Berkeley Reporter

by Steed Dropout
Feb. 7, 2013

SHRINKING JOURNALISM

One of the first victims of shrinking journalism is the feature story, followed closely by investigative reporting, and narrowed beats.

Still I lumber on, turning out feature after feature. Why do I do it?

Because I am a feature writer through and through. I was feature editor of my high school newspaper, a feature writer on the Daily Illini, and my hometown newspaper.

When I returned to journalism recently, I resumed my features slant.

What is that slant? Hard to say, it’s mostly a gut feeling feature writers get when they sense a strong feature angle. Writers such as Damon Runyon, Steven Crane, Studs Turkel, and Stanton Delaplane had the knack.

Me and my Shadow series. The lonely feature writer. Photo by Ted Friedman.

Continue reading “In Berkeley: The Last Feature Writer in USA” »

by Steed Dropout
Jan 28, 2013

I DON’T WANT TO GET AHEAD OF THE STORY.

“All thought or speech is false” — Aleister Crowley

How I got to be the world’s worst reporter, or is it worst in the country.

I’ve got to be the world’s worst reporter by not being sure that was really the title. Was it in the world or in the country? I was so sure it was the world and not just the country, and besides it’s a better story as world.

I got lucky at hyphenatedrepublic.wordpress.com, where I received the World’s Worst Reporter award.

It’s a bracing yarn, but the gist of is that I’m the pits. Unfortunately I have a previous worst; last year during Occupy Berkeley — when the national co-founder of Occupy denounced me to the General Assembly as writing the worst stories in the whole country on Occupy.

We responded with this piece.

Now there’s how I got to be the world’s worst reporter. By reliance on my memory when I could easily check. It’s a dangerous game, impending certain doom.

World's worst reporter in quest of a yarn. He can't identify the site or identify a story. These guys are pushing metal because there's a hole. Steed has not a clue. Maybe if someone got hurt, That's it, someone falls in the hole and has to be rescued, Like in Billy Wilder's 1952 Ace In the Hole reporter yarn. Photo by Ted Friedman.

Continue reading “How I Got to be “The World’s Worst Reporter”” »

by Steed Dropout
Dec. 19, 2012
Berkeley, ca

SCOOP! KILLER MURDERED AN OVER CONTROLLING MOM BY KILLING HER TO REGAIN CONTROL, ACCORDING TO FREUD

“I read you. [in the Planet} You have good ideas about crime” — Michael K. Meehan, Chief of Police, Berkeley, ca

News from Newtown: Killer’s barber tells all. “I shoulda killed him in my barber’s chair,” CNN.

As periferal as this barber-talk is, it may give us a clue to the killer’s motives. The barber has “known” the killer since he was twelve. The kid never said a word. “She spoke for him,” the barber said.

Either the murdered mother was over-controlling or the kid was a moron (he was decidedly not). If we are right, this is a SCOOP; it’s in the headline.

A neighbor, who was close to the mother, reportedly says she was petitioning the court
for rights of conservatorship, which would have given the mother the ultimate control over her son.

That’s when he started dreaming of killing his mom with her own gun, using the skills she taught him at the shooting range. Sparked to action when he learned of his mom’s bid to take legal control of him, he couldn’t resist making the dream a reality.

The Trouble With Guns. Photo by Ted Friedman.

Continue reading “The Trouble With Guns: a Memoir” »

by Steed Dropout
November 22, 2012

Special On-the -Road-Coverage for Berkeley Reporter

Tualatin, Or.

This is close to a national scandal.

A tire blowout is no big deal these days, right? All you have to do is get on the cell, and summon help. If you don’t have road repair insurance, you can call 911, and pay out of pocket.

Only two things are necessary, a working phone, and a pocket.

I was insured for roadside assistance, and my phone worked well at first. As it’s battery began to decline, it wasn’t of much use.

But the phone put me through to roadside assistance, who were in Arizona, and then Texas, and finally Florida. The 20-year-old Arizonan and I discussed high school English and became great friends. He said that I had done a good job of “locating” myself, and staying cool. Many fail this test, according to the kid.

Second vehicle is a small truck, used for animal control, Oregon State Police. Note I-5 upper right. I had pulled off and didn't know it. I gave my location as I-5, but anyone local would have known, that is, if they even showed up. Photo by Ted Friedman.

Continue reading “Roadside Assistance Not Assistive, From Outsourcedville, U.S.A.” »

by Steed Dropout
Nov. 10. 2012

Berkeley, Ca

BRAND THIS!

I’m not Coca-Cola or Levis, or anything like that, but ever since I began my recent career in on-line journalism several years ago, I was advised to land high on Google search results pages. AND to brand.

