From Anarchists to Animals, Gardens Grow Community

         In the Balboa Heights neighborhood in central Tucson, AZ, is a tiny house behind a high fence. The shady front porch hangs with trinkets designed to catch the light and the wind. As I approach on bicycle, I sense wariness from the family resting there, but my companion, a 40-something anarchist from northern California, who goes by Rain, calls a hello. A small blond child comes streaking down the steps. She immediately starts babbling to Rain about bicycles and the folks on the porch wave calmly.

            Rain introduces me to the girl, and we all walk behind the house.

            The backyard is a dusty lot, with a leaning trailer home, a mound of shale, and the typical cracked dry ground of Tucson backyards.

            On the east side of the lot, is a well of green growth. Vines climb up the fence, gourds burrow in the dug, rectangular hole that is several feet deep, orange pumpkins beaming amongst them. At the end of the garden patch is a tall Red Hopi Amaranth plant, beaming amber in the October sunset.

                        The scene of urban desert abundance is complete with a chicken coop built from wood, wire, and milk crates, a couple of fat cats prowling amongst the vines, and a blind and deaf, snow-white pit bull snuffing along behind us.

            Rain is the cofounder and dedicated supporter of the Autonomous Sustainable Community Garden Project. Based in Tucson, the project is in the beginning stages of planting gardens throughout the city. This is their first garden, but one of many ongoing projects.

            The garden is only around 300 square feet, but over two seasons has produced an abundant crop of watermelons, squash and pumpkins. Since this writing, a winter crop of garlic has been planted as well.

            In addition to the garden, the project organizes urban harvests of herbs, oranges, olives and acorns. They distribute what they produce – from acorn flour breads to herbal tinctures to home-grown garlic – for free amongst the community. The mission of the anarchist collective of 20 or so cooks, gardeners, bakers, and urban cowpokes is to pull as much food and medicine out of the ground that they possibly can, adhering to strict organic, indigenous methods of cultivation and use exclusively native seeds.

            They choose crops with long seasons, as the garden is operated by a handful of individuals that come and go. Their summer squashes were all grown from seed obtained from Native Seed/SEARCH.

            Native Seed/SEARCH is a non-profit organization committed to the conservation, distribution, and documentation of diverse varieties of agricultural seeds in the American Southwest. They operate a massive seed bank in Tucson, distribute seeds at their retail outlet, host courses in seed conservation and distribution, all with an attempt to build an infrastructure of sustainable food production from Durango, CO to Durango, Mexico. They are, perhaps, the most essential key in localizing crops in Arizona.

            The Sustainable Autonomous Community project is less organized, but no less essential as it attracts a much more diverse and active group of people.

 The acorn harvest is one of Rain’s favorite events. Most of the acorns are gathered from Oak trees on a Pima Community College Campus.

We go out on bikes and gather as many acorns as we can,” he says excitedly, “then spend a whole day cracking and grinding them.” They make breads, cakes, and other baked goods with the flour, in an outdoor, handmade, wood fired oven.

Within the city of Tucson, and scattered across Arizona, is a movement that struggles to construct a means of food production that is uncomplicated, and unconcerned with governmental policy. From individual gardeners to anarchist collectives like the Community Garden Project, people are relearning what it means to feed themselves and each other. Rejecting corporate control by simply opting out of it, these small time farmers, committed to their own healthy community, are coaxing life out of one of the harshest environments in the lower forty-eight.

            Backyard gardener, Ashley Fortune, is another Tucson resident growing native seeds. She is an independent gardener, not affiliated with any organization or collective.

“I believe,” Fortune says, “that the food that is adapted to thriving here, can help me thrive.” This winter, she is growing hearty winter greens outside her apartment in an old sink.

            “I found this in a junkyard,” she explains, pointing to the waist high kitchen sink with three tubs of dirt. “I harvest the greens in a rotation, each variety about once a week.” Fortune uses the old sink because her backyard is only a small paved patio.  This kind of ingenuity is common among Tucson backyard gardeners.

            Hutches, on the other hand, worked for weeks turning his backyard garden plot into a farmable piece of land. After digging a ditch over 2’ deep, removing the shale, and introducing nutrient-rich soil, the plot is perfect for the types of crops he wants to grow, because it retains water in its well.

            The model for the Autonomous Sustainable Community Project is based on another functioning model in Prescott, Arizona, called Karma Farms.

            Founder of Karma Farms, Thomas Keene, has been the leading force of Karma Farms for over 5 years, but the collective is strictly anarchist. The point of an anarchist collective is to keep the participants separate from the struggles of hierarchically structured operations.

            Karma Farms operates five to eight backyard gardens in Prescott, AZ depending on the season and available volunteers. Politically tense Prescott has had issues with the rag-tag group of farmers often seen cycling around town with tubs of manure, coffee grounds donated from local shops, or grazing their two goats on a hillside in the middle of the small town.

