One of the all-time funniest clips from Sesame Street:
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Petition is afoot and state statutes: The latest from the Ron Price fiasco
There is now a petition being circulated throughout Rockingham County (note: file is in Acrobat format) calling for the removal of Ron Price from the school board.
And Penny Owens, one of the unsuccessful candidates for school board, has found what is apparently the North Carolina statute calling for removal of a school board member on grounds of immoral conduct:
§ 115C‑39. Removal of board members; suspension of duties by State Board. (a) In case the State Board of Education has sufficient evidence that any member of a local board of education is not capable of discharging, or is not discharging, the duties of his office as required by law, or is guilty of immoral or disreputable conduct, the State Board of Education shall notify the chairman of such board of education, unless such chairman is the offending member, in which case all other members of such board shall be notified. Upon receipt of such notice there shall be a meeting of said board of education for the purpose of investigating the charges, and if the charges are found to be true, such board shall declare the office vacant: Provided, that the offending member shall be given proper notice of the hearing and that record of the findings of the other members shall be recorded in the minutes of such board of education. (b) In the event the State Board of Education has appointed an interim superintendent under G.S. 115C‑105.39 and the State Board determines that the local board of education has failed to cooperate with the interim superintendent, the State Board shall have the authority to suspend any of the powers and duties of the local board and to act on its behalf under G.S. 115C‑105.39. (1955, c. 1372, art. 5, s. 13; 1981, c. 423, s. 1; 1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 716, s. 5.)Click here for more info.
Not long ago someone suggested to me that maybe we are making too much of this, because - and this is something I was entirely unaware of for the past few weeks - many of the signs that Ron Price was picking up were in close proximity to the Teamsters hall on Highway 14. And that if he did have malicious intent in mind, that Price should have known it would be insanity to attempt to sabotage a Democrat candidate's campaign in sight of the Teamsters (who were without any exception that I know of pulling hard for all the Democrat candidates).
Here's my thing about that though, and Ron Price is far from the only one I would level this charge at: all the same, Price did put the priorities of furthering his political party over principle (i.e. doing the right thing and having DOT take care of the problem). And I have extremely little patience and tolerance - maybe even none at all - when it comes to people who think of their party first and being considerate toward others second.
Maybe that's just incumbent to the political independent in me, and maybe this isn't how things work in "the real world"...
...But nonetheless: There is right, there is wrong, and it isn't that hard to tell the difference between the two.
Monday, November 20, 2006
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX teaser hits online!
Do you realize that a few days ago was the fifth anniversary of Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone coming out in theaters? That's five years of Harry Potter movies we've had so far. And I'm really looking forward to the next one. Click here for the Quicktime trailer of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Five years ago today: "The Proposal Stunt"
It was at 3 p.m. on November 20th, 2001 that I did this... thing. Readers of TheForce.net went to the site that afternoon to check out the latest news on the Star Wars Episode II front. Instead they got a cryptic headline at the very top of the page titled "Lisa McBrayer, Please Click Here" with the sub-heading "Your boyfriend has something he'd like to say to you ...". When they clicked on it, there was a passage of scripture from 1st Corinthians, followed by something of a "poem" from Yours Truly. And then below that, this graphic:
Here's the link to the original article, although the image itself went missing when TheForce.net site got upgraded a few years ago. But the text is still there if you want to check it out.
The thing that still amazes me about it is how fast Lisa said "yes": I was down on one knee by the point she read that on the screen (and I was wearing the same outfit as in the pic) and she said "yes" less than a second after I asked her.
There was much more to it than what everyone else saw that day though. When she came into my apartment I had candles lit all over the place, and I sat her down on my sofa and read to her the part from Ephesians about husband and wives serving the Lord together. Then I removed her boots and socks and washed her feet with a basin of water I had hidden under the chair nearby. It was while drying her off that I told her that "I've got something to tell you, but I'm not good at making speeches so you'll have to read this..."
