objet trouvé

Swimmers

I went back to Charlottesville yesterday to see a second film at the Virginia Film Festival--Swimmers. It was the one April and I were going to see before traffic interceded. I found a repeat showing yesterday, so I decided to go. (The picture is of Tara Devon Gallagher, who played Emma--from the movie website)

Lollypops And Shotguns

At the Virginia Film Festival last night, April and I saw the documentary, Based On A True Story (with the sound on to this site, the title of this post should be better understood), about Walter Stokman's attempts to document a guy who wants to have total control of his documentation. The guy, John Wojtowicz, is the one portrayed by Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon. At first, Stokman, who directed the movie, wanted to get behind the scenes of the original movie, but instead ends up making the movie about Wojtowicz and the two's negotiations.

Morons, Freaks And Fascists

Numbers were debated on both sides of the rallies in DC this weekend. How many anti-war protesters were there? How many counter-demonstrators (pro-war protesters) were there?

And the other thing I got to thinking is, with people parsing the various messages on all sides of this: do we just hear what we want to hear?

If you're for the war in Iraq and you walked upon the anti-war protesters, the thought seems to be, or at least the one I find being put out there--they're freaks, those anti-war nuts. Or, as one person was quoted in yesterday's Washington Post: Saddam Hussein is a moron, and you're a moron. This was directed to someone wearing a t-shirt saying this: Wanted for Mass Murder: The Bush Regime.

Scenes From Saturday On The Mall

More pictures upcoming from last Saturday's events on the Mall in DC. I'll post one I took from the book fair later, but here are three I took for now. I spent my time first in the museum area of the Mall, and then I worked my way toward the Washington Monument, past the crowds around the stage before heading to the World War II memorial and heading back right around the time it was getting dark. I walked past the Sheehan tent area and the crosses in the ground before heading home.

On The Mall

After a very slow start to my day and finishing my article from the game I went to last night, I made my way up to DC. My timing was such that I had planned to make the last hour-and-a-half of the book fair I mentioned yesterday; however, due to Metro delays, I got up there for the last 40 minutes. It took me twice as long to get into DC as it does normally from the end stop on Metro.

I know it's not a normal day when I see various protesters getting and off of trains, seeing various signs they were carrying. I gave one guy directions to Union Station.

NO Is No Place To Be

Sustained winds over 175 mph, Category 5, Katrina has her sights directly on New Orleans. The forecast is dire:

The National Weather Service has issued a special statement outlining the damage that might be caused if Hurricane Katrina makes landfall as a strong Category 4 or Category 5 storm.

“Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks, perhaps longer,” says the statement. “At least one-half of well-constructed homes will have roof and wall failure. All gabled roofs will fail, leaving those homes severely damaged or destroyed.

The statement says the majority of industrial buildings will become “non-functional,” with partial or complete wall and roof failure.

“All wood-framed low-rising apartments will sustain major damage, including some wall and roof failure,” the statement said. “Concrete block low-rise apartments will sustain major damage, including some wall and roof failure.”

The statement says high-rise office and apartment buildings will sway dangerously, “a few to the point of total collapse.” And all their windows will blow out.

It's a mandatory evacuation there too, not that I'd need that to high-tail it out of there, with NO being 20 feet below sea level anyway. It also sounds like boarding up will have little effect.

I hope (and am certainly praying) that everyone down along the Gulf in the hurricane's path has gotten out and that everyone will be safe. The devastation to property is going to be massive. I hope with the warnings out that the lives of everyone can be spared.

Pat Robertson: Assassination Advocate

Dear Pat,

Remember what you learned in Sunday School about the 5th Commandment? I believe it's time for a review. While you're at it, looking over the other nine might help you as well.

God

Priced Out

$56,132.

That's how much a new study says I'd have to earn to afford a house in Richmond, VA, an hour south of me. That market is the 77th least affordable. And DC is the 22nd least affordable. I live in between those two markets, and make about $20K less than that. Housing prices have gone up 20 percent in a year-and-a-half, and with the average median price of $225,000, the study notes that it now would take a salary of $71,354 (up from $54,855) to afford a house.

Housing prices continue to get further out of reach for most workers, said Barbara Lipman, research director for the Center for Housing Policy.

"I am not surprised at the results of the study, but I am dismayed," she said.

