WEEK EIGHTEEN OF FRIENDS OF FRIDAY FORUM

Working in the Media during and Election year … Hello all! Well it's been an interesting week. I thought that I would describe what its like to work for the media during a presidential and/or national election. To start with, as a reporter/photog (that's what I am) you have to be neutral when you go out into the field to get your story. It's hard to stand there and hear something that you disagree with, and not say anything; it’s not fun at all. This week, on Tuesday, Bush "graced" La Crosse with his presence. I got my first taste of having to deal with a presidential speech. We had to be at the center where the speech was at by 6:30 am (I'm not a morning person). We had to stand in line to get our passes (I now am the owner of an official White House press pass) then it was time for the search. We had to put all of our bags, cameras, tripods, etc down a hall, and then walk away to be searched our selves (we could not watch our gear being checked over by the Secret Service). The only negative thing that happened was the chief photog forgot his knife cutter in his bag, so that raise an alarm, but it was alright in the end. I stayed inside long enough to see the podium, and the national network set-up. But, I got kicked back out side to cover the protester/Demo response to the visit. It was great getting to cover the protesters. One of the guys was dressed up wearing a Bush mask, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat (I had the Pearl Jam song "Bushleager" in my head the whole time). It was a peaceful protest, and it got their message across. They also had several dairy farmers there to bring attention to the Milk tax that Bush is planning (they also brought a HUGE inflatable dairy cow along). I wanted to be a part of this protest so bad. I hate not being able to say anything when I see stuff like this. It’s hard; I question alot, actually everything that the Bush administration has done in the last 4 years. I did know some of what I was going to get into when I went in this direction, TV news, but I didn't know it was going to be this hard to be quiet. Michelle [Wisconsin]

QUOTE OF THE WEEK … Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it. George Bernard Shaw

WEEK FIFTEEN OF FRIENDS OF FRIDAY FORUM

Hello Friday friends! Well last week I wrote about being excited for the VOTE FOR CHANGE CONCERTS, so this week I figured I could write about the AWESOME time I had at them.
Josee flew into my hood on Wednesday and we had a pretty good, boring time spending 2 days in my small town, we couldn't wait to leave. When Saturday rolled around we watched my son's soccer game then hit the road. We stopped in Flint for a quick visit with my Granny & Dad, then we hit the road again. We made it to Toledo about 5:00 pm, somehow we managed to get parked fairly close to Liam. It was nice to see him. The parking lot was already starting to get full and there was a big truck from a local radio station kicking out the Benaroya CD for us, quite loudly too.

We had to pay $15.00 [ugh] for parking, but we had a great parking spot. Real close to venue and all the action. We walked down to the McD's had a bite to eat. Then went back to the parking lot, munched on some of Liam's cookies, drank a few beers and headed into the overly crowded venue. Unbelievably we ran into Jonathan who we had stood in line with last tour in Toronto, so that was pretty cool. To make this short & sweet the show totally KICKED ASS. Neil Young & Peter Frampton showed up, need I say more?

That night we drove to Ann Arbor and got a room, the next morning we had breakfast at a place called The Breakfast Club, which was pretty cool since I like that movie. We made it to Grand Rapids venue about 3:30pm and the parking lot was starting to fill up. Parking was FREE here and we got another great parking spot. Once again we drank a few beers, met a few people and had a nice time tailgating. The venue here looked bad but it was actually pretty cool, and no overcrowding in the hallways tonight. Our seats were real good this night, on the floor about 20 or so rows back. We gave Liam my camera to get pics since he was in 6th row. This show was just so unbelievably awesome, that its still hard for me to describe.

The guys were right on and quite lively, Ed really interacted with the crowd tonight. Then when I heard Ed say it was time to KICK OUT THE JAMS MOTHER F***ERS. I couldn't believe they were doing this old cover of an MC5 song. It made the whole trip worth it for me. Since this is getting to be a bit long, I will just say I had an awesome time, and hope everyone has a great weekend. PEACE! Kim [Michigan]

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

No president must ever again be granted such license with our troops or our treasure.
Senator Robert C Byrd

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and the government when it deserves it.
Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910)