ARTIFACTS FROM MY OLD LIFE IN NYC

This is a laundry ticket from Super Magic Kingdom, the laundromat that has been in charge of cleaning my chonies for the past five years. I was always losing these tickets when I got them from Super Magic Kingdom, so they just knew to let me recognize my laundry bag and pay what it said on the ticket. I found this ticket in a jacket that I hadn't seen in four months.

CHAZ FOLGAR, ILLUSTRATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

So this is one of the illustrations that Chaz Folgar has completed for the new edition of "Ruberroom" that I am going to unleash on the world through Hinchas de Poesia Press. This particular illustration is inspired by the poem which you see below. Of all the things that I have written or worked on, this cycle of poems has garnered the most interest and attention.

Hinchas is going to release/distribute it through MagCloud. I am not sure how much they are going to charge for each one, but I am willing to bet it's going to be on the affordable side. I will keep you updated.


ACT FOUR, SCENE TWO: WHERE IS YOUR AIM?


At Discovery High
I am the teacher
that threw a chair
at a student, except
of course, I was aiming
for the smartass
blackboard.

I was not aiming
for any student
but for all of them.

It is just that I turned
my back for a sec
after setting my cretins free
on bullshit group practice
and sat down with one group
to troubleshoot

and the next thing I know
I am hurling a chair
from myself a chair
is coming from my hands

a quixotic missile
I can not to this day
explicate.

SISTER BDAY STICKER

It was my birthday recently. My sister sent me a print of one of her photographs in a rolled up tube and this birthday card. I love my sister and miss her now that we live on opposite coasts of North America.

SARCASTIC CAPSAICIN

Dear Middle Age Persian Hair Coiffuirist: The "best" cut for me is not what I wanted from you; what I wanted was my hair left in luscious rivulets, but cleaned up for "business" around the edges.
Dear Dyers of Sunflowers and Perennials: In jars, your spurious creations dribble out the toxins that you so cautiously have made them compulsively imbibe.
Dear Saturday Morning Jehovah's Witnesses Operating on Venice Blvd: I have a gargantuan dog, and he celebrates Halloween, Xmas, and Kwanzaa.
Dear Over Eager Midas Associate: When you overtreat customers better than they want to be treated they feel that you are trying to pull one over on them when you in fact may have nothing but elan to offer the betrothed-to-their-car.
Dear Mountaintops of Cobalt Pacific Sylvester: On particularly crisp sojourns into the hills of the Solstice--a homeestead unassembled by the elements.
Dear Mar Vista Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library: The tutors clog your reading rooms with remedial chatterbox therapy solvent torque, the boulevard is grossly damn loud.
Dear 1990 Totaled Crimson Volvo: Through a new lease on life, it has shown regenerative properties and startling auto-correction protocols.
Dear Poignant Pop Garbage: girls unsheath their girdles for the magic collusion of ionized dungarees with phosphorous pants, pianissimos, and quizzical, telepathic sonatas.
Dear Ferris Wheel on the Santa Monica Pier: the derelict specter of Abbot Kinney enters the enamel pillar each pylon supports in the jaw of fandango.
Dear Awesome Museum Exhibit Poster: Your irregular dimensions make for a romp through the muck of quality framers versus the do-it-yourself-pantheon.

HORACIO CURA JEWELRY DESIGN

Buenos Aires native, Horacio Cura, has been a goldsmith and jewel master in the U.S. for almost 40 years. He began his career with Juan Mendoza Jewelry Designs on 47th street in New York City's Diamond District during it's 70's heyday.

In 1983, Horacio moved his family to West Palm Beach so he could commence as Production Manager for Southern Time Jewelry Manufacture, which specialized in watch cases and bracelets. In 1987, Horacio accepted an offer from Ororoma Jewelry Manufacture to become Production Manager and Jewelry Designer, and stayed with the manufacturer for ten years.

Ororoma sent Horacio to Madras, India on three separate occasions to facilitate mass production techniques and logistical manufacture support for thirty bench jewelers and supervisors. Horacio has supervised large-scale, wholesale operations in the U.S., India, and Argentina, however, since 1998 he has operated as single proprietor of Horacio Cura Jewelry Designs.