            Overall, there is enough support for the organization to stay alive, and that has a lot to do with the essential contributions of Karma Farms. Each Thursday, they hold a stand offering free produce. Often participants will make trades with Karma Farm volunteers, but they offer herbal medicines, food, and small services to anyone in need without asking for anything in exchange. “That,” says Keene, “is hard to argue with.”

            The main challenge for these gardeners is the great deal of water necessary. This is water that comes out of pipe, not the sky, because of the dry southern Arizona climate.

            Each has hopes of developing rainwater harvesting catchment systems that will help them make the most of natural rainfall and force them to use less water provided by the rapidly emptying Tucson aquifers. Fortunately, the knowledge of how to do this is available in activist community of Tucson. Applying the often costly infrastructure is the difficult part.

            These providers, because they offer a hyper local service for free, are a new side of the rapidly expanding local farm movement.

           

To All The Turkeys...

How was your Thanksgiving? Full of family, friends and delicious eats?
Thanksgiving has always been a fun holiday since I left the nest, and this was an interesting year.

My dear friend, and fabulous social organizer, hosted an anti-imperalist feast, as a nod to the true Thanksgiving story, one that nobody really knows.

We read anti-imperialist poetry, ate a potulck dinner around cornucopias of squash, corn, plastic guns and GI joes, and lit candles in honor of the true and forgotten story.

Laughed, a lot, about another nationalistic myth we hold near and dear to our bellies.

And celebrated a culture of abundance, and darkness, that we're all a part, and a prodcut, of.

Read an account of the real thanksgiving story here.

The End of Ecstacy

Travellers Not Welcome


What happened to ecstatic wandering?

This story, about traditional nomadic peoples in Europe and the Middle East, highlights their confrontations with police. By outlawing these lifestyles, the authorities are endangering their cultures and familial ways.
How can we create space for travelling peoples in an era where every plot of land is owned by someone?
When did we fail to see the beauty in the varying ways people choose to live?
How can something this ancient, wandering that is, become outlawed to a point of outrageous violence?
This piece spans Europe and Asia, discussing the conflict and contradictions these people face, and their resistance to giving up their ways.

Another Opinion: On Aubergines and Corporate Seeds

BioPiracy in India

If you're not familiar with Monsanto, you need to be. This belligerent corporation is snatching up seeds, modifying and patenting them, and corporatizing agriculture in big and terrifying sweeps. A rash of farmer suicides in India caused an international stir when desperate conditions evolved from adopting this companies manipulative farming practices, and poverty stricken men chose to end their lives from the shame of failing their children and families.

Lately, not only is Monsanto sliming into the ancient Himalayan kingdom of Nepal amidst plenty of muffled ado, they have also allegedly made off with 9 indigenous brinjal varities. The eggplant! Centerpiece of succulent curries and sauces.

Trifiling with these seeds destroys the viability of the original, indigenous plant by forcing it to compete with a manipulated organism, that may or may not be a better version of the original. In my experience and observations, we generally suck at being overlords of the planet, or  universe, or whatever. My blunt intuition tells me variety, biodiversity, is one of the things we better hold onto for dear life. Dear, dear life.

Because Monsanto failed to consult the Biodiversity Authority of India, they're ready to sue the corporation and it's Indian affiliates for. Once Monsanto patents this seed and begins to market it to already-struggling farmers, the farmers inevitably become eternally tied to the daddy corporation for their livelihoods. Like countless other models that breed oppression: coal companies, haciendas, it's all slavery to a corporate head.

Monsanto, along with Dupont and Syngenta own 75% of all seeds traded on the market. These giant corpoarations have almost entire control over a market of inflated food prices and farmers barely getting by.

I spent time on a multitude of farms in Nepal last summer, many already ravaged by imported American farming techniques that failed their rich, Himalayan river soil to a point of disaster. Many are remote enough to preserve traditional farming methods and are back pedaling as fast as they can.

There's no intelligent question to ask. Monsanto is just another corporation that seems unstoppable, despite thousands of voices raised against it. How do we end this madness?

Is my opinion clear

q & a: Randy Peterson from KXCI

I sat down to talk with Randy Peterson, manager of local radio station 91.3 to ask him some questions about running a community radio station.

Allie: Why don't you start by introducing yourself and talking a little bit about what you do at KXCI?

Randy: OK. My name is Randy Peterson, P E T E R S O N, and I'm the general manager and development director at KXCI. And at the moment, acting program director since the departure of Jason at the end of August. So, essentially, I'm in  charge of the staff and the general direction of the station. I answer to a fifteen member board of directors selected by our members. Basically, I'm responsible for everything that happens behind the scenes. All the fundraising, grant writing, human resources, programming decisions. Everything that it takes to run a radio station other than what actually goes out on the air with our DJ's. But as our acting program director, I'm primarily responsible for that as well.

