A few odds and ends spilling out of the drawer and under the bed. I have never been famed for my housekeeping prowess.
First of all, thanks for your votes in our restaurant poll. Meanwhile, check out our improved cuisine coverage and tell us if you think it is the best in town. Check our anonymous reviews, like this issue’s end to the war on Vietnam. And you should read the responses we are getting such as, “That is the funniest, most insightful restaurant review I have read.” “Who is anonymous--he must be handsome.”
And even, “Who is that country girl?
She ought to be tarred and feathered.” Don’t forget that you, too, can write a letter to the editor.
We also have Alexis, Wendy Watts writing about wine. Who else has two wine columns in one issue for all you bibulous oenophiles. Also check out Franklin Biggs. I always wondered what sort of brownies he was eating. We are proud of our wine and food writers, and we will make room for more. Just get in touch if you think you can make the cut.
Last week I told you about our move to Avondale. We are about to have our first event in our new space. It will be our dry run, after which we will invite all our friends.
Another housekeeping part of transition: the Weekly is under a new company than it has been for the last ten years. If you have business with Magnolia Media, we are not it. We are Birmingham Communications, LLC.
The former majority owner of the Weekly when it was under Magnolia Media kept one part of the business many of you know. That is what is known as the Weekly Card, and will still go by that name as long as we are working with the new company.
That is a little confusing because it retains the name, but it is part of another company.
If you have issues of getting a card, putting credit on your card, questions about where you can use the card, we might be able to be of assistance but you really need to contact Chuck Leishman at the other company.
Our own continuing role is as a service provider. Say a restaurant participates, and you have credit on your card and use it there, the restaurant provides you food for no cash (but remember to tip your server).
You paid the cash to the card company. The restaurant provides the “trade.” That is they provide food for which they are not paid in cash. The restaurant gets an ad provided by the Bham Weekly. The Bham Weekly gets paid by the card company. And the card company gets paid when you purchase credit--that is, by selling the food provided by the restaurant to you.
You got that?
The main point is we don’t own the card business. We run ads when we get paid. Otherwise we are out of the loop. All the administration and operation, purchase and accounting for credit--that remains with the originator of the program. Our only other purely voluntary role is to try to make as smooth a transition as possible through the ownership change, especially for card holders who bought credit when the Weekly and the card were part of the same company. Now don’t you wish you went to law school?
Me too. That is why we have narrowed our role to content creation and dissemination. That leaves us free to canoe down the Cahaba at Living Waters as I did on Saturday, to bring you photos of the river and fall flowers from the Pepper Place market.
