Boomerang! Blog

Charging...

2009-02-17T12:13:00.000-08:00

I took the battery for my Mac down to the “Genius Bar” the other day. Batteries aren’t included in extended care warranty. I think the powers-that-be assume something like 300 recharge cycles -- so I was expecting a brush off. Then, suddenly feeling like a genius myself, I quietly laid the battery out on the counter in front of salespeople and other customers. You see this particular battery may have depleted in energy, but it had kicked into an unusual growth spurt, bursting out of its container and looking downright ghastly. Too scary to look at (this is very much like too big to fail) “fat boy” was quickly disposed of and my Mac was vested with new life.

But it’s those 300 recharge cycles I’m writing about.

Just how many recharge cycles does the average human being have, do you think? I ask that after watching my home state of Illinois go through it’s quarterly corruption scandals, and learning that my adopted state of California, with the 8th largest economy in the world, would be in bankruptcy court if it could (but can’t).

Given that hill to climb, I sometimes feel I’ve had my 300 cycles… that I’m “wore out” as it were. Then one of my kids will do something wonderful, or I’ll talk to someone on the phone about how their child can’t wait for the opening sound of the boomerang on their new issue, and, yup, you guessed it, the “depleted” battery magically – and against all laws of human nature -- recharges.

I.F. “Izzy” Stone was a journalist in the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, who went through far more than his guaranteed re-charge cycles. Hounded by extremists both on the left and the right, Stone fearlessly pursued the truth in very difficult times. The rise of Hitler-brand fascism, sent many people, including Stone, leftwards. Immediately after the war communism had replaced fascism as the new swear word. It is true that some Americans were slow in seeing Stalin’s brand of terror. Russia, after all, was an important ally to America during the second war. But the vicious red-baiting that ruined so many loyal Americans’ lives, was like a mad dog at Stone’s heels. At one point, unable to witness the carnage as friends and fellow journalists were attacked by no less than Edgar J. himself, Stone fled with his family to Paris. But it was those very friends that lured him right back again. He wasn’t going to allow his beloved America go down this path without contributing to their defense.
And I’ll be doggoned if Izzy’s spit and vinegar didn’t charge me up all over again…
Turning Points… coming up.

Cold out there, huh?

2009-02-09T12:55:00.000-08:00

Yea, well, reminds me of the time one of my brothers did something pretty stupid. Well, actually, not pretty stupid... REALLY stupid... with tragic consequences. I was sniffling in my room and my Dad sat down next to me on my bed and said. "OK... you can still play basketball, right?"
I said yea.
"And you can still play the guitar?"
I said yea, again.
"And you can still write a pretty fair story, as I recall."
I nodded. And he shrugged and went back downstairs.

Meanwhile... Back at the Ranch

2009-01-21T19:05:00.000-08:00

Yes… there IS progress on the new issue. Our Turning Points Interview is with I.F. “Izzy” Stone, longtime journalist (since he was 13) and defender of those who could least defend themselves. We’ve got a Schmave story about an elderly gentlemen pulling out the stops to avoid a birthday party. Then Hayley & the King are working on a story about living “smaller”.

Simultaneously, there are other things happening around here we need your help with. In the spirit of #44, we are looking to do what we do -- better. In that vein, we are meeting with 12 local subscribers to get their thoughts on a few things. If you want to be part of that, drop us an email: boomkids@sbcglobal.net. If you aren’t local, but want to be part of the feedback mechanism, we’d sure appreciate it, and we’ll think up something nice for your trouble. While I probably cant promise to helicopter in for your son or daughter’s birthday party, we WILL make it worth your while.

Some of our focus is on the “watering holes” where you and other likely boomers gather that might be a good place to let people know about our stuff. Another focus is how we can build out our new “tribal” website to take our content into a new dimension for our audience.

Finally, here is another snapshot of the BOOMERANG! spread taken by our 6-year-old chronicler. This was once our front door. Well I guess it still is. It just isn’t attached to our house anymore. But as it does still retain the height records of Hayley, Jessica Nat & Bo, we thought we better give it a spot in the woods.

Inaugural Day: Short Stories from the Center of a New World

2009-01-20T10:30:00.000-08:00

A middle-aged Afro-American man leaning against an iron fence, looking downwards, American flag hanging limply from his hand, a now-drying tear stream etched into his cheeks... Malia & Sasha Obama unexpectedly jumping up with their father to take the oath of office... As the camera fans out over the National Mall, a sea of waving flags and hands stretching farther than the eye could see… An O-Ba-Ma chant starts up miles away from the inaugural stage -- with those without tickets, who perhaps worked the hardest to get there -- and, 90 seconds later, finally arrives at the $1,000 seats... Amidst all the hoopla, moving trucks parked at the back of the White House, one set of belongings coming in, one set leaving... Five thousand children gathered at the Harlem Armory in New York screaming -- as only kids can scream -- at the sight of a President whose skin color is the same as their own... John Lewis, a 69 year old Afro-American man, who on southern Freedom Rides was arrested 24 times and beaten severely, seated in front of the stage...

