Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Me and Ralph Reed
I have had two truly interesting telephone.apologies in my life -- one, as some of you may have heard before, from Jeff Foxworthy, and the other, which took place this morning, from Ralph Reed.
Yes, Ralph Reed as in Christian Coalition, Indian Casinos and Jack Abramoff.
This morning about 10, Ralph called me at work to apologize, but I will have to start at the beginning.
On Saturday morning, having been informed through several sources that Ralph Reed was going to have a big Grassroots Victory Campaign Event at Middle Georgia Technical College, I got my camera and notebook and went. I have covered many, many political events, both Republican and Democrat and going was no big deal.
When I got there the roads leading up to the auditorium were lined with hundreds of signs and balloons. Lots of razzle dazzle. At the doorway there were several young people in Ralph Reed t-shirts, including one who was a dead ringer for the new Ken doll, and looked about 19. He spotted my notebook and camera, and accosted me with a huge smile and a firm handshake, wanting to know who I was. So I told him and he told me that he couldn't let me go in because it wasn't open to media.
I am no spring chicken and so I said, "Honey, we don't do things that way down here. You can't have a secret meeting in a public building." (This is probably not true, but I'm pretty good at dealing with Ken dolls, because they know zero about anything, but also, I was on very familiar turf, and it was sort of like being told by Mickey Mouse that I couldn't go intoPerry City Hall .)
He said very defensively, "The public is invited, but the meeting closed to the media," which made me laugh. I pointed out that I was a member of the public and asked if could have one of the handouts they were handing out, and he said NO, and then he told me that the AJC would have loved to come to this meeting, but it was closed to the public, and I said, "That's ridiculous," and then he said something about, "I'll trust you if you'll trust me" and I just said, "Heyyy, it's okayyyy," in a soothing voiceand went on in to the auditorium where Ralphie was speaking. What were they going to do to a 67 year old woman walking into an auditorium? Call the sheriff?
Ralph is, of course, a pretty good speaker, with lots of slogans and little jokes, and his campaign workers (not so many for a statewide Grassroots Victory thing) were clapping happily. I only recognized three from Houston County, and saw no elected officials.
I took notes and took pictures while he talked about the "dominant media," and explained about getting talking points from his website in case the subject of Abramoff came up. ("I stopped a casino and protected families!") After a while I looked back and saw Tracy McAllister, who is editor of the Buyer's Connection, and a devoted Republican sitting a few seats behind me. I figured that they had given up bar-the-media stuff after I just went in anyway, but then a real grownup in a suit came up and asked Tracy to leave.
Meantime, Ralph turned the gathering over to his strategists, and I followed him out and dominantly told him I wanted to get some photos of him with local people. This turned to be sort of a problem, not because he refused, but because he is a Look at the Camera and Smile Guy, and does not appear to be fully cognizant of the existence of other people when in close proximity to them. I got the impression that he is much more at ease "on stage" than one-on-one. I could have asked him some questions like "Why do you want to be lt. gov?" or "What's Jack Abramoff really like?" but I felt kind of sorry for him.
Then, just as all the people who had presumably come from all over the state were about to leave the auditorium and have barbecue together and maybe shmooze with their "I'll be your go-to guy in Atlanta" candidate, Ralphie bolted and ran, got in a van with somebody and was gone.
Tracy was much angrier than I was because (1) he had donated to Reed's campaign, (2) he had called to reserve the barbecue lunch, and (3) he had asked if he could have a t-shirt and was told NO.
Anyway, I wrote my story (which was great fun) and forgot about it until this morning when I got the call.
"Charlotte? This is Ralph Reed."
He was not apologizing for having a closed meeting, but for the fact that there was a "mixup in communications with the local party people" and I found out about the meeting and came when I wasn't supposed to.
I assured him that it wasn't a problem at all, because I had just gone on in.
I may vote in the Republican primary so I can vote against Ralph.
Yes, Ralph Reed as in Christian Coalition, Indian Casinos and Jack Abramoff.
This morning about 10, Ralph called me at work to apologize, but I will have to start at the beginning.
On Saturday morning, having been informed through several sources that Ralph Reed was going to have a big Grassroots Victory Campaign Event at Middle Georgia Technical College, I got my camera and notebook and went. I have covered many, many political events, both Republican and Democrat and going was no big deal.
