The good news for March 31, 2009

I was going to write a proper post today, but then I burned myself out on an article for Dane101. The solution? Do a news run-down wherein I include a link to my own article. Brilliant! There is, of course, another item of note to be had here, and I hope you'll take some time and learn something new from each.

• [Dane101] "A tale of District 2: Brenda v. Bridget" - I was getting a little fed up that most of the coverage of this particular local race felt pretty one-sided (one way or the other), so I tried my hand at presenting a relatively unbiased account of the candidates. They were each kind enough to take some time to sit down and talk with me for this purpose, too, so many thanks to both Bridget and Brenda, for whom I cannot vote, because I live in District 8.
• [Queerty] Today is the Transgender Day of Visibility, ie. the Ts in "LGBT" and an equally important part of the greater community. Unfortunately, even amongst us queers there are still a lot of misperceptions about transgendered people, so all of us owe it to ourselves to get more educated and open about the whole thing. Jezebel has video of a remarkably frank discussion about gender reassignment surgery up to help with the cause.
  

Vote 'yes' on the Garver Arts Incubator

Election day draws near (it's April 7, in case you forgot), and in amongst the many candidate and referendum choices available to Madison residents will be a question on whether or not the city should sell the old Garver Feed Mill to Common Wealth Development. And I highly encourage you to vote 'yes' for that move.

Why? Because CWD, a non-profit organization that has done a lot of good for our community over the years, wants to transform the beautiful old--currently vacant--building into an arts incubator. They're proposing a LEED-certified renovation of the space so that it will provide much-needed, affordable studio and learning space for area artists. According to a CWD press release:

The Garver Arts Incubator will include 40 art studios. Visitors can enroll in art classes, attend performances or view a gallery while interacting with artists. A three-story atrium, indoor/outdoor café, gift shop and rooftop garden are also included in the plan. In addition, the renovation will be a sustainable development project and the building will be LEED certified.

They go on to emphasize that the center will not be paid for with city taxpayer money. Instead, "If the referendum passes, the City of Madison will sell the Garver building to Common Wealth who would retain ownership of the land through a minimum 30-year lease." Money for the project would be gotten through private funds, tax credits, and some federal assistance.

Certainly there's added appeal for me in a project like this. I'm heavily involved in the arts community, and many of my friends are artists who would likely benefit from its creation. In fact, the idea reminds me very much of the Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center in Louisville, Kentucky. A few of my Wis-Kino comrades and I went down to Louisville to participate in their 48-hour filmmaking festival, and the final screening was held in a very nice room in the center.

It's an old, converted meat packing warehouse that now houses artist studios, a cafe, fitness center, some retail space, galleries, and teaching spaces. I remember being very impressed with the look and feel of the building, and that the city had such a great resource for its artists. The Garver Arts Incubator could be just such a space for Madison.

The main reason it's had to come up for referendum is that, "Under the city's shoreline preservation ordinance, voters must endorse the project located near Starkweather Creek before construction can begin." I'm hopeful that, based on CDW's track record of working closely with the community and paying close attention to environmental concerns, shoreline preservation will be a top priority in construction plans. They've already made plans to have "on-site storm water management and a comprehensive transportation plan that minimizes parking," which is a good start.

I encourage you to read more about it over at the CWD website. They have detailed plans and proposals available. And if it means anything to you, The Capital Times has endorsed the idea, and my own alder, Marsha Rummel, has been championing the project as well.

Vote Yes for the Garver Arts Incubator.

Cyclist bashing on parade...again

And the ridiculous war between motorists and cyclists continues. Seriously folks, how do we keep missing the central point in all of this? Everybody has to obey the rules of the road, and nobody has any excuse to abuse, either vocally or physically, other road users. We all have the right to be there.

