Great Good Friday

Followed by Ash Wednesday, Good Friday is the solemnest day of the year for the world's Christians, because it marks the anniversary of Christ's crucifixion. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia the origin of the term Good is not clear:

Some say it is from "God's Friday" (Gottes Freitag); others maintain that it is from the German Gute Freitag, and not specially English. Sometimes, too, the day was called Long Friday by the Anglo-Saxons.

Hoping for a great Good Friday, today. Meeting Ruby Jung to discuss publishing her late husband's essays as a book -- something I said I'd do at Jim's funeral a year ago. Haven't done much yet, except for retyping his first published essay. Today, we'll choose the other essays to include, selected from the 7 annual editions of his Waterman & Hill-Traveler's Companion. Jim was a fine writer, and his pithy explanations of complex phenomena is unequaled in Southern Illinois nature writing.

Earlier this week, I got together with the guy who introduced to Jim three decades ago. A guy who at the time drove a bus for the transportation service, but now has risen to become the marketing maven of SIU. Guess who? We drank some beer at Pinch Penny and got into a heated exchange about the meaning of the new SIUC image ads, with the tag: There are # stories, what's yours? I tried to find the ad at the SalukiDawgs YouTube, without success.

It's also been a week of meeting Coles: with Brad, the Mayor (about the City's possible participation in a city-wide informational website); and Megan at Main Street about the Town Square art fair this Spring, and Melissa Cole in England, who loves great beer.

The great Meredith Rhodes also met with me last week -- to discuss the Chamber's participation in this year's Bike 2 Work Day. She says she'll ride herself, and publicize the event to members. Since Rhodes is such a Beatles fan, like me, we're thinking this years event can have Beatles theme, and Chamber can provide "Tickets to Ride" at downtown businesses.

Other projects still spin away, and new ones appear. Just bought a new digital camera to replace my trusty Canon Powershot, which has seen better days. Got a great deal on a 7.0 mega pixel camera at Aldi! Will try the video feature today, and upload something over the weekend.

Saint for a day

Saint Barack appeared in Philadelphia today, to preach a 37 minute speech of reconciliation and improvement, to quell the outcry over his former Pastor's anti-American pronouncements. The most important speech of his campaign, already it's been clipped and edited by enemies, who doubt his righteousness, for political opportunity.

Yesterday was another Saint's day, and today, a list of different holy men are honored by the Catholic Church:

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

St. Alexander

Bl. Christian

St. Salvatore

St. Edward the Martyr

St. Anselm of Lucca

Sts. Trophimus & Eucarpius

St. Salvator of Horta

St. Frediano

St. Narcissus and Felix

Although he isn't Catholic, his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright seems like a saintly man. I wonder what he has to say today? Does he stand by "God damn America?" Perhaps it doesn't matter -- Obama did a brilliant job of putting Jeremiah's invective in perspective, and pointing to a better future for all Americans . . . even the ignorati.

To further distance himself from Wright, Barack should consider adding his name to the growing list of Roman Catholic converts. This would score some major points with the most influential Catholic in America, and give BHO an excellent chance of achieving official Sainthood following his second term of miracle-working as President.

Amberer than her

St Patrick's Day is a big deal in some circles. Being only half-Irish, not so much for me. St. David's Day, the Patron Saint of Wales, is more my thing, since I prefer amber-colored ale to green. But here's to Ireland, in her emerald glory; and to Greener Than Thou, for telling this story.

City of Carbondale - Organizational Chart

Look at it. The City paid $25,000 for its web site five or six years ago, and the organizational chart is barely legible -- not to mention other problems with the site. Time for a new improved version -- which happens to be one of the items on the City Council budget agenda.

. . . To speed the process, accounts have been created for selected City and University publicity people for the Shawnee Net site, so they can post their press releases to one convenient and permanent location, where all local organizations can be represented.

For it to work, follow-through is needed by people in these organizations. Carbondale has been soooo slow in getting itself wired, and by 'itself' I mean the business and professional community, and by 'wired' I mean interconnected via internet. Besides email, not much intra-city communication takes place. And that's because of lack of leadership. I try to lead from here, pecking and clicking, urging (just about) everyone to blog, but it usually takes personal contact with individuals to get it going.

Yesterday, through the power of a phone call, Monica Tichenor, Coordinator of Public Information for WSIU public broadcasting, activated an account. It may only be a temporary expedient -- eventually the station's Public Information will have its own home, like SIU News Service -- but it's a start.

I'm hoping others will follow Monica's lead, and City staffers who currently send out press releases by email will take a minute (literally) to cut and paste them into the Shawnee Net "City of Carbondale" blog. . . . Ditto the Chamber of Commerce, the Arbor District, the Boys & Girls Club, and the rest, who aren't active in the blogosphere.

A Month of Mondays

Usually, a blog post begins with a title, and sometimes a better title is suggested as the post develops. This title has probably been used before. Shall we google it? Appears no one has written a book with that title yet, but there is a band by that name, and bunch of other stuff -- but no book. Here's the concept: two drinking buddies go to 30 different pubs, one per week, for 30 Mondays, sampling the micro-brews from hither and yon. Snap a photo of the building, a few interior shots, and some quotes from the bartender. It's a concept that might work in other venues and other days, such as "A Fortnight of Fridays" visiting restaurants that serve fish. I feel another blog coming on.

CSS Investigation

Through the power of cascading style sheets (CSS), more color and texture have been added to this blog. The backgrounds are details of Victor DeGraff sand paintings, like this .

The sand painting textures are only experimental; eventually, something more locally-themed will be used.

In like a lion . . .

The old saying that the month of March "comes in like a lion, and out like a lamb" is half true, so far. Another storm front looms. Not as bad as the first ice storm in February, but freezing rain is in the picture, and more snow on Friday. The weather has not disrupted Greyhound bus service, nor has it set back plans to move the agency office in May.

Yesterday, I met the gentleman who runs the BP station on East Main St., and we all but sealed the deal. Someone from the DE contacted me, too, but -- until the contract is signed -- the announcement is not official. You'll be the first to know, Bloggee. The tentative opening day is May 1. Maybe we can have a ribbon cutting, you know, something different, like instead of ribbon, cut a length of tire inner tube.

The Lion-Lamb saying about March is offered as an example of Axiomatic Project Managing by consultant Carl Pritchard, as a way to build professionalism. Carl says we choose maxims which resonate with us and apply them in our daily lives. Safety first is one example. Some might call it a mantra, the thing(s) we tell ourselves repeatedly.

"If you find a few that resonate with you, they can become your signature. They can become a small component of what you represent. . .

My mantras are lyrics of Todd Rundgren songs. I think it's good to keep your mantra(s) secret. On the other hand, Pritchard is talking about maxims and wise sayings that have stood the test of time, like Benjamin Franklin's classic Lack of care does more harm than lack of knowledge. About the March saying, Pritchard speculates

In like a lion... So many projects start that way. Blustery. Confused. Cold. Relationships uncertain. The future looking downright Arctic. And yet, is it not those projects that (because of the investments we make in making them right) that go out like lambs? And conversely, those that we ignore or consider "easy pickings" from the beginning turn into the "lions" at the end?"

True enough. But with news alerts from Google, unruly blogs can be tamed, easy as shepherd's pie.

