I wrote two pieces this week I'm proud of - a weird satire of the whole rachael ray satire mess

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/06/01/1529793-satire-forget-rachael-ray-you-know-who-dresses-like-a-terrorist-relatives-of-bush-and-mccain?threadId=275490&cmt=1900882#c1900882

and a memoir about how my life was literally turned upside down - forever changed - by a car accident in Arkansas

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/06/05/1543583-memoir-crashes-storms-memories-and-control-issues

Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, American Idol and TV Hell

sbutki@gmail.com — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:56:13 GMT

I've been busy in recent days.

First I wrote a satire piece about American Idol

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/04/26/1454530-satire-american-idol-announces-major-changes-including-new-theme-offensive-songs

Then I asked everyone to describe their own tv hell, describing my own as

well

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/04/26/1454610-what-would-constitute-your-personal-tv-hell

Then I wrote a review of documentaries about Hank Williams and Patsy Cline.

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/04/28/1456999-documentary-reviews-good-film-about-hank-williams-poor-movie-about-patsy-cline?frommsnbc

sbutki@gmail.com — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:11:30 GMT

I haven't written a piece of media/political analysis in a while but decided to write one Saturday nite

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/04/05/1413355-hillary-clintons-truthiness-problem

As always, feedback is welcome

Meanwhile I'm averaging one music interview a week. Last week's was Justin Towne Earle, today's is Justin Roberts and next week's is a world music project called one. You can find them at http://wwww.newsvine.com/sbutki-interview

I did a fun American Idol piece suggesting better questions for callers to ask
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/04/03/1407947-suggested-questions-for-viewers-to-call-in-to-american-idol-to-enliven-the-show

I set up a place to share our grammar pet peeves
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/03/26/1391220-what-are-your-grammar-pet-peeves

And I'm setting up our next movie discussions: Into the Wild for April,

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/04/06/1414530-april-movie-discussion-into-the-wild

April, Soldiers In the Army of God for May and Capturing the Friedmans for June.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to.

How have you been?

Backgammon, Joseph Wambaugh , grammar pet peeves

sbutki@gmail.com — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 04:17:41 GMT

This weekend I posted updates and commentary from the Pittsburgh Backgammon Tournament:
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/03/29/1398073-reporting-live-from-the-pittsburgh-backgammon-tournament

I alos posted last week an interview with the great crime writer Joseph Wambaugh:

And an article about grammar pet peeves
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/03/26/1391220-what-are-your-grammar-pet-peeves

But the most discussion I sparked was whether this Vogue cover was racist of offensive
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/03/26/1391171-do-you-find-this-vogue-magazine-cover-racist-or-offensive-some-say-it-is

Waco Brothers, American Idol and my dad

sbutki@gmail.com — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:26:09 GMT

American Idol, Moment of Truth, Waco Brothers

I wrote three pieces I'm proud of and one that was more for fun (I'll let you figure out which was which)

A reflection on my guilt on watching the Moment of Truth

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/02/26/1326250-what-are-your-tv-guilty-pleasures-mine-is-the-moment-of-truth

An interview with the Waco Brothers. It was picked up by MSNBC

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/03/03/1340401-a-newsvine-interview-with-the-waco-brothers-about-their-new-live-album

A memoir piece about my dad and grades

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/02/27/1329554-thinking-about-dad-report-cards-and-star-wars-no-not-the-movie

A proposed drinking game for American Idol

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/03/06/1347400-my-proposed-american-idol-drinking-game-

How To Improve American Idol

sbutki@gmail.com — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:14:31 GMT

I decided to try my hand at writing about American Idol.

Thus:

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/02/14/1301487-11-ways-to-make-american-idol-more-fun-interesting-and-appealing

what are you reading?

sbutki@gmail.com — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:21:20 GMT

What have you been reading lately? I’m in the middle of three books, as well as in the middle of interviews for all three.
This week/month I need to turn off the tv more and read more.
The three I’m reading are
Planet Germany by Cartoon Cat

The Eye of Jade by Diane Wei Liang

And Gotcha Capitalism: How Hidden Fees Rip You Off Every Day And What You Can Do About It by Bob Sullivan.

New Reviews

sbutki@gmail.com — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:50:03 GMT

New Reviews are Up

I've started reviewing House.
My first review is here:
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/01/31/1269309-a-belated-happy-holidays-to-house-12908-episode-reviewed

I also wrote a review of the first season of Lost:

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/01/29/1263646-review-lost-season-1

An article I seeded about doctors wanting to not care for the old or unhealthy got LOTS of responses. That was here:
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/01/28/1260764-dont-treat-the-old-and-unhealthy-say-doctors

Best Books of the Year, Butki-Style

sbutki@gmail.com — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:10:28 GMT

This is my list of the nine best books I read during the last year
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/01/25/1254341-the-nine-best-books-i-have-read-in-the-last-year

Movie reviews and other good reading

sbutki@gmail.com — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:10:59 GMT

wrote a movie review of Devil's Playground, a documentary about a fascinating Amish ritual:

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/01/20/1242493-dvd-review-devils-playground-about-the-amish

I wrote a movie review of Oswald's Ghost, a documentary about how we are still affected by the killing of JFK

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/01/16/1231561-documentary-movie-review-oswalds-ghost

I highlighted the best articles I read at Newsvine

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/01/16/1232039-newsvine-week-and-a-half-in-review-jan-6-16-twelve-articles-i-think-you-should-check-out

and I interviewed a soldier.

