I am happy to announce yet another anniversary (this would be the 7th) of my monsoon summer in Nepal, by inviting you to check out my travel journal (work-in-progress) at:
http://nepaltammy.blogspot.com/ or just click aqui.
This blog chronicles my life--what I remember of it--in Nepal during monsoon season 1999. I arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal, on the 10th day of June -- officially noted as the first day of the monsoon in the KATHMANDU POST English-language daily.
My intention is to physically transcribe all my scribblings, poems, and what-not from my journals and travel notes SPECIFICALLY during June-July-August in order to summon the experience and vibe--if you will--of that trip. In other words, I work on this project ONLY in the summer time, and I make the postings available in roughly chronological order. (Yeah, kinda like re-living the trip...)
Check in, as you like, at the blogspot address above.
Namaste.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Friday, June 09, 2006
porch people
Says Flagstaff-based poeta, Logan Phillips in a recent email: "The foto turned out pretty well, it works best just to remind me of that beautiful morning, rather than capturing anything especially special... but that's what all good fotos do, I think. I like that porch of yours."
That's Logan, me, and Claudia Acosta decorating the top steps...
Yep, that paint-peeled old wooden porch of mine has been a veritable throne to many of my compadres and comadres passing through town on some tour, research investigation, convention or other. When Jason and Shani lived in the hood as neighbors, they would often porch-sit with me over a coupla brews and rolled Buglers. If I wasn't home, they'd even show up, cuz they didn't have a porch of their own and just liked sitting on mine. That's how welcoming this Fairmount Ave. porch has been over the ages.
Vicki Monks sent me this foto, taken back in January, when she and poet-visual artist-film actor Richard Ray Whitman spent a weekend in FW to check out Avedon's "In the American West" photo exhibit and some of the other local museums.
Vicki, an award-winning journalist who focuses much of her attention on environmental issues, might be visiting my porch again this week, as she is making plans to attend the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in Fort Worth which runs from June 15th-18th.
You can check out some of Vicki's journalism online, via this portal or download the audio for "Carbon Black" an NPR report that earned her an SEJ (Society of Environmental Journalists) 1st place award in 2005.
And, if you're ever in the hood and have only the goodest intentions, stop by. My porch is your porch.
The storms of heaven drench me sometimes
It is doing an injustice to all the other stellar go-down-in-history weekends i’ve ever lived to write this, but i have to say:
This past weekend was pretty exemplary, in terms of “putting out” and “taking in”, and yeah, i know that just read like i’m referring to a highly carnalized three days of debauchery--but that’s not what i mean here.
I performed on Friday night, at the National Performance Network--southern regional meeting--showcase, that just happened to be scheduled in Dallas this year. Which meant that a Dallas partner in the NPN had the honor and responsibility of putting together the confab’s final night performance thingy. So, Vicki Meek, artistic director of the South Dallas Cultural Center, invited me and eight other performing artists of her choosing (thank you, Vicki!) to give a taste of D/FW’s range of performative offerings. I chose to do a monologue I’d written about 10 years ago--commissioned by Mexic-Arte in Austin--for a specific actor to perform, so I’d never memorized or performed the thing (5 pages!) myself. But since that was my choice, I put my all into it. (It took me a month to get the whole thing down, comfortably, and I owe my cat Grace a big fat thank you for putting up with me for the countless hours I paced the house, in character, working my lines, as she--had no choice--listened)
Anyway, Friday was the big night and I rode into Big D--the showcase was at Richland College, a rather pleasant little oasis of green and greenhouses, ponds and fountains--with fellow performer Laney Yarber, who’s done some pretty innovative things in performance art--in Dallas, San Antonio, and Cowtown. Her choice for a presentation this night was “Lake Worth Pagan” which includes footage of a guy who believes that Lake Worth is the most important archaeological site in the world.
Come performance time, I felt pretty good, and had even decided to perform in the audience area--rather than onstage--for most of my 10 minutes. I think that was a good choice, as I saw many people come back into the theater from the lobby, rushing to hear who was mouthing off in both English and Spanish. Well, it was me, cuz, you see, my character, “Malinchuca”, is plenty pissed, and she only has one monologue--5 pages or 10 minutes--to defend her honor and name, as well as to try to set a few things straight. In the middle of the monologue, I noticed some familiar faces in the audience: Lisa Suarez, director/actor with Jump-Start Theater (San Anto) [ note: that’s not a misspelling, that’s how Chicanos abbreviate San Antonio, with the accent on the A in “Anto” ] and Kerry Kreiman, tireless director and choreographer of Contemporary Dance Fort Worth. They gave me good energy with their attention, and I am thankful they were there.
After the program ended, I got out of costume, packed up my things, and headed out to the theater lobby for the post-show reception, where Vicki had told us performers to bring our “promo press packets”--to give to the NPN arts partners should they show any interest in us. At this point, I felt a little weird, kinda like a prize pig in an auction house. Well, this little piggie stood off to the side, chatting casually with the friends (thanks, Rupert, Karen, Judy!) who showed up to support me. But after a minute, Vicki started rushing up to me, with increasingly frequent interruptions of “I need another packet. Give ‘em the dvd, they’re from out-of state...!” It was, actually, pretty wonderful that Vicki wanted to act as talent agent in this little slice of time. I certainly wasn’t going to march up to somebody and demand that they invite me to gig at their venue.
The coolest thing did happen, though. Melissa, Foulger, associate artistic director of probably the best performing arts venue in Atlanta--7 STAGES--approached me and gave me her card. I’ve been on the 7 Stages mailing list for years and have always been impressed with the themes and experimental nature of the work they present. Melissa told me that 7 Stages is looking for more work by Latinas, and then requested one of my promo packets and dvds. Kewl. Sixto Wagan, performing arts director of DIVERSEWORKS in Houston also gave me his card, so the ball's in my court for a follow-up. DiverseWorks is one major nut that I have yet to crack in the state of Texas, as i've already jammed and performed on most of the stages here that produce innovative and cutting-edge work (McKinney Arts Contemporary, Undermain Theater, Bath House Cultural Center, Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, Jump-Start, South Dallas Cultural Center, Women and Their Work, La Pena in Austin, Mexic-Arte, Teatro Bilingue in Houston, for starters.).
The Prez and Vice Prez of Richland College came up to meet me and wanted my promo packet, indicating they are now schedulilng for 2007-2008. Wow, after all that potty mouth I presented on their campus stage, these guys weren’t offended by my work. Okay, these guys now rate high in my Big Chief Tablet. The executive director of Knoxville, Tennessee’s, CARPETBAG THEATRE chatted me up, as did Alice Valdez, exec. director at MECA (Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts) in Houston. It was all quite a whirlwind of promise and props, accolades and introductions. And I only got to snag one lone piece of a brownie from the reception table during all this hubub. It didn’t matter. I was so relieved to have gotten through my 10-minute solo, and was so basking in the afterglow, that all I really needed then was some champagne and my bed.
Of the other performers who showcased that night, I was most pleased to finally meet and watch Ms. Venus Opal Reese (an artist named after both a planet AND a gem better be able to back that up with some skillz....right?), who was quite incredible. She moves like yards of silk off a treetrunk in a windstorm--fluid, swift, graceful--and her voice is strong with integrity, yet melodic and affable. She is quite the scholar, with at least two Master’s degrees, and she currently teaches (Aesthetic Studies) at the University of Texas at Dallas. We need to get her on a stage here in FW sometime soon.
When I arrived back in FW (thanks again, Laney!), I drove over to the Black Dog for a celebration drink and a bit of local mirth before heading hard for my pillow. Before I knew it, I was drawn into the fanfare for the touring act rocking the crowd. They were an Austin trio of chingona musicians: bass, drums, guitar. That’s Heather, Nina (aka Punjabi), and Adrian. Simple and straight-ahead instrumentation, but damn could they play. I thought drummer (Punjabi) was the most amazing until Ms. cordless-guitar-Adrian started seducing us with screeching solos that could equal that of any seasoned acid-rock axe-handler of the male persuasion. She was really good. And then, the bass player, she had a spotlight moment as the audience demanded that the band play “Vampire” again, where she takes the lead vocal and nails it for a performance that had the whole crowd up on their feet.
As dear barkeep Jim R brought me a complimentary (thanks, dude) gin & tonic, I asked him if he’d ever seen a standing ovation at the Black Dog. He grinned and shouted, “only if there’s a fire!” There was virtual pandemonium in the house as people swarmed the band with hugs and accolades. (Was this displaced Maverick fan energy?---the Mavs did have Friday night off, after all...) It was a major lovefest at the Black Dog, as our actually quite-savvy Friday night audience stood and recognized that there was some pretty bad-ass music coming at their ears, thanks to these 3 rockin’ Austin women. Jim R told me later, they’ll be back. He booked ‘em the first time, and he’ll be sure they come to the Dog again.
Oh, their name: Adrian and the Sickness. Their myspace portal? Right here. They’re scheduled to play in Denton on August 17th, so maybe we’ll see ‘em back in the 817 ‘round then.
By the end of the night I was ecstatic, with icing on my cake, a swirl of gin & tonic flooding my system, and a night of great performance (mine as well as the girl band’s) under my belt. Nothing but my pillow, after an achingly strenuous week, could top that.
BUT THEN--not two days later, before the weekend was up, I got to bliss out over another freaking wonderful musical experience. The scheduled REQUIEM show at some joint in Denton was cancelled, so a quick-acting Cri (aka Nobody) made a couple of calls and set up an impromptu show at 1919 Hemphill within two hours' time. I love that about non-proprietary performing arts spaces; there was no big hassle to get REQUIEM a stage and an audience--thanks to a bulletin with the 411 that Cri posted on myspace.
Oh, REQUIEM is a band affiliated with Crimethinc, an association of anarchist collectives, projects, etc. Go here to read up on 'em. The set they played at 1919 Hemphill reminded me of the best of the best hardcore punk moments I've ever had, and I'd say that that's saying alot...
