All of you Fran haters will get a kick out of this: From Houston Press There's little new to say about Tiger Woods. And if there were, we're guessing Chron columnist Fran Blinebury isn't the guy to say it. But that hasn't stopped him. For those of you keeping score at home, here's the latest update. In the past few years, Blinebury has compared Woods to: Elvis Presley, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Michelangelo, Sir Edmund Hillary, Secretariat, "a modern-day Arthur come to pull the sword from the stone," Yoda, Lennon and McCartney, and "a Swiss watchmaker or a surgeon. Yet full of poetry, listening to his own muse." While he's at it, Blinebury has described Woods's competitors as: "so many Evel Knievels riding their outmatched motorbikes over the edge into oblivion," having "the vacant stare of POWs following a long interrogation," ready to "crumble like bleu cheese on a salad," "a well-dressed collection of Cowardly Lion clones beating a hasty retreat," "spending more time in the bunker than Eva Braun" and "golf's version of haggis, the Scottish dish that consists of ground-up, unspeakable animal parts." More updates to come. We fear.
Someone REALLY needs to put Blinebury out of his misery....not kill him but make it where he can't communicate anymore.
Funny thing is that News Hostage has ripped him on numerous occassions. He is the one that said Fran used a "random metaphor generator."
Yep, the "Fran Blinebury Random Metaphor Generator" is one of the all-time classic lines. I like the News Hostage, but I sure as hell don't envy his job. Think about it, the guy HAS to watch, read, & listen to as much Houston media as he can...I'm pretty sure that's outlawed somewhere in the Geneva Convention.
It's funny that little old Houston Press wants to take shots at a writer who works for the big bully, Houston Chronicle.
Connelly, the writer, seems to have a major chip on his shoulder. He bashes just to bash. I think he sometimes forgets he writes a column for a weekly paper that specializes in ads for escort services, strip clubs and kinky personal ads. os
Richard is actually a pretty nice guy. He's just REALLY sarcastic. His stuff kills me often because I have quite a few friends in the media business and I recognize the silliness first hand. As for the Press picking on the Chron, the Chron needs it. Ever since the Post folded, their level of journalistic integrity and creativity has taken a significant drop. Plus, some of their writers and editors use their writing to forward their own agendas (and this is NOT talking about Fran). I asked once about running a story or blurb in the paper about a local band record release party and was told by the music editor, "This is the Chronicle, not the Houston Press!" Well, la di freakin' da! Last year, I wrote a letter to the entertainment section after a local band got a big write-up in the BUSINESS section (of all places). I said that I felt like being the only major local newspaper, they should pay more attention to the local music scene and that it was really kinda pathetic that the business section would scoop them on an entertainment story. I mentioned the incident about the record release party as well to demonstrate that this wasn't an isolated incident. Now, understand that this record release party was extremely well-promoted. I contacted the Chron via fax (3 weeks, 2 weeks, 1 week and 3 days out) and telephone (2 times). They also recieved a REALLY nice press kit with photo, CD, etc. It was done very professionally (by a tremendous photographer/grahics person that has worked with everyone from ZZ Top to Destiny's Child) and hand delivered. The release party had about 700 people and the band was popular. The music editor proceeded to rip me in her response saying that they can't cover every "garage band" in Houston and that you have to do more than faxing them a flyer on the same day. She never even bothered to ask me what had actually happened. She was so pissed that she was being questioned that she just dropped her b****iness on me. I emailed both she and the Lifestyle's Editor (her boss) and let her know that I did NOT appreciate her using her position to rip me with ridiculous innacuracies and that it was her attitude that helped to create an atmosphere where local musicians regard the Chronicle as a waste of good paper. She ignored me. Anyway, the point is that this is not uncommon with one-paper cities. They can do and print whatever they want because they have no competition. And, they can continue to keep running the same crappy writer's stories rather than spending the time and money to actually go hire decent one's. Sad thing is that there are some REALLY terrific editors, writers, etc. at the Chronicle. There are some that scoop even national papers. The problem is that there are also some REALLY bad one's who have been allowed, for whatever reason, to ascend the ranks and find themselves in a position of power that they really shouldn't have.
Fran's the biggest bandwagoner to ever live. He picks up, then drops, teams and players depending on how they're doing at the moment. I don't mind it saying "well, that didn't work out," when something goes wrong, even if a journalist was initially enthusiastic about it. But to assume the self-righteous tone that he inevitably does... is very annoying.
