Pleasant Grove

     I visited with friends in the Jefferson County town of Pleasant Grove on Saturday, one of the places hit so hard by the Alabama tornadoes of April 27th.

     Among the hundreds who died in the state that day, ten people died there, nine women and a man, but after seeing the three-months later ruins it is hard to believe there weren't more people killed there. Block after block is now empty. Only by looking closely for portions of foundations or the outline of landscaping can you even tell there were even home there.

     My friends' home is one the way to returning to "normal", though you can tell nothing will be the same again.

The Last Day in Office

     Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb in the Supreme Court chamber in Montgomery, the day before she left.

     You can watch the report I filed after an exclusive interview with her here...including her wondering if budget cuts to the State Courts were punitive.

Ouch!

..and that's just part of it. Five luxury cars in all were involved in a wreck when the driver of the Bentley convertible above plowed into them in Monaco. Damage estimates are between $60-160k, but I would guess more.

(Thanks to sharp-eyed,careful-driver, Associate Editor-in-Chief Jay for spotting this cringe-inducing wreck story!)

Lifespan of the ISS?

   Not very long...according to a French news agency, the International Space Station will be sent to the bottom of the ocean in 2020...just nine years from now!

Real vs Special Effects

Doesn't this photo look like something from a special effects scene for a movie? It's not..it's an actual photo of that deadly high-speed rail accident in China. But it sure has the feel of a movie poster!

Freedom Riders Redux

     The Human Rights Campaign is sending a bus to tour the U.S. States that are unlikely to approve same-sex marriage willingly...like Alabama.

     It's reminiscent of the Freedom Riders bus tours that ended with thug kops and Klansman beating the civil rights demonstrators and burning the buses.

    We can only hope that the reception for this bus will be less violent.

     I've predicted that Alabama will be the last state...or may a tie between Mississippi and Alabama---to allow gay marriage, and no bus is going to change that.

     But there may be an awareness raising involved that's worth the effort. 

Marketing 101

     So some company wants me to stay as a customer of their overpriced service, and their marketing plot is this:

lock in savings at a low rate that's GUARANTEED for two years.

     Let me get this straight....you clearly are about to go up on your prices...the ones that are ALREADY so high I am an inch away from cancelling...and you are threatening me?...saying unless I sign a contract agreeing to pay those high rates for two more years, you'll increase them again and I'll stop SAVING?

    Tell 'ya what. Here's your chance to lock me in as a customer. Go DOWN on your currently too-high rates and maybe, just MAYBE I'll continue paying you every month. Clear enough? Geeze.

[UPDATE: 8/10/11 WSJ reports cable and dish companies see subscribers abandoning their services.]

MMMM # 155 Conventions Past & Future

     Way back in 2000, Alabama Public Television used a grant to go cover the two political conventions and use the then-nascent Internet to file reports. I wasn't on the trips, but I remember rather jerky video arriving back in Montgomery from The Democratic Convention in L.A. and the Republican gathering in Philadelphia. It was groundbreaking reportage back then and the teams were justifiably proud of their handiwork.*

     Over the years, the amount of time the networks spend covering the conventions has become smaller and smaller. Once there was virtually gavel-to-gavel coverage. Now only the 24-hour cable folks provide extended coverage.

    

 Now there's a brand new convention being called that will be entirely online, but it's for neither the Democrats nor the GOP  Americans Elect isn't a third party either, but an effort to go around the bogged- down nomination process, to skirt the two major parties and let Americans directly nominate a President/Vice President candidate team of their own choice. Talk about groundbreaking! And because if is all "New" Media, it may get more attention.

        My main concern would be that the process will be hijacked by some political entity, a political party or special interest group.

       The irony of this week's MMMM is that the doors to the APT facility in Montgomery will be locked and the employees will be on the street seeking work on Friday. The once groundbreaking state network is abandoning The State Capitol.

[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of this blog.]