When I got there the roads leading up to the auditorium were lined with hundreds of signs and balloons. Lots of razzle dazzle. At the doorway there were several young people in Ralph Reed t-shirts, including one who was a dead ringer for the new Ken doll, and looked about 19. He spotted my notebook and camera, and accosted me with a huge smile and a firm handshake, wanting to know who I was. So I told him and he told me that he couldn't let me go in because it wasn't open to media.
I am no spring chicken and so I said, "Honey, we don't do things that way down here. You can't have a secret meeting in a public building." (This is probably not true, but I'm pretty good at dealing with Ken dolls, because they know zero about anything, but also, I was on very familiar turf, and it was sort of like being told by Mickey Mouse that I couldn't go intoPerry City Hall .)
He said very defensively, "The public is invited, but the meeting closed to the media," which made me laugh. I pointed out that I was a member of the public and asked if could have one of the handouts they were handing out, and he said NO, and then he told me that the AJC would have loved to come to this meeting, but it was closed to the public, and I said, "That's ridiculous," and then he said something about, "I'll trust you if you'll trust me" and I just said, "Heyyy, it's okayyyy," in a soothing voiceand went on in to the auditorium where Ralphie was speaking. What were they going to do to a 67 year old woman walking into an auditorium? Call the sheriff?
Ralph is, of course, a pretty good speaker, with lots of slogans and little jokes, and his campaign workers (not so many for a statewide Grassroots Victory thing) were clapping happily. I only recognized three from Houston County, and saw no elected officials.
I took notes and took pictures while he talked about the "dominant media," and explained about getting talking points from his website in case the subject of Abramoff came up. ("I stopped a casino and protected families!") After a while I looked back and saw Tracy McAllister, who is editor of the Buyer's Connection, and a devoted Republican sitting a few seats behind me. I figured that they had given up bar-the-media stuff after I just went in anyway, but then a real grownup in a suit came up and asked Tracy to leave.
Meantime, Ralph turned the gathering over to his strategists, and I followed him out and dominantly told him I wanted to get some photos of him with local people. This turned to be sort of a problem, not because he refused, but because he is a Look at the Camera and Smile Guy, and does not appear to be fully cognizant of the existence of other people when in close proximity to them. I got the impression that he is much more at ease "on stage" than one-on-one. I could have asked him some questions like "Why do you want to be lt. gov?" or "What's Jack Abramoff really like?" but I felt kind of sorry for him.
Then, just as all the people who had presumably come from all over the state were about to leave the auditorium and have barbecue together and maybe shmooze with their "I'll be your go-to guy in Atlanta" candidate, Ralphie bolted and ran, got in a van with somebody and was gone.
Tracy was much angrier than I was because (1) he had donated to Reed's campaign, (2) he had called to reserve the barbecue lunch, and (3) he had asked if he could have a t-shirt and was told NO.
Anyway, I wrote my story (which was great fun) and forgot about it until this morning when I got the call.
"Charlotte? This is Ralph Reed."
He was not apologizing for having a closed meeting, but for the fact that there was a "mixup in communications with the local party people" and I found out about the meeting and came when I wasn't supposed to.
I assured him that it wasn't a problem at all, because I had just gone on in.
I may vote in the Republican primary so I can vote against Ralph.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Planning for Bird Flu
From ABC News, verbatim "In a remarkable speech over the weekend, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt recommended that Americans start storing canned tuna and powdered milk under their beds as the prospect of a deadly bird flu outbreak approaches the United States."
First question: Have you put some canned tuna and powdered milk under your bed yet?
Second question: Can you think of something better?
Third question: Any idea about why we should store it under our beds?
Fourth question: Does bird flu mean that the power will go off? I mean, why can't we just have good stuff in the refrigerator?
Fifth question: Would they have done better to let Michael "Heckofa Job" Brown handle this one?
Sixth question: Should we also buy duct tape?
First question: Have you put some canned tuna and powdered milk under your bed yet?
Second question: Can you think of something better?
Third question: Any idea about why we should store it under our beds?
Fourth question: Does bird flu mean that the power will go off? I mean, why can't we just have good stuff in the refrigerator?
Fifth question: Would they have done better to let Michael "Heckofa Job" Brown handle this one?
Sixth question: Should we also buy duct tape?
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Welcome to the blogosphere
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Doing good stuff
For the third year, I've used the AARP free income tax service. A nice retired businessman figured out this morning that the IRS owes me $1130 and Georgia owes me $542.
