...For The Ride Home: CNN beats Fox News at something, Perez Hilton is a bully and more Brett Favre, of course

This is your official reminder that the best show on television these days is going to do something unprecedented tonight: Broadcast a live show. That's right. "30 Rock" is going all "SNL" on us, and it's going to have a go at live television. I eagerly await this, though I have no idea if I'll actually be able to see it as it's happening, and that upsets me. It should be interesting, though. In any case, hello Thursday. How do you do? I got a good workout in this morning, though I feel as though there was more to do. I hate that type of feeling when you are coming home from the gym, don't you? Oh, you do? Good. We have something in common. Tomorrow marks the final day of the week, and the final day before a weekend that is supposed to be "fun" for me. But never invest too much into one thing, friends. You never quite know how it could turn out. Before the weekend comes, though, we must tread our way through today, and today means a few links for you to consider before you can finally let loose on the days that matter most. We sincerely hope you enjoy at least two of the following and from the bottom of our bottomest hearts, we hope you have a fantastic Thursday evening.

A round-up of what everybody has said about the Brett Favre situation. It’s worth a look. (Deadspin)

A documentary about dubstep. I foresee this in my Netflix que sometime within the next year. (Pitchfork)

We said yesterday that the folks at NPR are not allowed at the upcoming Stewart and Colbert rallies. Today, the Washington Post weighs in. (Yahoo)

Aiming to change the idea that men are only interested in women and booze. Well, duh. Men like sports, too. (Good Men Project)

More people watched CNN than Fox News when the first miner came to the surface. Take that, Bill, Glen and the cast of “Red Eye.” (The Hollywood Reporter)

The 125 best albums of the last 25 years. Lists are so, so fun. No. 1 is admittedly a bit surprising. (Spin)

Hey, here’s a good point: With all this bullying talk, why hasn’t Perez Hilton been criticized for partaking in such things? He’s downright cruel when it comes to some celebrities. (Salon)

The Academy Awards will stay with a late-February date in 2012. That’s assuming we are all still alive, of course. Doesn’t it seem just a bit late? You nearly make it to March before you find out who had the best movie of the previous year. (Los Angeles Times)

Chilean miners’ disaster response shows us how it SHOULD be done

I had a post all ready to go about how Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year, but in an effort to add to the already extreme number of blogs talking about the Chile miners’ rescue, I’d like to give my two cents.

This topic does kind of ties in with Halloween though, the more I think about it. Thirty-three guys, undoubtedly dirty and ornery, trapped in an area that comfortably holds 10, in total darkness for the better part of two-plus months – that sounds like a nightmare I had once after a night of mixing red wine and spiced rum then devouring a Tony’s frozen pizza right before bed.

There are many factors you can point to throughout this process that are awe-inspiring, or at the very least, amazing. One thing I found pretty astonishing was the considerable lack of BS on the part of those involved with the accident, i.e. the government, the unions, management and “concerned citizen groups.”

The mantra throughout this ordeal was that a tragedy occurred and lives were at stake – so let’s get it done by any means necessary. We’ll worry about the particulars AFTER the 33 human lives are saved. I’m not so sure we could have pulled this effort off in the U.S. to be quite frank.

I’m not trying to be anti-patriotic here by any means, but it’s a fact that disasters such as these are breeding grounds for the most, shall I say, “opportunistic” of people, and that’s unfortunate. I’m also not saying this sentiment is exclusive to the U.S., but it seems to be pretty ubiquitous around here.

There wasn’t weeks of finger pointing before deciding who would be responsible for the cost of extracting the miners, there was no oversight committee that needed to make a recommendation, there was no considering NOT taking help from a foreign country for fear of having to return a favor… it was let’s pool whatever resources available and get these men out. And that was refreshing, even if it took 10 weeks because of the depth and the fact that there was no precedent.

A radio show host yesterday asked his listeners what’s the first thing they do after exiting that steel transport structure, after being entombed for 69 days. He had his serious callers (hug and kiss your family), comical callers (have a pizza delivered to the rescue site and go to town on it) and realistic callers (shield your eyes from the flashes of the cameras). I posed the same question to my wife and had to laugh at her response, because it’s so right on: “I’m going to a freaking doctor and then sitting in a hyperbaric chamber for a month.” Yeah, she’s in the medical field.

It’s true, the struggle for these guys is nowhere near over as they begin to deal with the physical and emotional tolls this experience put on them. But surely they’ve all come out of this with a better appreciation for life. Hopefully everyone else did too.

Come on back at 4 p.m. for the Ride.

Bad Media, Bad. No Treat For You.

The picture to the right is an average West Virginia family... looks a lot like an average Pennsylvanian, Kansas, Nevada or Washington family to me.

The recent tragedies with the West Virginia coal mines have stirred emotions throughout the country, prompting prayer vigils, benefit dinners and more than a few heavy hearts. And while I have certainly thought about and prayed for those directly affected by this disaster, I would be remiss to say the attention hasn't stirred other thoughts in my moderately disillusioned mind. One thought that I can't shake is the portrayal of West Virginians in the media.

Now please don't mistake this rant as a disrespectful, poorly timed low blow to the people of the state... instead, this is a characterization of the national media and its apparent urge to propagate stereotypes. I mean, based on the snippets I've seen of West Virginia residents on programs like the Today Show and Good Morning America (just kidding, who watches Good Morning America?), the only person in the entire state who appears moderately well adjusted is the governor... and I imagine he probably has a media coach pulling the strings during his interviews.

It's almost like Matt Lauer, Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric and Brian Williams went out of their way to only include clips of overweight, redneck white people with poor grammar and bad haircuts (specifically regarding the "man on the street" interviews, NOT the families affected)... when in reality, the populous of the state is every bit as "normal" - whatever that means - as the rest of the country. But you certainly wouldn't know it based on the coverage the state has seen lately.



So now I'm forced to go back to Media Ethics, Mass Communication 401 and the age-old question of those in media-related fields: Does the media REFLECT society, or does the media PERPETUATE society? It would seem to me that the coverage of this tragedy has theoretically set the state of West Virginia back several years in its mission to shake the stereotypes of... well... overweight, redneck white people with poor grammar and bad haircuts. It's truly unfortunate.

So to all the producers of the quality news programming we tune into on a regular basis (I'm sure TONS of them read this blog): We understand it is your job to report the news in a straightforward manner. But we also understand that the way you frame the story tells a whole other story in the process. Please, please, please do us a favor and stop peppering these people with backhanded, ignorant insults - regardless of whether or not you're cognizant of what you're doing.

- TS

PS - Don't forget to get on The Ride at 4 p.m. today.
PPS - Tiger tees off at 1:42 p.m. Will he make the cut, finish top 20 or win it all? Hmmm...