Anna Roberts
A-Ro, Robert (inflected with a northern Frenchman’s tongue), A to the Rizzy or simply Anna, Roberts’ multiple nicknames only superficially portray the Herald’s resident movie whiz’s multi-dimensions. As a critic, Roberts’ ability to lucidly express a take on her many fortes in the arts world make the Madisonian truly the Herald’s most consistent voice. As an interviewer, the girl far from balks under pressure. From Cruise to Rock, Roberts has notched some biggies on her soon to be war-torn belt. As a designer, the relatively green Quark-whore combines speed, proficiency and a flare for creative simplicity to help myself and many others make this rag a bit more accessible.
But Roberts as a specimen of the human race? Only those who have written for or simply worked beside her know that they don’t come much more complete. Open-minded while standing firm by her laundry list of values. Cliché (for irony) while sniffing out the ironic side of cliché spitting persons. Happy-go-lucky while grounding the boisterous during appropriate times — i.e. deadline.
But all in all, Roberts is loving to the core, which is a running up four flights of stairs gasp of fresh air in this industry dominated by loud mouth a-holes. Anna Roberts undoubtedly will make noise wherever she lands.
A-Ro’s featured soundscapes of (future) life: U2, Sleater-Kinney and Bobby McFerrin. You are all but guaranteed a dose of happiness when exposed to the Anna Roberts experience.
–MR
Matthew Rodbard
From the crowd to the Internet to the pen to the friend, Matthew Rodbard ranks high on every level. His passion for music and his knowledge of it are surpassed only by his ability to write coherently, classy and creatively about it.
His tenaciousness in landing interviews and fervor for writing give him a top seed in the job-market and the human race. While his clothes remain as eclectic as his personality, and his expressions (both facial and verbal) and driving skills keep one on his toes, he remains, at heart, one of the most genuine people I’ve met. Rodbard’s professionalism and dedication have impressed and influenced me as a writer and, more importantly, as a person.
Rarely without a smile or an opinion, he manages to keep an open mind while remaining true to himself and makes me laugh every step of the way. The real world beware, you are about to get a heavy dose of a Rodbard, and you should thank your lucky stars.
–AR
The Weblog
As you certainly have noticed this year, Shout Outs committed a large portion of space to various weblogs (yes, blog is a shortened moniker for the 20 year old practice) that have piqued our fancy. Some readers have appreciated the weekly dose of journal writing, but many just didn’t get it. Giving blogs a forum outside of the web was an unprecedented act for The Herald, a feature that will sooner or later be copied by the Entertainment Weeklys of the world.
Writing about the cyber universe is tricky — partly because of the nuances of the language, partly because many don’t use the Internet beyond e-mail and Bluefly. But blogs are different than your typical Internet fad (can you say makeoutclub, or hotornot?). Weblogs are here to stay and, furthermore, are healthy for the populace. Why? Because the weblog: fosters creativity, inspires participants to spend time in a written forum/cyber environment (both truly more beneficial than television and radio) and provide writers/readers with a sense of community that expands beyond the banal chat room. But most importantly, weblogs offer participants snippets of objective realities, writing through the crystal clear lenses of love, hate, death, jealously or simply boredom.
The vast majority of journal writers write for either their close friends or themselves. Are we, for the most part, truthful to ourselves and our friends during everyday living? Absolutely. The secondary readership (the people who stumble on random weblogs — i.e. all of us) are strictly flies on the wall. This is why many blogs are sometimes difficult to decipher on first contact. But isn’t that true when one overhears a nearby conversation in the middle of a sentence? And doesn’t one always stay to hear all the details? The well-crafted weblog, one that is updated often and provides thought provoking links, is the overheard conversation, but in written form. We can learn a lot from eavesdropping. Start a weblog today @ www.blogger.com and/or read the good ones.
Madison blogs of note: www.sleevestar.com/westwash, www.capndesign.com, www.aworkingproject.org/blog/, www.emceebard.com, www.sit.wisc.edu/jmruswick.
–MR
Shout Outs
While it has its critics, the weekly (or just about) installment of acute observations written in fine, witty form has done its job to notify readers what is hot in today’s ever changing world. Informing as well as uplifting, Shout Outs has become the proverbial feel good column of the year, giving people reasons to smile in its own Oprah’s gratitude journal-esque sort of way. Whether it’s the actual item or the writing, or most often, the lethal combination of the two, Shout Outs will truly be missed (by the scribes at least). For two years we have given you our take on the living world. Our last advice: be opinionated and question the whackness. It’s your duty as a cultured being. And oh yeah, you rule Mike Verveer. Stay the same forever.
–AR, MR
