So long, G20

Tonight, some guy and his wife took off down the driveway with the G20. After 10 years, the G20 is gone.

The car, which was 13 years old, had its share of issues during the time I had owned it. Even though it rode well and still looked good, you couldn't turn on the air conditioning and try accelerating up hills. The car - a 4-cylinder - just couldn't get out of its own way. The muffler has been presenting problems for at least a year - it falls off its supports and bounces around on the chassis when you hit a bad bump.

I remember a ride home from Tanglewood after it had rained. This was the first I knew of an electrical problem with the car. Somehow wires got wet, or moist, under the hood and the car drove erratically from the grassy, muddy parking lot, down the Mass Pike, 91 and finally, home. It buckled, and dashboard lights flashed, threatening to stall during the 90 minute trek home.

But despite these problems, the car was a joy to drive. It had a good stock sound system. The driving position was excellent. And it handled well.

I fell into a deal for another car, a 2000 Acura TL, that I could not pass up. Thus, the Infiniti needed to be sold. We listed the car on Craigslist for 4 days, and the first person who came to look at the car bought it.

I tend to get all nostalgic about things like this. When we sold our Wethersfield home, I was briefly kind of sad. We only owned it for a year and a half. But we lived there. In a sense, I lived in the G20. Cups, tennis rackets, balls, food wrappers, loose change, caseless CDs, gum - it was all in there. I think cars are an extension of one's personality, and the G20 was for me.

It took me a day and a half to clean the car. The trunk needed to be vacummed three times because the bucket of sand the I spread on the driveway in the winter tipped over and dumped its contents into the spare tire wheel well. But I cleaned up the leather seats, Armor-alled the dashboard and the doors and center console, vacummed the interior, and it looked pretty good. Except for a few tears in the leather seats, the car was cleaned up nice.

It was bittersweet washing the G20 for the last time yesterday, starting it for the last time tonight, taking it for its final ride on Route 2 yesterday, but it's time had come. When it rolled down the driveway tonight, with its familiar hum and assortment of rattles, I watched the new owner apply the brake lights as she turned past the hemlocks and pull up the hill toward Route 2.

I hope she didn't use the air conditioner.

Celtics vs. Lakers

The last time I cared very much about NBA hoops was the late 80s. These were the twilight years of Celtics greats Bird, McHale, and Parish - The Big Three - when they were showing their age. After dominating the early and mid 80s, the Boston Celtics were tiring. Bird was seen lying on his stomach during timeouts or rests because of his ailing back. Other guys were getting beat down the court. It was sad seeing this happen, but we had terrific prospects. Len Bias, from the University of Maryland, and, years later, Reggie Lewis, out of Northeastern. Bias never ended up putting on a Celtics jersey for a true game; he died of a cocaine overdose before his rookie year. And Lewis, an All-Star, died in 1993 after only playing a few seasons, of a heart ailment.

So it has been a tough time being a Celtics fans these last 15 or so years, especially if you grew up with the Celts winning their division and sometimes the NBA Championship. It is probably a bit like it is being a Yankees fan right now, after witnessing celebrations in the mid to late 90s.

But this season, the Celtics went out and bought - and traded for - some serious talent. They got Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. C0mbined with Paul Pierce, the expectations were high all season.

After an excellent regular season, the Celtics got past the Cavaliers and Pistons and ended up, just like in the 80s, playing the Lakers for the title.

It was the first NBA series I watched - actually carved time out of my schedule for - since, well, Jordan played. The NBA hasn't been too exciting for awhile.

The personalities were not the same as the 80s. It wasn't Bird vs. Magic. Kareem wasn't hitting hook shots. Byron Scott was not a three-point threat. Danny Ainge was still there, this time as Celtics president/GM, not as Boston's point guard. Former Celtics point guard Dennis Johnson has passed away.

But it was good basketball. And there was tension between the teams. There was trash talking. There were outstanding players on either side. The Celts were stacked. The Lakers have Kobe Bryant, who had a weaker supporting cast.

Boston prevailed 4-2, winning at home, in the BankNorth Garden - the building has gone from Boston Garden to FleetCenter to BankNorth Garden since the Celtics last won a championship. A lot has changed since 1986. Sports buildings are usually named for company sponsors. Even the lowly Hartford Civic Center is now the XL Center. Basketball is not played the same. It is less a team sport, and more a show of individuals' skills. We went from a generally successful Republican president (Reagan) to an awful one (Bush II).

But it was nice to see, in 2008, an oldtime rivalry rekindled. Celtics vs. Lakers. NBA championship basketball in June right up I-95. The players aren't the same. That time is gone. But the series touched off an energy and some healthy nostalgia to remind us that professional basketball can be exciting and worth spending three hours watching, rooting for the team you used to as a kid.

Tim Russert

The news that Tim Russert, NBC's extraordinary newsman and political commentator, died yesterday, is still radiating through my house, as my wife and I - both avid Russert fans - sit on our couch in disbelief. We can't seem to stop watching the replays of NBC's special tributes, commentary on MSNBC, and reruns of old programs and interviews Russert had done.

This is the kind of news you don't expect to hear. The guy was 58. He is on TV all the time, seemingly daily in this, an election year, and he has looked healthy. Russert had a professional and personal energy that not only made him interesting to watch and easy to understand, but it allowed millions of viewers think he was their friend. Think of how much the casual watcher might know about Tim Russert - that he was from Buffalo, his dad was a garbageman, his son recently graduated from Boston College. Russert moderated Sunday morning's "Meet the Press", the longtime political program, and he was the NBC Washington Bureau Chief, but he seemed to so down-to-earth that, he was more like a friendly next-door neighbor, or the favorite uncle.