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/01/21/1243375-my-newsvine-interview-with-newsvine-army-doctor-statwar

What have you been up to lately?

Analyzing, Evaluating the Return of the Late Night Talk Show Hosts

sbutki@gmail.com — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:02:12 GMT

I wrote this for Newsvine and it was highlighted, briefly, by MSNBC, which bought MSNBC a few months ago.

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/01/04/1202945-analyzing-evaluating-the-return-of-the-late-night-talk-show-hosts

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

"Two hands clap and there is a sound; what is the sound of one hand?"

We have all heard those age-old questions but here’s one we encountered this week: if comedy/entertainment talk shows return, minus their writers due to a strike, will the shows still be funny and entertaining?

Having watched NBC for last two hours I am prepared to answer that question and those hoping for an affirmative answer need to look elsewhere. Specifically, those looking for some humor – or at least planned humor as opposed to “oh, god, I can’t believe he thought THAT was funny” – will probably want to click their remotes over to CBS until the strike is over.

MSNBC was reporting that Leno had higher ratings for Wednesday night's shows than Letterman but I think that will change as viewers go to CBS to check out the funnier fare. Devotion to a host, Leno, will dissipate as they realize he's even less funny without his writers.

I watched CBS Wednesday night and NBC Thursday night. My hope is that other Newsvine writers will also watch these talk shows and publish their own reviews. This is all admittedly subjective and I’m sure some will say I have this all completely backward.

I don’t normally watch these shows but with all the media coverage – including some of my own – of the writers strike I wanted to see for myself how much difference these writers make. The answer, put simply, is "quite a big difference."

CBS is at a competitive advantage over NBC because David Letterman’s company, Worldwide Pants, owns and produces “Late Night”(Letterman’s show) and the “Late Late Show” (hosted by cheeky monkey Craig Ferguson). The NBC shows, in contrast, are owned by the network

Letterman’s company reached an agreement with the Writers Guild of America which allowed the two CBS shows’ writers to return. In contrast Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien, the guild says, were forced to return on air by their employers, the network, without their writers.

As with the NBC shows Thursday, the main topic on CBS Wednesday night was the strike.You just knew that every ten minutes you were going to get hit by another reminder that the strike matters and that producers were greedy corporate whores.

For David Letterman’s top 10 list Wednesday he included, in a classy move, writers from other networks, including Comedy Central (whose shows return next week). The full top 10 list for Demands of the Striking Writers is here but the top three were:

3. I'm no accountant, but instead of us getting 4 cents for a $20 DVD, how about we get $20 for a 4-cent DVD?

2. I don't have a joke -- I just want to remind everyone that we're on strike, so none of us are responsible for this lame list.

1. Producers must immediately remove their heads from their [heinies].

Letterman also got off two decent llnes about the strike: 1) “I hear you at home thinking to yourself, ‘This crap is written?”’ 2) He said some awards show may be cancelled due to the strike so “something good has come of this.” Yes, admittedly, even those jokes weren’t particularly amusing.

That said after his fifth or tenth joke about how bad his new beard made him look I began to remember why I’d stopped watching him regularly, namely much of his humor is pretty predictable, albeit still not as predictable as Jay Leno’s.

Normally, I much prefer The Daily Show and the Colbert Report where the jokes are sharper and the material more creative.

Craig Ferguson was his usual fun, goofy self. Each time I watch him I think, “Man, I need to start watching this show regularly. Maybe this time I will.” When he told the audience that he had no guests for the show the crowd groaned and his response was classic. An enjoyable hour flew by, which is no mean feat.

Ferguson got off the best line about how the shows, though more NBC than CBS now, are having trouble finding guests willing to come on the shows.

“I just want to send a message to the D-list celebrities of Hollywood. You’re still welcome here," Ferguson said.

On Thursday Leno made one comment which made me smile until I concluded he was probably lying. He said the good part about having trouble getting actors booked on the show is that now he can avoid promoting "crappy" movies. But Leno's also been a bit of a smarky kiss-ass that post-strike I think he'll go right back to promoting movies via interviews regardless of how crappy they are.

That said, this whole situation is not the fault of Jay Leno, who I never found particularly funny even WITH writers, nor Conan O’Brien, who I’ve always liked. Not only were Leno and O’Brien returning without their writers, but both – since they are members of the guild themselves – had been told they could not write material of their own. Jay Leno got some criticism for his first show since he did a monologue which included material he had pre-written. While he defended the movie, some guild members thought he'd broken the rules.

After watching these shows Thursday I felt kind of bad for Jay and Conan because they were clearly unsure what to do without their writers. Having them do their shows without writers or any pre-written material is a bit like asking musicians to perform without using any previously planned or recorded arrangements.

A comedy show without writers is like a restaurant without food – the waiter can only do so much before the customers began to realize that the service seems to be realllly slow.

In short, they are expected to improvise for an hour.. or bring on guests and have extra-long interviews….. it’s just overall not a pretty picture.

Leno had a monologue Thursday night but it was weak. Whether that was because he tried to do it without pre-writing the jokes or he flubbed what was weak, dated material (one joke related to a stalker of Conan, which was news way back in November ) was unclear. Call me a wimp but I'm not a fan of stalker jokes in the first place.

"This is the loosest the show has been," Leno said at one point. By which I think he meant the filler had become the best part of the show.

