You can’t handle the truth
As the saying goes: I hate to say I told you so. But I told you so.
When the Sun Journal compiled its list of the year’s top ten stories last month, they did so through dubious means. They asked all the reporters to vote and then tallied up the results. I’m no mathematician. But what kind of system is that? Newsmakers are in too close to judge the true power of any one story. A person who is on fire cannot adequately describe the nature of the flames, after all. He can only run in circles and scream a lot.
Whatever. Stupid metaphor. The fact is, when you cut out the opinions and emotions and get down to the hard numbers, the real top ten stories are revealed. These are the stories that truly polarized the readership and sold some by God papers. And the undisputed champion that emerges from those numbers reigns not only at the top spot, but in three spots throughout.
Again: I hate to say I told you so…
Most of you will hate it. Some will demand a recount. Take it up with your local representative, naysayer. As Archimedes observed way back whenever he was a living mathematician: “Numbers don’t lie, dumbass.”
Check out the real list with some commentary from another sane person who knew the truth from the start.
January 20th, 2007 at 1:49 am
I must admit that with a little half truth, plus alot of trumped up hysteria, you garnered much attention. However, no matter how you try to count it, it wasn’t a news story. And you guys wonder why the average citizen doesn’t bother to read your rag? Get with the title, NEWSpaper.
January 20th, 2007 at 2:05 am
Kisses and hugs, Walter. See the title of the blog? Written just for you.
January 20th, 2007 at 2:54 am
wow, half of the top ten! wow!
January 20th, 2007 at 8:08 am
Havent had a chance to read the list yet but I have to ask — Walter, who exactly do you think is the “average citizen”? I’d be interested in how you define that.
January 20th, 2007 at 8:13 am
Don’t let Walter ruin your morning. He claims to love hard news, but only if it doesn’t involve one of his pals. He’s the picture of hypocrisy. The very picture.
January 20th, 2007 at 8:13 am
And speaking of unpleasantries, who the hell gets up this early?
January 20th, 2007 at 8:36 am
Of course, what Mark LaFlamme did was take an old-fashion mystery, used shoe leather to track down all the details, talked to all those involved about those angles, and revealed some deeper truths, tales, and terrors still out in the woods. He also combined it with the new technology of DNA analysis.
Mark wasn’t afraid to be open to discovering the “mystery” was less about the animal found on the road and more about how people reacted and the “tip of the iceberg” hints it pointed to of the real “mystery animal” that remains roaming in central Maine.
I fully appreciate being pulled into the story, meeting Mark, and being able to share from the beginning what many of us, including Mark, thought – this thing was a feral dog. He did not stop there, however, and never neglected the backstory it revealed. (Hey, a new “feral” story – that of a woman found along the Cambodian-Vietnamese border – is beginning to have the same sort of media evolution.)
Obviously the fine people of L/A would be interested in this melodrama unfolding on their doorsteps, which became an international story, and luckily the Sun Journal was there to cover it so fully and honestly. There never was any hiding the true nature of what was found, but instead, it was a gateway for the other wonders linked to the story.
Thank you Mark LaFlamme for being a very good reporter.
January 20th, 2007 at 9:39 am
Mark, did you cut & paste that last reply from Loren?
And good morning Dan, I mean, Walter. The cereal is not spelling out “OOOOOOO” Those are cheerios.
In other news, Mark Laflamme, esteemed crime reporter and part time crime commiter, breaks his arm while patting his own back. Uses Brenda approved website on funky beasty’s to prove his point. Details at 11.
January 20th, 2007 at 10:23 am
By the way Mark, regarding your metaphor, I have three words for you and I’d like you to repeat them after me because they could save your life some day. Here they are: : Drop. And. Roll.
January 20th, 2007 at 10:23 am
“brenda approved website”? what’s that mean?
hey- I get it- you’re jealous, Gil, because I read it first!
;^b *
obviously, nobody can make you happy when you choose to be miserable.
January 20th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
I see LaFlamme is up to his normal practice of taking a kernel of truth, mixing it with conjecture then presenting it as news.
Truth.
The murdered man describe is not my “pal,” merely an acquaintance. Robert would more acturately be describe as a pal to him and his family.
My objection was taking the self-interest statement of an admitted murderer and presenting it as a fact, without any investigation of the matter. AND you decided to do it on the day of the funeral, simply to add more angst to the family. It is either extremely insenitive or malicious. Neither of which mark of a responsible journalist.
