Reba redux: Queen of Country has still got it

I took the family to see Reba McEntire at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo last week and I’ve got to say the ol’ gal’s still got it.
It’s been about 15 years since I last saw her in concert and I have to give Reba credit for not losing a step in all her years of touring. She looked and sounded every bit as youthful and vibrant at the show in Reliant Stadium as she did in the mid-1990s in the Norfolk (Va.) Scope.
The show last week was a first in my family in many ways. It was the first time I have gone to a concert with my wife and sons. It was the first concert for my three sons. It was the first time my wife, Sandy, got to see Reba live. It was our first time inside Reliant Stadium.
As venues go, Reliant Stadium is less than ideal. The acoustics are not great and the center stage is so far away from the fans in the stands that the intimacy is lost. Still, Reba did a lot to overcome those obstacles in the way she reached out from across the chasm. She definitely knows how to play to her audience.
When I first saw Reba she was in her big hair days and was on top of the charts with her duet with Linda Davis called “Does He Love You.”
The show then lasted about two hours and included many set and wardrobe changes and even an appearance by Vince Gill via recorded video for her duet with him. During that show she took a ride in a cart that went across the arena at the height of the second level.
The show last week was contained to the center stage in the round. It did have short runways that allowed her to get a little closer to the stands, but she was still best viewed on the giant screens. There were no wardrobe changes, though the rotating stage had a dazzling light show with it.
What impressed me the most was how solid a performance Reba gave. Many of the songs she did 15 years ago were condensed to a medley, which says a lot to her staying power and the number of albums she continues to put out despite being on a hit television show at the same time.
Sandy got really excited when she did “Because of You,” which is one of her favorite songs. The one I liked the most was “Is there Life Out There.” The finale to the show last week was “Fancy.” I thought for sure there would be an encore, but I guess the schedule didn’t permit it.
Still, it was an exciting evening and a memorable performance. I look forward to seeing her in concert again. I also hope someday to give Reliant Stadium a second chance to prove itself as a concert venue.

Sound investment advice

Here’s some sound investment advice for you.
If you are looking for some companies to invest in, seek out those who make hearing aids and companies involved in auditory health research.
Hearing, or the lack thereof, is going to be a huge medical issue in the coming years. First of all, you have the baby boomer generation reaching an age where hearing naturally declines.
This is the same generation that has blasted its eardrums with boom boxes, rock concerts, Walkmans and iPods. Couple that with a current generation that is deafening itself with car stereos and the aforementioned iPods and you have yourself a tide of demand that is about to come crashing down on the auditory health industry.
It both saddens and angers me whenever a car comes by with its stereo blasting so loud that it not only vibrates the house, but it overpowers every other sound in the house.
(In fact, as I write this, a car is passing by my office with its stereo so loud I can hear it plain as day.)
I know from experience what these people are doing to themselves and it’s not pretty. In fact, it’s maddening.
I was an avid hunter back in the early ’80s. It was not unusual for my ears to be ringing for a while after each blast of my shotgun.
It was an irritant at first. But the duration of the ringing kept getting longer and longer. It has now been ringing nonstop for 27 years. I was 16 the last time I heard absolute silence. About a fourth of my hearing is gone, replaced by the constant ringing.
The condition is called tinnitus and it affects millions of people. Given what I see and hear, it’s going to affect millions more very shortly. I don’t blame anyone but myself for my problem. But I sure wish someone would have warned me about the consequences of shooting a shotgun without hearing protection.
The thing that really angers me about these stupid people who insist on having everyone for a three-block radius listen to the same crap they listen to in their vehicles is the fact that they are doing the same irreparable damage to their ears.
It’s so unnecessary.
It’s so uncool. They may think they’re hot stuff with their powerful stereos, but they’re really very stupid – or at the least they’re ignorant.
Unlike the short, quick blast of a shotgun, the stereos are now cranking out much higher decibel levels and for a much longer duration. The human ear was not designed to handle that much noise and certainly not for any length of time.
The damage these people will suffer – and yes, they will suffer – is permanent. The ringing distorts what you hear because the hair-like structures in the inner ear are gone. They cannot pick up sound vibrations anymore. Volume doesn’t help you hear any better. It’s a matter of clarity.
If someone talks to me and they mumble slightly or have slurred speech, I can hear them just fine in terms of volume, but I cannot understand them because I can’t hear the full range of speech. I can hear parts of words and I kind of fill in the blanks for the rest of what I think is being said.
My wife tells me that her grandfather and I have carried on lengthy conversations where what one of us is talking about is completely unrelated to what the other is saying. (I think that sounds more like marriage, but that’s a different story.)
Using a phone is a whole other adventure. I cannot hear much of anything on the phone in my left ear. Phones often distort and limit sound, making it hard for me to hear what is being said.
These are the same problems people who are blasting their car stereos and iPods will have. If anyone you know has a habit of listening to loud music, please be kind enough to share this warning with them, especially if they are subjecting young children to the noise as well.
And while you are at it, take some time to research companies on the Internet who are developing technologies to aid the hearing impaired. Believe me; they’re going to be making a fortune in a very short time.
I believe anyone who will shell out thousands of dollars for their music and sound systems will quite willingly fork over tens of thousands of dollars to try and get back what those sound systems have taken away.
I know I’d give my life savings to the first company that comes up with a hearing device or surgical procedure that stops the ringing of tinnitus. And so will millions of others.

