New content

Okay, I got regular stlstreets.com content coming, but here is some stuff I have embedded from my MTV gig. I actually really like these pieces. I hope you do too. They are fun. They take a while to produce, so I haven't been able to blog all regular like I want to. So check these out till I get my really funny regular blog out soon.



This is the best edit so far and the content is pretty strong as well. I am still working on everything. Let me know what you think. This is an interview with Scott Ritter, a former USMC Intelligence Officer and UN Weapons Inspector in Iraq, the former Soviet Union and Mid-East. He is a really interesting cat and has a real straight take. I got to make these interviews short, so it doesn't quite do justice.




So this is the interview with Pamela Merrit of Angryblackbitch.com. She also came along to the convention and gave some really great insight to just how screwy the whole deal was.

So much going on- O the haters!

So much has been going on, and I have not had a chance to post a normal blog post in a while. I have been doing the MTV thing which has been interesting, but much more work than I had anticipated. What was I thinking? Hey, now I actually can shoot and edit video halfway decent. It just took a while. I took a class at KDHX and have regular tutoring sessions at the Mac store. It is odd doing "professional" blogging, especially in such an odd forum as this MTV site. The thing is more formal than I was expecting. That is okay, it is regulatin' my writin'.

I finally got some decent stuff up there, and with a lil' help with some friends I have been able to cover more than I had originally. I will link to it when I get a few more pieces up, but if you want to find it, you can find it if you dig. I will probably offer some commentary on this site that is not proper for that site here soon.

Quick updates-
spring has been bumping. Our business has been explosive since we went smoke free. I will do a formal overly statistical analysis on that later. But needless to say, last year was crazy in the spring. Last year was nuthin' compared to this year. Overall I have gotten props from everyone. Friends. Patrons. Smokers. Old folks. Young folks. Hipsters. Old time bar flies. Everyone loves it.

Now there have been a few detractors. Now I can't say exactly how many are hatin', for most haters would mutter outside of my earshot. But I know that my good crew of smokers come in with the same regularity. Johnny. Heather. Mark. Lou. Vanessa. Todd. We still love them. They still love us. There is still a lot of love.

But sometimes there is not so much love. I hit some of the hate when I was down on the Landing of all places, seein' Pokey LaFarge, and I stepped up the bar to grab a drink. While I have a natural aversion to the Landing, I do like drinking close to the river while listening to hobo music.

"I hate your bar!"

"Excuse me?"

This woman was next to me at the bar and recognized me. She had a sour look on her face.

"I hate your bar! You asked me if you wanted to go no smoking, and I typed back and told you!"

"Pardon me?"

"You won't let me smoke in your bar!"

I was taken aback. I do get haters expressing themselves to me justified and otherwise, but I was not expecting such a sharp unprovoked expression of hatred. Being in the business, I have learned to take it in stride.

"Well, I did read your opinion. You were one of nine people that wanted to keep it smoking. I am sure you noticed that the others who wrote in that really wanted the smoke free."

She kept this near fury in her eyes affixed upon me.

"You know I live above the bar. It is my house."

She looked like she was starting to snarl.

"Okay, well, you are more than welcome to come down. I now know you hate the place, but let me assure you, you are still very much welcome down and smoke. All you gotta do is step outside for a square." I then tipped my hat, grabbed my drinks, threw down a tip and moved on.

O, being diplomatic can be an art. Amazing how such a simple little policy keeps the haters out. We got a few tricks that do that.

***

So I got some other news too- we are still working hard on Cherokee Street. Some progress will hopefully be made despite some absurd setbacks. It is a bit complicated and I am hesitant to go into it too much until I have better news.

Um, I sold my Honda CB750 motorbike and picked up a Yamaha Vmax. I am selling the Cadillac. No plans on another car until next year. Once I sell the Eldog I will be down to one 12 year old car and one 12 year old bike. I can't complain. Then in the next year I will drop the bike and car and get a Buick. I also need a new pedal bike, for my old one got ganked last week.

Er, I have an annoying new bloggy type of activity. It is called twitter. You might notice it to the right. It gives you way more information that you really want to know about my activity. It is addictive.

I am going to some fights on Thursday night. Demetrius is fighting. It will be at Grbic. I am looking forward to it. I got a table.

I do have some fun blog posts, but I need to get a few seconds to catch up.

This new gig

The following was posted on my new blog. The post below is the only thing I have up now. I will still post to stlstreets, but most of the posts will be cross posts from the new blog. There may be occasional posts on stlstreets only.

===

My name is Steven Smith. I run a bar in a state that fought on both sides of the civil war. I live in the city that sided with the Union. And to look at the how Missouri is today, things do not appear to have changed all that much. We are still in a contentious situation , as we have historically for Missouri even had a controversial foundation based in a compromise.

There is a profile page with a bit more on the specific particulars about myself. My formative years have been here in Saint Louis, the big city on the eastern half of Missouri. The bluest part of the blue dot in a red state. I am Jesuit educated, but I have not been trained in journalism. I have not been trained for news writing. I studied history. And I worked. A lot. My first job was selling newspapers on the street corner. The Post-Dispatch. That was my first of many jobs, but none of my jobs were in professional news writing or
video production. Until now. Now I am to produce it all.

I have been contracted to do a blog on the 2008 campaign covering Missouri for MTV. The program is called Choose or Lose or the think.mtv.com site. I am a part of the 2008 Street Team. The job is open ended which allows me to cover any issues that impact the state of Missouri. My primary demographic are the 15-24 year olds in the mighty state of Missouri.

I was sent to New York at the MTV headquarters Viacom for a week of training earlier this month. Fifty other young Americans were contracted to cover their states as well. We were saddled with a mound of electronic gear, video camera, mic, laptop, software etc. We are to produce one post a week, and at least two of those posts will need to be video. This will be interesting, for I am used to blogging at stlstreets.com. I have been playing with shooting and editing video. This new blog will naturally develop from that base at stlstreets.com.

So what will I produce for this blog? Well, that is in development. I have my interests, but I am open to all issues. I have already started developing stories in immigration, voting, economic opportunity, civic engagement, education, urban environment, the war, health care and more. This will be more of a free form blog style than a formal news report or news story.

Please contact me here for any ideas or thoughts. And join the think.mtv site to explore and learn what this is all about.