This weekend, while in NYC with Jason and Dabney, Dabney and I were comparing our rural upbrings (I'm from West Virginia, she's from Arkansas) when the subject of strip mining came up. I related to her and to Jason my belief that the country simply would not tolerate the wholesale destruction occurring in Appalachia were it being subjected upon New England.
Can you imagine the uproar if the headlines read "Vermont forests dynamited for coal baron profit" or "Annual N.E. foliage pilgrimage threatened by mining destruction"? The press would go, in a word, batshit.
So why doesn't anyone take notice of the 700,000 acres of Appalachian mountains that have been literally rendered to dust by this barbaric practice? The answer, I believe, is because it's happening not to upper-middle class New Englanders, but to dumb ol' hillbillies.
The term "hillbilly" has been used for centuries to debase and dehumanize rural mountain people, the the great benefit of those who would make a handsome profit from the region's natural resources. Dismissive and offensive, the term connotes a subhuman class of people who are simply undeserving of sympathy or human dignity. Images of Snuffy Smith and the Beverly Hillbillies or my [irony]favorite movie[/irony], Deliverance, reinforce an outdated and unfair stereotype that outsiders are unfortunately all too eager to believe.
I can't tell you the countless "West Virginia jokes" I've endured since moving from my home state. While no one would have the audacity to walk up to an African-American and start spouting "Uncle Remus" jokes, it seems to be perfectly acceptable in our society to ask a West Virginian if he married his sister or has all of his natural teeth. It's especially prevalent in Appalachian border states like Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the Carolinas, but I heard them all too frequently during my time in California as well.
But the real problem with the general acceptance of the hillbilly stereotype is not the obviously offensiveness of the term, but that it gives people a perceived moral "out" in terms of being able to look away while a small, but inordinately powerful, industry systematically obliterates the lives and quality of life of an entire class of people.
After all, it's just the dumb ol' hillbillies' ground water being fouled by toxic sludge.
It's just the dumb ol' hillbillies' towns being flooded by deforestation and valley fills.
It's just the dumb ol' hillbillies' livelihoods being taken away.
It's just the hillbillies. Who cares?
4/15/2008
4/14/2008
The Big Apple: Bitten.
Well, the trip to NYC went fabu. I boarded the BoltBus at the curb outside the Metro Center Metro station, took up my Uker-like front row seat, and instantly connected to the Internet to begin my trip. The bus was brand new and very shiny. The bathroom had a non-smelly chemtoilet, so you could pee en route. The bus left seven minutes late, but took exactly four hours (as planned) to get to NYC, where we disembarked around the corner from Penn Station. For $20 roundtrip, you can't beat it!
I then hoofed it about eight blocks to Chelsea where Jason and his lovely girlfriend Dabney (see photo below) were waiting at Jason's subleased apartment. It was a typical NYC studio apartment, which meant that it was...cozy. But it was also very convenient! Chelsea is a neighborhood I hadn't visited on my prior trips to the city, and it was really eclectic and cute, kind of what you like to think the Village used to be like.
We first went down to the New Museum ("Hell Yes!"), which is an architectural novelty, even in NY, as it is shaped like six boxes stacked one atop the others and clad in expanded aluminum. We got in free, since Dabney is a curator for a well-known New England women's college, which is nice. The artwork was suitably weird and cool.
After the museum, we went out to eat at the Mercer Kitchen (Yum! Pork chops...goooood.).
Later we headed down to the Lower East Side (my new favorite 'hood in NYC) and were deemed cool enough to be admitted by the leatherclad bouncer to The Back Room. In an "only in New York" moment, we approached the unmarked gate to the unmarked, hidden tunnel leading to the unmarked, hidden entrance to the unmarked, hidden bar and were stopped by a mean-looking bouncer who needed to scope out our coolness quotient before letting us inside. A guy next to us was judged unfit due to his use of flip-flops, but we made the cut. We're so cool.
After The Back Room, we went in search of live music, and found it at one of my NY haunts, The Living Room. This place is great because the crowd is over 30, the bands are always eclectic and good (we caught an improv band doing cover tunes with a Siberian throat singer...crazy!), and there is no cover charge to enter.
