The Horror! The Horror!

In which I get to bellyache a bit...

Workday today was completely messed up. I made the rundown, (the order of news stories strategically placed that is linked to what goes on air) but forgot to fix the Headlines. This was thanks to the epic and very interesting Aus Open quarterfinal Lleyton Hewitt-David Nalbandian match. So that meant my colleagues had to scurry around at the last minute to repair the damage, while I was getting ready to go on air. (They very kindly didn't make noises when I was within earshot). Then, I chewed on a few sentences and spat them out the wrong way while anchoring. Then the teleprompter (that nice little machine that lets you read the news, while you appear clever and intelligent) packed up while I was on air. And since I hadn't bothered to check the scripts before, I had NO idea what the story was all about. That meant I tried to bluster my way through saying something like, "oh, we've lost the script, but don't worry we haven't lost the plot". That's quite cool, isn't it, but apparently I said without the right emphasis or expression on my face.
Finally, while closing the bulletin, I ended by asking them to watch out for a bulletin at 11:30 pm, when we'd changed the timings ourselves two weeks back. I did get a few sympathetic nods, but not many because all of the above was MY FAULT.

Am I losing it or what. I don't even know why this happened. Maybe it's just a temporary blip, but maybe it's more than that...
Watch this space.

Bloggers beware!

It was waiting to happen and it did. Joe Gordon, who worked at Waterstone's, a bookstore chain was sacked for saying bad things about his boss - on his blog.

Here's the article that says it all.

Journalists

What we'd like to be:
journal'istic, adj. (from 'journal', qv)
Possessing the qualities journalists most profess to like. Bright and readable.
Racy, yet reliable. Altogether admirable.

What we actually are:
'Flashy, inclined to cut corners both in terms of work and of strict accuracy.
Lacking in substance. Totally unreliable'

John Simpson's book News From No Man's Land: Reporting the World is turning out to be a delightful read and a learning experience. More to follow...

The blogs I read

Soon it will be 1 year since I first started blogging. And I thought it would be appropriate if I spoke about my favourite places on the web. My daily regimen on the Net these days is - check mail, check blogs. And I've come to realise that the best writing in these blogs doesn't necessarily come from people who can spell words decently.

1. Criminalenglish - Live!

Well this blog belongs to JP, an old friend from Bangalore. He's probably the best wordsmith I personally know, and criminalenglish has loads of stuff on SF, Fantasy and of course random ramblings.

2. Belle de jour

Guardian.co.uk pointed me to this one - the writing's great. There's a book deal happening too, and belle seems to be back after a longish break.

3. Scorpy23

Okay this 23 year old DOESN'T write very well. But he sounds a bit like Adrian Mole. It helps that I know him personally too...

4. Psychosis

Psychosis is food for your id. But she's off blogging for now. And she's even deleted her blog because it got a little too controversial.

5. Karmic_Discord and Bellweather Cat

These are two different people on two different blogs. The only reason I clubbed them together is due to their fondness for verse. And my fondness for their musings.

6. Paperpuli

The frontman of Thermal and a Quarter (probably one of India's finest bands) occasionally talks about life and the photographs he takes.

7. Opinionator

Psychosis thinks Opinionator is the cleverest fella she knows. Also known as the Speculator and simply 'Milk' he expounds upon life, when he's not playing agent provocateur. What do you think?

8. Mothball and Just breathe...

These two once-upon a time classmates like to write about life and working in a 24 hour tv channel. One lives in Delhi and the other in Bangalore.