Hastur
07-24-2002, 08:54 AM
I have a friend, Mark Finn, who is an official published, professional author. He also writes a column of opinion, called Finn's Wake. I like Finns' Wake as a rule, as it lets me know what's going on in his corner of the world (we don't actually see each other very much), and because the guy is interesting. Recently, he published the following:
Finn’s Wake: Local Waves
Austin Commentary by Mark Finn
I know, I know, I promised that the weekly column would be over on RevolutionSF.com. But something happened on Wednesday that I would like to address, and not on a national forum. Well, not yet, anyway. Before I begin, let me direct your attention to the Wednesday edition of the Austin American Statesmen, Section B, page 1:
<a href="http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/wednesday/business_1.html" target="_blank">http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/wednesday/business_1.html</a>
In the past, when people unveiled plans to build a riverwalk in downtown Austin, or remodel the convention center, or construct a light rail transit system, I have always shrugged and said things like, “Well, I doubt the hippies will stand for it.” I was never that big a deal to me.
Now, they are screwing with my livelihood. And the Yankees, Californians, and Dot-Com carpetbaggers have chased off all the hippies. Certainly, I can understand why the people who own the one block clump of dirt (so close to the abandoned Intel building, by the way) would want to put some commercial businesses down on there. What’s the point of owning land if you can’t exploit the workers and till the earth? But the real kiss-my-assness of it all comes from them wanting (nay, preferring) a book and record retail chain store on their site when they are diagonally across the intersection from a nationally recognized record store and a nationally recognized bookstore with a combined history of 50 years between them. Oh yeah, and there are three local coffee places on the block, as well. What possible advantage would they have in bringing in a national chain? Nothing, except deep corporate pockets.
Book People carries more books than Borders, and in a wider variety. Waterloo Records carries more music than Borders, and in a wider variety. Both stores win “Best of Austin” awards every year in the Austin Chronicle. What makes Borders think that they can compete with us? I don’t know.
The developers think their Big Box will attract business...did they ever stop to clock how many people we bring into that area every day? On a slow day, we let a thousand people in the door. God help us if there’s an event going on. I promise you, Waterloo across the street does twice that, at least. They look like an ant farm sometimes, they get so busy over there.
These are the people that shop at Borders Books. If you think people like the ones on this guy’s website won’t come to downtown Austin, think again. They will. We don’t get those kinds of customers at Book People. Not like that. As bad as it gets is, we have some folks who can’t remember what book was reviewed on NPR last night (and there’s almost always someone else standing right by to go, “Oh, it was so-and-so!”) or someone who has a book title but not the author, or vice versa. Are these mutants the kind of folks you want driving in the snarl of downtown traffic? Think about that before you answer. I can promise you, if you don’t like them on Mopac, we won’t like them downtown.
There has already been a groundswell of support from the community. We’re getting batches of encouraging emails, our website hits have doubled, and so have our mail orders. The city council has seen hundreds of emails. You can contribute your thoughts to them at this address: <a href="http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/groupemail.htm." target="_blank">www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/groupemail.htm.</a> Many people see this as the do-or-die agenda item, the future of the face of downtown Austin. What do you think? Have you given it much thought?
Ask yourself how much money you spend at large chain retail stores versus those unique places that give a city its flavor and color. We hear from people from Dallas and Houston all the time, and we can tell right away if they are from out of town because they walk in the store and their eyes widen and they say, “Now this is a bookstore!” They tell us all the time how cool Book People is and how they don’t have any shopping options where they are from. “It’s all Barnes and Noble,” they say with a grimace. They always leave with at least two books apiece.
Well, Austinites, if we’re not very careful, and if we don’t start policing our own, we’re going to end up looking just like Dallas or Houston. The cool, funky, local places that you always meant to go check out are vanishing like teeth in a Nazi dentist’s office. Whether its clubs and venues or retail stores, they contribute to our Austin-ness. I’m not asking you to not spend your hard earned cash; it’s your god-given right as an American to do so. Just reconsider where you spend it. Don’t let the large, faceless corporations drive out the neat, local businesses. Not when you can save them with a minimum of effort.
Okay, I’m done. For now. Please return to your regularly scheduled plug for Finn’s Wake over at <a href="http://www.revolutionsf.com," target="_blank">www.revolutionsf.com,</a> and thanks for reading.
Copyright 2002 Mark Finn. All rights reserved.
Mark Finn is the author of Gods New and Used and Year of the Hare, available from your local bookstore. Period.
Mark Finn can also be found at <a href="http://www.clockworkstorybook.com." target="_blank">www.clockworkstorybook.com.</a>
The reason that I'm showing you this is because I'm using Mr. Finn as my next interviewee, and this will be one of the subjects that I'll tackle. I'm going to do it a little differently, by setting up an AIM session with him, and running the interview that way, as well as the usual e-mail.
I'll announce when I'm doing the interview, once I have a time that is good for both he and I. When that happens, I invite anyone and everyone to question away. Meanwhile, if there is anything you would like to ask that can be done during e-mail, feel free. When it's over and done with, I'll compile and edit the results for a clean interview like the one with Christopher Moore.
I don't know how well this will work, but if it works out alright, I'll try again, with another author. Quite frankly, I'm doing it this way with Mark because I know him and he agreed to be a little experimental.
