MICHIGAN STATE!!

WHAT UP NOW?
CRIAG SOPO: BMORE-ELECTRO GIVES IT UP FOR MSU.

SPARTY ON!

Final Four: Where Are the MSU Fans At?

MICHIGAN STATE vs. U CONN
Saturday April 4, 2009 6:07 PM

Being a Michigander in MD is not as uncommon as one might think.
My home state has been fueling the economic boom of the 90's and 2K because we've been fleeing the state like we just broke out of Jackson. So here we are better than ever.
It is no surprise to meet fellow MI expats in Baltimore.

So my question here is: Where are we all going to be to see the Michigan State Final Four game?

How could this year be any better? MSU in the Final Four to be played at
Ford Field in Dee-troit.

Gametime is 6:07PM

It would be fun to see where all the UCONN fans found hotel rooms near Ford Field. They better choose wisely, hide their Husky wear and tuck their gold. We're all aiming for them.

Everybody now!

On the banks of the Red Cedar
There's a school that's known to all
Its specialty is winning
And those Spartans play good ball
Spartan teams are never beaten,
All through the game they'll fight
Fight for the only colors
Green and White.


I love how school songs have nothing to do with academics.
Sparty On!

Petition: Please Help Hampden Score New Tattoo Shop and Art Gallery.

My friend Stacey, who lives in Hampden, has found a space to move her long time running tattoo shop to. Only problem is she is getting heat from petitions to keep her business out of Hampden.
Why?
I figure a female artist who's been pro for nearly 20 years would be welcomed in the Hampden business and arts community. Not only is she proposing a tattoo parlor but also a local art gallery.

Oh yea, it's also in the "Obey Your Noodle Master, Hon" building on Falls Rd.
Apparently, that building was featured in a John waters movie as well. Yet it remains empty. Pulp history growing cobwebs. The vacant space should be used.

Well...Read on and see why it's not so easy to get a "competing" shop opened in Hampden.
This is a letter written by my fiend, Ken asking for assistance in signing a petition to allow his girlfriend to move her job from Glen Burnie home to Hampden . I wish I could work 4 blocks from my home. ...


Hey Ya'll,
As most of you know, my girlfriend Stacey is trying to move her tattoo shop from Glen Burnie to 3853 Falls Road, Baltimore City, 21211. This will give her room to establish Tattoo Tux's Fine Art Gallery and continue to tattoo in a small studio in the rear of the storefront.
Unfortunately another tattoo shop in the neighborhood has organized a petition to oppose this move and has already collected hundreds of signatures. Now we must do the same.
PLEASE TAKE ONE MINUTE TO SIGN THE BELOW PETITION
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/tux/
Also please FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO ANYONE you know who lives in Funkytown, ESPECIALLY HAMPDEN!
Thanks, Love and Peace,
Ken

Is Rep. Cummings Serious? I Can't Ask Him. Can You?

Did anyone get an email from Rep Elijah Cummings office this morning? Did anyone try to respond? Did you get the same results I did? Apparently political discussion is only meant to flow one way and does not require my input…

I find it funny that Congressman Cummings wants to contact me but will not receive emails in return…Here's my attempt at appreciation for his office's new embracing of email technology. Yes, the future is here. Soon everyone will be communicating via email. Hard to believe? Well, yea. Here's why...


On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 8:31 AM, Congressman Elijah Cummings wrote:

Congressman Elijah Cummings would like to periodically email you information about legislative issues in Congress vital to you and your family.

Receiving this information by email is a fast and efficient way to learn more about what is going on during these significant times, and will provide you with timely information about news important to you and your family.

Email is part of an ongoing effort to keep voters informed about the latest news and how upcoming issues will affect you. If you would prefer not to receive these email messages, please follow the instructions at the bottom of this message.

Thank you for your time.

Congressman Elijah Cummings, 7th District of Maryland
2235 Rayburn HOB
Washington DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4741
Fax: (202) 225-3178
________________________________________________________________________


My email response


Congressman Elijah Cummings;

Thank you for contacting me directly regarding Congressional legislative issues. Often I receive email notifications on certain issues that are dear to me but they always come from an outside party, a PAC or any of the many grassroots organizations in my community who take it upon themselves to be the middlemen in relaying information to me.

I am pleased to be able to receive information directly from the Congressman's office on issues that really are important to me.
As a constituent and loyal supporter of Rep. Cummings I am happy to be able to be treated as such with these emails.

Your message is absolutely correct in that email is the fastest way to keep voters informed.
Welcome to the year 2000. Organizers have been using mass email for years. What took you so long to find your supporters? With any more organization I would begin to think that you are now a Libertarian. I certainly would not hold that against you.

Thank you for the email,

Jamie Schott
Baltimore residant and proud member of Baltimore County Department of Social Services.
Please remember our most at-risk citizens when the resources are being handed out.


