Author Archives: Patrick Garvin

More great work from The Florida Times-Union, Kyle Bentle

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As I mentioned in Sunday’s post, Florida Times-Union graphic artist Kyle Bentle worked on some illustrations for the 9/11 coverage on Jacksonville.com. He did some great illustrations that appeared in the background of the main page:

Kyle Bentle, Florida Times-Union, 9/11

On Monday, Kyle posted JPGs of how those illustrations ran in the paper.

Here’s a few of those illustrations:

For Matt Soergel’s story about children coming of age since Sept. 11…

Kyle Bentle, Florida Times-Union, 9/11

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For Jeff Brumley’s story about changing perceptions of Muslims…

Kyle Bentle, Florida Times-Union, 9/11

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For Jeremy Cox’s story about patriotism…

Kyle Bentle, Florida Times-Union, 9/11

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These are just some of the illustrations Kyle did for The Florida Times-Union’s 9/11 coverage. To see all of them, including how they played on the overall pages, go here.

To see more of Kyle’s portfolio, go here.

To see more of my pontifications about Kyle Bentle’s awesomeness, go here.

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Great 9/11 work from Jacksonville.com, The Florida-Times Union

Great 9/11 work from Jacksonville.com, The Florida-Times Union

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This week has had a lot of good coverage of the anniversary of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Charles Apple has had updates almost every day, showing some of the fine work newspapers and their websites have done in anticipation of today’s milestone. He wrote about The Boston Globe’s coverage on Wednesday.

My former paper, The Florida Times-Union, has also been busy with its coverage. They’ve done a lot of things, and I won’t mention all of it today, but it’s been good.

What I want to point out is the great web presence for the 9/11 packages. Check out the main page for the Times-Union’s coverage:

Florida Times-Union 9/11 coverage

See those cool illustrations in the background? Those are from Kyle Bentle.

At the bottom is a neat timeline:

Florida Times-Union 9/11 coverage

There’s also a piece called, “The Fallen,” looking at the servicemen, servicewomen and civilian contractors with ties to Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia have died.

Florida Times-Union 9/11 coverage

Tracy Jones and Kate Howard worked on “The Fallen” and the timeline at the bottom. Kate says,

The goal of each: to be as comprehensive as possible about the impact of 9/11 locally, in the context of how our country has changed. Both pieces were part of the larger project we called “Since 9/11,” which included 8 days of stories and a user project asking readers to share their stories. That generated more than a hundred reader-submitted memories.

As you can imagine, this project was no small task. They worked on it off and on for about two months.

Tracy writes:

For the military piece, we tasked ourselves with finding any member of any branch of the military who died since 9/11. Our criteria was they had to be currently enlisted (including reserves). Some died in combat, others in accidents and some suicides, but the last thing we wanted to do was forget anybody.

Gathering the list was a task. Kate and I went to our memorial wall, but found there were errors there. We made many phone calls to families, branches and other sources, and we were able to track down information on all of the soldiers, which turned out to be 108 of them. Finding the photos wasn’t too easy either, because none of the military branches keep the photos on file, we basically had to dig for each one we didn’t have in our system.

To organize all the information, we kept an excel doc, which was later imported into a script that generated the information boxes for each soldier.

The photos are based on a jpeg we created of all the faces. We made one in black and white and also in color so it would change when their faces were clicked on.

Again, I urge you to check out the main page for the Times-Union’s coverage. I’m proud of my friends and former colleagues. If there’s any T-U work I missed, send it my way and I’ll post it.

Ben Folds, “Rockin’ The Suburbs” and the visceral pain of memory

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You can hear a soft but undeniable thud in the first second of “Annie Waits,” the opening track to Ben Folds’ album, “Rockin’ The Suburbs.” That first second and the entire album that followed set the tone for how I would remember the day on which that album was released.

September 11, 2001.

