The Undercurrent by Carlos Fierro

From the Editor:

The Undercurrent, as an independent newspaper (of, by, and for the people), brings together a lot of different folks

with a lot of different ideas. That being said, The Undercurrent itself does not endorse any of the views expressed in little over four years ago five folks got together to create a newspaper. Some of its pages, but endorses wholeheartedly the necessity of expressing views in all their variety—openly, honestly, and with an aim for the truth, whatever it turns out to be. To that end, we encourage our readers to send us letters. We’ll us had had some experience working on print them without edit. When a letter addresses a particular article, we’ll let the writer respond. When it addresses other community papers, but none of us had ever the paper as a whole, we’ll respond. In this way, together, we’ll inch our collective way closer and closer to the truth. taken on such task as this. In a little over a month we had our first issue out on the streets. To be honest it nomics, and the politics and economics of sports. The interview is a good read and offers sports fans and nonsports fans wasn’t much to look at, in fact we did entire layout using Word, believe me when I say that that is no small task. But as alike an insightful look into the world of sport. In our featured section, “Wish You Weren’t Here,” we time went on we became better at what we did, and with that take a look at xenophobia. Matt Espinoza Watson cuts through the paper took on a new life. The layout improved…more importantly we attracted some, and I don’t use this word light- a lot of the clutter around the issues in Arizona. A lot has happened in the courts and in the streets, and Matt works his way ly, wonderful writers. And even in those early days, when the paper wasn’t through it all and helps to make sense of it. Paul Gilmore brings us another Medford Boorman history (Meat or Rice?), as aesthetically pleasing as we might have wished it to be, we had loyal readers. Our readers were ravenous as times, picking this time dealing with the long history of xenophobia in up new copies even before I finished stacking them at whatever California and, closer to home, here in Fresno. And, the exhaustive work of H Peter Steeves & Steven J Ingeman has spot I was laying them out. We’ve gone through some ups and downs; the downs uncovered another lost Socratic dialogue (that guy was a prolific writer). have been particularly difficult, when times get tough volunI hope you enjoy this month’s issue. Tell someone teering your energies toward a project can be arduous. who hasn’t heard of The Undercurrent about us, better yet, give Throughout, you, our readers have made the project worthhim or her a copy. while. But now we need you to help us. The catatonic econoall for now, more later…cf That’s my has not been easy on us. Our advertisers are loyal, and we

hope you will become loyal patrons of theirs, but our advertising revenues only barely cover our cost of operations (sometimes we’re a bit short). What we are asking for is just a little bit of help. Our entire operation (about 95% of which is the cost of printing) runs at about $11,000 a year. We have a lot of readers, and if our readers gave just a few dollars a piece we could more than cover that cost. To that end we’ve set up a handy donation feature on our blog that allows you to donate and track how donations are progressing. If you go to fresnoundercurrent.blogspot.com you’ll see the little icon below. All you have to do is click the “Donate” button and you will be directed to paypal, where you can donate an amount of your choice. Then check back every few weeks and watch with us as we move toward our goal of $11,000 (taken as a whole it’s a lot, but a lot of small donations can make it happen). Ok, enough of that. If you read The Undercurrent it’s not because you want to hear us beg for money. You want a perspective on the happenings of the day that you will not get elsewhere. You want to read about topical issues, health, the environment, labor, et cetera. You want to read entertaining and provocative essays. You want to read about local bands, artists, authors, and restaurants. You want to read the musing of locals, or pick up great tips on gardening, or even enter into the cavernously profane world of advice from Nocketback. I hope you’ve come to expect a lot from The Undercurrent, more so, I hope we’ve come to the point where your expectations aren’t misplaced. Like we have in past months, we’ve got a ton of good stuff for you. Of particular note (I’ve given you a bit of a rundown already) check out Daniel Ray’s interview of Dave Zirin, as fine a writer on sports and culture as there is, or ever has been. Daniel was able to catch up with Zirin in Oakland, and they chatted about all matters concerning sports, politics, eco-

