Marx Prewett 1956-2007

Marx passed away on February 28, 2007 at his home in Illinois.

We're opening a message board for anyone who would like to share their thoughts.   Worth Every Dime

It will be seen by Marx's family and friends. Please remember his incredible sense of humor as you write -- almost nothing was sacred.

****************************************
I'm trying to spread some sunshine
Throughout your darkest hour.
He once told me, in confidence,
That he often peed in the shower.
- Marx Prewett 1/98
*****************************************

What follows is certainly not the best writing of Marx, but it is what I could find in a few hours looking back through the corner of AOL he built in 1995, "Wit's End" at AOL Keyword Novel, where he was NOVL Dime and KCPrew to us all. Author's Lounge Members knew him in later years as LodeofCrap. The rest are from links I saved as I followed his writing through the last ten years. If you have more of his writing you would like to share, please email it to amaznkate@aol.com or post it. His family would greatly appreciate it.

Leita, you loved him. He knew it. 

My friendship with him started on Valentine's Day, 1997. He IM'ed me because I wasn't acting like "myself" as he could tell through the Instant Cafe chat room scroll. I told him I had to calm my pounding heart because the Great NOVL Dime chose me, chubby suburban house wife from Jersey and honored her with an instant message. He could spew snippets out by the hour and never get stale. I remember going without sleep the entire winter of 96-97 because I wouldn't dare miss his nightly performance in the Cafe. JB Blah, Jamz, OX, Aslan Leo, Bare, Knight, Belle, Blonde, Dregs, Tart, and so many others whose names I no longer remember, it was always Dime in my book. He was my idol.

I will never forget the months, and then years, of listening to him missing Emily, Zack, and Grace so much his heart was breaking; it almost broke you both.

Anyone with a mind as fine as his just had to be tormented by his own brilliance and the demons caused by that same brilliance. Never before have I said more sincerely, May He Rest in Peace.

My friend, please rest in peace.

Kate

2004 Bulwer-Lytton bad prose contest won by software developer

From the web page announcing the 2004 Bulwer-Lytton Bad Prose Contest runners up:

And finally, this from Marx Prewett of Dallas, Texas: "Sheila walked into the room, flaunting the kind of body that made grown men wish they were teenagers, made teenagers wish they were grown men, made toddlers wish they were preteens, made preteens wish they were young adults, and made everyone wish editors swung blue pencils the same way she swung her hips as she crossed the threshold of both the room and bad taste, her breasts swaying like dual house-trailers on a windy overpass." 

Marx asked the question "Seen Something Stupid?" and led with his own story:

Subject: No- but my neighbors did.
Date:
5/26/1997 6:15 AM Eastern Standard Time
From:
NOVLDime
MsgId:
222200:78


Not ten minutes ago, I was taking the three evolution flops that we call dogs outside to their pen for their morning constitutional. After struggling to get them to drag me in the proper direction to get at the gate, I stepped into the pen, unbraided the three leashes, turned around and walked point-blank into the 2x4 brace that runs horizontally across the top of the gate. The upshot of this is that less than ten minutes after waking, I now have a goose egg on my brow, a bite that nearly amputated my
tongue,my teeth now sit 1/4" deeper in my jaws, I'm sporting The Mother Of All Headaches, and my vision is swimming with those little floating specks of light that resemble some sort of cosmic gnats. I am also now seeing only in black-and-white.
I think in the archives of "Hey, honey, you should have seen what that bonehead next door did," this incident will live alongside the day I was working on my car in the driveway and sprayed myself in both eyes with choke cleaner. That little mishap was followed by ten minutes of "Blind Man's Bluff" on my hands and knees as I crawled all over the yard searching for the garden hose. Once I found it, I opened the nozzle and discovered it was turned off back at the faucet. Now certain I was doomed to a
life of pencil sales, I hastily crawled along the length of the hose. Since my eyes were clenched tight, I had no perspective and had a good head of stem up when I slammed head first into the deck where the hose ran under it. Now certain I was doomed, I weaved my way to the faucet, hastily cranked it open, then realized there was no way I could flush my burning eyes under it. I had to go back to where I'd left the nozzle.
Safety experts say that most accidents happen at home. I think I'll have to move.

