Hi again and yep, from the ramparts of the Bastion on the Puget Sound, it’s been another interesting week. And one of those where most of the “headline news” seems to change every few hours or so and ranges from health care to the newly revealed private life of a national icon to the Herculean (and perhaps Sisyphian) task of protecting airline travelers from terrorists, and including a man in Las Vegas whose government benefits were reduced so, in retaliation, he kills two people who had nothing to do with it and is himself killed.
One Nevadan I spoke to said that at least the guy got his Social Security death benefits. I seriously doubt that but it did address the general craziness that seems to accompany times like these. I also thought it was a rather sad commentary on human compassion. I wish I could say it was limited to just this one individual but it wasn’t.
That is NOT the way I like leaving one year and entering another so I exercised a personal option. I decided to ignore it all until it all settles out and to turn, instead, to things more positive that are also going on in the midst of all this Armageddon-unfolding coverage of these other works in progress. Yuppers, I went looking for GOOD news and by golly, I found some.
Moving right along then, eh?
The first assessment of how the United States reacted to the swine flu pandemic has come in, and, as, Donald G. McNeil, Jr. of the New York Times reports:
Although it is too early to write the obituary for swine flu, medical experts, already assessing how the first pandemic in 40 years has been handled, have found that while luck played a part, a series of rapid but conservative decisions by federal officials worked out better than many had dared hope.
Yep, for more on this one, please go here.
And under the profoundly good example category and so true to the Pacific Northwest way of doing things, a Seattle woman who built the first girls school in Afghanistan found out that one of the local militants, recently returned from Pakistan, is trying to get this institution closed down. So the founder of that school is going back to Afghanistan to make sure that does not happen.
Hope she remembers to pack wool sox with her Birkenstocks and that this yahoo who has made this trip necessary has also made peace with his ancestors. Like our Canadian neighbors to the north, we’re mostly laid back. Until roused. Yep, check it out.
And again, from the Puget Sound and if you think rich folks don’t care, you just might want to check out a new PBS documentary addressing, as Seattle Times reporter Kristi Heims puts it:
What is the secret to happiness? Even billionaire philanthropists want to know.
Just in time for the post-holiday doldrums, a new documentary conceived by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen aims to shed light on that question.
Yep, for more on this one, go here.
And for those of us who insist on seeing through the worst of times to a happy ending and are also into gadgets and stuff, including a small electric bicycle motor that recharges during coasting and breaking there’s a technology show in Las Vegas I really wish had been done at the convention center here in Seattle. My jealousy in these regards notwithstanding, check this one out.
Several blogs ago, we reported that Seattle has become the nation’s most congested city. We also shared with you that light rail service is running between the Seattle-Tacoma Airport (SeaTac) and downtown Seattle’s Westlake Center.
Now, it appears, there’s another alternative and that’s a site that also helps taxi drivers and their families by making it possible for people to share a cab ride to and from SeaTac. Granted, winter is not our prime tourist season, but then again, we don’t always wait for it to stop raining before we fix a leak in the roof. Yep, go here.
This one may not come as especially good news to women but an Australian study has concluded that women who take mates get heavier than women who do not. Don’t stone the messenger and for more information, please go here.
SURVIVING HARD TIMES
Surviving hard times also means taking care of yourself and sometimes, as busy as we are working, looking for work, doing the domestic engineer thing, etc., the simpler tending to our health is, the more likely we are to do it. This one is for kicking a cold or the flu and involves drinking a warm cup of something you probably already have in the refrigerator. Check it out.
MORE GOOD NEWS
Something has been discovered on the moon that is totally weird but could very likely make the colonization of that big piece of cheese a reality a lot sooner than anticipated. It’s a hole about 260 feet/70 meters high and 213 feet/65 meters wide and covered over with a thin layer of lava. They’re called lava capsules and the moon, Mars and earth have them. This one would essentially shield a lunar colony from the extreme effects of temperature, etc. And now that water’s been positively confirmed up there, the whole idea’s being taken more seriously in government and private sectors alike. For more on this one, please go here.
CRITTER STUFF
Well, we’ve got two good ones for you this time and from half the globe apart. The first involved the miraculous survival of nine out of ten sled dogs in Alaska when their musher (driver), in training for that Iron Man of the Way North, the Iditarod, fell off and the team continued on without him. For more on this one, please go here.