It was so intense, so invigorating, so LOUD, that i swear I could feel the nerves in my face pulsating minutes after their set ended.
I have to also mention that REQUIEM's drummer was another truly-amazing woman musician. My cup runneth over, here in FW, cuz I got to see/hear TWO rockin' bad-ass woman drummers in ONE single weekend.
That's gotta be a historical breakthrough or something.
This past weekend was pretty exemplary, in terms of “putting out” and “taking in”, and yeah, i know that just read like i’m referring to a highly carnalized three days of debauchery--but that’s not what i mean here.
I performed on Friday night, at the National Performance Network--southern regional meeting--showcase, that just happened to be scheduled in Dallas this year. Which meant that a Dallas partner in the NPN had the honor and responsibility of putting together the confab’s final night performance thingy. So, Vicki Meek, artistic director of the South Dallas Cultural Center, invited me and eight other performing artists of her choosing (thank you, Vicki!) to give a taste of D/FW’s range of performative offerings. I chose to do a monologue I’d written about 10 years ago--commissioned by Mexic-Arte in Austin--for a specific actor to perform, so I’d never memorized or performed the thing (5 pages!) myself. But since that was my choice, I put my all into it. (It took me a month to get the whole thing down, comfortably, and I owe my cat Grace a big fat thank you for putting up with me for the countless hours I paced the house, in character, working my lines, as she--had no choice--listened)
Anyway, Friday was the big night and I rode into Big D--the showcase was at Richland College, a rather pleasant little oasis of green and greenhouses, ponds and fountains--with fellow performer Laney Yarber, who’s done some pretty innovative things in performance art--in Dallas, San Antonio, and Cowtown. Her choice for a presentation this night was “Lake Worth Pagan” which includes footage of a guy who believes that Lake Worth is the most important archaeological site in the world.
Come performance time, I felt pretty good, and had even decided to perform in the audience area--rather than onstage--for most of my 10 minutes. I think that was a good choice, as I saw many people come back into the theater from the lobby, rushing to hear who was mouthing off in both English and Spanish. Well, it was me, cuz, you see, my character, “Malinchuca”, is plenty pissed, and she only has one monologue--5 pages or 10 minutes--to defend her honor and name, as well as to try to set a few things straight. In the middle of the monologue, I noticed some familiar faces in the audience: Lisa Suarez, director/actor with Jump-Start Theater (San Anto) [ note: that’s not a misspelling, that’s how Chicanos abbreviate San Antonio, with the accent on the A in “Anto” ] and Kerry Kreiman, tireless director and choreographer of Contemporary Dance Fort Worth. They gave me good energy with their attention, and I am thankful they were there.
After the program ended, I got out of costume, packed up my things, and headed out to the theater lobby for the post-show reception, where Vicki had told us performers to bring our “promo press packets”--to give to the NPN arts partners should they show any interest in us. At this point, I felt a little weird, kinda like a prize pig in an auction house. Well, this little piggie stood off to the side, chatting casually with the friends (thanks, Rupert, Karen, Judy!) who showed up to support me. But after a minute, Vicki started rushing up to me, with increasingly frequent interruptions of “I need another packet. Give ‘em the dvd, they’re from out-of state...!” It was, actually, pretty wonderful that Vicki wanted to act as talent agent in this little slice of time. I certainly wasn’t going to march up to somebody and demand that they invite me to gig at their venue.
The coolest thing did happen, though. Melissa, Foulger, associate artistic director of probably the best performing arts venue in Atlanta--7 STAGES--approached me and gave me her card. I’ve been on the 7 Stages mailing list for years and have always been impressed with the themes and experimental nature of the work they present. Melissa told me that 7 Stages is looking for more work by Latinas, and then requested one of my promo packets and dvds. Kewl. Sixto Wagan, performing arts director of DIVERSEWORKS in Houston also gave me his card, so the ball's in my court for a follow-up. DiverseWorks is one major nut that I have yet to crack in the state of Texas, as i've already jammed and performed on most of the stages here that produce innovative and cutting-edge work (McKinney Arts Contemporary, Undermain Theater, Bath House Cultural Center, Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, Jump-Start, South Dallas Cultural Center, Women and Their Work, La Pena in Austin, Mexic-Arte, Teatro Bilingue in Houston, for starters.).
The Prez and Vice Prez of Richland College came up to meet me and wanted my promo packet, indicating they are now schedulilng for 2007-2008. Wow, after all that potty mouth I presented on their campus stage, these guys weren’t offended by my work. Okay, these guys now rate high in my Big Chief Tablet. The executive director of Knoxville, Tennessee’s, CARPETBAG THEATRE chatted me up, as did Alice Valdez, exec. director at MECA (Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts) in Houston. It was all quite a whirlwind of promise and props, accolades and introductions. And I only got to snag one lone piece of a brownie from the reception table during all this hubub. It didn’t matter. I was so relieved to have gotten through my 10-minute solo, and was so basking in the afterglow, that all I really needed then was some champagne and my bed.
Of the other performers who showcased that night, I was most pleased to finally meet and watch Ms. Venus Opal Reese (an artist named after both a planet AND a gem better be able to back that up with some skillz....right?), who was quite incredible. She moves like yards of silk off a treetrunk in a windstorm--fluid, swift, graceful--and her voice is strong with integrity, yet melodic and affable. She is quite the scholar, with at least two Master’s degrees, and she currently teaches (Aesthetic Studies) at the University of Texas at Dallas. We need to get her on a stage here in FW sometime soon.
When I arrived back in FW (thanks again, Laney!), I drove over to the Black Dog for a celebration drink and a bit of local mirth before heading hard for my pillow. Before I knew it, I was drawn into the fanfare for the touring act rocking the crowd. They were an Austin trio of chingona musicians: bass, drums, guitar. That’s Heather, Nina (aka Punjabi), and Adrian. Simple and straight-ahead instrumentation, but damn could they play. I thought drummer (Punjabi) was the most amazing until Ms. cordless-guitar-Adrian started seducing us with screeching solos that could equal that of any seasoned acid-rock axe-handler of the male persuasion. She was really good. And then, the bass player, she had a spotlight moment as the audience demanded that the band play “Vampire” again, where she takes the lead vocal and nails it for a performance that had the whole crowd up on their feet.
As dear barkeep Jim R brought me a complimentary (thanks, dude) gin & tonic, I asked him if he’d ever seen a standing ovation at the Black Dog. He grinned and shouted, “only if there’s a fire!” There was virtual pandemonium in the house as people swarmed the band with hugs and accolades. (Was this displaced Maverick fan energy?---the Mavs did have Friday night off, after all...) It was a major lovefest at the Black Dog, as our actually quite-savvy Friday night audience stood and recognized that there was some pretty bad-ass music coming at their ears, thanks to these 3 rockin’ Austin women. Jim R told me later, they’ll be back. He booked ‘em the first time, and he’ll be sure they come to the Dog again.
Oh, their name: Adrian and the Sickness. Their myspace portal? Right here. They’re scheduled to play in Denton on August 17th, so maybe we’ll see ‘em back in the 817 ‘round then.
By the end of the night I was ecstatic, with icing on my cake, a swirl of gin & tonic flooding my system, and a night of great performance (mine as well as the girl band’s) under my belt. Nothing but my pillow, after an achingly strenuous week, could top that.
BUT THEN--not two days later, before the weekend was up, I got to bliss out over another freaking wonderful musical experience. The scheduled REQUIEM show at some joint in Denton was cancelled, so a quick-acting Cri (aka Nobody) made a couple of calls and set up an impromptu show at 1919 Hemphill within two hours' time. I love that about non-proprietary performing arts spaces; there was no big hassle to get REQUIEM a stage and an audience--thanks to a bulletin with the 411 that Cri posted on myspace.
Oh, REQUIEM is a band affiliated with Crimethinc, an association of anarchist collectives, projects, etc. Go here to read up on 'em. The set they played at 1919 Hemphill reminded me of the best of the best hardcore punk moments I've ever had, and I'd say that that's saying alot...
It was so intense, so invigorating, so LOUD, that i swear I could feel the nerves in my face pulsating minutes after their set ended.
I have to also mention that REQUIEM's drummer was another truly-amazing woman musician. My cup runneth over, here in FW, cuz I got to see/hear TWO rockin' bad-ass woman drummers in ONE single weekend.
That's gotta be a historical breakthrough or something.
Robert Karimi's "Self--The Remix" in Austin & San Anto
We met and learned of one another's work in Austin first, and then in San Anto. We made quick friends and performance allies. We knew alot of the same Chicano/a film and music scene people. Robert Karimi, Guatemalan-Iranian brilliant-boy of the stage, is someone I've always felt deserved the props he's gotten. That man works AND COOKS his damn ass off. One of the last times I was in Chicago, he was debuting a live cooking show performance satire. He's one male who's not afraid to wear an apron in public.
I have this special memory of the time he emailed--back when he was a (seriously-frenetic but effective) high school English teacher in Newark, California--to let me know that about "200 students had NOT read the Austin local newspaper," but had read my poem "Manslaughter"--which was a poetic account of a homicide that had gone down in Austin long ago. In other words, he was teaching my poem to his hs kids. Eventually, he hooked up a teaching/performance gig for me at that high school during my first trip to the Bay Area, where those very kids who'd read my poem got to share the original work they'd been inspired to write after reading "Manslaughter." I love moments like that, when I get to see how my work might make a difference for somebody.
But, right now---I SO wish that I could hop down to Austin to check out Robert's performance at RESISTENCIA BOOKSTORE tomorrow night, June 10th. Guess I'll just have to keep up with his upcoming shenanigans (he's got a few gigs in Anchorage this month...!) via his myspace portal at KARIMI.