The next morning we groggily made it down to Washington Square Park and my my good friend Jane for breakfast down in Alphabet City. After some eggs, French toast, and plenty of coffee, Jane updated us on her new passion: kickball league (which started later that day).
The last leg of my whirlwind tour took the whole gang down to see a gallery that Dabney knew about where back in 1977 an artist named Walter De Maria filled an entire 3,600 square-foot flat with soil. Weird, yet strangely calming (see how calm we were afterwards in the photo below). That said, Jason and I also had an overwhelming urge to grab the fire hose and some seeds to perform some "performance art" of our own. :-)
I reluctantly trudged down to Chinatown, where my return leg BoltBus was patiently waiting to take me back to D.C. I was sad to be leaving my friends yet also very excited about seeing my Boo and Jenny (+S.T.B.®) again. It was only a day away but I really miss them!
The trip back to Washington was just as comfy as the ride up to NYC, but I (nor any other Mac users) could log on to the Internet due to a WEP 128 password problem (the router on the first leg of the trip was not pw protected). I hope that BoltBus either gets rid of the password altogether (why even have it on a moving bus?) or can figure out a Mac friendly solution before my next trip.
All in all, it was a fantastic day and a half trip. A big thanks to Jason and Dabney for putting me up and showing me the town and also to Jane for dragging herself all the way down Manhattan to come play with us! You all are awesome!
4/11/2008
NYC weekend TK
I'm going up to NYC this weekend to visit my buddy, Jason (see photo on right), and meet his girlfriend. Looking forward to telling her every embarrassing story that I can recollect on the bus trip up there.
Jason and I met while studying in Spain back in '91, and have been BFFs since then...OMGWTFLOL. We lived together on Capitol Hill back in '93-95 and I followed him to San Francisco when I returned from Spain (different trip) in '96. It's been a while since we've been able to hang out, so I'm looking forward to seeing him.
The bus I'm taking is pretty cool. It's a Greyhound offshoot called BoltBus that operates between DC--->NYC--->Boston and is dirt cheap. My ticket came to $20 roundtrip (I think they are doing $1 trips, too, but I couldn't score one of those), which is pretty cool, considering that the bus has free Wi-Fi access and outlets for your computer so you can surf the Net on the road. I'll report back on Monday with my review.
Hope to meet up with my S.F.-turned-NYC galpal Jane, too (see photo on right).We're going to get breakfast on Sunday morning if all goes to plan. Jane and I worked together in San Francisco and wine-partied together in Oakland. It will also be great to hang out with her again! Looks to be a good trip....
4/09/2008
New facelift for the blog!
We needed some graphically designed logo goodness, so here it is! (Look up, silly, it's right there!)
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4/08/2008
Bed drama and, finally, success!
Hard to believe, but Sylvie is now officially a "big girl" who sleeps in her very own real bed. Since we knew that the crib would be needed by the S.T.B.® (sibling to be), we thought it better to get Boo into her new digs sooner rather than later.
We didn't want to get her a toddler bed and have to outfit it with a bunch of sheets that would become obsolete all too soon, so we opted for a twin that she can grow into. Being the IKEA freakazoids that we are, we picked out what looked to be a trés cool, über-modern design that we knew she liked from a quick romp at the store and both Jenny and I dug, design-wise. So I lugged it home and put it together, with all the trials and tribulations that putting anything from IKEA together entails.
And it looked, as the California kids say, "hella cool." Turns out though that, in person, it was also "hella sharp." Like, box-o'-steak-knives sharp. Here it is:
See, very cool. But...every single edge was seemingly lying in wait for the smooth skin of our baby's noggin to come crashing in for impact. Crap. Took it apart. Lugged it back. Gahhhhhh!
Undaunted by lower back pain and mental distress, we picked out a nicer, gentler, more rounded and less deadly bed for our Boo. I give you—Tromsö:
So far, only one busted lip from the railing (knock on wood). She likes it so much she's already sleeping through the night without getting up! (KNOCK ON WOOD KNOCK ON WOOD X infinity)
We didn't want to get her a toddler bed and have to outfit it with a bunch of sheets that would become obsolete all too soon, so we opted for a twin that she can grow into. Being the IKEA freakazoids that we are, we picked out what looked to be a trés cool, über-modern design that we knew she liked from a quick romp at the store and both Jenny and I dug, design-wise. So I lugged it home and put it together, with all the trials and tribulations that putting anything from IKEA together entails.