NOVL Dime
Amazing Instant Staffer
Now seeing vacation slides of dead relatives
 

Subject:
Re:No- but my neighbors did.
Date:
5/27/1997 6:15 PM Eastern Standard Time
From:
NOVLDime
MsgId:
222200:184

( With apologies to Dionne Warwick and all music lovers )

~La la la la la lalalala..
.Do you know the way to stand Bo, say?
I've read all his posts,
I've grown real bored and snoozed away.
He lets lots of words get in the way,
but he's out of his mind most every day.
AOL is an Info Highway,
$20 bucks a month and your a star.
Be a Bo and folks will want to smack till you see stars...~

NOVL Dime
Amazing Instant Staffer
Psycho Friends Network

Subject: Needless Signs
Date: 6/5/1997
10:35 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: KCPREW MsgId: 222200:426


In Menominee, MI, there is a chain link fence along a parking lot. Attached to it is a sign that is 15 feet long and 3' high reading " Do Not Drive Cars Into Fence." This makes me wonder: is this sign overkill or is every other object in the world dangerously undermarked?
 

Subject:
Re:Penis Shrinkers
Date:
8/27/1997 10:15 AM Eastern Standard Time
From:
NOVLLookn
MsgId:
222200:953

Bo,

The only time I put a 1 in front of a 9 is when calling my favorite 900 number: 1-900-DEW-GALZ.

Yes, I admit it. I do call those kind of places. Not often, but enough to make friends with Candy Pantz aka Lucinda Horrowitz in real life. She's a 59-year-old gramma whose husband died two years ago leaving her with a $82,000 gambling debt and three illigitimate children named Chuckie, Horace and George. After working for six months in the china department at Macy's, she opted for a new career, and boyoboyRDee, is she doing great.

At first, she tried the "oh honey, are the men treating you bad? C'mere and let me bake your cookies" schtick, but that wasn't what I was ISO. I was ear-deep in a bad dye job and needed some expert advice on hair color. She walked me through a Miss Clairol #NB9 treatment, set me straight on perms and the pros and cons of bikini-waxing, ("Never do it "there".. it hurts like a s.o.a.b.") and after we enjoyed a few all-night chats debating what men really like, but rarely get (no, it's not "that".. after
much discussion we determined it was the "Big Toe" treatment) I discovered I was well on my way to writing the world's longest run-on sentence.

Damn, I hate when I do that.

NOVL Lookn
Amazing Instant Stiffer
Curing your insomnia, one response at a time. 

Subject: Not only saw it..I did it!
Date: 5/26/1997 12:50 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: TadBits (Kate)

I had to use a public restroom while out dining with my extended family. I went into the ladies room leaving my husband holding my purse (of course) and my father, his wife and several children outside within earshot.. Being a hygiene fanatic and never knowing whose butt has been there before mine, I carefully placed a paper seat cover on and then criss crossed toilet paper over that.. (This is the real reason women take so long in the ladies room by the way.) I had a lit cigarette and as I sat down I threw it in the toilet.. The paper blocked it's entrance into the water and a small fire erupted.. My family heard me scream.. "YYYYYYYYYYYYYOW!!!! Fire!!! I'm on FIRE!!!!!!!" When I exited the ladies room and was asked for an explanation.. I replied, "Small brush fire, no problem"

The scars healed quite nicely, thank you very much.

TadBits
Ouch

Message 7 of 10 Subject 229 of 249
Subject: Re:Not only saw it..I did it!
Date: 5/28/1997 5:29 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: NOVLDime

Tad
First of all , ( snicker. ) Secondly, this tale reminds me of something that happened to me ( okay, I did it to myself) several years ago. I was smoking while on "the throne" and flicked my ashes into the water. Unfortunately, I "overswung" and branded myself on the end of a part of me often referred to as a "thingy." Needless to say, it was more surprised than I and I was pretty damn shocked. Smoking is, of itself, a terrible habit, but it pales in comparison to sticking a red-hot coal on the end
of "that," yet the Surgeon General says absolutely nothing about it in his warning on tobacco packaging.
Looking back, I'm glad it wasn't a pipe- I could have gotten stuck. .

NOVL Dime
Amazing Instant Staffer
Never too proud to admit incredible stupidity

Message 1 of 2 Subject 56 of 160
Subject:
Bipolar Birthday
Date: 1/26/1998 8:07 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: NOVL Dime


I'm taking the time to drop a line
To two of my favorite folks.

One with a great sense of humor,
one who cries over jokes.

One who is gracious and giving,
one that is greedy and cheap.

One with great social skills,
one at their best when asleep.

