MAIN EVENT. A Good Place to Get Started --- a.k.a "Table of Contents"
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MAIN EVENT. A Good Place to Get Started --- a.k.a "Table of Contents" |
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Baltimore - 9 June, 1999 - The Susan Sarandon reference is from an anecdote shared with me by my pilot friend, Julia Kofke. It seems that during the filming of one of Sarandon's films, set in the ocean, one of the dolphins involved took a less than platonic interest in the actress. I had meant to pass this note along to Charlie the Tuna for one of his (typically outrageous) Sex Columns, but I have to call Julia and get the name of the film again first. (There! Inside Joke problem solved.)
ABOUT THIS ISSUE: Welcome back to another week of far-reaching, diverse and provocative satire, reporting and commentary. RASTISLAV DURMAN's piece this week in DAY ONE is a wonderful example of his on-going satirical look at the Balkan situation which I hope you'll enjoy. THOMAS HART has finally beaten his long-lamented writer's block to begin the dish anew. His treatment on Howard Stern is particularly brutal, but I guess that's the only way he could get his juices flowing again... Join me in welcoming a new G21 Irregular from Italy, Ms. ELENA ROMANATO who provides insight on how the NATO operations are affecting other countries on the Adriatic Sea. Her report on the plight of the fisherman there gives you the news behind "the News." Our perserving reporter from Belgrade DRAGANA VICANOVIC continues to supply powerful photography and challenging reporting from behind the lines, on the ground. (I know some of you haven't agreed with all of our coverage of this conflict, but where else can you get this kind of continuous, comprehensive, weekly reporting?) GASPIRTZ's newest cartoons are here with an update every week, and FAX NIKITA is back with more Strange but True facts.
That's just an overview of the twelve new features in this week's edition.
I SPOKE on the telephone with WOLF DE VOON this week, one of our Irregulars since 1998, and heard the voice attached to the name for the first time. Wolf and I originally "met" on-line while he and his wife Queenie were still living in Scotland. So it was great to hear his voice, even 1500 miles away (in Colorado) and get a chance to share our stories.
Wolf, like many of the writers here, is far more of a Libertarian bent than Yours Unruly --- I think I'm a Socialist, at heart, and always will be --- so it was wonderful to hear him say that he wanted to be more involved in this experiment we call The World's Magazine. The kicker was when he shared with me that what he loved about placing his work at the G21 was that he felt it was a genuine "forum" for thoughtful writers where they didn't have to pull their punches.
What got me about this was that another Irregular, ROBIN MILLER, had said much the same thing when describing why he contributed here to a couple of his friends. He mentioned an alternative newspaper which he had written for a while, and then stated that he dropped them, and now wrote for the G21 because he felt he didn't have to self-censor to try to please the Editor (me.)
I guess that is why I love this and continue to do it. I believe there are standards here --- intelligent commentary, no propogation of hatred --- but I don't restrict the nature of the opinions expressed. Ever. I NEVER censor reader submissions. Ever. And I don't expect the writers to state opinions that I agree with. Fact is, I get a secret chuckle from publishing articles where I'm almost prompted to respond to the contrary.
Most of all, I'm proud to say that there is an international "community" of writers here. I know, for instance, that Felicity Ussher is beginning a new project in which she means to actively include other G21 writers abroad, both in Asia and Eastern Europe. In our private conference, we share brick-bats, the goings and comings of our daily lives, and encomiums. You see, some of us have been working on this experiment in truly alternative Web publishing for nearly four years. The "youngsters" here --- with the exception of those who joined during the last few weeks ---- have been with the G21 for one - two years.
Two years! It amazes and pleases me that this project has engendered that kind of loyalty...
Seems like the first thing I do, upon entering this apartment, is start stripping off clothes! (Fliss has sent me teasing e-mails about admitting this.) But I am not used to this heat! It's been years since I lived anywhere where the temperature went above seventy-five, maybe eighty degrees, most of the year. I thought my brief stint in Santa Rosa last summer was bad --- but I wasn't planning on living there! I have got to buy an air conditioner.
So I'm living in Baltimore. Yeah. For at least a year. Based on this first couple of weeks, it may be "for only a year." I haven't seen enough of the place or the people to make a definitive judgment, yet, but my first take is that its less expensive than anywhere I've lived in two decades --- BUT SO WHAT? Maryland still has to show me something....
We're glad you're here. We have a lot to offer this (and EVERY) week. Stick around. More importantly: TELL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS. We want you here EVERY DAY.
WHY?
Because we like you...
Work like you don't need the money,
WHY I LOVE THIS MAGAZINE:
AND ME? I have got to purchase an air conditioner! Man, I never knew that moving just a couple hundred miles south could be such a radical climatic change.
Thanks for coming back this week.
Love like you've never been hurt,
Dance like no one is watching,
Rod
Rod is a columnist for the Andover News Network, where he writes on web design and development issues every Thursday. He is principal writer and Editor for IT Manager's Journal, where he reviews technology issues five days a week. His opinions on the Info Age began appearing on MethodFive's HYPER technology newsletter in March.
When not busy with his publishing chores at this site, and answering sixty -to- one hundred e-mails a day, he likes to throw darts; seek female companionship; and listen to Tupac, Beethoven, Philip Glass, Joni Mitchell, James Carter, Eric Clapton, Snoop Dogg, Etta James, Miles Davis, Handel, Portishead, Toots & the Maytals, Bob Marley, Sinead O'Connor, techno, house, jazz....
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© 1999, GENERATOR 21.
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