February made me shiver

. . . with every ticket I delivered . . . no news of the home front, which I know you want. ;-) Instead I started a new blog about two of my favorite NBA teams, and updated several others: Graydog's Blog, the pro-Obama political blog In This Corner, the 9/11=.81 blog, the Hold the Sausage movie blog, the Colbwhat's'isname blog, and the pro-cannabis blog Hemp Sense. Meanwhile, local blogs requiring attention include the Bike 2 the Future blog, On The Square Online, Bark to the Future, and Heartland Artland.

Thinking of launching a new pop culture blog, to comment on American Idol and other TV shows, such as Craig Ferguson (what's with that guy? He's manically funny. Just discovered him, but can't stand watching very long. Jimmy Kimmel still rules that time slot on my TV, especially since his recent sexy video of him with Ben Affleck If you haven't seen it, first watch Sarah Silverman's video about her "fucking Matt Damon."). I could call the new pop culture blog The Idle American, if the name is not already in use. It is. Maybe Procrastination Nation is available. I'll look it up next month.

March time's on.

Plate techtonics

The circus metaphor of spinning plates on sticks provides an overview of my entrepreneurial activity. The plates represent different projects, and the sticks are blogs created to whip the projects into shape. Sometimes, a plate can wobble through inactivity, and fall to the ground, like homeofthedome.com, and cyberdale.us, two spur-of-the-moment domains obtained, inspired by my own rhetoric! ;-), like with walterwendler.com a few years ago.

If spun the right way, the plates become frisbees flying into receptive minds of readers and consumers, as in the case of Marry the Mayor dot com, which got too big for its breeches and eloped.

The simple plate provides another metaphor for action: turn it over, and it's heaped with food, a 'full plate' of things to do.

Spinning plates and having a full plate are metaphors for effort, even when the plate feels like a manhole cover:

1. Updating Shawnee Net web site and revisiting long-dormant blogs, improving formats and adding Google ads. Makes sense!
   
2. Carbondale After Blog b(l)ook --this plate is on the back burner, due to limited writing time. Last week, I used free software called Sprout to make a Flash-based promo, including an audio clip of City Councilman Joel Fritzler's take on blogs, and posted it on Shawnee Net. And speaking of sprouts:
   
3. Vegetable House -- The seed for this project was planted in 1995: a film script about the comic comeuppance of meat-eaters and vegetarians on a college campus. Although the story is set in a fictional town, there will also be some recognizable C'dale figures making an appearance. Brad Cole as a sarcastic waiter? Walter Wendler as manager at Wendy's? And who will play the role of "Holiest Man Alive"? Treesong?
   
4. Sands of Time -- Selling "sand prints" of sand paintings by (the late, great) Victor DeGraff, especially the painting of the now-demolished Stage Company building, colored with actual brick from the building. The prints are printed on special sandpaper, so the feel of the original is reproduced.
   
5. Two new volumes of Between the Rivers local music compilations: of keyboard virtuoso's (piano and organ) and vocalists. The web site needs a spin or two.
6. Move the local Greyhound bus station to a better location on Main St. in May, when the lease expires on the current space on N. Washington St.
   
7. Open an Ebay sales service in the Washington St. space when the Greyhound ticket office moves out.
8. This year's Bike 2 Work Day is rolling around. Last year's event led to the creation of a new domain spokesfolks.info, which has been dormant. It should be redirected to the Bike 2 The Future blog or vice versa.
   
9. St. David's Day will be here in 9 days. On March 1, everyone should drink some amber colored ale or lager -- to commemorate a Celtic Saint! Why wait until March 17 to green beer? Amber is better. This year, I'll repost the "St. Dave's Day" stuff I wrote in the mid-90's, before the internet ruled. The Beer Philos'pher has created a cool social network web site called Aleluminati, that's really taken off in two short weeks, with about 66 members worldwide, counting The BP's wife. ;-)
10. Least, but not last, the long dormant, cobweb-ridden Shawnee Shopping store got a spin from the Southern Illinois Specialties lady yesterday. Look for more changes on that site soon.
    

Spinning plates is also called 'multi-tasking', which isn't as vivid a phrase. But "task" is the operative term. Each item on the list has many details to get done . . . important details like finding a cameraman and actors for the Rugby tournament on April 5, and changing the orange color of the beer in St. Dave's mug to amber.

Hopefully, this post will keep this blog spinning, as I get on the stick for those other projects.

Well thawed-out script

The ice is slowly melting . . . side roads are still treacherous in spots; my bicycle went our from under me on a side street at 6 a.m., but the morning Amtrak crew for the morning Amtrak has been on time everyday despite the storm. The Greyhound bus schedules to Carbondale didn't run for 2 days, although the local office was open.

Obama's fired up, and so am I! Some people (exaggeraters like Jeff Rense) are negative about him, like with Cole, but for different reasons. They say he sez he'd invade Pakistan to get Osama, if there were actionable intelligence. Unfortunately, Bush has given the phrase "actionable intelligence" a bad name, although it's not a bad band name.

I'm fired up for different reasons than Barack. Now that the writers' strike is over, I can begin revising the script for Vegetable House. Since it was originally penned (literally) in 1999, it needs updating, with more t(r)opical and hip references.

Casting is currently underway. Looking for a Stephen What's-'is-name look-alike for starring role. Will begin shooting on April 5, at the All Fool's Rugby Tournament.

Think I'll add a blogger to the story. A female geek named "Meg O'Lomania" played as a cross-dressing Arab. Going for campus cult classic: Animal House meets Dogma.

Master of your domain

No, not that domain. ;-) The other day, I got an email from a guy who owned the dot.com domain names for two well-known people in town -- wanting to know if I'd be interested in acquiring them. I didn't ask how much, because I wasn't interested. I think because I own Walter Wendler dot com, he thought I'd want to speculate on others. No.

I never pay more than $10 for a domain name. Yesterday, I purchased the domain name "holdthesausage.com" for the film I'm working on. Two years ago, I bought my own name domain.

How about you, Bloggee? Are you "master of your domain"? If not, go to GoDaddy and see if it's available. Then you can have your own home page, or redirect it to another site, as I did with walterwendler.com.

Sand man passes

My friend Victor DeGraff, the sand painter, died suddenly on Tuesday, driving home from Art Lovers Trading Company, after dropping off a drawing by a fellow artist for an upcoming show. His car crashed into a ditch on Cobden Road. Victor was 87 years old, with a heart condition

His heart condition was he loved life -- especially art, music and good movies. . . and dining with friends.

Victor was a very active man. Not just "for his age" but for any age. As an artist, he was prolific, always working on a new sand painting or design idea. Like the man, his art is ageless.

Yesterday, I spent a few hours scanning & uploading his bird paintings. Today, I'll do the cave paintings; then the landscapes, seascapes, and abstract designs over the weekend.

Prints of most his paintings will be available through Art Lovers.

I'll miss Vic. He was a special friend.

Cole for Rudy

I see where Rudy Giuliani got one delegate. It could have been our own Mayor Brad Cole, who was listed on the Republican ballot as a delegate of Rudy. Must be a Mayor to Mayor thing. Brad probably would have supported John Lindsay back in the day. A Mayor has ever been elected President, though a few have run.

I consider Cole 'a friend of the show', so I overlook his card-carrying Republican politics (as he forgives my free-thinking ways). If he can engineer the revival of the Varsity Theater, he can drag me to a Giuliani rally, for all I care. Since Rudy has thrown his support to John McCain, he's positioning himself to be Vice-Presidential nominee. Wanna bet?

