Vacation

I took a spur-of-the-moment vacation this week and that will continue for some or all of next week.

The second finished chapter, "Munn Park," was well-received though and I look forward to working on more.

Regular updates will resume soon.

Government in the Dark

Not too long ago I watched All The President's Men again. It got me thinking about the Government in the Sunshine Act like never before. I always admired the use of lighting in the film--or lack thereof I should say.

Instead of white light all you get is weird blues mostly. A not-too-subtle hint that corruption thrives in the dark.

Interesting to discover more and more that it was Watergate that broke the back of the opposition to Senator Chiles' "Sunshine" measure, after years of advocacy.

Finished

The "Munn Park" chapter is finished--the story at least. And the story is the hardest part, I think. Interview bits, testimonials, statistics--those can all be changed easily. But if you've got the narrative wrong, you're up a creek.

Munn Park, Continued

I'll be returning to Lakeland soon for more research. I still remember the hot dog vendor in Munn Park, yelling "hot dog, chili dog, whooo!!" He got loads of business since he monopolized the park foot traffic.

It would be fun to see "Politics in the Park" one election season, but only if it shaped up to be a true clash of the titans--like Lawton Chiles vs Jeb Bush.

It's hard to imagine the time when the entire town showed up at the rally.

Love and Politics

I read somewhere a while back that Allison Janney, who played C.J. Craig on The West Wing, was once asked by a fan why there were so few love stories on the show. Janney responded quickly, arguing that most people forget one of the biggest love stories on the show, Leo and President Bartlet. It's quite true.

There are lots of other examples. Anyone, from staff to the candidate, who works long enough on a campaign falls in love with the idea of the effort--the dream. It can definitely be called romance.

The Polk Theatre

Pretty cool old theatre in Lakeland, Florida. Must have been a mighty fun place to be in the 1930s. You could hunt, fish, play in Munn Park, or watch a movie at the Polk Theater.

Writing Munn Park

After more digging in the University of Florida library, I found the piece of information on Spessard Holland's speechmaking in Munn Park that I needed to finish chapter one. Today, I'm gonna get as much done as I can. I hope to finish the chapter in a week.