This thing had been six months in the works, since like May of that year. The original plan was for me to do it in either a Jedi costume or a set of Stormtrooper armor (thus being her "Knight in shining armor") but I couldn't secure either for it. In the end, it was just plain ol' me proudly wearing a sweatshirt from my college, with a lightsaber and the engagement ring. Then we went out to celebrate, meeting my sister at the Cracker Barrel in Asheville for dinner. After that we got back to the apartment and soon headed off for the three-hour drive to my parents' house to spend Thanksgiving together. This was the same day that the soundtrack for The Fellowship of the Ring came out, and I'd bought two copies (including one for her) about 8 that morning at Wal-Mart but I saved listening to it until Lisa and I could do it together. We put it in the car's CD player just as we were hitting I-40 heading east.
It was one of those days where you can't help but remember every tiny detail, but I won't bother sharing all of them. It's just that I can't believe it's been five years already. Some people thought I was crazy to do it like this. But I wound up doing it for two reasons: one, to make it extra-special and memorable for both Lisa and me... to make it something neat to tell our children and grand-children someday. And second, a reason that definitely wasn't in mind when I first conceived it: this was coming just two months after 9/11. It was a time when we all needed something to laugh at and cheer us up and affirm that in spite of the worst of tragedies, we still have to go on... because in the end, that's how we really win. Someone even sent me a nice e-mail in the days following the proposal and said this was a really uplifting thing that I'd done. If just one other person out there got a laugh and some hope out of it, then it was well worth doing.
Anyway, that was five years ago today, and for me it really is something worth commemorating on this blog. It was definitely, bar-none, one of the bigger stunts that I've done so far in my life...
...but the biggest is yet to come.
It's waiting, boys and girls: sitting on my hard drive for the right moment to be set loose. It's coming to this blog, and perhaps sooner rather than later.
Be afraid :-)
(BTW, special thanks to a lot of good people who in whatever way helped make that day five years ago that much more fun, especially Chad, "Weird" Ed, Josh, Deborah, Maggi and Helen, and "lowbridge"!)
Sunday, November 19, 2006
2006 Reidsville Christmas Parade
Last night at about 6:30, the 2006 Reidsville Christmas Parade - the first-ever night-time Christmas parade in the city's history - kicked off. The parade organized in the Pennrose Mall/Turner Drive part of town and progressed down Scales Street toward the downtown area. And Lisa and I were there to watch it all. Actually since it was WGSR Star 39 - the TV station that I work at - who was in charge of the parade this year, I've been able to watch everything behind the scenes about it for the past few months now. I spent a few hours yesterday afternoon helping with getting floats situated in the staging area. And I could have taken part in the parade... but I chose instead to watch it with Lisa.
Okay well, on with the pics!
This first pic is of Ken Echols, co-host of WGSR's popular Monday Night Live. Ken should not be confused with his neer-do-well brother Fred Echols who is sometimes heard on the radio...
Here's Lisa. Now I wish that I'd gotten her to take my pic too while we were there. Since it was cold and some headgear was called for, I wore my fedora to the event.
Ken Echols and Mark Childrey - the hosts of Monday Night Live - perched atop the scaffolding from which they were doing live TV commentary about the parade. The WGSR crew was up 'til 5 a.m. Saturday morning, then got a few hours sleep and was soon back at it later Saturday morning getting everything ready to televise the parade live. I've never seen a city street covered with so much cable. Anyway, Ken and Mark were in fine form as usual last night.
Looking down the street toward the direction the parade would come in from.
The man who put it all together: WGSR Star 39 General Manager Charles Roark. Charles had been working for months getting this parade together. He was running one of the cameras down on the street last night.
It was sometime after 7 when the parade reached the downtown area, headed up by a police cruiser followed by these JROTC cadets.
Calvin and Lisa Phelps, the Grand Marshals of the 2006 Reidsville Christmas Parade. It was Calvin Phelps who bought and re-opened the Chinqua-Penn Plantation... something that a lot of people around here thought would never happen again.
Local singing sensation Cindy Price. That car looked hot! Cindy doesn't look too bad herself :-)
The Reidsville Senior High School Marching Band. Conspicuously absent was the Rockingham County Senior High band: believe it or not the administration of RCSH (my alma-mater) wouldn't let their band perform in the parade this year... because they believed it wouldn't be safe for the kids to be out that late at night! I'm not going to comment any further on how ridiculous a thing it was to keep the RCSH band out. But the RSH band played well.
