02 November 2007
Zierlein and Granato reunited on KGOW-1560
Mike McGuff posted the news yesterday that Lance Zierlein was back on the air with old partner John Granato on KGOW-1560.
Today, the Chronicle's David Barron reports on the reunion:
One day into his new job at KGOW (1560 AM), Lance Zierlein said Thursday he is satisfied he made the correct decision by opting for a new opportunity rather than the stability of KILT (610 AM), his longtime former employer.
Zierlein on Thursday rejoined former KILT partner John Granato for a show that will air from 7 to 10 a.m. weekdays. They will be joined from 10 to 11 a.m. by Chronicle columnist Richard Justice, who will work solo from 11 a.m. to noon.
It was Zierlein's first on-air shift since June 8, when he was taken off the air at KILT because of his hesitancy to sign a new contract with the CBS Radio station. The parties settled their dispute in August, but Zierlien was not allowed to assume an on-air role at another Houston station until Nov. 1.
"I know I made the right decision," he said. "I like the people here, and I like the lineup here, and I think we have a great recipe for success. I have no second thoughts about making the move."
Astros first baseman Lance Berkman was the duo's guest for most of Thursday's show, so today will be the first normal show of the new regime.
"I want to do things basically the same way, but changing stations gives John and me a chance at a fresh start," Zierlein said. "We got a little complacent at 610, and this move has invigorated us. We're putting in more preparation and working hard."
It's nice to have those familiar voices on in the morning (at least on the mornings when KGOW's signal is strong enough).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/02/07 07:52 AM |
01 November 2007
Plaudits for Houston government
Governing magazine has announced its 2007 public officials of the year, and Mayor White is among the winners. Here is an excerpt from the announcement:
White, a former business executive with no previous experience in elected office, is a cool pragmatist who wants results rather than excuses. Key to his success is that he embraces his rivals as much as he does strangers. The Democratic mayor appointed Republicans to chair key council committees, clearing the way for much of his agenda and proving that good government is also the best politics. White won reelection in 2005 with a staggering 91 percent of the vote and this month is a shoo-in to win a third and, because of term limits, final term.
White, 53, is not the most charismatic big-city mayor around today. He's not on a crusade to take over the schools, bust up the bureaucracy or build expensive sports stadiums. Rather, he looks for definable problems with serious consequences and then figures out how best to use the power of his office to solve them. Two of White's biggest coups include shoring up the pension systems for city employees and police officers, and signing a labor deal with the city's firefighters, who had been without a contract for five years. White tries not to focus on more than four or five priorities at a time, he says, "because successful organizations, like successful people, can't optimize everything at the same time."
Elsewhere, City Journal's Nicole Gelinas recently praised Houston's Katrina efforts (led by Mayor White and former-County Judge Robert Eckels):
In the aftermath of the California wildfires, pundits have compared how government officials sheltered refugees at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium with how they sheltered Hurricane Katrina refugees at New Orleans’s Superdome in 2005. But the two disasters are so different that such comparisons aren’t illuminating....
[snip]
A much more relevant comparison is between New Orleans’s handling of Katrina evacuees and Houston’s handling of Katrina evacuees. Just days after Katrina flooded New Orleans, the state of Texas, and Houston in particular, welcomed the very same people who had been languishing in the Superdome to the Houston Astrodome and other venues. Moving quickly to take in more than 25,000 people who had been stewing in the Superdome’s filth, dark, and danger—as well as 40,000 others in need of public shelter—Texas’s state and local officials rose to the occasion, confronting a disaster for which they had never planned, a disaster that didn’t affect them directly until they chose to take on the responsibility. Houston maintained an environment of safety and security at the Astrodome, showing that a competent, flexible government with access to basic resources like electricity, modern medications, and an adequate police presence can meet the needs of any population. It doesn’t detract from California’s competence in handling wildfire evacuees to say that its performance at Qualcomm unlocked no secret new formula for adequate government performance. Houston provided the same good example two years ago.
We sometimes disagree with Mayor White's priorities and proposals, but there is no disputing that he has restored a level of competence and collegiality to City Hall that was sorely lacking during the Lee Brown reign of error.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/01/07 09:57 PM |
31 October 2007
Lifestyles of the less well-heeled
When voters aren't as "well-heeled" and "civically-active," this is what happens:
After a lengthy debate that at times got tense, the Houston City Council approved a low-income housing complex planned for Beltway 8 and the Gulf Freeway.