We didn’t know that the Tasmanian Devil, that whirling dervish Warner Brothers made so famous as a cartoon character, was facing extinction due to cancer. Apparently, however, scientists have discovered the cause and are discovering a host of vaccines to treat it. I can’t say I’d ever want to run into one of these in the wild but if Tasmanian and other places on the other side of the globe think they’re cool, I have absolutely no issues. Yep, for more on this one and to see what a real Tasmanian Devil looks like, please go here.
FROM YOU GUYS FOR YOU GUYS
In response to our commentary on the Pew ranking of the most religious American states, we received this, from a reader Pennsylvania emailed:
Interesting stats on religion per state. Pennsylvania ranks pretty high in the importance of religion. My childhood hometown was reported to have the highest number of churches per capita in the United States (possibly in the world).
What's odd about these stats, however, is that the divorce rates in many of the most religious states tend to be higher than in the least religious. I read an article about that a couple of years ago. (Also, if I recall correctly, the percentages of out-of-wedlock births are higher in many of the most religious states.)
On the other hand, the divorce rates in the New England states tend to be lower. (PA has a medium religious score and a lower divorce score, which is cool.)
Here's the most recent data I could find quickly online. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0923080.html
I guess those heathens know how to stay married.
I also noticed that the further west one moves, the less importance seems to be placed on religion, which strongly suggests to me that any efforts to save red souls before sending their souls to perdition in such places as Sand Creek could perhaps be more wisely invested in white souls.
Having said this, however, I hope it’s also clearly understood that I shared this with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek. Remember, I also believe in astrology, the Easter Bunny, romance and Santa Claus. I am not a definitive source for any of this stuff, however.
And this one sort’ve slides over into the YOU GUYS THINK I MAKE THIS STUFF UP category so what if I told you that right in the middle of Seattle, in a real nice but not UP Upscale neighborhood, there’s a wild coyote whose been running loose for a couple of months but hasn’t eaten any pets or human beings so it’s like everybody’s going, cool and, it’s rumored greeting him by various names one might reserve for the average domesticated canine. I know what you’d think. You’d think I was making this stuff up just to make Seattle sound weirder than it already is. So go here for a picture and full details, ye of little flipping faith.
That’s it for this week. We’ve got some cool stuff down below you might want to check out. Stay the course, gang. We’re getting there and we’re going to make it. And thanks once again for the ear. And stuff.
Mick
NORTHSTAR RECOMMENDS
FUN STUFF
Virtual Experiences
How about a trip to Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo to watch a couple of grizzly bears in their Northwest setting? Yep, click here and thanks to our friends at Puget Sound NBC affiliate KING 5.
If you’re into a real interesting and visual escape, we certainly recommend The Art In LA website. It’s a virtual art gallery created by a real gentle, occasionally obnoxious but totally good-hearted soul with standards as fine as those of any engineer I’ve ever met. It’s also a good place for healthy meditation. If you’re lucky, you might just run into the artist herself. Her name is Colleen and she’s a trip, trust me. Yep, she was born under the fourth flag on our masthead.
REVIEWS
Music CDs
Over the holidays, I had a chance to experience Susan Boyle’s “I Dream A Dream” CD. And if ever there was a good time for this one, it is surely now, when it seems as though the whole world could use some hope, some inspiration and an example of how a complicated soul simply expressed can make a difference. I was a professional dance and show combo leader with time in grade at 18 and I know what it takes to move an audience.
It’s a lot more than just being able to sing well. To sing for working class people, who don’t really believe anybody who hasn’t been where they have, it takes being able to get inside the song and become that song.
Check out the selections on her CD. They include: Wild Horses; I Dreamed A Dream; Cry Me A River; How Great Thou Art; You’ll See; Daydream Believer; Up To The Mountain; Amazing Grace; Who I Was Born To Be; Proud; The End of the World; and Silent Night.
Susan does that with each and every one of them. Getting into the song and becoming the song. Like most folks, I suspect, I wanted to hear I Dream A Dream first. That was the same stellar experience the first time I watched her totally wow a panel of British judges and then do it all over again in the Colonies as it were.
As I listened, though, to the other songs, I totally forgot about Susan, the one who did that one. Like she did, I became the soul of those for whom these songs are written and for whom she sings them. It wasn’t hard because I am one of those.
And as haunted as hard times make all of us, including me, she took me to a place where people experience it about as deep as it cuts and yet survive to grow and find a better life. She made me feel a little less lonely and a lot more connected.
I was brought up to believe that whatever a person did in this life, they should never forget who they are as a person. Ms. Boyle has done that both by personal example and in her art. I expect me and mine will be in her debt for some while.