A pack of Cub Scouts.
The Rockingham Theater's float. After the parade the Rockingham Theater (which is located just across the street from where were were standing) had a free showing of It's A Wonderful Life. We didn't go watch it though. Sometime I need to check out the Rockingham Theater again: the first and only time I've ever been in there was when Alien 3 came out in 1992. Maybe if/when my next movie is finished we can premiere it there :-)
Layne's Brothers Pharmacy had their entire flotilla of delivery vehicles scattered across the length of the parade. Alright all together now: "What time is it? IT'S TIME FOR A LAYNE CHANGE!" The brothers never fail to deliver that pun every time they're in the studio doing their show :-)
This next photo requires some explaining to those not from around here. This is part of the Williams-Trull entry. Williams-Trull is a business in Reidsville that sells tractor parts and lawn mowers. This sign - the one saying "MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE FAMOUS SIGN" - has been outside their location for a long time. Well, earlier this year the City of Reidsville started fining them a ton for having an "illegal" sign. It caused quite an uproar, especially when other businesses started getting fine notices in the mail too. Oddly enough, I inadvertently got pulled into the mess when The Baritones premiered and a lot of people noticed that the City of Reidsville had, per their own rules, placed an illegal sign at the Farmer's Market! Well anyway, I think it got resolved somehow but the folks at Williams-Trull couldn't resist making everyone laugh at the city for how it acted during this whole thing.
More of the Williams-Trull float.
Play Paint, a local paintball company. Its marchers were all wielding paintguns and doing fancy moves with them. I was reminded of the "Legitimate Businessman's Association" marchers with Fat Tony and the other Springfield mobsters in the parade from that episode of The Simpsons a few years back.
WGHP Fox 8's Brad Jones, talking to WGSR's Jessica Robinson.
Knutson Landscaping received First Place in the competition for best float. Among other things their float featured a mechanized reindeer pulling Santa out of a chimney.
I forget which dance troupe this is. But you see Charles in there with the camera? My pictures do it no justice: Charles was really boogying with the dancers last night!
The First Congregational Christian Church float.
I forget who had this float. It was really pretty though.
These guys were kewl! It was a group of skateboarders that marched in the parade. They stopped in front of the dignitaries and TV cameras and did some pretty amazing skateboard stunts. A few of them came close to wiping out and eating pavement... but all the same they amazed everyone watching with their tricks.
Cheryl's Dance Center, another dance troupe.
The Wentworth PTA float. I think they earned Third Place in the floats competition.
Ahhhh you knew these guys had to be in there somewhere: its them wacky Shriners! Some years they've come marching in playing band instruments and swinging swords. A few times they've driven carts. This year... they were on mini-motorcycles! They were definitely quite a crowd-pleaser.
More of the Shriners in action.
The Care Kids entry with a mounted group on horseback following close behind.
The High Sheriff of Rockingham County, Sam Page. He's looking pretty sharp on horseback with that Santa hat perched atop his cowboy hat.
Remember a few weeks ago when my photo appeared in The New York Times? Well, I'd been asked to be part of this float but I respectfully declined: I really did want to spend the parade watching it with Lisa instead. But the other two local school board candidates feature in the article - Richard Moore and Eric Smith - came in costumes from their respective commercials on the Neely Chronicle/Political Soup "Big Bad Political Car". The "motif" of this float was "Chosen NY Times Favorite School Board Candidates Who Don't Steal".
And here's another shot of Richard Moore as the "Big Bad Political Car" drove past.
And finally, the grand finale of the parade: Santa and Mrs. Claus! This was the big float that WGSR was sponsoring and I hadn't seen it until the actual parade last night, but I gotta say that's one of the fanciest floats I've seen in this town.
Here's a close-up of the Clauses.
And with that, the 2006 Reidsville Christmas Parade drew to a close. Mark Childrey echoed a sentiment shared by many there last night when he said that this was probably the best Christmas parade that Reidsville had ever put on. It was definitely the most unique in that it was at night, and there were some people wondering how this was going to work out... but when all was said and done, this parade was a rousing success!