Ben Folds' first solo album, Rockin' the Suburbs

It seems silly and almost blasphemous to mark the anniversary of that album’s release when today has a much more momentous and globally profound anniversary. But for me and for at least a few other people, that album became our cave for months after 9/11. We were 19 and 20, scared of the future, judgmental of our pasts and unsure of the present. That basically describes a lot of my twenties, and particularly my college days. Discovering Ben Folds was rather serendipitous, because he was the patron saint of being scared of the future, judgmental of his own past and unsure of the present. Songs about crazy girlfriends, growing up, suburban nerds and fired journalists would appealed to us, a dorm full of suburban nerds with crazy girlfriends during a time when J-school seemed daunting. And when you consider that the whole album’s theme could be summed up as “musings about growing up and dealing with the pains of impending adulthood,” it seemed fitting for us to discover the album when we did.

Christmas came and with it, New Year’s Day. The visceral reaction to that day was replaced with an abstract “What does it all mean?” perspective, which involved less crying. My friends and I continued our sequences at The University of Missouri School of Journalism, and quicker than we knew it, we were working on projects for the first anniversary of Sept. 11.

And all the while, we were listening to Ben Folds. I saw him live in concert four times between September 2001 and November 2002. My friend Josh saw him at least five times during that same time.

I didn’t realize until now, but my streak of seeing Ben Folds live ended around the first anniversary of 9/11. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. Maybe that album was tied too closely to a period that hurt too much for me to revisit on a regular basis. Which is a shame, because that album has some great songs. Of course, one of those songs is about a journalist getting unceremoniously laid off, and that, too, is not something I want to think of on a daily basis.

When it comes to music and Sept. 11, I don’t want to return to that day. I’d rather listen to Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising” and return to the summer after 9/11. Springsteen’s album, and particularly the title track, provided a hopeful release for the emotions. If music has to take me back to 9/11 memories, I’d prefer it take me to Sept. 11, 2002.

With “The Rising” and other music inspired by 9/11, I can prep myself and think of it philosophically. I’ve been inundated by enough images, sound bites and musings about that day that I’ve been so overwhelmed that I can’t muster up a reaction.

Memory is a visceral thing. It has its own senses: its own smells, its own tastes, its own sounds. Try as I might to numb myself to certain memories, it is those smells, tastes and sounds that triumph, taking me back in time. Sometimes taking me to places I don’t want to go.

But if I go to the actual music of that day, I go back to the sounds, tastes and memories I don’t want to remember. I can try to suppress thoughts, but smells and sounds are stronger than that. And in the case of Ben Folds, he takes me back to a time before I learned how to suppress things.

RELATED: 9/11 in pop culture

How to donate beer to the Society for News Design silent auction in STL

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The Society for News Design is collecting items for the SND Foundation silent auction. To learn more about that, check out Things you can donate to the Society for News Design silent auction in STL. One of the things they’re looking for is a golconda of beer. Know a good beer that you can’t get in St. Louis? Ship it to the auction.

They have a good start but need your help by Sept. 10th. So, you’ve got this week, folks.

Here’s what to do:

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1. Identify a microbrew you like

It can be a beer from a micro-brewery down the street, or a place you found on vacation.

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2. Get 6-packs of said beer

Some microbreweries will let you buy 6-packs online.

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3. Send your beer to St. Louis!

Send to:

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Attn: Laura Black, Newsroom

900 N. Tucker Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63101

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4. Tell your buddies

Talk up your beer donation to your friends when perusing the auction. Tell them it’s made with unicorn tears.

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The Society for News Design is seeking any support from SND members, their publications and friends to provide donations. All money raised goes to supporting the Foundation’s work helping educate and inspire future generations of visual journalists, from research to travel grants and scholarships.

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Things you can donate to the Society for News Design silent auction in STL

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Things you can donate to the Society for News Design silent auction in STL

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The Society for News Design’s convention and workshop in St. Louis is less than four weeks away. SND is collecting items for the SND Foundation silent auction and looking for any support from SND members, their publications and friends to provide donations. All money raised goes to supporting the Foundation’s work helping educate and inspire future generations of visual journalists, from research to travel grants and scholarships.