To the Editor:

write this letter in regard to the violent disturbance which occurred on July 3rd. 2010, along the Kings River, on one of the islands occupied by some 25 Skin Heads and Nazi Riders. On that day there were many Hispanic youths and families floating on rafts down the Kings River, near the Reedley area. The floaters on one the rafts tried to stop to pump air on their raft on the island occupied by the Skin Heads and Nazi Riders. Before the Hispanic floaters even came near the island, these two racist groups identified themselves as being Skin Heads and Nazi Riders. They started telling the Hispanic floaters, “Don’t come near this island you Mexicans. This island is for Skin Heads and Nazi Riders. Why do you celebrate Fourth Of July? You guys are wet back Mexicans and we are White. Go back to Mexico where you belong. We are Skin Heads and Nazi Riders.” These racist hate words caused an uproar among all the Hispanic rafters and a terrible violent fight broke out between both ethnic groups. This terrible violent fight ended up with several people beaten and stabbed. Several stabbed had to be taken by helicopter to Community Regional center. The sheriff’s department made several arrests and the news media was there to handle and cover the disturbance. This has been the most violent disturbance along the Kings River and its beaches. It was a miracle there were no fatal tragedies or children hurt. Though the story was covered by the news media, nothing was mentioned about Skin Heads and Nazi Riders being involved and probably the agitators of this horrible disturbance. The whole disturbance was just seen as another Mexican gang fight. My concern is the safety of the families enjoying themselves in this recreational area. If the Kings River private beaches continue to be rented out to hate groups such as Skin Heads and Nazi Riders, the violence will to continue to increase until these disturbances turn tragic and unsafe for for families to go there for recreation. ~Martin

August 2010

Volume 5

Issue 3

Editorial Board Carlos Fierro editor@fresnoundercurrent.net

Jessi Hafer jessi@fresnoundercurrent.net

Matt Espinoza Watson mattw@fresnoundercurrent.net Abid Yahya abid@fresnoundercurrent.net

Contributors Christy Arndt Mark Brenner Christy Cole Steve Early Ashley Fairburn Cheryl Chancellor-Freeland Amy Gallagher Juan C Garcia Paul Gilmore Ariel Bird Goodman Steven J Ingeman Gena Kirby mia barraza martinez Nicholas Nocketback Everardo Pedraza Rosalba Lopez-Ramirez Daniel Ray Eli Rayes Tehea Robie Hugh Starkey H Peter Steeves Ed Stewart Adam Wall

Copy Editing Layout

Jessi Hafer Matt Espinoza Watson Carlos Fierro

For advertising inquiries, please email ads.undercurrent@gmail.com For letters to the editor, please email letters.undercurrent@gmail.com For submission information, please email editor.undercurrent@gmail.com For subscription information, visit FresnoUndercurrent.net or send a check for $35 to “The Undercurrent” P.O. Box 4857, Fresno, CA 93744. ©2010 Out of respect for our contributors, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the permission of the Editor-in-Chief.

SCIENCE, HEALTH, & ENVIRONMENT 4

5 LOCAL 6

Cultivating Consciousness: I’m a Radical?...I’m a Radical!!...Radical! by Gena Kirby

Integral Vision:Meditation as Social Protest by Juan C Garcia, Everardo Pedraza, & Cheryl Chancellor-Freeland

We Pay Taxes, Clean Up Our Alley Fresno Residents Demand Action from City Hall

by Rosalba Lopez-Ramirez

STATE, NATIONAL, INTERNATIONAL 6

What the Nightly News Didn’t Show You About the Mehserle Verdict protest

2010 State of the Union, Sports Edition w/ Dave Zirin interview by Daniel Ray

L ABOR

by Tehea Robie

Settlement Reached in Two-Year Feud between SEIU and UNITE HERE by Mark Brenner

FEATURED TOPIC: WISH YOU WEREN’T HERE 10

Fewer Immigrants, More Scapegoating: The Obama Administration, Arizona, and Recent Trends in Immigration

