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Monday, December 21st, 2009
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chicagochat
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Looks like I'm on my own for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (though I have plans in the evening). I'd really like to volunteer somewhere like a homeless shelter or a soup kitchen. Does anyone have any suggestions? I've heard places get inundated around the holidays. But I'm looking for a place to volunteer at regularly during Christmas and once the holidays are over.
Thanks!
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Sunday, December 20th, 2009
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king_felix
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He sat a third of the way from the shore, sky so black, the stars screamed in his face. He cued up “Do You Realize?” by The Flaming Lips and lit a cigarette. He hesitated. His mind toyed with the gambler’s fallacy. He turned everything over in his head; rummaged for things to save. He didn’t enjoy life. He didn’t believe in a God. Given what had come before, to assume the next day would be any different was illogical. He thought of Spock. He thought of Space Mountain. He lit another cigarette. He replayed the song. Out of nowhere, his first memory: Children bathing a circus elephant during sunset while his young mother, light cornflower blue dress against morena skin, played with him on a slide. The wind played with her hair. She smiled. The kids laughed. He replayed the song. He lit another cigarette. Cold ebbed into his upper extremities from his hands. He replayed the song. He lit another cigarette. The stars twinkled. He stared at the black spaces between them. He knotted the knife in the whorl of his hand. He replayed the song. He lit another cigarette. He thought of the first snow in Boston. His arms and legs were freezing. He thought of his silent unrequited loves. He thought of heartbreak. He replayed the song. He lit another cigarette. He looked at the stars. He thought: All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
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eatchokolate
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"It's like Stone Henge, but in the suburbs."
- Sarah Dessen, Lock and Key
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king_felix
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The more I think about disembodiment, the more troubled I become. I have to do more research, I think I want to write something about it.
Edit: I did write a screenplay about this years ago: Be Here Now. The only other script I've written that had any traction at competitions. But I want to project more distantly into the future. I want to figure out what the implications are not even just of robot bodies, but of no bodies at all. Is it even theoretically possible to separate intangible mind/consciousness/spirit from a very corporeal existence? And if it is possible, can whatever is ultimately the product of such a procedure be classified as human?
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Saturday, December 19th, 2009
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chicagochat
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Anyone know of any books stores that buy used books OTHER than Myopic?
Myopic is great but they have several limitations so I am looking for somewhere that might want to buy some of the things Myopic doesn't want.
And if you know of a place that also buys used CD's that would also be helpful. In searching through the tags I saw a suggestion for Record Breakers but it is much further south than I really want to go.
Near North area preferred but I have a little flexibility to travel.
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journalists
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How News Organizations Can Create a Mobile-First Strategy
I used to watch the crowds in airport lounges when I traveled, studying how people read newspapers. Even with circulation declining, you could see people reading newspapers intently. Especially after 9/11, people would have plenty of time to read while waiting for flights, and newsstands stocked a variety of papers to choose from.
Look around an airport lounge now. You'll see more people looking at their phones than holding newspapers.
( Continued... )
Good to know, but, still, a bit late.
- - - - -
In the E-mail Era, Who Owns the Interview?
Some time ago I was interviewed via e-mail for an article and, as I often do, after providing answers to the nine questions, I asked the following: "Mind if I republish these answers in full on my blog after the piece goes live?"
It turned out that the journalist actually did mind. In fact, in the correspondence that followed, the journalist explicitly refused me permission to publish my own answers before changing her mind and saying I could -- but without the accompanying questions she had supplied.
( Continued... )
Personally, I LOATHE doing e-mail interviews and haven't run into this problem. However, it's something good to think about (in my opinion).
- - - - -
How to Get Real-World Journalism Experience as a College Student
[ ... ]
So, how does one get experience while still in college?
There are many ways to do this. I outline half a dozen in my book, "Breaking In: The www.jobspage.com Guide to Newspaper Internships."
( Continued... )
Aside from the blatant plug for his book, Grimm offers a few useful tips.
- - - - -
Match Your Diction to Your Mission in Writing
[...]
If you have good diction, it means that you enunciate words clearly, the way Brian Williams does as NBC news anchor, or the way jazz singer Diana Krall performs "I've Got You Under My Skin."
But that is not the primary definition. The American Heritage Dictionary defines "diction" as "the choice and use of words in speech or writing." The key word is "choice." In most cases, writers choose words that fit their topic and appeal to their audience. You will choose a different set of words if you write for "Reader's Digest" than if you write for "Playboy." The language of a blogger will differ if that writer is choosing words for a blog on politics, or sports or parenting.
