Today is the first day of the rest of the Post-9/11 World

[spatch]

Another day, another $2M "apology" from Turner Broadcasting including the phrase "Post-9/11 World", another ad agency absolved of responsibility, and another head hits the desk -- partly out of torpor at this point, but partly because my eyes have rolled so far back it's thrown off my internal equilibrium. If only Pete and Sean had a million bucks each, then they too could buy their way out of trouble!

I wonder to what public benefit Cambridge and Somerville will put their extra bonus cash windfalls.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the insane polarization of the issue, since obviously only One Side can be right and The Other Side has to be totally at fault, and the mere concept that a combination of factors or facets or "sides" can all contribute to a kerfuffle is completely insane. And I shouldn't be surprised that, once again, the 9/11 Boogeyman is invoked rhetorically in the name of continued polarization. The World Trade Center is our era's Alamo. It's our USS Maine. We're told it's our reason to still hide in fear, to still be suspicious of "swarthy-looking foreigners" (who were last seen as nebulous bad guys and thugs in Tom Swift novels) and to rationalize and excuse any policy or military campaign, no matter how preposterous, made by Our Protective Leaders.

It's our goddamn albatross necklace. And now I've got a foot stuck in this soapbox! Darn flimsy wooden slats.

Now there's negativity going on here, so I'll offset that with some neat news. Davis Square's own Ron Newman was featured in the Metro today, showing off his collection of discarded Charlie Tickets with value still on 'em. Apparently folks don't know that if your paper ticket has money on it but not enough for a full fare, you can put more money on the ticket and take your ride, so they're just dropping these tickets with cash value still left on 'em. That's throwing money away! I'm sure the T loves this little misconception and is in no hurry to correct people, but Ron's collected up over $50 in discarded tickets, and is planning on giving the money to a local charity.

Now that's something good going on in Our Fair City.

Comments

[lpsmith.livejournal.com]

Fourthed! I actually have an uncle who works as a columnist for a Boston-area newspaper, too. Let me know and I'll call him up and ask him what you need to know.

[littlegirltoast.livejournal.com]

As a guy who writes a column for a Halifax, NS-area newspaper (albeit no-one's uncle THAT I KNOW OF), I can say that I didn't really need to know ANYthing. They liked how loquacious I was in an interview (like, where they interviewed me for being a tiny bit famous, not a job interview) so they asked me to fill in for a guy they later fired.

I guess they hired me because I know about hip hop, especially local hip hop. I bet there are a lot of things Spatch knows about that would be interesting to publishers.

[spatch]

Well, I am curious. Really. I was kinda worried newspapers are going the way of vaudeville, but I might as well gather ye roses while I may. (It doesn't help that some of my more favorite biographies recently have been of oldschool columnists such as Damon Runyon, Walter Winchell and Robert Benchley.)

Of course, it may all depend on the newspaper, since I probably don't have many friends on the Metro staff (The Metro: Recommended by four out of five dog punishers) but hey, an opportunity is an opportunity, right?

[lpsmith.livejournal.com]

Looks like he writes for the Eagle-Tribune. Doing a quick search on their web site reveals that he mostly writes conservative opinion pieces, but hey. I'll send him an e-mail. He might at least have insight into the process.

[sanspoof.livejournal.com]

Dude, the damned Phoenix should make you hired.
I mean, seriously.

[ron_newman]

Or, perhaps, the Weekly Dig?