98' was the year Horacio opened a taller in Miami's Seybold Building; he operates his taller there to this day. While not a manufacturer of jewelry, Horacio Cura Jewelry Designs accepts models, special orders and jewelry designs to make in 14, 18, and Platinum. Horacio is also a lightning-fast appraiser, and consultant for hire.

LIBRARIANS & CUSTOMER SERVICE

"According to the Association of Research Libraries, the average per-title cost of an academic journal grew by 227 percent between 1986 and 2002; in the past five years, prices have continued to rise 7 percent to 11 percent annually."


I was talking with my sister the other day and she had a less than average experience with the clerk that checked her books out. I explained that clerks are not really customer service oriented; clerks are trained to maintain the physical and logistical appearance of the library; they are neither trained nor necessarily like to interact with the public.

Customer service has become the primary directive of most librarians. I have gone to several job interviews lately where I was told by librarian friends that I should talk up my customer service skills. I have no problem with that since I have been a teacher for ten years and have developed intense rapport capabilities. I could talk a turnip into wanting to be a potato if I had to and if my fancy was struck. But, does that necessarily mean that I can give good customer service?

I ran across this article in The Chronicle Review written by Daniel Goldstein that speaks specifically to the dominance of this trend, especially in academic libraries where I have garnered most of my experience as a librarian. The article is titled, Library Inc., and I believe it has a lot to teach the layperson and librarians alike.

In it, Goldstein makes the point that libraries have shifted from "owners of the material their patrons required" to "providers of access to information" and that "At least since the 1970s, libraries have understood that their budgets would never be able to keep pace, and they began to seek an alternative arrangement. According to Goldstein, what they've done is redefine themselves as locksmiths and abandoned the scriptorium. You may ask yourself, why is this troubling?, and what is the relationship between this and the current emphasis on customer service?

Well, to save a few bucks, academic libraries have given control of their coffers of scholarly material to information middlemen like Elsevier and Taylor and Francis instead of opting to own journals, monographs, etc. Or as Dan Goldstein puts it, "The shift from owning a journal to merely providing access to its digital incarnation has, of course, saved some money. But those savings come in tandem with detrimental changes both to the content of library collections and the ways those collections are used." In other words, to save money, academic libraries are relying more and more on access rather than ownership, but this does nothing to amplify/push/further/engender the librarie's collection. If anything, it would be like not buying a CD of music in the hopes that you could hear the songs individually on Pandora.

Furthermore, Goldstein writes, "By outsourcing ownership to mega-vendors, libraries have introduced the commercial interests of the journal providers into what had been an internal academic transaction between a library and its patrons. Purveyors of e-journals provide access to their titles on sites that are designed to bolster brand recognition and encourage repeat visits". This does nothing for the idea as libraries as repositories of information from a diverse array of sources, not just a Google-like expanse of Teflon scholarship.

NUAI REVIEW, "DETENTION & RECESS" (2010)

Listening to “Detention and Recess” (2010) you get this immediate sense that Nuai pray at the altar of Afrika Bambataa, Pete Rock, and Immortal Technique. That's just me, I'm an east coast scumbag, so my frame of reference is eastcoastcentric to say the least.

If I were from the west coast, though, I might say Nuai are reminiscent of Jurrasic 5 and Pharcyde, maybe Souls of Mischief. Their new album, “Detention & Recess," is eclectic without being overtly technical, politically conscious without being "preachy", and reverent of Hip-Hop's revolutionary zeal, while at the same time, playful and raw. Ultimately, though, these three Angelino emcees, Aaron, Moses and Rahten, make original asphalt ballads that are “hardcore” but not heartless.

Track 1, "Other Side of Town," samples what sounds like the guitar riff from Das Efx's, "They Want Das Efx". Aaron and Moses joust on this track, and their chemistry is evident, but Rahten shines as well and provides a sort of verbal ballast to counteract the duo. Aaron spits "if you avoid the freeways, the streets are less busy/...conscious of when things are changing/ handshakes and fist pound indicate what part you stay in." Toward the end of his initial cipher, Aaron spits that "observation is the best way to stay upper-handed," and somehow I knew I was dealing with a trio of freestyle fanatics.

