A new site is born

Check it out at www.michaelgrillo.com. I doubt I'll post on this blog anymore, but I will regularly maintain my new web home.

Bet You Already Knew This

With that out of the way, a brief update:

• I finished my graduate project. 7,500 words on sustainable energy and the economic recovery. I'll post it with the new site that will replace this blog.
• I'm scheduled to move all of my possessions to downtown Hartford at the end of the month. Now that I'm no longer a student after May 10, I'll spend a lot more time doing things like traveling, pimping, you know, the basics.
• I'm getting the music bug again (not to be confused with Swine Flu). I'm still rusty as sin at the trumpet, but I got it cleaned and fixed at Joe Riffs in Middletown (nice work for a great price, btw). Now that I'm free, I'm down for just about any musical endeavor that may come my way.

Happy Early Birthday Mom and Aunt Michele (May 4-they're twins). And away I go.

It's Been Such A Long Time...

...I think I should be posting.

More often, that is. Actually, my plan is to find any free hosting that I can and redirect my URLs to that. I'm going to brand myself with a one-stop Michael Grillo hub, complete with credentials, clips and the works. Don't hold your breath: the next few months will be busy for sure.

This month, I'm wrapping up my formal education with my Master's project for Quinnipiac. I'm offering a glimpse at the sustainable energy industry's successes and pitfalls in the midst of the global recession. I've toured the Connecticut Global Fuel Cell Center at UConn and witnessed the installation of a geothermal well system in Fairfield, and there's a bunch of other journalistic juicy bits on the way as well.

Next month, I will graduate, then I will pack up my meager belongings in my hot car and move 30 minutes north to Hartford. Don't know where in Hartford yet, but I'm trying to snag a one-bedroom on the 7th floor overlooking Main Street.

And the shameless plug for my professional work...

Are you depressed over the UConn Men's loss to MSU last night in the Final Four? Too bad! Drown your sorrows at courant.com/huskies with last night's recap, game photos, box score and the world's most comprehensive UConn sports coverage. courant.com/huskies: it's a Web site. Online.

The Best UConn Coverage In The World

A lot of people, including yours truly, worked extra-hard to create this wonderful hub for UConn sports news and information. Reward our efforts and proliferate this masterpiece throughout the Internet, if you don't mind.

That's www.courant.com/huskies.

There's No "I" In PONT AC

Some bad news in the automobile world...I'm missing a vowel on my awesome fuel-efficient, affordable, peppy American-assembled vehicle. If anyone has seen my missing "I" or knows where I can find a similar one, please reply to this post.

Headline Mirth (Oh, The Double Entendre)

As an online producer, I often have to write headlines for stories or rewrite them to fit within a certain space. For better or worse, I write headlines pretty fast, often gleaning the key details from the first line of the story and posting in a matter of seconds.

Since most headlines I write are for breaking news stories, I try to stay to the point. I don't try to get cute and create a masterpiece. But I do screen my work for the oft-hilarious double entendre. ESPN.com posted a story about an NFL player asking his team to release him from his contract, and the headline came out like this (click to enlarge the image if you can't read it):

Since EPSN is the Worldwide Leader and one of my biggest time-consumers, I don't mean to make them look bad. I'm just the kind of person who laughs at these kinds of innuendo.

For more suggestive headlines, follow this hyperlink to Deadspin's post on suggestive sports headlines.

CL&P Follies

I received my electric bill from Connecticut Light & Power, and they notified me of their rate increase. That's fine, but they waste a lot of paper doing so:



Imagine if they sent multiple fliers to all of their customers across the state. It's the little things the company can do that will save money for its customers.

Welcome Back America

http://www.courant.com/news/custom/topnews/hc-sns-ap-election-rdp-sl,0,5708989.storylink

Lions, Huskies And Debates

The freedom of Wikipedia and the persistence of cached material in Google's search results are two things that can bring a smile to my beautiful face. When someone with a sense of humor revises a Wikipedia entry--in this case, for the Detroit Lions football team--they can be removed immediately from their site. But Google's bots (or whatever the technical term is) pull a cached snapshot of those changes and displays them as a search result. Here is a screen grab of the gem:


Note the first entry, which refers to the Lions as "a cheerleading squad aspiring to become an American football team." Somewhere, James Lipton is giving his long-winded approval.

__________


UConn @ Louisville 2nite On ESPN2: The Huskies look to get their fifth win during their Big East opener.

Get your UConn football fix here please. I work hard to make these things look nice.

Look for a decent game from this Donald Brown character. He's supposedly the nation's leading rusher, but since he plays in the Big East, the ESPN guys couldn't care less.

__________


I'll keep the remote handy in order to maintain vigilance on the game and the DEBATE between the old guy and the idealistic guy.

I'm sure nobody will pick on John McC for attending the debate while the bailout boondoggle continues, despite suspending his campaign two days earlier.

And you will want to check this site, naturally, for anything debate-related: the print jockeys picked a bunch of smart people to give their two cents on the verbal fisticuffs (including the Hon. Richard Hanley from Quinnipiac, whose proudest accomplishments include being my adviser and grading my papers).