( Continued... )
Nothing that most of us don't already know, but it's a good reminder of the impact that tone can have on a story.
- - - - -
Tip Sheets: Online & Multimedia
A collection of Poynter articles relating to journalism online. It's a hefty list and there are quite a few nifty links.
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Friday, December 18th, 2009
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chicagochat
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for those of you in the River North area, are you dining out? if so, where?
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lapheeluv
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king_felix
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This is all I wrote today. It took me about three minutes. I wrote off the day to my excitement for Avatar:
They arrived in Boston at night. Their welcome: They exited the last red line train into an empty wind-swept station and as the train pulled away, a cry more terrified and harrowing then they’d ever heard in Brasil snatched at them (what they never replicate in the movies, the sound, the sound that forces every appalling event in life to enter the territory of absolute dread). On the opposite side of the tracks, two men were kicking and punching a fallen third. The victim was crying out, trying to protect his head, fetal and broken, while they wailed on him. Intervals in the cry would be filled by his bloody penitent face pleading for forgiveness, for surcease, but his assailants were renewed, redoubled, and the blows recommenced. Finally he went limp and they rifled through his pockets. One of them looked up and locked eyes with the boy for a fixed second and then they took off running, not departing the station through legitimate means, but clawing their way over the chain-link fence at the mouth of the archway from which the trains took their leavings, shrouding themselves in the dense night. They whispered in what was then still the coded cipher of the English language. The family whispered too, their susurrations becoming one with the night song of the station and in the incommunicable fear, the parents were unanimous in their chosen course of inaction. They skulked out, hunched over – seeing nothing, understanding nothing. The only way their welcome could have been rendered more appropriate would have been if the Fates conspired to introduced a fat Falstaffian-character into the scene, burbling, burping, clad in disgusting greased robs, arms spread apart in mock embrace, bagged forty ounce bottle gripped in an oily fist, declaring: Welcome to America!
Of Avatar (3D) I will say this: (1) Never in my adult life have I seen cinema come this close to magic. (2) It was designed and directed by a twelve-year old (in this case, a good thing). The experience, at least for me, was sublime.
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Thursday, December 17th, 2009
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chicagochat
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When I first moved to Chicago, a friend gave me their old mattress to sleep on, before I could afford to buy my own.
I've been here a little too long to call myself a newcomer now, and I've finally bought my own mattress. I'd like to pay it forward by giving my mattress to someone on here who needs it. It is a full-sized Serta spring mattress, and it's in pretty good shape. No stains, smells fine, from a pet-free home. I'm throwing in the memory foam mattress topper I used with it.
Ideally, I'd like for someone to pick it up on Saturday morning before 11:30am. You'll need someone to help you move it - I'm on a third floor walkup. But hey, free mattress. All I ask is that once you're established here in the city, you consider paying it forward, either with the mattress or in some other way.
Email me at juniperesque@livejournal.com if you're able to take it on Saturday morning.
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eatchokolate
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"Some mommies are ranchers
Or poetry makers
Or doctors or teachers
Or cleaners or bakers"
- Carol Hall, "Parents are People," Free to Be...You and Me
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Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
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eatchokolate
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"'cause you need that desire in your heart to survive
and you need that burning fire in your soul to know
you're still alive"
- The Noisettes, "Atticus"
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Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
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king_felix
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In these situations he often recalled his forsaken cousin. When he was twelve (between Wollaston and Sarasota there had been a sojourn in Weymouth), his fuck-up cousin visited him late at night. His cousin, the rock enthusiast who razed a recording studio (really, in a drunken stupor he set the motherfucker on fire), the cocaine dealer, so bright he placed his ill-gained funds in the care of a FDIC-insured institution and the feds quickly sent him a courtesy letter asking: Where from? Where from? He walked in, eyes full of glass-vacancy, face simultaneously gaunt and knotted with fleshy lumps; he walked in and said he needed to be prayed over (once a preacher’s son, always a preacher’s son). But in the intermezzo between greeting and prayer he started ranting about pussies; black pussies, yellow pussies, white pussies, the great, unspoken currency of the world, pussy, pussy, pussy. And he confessed his secret (by this point in his life he was a perpetually-stoned drop-out, mistrusted by his family and always fucking the same type of sad looking girl who appears to be questing for something and somehow always conflates that something with an uncaring cock). His secret: That the type of pussy he most idolized, most praised, most administered to was entombed in waifish, vampire-pale fey types because because because their pussies were the pinkest of all (were our twelve-year-old a little older, he might have introduced his cousin to the mysteries of Georgia O’Keeffe). There was no prayer. After the litany, he sagged, like a machine-man running on fume-reserves and did a stumbled u-turn out of the room. In his failure, he grew to mythologize his cousin’s conquests into Olympian deeds (I heard talk that the motherfucker once clandestinely finger-banged a Latina while his grandmother sat next to them on the couch watching TV).
