The Blackboard Newspaper is dead - By N.L. Belardes
Just got this email. Looks like Bakersfield's the Blackboard Newspaper has become roadkill just like the old Honky Tonk...
If you're a writer for the Blackboard and you want publicity in the underground, submit to nl@nlbelardes.com. I don't need any stinkin' advertising to run this chop shop...
THE BLACKBOARD IS SHUTTING DOWN
Sorry, folks, but the time to back out gracefully is now. The Blackboard is closing its doors.
This has been a tough decision to face over the past two months. I know many people love the newspaper as much as I do and are dedicated fans. I know the newspaper serves a community that desperately needs the attention, like the arts, theater and liberals that are starving for something to call their own, a group that the local newspaper seems to ignore or merely placate. I’m sorry that I couldn’t run this thing to the bloody end, but its best that I get out now before creating more debt.
It’s been a slow death of a thousand paper cuts. The newspaper runs on a shoestring budget, and any money that is collected goes to keeping it afloat. With June’s newspaper being so late, I had to give away all the advertising for July, which really hurt. The Music Festival was supposed to alleviate some of that financial weight. That never came to fruition either, and it ended up costing hundreds of dollars that the newspaper didn’t have. Add in the advertisers that never paid their bills over the past four months, and the choice became inevitable.
The Blackboard had a good run, and we did some good work for the community while it existed. A part of me is very saddened by the loss, and I’m sure I’ll have about a week of mourning before I get back on my feet and get some other work done. A part of me is glad that I no longer solely have the tremendous workload and responsibility of running the newspaper. It is with mixed emotions that I bid the readers a fond farewell. Maybe sometime in the near future, we can get enough money together to make another go, pay off the debt and get the newspaper running again, but for now, I’m going to take a little vacation, write fiction and try my hand at another form of publishing.
The newspaper’s phone number is already disconnected. The web site will remain up and running until November, though I will not be updating it or the blog. Blackboard email addresses will remain functioning until November as well. The newspaper’s P.O. Box will also remain open, so if anyone has any proposals to keep the newspaper alive and well, send them in and I’ll consider any good ideas. Give me about a week to adjust to the newfound silence, and I’ll start calling the contributors that I’m proud to call friends and move forward from there.
Thanks much to everyone that has spent the time writing articles, sending in their press releases, and contributing to the newspaper. All of you had made the newspaper a screaming success and I thank you from my heart for all the good work you did.
Peace and love, and feel free to contact me with any ideas you may have to start Version Two of the Blackboard. Maybe we’ll call this next one “The Eraser.”
If you're a writer for the Blackboard and you want publicity in the underground, submit to nl@nlbelardes.com. I don't need any stinkin' advertising to run this chop shop...
THE BLACKBOARD IS SHUTTING DOWN
Sorry, folks, but the time to back out gracefully is now. The Blackboard is closing its doors.
This has been a tough decision to face over the past two months. I know many people love the newspaper as much as I do and are dedicated fans. I know the newspaper serves a community that desperately needs the attention, like the arts, theater and liberals that are starving for something to call their own, a group that the local newspaper seems to ignore or merely placate. I’m sorry that I couldn’t run this thing to the bloody end, but its best that I get out now before creating more debt.
It’s been a slow death of a thousand paper cuts. The newspaper runs on a shoestring budget, and any money that is collected goes to keeping it afloat. With June’s newspaper being so late, I had to give away all the advertising for July, which really hurt. The Music Festival was supposed to alleviate some of that financial weight. That never came to fruition either, and it ended up costing hundreds of dollars that the newspaper didn’t have. Add in the advertisers that never paid their bills over the past four months, and the choice became inevitable.
The Blackboard had a good run, and we did some good work for the community while it existed. A part of me is very saddened by the loss, and I’m sure I’ll have about a week of mourning before I get back on my feet and get some other work done. A part of me is glad that I no longer solely have the tremendous workload and responsibility of running the newspaper. It is with mixed emotions that I bid the readers a fond farewell. Maybe sometime in the near future, we can get enough money together to make another go, pay off the debt and get the newspaper running again, but for now, I’m going to take a little vacation, write fiction and try my hand at another form of publishing.
The newspaper’s phone number is already disconnected. The web site will remain up and running until November, though I will not be updating it or the blog. Blackboard email addresses will remain functioning until November as well. The newspaper’s P.O. Box will also remain open, so if anyone has any proposals to keep the newspaper alive and well, send them in and I’ll consider any good ideas. Give me about a week to adjust to the newfound silence, and I’ll start calling the contributors that I’m proud to call friends and move forward from there.
Thanks much to everyone that has spent the time writing articles, sending in their press releases, and contributing to the newspaper. All of you had made the newspaper a screaming success and I thank you from my heart for all the good work you did.
