There must be some Slint fans in the cast of The Water Principle, a play at the Hyde Park Theatre. I’ve seen this flyer in several place around town and it bears an unmistakable resemblance to the band’s highly influential 1991 record, Spiderland. Although Slint just finished a one-month reunion tour, they recently auctioned off all their gear on eBay, with each each item’s description reading, “The group has now disbanded permanently as intended.”
My old skate buddy Radley (yes, that’s his real name) is featured in a Courier-Journal article about the Dew Action Sports Tour in Louisville. Like a lot of other local skaters, he’s not that stoked: “The business part of the sport, especially now, it’s ugly. It’s gotten so huge. We don’t know who’s legitimately helping skateboarding or who’s just making money off it.” I’d rather the sport get extremely mainstream than see kids move on to something else.
If you desperately wanted a friend to change her assumptions or behavior, you would speak to her in terms that she can relate to, right? You would be careful not to exaggerate and choose words carefully. And getting upset and emotional is definitely to be avoided. You respect this person and know that she will at least give consideration to a solid case.
Amazing how activists, political leaders, and social change-driven organizations lose sight of this simple notion. With Amnesty International’s 308-page 2005 Report one word, “Gulag,” caused thousands, if not millions, to question the group’s credibility. The president, and conservative writers and pundits have successfully turned the spotlight away from legitimate concerns about our (waning?) role as a leader in the fight for human rights. So why did Amnesty include the word? Was it simply a mistake or are they so media savvy that they anticipated the controversy and sacrificed credibility for coverage? Continue reading…
