Hot off the Presses...

let me start with some gems from this baggy pants story in the AJC:

"Exposed boxer shorts and thongs would be illegal in any public place in Atlanta if the City Council approves a proposed amendment to the city's indecency laws."

it gets better
"Saggy pants are an "epidemic"', said one moron who can ignore a million real problems in this city. AND they're gonna go after bras too. I love it when they turn back the clock in the south.
the city council went on to say, "Seriously folks, we just need to give the APD another way to arrest black people. Why not get them by the pants?"
Read the mind blowingly stupid story HERE

Another thing in the news is this War in Iraq. Anybody hear about this thing?!?


I went to this candlelight vigil tonight in East Atlanta. There were some empowered speakers and a Dr. Lowery who didn't show and then we all went outside and held candles and everyone read a list of dates and how many soldiers died on that day and where they were from. it read like:

May 3 6 troops were killed they were from Lebanon, Tennessee Seattle, Washington Independence, Iowa East Lansing, Michigan and so on

At first I was confused. I didn't know if I was supposed to listen or read along or what. Then people started reading and so did I. Then I became determined to not stop reading. I thought, "how can I read about this person who died and not that?" I read loudly and the pages and the cities were endless. My eyes started to go, every time I read Ohio I said Iowa, every city from Puerto Rico and Hawaii was horribly mispronounced- after a couple stumbles I laughed a bit and then felt immediate shame. my legs started to hurt, as did my voice so I lowered my volume and the candle I was holding burned all the way out and someone brought me another. It seemed like it would never end. After we finished I was sweating and dizzy. A man said to us, "The first time I started this ritual I thought it was stupid and silly. It was a very sloppy thing, these people all reading aloud for so long. People aren't in sync, they can't keep up. It's just a mess. Then I realized as I was reading for so long what a perfect metaphor for this war it is."

More news:

I ended the evening watching Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole. It's Network in 1951.
A scathing story about yellow journalism, American Voyerism and the deterieroration of the human soul in the pursuit of success. It's really great except for the fact that you can't care about Kirk Douglas' Tatum like you can for William Holden's Schumacher, so in the end I liked the writing but none of the empty-chested characters. Still a really awesome movie, right up my alley. Sam Fuller with awesome cinematography and good acting (well, the female lead looks like she bought a one way ticket to run-down-slutsville but she doesn't really matter) that last bit was from watching the 50's newspaperman talk....sorry.

As for more newspaper facts. His Girl Friday- best paper movie ever (best dialogue comedy?), Hudsucker Proxy- best movie to steal so many jokes from the previous. Me- I can only do the Monday crossword puzzle and have stolen from both the previous films. The numbers-52% of people in the US read the newspaper and 80% of internet users read the newspaper and 89% of all dogs under 8 Lbs have shit on Ann Landers' by line.