January 20th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Hey, Dan, why do you insist on hiding behind other names.. it NEVER takes us long to figure you out..
Since when could you get inside Mark’s head, or anyone else’s for that matter, to determine his motivation for what he does? You seem to think you are well versed in what we all think. Unfortunately for you, most of the time you are at oposite poles from the truth.
On a different note.. is anyone else having trouble getting into the SJ site? I’m getting the following error message.
Warning: mysql_connect(): Host ’sj-online’ is blocked because of many connection errors. Unblock with ‘mysqladmin flush-hosts’ in /var/www/esj/includes/cmsdb.php on line 16
Fatal error: Host ’sj-online’ is blocked because of many connection errors. Unblock with ‘mysqladmin flush-hosts’ in /var/www/esj/includes/cmsdb.php on line 16
January 20th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Nevermind.. I got in..
January 20th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Hi Martha, I got onto the SJ site just fine an hour or so ago. Something very odd happened while I was catching up on Christine’s blog though: my screen went haywire and filled up with “blog comments” that were all dated December 31, 1969. Being the nerd that I am I googled the date and saw that it represents some kind of a Unix error, a date calculation baseline. So something might be up over there — though as I say, I got in OK.
January 20th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Thanks Linda. I tried again and got in.
January 20th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Walter=Dan
confirmation code: Fat Bastard
January 20th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Yeah, I hear while all the SJ staffers were brainstorming at the annual love-in, the server crashed. Back up now, obviously. For what it’s worth, some pretty good improvements are on the way there.
January 20th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
I was wondering how the meeting went.
January 20th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Walter/Dan’s back? Why? So we can all hear some of his same old crap? Lovely to have you back, Dan/Walter/Jean/Harvey/Marsha/Frank/Dick…whoEVER!
Hope the SJ’s getting more bandwith. It’s what it needs.
January 20th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Hey Dan….. (Oops, Walter)
http://flickr.com/photos/billyniblick/7131943/
January 20th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Weasel I usuallhy take a big cautious breath before going to your sites, but that was so friggin’ perfect that I laughed right out loud.
January 20th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Linda, does that mean its safe for work? Yes, I work Saturdays… GRRRRRR
January 20th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Thank you Linda….
I still miss K2…………………………………….
January 20th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Walter/Dan,
Glad to see you back again. HHWNBN is arguably one of the best contributions that I’ve made to this site so far. Every now and then I come up with a good one.
Haven’t read the list and probably won’t, but I do now understand the comment Brenda made about Linda’s three words for Mark. If you don’t understand that last remark, blame it on the albino brain chiggers-they have been thick for most of the day here and after 5 weeks of them, I’m all for staying in the house as much as possible. Atleast that’s the excuse I’m sticking with today.
January 20th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Brenda……
Just for You. Look at the yes. No really, look at the eyes. Spookey Huh.
http://flickr.com/photos/32509073@N00/97728483/
January 20th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
Weasel, I just had some non monkey meat pizza and thought of you!
January 20th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
Just stay away from Luiggi’s
January 20th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Don’t worry, I will. I always do.
January 20th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Check out the drunk perverted retard on the left…..
http://flickr.com/photos/booklocker/209047206/in/set-72157594227625580/
January 20th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Looks like he’s trying to cop a feel.
January 20th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Is he looking at Flammette’s breasts, the other chicks breasts, of the man’s manhood?
I’m guessing the third one.
January 20th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
thanks weasel, you’re right! the answer’s in the eyes: my daughter’s eyebrows are much more arched!
January 20th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Well, whatever he’s doing, Corey seems to like it! (Sorry Corey!)
January 20th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Please.. someone tell me.. are Weasel’s sites sfw?
January 20th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
tonight they are Martha but dont assume the precedent will be good other times
January 20th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
So wassup, its been a while since we had a crowd on a Saturday night. Too cold for L/A night life or what? Its damned cold and windy here in Wilton.
January 20th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
L/A night life? WTF is that? And, yes, it’s very cold here. It’s nice to have a crowd around here. I’m in the middle of watching “Where The Heart Is”….love that flick.
January 20th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Linda, is your email account working?
January 20th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Yes but it’s empty of new mail … is yours?
January 20th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
My nephew is here and we are watching “Lady and the Tramp”. That’s Wilton night life — dogs and cartoons.