And it looked, as the California kids say, "hella cool." Turns out though that, in person, it was also "hella sharp." Like, box-o'-steak-knives sharp. Here it is:
See, very cool. But...every single edge was seemingly lying in wait for the smooth skin of our baby's noggin to come crashing in for impact. Crap. Took it apart. Lugged it back. Gahhhhhh!
Undaunted by lower back pain and mental distress, we picked out a nicer, gentler, more rounded and less deadly bed for our Boo. I give you—Tromsö:
So far, only one busted lip from the railing (knock on wood). She likes it so much she's already sleeping through the night without getting up! (KNOCK ON WOOD KNOCK ON WOOD X infinity)
4/07/2008
Getting ready for baby #2
Wow! I can't believe we're about to be parents again. We're getting really excited and the little jumping bean is really doing somersaults in there. Elbows and knees and buttbones are all readily visable through Jenny's sweaters now. It's straight out of the Alien movies!
I hope this baby is as sweet and good as Sylvie Boo. She is really coming into her own personality, and aside from the occasional 2 year-old tantrum, she's really a sweet and loving child. We are so proud of her!
I hope this baby is as sweet and good as Sylvie Boo. She is really coming into her own personality, and aside from the occasional 2 year-old tantrum, she's really a sweet and loving child. We are so proud of her!
4/02/2008
Sirens in D.C.
I work within spitting distance of the White House (I've tested it often), so whenever I hear air-raid type sirens I get a little "edgy." What with maniacs flying shit into buildings and all. One is going off right now. Gulp.
3/28/2008
My Grandpa's Senior Photo
I posted my cheesy senior photo a few days ago. Here's my grandfather's (his name was also Joe V.):
He graduated class of 1936 from Moundsville High School in Moundsville, WV. It's a good thing his parents had immigrated from Spain in the earlier part of the century, as the Spanish Civil War began in 1936. He was the perfect fighting age to participate in that terrible conflict, but instead went door-to-door with his uncle collecting donations for the Republican government in the Spanish areas of West Virginia (which were quite substantial at the time).
He went on to Bliss Electrical Academy in Takoma, MD and returned to WV where he worked as an electrician in coal mines in southern West Virginia, which is where he met my grandmother.
In 1945 he shipped off to Japan and helped rebuild the electrical infrastructure in Yokahama until his early release from the Army due to my grandmother having a terrible car accident back home.
He spent most of his later years as the head of the electrical apprentice program for the West Virginia branch of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Every time I pass the IBEW offices here in D.C. I think of him with pride. He was truly dedicated to the Union cause.
I loved my grandpa very much, and I think he was pleased that I learned to speak Spanish and kept in touch with our family there. I still dream about him often.
He graduated class of 1936 from Moundsville High School in Moundsville, WV. It's a good thing his parents had immigrated from Spain in the earlier part of the century, as the Spanish Civil War began in 1936. He was the perfect fighting age to participate in that terrible conflict, but instead went door-to-door with his uncle collecting donations for the Republican government in the Spanish areas of West Virginia (which were quite substantial at the time).
He went on to Bliss Electrical Academy in Takoma, MD and returned to WV where he worked as an electrician in coal mines in southern West Virginia, which is where he met my grandmother.
In 1945 he shipped off to Japan and helped rebuild the electrical infrastructure in Yokahama until his early release from the Army due to my grandmother having a terrible car accident back home.
He spent most of his later years as the head of the electrical apprentice program for the West Virginia branch of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Every time I pass the IBEW offices here in D.C. I think of him with pride. He was truly dedicated to the Union cause.
I loved my grandpa very much, and I think he was pleased that I learned to speak Spanish and kept in touch with our family there. I still dream about him often.
3/24/2008
3/19/2008
Lunchtime protests
On my lunch hour I went down to McPherson Sq. (15th and K, NW) to check out the protests going on there. It's a little disheartening to see the kinds of people down there. Mostly young students (which is good), freaks with purple mohawks (bad), old hippies (very bad), and WTO-style bandits bent on getting the cops to beat their asses on camera for the Internet (very, very bad).