And if the 72 yr old McCain kicks the bucket, it's Ghoulie time, baby.

Split decision

Now that a certain project has been relegated to a better place, this blog can focus once again on me -- what I'm thinking and doing where, with whom, and sometimes why.

Yesterday's "Super Tuesday" electoral results were disappointing since I hoped Barack would win decisively, but apparently, it was a split decision: Top Democrats Trade Victories. CNN thinks the results may help Obama. We can hope.

Another split decision is with my girlfriend of four years, so I'll be solo at the WDBX Zodiac Ball. I'll be feeling kinda low, because my idea to rename our fair City went "down the old Carbondale - Paducah Corridor," as the saying goes.

The Heiress dumps on You-know-who!

As a rule, I don't publish comments that use one of George Carlin's 7 dirty words. Or negative statements without some glimmer of support. But "The Heiress" sez the phrase "Paducah-Carbondale Corridor" sounds like the lower portion of her intestinal track and "the idea to name anything after Colbert" is (hold your ears and nose, Bloggee) an 'equally shitty idea.' Ouch.

Of course, it is ridiculous to rename Carbondale You-know-what-dale. Yet the process is instructive, and leads to interesting byways. I'm guessing those who hate the idea do not watch the Colbert Report, or 'get it', if they do. Stephen's an acquired taste, but his speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2006 won me over.

Now I see where he will be a special guest at a New Jersey theater gala, at $350-$500 a plate. How cool would it be for him to come to the 'Dale! Theater lovers hereabouts would gladly throw down $35 - $50 per plate to raise money for The Jackson County Stage Company, which will need thousands to refurbish the Varsity Theater.

In any event, "Please God Make It Stop" has upped the ante to $25 to stop writing about You-know-what-dale in this blog. He can donate it to The Stage Company.

So that's it, no more waiting for Colbert in this blog.

And the phrase "down the old Paducah-Carbondale Corridor" might take on a Munsonesque meaning as a silly idea that goes down the crapper.

Stop in the name of Colbert?

This morning, Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole was interviewed by Tom "Cap" Miller on the Morning News radio show on WJPF. Cole is thrilled with the great exposure on ESPN GameDay at the SIU Arena. "a great day for Carbondale," he said. . . . But would it be as great as a minute on the Colbert Report? I seriously doubt it (unless I'm joking).

Others have suggested other names, including "Carbonjail" and "Carbon'd Ale" (a beer inspired name), but neither have the media oomph that Colbert has.

In his interview with Cap, Mayor Cole also said the City is investigating renaming streets to honor local people -- and famous people like Martin Luther King, Jr. A few years ago Green Street was renamed "James and Thelma Walker Ave." Maybe instead of renaming the entire City "Colbertdale," Main St. could be renamed "Paducah-Carbondale Corridor Avenue." Or perhaps the local bus stop could be named in his honor.

Which reminds me, yesterday I put a "Donate" button on this page for the "Colbertdale (Non-)Action Fund," to make it easier for "No Dear God No, Make It Stop." ;-)

Super 2 Days

It doesn't get more Super than last Super Sunday, with the incredible 4th quarter pass play and Giant victory. Although no giant victory is expected for the players on Super Tuesday.

Be Flexible . . . Vote for non-candidate Kucinich?

When it comes time to cast your ballot tomorrow, don't forget to think about voting for Dennis Kucinich instead -- to send a message to Obama -- a message which states Chris Wissmann is staking his claim:

[T]he political left is the so-called center, however paradoxical that sounds. . . . Basically, even if they find the man himself unpresidential, Americans support Kucinich's viewpoints.

So vote for Kucinich! Or think about it. And think about how liberal Wissmann is -- urging us to telephone out-of-state friends to vote for Obama, while voting for Kucinich (who has dropped out of the race) in Obama's home state! Flexibly, Wissmann reasons

Obama's very inevitability may give Illinois voters flexibility of which they should take advantage. Voting for Kucinich is the most productive way to do so.

For Chris, the Ohio Congressman "remains a symbol of what the Democrat Party used to represent."

And Obama doesn't? Apparently unmindful of the recent moving endorsement of Obama by Caroline Kennedy in the New York Times, Chris considers several angles before taking a shot at a conclusion. Yet if everyone followed his suggestion, Obama would lose Southern Illinois! So in reality I think the real message Wissmann wants us to get is: he's very liberal -- even more liberal than Rocky Obama.

Anyway, here are some key quotes from Wissmann's "Go-Bama" editorial in Nightlife.

Key quotes:

• Comparisons [of Obama] to Robert Kennedy are routine.
• Unlike Bill Clinton, [Obama] does not just use the language of liberalism in a bait-and-switch scheme to gain support for a fundamentally conservative agenda.
• Throughout the campaign Obama has tripped over this own tongue
• Illinois Democrats should consider casting ballots for Ohio congressman Dennis Kucinich.
• a vote for Obama is just fine, and after the New Hampshire primary, which Obama lost despite surveys that gave him a double-digit lead, perhaps nobody should take the polls for granted.

I wonder if points #2 & #3 apply to the Councilman, himself -- on the principle that we often accuse others of things we are either guilty of, or aspire to. (Recall his frequent votes with conservative Republican Mayor Brad Cole, including one placing caps on malpractice claims a few years ago.)

Like Steve Miller calling Wissmann an "editor supreme" in this week's issue of Carbondale Times. Based on that statement, Steve is on his way to becoming an "editor supreme"of the Times, as well as becoming an outstanding stand-up comic.

I'd rather see Obama gain the greatest plurality in the history of Illinois primary elections; 90% or so. That would send a much stronger message.

I am Colbertdale & so can you

A commenter called "Carbondale=Ghetto" writes ALL CAPS about how dumb it is to rename Carbondale "Colbertdale" for a day (to honor "the Father of the Paducah-Carbondale Corridor"). C=G probably wouldn't complain if I suggested "Ghettodale" instead of "Colbertdale."

Along that line, Chris Wissmann's anti-Ron Paul editorial in this week's Nightlife reports: "When at a demonstration Al Sharpton called for the renaming of New York City after Martin Luther King, one of Paul's newsletters offered these alternatives: Welfaria, Zooville, Rapetown, Dirtburg, and Lazyopolis."

But Sharpton has a point: Instead of forcing "Colbertdale" on people who do not know Stephen Colbert (and think his name is pronounced COLE-bert, instead of Coal-BEAR), there could be a contest -- in the comments of this blog. What would be the best alternate name for Carbondale? (So we don't have to change the baseball caps, it should begin with "C".)

But until someone comes up with a better name, or the laughable offer by "Make it stop" is sextupled (paid for NOT writing, I love it!), I will continue planting seeds of honor to the man I like to call "The Barack Obama of fake news pundits."

Snow stops bus; Show goes on

Got an early morning phone call from Lucy in Vienna that the Greyhound bus to St. Louis won't make its scheduled stop in Carbondale this morning. Schedule 4700 got canceled in Clarksville, KY. That will be bad news to the people waiting at the Amtrak station for the bus to arrive.

In more upbeat news, the idea is still in play to rename the City of Carbondale after Stephen Colbert, Father of the Paducah-Carbondale Corridor -- Colbertdale -- for just one day; I plan to bring it up to the mayor the next time we play golf together (which won't be today . . . or ever . . . since neither of us plays golf).