January 20th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
So now we know last year’s top stories — anybody with data can walk in with that list. How ’bout we show that we’ve got our finger on the pulse of greater L/A by guessing the top stories of 2007? we could put them in a mayonnaise jar somewhere and a year from now, see how right we are.
January 20th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
The young man in that photo simply looks like a nice young man, perhaps a brooding artists, who merely has a healthy appreciation for his loved ones and friends. Plus, he’s like dashingly handsome and stuff.
January 20th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
You expect us to believe that comment?
January 20th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Gil’s wrong. My arm feels great today because I haven’t patted myself on the back even once. Others have done it for me (I did, however, pat myself on the front a time or two. But that’s none of your business and I’ll thank you to stop asking me about it).
I got some real nice treatment on Strange Maine, both Jan. 19 and Jan. 13. I’m having a good web week.
January 20th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Which photo? Weasel posted two photos.
January 20th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
What did you do to deserve such a good web week, Mark?
January 20th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
Absolutely nothing. I mean! I worked real hard, ate right, and took geritol every day.
January 20th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
What’s got you doing things right now? Did you have an ephiany or something?
January 20th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
So Mark I guess you have the media trifecta this week, print TV and web.
January 20th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
You better be taking your Geritol. I’ve heard that most grandfathers do!
January 20th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Oh. And, keep patting yourself on the front. You might just get lucky.
January 20th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
My mother used to give me some mustardy looking tonic stuff when i was a little kid, Father Johns something or other. It was utterly gag-making (I was a finicky kid but still, i think it would have gagged anyone)
I remember the first time I heard of Geritol. I couldn’t BELIEVE that grownups would voluntarily take something that I assumed was as bad tasting as Father Johns. I don’t think I could get a spoonful of Geritol near my face to this day without throwing up in dread. If i ever wind up in the next room to Mainetarr in the nursing home, we’ll gang up on any nurse that tries to give us Geritol. We’ll threaten her with our canes until she takes the vile stuff away. Is it a deal, MT?
January 20th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
By the way Mark — this afternoon I was reading Christine’s Shrunken Heads blog when the SJ server went postal and started throwing Unix null dates at me (a string of nonsense blog comments dated December 31 1969 — I had to rush and look up Jim Morrison’s date of death and reassure myself that it was in 1971, not 1969; some of the stuff sounded like his lyrics and i was spooked)
But I digress. I was reading an inscrutable comment you made, I think it was on Christine’s latest post or maybe the one before that. I couldn’t tell if you were saying that you work out and like it, or don’t believe in working out, or maybe it had nothing to do with working out but you were just tongue-tied with lust for Angelina Jolie. i could go look it up but you know the one I mean, right? Its more fun to ask you about it here.
So, what in the world where you talking about?
(and I’m sure you all are thinking the same about me, but just go see for yourself, it’s a pretty strange comment, you can’t miss it)
January 20th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
It’s a deal Linda. I’ll still have connections, even when I am old and in a nursing home. Anyone who tries to give us Geritol will be promptly whacked. No questions asked. I hope Mark is at the same nursing home with us. It will be funny poking him in the depends with my cane.
January 21st, 2007 at 12:08 am
Ouchie!
January 21st, 2007 at 7:32 am
I think the point I was trying to make in Christine’s blog was that the psychic jolt of working out applies whether you’re a 120 pound weakling or a power lifter with no neck. The endorphin, adrenaline highs of the workout are as grand as the physical part of it. Joggers talk about their runs as almost zen like. Weight lifting or other forms of exercise provide the same emotional highs. I guess I was suggesting that she keep up whatever she was doing, even if she wasn’t seeing dramatic gains right away.
January 21st, 2007 at 1:41 pm
7:32 am? looonnnngg night? I know you don’t think 7:30 am is morning.
January 21st, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Looks like Chicago can play in the cold and snow, too.
May 10th, 2007 at 8:36 am
I checked the translation and got this:
“аааун-ква ребятки it is voted!!!
Admit prankishes and владелльцы a site marklaflamme.com))))
WHAT will you be делкть it леьом?! ”
I’m thinking the untranslated portions are names? Doesn’t make any sense to me anyway.
May 10th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Spamming bastard. In a second, he’ll be gone.
August 20th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
WTF are you talking about AltaGid?
August 21st, 2007 at 1:05 am
That’s spam. But it’s so damn intriguing, I think I’ll leave it.
November 7th, 2007 at 4:15 am
Want cosmic love-fuel thread its rocket Cialis!
http://elilillycialis.110mb.com
Eli Lilly Cialis