Friday, May 29, 2015

Can you see it?

Belleayre Beach in Pine Hill. There's an eagle in there.
Many Earth cycles ago, when I was in high school — around the time when my English was not good enough to purposely mangle the language or to notice typos that now keep me up at night  — the class took a trip to "the beach."
The beach was Kingston Point along the Hudson, which is very pretty, but it was not a "beach" by my definition.
And I remember myself complaining. "This is not a beach," not looking at the beauty around me. "I can see the other side."
The other side was also beautiful. But I don't think I saw it then.
The Earth had to go around the sun some more times before I eventually did.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Time issues


Some time ago during a news meeting, bosspersonman Tony Adamis brought up a photo showing the "IIII" from the Old Dutch Church clock. I said that we did a story that mentioned the "XIII." That meeting inspired yesterday's post about this weirdness, and Tony was kind enough to dredge the closeup, so you can see if for yourself.

YOU HAD ONE JOB

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

This broken clock can't even be right twice a day

The Old Dutch Church in Uptown Kingston.
If you look at the Old Dutch Church steeple that faces Wall Street in Uptown Kingston, you'll notice that two of the numbers are not quite right.

The 12, in Roman numerals, is missing an "I," which makes it an "XI." You can see that there's a dark shadow where the "I" used to be.

The funny thing is, there's an extra shadow, for another "I."
It used to be a "XIII."
And not to be outdone, the 4, which should be "IV," is marked as "IIII."
And the clock is broken, with one arm on the "IIII," which means that this clock is always wrong.

If you are wondering why this is, the answer is that the Dutch were terrible at math and/or because of a hobgoblin idk lol, now immortalized in a mural on North Front and Crown Streets that was part of last year's O+ Festival.

DFM chat on how to integrate social media into your newsroom's workflow, for everyone

Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time. 

Today we are talking about how to integrate social media into a newsroom's workflow. Does every journalist in a newsroom need to be active in social media?  What are the baseline social media skills for journalists? What about copy editors or designers? How do you measure such engagement in a qualitative way? Bring your ideas, your tools and your #realtalk. #Realtalk is mandatory.

The feed is posted below. You can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.




Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Everything is connected

Shaupeneak Ridge in the town of Esopus over the weekend.
Sometimes things are as clear as the pristine water from a Hudson Valley pond. Other times — just as often— things are seemingly disconnected, like random lily pads floating about. But take a step back and look at the whole picture. What do you see?

Friday, May 22, 2015

Take a look

Wall Street in Kingston.
Are you going so fast sometimes that you lose sight of what's around you? Are you looking ahead?
Let's look around.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

The Cloud is cloudy


Clouds are unpredictable, though we know what they do and how they do it. Their shapes are as puzzling as they are inspiring, and sometimes I'm as puzzled as I'm inspired by the potential — and dangers — of cloud computing, namely storing all your stuff on someone else's home. It's all very confusing.
Like a cloud.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

It grows

Route 32 near Rosendale.

Nature likes to take over when things are left unattended. That can be both beautiful and terrifying, and how we see it is a reflection of who we are, in the ever growing and disruptive nature of life.

***

Monday, May 18, 2015

Quick trip


Let's take a short, hopefully pleasant ride:

Friday, May 15, 2015

Monsters among us


The Broadway Lights diner in Kingston is home of the Alex Burger, a two-pound monster ("The beast of all beasts," according to the menu) that will earn you a T-shirt if you finish it. Every now and then you'll see someone post a photo of it on Facebook, and the burger is sometimes bigger than the happy faces posting the photos.
 'merica.
***
Sy Hersh is the Lewis Black of journalism, meaning HE'S ANGRY. Good for him.
SUNY New Paltz journo prof and table jumper (you had to be there) Rob Miraldi literally wrote the book on Hersh and is probably happy about the recent publicity/controversy Hersh has dusted up and is probably jumping on tables. Good jorb, Rob!
Somehow I missed this Awl piece on how Facebook is going to eat us alive while we watch. As always, +1 for that gif.