Both are another year older,
one is happy, the other is blue.

I'm only sending one card, though,
because both of these people are you.

This just in...

BOOTY AND THE BEAST The release of the Lewinsky-Tripp telephone tapes added a human dimension to the Dinglegate scandal. The audiotapes reveal Monica to be, like, well, you know, not really all that, well, articulate, uh, you know? On the other hand, Tripp, often perceived as jaded and manipulative, appears to actually be jaded, manipulative and mean. Neither could be reached for comment; Lewinsky was busy scrawling "Monica Lewinsky-Clinton" in a spiral notebook. Tripp is currently travelling with the road company of "Throw Momma From The Train."

MONICA INKS DEAL Presidential toy Monica Lewinsky has signed a seven-figure deal to co-author a book detailing her relationship with Bill Clinton. The bok will hit the presses as soon as the printer installs a press that will dot i's with little hearts.

MERGER ANNOUNCED Following the lead of Starbucks/Barnes & Noble combination retail outlets, Baskin Robbins will build an ice cream shop inside every Lane Bryant clothing store.

NO NEWT IS GOOD NEWT Newt Gingrich is stepping down as Speaker of the House to pursue "new opportunities." The specifics of these opportunities are unknown; while there are several ships presently sinking around the globe, all are thought to be already staffed by rats.

TAKE A "WIZ" A refurbished version of 1939's classic "The Wizard Of Oz" hits screens this weekend. Although mostly unchanged, the digitally-enhanced version clearly reveals the infamous "flying monkeys" to actually be Jack Russel terriers being tossed from a blimp.

JESSE TAKES OVER The new governor of Minnesota, Jesse "Not Totally Brain Damaged" Ventura wasted no time in assuming the reigns of state. With celebratory beer still dripping from his chin, he immediately reinstated Minnesota's death penalty. Convicted inmates face clubbing by folding chair.

NEW MISSION ANNOUNCED Encouraged by the success of John Glenn's second trip to space, NASA unveiled plans to build a second, and much larger, version of the space shuttle. The Maxi Shuttle, sized to carry 1000 passengers, would be manned entirely by politicians, then launched directly into the sun. A NASA spokesman attributed the new program to public demand.

JONES ARRESTED Shortly after accepting $1 million from New York real estate tycoon Abe Hirschfield, Paula Jones was arrested and booked for prostitution, the act of having sex for money.

CANDY RECALLED Over five-million pounds of Circus Peanuts candy is being recalled after Food and Drug Administration tests determined the candy is made of life preserver stuffing.

PHOENIX FACES THE MUSIC As negotiations grind to a halt, the city of Phoenix is faced with a crippling strike by symphony musicians. Although peaceful so far, the string section has hinted at using their instruments as levers against management. "I'm disappointed," admitted symphony director Leopold Kincaid. "I had hoped they wouldn't resort to violins."

HDTV DEBUT High-definition television goes online Nov. 1 when about 20 broadcasters will begin beaming it to anyone willing to shell out the price of a car for a set capable of receiving it. The new format promises increased visual detail; for the first time, viewers will be able to actually see the drool on sitcom actors' chins.

SCIENCE ON PARADE An anti-cancer drug shows promise in treating spinal cord injuries; from a test group of 26 spine-damaged mice, 24 regained the ability to walk within ten days after starting drug therapy. The drug will now be tried on female lab technicians injured by falls from chairs when the mice began walking.

AMAZING DISCOVERIES Recently-released traffic statistics reveal that Valium users are more likely to be involved in accidents than their non-sedated counterparts, although they are less likely to notice. In comparison, heroin users are less likely to get in crashes because they generally stick the ignition key in the lighter socket.

MONKEY BUSINESS Researchers at Columbia University have determined that rhesus monkeys have a basic understanding of math. During the experiments, the primates were able to arrange cards in order according to the number of pictures on each card. As soon as the tiny hats are delivered, the monkeys will appear behind the registers at area McDonald's.

RECALL NOTICE Fisher-Price has announced a recall on the entire line of Power Wheels riding toys due to a possible fire hazard. The recall affects the entire line of Power Wheels vehicles, including those sold under the Kia and Geo labels.

FIREWORKS FACTORY EXPLODES An accident sent a chain reaction explosion through a Mexican neighborhood filled with illicit home fireworks factories. The explosion leveled an area approximately one mile in diameter; damages are estimated to reach into the hundreds.