Meat or Rice: a Medford Boorman History by Paul Gilmore

by Matt Espinoza Watson

The Socratic Dialogues: “The Metic”

by H Peter Steeves & Steven J Ingeman

CALENDAR 16

GAME [RE]VIEWS 25

UnderCurrentEvents Calendar

The Undercurrent’s indie PREVIEW

MUSIC [RE]VIEWS 19 21

Meet the Musicmakers: Trumpet Solo by Christy Arndt

Night Light reviewed by Nicholas Nocketback

ABOUT THE COVER 20

Ariel Bird Goodman “The Monkey Scribe Twins”

BOOK [RE]VIEWS 22

The Undercurrent’s Summertime Slump-Busters by Nicholas Nocketback

PLUGS & PROFILES 23

23 24

Ride to Wahalich

by Ashley Fairburn

El Teatro Campesino presents Popol Vuh: The Story of Seven Macaw by Matt Espinoza Watson

Poetic Justice Project: Prison Town Tour

Poetic Justice Project Press Release

COLUMNS 26

27 28 28

One Up! A Review for Gamers: Deathsmiles by Hugh Starkey

Dear Nocketback by Nicholas Nocketback

The View Looks Good From Here, Fresno: Xenophobia by Adam & Ed Green Up Your Thumb: Celebrate Creativity and Thriftiness in the Garden by Christy Cole

MisFortune Cookies by Nicholas Nocketback

EATS & DRINKS 29

Viva Vegan! reviewed by Jessi Hafer

Bacchus Blurb: Gewurztraminer by Carlos Fierro

POETRY & PROSE 30

30 31

my favorite picture of miguel barraza, calwa park – one a.m., & not tonight by mia barraza martinez

How Close is the Jersey Shore, Really? by Nicholas Nocketback

A Currency Curriculum on My Deathbed by Nicholas Nocketback

I’m a Radical?...I’m a Radical!!...Radical!

omeone said I was a radical the other day. I did the head tilt thing I do when someone says something that doesn’t register, (I think I may have been a bird or a dog in a past life, or Vincent D’onofrio). I stood there thinking, me, really, I don’t even have a tattoo! Whatever that means, I just couldn’t picture myself as what I thought a radical was. Dictionary.com says a radical is: a person who holds or follows strong convictions or extreme principles; extremist. Maybe, but it seems like an extremely small pigeon hole. I really dislike labels—they are limiting and limit how far we can see and how clearly we can see others and ourselves. So why did someone say I was a radical to begin with? Well, I guess it’s because I had two of my three children in my home (gasp!), which, when you consider only 1% of babies are born at home, may make my choice of where to birth, radical. Maybe because I advocate for women and infant rights in public forums. However, I’m pretty sure the person who said I was a radical was referring to our decision to UNSCHOOL our oldest.

bring her lunch in person. I stood with her outside the cafeteria while we waited and waited for everyone to “settle down.” She turned around and faced me and said, “we do this everyday,” as she rolled her eyes. Later the warden or whatever the title was of the lady in charge of the cafeteria was, was yelling at the kids about what she expected of them, my daughter sighed and said, “it’s like this everyday.” A week later she asked if she could unschool.

So what is unschooling? The term “unschooling” was first coined in 1977 by John Holt, an education reformer, the founder of Holt Associates, and author of the book, Teach Your Own. Holt felt traditional home-schooling didn’t go far enough. He believed parents should not DUPLICATE schools in their homes. He favored an education more freewheeling in nature, one that depends on the child for direction. The expectation is that along the way they will get an education. I guess it’s radical, many of the webNo, I don’t mean HOMESCHOOL, I sites I found about unschooling when my husmean UNSCHOOL. We have given our band and I realized we were REALLY going daughter the choice to unschool since she was 4. She has chosen school ever since last year. to do “this,” are literally called RADICAL This year, however, she has discovered on her UNSCHOOLING! Dayna Martin has written a book called Radical Unschooling: A own that school isn’t a place so much for Revolution Has Begun. Well, I guess I’m not learning as it is for remembering. She asked just a radical, I am a revolutionary as well. us if she still had the choice between Who knew? I just want my kid to be a free UNSCHOOLING and the Third grade. Our thinker and not be just another cog in the answer was of course, “of course.” She decided one day when I came to her school to machine. I want her to have her own thoughts and question things. She would come home from school and tell me that many of the