Oh, he's also doing SELF--THE REMIX at Jump-Start Theatre in SA as part of the 2nd Annual Teatrofest, a city-wide celebration of Chicano/Latino performance and theater.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
666 Literary Event '''''afterglow'''''
666 thing went VERY well, despite the sweltering heat that sent most folks to the ice chests for bottles of "Wicked Ale" which i'd bought specific. for the occasion. lots of stimulating and instigating word was evoked; Tommy Atkins' piece went over
well, as well as the words of new-to-us wordsmiths Trevor Richardson (who says that "Fight Club" author what's-his-face is coming to Big D later this month...) and Jen Cooper (partner to Marcus L).
By the time i got home this evening, after it all, I had an email from Tommy expressing thanks for my reading of his piece (he wasn't present tonight) cuz he'd already gotten kudos for the work from someone at the Metrognome, and Christopher Photog (what's his last name?) had left a voicemail message sharing props and encouragement.
Right now, the Dallas poet Max Blair is snoring big-time in the next room (but he'd given me notice, so it's not going to disturb me) and I'm munching on afterthoughts about a well-spent evening masticating 666 theory--literarily--with some pretty friggin' fine writers in the 817, 214, 972, and 682.
Also in the house tonight: FW Slam team 06 member Chuck; former Slam-teamer A.D. (Anthony Douglas), organic farmer/philosopher/storyteller Kendall McCook; Firehouse Gallery matriarch and FWAC arts goddess Lori Thomson; singer/keyboardist Devin Adams; The Shortest Distance songwriter and Fascist Watch film series coordinator Ramsey Sprague; and Angelique the angel wing-maker and performance dream-weaver. It was definitely something unprecedented for the M'Gnome.
More to come, believe it or not. We'll keep spreading the word, when it's summer and hot.
well, as well as the words of new-to-us wordsmiths Trevor Richardson (who says that "Fight Club" author what's-his-face is coming to Big D later this month...) and Jen Cooper (partner to Marcus L).
By the time i got home this evening, after it all, I had an email from Tommy expressing thanks for my reading of his piece (he wasn't present tonight) cuz he'd already gotten kudos for the work from someone at the Metrognome, and Christopher Photog (what's his last name?) had left a voicemail message sharing props and encouragement.
Right now, the Dallas poet Max Blair is snoring big-time in the next room (but he'd given me notice, so it's not going to disturb me) and I'm munching on afterthoughts about a well-spent evening masticating 666 theory--literarily--with some pretty friggin' fine writers in the 817, 214, 972, and 682.
Also in the house tonight: FW Slam team 06 member Chuck; former Slam-teamer A.D. (Anthony Douglas), organic farmer/philosopher/storyteller Kendall McCook; Firehouse Gallery matriarch and FWAC arts goddess Lori Thomson; singer/keyboardist Devin Adams; The Shortest Distance songwriter and Fascist Watch film series coordinator Ramsey Sprague; and Angelique the angel wing-maker and performance dream-weaver. It was definitely something unprecedented for the M'Gnome.
More to come, believe it or not. We'll keep spreading the word, when it's summer and hot.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Literary 666 Event - tomorrow, Tuesday 6/6/06 in FW
666, as a number, is so loaded, so symbolic, in so many different ways,
that we just couldn't turn the calendar page tomorrow
without doing some kind of commemoration...
AND SO IT IS.....
the LITERARY 666 event of the century is
taking place at
7:30pm on June 6th, 2006
with contributed work/performances by the following D/FW folks:
Tommy Atkins (of The Great Tyrant)
Kendall McCook (poet, storyteller)
Ramsey Sprague (songwriter, The Shortest Distance)
Moises Silva (poet)
Jen Cooper (writer, educator, singer)
m.m. harris (poet, New Orleans evacuee)
Trevor Richardson (prose-fiction writer)
with visual art by Junanne Peck
and featuring Max Blair (member, Death List 5)
performing "How to Spot the Signs of Satan"
+++++++++++++++++++++
Metrognome Collective Arts Space
1518 E. Lancaster
in near southside (a few blocks east of I-35)
7:30pm on 6/6/06 !
It's a BYOB, folks, but we'll have some eats&drinks available as well.
Spread the 666 word and hope to see you tomorrow...
that we just couldn't turn the calendar page tomorrow
without doing some kind of commemoration...
AND SO IT IS.....
the LITERARY 666 event of the century is
taking place at
7:30pm on June 6th, 2006
with contributed work/performances by the following D/FW folks:
Tommy Atkins (of The Great Tyrant)
Kendall McCook (poet, storyteller)
Ramsey Sprague (songwriter, The Shortest Distance)
Moises Silva (poet)
Jen Cooper (writer, educator, singer)
m.m. harris (poet, New Orleans evacuee)
Trevor Richardson (prose-fiction writer)
with visual art by Junanne Peck
and featuring Max Blair (member, Death List 5)
performing "How to Spot the Signs of Satan"
+++++++++++++++++++++
Metrognome Collective Arts Space
1518 E. Lancaster
in near southside (a few blocks east of I-35)
7:30pm on 6/6/06 !
It's a BYOB, folks, but we'll have some eats&drinks available as well.
Spread the 666 word and hope to see you tomorrow...
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Workshop at 3pm, Film at 7pm - Today, June 4th in FW
Filmmaker and somatherapy workshop facilitator Nick Cooper is in the Metroplex this weekend to spread the SOMA word/theory/practice.
Here's a blurb about the documentary film screening tonight at 7pm at 1919 Hemphill:
"With difficulty walking, and half-blinded from torture by the Brazilian military dictatorship, 79 year-old Roberto Freire continues to develop somatherapy, completing his life's work. Incorporating the ideas of Wilhelm Reich, the politics of anarchism, and the culture of capoeira angola, Soma is used by therapists organized in anarchist collectives to fight the psychological effects of authoritarianism. Nick Cooper travelled to Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Bahia, and São Paulo to find the exercises, principles, voices, and movement of somatherapy."
The workshop starts at 3pm and lasts for several hours---also at 1919 Hemphill. Here's what Wikipedia has to offer about "Somaterapia", this body- and mind-freeing therapeutic practice:
"Somatherapy was created by the writer Roberto Freire in the 1970s as a group therapy, based on the research of the psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich. With the objective of freeing the individual to be more creative, the exercises in Soma work with the relationship between the body and emotions are evident in the work of Reich. They work with concepts based on the vital organisation of the self stemming from Gestalt therapy. Other essential ingredients in Soma are the studies of Antipsychiatry related to human communication and the Brazilian martial art / dance Capoeira Angola. Soma groups last a year and a half, with frequent sessions, including usually one full weekend per month for the entire group, as well as frequent capoeira classes, study sessions, social activities, and two self-organized group trips. These times together allow the participants to build and develop the group dynamic, in line with the principles of Anarchism. The originality of Soma stems from the fusion of pedagogy and politics within the therapeutic process, in which pleasure and freedom construct the notion of health which combats the neurosis of capitalism in our globalised society.
Soma in practice
As a therapy with an anarchist ethic, Soma seeks to understand the socio-political behaviour of individuals starting from what happens in their daily lives. Authoritarianism is reproduced in social micro-relations through games of power and sacrifice. Therefore, capitalist values such as private property, competition, profit and exploitation need to be considered as more than mere questions of market and ideology. The influence of these values on social relations (love relations, for example) cannot be denied. The results of the authoritarianism of the Government and the State are reproduced in feelings (jealousy, possession, insecurity) and situations (competition, betrayal, lies). For Soma therefore, politics begins in everyday, microsocial situations."
Check it out. Today in FW - one day (and evening) only!
Sunday, May 28, 2006
National Performance Network (NPN) showcase next FRIDAY, June 2nd
I am one of nine performing artists in the Metroplex who have been invited to perform in a showcase for the NATIONAL PERFORMANCE NETWORK.
Here are the 9 invited performers/performing groups: Teatro Dallas, Amon Rashidi (Rapademics), David Marquis, Uriah Elion, Will Richey, Venus Opal Reese, Tammy Gomez, GNO, and Laney Yarber.
Vicki Meek, artistic director of the SOUTH DALLAS CULTURAL CENTER near Fair Park, is the person who invited us to perform in this showcase. The South Dallas Cultural Center is an arts partner--or member performing arts venue--of the NPN, so because the Regional Meeting is to happen in Dallas this year, she's the one who's setting up the June 2nd show.
Here's Vicki in her own words: "We will present you at Richland College's Fannin Performance Hall on Friday, June 2. The showcase will start at 8 pm and conclude at 9:45 pm. Each artist will have 10 minutes maximum. Even though this is for a regional meeting, meaning only the Southern partners will be in attendance, your work will be known beyond the region since so much of how an artist gets booked has a lot to do with word-of-mouth accolades from other NPN partners.
I am very excited about presenting you to my fellow NPN partners since I know the calibre of talent your work represents. The DFW area artists you represent need to be known outside Texas! The South Dallas Cultural Center strives to create those opportunities whenever possible."
So---my friends and readers--I am pretty stoked to have been included on this roster of performers. I'm gonna do my best, with a 9-minute (i timed it last night) monologue titled MALINCHUCA. Almost hard to believe that I wrote this piece over 10 years ago, and that I've never performed it myself, though 2 different actresses have taken on the role--under my direction.
A bit of background: Dona Marina, also known as “Malintzin” and “La Malinche”, attained mythical stature because of her association with Hernan Cortes--as his personal translator during the conquest of Mexico. In MALINCHUCA, Dona Marina reappears as a mad-as-hell ‘chuca with a tongue-lashing for historical revisionists.
I was commissioned by MEXIC-ARTE MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY in Austin to write MALINCHUCA--the script--in 1994, when it was first performed for an SRO audience. This work went on to receive a first-runner-up award in the Fort Worth Hispanic Playwrights' Festival in 2001.
Here are the 9 invited performers/performing groups: Teatro Dallas, Amon Rashidi (Rapademics), David Marquis, Uriah Elion, Will Richey, Venus Opal Reese, Tammy Gomez, GNO, and Laney Yarber.