A: That's a lot of work.
R: That's a lot of work! But it's a lot of fun.

A: Did you just end up at KXCI or did you want to work for a community radio station?
R: I started here in 1999. I was in underwriting sales representative for the station. I had come here from Michigan where I had done management and marketing for a restaurant chain. But even in that job, I had always done a lot of nonprofit work so I was looking to go with a nonprofit. I knew some of the experience I'd had as a volunteer could build a career in fundraising. After about 6 weeks as a salesperson, which I was terrible at, the station's membership director was leaving so they offered me that job instead. That was December of 1999. I worked many years as membership director, also filling in as acting general manager until we hired someone new. After three times, they finally gave me the job.

A: So you have your tentacles in a lot of different aspects of the station.
R: I wasn't a programmer when I started, I learned that on the job. I started cohosting the Home Stretch and at the time it was two people. Then when the cohost left I did it myself for a couple years. But it's a lot to work all day, then do a three hour show at the end of the day, so I gave up the show and have just been behind the scenes.

A: So you prefer that, being behind the scenes?
R: Well, I prefer that but it's fun to fill in. And I get plenty of opportunity when there are vacations, or sudden illnesses, or a car breaks down. There's always time to fill in here. We're on 24 hours a day.

A: When you go on air there's a chunk of music you have to play...
R: That section is what we call the featured rotation and during the daytime it's generally about 50 albums. We expect DJ's during the day to play 5 songs an hour from those 50 albums.
A: Every DJ, every hour?
R: Every DJ during the day. 'Your Morning Brew' from  7 AM through 'The Homestretch' at 6, Monday through Friday. The other DJ's, evening and weekends, they can play it but they don't have to. It just gives us a litle bit of structure during the day, a little bit of repetition. And it also helps us to create our top 40 list which we still do report into the services like billboard and things like that.

A: How do you select that music?
R: It's selected by our music director, Duncan. He looks for a variety of genres. It's typically most rooted in rock and pop, but he always tries to have some local, some blues, some jazz, some world music. Things stay in there 6, 7, 8 weeks at a time. Then they come out. So every week about 8-10 of the 50 have changed. Everything has been reviewed by a DJ. When people review things, they'll say "This was good" or "this was great we ouught to feature it" or if they say they love it, then he listens to it again and ultimately makes the decision. So we know who our core artists are.
So, for example, Bruce Springsteen puts out a new album. Unless it's the worst Bruce Springsteen ever, we're gonna feature it. If we feature it, we're going to play every song on the album. As compared to a commercial station where they're going to play "the hit".  Then later, if there's another hit, they'll play the other hit. But they don't get beyond that first or second song. Whereas we play the whole album.
A: Right. And because the DJ's are community members, or volunteers, they are playing the music that Tucson wants to hear because locals are choosing it.
R: Absolutely.
A: So, that's one of the unique things about the station, is that all of the DJ's are volunteers, right?
R: Except morning show host is paid, that's the five day a week position. and our afternoon host is payed as well. Which right now we're between.
A: And all of you fill in different times on the air?
R: Yep. Every employee here has a volunteer air shift, except me. I'm just a sub.

A: It seems like that's the main difference between this and a commercial station. What else is different?
R: We're also public radio so no commercials, we have underwriting sponsership announcements. Similar to what you would hear on NPR. So we don't take prerecorded "Hey this is Jim Click, I wanna sell you a car". It's more of the promotional announcement: "Support for this station is provided by... " and it's all exclusively small businesses here in Tucson. We don't have any advertising dollars from outside our community. And then we have pretty low rates because we're working to build our business community as well.
A: I just heard an advertisment for the B Line the other day on the air, I was pretty excited because that's where I work.
R: Yeah, we do really well with restuarants and concerts.
A: I wonder how often people respond to that and say "I'm going to go there because I heard it on KXCI"?
R: Our surveys say a lot.
A: Yeah? What kind of surveys do you do?
R: We do surveys with our listeners. Online through our website. Our listeners are very loyal to local businesses, and are of the mindset that they don't wanna shop at wal-mart, because they know that's not good for the community.
A:Would you take a sponsership from Wal-Mart?
R: I would not take a sponsorship from Wal-Mart.
A: Is that your call?
R: Yes. No Wal Mart.

A: So it's public radio, there's no commercials...
R: What we often say is there's no commercials, no playlists, no rules.
A: Nice, real people real radio.
R: We give the shows some structure like with the featured rotation. Or, we have an expectation almost all of our shows are going to play at least one local artist during their show. Some can, and some can't. But the expectation is that everybody's going to play a local artist. Beyond that, we don't tell them who, or what song, or when. So, no playlists.