answers she got at school were very unsatisfactory. Her word, not mine, she learned that word at an ice cream parlor when she overheard a couple talking about how ice cream doesn’t taste the way it used to. I mention this because she learned the word OUT of school. Kids learn all the time and really don’t NEED to be TAUGHT to LEARN. In Sandra Dodd’s Can Unschooling Work in the Real World? she says,“If unschooling can’t work in the real world, nothing at all can. People will say ‘How will they learn algebra in the real world?’ Is there algebra in the real world? If not, why should it be learned? If so, why should it be separated artificially from its actual uses? ‘Why?’ should always be the question that comes before ‘What?’ and ‘How?’ There is a Sesame Street book called Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum. There is a ‘things under the sea’ room and ‘things in the sky’ room, but still each room is just a room in a museum, no windows, everything out of context. Then he opens a big door marked “everything else in the whole wide world” and goes out into the sunshine. There is unschooling” (1). I find when I tell people we are unschooling our daughter, it puts them in a very uncomfortable

place. I think that place is full of fear and unknowns. Maybe they sense our radical revolutionary inclinations and it scares them. Maybe they could never imagine making that decision themselves. A few weeks ago at The Iron Bird Cafe we shared with a woman a table away from us about unschooling. Poor dear made the mistake of asking my oldest the typical and boring questions most adults are wont to do: “How old are you? What grade are you

in?,” etc. Ava, my oldest, informed her that she was old enough to make decisions that kept her safe but helped her mind expand, and that she was taking a year off school to see how it felt. Seriously, that’s what she said; the lady took one more long look at Ava and a somewhat mournful look at us and GOT UP and moved a few tables away! No kidding. In a phone interview for my radio show PROGRESSIVE PARENTING on KFCF I spoke with Sandra Dodd and she warned us that if we chose this path this is what we would be met with; anger, fear and reproach. She said people would think we were crazy or even, radical. She was right. To illustrate this idea, doesn’t it perturb you to learn about the idea of “critical thinking?” Is there really such a thing as “uncritically thinking?” To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth? This was happening to me, and if it wasn’t for the rare occurrence of an avantgarde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is. I feel my children’s potentials and happiness are at stake, we know why we are making the choices we make, ask yourselves this very important question, do you? I know you may read this and think we are nuts, and that’s okay, I guess when you are a radical revolutionary, with or without tattoos, you can’t afford to care if people agree with you or not.

_______ (1) http://sandradodd.com/unschooling.html ______ Gena Kirby is a wife, mother, Doula, Childbirth Educator, and creator of mommymattersonline.com. She is the creator and host of the radio show, Progressive Parenting, which airs every Thursday at 1pm on KFCF 88.1 FM.

