the buzz log
Remembering Mattie's Message
On Monday, "Good Morning America" ran a segment on poet Mattie Stepanek. Mattie died several years ago at the age of 13, a victim of muscular dystrophy. His mother, Jeni, continues to suffer from the condition. But that hasn't stopped her from honoring Mattie by publishing a book of his poetry.
Or should we say "another book?" While he was alive, Mattie published a number of poetry collections — and important people noticed. Mattie could count Jimmy Carter, Oprah Winfrey, and Maya Angelou among his fans. Mattie was also a spokesperson for Jerry Lewis' annual telethon that raised massive amounts of money for people with muscular dystrophy.
Mattie's mother's book, titled "Messenger," will focus on Jeni's memories of her son. Included are journal entries, unpublished poems, letters from fans, and photos. Web searchers have taken notice. Lookups on "mattie stepanek" have surged into breakout status and related queries on "mattie stepanek poems" and "mattie stepanek photos" are also flying high.
Many of Mattie's poems touched on the topic of world peace. On "Good Morning America," Jeni Stepanek said that although her son passed away five years ago, Mattie's life wasn't about loss. "This is the story of his message, which is still alive and well in this world."
You can read an excerpt from Jeni's book here.
Big Boat, Anne Frank, Thanksgiving: What's the Buzz
Our top picks from the day's hottest searches.
- Anne Frank (Searches increased by 2,453%). A sapling from the chestnut tree that grew outside the Amsterdam family's house is coming to a human rights center in Idaho.
- CIT Group (+2,199%). The retail lender filed for bankruptcy protection. And no, it's not part of Citigroup. That's different.
- Easy Thanksgiving recipes (+854%). Geez, the Halloween costumes are hardly put away. But here are some ideas to get you going.
- Oasis of the Sea (+767%). The largest cruise ship on the water barely made it under a Danish bridge on its maiden voyage to — where else — Florida.
- New York City Marathon (+586%). For the first time in 27 years, an American finished first. Speaking of running, how about that Johnny Damon?
October 2009 Buzz: Halloween Haunts, Flyboys and Cheating Hearts
A deceptive autumn lull settled on the domestic scene, partly as people tried to dodge H1N1. Amidst all the handwashing, though, tumult remained over health care discussions, Afghanistan policy, and an exciting but perplexing Nobel Peace Prize honor bestowed on a freshman president. Besides headlines and Halloween, the Buzz had time to listen to creepy confessions and flights of fancy. Below, just a bit of the stories—and searches—on Web overdrive.
The Other Kind of Swine
The tale of cheating men is as old as man itself, but yet their shenanigans never fail to rivet...especially when it involves David Letterman, who has taken jabs over the decades at cheaters, and attempted blackmail by a CBS "48 Hours" producer. The host made a "creepy" confession on his show and another apology to offended females this year. The late-night drama made the sex-addiction confession by fired ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips seem tame, although he got the boot for canoodling with a 22-year-old production assistant (one of many events that helped end his 19-year-old marriage). Philips entered sex rehab. At this rate, someone might want to start a mobile clinic.
Frolicking Flyboys
Eyes turned to the skies when it seemed an amateur storm chaser's son had accidentally taken off in a helium ballon. The media frenzy was for naught, as the now ironically named Falcon Heene had hid in the rafters, and the whole episode turned out to be a really bad reality-TV audition. No hoax but questions remain over how Northwest Flight 188 pilots overshot their destination by 150 miles and remained incommunicado for 75+ minutes. The cockpit blamed "heated" scheduling discussions and laptop distractions. The FAA called their excuses "a frolic" and suspended them. Passengers can still believe in the skies: Hudson River hero Captain Chesley Sullenberger published his biography this month.
Afghan Course
In the long conflict, October has proven the deadliest for US forces in Afghanistan. General Stanley A. McChrystal has argued for more manpower and, after much consultation with military commanders and civilian advisers, the White House will lay out "broad strategic guidelines" until the Nov. 7 election runoff between President Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abudullah...even if the challenger boycotts. Reports point to a compromise which follows American history, as Newsweek details in a look back at troop requests since the Revolutionary War.
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Filed under: Reality TV, Celebrities, Monthly Wrapup, Hoaxes, Military, Halloween, War, Nobel Prize, Barack Obama, David Letterman, Afghanistan, Wrap Up
Firings, Name Changes, and More: Buzz Week in Review
This past week, workplace woes set the Search box on fire. In one case, a man was allegedly fired for wearing a "God pin" to work. In another, a group of hotel workers was told by their boss to use different names around guests. And, across the pond, the U.K.'s top drug advisor was canned for making some ill-advised comments. Catch up on those stories and more with the Buzz Week in Review.
