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While it is well known to have existed pre-internet, the existance of the Information Superhighway was previously thought to only encompass the door to door bible seller, newspaper delivery people and the Book Mobile. This undated photo has recently surfaced showing that information traveled the highways and bi-ways in unexpected ways.
I had hoped that this sort of thing was something we could call a part of our primitive history. It seems however that pockets of primitive thinking linger on. Homo Honkius is alive and well and living in Jena Louisiana. Send in the cryptozoologist.
From Color of Change:
I just learned about a case of segregation-era oppression happening today in Jena, Louisiana. I signed onto ColorOfChange.org's campaign for justice in Jena, and wanted to invite you to do the same.http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=1437-264161
Last fall in Jena, the day after two Black high school students sat beneath the "white tree" on their campus, nooses were hung from the tree. When the superintendent dismissed the nooses as a "prank," more Black students sat under the tree in protest. The District Attorney then came to the school accompanied by the town's police and demanded that the students end their protest, telling them, "I can be your best friend or your worst enemy... I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen."
A series of white-on-black incidents of violence followed, and the DA did nothing. But when a white student was beaten up in a schoolyard fight, the DA responded by charging six black students with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.It's a story that reads like one from the Jim Crow era, when judges, lawyers and all-white juries used the justice system to keep blacks in "their place." But it's happening today. The families of these young men are fighting back, but the story has gotten minimal press. Together, we can make sure their story is told and that the Governor of Louisiana intervenes and provides justice for the Jena 6. It starts now. Please join me:
http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=1437-264161
The noose-hanging incident and the DA's visit to the school set the stage for everything that followed. Racial tension escalated over the next couple of months, and on November 30, the main academic building of Jena High School was burned down in an unsolved fire. Later the same weekend, a black student was beaten up by white students at a party. The next day, black students at a convenience store were threatened by a young white man with a shotgun. They wrestled the gun from him and ran away. While no charges were filed against the white man, the students were later arrested for the theft of the gun.
That Monday at school, a white student, who had been a vocal supporter of the students who hung the nooses, taunted the black student who was beaten up at the off-campus party and allegedly called several black students "nigger." After lunch, he was knocked down, punched and kicked by black students. He was taken to the hospital, but was released and was well enough to go to a social event that evening.
Six Black Jena High students, Robert Bailey (17), Theo Shaw (17), Carwin Jones (18), Bryant Purvis (17), Mychal Bell (16) and an unidentified minor, were expelled from school, arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder. The first trial ended last month, and Mychal Bell, who has been in prison since December, was convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery (both felonies) by an all-white jury in a trial where his public defender called no witnesses. During his trial, Mychal's parents were ordered not to speak to the media and the court prohibited protests from taking place near the courtroom or where the judge could see them.
Mychal is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31st, and could go to jail for 22 years. Theo Shaw's trial is next. He will finally make bail this week.
The Jena Six are lucky to have parents and loved ones who are fighting tooth and nail to free them. They have been threatened but they are standing strong. We know that if the families have to go it alone, their sons will be a long time coming home. But if we act now, we can make a difference.
Join me in demanding that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco get involved to make sure that justice is served for Mychal Bell, and that DA Reed Walters drop the charges against the 5 boys who have not yet gone to trial.
http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=1437-264161
Those wondering about my inflammatory blog title, it has been edited several times. Originally I was going to go in the direction of Outbreak and liken the racism to a deadly virus. Then I said, "Nuke Reed Walters". My thinking was that if you kill the head vampire the others would be freed. But who the heck is this Reed Walter's guy anyway and why should you care from just a blog title. So I went back to nuking the town, but I cracked myself up when I thought of racist as a hopefully extinct scavenger. The problem was the title "Mysterious Cryptid found in Jena Louisiana" would simply attract the wrong crowd. So I went with the hellfire and brimstone Southern Baptist title but kept the mysterious creatures entry. Now you've seen into the mind of the writer.
First some background. Downtown Fencing Club at the Downtown YWCA in Greensboro was created by Dr. Sally Robinson as an outreach program to bring the sport of fencing to what she referred to as "all zip codes". Since the start of the club in 1998 the club has grown by leaps and bounds in, number of students, number of instructors, quality of instruction, quality and quantity of equipment.
