For some reason, the shooting earlier this week seems to have brought out the worst in people. I hear some of the dumbest racist comments by people who consider themselves oh so enlightened and liberal and it just makes me my skin crawl. I'm not so oblivious to think that people don't think this way, but I wasn't raised like this. It goes so much against my way of thinking and my way of life.
It seems like every three days someone is murdered on our streets but the only time anyone makes a big deal about it is when it happens to someone from the suburbs rather than some 17-year-old who lives on 79th and whatever. Suddenly everyone goes "that could be my child," but you know what? That could be anyone's kid who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, whether or not they were doing the wrong thing.
I know that stereotypes often have some origination, but this kind of crap is so toxic to the way we live our lives and the culture of this city. Saying that everyone who lives on the east side is a "thug" is just as stupid as saying that everyone in Parma is racist or everyone in Lakewood is gay or that everyone in Westlake or Beachwood is stuck up. That's not going to get anyone anywhere.
When I first heard about Eric Holder's speech, I understood where he was coming from, but it does not reflect the reality of my life and the lives of many others that I know. Me and some of my east side dwelling friends joke about how we've ripped the space-time continuum because we cross over the river to hang out with each other and haven't let history or geography prevent us from having a good time.
It's a beautiful thing, and I wish people knew what they were missing out on when they knowingly isolate themselves.
Friday, February 27, 2009
more fun from the lakewood police blotter
COMPLAINT, CLIFTON BOULEVARD:An apartment resident asked to speak to an officer at 2:15 a.m. Feb. 20 regarding something vibrating. He thought the person below him might be building a weapon of mass destruction. There were no weapons.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
25 albums for 25 years.
I think I inherited my love of music and understanding of sports from my dad. I was a musical late bloomer, having spent my formative years as the antisocial kid who read a lot, who started playing guitar at 14, and discovered the joys of my dad's record collection and the Seattle sound that has stayed with me.
Being the late 90's early part of the millenium, I was also exposed to a lot of really bad grunge-lite in my formative years, but college radio most definitely improved my quality of life.
As I get older, I realize that we probably took the music we listened to way too seriously and used our obscure tastes often to overcompensate for a lack of social skills, or defined ourselves and our social group too often by a mutual appreciation of one icon or another, and probably spent way too much time debating the merits of one Led Zeppelin album over another.
One of my roommates once asked me if all my music had guitars in it and I couldn't think of much that didn't have it somewhere. I still have to thank her for making me CDs full of Common and Oumou Sangare and things I would maybe have missed on my own.
But hey, live and learn, right?
childhood:
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River
My parents both loved CCR and I heard a whole lot of it growing up. Still one of my favorites.
teens:
On the way down to Case Western where I had my dental work done, my dad and I used to cycle between all the rock stations and the college stations looking for songs with varying results. This and hanging out in the music room in the basement was the foundation of my rock education.
Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?
I don't know what else you can really say about him that hasn't been said.
Pearl Jam - Ten
I get kind of tired of hearing "Jeremy" on the radio, but this was one solid record and Eddie Vedder's voice just gets me.
Neil Young - Everyone Knows This is Nowhere
"Cinnamon Girl" was the first song I learned on the guitar.
Soundgarden - Superunknown
I cut class one night when I was in college and scored this one clear green vinyl from the Canton Record Exchange. I still find it hard to believe that the lame guy with the frosted hair and the bad wannabe top 40 singles used to be in this band.
U2 - Achtung Baby
I got made fun of by my Sepultura and Dead Kennedys loving high school friends for these, but I honestly like every phase they've been through. I own every U2 album except All That You Can't Leave Behind and Zooropa.
Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies
My favorite band when I was 15. One of my former coworkers refers to this as Camaro Rock. I beg to differ.
Arvo Part - Fratres - my favorite modern composer of all time. People say he's too depressing but the combination of Eastern Orthodox texts and the spare sound that is at once so modern and so ancient always does it for me.
Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
I rediscovered this a couple years ago, but this was the only album that me and a friend of mine from high school could agree on, me because of the great music and the lyrics, her because it had a good beat and was played on KISS FM.