in which meditation can also be a form of social protest. Extreme forms of oppression are motivated by hatred and anger. Those victimized by the oppressive force, may be tempted to respond with hatred and anger as well. But if this happens, the victim, then, is still influenced by that initial hatred and anger directed at them and they are no better than their oppressor. The practice of meditation can help the “victim” to transcend the victim role so that he or she can adopt a more cre“Stillness within one individual can affect sociative and life-giving role. As they practice ety beyond measure.”—Bede Griffiths deep meditation, their motivation to respond appropriately to the injustice will come from a editation can be a form of effective place of love, peace and compassion, rather social protest. Many think of social than from a place of unprocessed hatred and protest solely as an activity comprised of engaging in non-violent resistance to anger, which is a waste of creative energy. The oppressive situation may give rise to feelings of oppressive and discriminatory forces such as hatred and anger, but in the clear light of that skillfully demonstrated by Mahatma awareness, which meditation makes possible, Gandhi in liberating India from British rule in the last century. We might equally call to mind that anger and hatred is transformed into clarity Rosa Parks and other Civil Rights activists who of mind and an experience of love, wisdom and refused to ride the city buses in Montgomery, Alabama in the 1950s (and the social protests of the 60s and 70s) in order to call the world’s attention to the terrible injustices of racial discrimination suffered by African Americans and people of color in the United States. We may also think of Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and the United Farm Workers of America standing proudly with their picket signs, boycotting California table grapes worldwide in an effort to bring rich farm owners to sign contracts that would create more humane working conditions for farm workers. We may even think of the Los Angeles Walkouts facilitated by Chicano/Latino activists who protested the discrimination they experienced as students compassion. Thus, they will be able to respond in more creative ways that will put an end to in their high schools. These are but a few the cycle of hatred and anger. Mahatma examples of the many successful non-violent social protests that have taken place around the Gandhi makes this point clear when he states that, “In the attitude of silence the soul finds world. the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive A common denominator of all social and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearprotests is the coming together of people in the ness.” Indeed, the oppressor would like the recognition of some form of oppression and victim to operate from a place of anger and injustice and then engaging in some type of hatred, because they can still be controlled, as concrete social action to protest that injustice in their response can be more predictable. But if order to create a better world—indeed, a civithe “victim” goes deep within and emerges lization of love. from a place of wisdom, love and compassion, While the outward physical manifestheir right action will have a greater impact in tations of concrete social action are the typical the world, and thus be more effective and beneways we recognize social protests, we would ficial for all involved. like to suggest that meditation is another, equalAnother characteristic of oppression ly valid and effective way of engaging in social is that the oppressor is motivated by unforgivprotest. We are not suggesting that one is beting and compassionless attitudes. The opprester than the other. In fact, both are necessary in sor’s actions may cause the victim to adopt order to approach and engage social injustice in similar attitudes, which constrict the flow of a more integral and holistic way. grace and creativity. The practice of meditation Let us now examine some of the ways puts the meditator in contact with his or her

Meditation as Social Protest

own inherent compassion and mercy, and thus he or she will be able to practice forgiveness, which sets the heart free, and allows for the possibility of more creative solutions. As Alexander Pope writes, “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” Indeed, we need divine assistance to forgive our grievances, and meditation puts us in touch with the divine presence that exists in the depths of our being. The practice of meditation gives us accessibility to that divine grace within us, which, incidentally, is always at our disposal, because the kingdom of God is within us. But many times we don’t feel it or are not in touch with it because we live our lives on the surface level, the ordinary level of our awareness. The practice of daily meditation helps us to get in touch with the spiritual dimension of our being, where we can have access to the grace necessary to practice the forgiveness that will free our hearts and minds from resentment and anger; these feelings only serve to constrict our creativity and well-being. Remaining in a place of resentment and anger is to remain a participant in the spell of the oppressor. Perhaps this is what the oppressor wants, for the victim to stay constricted and in a state of fear. The oppressive force, in whatever form it takes, is also motivated by an attempt to divide. This division pertains to people, communities, organizations, etc. This harkens back to the “divide and conquer” approach to war. Meditation, on the other hand, is motivated by unity. Indeed, the practice of meditation puts us in touch with the interdependent nature of all reality, and we can see the unity of existence and how we truly are all related. The Mayans have a saying to describe this unity which is expressed as “In Lak’ech,” which means, “I am you, and you are me.” Indeed, meditation unites us within our selves to ourselves, uniting our body, mind and spirit, and then uniting ourselves with others, all sentient beings, and even nature and the cosmos itself. In our day, modern scientists studying the new biology are recognizing the effects of oppression, judgment, discrimination, and unforgiveness on the human body at the cellular level. This is, of course, an insight that mystics and saints discovered eons ago through their spiritual practice. One of the glories of our modern times is that scientists are confirming the deep insights that spiritual masters discovered generations ago. Modern scientists are discovering that when a person experiences negative emotions, the cells in their body “freeze up” so-to-speak, and contract, and do not operate as they were intended to function. However, when a person experiences forgiveness, acceptance, mercy and compassion, the cells “thaw out” and begin to function normally. This has a direct affect on how the human person feels on the psychological and emotional level. While oppressive forces tend to make their victims contract literally and figuratively,