We have reached a critical mass, and to use a more geeky term, we are "ready to level up". We have reached a critical mass and are ready to grow and expand. The goal as I see it is to keep up the same quality of fencing instruction at the same low price as always, at our core we are and forever will be an outreach program at our heart as part of the YWCA's mission. It is now also time for us to expand our focus, by taking those students with the talent, and desire to the next level competitively. This of course will require two key ingredients, coaches with the talent and skill necessary to take the student to the next level competitively, and students willing and able to pay for that privilage.
Of course, because of our history and background, we would be able to help "sponsor" students with the desire and the talent, who may not have the bank account to pay for the very valuable instructors. What remains for us as our one year goal is two fold:
First - Make sure we have capital to pay for the elite level coaches.
Second - Make sure that we have a system in place to keep from leaving any less fortunate students behind.
My model? The Peter Westbrook Foundation
Of course, I am not the spokesperson for the YWCA or even the Downtown Fencing Club. I am just one coach among many, and I'd like to see the students we teach go farther and be better than we can make them now.
Apparently while I was living this life, I had some other secret life going on in Ohio I have been keeping from myself. Turns out I'm also a short young woman with fibromyalgia.
I always knew I hated Ohio.
Here are the awards as handed out by the judges this year. To see these and other films check out 48.tv, the place to see 48 hour films from all over the world.
Greensboro 48 HFP 2007 -- Awards
Best Use of Prop
"Help Line Hero" by Mills Entertainment
Best Use of Line of Dialogue
"10,000 Light Years in Outer Space" by Pi
Best Costumes
"The Knight Shift" by Contagious Media Productions
Best Choreography
"Factory Fever" by Grace Will Cary Us Through
Best Special Effects
"DeKay" by 9lb. Hammer
Best Graphics
"The Knight Shift" by Contagious Media Productions
Best Sound Design
"Baptism" by F. Artist
Best Musical Score
"Eye of the Beholder" by DARKHAWK Productions
Best Cinematography
"The Choker" by KVT Liquid Pictures
Best Editing
"DeKay" by 9lb. Hammer
Best Writing
"Jessica" by See-Saw Productions
Best Acting
"Jessica" by See-Saw Productions
Best Directing
"JoBeth" by The Keen Collaboration
Best Use of Genre
"Catastrophe" by Summer of Love
Runner-Up Best Film
"Eye of the Beholder" by DARKHAWK Productions
Best Film
"JoBeth" by The Keen Collaboration
Audience Awards for the Greensboro 48HFP
Audience Award Winner: Group A
"The Last Hurrah" by Jive Mechanic Films
Audience Award Winner: Group B
"Catastrophe" by Summer of Love
Audience Award Winner: Group C
"Eye of the Beholder" by DARKHAWK Productions
A ticker tape parade was held Friday night celebrating the welcome demise of a wicked despot who reveled in the tears of women and children. His three years of rule left behind it a wake of painful bruises, torture, and general, evil laughs.
The dashing masked hero who liberated us was unavailable for comment. The dark deed done he rode quickly and silently into the sunset. No doubt already seeking out the weak and oppressed in other far away lands, that he might liberate them as well.
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| From Officespace |
Thought I would show you around my new space. Sure it is a cube with a sliding shower door, but it is better than the space I had before. And as you can see I am fully moved in, the place is a wreck.
Only thing missing is that of the four banks of receptacles in the cube only one is working. This means that I have to choose what is running at any given time. This REALLY slows down productivity, when I am used to switching quickly between two machines to do stuff during my day. Hopefully this will be fixed soon, and I can really get back into production.
All the details are here. But for those of you who like one stop shopping, here's a past of the details strait from the above link.
Date: Saturday, August 11th Time: Group A will screen at 12:30pm. Group B will screen at 3:30pm. Group C will screen at 7:30pm. Place: Carolina Theatre, 310 South Greene Street in Downtown Greensboro Notes: Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.carolinatheatre.com/tickets.html or in person at the Carolina Theatre. Tickets will be selling fast, so be sure to get yours early! Wrap Party Date: Saturday, August 11th Time: Directly after the final screening Place: The Greene Street Bar & Entertainment, 113 North Greene Street in Downtown Greensboro Notes: Doors open at 9pm and the Wrap Party begins directly after the last screening.Note, it is my understanding that the awards will be given at the Wrap party, so if you want to know who won what, head over to Green Street after the last group ends.
