Above is a shot of my buddy AK who is spending a couple months in New Mexico working on the Obama campaign. He made the journey by car with his lady LL from Chicago to help make sure a wrinkled white haired dude doesn't make it to the White House with his not so bright co-partner. Oh and there's Horatio Sanz Gov. Bill Richardson after the Gov. told a funny.
Keep on keepin' on out there AK. And watch out for rattlers.
This is coming a little late, but the Great Expectations project has started up it's latest phase of it's Big Canvas project. From the website:
Ask someone from the Philadelphia region what they like about living around here, and a frequent response stands out: There’s such a wealth of things to do. For some, sports are at the heart of that, or recreation. But for many, this sense of richness flows out of concerts, festivals, plays, museums, historic sites, parks and libraries. All of these form a cornucopia called arts and culture.
The phrase brings to mind the tap of the maestro’s baton at Verizon Hall or the eager burble of opening night at People’s Light or Arden theaters. But it can also mean a brassy Sousa march at the township park or the excited cries of third-graders just back from dance class at the arts center.
Check out the four remaining sessions around the Philadelphia region here. I'll be at the Swarthmore event on October 14th.
I biked over to Zoe Strauss's Megawords collage workshop last night and made me some art. I like to put stuff onto the notebooks I use on a daily basis. Mostly it's the Moleskines I carry around (planner and square rule notebook), but I also have a larger composition book which I take to events where I think I'll do some more extensive reporting. Usually, I plaster the books with stickers I find on the honorboxes around town by the sticker gang, but this time I used images from glossy magazines. There were about 20 people sitting around a few long picnic tables completely covered in newish and old magazines. People were spilling onto the floor around the tables and in the back of the storefront as well. I plopped down next to Zoe's mom (that's her hand at right) and caught up for a sec and then got to cutting and pasting. There's the book before anything went onto it.
There were tons of old National Geographics strewn about. I cut out some stuff from ones from the early 1960s and 1970s. The color palate used back then with the printing capabilities was wild. Everyone was in a good mood passing around glue sticks and sneaking off with the 1983 Playboy for a look-see at what used to be. The ads in the old magazines were great. The old cameras used were funky, especially the 8mm movie cameras. There was always a hint of sex in the ads for the first time as they slowly broke away from the "wholesome" image of years past.
Things wound down around 9p and people cleared out. Some kept their creations while others left them behind to become a part of Zoe's workshop. I think I saw some people pin their work to the walls before leaving.
And above is the final result of my 90 minutes of Exacto knife cutting and glue sticking. I created some layers with bits and pieces of a large map of Washington, D.C. and the backing paper of some 120 film I had lying around. I even worked in a 1979 Topps Jim 'Catfish' Hunter card I brought along with me. I was kind of shocked as to how well the glue stick worked. I normally use artist's spray mount which can get messy. I wonder how well the glue stick would hold up to the oilskin of a Moleskine. I may have to go pick one up to test out.
Collage is fun. Even more so when you take it around with you as a decorative cover to an otherwise bland thing like a notebook. Go make some art. Huff a can of glue while your at it too to bring back some lovely memories of rubber cement - do schools still use that toxic stuff?
That's most of my immediate family pictured above and at center is my 96 year old grandma. She was born in 1912 in Korea before there was a North and South. She lived through the war and carried my mother on her back amidst gunfire overhead to cross the front lines into what is now South Korea. She came to America with my parents in the late '70s and now she tends a gigantic garden while living with my aunt and uncle in Westchester County, NY. On September 12, 2008, she enjoyed a lovely dinner with her kids, grand kids and great grand kids and I was oh so happy to be there.
Two of my cousins are in Korea right now teaching for the next year or so. But technology allowed them to not only talk to my grandma (and the rest of us), but see us and interact with us. Skype is some pretty sweet software. And as you can see in the first photo, the computer is pointing towards my grandma and they're singing "Happy Birthday" along with the rest of the fam. And there's my nephew rocking a new buzz cut for football - it's easier to get his helmet on and off with no hair up top. I think he looks a whole lot like me with the new 'do which I rocked for much of my life.
I went up to NY for my grandma's 96th bday on Friday. I went up to NYC on 9/11. I haven't been in NYC on that date in a long time. I forgot what those tribute lights looked like up close. They made me very angry.
Don't you ever fucking forget who got us into this mess. Don't you ever fucking forget who has been liquidating the treasury these past few years on a needless war in Iraq. Don't you ever fucking forget who has put the fate of this nation at risk and the world's economy into a frenzy.
Don't you ever fucking forget who will continue - or worsen - the situation at hand.
I wish the media would sack up like the women on The View did recently.
At least there's Bob Herbert.
After reading this Inky article, it's pretty clear that new superintendent Arlene Ackerman had no idea what she was getting into. Well, who the fuck could. Philly's public school system is fucked.
Philadelphia School District officials have known they had an achievement gap on their hands for years.
Today, they saw the raw data, and were collectively horrified.
One in 10 white students is classified as mentally gifted; just 3 in 100 black students are.