A: Where did the "real people, real radio" come from?
R: That predates me but barely. They put it into place in 1998. They had come up, somwhere in radio in general, with a branding suggestion. That you have a punchy 3 or 4 or 5 word description of your stuff. I don't know if they tested that with people, or the staff sat around, or asked DJ's, but it's what they came up with, "Real People, Real Radio". Which does serve to distinguish us from unreal people. Which would be paid DJ's and syndicated shows that don't come from our community. And then, the difference with real radio is that it's volunteers that our passionate about what they do. They're not playing music because the program director said "here's the songs you're gonna play." They play music because they know music, and they love music, and they're passionate about their genre, or during the daytime, the mix: all the different songs.

A: The studio seems like this far-off place, but when I came in here, it's really homey!
R: Yeah. It's weird because you're kind of isolated up here almost.You have to broadcast like you're talking to one person but you have to remember you're talking to thousands.
A: How many people are you talking to at any moment?
R: What they refer to as our "cume audience" which is the number of different people that listen at any point during the week is about 30,000.
A: That's a lot!
R: At any given moment, there's probably between 800 and 2,000. Right now, folks are still at work, they might be listening at their desk.

A: That's another thing I wanted to ask you about. I would love to listen to KXCI at work but I work less than a mile from the station, but it doesn't come in!
R: We don't have much wattage. We're 340 watts. They refer to that as penetration. You could probably get us on your car radio outside, but you can't get us in the building, because we just don't have enough to blast through the walls. It affects different people at different places around town.
A: The antennae is up on Mount Lemmon, right?
R: It's on Mount Bigelow, which is behind Mount Lemmon. We usually just tell people Mount Lemmon because they don't know where Mount Bigelow is.

A: So let's talk about your listeners. You have 30,000 unique listeners during the week and you get to connect with those people alot during the volunteer drive, and you're constantly at events, which Amanda mostly does, right, as a community outreach person?
R: She coordinates the volunteers. All of the staff all work at all events.
A: Do you direct which events you sponser?
R: Yes and no. Historically, if we do something and we like it, we just do it every year. And we're constantly adding new things. We just did the bluegrass festival.
We added the Festival of Books, which is only itself a couple years old. We're always game to try something. Sometimes it's not a good fit and we don't keep doing it.
A: How do you know?
R: It's different things. It's how much time we spend being there, setting up, at the event, versus the payoff. If we do the blues fest, they get a couple thousand people, but those people are really into the blues. We're the only station in Tucson that has blues programs. It's a really good fit. Same with bluegrass. They only get a couple thousand people but it's the only station that has bluegrass so it's a good fit. Something like the street fair, in the course of three days you have 250,000 people stop by your booth. Of all different expectations and backgrounds. Being there works for us because enough people that already know us will stop by and grab a tshirt, say hello, or grab a bumper sticker. And then, so many other people that are there just learn about us for the first time. Even if  100 people come by the booth, 95 of them won't be a good fit. We're there for the people that want to buy the t shirt. But if a community group says we're trying something new and expect 100 people, it's hard for me to ask a staff member to give up their evening and find a volunteer to go with them for the chance that 100 people will be at an event. So we're very strategic.
We just did the Tucson Meet Yourself festival for the second year in a row. A lot of these events we've helped promote over the years, but we haven't neccesarily come out and promoted ourself at the event. We're trying to do more of that.

A: So you're constantly trying to turn more people onto KXCI. Do you think that the listeners that you have are getting turned on to new music?
R: Absolutely! We're always playing new music. In two senses, we're playing new artists that folks have never heard of. We're also playing old artists, like Springsteen. If you're a commercial radio station, an oldies station, you're not going to play Springsteen's new stuff. If you're a rock n' roll station he's not exactly top 40. You're not going to play his new stuff. All these commercial stations, that fill these little niches, Bruce doesn't fit any of them anymore. We're the only ones playing his new stuff.

A: I think KXCI makes music accesible. I know that I can turn and on and hear something that interests me.
R: Yes, our DJ's are very passionate about their music and, you know this first hand, you review ten albums and five of them might be crap. We don't play them. So we're already helping to shape that taste. We like to think you can trust us. We play something because we think it's good.
A: Right! It's like having a group of friends with really great taste in music.
R: Yeah! How it is that they break new artists now, how you have to get through and emerge. In the olden days maybe you started a band and you were regional. You met a rep from a label,  they released what you already had nationally,  got behind you, promoted a tour and everything like that. Nowadays, if you want to be a star in top music or something like that, you have to win American Idol. It's the only avenue that's still left. Or, if you're one of these smaller independent groups that we play, you have to work it overtime. Do these small concerts with 100 people showing up at a club, coming in and doing live interviews on the air, and really work at that differently.
The other way that artists really break now - and this is what has really changed in the industry in the past couple years - is that the youth today are getting their exposure to new music through commericals, soundtracks and video games. That's changed the industry. What we would call classic rock is one of the most popular formats for youths 18-25 year olds. They've heard things like Metallica, and Led Zeppelin from video games and commercials. To them, The Who is new. It's changed the way that people get exposed to new music.
A: Interesting. One of my favorite bands I heard on a Saturn commerical. I think there's some hope in that too,
R: Absolutley, it gets you around the old studio system which used to be very limited.