At one point the whole group was staging in the middle of K St. (without a permit), so the cops came to move everyone to the sidewalk (see photos below). The cops, I must say, were very professional and businesslike, not taking the bait to kick the living shit out of the idiots in the front of the group trying their best to provoke them. Instead, the officers simply formed a line, and with a higher ranking officer in back of them shouting instructions to the crowd, gently pushed back the throngs. Nobody got hurt, the crowd moved back, and the protest continued.
During the crowd control maneuver, some Internet reporter wannabe runs up with her HD cameraman, yelling at him to "get them pushing the protesters!" I turned to her and told her my thoughts on her kind of biased "journalism": basically, her kind of b.s. reporting is what gives the protesters (and the protest) a bad name with the rank-and-file Americans out there and provides fodder for the right to use against the anti-war movement. It's one thing to report on police brutality, which, as we know, happens all too often in the U.S.A., but she was attempting to spin the D.C. cops as brutalizing the protesters, which was not true at all. I think my photos of the incident prove that:
Here's the crowd in the middle of K St.:
The cops ask people to move back to the sidewalk:
The police form a line and start gently shoving the protesters back:
All the while, a lame-ass Rage Against the Machine cover band drones on (I kid you not: the singer had dreads and everything, it was comical):
I really wish the anti-war movement could rid itself of the freaks and provocateurs so that it would have a chance of attracting normal Americans who are sick to death of the war but don't want to be associated with the idiot fringe. It's one of the big reasons the right could care less about the movement: nobody takes these people seriously.
Meanwhile, back at the Ranch...business as usual.
At one point the whole group was staging in the middle of K St. (without a permit), so the cops came to move everyone to the sidewalk (see photos below). The cops, I must say, were very professional and businesslike, not taking the bait to kick the living shit out of the idiots in the front of the group trying their best to provoke them. Instead, the officers simply formed a line, and with a higher ranking officer in back of them shouting instructions to the crowd, gently pushed back the throngs. Nobody got hurt, the crowd moved back, and the protest continued.
During the crowd control maneuver, some Internet reporter wannabe runs up with her HD cameraman, yelling at him to "get them pushing the protesters!" I turned to her and told her my thoughts on her kind of biased "journalism": basically, her kind of b.s. reporting is what gives the protesters (and the protest) a bad name with the rank-and-file Americans out there and provides fodder for the right to use against the anti-war movement. It's one thing to report on police brutality, which, as we know, happens all too often in the U.S.A., but she was attempting to spin the D.C. cops as brutalizing the protesters, which was not true at all. I think my photos of the incident prove that:
Here's the crowd in the middle of K St.:
The cops ask people to move back to the sidewalk:
The police form a line and start gently shoving the protesters back:
All the while, a lame-ass Rage Against the Machine cover band drones on (I kid you not: the singer had dreads and everything, it was comical):
I really wish the anti-war movement could rid itself of the freaks and provocateurs so that it would have a chance of attracting normal Americans who are sick to death of the war but don't want to be associated with the idiot fringe. It's one of the big reasons the right could care less about the movement: nobody takes these people seriously.
Meanwhile, back at the Ranch...business as usual.
Five wasted years in Iraq
I work right downtown, one block off K Street, NW—the heart of big-time lobbying in D.C. Here's what I saw when I got in this morning:
As the last two pictures show, the cops were arresting protesters and putting them in the paddy wagon to be booked. I couldn't help but think the real people they need to be arresting live a few blocks south at the White House.
End this stupid, disgusting war now and put the resources toward fighting our real enemies in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia!!!!
As the last two pictures show, the cops were arresting protesters and putting them in the paddy wagon to be booked. I couldn't help but think the real people they need to be arresting live a few blocks south at the White House.
End this stupid, disgusting war now and put the resources toward fighting our real enemies in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia!!!!
Curlers on the Metro
Seen on my way to work this morning, I give you the following:
I've seen this lady on the Metro several times now rocking the curlers all the way downtown. Here's the thing I can't answer: She obviously cares enough about her appearance to curl her hair, so why is she totally unembarrassed to come out in public without bothering to remove the curlers, thus branding herself slovenly and lazy? Such are the mysteries of the world.
I've seen this lady on the Metro several times now rocking the curlers all the way downtown. Here's the thing I can't answer: She obviously cares enough about her appearance to curl her hair, so why is she totally unembarrassed to come out in public without bothering to remove the curlers, thus branding herself slovenly and lazy? Such are the mysteries of the world.