He told me he had been volunteering with the AARP for several years in Florida (he and his wife are building here because even though their house didn't get damaged in the last hurricane season, it cost them $10,000 to get the trees cleared off their property, and they're tired of evacuating)
He said his favorite thing was helping young couples with children and making sure they got as much as possible back -- that he had amended returns for up to three or four past years for some, and got one couple almost $10,000.
Incidentally, this is a completely free service for anybody who needs the help, and I recommend it.
He told me he had been volunteering with the AARP for several years in Florida (he and his wife are building here because even though their house didn't get damaged in the last hurricane season, it cost them $10,000 to get the trees cleared off their property, and they're tired of evacuating)
He said his favorite thing was helping young couples with children and making sure they got as much as possible back -- that he had amended returns for up to three or four past years for some, and got one couple almost $10,000.
Incidentally, this is a completely free service for anybody who needs the help, and I recommend it.
Movies?
Has anybody seen any good movies?
I am waiting to see a co-worker's copy of "Walk the Line," and would like to see "Capote" and also "Crash."
In the meantime, I actually bought the the new version of "Pride and Prejudice," mainly because I'm an Austen nut and wanted it for my collection of all things Jane.
I enjoyed it. It isn't as good as the A&E version, but one reason for that is that it's half the length (movie instead of t.v. series) so they had to sort of pound the plot into a shorter version, but it was still fun.
I am waiting to see a co-worker's copy of "Walk the Line," and would like to see "Capote" and also "Crash."
In the meantime, I actually bought the the new version of "Pride and Prejudice," mainly because I'm an Austen nut and wanted it for my collection of all things Jane.
I enjoyed it. It isn't as good as the A&E version, but one reason for that is that it's half the length (movie instead of t.v. series) so they had to sort of pound the plot into a shorter version, but it was still fun.
Me and My Health Rider
I found one of these exact machines (a Health Rider) for $30 at the St. Christopher's yard sale and bought it.
I, of course, do not have the black outfit, but have just tried it in my orange knit Lane Bryant nightgown. Once I figured out how to sit down on it and get my feet on the pedals without falling over, it turned out to be sort of like a piece of playground equipment. You can go at it very very slowly, which is what I am doing to start with. My goal is not, by the way, to look like the chick in the picture, but to do something healthful.
It gets boring after about 45 seconds, and I need to stick with it for a half hour a day. Has anybody got any ideas about how to entertain oneself while doing something healthful but essentially boring?
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Whom do you trust?
Who are your favorite news people (I mean on television, but comments on news writers are also welcome.) Unfavorites?
I'm a CNN junkie, and have developed a real motherly fondness for Anderson Cooper on CNN, not just for sticking with the Gulf Coast disaster so steadfastly, but also because he has such nice manners with people from all walks of life.
Also, of course, I love the fake-news comic wonder, Jon Stewart -- and love is no exaggeration here . I have not forgotten his losing it and crying when they came back on air after 9-11, and I also think he is brilliant and can hold his own in interviws with all kinds of awesome people. I'm not sure why satire and humor are so important to our keeping our grip, but they are.
Anyway, those two give me faith for the future.
And, I am grudgingly going to acknowledge that Larry King is a very good interviewer for pop culture figures, although he softballs when interviewing politicians.
I am annoyed by Lou Dobbs, even though I know that he's hammering home some important issues. He just comes across like a demagogue, and I am not ever forgetting that all of our ancestors got here as "aliens." It goes against my grain to say, "This is my America and you can't come in." In any case he breaks almost all the rules I cherish as as a newspaper writer.
I'm so stuck on CNN that I'm probably missing some other good and bad people. I'll switch channels from time to time if anybody has some recommendations.
Newspapers? When I REALLY want to get up to date and try to understand something (like the Dubai Ports thing) I go to the New York Times on line, and to the Christian Science Monitor. Sporcupine has said that the British newspapers are really good.
Also, I like the New Yorker for essays on issues, and am right now reading "Don't Know Much about History" to fill in some huge gaps in American history. My battle against ignorance goes on and on, which is what most English majors face. Tina and I are in agreement that we could keep reading for the rest of our lives and never come close to filing in all the gaps. (On the other hand I can tell you when and where William Wordsworth was born, and what Milton wrote when he spend that time in Horton.)
Do you have great blithering areas of ignorance too? Are you trying to catch up? Are their writers and commentators you trust and like? Any you dont?. (I never could stand Dan Rather and Blitzer makes my eye glaze over)
I'm a CNN junkie, and have developed a real motherly fondness for Anderson Cooper on CNN, not just for sticking with the Gulf Coast disaster so steadfastly, but also because he has such nice manners with people from all walks of life.
