About Race, Name, Religion

This could be a true story or just another made up one. But I think it is very possible that it actually happened: A friend forwarded me a post from the Club Mekons yahoo group. The following is an excerpt from the post.

“[…] the following story from someone who was canvassing for Obama in a predominantly white, blue-collar part of Pennsylvania:

The canvasser was met at the door by a woman. Asked who she was planning on voting for, she said, “I’m not sure – let me ask my husband.” So she yelled back into the house, “Who are we voting for?” From inside the house the husband yelled back, “We’re voting for the n*gg*r!” And she repeated that – in the same words – to the canvasser.”

I really don’t know what to think about it. Is it racism or is it not? They may be using the n-word, but they are voting for him. Is it bigotry? One thing you cannot accuse these people of is hypocrisy. The kind of hypocrisy that sometimes underlies the political correct, as a constant search for an euphemism; like in “people are not fat, they are big”. But I digress.

Of course not being a hypocrite does not necessarily make one right. Does the action of actually voting for Obama cancel out the implied racism and/or bigotry of the use of the n-word? Are actions stronger than words? But still the word echoes of bigotry. Is Obama for these people a better n* than their next door neighbor? Is that the point?

The whole issue of race was never really central in this election campaign, and I liked that. But the thing is that there are still other issues that reek of bigotry. Rumors like Obama being a Muslim or Obama not being able to produce a birth certificate cause aparently he wasn’t born in Hawai. Even here in our supposedly liberal Massachusetts I hear the same stuff and people aparently believe in them. I had this exchange the other day with somebody from work, a man in his sixties who holds a prominent position:

– “(…) both of the candidates are stupid. And Obama is a muslim”, he said.

– “No, he’s not a muslim, he’s a christian”, I said .

– “No, he’s a muslim, I’m not voting for a muslim; and his name “”Obama“”, gimme a break I’m not voting for a guy named Obama“.

Sounds a hell lot like those times in another century, when his ancestors could not get a job in this city because of their Irish last name. History repeating…

Interpreting East Somerville

I am very happy that one of my photographs, “Cross Street Bridge” (see East Somerville post) was selected for the Interpreting East Somerville photo exhibition! Interpreting East Somerville is a community photographic exhibition presented by East Somerville Main Streets. The exhibition will open at the Somerville City Hall on Thursday, November 20, 2008 and will go on until January 2009.

I look forward to the exhibition!

East Somerville

The other day I was out and about in East Somerville taking pictures. I submitted three of them for consideration for the Interpreting East Somerville juried exhibit. I used to work at a building at the boundary of East Somerville and I always found the area pretty diverse; some parts were gritty, some parts are nice residential areas. It’s a very densely built area. The people you see walking through the streets are a diverse crowd, too. In my photographs I focused on the built environment.

These first two pictures are from Florence Street. The first one could have been somewhere on Beacon Hill. The second one is two buildings down from the first one, a whole different world.

 

 This is a house on Glen Street, which I’m sure has been photographed lots of times, especially at night with all lights on. I wonder how long it took them to put all the lights and decorations up!?

The next one is at 60 Tufts Street. I don’t know what kind of building this is (residential, offices?). I think it’s a unique building to East Somerville, looking like better suited somewhere in California. I like the contrast of the white and blue, reminds me of the Mediterranean.

Around the corner from 60 Tufts Street is the Cross Street bridge. Looks like it needs some work, hopefully just cosmetic touch-ups and not structural integrity related work. At the background you can see the McGrath Highway bridge. Both bridges go over the rail road tracks.