3/13/2008
3/07/2008
Where in the World is Xose the Destroyer?
I like to think of myself as world-aware, and although I traveled a fair amount through my early 30s, when I actually map it out, it seems that I haven't really seen too much of the world firsthand. I've spent a bunch of time in Spain, of course, but I've never made it into much of Africa or any of Asia. Maybe someday I'll get on the stick and fill some more countries in orange.
3/03/2008
Indoctrinate the kids
This is a toy that will not be in our house anytime soon. I wonder if it comes with two screeners that alternate between talking to each other about what color to paint their nails and screaming at grandmas to take their orthopedic shoes off?
2/25/2008
Lawrence Welk Anomalies, Part XVII
Now for a "modern spiritual performed by Gail and Dale." Sweet Jesus indeed.
2/22/2008
Ready, oh so ready, for the weekend
Man, is it just me, or do 4-day workweeks seem longer than the regular 5 days we normally slog through? I was preparing a meeting packet this week, and that's always brutal, but for some reason, it really kicked my culu this time.
We're going to brave the ice storm and go to our friends' house on Capitol Hill tonight for dinner. I need some conversation, vino, and good food like a mofo, let me tell you.
In other news, the baby is moving around inside Jenny all the time now, and we're trying to figure out whether it's playing soccer or dancing or both. I always put my mouth next to Jenny's belly and yell "What are you DOING in there?!?" :-) Jenny thinks it's weird, but it worked for Boo Boo when she was in there, and it will work for this one: they come out ready to rock! :-)
I've been getting together with my old bassist from MyLOH to play some new music. We are having my friend Etienne come over to play drums tomorrow and see it that clicks musically. Stay tuned for new music in the short term!
Gah! Will 5pm NEVER GET HERE?!?!?!?!?!
We're going to brave the ice storm and go to our friends' house on Capitol Hill tonight for dinner. I need some conversation, vino, and good food like a mofo, let me tell you.
In other news, the baby is moving around inside Jenny all the time now, and we're trying to figure out whether it's playing soccer or dancing or both. I always put my mouth next to Jenny's belly and yell "What are you DOING in there?!?" :-) Jenny thinks it's weird, but it worked for Boo Boo when she was in there, and it will work for this one: they come out ready to rock! :-)
I've been getting together with my old bassist from MyLOH to play some new music. We are having my friend Etienne come over to play drums tomorrow and see it that clicks musically. Stay tuned for new music in the short term!
Gah! Will 5pm NEVER GET HERE?!?!?!?!?!
2/13/2008
2/04/2008
Our schools are seriously broken
Okay, it's official. Our educational system is totally effed, as far as I can tell.
This morning I had to get up at 5am to go stand in line to register my 2 year old daughter for preschool. Turns out that finding a secular, decent preschool not housed in the dingy basement of a rec hall is tougher than it would be thought.
We got in, but what a freaking hassle. The folks in the front of the line had been there since 7pm LAST NIGHT. Whoa.
At least we didn't have to interview for a spot or get asked to list our daughter's "qualifications" like some other preschools in the area require. QUALIFICATIONS?????? SHE'S FREAKING 2 YEARS OLD, YOU A-HOLES!
Gahhh!!!!!!
This morning I had to get up at 5am to go stand in line to register my 2 year old daughter for preschool. Turns out that finding a secular, decent preschool not housed in the dingy basement of a rec hall is tougher than it would be thought.
We got in, but what a freaking hassle. The folks in the front of the line had been there since 7pm LAST NIGHT. Whoa.
At least we didn't have to interview for a spot or get asked to list our daughter's "qualifications" like some other preschools in the area require. QUALIFICATIONS?????? SHE'S FREAKING 2 YEARS OLD, YOU A-HOLES!
Gahhh!!!!!!
1/07/2008
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to all of our friends and family and family friends out in cyberland.
We are sure to have an eventful 2008, and anxiously await the opportunities that come with expanding our family by one, getting more education, and living life to the fullest!
J,J,S
We are sure to have an eventful 2008, and anxiously await the opportunities that come with expanding our family by one, getting more education, and living life to the fullest!
J,J,S
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