My opinion may have been skewed by the fact that I consider Howie Mandel (Jay's main guest Thursday night) to be the anti-christ. You know things are bad when you wish he'd go BACK to the filler (bad holiday gifts). And is it any surprise that Howie crossed the picket lines? One more reason to dislike Howie, as far as I'm concerned.

Conan's show was more fun for a variety of reasons including simply that Conan has a more entertaining, charming presence than Jay.

Conan had several laugh-out-loud moments including when he spied on a page giving a tour of his tv studio and then acted mad, upset and confused over inaccurate and misleading information stated by the page. He confronted the page about it and hilarity ensued.

The first 20 minutes were pretty damn funny but then P. Diddy's personal assistant came on, giving Conan fashion tips and I was thinking that if I wasn't doing this story I would have turned off the show. Conan's musical guest was Kid Rock, who was pretty unimpresive.

The NBC hosts have said they had to return on air or else the other workers on the show, the non-writers, would have been fired. That makes sense except do the other workers really want to put on an inferior show night after night? For how long? I mean Conan is the best ad-libber out there, with the possible exception of Letterman, but my god, man, how long are they going to make him work this circus without writers?

As I finish up this review/analysis/summary at 2 a.m. I have just thought of another possible explanation. Hmm.... maybe…. maybe… stay with me here.. maybe the NBC hosts are intentionally making the show as lame as possible, hoping that their suckiness will spark the producers and the corporations that own the shows to get their fat assses out of the boardrooms and do some serious labor negotiating.

I am going to end this with the hope that this is their secret strategy – code named Operation Let’s Suck – and that I, for one, think it’s time someone told them “Mission Accomplished!”

Media Analysis: The News Media, Especially TV News, Is Focusing Too Strongly on Hillary Clinton's "E

sbutki@gmail.com — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:50:19 GMT

I wrote and published this this morning at Newsvine:
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2008/01/08/1211732-media-analysis-the-news-media-especially-tv-news-is-focusing-too-strongly-on-hillary-clintons-emotional-moment

Media Analysis: The News Media, Especially TV News, Is Focusing Too Strongly on Hillary Clinton's "Emotional" Moment
News Type: Other — Tue Jan 8, 2008 9:11 AM EST

I feel a bit bad this morning for Hillary Clinton. Exhausted, frustrated, tired, she got a bit emotional Monday while answering a question.

As soon as I saw it I knew she had a public relations disaster on her hands. Within hours I expect it will be referred to as a "breakdown," which I consider a huge exaggeration.

The news media jumped on the video footage, like a shark reacting to blood in the water. The reaction was so fast, so strong, that it made me wonder if the news media had been wanting, hoping, waiting for a moment they can use as if to demonstrate the Hillary-is-a-woman, therefore-she-gets emotional theory. Sadly, I know not just men but women too who have told me they would not vote for Hillary for precisely this fear, that as a woman Hillary might let her emotion affect her judgment.

Personally, I’m not sure it would be so terrible to have a more emotional president, given that George Bush has never struck me as a person with a big heart and look how well he's done.

Everywhere I turned on news networks Monday night and Tuesday morning the clip of Hillary was shown, with NBC on Today, for example, referring to it as a “a rare lack of composure.” At least NBC was providing that context, something I wish others were doing too, to demonstrate that this is a break from her usual steely resolve.

But I don’t know if words would have helped, what with pictures being worth a thousand words. One thing candidates and the news media learned from President Reagan was that if you provide the right pictures and videos the public won’t even bother listening to the words being spoken.

The second time I saw the footage I immediately thought of Howard Dean. Remember when he was riding high and then he went overboard, screaming and shrieking during a speech? Soon that clip was shown everywhere and soon his campaign was spirally downward. I thought it was unfair for voters to change their minds based on that brief glimpse into his psyche and I thought the media was being negligent in turning an entire campaign into a You Tube moment.

Hillary’s moment was front page news on New York tabloids and is the focus of a popular Associated Press seed at Newsvine: Emotional Clinton Says This Is Personal. The Associated Press story begins:

Hillary Rodham Clinton's eyes welled up and her voice broke repeatedly Monday as she talked with voters in a restaurant about her campaign for the presidency.
Hillary has long had many negatives – so many that I’ve long predicted she was unelectable – but now she is, through her emotional moments Monday, facing a bigger problem: Her emotion. The underlying, unexpressed thought is “Do we want someone in the White House who might get emotional?”

There are many reasons to vote for or against Hillary Clinton but I really don’t think her demeanor and emotions is a valid one. She is normally steely and, if anything, the usual complaint is she comes off a bit cold. But for much of a fickle public, video doesn’t lie.

You can expect conservative bloggers like Michelle Malkin as well as professional blowhards like Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh to jump at the chance to use this clip to show Hillary as weak I’d rather have a candidate with a heart than one acting heartless on issues like illegal immigration, which can have the effect of uprooting, if not splitting up, families.

This all made me wonder how the media has covered emotional moments in the past. What they are doing to Hillary today is similar to what they did to Howard Dean and if Hillary Clinton does worse than expected today – as I think she will – the news media will be partly responsible.

I am also reminded of a low point in presidential race media history when Edmund Muskie, appared teary-eyed in public. While he long maintained it was just snow in his eye, the news media said he cried and soon he was, well, history?

For a long time this race has been about, among many other things, whether the public will elect its first woman or its first black man, which raises one final thought. The heir apparent now looks to be Obama. I should be thrilled because I’ve long considered him both my favorite candidate and the one with the best chance of going all the way. Normally, I have to choose which candidate I think will win and which candidate I would like to win; It is rare for those two candidates to be the same person.

