Lopez' post titled That Time of Year about typical May and June stories of government budget decisions shows both cynicism and sweat: "It can get maddening, if not confusing, reading the various stories on
government budget plans, and our job as editors is to challenge how the
stories are being written and presented so that they are comprehensible
and relevant to people's every day lives."
Grabbed my first print copy of The Onion in San Francisco almost directly in front of the Black Horse London Pub on Union at Van Ness. I nearly missed the shiny new white newsrack; The Examiner's racks are also white, so it's easy to walk right by.
A Clean Well Lighted Place for Books at Van Ness and Golden Gate may also become a distribution point. ACWLP's manager and staff fawned over the print edition of the satirical rag tucked under my arm, which I happily donated to the store. Staff member Roger said he will be on the phone with circulation managers first thing tomorrow to see if the store can stock a stack next to the SF Bay Guardian and other alt weeklies.
Thursday night, City Arts and Lectures hosts A Conversation with The Onion at Herbst Theatre. Comedian Patton Oswalt will moderate the panel.
Brad Bird, writer and director of The Incredibles, summoned a packed film festival audience to get out of their DVD-playing family rooms, go back downtown and demand better showmanship from their community theatres.
Bird delivered a "State of the Film" address to a Kabuki theatre audience during last week's San Francisco International Film Festival. While Bird praised Steve Jobs as a great studio boss (The Incredibles was created by Jobs' Pixar,) he admonished studios and theatre managers for ruining the movie-going expierience.
Movie stars have the Oscars, recording artists have the Grammies, newspapers and journalists have the Pulitzers, and grassroots community environmental activists have the Goldman Prize"Ordinary People, Extraordinary Commitment." Seven prizes will be given out, one honeree per continent, at the Opera House ceremony tomorrow night.
What struck me last year was the humility of the recipients. This was best illustrated by two women from India, the unlikely alliance of Rashida Bee, a Muslim, and Champa Devi Shukla, a Hindu. The two crossed cultural barriers to stand together demanding justice from Union Carbide in the twenty year wake of the Bhopal disaster. Through a translater, Bee said in her acceptance speech that she and Shukla, apon hearing of their award, assumed their must be some mistake. People who win $125,000 awards are not like them, Bee's translater said, international award recipients are people who "speak English, have fancy college degrees, and use email accounts." Ha!
I later got to snap their picture as they walked up Van Ness street towards McDonald's after the ceremony reception at City Hall. The two were somewhat bewildered, surrounded by San Franciscans praising them for their activism and speech. Their reactions were delayed as a translator forwarded the accolades in their native language, but within minutes they shook their heads, "yes thanks!"
More from Sy Hersh? This from War and Piece, a great blog I found through Chris Nolan's site. Both sites are by actual journalists (not air quote "journalists", actual fact-respecting journalists).
Seymour Hersh has seen all the Abu Ghraib torture photos, Brad DeLong reports, and he looks frightened. DeLong was conveying an email he received from Rick Pearlstein. Pearlstein had gone to see Hersh speak at the University of Chicago. "[Hersh] said he had seen all the Abu Ghraib pictures. He said, 'You haven't begun to see evil...' then trailed off. He said, 'horrible things done to children of women prisoners, as the cameras run.' He looked frightened." Worth reading observations of Hersh's other remarks.
Chris Lopez, editor of the Contra Costa Times, has a weblog. Last week, Lopez' post Friday's Schedule gave a day-in-the-life peek into the newspaper editor's typical tasks. Last night, Lopez blogged a scoop preview. 