Now here is the response to my appreciation.

This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:


Rep.Cummings@mail.house.gov


Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the recipient domain. We recommend contacting the other email provider for further information about the cause of this error. The error that the other server returned was: 550 550 5.7.1 Unable to deliver to (state 14).

ATTN: Indy Minded Baltimore Residents: City From Below

A group of activists and organizers, including Red Emma's, the Indypendent Reader, The Baltimore Development Cooperative, campbaltimore, and the Campaign for a Better Baltimore are calling for a conference called The City From Below, to take place in Baltimore during the weekend of March 27th-29th, 2009 at 2640, a grassroots community center and events venue.


Our intention to focus on the city first and foremost stems from our own organizing experience, and a recognition that the city is very often the terrain on which we fight, and which we should be fighting for. To take a particularly salient example in Baltimore, it is increasingly the case that labor struggles, especially in the service sector, need to confront not just unfair employers, but structurally disastrous municipal development policies. While the financial crisis plays out in the national news and in the spectacle of legislative action, it is at the level of the urban community where foreclosures can be directly challenged and the right to a non-capitalist relation to housing can be fought for. Our right to an autonomous culture, to our freedom to dissent, to public spaces and to public education all hinge increasingly on our relation to the cities in which we live and to the people and forces in control of them. And our cities offer some truly inspiring and creative examples of resistance - from the community garden to the neighborhood assembly.

Baltimore: City From Below. Workshops/Lectures

The City From Below
March 27th-29th, 2009
Baltimore

The city has emerged in recent years as an indispensable concept for many of the struggles for social justice we are all engaged in - it's a place where theory meets practice, where the neighborhood organizes against global capitalism, where unequal divisions based on race and class can be mapped out block by block and contested, where the micropolitics of gender and sexual orientation are subject to metropolitan rearticulation, where every corner is a potential site of resistance and every vacant lot a commons to be reclaimed, and, most importantly, a place where all our diverse struggles and strategies have a chance of coming together into something greater. In cities everywhere, new social movements are coming into being, hidden histories and herstories are being uncovered, and unanticipated futures are being imagined and built - but so much of this knowledge remains, so to speak, at street-level. We need a space to gather and share our stories, our ideas and analysis, a space to come together and rethink the city from below.To that end, a group of activists and organizers, including Red Emma's, the Indypendent Reader, The Baltimore Development Cooperative, campbaltimore, and the Campaign for a Better Baltimore are calling for a conference called The City From Below, to take place in Baltimore during the weekend of March 27th-29th, 2009 at 2640, a grassroots community center and events venue.

Our intention to focus on the city first and foremost stems from our own organizing experience, and a recognition that the city is very often the terrain on which we fight, and which we should be fighting for. To take a particularly salient example from Baltimore, it is increasingly the case that labor struggles, especially in the service sector, need to confront not just unfair employers, but structurally disastrous municipal development policies. While the financial crisis plays out in the national news and in the spectacle of legislative action, it is at the level of the urban community where foreclosures can be directly challenged and the right to a non-capitalist relation to housing can be fought for. Our right to an autonomous culture, to our freedom to dissent, to public spaces and to public education all hinge increasingly on our relation to the cities in which we live and to the people and forces in control of them. And our cities offer some truly inspiring and creative examples of resistance - from the community garden to the neighborhood assembly.

We are committed in organizing this conference to a horizontal framework of participation, one which allows us to concretely engage with and support ongoing social justice struggles. What we envision is a conference which isn't just about academics and other researchers talking to each other and at a passive audience, but one where some of the most inspiring campaigns and projects on the frontlines of the fight for the right to the city (community anti-gentrification groups, transit rights activists, tenant unions, alternative development advocates, sex worker's rights advocates, prison reform groups) will not just be represented, but will concretely benefit from the alliances they build and the knowledge they gain by attending.At the same time, we also want to productively engage those within the academic system, as well as artists, journalists, and other researchers. It is a mistake to think that people who spend their lives working on urban geography and sociology, in urban planning, or on the history of cities have nothing to offer to our struggles. At the same time, we recognize that too often the way in which academics engage activists, if they do so at all, is to talk at them. We are envisioning something much different, closer to the notion of "accompaniment". We want academics and activists to talk to each other, to listen to each other, and to offer what they each are best able to. Concretely, we're hoping to facilitate this kind of dynamic by planning as much of the conference as possible as panels involving both scholars and organizers.

