Category Archives: Transhuman News

There they are again in the compost caddy, littered through the backyard pile, stuck in the sifter, peeping out of the garden beds the eternal bane of many home gardeners: the small, ubiquitous, and remarkably indestructible produce sticker.

I painstakingly remove every produce sticker from every piece of fruit and veg that enters our home, says James Hohman, a professor at the University of Connecticut. But his compost pile lives on top of a compost pile used by the previous owners of his house. When Hohmans family first moved in, he sifted the pile, removing probably hundreds of stickers. But more stickers kept showing up for years in the pile and in the garden beds.

Joshua Simpson, who lives in Washington, knows his pain. I have composted blue jeans well before those dumb stickers have gone away, he says. His family also feeds their food scraps to their chickens, resulting in produce stickers all over the yard.

I have to put down the shovel and pick the stickers out by hand every other scoop, says Gretchen Cheverton, who constantly finds stickers in her compost pile at home in Colorado. No gardener could sleep at night if they left them in the finished compost and spread them around the yard.

Composting is about accelerating the decomposition of organic matter. Your kitchen scraps and lawn clippings are all going to rot eventually. But a compost pile gets it done faster and, ideally, with minimal smells finished compost smells like forest floor and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. The same anaerobic bacteria that make rotting garbage smell so bad also emit methane; home composting focuses on boosting aerobic decomposition, which is both more sustainable and less disgusting.

Home composting can be a fairly hands-off process, but the science behind it can turn this household chore into an optimization mini-game. On the subreddit r/composting, composters fuss over their nitrogen to carbon ratios and post pictures of the thermometers theyve stuck into their piles. (A very hot pile is an achievement worth celebrating.)

For home composters, vegetable scraps and fruit peels are often a source of nitrogen, an integral part of the chemistry of a compost heap. Nitrogen feeds the microorganisms that break down the compost, generating heat in the process. Too little nitrogen, and a pile will stay cold and will break down slowly. Too much, and it starts to smell very bad. Maintaining the balance between nitrogen and carbon is key to composting at home. (Other common nitrogen sources include grass clippings, used coffee grounds, and for the open-minded home composter urine).

Alas, the produce stickers ride alongside the nutrient-rich kitchen waste. They cling to a spent orange rind; they linger on a discarded banana peel; theyre brushed into the compost bucket with a pile of woody kale stems and carrot tops. It requires hypervigilance to prevent a produce sticker from entering a compost pile.

Its worth mentioning the vast range of things people successfully compost at home. While most backyard piles arent capable of breaking down a compostable bioplastic fork (which does break down sustainably but can last for years outside of an industrial composting setting), people have composted popsicle sticks, fingernail clippings, bones, T-shirts, blue jeans heck, even a copy of Ron Pauls The Revolution: A Manifesto. (Hohman, who composted the book after downgrad[ing it] from table leg support, specifies that he first removed the cover). The bones, the T-shirt, or the book disappears and comes out as a nutrient-rich, dark brown humus. But the produce stickers remain.

Produce stickers, which are often made of plastic, will maintain their shape and sometimes their bright colors, though they often wash out to a blinding white. When compost has fully broken down, they stand out like a sore thumb perfect little ovals, circles, and rectangles contrasting sharply against the dark brown earth of finished compost.

It seems like they can get away with just not putting stickers on the fruit, and we would be OK, says Simpson. But Im just some guy who eats fruit so there might be something I dont know.

The Produce Marketing Association (PMA), which has since become the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA), created the Price Look Up (PLU) system and its accompanying scourge of stickers starting in 1988. A PLU sticker has a number and sometimes a bar code. It exists to help a cashier correctly ring up produce at checkout. The stickers themselves consist of three components: adhesive, plastic or paper, and ink. The stickers are required to be food grade but that isnt the same thing as being compostable. Chewing gum, for instance, isnt compostable, an interesting fact that has finally gotten me to stop swallowing my chewing gum.

Many of the individual components that make a PLU sticker can be either recyclable or compostable, claims the International Federation for Produce Standards, a larger industry group that includes the IFPA. But what good is it for the glue to be compostable if its stuck to plastic that isnt? The IFPS acknowledges that recyclers see the stickers as contaminates to the recycling process.