They have a good start but need your help by Sept. 10th. So, you’ve got this week, folks.

Here are some things you can donate:

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Micro-brewed beers from all over the world

Send us six-packs of the best micro-brews you know, whether they come from your neck of the woods or someplace else you’ve liked. More information on that here.

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Gift certificates

We’ll take gift cards and certificates to any businesses or services that are nationally available.

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Unique design, crafts, photos, pages, prints or artwork

This, of course, includes historic newspaper pages. Framed, ideally.

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Travel packages

Have a time share? A weekend get-away nearby? Donate it!

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Local flair

Pull together a package of your local favorite items. See if you can beat Steve Dorsey’s “Detroit Hustles Harder” package from last year. If we get a flair package from Salina, Kan., I will donate $100. Even if I don’t win the bid. The onus is on you, Kansans.

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Sports or collectable paraphernalia

We especially love signed work.

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Consulting or creative service time

Looking to get your name “out there”? This could be a good marketing opportunity for you.

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Software or hardware

iPads are always welcome!

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How to donate beer to the Society for News Design silent auction in STL

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Fred Taylor: A class act to the very end

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Running back Fred Taylor, who played 11 seasons for the Jacksonville Jaguars and two years with the New England Patriots, is retiring today. From The Boston Globe:

Today, Fred Taylor will sign a ceremonial one-day contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the team which drafted him eighth overall in 1998, and then he will announce his retirement from the NFL after 13 seasons and 11,695 yards, which is 15th most all-time.

I feel a special connection to Fred Taylor. Not just because he played for the Jaguars when I worked in Jacksonville, or because he also left Jacksonville to come to Boston. But because I met the man, and he was really humble and earnest.

Four years ago, Taylor joined an elite group of players who’ve rushed at least 10,000 yards. At the time, he was one of only two active players in that list of 20 players.

Not too shabby, Fred.

As that milestone was coming, the staff at The Florida Times-Union began thinking of how to cover it. AME for Visuals Denise M. Reagan and I talked with Sports Editor Chet Fussman and assistant sports editor Justin Hathaway about potential graphics. The more we talked, the more ideas we had.

I had remembered a Columbia Missourian graphic that converted Brad Smith’s stats into distance across Columbia. I liked that because I can find sports statistics kind of abstract. I wanted to put it in perspective for casual fans such as myself. We could have simply converted it to miles, but I thought showing it to readers in the context of their city had greater impact. I made it lighter and more whimsical to indicate this wasn’t a traditional map.

Click for a larger version:

Florida Times-Union infographic about Jacksonville Jaguar Fred Taylor Patrick Garvin

Meanwhile, we knew we wanted to do something awesome for when he finally reached 10,000 yards. Whenever that fateful game happened, we wanted a breakdown of his career ready. In the preseason, we pulled statistics and started organizing our pieces. We decided I would do a full-page, season-by-season, game-by-game chart of every yard he’d rushed in his career, color-coding the games in which he rushed 100 yards or more.

Click for a larger version:

Florida Times-Union infographic about Jacksonville Jaguar Fred Taylor Patrick Garvin

After it ran in the paper, we printed a version we could frame and give to Taylor. We went to the locker room and presented it to him. Charles Apple did a Q&A on that.

He was not what I expected a pro athlete to be. There was no cocky bravado or sense of entitlement. He was extremely gentle and humbled by his accomplishment. Other reporters have said he’s extremely friendly and down to earth.

Fred Taylor, to me, epitomizes the best of Jacksonville. He’s not the star of the team or the flashiest player, but he worked hard and did his best, despite injuries and age. He stuck with it, and when it came time to retire, he decided to do it with class.

The symbolism of signing a one-day contract with the Jaguars means a lot to fans. In the four and a half years I lived in Jacksonville, there were often fears that the team would move to another market, presumably Los Angeles. Taylor’s return to the team lets them know they are important and not forgotten, which goes a long way in Jacksonville.