Let’s pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off. Hope is seeping under the door.

Coming soon… A Gathering of the Tribe

2009-01-19T09:54:00.000-08:00

When I sat down 19 years ago to write brochure copy about this untested medium I had in mind, I wrestled with scores of ideas before coming up with the phrase: “Do you remember the sense of power that came in the mail with your secret decoder ring"? For me, that captured the promise of BOOMERANG!… the power, the excitement, the mystery.

Since then, we’ve done pretty doggone well on the story part. But in my writerly focus on content over the years, I forgot the delicious decoder-ring component that accompanies tribal membership… the secret handshake, coded-message kind of stuff that makes being a kid worth the price of admission.

I mention “tribe”, because before they are introduced to adulthood, kids have a common innocence, curiosity – and yes, fierceness. By dictionary definition, a tribe is “a society or division of a society whose members have common ancestry, customs, beliefs, and leadership.”

Common ancestry? Sure. We all came from parents who love us, who commit outrageously courageous acts to preserve our well being, yet who are sometimes oblivious to those things that matter most.

Common Customs? Talking into the night with friends, snow ice cream, reading a good book under the covers by flashlight, obsessing over our favorite music and/or sports team, shoving embarrassing stuff underneath our beds. Check.

Common Beliefs? I think we can all safely say that no matter HOW much we like school, it lasts a little too long -- as does winter. For that matter so does time “inside”. Dessert should be served first at dinner; toys rule over clothes as birthday gifts. Check.

Leader? Admittedly, #44 has a lot on his plate. So until he gets around to building chocolate factories in every community -- Mr. Willy Wonka

That’s the dictionary stuff –and a little on the “light “ side. Like so many other concepts, a deeper, truer essence of “tribe” lies underneath… in murmurs, longings and imaginings that never quite make it beyond the subconscious: A sense of justice…. affinity with nature… a sense of optimism… unbridled curiosity.

Lets face it BOOMERS: kids are a tribe. So we are going to develop one part of our site as a comfortable place for our tribe to gather. OK. So in terms of “gatherings” this is second best… to an oversized blue Bugatti convertible stopping by your house to ferry your kids to a weeklong convention of waterfights, campfires, bracelet-making and long, long hours of storytelling. We’ll keep that for the third act.

What we have in mind for now is a Secret Website Portal that will transport your kids to a place where they can take BOOMERANG! stories to the next dimension: Photos of our Turning Points subjects; snapshots gathered from Toby’s American Journeys with Gramps; a video tour of Tucker Jones official treehouse office and pics from BOOMERANG! studios. That’s what we’ll provide. But we also need pictures, letters, poems and photographs from members of the tribe. About what BOOMERANG! stories mean to you… how ideas in BOOMERANG! have shown up in your own house… about where we should take this from here.

I’m writing a cool story at the moment about living with less. Before I get back to that, I want to offer you the first of many glimpses into life here at the BOOMERANG! spread. The teepee was erected by Natalie. Bo (self-portrait) is the photographer.

Barack, Flight 1549 and Us

2009-01-17T09:16:00.000-08:00

So... where do I start? A beginning is always a good place to start. But lets face it. All the exposition that goes on in the first act is a little tedious. It’s much more exciting to parachute into the second act where “precarious” is the state of being. So let's do that.

The second act opens aboard a plane floating – for the moment -- on the Hudson River… in the mind of a young, relatively inexperienced man tightening his tie in the mirror as he prepares to take over as President of a massive, deeply scarred country… at a table where a creative sort of fella with nary a marketing bone in his body, plans resurrection of an intrepid children’s media company with a new business partner.

Landing an Airbus in a river is not an easy thing to do. The bummer is AFTER managing somehow to do this, you recognize you are now packed into a vessel that is meant to fly --not float. Oh, and that water seeping into the cabin? It’s icy cold. If you can read the account of one guy picking up a hysterical mother AND baby in a bear hug and muscling them out of the plane, without leaking around the eyes, you are a stronger man person than I.

And then there’s Mr Obama. Twenty-six months of endless speeches and airports have earned him the right to take over a bankrupt nation pilloried into a wretched form of submission.

