Let’s face it. Toledo isn’t the cultural mecca of the world. It really doesn’t compare to some of the nation’s larger cities as far as culture or the overall vibe you get from the young professionals.

HOWEVER – Toledo really is a good place to raise a family. It has all the essentials. And that culture that’s not as tremendous as a Houston, per se? You can still find ways around it if you look hard enough.

The reason this is on my mind is because of my Chinese background. My parents are from Taiwan, they immigrated to Calgary, Canada (where I was born), and then I moved to Houston when I was 11. Both Calgary and Houston have Chinatowns. In Toledo, they’re just lucky to have one or two Chinese restaurants with some authentic grub.

But this city is trying to embrace the Chinese culture – trying to embrace the future. For all those who don’t know, seriously, the Chinese language is the one to learn because that’s where all the economic interests of the United States are aimed at. There’s just such a huge market over there for any industry – and that includes sports, where you see the NBA and the PGA make overtures.

In Toledo, different high schools in the area have Chinese classes. The University of Toledo just created a Confucius Institute designed to educate Toledoans on the Chinese culture, with some Chinese language classes to boot.

There are some amazing people behind these efforts and I have been fortunate enough to get to know some of them. Of course, none of this would’ve happened had it not been for my days off being recently switched from Wednesdays-Thursdays to Sundays-Mondays. Now, at least I can feel like half a human being by having a Sunday off when normal homo sapiens are taking a break too.

So, like I said, there are some amazing people trying to bring the Chinese culture to Toledo and these people have become my friends. Shoot, last night, I was invited over for some fresh hand-made noodles as part of a tremendously-tasting home-cooked Chinese meal. I haven’t had a dinner like that in about ten months!!! I was also able to practice my extremely rusty Chinese. Usually, when I’m not so rusty, it takes a few days to get my groove back and then I’m pretty fluent. It’s just that I hardly ever get the chance to speak it. Just to clarify, English is by far my number-one language, but I feel a lot better about myself that I’m not killing my culture that my parents tried to pass down to me when I can find a way to improve my Chinese.

So the moral of all this is… even in a place where you might not find the most culture in the world, make the most of it. Find a way to get the job done. This message can apply to so many other things, but in this instance, I’m very thankful that I have found some people so willing to help me remain surrounded by my heritage even when it doesn’t appear likely.

DISCLAIMER: This blog I’m about to post was actually inspired out of the blue by some out of the blue comments on Twitter by a Toledo Blade sports writer who will remain anonymous and who I think is a nice guy.

1st, the TV piece on Dave Clawson that aired on Tuesday night reporting no contact was made by East Carolina to BG…

On Wednesday, I discovered through sources close to the situation in Greenville, NC, the following that I posted on Twitter.

ME: “BREAKING NEWS: sources in Greenville tell us East Carolina won’t be hiring Dave Clawson; will move in different direction. rest easy, BG 3:40 PM Jan 20th from web”

I then linked up to the online story shortly thereafter.

http://www.foxtoledo.com/dpp/sports/football_ncaa/wupw_Clawson_to_East_Carolina01192010hc

Case closed, right? I guess it wasn’t for a local writer who isn’t on the BG beat.

Ten minutes later…

ANONYMOUS PROFESSIONAL WRITER: “Anybody wondering why The Blade hasn’t covered the Clawson to ECU rumors should know the story was complete garbage perpetuated by TV 4:01 PM Jan 20th from web”

ME: “The Clawson “garbage” was not perpetuated by just TV; all the reports I read were newspaper reports 4:19 PM Jan 20th from web”

And that’s true on my part.

Shortly thereafter, a former Blade reporter wrote…

FORMER BLADE REPORTER: @Anonymous Professional Writer “I originally heard about it from a newspaper that covers East Carolina 4:23 PM Jan 20th from Echofon in reply to”

ANONYMOUS PROFESSIONAL WRITER: @ FORMER BLADE REPORTER “I understand. But then leading your sportscast with those rumors and saying ECU is interested, which is false, is wrong about 24 hours ago from web in reply to”

Okay, now that all that’s out of the way… time to go through some journalism 101. Now before I go into this, all three people involved went to the best journalism schools, in no particular order: Northwestern, Mizzou and Syracuse, so it’s really a wash as far as who knows more of what.