Thank you, Susan, Lass. We are honoured by your society.
To purchase this online, we invite you to go here.
Good Reads
For those into words that resonate, there are fewer finer contemporary craftsman I know than a man named Mike Browne, professionally known as Tomatoman Mike and the publisher of The Tomato Man Times. He’s as Northern Californian as John Steinbeck, albeit with a dash of Sam Clemmons, Bret Harte and Robert W. Service in him. He’s a romp to read, trust me.
FOR YOUR ONLINE SHOPPING CONVENIENCE
We invite you to do all your amazon.com through by tapping the photo of Susan or the ad. The Northstar Journal receives a 15% commission on whatever you purchase through this link.
SURVIVING HARD TIMES
I made chowder, you made pickles. Let’s trade
I so love it when my “home and native land” proves yet again that they have something to teach the International Community about surviving hard times. You’ll love this one, gang. With thanks to the Toronto Globe & Mail.
And lest we think this is limited to country folk, consider this one, headlined, Bootstrapping taken to new extremes in tech industry
Or how about a seasonable application regarding Christmas trees? (This will be a real stretch for those of you in Toronto, New York, Dublin, London and Paris) Ever imagine having one delivered to your home by bicycle? Real close to the category of You Guys Think I Make This Stuff Up so by all means, go here ye yahoos of little faith
HEALTH
Ten foods that really do help prevent cancer.
If you’d like to know whether your eating habits are either adding years to your life or taking them off, take this RealAge quiz. It will not only score your real age against your health age but give you a program for improvement. I’ve been working this one for about a month now and yep, I feel a lot better.
Want to know how to live to be 100? Try this one.
Ever had trouble getting behind eating a lot of fruits and vegetables despite how good they are for you? Ever had trouble selling that one to your kids and grandkids? Ever been totally sold on the idea then gone to the market and been totally tasered by the price of good health in some places? If your answer is yes to any or all of the above, you really need to check this site out. Fruits and veggies: more matters.
ONLINE TOOLS FOR THE KIT
WorldStart.com - The best source of computer information, tips, education, entertainment, industry news, graphics and useful websites.
PC World – This is the best source we’ve found yet for totally free, useful, reliable and secure (no viruses) downloads ranging from games through utilities and with a nice selection of screen savers, etc. What I particularly appreciate about it is how easy the site is to navigate. They also have a daily letter featuring two “daily downloads.”
CCleaner - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com
The home of Spybot-S&D! “For the past few years I've been using two free programs to remove the tracking cookies we accumulate every time we visit a site. Both have proven safe and reliable. Try them. You'll be surprised at the amount of binary barnacles your pore little hard accumulates as it sails the cyber seas. Sorry, but neither program eliminates alliterative purple patch prose. Like mine.”
Mike Browne, Sacramento, CA
Free People Search – This is an American online White Pages that I found really simple, quick and user friendly. I looked for myself under the several versions of my name and it found them all. It’s also free and doesn’t involve anything to download.
Know Thy Elected Officials - Just type in your zip code and this site will supply you with the names and contact information for your legislators from the state level up. This is a two click site with a host of other relevant features.
MEDIA
Overview
For those interested in what’s going on in the world of magazines and newspapers in general, we highly recommend Woodenhorsepub.com. They publish a weekly online newsletter for media professionals and for readers simply interested in the future of the publications they enjoy and an advance on new ones they might. Their website is located here.
Entertainment
U Got Style is a monthly ezine dedicated to independent films. Fully illustrated, it features hard news, interviews, reviews and a wide variety of other information. It’s also fun to read.
Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McLean – Live from the smallest record store in North America. Canadian humor, entertainment and commentary at its maple leaf best. Popular on National Public Radio in the States.
BBC Knowledge Magazine – designed to give the American magazine National Geographic the proverbial run for its money,
News
BBC – Best source of international news.
The New York Times – Best source of American news.
The Vancouver Sun -- outstanding source for Canadian national, provincial, and world news.
Reuters – Best source of an international perspective on American headlines.
Sightline Daily (formerly Tidepool) – Best source of Pacific Northwest regional news. Delivered daily by email, it covers Alaska, British Columbia, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. They also put out an excellent weekly environmental edition.
KING 5 News – Best source of video news of Seattle and the Greater Puget Sound.
Talent For Hire
Rusty Miller, Freelance Photojournalist – Whether it’s a one time press release, book or product review, difficult business correspondence, resume or classified ad composition you need, take a look at the services offered menu on my writer-for-hire homepage and we’ll get together on it.