Following the passage of laws in Europe that ban various kinds of single-use plastics, the IFPA, in conjunction with other industry groups and the USDA, is now looking into developing PLU stickers that can be composted at home. This move comes after many years of criticism and proposed solutions, including a very fanciful idea for laser-etched fruit. Trying to create the combination of the adhesive, substrate (plastic or paper) and ink to be home compostable and durable enough to stay adhered to the produce through the supply chain is not an easy task, Ed Treacy, vice president of supply chain and sustainability for IFPA, wrote in an email.

Both Cheverton and Hohman think that the stickers are more of an annoyance than a real problem. The earth would probably be fine if we didnt fish the stickers out of the compost, says Cheverton. But the solution is just so easy its frustrating that no grower / packer is willing to just switch to biodegradable paper stickers.

I could say it causes a little angst over the sheer amount of plastic that permeates our world, says Hohman. Its symbolic of the problem. He called the stickers a 10,000-year monument to that time I bought a couple over-ripe kiwis and a tomato.

The actual lifespan of the sticker is probably on the order of decades, or possibly centuries, after which the sticker will likely erode into microplastics that permeate the water and the air and everything around us. But thats hardly reassuring. Oceans rise, empires fall, and the produce sticker remains unbowed, undefeated, and thoroughly un-compostable.

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Fruit stickers are the scourge of the compost pile - The Verge

This year marks the fifth consecutive year that Sierra Nevada Brewery asked PAUL Component Engineeringto build a bike to launch at the Sea Otter Classic.

However, this year the PAUL Component crew sought to build something extra spicy and special.

If you were at Sea Otter this year, you may have caught a glimpse of this custom one-of-kind beauty by the Sierra Nevada beer tent. Well, we hope youre sitting down. BikeRumor has stellar news: there is time and potential to win this goddess.

To create the Sierra Oddity, the PAUL crew enlisted the help of other top brands in the business: Burnsey of Oddity Cycleswas immediately interested. Confirming his magician-like status, Burnsey operated as swiftly and efficiently as possible to bend, miter, weld, beadblast, polish, and anodize custom logos into the titanium frame, fork, and handlebars.

Other artists stepped up to join the construction fun as well: White Industries and Velocity USA sent the raw parts to anodize and match the Pale Ale green together with PAULs parts. Ron of King Cage custom bent two hollow titanium can cages, and Phil Wood cut custom length spokes. Dynaplug contributed one of their latest Covert bar-end tire plugging systems. Lastly, WTB sent the tires, saddle, grips, and valves needed to complete the build of this ready-to-rock, single-speed dirt cruiser.

All it takes for a chance to take home the Sierra Oddity is todonate 5 dollars or more to California Mountain Biking Coalition (CAMTB)by April 29. Your donation to CAMTB will help fuel their ongoing state-level mountain biking and trail advocacy efforts. Their efforts include working with critical land managers such as the CA State Parks and the U.S Forest Service, to track and influence state and federal legislation and elections that impact access to public lands and natural resource conservation.

1. Frame, Fork, Handlebars byOddity Cycles

2. Stem, Seatpost, Brakes, Levers, Hubs, Seatpost QR Collar byPAUL Component Engineering

3. Cranks, Bottom Bracket, Headset, and Freewheel byWhite Industries

4. Rims byVelocity USA

5. Can Cages byKing Cage

6. Spokes byPhil Wood

7. Tire Plug Bar Ends byDynaplug

8. Tires, Saddle, Grips, Valves byWTB

Link to donate and enter to win

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Enter to win the Sierra Oddity: Unlike any other bike at Sea Otter Classic - BikeRumor.com

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) Norfolk city leaders broke ground on the St. Pauls transformation project on Tuesday.

The project is the start of redevelopment for the Tidewater Gardens, Young Terrace, and Calvert Square public housing neighborhoods.

Phase one of the project includes construction on the Tidewater Gardens area after 618 units were demolished following years of discussion and controversy.

Mayor Kenny Alexander says the idea for the project had been in place for years but he finally decided to take the initiative to get federal officials on board when he took office.