The connection between Flight 1549 and Mr Obama is profound. Stimulus and bailout packages? Right… The only thing that is going to save this planet is a calm, cool voice over the loudspeaker.

“Folks, this is your captain speaking. We can get everyone off this plane and into a nice warm blanket. But it’s going to be hard work. I'm going to ask everyone to work together and take care of that person sitting next to you. You know that instruction manual in the seatback in front of you? The one you never bothered to read? The one talking about rights? And responsibilities? And freedoms? I need you to look through that with your kids. I can’t tell you how important this is because, along with the parental instincts I know you all have, this manual contains most of the information you need to know. Oh... and I want you to know that my pals and I are going to treat that manual like it means something. You can count on that from US. And I need to count on that with you. Finally, folks – yes I know there is water seeping into this ship, but don’t be scared now -- I simply need you to step up and act like the person you always wanted to be.”

This almost feels like enough for today -- having written the 44th President’s inaugural speech. But one more thing. I’m proud of the audio content we have been producing for 18 years. And that is going to keep on keeping on. But, in addition, we’re going to get some grown-up help in creating a website that performs two functions: 1) Gives you, the parent, a simple and concise guide to the many different issues, individual stories and formats from which you have to choose 2) Provide another side of the site just for our Tribe: with pictures and illustrations of our content… drawings and letters from our listeners about BOOMERANG! stories… a tour of Tucker Jones’s office. AND, in my very next post, I shall begin sharing with you a photo of BOOMERANG! studios. (BTW, this feature will be featured on the Tribe portal of the site as I suspect it takes a 10-year-old to appreciate my special gift for filing…)

Thanks guys. Tell a friend. Keep the faith -- we're all going to make it off the plane and into a warm blanket. Dave

Direction Forward

2008-11-08T09:42:00.000-08:00

Along with the money piece and a cool Tucker Jones mystery, our upcoming issue features an incredible "interview" with Richard Feynman, widely considered one of the most creative "scientific thinkers" since Einstein. Feynman is a brilliant scientist. But it is his ability to communicate hugely complex topics to we creatures scientifically disinclined, that is a joy to behold . The quotation below demonstrates his grand perspective reaches far beyond physics. At its most basic, the quotation is a magniificent capture of what it means to be a successful student. On a larger scale, it is the climate we anxiously anticipate in this bold, new world.

"You say you are a nameless man. You are not to your wife and to your child. You will not long remain so to your immediate colleagues if you can answer their simple questions when they come into your office. You are not nameless to me. Do not remain nameless to yourself — it is too sad a way to be. Know your place in the world and evaluate yourself fairly, not in terms of the naïve ideals of your own youth, nor in terms of what you erroneously imagine your teacher's ideals are." -- Richard Feynman

It's a New Dawn

2008-11-05T08:20:00.000-08:00

For almost a decade we've resisted.

We've resisted efforts to reverse environmental safeguards.
We've resisted incursions around the world based on economic interests.
We've resisted torture.
We've resisted efforts to frame all of life, from one hollow emotion: Fear.
We've resisted unimaginable waves of greed.
We've resisted spending priorities that funnel billions and billions of dollars to defense contractors while leaving it to local PTA's to keep school toilets from overflowing.

Now it's time for the energy flow to reverse. To rebuild. To reach out. To sacrifice for for common rewards.

I'm ready.

Lot's of explaining to do...

2008-09-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

I've been spending hours talking with 12-year old Natalie about the financial meltdown, while simultaneously writing a story on regulation.

Last night the President of the United States went on television to let us know that well, maybe the fundamentals of our economy aren't doing so hot after all. The Presidents speech was preceded by comments from a VP candidate saying, unless we act quickly, we may be headed towards a second Great Depression. The stock market? As I write this, at 10 am Pacific, Sept 25th 2008, the Dow Jones is up 250 points for the day.

BOOMERS I've written this next line differently 8 times... failing each time to construct a cohesive follow-up. So let's try: "How do you like THEM apples?"

Regulation Anyone?

2008-09-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

I guess this is a good a day as any to write a story about regulating stuff... whether it's hurtful things that are said about others, pollution -- or financial institutions. The last 25 years has brought about a dramatic pullback from "regulation". The rationale? Individuals and institutions are self-regulating. Well, in a perfect world maybe. But not in this one. History has seen extremes to both sides of this concept. A good case could be made that we're in one right now. That's one Big Idea coming up!

2008-07-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

The Most Incredible Woman You've Never Heard Of

"What do you say about a woman who earned a first class degree at Oxford University, who, during the 1900s was one of the top mountain climbers in the Alps, who wrote poetry, spoke several different languages, made important archaelogical finds, led expeditions across the unforgiving Arabian deserts for months at a time… and was key in shaping a new nation known as Iraq. Gertrude Bell did all of this at a time when women weren’t even allowed to vote in the United States. But whats even more amazing is that before I started reading about Ms Bell, I had never even heard of her."