On Broadway there are lots of colorful storefronts:

This old Fire House is also on Broadway and now it houses the Cross Street Elderly Center

 

2008 Boston Bike Film Festival

Last Saturday was a bicycle-centered day for me: in the morning I did the 3-hour long Tour de Somerville bike ride, then rode my bike to work and later I went to the Brattle Theater for the 2008 Boston Bike Film Festival. When I first heard about it, I got a little confused cause there had already been a bike film festival in Boston in August, right? Yes, but it looks like these are two different festivals: Back in August there was the Bicycle Film Festival 2008 , which takes place in different cities all over the world and in August it visited Boston. This one was the 2008 Boston Bike Film Festival, which was going on Friday and Saturday. I didn’t make it to Friday’s screening. The Saturday night event was surprisingly sparsely attended. In my discussions with other people, we felt that the event could have used better promotion and advertising. I also heard that even the films line up wasn’t finalized until very recently. Maybe the Red Sox were playing that night was a factor too. Oh, well…

 

There were six short films shown. One was really bad, the majority mediocre and two of them were very good. Now, I have a soft spot for short films and filmmakers, and I don’t want to be harsh or anything, but some of the films needed some serious editing. One of the films I liked best was Danny Madden’s “Another New Bike”, which was well shot and edited, with a clear plot and very well acted by the young actors. The Emerson College student’s short was funny, cute and sharp.

 

 The best of all, and I think quality-wise at a whole different level was “Full Cycle” a short documentary about the Flying Scotsman Graeme Obree that showed what it takes both physically and mentally to compete at the highest level of World Cycling. Obree built his own medal-winning bike from parts of washing machines, and while he was breaking records at the race, he battled manic depression and was suicidal. This BBC Archive Documentary by director Russell Walker was sharp and honest. The cinematography was exceptional, the editing tight. The documentary stroke a balance in showing both sides of Obree: the outside, that of the winner biker (hard work and training, breaking records and winning medals), and the inside, that of the struggling man trying to understand why he’s unhappy after winning, recognize the problem and find a solution. A very good short documentary!

 

In all I think the event should have been more advertised: I am sure there are a lot more people in the Boston area interested in both bicycles and short films. Hopefully next year they’ll do better.

 

Tour de Somerville 2008

Tour de Somerville is an annual bike ride organized by Somerville’s Bicycle Committee. The 2008 Tour de Somerville was held on Saturday October 18, 2008. It was a 15-mile long ride mainly along the outer edges of the City of Somerville. You can view a map of the ride and cue sheet at http://somervillebikes.org/.

I initially thought it was going to be kinda chilly, but it turned out to be sunny and pretty comfortable. The ride started at 10am at the Seven Hills Park and ended at 1pm at Kenney Park. The pace was rather slow, but it was accomodating to the diverse crowd of bikers, meaning all ages and various fitness levels.  It was really nice having Somerville Police officers riding with us, which meant that the roads belonged to us (yay!!!) and generally made the ride safer.

At some point we rode along the Mystic River Parkway (Route 16):

At some point later we stopped at Broadway and Bristol Pearson Road

waiting for Mayor Curtatone to address the crowd. He showed up with one of his super cute sons

She had the coolest helmet on:

Later on we stopped at the Somerville Boys and Girls Club’s Blessing of the Bay boathouse by the Mystic River for refreshments 

where I snapped this picture of the youngest (I think) participant of the Tour, with Mom, Dad and one of the police officers

I guess around 100 people joined for the ride, and I am sure they enjoyed it. I met some new people and even had the chance to say hi to bassist Pete Sutton of the Ray Corvair Trio. A pleasant Saturday morning indeed!

Autumn

Autumn outside my window

and in my living room

This autumn’s soundtrack is Neil Halstead ‘s Oh! Mighty Engine

Buy Now Says Buffett

Well, looks like this it the time to buy, not to hold on to cash. Thus spoke Warren E. Buffett in an op-ed article in the New York Times and who am I to disagree? I’ll start investing again.

His simple rule that dictates his buying: “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”

The Days of Doom and Gloom

Oh, yes, it’s another day of free falling Dow, of shrinking consumer confidence and spending, of dropping house prices and values, of rising unemployment. The banks bail-out was not really an economy bail out, the crisis is deeper and more extended than previously thought, and it seems that nobody has a clue of how to fix things. Our economic and financial leaders cannot pro-act, every action is a re-action to more bad news and troubling results. It was worse than previously thought. But is this the bottom? Or should we be expecting things to get worse? Pretty much everybody thinks we are in a recession. OK, now what can it be done?