NBA SHORTENS SEASON Due to a labor dispute, the National Basketball Association has canceled the first two weeks of the 1998 season, which will now last only eighty-five weeks.

GLENN DEFENDS FLIGHT Astronaut John Glenn bristled against charges that his upcoming shuttle flight is politically motivated. During a press conference at his home, Glenn said, "I'll be performing important experiments during the mission. That's how we get miracles like aeroplanes and moving pictures. Now get. You're trampling my begonias." NASA officials state that Glenn's assignments will include testing of the latest Contour chair and the affects of weightlessness on birdhouse construction.

NIXON/CLINTON: A COMPARISON The Senate is contemplating using the 1974 Nixon impeachment process as a model in the Clinton case. While the cases are somewhat different, there are still a few startling similarities. Let's examine them.

Nixon's misconduct was exposed due to fumbling "plumbers." Clinton's misconduct was exposed due to fondling plumbing.

Nixon's secrets were exposed by "Deep Throat." Clinton's were exposed because of it.

Nixon urged Kissinger to kneel down and pray with him. Clinton urged Monica to kneel down and play with him.

Nixon promoted carpet bombing; Clinton promoted carpet burns.

Nixon's tapes provided a smoking gun; Lewinsky's testimony provided a smoking holster.

Watergate left a stain on the Presidency. Dinglegate left a stain on everything.

Marx Prewett © 1998

Subject:
From the desk of NOVL Dime
Date:
1/23/1998 2:40 PM Eastern Standard Time
From:
NOVL Dime
MsgId:
234648:2


He always said you had a way
of giving him your lovin'.
But when you cut him off
It drove his head into the oven.
********************

A rope, a tree, a sunny day.
The one you loved has gone away.
**********************

Your loved one is gone,
you must try to heal
and once again be whole.
While I'm on the subject,
can I have his fishing pole?
*************************


Swing low, Sweet Chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.
Your loved one went and offed himself.
And all you get is this poem.
***************************


His life was rough, a daily trial,
a test of human endurance.
Now yours will be; just wait and see.
Suicide's uncovered by insurance.
*********************************

Deedle deedle dumpling,
your son John.
He went to bed
with a garbage bag on.
****************************

He said his marriage
was an empty shell
and threatened to annull it.
And though he's gone,
Deep in out hearts,
He's Number One
With a bullet.
******************************

I thought he'd looked sad.
******************************

He took his life and left you alone,
But Life is too short for hating.
Please jot down my number
and give me a call when you're
thinking of resuming dating.
**********************************

He's gone and buried, and left you alone
Your thoughts must surely be mixed.
Did he really mean to end it,
Or forget to have his muffler fixed?
**************************************
Your beloved went and offed himself
and left you alone and blue.
If it's any consolation,
he is too.
****************************************
I'm trying to spread some sunshine
Throughout your darkest hour.
He once told me, in confidence,
That he often peed in the shower.
*****************************************
He ate a slug, it shattered his head,
and sent his eyes a-popping.
Climb out of your rut,
Get off of your butt
And do some casket shopping.
******************************************
Booze and pills
were his favorite thrills.
His last party was a doozy.
He ate the friggin medicine cabinet
I guess he wasn't choosy.
******************************************
He loved leaning out the window;
he did it time and time again.
For his two-and-a-half
Into a dumpster.
He scored a Perfect Ten.
***************************************
He always was a well-groomed man,
But now he's in his grave.
Whatever did possess him
To give his wrists a shave?
**************************************
He loved to travel and see the world
He was especially fond of France.
But then he went to India
And stuck a cobra down his pants.

Subject:
Re:Never bowl with your old ma
Date:
5/25/1997 6:38 AM Eastern Standard Time
From:
NOVLDime
MsgId:
222200:30


Tex
There are only two reasons to go bowling:

1. To wear rented shoes.

2. A court order.

Bowling, while considered a sport, falls into the same category as golf. It's one of the few athletic pursuits that integrate smoking, drinking, and butt-ugly clothing as part of the overall package. The biggest difference is that very few country clubs feature 18-hole bowling alleys.

Except in Wisconsin.

NOVL Dime
Amazing Instant Staffer
Familiar with the New New Yorker Club between Wausau and Mosinee. It's the only strip joint I've ever been to that features chicken wire between the stage and the audience. From the looks of the dancers, I would say it's to keep them from eating the patrons.