Fugazi - Repeater
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
I was a page at the public library and would check out stacks of CDs at a time. These have stuck with me the most.
Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart
In a perfect world, there would be less Candlebox and more Jawbox on alternative radio.
The Clash - London Calling
I am still a Joe Strummer fangirl. The Clash, Mescaleros, 101ers...
Love Battery - Dayglo
Best grunge-era band you've never heard of. Really.
The Pixies - Doolittle
Totally played this one all the time when I was living on College Street and had crazy neighbors.
Mission of Burma - Vs.
Saw these guys on their comeback tour. With the exception of the guitarist wearing too-tight pants, it was awesome.
Quicksand - Slip
Once had an art teacher threaten to destroy this CD.
Sleater-Kinney - All Hands on the Bad One
Throwing Muses - University
Made me proud to be a female musician.
I never got to start my long dreamed-of band in college, but I did download music like a fiend, trying to track down obscure Dischord Records releases and oddball punk covers.
DJ Spooky presents: In Fine Style 50,000 Volts of Trojan Records
This got me into good reggae.
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On?
Definitely the soundtrack to many nights lamenting the state of the world and trying to be hopeful.
Amadou & Mariam - Dimanche in Bamako
The first forays into world music, and an obsession with Malian guitar pop.
Mark Lanegan - Field Songs
I love everything he sings on. No exceptions.
Common - Like Water for Chocolate
This is just beautiful.
Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun
It's very rare that I do a show that doesn't have any Erykah.
Being the late 90's early part of the millenium, I was also exposed to a lot of really bad grunge-lite in my formative years, but college radio most definitely improved my quality of life.
As I get older, I realize that we probably took the music we listened to way too seriously and used our obscure tastes often to overcompensate for a lack of social skills, or defined ourselves and our social group too often by a mutual appreciation of one icon or another, and probably spent way too much time debating the merits of one Led Zeppelin album over another.
One of my roommates once asked me if all my music had guitars in it and I couldn't think of much that didn't have it somewhere. I still have to thank her for making me CDs full of Common and Oumou Sangare and things I would maybe have missed on my own.
But hey, live and learn, right?
childhood:
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River
My parents both loved CCR and I heard a whole lot of it growing up. Still one of my favorites.
teens:
On the way down to Case Western where I had my dental work done, my dad and I used to cycle between all the rock stations and the college stations looking for songs with varying results. This and hanging out in the music room in the basement was the foundation of my rock education.
Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?
I don't know what else you can really say about him that hasn't been said.
Pearl Jam - Ten
I get kind of tired of hearing "Jeremy" on the radio, but this was one solid record and Eddie Vedder's voice just gets me.
Neil Young - Everyone Knows This is Nowhere
"Cinnamon Girl" was the first song I learned on the guitar.
Soundgarden - Superunknown
I cut class one night when I was in college and scored this one clear green vinyl from the Canton Record Exchange. I still find it hard to believe that the lame guy with the frosted hair and the bad wannabe top 40 singles used to be in this band.
U2 - Achtung Baby
I got made fun of by my Sepultura and Dead Kennedys loving high school friends for these, but I honestly like every phase they've been through. I own every U2 album except All That You Can't Leave Behind and Zooropa.
Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies
My favorite band when I was 15. One of my former coworkers refers to this as Camaro Rock. I beg to differ.
Arvo Part - Fratres - my favorite modern composer of all time. People say he's too depressing but the combination of Eastern Orthodox texts and the spare sound that is at once so modern and so ancient always does it for me.
Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
I rediscovered this a couple years ago, but this was the only album that me and a friend of mine from high school could agree on, me because of the great music and the lyrics, her because it had a good beat and was played on KISS FM.
Fugazi - Repeater
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
I was a page at the public library and would check out stacks of CDs at a time. These have stuck with me the most.
Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart
In a perfect world, there would be less Candlebox and more Jawbox on alternative radio.
The Clash - London Calling
I am still a Joe Strummer fangirl. The Clash, Mescaleros, 101ers...
Love Battery - Dayglo
Best grunge-era band you've never heard of. Really.
The Pixies - Doolittle
Totally played this one all the time when I was living on College Street and had crazy neighbors.
