Dean Clough

January 30, 2023

Portico Darwin: Arrive Houston + A Journalist's Call for New News

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS

5 Minute Read (attached PDF)
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I flew into Houston yesterday, courtesy of my favorite cousin, Dr. Shelly Murphy, and am now ensconced in the palatial Murphy Villa.  But the Villa will be just a memory soon, which is why I'm here:  I'm spec'ing out the tech for her new digs.  "New digs," you ask?  Nothing major, unless you consider a 5,000 square foot single level condo on the 24th floor of a concierge building in the best part of Houston major.  It's true, and it shall henceforth be known as Murphy Tower.

Despite me being a Texan (!) for a few days, let's begin the week with a pretty picture I took at sunrise in SF last week.  Hopefully it can represent a new dawn in news reporting.
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Because I just finished reading the brilliant James Fallows and his take on how journalists - with or without political agendas - skew things for all of us.  To a degree, that's obvious:  if it bleeds, it leads, etc.  But reading Fallows break it down opened my eyes further.

I will say nothing else, in the hope my brevity today will encourage you to read this important essay, by an authentic journalist.  Here's a PDF of the entire article.

FallowsJournalism.pdf
FallowsJournalism.pdf 2.82 MB


FROM THE UNWASHED MASSES

Thank you to any one that is reading this newsletter.

KLUF

Yes, I've Got The News.  So, of course, today's music on KLUF must be the foundation of all things Hunter Deuce, that being Steely Dan.  Here is their über urbane Aja
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Is the album a cliché?  Like Roxy Music's Avalon?  Perhaps, but it doesn't matter:  Killer then, Killer now. 

Fun Fact:  the title track - which features pristine production values - was used by yours truly to test many of the home audio systems I designed and installed over the course of 16 years; this was amongst the last, in 2016.  Boy, did this one crank.
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Here's a cool video of the finished product - it's one of my favorite installs, and demonstrates how to have a TV above a fireplace and not hate watching it.   The cabinet doors even closed, to completely conceal the TV when not in use.  

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