We were able to get this project going and working with the residents. Putting them first has been our principal, he said.

A $30 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development will help pay for this part of the $300 million project.

Historically, redlining, segregation and systemic racism pushed Black people to the St. Pauls area, which is divided off from downtown Norfolk. This created generations of families in poverty.

Alexander says the project is meant to deconcentrate poverty by building mixed-income communities.

This new development will have over 700 mixed-use, mixed-income units. One-third will be replacement public housing. Another third will be market value. Another third will be public housing voucher. Its going to be a nice 21st-century community with high amenities and luxuries and strengthen communities by deconcentrating poverty. Thats the goal and I think well accomplish that, he said.

But some worry the new homes will be too expensive for residents to return to, or they wont be able to find space at all.

Residents sued the city in 2020, calling the project racist and essentially moving poor Black people to other poor areas.

But the city settled with several changes to the plans and a judge dismissed residents lawsuit to halt the project. Residents have a right to return policy that will make sure good standing residents can come back. Right now, more than half of the residents plan to move back when the new homes are built.

In December, NRHA said more than 67% of residents had left, 214 out of the 618 units have already been leveled.

Their settlement agreement included more housing units reserved for public housing residents than planned.

Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Association Executive Director Ron Jackson said the residential facility that will be the first built in Tidewater Gardens will be for 182 families who have already been relocated from the community.

This part is really important because it sets the stage for what comes after, he said.

Jackson says they havent really run into many issues when it comes to finding housing for those being relocated but there is a lot of educating going on.

Most of the people weve worked with eventually found housing. The folks with vouchers, we have to work with families and landlords. Theres still that stigma attached to housing choice vouchers. Theres education but also with the residents moving out of the public housing setting into private markets, he said. Its education both ways but its beneficial in the long run.

Jackson says some of those who have relocated have chosen to move to other cities across the country.

During Tuesdays groundbreaking, the People Choice Initiatives program also shared information claiming that employment rates have risen among residents in the community.

NRHA closed on Monday on the two plots where the new residential facility will be built. Construction will begin between four to six weeks.

Jackson says it should take about 14 months.

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St. Pauls redevelopment breaks ground Tuesday - WAVY.com

Ronald F. Doering was born in Saginaw, Michigan, on March 29, 1945. After a year-long battle with cancer, he passed away peacefully at his home in Battle Ground, Washington, on March 28, 2022.

Ronald F. Doering married his wife of nearly 56 years, Laurie Schelb Doering, in June of 1966. They had met while students at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. Immediately upon graduation as a secondary school teacher, he was sworn into the Air Force. He became a first lieutenant after completing his officer training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. During his eight years of service to our country, with multiple states of residence, a year at Osan AB in Korea and the births of their three children, Ron was honorably discharged as a regular Air Force captain. He moved the family to Portage, Michigan, where they resided for the next 30 years. He had dreamed of being a truck driver as a teen and pursued that passion for 13 years, owning his own truck and operating it nationwide. He amazed people all the time with his knowledge of our nations highways and byways. He sold the truck in 1988 when he was employed as a truck driver instructor by Eaton Corporation, thus combining his education training and experience as a truck driver. After advancing through several positions at Eaton Corp in Kalamazoo, he was asked to transfer to Washington state as an automated product specialist in the Western Region. He retired from Eaton in 2011 having worked for Eaton for 23 years. During all these years, he continued to pursue his love of the outdoors through running and cycling many miles each week. Ron and Laurie logged numerous miles on their tandem bicycle and rode in tours in many states. They also enjoyed road trips around the U.S., visiting all 50 states, and cruises to many countries of the world together.