And On The Seventh Day ...

God said to Belichick ...

"Hey, I'm taking the afternoon off. Can you hold down the fort for me?"

Patriots 19, Jets 10

Cassel: Radiant, 0 INT
Favre: Redneck-ish, 1 INT

And as the classless Jets fans -- who had cheered Tom Brady's season-ending injury days before -- shouted their displeasure from the rafters, Belichick gave Mangini a quick handshake and said ...

"It is good."


______________________



I can't believe I'm saying this, but Keyshawn Johnson was the smartest analyst on television today. Only in America.

The Finger

I spent last night at Grillo South (Beacon Falls) to watch and clean up after the two cats while my parents vacationed at Grillo North (Plymouth, N.H.). It was a nice break from a hectic week of 5 a.m. shifts and schoolwork. But the extra effort is worth it: I'm only 15 weeks and a thesis away from adding "M.S." at the end of my name in my email signatures (e.g. Michael L. Grillo, M.S.).

On my way back to Grillo East (my apartment in Middletown), a silver Scion sped by me as the rain fell and pulled in front of me. At the next light, I moved into the passing lane and pulled in front of the Scion after passing it at a reasonable speed.

The Scion then sped around me, and a minute later, a child wearing some sort of bandana around his head leaned out the passenger-side window, shouted at me and extended his middle finger in my direction. The child, no older than 16, had a menacing look on his face, and I flashed the highbeams to acknowledge his presence.

I normally have no hope for most teenage males because this is the way they generally act. Though I wasn't the most polite 16-year-old myself, I had enough manners to not act like such a clown in front of strangers.

This led me to think: why does anybody use their middle finger as an initial reaction to strangers? There's so much unjustified hate in the world, and it isn't right. What we need is...

Justified hate. If I hate someone because they hate me enough to flip me the bird for no reason, then that is perfectly alright. At least Jesus would say that, if he's as human as I believe him to be. So, with this logic, it will only be ok to attack Iran if they do something stupid to us first.

Just wait President Obama/McCain/Barr/Nader/Grillo: like Joe Biden, Iran can't keep its mouth shut forever.

Checking In

I assume somebody must read this blog without my coercion, since I'm linked up and have a super-easy URL to remember.

It's September, and that means one more semester in the classroom, then a master's thesis?!? project?!?!?!? and I'm done with school forever, until someone pays me to go, but why start now cheapskates? My two closest friends and I had a sendoff to end all sendoffs a few weeks ago, as the images below will illustrate. One will be a yuppie elitist doctor of some sort, and the other is a brother (no rhyme intended) in Brooklyn with some Catholic dudes who seem very nice.



I've been at the Courant for almost six months now, and my cohorts are still impressed that I love my job. I do. It doesn't feel like work because I enjoy it so much, even the 5am shifts. Being surrounded by news makes me feel smarter, and the convention season has been nothing short of thrilling.



One of the most interesting parts of my job is monitoring the online discussions on our articles. I pray, and assume, that these people who post on our site are only a slim fraction of the general public because many of them are filled with so much blind hatred and inflated confidence from their anonymity. Witnessing their political discussions is like trying to push together two magnets that have conflicting poles.

Go ahead and grab a few magnets. Give it a shot and tell me I don't make sense.



I'm also on some sort of a health kick. This means I count calories religiously and make sure I consume a consistent amount in 4 or 5 smaller daily meals instead of 2 or 3 large ones. The best part about this plan is that if I fall short of the minimum caloric intake for the day, I can easily compensate by cracking open a Newcastle or two. I think I've lost about 7 pounds over the last eight days, so hopefully I'll be decent in a few more months.

You know, for the ladies. They deserve me.


Good night,

MLG

Seafood Dinner

I'm short on words, so here's the story: I finished summer semester, Max moved back from Rhode Island, Jack was recently outed as a covert CIA operative, and the seafood came from Rhode Island as well.

I'll add pictures later because Blogger is not letting me add them now for some reason.

Yes Mom, I'm Still Alive

Now that I have real food in the apartment, I tried my hand at a chicken/noodle stir fry Wednesday night. The results were as beautiful as they were delicious (very).

I began to fill out the cabinets and the fridge with the essentials, like shredded Parmesan cheese, green apple soda and banana pepper slices from Quiznos.



















Also, I forgot to mention I have a balcony with a partial view of a baseball diamond and a full view of the public works facility.

Thomas Street, Middletown, CT

It's been a week in my new place, and I almost have everything assembled and put away. It's a bit spacious, so I'll gradually fill in the empty areas with anything I can find on the street or Craigslist. Here's the grand tour, including "before and after" shots:

Living Room:


Kitchen:


Bathroom:


Bedroom:

Join Bode....By Not Joining Bode

I'm sticking up for Bode: there, I said it.

By being talented, innovative, independent and--most of all--stubborn, Bode Miller shows us what it's truly like to be American.

