So Much For The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

There's so much news every week, it's easy to miss all that happens. For the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, I have to think a little more will slip through its fingers, now that the paper has moved its headquarters from downtown Atlanta to Dunwoody, Ga., an exburb. Clustering shouldn't be overlooked as a business asset, even in the 21st century, and especially not in the newspaper business, when being close to the courthouse, statehouse, city hall, shopping district, financial district, etc, is always important: It's often the difference between walking to one of these locations, when people get to know your face, prompting them to feed you news tidbits, and making a phone call. Getting out of the office improves reporting exponentially.

The Journal-Constitution's move is emblematic of the present-day newspaper industry. The newsroom's staff has shrunk by 50 percent, circulation declined by 20 percent in the first six months of 2009, and only 20 counties receive delivery now, compared to 145 at the peak, the Times reports. Rent in Dunwoody has to be cheaper than that in Atlanta by several orders of magnitude.

More profoundly, the move is emblematic of the past 50 years of American urbanism. The Journal-Constitution has traded urban core for suburban periphery, office building for former Macy's distribution center, downtown for office park, walking for driving, sidewalk for parking lot, and so on. Its readership long ago decamped for the suburbs, so, yes, it's a smart business move for the paper to do the same. Yet that also means it has traded urban policy and politics for suburban minutiae. One is of small-scale and generic reach; the other is of profound and diverse impact. A big-city daily paper can't be described as such, in terms of its geography and influence, when it's no longer in a big city.

Man, It's Tough Being Iceland These Days

Not only has Iceland's financial system imploded, leading to a countrywide crisis, but it still owes about $5 billion to to the British and Dutch governments for depositors there who lost money when Iceland's banks went under -- a payment Icelandic voters refuse to approve -- and one of its volcanoes stopped international business, travel and culture for the past 10 days. Neither of these events is Iceland's "fault"; its financial sector's collapse was more a consequence of the worldwide system's train wreck rather than a cause of it. But when you're a tiny country whose national identity seems to be partly based on seclusive pluckiness, it sure seems to be an existential blow when it turns out you're not that secluded and the whole world suffers as a result.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of other European countries whose misfortunes can quickly paper over Iceland's these days: Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Italy, in order, more or less, of the likelihood of a sovereign debt default. The situation's similarity to that of investment banks circa July 2008 is looking too familiar. It's even possible to pick which one will be the equivalent of Lehman Brothers. Obviously, it's not Greece, now that the European Union and IMF will bail it out. I put my money on Portugal, on Europe's economic, geographic and cultural periphery; it's not as firmly on the limits as, say, Romania, but it's not as critical to the zone's identity as Germany, France or even Austria. So much for the EU, or even more of a need for the EU? Perhaps all times are interesting, but these seem particularly so.

At least these times give a reason for a hilarious send-up of Iceland's most famous celebrity, Bjork, on "Saturday Night Live" last week. Kristen Wiig's impersonation of her, with the volcano and Bjork "telling each other secrets." Here it is:

Do They Think They Had An Embarrassing Week?

Sure, politicians should be allowed to change their positions on any issue; having an evolving opinion is only natural and should happen from time to time to a reasonable politician. But the Mass. House of Representatives' vote Wednesday to establish two casinos and slots at racetracks only reeks of unprincipled legislating, flimsy beliefs and easily bent standards to conform to their boss' preferences.

Two years ago, with Salvatore DiMasi, D-Boston, a staunch opponent of casinos, as the speaker, state representatives voted 108-46 against a bill to license three casinos in Massachusetts. Now that Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, who supports casinos much more vociferously, is the speaker (DiMasi resigned last year shortly before a federal indictment on corruption), they approved them 120-37. Representatives are using the explanation that a prolonged recession and plunge in state tax collection changed the circumstances so significantly to merit Wednesday's approval. But a 70-vote swing, when the chamber's make-up has barely changed, is more than a change in policy; it's simply following the boss' orders in a system that concentrates power at the very top, no matter what one legislator's personal opinion is. Arguing differently is too difficult. Here are the votes from 2008 and this week, to compare who changed positions. Even DeLeo voted against casinos back then!