*Here's the recollection about the APT convention coverage of former APT employee Chis Roquemore, now with AIDT. He says it was one of the proudest moments of his then early career:

     8 boxes of equipment that could now fit in a backpack. In 1998 we decided we were going to use the Internet to crudely cover the gubernatorial election. We did and it was one of the first examples in the state of up to the minute election results being provided that way. This was back in the time of dial up and America Online. There really wasn't a lot of video online either. So we did so well with that that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting gave us a grant two years later to cover the political conventions in Philadelphia and Los Angeles and send our reports back packaged and ready to go on the air via the Internet.
     This was 11 years ago. It was my idea. I had no idea it would work. In theory it would but no real-world test was available. Philadelphia was an experiment that didn't work. Everything worked fine except for the Internet. We stayed in a rather crappy hotel (the official hotel for the state republicans by the way) and the Internet service was awful. If not for the fine staff at WHYY in Philadelphia we might not have made it on the air.

     LA was much better. We stayed at the Universal City Hilton and they couldn't have been more accommodating We had dedicated T1 access to our room which happened to be a 25000 square foot ball room that we had 3 folding tables in. The best part about LA was that everything worked and since Alabama was two hours behind us, we were done working for the day at 2pm. Of course we were up and moving around 5am. But we still had plenty of time to check out LA.

     One other thing we did during both of these trips was select 2 republicans and 2 democrats and give the, each a video camera to document the convention through their eyes. Our two republicans were Cam Ward and Beth Chapman. Our democrats were Janet May and David White.

     It was really cool to see these things with virtual unknowns. Now one (Chapman) is Alabama Secretary of State and the other (Ward) is a State Representative.

     There was always a sense of yes this is Alabama Public Television but we're storytellers regardless of what our position was in the newsroom. And everyone who wanted to was given a chance to tell their stories There was and still is for me such a sense of family there. My first day at APT was June 5th 1990. The day of the gubernatorial race between Paul Hubbard and Guy Hunt. I was 17, still in high school and a volunteer to soak up as much about this industry as possible. Now 21 years later I teach in this industry, I created and produce a show still airing on Alabama Public Television and I'm assistant manager of communications for Alabama's workforce development agency. I owe my career to APT and the people that worked their today and in the past that helped shape me into the person I am today.

     I'm very proud of the work that I did at Alabama Public Television. I'm also very proud of the work that we all did as a team in Montgomery To produce the quality work that we did. APT in Montgomery was a training ground for so many people because they were given opportunities to try things to experiment to do things outside the box And that ultimately is what made it special and truly educational television.

Obit for a Birmingham Church Founder

     Received an indirect notice that a Roman Catholic Salesian Priest who started a Parish--Holy Rosary-- in Birmingham's Gate City-- when he was a Salesian "Brother", has passed. The note is as follows:

 Fr. Adelard "Del"Labonte, SDB, of our Community here in Orange, NJ, who passed away during the night at St. Joseph's Senior Center in Woodbridge. Fr. Del was a WW II navy vet who often spoke of his experiences on the battleship USS Arkansas off the coast of France on D-Day.  He spent decades as a brother down in Birmingham, first with Fr. Aloysius Trifari and then with Fr. Pat Corcoran. Del became a priest late in life.

That was all well before my time, but as a former Salesian student, I thought I would pass it on. R.I.P.

The Mercedes $2-Billion = The C166

     An article in a European auto magazine is reporting just how Mercedes will expand its plant in Vance Alabama: by adding another car to the lines, the C-166.

     The plant already employs some 2,800 people...no telling how many more will be hired when it starts cranking out the new M-Class sedan-like crossover model in 2015.

     The jobs will be welcomed, as mentioned in the previous post.     

Alabama's unemployment rate is close to 10%. But it won't do much for the always-in-the-basement Black Belt, where some counties have just below 24% unemployment.

     Would the answer be to plop down a plant in Wilcox County? Not as easy as it sounds. There's no interstate infrastructure to support a plant, though an extension of I-85 is on the drawing boards. The best state officials have been able to do is market the region as a great place to hunt and fish. For that, two-lanes and dirt roads work just fine.

Amy Winehouse Obit

The singer who said No. no, no to rehab is dead....cause undetermined, but...likely??? Just 27.

Jefco "reckoning"....

The headline in the Birmingham News: Jefferson County sewer debt reckoning imminent

     That means next week. The "reckoning" could mean a resolution, with some of the debt being forgiven, or not. Great timing. Jefferson County can declare bankruptcy next week as a kind of appetizer for the Unites States following suit a few days later, once the August 3rd deadline passes.

