sometime over the past month or so, i mentioned in this space the supremely talented mike lowe, my favorite ex-wnur broadcaster. while pining for his inevitable future at 'the network,' mike can often be heard whining about the pathetic state of local news. mike's what one would call a 'journalist.'

anyway, tonight i caught first-hand exactly what mike's gripe is. you see, between performances on american idol, the local fox affiliate was of course plugging its 9 o'clock news. so we cut to the anchor, who says "good evening, i'm [i don't know his name.] tonight on the fox 9 o'clock news, what makes simon cowell so mean? plus, our kid reporter gives you a glimpse into culinary school! that's all coming up on the fox news at nine."

now, i know that this isn't the most happening area, but there has to be something more newsworthy than a 2-minute commercial for a fox show and a 7-year-old (the 'kid reporter') reading a script about cooking school. i mean really.

in other news, i was thinking about one of the finer weekends of my college life today, and it wasn't even a weekend. it was thanksgiving '01, featuring a wnur trip to the nu-illinois game with flax, nemo, mendel and ben golom****. read about it here. (check the november 22 entry. i'm called 'not low' on the 'people-to-hang-out-with' list) good times.

new content alert: former roommate, present pal, and eternal twerp nemo has resurrected his own web page. check link under 'pals' at left, or simply click here to view. expect topics to include joe millionaire, tony kornheiser, and frozen pizza rolls.