11 News first revealed neighbors’ concerns about the project last week.
Residents in the area said they have supported other low-income housing in the past, but said the proposed Regency Park complex was one too many.
No Mayor White riding to the rescue!
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/31/07 07:31 PM |
Looking for Channel 13's update....
Remember this story? A Pct. 4 deputy responded to a family disturbance and ended up arresting a woman. After that the charges, and the report, seemed to disappear. When I first heard about this I was shocked. First of all, every department has a policy against unlawful orders. Generally, the policies say officers are not to obey unlawful orders and to report the incident immediately. In this case I couldn't believe this incident would 'disappear' especially after the woman "injured the deputy." Anyhow, Channel 13 learned of it and wanted to be the first to break the story. The way I read the story, while trying to sound impartial it reads like a salivating fraternity boy at a strip club eager to get to the nitty gritty. It sounded to me it was already indicting before the investigation was completed. While my aim is not to defend the constable of Pct.4 (because I don't know the whole story) I do have to point out something I noted. Yesterday, the Chronicle ran this story. In it, the grand jury has indicted a captain for tampering with evidence and fired. No indictments were brought against the constable because there wasn't any evidence to support them. Of course many people will say that the DA's office won't prosecute a constable, and it's still a cover-up (ask Perry Wooten), but I don't buy it. I checked Channel 13's website today to see if the story is there. As of 10:42 AM today, the story isn't there. Instead is another 'investigative' story about a county commissioner. Maybe they forgot all about it.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: KTRK-13's Dave Strickland informs in the comments that the "story was broadcast yesterday on KTRK at 4pm, 5pm, 6pm and 10pm." Thanks for the update!
Posted by Jason @ 10/31/07 11:32 AM |
High-rise Clear Thinking; Mrs. White to the rescue; Mistreated Mayor
Clear Thinker Tom Kirkendall today blasts Mayor White for "capriciously manipulating local governmental power to sidetrack development of a condominium project in a neighborhood where he raises ... substantial political campaign funds."
Additionally, KRIV-26 reporter Isiah Carey reports that Mayor White actually whined yesterday that the media don't spend enough time highlighting his accomplishments!
Discuss.
PREVIOUSLY: Density is great (except when it's in the neighborhoods of the powerful), Mayor White assists "well-heeled" residents in high-rise fight.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/31/07 11:08 AM |
30 October 2007
Texans, Rodeo oppose Astrodome redevelopment boondoggle
The Chronicle's Bill Murphy reports that both Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo have come out against the Astrodome convention-hotel boondoggle:
The $450-million plan to reinvent the Astrodome as an upscale convention hotel may have died today when the Texans and Houston rodeo officials announced their opposition to the redevelopment effort.
The Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's contracts in effect give them veto power over new development at Reliant Park.
Officials at both organizations said they opposed the Astrodome Redevelopment Co.'s complex that would include a 1,300-room hotel, restaurants, a food court and amusement rides because it could hurt their operations.
The opposition of those two organizations will likely mean the end of the Astrodome hotel redevelopment fantasies. It may finally be time to get down to the business of demolishing the old eyesore.
RELATED COVERAGE: Houston Business Journal, KTRK-13, KHOU-11, KTRH-740.
BLOGVERSATION: Houston's Clear Thinkers.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/30/07 10:29 PM |
Marticiuc out, Blankinship in at HPOU
Hans Marticiuc is out and Gary Blankinship is the new president of the Houston Police Officers' Union, according to results posted on the organization's website.
KHOU-11's Jeff McShan has more on the new HPOU president:
Blankinship said while the critical manpower shortage is his No. 1 concern, improving the officers’ ability to call for help is on his agenda too.
HPD doesn’t have enough working radios, and there hasn’t been a priority to buy more because it’s being forced to switch to a digital system by 2012 -- a system that could costs more than $100 million.
“We’re trying to get officers all assigned a radio,” Blankinship said. “This situation that happened over the weekend: That possibly might not have happened if the officer had a handheld radio with him.”