A: How would you describe the music you choose to play here other than good?
R: Great! Very diverse. We try to play artists that aren't getting airplay other places. Usually if something is a hit, somewhere else, we don't touch it. There's rare exceptions. One recent example would be Adele. She's had the best selling album of 2011 by far. But that's not her first album. For most people, that's her first album, but we've been playing Adele for years. So we're not going to stop playing her just because the rest of the world caught on. If her next album comes out and isn't popular, but still good, we're going to keep playing her.  Even if she's not popular anymore. We try to play a range. We touch on everything but classical and opera, because NPR does that and they're doing it well. There's no reason for us to step in.

A: You mentioned NPR, I like KXCI a lot more than I like NPR. It's totally different station and less musically focused, but I find a lot of their programming really closed off from my community. Do you have a relationship  or affiliation with NPR? Are you a part of a community radio network?
R: There's not a community radio network. There is an organization called National Federation for Community Broadcasters. They put on conferences and things like that. There's not a network like there is for NPR. The closest thing that we have to a network for us is Pacifica radio. Which does Democracy Now, which we carry. But that's the only show from that that we carry. We could carry lots of things from them but that's not who we are. We don't want to carry someone else's program. Democracy Now being an exception because that brings together resources, and we could never have that kind of news program just here.

A: Are there any other syndiciated series that you carry?
R: We do carry This Way Out. Which is the GLBTQ program on Sunday afternoons. We would like to do a local version of that. For many years we did. We just don't have someone at the moment who is willing to make that commitment. We're always looking for someone, though.
A: You're looking for someone to host a talk show?
R: More like a public affairs, news program.

A: What direction do you see KXCI going now?
R: A good direction. Our membership is growing. We're more fiscally sound, so we can weather recessions and things like that. We're certainly growing in terms of our awareness in the community. Both in our knowing what is going on in the world around us, and people knowing us which is a great thing.

A: You've been here since '99. Have you noticed a significant change in people's support of local business and radio? Is that really entering people's lives?
R: Absolutely. We're part of the locals first movement here, which really stresses supporting your businesses and keeping money inmanaging your community. We're a big part of that. Tucson's the type of community that if we didn't already have community radio we'd be working to get it started. Because it's people who care about the community, are progressive, arts and culturally minded, and understand the need for many voices and diversity. I think we're going to be strong part of that for a long time. When the station first started it was all about trying to survive the first year, and the first five years. Then trying to make it ten years. But we'll be 28 years in December and we can really start to think about entertaining you, and entertaining your kids.

A: You have a lot of listeners outside of Tucson, even Arizona.
R: We do. They understand our hyper localism that for profit radio can't bring.
A: It probably makes them feel at home, listening to the station again. Do you broadcast breaking news?
R: Very rarely. In the 12 years that I've been here the only time we've ever gotten away from our broadcast to talk about breaking news was on 9/11 and again on the January 8 shootings. Even on January 8, because we don't have a news team, we couldn't go live to the field. We had to rely on other people to relay what was happening. We talked about it a little bit but we also really stuck with the music that day, because we knew that's what we could do. And we knew people would come to us to get away from the tendency of news to to be the first to report something without checking to see if it's right. It wouldn't have served the public interest to add to the confusion. So we reported things slowly, as they were confirmed, while we played the music. Which is what people needed from us. We got a lot of gratitude from the listeners for the types of music we were playing and the sensitivity we were showing. Gabby's always been a supporter of the station so we felt that kinship with her. One of the young men that was killed had been a KXCI member. We wanted to play an appropriate role.
A: That's so great that you know your role well enough that you can provide that to people.

Thank you to Randy for your time and support!

Live from Tucson Eat Yourself

*technical issues! Pictures will follow*

2:47:
We arrived at Tucson Meet Yourself ready to score an exotic lunch in the Saturday afternoon sunshine. After scoring excellent street parking across from the public library, we sauntered over to the first food carts we saw including Thai, and the Tucson Tamale Company.

3:02
Overwhelmed by the options, free samples pulled me in to try a fabulous Mesquite tortilla! Made with the mesquite beans that fall to the ground several times each year in Tucson, a little whole wheat and amaranth flour, and olive oil they were tender and awesomely flavorful.

