|
Comment on this article |
View comments |
Email this Article
|
|
News :: Miscellaneous |
|
OlyWa's Model Info-shop |
Current rating: 0 |
by Paul Kotheimer [UC-IMC travelling corresponda
Email: herringb (nospam) prairienet.org (unverified!)
Phone: 217 344 8820
Address: urbana.indymedia.org |
14 Feb 2001
|
|
An account from a great info-shop in Olympia, WA |
Mainstream media sources give you restaurant reviews and hotel reviews, travel anecdotes and cityscapes. Here's a report from the road by your friendly neighborhood songwriter/IMC'sta, featuring a great community-building resource called Media Island:
Today, I spent nine hours on air transit--including time spent in the alienated corporate hell of airport layover-land--and two hours in traffic on the 30 mile ride between Seattle-Tacoma airport and the capitol/college town of Olympia, Washington. I had been out and en route since 5:50 AM, "our time," and THAT meant I definitely didn't have time to fill up a thermos or take care of my morning routine before rushing out to Midway Airport.
And, to make a long story short, what THAT means is that when I finally hit the ground in downtown OlyWa, I am what they call pret-ty ripe.
So where does a roving minstrel IMC'sta go to clean up his act before the act hits the stage at the Voyeur in downtown Olympia? Would you believe...at an INFO-SHOP?
MEDIA ISLAND INTERNATIONAL is, according to its mission statement, "a resource and networking center for individuals, organizations and movenemts working on social justice, economic democracy, ecological sustainability and peace." This Olympia-based media co-operative exists "to gather, evaluate and distribute underpublished information on critical issues at strategic times."
Peeking out from a donated house right across the street from the Olympia Public Library, Media Island is what you couldn't help but call strategically located. I was at the OlyWa PL, digging through the phonebook, making calls on the payphone, trying to drum up some community, solidarity, and (most importantly) hospitality. I was just about to walk down toward 5th and Franklin in search of the YMCA, when the sign caught my eye.
They've got pamphlets. They've got bulletin boards. They've got and and . They've got 60 or so linear shelf-feet of hardcovers and paperbacks and a roomfull of VHS tapes, all circulating on a write-down-your-name basis. They've got a honkin' xerox machine, a kitchen, and a meeting space with community radio KAOS-FM wafting (or "WEFTing" if you will) from the stereo.
In the 5:00 hour in the PM, I'm hearing local news on the actions of the Evergreen State Coalition for the Cold and Hungry along with LIVE WIRE independent news from around the nation; and I'm typing this very story from a freely available Internet station at the front of the infoshop.
And guess what else? I'm freshly showered, courtesy of the Island's dedication to hospitality and community-building.
The caretaker/staffer even loaned me a towel, fresh from the dryer!
I'm definitely leaving a pledge of mutual support from our media center to theirs.
For more on Media Island International, visit their website:
www.mediaisland.org |
|
Thanks for the update! |
by Paul R.
paul (nospam) mediageek.org (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
14 Feb 2001
|
Hey Paul, thanks for the update from the West. I hope you pick up some pointers for us and spread some good will around.
I feel lucky that we have a diplomat/minstrel!
--Paul |
|
roving minstrel |
by James
jacobs (nospam) uiuc.edu (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
20 Feb 2001
|
Hey Paul, thanks for keeping us up to date on your travels (and tribulations!) I guess it's true that it all DOES come out in the wash.
Peace and safe travels,
James |