Officer Hill was shot while working off-duty, an extra job, at the apartment complex where he lives.
Blankinship said working or not, all officers should have a handheld radio available.
“And we would like to move forward for all officers being assigned because they are subject to being called to duty at anytime even off duty,” he said.
Perhaps Blankinship’s toughest task will be the new HPD contract with the city, which runs out in 2010. The contract will determine officer salaries and benefits.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/30/07 09:45 PM |
Cohen notes it's an "interesting time" to be a journalist, hits the links
The Houston Press' Rich Connelly posts the memo sent out by editor Jeff Cohen related to yesterday's pre-Halloween slaughter at 801 Texas Avenue:
Newsroom restructuring
I believe that journalism is a public service. But, also, it is a business. And as a business, this newspaper is not immune from market forces in a media world that has exploded with new voices and commercial options.Market forces require the Chronicle to operate with reduced costs. All of you received this month's memo from the publisher framing a downsizing. To achieve that, this week we begin to roll out a restructuring in the newsroom. This process has neither been easy or undertaken lightly.
We will go forward with fewer journalists and support staff. We need to thank those who are leaving. They have played a role in building the Houston Chronicle into a strong regional newspaper and superb Web site. Our reporting today is more aggressive, our writing is more engaging and our newspaper is more visually alluring because of them and you.
How are we going to do all these things with less staff? It is a logical question in light of the sheer volume of material we publish each day in print and online.
Remember, we will continue to have the largest news operation on the Gulf Coast and probably twice as many journalists as all other Houston news media outlets combined. Remember also that our competitors today operate with lean, agile staffs. Competition, as we all know, comes from every direction - to see it you only have to walk by the racks of free publications on the street corner or do a Google search on any topic that we cover. We, however, will remain bigger, more talented and more creative than all comers.
Our reorganization will require a short period of adjustment to new ways of operating and new assignments. Some of the changes are addressed below; others will be announced in the coming days and weeks. John Wilburn and I also will try to attend department meetings in November.
For now, please be aware of these new assignments:
City/State Desk: The state operation merges with the City Desk and State Editor Laura Tolley reports to Metro Editor Tony Freemantle. Alan Bernstein becomes the local political writer. Terri Langford becomes the social services reporter.
Foreign/National: The Foreign and National staffs combine into one department under the leadership of Chris Shively.
Sports: Carlton Thompson is promoted to Sports Editor.
Business: Mark Babineck moves to the business desk as an assistant business editor leading a team of reporters and running the department's online efforts.
With all of this change, our strategy remains the same:
Focus on scoops and enterprise in the master narratives that drive our community;
Think Web first every day with 24/7 breaking news;
Expand our multimedia content with video and online database initiatives;
Develop topical Web channels that extend the reach of our Web site beyond news;
Aggressively engage our readers with interactive journalism and community Web sites;
Improve community coverage in our Spanish language publications in paper and online;
Develop niche publications, as we have done with Gloss and Health, in areas with potential for building new audiences.
This is the most interesting time I can remember in 30 years of working as a journalist. I certainly wish that the enterprise did not require rigid cost control in order to stay competitive. But, in the end, I still believe that journalism is a public service, that the commerce of ideas will prevail in the marketplace and that our work will make an indelible impression on the greater Houston area and Texas.
One suspects many of the journalists out of jobs don't share Cohen's exhilaration about these interesting journalistic times.
It is good to know that all the turmoil in the newsroom hasn't affected Cohen's golf game. To the contrary, Matt Bramanti reports that Cohen's handicap is down to a 9. Interesting times, indeed!
BLOGVERSATION: Brazosport News.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/30/07 06:45 PM |
Lifestyles of the well-heeled (cont'd)
We missed this gem from a few days ago by the Chronicle's Mike Tolson:
Love the Texans but hate fighting traffic on game days? You might consider catching a ride with team owner Bob McNair and his family, who get a three-officer motorcycle police escort from his River Oaks mansion to Reliant Stadium's front door.
Traffic lights are no obstacle. The officers pull into the intersections and put up their hands to stop all other traffic as the two McNair vehicles breeze on through. Total time in transit? Less than 15 minutes.McNair has been paying off-duty officers for an escort since the team's first season in 2002. Publicity about it prompted Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Jack Abercia to prohibit his officers from doing the extra work, but McNair found officers from other agencies to step in.