Russert passed away yeterday afternoon at his desk while writing for this Sunday's program. He died of a sudden heart attack. He had just returned from Italy, where he vacationed with his wife and son. He flew back before they did. What a horrible flight back to United States for them.

I remember, as many viewers do, when he broke out a dry erase white board during the 2000 election between Bush and Gore, trying to point out to people how many electoral votes were needed for each candidate to win. His early morning analysis of major political events put otherwise complicated or boring news into simple, understandable and entertaining terms.

NBC has lost a great journalist, and Americans have lost a dedicated and warm personality. Hearing anecdotes from his colleagues about how special he was has been moving, particularly Campbell Brown's story of when she gave birth to a son and Russert sent a note to the little boy saying how lucky he was to have such wonderful parents and to seek him out for an internship when he was old enough. He celebrated people's triumphs and shared in their grief. There just aren't a lot of people like that around.

A loss so many. His impact was profound. One commentator said journalism will not see another Tim Russert because of the time that Russert grew up, the 1950s, in a blue-collar city and neighborhood, with parents who instilled values. That commentator was right. It is even more a shame that Russert died on the eve of Father's Day weekend, during an election year that cries out for expert commentary and analysis. Russert's pastor said he "went home to God."
Russert, a devout Catholic, is, as colleague Matt Lauer said, writing on his white board right now, lining up interviews with notables in his new dimension.

Russert's passing leaves a gaping hole for NBC, on Sunday mornings, and in many households across America. Tuning into Nightly News, or the Today Show, or to a political debate, many of which he hosted, will not be the same.

Women singers

It occurred to me that, generally, I don't listen to women singers very much. This realization came when I shuffled my mp3 player and hit about two female musicians. This is unintentional. But I think there are more men music artists than female artists, no?

Anyway, there are some females who I can stand performing. Some, I actually like.

Top 10.

1. Norah Jones
2. Sheryl Crow
3. Dido
4. Carole King
5. Bonnie Raitt
6. Alicia Keys
7. ABBA (half-girl)
8. Faith Hill
9. Anita Baker
10. Natalie Merchant/10,000 Maniacs

As for female singers I REALLY dislike.

1. Madonna
2. Cyndi Lauper
3. Britney Spears
4. Melissa Etheridge
5. Alanis Morrisette
6. The Wilson Sisters (Is that their name?)
7. Heart
8. Stevie Nicks
9. Any American Idol woman singer
10. Michael Jackson

Cancelling the Courant

The big news here, if you can call it big news, is that we've cancelled the Hartford Courant, the self-proclaimed oldest continously published newspaper in America, blah, blah, blah...

This was a significant move, I felt, especially since I was a journalism major, interned there three times, freelanced for them from 1999 to 2005, and was/am a journalist.

I guess I can boil it down to this: The paper stopped being relevant to me. This is common for papers, now. Newspapers are an old technology, and, besides, who has time to read them every day?

But it's beyond that, and this is why we cancelled our subscription. The Courant's writing is not remarkable. The story choice on prominent pages is uninteresting. Breaking news coverage is weak. The Sports section is decent, I have to say. (More sports stories should hit Page One, especially here in CT) The paper has sizable resources and should cover local, Connecticut and regional news better. Page One is often formulaic, and very predictable. The paper takes few risks. It is rare that I've seen a provocative human interest or investigative story on the front page. I am sick of reading about politicians in our state legislature being mired in stupid squabbles. It really doesn't matter to me.

The paper needs to focus on statewide, regional and national trends. Once in a while, reporter Rinker Buck, definitely the paper's best reporter, writes good pieces. But he writes infrequently. There is no one else on Broad Street whose writing is memorable. The columnists stink, which is unfortunate. This goes for the oped columnists, the CT Page columnists, and the alleged humor columnist. The paper is, generally, a bore. The most interesting feature for me in the last year or so has been the real estate ads on Sunday. This is a sad statement.

So where will I get my news? From the Internet - not the Courant's site, which is horrendous (way too cluttered and too tiny of a font), but from boston.com, nytimes.com and npr. I watch TV at night for local stuff. I don't think that I will miss the Courant, only the act of walking to the curb to get a paper on weekends.

The Courant, and other papers, need to drastically change their products, before they disappear sooner than expected. I am less interested in what's happening day to day in a community, and the mundane meetings editors make reporters attend, but I am interested in perspective pieces that are more in depth. The Courant hardly ever does that. And if it's done, the writing quality is poor. I rarely make it past the jump of the Page One or Connecticut page articles.

My former journalism professors, I'm sure, would frown. They might say that I'm not being informed. They may question my loyalty. It's not that I'm losing my faith in journalism -- it's here to stay -- but the mission of a lot of newspapers, especially the Courant, has to change from doing what they've always done, covering what they always have and presenting it in the same way, to examining weekly newsmagazines, such as TIME and Newsweek, and perhaps producing a smaller, shorter daily paper that is more relevant and interesting to its readership. If this does not happen, once-powerful, financially steady papers like the Courant will continue to lose its readers, its advertisers and credibility for the communities they're supposed to cover.

Another reason not to vote for Hillary

Not that it really matters at this point, but...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/opinion/10herbert.html?em&ex=1210564800&en=685d71d85e88ab79&ei=5087%0A

Good reading

I thought this op-ed, by the New York Times' Thomas Friedman, was pretty inspirational.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/opinion/04friedman.html?em&ex=1210132800&en=86fe06a3444ab3f2&ei=5070