     And it really won't make much difference who is responsible for either financial catastrophe...commissioners who are in jail or those still free; Senators or Representatives or The President. Because we'll all be scrapping together roots and berries in the back yard trying to put food on the table.

     "Oh, Michelle! Nice to see you here...looks like we'll get that anti-obesity plan in place after all! And Mr. Speaker! Sorry all the tanning places have shut down....I guess you'll have to get your tan along with the rest of us out here in the fields..."

     Lord help us all.

After eight months, a tough row to hoe..

     It's been eight months since Republicans virtually took over Alabama State Government, getting any legislation they wanted with super-majorities in a special and regular session (though they managed to keep the big salary increase they used as an issue to win those majorities in November).

     So where are the jobs?

     That's the question tossed at Democrats in Washington all the time.

     Mr. Bentley ran on the jobs issue...even refusing to take a salary till "full employment" is reached. At this rate, he'd better apply for part-time work at the Wal-Mart if he wants to have some money to get presents for the grandkids at Christmas.

    The unemployment rate has only climbed during the Bentley administration.

    Meanwhile the new immigration law is hurting businesses that rely on immigration labor, like agriculture and service industries. In theory, they should be able to hire all of those unemployed Alabamians, no? Or might it be unrealistic to expect the NASA Engineer to wash dishes at the local restaurant?

     The truth is, Alabama governors only have limited power to increase employment, as do U.S. Presidents. It's the private sector, making record profits, that's sitting on its hands refusing to hire. They've discovered how to get more out of fewer employees. What motivation do they have to hire?

Down Here In Dixie

     The N.Y. Times has a column by Ginia Bellafante today about two Deep South reality shows that have cropped up on the tube. There's one about rich people in Texas, and one about good old Southern Boys trying to get the girl in Alabama.

     The writer has some very nice things to say about Alabama, somewhat less about Texas. That's all the more reason to forget my displeasure with the Times for this one blog posting and recommend you read the story.

     Like most things that are created for TV and movies, "Sweet Home Alabama" is full of stereotypes. But at least it's taped in Fairhope, Alabama. The unrelated movie by the same name was almost entirely shot in Georgia.

Signs of The Times

     Here's an online link to the story I produced this week on CBS-8 about the effort to rewrite the Montgomery sign ordinance.

     As you might imagine there are a lot of people who will watch this rewrite very carefully, including the billboard industry and environmentalists, some of whom call billboards "Litter on a stick".

[Of note: NH Supreme Court rules they CAN ban electronic billboards.]

Ouch.

Adam Serwer 

writes in a blog entry in The Washington Post:

The role black Republicans play has nothing to do with winning over black voters Rather, it’s all about reassuring white Republicans that there’s nothing wrong with the party’s approach to racial issues.

     It got me thinking about black Republicans in Alabama. Tuskegee's Johnny Ford used to be a Republican, but I think he returned to his Democrat roots.  

     Others? If not, why not? The state GOP has tried over the years to attract more black members and candidates, with little success. 

[UPDATE: GOP makes big gains in poor, young, white males. Especially since President obama's election.] 

The Global Kid (w/Alabama Roots!)

     Newsweek includes a major article focusing on raising a "Global Kid"...and it starts by focusing on Demopolis, Alabama raised Multi-Millionaire investment expert and author Jim Rogers. The magazine quotes him as saying:

“I’m doing what parents have done for many years,” Jim Rogers says. “I’m trying to prepare my children for the future, for the 21st century. I’m trying to prepare them as best I can for the world as I see it.”

     He says the future is Asian...and so he and his wife moved to Singapore, where his daughter Happy speaks English and Mandarin fluently.

     Those of you who are parents of young children (or grandchildren) read the article and wonder...am I doing enough?

[A small addendum. During my Talk-Radio years in Birmingham, a PR person (was it Lynn Sampson?) kept trying to convince me to book Jim Rogers on a show, and it never happened. He was riding motorcycles around and spouting investment advice back then and I just couldn't get a handle on him for an interview. Jim: all is forgiven. I was wrong! Come home! (-:  [

Worst Menu Choices

8 'Xtreme' Meals: Report Identifies Worst Menu Choices Here's some perfect lunchtime reading for AlaBamaObese....what NOT to eat.