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Monday, December 14th, 2009
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eatchokolate
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"She’ll live in all fonts and all sizes
curly q’s, caps, italics, and Bold."
- Alix Olson, "Daughter"
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chicagochat
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I'd like to buy a new car - and I'm in search of a decent Toyota dealership.
The ones that I find via Google feature reviews scathing enough to peel the paint off the walls with legitimate detailed complaints.
Can anyone recommend a dealership they've worked with that won't take one look at me and go "Oooh, a girl! I bet we can upcharge for fresh air in the tires!". Bonus points if you can recommend a specific salesperson.
I'm up in the Skokie area geographically, and own a car already, so I'm willing to drive a bit for a good dealership.
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Sunday, December 13th, 2009
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chicagochat
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SO...
Where is the best place (for gay women) to meet girls in Chicago?
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eatchokolate
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“If I were going to convert to any religion I would probably choose Catholicism because it at least has female saints and the Virgin Mary.”
- Margaret Atwood
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journalists
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Waking thoughts on a strange technological paradigm shift
Seen a lot of screaming and ranting from both sides of the aisle on this topic over the recent years, and figured I might as well throw my two cents out into the street on this a-here internets.
First of all, to the people who scream that the death of print media = the end of society: Shut up.
( Continued... )
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) flemco says a lot of the things that have been repeatedly said here, and then some. He's not a journalist, but he's someone who consumes the news and "gets it," in my opinion.
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Saturday, December 12th, 2009
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chicagochat
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When I was a kid, my family used to drive to the wealthier neighborhoods to gawk at holiday decorations. I'd like to do that this year with my husband, but it's my first year here, so I don't know where to go. What northwest suburbs (I'm in Logan Square and don't want to drive too far) would be good places for this?
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king_felix
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Thank you for all the well-wishes and congratulations, everyone. I'll let you guys know what's up when I find out more.
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Friday, December 11th, 2009
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journalists
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So, I just came across this, and it piqued my interest. I'd like to get folks' thoughts on situations like this:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/12/11/tiger.woods.injunction/
( The whole article, for people who don't like links )
So far, this is what I can say for certain:
1) We're not idiots
2) We all know what these "circumstances" are
3) If they sought this injunction, that means they have a good idea these photos do indeed exist, and likely were fully consensual at the time they were taken (likely, but not certainly)
4) There is absolutely no real news value in publishing these photos whatsoever
5) Without a court injunction, if these photos were/are obtained by the tabloids, they would remorselessly publish the Hell out of 'em, and they'd never go away.
Beyond that, I'm torn, so I'll pose the debate to y'all here. I don't expect anyone here to be thrilled at the concept of the courts blocking what are, essentially, journalistic undertakings, even when they're under the rubric of sleazy tabloids. But, of course, the problem arises that this becomes a precedent, and the next time the court wants to block something for the "good of the state" (ie, evidence of police abuse which could "undermine public faith in law enforcement" or such), the same policy could be relied upon. But does this necessarily mean that this will be a "slippery slope" and will go beyond simply curtailing unsavory practices of tabloids?
Then there's also the question of whether the "unsavory practices of tabloids" need any curtailing at all. Or, another way to put it, has Tiger given up his right to privacy (in whole or in part) by choosing to be such a public figure (which he has chosen)? I don't mean that as a generic question, but specifically in terms of journalistic ethics. Even if we don't believe in printing that kind of shit ourselves, should we care that tabloids go hogwild over someone, who, really - and let's be honest - has created this mess all by himself?
Lastly, of course, this isn't the first time the courts have stopped something like this, which does beg both the questions of how often this happens, and whether this practice is different in England than in the US (or elsewhere). I know England has a lower threshold for libel (or, in non-legalese, more things count as libel), but this isn't really libel. The US has explicit speech guarantees (explicit in terms of the guarantee, and explicit in terms of the types of speech which is protected). They do get de facto ignored pretty often, but still get sometimes upheld.
Thoughts? :)
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journalists
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"The Ineptitude of the Bordentown NJ Police"
Haines Towing, Inc. from Bordentown NJ unlawfully took a bus without the owner's consent, and the Bordentown NJ police said it is legal.
