Antony Bourdain on Cleveland's Roots

A quote from celebrity chef and way cool dude Anthony Bourdain, in today's PD:

"Fine dining by all accounts has definitely improved. It's that middle range [of restaurants] that I'm worried about. The guys that need to hang on are not the hot new place, but the ones who have been here all along -- the old-style Polish, German, Ukrainian, African-American places."

This comment hit home with me. While the city desperately needs to free itself from elements of its past, Cleveland's rust belt history and blue collar roots are what make it unique. Cities of the future will be become increasingly identical in their technical infrastructure and related amenities. Let's not turn our backs on the cultural roots that will distinguish this city.

Lev Gonick on Cleveland 2.0

Even in a world dominated by off-shoring to China, out-sourcing to India, supply-chain management phenoms like Wal-Mart, new in-sourcing operational logistics by players like UPS, not to mention the game changing role of the internet, the most important starting point for the Cleveland 2.0 project is to stop looking in the rear view mirror.

This message should be flashling 24/7 on every electronic billboard and DiamondVision screen in the county.

Attytood: UPDATED: The "lone nut" theory of the American newspaper assassination

Attytood: UPDATED: The "lone nut" theory of the American newspaper assassination: "If you won't charge customers for ads, and apparently you won't, then at least start accepting those text ads, and funnel those millions of dollars into the newly formed Craig's Foundation. And what will be the main benefactor of this new foundation? A scholarship fund, to pay for the college education of the dozens of displaced journalists across America losing their jobs everyday (like here and here). And if there's any cash left, how about building a retirement home for any newspaper folks who might somehow see a diminished pension down the road?"

Progress, innovation, and economic evolution will always have a downside. It's a matter of economic Darwinism -- adapt or die. Throughout the 20th century that process has affected mostly blue collar industrial workers. But the rapid evolution of the Information Age has claimed victims in industries and careers that once seemed immune to such forces. Whether Will Bunch's comments are tongue-in-cheek or not, the point is that journalists have always been information workers, and the skills necessary for newspaper jobs can be readily applied to other jobs. This is a huge advantage over the blue collar workers who have lost their jobs first to automation and then to shifting economic forces. The white collar world didn't issue much of a protest when the factory jobs started to dry up. But when the economics of the Information Age began to take a toll on the white collar world, as is happening in the newspaper business, or among software developers, there was no shortage of angry voices.

It's all about adaptability, and about developing and maintaining skills that will remain relevant and marketable in a constantly changing world.

Tucson man sued by music industry over downloaded songs | www.azstarnet.com ®

Tucson man sued by music industry over downloaded songs | www.azstarnet.com ®: "Jenni Engebretsen, a spokeswoman for the Recording Industry Association of America, said that since 1999 overall shipments of compact discs and other recordings are down 35 percent as a result of piracy."

Um... Jenni, have you heard about iTunes or any of the other legal music download services? Have you heard that legal music downloads now surpass CD sales?

Survey: XM, Sirius Should Pay More For Music - Forbes.com

Survey: XM, Sirius Should Pay More For Music - Forbes.com: "In a joint statement Thursday, XM and Sirius said: '?Consumers, artists and the recording industry all benefit from satellite radio's multi-billion dollar investment in a dynamic new promotional platform for music.

'?Together we have paid, and under our fair proposal, will continue to pay significant compensation to artists and their record companies. By contrast, our primary competition, terrestrial radio, pays nothing for the sound recordings it uses.'"


Maybe I'm missing something here, but how in hell is it fair terrestrialrial radio to pay no royalties for the music it broadcasts, while satellite radio has to pony up the bucks? Does exposure to the satellite audience cost the labels or artists anything? Puh-leeze!

And let's not forget that satellite radio offers its audience a much wider spectrum of music than is available on terrestrial radio. I reguarly and frequently buy songs from iTunes that I hear on Sirius. And the stuff I buy is stuff I will never hear on terrestrial radio.

This all smacks of yet another example that the major labels just don't have a clue. As a business move, their insistence on hanging on to the blockbuster mentality is flat-out stupid.