THEMES TO BE CONSIDERED
Gentrification/uneven development
Policing and incarceration
Tenants rights/housing as a right
Public transit
Urban worker's rights
Foreclosures/financial crisis
Public education
Slots/casinos/regressive taxation
Cultural gentrification
Underground economies
Reclaiming public space
The right to the city
Squatting/Contesting Property Rights
Urban sustainability
PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS

Please share with us your proposal for workshops or presentations. We hope to host 15-25 sessions with a mixture of formats and welcome proposals from groups and individuals. The conference is geared towards discussion and participation. People are welcome to bring papers andother resources with them, but this conference is not oriented to the presentation of papers. There will be 50 and 110 minute sessions. We welcome self-organized workshops but will also work to incorporate individual proposals into panels with others. In your proposal please indicate how your proposal relates to the themes of the conference, expected participants, organizing partners and session format (training, panel, open discussion, video, etc.) and how long the session will be. We are especially interested in proposals which combine critique of the urban environment with discussions of new strategies for its reclamation.Please get proposals to us no later than the 30th of January, but preferably before January 1st.

Please send proposals to:

cityfrombelow -at- redemmas.org

Email is preferred, but you can also send a proposal to:

City from Belowc/o Red Emma's800 St Paul St.Baltimore MD 21202

Vacation Pic: From Here to Eternity Beach- Hawaii

Cockroach Cove. Ouahu, Hawaii. This is where the beach scene was filmed in From Here to Eternity. Day 3 of my Hawai'an Expedition.

Aural States Fest Day 2.

With all the accolades given to Day 1 of the Aural States Fest it was actually Day 2 that I was waiting for. It was only at the last hour that I decided to go to the first night out of respect for Alex Mudge and the rest of Aural States for tacking on a second night and allowing another fine example of why Aural States is the City Paper’s best music blog of 2008. (http://auralstates.com/2008/10/thanks-city-paper-baltimore.html ) Not only do they cover some of the best local talent but now they bring it all together.

Day 2 was something old and something new but entirely fresh.

First off was the space. The 3^rd floor of the Whole Gallery was the very best space I have been to for an all night party in this city (Paradox is not included because it is out of this world). The space was a huge industrial era floor turned into loft space with the majority of the area a great open area with excellent wood floors for dancing. But this was also someone’s home that we were partying in so they deserve a big thanks for inviting us in and sharing their awesome space. Big shouts to Edward, Jessie and the 3^rd floor family for opening their home to us. It was the best decorated space I’ve been to in a while. The revolving mirror monolith in the middle of the floor was a great touch.

Another great touch was more free coffee from Zekes. Whoever thought of giving party goers coffee in the wee hours is a genius! (just don’t spill it on yourself) This kept people moving a bit longer into the evening without the need for any greater stimulants.

The Music: Garret McIndoe, product of B-more but hailing now from Brooklyn, opened the night around 10pm. Doors opened at 9ish and the place was already in party mode when he went on. I heard some fun B-more club and some classicks from way back…and then lost a contact lens and had to swerve 25 blocks home to grab another eye. When I returned he had just finished. Sorry Garret. Come back and do it again sometime?

Next up was Craig Sopo of the Bmore-Electro crew with a nice long 2 ½ hour set of techno, acid, Detroit classicks and whatever else he wanted to throw down. It’s always nice to see vinyl still being used in DJ sets these days and even though he was using a laptop with Serrato, Sopo is one of those wax taxin’ DJ’s who keeps one foot firmly planted in the music’s roots. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a techno bill of Detroit and NYC Dj’s with Sopo’s name somewhere in the middle.

Now, I grew up in a time and place before set lists were posted up on music forums and anyone could Google or do a discoggs search for anything and find it. When I was coming up the only place you heard these tunes was at the party and if you didn’t know the record you’d ask someone next to you. If they didn’t know then you were out of luck for the time. You just go with the flow and remember the sound because you’ll likely hear it again next week. Good records don’t go away and I appreciate a DJ who’s kept theirs.

So that was the old as far as music technology goes and the new in terms of talent in this area.

Another old/new example of the night was CEX- Ryan Kidwell. Baltimore may consider him old since he put out his first album in 1998. I have to admit, being a Baltimore resident only 2 years I have read the name before but have never seen him perform. So this was new for me.

A little Wiki search told me that this guy formed Tigerbeat6 with Miguel Depedro of Kid606. Although I’ve not heard anything from either of these two I do remember reading and hearing rants about GirlTalk and people saying that these were the groups who came way before him and what they did 10 years ago still holds up better than his work. So yea, I’ve got my own homework to do here now. Ryan, that was you? I never knew. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cex) Thank you Aural States.

So there he was with trusty laptop and soundboard cranking out sounds for the next 2 plus hours. Now, I always have trouble with laptop sets because I can’t tell if someone’s really mixing and making or if they’re just pushing play. But there was a look and feel of sounds being born and decaying, melding together and totally standing alone. I can’t get into production and arrangement because that’s not my thing. I’m a final product guy and CEX pushed his product for a good 2 plus hours. The sounds and scenes changed with the time of the evening as I noticed slower interludes to give wary dancers a minute to stop and catch their breath before something completely different came up and moved their feet again. But the theme I got from the set was a continual push of sounds. Not too fast to wear you out but just enough to keep one going for it.