To read Times-Union reporter Tania Ganguli’s piece on Fred Taylor’s retirement, go here.

My moot point against Rick Springfield and “Jessie’s Girl”

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Happy Birthday to Rick Springfield, who turns 62 on Tuesday. He is best remembered for his 1981 song, “Jessie’s Girl.” And best known to my friends as the guy who spawned my now defunct war on the word “moot.”

When I was a copy editing intern, my friend and I bonded over stories of our favorite pet peeves and word misuses. I had the pedestrian ones everyone has: “their/there/they’re” and “you’re/your.” But my friend one-upped me with her distaste for Rick Springfield and his use of the word moot.

I was intrigued. Why would this bug a copy editor? In the song, Rick declares his love for his friend’s girlfriend. He says, “I want to tell her that I love her, but the point is probably moot.”

That use of the word is acceptable in the vernacular, but according to Merriam-Webster, the word has two meanings:

  1. open to question : debatable : subjected to discussion : disputed
  2. deprived of practical significance : made abstract or purely academic

Similarly, the definitions from the OED:

  1. Originally in Law, of a case, issue, etc.: proposed for discussion at a moot (MOOT n.1 4). Later also gen.: open to argument, debatable; uncertain, doubtful; unable to be firmly resolved. Freq. in moot case, [moot] point.
  2. N. Amer. (orig. Law). Of a case, issue, etc.: having no practical significance or relevance; abstract, academic. Now the usual sense in North America.

“Jessie’s Girl” used the word in its second meaning: not worth debating, already decided, irrelevant, etc. But that wasn’t the FIRST definition given in the dictionaries, and upon later, research, it wasn’t necessarily the original definition of the word.

According to TheFreeDictionary.com:

The adjective moot is originally a legal term going back to the mid-16th century. It derives from the noun moot, in its sense of a hypothetical case argued as an exercise by law students. Consequently, a moot question is one that is arguable or open to debate. But in the mid-19th century people also began to look at the hypothetical side of moot as its essential meaning, and they started to use the word to mean “of no significance or relevance.” Thus, a moot point, however debatable, is one that has no practical value. A number of critics have objected to this use, but 59 percent of the Usage Panel accepts it in the sentence The nominee himself chastised the White House for failing to do more to support him, but his concerns became moot when a number of Republicans announced that they, too, would oppose the nomination. When using moot one should be sure that the context makes clear which sense is meant.

Back then, we zealous 22-year-old copy editors thought that the first definition should be the primary definition and that it must be Rick Springfield’s fault for the opposite definition. In our minds, the word had meant  “disputed, debatable and open to discussion” until the very moment he released “Jessie’s Girl” as a single.

From that moment on, I adopted my friend’s dislike for Rick Springfield. I disparaged him whenever I heard him.

On a movie soundtrack…


On a jukebox…

This went on for about four years. Then, I became more accepting of the changing nature of words. Many people will say “podium” when they mean “lectern.” “Presently,” which meant “in the immediate future,” became an acceptable substitute for “currently.” If we were really sticklers for word use, Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” would really be “(Sittin’ On) The Pier Of The Bay.” The dock, which can mean “landing pier,” also means the water right around the pier.

But we’ve forgiven those deviations and have even incorporated them into our language. And, as language evolves, it’s important to recognize what people will understand and won’t understand. If most people know “moot” to mean “irrelevant” and “not debatable,” then I’m fighting a losing battle if I try to use the original meaning. Language evolves, and so I had to evolve as well.

So I had to find another reason to mock Rick Springfield.

For more on the word “moot,” check out this blog post on Talk Wordy To Me.

20 years after “black album,” Metallica’s platinum records compared

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It was 20 years ago this week, on Aug. 12, 1991, that Metallica’s self-titled fifth studio album was released. In the two decades since its release, the “black album” has become Metallica’s defining album. It is certified 15X platinum, far above any other studio album by the band.