McNair spokesman Tony Wylie said there is nothing wrong with the VIP treatment and that he is not breaking any laws.
"He's just hiring this service to escort him from his home so that he can get there on time," Wylie said.
Let me get this right -- there's nothing wrong with someone hiring cops to help him violate traffic laws (i.e. running traffic lights), so long as the person has enough money and is in a big hurry.
Real nice attitude.
One wonders why traffic on gameday is much of a problem at all, though, given the absolutely putrid product that McNair and crew have put on the field every year of the franchise's existence.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/30/07 06:17 PM |
METRO changes video policy, effectively smears local media
METRO's PR representative Raequel Roberts has apparently decided that real-time, independent reporting on METRO does not fit well with the public organization's PR objectives. Here is the substance of a letter emailed to various local news organizations yesterday:
Dear [Redacted by bH]:
To provide for a more accurate account of accidents and incidents on our system, METRO is changing its policy for releasing videos from facility and vehicle cameras.
METRO will no longer release tapes the day of an accident or incident, but will instead release them when its investigation is complete.
This will ensure information provided to [Redacted by bH] is complete, allowing your staff to produce more factual reporting.
We encourage you to make your reporters aware of this change of policy, and we appreciate your cooperation as we try to provide the public with accurate information about the operation of its transit system.
Sincerely,
Raequel Roberts
Sr. Director of Media Relations & Corporate Communications
Let me translate that: We at METRO really don't care for independent reporting about METRO in real time, and so we will change our policy so that our PR-department-sanitized version of the news is released to the city's journalists well after the "news" has become "olds."
Note the intimation that local news organizations have inaccurately reported on METRO, and need Ms. Roberts' help to "produce more factual reporting." Obviously, news organizations should provide news consumers with accurate, factual reporting (and also timely reporting). If Ms. Roberts can document instances of local news organizations using METRO videos in real-time to report inaccurately, she should demand corrections (and perhaps put METRO's $76,000/year blogger to work putting those corrections online, in the name of getting accurate information to the public). But to hamstring the local media with this sort of edict strikes us as insulting and reactionary, and contrary to the goal of getting taxpayers accurate information about their transit organization as quickly as possible.
Here's hoping that reporters and news directors in town will object both to METRO's new PR policy and to Ms. Roberts' insinuations about their professional abilities to cover the organization independently and objectively.
ANNE ADDS: Hey! Recall when METRO CEO Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson said:
We operate the METRO organization in a completely transparent manner.
Yeah, using Metro's definition of transparency: obfuscation and procrastination.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/30/07 10:21 AM |
29 October 2007
Lone Star Emmy winners announced
Lone Star Emmy award winners have been announced, and Houston is well represented once again.
The full list of winners is here. Follow the [Read More] link for an edited version that includes only the locals. (It's a hyperlocal blog, after all.) Congratulations to all the winners, and the news organizations that support them.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/29/07 11:27 PM |
Layoffs at the Chronicle -- both voluntary and involuntary
Via Houstoned (and Banjo), we learn some of what went on at 801 Texas Avenue today:
Among the familiar names taking the buyouts are Louis B. Parks of the features section and Salatheia Bryant and Melanie Markley of the news side.
Among those leaving in a less voluntary manner are Steve McVicker, the former Houston Press reporter who’s been bird-dogging the HPD crime-lab scandal, and Thomas Korosec, the former Dallas Observer reporter who has been the Chron’s Dallas bureau.
Melanie Markley did the fine reporting on Mayor White's shakedown of the Center Serving Persons with Mental Retardation, and as Rich Connelly notes, Steve McVicker was doggedly keeping after the crime lab story. Did the Chronicle just give away a Pulitzer opportunity?
What a disappointing day. It's hard to comprehend that this is more valuable than Markley's or McVicker's contributions to the Chronicle; all we can do is shake our heads as upper management continues to make poor editorial decisions. And in this case, those decisions have affected the livelihoods of hard-working folks. We wish them the best in finding new opportunities.