Ron is survived by his wife, Laurie, and children Deborah J. Doering Haney (Phil), Wayland, Michigan, and Robert F Doering (Sarah), Big Rapids, Michigan, and five grandchildren: Paul Jacob Haney (Casey Jo), Madeliene Krystal Haney, Maleah Haney, Emmalyn Sofia Doering and Abby Rose Doering. He was preceded in death by their daughter Barbara J. Doering Baker in 2013 and by his parents, Harold F. and Mary V. Hart Doering. His only sister, Carol Ann Doering Shankwiler, preceded him in death on March 28, 1973, as well as his beloved brother-in-law Richard Shankwiler in July of 1994. Ron remained close to his surviving nieces, Lynn Shankwiler MacDermott (Gordon) of San Rafael, California, and Karen Vanderveer Logue (Tom), of Portland, Oregon, and nephews Paul Richard Shankwiler (Heidi), of Walnut Creek, California, and their son, Kyle Shankwiler, and David Shankwiler (Ruth) of Pasadena, California, and their children Amanda and Carolyn Shankwiler. Ron was also a loved uncle to all of Lauries many nieces and nephews, grands and great-grands in Michigan and beyond.

A celebration of Rons life will be at Salmon Creek United Methodist Church, Vancouver, Washington, on May 14, 2022, at 2 p.m. We invite any of Rons friends to be in attendance. Memorials may be given to Salmon Creek United Methodist Church, 12217 NE Highway 99, Vancouver, Washington, 98686, or to Community Home Health and Hospice, 3102 NE 134th St., Vancouver, Washington, 98686.

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In loving memory of Ronald F. Doering: 1945-2022 - The Reflector

Good morning. Im Paul Thornton, and it is Saturday, April 16, 2022. Lets look back at the week in Opinion.

Before we delve into the latest developments in the dont say gay craze sweeping statehouses in parts of the nation, lets think back all the way to the mid-aughts, when marriage equality still seemed a ways off and a Republican president called for a constitutional amendment banning non-heterosexual unions. It was a time when California voted overwhelmingly for the first Black president and in the same election banned gay marriage (our second time doing so, in fact); when marriage bans were put on the ballot in several states as part of a cynical ploy to turn out conservative voters; and perhaps most curiously of all, when pundits on the right acknowledged publicly what Republican operatives said in private that marriage equality was inevitable because of unstoppable changes in public attitudes, even if doing everything to delay it still paid political dividends.

It is this cynical political calculation, the Machiavellian moral panic amid broader social progress, that I keep remembering when reading about the rash of bills in Republican-controlled states like the one recently signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis restricting classroom discussions on sexual orientation or gender identity. Americans awareness of LGBTQ issues beyond marriage equality is increasing, especially with regard to gender identity and transgender people and this is happening precisely at the moment the far right is gripped by paranoia over pedophilia. Is this the opportunity that Republican governors like DeSantis hope to ride to the White House, just as President George W. Bush narrowly won reelection in 2004 on a wave of panic over gay marriage?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis displays the signed Parental Rights in Education law, also known as the dont say gay bill, in Shady Hills, Fla., on March 28.

(Douglas R. Clifford / Tampa Bay Times via Associated Press)

Ultimately, the political calculations fall far behind other concerns; I speculate about them only because they say something valuable about the humanity of the leaders who make them. Far more important is the grave damage these bills do to LGBTQ students in school who benefit from having their identities affirmed by their teachers and institutions. This is the reality illuminated by LZ Granderson in a column in which he wrote of yearning to be reflected positively as a closeted gay high school student:

Tennessees HB 800 would ban learning materials that promote, normalize, support or address lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgender issues or lifestyle.

My God. They still refer to it as a lifestyle, as if talking about my husband were akin to talking about coastal living. And be not mistaken: The vague wording of that bill could potentially criminalize a family photo sitting on a gay teachers desk if that family doesnt look the way Tennessee lawmakers think that it should.

Meanwhile, seeing that family photo could be the very thing a queer child in Tennessee needs to feel worthy of love.

I dont know what kind of person hungers to take that away from children. I do know that such people have no business commenting on whats best for kids. But the anti-LGBTQ bills targeting trans children keep coming. The book banning in libraries keeps happening. The tropes about pedophilia have returned.

Attempting to answer Grandersons question of what kind of person does this, I suppose its the kind of person hoping to lead a party that has a history of seizing on hatred of a marginalized group whether its same-sex couples seeking recognition of their unions, immigrants desiring a life outside the shadows, or gay and trans students looking for affirmation in their classrooms. I can only hope DeSantis and Co.'s hateful political ploy signals that greater acceptance of the targeted groups is mostly a matter of time, but my heart breaks thinking of the lives and futures destroyed to serve a politicians ambitions.