Five years later, the band teamed up once again with Bob Rock, the producer of the “black album” (so named for its black cover). “Load,” Metallica’s sixth studio album, was released in the summer of 1996. Hardcore fans said that the band had “sold out.” Some said it was because the band members had cut their hair. My friend Ned felt conflicted buying “Load,” but I told him that his long hair made up for their sins of cutting their glorious manes.

Anywho, for the 20th anniversary of the album that spawned “Enter Sandman” and “Sad But True,” I thought I’d look up the band’s platinum certifications on Recording Industry Association of America’s website. Using the RIAA’s listings, I created the following chart of when the band’s nine studio albums were certified platinum, double platinum, triple platinum, and so on.

Of course, another way to compare how many times each album went platinum would be to use bars. Here is each album and its number of platinum certifications, by order of release:

What can these charts tell us?

  • The “black album” is definitely the Metallica’s biggest commercial success. Add up the number of platinum certifications for all the studio albums they’ve done since and you won’t still won’t match it.
  • The band’s platinum certifications increase with each album through the “black album” and then decrease with each album after that. Of course, all of this is with the hindsight of 20 years. The newer albums might eventually be certified platinum again after they’ve been “out long enough” to catch up with the others. I’m not sure that will happen, though.
  • In the 2000s (whatever that decade is to be called), the Metallica albums that continued to get certified had been released between 1984 and 1991.
  • The post-“black album” records see an initial jump but don’t continue getting certified the way that the other non-“black album” discs do. Again, those older albums have been out a lot longer, so they have had the time to climb steadily.

Another thought

Bob Rock produced that record and every studio album through “St. Anger” in 2003. They used a different producer for “Death Magnetic,” which a lot of die-hard fans think is the best in 20 years. My theory? Fans who gravitated toward the unpolished sounds of the first four albums liked that familiar style in “Death Magnetic.” “Metallica” had a lot more polished sound and each album sounded cleaner and cleaner. “Death Magnetic,” though, sounds like it’s going to rob you, knife you and then eat you.

Of course, maybe it’s simpler than that. Maybe it’s not Bob Rock, the band members’ hair or any of that. Many bands or artists have that classic album to which fans will compare every other album that band or artist will release. For Metallica, it’s the “black album.” Those guys could cure cancer and some headbanger would say, “That’s good and all, but it’s no ‘black album.'”

Hot enough to fry an egg? Bake cookies? News outlets try

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The heat wave of the past few days has led many in news organizations to ponder just how hot it has been. Hot enough to fry an egg? Hot enough to bake cookies?

They’ve tried these experiments, with varying results.

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STLtoday.com/St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Erica Smith shared a video by Huy Mach in which they tried to bake cookies in Erica’s car.

To watch the fun video and learn whether they were edible, go here. Music by Kevin McLeod.

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indystar.com/Indianapolis Star

Online Editor Amy Bartner and Columnist Erika Smith went outside to fry an egg. The first surface they tried?

The hood of a car. They ended up testing other surfaces, too. To see their video, go here.

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lancasteronline.com/Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

In Lancaster, Pa., the experiments were carried out by the staff at Lancaster Science Factory. In one experiment, they used a frying pan covered in Saran Wrap to keep the egg white from evaporating.

A second experiment used a pizza box lined with foil.

To see how these worked, go here.

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EastBayRI.com/East Bay Newspapers

East Bay Newspapers in Rhode Island tried with a skillet and again with foil.

To see how those experiments turned out, go here.

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I ate my fair share of eggs this weekend, but I cooked them inside. And they were delicious.

Any other examples I missed? Send ’em my way.

Harry Potter, Star Wars, Joseph Campbell and the hero myth

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I wanted to share with you a chart from the Ideas section of this Sunday’s Boston Globe. Using the archetypes described in Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero With a Thousand Faces,” the chart compares characters from the Harry Potter series, “Star Wars,” “The Matrix,” “Lord Of The Rings” and… “Finding Nemo.”

Click for a larger view.