Topics to be included: His take as a new author. What it felt like to publish his first book. What's it like to work a "regular" job in conjunction with writing.
Post anything about this here. This could be a treat, if we play it right.
Finn’s Wake: Local Waves
Austin Commentary by Mark Finn
I know, I know, I promised that the weekly column would be over on RevolutionSF.com. But something happened on Wednesday that I would like to address, and not on a national forum. Well, not yet, anyway. Before I begin, let me direct your attention to the Wednesday edition of the Austin American Statesmen, Section B, page 1:
<a href="http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/wednesday/business_1.html" target="_blank">http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/wednesday/business_1.html</a>
In the past, when people unveiled plans to build a riverwalk in downtown Austin, or remodel the convention center, or construct a light rail transit system, I have always shrugged and said things like, “Well, I doubt the hippies will stand for it.” I was never that big a deal to me.
Now, they are screwing with my livelihood. And the Yankees, Californians, and Dot-Com carpetbaggers have chased off all the hippies. Certainly, I can understand why the people who own the one block clump of dirt (so close to the abandoned Intel building, by the way) would want to put some commercial businesses down on there. What’s the point of owning land if you can’t exploit the workers and till the earth? But the real kiss-my-assness of it all comes from them wanting (nay, preferring) a book and record retail chain store on their site when they are diagonally across the intersection from a nationally recognized record store and a nationally recognized bookstore with a combined history of 50 years between them. Oh yeah, and there are three local coffee places on the block, as well. What possible advantage would they have in bringing in a national chain? Nothing, except deep corporate pockets.
Book People carries more books than Borders, and in a wider variety. Waterloo Records carries more music than Borders, and in a wider variety. Both stores win “Best of Austin” awards every year in the Austin Chronicle. What makes Borders think that they can compete with us? I don’t know.
The developers think their Big Box will attract business...did they ever stop to clock how many people we bring into that area every day? On a slow day, we let a thousand people in the door. God help us if there’s an event going on. I promise you, Waterloo across the street does twice that, at least. They look like an ant farm sometimes, they get so busy over there.
These are the people that shop at Borders Books. If you think people like the ones on this guy’s website won’t come to downtown Austin, think again. They will. We don’t get those kinds of customers at Book People. Not like that. As bad as it gets is, we have some folks who can’t remember what book was reviewed on NPR last night (and there’s almost always someone else standing right by to go, “Oh, it was so-and-so!”) or someone who has a book title but not the author, or vice versa. Are these mutants the kind of folks you want driving in the snarl of downtown traffic? Think about that before you answer. I can promise you, if you don’t like them on Mopac, we won’t like them downtown.
There has already been a groundswell of support from the community. We’re getting batches of encouraging emails, our website hits have doubled, and so have our mail orders. The city council has seen hundreds of emails. You can contribute your thoughts to them at this address: <a href="http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/groupemail.htm." target="_blank">www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/groupemail.htm.</a> Many people see this as the do-or-die agenda item, the future of the face of downtown Austin. What do you think? Have you given it much thought?
Ask yourself how much money you spend at large chain retail stores versus those unique places that give a city its flavor and color. We hear from people from Dallas and Houston all the time, and we can tell right away if they are from out of town because they walk in the store and their eyes widen and they say, “Now this is a bookstore!” They tell us all the time how cool Book People is and how they don’t have any shopping options where they are from. “It’s all Barnes and Noble,” they say with a grimace. They always leave with at least two books apiece.
Well, Austinites, if we’re not very careful, and if we don’t start policing our own, we’re going to end up looking just like Dallas or Houston. The cool, funky, local places that you always meant to go check out are vanishing like teeth in a Nazi dentist’s office. Whether its clubs and venues or retail stores, they contribute to our Austin-ness. I’m not asking you to not spend your hard earned cash; it’s your god-given right as an American to do so. Just reconsider where you spend it. Don’t let the large, faceless corporations drive out the neat, local businesses. Not when you can save them with a minimum of effort.
Okay, I’m done. For now. Please return to your regularly scheduled plug for Finn’s Wake over at <a href="http://www.revolutionsf.com," target="_blank">www.revolutionsf.com,</a> and thanks for reading.
Copyright 2002 Mark Finn. All rights reserved.
Mark Finn is the author of Gods New and Used and Year of the Hare, available from your local bookstore. Period.
Mark Finn can also be found at <a href="http://www.clockworkstorybook.com." target="_blank">www.clockworkstorybook.com.</a>
The reason that I'm showing you this is because I'm using Mr. Finn as my next interviewee, and this will be one of the subjects that I'll tackle. I'm going to do it a little differently, by setting up an AIM session with him, and running the interview that way, as well as the usual e-mail.
I'll announce when I'm doing the interview, once I have a time that is good for both he and I. When that happens, I invite anyone and everyone to question away. Meanwhile, if there is anything you would like to ask that can be done during e-mail, feel free. When it's over and done with, I'll compile and edit the results for a clean interview like the one with Christopher Moore.
I don't know how well this will work, but if it works out alright, I'll try again, with another author. Quite frankly, I'm doing it this way with Mark because I know him and he agreed to be a little experimental.
Topics to be included: His take as a new author. What it felt like to publish his first book. What's it like to work a "regular" job in conjunction with writing.
Post anything about this here. This could be a treat, if we play it right.