3:17
Next to the mesquite tortilla makers, I spotted a booth for Sobores Sin Fronteras or Flavors without Borders. Knowing they're associated with Native Seed/SEARCH - an organization I volunteer for - I stopped by to say hi.

Who was I to finally meet but one of my favorite authors, most admired conservationists, and founder of Native Seeds - Gary Paul Nabhan. An extraordinary surprise turned this street fair lunch date into an hour long conversation about native Sonoran grains with one of my biggest inspirations. Yes!

Gary invited and encouraged me to participate in Grain School - hosted by Native Seeds/SEARCH and Sobores Sin Fronteras - a week long series of workshops in January about growing, harvesting, processing, and popularizing native grains. I said absolutely.

4:33
Elated, I wandered off in a daze to find my friends lounging in the grass eating tacos behind the courthouse. My hero-high didn't keep me from indulging in some Oaxacan tacos and people watching.

4:56
Still wandering, and not done eating, we took in some Laotian lemondade and curry, the sight of at least 30 chuncks of meat roasting on a open pit grill, and all the happy eaters mulling about downtown Tucson.

5:23
Down at the "Soul Stage" I got to thinking about how many wonderful culinary traditions exist in Tucson and how important they are to their people to preserve them. What are my food traditions? How have they changed as I live in different places? How can we create compact, sustainable, urban food systems but still enjoy the varied traditions of a globalized community?

6:32
The evening ends at La Cocina to hear a friend's band - the 4th Street String Band - play bluegrass music inspired by my home state of Kentucky. I was struck by how beautifully they interpreted the traditional sounds I grew up with and made them their own.

Much like the food we ate and saw today, it had changed from it's original form. But that change was a naturally progression, and was still wonderful. It should be thoroghly celebrated, not disregarded in the face of modern society.

Papparazzo's are People, Too

Jezebel puts out (pun intended) a little story about a day in the life of a paparazzo... those hidden men and women behind the cameras, that capture the shots, of all the pretty celebrities we can't seem to get enough of.
When I was 13, I went to Hollywood and found myself at the premiere of Josie and The Pussycats. Remember that movie? Rachel Leigh Cook's follow up to She's All That?



Yeah, I know, why would you? Why would I? Well, I mixed in myself with the 'razos while I was there, met Rachel Leigh Cook, and adopted a celebrity-by-association complex for the next couple months. I think I saw this film like, a million times. But I don't have any paraphanilia of hers.
I, after all, knew her personally.
But there are lots of people, who make decent livings trailing around after the stars and starlets, snapping their photgraphs and selling them to magazines.
The photographer in focus in this article is "Wagner" a Brazilian papparazo in New York, and his day chasing Sarah Jessica Parker, Snooki, Michael Douglas, and then some
The author attempts to humanize these picture hounds, and I think he does a pretty good job. The reading added depth to an awesomely shallow field of pop culture, I think a person is always a little bit better knowing any kind of backstory.
Learning how the target celebs cooperate with these guys also lends some interesting insight to who celebreties - overglorified, ego maniacs (it has to be true) - really are. I say that from a purely analytical standpoint, of course.
It's not something I would have read more than a quarter of on my own. But, it is fairly well written. I think it's greatest asset is the fluid way it takes on the first-person perspective.

PJ Harvey: A Review Review

I recently started doing a little rock-criticism for Tucson's listener supported radio station: 91.3 KXCI. An awesome station like this gets loads of CD's from hard working musicians, and needs those sounds reviewed before dumping them on the DJ's.
So, not only am I listenening carefully for FCC banned words, I'm trying to translate the music into a blurb that will get it into the hands of the appropriate DJ. That being said, most of it is terrible.
However, it all deserves a listen and I've discovered writing about music is in fact... really difficult!
So, I've chosen to review an album review for this little excercise in critical writing analysis.
From Spin Magazine, a review of PJ Harvey's latest: Let England Shake.
To begin with, it familiarizes the reader with PJ Harvey's very developed artistic style and puts this album in context with the previous one.... "Let England Shake is a gloriuos uncoiling".
The review goes on to explain it's background: where it was recorded, it's political stance (or lake thereof). The reviewer highlights the affects of these with specific track examples.
The most striking notes of the review are how effectively they make the reader feel in a way similar to the music itself. Going so far as to compare a song to "a plastic Easter egg nestled in real grass". It's bizarre, but this really works.
The review is point-on in describing the sounds on the album, quoting lyrics and naming the most notable instruments.
It wraps up by summarzing PJ a bit more - the essence of her sound and her evolution as a musician.

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 - From Africa, With Fury - Rise

A beautiful new album from the Kuti clan. Here, Seun plays with Fela's (his father) former band. Excellent sounds eminating from African artists as they blend those magnificent rhythms again. Something about this music is so invigorating... enjoy!