I used to be agnostic about casinos because I don't gamble and likely won't live near a suburban highway exit -- casino companies' preferred location -- anytime soon. No longer, though: They're simply poor economic development policy. They create lots of temporary construction jobs and service jobs, but not of a kind that aids the regional economy in any other manner. Casinos are designed to trap all spending inside their walls, meaning there's no throw-off to other nightlife in the area; it more likely chokes it. They divert tourism dollars from more attractive locales -- in Massachusetts, Cape Cod, the Berkshires and Boston -- rather than expanding the pie.

They're also inefficient suburban development. The Boston Phoenix's support of a defeated amendment to Wednesday's bill requiring "renewable sources for 10 percent of the casinos’ energy, and meeting of other targets for mitigating automobile pollution and water use" only highlights how wasteful of a form they are, an entertainment version of an office park, accessible only by car. When they're located in urban settings, they're in poorer neighborhoods that have traditionally carried a region's mega-project burden, as could be the case here with the racetrack Suffolk Downs in East Boston. Their customers are typically the elderly and the low-income, people who are probably having fun while there but aren't spending in their best interests, to put it mildly.

Luckily, the state Senate is acting with the same skepticism it showed two years ago. A top senator said yesterday they'll move slowly and hold public hearings on the matter -- something the House skipped, at DeLeo's request. At least Rep. Ellen Story, D-Amherst, was frank about how her chamber voted. “My sense," she told the Globe, "is that there may well be consequences for people voting against this bill — particularly people in his [DeLeo's] inner circle." Not much more needs to be said about their true motivation.

On Anthems And Theme Songs

Very few good bands have successfully written songs that are personal anthems, or theme songs. Belle and Sebastian nearly based its career on them, until it released "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" and changed its career arc. The exquisiteness of those early songs, though, accompanied by the delicately self-referential liner notes, are nothing but another quiver in the band's cap (or arrow or whatever).

But for favorite anthem I have to take the New Pornographers' "Wild Homes," from its first record. The lyrics are obtuse, as they are for almost all of the band's songs, so their content doesn't perfectly describe the band, its members or their raison d'etre. But with all three leaders (Dan Bejar, Neko Case and A.C. Newman) trading verses -- a rarity -- through this rush of a song, it somehow encapsulates their band like other bands' other songs don't (not that everyone is trying). "Wild Homes" sounds like a power-pop version of a superhero's theme song, with squawks of horns, a mess of instruments, verses and melodies that sound like they're cars careening around corners in chase of a bad guy, and a final vocal line, "To wild homes we go / To wild homes we return," that might be a mantra or a call to the band's equivalent of the Batcave.

When Case hands the vocals to Bejar, who then gives them to Newman, I picture each one sitting behind the wheel, hurtling to some emergency, communicating with the others by special sky signals and then joining forces as they save day and harmonize at the end. It's a wonderful rush that "Batman" certainly doesn't give me. Guys, should you ever want to film a music video for the song, even 10 years after its release, give me a call. This is only the start of my ideas.

Unfortunately, YouTube doesn't have a video of the song, so you'll have to use your imagination and settle for the one above, for "Letter From An Occupant," the confounding yet catchy song from the same record that made the New Pornographers relatively famous.

Easy Target

The Times' Thursday Styles section never wraps itself in glory, but last week's edition, with a cover story on nine up-and-coming NYC gossip bloggers, was a particularly easy target. Among the scoops Alex Williams, the story's author, offered as proof of the bloggers' burgeoning success were "the rumored relationship between Rob Kardashian and Angela Simmons, which some gossips had speculated was a Kardashian family publicity stunt, was real," and publishing embarrassing party invitations from a hedge-fund executive.

