I was in downtown Palo Alto for a quick dinner when I thought I could smell burning.  Then a couple of fire engines screamed down University Avenue.  I have never seen a real fire so I rushed down the street to see what was going on.  I was hot on the heels of a newspaper reporter.  He had no furry microphone.  There were no inexplicable celebrities.  What can I say?

The street was closed off and smoke detectors were going off at Mad and 5th.  It was so exciting!!

Take a look at the pictures … no digressions here …

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Much has been made in the US media of the passing of the US newscaster and journalist Walter Cronkite.  As a foreigner, I missed his era in its entirety.  I was vaguely aware of his name and of ‘the voice’ from TV clips shown since I arrived in the US, but that is it.  It is a different perspective, looking at this as a spectator.  Someone asked me what I thought about him and I said “He meant nothing to me” … which was clearly insensitive, but true.

I read in a post (and comments) from the NYT MediaDecoder blog, that back in the day, there were only a few newscasts to choose from and that may have added to his iconic status.  Growing up, I had 2 newscasts to choose from (BBC and ITV), but in reality only 1.  My parents would not tolerate ITV, so I watched the BBC.  Frankly, the news bored me stiff until I was in my late 20’s.  Now I absorb news like a sponge from both the TV and the internet.  And yes, I do get some of my news from Jon Stewart!

Anywho, I digress …

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