Tip Top Blogs

Writing better blogs means reading better blogs, first. Here are my 5 favorite blog sites!


Scott Schuman built the bridge from street fashion to the web with his conversational blog The Sartorialist. This blog opened the door to dialogue about fashion. Were are lucky to have Schuman, with his honest eye for grace and beauty in clothing, because he sees past trends, labels, and celebrity status. He posts multiple times weekly, with anonymous photographs of brilliantly dressed men and woman off streets all over the world.




 One of my dear friends spends half of her year at McMurdo Reasearch Station in Antartica. She and her partner write Weird Birds together, a blog about their adventures, emotions and experience at the end of the earth. They're both photographers, so they take tons of gorgeous photographs. She also writes beautifully about her life, and I watch her evolve as a writer and artist. It's also very personal and because I know her, it is always interesting.





Street Etiquette is my latest obsession. The layout on this blog is unusual, but it is clean and works really well. I get tired of how straightforward most blogsites are: this is one I can really explore and get happily lost in. There are loads of links, photographs, and inspiration on this site. It's not only fashion but digs deep into artwork ( and music, trends, politics) of the past and present that relates to their highly personal, highly attentive style. Most importantly, I think these dudes are just killing it! They're only 20 years old! I love the work that they're doing.


There are SO MANY food blogs. Woah. I haven't really realized how HUGE the food movement is until now. Civil Eats is one of the more concise, accesible, and relevant blogs of it's kind. With over 100 contributors, it's also diverse: covering topics such as policy, philosophy, and academics. It's been a great starting point for delving into the wide world of food blogs.

Finally, The Tartelette was once described as the "online patron saint of bakers." As an aspiring pastry chef, the adventures, recipes, and pictures on this site are so lovely and inspiring. We're always looking for new ideas in the bakery I work for, and this site is so enjoyable to look through with it's challenging ideas that are still simple and centered around high quality, fresh food. Delightful!

What's in a feature?

photograph via Flickr by noborders

This little break down is all about Under the Table: a feature from Guernica about epicurian dining in Havana, Cuba.

The author, Julia Cooke, is an American living in Havana. She writes in first person about finding food in Cuba under the trade embargo, the nuanced moral code of the Cuban people, and the challenges for a modern Cuban family.

This is a issue feature. The issue is about taking care of yourself and your family, doing what it takes to survive, and being adaptable.

The conflict is about Cooke learning how to live and eat in a foreign country. After she finally gains the trust of her friends to have access to these black market grocers, she has to learn the ins and outs of buying and eating the food.  The other layer of the conflict concerns the families struggle to grow in a globalized community.

It is incredibly effective in the first person. Cooke uses dialouge and detail to reveal her experiences, but she also explores deeper meanings to the reader.

TUESDAY: THE PEACEFUL NEWS ROUND UP

Palestine bids for statehood with the UN, and Israel okays new builiding in East Jerusalem, in the ever entangled saga of struggle between Palestinians and Israelis.

The picture of peace, the Dalai Lama, attempts to visit South Africa. A delay in his Visa suggests that China may be pressuring the South African government to block the spiritual leader of Tibet, still in continuing conflict with Chinese government over it's autonomy.

Thousands continue to protest on Wall Street, in the Occupy Wall Street movement. Catch live video:

Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com

This site might give you a little more information on the occupation.



And,  from our own border, a Border Patrol Officer is charged with drug trafficking. We've all got work to do, it seems.

INSPIRATION for Bloggers

Hey check this out fellow bloggers and blog foragers:

The London Times: 40 bloggers who really count

It is a low-down of top-notch blogs covering everthing from conservative politics to open source sex. Penned by celebrities, soldiers, and magistrates - you will find a succesful and well-read blog to inspire you here.

Some of my new favorites from this list are:

www.katelovesme.net : excellent fashion photography and lesser-known designer coverage

www.streetetiquette.com: fucking perfection in menswear from NYC dressers, Joshua Kissi and Travis Gumbs

www.jamesramsden.com: food blog from a north Londoner and Ballymaloe Cooking School grad. Fresh food, and a very well designed blog.

http://www.treehugger.com: This "green" blog doesn't seem incredibly sincere in it's claims, but it still covers a wide range of important issues in sustainable design

maudnewton.com/blog/: Mostly literary, entirely entertaining, mildly uppity notes and rants on culture and art.

www.medialens.org: IMHO, a neccessary blog for those interested in a career in journalism or the media.

www.tinynibbles.com: visit this one on your home computer! Violet Blue is a feminine counterpart to Dan Savage: a bright pundit on sexual liberation. You've been warned!




I hope you find something that inspires you!
The most interesting blogs seems to reflect on the author's unique perspective, and willingness to be very outspoken.

