Lamenting Aaron Brown -- Anderson Cooper Ali Velshi and the 30 second sound bite

Perhaps it's age, but I find myself reaching for the remote after about 20 seconds of watching AC 360.

Over the past few years I became habituated to looking to CNN at 10PM to deliver at least a modicum of detail and objectivity to the key news stories of the day. Their former host, Aaron Brown, though gentle and folksy, at least gave the major stories a reasonable level of detail and respect. So out of brand allegiance to CNN I still tune in at 10PM for the headlines.

Now sadly I find a cartoonesque, thirty second sound bite approach that distills complex issues into simplistic graphs on the "magic" screen, or into a few slides "interpreted" by chief business correspondent Ali Velshi who seems long on catchy names and visual recognition (shaved head and pinstripes) and short on depth.

Increasingly I'm switching to the BBC World News in the hope that someone somewhere is giving the issues the depth they deserve.

Wither the News Hour?

iPhone headphones bring me down

I'm a big guy... and a reluctant commuter.

There is the daily dash from the subway to the train. It's along 34th street during the rush hour and the sidewalks are always crowded: shoppers; tourists; Halal street meat vendors -- the great swell of NY humanity.

There was a time, rushing for the train, when I could walk fast, and people in front of me would hear me approaching and adjust their step and everyone would, with their personal aural radar, readjust, and traffic would flow freely.

Enter the iPod and the stopping up of people's ears.

And now I can't run with the same speed; I bump and I stumble as people, isolated from the subtle sounds of the real-world, waddle along to their personal sound tracks.

Its fine for them but not for me.

Am I missing something by not having music constantly in my life?