Changing the subject.
I found a scrawled note sitting on top of a stack of OVs in the j-school:
“You said love is a temple, love the higher law. you asked me to enter then you made me crawl + I just can’t keep holding on to what you got when all you got is hurt.”
Voice secret admirer? Anonymous creative issue submission? Butt-hurt Emerald staffer?
Let’s just all get along, seriously. Poor Grace getting the flack for whatever those crazy newsies are trying to get out of this “strike.”
Were all brothers and sisters here in the J-school and we all hear about things in those labs that we spend our days and hard nights in.
So read our magezine and be our friends, not enemies because here at the OV we just want to have fun!
And produce quality hard-hitting journalism.
This is an apology:
From me (Grace), not from any organization.
To Hannah Hoffman and Lauren Fox, not to any organization.
The cakes are yours as soon as I can get them to you, whether you forgive me or not.
On a more positive note, I’m glad to hear that the OV blog is finally getting some traffic.
As a publication, the Oregon Voice stands behind its writers in print and online. Our blog post in response to the widely publicized and intellectually taxing Oregon Daily Emerald strike has apparently been a source of controversy for both the people involved and the one that wrote it. The fact that relationships between students [Get that? we're students] are being affected by this petty, bombastic strike is disheartening and doesn’t bode well for the future of journalism. Are these upset Emerald-ers that out of touch with what really matters? Have they already bought into the bickering journalism for journalists machine? At this age?
For shame.
Scot
Journalists love to tell stories. I can’t remember the last time the Daily Emerald told one that was truly engaging, though this morning’s bold, red headline sucked me in: EMERALD NEWS STAFF STRIKES. ASUO sandbox politics were getting boring, I guess, so the reporters made their own scandal. They put off the strike until this morning so they could make news about it, as in, “I’m going to give you the silent treatment starting…right… NOW.”
Of course, the buzz started long before the headline. The photographers, who are total anarchists, let the cat out of the bag yesterday, and the cat slinked away into the night. Pretty soon people were talking about it in places where people should never talk about the Daily Emerald, ie the Lorax.
This morning I sat in Roma with then intention of telling an actual story. I had my notebook and latte all set up on the table, and I strategically threw my jacket on the opposing seat to ward off conversationalists. I was quickly distracted, however, when Emerald staff reporters Hannah Hoffman and Lauren Fox sat down two tables adjacent to mine. They had their firey headline on display, and they were all smiles, apparently not as desperate to return to work as their front page diatribe suggested: “We want desperately to return to work, but we cannot do so quietly and against our journalistic values.”
“Secretly,” said Hoffman, “I’m really glad that I have to write two less articles this week.”
Secretly? My friend, you are in a crowded coffee shop, in the presence of other semi-journalists.
Fox’s eyes bulged a little. “Is it wrong that I’m happy right now?”
I am, so why shouldn’t you be?
Fox was trying to do her homework, but she was too lathered up. And I was too busy eavesdropping… Not eavesdropping, exactly, since I moved over to the table next to them and bluntly asked Fox for her full name.
“We should have picketers!” she continued. “Every good strike has picketers.”
They started to discuss the possibility of the Register Guard covering the strike, or maybe even–gasp– the New York Times. I imagined the “Daily Emerald Staff Strike” headline underneath the one about suicide bombings in Pakistan.
“You know who wants to know about this?” said Fox. “Anne Curry.” She then proceeded to call another staffer (lets call him “Robert,” because that was his name) and rant about the possibility of notifying Anne Curry about the strike.
“You should call them! And if the Today Show needs someone to talk to, I’d be totally willing!”
Eventually, Fox and Hoffman expressed mild concern about the possibility of losing their jobs. They didn’t seem too worried, though. Even Fox’s somewhat conservative sorority sisters have assured her that no one would have the nerve to work for the Daily Emerald under the leadership of Steven Smith.
She’s right that no one wants to be a scab for the Daily Emerald. In fact, we were all secretly on strike already, and the current staff was all scabbed over until this morning. The ODE kids created the story, but they have no control over how the rest of us retell it.
In honor of this youtube gem, I am rewriting Asimov’s three laws of robotics.
First law: hit dat toaster
Second law: make em dance
Third law: shake it
While perusing the Prelinger Archives I discovered this little gem. I tried to find words to describe it but I really couldn’t. You’ll just have to watch it for yourself and see what I mean (I mean, like, really?) When you’re done check out the rest of the site, it has a lot to offer.
But really, see a doctor.
…was The Helio Sequence at WOW Hall in support of their new album Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Sub Pop, 2008), with Eugene locals Yeltsin giving a solid performance as the first opener. By far the best thing about Yeltsin is their lead singer’s beard, which has to be a good foot long and swayed majestically during their entire set. The next supporting act was the disappointingly unbearded Audrye Sessions. Their lead singer did sport a fledgling mustache, which is a pretty decent metaphor for how their music stood up against Yeltsin’s. Thankfully the main event came onstage soon after and rocked off everyone’s socks pretty thoroughly. The onstage lineup of Brandon Summers, Benjamin Weikel, and a laptop is one of the tightest combinations I’ve ever heard live. Weikel is maybe the happiest person to ever get his hands on a drum set, and Summers sounded like a three piece band on guitar for the entirety of the set, which lasted almost an hour. They played songs from every album, especially Love and Distance and the new one. That the band sounds great live isn’t surprising, considering that they’ve been together for over ten years. What is surprising is that this was only their third Eugene concert in twelve years, so I’d definitely recommend catching them when they come around again in 2012.
Twilight is now showing at the $1.50 theater. The venue should be dark and deserted, kids. Perfect if you are looking to get it on with your vampire boyfriend.
I’m only twenty for three more days, and the terrible age still plagues me. I got a tip-off about this band playing at Indigo tonight, but I can’t legally attend. After listening to their album last night, I want to hear the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey spit fire. I want it so bad! I’m telling you this because I expect you, if legal and able, to attend this show tonight. I hope to live vicariously through you, because I know you will love the experimental, jazzy madness that will envelope your entire body when you hear it. The Oregonian blog even used the word “soundscape.” Woah. Not yet convinced? Look at this hot picture of the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey wrapped in caged lights. Jazz blazer, jazz hair, jazz light. You have to go.
