Tales from Three Cities

Not that I have necessarily been seeking them out, but stories about gentrification (and hyper-gentrification, which appears to be where we are now) have been increasingly crossing my field of vision.

Los Angeles (Boyle Heights specifically) - a group of tenant activists claim that an influx of artists and shops perceived to be art-adjacent (and arguably investment properties disguised as art spaces) are harbingers of community-eviscerating gentrification already in the works.

Photo: Timo Saarelma

San Francisco - a much less nuanced tale of landlords literally (allegedly) burning down dwellings in order to get rid of protected tenants. Appalling.

Closer to home, an event at the great Housing Works bookstore cafe in New York - drawn to that while hunting down information about the announced closing of the Sunshine Cinema.  It's a launch for the book version of the fabulous-while-infuriating Vanishing New York, complete with a performance by friend and fellow-traveler Penny Arcade.  This is happening next Thursday, July 27 - see you there.

Reading Replacements

Last Saturday night we went to an event at Little City Books in Hoboken - a combination book release/signing, discussion, and concert, all in celebration of Bob Mehr's Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements.

The 'Mats are one of the all-time great bands as far as I'm concerned, and the I-haven't-finished-it-yet-but-so-far-it's-more-than-worth-the-effort book has drawn attention from some pretty fab people.

Michael Hill, who helped the band navigate Warner Brothers.  Or tried to.

The interlocutor was Bob Mehr himself, writer and raconteur extraordinaire.

Glenn Morrow's Cry for Help

Jennifer O'Connor

Freedy Johnson with Dave Schramm.  Take that in for a second.  Dave also answered Morrow's Cry for Help from the sidelines.

More Freedy

The Dead Wicks.

It's not a big place (true to form) but we packed it pretty good.

From what I could tell, they sold all the copies they had of the book, and gave away all the Replacements gear (in exchange for donations to the bands) too.  It was a superfun night; happy to have done it in Hoboken rather than the Strand - though it did mean we had to miss the 75 Dollar Bill/Little Black Egg show.  You can't do everything.

Music Update, etc.

News on some music happening in my near future:

• Patti Smith opening for Black Crowes on Halloween at The United Palace in the Heights courtesy Jason - mad props
• Yo La Tengo not once but twice over Chanukkah - at Maxwell's - which spells awesome happy fun time rockin', with the added bonus that I can stumble home, if necessary

And so this is not totally a music blog, which is not what I set out to create, let me say:

- Bon Voyage a Carissa - have a great time in Chi Town and keep us all posted.

- Saw Eastern Promises last evening. Not bad! (though not great) Cronenberg gets in his 'eeew' factor while telling a good story. Many of the 'twists' tend to be visible well in advance, but the acting goes a long way to make up for that. Gotta love you some Viggo Mortensen. Armin Mueller Stahl = effectively creepy. And Naomi Watts? Yum.

- Stephen Colbert is running for president. Discuss. BTW - he's doing a book signing at Arms-r-Global tonight.

- Game One tonight, folks. Goooooood mojo to Boston.

Monday, and how

Feeling depressed and trying to fight it off. Has to do with this ridiculous weather, surely (rainy, pissy, windy, cold, gray) and tax annoyance (blah.)

A combination of other elements may also be contributing to the malaise, but may also lead to its relief: Last night I finished reading A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, and it wrecked me. So simple, so powerful, so poignant - a tale of a teacher who spends time with a man unjustly condemned to the electric chair (as if anyone is ever justly condemned to die; but this guy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time) in Louisiana in the late 1940s. It's a racist world, in which the defense attorney painted a picture of the black defendant as an unthinking 'hog' in a wild effort to get an aquittal from the all-white jury. But of course that portrait is a brutal blow to the prisoner and his family, who call on the teacher to help him regain his humanity before the fateful day.