On December 11, 2009, around 9:00AM in the morning, a bus company entitled S&J International Travel Inc. had a bus broke down in the New Jersey Turnpike. The driver called the Haines Towing, Inc., located in Bordentown NJ, to have the bus towed to a Ford Dealer. The driver paid for the towing and believed that Haines Towing would do their job and tow it to Ford. However, Haines Towing towed the bus back to their garage. Haines Towing would not release the bus back to the driver. Haines Towing is evidently committing theft.
S&J International Travel Inc.'s official called Haines Towing and got in contact with Haines's representative named Chrissy. The representative, Chrissy, said the company would not release the bus. The reason given was: The company's name S&J International Travel Inc. is similar to the name of the company Haines Towing has a gripe and lawsuit with. In addition, S&J International Travel Inc.'s company address is located in Rockville, MD, the same town the accused company was also registered. The accused company's name was S&J Travel , d/b/a Lotus Tours, Inc. Hence, Haines Towing believed that S&J International Travel Inc. is related to S&J Travel and told S&J International Travel Inc.'s official to pay them $143,199.30 - the amount Haines Towing is currently suing S&J Travel for. S&J International Travel Inc.'s official informed Haines Towing that they do not have any relations with S&J Travel; they do not even know the company S&J Travel. Furthermore, S&J International Travel Inc.'s official also faxed Haines Towing the company's registration document. The document clearly states where S&J International Travel's company address is located. The address is completely different from that of S&J Travel. Yet, despite the evidence, Haines Towing still insist S&J International Travel Inc. is either related to or is S&J Travel in disguise. Haines Towing refuses to release S&J International Travel's bus.
With no other choice, S&J International Travel Inc. contacted the Bordentown, NJ police department. At 10:34AM, the police officers went to Haines Towing's shop. S&J International Travel, having faith in the police, naively believed that the police would bring justice and get their stolen bus back from Haines Towing. That belief was crushed. The police did not get the bus back. In addition, the police claimed that the actions of Haines Towing are legal.
In despair, S&J International Travel Inc. called the Bordentown police department for an explanation. One of the police officer that was in charge of this automobile theft case picked up. The police officer, Officer Weinisch (Badge #3268), informed S&J International Travel's representative that Haines Towing have the legal right to hold S&J International Travel's bus without S&J International Travel's (the owner's) consent. The reason Officer Weinisch gave to S&J International Travel's representative was: Haines Towing have a court letter stating that under default judgment, the company S&J Travel d/b/a Lotus Tours, Inc. owe them $143,199.30. S&J International Travel's representative replied that they are not S&J Travel, therefore, Haines Towing do not have the right to forcefully and illegally hold the company's bus; Haines Towing is essentially stealing the company's bus. Upon hearing the word "steal," Officer Weinisch immediately came to the defense of Haines Towing. He said that Haines Towing is not stealing S&J International Travel's bus; Haines Towing is not forcefully holding the bus. He followed up that statement with: "Haines Towing have the right to hold your bus because they have a court letter and they suspect your company may have relations with S&J Travel." He further insist that this is a civil case, not a criminal case and told S&J International Travel's representative to stop saying that Haines Towing is stealing the company's bus because they're not. S&J International Travel's representative then asked him: "So are you saying that Haines Towing can hold my bus for an infinite amount of time until they find something? So you are saying that they can hold my bus for a month or a year, as long as they want, even though they do not have the owner's consent?" Officer Weinisch said: "Well, it wouldn't be a year," - he paused - "but they do have the court letter." S&J International Travel's representative replied: "My company have nothing to do with the company Haines Towing is suing. What Haines Towing is doing right now is stealing. They are taking my vehicle without my consent and not giving it back. They are committing theft." Again Officer Weinisch told the representative: "It is not theft. We know where the vehicle is. They are not stealing the bus. This is a civil matter, not a criminal matter. There is nothing I can do." Officer Weinisch continues to tell the representative that Haines Towing is not committing theft even though they are holding the company's bus without the company's consent. Officer Weinisch insist that Haines Towing's actions are legal. Officer Weinisch tells the representative that he cannot do anything.
The definition of theft: the act of stealing; the wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal goods or property of another; larceny.
Now, here are two questions I posed to the public:
Is Haines Towing Inc. committing theft?
Did the police officer fulfill his duty as a police?
Thanks for reading.
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Thursday, December 10th, 2009
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Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
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journalists
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Well, the days of "breaking a story" are pretty much over and I'm looking for some advice, actually.
Locally there is a new federal investigation into one of our police forces accused of racially profiling and brutalizing Latinos in the area.