I still like the idea of selling "I Slept in Colbertdale, Illinois" tee-shirts to benefit the Stage Company which will need a lot of money to help restore the Varsity Theater. The only problem with that idea is that if you didn't sleep in Carbondale on the night when Carbondale became "Colbertdale," then the message on the shirt would not be accurate. Another shirt could have a different message: "I Didn't Sleep in Colbertdale, and Never Will." That should do it.

Another project, the "Washington St. Hip-Hope" Street Fair to benefit the Tuscan Lodge is on schedule for late Spring, early Summer. Date TBA. (The name of the event may be changed, too, since it isn't carved in paper yet.

What else is new? I finally got the Shawnee Net home page fixed. Now all it needs is more content. The local news aggregator is nice, but needs better organization.

Been making progress on my blook. Created promotional widget including a sound-byte by City Councilman Joel Fritzler. Also signed up with LuLu Press to print copies on demand. Now all I need to do is finish writing. It won't be easy.

My "Vegetable House" script is being dusted off to shoot some scenes for a promo-trailer. Last night I met with Lucky Oldload, the Rugby Unit Manager, about shooting the Rugby scenes on April 1, when about 20 schools will be in town for a tournament.

The other scene I want to shoot is a concert at the Shawnee Saltpetre Cave south of Murphysboro, and some local beauty spots.

Although the story takes place in a fictional town called "Karmadale, Kentucky" much of film will be shot here in Southern Illinois. In the film, Karmadale is home of Southern University of Central Kentucky. I'll have Gusto's Van -- the man behind John Belushi's famous "COLLEGE" tee-shirt (from Animal House) -- work out the acronym for a tee-shirt.

The script, while timeless, was written in 1998-99, and the world has changed since then, so the script needs retooling to reflect those changes. More topical one-liners and references. Also, casting the right person to play "the holiest man alive" (as named by 'Steeple Magazine', I'm not making this up! Oh wait, yes I am). Of course no spiritual leader worth his salt would accept such a role. So it will have to go to a comedic actor of great skill to pull it off. Someone like, oh I don't know . . . someone who happens to be in town the day the City is named after him.

If Colbert is unavailable, perhaps a look-alike whose stage name is, let's say, "Steven Coldair." Yeah, that's the ticket.

UPDATE: Do you believe in serendipity? After writing the above paragraphs above, walking on Oak St. to Washington St., I met a Stephen Colbert look-alike headed on foot to Longbranch!

"Rocky's" speech wows Wonkette

Wonkette 'hopes' we like Obama's Victory Speech from South Carolina. Posted on YouTube, in case you missed it.

It will be great to hear him speak to us for a 4 year term or two-- as President of the U.S.! (He'll put the "us" back into the U.S.).

If he keeps winning elections and making magnificent speeches, Letterman will have to come up with a new bit (YouTube) next year, and Will Smith can get to work on the biopic.

Not sure which nickname I like better for Barack: "Barry" (like in his HS yearbook) or "Rocky" which has more gravitas and "Yes We Can" winning-against-odds appeal. And the first syllable of "Barry" doesn't sound like 'BAH-rock', the way his name is actually pronounced. Gotta go with Rocky, or 'The Rock', except there's already an entertainer using that name (who just happens to look like Obama on steroids. If Barack is elected, look for an SNL sketch along those lines.)

On to Super Tuesday, where it looks close.

Candles in the 'Dale

There's still some negativity in the Bytelife blog about Carbondale that I don't understand. Like calling Carbondale "Colehell" in the comments, which is neither amusing, nor accurate: Mayor Cole is not responsible for the awful intersection at Mill and Illinois. That problem was caused by City Manager Jeff Doherty. But Cole created Friendship Park, where pedestrians can sit, and red-lighted motorists have a pleasant view of sculpture by Alden Addington. . . . So what is wrong with the City that a little positive thinking can't help? "Better light a candle than curse the darkness," right?

Greg Cook the Portable Warehouse king, and his wife Nancy, just lit a huge candle under the Saluki Way project-- donating one million dollars, announced yesterday. Must be a lot of money in the warehouse biz. Greg is also one of the investors in the newly formed 1187 Creative agency, with offices in Carbondale and St. Louis. He'll probably be at the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner tonight at the Civic Center, which should be a cool event -- with dinner, awards, and music by the Ivas John Band to get everyone up and dancing.

Another candle lighter, Chamber director Meredith Rhoads is not just full of helium when she says (in high-pitched voice): "I wanted to give something back to the members, so we can celebrate the success of the past year." (Where's my digital recorder when I need it?)

Other candle lighters will be at the Chamber dinner, too. "Business of the Year" will go to Dan Terry, for the Newell House restaurant restoration .

African-American Museum directors Corene and Milton McDaniel are Citizens of the Year.
The Leader of the year: Greg Sprehe, Compac International
Bus. Pres. Service Award: Jeff Doherty.
The Regional Business of the Year: Short Enterprises.

Scaled down

This story in The Southern: Build Local Legoland? about a guy wanting to build a Legoland(r) Theme Park got a ton of comments. Mostly derisive. Dennis Smith should think about scaling down his project to something diorama-size. He could have an attraction the size of the world's smallest chapel in Nashville, IL.

The way renaming Carbondale to "Colbertdale" after Stephen Colbert was scaled back . . . to just one day.

I mentioned it to the Amtrak crew this morning, and they think it's a good idea. (Humoring me.)
There'd be a special sign at the Station. (And if the change occurs on a Sunday, no Postal change would be necessary.)

Have you heard about the sculpture being planned for the east-side of the train station tracks? Mayor Cole has asked Nancy Stemper of Carbondale Community Arts and Debbie Moore of the Convention & Tourism Bureau to come up with something. The final design has not been chosen, so I'll suggest a life-size statue of Colbert in the mix. Perhaps Victor DeGraff could fashion one of sand, like in Myrtle Beach, but more statuesque, and permanent.

Some may question Colbert's worthiness, but he is the Father of "the Paducah-Carbondale Corridor" (in conversation with songwriter Randy Newman, a Paducah-Carbondale Corridor specialist. Hear the .mp3 clip).

If the City of Carbondale is too short-sighted to rename itself to honor the greatest living American -- and friend of Carbondale -- to get the famous Colbert bump, then maybe Dennis Smith would like to open the Colbertdale Mini-Legoland(r) in Colp, IL, whose 224 residents might enjoy the boost.

Greenstreet on Main St.

The former Arthur Agency CEO, and founder of 1187 Creative, contacted me today about my recent posts about the changes at the agencies.

I've known Jon Greenstreet from the Dunn-Richmond Center where he facilitated economic development, and from his Bike Surgeon days. A young man who has put his MBA to good use, Greenstreet -- and the rest of the 1187 team -- is moving into soon-to-be renovated offices on the second floor of the Newell House building (Bening Square to old timers). This photo is the view from of the corner office, on Washington & Main, where (by clicking on the image, you can see the Arthur Agency office from out the window to the right.)

Jon was amused that the illustration of him and three other former Arthur employees is still on the Arthur web site. He said all four in the picture (along with five others) have joined 1187 Creative, which is also opening an office in the Soulard district of St. Louis. He said the new agency has many new accounts. He also said some law suits and counter lawsuits have been filed by the two companies. Sounds like a story for Steve Binder!