Also, of course, I love the fake-news comic wonder, Jon Stewart -- and love is no exaggeration here . I have not forgotten his losing it and crying when they came back on air after 9-11, and I also think he is brilliant and can hold his own in interviws with all kinds of awesome people. I'm not sure why satire and humor are so important to our keeping our grip, but they are.
Anyway, those two give me faith for the future.
And, I am grudgingly going to acknowledge that Larry King is a very good interviewer for pop culture figures, although he softballs when interviewing politicians.
I am annoyed by Lou Dobbs, even though I know that he's hammering home some important issues. He just comes across like a demagogue, and I am not ever forgetting that all of our ancestors got here as "aliens." It goes against my grain to say, "This is my America and you can't come in." In any case he breaks almost all the rules I cherish as as a newspaper writer.
I'm so stuck on CNN that I'm probably missing some other good and bad people. I'll switch channels from time to time if anybody has some recommendations.
Newspapers? When I REALLY want to get up to date and try to understand something (like the Dubai Ports thing) I go to the New York Times on line, and to the Christian Science Monitor. Sporcupine has said that the British newspapers are really good.
Also, I like the New Yorker for essays on issues, and am right now reading "Don't Know Much about History" to fill in some huge gaps in American history. My battle against ignorance goes on and on, which is what most English majors face. Tina and I are in agreement that we could keep reading for the rest of our lives and never come close to filing in all the gaps. (On the other hand I can tell you when and where William Wordsworth was born, and what Milton wrote when he spend that time in Horton.)
Do you have great blithering areas of ignorance too? Are you trying to catch up? Are their writers and commentators you trust and like? Any you dont?. (I never could stand Dan Rather and Blitzer makes my eye glaze over)
Food talk
Remember my six course pecan dinner with wine with each course? I went to another at the same fancy place -- Henderson Village -- on Monday night and this one was a very fancy wild game dinner with a bunch of Atlanta chefs showing off. Squab, wild scallops (as opposed to tame), rabbit, buffalo, wild boar. Asparagus wrapped in strips of puff pastry. Collard strudel. Wine pairings with each dish, culminating with a dessert which seemed to ME to be a slab of fudge with whipped cream and raspberries and something astonishingly good called chocolate port, which I could only have a little of, having to drive. (This was a $100 dinner for those who paid).
My thought: The meats we normally eat --i.e. beef, pork and chicken would probably be considered the quintessential goumet foods if they were scarce. NOTHING I had was as good as a grill strip steak, a smothered pork chop, or Skipper John's fried chicken.
I enjoy these things because I get to go free, but something in me suggests that it is probably a sin to pay $100 for a meal.
Then on Tuesday night I went to St. Christopher's Episcopal church for their Mardi Gras pancake supper -- pancakes, bacon, sausage, waffles etc. (This was a $5 dinner.)
I was hungry, and I really think that the pancakes and bacon (I like putting syrup on the bacon too) were just as good as all the gourmet courses. Also at the pancake events, I got some Mardi Gras beads, which I have never had before, and I liked that, plus seeing several people I know and like.
Anyway I guess I am now ready for Lent -- having stuffed myself twice. Do any of you observe Lent and do you want to share your thoughts on that. (I do know it's much more than, "Hey, I've giving up Snickers bars.")
My thought: The meats we normally eat --i.e. beef, pork and chicken would probably be considered the quintessential goumet foods if they were scarce. NOTHING I had was as good as a grill strip steak, a smothered pork chop, or Skipper John's fried chicken.
I enjoy these things because I get to go free, but something in me suggests that it is probably a sin to pay $100 for a meal.
Then on Tuesday night I went to St. Christopher's Episcopal church for their Mardi Gras pancake supper -- pancakes, bacon, sausage, waffles etc. (This was a $5 dinner.)
I was hungry, and I really think that the pancakes and bacon (I like putting syrup on the bacon too) were just as good as all the gourmet courses. Also at the pancake events, I got some Mardi Gras beads, which I have never had before, and I liked that, plus seeing several people I know and like.
Anyway I guess I am now ready for Lent -- having stuffed myself twice. Do any of you observe Lent and do you want to share your thoughts on that. (I do know it's much more than, "Hey, I've giving up Snickers bars.")