Here's the list of what is being shown in each group:
Group A, Screening Aug. 11th at 12:30pm
Accessory, jakub pucilowski
Cliche Name, Alerxandra terHorst
Contagious Media Productions, Mike Dickens
Daydream Thief Productions, Jason Sylvis
Fitzufilms, John Vaughan
General Pictures, Stephen Hyers
Jive Mechanic Films, Slade Blackburn
KVT Liquid Pictures, Lue Khang
Messin’ With Sasquatch, Tripp Green
Nexus, Justin Sale
No F in Productions, Anthony Schraeder
Robot Death Squad, Samuel Stevens
The Mad Ones, Evan Wade
The Knuckleheads, Brian Young
Tom Lipscomb Productions, Tom Lipscomb
Group B, Screening Aug. 11th at 3:30pm
9 lb. Hammer, Jill Cox
Charmed Life Productions, Beth Compton
Clear Mind Productions, Drew Jones
Grace will Cary us Through Productsion, Michael Appolonia
Green River Productions, Joseph Wiggins
Here’s the Kitten, John Washington
Icarus Productions, Harvey Robinson
It Could Be Worse Productions, Joshua Strayhorn
Louie Louie Productions, Louis Di Eugenio
Neon Kudzu, Jeremy Smith
No Sleep Productions, Allen Branch
Nuclear Family Productions, Alec Lewis
Pi, Scott Hathaway
Summer of Love, Sheila Duell
The Macaroni Project, Wilky Black
Group C, Screening Aug. 11th at 7:30pm
Bonnie and Clyde Productions, Greg Robbins
Catatonic Productions, Brendan Carter
Curiosity Entertainment, Dave DiVerniero
DARKHAWK Productions, Dan and Heather Kelly
F. Artists, John Winecker
Good as a Mugg, Matthew B. Moore
Mills Entertainment System, Joshua Mills
Naked Potato Productions, Terrence Covin
Pure Energy Productions, Jason Pierce
Santa, Jeffrey Shroyer
See-Saw Productions, Kevin Pojman
Team Go Gettas, Anthony Gregory
The Keen Collaboration, Dusty Keene
Two Rats Productions, Lucas Butchart
Vizual Insight, Devin Mervin
It was a picnic, but it was all wrong, we needed to make changes. The insects, reptiles, and amphibians were pushed back a half mile from the picnic site. The flowers were blooming but jumbled with pinks, purples, yellows, whites, reds, and lavenders. I tried them all, but finally decided that white was best. Now more. Fill it up.
Then I made the hills all the same size and gently rolling, but it was too big, so I made the outside hills taller so we were alone in a small valley of small rolling hills. I noticed I was sweating, and made it morning, it was cooler, but the light wasn't right, so I put it back and made the temperature 72 degrees, and added a gentle breeze, enough to feel, and enough to move the flowers, but not enough to make the napkins blow away.
Who put this blanket here? The blanket doesn't work. We can't have a picnic that is uncomfortable, and if we sit on the ground our legs will go to sleep from our butts down. Plus there is the issue of where to put our plates to eat. Are we supposed to hold our plates and eat with one hand? This will not do.
I want outdoor patio furniture with an umbrella. Not wicker. Nobody sits in wicker. Its just furniture for show anyway. There, I like that, the blue of the glass works perfectly with the sky. Keep that.
The place setting should be green to match the grass and the place mats should have the color of our eyes, and the color of the flowers. Better add some yellow, this looks too stark. The utensils should be very simple, I don't want to take away from the flowers and the grass.
Now for the food. Wow, I've never seen this before. It tastes exactly like what we want to taste at that moment. No, we'll still need mustard. What if she wants to taste pork. It has to be perfect. And put vinegar on the table in case she wants to taste greens. On second thought, scratch that, she isn't going to want to taste greens. Make the tea unsweetened in a sweating clear glass pitcher that never empties. Of course ice, but in the glasses only, I want the sunlight to show clearly through the pitcher.
This place needs a smell, want it to smell like just after a rain. Good, now add a hint of honeysuckle and moon flower. This is good, but it is too quiet, I like the sound of the breeze in the grass but it needs something. Give me birdsong. No, too much. No not predatory birds, they sound lonely. Seagulls, try seagulls. I like that. Hmm...better make those flowers yellow.
Now it only needs one more thing to make it perfect; Sara, my wife.
In the third grade I met a little girl who I fell for in that third grade sort of way. Shy smiles, little notes, "check yes in the box if you like me". I pursued her up through the seventh grade, where she decided she wanted to go to the same school as her boyfriend and transfered. That was a turning point. She had her first baby before she graduated, and married upon her graduation, two more children followed. It wasn't a good or healthy relationship, but it was the only one she knew, and though she admitted to being unhappy she stuck with it for the sake of her kids. It was during this time she found me through this blog and left a comment.