UPDATE (10-30-2007): Banjo Jones posts an update with more names:
In addition to the names we posted yesterday, the additional buyouts/layoffs include:
Andrew Guy (features), Judy Minshew (editorial), Valarie White (business secretary), Bruce Westbrook (features) and Patty Reinert in Washington, we're told.
Westbrook, we're further informed, was laid off (as opposed to taking a voluntary buyout) and will sue for age discrimination [UPDATE (10-31-2007): Banjo Jones posts that Westbrook informs him this is not true]; we're not sure if the other people named today were involuntary or not.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/29/07 08:50 PM |
Worse than the Froot Loops Bureau
There is an interesting news brief posted on Chron.com at the moment:
A man walking along an east Houston road was fatally shot by the driver of a gray 4-door older model compact car early Sunday.
Alvin Decuier Jr., 18, was walking in the 5600 block of Mulvey near Sakowitz when he approached the car and briefly spoke with the occupants, witnesses told police.
A passenger in the car shot Decuier multiple times and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
To echo Matt Bramanti's question in the comments -- Was the man shot by the driver or the passenger of the car?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/29/07 10:49 AM |
Chron reader rep addresses election coverage
Steve Jetton, the Chronicle's interim reader representative, posts a reader's criticism of the newspaper's election coverage thus far (specifically, coverage of the constitutional amendments), and then responds as follows:
The Chronicle has written numerous articles about the amendments, including this round-up by Austin Bureau Chief Clay Robison that appeared on Oct. 21 and which I e-mailed to this reader.
Dean Betz, Online Content Director, said the Chronicle is partnering with E The People to produce an online voters guide that should be up and running by early next week. It will be available on chron.com's Politics page.
Tony Freemantle, Metro Editor, said a package of advance election stories will run in print in the City/State section on the Sunday before election day. And of course the paper will have continuing coverage of ongoing developments in political races right up until Nov. 6.
The Chronicle's election coverage has been better this time around, which is a positive development. However, as noted in the comments of Jetton's blog, both Betz and Freemantle seemed to miss the reader's point. Early voting started last week. An online voter's guide or package of stories that appears just before next Tuesday isn't much help to people who vote early. The newspaper understandably needs to fill print space with election-related stories right up until the traditional election day, but an online voter's guide that doesn't precede early voting isn't much of an online voter's guide.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/29/07 08:11 AM |
28 October 2007
Will taxpayers get to pay for the Main Street Line again??
You may know that Metro has selected Washington Group International as the "design/build" contractor for the Phase 2 light rail expansion. Back in 2006, WGI submitted a proposal to Metro that suggested (among many other hair-raising things) Metro sell the Main Street Rail Line, then lease back the line and all related facilities (page 10 of the pdf file). Metro would use the revenue generated from the sale to fund a portion of the Phase 2 rail expansion.
Nice!
Taxpayers have already paid for the Main Street Line, and if this proposal were to be enacted, taxpayers would get to pay for the line again, through a lease-back.
We don't know if this proposal is being considered, but it wouldn't be surprising if it is. This idea would be right up Frank "Procurement Disaster" Wilson's alley.
Big thanks to Tom Bazan and Ted Richardson for their continued work at shining a light on things Metro would rather keep in the dark.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/28/07 07:44 PM |
Stiles: Aggregate stats don't support recent perceptions on crime
Today's Chronicle runs an interesting bit of analysis by Matt Stiles on Houston crime data.
Stiles' conclusion? Perceptions that crime in Houston is surging aren't supported by aggregate crime data.
Stiles' effort is a nice first step in trying to replace subjective/anecdotal opinion about Houston crime with more objective analysis. I have in mind a post taking the analysis a bit further, but I've had a little trouble today reconciling FBI UCR data with some aggregate figures reported by Stiles, so my stats-heavy post will have to wait until Excel-master Stiles is back in the office and able (we hope) to share some of his spreadsheets.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/28/07 05:09 PM |
If Judge Emmett's tax rate cut was "token," what do you call Mayor White's?
After Commissioners Court approved Judge Emmett's requested one-cent property tax rate reduction, some called it a "token" cut.
What then should we call Mayor White's 1/8-cent rate reduction? Microscopic?
