emily boots

Filming “Zach and Miri”!

A blogger has an account of the shoot from last week.

The concept: Find a news story or Web site that you don’t have time to read right away? Your previous options were to bookmark it in your Web browser — which only stores the site on one computer — or add it to one of numerous “social bookmarking” sites like Delicious, Digg, etc., which have a lot of features you might not want to use, like letting other people see what you’re saving.

Instapaper is a lot easier. Log in once (you don’t even have to set a password) and you’ve created a place to dump articles, links, etc., which you can access from any computer or cellphone with Internet access. Like Tumblr, it’s clean, fast, and only has the bare-bones features it needs to work. We call it “antisocial bookmarking.” Give it a shot. (Via Jakob Lodwick.)

Paul Reickhoff, exective director of the Iraq and Afgahistan Veterans of America (whom we met in Arlington in 2006), announced new proposal recommendations on veterans’ care to present to Congress. I also received an e-mail from IAVA today further outlining the five-part report:

Today, I’m excited and proud to announce the release of IAVA’s most ambitious project to date: the IAVA Issue Reports.

We have compiled five research reports on the most pressing issues facing our veterans as they return from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Reports make these complex issues easy to understand and will become the go-to resource for lawmakers, journalists, activists and the American public. In addition to explaining the issue, each Report includes recommended solutions and concrete steps lawmakers can take this year.

• Mental Health Injuries: The Invisible Wounds of War.
  IAVA is calling for improving mandatory mental health screenings and increased access to mental health professionals.
• Traumatic Brain Injury: The Signature Injury of the Iraq War
  IAVA supports new funding to study the causes, effects and treatments of TBI.
• A New GI Bill: Rewarding our Troops, Rebuilding our Military
  IAVA is pushing for a modern GI Bill to fully cover four years at a public college or university.
• Red Tape: Veterans Struggle for Care and Benefits
  IAVA is working towards a dramatic reduction in the VA disability benefits claims backlog.
• A Breaking Military: Overextension Threatens Readiness
  IAVA recommends encouraging high quality recruits to join the military and increasing dwell time between deployments.

As you know, IAVA is making huge strides in Washington, DC. After only three years, our organization is the leading authority on issues affecting our newest generation of veterans. The Reports will help raise these issues to the top of the national agenda. In just a few days, a delegation of IAVA Member Veterans will be heading to Capitol Hill to present the Reports to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. We’ll be sending updates on our progress from the road. None of this would be possible without your generous support, so thanks to all of you who have helped us get this far. Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,

Paul Rieckhoff

This follows a really disturbing story on paperwork issues for disabled veterans at Fort Drum that aired on Morning Edition yesterday.

Today I ordered the stuff for the Pittsburgh-250 commitment ceremony because, wow, that date is approaching fast. 

NPR is hosting a really interesting “In Character” series and blog right now allowing listeners to submit essays about their favorite fictional characters in films, television and literature. Yesterday’s program was fascinating, a piece about Scarlett O’Hara from the perspective of a Northern black woman. I’ve really been thinking hard about who I would choose. Jo March? 

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― It first gained popularity from the television show “Seinfeld,” but now, Pittsburghers are finally getting a chance to try it.

“The Original Soupman” opened its doors this afternoon in the Golden Triangle.

It’s a spinoff of a New York City soup counter that was featured in an episode of the show in the late 1990s who the characters referred to as the “Soup Nazi.”

Prices run from anywhere from $5 for vegetable soups to $11 for lobster bisque.

To kick off its arrival, the store donated $3,000 to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and the Art Rooney Scholarship Fund.

The restaurant is located at 410 Forbes Avenue and Smithfield Street downtown.  

Young working journalists often want advice and perspective from news veterans who understand much of what they’re going through. And let’s face it: news vets could certainly learn a thing or two from their much younger colleagues.
SPJ’s Mentorship Match-up aims to promote great journalism by introducing journalists of different experience levels and similar interests.

Participating journalists are encouraged to communicate by e-mail, phone and occasional personal visits. SPJ helps make a match but leaves it to program participants to decide the nature and frequency of their communications.