Peace and love, and feel free to contact me with any ideas you may have to start Version Two of the Blackboard. Maybe we’ll call this next one “The Eraser.”
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Thursday, September 07, 2006.
You can leave your response.
I am so sad. That sucks!
-Guinevere
All I can do is offer people a voice on this site. We're linked up to Georgetown now and have a boatload of links back to us... we have PR companies up the wazoo reading Noveltown and Paperback Writer. But we're not in print, which sucks for those wanting good folks to get old-fashioned ink stains on their fingers...
Let's hope the Blackboard gets resurrected.
Very sad...But I really like "The Eraser"!
-cdarling
It is very sad to see a piece of Bakersfield culture disappear... hopefully it will be resurrected.
This is a total bummer. I was really starting to look foreward to my monthly Blackboard fix ... Todd and I would sit down and read it cover to cover.
Boo Hoo! :(
Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to keep it alive ... as you say, it was a good run. We will miss you, Blackboard.
I heard about it this afternoon too…I can't believe it...I'm sad, and when my story finally makes it to page four.... The first article... I can’t be happy. We need the blackboard….
The Blackboard is getting to be an unlucky name in Bakersfield
That sucks...
Bakotopia started out with The Blackboard.
We're looking into a print version of Bakotopia for next year, ala' LA Weekly, so just like NL's site, writers are welcome to submit to Bakotopia.com, where your works will be read!
Good luck to Jason & the Blackboard crew..
Matt
WWW.BAKOTOPIA.COM
Maybe if everybody who appreciates the Blackboard sent them a little money they could stay open?
the blackboard is an infamous name & very bakersfieldian. the name (of course i'd say this) bears historical weight & the badge of the underdog. the paper was named "blackboard" because the city'd just mowed down the old honky-tonk & it just wasn't right that they did that. it's not a bad-luck name; it's like many bursts of art around here: it grows, it grows, there's hope, we're gonna do it this time, we're gonna pull people out of their stupor, then it bursts. pow! goodbye! those of us who remain, then, remember & maybe fan a flame out of the remaining ashes. or we just bitch!!
i think the name blackboard represents the best qualities of bakersfieldness: stubbornness, nose-thumbing, art made not to fit labels, but to reflect the pugnacious artist. those musicians down at the blackboard, barrel house, clover club, & the rest played hank wms, fats domino, chuck berry, "goodnight irene," whatever song they pleased, without worry about fitting in. no one tried to be pretty or popular or holier than thou or status quo; they just made art, good art, art that was good because it was gritty and true and heart-felt.
the blackboard spirit will live on... tho after all i wrote i know it'll probably start up again under a different name... there'll always be monkey-wrenchers and nose-thumbers, especially here in the town of talented, shrewd, don't-listen-to nobody, mean & friendly old buck owens, & thank goodness for it.
websites are good, but the digital divide means cyberpapers will always be limited in scope & maybe even sniffing a bit of elitism (despite the net's egalitarian origins)... i'm sure you'd agree, nick, you being a writer and all, that nothing beats the smell of newsprint & the tactile & visual pleasure of touching and reading one, esp if it contains your or a friend's words, or just words that you relish... not to mention that a "real" paper can get to everyone, no matter the size of their pocketbook or home status.
anyhow, that's that for this moment. now jason rickett can rest for a bit, & we can hope another upstart will come along & hoist the underground press flag. i personally hope they keep the old name, not for selfish reasons, but because i just think it's got good ghosts. also, i like reading the historical articles by the two gilberts (geo gilbert lynch & gilbert gia) :) good work, jason rickett, & best wishes!!!
Well, good things just don't survive that easily in this shitty town. There's a long list, to prove it... the Tejon theatre being one...
I'm really sorry to hear this.
I hope something new comes along...
Always sad to see an indy go down.
Ah yes, Gilbert-Gilbert... newsprint, paper, pages that aren't tied to a cyber dimension. I am like other writers with a craving for print like a doggy wants dog biscuits.
But I will criticize for a moment...
I didn't feel the Blackboard was going to make it. So I didn't contribute but a few times. A rebellious-named paper? Sure, but perhaps lacking that very rebellious spirit. Let me explain...
I didn't feel a sense of the paper's compassion for me as a contributing writer. Seriously, if Ricketts didn't give a shit if I contributed or not and didn't spend time developing relationships with writers except those who were his friends (at least from my perspective and a few others) then how could the paper succeed in a unified spirit of rebelliousness?
If you want to compare a newspaper to a Honky Tonk, then why weren't the (Writers) musicians in a sort of band, with unified strategies, and all tuning instruments so they could play together on the print stage to a great crowd of rebellious onlookers?
No, it was a far cry from a rebellious Honky Tonk of musicians playing well-tuned music to a chaotic crowd.