I better get to work on a substitute graphic, in case Arthur Agency wants to change it -- replacing Jonny G with me. ;-)

UPDATE:
In addition to Greenstreet, the founders of 1187 include: Zak Ouart, and Kay Dosier.

The investors in 1187 include: Greg Thompson, Greg Cook, Chase Butler and Rob Vitale

The other team members of 1187: Russ Gruber, Ben Ouart, Sara Holman, Lindsey Cox, Christy Pogorelac, Herb Voss

Applying myself

Yesterday, I stopped-and-popped into the Arthur Agency, on Jackson St. (pictured at left) where Heather, the receptionist, told me some of what has happened since former CEO Jon Greenstreet left the agency, taking some key personnel along, to form 1187 Creative.

Craig Williams, of Pinckneyville, the man behind Community Link, has bought a share of Arthur, and Dennis Poshard is still President, and acting CEO. The 1187'ers took some accounts with them, but Arthur Agency still has the Southern Illinois (Marion) Miners contract.

Even though I don't "do paper" (except for cash & tissue), I took an application home with me in my back pocket. Looking at it now, but won't fill it out. I've known Craig Williams since 1982, when he was with Silkworm, and later when he had an office behind Hair Brains in the mid-90's. He knows my work. I don't need no application. If Craig or Dennis -- or even Jon -- want to hire me, here i am.

P.S. In the graphic posted on the Arthur Agency web site, that's Jon Greenstreet's likeness in the blue shirt walking toward the entrance. Perhaps instead of filling out an application, I should photoshop him out of the picture, and put myself there in his place.

Grin and Colbert it?

Some readers are puzzled by this blog's current obsession renaming the City of Carbondale "Colbertdale," in honor of comedian Stephen Colbert, father of the "Paducah - Carbondale Corridor" and host of the Colbert Report. An anonymous commenter (perhaps speaking for many) would like to see more posts "about what people are thinking, feeling, saying and doing in The 'Dale," adding "Pictures are great, too!"

Yes, and audio-video, also. I'll get right on that.

I hear that Carbondale's Arthur Agency has lost some key personnel to a competing agency called 1187 Creative. Judging from the list on the Carbondale Main Street home page, most of the original Arthur staff -- including the CEO, Jon Greenstreet -- have defected to set up shop on the 2nd Floor of the Newell House building. I should pop in to see if either agency can help sell my blook online.

Speaking of online, it's hard to tell what Caleb Hale, Online Editor at the Southern Illinoisan. is thinking or feeling, 'cause his blog is behind the times. No new podcast since Jan. 4.

And speaking of behind The Times, I read Chris Wissmann's "Four Corners" report in Nightlife today. The headlines:

• A Change is Gonna Come

Key quote: "In addition, look for canned-food drives to take place throughout the community through Friday, January 25. Donations will benefit area food pantries and banks."

• More Incoherent Smoke Signals -

Key quote: "Unfortunately, such pious concerns smack of hypocrisy, since those legislators overwhelmingly passed a law that didn't provide for due-process in the first place."

• Healing Herb?

No key quote. But why the question mark about medicinal marijuana?

Speaking of local newspapers editors, I saw Jerry Bradley at the Neighborhood Coop yesterday, looking happy he was no longer editor of Carbondale Times, where former editor Steve Miller (former editor, longtime writer) is on the job. . . . Steve's a good guy. He also writes reviews as 'Bryan' Miller, and performs stand-up comic gigs. I told him I was a comedian, too. He said he'd heard that.

The thing about being an entrepreneur-comedian -- an compreneuredian -- is folks can't always tell if you're serious or not. Like renaming Carbondale "Colbertdale." Of course, I am serious. Serious about entertaining the possibility. Change the name for one day? How many petition signatories would it take? How much $ would it cost the City? How many "I Slept in Colbertdale, Illinois" tee-shirts could sell, as fund-raiser for the Varsity Arts Center?

Naming right(s)

Can a dumb idea be good publicity? It seems most people think it's silly for the City of Carbondale to change its name. But many other cities have successfully accomplished it!

Why change it at all? The wikipedia sez "the name "carbon" comes from Latin language carbo, coal, and in some Romance languages, the word carbon can refer both to the element and to coal.
And coal is still important to the region

Last year, a Colorado town estimated it would cost nearly $1 million to change its name, according to the Rocky Mountain News: Costly name change considered to alter Commerce City's image. A local poll showed voters preferred "Stink Town" 54% (indicating the unreliability of unscientific polls, or the power of Commerce City's stench.) In March, 2007, the locals voted 890 for a name change and 1980 against.

So, yeah, maybe it's a bad idea to change the City of Carbondale's name. Would changing it to "Colbertdale" be worth a million dollars worth of publicity? If not, how much money would it take to convince the Carbon-ites to change? A billion? Enough to upgrade The Arena, fix the classrooms, and finance The Varsity renovation? Couldn't the City be renamed Cartoondale for that kind of money?

And what about Stephen Colbert? Aren't any nay-sayers thinking of how best to honor the man who gave us 'the Paducah-Carbondale Corridor'? (audio clip) Change a Street name? How about calling the alley that runs from Castle Perilous to City Hall the "Colbert Corridor"? When Stephen visits, the limo can take that route to the Civic Center.

Smoke- free, Blowin' smoke

Last night, I descended to one of Carbondale's oldest watering holes, The Cellar, for a beer with friends. My first taste of Smoke-Free bar -- and it was clearly better than last year's smoke-filled atmosphere, suffusing clothes and skin with smelly smokiness.

Of course, the topic of renaming the City of Carbondale came up. The suggested name that got the biggest response was "Coleville," but my choice is still "Colbertdale," because it honors a great American, Stephen Colbert, whose television show, The Colbert Report, scores high among the demographic market so vital to SIU and Carbondale. No, not the senior retirees being courted by the mayor, but the 18-22 age group.

Undoubtedly, those who hate Carbondale's future progress will oppose renaming it, while those who love the new name will sign petitions.

So far, the petition and survey are bare bones, but businesses like The Bank of Carbondale and Carbondale Cycle should probably be thinking about changing their letterheads.

C is for Kookie

People are intrigued at the idea of renaming the City of Carbondale to something cooler. But to what? It must begin with "C" so "SIUC" can remain. Might be good to keep the "dale" part, too. Something like "Cooldale" . . . but cooler.

Colbertdale is my choice -- after comedian Stephen Colbert (pronounced Cole-BEAR) since he would then feature "Colbertdale" on his popular tv show -- giving the entire town the Colbert "bump." (If you don't know what the Colbert bump is, I probably can't help you, but this link will explain.)

Other towns have changed their names with good results. If it gets to City Council vote, the City staff will have the facts and figures, pro and con.

Of course, the change won't be made over night. The entire process could take six months or longer -- from the date of this post 'til the new "Haven't You Heard" coffee cups come out with "City of Colbertdale" logo on cup. (After a contest for a new logo.)

Before it's put to vote by City Council, a Carbondale Chamber of Commerce survey and a petition will be necessary. I'll work up drafts of each, to get the cookie rolling, and maybe a new title for my blook.

Transmuting Carbon to Cool

Ever since the writers' strike, it's been difficult for me to come up with things to write and say. Must be subconscious solidarity with the Writers Guild which wants a fairer share of DVD residuals. Even my quips to the bank tellers at Schnuck's have lost their currency.

