Well, that’s the predominant color of Newsweek’s cover featuring Sarah Palin and her book.

I know Newsweek and Time are desperately fighting to stay relevant.  But this?  (And no, I’m not referring to her politics, so don’t even think about going there.)

It’s a repurposed picture from a magazine for runners!  C’mon, Newsweek.  That’s the best you can do?

This is the headline I saw when I clicked on the New York Times web site.

G.M., Citing Progress, Reports

Loss of $1.15 Billion

Yes, this is good news.  G.M. will apparently start repaying its government loans in December, 5 years ahead of schedule.

I shouldn’t admit this, but I don’t understand how losing more than a billion bucks in a quarter is a good thing.  Though I suppose it is better than losing two billion.

And please don’t try to explain.  I still won’t understand.  I just won’t.

“Whether it’s Captain Morgan or Cap’n Crunch, that’s not the issue.” — Greg Aiello, NFL spokesman

The Pose

The NFL has told Captain Morgan rum it can’t run a promotion that encourages players to strike the Captain Morgan “pose” during a game (for charity!).

The contrarian in me hates the NFL (No Fun League).

But if everything were run as well as the NFL (National Football League), we’d all be filthy rich.

Brent Celek, the offending Eagle

In light of the recent arrest of  a United Airlines pilot for being drunk before a flight…check out this vintage bit with Dean Martin and Foster Brooks.

From the “Gee, It Seemed Like A Good Idea” Department…

One of the top stories of the past week was Pfizer’s announcement that it was leaving New London, just 8 years after its grand arrival.

How do you think Susette Kelo and the others who lost their homes feel now?

Kelo in 2005 at her former home.

The pain of eminent domain.  To the U.S. Supreme Court and back.  All for nothing.

Every now and then, a little change reminds me that I’ve been around awhile.  What’s that word I’m looking for?  Oh yeah.  Old.

I remember when a postage stamp was three cents.  Now it’s 44.  (I had to check.)

I remember when my mother gave me two quarters to buy her two packs of cigarettes.  (How strange does that sound now?) Now they cost, well, thank heaven I quit.

And I remember when we had to dial only five digits to make a local phone call. Our number was 20278.  TRinity 20278. I liked those prefixes.  It gave you an identity of sorts.  My grandparents were BEacon.  The family plumbing business was COmmonwealth 63613 (and still is, as I just discovered!).

And, of course, you actually had to dial.  You liked telephone numbers with lots of ones, twos and threes.  Quick to dial.  Nines and zeros seemingly took forever.  And the phones sat on a table or desk.  Not to be moved.  Heavy enough to be classified as a blunt object.

Then TR turned into 87, and the seven-digit dialing era was underway.  Then came area codes, which also provided an identity of sorts (who was happy to give up 203 for 860, huh?).

Saturday begins the era of 10-digit dialing, even to call your next-door neighbor.  The latest little change that reminds me that I’m…(sigh).

But that’s good.

I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer first thing in the morning.

But when I took my first look at the paper this morning, I almost did a Danny Thomas spit take.  A sticker ad for East Catholic High School covering up the gay marriage headline.

Certainly not intentional.  But really, what are the odds?

I turned to the obituary page this morning to find that Hartford had lost a champion.

His name was Richard Welling.

Richard Welling drew buildings, especially buildings in Hartford.  It wasn’t very long ago that it seemed nearly every office in Greater Hartford had a “Welling” hanging on a wall.

I was lucky enough to meet this fascinating man, and if you’d like to “meet” him, or learn how much he cared about Hartford and its architecture, take a few moments to read this 1992 story on him in the New York Times.

I’m not sure what was to be gained by Charla Nash appearing on Oprah, or Oprah having Charla Nash on.

Yes, we watched in the newsroom.  And we aired a portion of it on our newscasts.  And yes, I understand that it’s a story of the resilience of the human spirit.

And while I can’t be positively certain, unless Nash’s horrible fate at the hands of a chimpanzee happened to me, I can say this with 99% certainty:

As much as I admired Charla Nash’s attitude and fortitude, I’d rather be dead.

Noticed during the comings and goings of a work day.

Driving to work:  a vanity plate.  OBAMA.   It was on a Chevy, which got me to thinking that every G.M. and Chrysler worker should probably have OBAMA license plates.

And while I was writing the 11pm news, I looked up at the CNN monitor and saw this at the bottom of the screen:

BREAKING NEWS:  D.C. SNIPER SET TO DIE.

Execution scheduled for 9pm ET.

Become a fan at Facebook.com

I think they meant of Campbell Brown.  Though I suppose they could have meant John Allen Muhammed.

Sometimes too much information is just too much information.