This school board race has made it to the pages of The New York Times! And look at what is gracing the article: pics of Eric Smith and Yours Truly (wielding my lightsaber no less!) and a still from Richard Moore's ad. Hey Eric, I should have done what you did and put my website address up the whole time the ad was running... and you thought your meter had been going crazy before! :-)Here's the link to the article... yeah I can't believe it either. I've been hysterical with laughter for the past fifteen minutes. You should have heard me when I called Dad to tell him the big news. Here's the part that pertains to the school board race:
Local Issues Mirror National Ones, but the Special Effects Occasionally Stand AloneMash down here for the rest of the article. Special thanks to the Reidsville Free Press for alerting us to the story!The school board race in Rockingham County, N.C., has produced imagery including, from left, Pink Floyd, “Star Wars,” and the Wild West.
By PAM BELLUCK
Published: November 2, 2006The election season is getting punchier in places far from the national political spotlight — even in Eden, N.C., where 16 candidates are slugging it out for the five available seats on the Rockingham County School Board.
One of them produced a television advertisement suggesting that the school system turned children into automatons. It is shot against a backdrop of a Pink Floyd video showing children coursing through an assembly line to the lyrics: “We don’t need no education. We don’t need no thought control.”
Another candidate shows himself brandishing a light saber as a “Star Wars” Death Star blows up a little red schoolhouse. The message: the federal government, a “cosmic bully,” meddles too much in education.
The advertisement of a third contender, riffing on a “new sheriff in town” theme, shows a sheriff being killed in “The Terror of Tiny Town,” the 1938 all-dwarf musical Western.
Not every local race is quite as entertaining, but the Rockingham County election shows how national issues like education, the economy, crime and ethics have been localized.
EDIT 4:16 PM EST: The story now requires registration (for free) with The New York Times website in order to read it. But it only takes a minute or so if you want to check it out.
EDIT 6:51 PM EST: Just got back from Greensboro a little while ago, the closest place I could find print copies of today's Times. I got four of them, and just as Eric Smith said in the comments there we are on page A20 (we made the "A" section of The New York Times... it just keeps getting better and better!). The picture of us is somewhat larger than I thought it would be. So now it's official and tangible: Eric and Richard and I really did make The New York Times.
That just... it's still sending my mind reeling. And you know who I've thought most about today? My Mom and Dad. And Lisa. And everyone else who's close to me. If it hadn't been for them being behind me all this time - on a lot of things - this would never have happened. My being pictured in the Times is more about them really than it is about me. And before today's over I just wanted to tip my hat to them.
Awesome. Around here, local elections are heating up also...it's amazing how intense things get in the local elections.
ReplyDeleteAlso, not having a local television station means that newspaper ads and stories are the medium of choice for candidates.
Anyway, best wishes on the campaign.
When I called my dad he asked me if they picked up on my "drug" issue. Gotta love my dad. He is a Baptist preacher and a Libertarian. We had a good laugh. My site has had tons of hits today and I am sure it is from the NY Times article. It also made the print edition page A20.
ReplyDeleteIn Liberty,
Eric H. Smith
www.rockinghamcounty.net
Borders in Greensboro said that some guy came in and bought all the NY Times they had because he said he was in it. I wonder who that was and if they would be willing to share the wealth with another person who was also in it but didnt get to Greensboro in time?????? :-D
ReplyDeleteYou want a copy? I get one to you :-)
ReplyDeleteOkay, this rocks. Absolutely awesome. And I've got to tell you, your light saber effects are amazing... they looked great in your commercial (and therefore in that picture), and great in Forcery (which I saw a long time ago and want to watch again after I catch up on Return of the Jedi, at which point I'll give you a more complete opinion of it; till then, I at least have to say that it was hilarious and I got a big kick out of it.)
ReplyDeleteAnyways, congratulations for making it into the Times! You and Eric Smith and Richard Moore really did come up with some very creative commercials. D.C. politicians, caught up in the usual mudslinging mélee, could take lessons :-D
I think you hit on something Jen: if the bigtime politicians would quit with their obsession about *destroying* one another, they might really be able to tap into a real creative vein and give us something completely different than the same tired old negative campaigning. For all the candidates that are in this race, it has generally been a very friendly competition (heck a lot of us are helping each other out as much as we can). Here's hoping that now that the spotlight has been turned on lil' ol' Rockingham County, that maybe the rest of the country can learn something good from us :-)
ReplyDeletegreetings from malaysia! got here while blog hopping, very interesting blog i must say. linking you :)
ReplyDeletegreetings from malaysia! got here while blog hopping, very interesting blog i must say. linking you :)
ReplyDelete