meditation, on the other hand, puts the meditation practitioner in touch with the positive emotions of mercy, acceptance, love, wisdom and compassion and therefore has a direct expansive and liberating affect on their physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, something that the oppressor certainly does not want. So the practice of meditation is a direct confrontation to the effects of oppression and therefore helps the meditator to transcend the negative effects of oppression, thereby keeping the meditator in a positive state in order to deal more creatively with the injustice at hand. Oppression attempts to victimize by fear and control. By keeping others in a state of fear, the oppressor is more easily able to control them. This was evident in recent times when George W. Bush, with the help of the media, spread an attitude of fear across America, and misguided us into going to war to look for oil and those elusive “weapons of mass destruction,” in order increase the wealth of those invested in the war machine such as Halliburton, Inc. Meditation, in contrast, helps the practitioner of meditation to transcend fear and to be liberated from the control of others. In fact, meditation, in its deepest sense, grants the practitioner liberation from fear and control and any other emotion or energy that impedes the full functioning and evolution of the person. As Ken Wilber would say, meditation, as a psycho spiritual technology, and as promoted by the world’s contemplative spiritual traditions, leads to the Great Liberation. It is no wonder that people such as Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi and Cesar Chavez were people of deep, silent prayer who practiced regular, daily meditation. Gandhi stated that he practiced two hours of daily meditation per day. Cesar Chavez was also known to practice meditation, also known as contemplative prayer, on a regular basis. And Mother Teresa was adamant about keeping regular practice of silent prayer as part of her very busy missionary order. It is no surprise that they got their energy, inspiration and discerning wisdom from their meditation practice and therefore were vastly more effective in their concrete works of social justice and compassion. Thus, these two practices go hand in hand, and activists would do well to combine their social activism with a regular practice of meditation to more effectively address the injustices in our time at the personal, communal and global levels. _______ Everardo Pedraza, MA is a free-lance writer who teaches English literature and writing at Sunnyside High School and is a graduate student in the Marriage and Family Therapy counseling program at California State University, Fresno. He co-facilitates the popular 3rd Annual Interspiritual Peace Meditation event at Woodward Park August 21 and September 18 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at Riverview Picnic Shelter. He can be reached at evpedraza@yahoo.com.

We Pay Taxes, Clean Up Our Alley! Fresno Residents Demand Action from City Hall

or years now, community members on Olive & Fisher have being living among the aging and rotting mattresses, televisions, tractor tires, broken glass, and various other hazardous materials and trash found in their alleys. For too long the Fresno City Council and Council member Henry T Perea neglected these neighborhoods, regardless of requests for clean up. However, because of community efforts and organizing by Freedom School activists, marginalized communities, which are all too often ignored and neglected, were heard. And the city was forced to abide its responsibilities of serving the people.

