Michael Smith

Canadians not bored with Ike war stories

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:45:00 CDT

Did you ride out Hurricane Ike? Are your friends, relatives and household pets tired of hearing your war stories about it? Take heart. Producers of a new documentary series called "Perfect Storms," based in Toronto, Canada, still want to hear your harrowing tales, especially if you face the storm on Bolivar Peninsula.

The series focuses on both the story and the science of major storms that have occurred throughout history, producer Heather Kohlmann said. Episodes probe the many factors that came together to create events that changed history, she said.

"I am currently working on an episode about the great hurricane that hit Galveston in September of 1900, and we are hoping to draw a parallel between survivors' experiences in both the 1900 storm and Hurricane Ike in 2008," Kohlmann said.

"Therefore, we are looking for anyone who stayed in Galveston during Hurricane Ike and has a unique story to tell."

Click the link for more information about the company, The Entertainment Group.

You can contact Kohlmann by email at hkohlmann@entonegroup.com or by phone at 416-913-0998 Ext. 224.

No U.S. broadcaster has signed on at air the series, but the Canadians are in talks with a couple, Kohlmann said.

Ron Paul gets attention, then testy

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:10:00 CDT

Political blogs are lighting up over GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul walking out of an interview with CNN's Gloria Borger, who was pressing for answers about newsletters published under Paul's name in 1980s and '90s.

See The Week's take on it here.

Apparently, the newsletters contained comments about minorities and others that could, without much effort, be taken as bigoted or at least astoundingly ignorant.

Paul first tries to brush the questions off. It all happened long ago, he's talked about it all before, he didn't write them, he didn't read them and he has disavowed them.

Then Paul does what Paul does. He claims he's being picked on because he's the only virtuous man in Gomorrah and stalks off.

Given that the newsletters offered opinions about people Paul would be governing were he to be elected, questions about them are perfectly legitimate.

Even if they weren't, he needs to face the heat, not run from it, if he wants to be taken seriously.

Few political candidates have escaped questions about things that happened in the past, or never happened at all.

See Obama's birth certificate and religion, Herman Cain's alleged philandering, W. Bush's National Guard service, et. al., Bill Clinton's pot smoking, John Kerry's Vietnam service, etc., etc., etc.

Todd also a contender in Michigan

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:20:00 CDT

Derek Todd, one of three finalists to be Galveston's next city manager, also is among four finalist for the same job in Holland, Mich., according to local news reports. Read the Holland Sentinel story here.

Galveston's city council plans Monday to interview Todd, a management consultant for the city of Greeley, Colo; Michael Kovacs, assistant city manager for Park City Municipal Corp., Utah; and Kenneth Williams, the city manager for Buda, Texas. The council could hire a new city manager at that meeting.

Read some background here.

Hate to say I told you so, but ...

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:43:00 CDT

Two Colorado State University researchers, who have for 20 years been forecasting in December what the next hurricane season would be like in June, July, August, etc., have apparently called it quits after having been wrong for 20 years.

So says The Ottawa Citizen anyway.

Some of my colleagues are rejoicing because the news means I'll have one less thing to carp and grumble about during Decembers to come.

We got off the December doom train sometime before 2007, according to this editorial I wrote back then. I had many problems with the winter hurricane forecast. One of which was that it came out in December, for goodness sake, a month or so after having just put a hurricane season to rest. Who wants to think about the next one that soon?

Another was that it was useless, or as the university researchers put it had "not shown real-time forecast skill," which is grant application jargon for useless.

We had not reported the December forecast for years. But everybody else did, which meant people would call asking why we hadn't. Some had grand conspiracy theories about how we were suppressing information about the inevitably "active" or "very active" hurricane season that was, what, just six short months away. It was loads of holiday fun.

Isle eateries get love in USA Today

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:10:00 CDT

Island icons Rudy & Paco and The Donut Shoppe, 4917 Broadway, got forks-up reviews last month in the Business and Travel section of USA Today. In fact, Galveston made the lead of the article about places business travelers like to eat.

The plugs came from Greg Newell of Saxotech, a Danish company that makes the excellent media management software we use at The Daily News. Greg is based in Tampa, but his job is to help simple minds comprehend sophisticated programs, so he's on the road a lot and in Galveston now and then.

And talk about synergy: When Greg first came to Galveston back in the summer of 2007 to help us launch the company's media management system, my wife, Laura Elder, included Rudy & Paco and The Donut Shoppe among her recommendations about where Greg, a dedicated foodie, ought to eat. He turned up the next day raving about the red snapper with raspberry chipotle sauce and lump crab meat. She and I tried it that night and it has been among my favorite dishes anywhere ever since; and the Bronco Burrito just speaks for itself.

And since The Daily News covers his expenses while he's in town: Glad you enjoyed it Greg.

What's your favorite Rudy and Paco dish and do you also love The Donut Shoppe?

No sign of zombies on mainland

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:30:00 CDT

Let's be honest. At least a few of you will be disappointed to learn the "ZOMBIES ON MAINLAND" warning flashed by a Texas Department of Transportation sign on the causeway this morning was a hoax. But apparently it was, so put the AR15 back in the vault and go to work.

Photo by Marissa Nuttall

While the sign did not indicate the presence of walking dead, it was proof that another type of pop-culture icon — a computer hacker — was at large in the county, according to a 2009 report from Austin.

Meanwhile, NBC news reported a similar hack-job in Houston last month.

Transportation department officials note that messing with their signs is a Class C misdameanor punishable by a $500 fine. And walking dead notwithstanding, pranking around along the freeway at night is a good way to become roadkill.

Then again, these reports could all be the product of a duped media dimwittedly buying the great zombie cover-up, in which case you'll want to visit this site.

And remember: Your best shot is a headshot.

Flagship debris videos surface

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 12:00:00 CDT

Surfers last night began posting videos to YouTube purporting to show debris from the Flagship Hotel going into the Gulf of Mexico. My story in Wednesday's edition attempts to spell out the controversy.

Crews continute to demolish the Flagship Hotel in Galveston on Tuesday. Some surfers and bystanders said crews knocked glass and construction debris into the Gulf of Mexico. Photo by Jennifer Reynolds

Bill Hill, a surfer who runs a real estate office in Galveston, said links to the videos had been sent to attorneys at the Texas General Land Office and that people here were waiting for people there to review the clips.