But I don’t want Obama to win this way, I don’t want him to benefit from the media overscrutinizing a process that leaves everyone exhausted and sometimes not looking and acting their best. Everyone? Yes, I did say everyone. Compare the media coverage today of Hillary with that of Obama last week. Did you hear about how Obama was so emotionally and physically exhausted last week that he literally fell asleep mid-speech?

I’m guessing you did not hear about that as it received scant media coverage... It jumped out as me as I read Dana Milbank’s column in the Washington Post, from which I quote:

The fatigued synapses are already showing. At a rally in an airport hangar in Portsmouth, Obama apologized to the crowd because "my throat's a little sore." Then the famously silver-tongued candidate read his way through a new stump speech and nearly stumbled into what, coming from the current president's mouth, would be called a Bushism. America needs "a president who," Obama says, "will be [pause] willing to [pause] be disagree -- [pause]." He tried again: "Will -- will be willing to disagree with you without being disagreeable."

Whew.

Granted, there’s a difference between falling asleep due to physical and emotional exhaustion and letting your emotion show during a question-and-answer session but they are still comparable and what are we, the viewers, the voters, to make of one becoming a new story and the other not? Is the media – run mostly by men – showing its gender bias here? Or is this about giving the voters what they want, a reason NOT to vote for someone.

It reminds me of Al Gore’s campaign in 2004 and how the media kept after him with questions about statements he made, or more accurately didn’t make. An excellent recent Vanity Fair piece showed how flawed the media coverage of Al Gore turned out to be, what with many of the stories about him claiming to have invented the Internet or whatever, turning out to have been wildly inaccurate. Part of the problem was reporters had decided how to cover him, as an exaggerator, so they wrote stories that fit that role, that stereotype, and didn’t let facts get in the way of the story.

What we are seeing is the media reporting on Hillary as a woman, as opposed to just Hillary as a candidate.

Sometimes voters need to step away from the media coverage and go with their gut, with their heart.

So whether you’re going to the ballots today, or just going to follow the coverage on tv or the Internet, keep in mind that what you saw yesterday from Hillary Clinton was, yes, her getting a bit emotional. But don’t let her brief emotional display trigger your own emotional reaction as to how you feel about her.

Instead, do what the news media should be doing – focusing on the big important national and international issues – the war, plans for the future – and not on personal quirks or moments of weakness.

Holiday writings - santa scandal

sbutki@gmail.com — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 20:20:41 GMT

Ok this was weird but oddly cathartic to share

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/12/27/1188834-weakly-world-news-exclusive-santas-surprise-stalker-scandal

My earlier santa scandal piece was also fun to write

Meanwhile if you want to see photos of my xmas trip go here

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/12/08/1150784-newsviners-show-us-your-holiday-decorations?threadId=186698&cmt=1307354#c1307354

Satire: Drug scandal at the north pole

sbutki@gmail.com — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 08:23:32 GMT

this was really fun to write

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/12/21/1178365-weakly-world-news-exclusive-blitzen-report-says-drug-use-rampant-at-the-north-pole

holiday music

sbutki@gmail.com — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:53:13 GMT

I tried to write up my own list of my favorite holiday songs

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/10/21/1040255-my-five-favorite-holiday-songs?threadId=165183&cmt=1232863#c1232863">

and the New York Times printed its own list of worst holiday songs.

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/12/03/1138012-jingle-bells-in-dog-barks-no-thanks-the-least-favorite-holiday-songs

But this list by the
Washington Post strikes the perfect balance, with good writing too:

excerpt: "A little advice: When friends and relatives come visiting around Christmas, don't haul out those old CDs with Madonna's rendition of "Santa Baby" or Barbra Streisand's "Jingle Bells?" And by all means, avoid "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer."

Unless, that is, you want to drive people away.

In the vast songbook of seasonal music, those recordings are Christmas poison, the sonic equivalent of a chorus of screeching cats. They are among the most-hated Christmas songs of all time.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/13/AR2007121302192.html

I'm trying different writing style and genres

sbutki@gmail.com — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 05:39:40 GMT

I’ve written quite a variety of things this week, as I experiment with different types of writing, from analysis to satire, to initator of discussions:

- an interview with Newsvine’s resident recapper of Heroes

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/12/14/1163775-my-interview-with-newsviner-vacelts-about-heroes

- I proposed some better debate questions (i.e. make them wear lie detector devices while listing the biggest mistake of their life and how they learned from it

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/12/13/1161590-if-you-could-choose-the-debate-questions-what-would-you-ask

- I ranted about Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee's Faith Issues

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/12/12/1158882-fine-lets-talk-about-faith-is-mike-huckabee-really-being-a-good-christian-when-he-spreads-lies-about-mormons-while-defending-his-ignorant-aids-remarks

- And this was my think piece: What would the U.S. federal government have to do to win back credibility? Or is that even possible at this point?

- http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/12/14/1163407-what-would-the-us-federal-government-have-to-do-to-win-back-credibility-or-is-that-even-possible-at-this-point

Coming next week: an interview with the band the Bottle Rockets, an interview with a doctor who recaps House and, later this month, my top 10 books for the year

--------------------------

Fun, satire attempt

sbutki@gmail.com — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:28:46 GMT

I took a stab at political satire.

Let me know how I did.