Although I read many editions, I didn't feel a sense of comradeship, though I sometimes felt a sense of passion through its written words.
There were communication difficulties that I won't go into where I think the blackboard was at fault. One cannot just blame non-paying advertisers for the paper's failure. There is a deeper story that I do not know, but is there.
In the end, the Blackboard had potential. It's failure paves the way for Bakotopia. Is that good or bad? You can't write, "Fuck" in Bakotopia.
The Tejon was a great local theatre. I remember a band from SLO called the Din Pedals who were incredible. Their van had broke down and these guys were determined to play the Tejon... they made it... the lead singer had a glitter-shirt on and sounded incredible. Girls were goo-gooing in the aisles over him. They had a song on LA radio and in some movie, and then the band imploded. But I saw them and Blade Runner at the Tejon...
Maybe the next venture should be called TROUT'S! That's probably gonna end up being the most famous, oldest, still kickin' honky tonk in Kern County history!
How about calling it "The Trout Mouth Review"!
the blackboard you're referring to is the later version, i think. i believe from what "a reliable source" has continually said that jason was quite overwhelmed by the task of single-handedly putting out the thing, like i was (i had a full-time job the whole time i helmed it, plus played music. i had to quit or i was gonna have a nervous breakdown from lack of sleep!!!) i know i always emailed people, at the least, tho i WAS bad about picking up the phone.. email is so much faster!!!!
in the beginning, we printed EVERYTHING, not just "friends," prompting eddie ruff to say we should include a magnifying glass with each issue. :) it was perversely fun, for me, to pack every damn word in there. greg criticized this decision, but i don't much care cause it sat right with me.
that we were "exclusive" was always the conception with some people & there was nothing i could do to change that & certainly a person can't expect or perform expecting the approval of all!... i didn't print everything - like for instance racist or hateful conservatism (like mommy prussian blue, who wrote a few things that i gladly deleted). i wasn't gonna spend my $$ printing that crap, i just wasn't!! it was expensive to put out those papers, and me with no time (or inclination) to generate ad revenue, well forget it. my conscience couldn't do it, either.
maybe that's what jason was thinking? i don't know. i just know he kept printing, & anyone who's put out a "real" paper knows how back-breaking that can be...
in the "old days," (2001-04), we did harpoon the local rich and self-important quite a bit, like jason continued to do. jason and i both grew up reading mad, and i think anyone who did can't tolerate allowing the "franchised" to keep all; we have to at least trip them now and then.
i don't know what the blackboard became cause i wasn't there, but in the beginning, it was open to all who contributed (except, like i said, hate views). also, a big priority for me was promoting literacy and trying to encourage readers so that they didn't feel hopeless & depressed for living here, which is how i felt for years.
no publicity's bad publicity. self-interest may motivate near-all of us "artistes" and writers in particular, but if the end result is the image of productivity, purposeful activity, and the result is that apathetic locals are inspired into action themselves, then i don't care what people call me or don't call me.
i'm not much, but i'm all i think about - what's important in the end is the good of the whole, and that includes EVERYONE, not just those in power...
oh, and having fun, too, this short time we're here. :)
this is anonymous because it's not about me, & only a small handful of people know who this is & i don't believe they care at all, which is how it should be. the message, not the messenger, is the important part, i think! best wishes to you, nick!
also, nick, you commented that the paper was unlike a honky-tonk due to having no core of "musicians" unified to play to the crowd. well, in the beginning there were 3 of us, then about 5-7, & we met semi-regularly, but what happened is, people got burned out one by one, mostly cause it was so damn HARD to put out the paper & no one was making a dime. i believe unless an artistic project has LOTS of funding, this is the most common roadblock facing local artistes: the burst i referred to earlier. people here have a lot of heart & guts, but it takes SO MUCH tenacity to change old mindsets & encourage others to come on board. easier just to burn out... maybe you were expressing your own frustration, as an artist trying to generate interest in local scenes & sell your own product, too? it can't be easy. anyway, you're still hanging in there, & maybe you have a committed band of folks and you're all working together to play to the rowdy crowd and it's successful. and if so, you are the first! congratulations! :) i hope that you never stop and that someday this place will have some CULTcha.
Great insight and comments, anon... I agree, there are a lot of factors, and unless Mr. Ricketts speaks out, folks won't know...
And who knows, I could fold anyday now too... :)
Does anyone know how to get hold of Jason? His old phone number seems to be cancelled. I seriously want to try a run at The Blackboard as a not-for-profit paper. I think that will make all the difference for it's survivability.
However - I don't want to be the editor. Need Jason to fill those shoes.
Send pertinent info to dirtyshirt@sbcglobal.net.
Thanks.
Richard Bramer
Ex-Blackboard Writer
leave a response