Nevertheless, my meeting with the Mayor went well. We always have a laugh or two, as I quiz him on 'what's up'. . . . Not much, it seems, except for hiring a new City Manager; hopefully one who's a little more creative than our current one; someone a little more Doc Severinsen than Tommy Newsom, if you know what I mean.

After City Hall, I visited the Chamber of Commerce office across the street to get the latest business news from the Executive Director (annual banquet is coming up -- same night as the Kid Rock concert in Evansville, unfortunately).

Carbondale is lucky to have two dynamic young leaders like Brad Cole and Meredith Rhoads. But what is the duo doing? For one thing they are collaborating on a project that will do more good for Carbondale than a barrel full of Stephen Colberts. They just don't know what it is yet.

Speaking of the writers strike, Stephen Colbert is getting the job done without writers. The critics say his return to the Colbert Report was a "knock out."

Coincidentally, the first page of "Colbert" in Google Images came up the photoshop I did of Stephen and Brad Cole meeting!

Perhaps that could be the big project Cole and Rhoads collaborate on: Renaming the City of Carbondale to something cooler . . . another "C" word, so the initials SIUC would still be valid. Such an effort would put C'dale on the map in a positive and fun way.

A survey, petition and contest would be in order, but not necessarily in that order.

Meredith can whip up a survey; while I drum up a petition; and Brad can contest the findings.

New and Improved

Have you checked out TheSouthern.com lately? The New and Improved web site has links to blogs, video and audio. And online editor Caleb Hale is blogging and podcasting. His Weekender podcast on New Year's resolutions, got me thinking about what "spectacularly stupid" words he may have spoken to his wife that haunt his marriage to this day. ;-)

Don't we all have things we'd like to unspeak or undo? But since we can't, we move on. As Confucius say "Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

Like the myth of Sisyphus, doomed to push a boulder up a mountain for eternity. When he reached the top, it would roll down again (too bad for Zig Ziglar). Yet, as the author of a famous essay on this myth believed, despite his absurd existence, Sisyphus is "happy."

And one must imagine that Southern.Com Online Sales Manager Shawn Connelly is happy, too. ;-)

O's Iowa victory speech

Obama's victory has given hope to many. Not to too many, though, just enough. If you missed his victory speech in Iowa, it's posted in Sam Graham-Felsen's blog.

Barack & K. Rock

Don't want to make too much of yesterday's Iowa Caucus result, but I must've had psychic dyslexia when I picked a Clinton-Obama dream ticket months ago. Clearly it's Obama-Clinton, or Obama-Edwards, or Obama-and anyone else. The Republican field is so lame, except for Ron Paul. It's definitely time for change! Sweep the White House halls and closets clean of all the cobwebs, ghosts, and skeletons.

Listening to Kid Rock as I write. He's been on TV a lot lately, with a full concert schedule, including one in Evansville this month. Who knew he was so deep? Check out his song "Amen." Been listening to all the songs on his new album Rock & Roll Jesus. I wonder if he backs Barack, who has a messianic message of his own!

In conclusion: Kid Rock rocks, and Barack will roll to victory in November.

Back to bussics

It's good to be home. This month the details will be ironed out for moving the local Greyhound office to the BP Station on East Main Street (where Scott guessed in a comment), with a March or February moving date. This will mean the busses can stop at the same location where rides buy tickets, instead of blocks away. The dudes at Amtrak will appreciate that; and so will the customers.

Some interesting people buy bus tickets. Today, a radio personality named Chorsey bought a ticket to St. Louis, and a young woman named Bridget (that's "Bridge with a 't' she said) on her way to Arkansas.

Bridget had me read a poem by Peruvian poet Pablo Neruda (in English translation), a Ode to Artichokes.

Speaking of arty jokes, I read in Bytelife where City Councilman Joel Fritzler thinks Amtrak & Greyhound can share the current location. Is he kidding?!

My visit to Cooperstown

My plan to move to Oregon took another step forward last week, as I visited Portland over Christmas break -- taking an airplane, and leaving Greyhound bus behind for a week's vacation.

New Year's Eve at my daughter's condo, with her friend, and my son and his family. We listened to Ryan Adams Easy Tiger, and stared at Court (soon to be Tru-)TV and talked, until 'round about midnight, when Dick Clark's heir apparent, Ryan Seacrest, rang in the new year at the stroke of 12. I also learned who Hanna Montana was, thanks to my three-year old granddaughter, who had a doll that played the same lyrics when its belly-button was pressed, over and over . . .

If you could see
The other side of me
I'm just like anybody else, can't you tell?
I hold the key (the key)
To both realities
The girl that I want you to know
If only I could show
The other side...the other side
I want you to see
The other side...the other side
The other side of me

Ask me to sing it for you sometime. Or you can see Hannah perform entire song on YouTube.

My grand-daughter is very cute, as you can see by this photo at her tea. But I am biased because I'm not only 'Doodah', but also her agent. Isn't it time for a Minnie Minnesota? a Jane Maine? The SIU cap is her dad's, but she'll endorse other products or candidate for a cup of imaginary tea.

I saw a couple of streaks continue while in Portland, too. On Dec. 30 I saw the Trail Blazers defeat the Philadelphia 76ers, in a game that had a "posterizing" dunk that's already on YouTube. The next day the Patriots won their 16th straight on the TV at a sports bar called Lil Cooperstown.

The entire town of Portland could be renamed Cooperstown, too, because so many people still remember the hijacker D.B. Cooper, who boarded a plane to Seattle in 1971, and sky-dived out with $200,000 before the plane landed . 'Cooper' was the #1 "Where are they now" in Willamette Week's year-end review. Also last week, the FBI released a photo of a clip-on tie Cooper left behind when he baled -- a tie that contains DNA, they say. The case has never been solved. There have been several claimants to Cooper's golden parachute, but none have been accepted (or convicted) by the Bureau, which has re-opened the case.

In addition, the kid who found 5 grand of Cooper's stolen loot buried in the banks of the Columbia wants to auction his collection. (He got to keep half the stash he found; the other went to the insurance company.) The story is given in detail at Yahoo News: Finder hopes to sell '71 hijacking cash.

Speaking of open cases, my own suitcase came back full of music and boxes of Nature's Path cereal (to fill the space where Christmas gifts had been). I got several CDs while in Portland. Instant Karma-Save Darfur (covers of John Lennon tunes); I'm Not There (movie soundtrack; Dylan covers). The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots; Dion, Song of Skip James; Prince, Planet Earth; Blood Sweat & Tears first album Child is Father of the Man, "Raising Sand" a Robert Plant and Allison Kraus collaboration.

All in all it was a great trip. I got to spend time with family; and drink a lot of Starbuck's Americanos. My son and his wife are expecting a boy baby in March. I suggested the name Cooper.

Expertease

Wha' d'ya know, Bloggee? Maybe you should write your own book!

Two experts claim you can become an expert by writing and publishing a book. As an expert on one arcane subject, I couldn't agree more. And (hopefully), my expertise in blogging and multi-media book publishing will be evident when Carbondale After Blog is finally published (motivational plug). Not expecting to sell many copies locally, but the finished product will help land me a teaching gig. (Yesterday, a major obstacle to having video on the pages was overcome by using Quicktime.)

But you don't have to write a multi-media book to become an expert; just start a blog and ride the wave of the future!

"In the 10 years since the first site known as a 'weblog' went online, the blog has matured from a geek niche to the internet's dominant publishing paradigm,"

says Wired magazine: After 10 Years of Blogs, the Future's Brighter Than Ever.