It becomes evident early on that ”Detention & Recess” is a robust critique of our Anglo-centric education system. The album serves as rebuke to those who say the educational system is equitable across socio- economic lines. I guess you could say the album concerns the many ways in which an individual can become "institutionalized"(school vs prison). The title might also refer to the way that lyricists use the flow of rhythm and silence to express themselves (Detention & Recess, if you will). Regardless, Nuai's second independent release is a work of unadulterated heart, pure in its convictions, and influenced by acts like Dead Prez and Slum Village.

Track 9, “Monster,” is lo-fi backbeat made kooky by a cartoon xylophone. Rahten ignites this track with, “it feels like I am a lost soul/ I’m facing death at the crossroads/ walking long roads painted with skulls and crossbones/ in the stone garden, cold-hearted and alone”. The track addresses the personal demons that we sometimes create for ourselves. Rathen adds, “Research and design/ the science of creating a monster that spits rhymes/first thing give em him heart, conviction/ line after line/last thing insert new eyes/now he’s alive!”

Track 4, “Tracks Needs Trains” is a soulful ditty where the piano functions as bass, reminiscent of that first Wu-Tang joint (Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers) when they dropped C.R.E.A.M. and blew everyone’s head. Feature MC “The Sicks” raps, “I know my mommas said that money shit gets old/ but shit looks new when its dipped in gold/with a touch like Midas and a gift like Hov”. The Sicks even underscores a healthy obsession with Immortal Technique and the might sword-pen when he spits, “technique like Immortal, in this world like a portal with the pen as my sword I kill microphones”

Track 5, “Sea Sick,” is a jazzy joint that could have been inspired by something Del the Funky Homosapien dropped on No Need for Alarm, or the Outro of one of the three Guru’s Jazzmatazz albums. The track recounts the physical sickness slaves must have felt during the Middle Passage. All three emcees emote a mumble Rahten “And when I am at the bank, it’s like I walk the plank/ In the water with open wounds in a piranha tank…soldiers roll up your sleeve and express one of your worse pet peeves”. The chorus intones, “Why does it smell like this?/ What’s this around my wrist?/ shackles and chains laying in a pile of shit/ Why’s everyone screaming, nah I must be dreaming/ I’m feeling sea sick”.

My standard for Hip Hop is impossibly high. What that means is you better not waste my time because like it or not I am a walking Hip Hop encyclopedia. For one thing, I am slightly older than Hip Hop; my frame of reference begins with Hip Hop's inception in Kool Herc's Bronx basement at 1520 Sedgwick and ends with the last album the radio stations have been giving heavy rotation. I may not have been there, in that basement, but I hold most acts up to the spirit of that recreation room. It’s no wonder the mainstream has appropriated Hip Hop as its next cash cow. However, acts like Nuai ensure Hip Hop remains a sonic movement of righteous populism set to music mashed up by overzealous masters of ceremonies.

BOOKS I NEED TO CHECK OUT THX TO "LITTLE BROTHER" BY CORY DOCTROW

I just finished Cory Doctrow's "Little Brother" and there are a heap of books that he lists in his bibliography that I definitely need to read. Here is the list, more or less...

Andrew Huang, Hacking the Xbox (2003)
Bruce Schneir, Secrets and Lies (2000)
Bruce Schneir, Beyond Fear (2003)
Bruce Schneir, Applied Crytography (1995)
Dan Gillmor, We, The Media (2004)
Bruce Sterling, The Hacker Crackdown (1993)
Bruce Sterling, Shaping Things (2005)
Daniel Pinkwater, Alan Mendelsohn: The Boy from Mars (1997)
Scott Westerfield, So Yesterday (2004)

3 NEW ILLUSTRATIONS FOR YAGO CURA'S "RUBBERROOM"

So Chaz Folgar is at it again and has agreed to illustrate my "Rubberroom" with several illustrations taken straight from the text. I like to call these interpretive illustrations and I think his are right on the money. Enjoy! And, just in case you were curious, Chaz Folgar is the curator of the current show in the Graham Center of Florida International University called, "Challengers of the Unknown"