The book includes a scene where men in a bar are recounting hero-stories about Jackie Robinson, so it felt like one of those inexplicable confluences that I just happened to finish the book on Jackie Robinson Day, the 60th anniversary of his first game. If you don't know who Jackie Robinson is, well that's a Problem With America, which was part of the point of the day. He was the first African American Major League Baseball player, one of the all-time greats of any color, and a hero by pretty much any definition worth considering. Since he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, last night's Dodger/Padres game was a huge celebration of the event (and every game that wasn't rained out commemorated him to some degree.) I missed the pre-game stuff (a Brooklyn gospel choir singing 'O Happy Day' and Jennifer Hudson singing the National Anthem, which people were saying were amazing - they're probably out there on YouTube, but I haven't tracked them down) but I caught most of the game. All the Dodgers wore Robinson's number 42 on their uniforms, as did a handful of people throughout the league. And it was really amazing to hear Jackie's widow Rachel - who always calls him 'Jack;' She says "Jackie was his stage name" :) - and the other luminaries. Henry Aaron and Frank Robinson were there talking about race and history and BASEBALL (damn, they love the game) and it was inspiring on so many levels while also a reminder of what is still missing from our culture.

Which made for a one-two punch in combination with the novel. I've spent a good chunk of my activist life opposing the death penalty, which continues to be insanely racist (like much of the 'criminal justice' system.) And in that light, it's important to remember that there is good work to do on so many levels, and that creative work can be a vital part of that.

Even when the weather sucks.

Home again home again

Back from my weekend in phoenix for mom's surprise party - a swell time was had by all. It was odd, however, that my trip to the great saguaro desert was marred by... rain? It's true: phoenix had a much-needed three-day, on-and-off thunderstorm that coincided with my trip by a simple twist of fate. We were able to make very good use of the breaks in the weather though: it cleared up enough for: a great walk through the desert with mom (who was surprised, btw, and had i think a great time) & dad and mom's sisters (there were not one but two rusted and bullet-ridden VW chassis out there!); another walk out among the cacti to shoot bb guns at stray beer bottles with my nephew (9 years old and he's a good shot!); a football game with dad, my niece and nephew; and then more playing (and swordfighting!) with the kids and one of my grad school colleagues and his wife and their kids.

Big shoutout to my sister lori! She did a great job putting together mom's party and handling the whole weekend. Really really REALLY proud of her and happy for her.

In case you're wondering, maybe don't watch borat with your folks.

Do, though, read CASH - the autobiography of johnny cash. Good book, people. Hey, i'm not a big country music fan by any stretch of the imagination, but the man in black made some great music, and had great stories to tell.

And for the love of god see the movie citizen ruth! This flick got a bunch of attention when it came out something like 10 years ago, but for some reason hasn't stayed on the radar much. I just got around to watching it on the flights to AZ and back, and it's so worth watching. Great take on media manipulation in activism, with a focus on the abortion rights debate (sometimes pronounced 'focus on the family.')

And btw - librarians are hiding something...

Movie Week

This week i saw three movies in three different commercial cinemas in three days. Don't know that i've ever done that before, certainly not for a long long time.

Tuesday was factory girl with jessica, about which i've already written. Wednesday was blood diamond, which i saw with kelly, beth and sherin. Good movie, heart in the right place, maybe didn't live up to the hype. Emotionally manipulative, fairly implausible at times (man it's lucky that our leading men are so good at dodging bullets - both of them; and those journalists sure ended up in the middle of a lot of gunfire fights), but a well told important story of a horrific and brutal situation in africa that is humanity's shame (or should be). Last night was pan's labyrinth with dawn. First rate film in some ways, but i must say it was emphatically NOT for dawn - jqln, wish you and jeffrey had been able to join: you definitely were the folks to see this flick with. Dawn is fab, but this was a graphic film with very very brutal subject matter (fascist spain in 1944) and she is more about looking at the positive side of things. The design work was bitchen, as were the fx and makeup. And del Toro paints the screen and tells the story quite well, just with many intentionally cringe-inducing moments.

Along the way i got a new hairdo, and beth and i sent a message to one of our college theater advisors in honor of her 70th:


Happy Birthday Leila!

Finished matthew pearl's the dante club today. Worthwhile read in the historical fiction/mystery vein. Will discuss it with lori's book club in a week and change; looking forward to the discussion.

Finally broke down and started sending out dayjob resumes. Well, hell. And of course several auditions - a shakespeare-heavy week, replete with interesting convos with other actors. Now that's some work i want to be back on the inside of: x your fingers that one of the shakespeare festivals hooks me up in the next season or two.

Tonight, i'm watching yet another movie, but this one on dvd solo at home (kelly rolled out this p.m. after another extended audition visit) - the unbelievable truth. This will be the first time i've watched adrienne since, well, you know...