At the turning point, I went my own way and had my own adventures. I did some good things, I did some bad things, and this combination of learning experiences made me who I was every step of the way and who I am today. During college a very cute girl came up to me, and said "Hi". It was during the peak of a long dark period of time I refer to as "The Bitterness". I was immediately suspicious of this stranger coming up to me and being nice and snubbed her. At the time I felt that anyone who wanted to be nice to me wanted something. That was just who I was at the time. Years passed, I conquered my rage, and left "The Bitterness" behind me. Ok, that's not true. That implies I don't have it anymore. The time period I called "The bitterness" was a mine filled with rich deposits of iron ore. Bitterness is the refining fire through which hate becomes determination. All that raw material made up a beautiful, sharp and shining determination, which I keep with me always. At any rate, one night at a party thrown by one of the fencers in the club, that cute girl and I found ourselves being introduced again. As time had passed between us, we weren't who we were when we first met, and we found a common ground. That started a relationship, which became a marriage, which leads me to the next sordid part of the story.
My childhood sweetheart's comment on my blog. I had always referred to my blog as "internet breadcrumbs". I put it there so that friends, friends not yet met, and even enemies, could find me. I was thrilled to make the reconnection and many emails were passed between us. We learned we were married, she told me how bad her marriage was, I didn't brag about mine. I tried to boost her confidence, and encouraged her to do something about the relationship she was in. It was abusive, both mentally and physically, and no one deserves that. Then the emails stopped coming, and I went along with my life until one day I get an email that tells me that her husband had died in his sleep due to complications of his drinking problem.
Good relationship, or bad relationship, she was devastated because it was the only relationship she had ever known. In my capacity as a friend I tried to be there for her. I reminded her about all of the other men in the world and I boosted her confidence as she slowly got over her loss and tried to get back on her feet in the dating world. She had several relationships, most of them short and all of them awkward. She was getting back on her feet emotionally, and had pretty much no concept of "dating", She meeting up with guys who were in a different place emotionally and looking for a different thing. She wanted a replacement husband STAT. For the most part the guys she was finding only wanted a good time. It was a rocky period for her, and during it she emailed me more often seeking solace, and I was more than happy to keep reminding her that she was good enough, she was smart enough, she was attractive enough, and she would find a great guy so long as she kept looking. During this phase there was a lot of flirting between us. It seemed to do her spirits good, and I won't lie, its nice to hear compliments. I got my fair share in return. Egos were boosted in both directions. Through the time we corresponded we saw each other three times. The first time, was for lunch when she took one of her children to a specialist. The second time was at my parents house over the holidays. The third time was at a fencing tournament near her home town. I didn't want to be anywhere with her alone because it didn't feel right and it certainly wouldn't look right. I didn't want to be in a position where it would look like I was doing something naughty behind Sara's back. Sara was never with me during any of the three times the other woman and I saw one another. Sara was out of town during the lunch meeting. The other two times would have meant that Sara was at my parents house with me, and Sara has never felt comfortable around my parents.
Through it all, the other woman and I never forgot that I was married and many of our exchanges started with "If you weren't married" (Or "If I wasn't married" when I said it). Talk that required those sort of qualifiers got less frequent over time and honestly we got to know each other and realized that we were not the same pimply goofy kids we were back in the 3rd through the 7th grade. Our choices and our experiences changed us, and we were not the same people.
Eventually she found a good guy, and as her relationship with him grew, our correspondences got less and less frequent. I kind of thought of it as the training wheels coming off. We were still friendly. When there was a fencing tournament near where she was living I invited her to bring her kids so they could see fencing. It was something none of them had seen before, and it is a very large part of my life.
One day Sara was reading my emails and came across the exchanges between "the other woman" and I. Although the crescendo of the email flirting had passed a while back, because Sara was reading it all right now and at one time it all happened at once for her. Not a trickle, but a flood. She was beyond upset and I wasn't entirely sure why. Nothing had happened. Then she showed me a bunch of web articles like this one. Up to this point I had never even heard of an "emotional affair", but the more I read the more I realized that was exactly what had happened. In a word, I screwed up, and super sized it. Worst of all I didn't even know it until the bomb went off. It was a flood of my own, as I was having to come to grips with what happened, what I thought it meant, what it actually seemed to be indicating. It was a critical hit to what only moments before I thought was a very happy marriage.