For those unfamiliar with the neighborhoods around Olive and Fisher, it is an urban community in Fresno whose perseverance and determination is reflective of both historical and cultural richness. Traditional concepts are valued by elders and youth, which are evident within the community in art forms such as graffiti messages that read “Native Pride.” Walking through these neighborhoods, it is evident that culture, art, community gardens, friendships and family are embraced here. However, within these neighborhoods there was also an awareness, in particular among the youth, that their community has been neglected by the city and city representatives. The City of Fresno and the representatives purportedly exist “to protect the health and safety of our community and help support the general welfare of the community” (City Website). One young community member said in frustration, “It’s not right, they say, ‘Fuck this side of Fresno’ [the South].” Frustration was also felt by freedom school activists, as I shared with them the situation that community members on Olive and Fisher were facing. A sense of astonishment and

by ROSALBA LOPEZ-RAMIREZ

empowerment grew within the community and activists as we collectively began learning from each other. As we walked through the alleys it was unavoidable to see or smell the ridiculous amounts of decaying trash. We had to walk with our eyes turned toward the ground because of the large amounts of broken glass. Children and families

petition called upon the City of Fresno, and District 7 Council Member Henry T Perea, to live up to their responsibility of serving the public trust by taking action and cleaning up the trash in the alleys. The petition was submitted to the Fresno City Clerk’s office, at which time local activists also requested to be on the agenda for the city council meeting for June 24, 2010. Shortly after submitting the petition, a representative from Henry T Perea’s office contacted us and informed us that although it was not fair, it was the responsibility of community members to clean up the alleys themselves, even though it was understood that the majority of the trash was dumped illegally by people not of the neighborhood. Alley behind Olive & Fisher—photo by Raj Dhah However, on the day of the city council meeting, the initial position held used the alleys to visit neighbors and to by the office of Henry T Perea changed. shop at their local corner store. The presence of the community was Emotions ran high among residents as undeniably hard to overlook. Children, we walked through the alleys…many parents and community activists silently left wondering how the city could allow protested during the city council meetsuch negligence? ing with signs and images, created by The frustration over the negli- the community, that read, “I want to gence was evident as community mem- play in my Alley,” “Clean My Alleys,” bers shared their stories of their long and “We pay taxes, why not clean up struggles in dealing with the trash. my Alley?” As a result of the solidarity Their alleys had become a dumping between activists and the community, ground for others to leave their trash by the office of Henry T Perea was perthe truckload in the dark of night. One suaded to help the residents clean up the mother told of an event last year when alleys. her family awoke at four in the morning This was a very real victory to the screams of a neighbor, who for the residents around Olive & Fisher. banged on the front door to warn neigh- And it is an important lesson in underbors that the trash in the alley was standing that we are all in this struggle ablaze. A scorched tree and half burnt against a system that embraces a topelectricity pole serve as reminders to the down approach that expects us to community of the fire that could have remain silent in the face of neglect. potentially taken lives. Solitary will keep us stagnant; solidarity Needless to say, community will keep us strong and is the way to members had grown tired of having needed change. their backyards serve as an urban dump- _______ Rosalba Lopez-Ramirez collaborates site and were ready to take action. A petition was created and signed by resi- with the Freedom School and is an active advocate for the community. dents on Olive and Fisher along with supporters from throughout Fresno. The

What the Nightly News Didn’t Show You About the Mehserle Verdict Protest by T E HE A R OBI E

Photo by Troy Holden, see more of his work at: http://alturl.com/ctvxd

Rage is the type of thing you can’t really plan for.

ou can board up windows, fill the sky with helicopters, televise warnings of terrifying riotArmageddon—but you can’t actually anticipate that emotion. Most of us don’t feel it until the acid curdle of our own blood boils, till we feel like ripping off clothes and letting gargantuan green selves emerge, Incredible Hulk style. I am the white mother of two black sons, and I’m angry. My kids have two or three more years before they stop looking like little kids, and start looking like targets, like “criminals” to the media and the white infrastructure that surrounds them. I’m running a race to change the world before that happens. Before the stopwatch stops...before my babies become involuntary suspects for crooked cops. I didn’t know the extent of my anger about the Johannes Mehserle verdict. I didn’t know until I got downtown, to the site of the community gathering organized by

Protest continued next page...

Protest continued...