Vicki Meek, artistic director of the SOUTH DALLAS CULTURAL CENTER near Fair Park, is the person who invited us to perform in this showcase. The South Dallas Cultural Center is an arts partner--or member performing arts venue--of the NPN, so because the Regional Meeting is to happen in Dallas this year, she's the one who's setting up the June 2nd show.
Here's Vicki in her own words: "We will present you at Richland College's Fannin Performance Hall on Friday, June 2. The showcase will start at 8 pm and conclude at 9:45 pm. Each artist will have 10 minutes maximum. Even though this is for a regional meeting, meaning only the Southern partners will be in attendance, your work will be known beyond the region since so much of how an artist gets booked has a lot to do with word-of-mouth accolades from other NPN partners.
I am very excited about presenting you to my fellow NPN partners since I know the calibre of talent your work represents. The DFW area artists you represent need to be known outside Texas! The South Dallas Cultural Center strives to create those opportunities whenever possible."
So---my friends and readers--I am pretty stoked to have been included on this roster of performers. I'm gonna do my best, with a 9-minute (i timed it last night) monologue titled MALINCHUCA. Almost hard to believe that I wrote this piece over 10 years ago, and that I've never performed it myself, though 2 different actresses have taken on the role--under my direction.
A bit of background: Dona Marina, also known as “Malintzin” and “La Malinche”, attained mythical stature because of her association with Hernan Cortes--as his personal translator during the conquest of Mexico. In MALINCHUCA, Dona Marina reappears as a mad-as-hell ‘chuca with a tongue-lashing for historical revisionists.
I was commissioned by MEXIC-ARTE MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY in Austin to write MALINCHUCA--the script--in 1994, when it was first performed for an SRO audience. This work went on to receive a first-runner-up award in the Fort Worth Hispanic Playwrights' Festival in 2001.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Support the South Central Farmers in L.A. !
An URGENT update from Tezo, spokesperson for the South Central Farmers:
Greetings to all our supporters and allies and thank you so much for your support.
We have information from reliable sources that the Sheriff's Department will be evicting the farmers and supporters on-site very soon, and daily now there is an overwhelming presence of police helicopters circling in what appears to be their preparations for the eviction. The only way to prevent this is to grow the numbers of supporters both inside and outside the farm gates.
There are now nightly candlelight vigils taking place at the farm at 7pm. We are asking everyone here in Los Angeles to come down to the farm and stand with us in solidarity!!!
Come down and bring food, water, candles, flashlights and your passion for the largest urban farm in the United States!
If you can't join us, please spread the word to everyone you know. Create phone trees and email blasts and remind everyone that if every Los Angelino just gave $1 we could save this place.
In the last 24 hours, hundreds of thousands of dollars has been committed by so many of you to help save the South Central Farm, but unfortunately we are still far short of the amount we need. What we really need is time, and we are running out of that too.
Contribute your donations at either this or this site--NOW!
And stay up-to-date by calling the HOTLINE at (866) SCFARM1.
There is still time for a miracle! Let's save this national treasure!
In solidarity,
Tezo, for the community of South Central Farmers
______________________________________________________
Background: Since 1992, the 14 acres of property located at 41st and Alameda Streets in south Los Angeles have been used as a community garden or farm. The land has been divided into 360 plots and is believed to be one of the largest urban gardens in the country. According to a Free Speech Radio report, the South Central Farmers grow enough food to feed "roughly 350 families" on an ongoing basis. The land ownership has changed a little over the past six years, and now the current owner is demanding that the farmers--the current tenants--pay up $16.5 million or face eviction. (Of course, Wal-Mart figures into this, as the corporation is reportedly offering to pay at least that amount of money to have this land.) So here we have another David v. Goliath scenario, and many folks and activists and urban farming advocates are drawing connections between what just went down in Atenco, Mexico (the federales went in after some "ugly-looking" flower sellers and basically declared war on poor Mexicanos trying to make a living.
Here's an excerpt from an article by reporter Ruth Vela:
"Mexican police attacked flower vendors in San Salvador Atenco on May 3rd, as the vendors tried to sell in their usual area, now a future site of a Wal-Mart.
The flower vendors were occupying the space in the Texcoco market when they were assaulted by police. The next day before dawn the vendors returned with supporters from the town of Atenco to confront the police and reoccupy their space.
The police again responded with violence, this time using batons and tear gas.
Some 3,000 federal police surrounded the town of Atenco. They were later joined by state and local police. The troops proceeded to launch so much tear gas that the town was engulfed in a cloud. Some protesters were then arrested while others were able to escape and hide."
[The article can be read in its entirety here. Another, more recently-published article by Vela, focuses on the impact of the Atenco situation on the women who were taken into police custody there.]
+++++++
So, you may not want to make a connection between what happened in Atenco and what is now going down in L.A., here in the States. You may be ultimately thrilled that Wal-Mart is looking into selling organic food in its stores, even as its unchecked growth as a multi-national corporation sends the small-scale growers and sellers scurrying off the land Wal-Mart covets. Once again, community is deprioritized as capital satisfies its greedy urges. But, at this moment, a vigil and concert are happening on the South Central acreage and folks like Julia Butterfly, Joan Baez, and Darryl Hannah are showing up in solidarity with the encamped farmers. The people are not going to quietly succumb...
One more info-link
Film casting call - at the Metrognome on Thursday, June 1st
The Metrognome Collective will be hosting an open casting call next Thursday (June 1st) from 3pm until 9pm for an indie film that will be shot in Fort Worth. The film will be produced by Zumpango Films, which might be an established film production company, but I'd never heard of it before this week.
If you are interested in auditioning for a part, the information is on the ZUMPANGO FILMS website.
Blurb from the casting call notice:
"Zumpango Films presents MOS 8411, the story of one Marine's complicated relationship with life and death - from behind the recruiting office desk. The film explores the internal struggle of a man bound by honor and duty to recruit the best and the brightest for an uncertain future away from the familiar violence of the 'hood."
If you are interested in auditioning for a part, the information is on the ZUMPANGO FILMS website.
Blurb from the casting call notice:
"Zumpango Films presents MOS 8411, the story of one Marine's complicated relationship with life and death - from behind the recruiting office desk. The film explores the internal struggle of a man bound by honor and duty to recruit the best and the brightest for an uncertain future away from the familiar violence of the 'hood."
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Toxic fumes are burning lungs, hurting Texans!
[Thanks to Ramsey for the following info, which I'm pretty sure he got directly from the Downwinders at Risk organization.]
STOP TXI Tire Burning in Midlothian! Send a Letter!
The TXI cement plant in Midlothian is requesting a Class 2 modification to burn tires in addition to the hazardous waste they are currently burning as fuel. To the best of our knowledge, there is only one other cement plant in the country burning both tires and hazardous waste.
A Class 2 modification requires no public hearing or opportunity for a contested case hearing. TXI held a "public meeting", but the notice for the meeting was in the Waxahachie newspaper and turnout was low. In order for TXI to be required to go to a Class 3 modification there must be "significant public concern". Downwinders at Risk is asking you to download the attached letter (also pasted below) and mail to the TCEQ to help us show significant public concern. Comments are due May 30 at 5:00 pm.
If you have questions, please e-mail us at info@downwindersatrisk.org
Thank you for helping us fight toxic air pollution in North Texas.
Downwinders at Risk
For information on the dangers of burning tires:
http://www.energyjustice.net/tires/
Sample letter to TCEQ:
May ____, 2006
Ms. LaDonna Castanuela
Office of the Chief Clerk, MC-105
Texas Commission of Environmental Qualityy
P. O. Box 13087
Austin, Texas 78711-3087
Re: TXI Operations, L.P., 245 Ward Road, Midlothian, Texas 76065
Request for Class 2 Modification to Hazardous Waste Permit HW-50316-001
EPA I.D. No. TXD007349327
Dear Chief Clerk:
Regarding the above-referenced Request for Class 2 Modification, I am writing to ask that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) deny approval of this request. Additionally, I ask that should this issue move forward
TXI be required to reapply for a Class 3 modification to allow the public better opportunity for participation.
This modification would allow substantial emission increases which will affect the health and welfare of my family and the use and enjoyment of our property.
Notification of this modification came from environmental groups. There was no notice in my mail or in a newspaper I read. Please require better notification of issues that impact the health and welfare of my family.
Sincerely,
[your name & address]
STOP TXI Tire Burning in Midlothian! Send a Letter!
The TXI cement plant in Midlothian is requesting a Class 2 modification to burn tires in addition to the hazardous waste they are currently burning as fuel. To the best of our knowledge, there is only one other cement plant in the country burning both tires and hazardous waste.
A Class 2 modification requires no public hearing or opportunity for a contested case hearing. TXI held a "public meeting", but the notice for the meeting was in the Waxahachie newspaper and turnout was low. In order for TXI to be required to go to a Class 3 modification there must be "significant public concern". Downwinders at Risk is asking you to download the attached letter (also pasted below) and mail to the TCEQ to help us show significant public concern. Comments are due May 30 at 5:00 pm.
If you have questions, please e-mail us at info@downwindersatrisk.org
Thank you for helping us fight toxic air pollution in North Texas.
Downwinders at Risk
For information on the dangers of burning tires:
http://www.energyjustice.net/tires/
Sample letter to TCEQ:
May ____, 2006
Ms. LaDonna Castanuela
Office of the Chief Clerk, MC-105
Texas Commission of Environmental Qualityy
P. O. Box 13087
Austin, Texas 78711-3087
Re: TXI Operations, L.P., 245 Ward Road, Midlothian, Texas 76065
Request for Class 2 Modification to Hazardous Waste Permit HW-50316-001
EPA I.D. No. TXD007349327
Dear Chief Clerk:
Regarding the above-referenced Request for Class 2 Modification, I am writing to ask that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) deny approval of this request. Additionally, I ask that should this issue move forward
TXI be required to reapply for a Class 3 modification to allow the public better opportunity for participation.