Some poor souls still can't seem to wrap their minds around the concept, though, and even get so twisted in their ignorance and anger that they resort to completely mind-boggling outbursts like the one aired on WJJO the other morning. I'll let the venerable Bike Snob of NYC take it from here, as he does a far better job of commenting on the incident than I could ever do:

Basically, some guy with a goofy Harry Shearer radio voice says he's sick of bicyclists, or "spandex cowboys." He then segues into some skit which is a parody of a hunting show, in which the host goes to the "Wisconsin Bicycle Trail of Death," where he kills bicycles instead of deer "because we feel they're flamers and they should be shot at!" He then launches into some weird homoerotic reverie in which he positions himself near someplace "gay and retarded" because that's where cyclists like to congregate. Once he spies some effeminate male cyclists, he then shoots them and excitedly declares that he "bagged me a nancy boy!" Then the host comes back and says that "if motorcyclists...if we did what bicyclists do we'd be in jail and our bikes impounded." Then they go to commercial.

You should read the rest of his response, because it's both spot-on and hilarious. You can listen to the actual radio broadcast over at madvelocity.com.

Clearly, we've all still got a long ways to go on this issue. Which is sad, considering we're talking about people's ability to be somewhat safe while traveling. This should all just be a given. But the same could be said of the homophobia so clearly on display in the radio spot, too.

Madison recently took a step in the right direction by passing a (long overdue, in my opinion) ordinance that "made it illegal for someone to open the door of a parked or standing vehicle into traffic without checking to make sure it’s safe." It also "makes it illegal for someone to leave a door open facing traffic for an unreasonable time."

Both requirements seem perfectly logical to me, but that didn't stop an absolute shit-storm of virulently anti-cyclist comments from cropping up in response to the article about the ordinance.

It's frustrating as all hell because the comments weren't really about the content of the article and ordinance itself, but rather people using it as an excuse to vent their spleens about the few cyclists they have (or maybe haven't) seen bending or breaking laws. But you know what? I see motorists doing the same crap all the time. Do I think it means they're all scum, not deserving of space on the roadways I share with them? Nope. It means I think those who break laws and put other people's safety in jeopardy, no matter their mode of transportation, should be held accountable. And I think the laws need to be better understood and enforced.

This kind of irrational hatred has no place in our society--not toward cyclists, not toward any group, period.

The newspaper is dead, long live the newspaper

Anyone paying an iota of attention to the current media situation knows that things are looking dire. We're talking Fall of the Roman Empire dire. The rebels at the end of "The Empire Strikes Back" dire. Y'know, bad. Major news organizations across the nation are folding, shuttering their offices, laying off workers, slimming down, cutting back, and desperately trying to find ways to keep afloat.

Charge for online content. Employ fewer journalists. Combine operations when a city has more than one newspaper. Shrink the actual size of the paper. And the list goes on.

What few of the major media conglomerates who run many of these operations seem to realize, however, is that the old, profit-driven, mega-consolidated way of doing things is coming to an end. And, I'd say, it's about damn time.

I'm a writer who sometimes moonlights as an actual journalist, so I certainly have a vested interest in finding ways for folks like me to get paid for their work. I think it's important to have a healthy balance (operative word being "healthy" here) between the so-called "citizen journalism" of blogs, etc., and the professional, comprehensive news gathering of honest-to-goodness trained journalists.

Things are fast becoming unbalanced, though, and we need to act very quickly to see that our country, our world, does not lose one of the most vital elements of any democracy: The free press.

Madison's Mayor Dave Cieslewicz yesterday penned a post wherein he called for newspapers to begin charging for online content:

Charge me. Please charge me. Why is it that I should expect to pay for news delivered on paper, but not expect to pay for the same story I read online? It costs something to hire reporters and editors and why shouldn't I, as a consumer of the news, pay for some of that cost?

So first and foremost, charge me. Second, charge me twice. Competition is a good thing. The blending of our two daily newspapers into one is not a healthy thing. When I see a Cap Times byline in the State Journal I wonder what that means. I know who wrote it, but who edited it? And what does it mean for competition between the papers? Are reporters tripping over one another to break a story or are they sleepily cooperating?

His concerns are not misplaced, but his solution, I believe, is. Jesse Russell, writing at Dane101, makes a counter offer and points out Maryland Senator Benjamin Cardin's current proposal to allow newspapers to reorganize under non-profit status. They would then enjoy benefits typically only previously given to educational entities. They could claim circulation revenue and advertising as tax exempt. The caveat, however, would be that those newspapers could not "make political endorsements."

