Monday night was Citizens' Night at the North Dakota State Legislature. This is an evening of both the Senate and House conducting business during hours where the public can come and get a look at the process. In addition to the evening session in each house, there are also some committee hearings held for a time before the houses convene for their scheduled business.
The great hall of the capitol building was pretty busy for the night time! Many of the folks working the event tonight had already put in a full day with the normal legislative day, and were working double duty for those of us who attended. Thanks, everybody!
The public was welcome to stop in at the journal rooms and pick up copies of the bills to be discussed in committee and in the sessions.
The House of Representatives. Many of the legislators had their kids or other guests, presumably from their districts, seated with them for the session.
There was plenty of back-and-forth traffic between the chambers, as they met at the same time. People were respectful of the business being conducted, and the staff were gracious with the unusual activity.
The Senate. I have a friend who's a page for this session, and it was neat to say hi to her. My wife also stopped in to say hi on her way to pick up our little boys, who were playing at a friend's house while Mommy and Daddy were out and about.
This is a fantastic idea for the North Dakota state government, and I'm glad they did it again this session. I posted about it two years ago during the previous session, and I've been looking forward to it ever since.
After the night was wound down, I hung out quietly and patiently until I had the Great Hall of the state capitol to myself. I then ran around with my camera and tripod for a while; this is the only occasion I can think of where a regular citizen can see the inside of this wing of the capitol all lit up at night! I'll post those pictures soon.
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( 3 / 136 )
This diminutive little figurine, a Statue of Liberty, stands just shorter than the diameter of a dime (1.8cm). In this photo it stands in front of a postcard of the Manhattan Bridge in New York City. Both were given to me in 2001 by Jody Kerzman, my friend and coworker at the time, after her trip to the wreckage of the World Trade Center towers on assignment from KFYR-TV.
I have a box of souvenirs, tapes, and other stuff from my job at the TV station, including the newspaper clipping of the Help Wanted ad I answered when I applied for the job. Of all the items in that box, this little statue ranks among the most meaningful. I'd been meaning to take a picture of it for a while, but since it's Jody's birthday today I thought it was a good time to bump the photos I was going to post for a few days.
Jody had a link on Facebook to her KFYR-TV Blog entry today, and the story she related reminded me of what a genuine person she is. That is probably obvious even in her on-air demeanor, but I can't tell; I've never seen Jody on TV without already knowing her. I'm not writing this to flatter or embarrass; however, in a business where newsrooms should have revolving doors installed for the people who come and go, certain people stand out. In my 21 years of working in the media business I have met and/or worked with a handful of TV and radio personalities who I think deserve mention. I've written about some of them, and this is a perfect opportunity to share this story.
Happy Birthday, Jody! I know it was a bittersweet day, according to what you've written. I agree with your take on what's important, and I'm learning more every day now that I'm a Daddy. As far as reaching out to an old friend, this is how I thought I'd give it a try.
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( 3 / 163 )
Sorry, Martin Luther King Jr.: you failed. It is with great regret that I note, on the day marking the remembrance of your life and accomplishments, that we're about to inaugurate the antithesis of that famous speech back in August of 1963:
Had Barack Obama been judged by his character, he wouldn't have made it out of Chicago. Well, the cult of personality, propped up by the house organ media, actually got this fella elected. Now we're all going to have to deal with the result. This isn't sour grapes, folks: this guy's policies, and the agendas of the people who have surrounded him his entire life, spell the end of the United States of America if allowed to come to fruition.
Here's your "change" by the way: an administration full of recycled Clinton administration hacks, many of whom are already caught up in scandal; avowed socialists, communists, terrorists, and other anti-American associates; and a President who has done nothing but run for office for the past few years. Well, he's won it. Now what? Gun control, abortion, and the term "hate speech" to label anyone audacious enough to point out that homosexuality is wrong. That's without even getting to the fiscal part of things!
Well, here comes all that Hope™ and Change™ that the vacuous masses of Obama voters wanted, despite the fact that few of them could summon a tangible idea of the policies embodied by those two buzz words. Who knows, maybe they'll be too enthralled by American Idol to even notice the path down which an Obama presidency takes us.
My hope and prayer for President Obama is that he never gets anywhere near his socialist goals. I pray that once the real world sets in on Wednesday, and he actually has to commit to a policy decision, that he finds himself unable to go down the path he's espoused throughout his short political career. I pray he's able to keep our nation safe, and I certainly wish him no ill will, but I hope his policies die on the drawing board. With the help he'll receive from the Legislative branch and the bedazzled mainstream media, however, I am have my doubts.
