Goodbye Ralph Story

Ralph Story is probably the first Los Angeles newscaster I was aware of. Indeed, after Walter Cronkite, he may have been the first newscaster of any kind that I remember. He was one of the first guys who interested me, as a very young child, in the news. One vivid story I recall to this day is of the blackouts in California during the early days of World War Two.

Ralph Story died on Monday, of complications due to emphysema. He will very much be missed.

UPDATE: Val Zavala of KCET has posted her own rememberance of Ralph Story on the Life & Times blog, along with links to postings by others. Like so many great broadcasters, he is remembered in very personal terms, though his impact is far reaching and long lasting.

Goodbye Byron Nelson

Years ago, in what seems like a different life, I played a lot of golf. I played 3-par as a kid. I was a member of the high school team, and later at the club. I worked at a local golf range. I played every day, sometimes more than once, often sneaking on the course at dawn to play before school, or at twilight to play a few holes before it got too dark to see our (fluorescent orange) balls. I loved the game, and always will.

Byron Nelson died this week at the age of 94. His title of "Lord Byron" was more appropriate than most people can appreciate. The perfection of his swing is legendary.

There have been others who gotten more attention, especially in recent years, but all of them will tell you about the brilliance of Byron Nelson. He will be remembered as a most beautiful golfer, an honor he deserves without question.

Rabbi Jesus Paintings Banned

Gundersen Lutheran Hospital and Viterbo University in LaCrosse, Wisconsin have reportedly refused to display paintings depicting Jesus as a rabbi. The hospital asked artist Clara Maria Goldstein to remove the 10 paintings soon after they were hung. Goldstein said the university had earlier declined to include the paintings in an exhibition. In both cases the problem appears to be that the paintings are considered "controversial", even though Jesus was a rabbi.

"It was insulting at first, but now I'm just sad," Goldstein said. "The Bible says Jesus was a Jew, but no one wants Jesus painted as a Jew."

via BoingBoing

VMA Viewers Down, Streamers Up

The broadcast ratings for this year's VMA awards plummeted 28% from last year, and were less than half what they were at their highest. But traffic at MTV's online Overdrive site soared 200% over last year, setting a record. It seems to support the notion that more and more music fans are getting their fix online.