But, to defend myself, if I did say ECU is interested in Dave Clawson, then for sure I would be in the wrong. But if you actually watch the video and read the story, I would always ATTRIBUTE that kind of statement to saying it came from reports. Or it came from sources.

The FACT is… that there were numerous reports saying Dave Clawson was a candidate for the East Carolina head coaching gig. Some of those reports say he was a leading candidate with Rick Stockstill turning the Pirates down. Notice I’M not the one saying that. I’m saying those REPORTS are saying that because they are. THAT’S A FACT. THAT’S NOT WRONG.

If we see that respected newspapers are reporting this rumor, it is our job to find out if it is true or not. It is our job to tell the viewer if it is true or not.

Let’s face it. This story has plenty of value. Dave Clawson just finished his first year at Bowling Green and took the Falcons to the Humanitarian Bowl with a record-setting receiver. It’d be crushing if that rumor was true. That also makes it a bigger story. That’s why it was my lead. There was nothing factually wrong with what I said or wrote. There was nothing wrong with putting it as my lead story. College football is a big deal around here, especially with National Signing Day less than two weeks away.

Instead, if I didn’t cover it at all and ignored the whole thing, then THAT would be wrong. THAT would be called – not doing my job.

I wish I had some “blow your mind” commentary about the situation in Haiti that could sum up the situation over there. But I really feel like the pictures are really summing up the mass devastation there.
There will be no quick fix in Haiti. I heard someone say that if we help rebuild it to the way it was in December, it would still be a disaster area.
Will the long term help be there for the area? One can hope.
Will there be structural changes to the area? That almost certainly will have to happen.
So how can we solve the problems here at home, while keeping an eye on places so far away?
I think the answer is there. It involves small steps that we can all probably take. If you have a chance to donate a little bit of money, donate a little bit. If you have time to donate a little time, donate a little time. I think you’d be real surprised how far a little goes.

I have come up with a recipe I think could be an award winner. It is something I had always wanted to make, but never had. So, once I learned of the basic ingredients in it I couldn’t resist the temptation to whip up a little homage granola. It is even better than I expected. And it is SO easy.

It also inspired me to play with the recipe and come up with my own. I even shared it with my mother-in-law who made her own version.

So here you go, my version (so I don’t violate any copyrights) of easy granola:

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.

Mix together:
11/2 cups or so of rolled oats
1 heaping spoonful of maple syrup
1 heaping spoonful of honey
A handful or so of nuts (I like pecans, I have also made it with cashews and walnuts) or raisins (or both)
**optional – you can throw in some M&M’s or chocolate chips if you want a less healthy version

Spread the mixture on a cookie sheet sprayed with some non-stick cooking spray. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour or until it turns golden brown. Let it cool. Break it apart. Enjoy!

The National Weather Service has released a couple neat photos showing frozen sections on Lake Erie.  The first is from January 9th.  Click here to view… The other is from January 14th.  Click here to view… Once the image opens you can click on it to zoom in.

 It’s that time of year again…
Season 9 of American Idol has kicked off with a bang, and so has Toledo Idol.

If you haven’t heard of it.. this is a segment that I host on Tuesdays during on

Fox Toledo News @ 10.  Basically, for years I have been scouting out local bands and musicians and talking to them about what they do.  Many times they perform for our cameras and get to tell their stories.

I love it.  I love meeting new people, and music so important to me.  It’s just a bonus that I can sit down with people who use their creativity to do something lasting and memorable.
 
Our first feature of the year is a band called ‘The Undeserving’.

What’s really exciting about these guys is the fact they have broken out of their hometown and have been blessed with some memorable opportunities.

I had the chance to talk to these guys back in 2007, and back then I

remember they had a really great sound.  If you haven’t heard them, they have a piano-driven rock sound.

The band has a song called “Something to Hope For” and it has been featured on some American Idol commercial spots.  We have actually been running it on our station for weeks.  Talk about a great American Idol tie in to Toledo Idol.  Congrats to ‘The Undeserving’.

On that note, I’d like everyone to keep me in the know when it comes to great bands in our area.

E-mail me at Allison.Brown@foxtoledo.com.  I would love to hear from you!

I’m irritated at the airlines for telling me I have to pay them around $20 to $30 to check a bag the next time I fly.