Fired over a pin
Trevor Keezor had been working at Home Depot for over a year, when his boss pulled him aside and told him that he'd have to remove a certain pin from his orange apron. The American flag pin said "One nation under God, indivisible." Keezor refused, and he says he was fired for it. In a very buzzy article from the AP, reps from Home Depot explain that Mr. Keezer was fired for violating the dress code, not because the company agrees or disagrees with the button. Policy states that "only company-provided pins and badges can be worn" on the aprons. Not surprisingly, the story sparked tremendous interest in the Search box. Lookups on Mr. Keezor and "home depot firing" both surged into breakout status. And, also not surprisingly, a lawsuit is currently in the works. This is one story that hasn't ended yet.
Changing names at work
Here goes one of the buzziest and most bizarre stories in some time. Larry Whitten, a hotel owner in New Mexico, ordered his staff of primarily Latino workers to change their names while working. For example, a worker who pronounced his name "Mahr-teen," would have to go by "Martin." The point, Mr. Whitten asserted, was to help the hotel become more profitable and draw more customers. But instead of customers, Whitten was met with protestors—and plenty of 'em. Additionally, the story's Search profile shot through the roof. In just 24 hours, Web lookups on "Paragon Inn," the hotel in question, surged into the thousands. In an article that scored a slew of votes, Whitten explains that he's helped turn around over 20 hotels, and this isn't racism. His guests, he contends, can't understand Spanish. Still, he later said that he was "sorry for the misunderstanding and insisted he has never been against any culture."
Watch your words
The United States isn't the only country to fight a war on drugs. The U.K. is battling, too, and until this past week, one of the country's biggest fighters was David Nutt. But that was before he went on the record as saying that marijuana, LSD, and ecstacy were less dangerous than alcohol. The assertion caused a huge stir and led to Mr. Nutt's near-immediate dismissal. But the recently laid-off official isn't taking the news lying down. In an interview with BBC, Mr. Nutt accused British Prime Minister Gordon Brown of being "irrational" with regards to the dangers of marijuana. In another buzzy article, Mr. Nutt was quoted as saying that he was "not prepared to mislead the public about the harmfulness of drugs like cannabis and Ecstasy." The British government is currently seeking a replacement.
Also buzzing this week...
• Joe Biden doesn't care what Dick Cheney thinks.
• Move over "Blair Witch." "Paranormal Activity" is now the most profitable movie in history.
• Wanna dress like Lady Gaga? Get some advice from the woman herself.
Palin vs. Johnston: Snark Fest!
Sarah Palin must be kicking herself. The former Republican vice-presidential candidate made Levi Johnston the poster child of teen fatherhood (He is the baby daddy of her grandchild): Palin paraded him before the world when she accepted her party's nomination. Had he been under the radar, the ex-boyfriend of Bristol Palin might have just disappeared.
But now he's running his mouth about the Palin fam — and says he's got way more dirt to dish out, and promises a book. The 19-year-old squared off against the ex-governor of Alaska with all kinds of tales that must make Palin crazy. She called her baby retarded! She left her office for money! She and Todd talked divorce! The future presidential contender chose to engage by sniping back at the snarky stories, calling them "mean-spirited, malicious, and untrue," and calling Johnston "desperate." Me-ouch.
Truth or lies, the back-and-forth has caused major interest in Web searches: One-day Yahoo! lookups for "Levi Johnston" soared a whopping 1,992%. Popular queries also included "sarah and levi," and "sarah palin book tour."
Pace yourselves. Johnston made clear on the CBS "Early Show" he is just warming up to this "he said, she said" business. The smooth talking teen let loose this juicy gem: "I have things that can, you know — that would get her in trouble, and could hurt her." But for now, this guy's lips are sealed. Kind of. His handler says he's working on a book, and the bombs he dropped in his recent Vanity Fair piece were nothing compared to what could come out.
That's not all that's being revealed. Johnston confirmed he will pose for Playgirl (on the same day Palin will appear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," natch), which will show off Levi's "Johnston," as Gawker put it. We have to admit, this guy knows how to get his sort of ex-mother-in-law's attention, and not in a good way. Who's gone rogue now?
Filed under: Politics, Sarah Palin
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nidal Malik Hasan | Breakout! |
| 2 | Fort Hood Shooting | Breakout! |
| 3 | Tyrannosaurus Rex | Breakout! |
| 4 | Fort Hood | 43518% |
| 5 | Tropical Storm Ida | 4377% |
| 6 | Willie Aames | 3325% |
| 7 | Shannon Dedrick | 3299% |
| 8 | Gretchen Rossi | 2702% |
| 9 | Epic Mickey | 2583% |
| 10 | Lee Harvey Oswald | 1907% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danica Patrick | +194 | 207 |
| 2 | Fort Hood | +185 | 185 |
| 3 | Angelina Jolie | +114 | 164 |
| 4 | Rihanna | +39 | 157 |
| 5 | New York Yankees | +54 | 154 |
| 6 | Alicia Keys | +139 | 153 |
| 7 | +1 | 153 | |
| 8 | NFL | +6 | 138 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
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