The same is true in Carbondale, Illinois. In the 5 years since the first post to this blog, some very good local blogs have been launched -- by academics, musicians, business, and upright citizens. I read them all. One in particular - The Beer Philos'pher's blog - has gone world class, complete with gift shop and RSS feed! I savor Shawn's worts of wisdom, even though my own philosophy of beer is summed up in two words: Sam Occam's. ;-) Based on his blog posts, the BP could write his own b(l)ook.

And speaking of BP, our local business expert got it right! . . . The Greyhound bus stop will be moving to a better location.

And speaking of better locations, I'm flying to Portland this week. Still hoping to move there next Spr'ummer - unless I land a job right here at good ol' SIUC, or my campus comedy goes into production, or . . . .

"Don't Tase..." Top Phrase

The Top Quotes of 2007 have been named by the Yale Book of Quotations, and the winner is: "Don't Tase Me, Bro."

Remember? The original utterer, Andrew Meyer, now maintains the "Don't Tase Me Blog." An outspoken critic of political hypocrisy and cowardice. But Meyer crossed the line of acceptable Q&A at the University of Florida when he asked asked aggressive questions of former Senator John Kerry about his membership in Skull and Bones, the secret male society he belongs to. That's when the taser toters removed him from the podium. Andrew protested their actions. If he'd gone peacefully, this post would be about the runner-up, the garbled reasoning of an unfazed candidate for Miss Teen USA (view it on YouTube). She is the one who should have been tased! Lucky for the language, Meyer spoke up.

Sand dollars

On Friday, my friend the sandman, Vic DeGraff, delivered the sand painting of "Lucy the Elephant" I commissioned a few weeks ago -- with the elephant colored by sand from the beach where the "Elephant Bazaar" was first constructed (in 1882, to promote South Atlantic City, later renamed Margate, where I grew up).

16x20 inches, the image was drawn from an old post card, which Victor doctored with his sand pallet. I might sell prints to gift shops on my next visit East. But why wait until then, if it's possible to sell by internet? A search for gift shops in Margate should find a Lucy gift shop that could sell prints to benefit the Save Lucy Committee.

A similar fund raiser is getting off the ground in good ol' Carbondale: Victor created a sand painting of the demolished bank building for Art Lovers Trading Compay to benefit the Jackson County Stage Company, as explained in the press release.

Hopefully, a hopeful reporter will write about this artsy fund raiser when Victor's brick and print goes on display inside the Bank of Carbondale when the Christmas tree comes down.

Bus gets hit by Onion . . . Will Onion get hit by lawsuit?

This morning, my friend "Dave 47" gave me a copy of the latest issue of the Onion "America's Finest News Source," which has a front page headline: "30 Miserable Lives Lost in Greyhound Bus Crash," with photos of some of the "degenerate sacks of shit" who were "never so lucky" as to perish in the crash.

According to Greyhound officials, the fatal crash occurred less than an hour after passengers gathered their pathetic belongings and dragged what little hope they had left onto the despair-soaked bus. Emergency crews called to the scene described the remains of the victims as "slightly more lifeless than they were before the accident."

That's some cold humor, Bloggy -- published online, too! The print edition even uses the Greyhound logo. Will the busdogs in Dallas sick (sic) their pit bulls on the ONION for including the corporate logo with its sick humor?

I might paste the article to the ticket counter at Graydog's, along with a petition demanding an apology from the humor magazine.

We, the undersigned, driven by circumstance to ride the Greyhound bus, do hereby demand the Onion apologize for calling us "degenerate sacks of shit" while using the corporate logo.

I love my Greyhound customers, even those who don't get the Onion.

Oh, the huge manatees.

Another hit piece on McKinney

"On paper," writes Carbondale City Councilman and Nightlife editor, Chris Wissmann, former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney is

a [L]iberal's dream: the first African-American Congresswoman from Georgia, she has ferociously attacked faulty electronic-voting machines, the Iraq war, federal (non)response to Hurricane Katrina, and the Bush administration in general . . . at a time when many so-called Democrats have rolled over and supported most major Bush administration positions.

But Carbondale's liberal gatekeeper seems to think the dream could be a nightmare when he adds:

McKinney, however, has what Nation columnist Katha Pollitt has called "foot-in-mouth disease." McKinney has entertained, if not exactly endorsed, some batty conspiracy theories about September 11. She's been accused of antisemetism.

Wissmann, however, appears to have "head-up-ass disease." After dangling (and misspelling) antisemetism over Cynthia's head ("she has been accused"), he concedes the "charge probably is a stretch"-- it was McKinney's father eleven years ago (not the Congresswoman in 2007), "who made blatantly antisemetic (sic) remarks."

So why bring it up? And what was the remark? In 1996 Billy McKinney called his daughter's Republican political opponent, John Mitnick, a "racist Jew." I don't know Mitnick, so I don't know if he is racist. But there are a lot of them around, of different religions and ethnicity. But this sounds more anti-Mitnick than anti-Semitic.

Unfortunately, Wissmann's dig at at 9/11 Truth is just as unsubstantiated ("batty conspiracy theories"). No one knows what theories McKinney may have "entertained" (but I hope the missing Pentagon evidence is one of them). In fact, McKinney has merely called for a true and thorough investigation of the events leading up to 9/11, in the spirit of the widows featured in the documentary 9/11 Press for Truth. Does anyone seriously oppose this?

Although, he later exonerates the would-be candidate, Wissmann's smears have Green Party leader Rich Whitney back-pedaling.

"I'm certainly not defending every sentence she's said. . . . Certainly, when you shoot from the hip and speak candidly, you can shoot yourself in the foot, but the vast majority of accusations against her are unfair-- they are distortions of what she said, like the [September 11] things that have gotten her in trouble, and other things have been taken out of context."

Vast majority? Sounds like there are a LOT of accusations against her! Shall I add mine to the list? Her speech at Berkeley on YouTube gets a 'D', since she begins her oft-viewed rant with "Just one question: Who are we? and Who's responsible for what we have become?" That's two questions. Since she's reading from prepared notes, I have but one question: who is responsible for Cynthia's lapse?

Ninety-nine percent of attacks against her, says Whitney, come from a demagogic political right-wing and corporate media threatened by McKinney's brash, frequently combative political positions, and intent on marginalizing her.

The other one-percent must come from liberal media like Wissmann's, although both Alexander Cockburn in Counterpunch and Pollit (in the article referred to by Wissmann) clearly supported McKinney in her run for office in 2002.

Cynthia signs up with Greens

Ain't she a Peach? Georgia's Cynthia McKinney, a former six-term Representative in U.S. Congress, is campaigning to be nominated as the Green Party candidate for President. McKinney spoke to an audience of fish fry luncheon-goers at Hopewell Baptist Church on Saturday following a speech at SIUC Student Center, and a stint in the peace line on the sidewalk in front of the Town Square Pavilion.

McKinney's political career has been controversial due to her fiery speeches (such as this speech posted on YouTube) about racism, war profiteering, and 9/11 Truth. In fact, her talk to local Greens was not about environmental issues, but about the "lashes" she has received from corporate media -- such as this 2005 hit piece in the Weekly Standard.

Nevertheless, Rich Whitney (pictured next to Cynthia), the Party candidate for Governor in 2006, believes that Cynthia is Green at heart, so he persuaded her to get on the ballot in Illinois. And raised over $5000 for gas money for her drive to Chicago to continue campaigning.