Special thanks go out to Charles Roark, Matt Smith, Lori Martin, Debbie Moore, Jimmy DePalma, Jessica Robinson, Mark Childrey, Ken Echols, Tyler Richardson, Bobby Martin, Brandon Lantern, and everyone else who worked behind the scenes to pull it off.
And very special thanks to a lot of good people who I got to meet last night who told me that they'd voted for me :-)
Saturday, November 18, 2006
School board election: 4,648 is the new 4,584!
According to a story just up at the Reidsvile Review, with the canvass of votes for Rockingham County now in, it looks like I picked up some votes. For the past week and a half I've been proud of the 4,584 votes that was the "final tally" on election night. Well, after the canvass, it turns out that I got 4,648 votes.
Thank goodness I didn't go ahead with getting 4,584 tattooed on my chest like I've been threatening to do... :-)
Just got back from the 2006 Reidsville Christmas Parade
This was by every possible stretch the best Christmas parade that Reidsville has ever put on... or at least the best one that I've ever seen. For the first time in history the parade this year was at night! I'll be uploading pics from it hopefully by sometime tomorrow.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Now playing exclusively in Rockingham County, North Carolina...
(For anyone finding this and wondering what it's about, please read "An open letter about - and to - Ron Price".)
The DHARMA Initiative targets Rockingham County
The lead article in today's Reidsville Review is titled "Futurist tells county like it is". Look at the photo that accompanies it:
It looks exactly like the emblem of the DHARMA Initiative from the TV show Lost:
Maybe there's a DHARMA station somewhere in Rockingham County. What would it be called, I wonder...?
"Loser": News & Record reporter responds
In response to my initial e-mail regarding the use of "losing" when describing unsuccessful electoral candidates, Gerald Witt replied back:
Mr. Knight,I sent him back the following e-mail:Thank you for reading the News & Record and for contacting me.
Two tenants of journalism are accuracy and brevity. Thus the choice of the words, "lose, lost, losing and loser."
This is a common descriptor for those who do not win elections or anything else, as defined in most dictionaries.
In writing, using "lose" makes more actively-worded sentences than the phrase "candidate who did not win an election." It's also more efficient and direct.
Thank you,
Gerald
Gerald,To which he immediately provided a follow-up:
Simply using "unsuccessful" would more than suffice.sincerely,
Chris Knight
Ah, good point. I'll remember that.I'm heartened that Gerald got back to me, and that our conversation will lead him to reflect this in his reporting in the future. I like to think that however things work in the scheme of things, that his words will make a powerful connection in many people's minds... although I wish that connection didn't have to be made at all.Thank you,
Gerald
Maybe to most people, "losing" is synonymous with "not winning". Unfortunately I believe that this is the case with a lot of people who would otherwise consider running for public office: they fear that if they don't win, that this marks them down as "losers". When it's not that way at all: it only really becomes "losing" when a person has decided in his own mind that he is going to think of himself as "lost" if he doesn't come through all the way in an election.
General Nathaniel Greene did not "win" the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Everyone knows that. But very, very few historians will argue that Greene did not guarantee American victory at Yorktown after his thorough thrashing of Cornwallis's forces. Does anyone dare label Nathaniel Greene as a "loser" in the history books?
Conversely, Adolf Hitler won election in the largest margin of victory in German history. I doubt that in hindsight many people nowadays are going to be quick to call that a "victory" by any stretch.
Within the concept of a game for sake of the game itself, there is such a thing as "losing". But you only really "lose" in life if you don't even try. And the worst kind of losing is not choosing to try at all even when you know that something is wrong and won't get any better unless you do try.
There are very few who do actually win. There are many more who do not win. But sadly there are vast too many who do not even bother to play...
...And they are the only ones who really "lose" in life.
"Losing" an election, and what I'll do if Price vacates his seat
The News & Record today runs an article about the Ron Price situation. It's written by Gerald Witt. And Witt gets something wrong in his write-up here: I don't believe this was intentional, but he conveys the sense that a lot of us who are pursuing this thing with Price are doing it because we "lost" the election.
I don't believe any of us "lost" in last week's election, and I wrote about this at much further length a few weeks before election day. A democratic republic is not supposed to be run as if it's a sporting event. And the sooner we move past this mentality that it's this "us versus them/winner takes it all baby" thing, the better off we're all going to be.