Meanwhile I finished my interview with AJ Jacobs

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/12/11/1156739-interview-with-aj-jacobs-author-of-the-year-of-living-biblically-one-mans-humble-quest-to-follow-the-bible-as-literally-as-possible-part-3-of-3

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/12/12/1158521-newsvines-weakly-world-news-exclusive-ron-pauls-polling-mystery-solved

I decided to try my hand at some political satire
I reference a Yuriy - he's a newsviner who loves Ron Paul
Weakly World News is Newsvine's attempt at a tabloid publication
----------------------
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/12/12/1158521-newsvines-weakly-world-news-exclusive-ron-pauls-polling-mystery-solved

Newsvine's Weakly World News Exclusive: Ron Paul's Polling Mystery Solved

In a stunning development Wednesday, political analyst Ttocs Iktub discovered the solution to the puzzle that has stymied so many weaker, inferior political analysts, namely why do Ron Paul’s poll numbers online not match those off-line.

“The answer is quite simple,” Iktub said. “Online polls made there minor mistakes. First, they let people vote more than once. They were working on the honor system. Big mistake.”

“One guy with the obviously fake name of Yuriy Bilonsky voted 666 times for Ron Paul in 13 different polls. Pressed to explain himself, ‘Yuriy,” as he calls himself, also claims to be representing a “dynasty,” Iktub said. Attempts by this organization to locate any said dynasty were unsuccessful.

The second mistake was the wording of the question pollsters were asking people off-line, Iktub said. Most of those polls asked people “Would you rather have Ron Paul as president or get some free fudge?”

Weakly World News asked commentator Eric Albert for comment on Itkub’s discovery. “The evil corporate news agencies – run by class whores - didn’t disclose that the reason Paul was so unpopular in the polls was because they, well, fudged with the data,” Albert said.

Other pollsters showed people a naked photo of Ron Paul and a naked photo of Obama and Paul again did not do well in those polls, Iktub said.

“The third mistake was over wording of polls online,” Iktub said.

Most online polls asked people: “Would you rather vote for Ron Paul or be hit a pole?”As one might guess Paul won those polls.

“A few porn sites had a few variations in which Paul would be ramming his, um, pole, well… you can probably guess what those questions were like,” Iktub said. He coughed and blushed. “Let’s just say those sites managed what some considered impossible – they made Ron Paul almost sound sexy.”

One news agency, whose name can’t be disclosed but rhymes with box, asked people, “Would you rather Bush won the war against Iraq or Ron Paul get elected.?” As one might guess Bush beat Paul in that election. But since Bush isn’t even running in that election “those results are about as helpful as most news coming from Fox, er, can you edit that last part out?” We promised we would.

Asked to comment on the results of this investigaton, Ron Paul said, “How did you get this phone number? How many times have I told you I don’t want to hear from crackpot journalists like you.” He then asked his staff for help determining how to hang up the cell phone.

Ttocs Iktub, previously known as Scott Butki, changed his name following the restraining order put on him by the Republican candidates after his debate party game proposal was published.

Stay tuned to Weakly World News for your best election coverage. Other news agencies may focus their election coverage on brothels and Gennifer Flowers but WWN focuses on the Real News.

This piece is dedicated to Yuriy, whose piece about Adams sparked this story.
http://yuriybilokonsky.newsvine.com/_news/2007/12/10/1154091-two-out-of-three-adams-agree?last=1197312959#last_1

Busy Am I

sbutki@gmail.com — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:15:25 GMT

I’ve been busy:
- I proposed the Republican candidates engage in a drinking contest next time they have a debate.
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/11/29/1130225-a-proposed-election-debate-drinking-game

- I explained why I think Carson Daly is an agent of Satan
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/11/30/1131619-carson-daly-is-an-agent-of-satan-or-the-luckiest-man-in-the-world-or-both
I seeded an addictive vocabulary game that sends rice to the needy

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/11/27/1124714-claim-playing-a-word-definition-game-at-freericecom-results-in-food-being-donated-to-the-needy-status-true?last=1196370727#last_1

- and I wrote a memoir piece contrasting how vocal I am online with how shy I am off-line
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/11/30/1131567-i-was-just-lurking-off-line-when-boom-i-got-busted

sbutki@gmail.com — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 04:05:52 GMT

Since I left journalism I’ve had less things to brag about as far as news media excitement

but here's one

About a month ago MSNBC bought Newsvine, the social network site I wrote for as a hobby.
This week they started integrating their content.
As a result if you go to this main site of MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032105/ you can see some of the latest Newsvine columnists including myself.

An interesting “it’s a small world”-type twist: one of the MSNBC employees working on how MSNBC can help Newsvine and vice versa is Bob. Bob is the nicest, best editor I ever had. He was my editor when I worked in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. We’d work together than walk over to a bar where we’d shoot pool, drink bar and Bob would sing karaoke. Later I moved on to Arkansas and Maryland, gave up journalism as a career. Bob, he left the newspaper to go work for MSNBC where he has worked ever since.
And now we’re back together, sort of. He was surprised – sort of – when he looked at the site his owners bought and saw my name all over it.