Yeah, I took a marketing course in 1958, where I learned branding. But I never thought journalists would be urged to brand. (A branding workshop for journalists, et.al. was held recently in Manhattan).

But why brand journalists, since we’re supposed to be objective in a world where journalism ranks sixth among psychopathic occupations, and no one believes a word we write. The answer: because on-line free-lance journalism, the dumping ground for laid-off reporters, is more competitive than even before, when it was also highly competitive.

'Patches' selling patches on Berkeley's Telegraph avenue a few weeks ago, along with weed. 'It wasn't marijuana,' he said 'but cookies.' This was a heavily-voiced (branded) Ted Friedman story for the Berkeley Daily Planet, where this picture was recently published. Photo by Ted Friedman.

Continue reading “Branded to Death on the Way to Extinction” »

by Steed Dropout
Oct. 30, 2012

Berkeley, Ca

IT’S A CRYING SHAME

It can be tearfully lonely to love everyone, but that is my unfortunate lot. In fact, I’m used to it — probably couldn’t change.

Is it cool to be in love with everyone?

Ask Eddie Bracken, the 1930’s actor for Preston Sturges’ stock company of characters. He starred in two of Sturges’ most successful films, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944) and Hail the Conquering Hero (1944).

by Steed Dropout
Oct. 28, 2012
Berkeley, Ca.

SUCKY SUNDAY

Always Berkeley, a breath of befouled air.

Ever since I’ve gone back to work, after 35 years of indolent cross-training (weight-lifting, running, and mountain biking), hanging out in Berkeley coffee houses, bookstores, and cinemas…ever since then, I’ve had a bitch-slapped awareness of the days of the week, and how that has come to affect me…now that I’m a working man at 73.

I work at the Berkeley Daily Planet, Berkeleyside, and the Daily Californian. I will come to your house to interview you, if only you would pay me.

Monday. Nursing a hangover. Must try to do better on Sunday. Always regrets for Sunday, when the pressure is on to kick-back. But you can’t kick-back, because you are anticipating the pain of what has been called ‘gloomy Monday.’ We’re gloomy because we failed to cash in on Sunday.

Sunday through Saturday, 1934, as time goes by. Photo by Ted Friedman.

Continue reading “Your Fucked Up Week and Mine” »

By Steed Dropout
Oct. 24, 2012

Berkeley, Ca

“ARGO FUCK YOURSELF”

“Argo Fuck Yourself is a running joke from the movie, Argo which continues to fill theaters weeks after its national release last month.

Argo Fuck Yourself is WW2 military usage, like Kilroy Was Here, or In-like-Flynn (Errol, WW2 era actor, a successful womanizer.)

Photo by Ted Friedman.

Argo “only dropped 15% to $16.6 million, last weekend, making it the best hold for a non-holiday live action film on record,” according to the Bible of Showbiz — Variety
Continue reading “Argo, Still Fresh Tomato” »

by Steed Dropout
September 30, 2012

CATCH THIS!

Berkeley Ca

They’ll blame his loss on gaffs, and haves vs. nots, but no one will know the the real reason for Romney’s defeat — his name.

His first name.

The founder of PR, Edward Bernays, Freud’s nephew, manipulated the subliminal to manipulate human behavior. Politics is all too human and all too manipulatable. Here’s the subliminal low-down on Mitt.

A mitt is a baseball catcher’s glove.

The baseball catcher’s mitt is a pillowy leather glove, stuffed with padding to protect a catcher’s hand from fastballs.

Mitt - uncredited.

Continue reading “It’s the Mitt, Stupid!” »

by Steed Dropout
Aug. 29, 2012

Berkeley, Ca.

Berkeley, ca. 'Why not? Pimping. Hella.'

BLOGSTIPATED

When you blog, and your turd won’t come out, according to my submitted definition at Urban Dictionary.

Urban Dictionary, a compendium of filth and hilarity aimed at teenagers (over thirteen, UD admonishes), who are the same age as my grandkids. The kids helped me submit to UD last, year pinching their noses and making the sound — “youuuu”. Why are you doing urban dictionary?

It makes me feel twelve.

In Roseburg, Oregon last year, I was carrying my mountain bike up some motel stairs as a teenage boy was on his way up to join his parents. “What do you think of my bike?” I asked.

“Sick,” he shot back. I had recently signed up for the daily feed from Urban Dictionary. When I signed up, they responded — “sick.”

“Urban Dictionary?” I asked. The boy nodded. “Don’t encourage him, the mother,” pleaded, her eyes rolling.
Continue reading “Urban Dictionary Meets Steed Dropout, Pillover, Stereo Ego, and the New American Dream” »