Having written a review a day for the past three days for Movie Gazette Online, I can relate to what Jeremy Twitchell does in the seemingly dozens of articles he writes for just one issue of The Henderson Press. And yet, I don't even come close to what he does because I just sit in front of my TV, watch whatever DVD I'm reviewing, take notes, and then write the review. Twitchell goes out, interviews people, gets enough information to write the story that needs to be written, and then writes it. And he does this over and over for one issue. And he makes each article fresh and well-written. The only fatigue he probably ever shows is when he falls into bed exhausted from the day's work.
I also admire Twitchell because he's into alliteration like I am. The front-page article of Vol. 2, No. 2, January 27-February 10, 2011, headlined "Signs of the Times" begins with this: "A proliferation of political placards has ushered the 2011 municipal election cycle..." "Ushered in" is what it should have been, but I'm not going to quibble, what with how much Twitchell alone contributes to The Henderson Press. There are worse writers. I've worked with many.
Twitchell realizes that in order to keep going as a writer, you have to find bits to have fun with, such as alliteration. You have to see if there are other angles to a story that are just as informative as what you're thinking about, which keep you interested. It's why I'm not burned out from three DVD reviews in three days because I found different angles for all of them, things that I've long thought about that I believed should be included in those reviews. Next up is Patton Oswalt: Finest Hour, and my angle for that one is that I've never seen Patton Oswalt do stand-up. I know of his other ventures, but here, Meridith and I only know him as the voice of Remy in Ratatouille, considering how many times we've seen it. And for a future review of I, Claudius, I've already written an idea I intend to expand when I watch what I hope will be most of that miniseries. As Ferran Adria says in the terrific documentary El Bulli: Cooking in Progress, "You never know where an idea will come from." I don't, and I don't try to force them. They will always come in time.
Now to this seventh issue, to see what my future community was up to then:
- Skyline Casino's full-page ad on page 2 trumpets free tacos for players on Sunday evenings, and free Italian sausage sandwiches to players on Wednesday evenings.
- Copper wire thefts in Henderson became prevalent enough to merit an article about it by Twitchell. Copper prices rising while the economy remains flat is why copper wire was being stolen from streetlights. According to this article, it "costs the city about $7.50 in materials and labor to replace," as stated by city spokeswoman Kathleen Richards. "In the last six months, about 2,500 feet have been stolen, she said, costing Henderson almost $19,000."
- Scrolling quickly through the issue, I see no stories by Don Logay, but I hope he's the one who wrote the fire and police reports in this issue and later issues. It reads like his work, straightforward and without unnecessarily wordy delay.
- The North Community Police Station has a "60-kilowatt solar array on top of its parking structure" to generate photovoltaic electricity.
- Improvements to be made to Arroyo Grande Park include the addition of a disc golf facility. Upon reading that disc golf involves throwing a flying disc at a target, I want to try it. It sounds a lot more fun than regular golf.
- Jennifer Twitchell benefited from taking a week off from her column. Her latest, about creating a family budget, is much better than her columns before, and I especially liked this line: "I was stunned. How does one spend $28 on Redbox in one month?! Oh yeah, tricky Redbox. You and your $1 promise a night that quickly turns into $7 because I forgot about returning the lame movie until a week later."
- The Henderson Symphony Orchestra had its Master Series III concert on February 11, which, according to its website, included Gymnopedie No. 1 and 2 by Erik Satie and West Side Story Symphonic Dances by Leonard Bernstein. I want to see concerts by the Henderson Symphony Orchestra and the Las Vegas Philharmonic, but only if they include Satie, Schubert, or Gershwin. Maybe I'll see these concerts differently since I'll be living where I want and will be inclined to attend them even if Satie, Schubert or Gershwin isn't part of them. The atmosphere also helps.
- There's a coupon from Hammer's Grill and Bar for $7.99 All You Can Eat Fish Fry Fridays. That sounds good.
- On the last page of coupons, middle of the bottom column, The Henderson Press uses the space to state, "Place your coupon here for $50 an issue!", with a minimum 8-issue commitment. They sound more business-savvy than The Signal here in Santa Clarita.
- In the job classifieds, the Basic Barber Shop is looking for a barber, requiring experience (naturally) and a Nevada license. Nice to know that businesses in Henderson have actual people behind them.
- No listing for a Toyota Corolla in the car ads. Findlay Toyota is pushing a 2010 Toyota Camry Sedan for $20,159. Not my kind of car, and definitely not my kind of price.
And that's it for this issue. I'm disappointed not to find Don Logay's byline on any article in this issue, but I hope he's in the next issue. When an issue has Twitchell and Logay, it's guaranteed great reading. Fred Couzens' articles are bloated, basically throwing in all the necessary information without a plan of how to present it. Maybe his articles will improve in coming issues. Or maybe it's how he will always write. I hope for the former, though, because I don't look forward to his byline. I only read his articles because I want to know everything about Henderson, and what he reports on is part of it.
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