They started out as
wary companions, but then
had a liplock lunge.

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Old guard, new guard and
older guard converge to swap
newsroom war stories.

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Even in the face
of tragedy, work gossip
Is oddly soothing.

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On the mountain, the
city seemed at peace with the
world and with itself.

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No one noticed the
rains came less and less, leaving
an untamed desert.

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Loved one treated in
back room. Can’t surrender to
simple helplessness.

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A hundred degrees
don’t make you smarter, but they
do make you suffer.

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Several Alabama media outlets won at the 58th annual Green Eyeshade Awards on Saturday, including WBHM (90.3 FM) winning first place overall in the radio division for its series, “Searching for Safetown,” after winning its category, Public Affairs Reporting.

More Alabama winners, plus the award for this blog, after the jump …

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Make the hair long, with
a flowing gown. Or have a
four-year-old draw it.

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Even driving in
circles can be fun with the
ideal passenger.

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Music reporter and columnist Mary Colurso would like you to know that running a festival like City Stages is very, very hard work, and that it’s probably too complicated for average folks to understand:

Bear in mind, I have no interest in perpetuating the status quo. Clearly, something isn’t working and has to change in the City Stages formula.

But every time I begin to delve into the festival’s guts — to discuss what a sponsorship entails, for example, or ask how the event’s footprint is configured — I realize that average concertgoers have no idea what it’s like to prepare an event like City Stages and make it happen.

Angry observers can grouse and complain, but they’re not the ones doing the work every year. Nor are most of them in a position to offer practical, effective advice on what City Stages might do to resolve its financial struggles and begin to thrive.

She also mentions that $533,000 in taxpayer money went to the 2008 festival, which will end the budget year around $250,000 in debt.

If we the citizens aren’t able to offer practical advice on how the festival can improve its financial situation, the newspaper of record shares the blame. After all, shouldn’t its music reporter of 11 years — who has access to organizers and documents, who has a master’s degree in journalism — be able to explain such a complex affair as projected revenues and shortfalls to you and me?

Understanding what makes a successful music festival tick in the 21st century, then revamping City Stages in such a model … well, that’s a tougher and more extensive task.

Help us understand, Mary, help us.

If, say, the City Hall reporter were to suggest that average citizens couldn’t understand or weigh in on Birmingham’s operating budget (which passed Wednesday) because of its size and complexity, then the newspaper would have failed in its mission to hold officials accountable while insulting its readership. Hmm.
• Birmingham News: Grousing’s not the way to build a better City Stages

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More headlines | send us your news tips.

Can we break grip of
technology’s distractions?
Are we not machines?

• • •

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Farm roll call: goats, cats,
peacock, chickens, puppies, cows,
llamas, pigs and worms.

• • •

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Much is given, much
is asked. Somewhere, the harvest
matches the hungry.

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1. litter rally
   Rubbish! Unkempt room
   surrenders to posse of
   garbage bags. Rubbish!
2. firefly serenity
   They blink across the
   deep blue darkness, heralding
   winter’s departure.
3. pollen on hard times
   The yellow coats are
   coming. The yellow coats are
   coming. No escape.

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