I know they need to make a buck and that this puts the cost burden on the people I see with those rental carts loaded to the rafters, but still, I want to find a way to beat the system.

I just ordered a new soft side carry-on. It’s supposed to shove into just about any overhead compartment, even small commuter aircraft.

Now I have to learn to pack light enough to use exclusively that and not have to check a bag.

There are entire websites and blogs devoted to packing light. Including tips like, pick clothes that all go together so you can mix and match. Include as many non-liquid cosmetics products as you can (bar soap, dry makeup remover wipes), so they won’t count against your 1 quart zip bag limit total. Choose shoes first (only two or three pairs) and wear your heaviest/bulkiest.

Of course you can’t travel as light as a kid backpacking around Europe all the time. It probably won’t work for an out of town job interview or your trip home for Christmas. But I do plan to try it out for a weekend trip to a friend’s house in a slightly warmer climate.

I see packing light as a puzzle I want to solve. I imagine that if I just choose the right few things I can march past the baggage claim crush with smugness, toting my sensibly small new carry-on that converts into a backpack and has no wheels, because the whole handle mechanism is heavy and takes up space.

In a few weeks, I’ll let you know how it goes and if I still think it’s possible to travel light.

Three years ago today I was at Mercy St. V’s in labor.  My daughter Mazie will be three tomorrow.  Crazy to believe how fast it has gone by.  This weekend we will celebrate with friends and family at a princess party.  Like most little girls, Mazie is obsessed with Disney Princesses.  So she will be dressed in one of her princess costumes for the day.  And I will attempt to create a Belle, Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella 3 dimensional birthday cake.  Maybe next week I will post the pictures for you to see how well I did.  Happy Birthday Mazie! 

It’s been brought to my attention that several blogs have picked up my video of an uncut interview with a Chrysler model, Lauren, who was gracious enough to let me interview her about her job at NAIAS. Not a serious, hard-news interview, but a light-hearted, feature-type interview.

Despite other reports, I told Lauren beforehand that I was working on a humorous piece, and would end the interview by asking her for her phone number (instead, I asked what she was doing later — this was merely an ad-libbing decision). I asked her to shoot me down and to play along with the joke. She laughed and agreed.

I did not “rope” Lauren into the interview, as one blog suggested. I asked her, in front of another Chrysler employee, if she’d be allowed to talk to us. She agreed.

If she wanted to stop at any point, she could have just walked away. But, as I explained to her, it was meant to be a lighter, joking story.

As for accusations that I was being sexist or “creepy,” I would first like to point out that my photographer was in fact a woman and a fellow reporter. If she had felt this story was in bad taste on those grounds, I know she would have said something.

With that, my photographer also knows me personally and understands my personality, knowing that I didn’t truly mean what I said. I took too much trust in expecting everyone else to understand it was a joke, and I understand that now.

Secondly, with as much concern as there seems to be over this interview, there is one major thing to remember: this is what these models have to put up with every day from people who are completely serious. I quickly came up with this idea after a long day of walking around the auto show and watching men, standing at the ropes, snapping pictures and ogling, whispering to each other and staring.

I was sick of seeing it. Honestly. Yes, these are very attractive women — that’s why they are hired. But to stand there and stare like they aren’t even people? A bit much.

So this was my way of poking fun at something that seemed so rampant across the NAIAS floor, in part to draw attention to the kind of environment these professionals deal all the time.

So again, in summary:
Lauren agreed to do the interview.
Lauren was in on the joke.
Lauren agreed to shoot me down as part of the joke.

When we ended the interview, Lauren asked if the video would be posted online, I told her yes and gave her a business card. If she had been offended or felt like I misrepresented the interview situation, she had more than a few minutes to talk to me about it.

Instead, I waved, said “Thanks!” once more, and went on my way. Never did I think this thing would be this misconstrued.

If you have any other questions, feel free to call me on my cell phone at 419-461-1591.

Edit to add this: Clavius commented on Autoblog that, based on the write up, that “I was half expecting some overly fat guy snorting and drooling over the model, but instead we get a tall plump exfrat boy trying to stage a funny viral internet video.”

Yeah, I’m tall. I’ll take plump. But I’ve never been in a frat. Nor was I trying to stage a viral video — that part was an accident.