Indeed, what kind of a person does this?

Amid Floridas fight with Disney over LGBTQ rights, a Disney family member comes out as trans. Robin Abcarian writes about a conversation she had with Roy P. Disneys child Charlee, who came out as transgender four years ago and has spoken out against Floridas dont say gay law: Charlee cant abide the idea that states are trying to make life harder for trans people. LGBTQ kids, Charlee said, already have to deal with high rates of depression and anxiety, not to mention bullying and suicide. Then to put something like this law on top of that? They cant learn about their community and their history at school, or play sports or use the bathroom they want to use? L.A. Times

Remember that record Sierra Nevada snowpack in December? Its basically gone, says one of the researchers who recently measured the snow depth near Lake Tahoe, further indicating how extreme drought and climate change are altering Californias ability to estimate its available water resources: Many storms with near record-breaking amounts of rain or snow would be required in a single year to make a significant dent in drought conditions. October was the second-snowiest and December the snowiest month on record at the snow lab since 1970, thanks to two atmospheric rivers that hit California. But the exceptionally dry November and January to March periods have left us with another year of below-average snowpack, rain and runoff conditions. New York Times

Were seeing how a billionaire candidates money can change the L.A. mayors race. Rick Caruso entered the crowded field seeking to succeed Mayor Eric Garcetti and quickly shot up in the polls. You cant turn on the TV or watch a YouTube video without seeing one of his ads, says the Times Editorial Board, and we need to get used to this even if this endless spending doesnt guarantee Caruso success: Blasting ads across TVs and computer screens is a good way to get voters to start paying attention if it doesnt eventually grate on their nerves. But if history is any guide, money isnt the sole determinant in winning elections in Los Angeles and California. More than one wealthy person Republican gubernatorial candidates John Cox and Meg Whitman come to mind has found that betting their millions on winning support of voters in California was a very bad investment. L.A. Times

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California should speed the transition to electric vehicles. The state will require all new car sales to be zero-emission by 2035 a groundbreaking mandate that might not be ambitious enough. The editorial board urges Gov. Gavin Newsom and state regulators to take advantage of several advances and converging crises: Climate impacts are quickly worsening, battery technology is making great strides and surging gasoline prices and Russias invasion of Ukraine have underscored the perils of our reliance on fossil fuels. This moment calls for bolder action on electric vehicles, and Californias regulators should push carmakers to go further and faster. L.A. Times

Ukraine can learn something on holding Russia accountable for war crimes from the Soviets. What Ukraine needs is a dedicated state commission to collect, systematize and analyze evidence of atrocities and other crimes committed during this war, write Francine Hirsch and Eugene Finkel. Russian propaganda falsely presents the war as a fight against Nazism. Yet, ironically, Soviet efforts during World War II to uncover and prosecute Nazi crimes in German-occupied parts of the USSR can provide a useful blueprint to hold Russia accountable. L.A. Times

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Republicans once went after gay couples. Now they're targeting LGBTQ kids - Los Angeles Times

When you find the theme week you want to spend the rest of your life with, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. Thankfully, The Ringer hereby dubs this week Rom-Com Week, a celebration of one of the most delightful, captivating genres in film. Head to the top of the Empire State Building, order what shes having, and join us as we dig into everything the rom-com has had to offer over the years.

The first time P.J. Hogan ever flew on a private jet, he was headed for disaster. On his way to Phoenix for a test screening of My Best Friends Wedding, the Australian director was eager to witness the first reactions to his new romantic comedy. But after a friendly plane ride with Sony head John Calley and producer Jerry Zucker, Hogans mood shifted dramatically on the desert ground. Despite uproarious laughter throughout the first two acts of the movie, silence reigned supreme over its final 30 minutes, Hogan recalls. And by the time we got to the end, it was hatred.

Originally, Sony executives demanded their A-list star close out the movie on a high note, prompting Hogan and screenwriter Ronald Bass to give Jules (Julia Roberts) a redemptive meet-cute with a new man (John Corbett) during the end credits. But after watching her repeatedly fail to break up a wedding between her best friend Michael (Dermot Mulroney) and his college-student fianc Kimmy (Cameron Diaz), the Arizona audience had no interest in seeing the movies hero-turned-villain get a happy ending. Inside the theater, it didnt take long to see the decision backfireaudience members crucified Jules on their note cards. Youd have thought we made The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and I was asking them to root for Leatherface, Hogan says. It was just awful.