The New Mercedes from Alabama

     Alabama officials will be at the plant in Vance this afternoon to unveil the latest model of the M-Class. Lots of special features, according to one online auto site...including an anti drowzing system that learns your physical profle as you drive and then alerts you if you appear to be falling asleep. Zzzzzzzzzz

Debt Ceiling / Svet Ceiling...!!!

       Now two major financial forces have said the debt ceiling should be done away with. First it was Moody's, the rating agency. And now it's Warren Buffett.
       Not that they're exactly disinterested spectators.

       But while an elimination of the ceiling might end all of this political posturing, it would also allow, in theory, unlimited debt....probably the last thing the tea-party folks want to hear.

       And let's not forget it was the ratings agencies like Moody's that said the sub-prime mortgage investments were just fine! 

        And those ten times the debt ceiling was raised during the G.W. Bush years, where was Mr. Eric Cantor then?

MMMM # 154 NON-Profit media bias

      The Pew Center is out this morning with an interesting study of news generated by non-profit news organizations (though almost all would seem to qualify for that status these days), and concluded that there can still be a bias, despite their non-profit status.
     Also of note,  a column in Sunday's Washington Post about the diminishing importance of the Washington Press Corps.

(The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of this blog.)

Obama rejects Elizabeth Warren

Watch Elizabeth Warren here, on CNN in May, and then read the story in the NY Times today reporting that she has been passed over for the job of leading the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The President threw her under the bus because she became a GOP target for her outspoken criticism of the financial industry. The former Attorney General of Ohio is the nominee.

But Alabama Senator Richard Shelby is still unhappy:

President Obama waited until the last possible moment to act. For months he has ignored Republican concerns about the lack of accountability at the CFPB and its potential adverse effect on the economy"

The Suspect is..US!

    I've suspected for a long time that The Montgomery Advertiser played a part in the "Montgomery Plume", the stretch of contaminated groundwater underneath Downtown Montgomery. I said to any number of people over the years the the building's location, up high on Washington Avenue, and its raw materials: ink and chemicals, made it a prime suspect.

     This morning, The Advertiser itself has the story that the EPA has reached the same conclusion. The agency also points a finger the State Board of Education because of it's large printing operation.

     It is especially interesting to read the Advertiser's official comments...virtually meaningless babble. Reporter Jill Nolin did the "interview" though it's little more than press-release quotes. She's a good reporter, but most of her story is information from the EPA.
    Nolin writes:

The EPA believes the Advertiser could have poured "trade wastewater" down floor drains that were connected to the sewer system or washed soiled rags on site...(from the 1940's till the 1970's.)

     The old Advertiser building is now owned by Montgomery County, which spent millions renovating it.
     A few questions:

• Will the EPA seek financial damages from the the paper or the state (both of which are already suffering from The Great Recession.)
• Will the County (i.e. taxpayers) sue the Advertiser to compensate it for the loss of value in the building?
• Will the Advertiser appoint an outside reporter to write stories about the plume and give that reporter access to question management, the way the paper would on any other story? Let's face it, you can't report on yourself in a controversy without appearing to have a bias.

• As Jill's story asks, will the new plume developments hurt the city's Dexter Avenue developments?

The OLD Cramton Bowl

     There has been a lot of activity at The Cramton Bowl in Montgomery these days because a $10-Million renovation is almost complete.
     Even with those renovations only partly done, it served as the venue for the All-Star High School football game Thursday night.
    Anyway, I came across a fascinating 1920's photo of the Bowl, which I discovered was built on an old landfill as a baseball stadium, and was the first field in Alabama to host nighttime High School Baseball games.

     It's especially interesting to see all of the farmland around the stadium. All of that land is developed now, much of it with state office buildings. And the Bowl itself is named for the businessman who donated the (landfill) land for the facility, and eventually took on the project of seeing it built too.



Just Google It...

The unexpected impact of 

.....on what we remember and how we remember it!

Does Real Evil Exist?

"Of course," you've probably answered, and correctly I would guess. Take just about any war involving just about any country in the last few thousand years and you'll find multiple examples.

• The Crusades? check,
• WWII? Of course.
• Iraq? Ditto.

     But there's not much that comes to mind in everyday society to match the event in Brooklyn New York a few days ago.
    The combination of the the trusting parents...the innocent lost child's request...the timing, and the incredible cruelty of the killing, make for chilling reading.
    Yes, evil exists, and showed itself this week on New York's East 2nd Street.