The point is, any reduction is better than no reduction, or an increase. One could argue in the city of Houston's case that a larger cut was in order due to the windfall tax revenues that the city has been receiving, on top of all the new revenue streams the mayor has put in place.
If reducing the tax rate becomes a trend for local governments, that's a good thing. If governments can slow the rate at which they rake in the cash, that's a better thing, especially considering governments don't earn money -- they confiscate it from hard-working taxpayers. If the state will do its part and pass real appraisal reform, that would be the best thing.
In the meantime, a "token" rate cut will have to do. It's certainly more than Harris County has done in years past, and it's a bigger rate cut than Mayor White offered up.
KEVIN WHITED ADDS: A recent comment by Neal Meyer resonated with me on this topic:
The other day, [the Chronicle] reported that cutting the 64 cent per $100 property valuation by a penny would result in $25 million in lost revenues to the county. As usual, the media then stated that a tax cut of that kind of result in paltry savings to property owners.
One of the things that irritates me about this kind of reporting is that defenders of government often use these kinds of statements to imply that tax rates should not be cut. After all, what's $12 right? What they don't say is that all it takes is for your assets to go up and you get whacked, nor do they think that if every time a $12 tax cut is enacted, then over time the savings returns to taxpayers begin to add up. Instead what we get over time is government creep instead of government rollback.
This is a key observation, because one does tend to see reporting and commentary that downplay the impact of property tax cuts based on what the reduction would save against the last tax assessment (versus what it would save against, say, the average appraisal-creep increase most homeowners face each year).
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/28/07 12:48 PM |
Grand Parkway is by developers, for developers
A few days ago, the Chron ran a (fawning) Q & A with the Gulf Coast Institute's David Crossley, and if we set aside most of the New Urbanism dreaming, he did make a good observation:
Q: Do you have the sense that Houston will get greener?
A: I think for five or 10 years we will lose massive amounts of green space, but I think at some point we will stop. There are 10 years of projects in the hopper and those projects are horrible; they are beyond belief and they are going up so fast they will probably devour as much as 1,000 square miles of land in the 10 to 15 years. But a lot of people are saying wait a minute, we don't have to accept that. We don't have to build those things. ... Of course if we don't build the Grand Parkway, most of that stuff doesn't happen. If we do build the Grand Parkway, all of it happens.
Q: So the Grand Parkway [a proposed 180 or so miles of highway circling greater Houston, a portion of which has already been built] is the great evil?
A: Actually it is. It's the worst project on the table. It is not a transportation project. If you look at the map of where it goes, no people live there. ... It is putting a road in rural places and saying, "Now you can go develop subdivisions."
Something we agree on! To elaborate on his statement that it's not a transportation project, but it IS a developers' project, the Grand Parkway was tabled decades ago as unnecessary for mobility, then brought back to life by developers (Billy Burge is president of the Grand Parkway Association) who see it as a golden opportunity to build subdivisions and retail centers.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 10/28/07 12:23 PM |
27 October 2007
Chau Nguyen leaving KHOU-11
Via Mike McGuff, we find the news that KHOU-11's Chau Nguyen will be leaving the station for... lots of travel, in the immediate future.
Here's an excerpt from the announcement on her blog:
Some have approached me with bewildering looks on their faces. Why would I want to leave a great job, at a great station, in a career I worked so hard to build (trust me, this is not a business for the weak)?
Because I do have passion for life, and life isn't just about work for me anymore.
What will I do when I return? Who knows? But just like everything else I do, I will do it with commitment and intent, with all the zest and energy I have, and I will do it with courage. It is silly to be afraid of an uncertain future.
That travel bug can be overwhelming. Here's wishing Nguyen the best, and that she'll post plenty of travel updates on her blog.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/27/07 12:30 PM |
The return of the Editorial LiveJournal
It's been quite a while since James Howard Gibbons and crew posted a true Editorial LiveJournal, so today's is a treat! Here's an excerpt:
If the French believe that gilding is the lily's proper fate, so violated is nature becoming that it might require gilding in order to be aesthetically pleasing. An example Ohlin provided are the bronzed, artificial rocks of artist Vija Clemens.
It's really world class when the Chief Editorial LiveJournalist breaks out the flowery prose!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/27/07 12:17 PM |
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