Really Complicated

I've received email messages from four people since the Southern Illinoisan article. A retired music teacher wrote to say she planned to start her own blog. The grandson of Frank Selmier, who founded the Selmier Peerless company, wrote to inquire of the status of the building. The third message was from a guy wanting to know more about the Varsity Theater. I'll get to those things later, but a fourth message arrived as a comment from Anonymous, who found my take on the local oldspaper article about bloggers as "ungrateful" and "a tad hateful," advising me not to "worry about being featured in another disasterous , tacky and day-old article" in The Southern.

Really, I love The Southern Illinoisan. I love the reporters and photographers who work there, and the folks in circulation and production. But don't expect me to "go easy" on the decision makers, who should know better: the graphic was ugly, the headline and article misleading (and self-serving, from an institutional standpoint). Still, if nothing else, the article made one young blogger very happy, and may bring more bloggers and readers into the fold, and I appreciate those things.

Keep it Simple, Southern

Wouldn't you know it, after about 24 hours on the shelf, the article has disappeared -- along with the entire Life section online-- replaced by Error Message. Not only was it posted a day late, but it comes up several dollars short in the "user friendly" department. This sort of thing happens all the time with The Southern. The people in charge don't seem to realize the purpose of RSS. (RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication). The top newspapers, blogs, and podcasters use it. With The Southern, linked-to articles so often get an Error Message, that this blog has effectively stopped linking to their articles altogether, using the DE (which keeps all of its articles available in archives) instead.

Before leaving southern Illinois's oldspaper of record, it's good to see "Mr. Right" Jim Muir, back in the saddle From Where He Blogs. If you're a fan of the right wing politics, then Jim's a must read. Too bad no local lefty who blogs as well as he does. (Don't look at me, Bloggee: I'm neither left nor right; it takes two wings to fly.)

Alright, enough Southern exposure.

What about the Varsity?

To be accurate, brief and clear: The building is being used for temporary storage by Kerasotes. Not much chance of it ever being used again as an dedicated entertainment venue. For awhile, there was an active group trying to save it as an entertainment venue, but it has run out of gas and cash. Best hope: Save the Marquee -- convert the building into a multi-use facility, including retail, with private and public investment.

What about Selmier Peerless?

What's happening on the Southwest corner of Walnut and Washington? A lot! The owner demolished the old building last week. Now there are effectively Four Corners on Walnut St. and Washington for developers to develop with nothing concrete in the works.