This post is about a flash of brilliance; not mine, but a young man named Andy Medlin.

Andy is a student a Georgia State University. I'm a little sketchy on the details, but here's one version of what might have happened:

The Group: Let's make a movie and enter it in this competition. Anyone have any ideas?

Andy: I've got an idea. Let's get thousands of people mad at us.

RGM(Random Group Member) 1: Sounds promising. Tell us more.

Andy: Okay. What's the speed limit on 285?

RGM 2: 55, but I usually run about 65 at least.

Andy. Right, because a speed limit of 55 is silly. Nobody goes that slow, so why don't they set more realistic speed limits. I'll tell you why, so that whenever the governments want to make a little extra money, they can just throw a bunch of cops out there and dole out hundreds of tickets. It's a brilliant money-making scam, but it's a scam all of the same. It sucks, and I'm sick of it!

RGM 3: Whoa. Calm down there, buddy. But I think you may be on to something.

Andy: Sorry. Got a little carried away there. Here's the point. We get on 285, and actually go the speed limit. We can put cameras in the cars. Maybe set up a couple on some bridges over the highway. It'll be great. We can do it during the morning rush hour for maximum effect.

RGM 4: Smashing idea, chap. Count me in.

RGM 1: Cool! I'm in. What do you think Jordan?

Jordan (The Experienced Filmmaker): Yeah. I can work with that. I think it'll come out cool, if we get it right.

RGM 3: Okay. Let's do it.

RGM 2: I'm down. RDM 5? (Heretofore silent)

RGM 5: Huh? (Pauses his Playstation) Sure. Whatever.

And so, the plan was born.

This intrepid group, on a chilly January morning, got on Atlanta's Highway 285, and drove at 55ish for 30 minutes.



For the uninititated, we call 285 "The Perimeter". The Perimeter is a rough circle that runs all the way around Atlanta. There are certain parts of it that get congested everyday. "ITP" and "OTP" are common abbreviations used here, for "Inside the Perimeter" and "Outside the Perimeter". This gives people a rough idea of where something is. It works for us. At any rate, The Perimeter is a major Atlanta highway, it gets congested pretty much everyday. The other half of why this was such a big deal is that here in Atlanta, we drive fast. The speed limit is 55, but I'd guess the average speed is more like 75.

So, now you begin to see why this was such a big deal.

Turns that in addition to winning the award for Best Comedy for Georgia in the Campus MovieFest, a traveling movie competition, the movie, entitled "A Meditation on the Speed Limit" has also garnered mention on ABC's World News Tonight. It will compete against other states' winners in the Spring.

I read comments on the...stunt..., and public reactions have been mixed. Some feel that the cohorts should be fined, and their licenses revoked. Some have pointed to specific sections of Georgia Law that declare the...feat...illegal. There is a group that can't help but grant that nothing illegal was done. This group includes a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Transportation. Then there are the worst-case scenrario folkz that feel that the...demonstration...was extremely dangerouus, if for no other reason than because emergency vehicles couldn't get through. However, at 55mph, one could argue that the chances of an accident were greatly reduced.

I say this...coup...was timely, not unappropriate, clever, and shrewd. Kudos.

Know What I'm Sayin'??