The latter is probably the most newsworthy of any of the highlighted reports. I couldn't pick the two people mentioned in the former out of a crowd (but I suppose many people could; why would anyone write about it, if not?). But that's not really my point, which is: Not only has the Internet become the world's most fertile mine of vapidity, but the Times now accepts this as interesting and important cultural reporting. Essentially, it's reporting on non-reporting, which isn't reporting. Reporting is supposed to give insight on the world. These bloggers don't do that and Williams, at least in this instance, doesn't either. What's the point?

Clicking and clicking doesn't challenge. Reading does. That's a very important difference.

On a related note, a good high school friend legitimately appeared in the Times last week, as part of a story about a NoHo bar that's apparently become the destination for social-media and other-Internet-start-up stars. She was referenced as someone whose presence confirmed the bar's status. I always suspected that if any friend of mine appeared in the Times it would be her -- and still have money on her wedding being listed in the Vows section. Obviously, she's my friend, so there's no chance I'll chide her. But I don't even have to delicately avoid that because her company publishes true reportage on the Internet. Why isn't she even more successful and why don't more follow?

The Longest-Ever Case of Conjuctivitis

The Mets' 2010 season begins much like their 2009 one went -- lots of injuries. Their closer, Francisco Rodriguez, spent much of his spring training battling conjuctivitis. It lasted so long I thought management had dismissed him from camp and used conjuctivitis as a cover. Jose Reyes begins the season on the disabled list because of a hyperactive thyroid, which, a friend said, can only be explained by steroids. Conveniently enough, Reyes was treated for a hamstring injury last year by a Canadian doctor suspected of providing HGH to athletes. Carlos Beltran is also on the disabled list after a knee surgery the Mets didn't know was happening until it did. Huh?

After four years of high hopes for the team, met with epic disappointment, the Mets present little to be excited about this year. The starting rotation, aside from its star, Johan Santana, faces a career-defining year; if the other four don't perform, they likely won't be successful in the future, despite having shown promise. The starting lineup again has stars -- Reyes and Beltran when healthy, plus David Wright and Jason Bay, who I think was a good signing -- but middling players elsewhere. The Opening Day lineup featured, gulp, Rod Barajas, Gary Matthews Jr. (a bonafide former steroids user), Alex Cora and Mike Jacobs, who the Mets traded to the Marlins four years ago after deciding he wasn't an everyday player, though he's had a couple of good seasons.

Then again, the Mets beat the Marlins on Opening Day yesterday, 7-1, with that lineup.

George Vescey has written a string of recent columns about those hapless Mets, lamenting their quick fade and declaring they "have become irrelevant." He also noted fans booed the team's trainers at yesterday's game, which is pretty hilarious. But maybe all the team needs are lowered expectations to succeed. And who can complain so much when there are 161 games to go and such beautiful weather?

"Top Chef," Passover Edition

While enjoying matzoh pizza for dinner last week, I started to riff on how it would be very funny if "Top Chef," the erstwhile beloved show of my apartment, had a special Passover episode. After thinking about it further, it's still pretty funny. Here's why:

The idea of creating fashionable cuisine without leavened bread is genuinely challenging. The show's producers would have to awkwardly stage the episode to suggest it coincided with Passover, even though it was filmed months in advance. (The same has happened with other holiday-themed shows.) They would also try to make a seder seem exciting, with a melodramatic but cheesy explanation of the Passover story -- though the story is already pretty dramatic without embellishment -- a fancy table setting, great lighting that no dining room would ever have, and lots of fast camera cuts to make things seem action-packed. Maybe there would even be lots of bickering, as there is at my house.

There would be an overbearing mother, worried about turning her kitchen over to contestants. Chefs reinterpreting the classics with "contemporary flair," such as a matzoh ball soup shooter or chopped liver tartare. A couple of Jewish competitors staying true to tradition, trying to make a brisket just like their bubby's and telling the camera in those confessional interviews that this challenge was "just a little more meaningful than the others because it's about my heritage." Then, there's the possibility of watching Padma eat gefilte fish. What a treat! I'd definitely watch this, maybe even multiple times. Bravo, call me.