Also I got a good interview with two of the tv writers on strike, both of whom I'd previously interviewed regarding their books:

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/11/16/1101785-a-quickie-newsvine-interview-with-two-tv-writers-on-strike

Kinky Friedman, Dog/JK Rowling Fiction and Howard Kurtz

sbutki@gmail.com — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 05:05:35 GMT

I'm still doing lots of interviews as well as some weird fiction.
So...
I finished my two-part interview with songwriter/writer/governor wanna-be
Kinky Friedman
It is here:
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/11/14/1097006-part-2-an-interview-with-writer-kinky-friedman-author-of-you-can-lead-a-politician-to-water-but-you-cant-make-him-think-ten-commandments-for-texas-politics

I'm halfway through my interviews with Howard Kurtz (the Washington Post media critic)
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/11/01/1066239-an-interview-with-howard-kurtz-author-of-reality-show-inside-the-last-great-television-news-war
and AJ Jacobs, author of the Year of Living Biblically
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/10/14/1024652-interview-with-aj-jacobs-author-of-the-year-of-living-biblically

and I've been leading some writing exercises. Here is one I wrote about candles
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/11/08/1083824-writing-down-the-bones-nov-8-15?threadId=173501&cmt=1190090#c1190090

and here is one I wrote about if JK Rowling and Dog the Bounty Hunter were on Larry King together
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/11/08/1083838-celebrity-fiction-when-dog-and-jk-rowling-went-on-larry-king-?threadId=173508&cmt=1190065#c1190065

Lastly my two think pieces for the week:
Pondering Hypocrisy While Staring At Bathroom Graffiti; Illegal Activity To Protest,Well, Illegal Activity?
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/11/11/1089980-pondering-hypocrisy-while-staring-at-bathroom-graffiti-illegal-activity-to-protestwell-illegal-activity

and
Is It Just Me or Are the Big Winners of the Writer's Strike the Reality Shows? Because, if so, will someone please agree to the writer's demands and get them back to work ASAP.
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/11/12/1091545-is-it-just-me-or-are-the-big-winners-of-the-writers-strike-the-reality-shows-because-if-so-will-someone-please-agree-to-the-writers-demands-and-get-them-back-to-work-asap

Coming in the next few days: An interview with two writers on strike

I've Been Busy

sbutki@gmail.com — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:21:21 GMT

Well, I just realized I've not posted anything at livejournal or myspace in quite a while so here's a quickie update for those who don't read me at Newsvine
http://www.sbutki.newsvine.com
where I do most of my writing these days.

I've done at least 15 new author interviews in the last three months, with
everyone from John Wesley Harding (writing under his real name of Wesley Stace) to
AJ Jacons (his year of Living Biblically is quite fun)to a new children's cd about Brazilian music

Rather than post a bunch of links I'll just post one that will take you to my most
recent interviews:
http://www.newsvine.com/sbutki-interview

Meanwhile I love my new job especially now that I have a real good match with the adult with special needs I'm working with. I'm not going to go into any more detail than that about for obvious privacy reasons.

The only bad thing in the last few months is that an uncle who meant a lot to me died.
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/10/10/1015920-rip-uncle-ernie
I went to Michigan for his funeral but was kicking myself for not going earlier as I'd planned. But the funeral and visit was excellent and I've been invited back for Thanksgiving.

Oh and I started a list of my favorite favorite holiday songs. Is yours on the list? If not what would it be?

Interview: Chris Patterson, Lead Singer Of Leaving, TX

sbutki@gmail.com — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 03:29:37 GMT

A new interview
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/09/29/993719-interview-chris-patterson-lead-singer-of-leaving-tx

This interview has a back story to it.

One day, about two months ago, I get an email from a guy who introduces himself as a member of a band called Leaving, TX. He says he had seen some of my band reviews and interviews and would like to meet me when he plays a show in my hometown soon. Well, I had two reactions: 1) I'd never received an email from a singer inviting me personally to a show (although it turned out the show was at a local bar) and 2) If this band was going to go all the way from Texas to Hagerstown, Md. (en route to a show in Pittsburgh, PA) the least I could do is drive 10 minutes to check them out and meet the guy.

So I went and realized a few things at once: I was one of only maybe five people there (not including employees) who seemed to know the band was even coming. But the place rocked, and soon everyone was having a great time. I also realized these guys were not from Texas at all. A relationship begun with a lie! Oy! Turns out they are from the Washington D.C. area.

But they did a great show and the singer is a gentleman. Their two albums - 100 Miles To Sunday and Anywhere On Good Roads - are both great.

I will let this interview tell the rest of the story.

How would you describe your style of music?

I've called it Alt Country and Americana to different people. What we really are is a country band with a twang-rock problem. We've actually begun to use this on our website and just plastered it on our trailer. In reality I've shaped our songs from what I hear coming out of Austin, Texas. I've always been a fan of songwriters and bands like Joe Ely, Jon Dee Graham, and Reckless Kelly and have molded my writing around what I listen to. Our music takes on a bit of a non-traditional approach mainly due to the background of the band members.

Chris Patterson, Songwriter/Vocals/Rhythm Guitar: My musical passion comes from Austin, Texas. I've been blown away on more times than I can count watching bands at The Continental Club, Saxon Pub, and Antones. Their always seems to be an honesty in the music that is getting played that seems to get missed on Top 40 Country Radio.

Garry Cecil, Bass: Garry hails from Edinburgh, Scotland. His roots are in traditional Country and Bluegrass having played for years with an upright bass. He keeps the band in check with our arrangements, tempos, etc.

Thor Smith, Drums: Thor is from Halden, Norway and started drums at a very early age. He comes from a rock background which is where he cut his chops in the early years. He brings a different dynamic to the band than a straight up country drummer would.