This is how our next Turning Point story starts out. As a writer/researcher it was incredibly inspiring. I bet you listeners will agree. Funny how some inspiration comes right over the top at you -- while another form creeps in through your pores. After a visit this summer to my Dad's old stomping grounds in southern Illinois farmland, I got a good dose of the stuff through the pores. The result is the new Schmave story: about loss, the clashing of cultures, and shared heritage.

Yup... good stuff coming up in issue 10-11.

Politics & The Olympics

2008-06-05T12:52:00.001-07:00

That's the focus of the Big Idea on our new issue. In the course of the story, we interview elite archer Joy Fahrenkrog, and touch on three peripheral subjects covered in earlier Big Ideas: The history of the Olympics (Issue 4-9); an overview of the magical kingdom of Tibet (Issue 6-12) ; and a detailed look at "New China." (Issue 9-3) For a buck apiece, you can download these segments by pasting the URL into your browser.

http://www.boomkids.com/transfers/olympics.zip
http://www.boomkids.com/transfers/tibet.zip
http://www.boomkids.com/transfers/china.zip

Payment? Just pop the dollar bill (s) into the mail. Boomerang, Box 261, La Honda, CA 94020
Just like you're ordering magic beans from the back of a comic book.

Bullies

2008-04-02T06:31:00.000-07:00

That's the subject matter of the new Schmave story. As with most Schmave episodes, this one is a combination of fact and fiction. As you will discover, the underlying music figures into the story. And it was threading that music with the storyline that took me on a little detour...
Music, too, shapes the second water piece. Copeland's feel for the American West made that work. This segment is the unusual story of how America's war against 3 mammals has undermined our water supply for the centuries ahead.

"Is This All You Do?"

2008-04-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

That's probably my FAVORITE question when people talk to me about BOOMERANG. I should prepare myself with list of clever answers ("No, I run a dry cleaning business on the side) but each time the question strikes me as very funny.

Why? Because 10-9 is dropping into the United States Postal Service tomorrow and posting up on our site within 48 hours for download. And I'm still a bit clueless about what it was about these stories that took me so long to thread together. I guess the answer will come out in the wash.

"It's good though..."

If you don't know that joke, ask around. It's a dandy

Will He Go for 3?

2008-02-28T19:11:00.000-08:00

My East coast content advisor says there's no way we're going to get "water" done in 3 parts and she may be right... We've got dams, and beaver hats and irrigation and prairie dogs and wetlands to cover. It's a wonder I sleep at night. And through some cosmic whisper Jacques Cousteau is our Turning Point interview this next issue. As a kid he was always this old guy with a heavy accent going off boats backwards. But research reveals him to be a true explorer and rabid environmentalist.
Oh yea amd Dave Schmave bares his loathing of bullies on the elevator ride -- by seeing the bully in himself. Third person works so well here...

10-8 Whew!

2008-01-24T09:53:00.000-08:00

Hey there hi there ho there... yes, a new issue enters the world smiling and cooing like you know what. Water is on the agenda in THE BIG IDEA. In journ school they taught us that brevity was the mark of a good writer, so Im a wee bit concerned.
That translates to a 2 parter. Im trying not to look at this as lack of discipline, but as a fear of shallow blubbering. SO... this issue, a technical look. Next issue, what we wonderful humans are doing to muck up a good deal AND what we can all do to help out. We've got a pyramid scheme in Tucker Jones and a cool interview with Margaret Bourke-White, one of 4 photographers hired when they created Life Magazine. All readers long in the tooth will appreciate what this said about her ability. If nothing else guys you have to learn to count to ten in Latin. Why? You know why...

Faces Behind the Family

2007-12-03T13:23:00.000-08:00

The Boys.
The Girls.
The Spoon

2007-12-03T13:19:00.000-08:00

2007-12-03T13:16:00.000-08:00

2007-12-03T13:04:00.000-08:00

Mind My Own Business

2007-11-05T11:09:00.000-08:00

DEAL 1
OK, first off, you all get to send a free BOOMERANG! download to a friend. Right. Just for being you. Actually, since I probably missed your birthday as well, let’s make it 5 friends. It’s a special issue with Nikola Tesla, the new Schmave, Widg & Whack and a few other tasty bites. I will not contact them again or do anything else with their email. To DO this: 1. Send me an email (boomerang@boomkids.com). 2. Put FREEBIE as the subject. 3. Put your friend(s)’ email in the text. I will send them a short explanation and a URL. By clicking on the URL, the free issue will automatically download onto their computer. This of course means you have to revise that adage about a free lunch. And it probably wouldn’t hurt to let them know what’s coming their way..