For those who aren't aware, Miller won the skiing World Cup overall title last week, as he did in 2005, and has arguably been the most prominent athlete in his sport for the last several years. But for all his accolades, he has been criticized for his seemingly lackadaisical attitude during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

Last year, Miller broke away from the U.S. ski team to form his own, a one-man endeavor called "Team America." According to reports, there were tensions on both sides: Miller's actions off the slopes and his desire to have his own road accommodations clashed with the team mentality, while Miller felt he wasn't getting the proper diet and regimen for a professional skier. (http://www.denverpost.com/outdoors/ci_7566271)

Miller did what he thought was best for himself as an athlete, and once again he reigns over his sport. Love it or leave it, he is someone that all Americans can look up to for inspiration and guidance.

Let me explain.

Sure, he may have publicly downplayed the importance of the games and failed to win a medal. And people read about his antics and assume he is a reckless party animal. But here are some reasons why Miller can be seen as a role model for the American citizen:

1.) Bode is talented, and he backs his skills with a solid commitment to his sport. Like any productive American, he has identified his skill set and honed it to the best of his ability.

2.) Bode is innovative, to an extent. Realizing he needed a better way to condition himself and perform to the best of his abilities, he creates his own team and surrounds himself with the people and possessions that will achieve these means. He did not seem afraid to take a chance by cutting ties with the national team, and so far it looks as if he made the right decision.

3.) Bode is an independent spirit, but not completely independent. He understands that in order to perform his best, he needs to take his own steps instead of waiting for others to do the work for him. That said, he is smart enough to surround himself with a coaching staff that is committed to his success.

And, lastly...

4.) Bode is stubborn, possibly to a fault. But again, he is this year's World Cup champion: so far, so good. There are a few ways to be stubborn: instead of simply shrugging off his former team and driving himself from slope to slope, he assessed his situation and made calculated decisions that have worked out well to this point.

The next time you wish to improve your situation, don't wait for others to pick up the slack for you. Be assertive, like our Founding Fathers, our creative minds, our civil rights activists and Bode. Be independent. March to your own beat. Who cares if others are jealous of your success? As long as you are happy, for all you care, America is happy.

Check out this NY Times piece by Christopher Clarey: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/sports/othersports/16miller.html?ref=sports. He writes much better than I do, and he apparently has more time to do actual interviews.

The link above is from a Denver Post article by John Meyer.

I control my name

As of yesterday, I am the owner of michaelgrillo.com, michaelgrillo.net, michaelgrillo.org and michaelgrillo.info. It's a small investment--about $30 a year--but reliable sources at seanhenri.com tell me that this will go a long way in protecting my online identity.

There are many Michael Grillos in this crazy world of ours: some are professors, others are directors and producers, and there are at least 30 of us on Facebook actively or passively flouting the fact that we are Italian. But only one Michael Grillo--THIS Michael Grillo--is Web-savvy enough to take control of his name--nay, his IDENTITY--and prevent other Michael Grillos from having their name as a URL.

God, I love myself.

As you may have seen, the URL merely redirects to this blog. I did not yet wish to take the plunge and pay $4 per month for hosting privileges on 1and1.com, the domain name site I used. Expect big things in the future, though: don't forget, there's only ONE Michael Grillo, and you're looking at him.

Honeymoon this, Waterbury Republican-American

Oh boy, I love pointing out the mistakes of news organizations that passed on my services. Here's an excerpt from the Waterbury Republican-American, which won a Pulitzer Prize sometime before the dawn of color television. For the record, the man shown below is Naugatuck Mayor Mike Bronko.



The "r" would have caused the headline to spill into two lines, so it's understandable why they would leave it off.

And I'm not a bitter person: I just play one on the Internet.

Senator Dodd...oh is it?

Inevitably, many web sites contain out-of-date information, but I think this image of U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), shown on the web site for the borough of Naugatuck, Conn., predates the Internet.



Since context is king of the media world, here is Dodd in the common era. Note the effects of Father Time...



I think he and Ted Kennedy could have combined to make a superpresident. Photoshop renderings of this New England conglomerate are encouraged and should be sent to my attention immediately.

Where I've Been, and Where I'm Going

The simple answers here are "work," and "bed."

Well, it feels like weeks since I've posted, but I want to get into the habit for the sake of a possible writing career. Here's a recap of the last few months, in bullet-point form:

• Finished semester 1 at Quinnipiac (4.0 of course, due to my inner nerd)
• Became single again (which explains the extra blogging time I now have)
• Started semester 2 at Quinnipiac

Oh, and I am now transmitting from my new HP desktop, powered by Vista, so that's cool I guess. Vista is like the shiftless opportunist that dresses very similar to Macintosh's Leopard and steals his ideas. I use a series of desktop widgets on the right side of my screen, but they constantly tell me that it is cold and my Naugatuck Valley S&L stock is underachieving.

Speaking of underachieving, this blog will receive some more attention, but I don't have the energy to generate any considerable traffic here.

But wait there's more: I finally posted an article, made with my own two hands. The previous post is an assignment for one of my graduate classes: it falls under the "microcosm profile" category, meaning it explains a larger trend through the experiences of an individual. The individual here is Max, and he makes beer. Good beer, too.