Mission of Burma - Vs.
Saw these guys on their comeback tour. With the exception of the guitarist wearing too-tight pants, it was awesome.
Quicksand - Slip
Once had an art teacher threaten to destroy this CD.
Sleater-Kinney - All Hands on the Bad One
Throwing Muses - University
Made me proud to be a female musician.
I never got to start my long dreamed-of band in college, but I did download music like a fiend, trying to track down obscure Dischord Records releases and oddball punk covers.
DJ Spooky presents: In Fine Style 50,000 Volts of Trojan Records
This got me into good reggae.
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On?
Definitely the soundtrack to many nights lamenting the state of the world and trying to be hopeful.
Amadou & Mariam - Dimanche in Bamako
The first forays into world music, and an obsession with Malian guitar pop.
Mark Lanegan - Field Songs
I love everything he sings on. No exceptions.
Common - Like Water for Chocolate
This is just beautiful.
Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun
It's very rare that I do a show that doesn't have any Erykah.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
playlist 2/24/09
tricky - aftermath
bajofondo with mala rodriguez - el anden
sidestepper - deja
nacao zumbi - carimbaco
antonio carlos jobim - the girl from ipanema
sacha silva - free
arrested development - united front
antibalas - go je je
jeff buckley - mojo pin (request)
afghan whigs - come see about me
john frusciante - unreachable
beck - earthquake weather
juana molina - dar (que dificil) (request)
cafe tacuba - tengo todo
jorge ben - ponta de lanca
femi kuti - truth don't die
d. roof - the denial
ceu - concrete jungle
trevor dandy - is there any love?
marvin gaye - right on/ wholly holy/ inner city blues
william devaughn - be thankful for what you've got
bajofondo with mala rodriguez - el anden
sidestepper - deja
nacao zumbi - carimbaco
antonio carlos jobim - the girl from ipanema
sacha silva - free
arrested development - united front
antibalas - go je je
jeff buckley - mojo pin (request)
afghan whigs - come see about me
john frusciante - unreachable
beck - earthquake weather
juana molina - dar (que dificil) (request)
cafe tacuba - tengo todo
jorge ben - ponta de lanca
femi kuti - truth don't die
d. roof - the denial
ceu - concrete jungle
trevor dandy - is there any love?
marvin gaye - right on/ wholly holy/ inner city blues
william devaughn - be thankful for what you've got
Friday, February 20, 2009
each one teach one.
It's been a process over the last few months learning how to take everything I know, distill the things that are really important and try to pass it on. It almost makes it harder to teach the English language when you're so used to studying literature that you take things like capital letters and punctuation marks for granted because you've used them as long as you can remember.
You have to adjust out of explaining plot points to trying to explain basic grammar. Or you're trying to explain the weirdness of the language and why certain things are pronounced one way and others another. It doesn't make any sense really.
I feel bad having ten-year-olds do kindergarten-level work, drawing uppercase and lowercase letters and reading sentences about Jim and Bill eating jam or whatever. But the kids really get into it, wanting me to check their work, and draw them smiley faces and put "100%" on them when they're perfect.
They want me to give them HOMEWORK which just amazes me, and they love math because it's a universal thing and there isn't a language barrier there. I know it's hard for them to sit still after being in school all day, so I bring snacks to keep their energy up, and we play games and do some of their dances. I tell them to bring it home and show it to their parents, and hope they pick up some of it too.
I want to see them be able to express themselves, understand others, and comprehend their world better. I'd like to see them develop a love of reading too and not get frustrated. I can't imagine going through fleeing civil war to the instability of a refugee camp hundreds of miles from home in Tanzania, then getting on a plane and landing here in Cleveland where you end up in school several years behind and not speaking the language.
I'm hoping I can pick up some more skills next weekend when me and the roommate get certified as legit ESL instructors. Theoretically, I can now take this skill anywhere depending on how life works out. I figure there's always more that you can learn.
You have to adjust out of explaining plot points to trying to explain basic grammar. Or you're trying to explain the weirdness of the language and why certain things are pronounced one way and others another. It doesn't make any sense really.