Hogan, whod broken out a few years earlier with Muriels Wedding, headed back to L.A. believing hed blown his first shot at Hollywood. I felt like my career was over, Hogan says. I felt like it deserved to be over. But Zucker remained optimistic that Hogan had a hit on his handshe just needed to reshoot the ending, something the Aussie director had never considered as an option. When I knew there was a possibility of reshoots, hope rose like the sun over the horizon for me, Hogan says with a laugh. Soon, he and Bass began tweaking the script, revising the end so that Juless fan-favorite gay friend, George (Rupert Everett), showed up to the wedding instead, easing her single pain with a familiar song and dance. Thats the message of the screenplaysometimes the person you love isnt your lover, Hogan says. Rupert kept saying, You need me at the end. I think he knew the impact he was going to have in the film way before any of us did.

The new material rescued the movie (a second test screening proved much smoother) and the last-minute changeson top of a variety of other musical additions and rewritespaid major dividends. Throughout the summer of 1997, My Best Friends Wedding earned $127 million at the domestic box office and added another $172 million globally, turning the genres standard fairy-tale ending on its head while affirming Robertss unwavering star power. Almost 25 years later, it remains a modern rom-com classic, one that Hogan still enjoys dissecting and theorizing about to this day. And over the course of two-plus hours, he was game to answer every question we had. Theres something fizzy and vital and alive about it at its best, he says. But it has a lot to do with the fact that she doesnt get the guy.

Ive heard you say that when you read Ronald Basss script for the first time, it didnt really seem like a rom-com.

No, it wasnt very romantic and it wasnt very funny. I kind of knew around the midpoint, you had to start questioning the strength of [Michael and Juliannes] romance. If you start to think they belong together, the ending would collapse, and the ending was why I did the movie. The major thing to me was it needed to be a lot funnier, so I started riffing with [my wife] Jocelyn [Moorhouse]. Rupert Everetts character, George, was only in two scenesthe opening scene, and when he showed up in Chicago to give Julianne some sage advice.

Considering how big of a role he plays, that seems wild to me.

I wanted George to hang around. Id never read a script in the early 90s that had an openly gay character pleased to be himself in the way his best friend isnt. I said to Jocelyn, I really love this character, and I think he could really make a mark in the movie. We had some Australian friends in town, we all got drunk and we pretty much riffed the whole George visits Chicago scene when Julianne gets the great idea to pass him off as her fianc. We were just roaring with laughter.

What did you make of Julia Roberts at the time? Why do you think she was interested in portraying a darker character?

I found her absolutely charming, and I saw immediately what made her a movie star. I suspected that, much like me, she didnt expect her career to be founded on romantic comedies. I think Pretty Woman was such a blockbuster that she got pigeonholed. This was an actress who really wanted to do something that her audience didnt expect. There was a lot of pressure on Julia that she was returning to her wheelhouse: This one had better connect.

So lets get into the movie: Do you think it was in poor taste for Michael to invite Jules to be part of his wedding at the last minute? It seems obvious hes inviting disaster to happen.

Yeah, look, I wouldnt have done it. I remember talking to Ron about it and Ron simply said, If he doesnt, theres no movie, P.J. So what do you want to do about this? I chalk that up to the Big Ask. Every movie always has a Big Ask to accept this one thing, and if you accept that one thing, we promise well make it worth your while.

Michael is a 28-year-old sportswriter and Kimmy is a 20-year-old University of Chicago student. How do you think that they met?

Im not a sports guy, and I knew nothing about American football or baseball. I spoke to a Sports Illustrated journalist who told me how much of it was unrealistic and unbelievable. But if I were to change his profession, it would be like pulling a building block out of the screenplay. None of us had the time to think of another job that still worked, because it had to be unpleasantJulianne had to have something to inflame Kimmys doubts. Youre going to be stuck traveling with this dude all around the country in a low-paying job. I remember that Dermot and Cameron knew how they met, but I didnt care because the film wasnt about them. Philip Boscos character was the owner of the White Sox. Thats how they met!

