Charleston IPhone Line

Local geeks stand in line for two and a half hours to buy an iPhone at the AT&T store at Southridge.

I know a local geek who was planning on postponing his vacations plans so he could get an iPhone. Maybe he'll let me play with it when he returns to town.

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Apple, West Virginia, Charleston, WV, geeks

We Are...Lawsuit

The makers of Ashes to Glory are suing the makers of We Are Marshall saying Warners Bros. ripped off the documentary shot by shot.

Brad McElhinny at the Charleston Daily-Mail recounts some of the details of the allegations in the suit:

The lawsuit claims too many of the ideas and images are the same, including:

* Both movies opening with aerial scenes of the campus in the fall with colorful leaves.

* Both movies beginning with the annual memorial service for those who perished in the tragic crash of 1970.

* Both movies showing the Morehouse family learning about the crash through a news bulletin scrolling across the bottom of a television screen as the family watched "The Newlywed Game." Gene Morehouse, then Marshall's sports information director, was killed in the crash. The lawsuit says the same episode of the game show was depicted in both films, even though it was not really the episode that ran at the time. The "Ashes to Glory" producers said they chose it at random to depict the show generally.

* Both featuring the same hotel marquee, which read "The Lord Giveth... The Lord Taketh Away."

* Both films climaxing with a scene of Marshall's victory over Xavier during the first rebuilding year, with a scene of a football flying through the air in slow motion. In both, the scene is intercut with flashbacks.

* Both films featuring Blake Smith's successful field goal attempt against Xavier, a play that gave the team hope that it could win the game.

* Both films ending with the chant "We Are Marshall."

* Both films ending with depictions of Marshall's football success in recent years, including footage of Coach Pruett holding a championship trophy. Both films use the same three clips from a victory over East Tennessee State in 1984, according to the lawsuit.

* Both using the same clip of Marshall running back Doug Chapman scoring a touchdown during the Motor City Bowl.

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West Virginia, Huntington, WV, We Are...Marshall, Marshall University, Marshall Football

User Fee

I don't mind the Charleston user fee, but I do mind paying more so the city can install cameras that might make us more safe. I agree with the Charleston Daily-Mail, "City officials need to detail a case that they need another $3 million in revenue." I might be willing to pay more if the mayor and other city officials could give me something more than we need to install cameras all over the city.

A good start would be to keep city parking garages, such as the Summers Street garage, open on Sundays and longer during weekdays. Some people who have to work late for get to move their cars and get stuck in the garage overnight, and it this happens on a Saturday, for the whole day on Sunday and until the garage reopens on Monday morning.

I don't have a problem with another dollar for city projects, but I don't want to write the city a blank check either.

Smoking Ban

I agree with Dave Hardy: Hardy anxious for total smoking ban

Kanawha County Commissioner Dave Hardy wants a 100 percent smoking ban. No exceptions. Not even for Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center.

On Thursday, Hardy plans to ask fellow commissioners to approve a resolution that supports a health department proposal to extend the countywide smoking ban to bars, video-lottery gambling parlors and the racetrack in Nitro.

The Kanawha-Charleston Board of Health is re-examining the county’s smoking regulations for the first time in three years. The County Commission appoints three of the board’s six members and distributes about $200,000 a year to the health department.

“We need to send the Health Board a signal of what the Kanawha County Commission is thinking,” Hardy said Monday. “It’s a move to make all employees have a clean workplace free of secondhand smoke

Huntington City Council Ends 'Town vs. Gown' Clash over Property

The Huntington Herald-Dispatch reports the clash between Huntington Mayor David Felinton and Marshall University over the sale of two small city-owned alleys has ended.

HUNTINGTON -- Marshall University will move forward on construction of new residence halls and a student recreation center.

Huntington City Council voted 9-0 Monday to override Mayor David Felinton's veto of two ordinances that authorized the sale of two pieces of property to Marshall for $10,000.

While I'm sure Felinton would like more money in the general fund, I'm not sure the property was worth the $184,000 he wanted for them.

FestivALL Round-up

Blair and I have a bunch of FestivALL picture that I need to post, but they are still on the camera, so here are a few to hold you over.

Rudy Panucci has video of FestiALL

Dale Morton's FestivALL pictures
Rick Lee's FestivALL pictures
Bob Coffield's FestivALL pictures
Rebecca Burch FestivALL pictures

Bill Lynch gives us a nice essay on the sights and sounds of FestivALL.

Have you seen 'Aqualung'?

Charleston's summertime figure 'Aqualung' seems to have gone missing. The return of our best-known street person is a rite of spring much like the like annual Return of the Swallows at Mission San Juan Capistrano.

Maybe he has lost the crown of best-known street person to Elizabeth.

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West Virginia, Charleston, WV

FestivALL interactive map

Charleston Newspapers has a nice interactive map that list all the FestivALL 2007 events. I notice there doesn't seem to be a Slack Plaza stage this year.

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West Virginia, Charleston, WV, FestivALL

Southern KItchen, AKA Country Chicken

I laughed when I saw this headline this morning, because 'the country chicken' has Ms. Oncee's name for Southern Kitchen for years. The Kanawha City restaurant turns 60 on June 9th.

Technorati Tags:
West Virginia, Charleston, WV

Friday Cat Pictures

It's Friday so it's time for cat pictures: