9 You can get a daily paper in Spanish in Syracuse, but it’s just online.
It is, as they say at the bodega, “un poquito clunky.”
El ePostStandard can be read in Spanish if you can find the correct pull-down menu. It is Google translated, which means you get the sense, but not the feel, of the story. If Spanish is your native language, you might feel as if you are trying to understand a well-intentioned tourist.
The ePostStandard can also be read in Arabic, Chinese, Serbian, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. You should try it, because there are things you can learn just by looking at a language you may not understand.
For example, if you read the Feb 13, 2013, front page story—“State health commissioner on hydrofracking: Need more time”—in Arabic, it will become apparent that there is no Arabic word for hydrofracking. Duh – since the Arab world contains tons of oil and not much water, why would it bother coming up with a word for hydrofracking? I feel smarter already.
8 What`s good about the four-day version (that’s the 16-page, newsstand-only PS that comes out on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays)? In all of those 16 pages, there are no ads except for classifieds and promotions for The Post Standard itself.7 The Hoffman hot dog story by Sara Patterson will not soon make us forget the longstanding and universally respected court reporter Jim O’Hara, but it was a hell of a debut story for the newbie.
All-star investors, including Jim Boeheim, sue Hofmann hot dog leader over use of corporate money. Feb. 7, Page One. Make yourself one with everything, Ms. Patterson!
5 That Chris Baker kid doing music and entertainment reporting … where did he ever learn to write so well? Oh, right, he was at the Syracuse New Times.
If you like his work in the PS, try checking his blog, at musicuse.wordpress.com.
He blogs about matters as touching as the passing of his journalist grandfather to a DJ’s-eye view of teenagers dry humping at a high school dance. Versatility is his middle name.
4 Trees are greatly relieved when they see that 16-page edition on the four days there is no home delivery. Although nearly all newspapers in Onondaga County are recycled, there are still a lot of Canadian forests that suffer to feed our thirst for tactile versions of the news.
3 The staff at the Oxford Inn reports a huge increase in men seeking shelter since the paper disappeared.
Try though they might, homeless people cannot stay warm by downloading the smartphone app for the ePostStandard. Nor is the digital version recommended for wrapping fish, lining the bird cage or covering windows when spray painting.
2 Has anyone else noticed that the four-day-a-week paper looks suspiciously like Granma, the Cuban Communist Party paper?
1 Best of all, we no longer have to wonder on our way to the mailbox if Sean Kirst’s column is running that day. Kirst’s column runs three times a week, perfectly in sync with home delivery. If there is a paper, there is Kirst.
Ahh, we might get through this all right after all.
Read Ed Griffin-Nolan’s award-winning commentary every week in the Syracuse New Times. You can reach him at edgriffin@twcny.rr.com.