Andrew Buhler, Pedal Steel and Lead Guitar: Andrew comes from Miami, FL. He is a dedicated student of his instrument and is just as capable playing a Jimi Hendrix lick as he would a Roy Buchanan. His style is unique because he is so well versed in so many different styles of playing and you can hear it especially in our live shows.

When I saw you live you did two excellent covers: The Gourds cover of Snoop Doggy Dog's "Gin and Juice" and a Cars song. Do you often incorporate covers into your live shows?

Currently the band has over 40 original songs and about 15 covers we could play. When we go into new markets where we don't already have a relationship with an audience we typically will play more covers just to keep the audience interested. We really prefer to play our own tunes, but occasionally we find a cover song that we sort of "make" our own. Something that the audience might be caught off guard by which would be why “Gin and Juice” and “Just What I Needed” found there way into our set the night you caught us.

We've done a mean cover of "Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix and have been known to play "Crazy Train" on a few occasions. We also have a couple songs that we play out of respect to the bands that did them originally. We have a couple Old 97's tunes we know as well as a few Drive By Truckers tunes. We play these songs because we ourselves are fans. Since our inception we've opened every show with a version of "Folsom Prison" done in a minor key. It has just seemed to fit. I'll try to get you an mp3 of it.

You also sang one or two by Ol' 97s - am I right to assume you, like me, are fans of that band?

Totally correct!

Now speaking of Texas bands... you are not a Texas band. Am I alone in assuming from your name that at least one member is from Texas. Was that accidental confusion? Also please explain the band name.

Leaving, TX was named out of respect for the great music and musicians coming out of Texas. None of the members of the band are from Texas or have even lived there. Chris has spent a great deal of time there thought in Dallas (former day job), Austin (music), and Mc Allen (Grandparents). The band and the name was born in September of '04 on the runway of the Austin airport on a plane bound for Baltimore where Chris was, you guessed it..."Leaving Texas."

I had spent 10 days down in Austin watching and playing music. Totally absorbed in the music scene. I had gone done about a week early for the Austin City Limits Festival to do some networking and some playing and then catch the festival on the tail end. After the first day at the festival I sold my passes and ended up spending my nights in the clubs where all kinds of magic was going on with the musicians. As I was leaving I decided it was time to put together the band that could play the songs that I had been writing and as I was thinking about what to call it I thought about how sad it was to be leaving Austin with such a fun music scene and heading back to DC. Leaving Austin soon became Leaving Texas and then I decided to make the name look more like a city and LEAVING, TX was born. When asked what part of Texas we are from I usually respond with "Mythical, Tx," a little town just outside of Austin. No one has questioned me yet!

What question do you wish you'd get asked?

Would you guys be interested in a deal with a major label? (From the A&R guy with the major label). Probably not what you were looking for, so let me tell you about how the band got started as it is a story of "destiny." I got home on Monday night from Austin after deciding to start Leaving, TX. That night I told my wife I was ready to start a band, play my songs, and focus on the style of Austin. I had no idea of who I was going to bring into the band at that time or even if my songs were good enough, but I had decided to move forward. Step back in time about two years to a house party where I was playing solo because the guy that was to play lead with me didn't show up.

In the audience I see a tall fellow watching me close so I can tell he is a guitar player. In between songs I ask him if he plays and he responded, "Yes...a wee bit." I explained that I had brought another acoustic and asked if he would like to sit in with me. He responded with a thick Scottish accent, "Yeah I think so...I was just waiting to see if you were any good first.” This was my first meeting with Garry Cecil. He proved to be a pretty amazing guitar player and I was very impressed. After playing we had a few beers and talked about music. Both of us were in bands but were surprised to find out we lived about 8 blocks from one another. We promised that we would get together to jam sometime since we were so close.

Two years pass and I've been home from Austin two days when I hear a knock on my door and it is the guy who hosted that party I played at. He had a piece of paper with Garry's phone number on it. He had run into him, and Garry explained that he was no longer in the band he was in and was looking to do something original and had liked playing with me. I called Garry and the next night I sat him down and played him a dozen or so new songs that I had written and explained the concept of "Leaving, TX." He was in. Then he told me he was going to play bass in the band as he was a much better bass player than guitarist. I had no idea. Friday rolled along and out of the blue I got a call from my old drummer, Thor Smith.

Thor and I had played together for about a year in a jam band called Grooved Pavement. It was something that never really took off but was a good release for a few of us. I hadn't spoken to Thor in over a year. He said he hadn't been playing much and wondered what I was doing musically, as he always liked the original songs I had brought to the band. We had a drummer.

Andrew was little harder to find. I had placed an ad on Craigslist for a guitarist and we had a good half dozen over to play with us. After the first two we stopped inviting them over for rehearsal and instead invited them over for a few songs. The process was a bit painful. I saw a post in early November for a songwriter who was forming his own Alt Country band in the area.

With visions of Wilco or Jayhawks I sent him an email to see if he might be interested in stepping in to our project and hoped he had some lead guitar skills. He was set on being the only songwriter in his band, but recommended to me to contact Andrew Buhler who was a strong guitarist and was just beginning to learn pedal steel. Andrew had done some session work for him. I emailed Andrew, and week later he showed up to practice with us. He was in the band before the first song ended.

What are you working on next?

There are a couple of things going on... We've been working with an agent now out of Austin that is getting us some bigger and better gigs. We are now also on the "radar" of a local DC agent that has taken an interest in us. Hopefully this is going to lead to some more exposure in even bigger venues regionally.

