Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Sat, Jul 10 2004
Clancy And Crichton Don't Get This One--It's Mine
I cannot remember who provided a link to Brown Equals Terrorist, but do go and have a look at the site. Be sure to read the Artist Statement.
Along with dismay at the possibility of racism against Ian Spiers, I couldn't help but wonder why the DHS and other law enforcement agencies are so diligent in some areas, while they completely ignore other security issues. If you don't live in the immediate San Francisco area, you may have missed hearing about the explosive theft this past week. Crystal Springs Reservoir sits alongside Interstate 280 in the San Mateo area. It's a spot where fog often settles long after the mist has cleared over other areas. It's possible that this fog kept someone from knowing that a particular system of solar alarms had failed. It's a wooded area, and even if one found their way in, they would have to get through locks and doors, but if they persisted, they might eventually make their way to a storage bunker which held about two hundred pounds of explosive materials. There was no armed guard to stop the eventual thief, no barking dog, no alarm. The thief simply got the drop on the FBI and on local agencies who share storage there. They do have a suspect who has a long history of social and legal trouble.
I don't know what might be hidden around Seattle's Ballard Locks, where Ian Spiers was detained with his photography project, but I can't help but wonder. Was his experience a case of racism, or was it some sort of panic on the part of agencies seeking to steer people away from secret bunkers? Of course, it still seems odd that they singled him out with all those tourists snapping photos of everything in sight. Maybe Ian Spiers' mistake was his careful attention to lighting and exposure, and his careful documentation--the very details that might otherwise have proved his innocence. And if no one guarded Crystal Springs and its explosives, what on earth might be hidden near the Ballard Locks that brought all those men from several agencies to question Ian?
This sort of speculative intrigue would make a great jumping-off point for a blockbuster. I just might use it for that (so don't steal my idea). What isn't so great about it is the irony of two very different (seemingly random) incidents which, placed side by side, are very telling of the delicate condition of our present national, and personal, security.
posted at: 16:14 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
I cannot remember who provided a link to Brown Equals Terrorist, but do go and have a look at the site. Be sure to read the Artist Statement.
Along with dismay at the possibility of racism against Ian Spiers, I couldn't help but wonder why the DHS and other law enforcement agencies are so diligent in some areas, while they completely ignore other security issues. If you don't live in the immediate San Francisco area, you may have missed hearing about the explosive theft this past week. Crystal Springs Reservoir sits alongside Interstate 280 in the San Mateo area. It's a spot where fog often settles long after the mist has cleared over other areas. It's possible that this fog kept someone from knowing that a particular system of solar alarms had failed. It's a wooded area, and even if one found their way in, they would have to get through locks and doors, but if they persisted, they might eventually make their way to a storage bunker which held about two hundred pounds of explosive materials. There was no armed guard to stop the eventual thief, no barking dog, no alarm. The thief simply got the drop on the FBI and on local agencies who share storage there. They do have a suspect who has a long history of social and legal trouble.
I don't know what might be hidden around Seattle's Ballard Locks, where Ian Spiers was detained with his photography project, but I can't help but wonder. Was his experience a case of racism, or was it some sort of panic on the part of agencies seeking to steer people away from secret bunkers? Of course, it still seems odd that they singled him out with all those tourists snapping photos of everything in sight. Maybe Ian Spiers' mistake was his careful attention to lighting and exposure, and his careful documentation--the very details that might otherwise have proved his innocence. And if no one guarded Crystal Springs and its explosives, what on earth might be hidden near the Ballard Locks that brought all those men from several agencies to question Ian?
This sort of speculative intrigue would make a great jumping-off point for a blockbuster. I just might use it for that (so don't steal my idea). What isn't so great about it is the irony of two very different (seemingly random) incidents which, placed side by side, are very telling of the delicate condition of our present national, and personal, security.
posted at: 16:14 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
Wood Talks, In Her Hands
Stories aren't always told with words, and sometimes that makes profound art. But some lucky artists find a way to combine the two, and some even make words and alpha characters a part of the art itself. Go have a gander at the wood sculpture of Eleanor Glover. She has also worked at carving her own rubber stamps, teaching, business, and bookmaking. When she's not busy elsewhere, she apparently works in a studio situated above a chocolate factory, where music from nearby studios drifts in, along with the enticing scent of chocolates under construction in the workspace just below hers. Can you imagine a workplace where chocolate and music combine? Now, that's inpiration.
posted at: 09:41 | category: /Arts and Entertainment | link to this entry
Stories aren't always told with words, and sometimes that makes profound art. But some lucky artists find a way to combine the two, and some even make words and alpha characters a part of the art itself. Go have a gander at the wood sculpture of Eleanor Glover. She has also worked at carving her own rubber stamps, teaching, business, and bookmaking. When she's not busy elsewhere, she apparently works in a studio situated above a chocolate factory, where music from nearby studios drifts in, along with the enticing scent of chocolates under construction in the workspace just below hers. Can you imagine a workplace where chocolate and music combine? Now, that's inpiration.
posted at: 09:41 | category: /Arts and Entertainment | link to this entry