That's where you lose me. John Nichols and Robert McChesney of The Nation have another idea (and it's a fantastic article, so please do give the whole thing a read): Government intervention.

My hackles raised almost immediately upon reading that. Letting the government have any say over how a newspaper runs its operations is a recipe for disaster, 1984 style. But wait! they say, that's not what we mean:

Only government can implement policies and subsidies to provide an institutional framework for quality journalism. We understand that this is a controversial position. When French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently engineered a $765 million bailout of French newspapers, free marketeers rushed to the barricades to declare, "No, no, not in the land of the free press." Conventional wisdom says that the founders intended the press to be entirely independent of the state, to preserve the integrity of the press...

...We are sympathetic to that position. As writers, we have been routinely critical of government--Democratic and Republican--over the past three decades and antagonistic to those in power. Policies that would allow politicians to exercise even the slightest control over the news are, in our view, not only frightening but unacceptable. Fortunately, the rude calculus that says government intervention equals government control is inaccurate and does not reflect our past or present, or what enlightened policies and subsidies could entail.

Our founders never thought that freedom of the press would belong only to those who could afford a press. They would have been horrified at the notion that journalism should be regarded as the private preserve of the Rupert Murdochs and John Malones. The founders would not have entertained, let alone accepted, the current equation that seems to say that if rich people determine there is no good money to be made in the news, then society cannot have news.

They go on to explain that, during the early decades of the country, the Founders worked with government to create and implement "extraordinary postal subsidies for the distribution of newspapers. It also instituted massive newspaper subsidies through printing contracts and the paid publication of government notices, all with the intent of expanding the number and variety of newspapers."

The trick in this scenario, of course, is making sure that the policies and regulation remain "enlightened" - that is, the government provides money and subsidies, with pretty much the only thing it gets in return being a vibrant, independent press. So beyond funding, they lay off--no editorial control, not even a tiny bit of leaning.

Honestly, that may well be what it takes. Or maybe a combination of the non-profit and government subsidy models. Because newspapers should be freely able to editorialize and endorse. That's part of being a free press, after all. But they should also be recognized as a vital part of our society, one worth funding so that they're not run according to what might bring the most profit to their owners.

Newspapers, indeed all news organizations, should be run according to news. And it should be readily available to everyone, regardless of the size of their pocketbook. That's the great thing about the internet, and the sooner everyone recognizes this major, fundamental shift in how things are done, the better off everyone will be. Including our dying newspapers.


(photo by jamesjyu on Flickr)

Your daily spoonful of crazy, courtesy Mark Vivian

Former Fitchburg Mayor Mark Vivian wants his old job back, and apparently the ambition has driven him to Crazy Land.

At least, that's the conclusion one reaches after reading a recent campaign fundraising letter sent by Vivian to various members of the community. In it, Vivian claims that his opponent in the race, Fitchburg Common Council member Jay Allen, has links to a domestic terrorist group.

Wh-wh-what?

Here's what it says:

My opponent, Jay Allen, has introduced legislative action to use the City’s police powers to condemn land owned by the Novation Campus, and threaten 2.5 million dollars of your tax money to interfere in what should be a private matter between current tenants living illegally on Novation property and its owners. The illegal tenants have known ties to an organization identified on the U.S. Federal Government list of domestic terrorist groups.

Here's the whole thing:

(click for big)

I caught wind of this particular little work of political art last week, and today Bill Lueders, writing for The Daily Page, has a delightfully snarky piece up about it. You can read it here. When I first read the letter, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what group Vivian was referring to when he claimed terrorist ties. Turns out, it was Food Not Bombs, possibly one of the most innocuous, peacenik organizations around and hardly a candidate for domestic mayhem. They once gave me a nice, warm grilled cheese sandwich while I was at a protest rally in the middle of winter, so I may have some internal bias in their favor, but really--just look at their name. Then look at their website. Then look at their history.

Yeah, not so much down with the violence.

What really seems to be at issue here is how the land at Drumlin Farm gets used. Vivian accuses the current tenants of the land of being there "illegally" - though currently they do have a lease. He also claims that Allen's legislative action to condemn the land would "threaten 2.5 million dollars of your tax money."

