The holes in the men’s cells were covered by revealing photographs of women in bikinis, which officials displayed at Monday’s news conference. Grudgingly, Mr. Romankow acknowledged the similarity to the film “The Shawshank Redemption.”
posted by brevator on Dec 18, 2007 - 28 comments

The Re-Animation of Ryan Larkin.
Ryan Larkin, the subject of Chris Landreth's haunting animated short Ryan, has returned to animation after twenty five years of life on the street in Montreal with three station IDs that aired on MTV Canada on Christmas Day. And now he is at work on a new animated short, Spare Change--inspired by his panhandling days outside Schwartz's on The Main--where you can help with the film's funding by contributing via PayPal. (more within)
posted by y2karl on Jan 6, 2007 - 10 comments

The Ballad of Big Mike. “Where are you going?” he asked. “To basketball practice,” Michael said. “Michael, you don’t have basketball practice,” Sean said. “I know,” the boy said. “But they got heat there.” Sean didn’t understand that one. “It’s nice and warm in that gym,” the boy said. As they drove off, Sean looked over and saw tears streaming down Leigh Anne’s face. And he thought, Uh-oh, my wife’s about to take over. ... “One night it wasn’t going so well, and I got frustrated,” Mitchell says, “and he said to me, ‘Miss Sue, you have to remember I’ve only been going to school for two years.”’
posted by caddis on Sep 24, 2006 - 40 comments

Arthur Kane used to play in a band
While working in a Mormon genealogy library, Arthur asked a member of his congregation if he could get a ride to the pawn shop to get his guitars out of hock. Apparently, the former president of his band's fan club, someone named "Morrissey" had called and wanted Arthur to play a reunion concert with his old band. His friend made a documentary about it.
posted by mecran01 on Oct 28, 2005 - 29 comments

Redemption? At the risk of linking to another Something Awful thread and incurring their wrath, I think it's important to point this out, especially here. In the matter of a few short days, the users over there emptied their paypal accounts to help someone in need. They raised $12,000 in four days.
posted by crunchland on Jun 15, 2004 - 10 comments

Escaped Sudanese slave, Francis Bok is becoming a celebrity[WSJ sub]. He has testified before Congress. Redemption (buying) slaves is one way to set some free. But is that a scam which will encourage the slave trade? What can we do to free them all?
posted by Geo on May 23, 2002 - 5 comments