One of the best ways to stay safe and not get sneered at by hemp-clad youth is to carry a crudely constructed sign. Ideal slogans include: “Up With Dolphins,” “I Strongly Support That Thing We’re Yelling About,” “OIL + WAR = BAD” and “I’m Definitely Not a Member of a Capitalist Society, Just Trying to Earn an Honest Living.”
Another safety technique is to chant popular protest phrases like: “No Justice, No Peace,” “This Is What Democracy Looks Like” or “I’m Just Going to Lunch, Please Don’t Throw Any Soy-Based Products at Me
When I was 11 years old my Dad picked me up in our then three year old white Jeep Grand Cherokee to drive to Monterey to go to the Del Monte Shopping Center. My Mom lovingly let me sit in the front seat with my Dad as I was a “big boy” now and was able to sit in the front while she sat in back with my little brother.
My Father never really shared music with me. He played guitar and played the same off-Mexican riff every so often when he came home and was waiting for us to get ready in our living room, but for the most part he never really talked music with me.
This day in the summer of 1996 my Dad opened up the middle counsel and pulled out a pink paper cassette tape. He slide the cassette tape out of the pink paper cover, stuck it in the cassette slot to the car stereo and turned the black nob to the left up. A couple drum bangs and mellow guitar rifts written in the key of G, performed on instruments tuned down a half-step so the actual pitch is G♭* and I knew this foreign tape was projecting a tune I was familiar with. Obviously being a self proclaimed pre-teen in the mid 90’s, MTV was the next logical step of television after Nickelodeon so I knew who the Smashing Pumpkins were and I was both accustomed and enjoyed the song titled, “Tonight, Tonight”.
My Dad, I believe, loved the music video first, an obvious shout out to Méliès and the 1902 film, A Trip to the Moon. But he also loved the song. It’s the only mainstream piece of music, a single cassette from 1996, that I ever saw or heard him purchase. The biggest question that ran through my pre-teen head was why? What were the ingredients why was that song was so significant to him? Did the visuals of the dawn of filmmaking capture his attention so much that he had to go out and spend $6.99 on the single? I remember he said he didn’t really like the b-side of the album but “Tonight, Tonight” was great. We listened to the song, mostly in silence as we drove through highway 68.
This weekend I went to Chicago and interviewed Billy Corgan for a documentary I’m working on about Resistance Pro, a wrestling league he’s created with the help of the Baron Brothers out of Chicago. Billy was an insanely nice guy, extremely humble and articulate. The wrestling was actually very entertaining and honestly extremely fun, something I would totally do again if given the opportunity or if I lived in Chicago. It’s a different form of theater, almost like an alternate Sleep No More.
All in all this has been one of the best projects I’ve worked on in awhile and I’m not even close to being done. While I didn’t find it appropriate, and I doubt i’d be able to articulate the correct words in person - a little bit of me wishes I shared this story with him.
@varchambeau: 25 - Go to Hot Doug’s dressed as the condiment of your choice. Distribute literature and try to convince the people of your worth. #scav2012
“If you learn how to communicate effectively to an audience, you are not only figuring out how to say the things you need in order to succeed, but you’re also developing empathy and compassion to the person you’re talking to.” -Robbie Q. Telfer
Interview I did with Robbie Q. Telfer, who is an awesome Chicago poet involved with The Encyclopedia Show, Louder Than a Bomb, and Young Chicago Authors.
This week we have a lot of new additions to our “Flyer on the Wall” Flickr group pool, including this gem snapped by Magazine intern Mitchell Kohles, ‘12.
Have campus flyer photos? Want to see more? We’ve got you covered: http://www.flickr.com/groups/uchicagoflyers/
Oh I love this so much.
This professor of Bosnian, Croation & Serbian wins the Internet.
Neighborhoodr is a local neighborhood blog network where anyone can quickly and easily post about what's happening in their neighborhood without having to log in or register.
Have news you'd like to share about your neighborhood? Just use the share buttons along the top of the page.
Editors
Interested in becoming an editor for this blog? Email us at hi@neighborhoodr.com for more information.
