News and notes from Reston (tm).

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Support Your Restonian Advertisers... We Think

gview.pngVigilant Restonian reader "Sean" sent us this screen grab from our very own filthy "web log" a while back, but we just found the message now. Apparently the robot which picks advertising based on the words on the page stumbled across a particularly heated discussion among our commenters, most likely on a page like this. We're assuming it's a typo on the part of a well-meaning copywriter who had precisely two words to work with, but... wow.

Posted by Restonian at 12:07 PM

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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 8, 2010 at 10:17 AM

    I would like to advertise here if I could figure out how to. I think you should go mainstream if you could somehow figure out how to not lose your saltiness and be a weekly paper and think there should be a local paper in Reston. I think you are the most viable connector in Reston. The Fairfax Times, used to be called Reston Times hardly mentions Reston or prints local letters if they get any, The Reston Connection is not really distributed and the Herndon Reston Observer if it's still in business isn't either. A community of 65,000 needs lines of communications to be a community.

    Do any remember the RCC's proposal to cell phone via the University of Virginia in order to determine what Restons wanted as far as recreation? I don't know what ever came of that RCC won't tell, but it's a pathetic effort at communication. Real communications with the ability to have citizen input will I think make Reston more democratic.

    The RA spends if I read it correctly what it has listed as $600,000 for "communication” and $2000 for advertising. Soon the RA will send out a magazine. It will, I predict, be totally institutional, touting the greatness of the RA and how hard working and ingenious they are kind of like messages like what we've come to expect from dictatorships and have nothing like messages from the people.

    A newspaper could make a profit from local advertising with its first issue. Though this doesn’t seem like the time to start a newspaper. Print is the king of media. You hear a lot of people talk about well now is the day of internet but both the RA and RCC send out a printed catalogue to everyone in Reston and they work to create revenue.
    It would cost about $1,500 to print a newspaper for every house in Reston.

    And finally why do they keep calling this "Global warming?" I wished I had thought to ask this of Ken Plum when he called up last night in a phone in "town meeting."

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  2. AnonymousJanuary 8, 2010 at 12:39 PM

    I LOVE IT!!!

    Go free enterprise --- Long Live the Russian Republic of Reston (NOT!!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 8, 2010 at 12:47 PM

    I made the mistake of asking the RA resident tree hugger (that arrogant Claudia-with-three-names-woman) if RA was a registered wildlife habitat.

    I don't have the luxury, time or interest in reading the $600,000 worth of racist (?) propaganda that the RA publishes with my assessments, but she was so rude and arrogant that I was shocked. She indicated it was all over the "RA literature" and went on to, incredibly, utter that if I could read, I would have found the answer.

    She went on to pontificate and indicated, in a most pejorative way, that, of course, the RA was a member and had been for years.

    So much for a simple question...from a black and gay reston resident.

    Yes, I can hide my sexual orientation, but I can't hide the color or my skin and I can read quite well, thank you. I can also tell you that racism is alive and well in Reston.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Broke in Charter Oak (BiCO)January 9, 2010 at 11:55 AM

    As another openly gay person myself (albeit white) I'm sorry to hear of your negative experiences here in Reston, but I would think you'd be the exception---not the rule. I actually still can't believe just how MANY Restonians are gay/lesbian; it seems like a full 10% of our population truly is non-heterosexual. I've never before lived in such a "gay-friendly" community where MOST residents don't hold your sexual orientation against you because they are educated enough to realize you mean them no harm. The only time I've encountered any unpleasantness here was one time at Clyde's when a date of mine tried hugging me at the front of the restaurant in front of a large group of patrons waiting for tables because I said something that really touched him. I declined and pushed away because I don't feel comfortable EVER being affectionate in public, and the typical 60-year-old white fancy-pants Restonians who visit Clyde's were staring at us and giving us death glares like we had two heads. I wonder if these same people pay any attention to all of the young 20-something STRAIGHT couples necking, making out, and groping one another all the time in the town center too? Why the staring? Am I really THAT sexy with my discount designer fashion sense? Is it really THAT horrible that a lonesome 20-something could want to go out on a date in his own neighborhood every now and then? Other than this I've experienced no bigotry or prejudice here in Reston and am sorry you feel so maligned. I hope things continue to get better for you! (Cyber hug!) :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. dvdmonJanuary 9, 2010 at 1:58 PM

    BICO, not to try to make excuses, but I wouldn't necessarily take stares (unless they are truly accompanied by nasty looks, clicking of tongues, whispers, etc.). I think part of it is simply seeing something you don't every day. As open as Reston may be to gays and lesbians, personally I haven't seen a ton of gay/lesbian couples walking around or patronizing various places. Then again, I'm fairly new to Reston at least as a full-time resident, so maybe this is an incorrect assumption. Anyway, I know that even growing up in NYC I was not exposed to a lot of openly gay/lesbian couples and really didn't have such friends until I was in my 30's. It took me a while to get used to the idea, not because I was against it or bigotted, but simply because I'd never experienced it before. Now that we don't see these friends too often (either because they are super busy or live too far away), it sometimes takes a small period of adjustment again. I wish it weren't this way, but my point is that when you see something that's very different from what you are used to, it can sometimes be a little jarring. And especially when you see this in strangers that you aren't forced to make nice with, people feel less compelled to hide their curiosity. Certainly for some of these people it's less about curiosity and they unfortunately get hung up so much on people being DIFFERENT from them that they need to vilify them. Bigotry of all types is alive and well no matter where you live (Reston, Boston, or Takoma Park). There are varying degrees and in some areas one type of bigotry may supercede another (ie place of origin vs. race vs. sexual orientation, etc.), but for some reason people do seem really motivated to classify others and find ways to divide themselves into camps of "us vs. them." It's unfortunate, and I think it's getting better overall, or at least less blatent, but it's still out there wherever you look...

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  6. AnonymousJanuary 10, 2010 at 7:14 AM

    I think it's signifigent how "gay issues" will as if come out of the night and attach itself to some threads on open forums that has nothing really to do with gay issues. Usally obliterating the thread. Making me wonder if they are ligitimate gay issues or even real gays.

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  7. Bob SimonJanuary 11, 2010 at 8:15 PM

    Hi BICO...are you openly gay when your mouth is open?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hickory Cluster Knuckle DusterJanuary 11, 2010 at 9:06 PM

    Homophobic Troll

    You are a reprehensible shitheel. Go stuff your open mouth with Macaroni Grill all you can eat pasta.

    ReplyDelete

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