This modification would allow substantial emission increases which will affect the health and welfare of my family and the use and enjoyment of our property.
Notification of this modification came from environmental groups. There was no notice in my mail or in a newspaper I read. Please require better notification of issues that impact the health and welfare of my family.
Sincerely,
[your name & address]
Bush's Punkass Crusade vid - check it out!
yesterday was "armed forces" day.
why don't we work to decelerate:
the military machine...?
the "might makes right" mentality...?
the militarization of our lives and public spaces...?
AND PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO!
+++++
coming soon: peaceful vocations/not your soldier fun-raiser!
PEACEFUL VOCATIONS
works to raise awareness of the aggressive and deceptive military recruiting practices in the public schools and to offer youth (and their families) info and resources about non-military vocational and educational alternatives.
peacefulvocations@yahoo.com
[please forward]
why don't we work to decelerate:
the military machine...?
the "might makes right" mentality...?
the militarization of our lives and public spaces...?
AND PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO!
+++++
coming soon: peaceful vocations/not your soldier fun-raiser!
PEACEFUL VOCATIONS
works to raise awareness of the aggressive and deceptive military recruiting practices in the public schools and to offer youth (and their families) info and resources about non-military vocational and educational alternatives.
peacefulvocations@yahoo.com
[please forward]
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Lowest Gas Prices in the 76___
Just enter your zip code in the site below, and it tells you which gas stations have the cheapest prices (and the highest) on gas in your zip code area.
It's updated every evening. Look!
It's updated every evening. Look!
RIDE-IN MOVIE : from 1919 to the Metrognome on 5/22/06
[please join us, folks! this one's even safe for the kids; me and Cri mapped the route and it's easy. bring yo' own water. this one's just the first, ya'll. it's gonna be a bikin' summer...! ]
Monday Evening May 22nd, 2006!
Celebrate Bike Culture!
Enjoy a group ride through historical hoods!
Get your movie-groove on!
+++++ RIDE-IN MOVIE +++++
Bicycle with us
from 1919 Hemphill (arts/performance/community space)
to the
Metrognome Collective warehouse (arts/performance/community space)
where we'll be screening the DOCUMENTARY FILM STILL WE RIDE
MEET: at 1919 Hemphill by 7pm
RIDE: at 7pm to the Metrognome warehouse on 1518 E. Lancaster
ARRIVE: at the Metrognome warehouse around 7:30pm
WATCH: the documentary film “Still We Ride” at 8pm
-about the film-
On Friday August 27, 2004 just days before the start of the Republican National Convention, a massive police operation was underway. By the end of the night 264 people were arrested. It marked one of the largest mass arrests in New York City's history - and the arrested had done nothing illegal.
For many New Yorkers, August was the first time they heard of what has become a monthly ritual for New York City's bike community; a free-forming ride called Critical Mass.
“Still We Ride” is a documentary that captures the joyous atmosphere of this August ride before the arrests began and the chaos that followed. It recounts how this ride first started in San Francisco over 10 years ago and chronicles the police crackdown and resulting court battles in New York over the last twelve months. The movie takes on issues of civil liberties, surveillance, the power of mainstream media, and the benefits of alternative means of transportation.
Monday Evening May 22nd, 2006!
Celebrate Bike Culture!
Enjoy a group ride through historical hoods!
Get your movie-groove on!
+++++ RIDE-IN MOVIE +++++
Bicycle with us
from 1919 Hemphill (arts/performance/community space)
to the
Metrognome Collective warehouse (arts/performance/community space)
where we'll be screening the DOCUMENTARY FILM STILL WE RIDE
MEET: at 1919 Hemphill by 7pm
RIDE: at 7pm to the Metrognome warehouse on 1518 E. Lancaster
ARRIVE: at the Metrognome warehouse around 7:30pm
WATCH: the documentary film “Still We Ride” at 8pm
-about the film-
On Friday August 27, 2004 just days before the start of the Republican National Convention, a massive police operation was underway. By the end of the night 264 people were arrested. It marked one of the largest mass arrests in New York City's history - and the arrested had done nothing illegal.
For many New Yorkers, August was the first time they heard of what has become a monthly ritual for New York City's bike community; a free-forming ride called Critical Mass.
“Still We Ride” is a documentary that captures the joyous atmosphere of this August ride before the arrests began and the chaos that followed. It recounts how this ride first started in San Francisco over 10 years ago and chronicles the police crackdown and resulting court battles in New York over the last twelve months. The movie takes on issues of civil liberties, surveillance, the power of mainstream media, and the benefits of alternative means of transportation.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Two more local screenings of DANIEL JOHNSTON documentary
THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON
May 14th - Sunday - 2 & 4 pm
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
"Jeff Feuerzeig won Best Director at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival for this documentary portrait of manic-depressive genius singer–songwriter–artist Daniel Johnston."
I checked this out on Friday night and it made me: sad, nostalgic, laugh, uncomfortable, and empathetic. I also think i spotted myself in one of the historical footage sequences (of the bygone summer outdoor fest called WOODSHOCK), in my black-and-red lace top, and with really short hair...! You see, i was living in Austin during those early years of Daniel Johnston's musical emergence--when he worked at McDonald's on the Drag and showed up at clubs with copies of his individually-created audiocassettes. I remember when he gave one to Debbie at The Beach; i had to buy mine from him for a coupla bucks. It was YIP JUMP! and i still have it, gathering dust somewhere around here. But seeing the documentary brought back so many memories of that heady time that was the mid-to-late 1980s in Austin. With the Austin music scene teeming with New Sincerity acts like Zeitgeist and garage rock (pre-alternative) like Doctor's Mob and the Dharma Bums. And art rockers-cum-freaks like Glass Eye and the Butthole Surfers. It was certainly a special time--though i had no pretensions then that what was happening and what we were doing was creating legends. But so it--apparently--was.
Go see this flick. Sing along to "Speeding Motorcycle" and "Casper the Friendly Ghost". Be thankful that you averted or avoided an hallucinogenic meltdown in your youthful past, and see how brilliantly Feuerzeig cinematically depicts the redemption of a freakishly-talented mind.
Special memory that comes to mind: My favorite Austin New Year's Eve moment: standing in a packed CONTINENTAL CLUB watching Glass Eye deliver a most gorgeous and liquidy version of "Tomorrow Never Knows." It'll never happen like that, ever again.
May 14th - Sunday - 2 & 4 pm
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
"Jeff Feuerzeig won Best Director at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival for this documentary portrait of manic-depressive genius singer–songwriter–artist Daniel Johnston."
I checked this out on Friday night and it made me: sad, nostalgic, laugh, uncomfortable, and empathetic. I also think i spotted myself in one of the historical footage sequences (of the bygone summer outdoor fest called WOODSHOCK), in my black-and-red lace top, and with really short hair...! You see, i was living in Austin during those early years of Daniel Johnston's musical emergence--when he worked at McDonald's on the Drag and showed up at clubs with copies of his individually-created audiocassettes. I remember when he gave one to Debbie at The Beach; i had to buy mine from him for a coupla bucks. It was YIP JUMP! and i still have it, gathering dust somewhere around here. But seeing the documentary brought back so many memories of that heady time that was the mid-to-late 1980s in Austin. With the Austin music scene teeming with New Sincerity acts like Zeitgeist and garage rock (pre-alternative) like Doctor's Mob and the Dharma Bums. And art rockers-cum-freaks like Glass Eye and the Butthole Surfers. It was certainly a special time--though i had no pretensions then that what was happening and what we were doing was creating legends. But so it--apparently--was.
Go see this flick. Sing along to "Speeding Motorcycle" and "Casper the Friendly Ghost". Be thankful that you averted or avoided an hallucinogenic meltdown in your youthful past, and see how brilliantly Feuerzeig cinematically depicts the redemption of a freakishly-talented mind.
Special memory that comes to mind: My favorite Austin New Year's Eve moment: standing in a packed CONTINENTAL CLUB watching Glass Eye deliver a most gorgeous and liquidy version of "Tomorrow Never Knows." It'll never happen like that, ever again.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
rinse cycle: ANGELS, H5N1, factory farms, and eating close to home
It so happens that I considered watching ANGELS IN AMERICA (the HBO version on dvd) today, as I wondered why it is that we--as a nation--continue to relegate AIDS/HIV to the margins of our focus. The mumps outbreak in Iowa and other parts of the midwest is big news--this week--but AIDS, as epidemic, simmers on the media periphery. Anyway, here's the info about a Dallas production of the first section (Part One: Millennium Approaches) of Tony Kushner's epic work.
May 11-28, 2006
Risk Theater Initiative presents ANGELS IN AMERICA
PART ONE: Millennium Approaches, written by Tony Kushner and directed by Marianne Galloway
at the Bath House Cultural Center on White Rock Lake in Dallas.
For tickets or more information about this production, visit Risk Theater Initiative or call: (972) 943-8915. For more information about the Bath House, call 214-670-8749 or visit Bath House Cultural Center.
++++++++ another threat to public health ++++++++++++++
The owners of Rehobeth Ranch in Greenville, Texas, Robert and Nancy Hutchins, sent the following info about H5N1 aka avian virus, otherwise known as the bird flu.
There is much being said about the bird flu. Most of it is wrong and deliberately intended to lead you to the wrong conclusion for the benefit of the mega-producers. Following is some information that I thought would interest you since most all of our customers want the truth about their food supply.
Small-scale poultry farming and wild birds are being unfairly blamed for the bird flu crisis now affecting large parts of the world. A new report shows how the TRANSNATIONAL POULTRY INDUSTRY is the root of the problem and must be the focus of efforts to control the virus. The full briefing, "Fowl play: The poultry industry's central role in the bird flu crisis," is available here.
