Hits on The Morning News
The thing I like about The Morning News is how it's willing to try different creative concepts in writing, both in fiction and nonfiction. The thing I don't like is that most of the time these concepts don't succeed. They do sometimes — like with Gary Benchley — but not often. The writing's follow-through has a lower failure rate than your average website but a higher failure rate than McSweeney's, which really sets the bar.
So it was great to visit Morning News today and find a couple wins.
First, there's "Barbaro responds to fans." An excerpt: "To answer your questions, yes I do think you would have a fun time if you went to a horse race. No, I don't think it would be hard to pick up on the rules of the sport. I am told there are some pretty thorough guides to horse racing on the internet. And no, I have never placed a bet on myself, though you'd be surprised how often that gets asked (ha, ha!)."
Then, there's "The Weathermen," which my weather friends at work posted about. Excerpt: "6. Joe Bastardi — AccuWeather. I imagine meeting Joe Bastardi at a cocktail party. 'Hi, I'm Clay,' I say. 'I'm Joe.' Ah, I think, what an average name. Maybe even an alias. Maybe he's a spy. After several minutes talking about baseball, our mutual love for pari-mutuel betting, and, of course, the weather, Joe launches into a dirty joke, the dirtiest I've ever heard."