I feel bad having ten-year-olds do kindergarten-level work, drawing uppercase and lowercase letters and reading sentences about Jim and Bill eating jam or whatever. But the kids really get into it, wanting me to check their work, and draw them smiley faces and put "100%" on them when they're perfect.
They want me to give them HOMEWORK which just amazes me, and they love math because it's a universal thing and there isn't a language barrier there. I know it's hard for them to sit still after being in school all day, so I bring snacks to keep their energy up, and we play games and do some of their dances. I tell them to bring it home and show it to their parents, and hope they pick up some of it too.
I want to see them be able to express themselves, understand others, and comprehend their world better. I'd like to see them develop a love of reading too and not get frustrated. I can't imagine going through fleeing civil war to the instability of a refugee camp hundreds of miles from home in Tanzania, then getting on a plane and landing here in Cleveland where you end up in school several years behind and not speaking the language.
I'm hoping I can pick up some more skills next weekend when me and the roommate get certified as legit ESL instructors. Theoretically, I can now take this skill anywhere depending on how life works out. I figure there's always more that you can learn.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
where the streets have no name.
I spent my day off pretending that I really didn't have a cold, popping cough drops, drinking orange juice, and going out on photography adventures with Mukhtar. He had to work later on that day, but we hit up a few spots and got some good pictures.
Usually there's no one around when we go on adventures like these, just the occasional kids wandering around like us, but there seemed to be people everywhere this time around.
We encountered a wild dog, random vagrants, and shady junkyard creeps who assumed that my parked car was fair game ("oh I'm sorry... looked like a piece of junk to me") but that didn't stop us from taking some good photos and chilling at the West Side Market, sitting on the balcony enjoying falafel and spinach pies from Maha's.
I'm an amateur who can't afford crazy good equipment and considers the upgrade from disposable to digital something epic. But I get endless inspiration from this place where I've spent most of my life and I honestly get uncomfortable in areas where there aren't rusty bridges and old buildings and the possibility of undiscovered corners and small wonders.
Usually there's no one around when we go on adventures like these, just the occasional kids wandering around like us, but there seemed to be people everywhere this time around.
We encountered a wild dog, random vagrants, and shady junkyard creeps who assumed that my parked car was fair game ("oh I'm sorry... looked like a piece of junk to me") but that didn't stop us from taking some good photos and chilling at the West Side Market, sitting on the balcony enjoying falafel and spinach pies from Maha's.
I'm an amateur who can't afford crazy good equipment and considers the upgrade from disposable to digital something epic. But I get endless inspiration from this place where I've spent most of my life and I honestly get uncomfortable in areas where there aren't rusty bridges and old buildings and the possibility of undiscovered corners and small wonders.
win some lose some.
I was really frustrated with my show this morning. Played wrong tracks, skipped CDs, accidentally cut the sound off, couldn't get a good groove going to save my life. Much apologies to everyone who tuned in. I feel bad about this one.
massive attack - black milk
common - geto heaven part 2
daara j - babylone
mark lanegan - black river
the verve - love is noise
the roots - seed 2.0
jurassic 5 - break
amadou & mariam - senegal fast food
morphine - in spite of me
wyclef jean - fast car
esperanza spaulding - cuerpo y alma
the good the bad and the queen - bunting song
the clash - guns of brixton
john frusciante - look on
brmc - lien on your dreams
rokia traore - koronoko
tony allen - ariya
dengue fever - tooth and nail
lendine - hoje me estrague o dia
kongas - anikana
jackson conti - brazilian sugar
massive attack - black milk
common - geto heaven part 2
daara j - babylone
mark lanegan - black river
the verve - love is noise
the roots - seed 2.0
jurassic 5 - break
amadou & mariam - senegal fast food
morphine - in spite of me
wyclef jean - fast car
esperanza spaulding - cuerpo y alma
the good the bad and the queen - bunting song
the clash - guns of brixton
john frusciante - look on
brmc - lien on your dreams
rokia traore - koronoko
tony allen - ariya
dengue fever - tooth and nail
lendine - hoje me estrague o dia
kongas - anikana
jackson conti - brazilian sugar
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