At the LC, we pride ourselves on our in-depth coverage of important local issues such as the effort to save the "T" and the on-going controversy over legislation regarding the homeless (a vote is slated today over whether to prohibit 'verbal panhandling'). But we also enjoy more unusual tales, such as the following 'breaking news' story that appeared yesterday in the LJ-World on-line (and thanks to Lawrence.com for posting a photo and a caption contest...you should check that out too!):
"Lawrence Douglas County Fire and Medical and officers from the Lawrence Police Department are investigating a man who is standing on the roof of the Cadillac Ranch.
Officers approached the building but have since moved back to positions away from the building. A fire truck, an ambulance and police cars are on the scene, but in a place where the person can't see them. (Chipnote: "This seems unlikely. The guy is on a fucking roof.")
"We're hoping he gets bored, and he'll just come down on his own," said Lawrence Police Sgt. Michael Monroe.
The man is described as wearing a white T-shirt and camouflage shorts.
More information as it develops."
After quietly observing the man for close to three hours (while passersby reportedly tossed cigarettes and a lighter up to him), officers were able to "coax" him down and determine he was a 'transient' just arrived from Denver on the Greyhound. What he was doing on the roof remains unclear.
Richard: "I love this story so much, almost as much as the guy who got his pants set on fire at the Replay. In fact, I've been thinking about 'occupying' a local roof myself, but as some sort of protest, as opposed to just random loony transient behavior. Perhaps I'll take to the Replay roof wearing my Ad Astra Per Aspera shirt and refuse to come down until they lower the prices of rock shows back to two dollars. Many shows are now three, and that extra buck buys 3/4 of a PBR. And in these rough economic times, every sip of PBR is precious."
Chip: "I'm thinking of 'occupying' the roof of Quinton's while wearing elastic pants. Not as any sort of protest, but just in an attempt to impress the waitresses."
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One of the popular books of the season is the Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging, a tome (actually written by Ariana's army of unpaid blog-slaves) that will certainly inspire a new wave of bloggers. Here's some advice from the blog queen herself:
"Huffington: Anything that keeps people reading is a good thing! And blogging has certainly led to a renaissance of sorts for the written word. We live in a culture dominated by visual imagery and communication, so having so much vital writing on the web has helped re-habituate the younger generation to reading ... and hopefully blogs will be a gateway drug that leads them on to the harder stuff of books."
Richard: "My goal at the LC is not so much to lead the young back to the power of the written word so much as to make a bunch of sex jokes I don't usually get to make in 'real life.'"
Chip: "I'd totally bang Ariana Huffington."
Huffington also praises blogging as a means of giving 'voice' to people who have heretofore had no access to mainstream media: "One of the original reasons for starting HuffPost was my feeling that some of the most interesting voices in our culture weren't online--and I wanted to make it easier for them to make the transition."
Chip: "Well, she's right about this. As a South Kansas conservative in liberal Larryville, my views were previously 'tolerated' at best and more often dismissed out of hand. But with the LC, I find myself being seriously discussed in hipster circles, although most of their analysis misses the point that I really do mean every word I say here."
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