Of course, if youre marrying the daughter of the White Sox owner, and hanging around the owners box, isnt that a huge conflict of interest for a sports journalist?

Yeah, I remember talking with Dermot that sportswriting was his love, but we did talk about what his future career was. He wanted to be a novelist, so I think we just decided that eventually he was going to have a shot at the Great American Novel, and maybe it would be sports relatedwhat really happens behind the scenes. I know he had bigger fish to fry than just being a sportswriter.

Well, if you marry into a billionaires family, youre not going to need to scrounge around for writing gigs.

I always thought he should have taken the PR job. When Michael was being noble and going I want to be broke, I want to struggle for a living, I remember thinking, Is this guy not very bright? Take the job with dad and do what you want to do. There should be a whole separate movie about Kimmy and Michaels relationship.

Theres a running gag throughout the movie that shows Kimmy being a terrible driver. Where did she learn to drive, and how tough was that to shoot?

That was Cameron driving. We lucked out there because there was a section of the freeway in Chicago very close to the inner city that was under construction, so Cameron did her own driving and she floored it. Most of the cars were only doing 30 miles per hour, and shes doing 60. So it looks like shes doing 110. I think Kimmy drives like a rich person, like an heiress. Shes also got a gleaming BMW, so nobodys ever going to hit her because theyll be paying for the damage for the rest of their lives.

Why does Kimmy have so few friends to the point of needing to enlist her fiancs former lover as her maid of honor?

As I recall, Kimmys best friend broke her hip line dancing in Abilene. But like Jules says later, You didnt trust me for a moment. You wanted to keep me close. The Michael Corleone rule: Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.

For the karaoke scene, was Camerons voice actually that bad, or did she have to act like she couldnt sing well?

No, its that bad. Cameron told me beforehand that she cant sing, and I said, well thats perfect because the character cant sing. She didnt want to do it live, but Id always noticed that Cameron was one of the easiest blushes, and I really wanted to capture that on film.

I love the bridge scene so much. Was Jules originally meant to struggle with admitting her love for Michael as the boat crosses under the bridge, or was that improvised?

It seems like an odd reference, but The Last Picture Show is one of my favorite films. Theres a character named Sam the Lion sitting by a water tank talking about a lost love, and right when it gets to his close-up, the sun comes out. They couldnt have planned it because it was an overcast day, and then when he talks about how he lost her, the sun goes back behind the clouds. I remember thinking I would love to have a moment like that. I remember trying to time the confession for a bridge, and that was virtually impossible, but it accidentally happened on the first take. The timing never worked again.

Was the rehearsal lunch always going to be centered around I Say a Little Prayer?

Yeah, the scene was conceived around that song, because to have a spontaneous sing-along, it had to be a song everybody knew but didnt know that they knew. I went through a number of possibilities and tested them on people. Id start them on the first line, but the one that really stuck was I Say a Little Prayer. Everybody knew what to say after The moment I wake up

Did every actor go into the studio at some point and record their verses with you?

No, I got them all in at once and we did it as a group recording. And I only did it as a guide track. What we ended up doing was playing the guide track on the set, and then they sang over the guide track. So its both.

Has Dionne Warwick ever reached out to you about the movie?

The original ending was really terribleit ended with leaving Julianne on the dance floor as a waiter starts singing, I Say a Little Prayer. And I thought I may as well turn this into a musical and maybe I can have Dionne Warwick in it. At that time, Dionne lived in South Africa and granted us just one day with her. But she didnt show up. She didnt get on the plane. She would have been cut out anyway, so she made the right call.

Has she ever contacted you?

No, I dont know what Dionne Warwick thinks of her lionization in the film. The most famous version is Arethas version, but Dionne recorded it first, so it was important to me that that be acknowledged in the scene.

Speaking of music, whats the story behind the kids sucking on helium and singing John Denver?