Water Miracle

The Santa Cruz River runs on the west side of Tucson, parallel to interstate 5. It is a typical dry desert wash: wide, with swaths of tangled vegetation, more foot prints to be found in the sand than watermarks. I love it for its emptiness, and biking fast alongside it under bleached summer skies.

Is there water beneath the hot sand? Why does it rise and pool in slow moving spirals beneath the Tamarisk and Cottonwood trees on its north end?

Last week, the last gasp of the summer monsoon season paraded on Tucson’s south side. With it, came the flood of the Santa Cruz River.   

Cars were stopped, pedestrians leaned over the railing, soaking in the burning brown water with their eyes.

Feeling the wind blow off of the rushing water was just the cure for dusty summer blues.

Dylan Smith: Sentinel Guest

Our writing class was privilged to welcome the editor of southern Arizona online news journal, The Tucson Sentinel, Dylan Smith. Smith came from The Tucson Citizen, which is now out of print. He had intersting comments on the sole remaining southern Arizona paper, The Arizona Daily Star, and Tucson alternative weekly, The Tucson Weekly.

Smith has been in southern Arizona for over ten years, and says he is finally embedded enough in the community to have a foundation of the ins and outs of local happenings.
His online news journal, The Tucson Sentinel, is a independent, nonprofit news online news source. It aggregates news globally, but also has reports on local happenings. The articles are unique in their specificity to the region. His advice: Do what people aren't doing, check facts, find the stories that aren't being told. The Sentinel sets themselves apart with their commitment to unbiased reporting.

His goal is giving the most truthful comprehensive news possible. "Base your conclusions on truth," says Smith.

Style Mighty

Don't think I'm a one-track girl! Fashion is amazing.
I love the battle shield feel of the pieces in this collection, and the futuristic-goth-sci-fi style that Gareth Pugh throws in your face. Notice how androgynous the models are, including men in skirts and the hunchy, rough walk of some of the women.
Couture is bourgeois... I don't deny it. But I believe fashion it is one of the most accessible art forms, any one can (and everyone should) take hold of their own sense of style. How we present ourselves sends powerful messages to people about how we are, and what we have to offer.

Like it or not, first impressions speak LOUD. What do you think yours says? Is there much intention behind it?

Here's a more recent show from Gareth Pugh. Much cleaner, but just as mighty.

The Fruit Gamble

photo courtesy of  kevinjeon00 / iStockphoto

THE FRUIT GAMBLE - a Bon Appetit blog by foodie/complainist The NitPicker

For foodies, there is a world of difference in flavor between the waxy apple plucked from a pile beneath flourescent lights, and the apple from the hand of your farmer at the local market. And why not? We shop at farmer's markets because the food is fresher, maybe organic, and cultivated for flavor. Because of this, we're willing to pay a heftier price! and we expect (and I usually get) fabulous fruit. But agriculture is an unpredictable science and sometimes a beautiful fruit turns out to taste like mush! There really isn't a complete solution for the market shopper. Fortunately, the typical deliciousness is worth the occasionally bad apple.

Nature Misses You

This is a powerful video by some German student film makers. What if nature actually misses us? We tend to relegate the wilderness to such a separate realm of our lives. When it intersects, it's easy to ignore it. The drama of this video, taking place in NYC, is impossible to ignore. What are we missing in our modern urban world? I'm not nostaligic for some bygone pastoral era, but I do have a deep need for wild places, things. How can we blend our magnificent information age, with the primal need for something untamed?

the power of attention and nonviolence

This is a brilliant talk by a woman making documentaries about non violent resistance in Palestine. Although she addresses the particular passions of the people involved in the Palestine-Israeli conflict, and is committed clearly to non violence, the point she, quite rationally, makes is this: we empower what we pay attention to. When global attention concerns itself habitually with frivolous news, or reacts predominately to terror, violence and tragedy, we leave resisters with little reason to remain committed to nonviolent tactics.

Battle in Seattle, a film about the colorful resistance to the World Trade Organization Summit in 1999, also addresses the seeming futility of nonviolence. Peaceful anarchists come into conflict with their fellow protestors resorting to violent riot. The violence leads to media attention, but portrays the anarchist in a, well, stereotypical version of anarchy and distracts from their peaceful intentions. Although this film strays from reality, it realizes that the media seek action. How is an individual to draw attention to their cause without acting out? Check out the real battle in Seattle.

History is a tale of barbarianism, acquisition, and warfare. What is possible if modern cultures demands the story of empathy?

THIS is a Blog Post

Here!
This is a blog post.

It could say something personal:

I had spaghetti squash hash and chicory coffee for breakfast.


It could be something to share and explore:

The coffee was from Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans.

It could be something to rock your world:

After breakfast, I put on The Gift and got ready for class.

Or it could be instantaneous, as the wondeful web can be:

Now, I am in Web Writing and making a brand-new blog!