The Year In Review - 2002
LDRS NOVL Dime

For most of our lives, we've thought of 2001 in conjunction with a colon and "A Space Odyssey." Now that we're at the other end of it, it seems that the colon was much more appropriate than the phrase that followed it.

The year started with a new president, one inaugurated only after discussions and debate worthy of a Miami drug deal gone bad. The Clinton Gang pranked the White House prior to departure, a move a symbolic exclamation point to the prior eight years of shenanigans. The Bush League swarmed into Washington and set upon establishing a functioning government, a task made much easier once they'd replaced all the missing White House furniture.

Spring brought financial disaster for investors via the Dot Com Crash, an economic uncurtaining of the mighty Oz. It seems that venture capitalists wised up to the fact that no matter how people used a service, it would only make money if people paid to use it. Overnight, people lost fortunes that had taken months to accrue.

Internationally, the British found that their beef was inedible, therefore qualifying it as genuine British cuisine. China allowed the US return of a spy plane, as long as it was checkable baggage. Russia found that the best time to ask for help was before it was too late. Japan found that high-school fishing students were no match for a hot-dogging nuclear submarine. The Mideast remains the Mideast-no matter what is happening elsewhere, someone is lobbing rocks, someone else is lobbing rockets, and there isn't a single thing in the entire area worthy of rockets -- or rocks.

The government decided they would cure our economy by giving everyone three-hundred dollars. Not for retirement funds, mind you, that windfall was to spend any damned way we wanted. I invested mine in a tank of unleaded and a Java Mucho Grande at the Starbuck's inside the other Starbuck's inside the McDonald's at the local Walmart. That's right-somewhere along the line, retailers have turned Russian nesting dolls into business models.

On the domestic scene, life as we know it changed forever with the aid of box cutters and bad immigration policies. Two large buildings dropped in New York City, punching a large hole in both the Manhattan sky and the national psyche. Cars became the medium of American defiance, with Stars and Stripes and shoe-polished oaths worthy of the best homecoming weekend. George Bush became able to say "Evil Doer" without giggling. Dick Cheney developed the power to vanish. Donald Rumsfield worked on polishing his lounge act. Lee Greenwood was mobilized, a move reserved only for the most dire circumstances.

The nation had barely stopped reeling from the initial kick in the groin when we were assaulted with another sinister threat, a threat that manifested not with an explosion, but as a gradual debilitating illness. Yes, Geraldo was back on camera with all the credibility of J. Fred Muggs..

But seriously.

People were suddenly scared to visit the mailbox. Federal agents were nervous about receiving white powder from unknown citizens, a switch on the days when citizens were nervous about delivering white powder to unknown federal agents.. Government agencies were forced to inactivity, as opposed to their customary voluntary inactivity. Cipro overtook Ecstacy in demand.

A coalition formed; scads of other nations said they would stand firmly behind the US as we fought international terrorism. Britain donated stern speeches, Canada and Australia joined because they think they are still British, and France dropped off a casserole. Finally, American jets launched a nonstop bombing mission and simultaneously polluted Afghani minefields with military snacks. Scads of rocks were rearranged, and Afghani provinces fell like sorority girls on spring break. American ground forces worked in concert with a ragtag bunch named The Northern Alliance, whose discipline and conduct mirrored those of the Darlings on a weekend trip to Mayberry.

Across the world, TV viewers watched as a heinous figure held court with a handful of others; stomachs turned as the speaker spewed pure evil. Despite the sickening content, people were locked to their sets. Yes, "The Weakest Link" was a huge success.

We were reintroduced to Osama bin Ladin, a man corrupted by misguided religion, power, and incredible inherited wealth, a wicked combination rarely seem outside of Massachusetts. Other than a name that lends itself easily to parody songs, the man lacks a single redeeming human value save being a viable source of recyclable calcium. Oh yeah, he's a shabby dresser, too.

Late in the year, Enron management made the Mongol hordes look like bashful suitors in their treatment of employees. The smart money says heads will roll; the cynics hint that the impact will be cushioned by deep piles of undertabled cash.

The long-speculated invention known as Ginger was finally unveiled and renamed Segway. This device, promised to redefine the design of cities and change the way we live, looks like a cross between a pogo stick and a bathroom scale, and catch match pace with even the finest riding lawnmower. This wondertoy will be built in both personal and commercial models; the latter costs nearly three times as much as the former, automatically qualifying it as a must for governmental agencies.