Big thanks to Cex for what seemed like a long overdue set. Now that my ears are open I hope to hear more from him in the future.

On a closing note I was a bit disappointed that the 2^nd night of Aural States Fest was not mentioned in 2 different radio interviews (WYPR) with both Greg Szeto and Alex Mudge. And when I say not mentioned it is no fault of Aural States but either timing or "editing" from the station. Metromix pumped Day 1 on their Friday things to do front page but was using way outdated info for day 2 and even got the venue wrong. It just seemed like Day 2 got buried, censored or both.

But once I got to the place, saw the awesome venue and the people already starting to fill it I was made aware that what was happening was, in essence, the true spirit of the underground. The advertisement wasn’t there but the people were, the flashy camera men and scene hogs were not there but those who knew or wanted to know were. Day 2 (or the party as we called it) has been going on for years without the support from major or even minor media outlets. Support comes from where it is needed. When you get the Deep Sugar crew to come out to your event, in numbers mind you, then you know you're reaching the right people. For some of us that was like having the godfather walk through your party. There were, however, many new faces that I don’t normally see out at these events and was pleased to meet so many diverse folks who came for the same thing: to dance and holler at a DJ who’s crankin’ it out!

Thank You Arual States Pt. 1

I need to send out a big public thank you to fellow Blogtimore mates Arual States for putting on their first annual (and I hope there's a second) Aural states Fest.
Evening 1 was at Sonar and Talking Head Club this past Friday night and the place was packed by 8pm. I thought I was getting there early to score some rad door prizes but the gear was gone even by then and the Talking Head was already standing room only.

This was one of those evenings that very well could have been everything to everyone. There was something for all. Acoustic and electronic, heartbreak and hardcore.

If Aural States' mission was to bring the same local talent from the far reaching corners of the mind as well as the city together for 2 nights then they nailed it.
In doing this they also brought people from these various places and "scenes" together to create one big party and one big scene.

One of the all encompassing highlights of the two evenings was this diversity coming together and hearing each other's favorite music and digging it.
I think of every person I talked to that night each one was there to hear an entirely different band but stuck around to hear other bands who kept their interest and energy as well if not more.

Although I've been reading about these bands for the past 8 months through the Aural States blog I just haven't been out to hear them. Not only did I get the chance to hear them all (for the first time, mind you) but every single band I did see looked as if they were having the performance of a lifetime. The energy on stage was mirrored by the energy in the audience and every band was really going for it. I have a deep respect for anyone who can get on stage, play their music and pour themselves fully into it...and not have it suck.

Of the first night let me personally shout out those who I saw in the Talking Head:
Imperial China
Caverns
Can not Be Stopped.

These folks poured it out and rocked the house. If there was more room I'm sure the place woulda been a mad house!

At the Sonar stage (unfortunately, set changes took a long time here and I spent most time in TH because that's where the sound was)
Sri Aurobindo
Wye Oak

2 completely different sounds that I would not expect on the same bill but so happy I heard them. Special thanks to Wye Oak for taking me from the Talking Head where I just finished rocking out to what seemed like high school angst of 15 years gone to standing alone and trying to hide tears of the pain of real life that I've endured since...but believing in the hope of tomorrow.

Oh and btw, there's already a dowlnoad of the Wye Oak set out on the Aural States blog. They even take care of me after the party. Thanks guys and girls at Aural Sates. I hear that there are more downloads on the way.

And that was just Day 1.

More on Day 2 Later.

Sorry, this is not a review of the individual bands or an assesment of their sounds and talent but a recollection of the spirit that they all brought out in me. I hope others felt the same. I know a lot of them were showing it.

Let me also say that i am in no way affiliated with Aural States. I just like to promote what I love.

Hey Jackass! Use the Salt Boxes on Your Street.

I'm not a native of this city so when I did move into Baltimore city I was surprised with the yellow salt boxes in on neighborhood streets. It's there for me and my neighborhood, yea? At least that's what I'm assuming.
Well this week was the only time in my 2 years that I was thinking of hitting up the salt boxes.
I've had a bag of rock salt in the basement. I think I've had 25 lbs of it for about 4 years. But it got hit the first ice this year. So I grabbed a good 5 gallon bucket, small spade shovel and hit up about 4 lbs out in Mt. Washington when I was at the tavern on Tues. Next night closer to home in Hampden on Hickory street next to the Super(not-so)Fresh.
Tonight when I go out to Aural States Fest at Sonar (plug)I'll pick another bucket.


You can really tell who your good neighbors are...and conversely, your other neighbors. Let's all be good neighbors. Go get some salt if your area is still got ice. We did need a lot to get rid of all of it this time.