I don't want my marriage to be broken, I love my wife and I don't want to be without her. So I am doing whatever I can to make it right. She asked me to send an email telling the other woman that we weren't to communicate anymore and I did, gladly. She asked me to tell all of our friends what I did, and here I am, spilling my guts like a shamed samurai warrior. Yes, I'm giving all sorts of good and juicy gossip to my enemies. Yes, there really are people out there who read this blog looking for ammunition to use against me. Here you go, free hit, do your worst. Why am I doing this? If you have to ask, you might be a bigger idiot than I have ever been. Sara is the best thing to ever happen to me after being born, and having a clean CT scan. I'm dedicated to doing whatever it takes not to lose her, and if it isn't enough, its because I am not good enough, I didn't try hard enough and I never truly deserved her to begin with. No one, is more important to me than Sara.
"Northeastern grad key to resurrection of women's professional football team. Team reborn as a player-owned club"
Sure, I could brag about the teams 5-1 season, and doing it all with a tiny roster, and no budget. I have done it, and I'll do it again, but not today. Today I'm going to brag about my super kick butt wife, who has been gracious enough to allow me to be her husband.
Why wouldn't I? Here's a hottie who came to UNCG with a degree already under her belt, gets an undergrad degree in theater education, in points while living in her car, and just kept on going. She's finished her masters degree in film by day while working nights. She is living proof that desire is enough, if you are willing to keep your eyes on the prize and never give up.
Currently a Project Manager in IT, it was a natural for someone who has always been accustomed to time lines, budgets, and coordinating others to see a job done well. Playing football is what brings her joy, it allows her take a break from all of that leadership and be a cog in a well oiled machine, a teammate in a team of friends and equals. Sure, she was made team delegate, a role she excels in because excelling is what she does. A small price to pay because in exchange for this, she gets to play, and playing the game brings her joy in a way words can't describe. You just have to see her face at the end of a game when she pulls her helmet off. Through the sweat, and the dirt, and the bruising, there is a glow, born of pure joy and love of the game and the team.
Yet with all of this success and joy in her life, she still takes the time to love my sorry butt, while I attempt to scrape out a meager paycheck. She's patient with my low paying job because she wants me to better myself as well by trying to balance a paying job with my own half baked dreams. It takes the patience of a saint, to stay married to a guy who answers the question, "What do you do?" with the answer, "I write, and I teach fencing." The asker always translates my answer into "Oh, you're a bum." Yeah, maybe I am a bum, but I'll bet my spouse is better than YOUR spouse. In your face haters.
My wife filmed a black poetry night last night, managed IT projects today, and tonight is working on the 48 Hour Film Project. (Nice segue huh?)
I might be a bum, but I'm one heck of a lucky one.
I saw tonight on the first of two nights
at the Manbites Dog Theater in Durham
a night of black poetry. Come see, come see
pay only what you can afford, to a minimum of five dollars
not free
but who gives words for free, besides the man who has nothing (except perhaps a blog)
A small price to pay for such pleasure, and privilage
Techno in the lobby, the producer wondered "Is this right?"
I thought it was to me, techno is the music of the beat poet
beat rhythm, beat rhythm, the emotion of the composer, the instrument's the thing
The beat of tonight's Black Poetry was the rhythm of the dance, and the emotion of the words
words with meaning and emotions beyond the dreams of Webster, Funk, or Wagnel.
(probably even Jeopardy)
Was it perfect? Nothing is, but they created something beautifully imperfect,
and would have been better still had I seen more of the shining faces, of the voices, whose words moved me to tear in more than a single place.
(an admission, I'm sure I'll hear about later)
To teach and to touch the reason for the theater
and that reason was reached tonight
Come watch, come see, come listen, come experience
leave your worries at the door and be lifted by the right words of the two acts
(with ten between the two for intermission)
You'll won't leave unmoved.
Next showing Friday August 3rd 2007 doors open at 7pm, curtain goes up at 8.
www.apetheatre.org or www.manbitesdogtheater.org
Some lessons are learned the hard way, for instance, the rule about emergency pants. Specifically the one about emergency underpants. They must be clean, dry, and close at hand for best effectiveness.
Mine are in a box clearly labeled "Emergency Pants", kept in my office where if I need them, I can call upon them at a moment's notice.
I have the feeling someone is going to learn this lesson the hard way.