We are currently in discussion with a promotion/tour company in the UK to set up a two week spring tour. The band is working through about 20 original songs to find the 12 or so that need to be on the next CD. We will likely begin recording in January at the same studio that did disc #2. Chris is currently working on a solo CD which is much more Singer-Songwriter driven. There has been some interest from Nashville in a couple of tunes that I wrote and I've started some demos of them to get out there and I think it might lead to a full blown more acoustic disc.

For more information you can check out the band's Web page.

http://www.leavingtx.com/

These guys put on a great show. The other day I did sort of a test - I gave a friend a copy of Bob Schneider's Lonelyand cd (Bob's an Austin institutation) and one by these guys and didn't tell him which was really from Texas. He came back raving about the one with the band (these guys) which is telling, methinks

concert friday nite

sbutki@gmail.com — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:17:09 GMT

if you're looking for something to do Friday nite (as in 20 hours from now)

these guys

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=35057301&MyToken=4c7d2c4a-45d1-4363-b617-6f7200cd982b

are playing a show at the Broad Axe bar in downtown Hagerstown at 9 pm.

This is the first time I've received an emailed request - via my myspace page -

to go to a concert so I agreed to attend and spread the word of this

band playing.

Scott

My Five Favorite Books So Far This Year

sbutki@gmail.com — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 19:34:09 GMT

The Five Best Books I've Read This Year

http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007/08/28/927134-the-five-best-books-ive-read-this-year

I read about two books a week. Some weeks I only finish one, but lately I’m finishing three or four a week. Though it will slow down again as I start a new job tomorrow, I’m still shooting to read 100 books this year, which is about how many I read last year. Sometimes I'm asked to name the best book I’ve read lately, but that’s hard to answer because it depends on a variety of questions: Best as in best plot? Best characters? Most entertaining?

But here is an attempt to list the five books I have most enjoyed reading so far in 2007. Note my phrasing there because at least one of those books, King Dork, came out prior to this year. These are in no particular order.

1. King Dork by Frank Portman: This book spoke so loudly to me — and not just because it was written by the singer of the punk band the Mr. T Experience — that I’ve been handing my copy to friends, pleading, “You HAVE got to read this.” If you like sex, dreaded high school, ever spent more than five minutes trying to think of a great band name and love or hate The Catcher In the Rye, than this book will speak to you - and hopefully so will my interview with the author.

2. The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz: I love mysteries and thrillers but a lot of my favorite writers -- Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, George Pelecanos -- are getting quite well known. There’s something special about coming across an author before he or she is well known. Lutz’s debut novel is stunning in its brilliance and hilarity. At turns surprising and funny -- and sometimes both -- I was gushing with praise for it when I talked with her. She and I agreed on the best description of her style: "Nancy Drew after a bottle of Jack Daniels.”

Imagine a girl growing up in a family of private detectives in which every member follows and scams each other, and such. Now imagine trying to leave that family business. Add a voice that’s even more smart ass than mine. Add new twists on old clichés and play up those detective novel stereotypes. Mix. Hilarity ensues.

3. The Triumph of the Thriller: How Cops, Crooks, and Cannibals Captured Popular Fiction by Patrick Anderson: Anderson makes a solid case for why mysteries and thrillers so fascinate readers, including me, and why writers also love them. He also trashes some writers -- I’m looking at you, Tom Clancy and Patricia Cornwell -- who are undeserving of their popularity and riches, as he explained to me.

Anderson wonderfully captures not only the history of the thriller but also its acceptance in society as real literature, not just as some niche or genre item. Anderson, who has been a speechwriter for presidents and who has written thrillers, has my dream job: He is paid by The Washington Post to review thrillers. It’s always fun just to compare notes with him as I did during our interview.

4. What The Dead Know by Laura Lippman: This book is a perfect example of what Patrick Anderson is talking about. It’s a thriller and mystery, yes, but it is about much more - ranging from the human condition, to relationships, to our wanting to believe the best about people. I’ve been following Lippman’s career for a few years because, like Michael Connelly, she managed to make the transition from journalist to novelist. I interviewed her about one year ago. Her books keep getting better, though I don’t know if it’ll be possible to top the stunning work that is What the Dead Know. I do know I'll keep reading to find out.

5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling: To not only produce this great book but the whole seven-volume Potter series is an impressive feat. Whatever Rowling tries next -- maybe a detective series as Ian Rankin, another favorite mystery writer/interview of mine — famously suggested then sort of retracted, will, I’m sure, be fascinating. Personally, I’d love to see Rowling and Rankin try a joint project. The best review I’d read of Rowling’s book came from Stephen King.

That ends this list but...

I have another ten books waiting to be read and I can already tell you two candidates for my best of the year list: Beyond Reach, the latest by Karin Slaughter, and The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs. Both look great, though in completely different ways. Slaughter’s books, appropriate to her name, are violent but she does so to raise awareness of violence, whereas Jacobs takes interesting concepts and runs with them.

I interviewed Jacobs about one of my favorite non-fiction books, the hysterical Know-It-All, for which he read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica and documented the feat, which pretty much took over his life and drove family and friends crazy. For his new book, which comes out in October, he tries to follow the rules contained in the Bible, from not shaving (he documents with photos) to stoning to death those committing adultery (I think, he decided for legal reasons, to skip that one) and, well, you get the idea. Mayhem ensues.

Look for interview with both authors in the next few months. Take care and happy reading. And remember what Groucho Marx said: "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."