September 11th
I grew up during Viet Nam. The nightly news wasn't fluffy talking heads-it was gritty black and whites of choppers falling to the ground, of body bags, of lost limbs, and blood and gore served up with TV dinners. I have an FBI dossier, because I led a-very passive-high school protest on Moratorium Day. Because, 32 years ago, the beaded necklace in my senior photograph was a Morse Code which read "No More War". I lost classmates to the Viet Cong. I have a son in the military. Again, I say, "No More War."
Live what you believe. Act upon what your heart tells you to act upon. Don't accept the status quo because you think it will protect you in times of financial need. Respect and honor those who are willing to give their lives for your freedom. But don't put their lives at risk.
We're all feeling Sept 11, 2001. Please, let us put those feelings into some sort of action to take control of our lives, our country, and the future of both.
Oh, geez, I've probably just added to that dossier. Whatever.
Live your love.
Make peace.
Mary Smith
Letters Policy: Ace LOVES to publish our mail (250 words or less please); please include name and daytime phone. No photocopies. No bulk mail. First come, first served. We may edit for space and grammar; we will limit frequency; and, on popular issues, we may print one or two letters to represent a segment of public opinion. Private correspondence should be labeled “NOT FOR PUBLICATION.”
Mail: 486 West Second St , Lexington, Ky 40507
e-mail: editor@aceweekly.com
Art around
the clock
Clocks for Time, a presentation by Pat Gerhard of Third Street Stuff, will be on exhibit at Common Grounds Coffee House, 343 East High Street, now through September 30th. A portion of the proceeds will benefit AVOL and the Lexington Rape Crisis Center. Info, 233-9761.
UK Football: Make a day of it
On September 14th, UK goes head to head with Indiana at 7pm. Spend the day downtown. Start with the Race for the Cure and Farmers’ Market. Then avoid the patience-trying game traffic with Touchdown Downtown, a shuttle service from Downtown Lexington to Commonwealth Stadium, encouraging UK fans to come downtown to eat, shop, and tailgate before the game. Then climb aboard a LexTran bus to the stadium to cheer on the Cats. Beginning three hours prior to kick-off of every home football game, $2 round-trip shuttle tickets. Info, 231-7335 or www.downtownlex.com.
Everyone Wins!
Come join the Lexington Art League’s Reserve Raffle.
Tickets went on sale September 10th at Meridian Gallery, 325 West Main Street, third floor.
Wondering what makes this raffle so popular? Well, everyone wins and that means you too. Buy your ticket, pick your choices, and show up to enjoy the fun activities of Raffle Day, Sunday, October 27th. Call 254-7024 for information.
Cha-ching
The ''Tax Amnesty'' campaign has been paying dividends for the state. Since its inception, the Revenue Cabinet has received about 12 thousand calls, with about 4,300 people paying back taxes. This has raised 6 million dollars for the state so far. The goal is to collect 20 million. The previous attempt at tax amnesty took placeduring the 80's, with most of the money came in during the final week. If people don't square up by September 30th, 2002, the state could add up to as much as 55% more to their tax bills. Don’t say we didn’t try to tell you. For more information, call 1-877-ONLY-TAX.
Race for the cure
With the race for the cure taking place this Saturday, September 14th, please be aware of which steets will close, and plan your routes accordingly.
•Vine from Broadway to Midland
5am until 10:30am.
•Main St. from Midland to Broadway 6am until 10:30am.
•Short St. from Broadway to Midland 8am until 10:30am.
•Midland to Third St.
8am until 10:30am.
•Limestone from Main to Vine - Barr St. from Lime to MLK and all intersecting streets 8am until 11am.
To submit an advocacy/activism activity or event for Quickies, email rkirkland@aceweekly.com, or editor@aceweekly.com.
Riled Up
By Ronni Lundy
Dear Friends:
Several of you have sent me e-mails concerning a planned CBS reality TV show based on The Beverly Hillbillies. The plan is to find a rural, impoverished mountain family and plop them in a mansion for a year, let us all laugh (along "with" them, of course, not "at" them) at all the hilarious situations this leads to, then plop them back in their impoverished mountain home when the show exhausts its novelty. Yeah, you bet I hate this (and yes, I also think that Jed and Granny were the real heroes of the sitcom, but you don't think CBS is looking for a Buddy Ebsen-like dad for this story, do you?)
The original article announcing this ran in the Washington Post on Aug. 29, 2002. You can read about the whole concept on the WP website including some amazing rationalization from "Appalachian documentary film maker" Dub Cornett. Anybody know him?
And you can tell CBS how you feel about this show (or not). The feedback button on the CBS website is at the very bottom of the page and very small. Here's the text of my complaint and please feel free to forward to anyone you think wants or needs to know about this show and what it represents to folks like me:
"The idea of a reality-based version of The Beverly Hillbillies is so deeply offensive and stupid that I searched several web-hoax sites first, sure that CBS would not be on the verge of such an asinine mistake. Instead I found the 8/29/02 Washington Post story confirming that the show is in the works.
The offensive part of my complaint should be obvious to anyone who has suffered from vicious stereotyping including, but certainly not limited to, Afro-, Asian-, Italian-, Latino-Americans, as well as those of us from the Appalachian South. To the wealthy, white, East and West Coast, mostly male corporate executives who've repeatedly raped our region (including cultural violators such as CBS, past and present) you've ripped up our land, filthied our water, destroyed the very air we breath, and exploited our people as a work force just to fill your pockets. You insist on portraying the people of the region as poor, ignorant buffoons not only for the profit motive, but because it assuages any twinge of conscience you might have about turning an entire region and people of the United States into a Third World Country for your own convenience and amusement. Not that you care."
So why do I think it's stupid that CBS would commit to this program when the original Beverly Hillbillies and its offensively stereotypical spin-offs were such successes and Reality TV has become the new economic sop and entertainment nadir of our culture? Well, in getting to the feedback button, I happened on the link to Viacom, great big corporate owner of CBS and a bunch of other corporations, such as Kings Island, Carowinds and other amusement parks in the south and near south, Country Music Television, The Nashville Network, etc.
Imagine, my hillbilly and friend of hillbilly colleagues, how sweet the revenge would be if only a fraction of us who trace our roots to the part of the country that gave us the first written declarations of independence in the republic, the first abolitionist newspaper in the country, the beginning of the Underground Railroad and Loretta Lynn, were to rise up and boycott any or all of these Viacom-owned companies?
Be sure to click on the company's website, and see just who you want to let know how appalling this new program idea is.
And don't forget to write CBS, whether you think they are literate enough to read your email or not.n
Ronni Lundy is the award-winning author of Butter Beans to Blackberries.