The spread of industrial poultry production and trade networks has created ideal conditions for the emergence and transmission of lethal viruses like the H5N1 strain of bird flu. Once inside densely populated factory farms, viruses can rapidly become lethal and amplify. Air thick with viral load from infected farms is carried for miles, while integrated trade
networks spread the disease through many carriers: live birds, day-old chicks, meat, feathers, hatching eggs, eating eggs, chicken manure and animal feed. (Chicken feces and bedding from poultry factory floors are common ingredients in animal feed)
"Everyone is focused on migratory birds and backyard chickens as the problem," says Devlin Kuyek of GRAIN. "But they are not effective vectors of highly pathogenic bird flu. The virus kills them, but is unlikely to be spread by them."
For example, in Malaysia, the mortality rate from H5N1 among village chickens is only 5 per cent, indicating that the virus has a hard time spreading among small scale chicken flocks. H5N1 outbreaks in Laos, which is surrounded by infected countries, have only occurred in the nation's few factory farms, which are supplied by Thai hatcheries. The only cases of bird flu in backyard poultry, which account for over 90 per cent of Laos' production, occurred next to the factory farms.
"The evidence we see over and over again, from the Netherlands in 2003 to Japan in 2004 to Egypt in 2006, is that LETHAL BIRD FLU BREAKS OUT IN LARGE-SCALE INDUSTRIAL CHICKEN FARMS and then spreads," Kuyek explains.
The Nigerian outbreak earlier this year [2006] began at a single factory farm, owned by a cabinet minister, distant from hotspots for migratory birds but known for importing unregulated hatchable eggs. In India, local authorities say that H5N1 emerged and spread from a factory farm owned by the country's largest poultry company, Venkateshwara Hatcheries.
A burning question is why governments and international agencies, like the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, are doing nothing to investigate how the factory farms and their byproducts, such as animal feed and manure, spread the virus. Instead, they are using the crisis as an opportunity to further industrialize the poultry sector. INITIATIVES ARE MULTIPLYING TO BAN OUTDOOR POULTRY, SQUEEZE OUT SMALL PRODUCERS, AND RESTOCK FARMS WITH GENETICALLY-MODIFIED CHICKENS. The web of complicity with an industry engaged in a string of denials and cover-ups seems complete.
"Farmers are losing their livelihoods, native chickens are being wiped out, and some experts say that we're on the verge of a human pandemic that could kill millions of people," Kuyek concludes. "When will governments realize that to protect poultry and people from bird flu, we need to protect them from the global poultry industry?"
The Price of Cheap Chicken is Bird Flu
CHICKEN HAS never been cheaper. A whole one can be bought for little more than the price of a Starbucks cup of coffee. But the industrial farming methods that make ever-cheaper chicken possible may also have created the lethal strain of bird flu virus, H5N1, that threatens to set off a global pandemic.
According to Earl Brown, a University of Ottawa flu virologist, lethal bird flu is entirely man-made, first evolving in commercially produced poultry in Italy in 1878. The highly pathogenic H5N1 is descended from a strain that first appeared in Scotland in 1959.
People have been living with backyard flocks of poultry since the dawn of civilization. But it wasn't until poultry production became modernized, and birds were raised in much larger numbers and concentrations, that a virulent bird flu developed. When birds are packed close together, any brakes on virulence are off. Birds struck with a fatal illness can still easily pass the disease to others, through direct contact or through fecal matter, and lethal strains can evolve. Somehow, the virus that arose in Scotland found its way to China, where, as H5N1, it has been raging for more than a decade.
Industrial poultry-raising moved from the West to Asia in the last few decades and has begun to supplant backyard flocks there. According to a recent report by Grain, an international nongovernmental organization, chicken production in Southeast Asia has jumped eightfold in 30 years to about 2.7 million tons. The Chinese annually produce about 10 million tons of chickens. Some of China's factory farms raise 5 million birds at a time. Charoen Pokphand Group, a huge Thai enterprise that owns a large chunk of poultry production throughout Thailand and China as well as in Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Turkey, exported about 270 million chickens in 2003 alone.
Since then, the C.P. Group, which styles itself as the "Kitchen of the World," has suffered enormous losses from bird flu. According to bird-flu expert Gary Butcher of the University of Florida, the company has made a conscientious effort to clean up. But the damage has been done.
THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRY WITHOUT RAMPANT BIRD FLU IS LAOS, WHERE 90% OF POULTRY PRODUCTION IS STILL IN PEASANT HANDS, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. About 45 small outbreaks in or near commercial farms from January to March 2004 were quickly stamped out by culling birds from contaminated farms.
Some researchers still blame migratory birds for the relentless spread of the bird flu virus. But Martin Williams, a conservationist and bird expert in Hong Kong, contends that wild birds are more often victims than carriers. Last spring, for instance, about 5,000 wild birds died at Qinghai Lake in western China, probably from exposure to disease at commercial poultry farms in the region, according to Grain. The virus now in Turkey and Nigeria is essentially identical to the Qinghai strain.
Richard Thomas of Birdlife International, a global alliance of conservation organizations, and others dispute the idea that wild birds carried the flu virus from Qinghai to Russia and beyond. They point out that the disease spread from Qinghai to southern Siberia during the summer months when birds do not migrate, and that it moved east to west along railway lines,
roads and international boundaries -- not along migratory flyways.
What evidence there is for migratory birds as H5N1 carriers is contained in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers examined 13,115 wild birds and found asymptomatic bird flu in six ducks from China. Analysis showed that these ducks had been exposed earlier to less virulent strains of H5 and thus were partly immunized before they were infected with H5N1. On this slender basis, coupled with the fact that some domestic ducks infected for experimental purposes don't get sick, the study's authors contend that the findings "demonstrate that H5N1
viruses can be transmitted over long distances by migratory birds."
Even so, the researchers conceded that the global poultry trade, much of which is illicit, plays a far larger role in spreading the virus. The Nigerian government traced its outbreak to the illegal importation of day-old chicks. Illegal trading in fighting cocks brought the virus from Thailand to Malaysia in fall 2005. And it is probable that H5N1 first spread from Qinghai to Russia and Kazakhstan last summer through the sale of contaminated poultry.
Meanwhile, deadly H5N1 is washing up on the shores of Europe. Brown says the commercial poultry industry, which caused the catastrophe in the first place, stands to benefit most. The conglomerates will more and more dominate the poultry-rearing business. Some experts insist that will be better for us. Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm at the University of Minnesota, for instance, contends that the "single greatest risk to the amplification of the H5N1 virus, should it arrive in the U.S. through migratory birds, will be in free-range birds...often sold as a healthier food, which is a great ruse on the American public."
The truly great ruse is that industrial poultry farms are the best way to produce chickens -- that Perdue Farms and Tyson Foods and Charoen Pokphand are keeping the world safe from backyard poultry and migratory birds. But what's going to be on our tables isn't the biggest problem. The real tragedy is what's happened in Asia to people who can't afford cheap, industrial chicken. And the real victims of industrially produced, lethal H5N1 have been wild birds, an ancient way of life and the poor of the Earth, for whom a backyard flock has always represented a measure of autonomy and a bulwark against starvation.
+++++ Kendall McCook, organic farming, and the Trinity Uptown development scheme ++++++++++
My friend and fellow poet, Kendall McCook, believes it would be wonderful if the as-yet undeveloped acreage (he says it's about 60 acres) just north of the Trinity River, adjacent to Henderson Street and east of University, could be converted to organic farming land. I think that would be amazing, of course, and Kendall thinks that organic food harvests could be quite profitable without compromising either the quality of the land or the Trinity River waters. The farm site could feature a public/visitor component, which might draw tourists--including those who are committed to the SLOW FOOD MOVEMENT and those opposed to genetically-modified food aka frankenfood. I shared with Kendall my beginner's familiarity with the 100-MILE DIET, as conceived by two Canadian journalists just about a year ago (June 2005). Given that fuel prices are so high, and that agribusiness produces tasteless food tastelessly (working farmland for maximum yield, employing the use of majorly earth- and people-unfriendly chemicals), why wouldn't Fort Worthians get turned on to the idea of a prototype organic farm project in near northside, just off the banks of the Trinity? It's time for a critical mass of critically-thinking, earth-loving citizens to dream and plan, organize and realize.
BTW--I voted today. Two seats on the Tarrant Water Board Regional District were up for grabs, and there were many contenders. I voted for candidates who oppose the boondoggle and potential environmental fiasco that is referred to as the Trinity Uptown development project. Apparently, what happens on the Trinity, in the Trinity, and around the Trinity is a big deal--with plenty of voices chiming in about what they believe should happen in the downtown section of the river. Flood control and availability of public water are also critical issues.
Do you see how this is all connected? Animal-borne disease, factory farms, food choices, environmental degradation, and community will?
May 11-28, 2006
Risk Theater Initiative presents ANGELS IN AMERICA
PART ONE: Millennium Approaches, written by Tony Kushner and directed by Marianne Galloway
at the Bath House Cultural Center on White Rock Lake in Dallas.
For tickets or more information about this production, visit Risk Theater Initiative or call: (972) 943-8915. For more information about the Bath House, call 214-670-8749 or visit Bath House Cultural Center.
++++++++ another threat to public health ++++++++++++++
The owners of Rehobeth Ranch in Greenville, Texas, Robert and Nancy Hutchins, sent the following info about H5N1 aka avian virus, otherwise known as the bird flu.
There is much being said about the bird flu. Most of it is wrong and deliberately intended to lead you to the wrong conclusion for the benefit of the mega-producers. Following is some information that I thought would interest you since most all of our customers want the truth about their food supply.
Small-scale poultry farming and wild birds are being unfairly blamed for the bird flu crisis now affecting large parts of the world. A new report shows how the TRANSNATIONAL POULTRY INDUSTRY is the root of the problem and must be the focus of efforts to control the virus. The full briefing, "Fowl play: The poultry industry's central role in the bird flu crisis," is available here.
