Hatchomatic

As some of you might know, I’m about a month away from earning my Master’s degree in News Media Studies from American University’s School of Communications. I’ve been in the weekend program there since late 2007 and have really enjoyed it.

Anyway, the program is actively seeking new students for the program, so I thought I’d post a letter from the associate director of the program, who is recruiting possible students.

I have nothing but high regard for the program. It meets on Saturdays and is perfect for working professionals, especially anyone interested in teaching or is simply looking to exercise their brains.

Anyway, without further ado… here’s that letter (and feel free to shoot me questions if you have any):

I write to ask that you tell your friends and colleagues about our weekend master’s program in News Media Studies here at AU’s School of Communication. This is a flexible, dynamic, and innovative program attractive to media professionals seeking to burnish their credentials and gain keener insights about directions the field may take in the years ahead. The News Media Studies program also can be a gateway to teaching.

Students in the News Media Studies program attend class on Saturdays and earn a master’s degree in 20 months. Each three-credit class meets for six, day-long sessions on the AU campus in Northwest Washington. Some distance learning courses are offered during the summer.

The News Media Studies program features some of the School of Communication’s top fulltime journalism faculty, including: Jane Hall (who teaches “Contemporary Media Issues”), John Watson (“Legal Aspects of Communication”), Christopher Simpson (“Research Methods”), Amy Eisman (“Teaching Communication”), Rick Rockwell (“Research Studies”), and W. Joseph Campbell (“Seminar in Public Affairs).

The News Media Studies program is designed for working professionals. The program’s alumni include journalists, congressional aides, public relations professionals, and high school teachers.

News Media Studies students work hard. And they find they benefit enormously from the discussion-based intellectual byplay of their classes. And they take away practical, useful insights about news media and their role, influence, and place in a complex society. Students also enhance their research skills and find they are encouraged to question conventional wisdom about the news media and their influences.

Anyone interested in learning more about the weekend News Media Studies program is invited to get in touch with Prof. Rick Rockwell, the Associate Director of Journalism Programs in the School of Communication at 202/885-2067 or at rockwell@american.edu.

Rick Rockwell

P.S.: Here’s the Web site for the program: http://www.american.edu/soc/journalism/MA-JUPA.cfm. Scroll down until you see “News Media Studies.”

To my surprise, a colleague told me recently how much he enjoyed my “what’s on my iPhone” posting. So, I thought I’d update it with some new apps I’ve recently gotten:

AllRecipes: Just what it sounds like — an online recipe lookup. I haven’t really used it. I think my wife downloaded it.

Analytics: A great and beautiful iPhone app that taps into Google Analytics, so I can see how few people are actually reading this… right now.

BurnBall: A totally fun game that is kind of like the Tron cycle game, only with motion sensing and cute balls.

Drop7: A fun math-meets-Tetris game. Love it.

FallingBalls: In the spirit of LineRider, this simple game looks like what I would create if I tried to create an iPhone game, except this is both fun and a little macabre.

GPS Lite: GPS directions for your iPhone. Works a lot better if you have GPS (I don’t).

Grocery IQ: A wicked grocery store list manager. I just wish it had a desktop component. And the ability to share lists with other members of the household.

Lights Off: A fun toggle-like game in which every square you touch makes other squares light (or go off). Goal is to turn all the squares off. Fun!

LoveJigSaw: Cute jigsaw puzzle game.

Mint.com: A beautiful and free iPhone interface for the beautiful and free Mint.com site.

NPR Mobile: Not sanctioned by NPR, this allows for streaming of NPR content. Nice!

ShapeWriter: Um… not sure.

Tower Free: An amusing game.

Yelp: The iPhone version of Yelp! I have to admit, I don’t really use it.

Going to Thailand reminded me of the three-week trip around the country my wife and I took some years back — 2000, if memory serves.

I kept a blog of that trip, too, although blogs were hardly common then (and I didn’t call it such). It was more like an e-mail newsletter from the road.

Anyway, I thought I’d post that travel journal, in parts, here. Just for fun.

Day 1

Well, we got the car packed, the cats confined to the upstairs bathroom (thank you cat sitters!), and finally left D.C. at about 3:15 p.m. (mileage: 23,109) only to quickly become embroiled in rush “hour” traffic, which in Washington runs from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

As we drove along the George Washington Parkway (the most visited national park in America, by the way), we pulled over at a scenic overlook where an Indian family was eating naan and yogurt as traffic whirled by. We quickly took in the view of the Potomac and then got back on the road where for the next two hours, traffic crawled.

In Maryland, we stopped at another scenic scene, the site of the “Battle that Saved Washington.” The landscape features lush, green countryside, picturesque farms, and frightening pickup-truck-driving mullet-stylin’ Marylander men. OK, that’s kind of mean, but they were giving me the “eye,” so we scampered back to the car and hit the road.

Moving right along, we touched down at our first Roadfood location. Roadfood is a book by Jane and Michael Stern listing, as they say, “500 of the best Barbecue Joints, Lobster Shacks, Ice Cream Parlors, Highway Diners, & Much More.” We stopped at “Park and Dine” in Hancock, Md. I think it falls into the “Much More” category.