Black and Latino students make up 79 percent of the district's 165,000 students, but make up just 54 percent of students in the district's prestigious magnet schools. Those groups make up 90 percent of all children labeled "emotionally disturbed," and most of the students at the district's lowest-performing schools.
I grew up on one of the poshest school districts in the world. I've barely set foot in Philly's public schools. But I can see the end result of a failing system in the streets of the city I live in; in the stories I read in the paper; from my friends and colleagues who have an intimate knowledge of the system first hand.
A neighbor of ours is a new Philly Fellow (if you're not familiar with what they do, give this Satullo editorial a read) and just started her first teaching gig. I can't remember the school she was assigned to, but I can tell you this. She had a yearly budget for supplies of $100. That $100 was to be paid out of pocket and to be reimbursed at the end of the semester/year (can't remember). Chroist. $100. She put together a 1-sheet with a list of requested donations from her neighbors. We gathered up folders, paper, highlighters, markers, Sharpies, wood pencils, pens, mechanical pencils, rulers, stickers… Also on the list were copies of certain young adult reading level books because, well, her kids weren't gonna get them otherwise.
She couldn't have been older than 22. She was blonde and slight with a maltese in tow. I wouldn't be surprised if the school system didn't chew her up and spit her onto the grimy streets within a fortnight, but I know these Philly Fellows kids are a tough breed so I'll hold out some hope for her and her kids.
The School Reform Commission (what the fuck are they so busy reforming in their million dollar offices?) is broken. The school system is broken. Rich people have to take it upon themselves and sink some serious dough into the areas of town without jack shit for their kids. The alternative is the kids who grow up with jack shit live by the rules of the streets they're forced to live on - survive: kill or be killed.
There just aren't enough teachers either. Reading Kristen Graham's September 5th story on how the city started 2008-2009 with a 166 teacher shortage (double last year and 1% of the total spots), I get angry. Why are Philly's starting teacher salaries starting at 54th out of 60th SE PA districts.
And then there's the issue of race. Did you know that there's a racial teacher quota in Philly's schools? Peep this Daily News article and ask yourself why a school that's nearly 100% black can only have 35% of it's teachers be black. Why are principals turning away qualified black teachers because they've met their quota. What if that teacher wanted to be a part of his/her community, but now must interview across town adding in additional travel expenses to an already tight personal/family budget. Who knows, they may do it - for the kids. But it's an unfair burden for teachers to undertake. No, there cannot be a 1:1 ratio right now. There just aren't enough teachers in general let alone through a proportional breakdown.
And no, I'm not saying that a white, latino, asian or a teacher of another race couldn't teach kids of different races.
Maybe it's up to me.
I just read that Nutter's giving his first education policy address Thursday night at 6p at South Philly High (Broad/Snyder). Arg. I'm gonna be in NY for my grandma's birthday.
Today is 9/11. No shit.
I want something to happen today. When you hear some fucking idiot talking about how great the Republicans have been in handling things in this post-9/11 world, don't let that fucking idiot get away with it. I don't care if you're on the bus or train - call them out on it. If you're listening to a radio show - call in and call them out on it. If you're on line to get your lunch - turn around and set them straight. If you're talking to your relatives - smack them if that's how your family rolls. If you're talking to your friends - shake the shit out of them. When you hear somebody saying McCain/Palin will make a better post-9/11 White House - get right in their face and set them straight.
Stop letting fucking idiots have the final say. I know the Dems won't be so spiny to call out the bullshit with equally harsh words so fuck them. It's up to real people (you know, people from the big city - or is it small towns) to call BULLSHIT when bullshit is spewed within earshot.
Don't let a stupid lapel pin intimidate you. Don't let that Republican hair make you start running. Once, just once - stand up and call out the bullshit you hear. Stop letting people shit all over what America once was and can be. There are good people here, right in this rust covered city too. Don't be scared.
Don't be quiet. Not today.
Small town values courtesy of The Daily Show:
Can't say it better.
Having freshly escaped from Kiasma [read his shirt], Cie. Willi Dorner spoke to the cast of his bodies in urban spaces troupe for its inaugural performance at the 2008 Live Arts Fringe Festival. There was stretching and hugs from friends and family of the performers before everyone was ushered off to their starting places and the audience to the LOVE statue.
After somebody from the Festival thanked the group of about 100 for coming out (on a really hot afternoon) a blur of bright colors blasted behind the crowd running east to west along the southern edge of LOVE Park. The crowd followed in pursuit to the welcome center where one group of performers were already in place.
10 bodies lay on the steps cascading down from one part of the crowd to the other. Oohs and ahhs filled the crowd as they got within eyesight of the first installation, but there was more at the Parkway corner of the park. The transitions from one setup to another were lead by color runners jumping over one installation and running to the other.
Every step of the way, the crowd became bigger and bigger. People milling about asked questions. Some had answers, but others were just as curious and were just tagging along as well.
Down towards Market St, one performer wedged between two planters. Many people were completely oblivious to the performers. Others took a double and then triple take to make sure they weren't seeing things that weren't there.
