tweet your riot

you can love twitter, you can hate it, but it seems to be the best way to find out the most up-to-date info on iran election/riots. twitter even rescheduled their maintenance downtime to cause less interference with info getting in and out of iran via the site.

iran’s media censors are having a difficult time censoring twitter for various reasons. there are tons of ways to tweet from other sites, cell phones, etc. read about it here. users from around the world have changed timezone/location on their profiles to Tehran in an attempt to “confuse the censors” and are coloring avatars green (get one here) and retweeting like crazy to show solidarity.

check out youtube, check out blogs and check out mashable’s guide to navigating social media for iran-related info. #iranelection

pray, write, work for peace and justice. movaffagh baashi.

 

let’s hear it for the boy

can we get a round of applause for the folk in the over 55 bracket who can and do use “shoegaze” in a sentence? thank you.

for those who can’t use “shoegaze” in a sentence, some aid: genre (subgenre?) of music that features distorted vocals and lots of guitar effects. original use refers to movement grew out of uk in 1980s, although new artists today revisiting the genre.

interested parties might try these new-gazey types on for size: asobi seksu, blonde redhead, deerhunter. or i can give you directions to the secret underground shoegaze dungeon that resides in the heart of lawrence. top secret stuff, that. very hush hush.

 

Fashion! Lawrence Edition: Part Do

Centuries later, a follow up post. This time around we’re talking hairstyles. For the sake of this post I will include completely fabricated stats– what percentage of Lawrencians rock the look.

mohawks.. it’s summer. the hawks have fled lawrence/the “left behind” rock hawks. depending on your attitude, i’d pair with racing stripes shaved on the side of your head, or gel into a curve to one side… a commentary on the captive whale population?
how many in town? 10-15% of downtown street traffic

white-kid dreds.. is an inaccurate name since many wearers are actually grown with dred-kids of their own. for best results decorate with ribbons, beads, bird’s nests, plant sprouts. just don’t forget to wash your hair. no, seriously. i mean. seriously.
how many in town? 78% of incense shop patrons. 43% of that smell wafting your way from 9th and mass

highschool hipster cowboy combover.. why wait for hereditary balding to kick in? you can start your own combover committee now! use spit, glue or gel to keep in place, pair with square glasses, and anything that tries hard to look like it’s not trying. i mean–!
how many in town? 37% friday night crowd at jackpot music hall

mullet.. there are many styles, but this commentator has eyes for one mullet only. pair with indifference, unrelatability or superstar transcendence.
how many in town? mullets defy measurement/census results pending…

 

plans

there will be some changes. more on this later.

 

happy may

may is a happy month. it’s lovely outside, even when it isn’t. classes winding down.
some events in the kansas city/lawrence area.
may 1- first fridays, kc-crossroads
may 2- cake, kc-crossroads kc
may 3- art in the park, lawrence-south park
outspoken word, kc-harper’s
may 4- poetry night, lawrence-aimee’s
may 6- fresh ink, lawrence-jazzhaus
may 8- asobi seksu, kc-record bar
may 19- mayda del valle/ slam, kc- blue room
may 20- michael pollan: in defense of food, kc- dntwn unity church
may 22- they might be giants, kc- beaumont club
may 27, the decemberists, kc- uptown theater
may 29, demetri martin, kc- uptown theater

we have also confirmed rumors that several certain “coolpeople” will be moving back to the area. so yeah. all-star cast.

 

The Rescue: Kansas City

On Saturday Kansas City was one of 100 cities holding The Rescue to raise awareness and support for the invisible children, with the aim of ending a war that’s been devastating Uganda for 23 years or so. In previous years invisible children did other events like Global Night Commute and Displace Me. The Rescue was set up differently. The idea is you are there at your “camp” as long as it takes to get “rescued.” It is meant to be a symbolic gesture that we must wait, as our little brothers and sisters are forced to “wait” in LRA-camps. As of this writing on Monday morning, 11 cities (including Chicago, Austin, Wichita, Vegas, Albuquerque, Richmond, Spokane) still await rescue.

What does it take to get rescued? These things all help determine you have a successful rescue.

• media attention.. getting the rescue covered, getting attention on child soldiers, getting attention on the call to policy to HELP
• letter writing.. all “abducted” must write at least 2 letters to senators or other leaders calling for protection of LRA-affected areas, allied diplomatic support, material support for negotiating with Kony and other leaders, etc. and the release of lower level combatants (including child soldiers)
• attention from a person of cultural influence (or mogul).. could be a politician, could be a talk-show host, could be Ashton Kutcher. Get a mogul to your city’s Rescue in order to get freed.
• money.. raising through donation approximately $5 per”abductee” at your camp to be donated to invisible children’s efforts

So the Rescue in Kansas City got covered by at least a few local/regional news stations and papers but I never heard final numbers on that. There was a tornado warning on Saturday. When the sirens went off, organizers decided it would be best to take cover parking garage style. And it was certainly something to see several hundred people, mostly 15-25 year olds, I’d say, crouching down in a huge cement room to solemnly write our representatives where it’s dry enough to write.

 

mayda at the blue room. whaat.

ok ok. so last night marked a decision. perform in feltapalooza or blue room. well i was already on for the felt show so the decision was kinda made but. next month, y’all. may 19. 7pm. and i stammer at the excitement of it but. mayda del valle. blue room. 18th and vine. 5 dolla. do not. miss this. woman.

the first piece of hers i saw:

to me she is the embodiment of all that is holy about the mic. throw in some suheir hammad, anis mojgani, some saul williams. we got ourselves a stew on.

one more…

 

the lost teachings

i am currently ingesting (through my eyes and ears and inner being) a book of fantastic possibility. the dead emcee scrolls. are phenomenal.

i was recently reading this book with a young scholar who had just completed a school project on the “beat” movement (ginsberg, burroughs, kerouac, etc.) we had recently spoken about the transformative effect of ginsberg’s “howl” on the minds of his age. one of us commented that we longed to understand that poem in its original context. with all of its original potency. but though we could intellectually understand the circumstances surrounding such a piece of art we could never sit and be impressed by the freshness. it had already made an effect on our collective consciousness. it was still beautiful but its immediacy no longer clung to the work.

but we read this book. these dead scrolls. side by side. in silence. when he said. “you know. this is it. we are in it.” the message of “howl” we wanted to get inside of and understand from its beginning. but this was a new beginning. one that incorporated the beat of our generation. one whose importance swelled in the hollow of our throats until we choked on the pit of its poetry.

in the words of victor hugo:

“there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”

 

unnecessary green

i love these types of products.

it has a “sustainable design.” i guess that’s a reference to the fact that it’s made from 50% post-consumer material. and even the packaging is “greener!” but… really? are products like this going to considerably reduce our landfills or even contribute to a “greener” society? might make a little green for Bissell, i guess.

this product is intended to help you get stains out of carpet and upholstery. convenient? perhaps. but if a person was looking to be seriously green, i bet there’s a way to get stains out without a hunk of plastic and a “green” mess of packaging. just saying.

 

Clean Up

Due to forces beyond your control, Caterpillar has cleaned up some posts, deleted some and privatized others. Just saying.