Boston Globe chart comparing Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings and Finding Nemo using Joseph Campbell hero archetypes

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HOW IT CAME TOGETHER

I’ve long kept a graphics notebook in which I jot down and scribble ideas as they occur to me. I’m currently on the fifth notebook.

In the summer of 2007, I caught up with the world and finally began reading the Harry Potter books. I started a month or so before the final book was released. Thus, I got to start with the first book and read the entire series without pausing in between books. The day I finished the seventh book, my mind was racing with ideas. Once such idea:

I jotted whatever came to my mind, knowing I could edit it later. I had long seen the similarities in other sci-fi and fantasy movies, as I had some teachers in high school who riffed on those concepts in class. The idea sat in the notebook for almost four years. (Note to those who know me: check the date on the top of the notebook entry.)

Flash forward to this current summer, four years and one newspaper after I first read the Harry Potter books and had the idea. Colleague Ryan Huddle was working on his great Harry Potter treatment, which you can read about on Charles Apple’s blog. Dan Zedek, AME for Design, asked if I might have any ideas for “The Deathly Hallows,” as he had seen what I had done for the last Indiana Jones movie. I told him about the aforementioned notebook submission, and added that we didn’t have to focus solely on Biblical characters. We could open it up to the hero archetypes explored by Joseph Campbell, who literally wrote the book on the topic.

The next day, Dan told me he had run the idea by Steve Heuser of the Ideas section. Steve had thought the idea had potential and wanted me to rough up some notes to use as a jumping-off point. I consulted assistant graphics editor Javier Zarracina, who was a wealth of ideas. We looked up the hero myth structure, which can be very simple or complicated, depending on who’s dissecting Joseph Campbell’s books and lectures. Additionally, I am especially indebted to Mike O’Brien and Rob Bergman from DeSmet Jesuit High School in St. Louis, as they gave me tons of ideas and sites to consult.

Working with Steve and Javier, I tightened the focus to the archetypes and left out the comparisons of plot. I used Harry Potter, “Star Wars,” “Lord of the Rings” and “The Matrix,” but decided to leave off the Narnia movies. For one, I had only seen the first movie, which hadn’t had the same mass appeal as the others on the list. Steve suggested we try to find a movie that used the same archetypes but that deviated from the serious sci-fi/fantasy realm. I suggested “Finding Nemo,” and he laughed so hard that I knew we had a winner.

I originally structured the chart in a rather traditional, straightforward way. Steve suggested I use the whole width of the page, and Javier suggested I cut out some of the photos using silhouettes. Lisa Tuite and Wanda Joseph-Rollins of The Boston Globe library both helped pull photos to use. Dan helped me vary the cutouts so that they seemed more dynamic. We tweaked and tweaked, and I liked each version more than the previous versions. The graphic ended up on Boston.com by Friday afternoon.

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ABOUT THE MOVIES WE DIDN’T USE

There were a ton of movies we could have used, because there are a ton of movies that use these archetypes. Besides the Narnia films, both the “Batman” series and “The Princess Bride” were suggested, as were several westerns and Akira Kurosawa films. Many non-fantasy films were suggested, too. These were all great suggestions, and I thank all of you whom I e-mailed for advice.

Ultimately, Steve, Javier, Dan and I kept the list limited to big movies and series from the past 10 years or so. We could have easily done a full-page chart with more than a dozen films and still not even scratch the surface of the films who’ve used these archetypes. The whole point of this chart is that these tropes are ubiquitous.

In addition to the films we chose (or didn’t choose), readers might take issue with the specific characters we chose for the categories. Within the newsroom, we had lots of differing opinions. Ultimately, I think this shows we came up with a great idea that will have people talking. A “talker,” if you will. Or a “Hey, Martha.”

Working on this chart appealed to several of my geek loves: “Star Wars,” philosophy, Harry Potter and infographics. Dan frequently likes to tease me for my references to “Star Wars” and “Harry Potter.” If only I could have referenced Scrabble, “The X-Files,” “Battlestar Galactica” and “Melrose Place,” the Pat Garvin interests could have all been referenced.

Next time.