On Memorial Day

I am sure most of you heard the big local media news from this past weekend. Pulitzer Prize winning Chron columnist Lisa Falkenberg will now be the Chron’s editor of opinion, running the E-Board and will also be a VP.

This is a huge deal in Commentary’s book.

Here is from the Chron:

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Lisa Falkenberg has been appointed vice president and editor of opinion for the Houston Chronicle, Publisher John McKeon and Executive Editor Nancy Barnes announced Friday.

Falkenberg, who will take over opinion for online and print on June 4, succeeds Jeff Cohen, who retired earlier this year.

“Falkenberg is a master of her craft, blending deep reporting with a strong, original voice as she calls out injustice in our community and in our state, and thoughtfully outlines her views for change,” McKeon and Barnes wrote in the statement.

“The best editorial leadership in the country often begins with deep original reporting, which informs powerful opinion,” they wrote. “Falkenberg is supremely qualified to lead that charge at the Houston Chronicle.”

Falkenberg will no longer write a metro column but will write a periodic column for the opinion section.

Evan Mintz, a Pulitzer Prize finalist in editorial writing along with Joe Holley last year, will serve  as deputy opinion editor. Mintz stepped in to run the editorial pages after Cohen’s retirement earlier this year.

Here is from the Chron’s statement:

We are delighted to announce that Lisa Falkenberg, our Pulitzer Prize-winning metro columnist, has been promoted to Vice President and Editor of Opinion, effective June 4. Lisa succeeds Jeff Cohen, who retired earlier this year.

Here is the entire article: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/article/Pulitzer-Prize-winning-columnist-Lisa-Falkenberg-12944275.php.

She will be in charge of their opinions and will have a big say if not the final say on who gets endorsed in political campaigns.

Commentary is certainly going to miss her metro columns and I hope the Chron has someone to fill her shoes on the newsroom front to go after those who need to be exposed. I wonder if Chron columnist Erica Grieder is now the metro columnist?

On Friday I tweeted out a congratulation to Lisa and my friend Sergio replied with this:

No Latinos on Editorial Board. What a shame!

And then Lisa replied via tweet with this:

I’m working on that.

Nice!

Congratulations Lisa Falkenberg!

It is Memorial Day, so this weekend has been loaded with war flicks including “Green Berets”, “Midway”, “The Longest Day”, “The Great Escape”, “Saving Private Ryan”, “Hacksaw Ridge”, “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and “Patton” among others.

I have seen them all. I could also sit through “The Dirty Dozen”, “Battle of the Bulge”, “Platoon”, “Pork Chop Hill”, “Guns of Navarone”, “Apocalypse Now” and “Kelly’s Heroes.” I am sure I left out one of your favorites.

Some of these have also produced some memorable movie soundtracks. Elmer Bernstein’s “The Great Escape”, Jerry Goldsmith’s “Patton”, Georges Delerue’s “Platoon”, and Malcolm Arnold’s “The Bridge on the River Kwai” come to mind.

Commentary will be spending time with my Dad today and you can bet he will be watching war flicks.

This past weekend the SiriusXM Beatles Channel had their second annual Top 100 Beatles Tunes by subscribers and “A Day in the Life” was the top tune again. It got me to thinking if they included tunes from their post-Beatles days, would any of those tunes crack the Top 10. Certainly, John Lennon’s “Imagine” would. What bout Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” or “Live and Let Die?” How about George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord?” This year’s Top 10 had “Let it Be” at number eight, “Strawberry Fields Forever” at number nine and “Yesterday” at number ten. Just thinking.

In yesterday’s Chron, there was a story on the ‘Stros and dynamic ticket pricing. You know, the prices will be going through the roof when Red Sox visit The Yard this week and they will go way cheaper when the Rays visit next month.  Whatever the market can handle I guess.

Here is the article: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-Astros-ticket-buyers-notice-dynamic-12938782.php.

This only really works if the team is winning and fun to watch.

That was an ugly game yesterday. The bullpen could not hold an 8-3 lead in the ninth. A dynamic disappointment for sure.

No MLB question on this Memorial Day.

Go Rockets! Go Rockets!