Are you a travel editor looking for color shots of Seattle? Are you an art dealer looking for new work to carry on consignment? You might enjoy checking out a gallery of my work for sale
One Nevadan I spoke to said that at least the guy got his Social Security death benefits. I seriously doubt that but it did address the general craziness that seems to accompany times like these. I also thought it was a rather sad commentary on human compassion. I wish I could say it was limited to just this one individual but it wasn’t.
That is NOT the way I like leaving one year and entering another so I exercised a personal option. I decided to ignore it all until it all settles out and to turn, instead, to things more positive that are also going on in the midst of all this Armageddon-unfolding coverage of these other works in progress. Yuppers, I went looking for GOOD news and by golly, I found some.
Moving right along then, eh?
The first assessment of how the United States reacted to the swine flu pandemic has come in, and, as, Donald G. McNeil, Jr. of the New York Times reports:
Although it is too early to write the obituary for swine flu, medical experts, already assessing how the first pandemic in 40 years has been handled, have found that while luck played a part, a series of rapid but conservative decisions by federal officials worked out better than many had dared hope.
Yep, for more on this one, please go here.
And under the profoundly good example category and so true to the Pacific Northwest way of doing things, a Seattle woman who built the first girls school in Afghanistan found out that one of the local militants, recently returned from Pakistan, is trying to get this institution closed down. So the founder of that school is going back to Afghanistan to make sure that does not happen.
Hope she remembers to pack wool sox with her Birkenstocks and that this yahoo who has made this trip necessary has also made peace with his ancestors. Like our Canadian neighbors to the north, we’re mostly laid back. Until roused. Yep, check it out.
And again, from the Puget Sound and if you think rich folks don’t care, you just might want to check out a new PBS documentary addressing, as Seattle Times reporter Kristi Heims puts it:
What is the secret to happiness? Even billionaire philanthropists want to know.
Just in time for the post-holiday doldrums, a new documentary conceived by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen aims to shed light on that question.
Yep, for more on this one, go here.
And for those of us who insist on seeing through the worst of times to a happy ending and are also into gadgets and stuff, including a small electric bicycle motor that recharges during coasting and breaking there’s a technology show in Las Vegas I really wish had been done at the convention center here in Seattle. My jealousy in these regards notwithstanding, check this one out.
Several blogs ago, we reported that Seattle has become the nation’s most congested city. We also shared with you that light rail service is running between the Seattle-Tacoma Airport (SeaTac) and downtown Seattle’s Westlake Center.
Now, it appears, there’s another alternative and that’s a site that also helps taxi drivers and their families by making it possible for people to share a cab ride to and from SeaTac. Granted, winter is not our prime tourist season, but then again, we don’t always wait for it to stop raining before we fix a leak in the roof. Yep, go here.
This one may not come as especially good news to women but an Australian study has concluded that women who take mates get heavier than women who do not. Don’t stone the messenger and for more information, please go here.
SURVIVING HARD TIMES
Surviving hard times also means taking care of yourself and sometimes, as busy as we are working, looking for work, doing the domestic engineer thing, etc., the simpler tending to our health is, the more likely we are to do it. This one is for kicking a cold or the flu and involves drinking a warm cup of something you probably already have in the refrigerator. Check it out.
MORE GOOD NEWS
Something has been discovered on the moon that is totally weird but could very likely make the colonization of that big piece of cheese a reality a lot sooner than anticipated. It’s a hole about 260 feet/70 meters high and 213 feet/65 meters wide and covered over with a thin layer of lava. They’re called lava capsules and the moon, Mars and earth have them. This one would essentially shield a lunar colony from the extreme effects of temperature, etc. And now that water’s been positively confirmed up there, the whole idea’s being taken more seriously in government and private sectors alike. For more on this one, please go here.
CRITTER STUFF
Well, we’ve got two good ones for you this time and from half the globe apart. The first involved the miraculous survival of nine out of ten sled dogs in Alaska when their musher (driver), in training for that Iron Man of the Way North, the Iditarod, fell off and the team continued on without him. For more on this one, please go here.
We didn’t know that the Tasmanian Devil, that whirling dervish Warner Brothers made so famous as a cartoon character, was facing extinction due to cancer. Apparently, however, scientists have discovered the cause and are discovering a host of vaccines to treat it. I can’t say I’d ever want to run into one of these in the wild but if Tasmanian and other places on the other side of the globe think they’re cool, I have absolutely no issues. Yep, for more on this one and to see what a real Tasmanian Devil looks like, please go here.