Aging

An AP poll of "Baby Boomers" finds most worry more about loss of strength and physical ability than loss of beauty. Regarding the word "old"...many don't think it applies to them!

Alabama's Death Penalty

     A new report from the Montgomery based Equal Justice Initiative finds judges more routinely overrule juries in death penalty cases than in any other state. And in the vast majority of times they do so, they sentence a convicted killer to death, reversing the jury's finding of life without parole.
     Why the we-defend-our-rights state allows the  government to overrule the people so blatantly is beyond me. Maybe they think their fellow citizens on the juries are too stupid to reach the right decision and they think the government will do better?

Exhilaration, horror, and then death.

     This weekend's West Alabama plane crash was the second such incident in the state in weeks to destroy a family and leave behind a single survivor.
     In this case, an 18 year old daughter was the only sibling to stay home in Florida and not join her parents and five siblings on a family reunion trip to Missouri.
     Last month, another small plane crashed, in Guntersville, killing the two adults and one of the two children on board. The 7 year old boy is "expected to make a full recovery" according to doctors. And while I hope that is true, both survivors will no doubt live with doubt, and grief, and guilt.

    It is yet another reminder of Tim's oft stated belief that there's a Mack Truck waiting for all of us, literally or not.
    I've flown in small planes and spent thousands of hours in a small helicopter, fully knowing that I was just seconds away from a disaster not of my making; a loose bolt, a weakened hose; a neglected gas tank. And my only involvement was my decision to get in the thing in the first place.
     My hopes and prayers go to that young boy and young woman, that they will find a way to truly survive, to somehow use the pain for something good.

MMMM #152 HUGH Storms Detected!! By UPI!

BIG story this week...lightning storms on Saturn!
     Actually, the big story was the fact that I read about it on a UPI page. I didn't know UPI even existed anymore!
     During my early decades in Alabama, there was a rather fierce battle between UPI (United Press International) and AP (Associated Press), at least in Alabama. Not so much for subscribers, but to see who would break stories first. The radio stations that subscribed to UPI seemed out of the mainstream. Most of the broadcasters were AP
    UPI is still operating...with a HQ in D.C....but the company's web site has not a single reference to radio or TV on its front page, instead marketing the old "wire" service to corporations and boasting about how many hits its website gets.

     To be honest, my own memories of UPI are probably slanted because I was heavily involved in the AP Broadcaster's Association for a lot of those early years (twice as President)...and outstanding reporters like Bob Lowry (The Huntsville Times) and Alvin Benn (The Montgomery Advertiser)...who were both excellent UPI reporters...will no doubt point to the 1960's, when it appears UPI dominated Alabama Civil Rights coverage. Here's a page Lowry has online with UPI images. And Benn wrote about his UPI experiences in Reporter, a book published several years ago.

     And there's this classic photo of Bob sitting in Yellow Mama, Alabama's now second string electric chair. How many reporters managed to get that photo?

    Finally, writing this MMMM about wire services and not mentioning Hoyt Harwell, retired veteran AP bureau Chief, would be a sin of omission.

     I learned a lot from Hoyt in those days, including to always question anyone who tells me something is "the first"  of anything to happen. Really? First? Are you sure? Usually it isn't.

[Note: this was a tough week to decide the topic(s) on MMMM. There was the huge merger of three Montgomery TV stations (including the one I work for, WAKA!), the entire Casey Anthony murder verdict in Florida,  the 20th anniversary of the L'Express jet in Birmingham, which happened in the middle of the local station's 6:00pm news, the shutdown of the British tabloid, News of The World over the phone hacking scandal, and then from Dana Beyerle late in the week, the story that APT is closing the Montgomery Production Center at the same time it is keeping open a bureau in Washington D.C. that was opened in the middle of the Great Recession. In the end I blogged about two of those five during the week and went with the UPI piece today.] 

[The Monday Morning Media Memo is a regular feature of this blog.]

The Great Recession Sinks All Boats...but Some Faster than Others.

    The AP has a story out in multiple papers about the Middle-Class African-Americans who are falling back into poverty because of the effects of the terrible economy.