About 60 cars and trucks had parked outside the restaurant (initially a small Texaco filling station with a small diner attached to it), which sports three dining rooms, all with brand new carpeting laid just last week. Everything was brown  the carpet, the cups, the walls, the food…

We ventured in and were offered the choice of the “Hostess will Seat You” section, or the “Seat Yourself” section. We seated ourselves. Jez, a Hancock native of about 17, was our server. Our food was wet. My veggies were hidden under a thick layer of cheese, my pork chops swam in thick mushroom gravy, and my mashed potatoes formed a crater lake for the ladle-load of brown, mostly tasteless gravy. It was heavenly. The whole meal weighed about three pounds and after eating it (and the roll) I had gained five. The homemade blueberry pie and vanilla ice cream very nicely rounded out the meal along with a cup of bitter coffee. The whole meal cost less than a tank of gas.

To the amusement of Jez, I took photos and showed Cynthia how miniature cereal boxes are designed to double as built-in bowls (they have serrated cut lines allowing the breakfaster to simply slice the back of the box and pour in the milk). It was news to Jez as well, who made the astute comment, “you’re weird.”

Meanwhile, Cynthia found amusement in the bathroom when a woman who was ashamed of the noise the body makes tried to cover it up with coughing. The only problem was that she never was able to muster a cough in time.

Ok, back to the dinner table. When it came time to pay, I asked Jez if I should pay her, or pay at the front. She said I could pay her, so I gave Jez my credit card, to which she replied, “I think you have to sign with these, and I can’t sign for ya, so maybe you should just pay at the front.” All righty…

It was then onto the Pa. turnpike where we experienced a wide variety of weather  fog, thunderstorms, massive lightning bolts, rain cascading so hard we couldn’t see more than 15 feet, and beautiful clear skies. We finally made it to Kent, Ohio and settled in for the night.

Last year I did a piece on North Carolina BBQ. Here it is in two parts:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Well, I’m home. It feels like days ago that I began my return trek — and, I guess it was, though when adjusting for time, I left Bangkok Friday and got home, well, Friday.

The return began with what I can only describe as one of the more frightening experiences in my life. At 3 a.m., I took a taxi from the hotel to the airport. I should have realized what was in store for me when the driver giggled as he asked me in his halting English, “holiday boom boom?”

Uh, no.

In previous posts, I mentioned how the cabs all looked like they came from a Vin Diesel flick. You know, like The Fast and the Furious? Apparently, this cabbie was from the film too. He drove like an absolute maniac. Drifting in and out of lanes, passing giant tanker trucks and careening around curves, he pushed the speedometer well past 140 KPH. My heart was racing and my palms were sweaty. I should have told him to slow down, but I didn’t.

Amazingly, we got to the airport without incident. Even though my trip from the airport to the hotel just three days earlier as 500 baht, this trip was 700. Not only did this cabbie endanger my life, he ripped me off. Not a good way to start.

However, things rapidly improved. After waiting in line at the airport, I managed to score an upgrade to business class — for a price — from Bangkok to Tokyo. For an additional $300, seat 13H on a 747-400 was all mine. It would prove to be worth it.

While I waited for the flight, I needed to find an airline power adapter for my computer. The whole point of going to business class was to be able to write my school papers while traveling. After such a hectic week, I hadn’t had much opportunity to do my work. If I could work on the first leg of the flight, and keep my laptop charged, I should be all set. Then, I could return to economy for the second leg of the flight with a full charge for any remaining work.

It took more than an hour to find the gear I needed to connect the MacBook to the airplane’s power outlet. I had to gerry-rig a system with two inverters and I definitely paid for the privilege, but it worked.

Before boarding , while in the waiting area, a guy next to me was reading Genesis and the Big Bang. He was wearing a marine corps. hat. I read parts of the book over his shoulder. It was totally idioitic. Complete “intelligent design” bullshit. I wanted to yell at him, but mollified myself by thinking he might just be reading it to laugh at it. Doubtful, but it made me feel better.

Upon boarding, I discovered that my seat was upstairs. It’s the first time I’ve gotten to go upstairs on a 747, so that brought out a certain child-like glee. Upon sitting down in the spacious seat, I found it difficult to reach the seat in front of me, even with my long legs.

Anyway, business class sure is nice. I especially loved the storage box between my seat and the window. It was like my own private cupboard. And, of course, the service, the food, the high-quality blanket, the personal video, etc. Oh, and the best part? The captain walked through the cabin shaking hands with us all. The funny thing is, this is what flying economy was like 30 years ago.

The flight attendant passed around toothbrushes, night masks and ear plugs. So nice. And, of course, we were given linens for lunch, which was served on china, with actual glasses and metal utensils.

I noticed that the guy in front of me is watching pirated DVD of “Blart.” Not only does it look idiotic as a film, because it’s pirated, the video is completely out of focus and lacking any chroma.

My second leg, from Tokyo to D.C., we flew a 777. I was back in economy, but in an exit-row seat. Awesome. I noticed that there’s a little door leading to the underbelly of the plane. It turns out it’s a little hideaway for crew.

The movie on that flight was Flash of Genius. Really good. Greg Kinear is underrated.

Note: It’s never a good sign when, in the middle of the flight, the captain comes on and says, “Flight Attendants, please be seated.” It’s even worse when he says it not once, but twice.

Final thought: What is it with all of the face masks in Asia? Very strange.