h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This is why I haven't posted much recently.

http://public.fotki.com/Hypatia/frida-and-diego-exhibit/

These don't quite show it all, but it's darned close.

In the constantly doing damage control department, the local rag publishes an events calendar that lists things going on in the area for a week in advance. They incorrectly listed my movie night that goes along with the exhibit for Thursday . It is supposed to be on Wednesday. Cinco de Mayo. So Saturday morning, I e-mailed them with the correction. Unfortunately they didn't change it. Theyb probably don't have anyone working that column on weekends. So the wrong date is listed in the Sunday paper, which is the only one lots of people read, and this morning's as well. The correct date was in the Webb City paper, but a lot fewer people read it.

So, do I show it on Wednesday or Thursday or both? The movie being "Frida" naturally.

Pick a minimum number of patrons. If that many show up on either day, show it.

Are you showing the Selma Hayek film?

Yes. With a disclaimer that it's R rated and persons under 17 need to be accompanied by an adult. I like the movie, so could survive watching it twice.

A quite impressive exhibition!

I've been asked a couple of times why I pluck my eyebrows, and I usually reply that 'I don't think the Frida Kahlo look would suit me'. They used to be at least three times as thick as now, pitch black and had almost grown together when I started plucking them.

Wow, you've been busy.

Show them on both days, it would be so frustrating for people to come there for the film and then to find out the paper had it wrong. I had something similar the other week: both the internet AND the newspaper said the film would start at 6.30pm. We arrived at the cinema at 6.00pm sharp to be told it had started at 5.00pm. They had changed it on that day - but we had checked on that day, about an hour before we left home.

I think you should ask that newspaper what they are going to do to make it up to you.

Good idea. I'm sure their boilerplate legalese exempts them from just this sort of thing, but it doesn't hurt to ask nicely.

We've had a rather strained relationship with the Joplin paper for years. Getting them to promote any of our events is like pulling teeth. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. And they have yet to print a comment of mine that wasn't misquoted. They are pretty much the only game in town, so they can get away with it. The Webb City paper is great, but it's a weekly and has a limited readership. There is an online only paper that no one even knows is there. Putting notices there is a total waste of time. A small daily minus Saturday in Carthage that no one reads, either. There is a community events website sponsored by the Joplin Chamber of Commerce that we use sometimes. Our local NPR station gives us publicity sometimes. The Joplin paper is the largest daily between Springfield and Tulsa and is the one everyone in the area reads. So having it wrong there is not a good thing.

Annoying. You mentioned Joplin, MO, which rang a bell.

Do you remember the Bob Cummings Show? Apparently, the actor was from Joplin, and they made jokes about it all the time.

Bob Cummings was indeed from Joplin. As was Dennis Weaver. Chester from Gunsmoke.

We are just north of Joplin. The city limits run together in several places. Joplin is an odd sort of place. Not much industry, but it's the shopping hub for the region, which takes in Northwest Arkansas, Southeast Kansas and Northeast Oklahoma. The metropolitan area is approaching a half million people, although Joplin itself is only around 50,000. It's the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state. Besides more stores than one would expect for a city it's size, it's located on major highways going both east and west and north and south which means there are a lot more hotels and restaurants than you'd expect. The wage scale and cost of living are low because most of the jobs are in retail or some sort of service industry.

Or it could have something to do with 30 years of Reaganomics; Upwards Redistribution of Wealth.

CZ, this is a washed up mining district. All the wealth was taken out of the ground decades ago. The average working joe around here has always been poor. We aren't quite as poor as some of the pockets in the Appalacians, but there is definitely a higher than average rate of poverty. The lower cost of living helps offset it. I earn enough to live comfortably here, but the same salary wouldn't be enough in most parts of the country.

The cost of living is quite low in this area as well. While it's still a major energy/petroleum industrial area it also lost a large amount of jobs following the oil boom/bust in the 80's. The Houston area is bigger, but that doesn't mean that most of us are richer. Far from it. We also have a largely service economy.

I lived in Beaumont for 3 years back in the mid-70's. We went to Houston now and then, but it's been that long since I was there. I probably wouldn't recognize it now. I do remember that I didn't get lost in Houston but was always lost in Dallas.

Houston had the 610 loop. If you get lost, keep going and you'll run into it and know where you are. Now Houston has (nearly complete) 3 concentric circles. The Loop, The Beltway(8) and the Grand Parkway. It's just nothing but SPRAWL.

Reminds me of San Antonio. When we first moved there we were on the far north side of town. Barely in the city limits. By the time we moved back to Missouri, the city had spread a good 5 miles north of us.

The paper finally corrected the date. But the damage has already been done. I've decided to show the film both nights. I realize it isn't our fault the date was incorrect, but it isn't the public's fault either. We'll have our Cinco de Mayo showing with Mexican buffet. Then if anyone comes on Thursday, we'll show the film again. What a mess. I'm trying to find someone to come in on Thursday evening to show it so I don't have to be there. I have other plans. Staff is really stretched right now.

Just leave a note that says, "Hit Play".

The volunteer who is scheduled to sit at the reception desk for the exhibit isn't smart enough to understand such a note. She's sweet-natured and reliable, but dumb as a post.