SMMM -- Boston Fourth of July Fireworks

A great show, but the executive producer, a businessman and philanthropist, shot some video of city landmarks in advance and then mixed the video, making it appear as if it was part of the live broadcast. Says the producer: it was entertainment, not news. The make-believe "live" shots were spotted by the some sharp-eyes folks at The Boston Globe who realised the shots were physically impossible. That's a slippery slope, when all they had to do is disclose the fakery and be honest with viewers about what they were seeing. (This Saturday Morning Media Memo is required because of an outpouring of media events this week. Watch for a full MMMM on Monday! The MMMM is a regular feature of this blog.]

SMMM* The Star Wrestles with The Comment Bear

     Like many other newspapers, The Anniston Star has been trying in recent years to tame a demon of their own making.    
    As I've written more than once on this blog, the industry invited the worst of Talk Radio into their front yard when they started allowing their "readers" to leave comments anonymously after each online story. And like the radio version, the commentators took advantage of their secrecy to spread racism, hateful mean and mean-spirited trash. On the papers own property! By invitation!
    Now The Star and others have stopped accepting those comments, and have adopted a Facebook program to tame the Wild-West street corner trash-talking.
     As far as I'm concerned, people who complain that their right to free-speech is somehow being violated are free to go start their own damn newspaper.
    
[*This unusual Saturday Morning Media Memo (SMMM) is a creature of necessity. There were already four topics competing for space in tomorow's regular Monday MMM.]

20 years ago Tomorrow in Birmingham

     The most deadly plane crash in Birmingham's history, July 10, 1991. Thirteen people died. The only survivors were the pilot and Birmingham lawyer Mabry Rogers
     You can read the FAA report on the crash here.

     To read about Rogers analysis of his survival from a religious context, go here for a Samford University's professor's discussion.

Promised Immigration Lawsuit Filed

     The Civil Liberties Union of Alabama and The Southern Poverty Law Center have joined a national immigration group in a suit against Alabama's immigration legislation.
     An AL.com story quotes the sponsor of the new law as saying he knows the motivation of those organizations:

State Rep. Mickey Hammon, R-Decatur, defended the bill he sponsored in the Legislature, saying, "It is no surprise that liberal groups working to shield those who live here illegally are trying to block implementation of our state immigration statute."

     The suit was filed in Huntsville.

1 weird old scheme

     Yes, if you spend any time online you have seen the ads thousands of times.....a hand drawn belly with a promising "old tip" to lose weight.
     Now the Feds have filed lawsuits against the seemingly innocent ad campaign, which they allege ends with unapproved credit card purchases. The Washington Post has the story.

Earliest Voice Talent Ever

     The folks at the National Park Service have managed to "play" what is believed to be the oldest example of a voice recorded for a commercial purpose....127 years ago.

 
   It was a Thomas Edison recording of a woman reading "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to be built into a doll...the world's first talking doll in 1888. Unfortunately for Edison, he was, as usual, way ahead of his time, and that business venture failed.
     You can listen to the recording and read the story on the National Park Service website.

BREAKING NEWS

     Watch CBS-8 News in Montgomery tonight for word of groundbreaking developments in the future of Montgomery Television in general, and specifically WAKA.
    A new GM, and a new coalition.

[UPDATE: CBS 8 is part of a huge media merger. Read it here.]

Weather and Property Insurance in Alabama

     Two big stories this morning regarding severe weather in Alabama...starting with a Birmingham News piece about the April tornado outbreak. If taken together, those tornadoes would represent the 5th most costly disaster in U.S. History.

     And The Huntsville Times reports Alabama now holds the record for the number of F-5 tornadoes, the most powerful and often most deadly category....seven of them since 1950. (I took the photo to the right from a helicopter the morning after the 1977 F5 Smithfield Estates tornado.)

     Add it all up and insurance rates in Alabama are sure to head upward, though the experts say that's more because of the overall increase in weather damage from thunderstorms than from the tornado damage.

Happy Birthday to The Capri

Note: This is lifted directly from an email sent by The Capri Film Society....)

Montgomery's only independent movie theatre, the Capri, will celebrate it's seventieth anniversary by showing the first film ever projected at the theatre: "Love Thy Neighbor" starring Jack Benny, Fred Allen and Mary Martin.


Everyone is invited to attend on Thursday, July 14 for the one time only screening at 7:30pm.