Here's part of the e-mail I sent Witt about this...
Dear Gerald,I've mentioned this to other news outlets but it hasn't been picked up yet, so I'll repeat it here: I'm not going to be pursuing the seat on the school board if Ron Price vacates it (and if he's interested in doing the right thing then he will). If it opens up, mine will not be one of the names nominated to fill it... or at least I won't be applying for the nomination personally anyway. It was my desire to win a seat by popular vote. In my mind, this isn't the right way at all for me to achieve that. I would rather it go to someone much more deserving of the position. If another election is held for school board, I will run again... but that's the only way that I'm going to even try to win a seat.
I just read your article about the Ron Price situation. Just a suggestion: in the future you may wish to use "unsuccessful" instead of "losing" when referencing candidates who did not win an election. I've thought about this a lot over the past few months: anyone who appeared on the ballot who did not win a seat did not "lose" the election. It simply means that they did not get enough votes to achieve a seat. "Losing" is something that happens in a game because one person did not exert as much skill or strategy as the person who won. And the democratic process is anything but a game. Or it's *supposed* to be a lot more than a game anyway. When you think about it, there really is a difference between "losing" a game and "not winning" an election. Those of us who were candidates who did not win seats offered our services, were considered by the voters and were politely turned down: "losing" doesn't figure into that at all. I for one didn't "lose" this election: I just came about 700 votes from acquiring a seat... and I'm still rather shocked that I got the number of votes that I *did* get :-)To use the word "losing" so much implies that because we "lost the game", that the candidates who are raising this issue about Ron Price have some kind of axe to grind. That because we *weren't* successful, we're now using this to "vent our rage" on Ron Price.
That's not it at all. And I've already said that I'm not going to pursue Price's seat if he vacates it. For me personally, I don't want to see such a bad example set for the students of Rockingham County if Price takes this seat and somehow thinks that that's going to smooth over the fact that he broke the law...
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Ron Price is issued criminal summons over signs
Breaking now on Reidsville Review/Eden Daily News/other Media General newspapers:
Price summoned over signsEarlier tonight I received word that the Ron Price story may be about to break out bigtime. If/when it does I'll be posting the appropriate links here.Jennifer Williams
Staff Writer
Friday, November 17, 2006A criminal summons has been issued for school board member-elect Ron Price. Price is accused of injuring an advertisement, a misdemeanor.
Body: A criminal summons has been issued for school board member-elect Ron Price. Price is accused of injuring an advertisement, a misdemeanor. The summons guarantees that Price will be present for his 9 a.m. Nov. 30 court date.
On Monday, Nov. 7 Price was seen taking Brad Miller campaign signs along N.C. 14. Officers found seven road signs in Price's trunk. Both Miller's campaign and the Democratic headquarters declined to press charges against Price.
Debra Moore filed the complaint and Vernon Gammon is listed as a witness. Debra Moore is the wife of Richard Moore, narrowly failed school board candidate. It was reported in the Nov. 8 issue of The Reidsville Review that Gammon, the spokesman for Teamsters Local 391 and Miller supporter, witnessed Price taking the signs. Moore said "as the wife of a candidate" people taking signs "just really burns me up." Moore also told the newspaper that she supported Miller.
Price was elected to fill one of Rockingham County School's five newly created seats the day following the sign incident. Since then several unsuccessful candidates including Penny Owens, Christopher Knight, and Eric H. Smith, have publicly called for Price to step down. Several candidates have published their letters to the web. Owens, who says she has attended school board meetings and work sessions consistently for six years, lobbied for the five new seats to be created.
According to Sheriff's office representative Dean Venable, the complaint was issued Nov. 13. The complete official report was not released prior to press time. Venable said the complete report would be released after the paper work had been completed.
Price did not return phone calls from the newspaper.
Staff writer Jennifer Williams can be reached at jwilliams@reidsvillereview.com or (336) 349-4331.
Unconscionable
As my grandmother used to say: "It's not the whole world gone mad... just the people in it."When bidding ended it sold for $3,600.
