Buzz Bin

by Inlander Staff


Craigslist in Space -- Getting a local craigslist site was a real triumph for Inland Northwesterners eager to pawn off their cheap furniture and share their sexual predilections with the rest of the world. But now craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster has taken things to a whole new level. Last week he won a $1,225 eBay auction from a Florida audio-visual company that will allow craigslist users to beam selected messages, solicitations and want ads several trillion miles into space using a satellite dish and a couple of transmitters. Seriously. Now when you post a message to the site, you can check a box that says "OK to transmit this posting into outer space." On May 15, all those checked messages, along with a video message from founder Craig Newmark, will be blasted into the cosmos, so that passing aliens might finally understand just how much you're willing to pay for a used five-seat hot tub and exactly how you feel about that person you slept with last night.





Many Happy Returns -- Perhaps the highlight of Actors Rep Theatre announcing its second season is that it's going to have a second season at all -- not too long ago, some theatergoers were wondering if they could succeed way out there at SFCC. Their five planned shows -- with an Aug. 26 season opener -- are A.R. Gurney's The Golden Age, George Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession, Alan Ayckbourn's Absurd Person Singular, Richard Greenberg's The Dazzle and Garson Kanin's Born Yesterday.





Helping Ricky -- Those of us in the Bin depend on words because we're not so hot at making pictures. Truly, stick figures are a challenge, and don't even bring up the game Pictionary. So we're especially impressed with the work of Ricky Rodriguez (pictured), a young quadriplegic living in the Dominican Republic who draws by holding pens, pencils or paintbrushes between his teeth. Spokane resident Sally Hughes met Ricky while volunteering in the Dominican Republic. She turned his pictures into note cards and is determined to sell enough of them (at $1 a piece) to bring Ricky to the States for adequate medical care. Ricky has never even had an official X-ray, and many believe his condition could be helped - even reversed - if he was given proper health care. To see his work, visit Ricky's Web site at www.mypeoplepc.com/members/shughes/rickysnotecards or, to order note cards, call Sally Hughes at 327-1660.





Publication date: 03/10/05