FROM YOU GUYS FOR YOU GUYS
In response to our commentary on the Pew ranking of the most religious American states, we received this, from a reader Pennsylvania emailed:
Interesting stats on religion per state. Pennsylvania ranks pretty high in the importance of religion. My childhood hometown was reported to have the highest number of churches per capita in the United States (possibly in the world).
What's odd about these stats, however, is that the divorce rates in many of the most religious states tend to be higher than in the least religious. I read an article about that a couple of years ago. (Also, if I recall correctly, the percentages of out-of-wedlock births are higher in many of the most religious states.)
On the other hand, the divorce rates in the New England states tend to be lower. (PA has a medium religious score and a lower divorce score, which is cool.)
Here's the most recent data I could find quickly online. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0923080.html
I guess those heathens know how to stay married.
I also noticed that the further west one moves, the less importance seems to be placed on religion, which strongly suggests to me that any efforts to save red souls before sending their souls to perdition in such places as Sand Creek could perhaps be more wisely invested in white souls.
Having said this, however, I hope it’s also clearly understood that I shared this with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek. Remember, I also believe in astrology, the Easter Bunny, romance and Santa Claus. I am not a definitive source for any of this stuff, however.
And this one sort’ve slides over into the YOU GUYS THINK I MAKE THIS STUFF UP category so what if I told you that right in the middle of Seattle, in a real nice but not UP Upscale neighborhood, there’s a wild coyote whose been running loose for a couple of months but hasn’t eaten any pets or human beings so it’s like everybody’s going, cool and, it’s rumored greeting him by various names one might reserve for the average domesticated canine. I know what you’d think. You’d think I was making this stuff up just to make Seattle sound weirder than it already is. So go here for a picture and full details, ye of little flipping faith.
That’s it for this week. We’ve got some cool stuff down below you might want to check out. Stay the course, gang. We’re getting there and we’re going to make it. And thanks once again for the ear. And stuff.
Mick
NORTHSTAR RECOMMENDS
FUN STUFF
Virtual Experiences
How about a trip to Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo to watch a couple of grizzly bears in their Northwest setting? Yep, click here and thanks to our friends at Puget Sound NBC affiliate KING 5.
If you’re into a real interesting and visual escape, we certainly recommend The Art In LA website. It’s a virtual art gallery created by a real gentle, occasionally obnoxious but totally good-hearted soul with standards as fine as those of any engineer I’ve ever met. It’s also a good place for healthy meditation. If you’re lucky, you might just run into the artist herself. Her name is Colleen and she’s a trip, trust me. Yep, she was born under the fourth flag on our masthead.
REVIEWS
Music CDs
Over the holidays, I had a chance to experience Susan Boyle’s “I Dream A Dream” CD. And if ever there was a good time for this one, it is surely now, when it seems as though the whole world could use some hope, some inspiration and an example of how a complicated soul simply expressed can make a difference. I was a professional dance and show combo leader with time in grade at 18 and I know what it takes to move an audience.
It’s a lot more than just being able to sing well. To sing for working class people, who don’t really believe anybody who hasn’t been where they have, it takes being able to get inside the song and become that song.
Check out the selections on her CD. They include: Wild Horses; I Dreamed A Dream; Cry Me A River; How Great Thou Art; You’ll See; Daydream Believer; Up To The Mountain; Amazing Grace; Who I Was Born To Be; Proud; The End of the World; and Silent Night.
Susan does that with each and every one of them. Getting into the song and becoming the song. Like most folks, I suspect, I wanted to hear I Dream A Dream first. That was the same stellar experience the first time I watched her totally wow a panel of British judges and then do it all over again in the Colonies as it were.
As I listened, though, to the other songs, I totally forgot about Susan, the one who did that one. Like she did, I became the soul of those for whom these songs are written and for whom she sings them. It wasn’t hard because I am one of those.
And as haunted as hard times make all of us, including me, she took me to a place where people experience it about as deep as it cuts and yet survive to grow and find a better life. She made me feel a little less lonely and a lot more connected.
I was brought up to believe that whatever a person did in this life, they should never forget who they are as a person. Ms. Boyle has done that both by personal example and in her art. I expect me and mine will be in her debt for some while.
Thank you, Susan, Lass. We are honoured by your society.
To purchase this online, we invite you to go here.