A fashion tip for McKinney: wear something green to future Green Party events.

from bussy to beesy

Well, my supervisor at Greyhound checked out the new location I found for the bus to stop, and he likes it a lot. Next week, a bus will test the ease of entrance and exit from the lot. This whole thing is happening quite quickly . . . 'twas less than a week ago the moving bug struck. That's how guys like me and Cole role. We decide to do something, then do it. Like today . . . I decided to get out of bed, and I did!

There are some hurdles, naturally. As things stand, the lease at 215 N. Washington St. runs thru May. If I move the operation to Main St. in January, then I'll be responsible for rent at two places, unless another money making business can be moved into that space, or I come up with something else myself (Ebay service? Tom "What's a Blog" Egert thinks it's a good idea. As the entrepreneur behind Tropicana vintage, the Longbranch Coffee Shop and WDBX, Tom would know. And Ebay could help him get rid of the piles of stuff he has in the back (front) room of Tropicana, the room with the Washington St. entrance. What HUGE PILE of stuff!. That room should be put to more productive use!

Currently, the Tropicana is being run by Jessica Bradshaw, who doubles as the Rosetta Book Store girl and Greyhound ticket agent three mornings per wk, plus as another job. Her mom, Paula, wife of Rich Whitney, the Green Party standard bearer, helps out at the book store. Paula is a pistol. More outspoken than Peter the Great. An atheist, environmentalist Joan of Arc. She gets to rant on things she cares about each morning on WDBX. She may be podcasting soon, so you can hear for yourself.

Paula's actually filling in the spot that Jerry Bradley used to do with Greg ____ . Jerry is the former Southern Illinoisan Flipside, and Big Muddy IMC and Carbondale Times editor, who's split the media scene, it seems. A mutual friend told me he's working at The Neighborhood Coop, but I haven't seen him when I've shopped there. Meanwhile, at the Times capable Steve Miller is back at the editor's job.

Carbondale Main Street also has a new face at the welcome desk, since Linda Parker departed a few weeks ago. It didn't make the news, like when her boss Roxanne Conley was replaced by Megan Cole, but Linda will be missed. She did a good job for several years. She's not dead, though; I saw her at Aldi on Friday.

So who is sitting at the desk these days? . . . None other than Barbara Eidlin, former vocalist for the now-defunct Majnun band --with a new Masters degree and more energy and purpose than a barrel of bees. Because she gets around, disseminating ideas, I call her "Bee." But she's also a "Steamroller, cement-mixing, demolition derby" kind of bee. Hear a specially compiled ten-second clip from one of her live performances with Majnun at the Great Guitars Gig in 2005. Ya think this girl can pitch an idea?

Sharing the old train depot building with Carbondale Main Street, the crew at the Chamber of Commerce is working hard on its next promotion. I'm trying to talk the staff into a softball game in vs. the SIU faculty.... A Town vs. Gown thing..... Fundraiser. The Executive Director said she'd think about. Meredith Rhoades enjoys her work . . . like the time, her first week on the job, when she agreed to take a spontaneous and whirlwind Tour of Town Square with me. Charley Greer at Urban2 was impressed, although he still does not belong to the organization. I bought some popcorn from a Carbondale CoC member for a fund raiser, and donated it to the office. I'm trying to encourage a popcorn and cider social Friday afternoon. Nothing formal, but casual. See, I need more material on the Chamber for my blook.

Dave X makes his mark

Interesting people come in the Greyhound office, like Dave X, an avant garde artist and WDBX deejay with a worldwide audience. Dave has a blog, and he writes to it as he records his show "It's Too Damn Early" on air at 91.1 from 4 a.m. - 6 p.m. He says he chose the early air time in order to be prime time in Paris and Tokyo, where his show has attracted about 100 listeners via the WDBX stream.

Lucky for those who appreciate his music, it's recorded and podcast. He says the station has software for podcasting, but the other deejays I've talked to don't know about it or use it.

Mayor divorces himself from web site; engages intermodal

Leave it to Peter the Great. . . . I was wondering if anyone would comment on the change in Mayor Brad Cole's website -- now with only one working link: Contact. This was done at Brad's request, as he explained that the site's benefit didn't make it worth the bother of updating. Same deal with the Marry the Mayor (but substitute "dating" for "updating"). Brad noted that he still has 28 Days to find someone, get engaged and get married, in order to fulfill the New Year's resolution he jokingly told to a Southern Illinois reporter last year.

In fact, Cole doesn't make New Years' resolutions. For him, each day is New Year's Day, since he resolves and follows through on many things each day. We all do this, but our mayor more than most. One of the resolutions he's made is to bring an intermodal transportation center to town (like the one in Champaign). And he's got his ears to the track on that project. (Now if only a train would come whizzing by real fast, some would say.)

Speaking for myself, I won't sit back and "let Cole do it." Next week, a new location for the Greyhound bus stop will be announced -- an intermodal bus and limo station with high visibility, plenty of parking, in a clean, well-lighted place. The district manager is checking it out on Friday. I wonder if Peter, Scott or anyone can guess where it is.

Super Graydog Saturday

"Super Saluki Saturday" was the media phrase for SIU's football and basketball teams having big games at home on the same day. Saluki fans already know outcome: SIU topped UMass in football, but fell to Indiana in basketball. I didn't see either game, but heard some play-by-play on Magic 95.1, while doing other things . . . like researching internet security cameras online, and learning Alpha Five database manager in order to improve Art Lovers data management system. In between the two big games, the annual Lights Fantastic paraded up Illinois Ave., while I marched upstairs to my sitio, listened to new Eagles CD and did something.

Some comments in the Bytelife blog opposed the parade being held on Super Saluki Saturday, because of increased traffic. Why wasn't it rescheduled? I'll ask Megan Cole at Carbondale Main Street -- at whose desk the light switches on -- when I see her.

Also meeting Carbondale's other leading Cole this to discuss his career as a sit-down stand-up, and mine as an outstanding bystander. Also want to ask about the rail-side mural project and his resolution to get married by the end of the year.

I opened the Greyhound ticket office at 9:30am on Super Saluki Saturday, and stayed until the morning bus arrived -- long enough to get a dangerous vibe from two browsers in the Urban2 clothing store. They very briefly looked at shirts, but stayed very briefly -- just long enough to reconnoiter. I expressed concern to Charley G (the owner of the building and the clothing store), who earnestlyreplied through cataract-free eyes, "It's a dangerous time," meaning the season when people are hard-up for gift-buying money.

So far, my only security measure has been depositing receipts daily to the friendly crew at Old National Bank inside Schnucks. (What a great bunch of kids, seriously. Find out for yourself! Simply go to the bank counter and ask to make a deposit of $100 or more to "Creative Media.")

But other than occasional fear of armed robbery, things are good at Greyhound, even though the bus picks-up several blocks away, at the Amtrak Station. When customers complain, I point out Caleb Hale's article taped to the ticket counter -- about my attempt to have the bus pick-up on North Washington St., and their consternation is mollified.

But I'm not satisfied. . . . Writing this blog post convinced me to find a better location for Greyhound agency -- and I DID. I pushed myself away from the desk and went out and found a better location: one that is larger, better lit; open longer hours; and stocked with snacks, with enough parking space to accomodate more than bus! Still some detail$ to work out, but the principals agree in principle.