How they got up there, I have no idea. The security guard for this 18xx Market St building looked like he had some questions too. [note: The previously group got permission from every place they installed themselves.]
Down Market St were spots of color dotting a basement SEPTA plaza.
Into the Comcast Center everyone ran. 6 or so performers curved around a walkway at the base of the grand stairway leading up to the gigantic HD screen above. That's a performer running to the next installation.
In the Comcast Center marketplace at the height of lunch hour were these two performers. Wedged underneath the chair of a construction worker enjoying his lunch (who was indifferent about being a part of this spectacle).
Here, 3 performers hang next to the Winter Garden to the applause of the crowd. I'm actually helping hold up (with my left arm and leg) one of Philly's most prolific photogs, JJ Tiziou who I finally had the pleasure to meet (we were both quite sweaty after the 90 minutes of running after the dancers.
Back to Market St where a dozen plus dancers were face down on a piece of inlaid polished stone in front of the Mellon Bank Center.
The individual mini-installations were quite intriguing. They got the most quizzical looks from random passers by.
Down a grungy alleyway (I think it was 17xx Iconic St) we were led and 4 dancers had wedged themselves into a space just behind a grimy dumpster. Complaints were murmured for the smell of the alleyway, from those who didn't have their faces deep in the stink of things.
People were whipping out their cameraphones all over the place. People were in the streets, holding up traffic and hanging off of signs (like JJ!) to get a nice shot of the incredible live sculptures the groups were making.
Right at the corner of 18/Walnut, in the nook behind the stairway of Anthropologie, were staked a pile of butts and legs. This one got a lot of laughs from the crowd.
Here the group gets an incredible round of applause from a crowd of about 200 behind the fountain at Rittenhouse Square. Sweaty dancers and sweaty audience members who dared keep up with the dancers.
The group will be performing again tonight at 7p and tomorrow if the rain holds off.
A flickr set of 54 shots from the performance.
The Live Arts Fringe Festival started last week and there's one performance which has been getting a lot of press. Last week's CityPaper cover story featured a photo of Cie. Willi Dorner's bodies in urban spaces. I believe that photo was from a European performance of the Vienna-based director's show. Above is a shot from Tuesday afternoon's rehearsal session at 18/JFK. I tagged along with the group for a little bit (a co-worker of mine is in the show and told me about it) and snapped some photos to get a feel for their performance. From the Live Arts site:
Vienna-based choreographer Willi Dorner makes his Festival debut with bodies in urban spaces, a free, traveling outdoor dance event that will use newsstands, fire escapes, and downtown office buildings to create a trail of live human sculpture. Beginning at LOVE Park, audiences will follow this cast of twenty Philadelphia dancers on an exploration of familiar spots in Center City. Philadelphia’s business district will create the scenery as the dancers give audiences a colorful, imaginative new perspective on Philadelphia’s urban landscape.
Here's a shot of the group just south of JFK crouching into a space by the Mellon Bank Center and Winter Garden.
And here's the group taking up a section of differently colored pavement on the 1800 block of Market St.
Hopefully the rain will hold off for the performances tomorrow and Saturday. I'm going to try to make it to the Noon show (showtimes here) which starts off at Love Park. Check out some more photos of European performances on flickr.
Another show I'm planning on seeing is RA Friedman's A Cabinet of Photographic Curiosities at the AxD Gallery on 10th St. On the final 3 days of the festival, former Fringe photog JJ Tiziou has an interactive photo shoot show called Photo Shoot: How Philly Moves over at Studio 34 on Baltimore Ave.
Enjoy the show!
Above is a solar powered trash compacter from the 1400 block of Walnut St. Apparently they were installed by the Center City District and they've been around since early July [CCD press release]. There are 3 around Center City (Broad/Walnut, 7/Chestnut, 18/Walnut) and are undergoing a 30 day test run to see how they hold up and how much they're used. They don't look much like trash cans. Initially, they do too good of a job blending in and not looking like a trash can. Which is good and bad in this town. I've seen too many people driving around, pull over and dump a bag of McD's out of the door and drive off. I've seen people sitting waiting for the El or BSL eating food and just chucking it on the tracks instead of the trash right next to them. And don't even get me started on the fucking smokers (but that's everywhere and not Philly specific). If trash cans are replaced by these things - which hold 4 times as much as the ones currently on Philly's streets - will people use them?
Above is the one from Rittenhouse Square. The press release, along with the articles from the Inky and DN, has a lot more of the details of the mechanism and other things.
Has anyone else noticed these things? It took me the better part of a month to notice them and I'm by both locations fairly frequently. But now that I've seen them and know what they are, I'll notice them a bunch. Until they're gone in 6 days that is. I hope they work out. But Philly needs trash cans on all 4 corners of every block before they need single $3,500 trash cans. The lack of trash cans is one of the first things I noticed upon moving to Philly. That and the red light honk and go which is apparently legal here.
And a late update - I went to the 7/Walnut location and took a photo last week. I thought it was an odd location lacking the foot traffic of the other 2 locations and then I saw why. This one is right in front of the CCD office.