The spread of industrial poultry production and trade networks has created ideal conditions for the emergence and transmission of lethal viruses like the H5N1 strain of bird flu. Once inside densely populated factory farms, viruses can rapidly become lethal and amplify. Air thick with viral load from infected farms is carried for miles, while integrated trade
networks spread the disease through many carriers: live birds, day-old chicks, meat, feathers, hatching eggs, eating eggs, chicken manure and animal feed. (Chicken feces and bedding from poultry factory floors are common ingredients in animal feed)
"Everyone is focused on migratory birds and backyard chickens as the problem," says Devlin Kuyek of GRAIN. "But they are not effective vectors of highly pathogenic bird flu. The virus kills them, but is unlikely to be spread by them."
For example, in Malaysia, the mortality rate from H5N1 among village chickens is only 5 per cent, indicating that the virus has a hard time spreading among small scale chicken flocks. H5N1 outbreaks in Laos, which is surrounded by infected countries, have only occurred in the nation's few factory farms, which are supplied by Thai hatcheries. The only cases of bird flu in backyard poultry, which account for over 90 per cent of Laos' production, occurred next to the factory farms.
"The evidence we see over and over again, from the Netherlands in 2003 to Japan in 2004 to Egypt in 2006, is that LETHAL BIRD FLU BREAKS OUT IN LARGE-SCALE INDUSTRIAL CHICKEN FARMS and then spreads," Kuyek explains.
The Nigerian outbreak earlier this year [2006] began at a single factory farm, owned by a cabinet minister, distant from hotspots for migratory birds but known for importing unregulated hatchable eggs. In India, local authorities say that H5N1 emerged and spread from a factory farm owned by the country's largest poultry company, Venkateshwara Hatcheries.
A burning question is why governments and international agencies, like the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, are doing nothing to investigate how the factory farms and their byproducts, such as animal feed and manure, spread the virus. Instead, they are using the crisis as an opportunity to further industrialize the poultry sector. INITIATIVES ARE MULTIPLYING TO BAN OUTDOOR POULTRY, SQUEEZE OUT SMALL PRODUCERS, AND RESTOCK FARMS WITH GENETICALLY-MODIFIED CHICKENS. The web of complicity with an industry engaged in a string of denials and cover-ups seems complete.
"Farmers are losing their livelihoods, native chickens are being wiped out, and some experts say that we're on the verge of a human pandemic that could kill millions of people," Kuyek concludes. "When will governments realize that to protect poultry and people from bird flu, we need to protect them from the global poultry industry?"
The Price of Cheap Chicken is Bird Flu
CHICKEN HAS never been cheaper. A whole one can be bought for little more than the price of a Starbucks cup of coffee. But the industrial farming methods that make ever-cheaper chicken possible may also have created the lethal strain of bird flu virus, H5N1, that threatens to set off a global pandemic.
According to Earl Brown, a University of Ottawa flu virologist, lethal bird flu is entirely man-made, first evolving in commercially produced poultry in Italy in 1878. The highly pathogenic H5N1 is descended from a strain that first appeared in Scotland in 1959.
People have been living with backyard flocks of poultry since the dawn of civilization. But it wasn't until poultry production became modernized, and birds were raised in much larger numbers and concentrations, that a virulent bird flu developed. When birds are packed close together, any brakes on virulence are off. Birds struck with a fatal illness can still easily pass the disease to others, through direct contact or through fecal matter, and lethal strains can evolve. Somehow, the virus that arose in Scotland found its way to China, where, as H5N1, it has been raging for more than a decade.
Industrial poultry-raising moved from the West to Asia in the last few decades and has begun to supplant backyard flocks there. According to a recent report by Grain, an international nongovernmental organization, chicken production in Southeast Asia has jumped eightfold in 30 years to about 2.7 million tons. The Chinese annually produce about 10 million tons of chickens. Some of China's factory farms raise 5 million birds at a time. Charoen Pokphand Group, a huge Thai enterprise that owns a large chunk of poultry production throughout Thailand and China as well as in Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Turkey, exported about 270 million chickens in 2003 alone.
Since then, the C.P. Group, which styles itself as the "Kitchen of the World," has suffered enormous losses from bird flu. According to bird-flu expert Gary Butcher of the University of Florida, the company has made a conscientious effort to clean up. But the damage has been done.
THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRY WITHOUT RAMPANT BIRD FLU IS LAOS, WHERE 90% OF POULTRY PRODUCTION IS STILL IN PEASANT HANDS, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. About 45 small outbreaks in or near commercial farms from January to March 2004 were quickly stamped out by culling birds from contaminated farms.
Some researchers still blame migratory birds for the relentless spread of the bird flu virus. But Martin Williams, a conservationist and bird expert in Hong Kong, contends that wild birds are more often victims than carriers. Last spring, for instance, about 5,000 wild birds died at Qinghai Lake in western China, probably from exposure to disease at commercial poultry farms in the region, according to Grain. The virus now in Turkey and Nigeria is essentially identical to the Qinghai strain.
Richard Thomas of Birdlife International, a global alliance of conservation organizations, and others dispute the idea that wild birds carried the flu virus from Qinghai to Russia and beyond. They point out that the disease spread from Qinghai to southern Siberia during the summer months when birds do not migrate, and that it moved east to west along railway lines,
roads and international boundaries -- not along migratory flyways.
What evidence there is for migratory birds as H5N1 carriers is contained in a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers examined 13,115 wild birds and found asymptomatic bird flu in six ducks from China. Analysis showed that these ducks had been exposed earlier to less virulent strains of H5 and thus were partly immunized before they were infected with H5N1. On this slender basis, coupled with the fact that some domestic ducks infected for experimental purposes don't get sick, the study's authors contend that the findings "demonstrate that H5N1
viruses can be transmitted over long distances by migratory birds."
Even so, the researchers conceded that the global poultry trade, much of which is illicit, plays a far larger role in spreading the virus. The Nigerian government traced its outbreak to the illegal importation of day-old chicks. Illegal trading in fighting cocks brought the virus from Thailand to Malaysia in fall 2005. And it is probable that H5N1 first spread from Qinghai to Russia and Kazakhstan last summer through the sale of contaminated poultry.
Meanwhile, deadly H5N1 is washing up on the shores of Europe. Brown says the commercial poultry industry, which caused the catastrophe in the first place, stands to benefit most. The conglomerates will more and more dominate the poultry-rearing business. Some experts insist that will be better for us. Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm at the University of Minnesota, for instance, contends that the "single greatest risk to the amplification of the H5N1 virus, should it arrive in the U.S. through migratory birds, will be in free-range birds...often sold as a healthier food, which is a great ruse on the American public."
The truly great ruse is that industrial poultry farms are the best way to produce chickens -- that Perdue Farms and Tyson Foods and Charoen Pokphand are keeping the world safe from backyard poultry and migratory birds. But what's going to be on our tables isn't the biggest problem. The real tragedy is what's happened in Asia to people who can't afford cheap, industrial chicken. And the real victims of industrially produced, lethal H5N1 have been wild birds, an ancient way of life and the poor of the Earth, for whom a backyard flock has always represented a measure of autonomy and a bulwark against starvation.
+++++ Kendall McCook, organic farming, and the Trinity Uptown development scheme ++++++++++
My friend and fellow poet, Kendall McCook, believes it would be wonderful if the as-yet undeveloped acreage (he says it's about 60 acres) just north of the Trinity River, adjacent to Henderson Street and east of University, could be converted to organic farming land. I think that would be amazing, of course, and Kendall thinks that organic food harvests could be quite profitable without compromising either the quality of the land or the Trinity River waters. The farm site could feature a public/visitor component, which might draw tourists--including those who are committed to the SLOW FOOD MOVEMENT and those opposed to genetically-modified food aka frankenfood. I shared with Kendall my beginner's familiarity with the 100-MILE DIET, as conceived by two Canadian journalists just about a year ago (June 2005). Given that fuel prices are so high, and that agribusiness produces tasteless food tastelessly (working farmland for maximum yield, employing the use of majorly earth- and people-unfriendly chemicals), why wouldn't Fort Worthians get turned on to the idea of a prototype organic farm project in near northside, just off the banks of the Trinity? It's time for a critical mass of critically-thinking, earth-loving citizens to dream and plan, organize and realize.
BTW--I voted today. Two seats on the Tarrant Water Board Regional District were up for grabs, and there were many contenders. I voted for candidates who oppose the boondoggle and potential environmental fiasco that is referred to as the Trinity Uptown development project. Apparently, what happens on the Trinity, in the Trinity, and around the Trinity is a big deal--with plenty of voices chiming in about what they believe should happen in the downtown section of the river. Flood control and availability of public water are also critical issues.
Do you see how this is all connected? Animal-borne disease, factory farms, food choices, environmental degradation, and community will?
Monday, May 08, 2006
Freeway blogger in the 817
Sunday afternoon i was driving a new friend home when we noticed some lettered signs on the Hulen Street pedestrian bridge over I-30. "Peace Now". We detected movement on the bridge as well--two guys were quickly moving about, affixing more signs to the chain-link fencing which enclosed the bridge.
We exited, just for kicks. We thought to meet these highway-blogging guys and maybe shoot some video footage, as i had a camera in the car. The guys were friendly enough, but we only got one name: Carl. He apparently had done this before, and seemed undeterred by the eventuality of getting "busted. We offered to help, but the work was pretty much done.
We thanked Carl and his companion and we left. Less than two hours later, driving home, i saw that the signs had been taken down.
The next day, Carl sent us this shot of the bridge work, with a report that the cops had been called by someone who complained about "Peace Now" being broadcast on that bridge. Yeah, actually.
Carl's report: "this one stayed up for about 2 hours before the police came and asked me politely to take it down. he said that he thought it was great, and that he agreed, but someone complained and he had to tell me to take it down. we shook hands, and then i went home. i still have the sign to use again... believe me i will."
I was glad to hear the cop was sympathetic, but what's up with the complainant? I mean, did somebody almost miss their freeway exit while reading "Peace Now"? geez.
The best online one-stop spot on freewayblogging.
