Best of Utah 2007 | Media & Politics 

Page 4 of 9

BEST TAKING THE CLEANERS TO THE CLEANERS
Film Sanitizing Shutdown
A U.S. District judge handed down the decision in July 2006 that editing “bad” language, sex and violence out of movies and reselling them as sanitized family fare is an “illegitimate business” that infringes on the rights of Hollyweird. “Their [studios and directors] objective ... is to stop the infringement because of its irreparable injury to the creative artistic expression in the copyrighted movies,” the judge said. “There is a public interest in providing such protection.” That meant DVD-editing companies like Utah County’s CleanFlicks had to keep their hands off Kate Winslet’s Titanic boobies (the perky catalysts of the film-scrubbing biz) and quit hiding behind the “It’s about choice!” slogan. Unfortunately, the issue arose again recently in Orem due to an “educational” loophole, so this may never die.

BEST UNTOLD STORY
Andrew Valdez: No One Makes It Alone
Third District Court Judge Andrew Valdez’ autobiographical account of his early years gives blow-by-blow coverage of him rising out of a disadvantaged youth with the help of an elderly mentor and his own tennis skill. But when you come to his tale’s end, you’re left wondering how a mother’s tough life impacted the values of a youth who would later become one of Salt Lake City’s highest profile juvenile judges. Perhaps Valdez will answer these questions in a sequel. Signature-Book.com

BEST SWINGER
Jake Millard
Watching Orderville High School student Jake Millard, 17, play second base in baseball or point guard in basketball is humbling. Jake’s right arm is 4 inches shorter than his left due to pre-birth complications. When he catches a baseball with his left-handed mitt, he lodges the mitt in his right armpit, pulls it off, then throws the ball with his left. It’s a minor miracle of speed, coordination and determination. But then his mother Julie says defeat’s not an option. She watched her then-3-year-old one New Year’s Eve spend hours in a hall with a ball until he was able to dribble it. Julie’s only complaint is she wasn’t at the field last year when he scored his first home run.

BEST REDNECKS ON PARADE
The Utah Minuteman Project’s “Wake Up America” Rally
At the Utah Minutemen’s “Wake Up America” rally on May 1, 2006, at the City & County Building in Salt Lake City, the media equaled or even outnumbered the 100-ish illegal-immigration protesters who wanted to be rid of Mexican “gangs,” “drugs” and “crime” (“Deport, don’t support”) so we can get back to using “prope language” (actual spelling on one sign, bulleted with Jesus fish). The Latino community was unfazed, but the white folk? Frightened, embarrassed, take your pick.

BEST USE OF A PART-TIME JOB
Rae Meadows
While most college kids wait tables or sling coffee to fund their education, Rae Meadows moonlighted at a local escort agency fielding messages from gentleman callers. The then University of Utah grad student answered a classified ad for a phone manager at an “entertainment company,” knowing full well it might inspire her creative writing pursuits. Meadows, who quit just months into the gig, eventually used her brief encounter with sex work as fodder for Calling Out, a fictional account of a Salt Lake City woman who—unlike the author—actually transitions from receptionist to escort. Entertainment Weekly listed Meadows’ debut novel as one of 2006’s Hot Summer Reads. Sometimes it really pays to pay your dues.

BEST ARTISTS IN ACTION
TRASA Urban Arts Collective
It took time to communicate the message—five years, to be exact. Visionary partners Kristina Robb and Brandon Garcia are teaching Salt Lake City residents how art can be a catalyst for community action and dialogue. Since the symbolic rebirth of TRASA Urban Arts Collective in its west-side home, The Pickle Company, the nonprofit organization has hosted multimedia installations and a week of events with performance art troupe La Pocha Nostra including Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Roberto Sifuentes and Violeta Luna. Don’t miss another opportunity to connect where art and politics intersect. 741 S. 400 West, 450-8977, ThePickleCompany.org

BEST RADIO TIME TRAVELERS
Drive-Time Imposters (KRCL 90.9 FM)
When Renee and Dawn left their post as KRCL’s Local Imposters, devoted listeners feared the worst. What meaning could life possibly have without the radio hostesses’ dry, witty banter? Turns out all the worry was for naught. The DJ-duo simply jumped timeslots, from Wednesday evening to Wednesday afternoon, a move that actually improved on perfection. As Drive-Time Imposters, they can add more on-air performances by touring acts to an already stellar set of recorded indie, punk, post-punk and classic-rock sounds. Wednesdays, 3-6 p.m.

BEST ACADEMIC RELOCATION
Jeffrey Nielsen
Welcome to the marketplace of ideas. Jeffrey Nielsen only wished to share his view of gay marriage—which happened to oppose the LDS Church’s official position—in a newspaper forum. What he wrote in The Salt Lake Tribune, however, got him fired from his adjunct philosophy teaching position at Brigham Young University. It’s nice to know that while some institutions restrict academic freedoms, others celebrate them. Soon after being fired, the still-faithful LDS member was hired to teach philosophy at Westminster College and Utah Valley State College.

BEST OSCAR WINNER WITH A HEART
Geralyn White-Dreyfous
White-Dreyfous is founder and executive director of The Salt Lake City Film Center which offers free community screenings and discussions, outreach programs, and visiting artists and professionals — many through the Salt Lake Public Library. She brought home an Academy Award for her documentary Born Into Brothels and produced another documentary, The Day My God Died, on the child-sex-slave trade narrated by Tim Robbins. If you’re looking for films with meaningful social content and artistic excellence, you need look no further than White-Dreyfous’ Salt Lake City Film Center as it looks to “provide forums for underrepresented groups, and to develop new audiences for film.”