Good Reads
For those into words that resonate, there are fewer finer contemporary craftsman I know than a man named Mike Browne, professionally known as Tomatoman Mike and the publisher of The Tomato Man Times. He’s as Northern Californian as John Steinbeck, albeit with a dash of Sam Clemmons, Bret Harte and Robert W. Service in him. He’s a romp to read, trust me.
FOR YOUR ONLINE SHOPPING CONVENIENCE
We invite you to do all your amazon.com through by tapping the photo of Susan or the ad. The Northstar Journal receives a 15% commission on whatever you purchase through this link.
SURVIVING HARD TIMES
I made chowder, you made pickles. Let’s trade
I so love it when my “home and native land” proves yet again that they have something to teach the International Community about surviving hard times. You’ll love this one, gang. With thanks to the Toronto Globe & Mail.
And lest we think this is limited to country folk, consider this one, headlined, Bootstrapping taken to new extremes in tech industry
Or how about a seasonable application regarding Christmas trees? (This will be a real stretch for those of you in Toronto, New York, Dublin, London and Paris) Ever imagine having one delivered to your home by bicycle? Real close to the category of You Guys Think I Make This Stuff Up so by all means, go here ye yahoos of little faith
HEALTH
Ten foods that really do help prevent cancer.
If you’d like to know whether your eating habits are either adding years to your life or taking them off, take this RealAge quiz. It will not only score your real age against your health age but give you a program for improvement. I’ve been working this one for about a month now and yep, I feel a lot better.
Want to know how to live to be 100? Try this one.
Ever had trouble getting behind eating a lot of fruits and vegetables despite how good they are for you? Ever had trouble selling that one to your kids and grandkids? Ever been totally sold on the idea then gone to the market and been totally tasered by the price of good health in some places? If your answer is yes to any or all of the above, you really need to check this site out. Fruits and veggies: more matters.
ONLINE TOOLS FOR THE KIT
WorldStart.com - The best source of computer information, tips, education, entertainment, industry news, graphics and useful websites.
PC World – This is the best source we’ve found yet for totally free, useful, reliable and secure (no viruses) downloads ranging from games through utilities and with a nice selection of screen savers, etc. What I particularly appreciate about it is how easy the site is to navigate. They also have a daily letter featuring two “daily downloads.”
CCleaner - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com
The home of Spybot-S&D! “For the past few years I've been using two free programs to remove the tracking cookies we accumulate every time we visit a site. Both have proven safe and reliable. Try them. You'll be surprised at the amount of binary barnacles your pore little hard accumulates as it sails the cyber seas. Sorry, but neither program eliminates alliterative purple patch prose. Like mine.”
Mike Browne, Sacramento, CA
Free People Search – This is an American online White Pages that I found really simple, quick and user friendly. I looked for myself under the several versions of my name and it found them all. It’s also free and doesn’t involve anything to download.
Know Thy Elected Officials - Just type in your zip code and this site will supply you with the names and contact information for your legislators from the state level up. This is a two click site with a host of other relevant features.
MEDIA
Overview
For those interested in what’s going on in the world of magazines and newspapers in general, we highly recommend Woodenhorsepub.com. They publish a weekly online newsletter for media professionals and for readers simply interested in the future of the publications they enjoy and an advance on new ones they might. Their website is located here.
Entertainment
U Got Style is a monthly ezine dedicated to independent films. Fully illustrated, it features hard news, interviews, reviews and a wide variety of other information. It’s also fun to read.
Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McLean – Live from the smallest record store in North America. Canadian humor, entertainment and commentary at its maple leaf best. Popular on National Public Radio in the States.
BBC Knowledge Magazine – designed to give the American magazine National Geographic the proverbial run for its money,
News
BBC – Best source of international news.
The New York Times – Best source of American news.
The Vancouver Sun -- outstanding source for Canadian national, provincial, and world news.
Reuters – Best source of an international perspective on American headlines.
Sightline Daily (formerly Tidepool) – Best source of Pacific Northwest regional news. Delivered daily by email, it covers Alaska, British Columbia, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. They also put out an excellent weekly environmental edition.
KING 5 News – Best source of video news of Seattle and the Greater Puget Sound.
Talent For Hire
Rusty Miller, Freelance Photojournalist – Whether it’s a one time press release, book or product review, difficult business correspondence, resume or classified ad composition you need, take a look at the services offered menu on my writer-for-hire homepage and we’ll get together on it.
Are you a travel editor looking for color shots of Seattle? Are you an art dealer looking for new work to carry on consignment? You might enjoy checking out a gallery of my work for sale