666 - does it mean anything? - CALL FOR LIT for 6/6/06 event
Yeah, i know, this topic or theme may seem VERY insignificant or irrelevant in the greater scheme of things. After all, shouldn't i be creating something on the issue of the low-intensity war on the peasant and working class in Mexico (boycott Wal-Mart, perhaps?); or picking up yet another stick and shaking it at yet another oppressive regime, institution, political lackey, school board slimeball, __________ (fill in the blank with the name of the most annoying dominator-oppressor in your book this week)?
Well, i desist. I wanna play and have some freakin' silly fun too. I remember how deadly-serious i was (all work, no play) back in the mid-1990s. One night, i found myself cutting through a parking lot, late at night, hungry and exhausted from too many meetings. So, what did i do? I started singing. I made up a little "ditty" (really, i hate that word, but it works here) called "Sugar Pop Delight." And it's now one of my classic "hits"--about a breakfast cereal, country pop star, and a porn star. All in one. I wanted to perform this, rolling around on melted butter. Alas, i merely performed it with a trio of musicians, all country hillbilly-style (props to all hillbillies). I fluffed my hair big, put on a mess of eye makeup, and threw on my silver spurs over my favorite shitkickers. What a contrast to the typically-political serious me. ANY-way, think about the following CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS.
And submit to me.
Please.......
++++++++++++++++++++++++
666 - it's that weird number you don't want to be stuck with
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
new literary/creative PROSE, POETRY, MONOLOGUE, FICTION works which
treat, address, interpret, understand, and/or defy
all known (and unknown) depictions and definitions
of the numerical phenomenon
known as
666.
I, Tammy Gomez, am interested in receiving such submissions of writing for
probable public display and performance presentation
on the 6th day of June, in the year a.d. 2006 - a rare day indeed,
(at the Metrognome Collective Warehouse on E. Lancaster St.)
Any and all should diligently and prodigiously send their literary productions, treating this theme--however humorous, serious, theatrical, or philosophical--in the quickest haste to:
tammygomexican@yahoo.com
or
sound_culture@hotmail.com.
Am hoping for the most intellectually-broad treatments of this theme.
Questions? Please ask them via the addresses provided above, or post comment below.
(signed) Tammy the literary-thing-make-happener
Well, i desist. I wanna play and have some freakin' silly fun too. I remember how deadly-serious i was (all work, no play) back in the mid-1990s. One night, i found myself cutting through a parking lot, late at night, hungry and exhausted from too many meetings. So, what did i do? I started singing. I made up a little "ditty" (really, i hate that word, but it works here) called "Sugar Pop Delight." And it's now one of my classic "hits"--about a breakfast cereal, country pop star, and a porn star. All in one. I wanted to perform this, rolling around on melted butter. Alas, i merely performed it with a trio of musicians, all country hillbilly-style (props to all hillbillies). I fluffed my hair big, put on a mess of eye makeup, and threw on my silver spurs over my favorite shitkickers. What a contrast to the typically-political serious me. ANY-way, think about the following CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS.
And submit to me.
Please.......
++++++++++++++++++++++++
666 - it's that weird number you don't want to be stuck with
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
new literary/creative PROSE, POETRY, MONOLOGUE, FICTION works which
treat, address, interpret, understand, and/or defy
all known (and unknown) depictions and definitions
of the numerical phenomenon
known as
666.
I, Tammy Gomez, am interested in receiving such submissions of writing for
probable public display and performance presentation
on the 6th day of June, in the year a.d. 2006 - a rare day indeed,
(at the Metrognome Collective Warehouse on E. Lancaster St.)
Any and all should diligently and prodigiously send their literary productions, treating this theme--however humorous, serious, theatrical, or philosophical--in the quickest haste to:
tammygomexican@yahoo.com
or
sound_culture@hotmail.com.
Am hoping for the most intellectually-broad treatments of this theme.
Questions? Please ask them via the addresses provided above, or post comment below.
(signed) Tammy the literary-thing-make-happener
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Cara Mia Theater announces auditions: May 13th in Dallas
[Thanks to David Lozano, artistic director of the Cara Mia Theater company in Dallas, for sending the following anuncio!]
¡AUDITION NOTICE!
Cara Mía Theatre Company presents
"Martín" -- a stage adaptation of the book-length poem
by Jimmy Santiago Baca
to be directed by Jeffry Farrell
PRODUCTION DATES: September 1-17, 2006
"A voice in me soft as linen
unfolded on midnight air,
to wipe my loneliness away—the voice blew open
like a white handkerchief in the night
embroidered with red roses…"
* * * * *
Seeking actors with courage to explore voice/ movement/ rhythms/ and the creation of imagined space for the staged production of Jimmy Santiago Baca’s epic poem – "Martín". The cast will execute a physical/vocal style using traditions of the epic chorus, pioneered by the late Jacques Lecoq.
* * * * *
AUDITION DATE and TIME ::: Saturday, May 13th :::::: 2:30pm until 7pm.
Contact 214.946.9499 or info@caramiatheatre.net for details.
* * * * *
"All my life the constant sound of someone’s bootheels trail behind me—thin, hard, sharp sounds scraping frozen ground,
like a shovel digging a grave. It’s my guardian, following me through the broken branches of the bosque, to the door
of the Good Shepherd Home on south 2nd. Street, for a hot meal."
¡AUDITION NOTICE!
Cara Mía Theatre Company presents
"Martín" -- a stage adaptation of the book-length poem
by Jimmy Santiago Baca
to be directed by Jeffry Farrell
PRODUCTION DATES: September 1-17, 2006
"A voice in me soft as linen
unfolded on midnight air,
to wipe my loneliness away—the voice blew open
like a white handkerchief in the night
embroidered with red roses…"
* * * * *
Seeking actors with courage to explore voice/ movement/ rhythms/ and the creation of imagined space for the staged production of Jimmy Santiago Baca’s epic poem – "Martín". The cast will execute a physical/vocal style using traditions of the epic chorus, pioneered by the late Jacques Lecoq.
* * * * *
AUDITION DATE and TIME ::: Saturday, May 13th :::::: 2:30pm until 7pm.
Contact 214.946.9499 or info@caramiatheatre.net for details.
* * * * *
"All my life the constant sound of someone’s bootheels trail behind me—thin, hard, sharp sounds scraping frozen ground,
like a shovel digging a grave. It’s my guardian, following me through the broken branches of the bosque, to the door
of the Good Shepherd Home on south 2nd. Street, for a hot meal."
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Anti-immigrant rally in downtown FW on May 6th
[The following announcement was found----this exact text---on the Stormfront White Nationalist Community website. I wanted you to know about this, but am in NO way 100% certain of what i want to do in regard to this. Would like to discuss this with a few of you---off- or online--if you care to respond. I don't want to be baited at a rally that these possibly racist haters will be dominating and organizing. What do you think....?]
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[from the Stormfront White Nationalist Community website]
AMERICANS FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM
"STOP THE INVASION"
FORT WORTH, TEXAS
SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2006
LOCATION AND TIME: We will meet and assemble at 3rd and Commerce between 8.0 and Flying Saucer sidewalk area. All protesters are expected to be present by 11:30am, as we will march to Tarrant County Courthouse at noon.
OBJECTIVE: It's time for Congress to hear from the voices that count! We must show them that OUR votes will unseat those who sell us out for big business and that we intend to take our country back from these criminals!
HONORED GUESTS: Veterans, Texas Minutemen, Texas motorcycle organizations, political candidates, student groups. See website for updates.
PARKING: FREE on weekends: 4th & Main Street, 4th & Houston, 4th & Throckmorton (SS Garage 3), Calhoun & 3rd (SS Garage 2), 3rd & Main Street (1/2 Flying Saucer Lot). Street parking and downtown buses are also free.
WEAR AND BRING: Think of this as "Independence Day in May." Wear and bring everything you have that is RED, WHITE, and BLUE including every American flag you have! Also, bring posters and signs that tastefully reflect our cause, but not hatred or racism. BYOW! Bring your own water!
CONTACT: Lisa@illegalimmigrantprotest.com for any questions, comments, or suggestions. Every idea is welcome and help spreading the word is greatly appreciated!!!!
Main website: www.geocities.com/ftwprotest/
__________________
61 - The sweet Goddess of Peace lives only under the protective arm of the ready God of War. -David Lane
[end of excerpt from the Stormfront White Nationalist Community website]
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[from the Stormfront White Nationalist Community website]
AMERICANS FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM
"STOP THE INVASION"
FORT WORTH, TEXAS
SATURDAY, MAY 6, 2006
LOCATION AND TIME: We will meet and assemble at 3rd and Commerce between 8.0 and Flying Saucer sidewalk area. All protesters are expected to be present by 11:30am, as we will march to Tarrant County Courthouse at noon.
OBJECTIVE: It's time for Congress to hear from the voices that count! We must show them that OUR votes will unseat those who sell us out for big business and that we intend to take our country back from these criminals!
HONORED GUESTS: Veterans, Texas Minutemen, Texas motorcycle organizations, political candidates, student groups. See website for updates.
PARKING: FREE on weekends: 4th & Main Street, 4th & Houston, 4th & Throckmorton (SS Garage 3), Calhoun & 3rd (SS Garage 2), 3rd & Main Street (1/2 Flying Saucer Lot). Street parking and downtown buses are also free.
WEAR AND BRING: Think of this as "Independence Day in May." Wear and bring everything you have that is RED, WHITE, and BLUE including every American flag you have! Also, bring posters and signs that tastefully reflect our cause, but not hatred or racism. BYOW! Bring your own water!
CONTACT: Lisa@illegalimmigrantprotest.com for any questions, comments, or suggestions. Every idea is welcome and help spreading the word is greatly appreciated!!!!
Main website: www.geocities.com/ftwprotest/
__________________
61 - The sweet Goddess of Peace lives only under the protective arm of the ready God of War. -David Lane
[end of excerpt from the Stormfront White Nationalist Community website]
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