I work for a Catholic magazine news show (I used to be a daily news producer in a fairly large market... so I have a pretty good hard news sense) and I convinced my boss to allow me to do a "hard" feature on this story over the summer. That was before the federal investigation, but after many local complaints. The Catholic angle is the priest whom police arrested after he started a project to catch them profiling. There was security video of the arrest, and of the police actions (which were shady... you see them in the back looking for the camera equipment), the priest's own video where officers ask him what he was doing with the camera (and they later lied on the report saying they thought he had a gun... the video clearly shows they know it was a camera...) etc.
Now, I have, from my summer story, sound from the priest, sound from the mayor, and EXCLUSIVE sound from the police chief. I don't know why he interviewed with me, but he did. And he's NEVER TO THIS DAY SPOKEN TO ANYONE ELSE.
So, since I work for a religious weekly magazine show that doesn't care about news, and even if I could use the footage or work on another angle to the story nobody would watch it...
What can I make of this exclusive interview I have? Can I give it to another news station? Can I freelance the story perhaps so I'm not technically using my boss's equipment?
Is there any way I can use this? (Without losing my job)
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journalists
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Why the Media Is Taking So Long to Die: Michael Wolff
I participated the other night in an oddly formal, anglophilic, Oxford-style, for-and-against-the-proposition debate on the topic of (you guessed it) the mainstream media. I was on the side arguing (you guessed again) that it should be buried as fast as possible.
( Continued ... )
I forgot I had bookmarked this article and meant to share it when it was originally posted. I don't think Wolff is saying anything new, but it's a question I've asked myself more than once.
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Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
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cpufem
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You Act Like You Are 33 Years Old
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You are a thirty-something at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!
You're responsible, wise, and have enough experience to understand a lot of the world.
You're at the point in your life where you understand yourself pretty well.
You are figuring out what you want... and how to get it!
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lizharvey
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dear sarah thank you for my gift. it was pretty amazzzz.
i am sick always. hate lyfe for lyfe.
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thispaperplane
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all i can think of is:
A. i have to do my thesis
B. i don't want to do my thesis
first A. then B. then A. then B. then a sort of drowning sound: BBBBBBBBAABABBABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABBBBBBBBB!!!!!
i was re-reading a ryan larocque message. i talked about ending college on a two-week bender. that doesn't sound half bad. there's a degree of poetry to it. i made it all the way to thesis year, and just decided to get drunk instead.
my feet are freezing always. this room is so cold. somehow there were three houseflies in here today. its the middle of december: how were there three of them? they were fat and slow winter flies. i killed them each.
first snow today. i hate snow! and everyone thinks i'm a bitch for it.
god, school:
i am frustrated and have lost focus for the night, because i have made the mistake of trying to find precedents on the internet. there are no precedents on the internet. idiot rookie mistake! i could have told myself that the internet was a shitty resource for architectural precedents. the internet is just low resolution photos and marketing jargon. i couldn't even find a site plan for arcosanti. that's how pathetic it was. there goes the last few hours i had in me tonight. internet, i thought you loved me. you lied!
i have to get up in the morning and go to the library. its going to be cold as hell, and i'm going to hate all of it. god help me if the avery index is down. there has to be some good precedents for this presentation. got to get to the architectural meat, so to speak.
-----
just spoke to john thobe about the thesis work. he was concerned about me being of clear mind to attend the phoenix show with him wednesday night (oh! the night before the thesis presentation, dammit!)
he offered his help in tomorrow's intensive thesising endeavors. this comes as a great boon because he actually has architectural training. it is a very sweet gesture when other people offer to help, but i usually turn them down. thobe can actually be of some good. he knows how to research buildings and compile them into precedent studies, proper and scholarly. good things.
but here is the real magic of this evening. as thobe offered his help, a great big lightbulb flickered on in mine noggin, as i suddenly -for the first time all night- began to form defined tasks in my brain. the strategic managerial part of my horrible brain came alive as soon as i had someone to boss around. oh! that great pulsating lobe of loudmouthy leadershippe, the queene of my mindmuscle! t'was like the angel of truth came down and whispered in my cold little ear. crystal clarity: with an assistant to manage, the goal was clear, the roles were clear, the tasks were clear, everything became clear.
so now we've got an outline. thobe and i are going to the library tomorrow morning. after coffee. first thing's first. thank you, jesus.
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king_felix
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Drinking bourbon and watching Wonder Boys. In times of woe, this is the God I cling too.
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Monday, December 7th, 2009
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king_felix
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giddy.
amused.