Sometimes I am getting overwhelmed by all the reports and the news. It is not difficult to comprehend that these are tough times we live in, but I do not know what I should be doing about it. I mean I go on living my life, I still have my job, although every 401(k) statement is another blow, I am glad I am still able to make my mortgage payments and am glad I was able to get my mortgage last year when the credit crunch first became noticeable, I might well be the last person getting a mortgage with 10% down payment. But now I think I have changed a little: I have not contributed anything to my 401(k) for a year now, I think I’ll start doing it when things pick up again. I am spending less, and I put more money in my credit union account. I am more cautious and hope that I am not the next one to get the pink slip. The whole atmosphere is loaded with worry. But I just keep going on.

I watched last night’s debate and believe than Obama is the better candidate. McCain seems irrelevant and out of touch. And now Joe the Plumber is our new best friend. I’m sorry Joe, but yes, if your business is big enough to make $250,000 a year, then yes, you do have to pay higher taxes. This budget deficit cannot be getting bigger and bigger; somebody has to find a solution. So here are the numbers: 2% of Americans make more than $250,000 a year; at the same time this 2% makes 12% of this country’s income. So, yes, Obama is right to want to impose higher taxes on these people.

I think the new President should be someone who is able to comprehend the magnitude and severity of every situation, analyze, assess and offer working solutions. A leader in a time of crisis is someone who can offer calm and solutions; we do not need another bully, another ignorant spoilt brat to drag us deeper into the muck. We want a leader who will inspire the best out of the people working for him. No, we do not need a micro-manager, we need a leader to guide.

HONK! 2008

Well, it was a long weekend (I love Monday holidays!). I’m glad I had the chance to go out and about. The weather was marvelous, but still there’s no mistaking that Autumn is upon us: yellow and red leaves have flooded the streets, the parks and the forests.

Saturday we stayed urban and checked out the HONK! 2008 festival in Davis Square, Somerville. Activist brass bands from different places get together and there is much noise, color and excitement for the bands and the crowds. I like this kind of music, rhythmic and urgent and danceable. Davis was crazy busy! I brought my new D90 with me to take some pictures, but I got bored with it quickly. Most of the photos I took are of the Brass Messengers;  they were pretty cool!!!

Blindness

Last night I saw the movie “Blindness”. This new Fernando Meirelles feature film was visually stunning, full of unsaturated colors that appropriately depicted the decay of the subjects’ humanity.

 

I had read the José Saramago novel a few years back: a sudden epidemic of blindness breaks out, the cause is unknown, panic sets in, every social order breaks down and the human nature is portrayed in all its nasty glory. The film depicted the grimness of the ambience rather well. But then the brilliant cinematography hovered above such details that no one could see; can a blind person feel the absolute darkness and straightness of Japanese hair? I thought that the picture showed the filth and the stench, the reduction of the personality to the anonymous. You have a number and you have a profession, but no one knows your name. You are stripped of one element of your identity; you are reduced to one of many. Scary many that is, showing the lowest lows of the human race. Lack of order and rules will bring the primitive out of human beings.

 

To me Blindness can mean different things; we can all very well get blinded and be unable to see the truth, and be tricked into blindingly following the dear leader, the voice. History has shown that it is too often that humans can be manipulated and be turned into instruments of hate, brainwashed into something extraordinarily alien and violent. And this condition part of our nature.

 

The character that I have a problem understanding is the doctor’s wife: she is the only one who hasn’t lost her eyesight and the reason of this remains unexplained. She is different, but why? What does it mean? Is she supposed to represent the dissenting voice? It is not that she chose to keep her eyesight. Maybe it means that although she has the obvious advantage to declare herself Queen of All Wards, even Queen of the World for that matter, she chooses to fight from within, she chooses to be one of the disfranchised. She lets her humanity guide her actions, she wants to help the other people overcome the difficulties, she is the universal mother, working at the sidelines with the ultimate goal to nurture the family.

 

And this is it: there is inherent duality in the human nature; along with the bad comes the good. In tough times humanity rises and people see that by sticking together and helping each other they can pull themselves out of the muck. We have to hit rock bottom, but then we can somehow rise from the decay and the filth, and find our lost morality and see things for what they are.