Journalism you can trust

Today I will report to work, just as I have lo these past 11 weeks, and continue to do what I have done throughout my more than two decades as a journalist.
Friends and former colleagues of mine will not be doing that. The closing of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver was hardly a news blip here deep in the heart of Texas, but it sure hit me hard.
I’ve always been a big fan of the Rocky. I thought it was the better of Denver’s dailies and I used to be a subscriber. I had a number of friends and former colleagues from the Longmont Daily Times-Call where I worked who were lured away to work for the tabloid. I had often considered applying for a job there myself.
I know some of the people I used to work with would have looked down on me for leaving Colorado and leaving daily newspapers to go work for a rural weekly paper. Today they would look on me with envy, as I still have a stable job.
Working in newspapers in the 21st century is nerve-wracking. I have several friends from the Amarillo Globe-News – many of them long-time employees – who were laid off last year. It’s a very tough time for newspapers.
The Waller County News Citizen has been around for 119 years. I can’t say that I know what the future holds for the paper, but I can tell you I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think it had a future. Sure, we’re struggling just like everyone else, but we’re also seeing some improvement over recent years.
I’ve known for about 20 years now that my generation would see the end of printed newspapers. I always thought it would have more to do with changing technology rather than a changing economy. Both have hit the industry hard.
The Internet has changed the way we do business. In many ways it has become the great equalizer in mass media, as print, radio and television can reach their audiences instantly and continuously.
Here at the Waller County News Citizen and throughout the Houston Community Newspapers chain, we are striving to produce a good, daily product online. The goal is to have something new for you to read each day, sometimes several times a day.
I can’t swear to have special insight into the future of journalism but it is safe to say that the industry will follow technology. Print and photo journalism are blending with video and audio online and will continue to do so.
If I can caution you as a reader, I would strongly suggest you get your news from trusted, reliable and professional news sources. The Internet is full of nonprofessional, untrustworthy sources of “news” that comes packaged as the real thing.
“Citizen journalists” are something to be wary of. It’s like trusting crime prevention to the local neighborhood watch committee. They just don’t have the skills, training and education to do the job.
It’s one thing to go to a city council meeting and report on what happens. It’s quite another to delve into the issues and find out how the decisions made will impact the everyday lives of readers.
Just like you wouldn’t want the neighborhood watch captain trying to break up drug cartels and bust meth labs, you wouldn’t want to trust an interpretation of news events to anyone with a blog and a digital camera.
You want to know your news comes from someone with a degree in journalism who is trained to ask the right questions, seek different sources of information and who can write compelling and informative stories that will tell you what’s going on beyond the surface.
How much longer this industry will continue to plop a pile of printed pulp on people’s porches (OK, we send it in the mail), is hard to predict. More and more of our efforts are aimed at the Internet. That’s where the readers are headed and that is where we appear to be going. That’s why I’m trying to warn you now to make sure that you are being informed by trusted and reliable news sources – like the Waller County News Citizen.
You can trust us, whether you’re reading this in print or online. We will continue to cover Waller County to the best of our ability. I will bring to bear my degree in journalism and 22 years of professional experience to bring you the best and most reliable news of our community that you will find anywhere, here or in cyberspace.