How to throw shade, you monster.
***

The Four:

* This story of the late B.B. King in Kingston is magic. 
* ADORBS! (Factoid! Rob Miraldi's son, Rob Miraldi, the office manager of the UCSPCA, is a Freeman alumn. Yes, we live in a small town.)
* Woman and dog rescued in Platte Clove. 
* Old maps.
***
One cat: A monster



Yesterday's Internet, Today! is not afraid of monsters.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Stand by for waaaaaaa

The Ulster County Courthouse, as seen through some trees.
The Hudson Valley has a very distinct color palette at certain times of the day. Take a look.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Nothing lasts

RIP Phone, you terrible beast.
I dropped my phone yesterday as I was leaving work and the screen shattered. It kind of works, in that I can hear if I get a text or email, but I can't answer or use it.
I thought that would add to my FOMO, but it really didn't, but not for the reasons you think.
After all, this is not a story about how not being connected changed my perspective about life.
You see, I wasn't completely disconnected — I took that photo with Google Glass— and the real realization was that it would take more than losing one device for me to really have an epiphany and have my 'om' moment under a tree.

Or maybe I wasn't worried because I had an excuse to not answer emails at home.
***

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Hot news


A funky car on Hurley Avenue in Kingston on Monday.
Hot cars are meeting the hotter pavement. The clothes are getting thinner and air is getting thicker. But drive five minutes from anywhere in the area and you are bound to find some beautiful scenery.
No, seriously. Drive.

***
Hot off the internets:
Dad bod is a terrible meme so of course there's a flow chart to find out if you have a dad bod.
Georgia man saves dog, gets arrested.
People worry about the attention span of whatevs.
You're not going to church. 
***

The Four:
Bears!
Boat school.
Scenic route.
* Artist's rendering.

One cat: 

Yesterday's Internet, Today! doesn't have a hot bod.

Monday, May 11, 2015

For Florida Man's sake


The corner of Wall and North Front Street can't decide if it wants stop signs or traffic lights. It's a common occurrence, almost as common as plans to change the direction of Uptown traffic or storefront owners complaining about the canopies even though everyone else loves them.
We are never satisfied with what we have. And that's OK! But let's make sure we strive to improve and not just change for the sake of changing, and that we appreciate what we have.

Can you answer these Hudson Valley and Catskills trivia questions?


Do you know these Hudson Valley and Catskills spots and events? And no. I didn't add a Mohonk question. C'mon now.

Friday, May 8, 2015

Love in Upstate Jesus

John Street in Uptown Kingston.
The petals of many short-lived flowers around Kingston are beginning to decay, but that means that warmer weather and nicer times are also coming — and that beautiful moments are brief.
Enjoy them while you have them.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

The trail of the rail story

A Catskill Mountain Railroad car in Midtown Kingston.
The long debate over the future (or lack of it) of the Catskill Mountain Railroad has been raging in the pages and comments of the Freeman and the community at large for longer than I care to remember. Emotions are very high, and if recreational trails or rails is THE issue for people in the Mid-Hudson Valley and the Catskills, I'd venture to say we generally have a pretty neat life in the area.
So let's be nice. Catskill Mountain Railroad Commenters™ might notice the comments on this blog are unmoderated and that I've been calling them "Catskill Mountain Railroad Commenters™" for months. Feel free to go to town here and give Tony a break.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Drifting through dreams

A dreamcatcher hanging from a wire on North Front Street in Uptown Kingston. 
The dreams not dreamed are the dreams one cannot catch. But dreaming a life of living the dream can be a moving and unrealistic goal. The good dreams are the ones you can work toward.

Chantix dreams are realistic, but I don't recommend those stressful bouts with funkiness unless you're quitting smoking.

...  for all life is a dream, and dreams themselves are only dreams. 

DFM chat on how to visualize content for social media, for free


Journalists, members of Digital First Media and pretty much everyone else who wants to - are going to be taking part on the weekly Twitter chat Wednesday at noon, Eastern Time.

Today we are talking about how to improve the impact of your social media posts by adding media. What kinds of visualizations work for what platforms? What tools can you easily and quickly use that are free? Bring your toolkit (or just lurk!) and your #realtalk. 

The feed is posted below. You can also check out past chats over here.

If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

The fire in you

Firemen's Park on Hurley and Washington avenues in Uptown Kingston on Monday. 
The world is on fire, but not because we're a terrible bunch, but because of our burning untapped potential.
There are signs of this all around. And you know you have it. What are you doing with it?

Monday, May 4, 2015

May The Fourth Brands Gonna Brand

The Cinco de Mayo festival takes over Broadway Kingston on Saturday.
We enter May and that means that things are happening and that this horrible meme is resting for another year.
It may come as no surprise that the Cinco de Mayo celebrations in the city already happened. As did the New Paltz Regatta on Sunday.
Blink and you miss things. But there are plenty of things to do, still. Let's do them.

Friday, May 1, 2015

It's going to be nice


It's going to be very nice this weekend in the Hudson Valley and the Catskills and I hope that you go out if you can, no matter where you are. I'm planning to do so at least at some point.