When I read the first draft it was the funniest thing in the script, but originally it was Bridge Over Troubled Water. I loved that song, but Paul Simon asked to see the screenplay because he protects his music like a hawk protecting her eggs. I wanted to get on the phone and talk him into it, but I thought theres no way you can do this song sung on helium respectfully. I just have to send him the screenplay. And Paul predictably said, No, any other song but this one. I cant have a group of teenagers singing it on helium. But Annies Song seemed to work just as well.

Id imagine those kids actually sucked helium, right?

Well, I couldnt stop them. There was helium on set, because the balloons were being filled up for the sequence. We told them not to suck helium because it could be done so easily in post, but from the moment we started rehearsing, they were sucking helium. I think by the end they were so high, and they would talk to me in their helium voices, and I remember having to film them very quickly because I thought there was going to be a helium catastrophethey were going to collapse if I didnt get them off set.

Kimmys dad writes all of his emails during the day, saves them as drafts, and then has his assistant send them all out at the end of the day. Was that a thing people did in the 90s, or is Kimmys dad a gigantic weirdo?

We shot the film in 1996 and honestly, I had never sent an email, so I didnt know. And Ron was an emailer, so I thought Ron emails with people, he knows. But in retrospect, it really is quite ridiculous to write emails, then put them in a box and just say send all my emails at the end of the day. The point of emails is you write them and send them off right then and there. I feel like Im pinning all the films mistakes on Ron. I just thought emails were something corporations and big businesses did, maybe that was true at the time.

Its pleasantly surprising to see Paul Giamatti in the hotel hallway every time I watch this movie. How did you find him for the bellhop role?

We knew it was an important scene. Paul just came in and he was wonderful. It was instantly, Ive got to have this guy. He was just so good. What I didnt know was that Paul had knee trouble and the whole sequence involved him crouching in front of Julia. Paul said, I think Id stay standing the whole time. And I went, You wouldnt, Paul, this is supposed to be an intimate moment. And then he just said, Im in incredible pain when I kneel down. Maybe you can even see a grimace.

I think you have to admit that Jules lending her and Michaels song to Michael and Kimmy seems a little strange.

Yeah. I went for it. She originally also read Michael a poem, which was very beautiful, but was basically saying, Im still in love with you, which is another reason the last act went completely wrong. The audience was going, The bitch still loves him? Whats going on? So we had to re-do the speech. She couldnt be reading a poem. What are you, setting up the sequel? My Best Friends Divorce?

Acknowledging that Georges presence saves the ending of the movie, how plausible was it that he would fly from New York to Chicago twice in two days, considering he hates to fly?

Theres no way I would fly from New York to Chicago to save my loony friend, whose actions I dont approve of anyway. But that always struck me as Jeez, hes a good friend. So I shot that first sequence to at least give him some impetus to do it. I thought in for a penny, in for a pound. Would you really not want him to show up at the end? People absolutely loved it. As implausible as it might seem, everybody in that audience wanted a friend who would do that for them.

Who is the villain of this movie? Do you think Michael is potentially worse than Jules?

Ive had a lot of people say to me, Hes complicit, at the very least. I still believe that the villain and the hero of the movie was Julias character. He still has an attraction to her, thats obvious. But I dont think thats necessarily wrong. Im married, and I know that when the weeks were counting down to my wedding day, I started having cold feet. Theres nothing like a wedding day to start focusing your mind on previous relationships and what could have been.

Why do you think people still connect with this movie so much?

I remember when I saw When Harry Met Sally for the first time. Id been through a breakup and I just remember sitting there, as much as I loved the film, like, Well, arent you the lucky ones. If youve been through a breakup or are not in a relationship, My Best Friends Wedding is a really great romantic comedy for you because its realistic. Even if you didnt live the rom-com dream, that doesnt mean your life is over, and it doesnt mean youll never be happy again. There may not be love, there may not be sex, but there will be dancing.

Do you still find that wisdom to be true?

Its been true for me. Ron had always said, I really want the ending to say that sometimes the person you love the most isnt a lover. You still have to find happiness where you can, and thats why the movie has lived on. It leaves you with hope.

Jake Kring-Schreifels is a sports and entertainment writer based in New York. His work has also appeared in Esquire.com, GQ.com, and The New York Times.

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My Best Friends Wedding Is a Rom-Com You Can Talk About for Hours - The Ringer