DEAL 2
If I can herd all you guys into the download camp, I can spend less time (and money I don’t have) on getting you the real goods. Downloads are mo better all around.
A) You choose the exact programs you want – new OR old. Volume 5 & 6 will be up in November.
B) You get them WHEN you want them… in minutes
C) You can load them in an ipod OR burn a regular CD.
So, if you are currently a CD subscriber, send me an email about changing over and I’ll translate the rest of your subscription into downloads AND toss in two freebies as a thank you.

DEAL 3
If you want to buy a friend a 12-issue CD subscription ($71.40) or 9 issue download ($49.95), YOU get a new Schmave anthology with 4 of the Elevator Man’s downhome morsels.

Finally, a couple miscellaneous floaters. Some people prefer to pay monthly for CDs. Now you can. Just send me an email with shipping instructions and call with a CC#, $7.95 (including shipping) will be deducted from your account monthly... A handful of you have received cracked CDs. Sorry… I had to get out of the plastic business. If this happens to you let me know and I’ll get a cased replacement out first class the same day.

Your assignment for tomorrow?
Read to your kids – even the big ones…
stand up and be counted… tell a friend…
keep the faith. All the best,
David Strohm & Clan

Wind in the Woods

2007-11-05T11:05:00.000-08:00

It’s 3 am… again. The bravado I’d worked up by the end of the previous day has fled into the darkness. Like a car radio on auto-scan, my mind spins through the Wildwood of deadlines and headlines where even brave Ratty doesn’t venture without a cudgel or two. Then, finally, a warm fuzzy image comes in…. it’s my daughter, dressed for Halloween as a spoon in a set of silverware. That’s better. I bring up the friendly caw of a crow perched high atop a fir… Dire Straits singing “Romeo and Juliet”… yesterday’s 6:30 am reading session with Bo next to a woodstove... throwing Hayley a perfect TD spiral on the beach. This is how we will reclaim America from the pretenders, BOOMERS. Not by maximizing our yields, or watching reality TV, or winking at the latest boardroom crimes… but by raising our kids to be human beings who make positive choices.

Racing in the Trees

2007-11-05T11:00:00.000-08:00

Saw Bruce the other evening. It's definitely hard for artist and audience to communicate in stadium setting. Remember BOOMERS, BOOMERANG!'s venue is akin to the little corner general store. When Bruce Springsteen was a teen, his focus was “racing in the streets.” Singing that song he seemed to recognize just how much he and his songs had changed. Just like Bruce was first delivered into this culture as a street musician spouting poetry, BOOMERANG!'s original raison d’etre was simply the creative presentation of ideas. Content took care of itself. I mean history, geography, current events, science – cut and dry, right? It sure seemed like that when I was growing up. But when a writer digs deep into material on John Brown and Corinth, Mississippi, and trade, and Sitting Bull, and the Civil War, the “cut and dry” becomes more like our everyday lives – rich… textured…murky.

Just add gravitas

2007-11-05T10:41:00.000-08:00

I think they were dinosaurs. Well, they didn’t start OUT that way. They started out as these flat little spongy wafers. You put them in water and they magically transformed into multi-dimensional creatures. Formal education may be a bit like those wafers. You sprinkle a little BOOMERANG dust on it and the simple, one-explanation narrative morphs into a complex story with depth and multi perspectives. Do kids need the whole story? Yes… I think they do.

Surrender!

2007-10-03T09:48:00.001-07:00

When a friend of mine suggested I do a Schmave story
on surrender, I kind of rolled my eyes. Schmave is
more of a cavalry charge guy, than the white flag
variety. But, the more I thought about it, I
realized it would make a great story for that very
reason. All these years later I STILL resist the
concept and that conflict usually yields interesting
results. I guess you folks will be the judge.

Our Turning Points interview is another curve-ball. Carl
Sagan was ridiculed by some of his scientific
colleagues as more of a showman than scientist. He
DID specialize in “broad” rather than “deep”, but his
ability to communicate complex ideas brought science
and the stars much closer to the public. And we’re not
even talking Big Ideas yet…

In that neck of the woods we are focusing on what
drives the human spirit. We talk to one man who once
ran 50 marathons in 50 different states on 50
consecutive days. (Right... I know…) and an incredible 15-year-old
boy who just finished his first 100 mile race. Yes
this is RUNNING folks… And just another typical issue
of BOOMERANG!