The sporting world was a mixed bag this year; NASCAR fans were shocked to find that driving into a concrete wall at 200-per could have negative results, but then those folks are easily surprised. Michael Jordan raised a few eyebrows by coming out of mothballs, then taking some youngsters to the cleaners. On the baseball scene, well, it's still every bit as boring as ever. Golf remains only an excuse to wear clothing fit for a rodeo clown and mix dubious exercise with Jack and Coke.

Over the course of twelve months, we lost the usual quota of shining stars from the sky of humanity. John Lee Hooker, Jack Lemmon, Eudora Welty, Imogene Coca, Robert Ludlum, and a host of others took their last call. The jury is still out on how many new wonders hatched on the planet, however. Hopefully it will be at least an even trade, even if the replacements are all named Colton and Ashleigh. Their greatness will be established only after priorities like toilet training.

2002 is a numerical palindrome; oddly, it is the second one in eleven years but the last one any of us will live to see. It starts as it ends, with nothing in the middle. It's a shame last year couldn't have been like that.

8.08.2005

The Day the News Died


Peter Jennings died today.

This presents a problem for me, although not as large as the one presented his family and friends. Hopefully, Peter’s problems are over, as death pretty much wipes the slate of the daily troubles left behind on earth.

My aforementioned problem is this: I now have nobody solid to believe. Since reaching the age where I could realize there was a wide world out there and it was filled with wars, famines, cyclones, disease, and economic disasters, I accepted Jennings’ take on how each of these would impact the United States in general and me in particular and took it as gospel. You may ask “But what about Cronkite? How about Huntley and Brinkley? They were on the air almost as long as Jennings. How come you couldn’t believe them?” The answer to these questions lie squarely in my own young life, and my lowered ( or lack of ) opinion of these venerable newsmen was ( or wasn’t) formed by one simple fact: I couldn’t receive news from either CBS or NBC—our TV had but rabbit ears and ABC was the only clear signal that made it to my tiny town in the rural Midwest, so Jennings became my Authority by default.(To clarify this situation, we later got better televisions, our local network affiliates got better at transmitting, and we had access to the other networks, but the die had already been cast and I never granted the other newsmen the credibility I gave to Jennings. Doing so would be akin to accepting a replacement grandfather after learning about the world at the knee of the genuine article: they just never earned their bones, so to speak.)

This is not to say I saw Jennings as a grandfatherly type. On the contrary, he seemed more like a wise older brother or uncle- old enough to know what was going one, but young enough to change with the times and styles of the last few decades. Unlike Walter, Chet, and David, Peter could crawl into a safari jacket and look like he was ready to cover a war instead of going bird watching. Even when he was dressed for combat, however, Jennings maintained a calm, steady, reassuring demeanor, which is more than I could ever say about The Artist Formerly Known As Jerry Rivers or that sideshow act Dan Rathers. Both of those characters always seemed more interested in conveying how brave they were than what was actually coming down.

Since the decades to which I refer have been times of incredible change, there has been a hell of a lot of news to see- the time when space travel, heart transplants, computers, and wireless telephones ceased being sci-fi fluff and part of everyday life. We’ve endured the Cold War, Vietnam, Lebanon, Iraq Part One, Grenada, Panama, Iran, El Salvador, Watergate, racial and philosophical riots, a Presidential assassination, a couple other attempts, and sexual and technological revolutions. We’ve seen death by Russia replaced by AIDS and Betty Crocker replaced by Betty Friedan. We’ve met the Beatles said goodbye to half of them, cloned sheep, burned bras, draft cards, the Cuyahoga River, and copious amounts of marijuana. We’ve put men on the moon and leered at the Titantic on the bottom of the sea. As that new kid from Minnesota said. “Thetimes, they are a-changing.”

Jennings told me about most of these changes, and I never doubted his veracity or integrity. He was a true professional.

In the last fifteen or twenty years, the cable explosion has bombarded me with more news than I need: round-the-clock reports of everything going on everywhere on (and off of) the planet, now supplemented by wire-service crawls across the bottom and charts, graphs, and flashing logos on the periphery. The only thing these news mills lack is precision. Since they’re not restricted to a timeslot, they have the time for egregious speculation, slipshod reporting, and the obligation to keep the Information Pipeline filled whether there is news or not. In my opinion, the cable news networks could can a few of the special effects and learn how to edit. Better yet, they could resurrect Peter Jennings and allow him to teach them electronic journalism.
Now, THAT would be news.