Not that it's really my business that someone is willing to pay thirty-six hundred dollars for a PlayStation 3. But this really does seem to be materialism at its worst to me. The Xbox 360 has been out for a year but it'll probably still be another year before we get one: by then it'll be a lot more inexpensive, many more games will have been published for it, and at that point most if not all of the bugs will have been ironed out. To buy a high-end game system - or any other sophisticated piece of electronics - at launch is to welcome all the technical glitches that are probably still in the product.
There's more important things in life than waiting in line for a week at the local Best Buy for a game console... that may not even be in stock anymore by the time you get to the counter. And someone doesn't need to have the latest bleeding-edge toys to have fun.
(Now, I probably wouldn't mind a crack at a Nintendo Wii: much lower-priced, and its controller is really one of the most innovative things I've seen come from the video-game industry in quite a while... but I can still hold off on getting one.)
Ron Price now attempting to "scrub" his signs statements
If you go to Ron Price's blog there is nothing but a single post - also dated November 9th as the previous one about the "sign incident" - only this one is concerned with, of all things, "bio fuels" (here's the permanent link to the post). Apparently, Price is trying to hide his earlier comments regarding his being caught stealing the Ron Miller signs. Well, as of this writing you can still follow this link and read the original post he made last Thursday... but in case THAT goes missing I'm going to copy and paste the original text of his statement here for future reference:
Thursday, November 09, 2006Ron, if you are reading this, I'm going to reiterate this once again: we no longer trust you to serve us on the Rockingham County Board of Education. You are fast proving to us that you have no intention of putting the needs of the students ahead of your own ambition. Sadly, I am beginning to wonder if you ever had their best interests at heart to even begin with. The longer you persist in your insistence that you will be seated on the board, the less honorable you are coming to be perceived as being.Sign Incident
On the eve of the elections I came across a wrong that had been committed, signs that I had put up were taken down and others put in their place. I tried to correct it by committing another wrong removing the signs that had been put in the place of my signs. Two wrongs do not make a right.
For my actions I am truly sorry and I apologize to Congressman Miller, the Democrat Party and the citizens of Rockingham County. I know that neither Mr. Robinson nor Mr. Miller condone or support this type of action taken on their behalf by their supporters.
I thank Congressman Miller for not pressing charges and making an even bigger issue of this incident than it has already become. I cannot speak on the behalf of the others but my actions were not in accord with the Judeo-Christian Values that I cherish so much. I apologize to those who elected me and I pledge to serve you better as a member of the Rockingham County Board of Education.
posted by Ron Price | 5:41 AM
There is a lot more that I could say about this matter, but I'm gonna hold off on that. For now.
EDIT 12:02 PM EST: Within a few minutes of my first posting this, the original "signs incident" post on Price's blog completely disappeared. So someone is reading this space, apparently.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
RUMOR CONTROL: Reidsville Police Chief puts end to stories surrounding Ron Price's car trunk
Throughout the day I've been trying to reach Ed Hunt, Chief of Police for the City of Reidsville. About thirty minutes ago Chief Hunt returned my call: I was really impressed that even at this late hour he got back in touch with me.
He and I made some pleasant conversation and then I brought to his attention the subject that I've spent much of this past day investigating. Since sometime yesterday the rumors have been flying that in addition to the seven Brad Miller campaign signs that school board candidate Ron Price had stolen, that several other signs belonging to other campaigns were also found in the trunk of his car on the night of November 6th (the evening before last week's general election). To say that this place has been rife with speculation about what exactly was in Ron Price's car trunk would be a severe understatement.
Chief Hunt actually called me twice in the last little while. The first time he told me that he wasn't aware of anyone else's signs that had been found in Price's trunk, but that he would check with the officers involved with the incident and probably get back to me on Friday. A few short minutes after that, Chief Hunt called me again and said he had just spoken with one of the officers (who was off-duty at home this evening): they had a very good look at the insides of Price's trunk and the only things in it were a stack of his own signs, some Vernon Robinson signs, a few Robinson bumper stickers and the Brad Miller signs that Ron had picked up. No other candidate's signs were in the trunk.
There we have it: verification from Reidsville Police Chief Ed Hunt that other than the materials related to his own and Robinson's campaigns, the only other campaign signs that were in Ron Price's trunk were the seven Brad Miller signs. The rumors can hopefully now cease.