"It used to be a bicoastal problem affecting California and New York. That is not the case any more."

The answer is to create a supply of affordable housing, Lipman said. For instance, zonings for new developments could include some higher density allowances that would be cheaper, she said.

"The pressure is building for low to moderately priced housing."

 

The Nerve

Short takes (at least I think they will be):

* Drove over 1,000 miles last weekend just for soccer, and at least double that in the last 17 days of July working on a feature story/journal of the 13 matches I saw during that time.

* Almost got into a skirmish with UK tabloid "reporters"; seems they paid off a star player for exclusive access, even though they were conducting the interview in a public setting.

* My parents went to Nags Head to the beach house my sister, husband and nephew are renting for the week.

* I'm watering plants for my mom in her absence. She should hope they're still alive when she returns.

* it's still too darn hot--another 100 degree day today.

* It's what I'll need to go after a new job. I'm seeing a few possibilities.

* What I lack about medical stuff, as I'm pursuing a story about sports hernias and how many are going to a specific doctor in Germany for this. I nterviewed someone who had this surgery last night, and today, continuing doing the research is making me a bit queasy.

*  If you're in Vancouver, (not sure if there's a webcast), I'll be on your radio either Saturday, Sunday or both. Their soccer team is in my region this weekend, and I've been asked on for Sunday, though they're also broadcasting Saturday and there's a possibility for me then too.

* If you're not listening to Amos Lee or Over The Rhine, you're missing out. Thanks April.

* Drive-in's still exist. I saw a few over the weekend, even showing current movies. Funny, though, how more places (such as large parks or schools) are showing outdoor movies on the big screen. Something to be said for outdoor movies. Reminds me of a scene with J-Lo in The Wedding Planner. First movie I saw was when I was 6, Star Wars. First in the movie theater for me was Grease.

* Got called babe last night by a woman, as well as The (followed by my last name, which I don't post in the journal, but it's not really a state secret).

* Had a little boy in the bookstore Tuesday compliment my tie-dye t-shirt.

* When people don't realize how hard you work at something just because you love it, and then they find some small flaw in what you do, instead of saying something nice about the effort made.

* I have some really good background material from my travels, at least I think. I'll point you to it when it's ready.

* The players on the team I followed over the weekend were really nice and thanked me for making the long trek, and even met one player's parents--again. Couldn't find the restaurant they recommended, though.

* Monday morning I slept about three hours in the backseat of my car (from around 5-8 a.m.). Thank goodness it was still a bit dark when I went to sleep, and thank goodness it was safe and I had a pillow.

What Happens When The Press Upsets Wal-Mart; Or, Why The Press Won't Report Anything But Feel-Good Wal-Mart Stories

Now, I'm not going to tell those inclined to shop at Wal-Mart to stop, but breathe an ill-word about Wal-Mart in the media and you risk this:

"I like Wal-Mart prices the same as the next shopper, but there's a downside, too. Many Wal-Mart employees lack the fringe benefits and insurance that makes the difference between existence and a good quality of life. Yet, we customers pay a surcharge from a different pocket — subsidizing health care for Wal-Mart employees who can't afford it."

Mark then described how Friedman's book pointed out that more than 10,000 children of Wal-Mart employees are in a Georgia health-care program, which costs the state's taxpayers nearly $10 million a year. Mark also pointed out that a New York Times report found that 31 percent of the patients at a North Carolina hospital were Wal-Mart employees on Medicaid.

Mark's column really wasn't about Mr. Walton's store, but about Pensacola and how we're becoming a Wal-Mart kind of town, "cheap and comfy on the surface, lots of unhappiness and hidden costs underneath."

I'm also not going to say Wal-Mart can't, and doesn't, do some good things. And those things should be supported. Nothing is as black and white as it appears. Just like the column implies--surface views can be deceiving. However, and Wal-Mart's certainly within their rights to do this, they can make life more difficult for those that seek to report--accurately--what is going on, particularly in Wal-Mart's culture. It's also why, I'm sure, there's many a media outlet who won't write a remotely-negative Wal-Mart story because they've blurred editorial with advertising, and money's going to win out over truth.

UPDATE: Wal-Mart, apparently, has reversed itself and will allow the newspaper back into its store there.