Thankfully, Lueders sets the record straight:

Allen explains that he recently introduced a resolution to begin an eminent domain process against Alexander Co., which is developing the Novation Campus. He says the goal was to compel the company to discuss the possible sale of Drumlin Farm, a five-acre community garden that enjoys huge community support.

The stratagem worked: Novation is now in discussions with Fitchburg officials about a possible sale. That led Allen to table his resolution, about three weeks ago. Fitchburg’s current mayor, Tom Clauder, has said he’s been told the land has an appraised value of $2.5 million, the amount cited used by Vivian. But the Alexander Co. hasn’t set an asking price and the city hasn’t agreed to spent any amount ("threaten … your tax money," as Vivian puts it) for its acquisition.

Indeed, the nonprofit Madison Area Community Land Trust has expressed interest in acquiring the site, said to be the birthplace of Wisconsin’s urban agricultural movement. That means it could become a protected community asset at little or no cost to Fitchburg taxpayers – unless, of course, Mark Vivian gets elected.

Basically, Vivian's letter is a pile of crap, and an incendiary one at that. The issue of land use rights and specifically what happens with the Drumlin/Novation property is an important one, and deserves a higher degree of debate that that which Vivian appears to be prepared to offer. I can't imagine that someone who would put out a piece of literature as ridiculous as that would make an even remotely good mayor. But, ultimately, that's for the fine folks of Fitchburg to decide.

Extremed

For those of you curious to see what we got up to this weekend as part of the Wis-Kino 48-Hour Kabaret, behold! Part 3 in our ongoing series about the character of Chapel, who, incidentally, is also the main character in my book, The Fix Up. Ah, sweet sweet tie-ins.

Fair warning: The movie has some strong language and a lot of fake blood. I wouldn't recommend watching it while at work (unless you're employed by Troma or something), or if that sort of thing isn't your cup of tea.



It was a lot of fun to make this, and I feel like it's the best of the series so far (the first two being "Complicated" and "Distracted"). That's definitely the result of having a really great team working on this particular installment. And bonus! No fake blood for me this time. I think I've dealt with my fair share for awhile.

Thanks to everyone who came out and made this Kabaret such a success! We showed something like 15 films, all made over the course of the weekend, and had a great crowd at the final screening on Sunday. See you for the next one in July!

Wis-Kino Spring Kabaret starts tonight

It's that time again! Madison's own chapter of the International Kino micro-cinema movement, Wis-Kino, is getting ready to throw their spring 48-hour filmmaking "Kabaret" - starting tonight!

These are always a blast, and a great opportunity for both budding and experienced filmmakers alike to flex their creative muscles. Even better? There's no hefty entrance fee. You just pay to come to the screenings themselves, and the film challenge is free!

Past participants have ranged from enthusiastic grade school kids to college students to working stiffs and even some industry professionals. And if you don't have your own camera, you should come anyway just to check out some great, short, local films. You can also get involved in other projects - filmmaker's often need actors, extras, location scouts, musicians, grips, and everything in between.

Details are as follows:
WHAT: Wis-Kino Spring Kabaret ‘09
WHEN: Kick-Off Screening on Friday, March 20 at 7:00p.m. - Final Screening on Sunday, March 22 at 7:00p.m.
WHERE: Sundance Cinemas, Hilldale Mall, 430 N. Midvale Blvd, Madison, WI
COST: Kick-Off Screening is just $2, Final Screening is $5 (for everyone, including filmmakers - no extra charge to participate).

Questions? Comments? Drop us a line at Wis.Kino.Films@gmail.com or read more about Kabarets at the link above.

(Full disclosure: Yes, I'm one of the co-directors of this group, but I promise it's lots of fun!)

To give you an idea of what's been done for Wis-Kino and the 48-hour challenges in the past, check out some of these short films:

• "Drill, Baby, Drill" - by Rob Matsushita
• "Change Your Order" - by Craig Knitt & Tony Mayer
• "Gutter Love" - by Shelby Floyd & Shelby Falk
• "Status Quo" - by Justin Sprecher
• "Seeds" - by Tona Williams
• Or watch any of the Wis-Kino associated films here.