Do you like being able to select a doctor from among the finest in the nation, and not wait for months to see them? Well, here comes the change. Do you believe in the sanctity of life, even in the womb? Well, here comes the change. Do you believe in the right to own a gun to protect yourself and your family? Well, here comes the change. Do you strive to better yourself without having a union telling you what to do? Well, here comes the change. Do you believe in the right to speak freely about what the Bible says? Well, here comes the change. And do you enjoy the right to be able to cry out with the voice of political dissent? Well, here comes the change.
The Bible says we're to abide by the government under which we live, and I certainly plan to do that. I also plan to continue to be involved in political matters, and implore everyone else to do so as well. As far as the Bible verse I would best love to apply (albeit out of context) to an Obama presidency, I suppose it would be Psalms 109, verse 8:
Of course it's only the days of his Presidency that I would like to be few, not "his days" of course. Be that as it may, we've got at least four years of trying to hang onto the freedoms we have left. Let's stand up for what we believe in. In the mean time, have a sip of that crazy Kool-Aid and hang on. Hopey Changemas, everybody!
UPDATE: I'm fully prepared to be called a "racist" for disagreeing with President Obama, as they started that little game during the campaign. They sure set the tone early, however, as evidenced by the benediction "prayer" by Rev. Joseph Lowery: "Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen..."
In other words, if you're white, you're a bigot. Hope! Change!
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( 2.9 / 20 )
My lovely wife and I had a date night last night, and attended Mandan High School's production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." I didn't know much about this little musical (apparently licensed from Tams-Witmark, Inc.), but I certainly appreciate how hard it must be to portray such iconic characters! I didn't take my camera, since this was a date, thus the poor-quality cellphone shot of Snoopy above.
I'm a big Peanuts fan, with a collection of books and memorabilia going back longer than I've been alive. I think some of my oldest Peanuts books are from the mid-1960s. I've got the cartoons on DVD, the shirts, the toys, the books ABOUT the cartoons, and even a 35 year old Snoopy jack-in-the-box that my little brother got as a kid. Uncle PJ played with it in the 70s, and now my little PJ plays with it in the 00's. Having said all that, someone like me could be very hard to please with a musical like this...or very easy.
At first I wondered what the play was trying to accomplish. It's obvious that they do a lot of little interstitial "strips" plucked from the annals of Peanuts history. These are performed in series between the main musical performances. On the one hand, I think they were well done; however, on the other hand, I think one might have to be a true Peanuts fan to really appreciate them. Again, I think that's part of the mixed blessing of portraying Peanuts characters on stage. I must say, however, that I had bonded with these kids a short while into the play.
If I had to highlight a performance, it would clearly be Nick Leingang as Snoopy. Nick had the unusual task of taking the world's most popular dog and, while NOT wearing any sort of dog costume, walking us through some of our fondest insights into Snoopy and his fertile canine imagination. He did so with energy and flair, and the best compliment I can give is that I felt like I was watching Snoopy. Tough praise to earn from a devoted Peanuts fan of over thirty years! Judging by the energetic applause at the end of the "Suppertime" scene, I get the impression that other folks agreed.
Other bright performances in this play are Jonathan Wanner as Linus and Vanessa Stumpf as Lucy. Linus has always been my favorite Peanuts character, Lucy not so much, but I really liked the way each of these actors portrayed their character. Nice work!
You can catch this performance two more times this weekend: tonight at 7:30 and Sunday afternoon at 2:30. I recommend heading over and enjoying this performance. TIckets are $7 for adults. Get there early and get a good seat!
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( 3.1 / 146 )
The fun continued at work today. My boss's birthday is today, and he was supposed to on a golf trip as part of the celebration. Sadly, circumstances came up that prevented the trip...but his trusty crew wasn't about to let that lessen the joy of the day! One of our studios became an indoor miniature golf course for the occasion.
In addition to making good use of our party supplies budget, a few of the guys took tubes, chairs, light stands, and even actual mini-golf supplies to make a six-hole, par six (!) course on the floor of Studio A. I don't know who came up with that Par 1 designation...this thing was TOUGH!
The studio guys lined up the course, one of the graphic artists made flags and score cards, while another was in charge of streamers, party poppers, and other assorted party favors. Oh yes...there were kazoos. Randy from the Walrus Restaurant brought a bunch of his fine pastas and bread, and we keep a well-stocked refrigerator in back for beverage duty. I recommend the Mountain Dew, it helps wash down that sugary birthday cake very nicely! I had a little bit of salad to help make things healthy.
It was actually a little darker and more colorful than this photo implies, which means that of course I dialed up some Frank Sinatra on the iPod for the occasion. We have speakers in the back with an iPod plug-in so we can set the right ambience in the studio, and the Chairman of the Board seemed perfect for today.
So what do you do when its thirty below and the office has a bona fide reason for a party? This is how we do it! We love our boss and did our best to provide an alternative to those sunny greens. Happy Birthday!
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( 2.9 / 87 )
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