Houston.BloggersPub

I like music and I like technology. That’s why this PCWorld article is so interesting. Patrick Miller writes about the convergence of both and how things constantly change in live performances:

Rock simply wouldn’t have rocked without electric guitars, Marshall amp stacks, the Vox Box, amplifiers capable of projecting the music to the crowd, or stage effects that helped create a spectacle.

Join us on a magical mystery tour through some of the greatest tech-milestone concerts, instruments, and music gadgets in the history of rock music. READ IT

(Thanks Danny!)

> mikemcguff.com

Sure Jeff Brady left WFAA 8 in DFW, but that doesn’t mean his TV career is necessarily over. Jeanne Jakle of the San Antonio Express-News says the buzz at KENS is that Brady was possibly there interviewing for Chris Marrou’s anchor job. READ MORE

RELATED
Jeff Brady to leave WFAA Channel 8

> mikemcguff.com

News from NASA:

The next residents of the International Space Station launched into orbit aboard a Soyuz spacecraft Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA astronaut Jeff Williams, Russian cosmonaut Max Suraev and spaceflight participant Guy Laliberte lifted off at 2:14 a.m. CDT.

Future Expedition 22 Commander Williams, Soyuz Commander Suraev and Laliberte are scheduled to dock with the station at 3:37 a.m., Friday, Oct. 2. They will spend nine days as members of a joint crew that includes Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka, NASA’s Mike Barratt and Nicole Stott, the European Space Agency’s Frank De Winne, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and the Canadian Space Agency’s Bob Thirsk.

> mikemcguff.com

Uncle Barky caught up with former DFW anchor Tracy Rowlett (WFAA, KTVT) and talked about his new life away from television. READ IT

> mikemcguff.com

Sure Bob Martin “The Accountant to the Stars” is a familiar fixture as an analyst on Houston TV newscasts, but now he is helping out the Associated Press with Gov. Rick Perry’s tax returns:

“He just manages to fall into these deals over the years,” said Houston accountant Bob Martin, who helped analyze 18 years’ worth of Perry’s tax returns for the AP. “It looks like his net worth increased while he was in office, in the relative scheme of things, on a small salary.” READ FULL STORY

Martin just keeps moving up in the media world. Hey Bob, don’t forget about all of us local TV types…OK?

> mikemcguff.com

Bono and U2 are thinking big this time. Here is a review of the show:

A pop star fishes a 12-year-old boy out of the audience during his concert, runs around the stage with him, holds his hand, before returning him to his parents. Later, a group of volunteers holding candles fan out along the ramp encircling the stage.
Is it Michael Jackson? Sure sounds like it. No, it’s Bono. And the show was last night at Giants Stadium, where U2 put on an extravaganza that only Jackson and Liberace could have imagined. READ MORE

RELATED
- PIC: What U2’s concert stage looks like this year
- The news anchor in the Desire (Hollywood Remix) U2 song

> mikemcguff.com

Former Houston Chronicle columnist John Lopez can now say he is the former 790 KBME The Sports Animal host. Sources tell me that Lopez left the Houston Clear Channel building this morning after turning in his resignation.

Where is he going now? SportsRadio 610 KILT does have openings you know.

UPDATES
John Lopez posts on Facebook - “Officially joining Marc Vandermeer on Sportsradio 610 to do morning drive. Really looking forward to it … start date announcement to come.”

And Michael Garfield posted on Facebook he is filling in on 790 - “Now I am excited. Co-hosting the morning show this Thursday on our Sports Animal 790 AM. Get prepped for Cowboys and Longhorn talk! 6a-8a”

> mikemcguff.com

Russell Holliman, better known as the Godfather of Houston Podcasting in these parts, lets us in on another Dr Pepper Icee location. This time on the way towards Galveston.

Exxon on the Run
2401 Main St, La Marque, TX‎ - (409) 933-3435‎

View Larger Map

RELATED
- Houston Press picks up my Dr Pepper tracking work
- The Houston Dr Pepper Icee location map
- Icee full coverage

> mikemcguff.com

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit news site based in Austin that will launch this November 3rd. The site has stolen away good reporters from top media sites around the state reports Poynter:

Elise Hu, Matt Stiles and Emily Ramshaw are all award-winning journalists who had full-time jobs at some of Texas’ largest media outlets — KVUE-TV in Austin, the Houston Chronicle and The Dallas Morning News, respectively.

But in August, they quit their jobs for new opportunities at the Texas Tribune, a nonprofit news site that is set to launch Nov. 3 and has raised enough money to sustain itself for about three years.

Why would journalists leave a full-time job at an established news organization to work for a start-up? For Hu, Stiles and Ramshaw, a better question is, “Why not?” READ MORE

I think this is a great move for the journalism industry. Don’t forget about the good work also being done at texaswatchdog.org.

RELATED
- Former Houston Chronicle reporter makes job move

> mikemcguff.com

Lots of Houston TV stations claim to be first in the HD race, but Ken Hoffman found out who was the real winner:

Both Channel 11 and Channel 13 started airing their news in high definition in 2007.

Back in 1999, Channel 8, Houston’s public broadcasting station, aired The Houston Symphony: A Maestro’s Farewell in HD. In 2001, Channel 8 used HDTV cameras to produce Mary Lou’s Flip Flop Shop kiddie show. We’ll overlook the fact that very few people had HD televisions back then. READ MORE

> mikemcguff.com