Originally opened as the Clover Theatre on July 18, 1941, the Montgomery neighborhood theatre has been in continuous operation for seventy years. The Capri Theatre has been operated since 1983 by the Capri Community Film Society, which purchased the building last year.
     "We are, of course, excited to continue seventy years of tradition by operating the Capri Theatre as the anchor of Old Cloverdale," said Director Martin McCaffery. "We are even more excited by the support from the community which allowed us to keep the theatre going. We hope people will turn out to see how it all got started."
     According to the opening day ads "Clover Theatre is all you wish it to be and a thrill awaits you when you behold this beautiful example of modern theatre construction." Tickets at the time were 20¢ for adults and 10¢ for children under 12. The Clover featured staggered seats and "refrigerated air-conditioning."

     "The prices are higher, the seats are no longer staggered, and the AC is much better than 1941," said McCaffery, "Nonetheless, it is still the best place in Montgomery to see a movie, and the only place to see a movie on film."
     "Love Thy Neighbor" was the first cinematic pairing of the famous comedians who had been publicly "feuding" since 1937. The film carries their feud onto the screen, with up and coming actress in her pre-Peter Pan days Mary Martin caught in the middle.
     "We've wanted to show the film many times over the years," said McCaffery, "but we were always told there were no prints. By sheer coincidence we discovered that a composite print was made in 2009 and we will be allowed to show this only existing 35mm print."


For more information about the poster sale call 334.262.4858 or online at www.capritheatre.org.
The Capri Theatre is located at 1045 E Fairview Ave in Montgomery, Alabama. The theatre is owned and operated by the non-profit Capri Community Film Society. For more information about the Capri, visit the Capri Theatre Website


The only question I have is this: WHY was the balcony closed (as indicated in the ad)? Sounds mysterious. I'm sure it was, like everything else in Montgomery in 1941, segregated. Was the balcony "blacks only" seating, and not open for the Grand Opening?

The secret to a lifelong marriage?

                                                       

"We have a full and equal partnership, and have had since I first got involved in politics."

                                                       Jimmy Carter on his Wedding Anniversary

     His and Rosalynn's is the second longest presidential marriage in history, 65 years on Thursday.
     George and Barbara Bush have the longest.
     The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the story.

Big Fish

     The movie of that name was filmed in the Montgomery area in 2003 and the story centered on, well, the story of a Big Fish.

     Today's Washington Post includes a real Big Fish story...143 pounds worth of Blue Catfish...and it's not a Father's mythical story to his son.
     As for myself, my Dad tried to get me interested in fishing...and I played at it a bit during summer camp...but mostly it was too slow of an activity for me to enjoy.
     Maybe it was because the bait-worthy fish in this picture was about the only thing I managed to catch?

*At one point in the Big Fish  movie, the zip code I live in is displayed on a document, and according to the IMDB listing linked above, the photos of "old bankers" on the wall of the bank are actually the founders of Bishop-Parker, a local furniture store.
    

Space Camp and The Real Deal

     The Washington Post reports on the shifted mission of Huntsville's Space Camp in light of this week's last shuttle launch.
     Funny how all of the GOP presidential candidates agree that there should be no federal funding for human space flight, but the GOP generally is opposed to eliminating or cutting the tax breaks for the companies that build corporate jets.
     INNER Space GOOD! OUTER space BAD!
     And incument Democrat Barack Obama is being criticised by none other than Neil Armstrong (and two other moon mission commanders)---who barely ever says a word about anything---in a USA Today editorial. They say Obama is to blame for a NASA that is in disarray.
     The last shuttle mission launches on Friday morning.
     Live long and prosper.
     But keep your feet planted on Mother Earth.

40+ years back - The Doors & Alabama

In my teens, three of my friends and I formed a kinda band that kinda covered The Doors, so Sunday was flashback time...the 40th anniversary of Jim Morrison's overdose death. Here's a song I listened to in the years when I had no clue I would spend most of my life to come in Alabama. And here's to Steve and Ed and Paul, whereever you may be.

Banishing Death

How's that for an eye catching header?

And here's the intriguing quote from the story:

"...with each major advance in longevity, scientists will buy more time to make yet more scientific progress.

     In his view, this means that the first person who will live to 1,000 is likely to be born less than 20 years after the first person to reach 150."

Wow. How long would you want to live?