Oakland General Assembly for Justice for Oscar Grant. The sound system wasn’t set up yet; the disorganized scene resulted in an impromptu call to march. It was 5:40 p.m. Most of the people there took to the street. I was livid. I was thinking about the fact that nearly hundreds of police and National Guard were about to meet up with a crowd that had no previous civil disobedience plan. I cussed out innocent bystanders and orange-vested “peace-makers” from the mayor’s office, demanding to know where the rally’s organizers were. That’s when the amps went live and the crowd swelled. I heard a young woman crying on the mic. She called me back to my senses. We can’t plan for the feeling of rage, but we can train ourselves to act right. Rage is unprocessed grief. When it’s let out the right way, it’s more powerful than tear gas, or rubber bullets. For me, this is the real news about last night, no matter what you heard. I witnessed a peaceful protest begin and end in peace. I walked home in peace. When I got home, I heard about all the rest. I couldn’t sleep until I saw that the Rachel Maddow Show had covered the verdict. Below is a sample of my experience at the gathering on 14th and Broadway. Many of the first speakers were sobbing through their words.

years old. And he got murdered. And those people got to walk free. “[Mehserle trial] They got a new juror in what, a weekend? Oh, I’m sick. Oh, I’m going on vacation. Involuntary manslaughter. “I’m so tired. I swear. I’m only 20 years old, and I’m so tired.”

the school close down. We don’t have enough unity so of course we’re gonna seem like lost causes for somebody else to kill. “Stop being quick to kill your own brother! You might be from the same tribe or something! Stop being quick to look at your own sister crazy! Stop dividing your own family! We are not each other’s enemy. God says fear no man. The policeman is a human

as there has been such thing as America. And know that the only way we’re gonna get out of it, is when we look at each other and realize that we’re going to have come up with our own solutions. We need to develop our own community system, based on the well being of each and every member of our community. So when you put pressure on these courts, just keep in mind, it’s only to wake your brother and your sister up.” Summer

“I’m a youth. I’ve been listening to everybody, and the message across the board, from the young people we say we want to hear from, has been peace. Y’all got up here and cried, shouted, yelled. So how many of y’all are really hearing us? We’re begging you to not fuck our shit up! This is our city! We can go blow up Walgreens, but what is that gonna do? We’re gonna be in a worse position than we are today. When are we gonna be able to come together and say, ‘I respect your opinion.’ All it takes is a second, to think about our options. What is tearing up our city gonna do for us? What is sitting back and doing nothing going to do for us?” Amaris (a preteen)

“Ever since I was 5, I thought I was gonna be the big president of the world. When I was 6, I thought - I’ll Tyisha just settle for something less. I’ll be Photo by Troy Holden, see more of his work at: http://alturl.com/ctvxd the vice president. When I was 8, I “My heart is hurting so bad right now, I can’t said, okay, I’ll just be a model. And I even focus. These people think that they can kept going down and down and down. instantly come and get the youth to follow being. Why are we fearing them? I’m not Justice Now I see this on the news, and I am outthem, like it’s a band, like it’s hella cute to be about to look up my poem right now, but the raged. I feel that I can be the big boss on Wall out here, like we just out here playing at this. “The first thing I want to say, is that they poem is called ‘Red Carpet’ because we keep Street. I can be the person who brings up this I’m so tired of going to funerals, I swear. sweeping this shit under the rug. Racism is expect us to act ignorant. There’s too many community. I can be. I can be the president. I Makes no sense that the police can continue to black people in one spot, so they expect us to real, it’s not going nowhere. Stop sweeping it can be everything I want to be. kill people, day after day. under the rug.” go dumb and act crazy and fight each other, _______ “Involuntary manslaughter, are you and fight the police. Fuck the police! But Tehea Robie recently finished her first novel, serious? Are you serious? I just lost three part- we’re gonna have dignity as black people, and Hannibal Amnesia. She was a finalist for the 2005 ners in three months. All senior graduates. they’re not used to it. Do you understand what Glimmer Train Short Story Award for New Nobody’s been arrested for their murders. “So I know everyone is upset about how the I’m saying? They think because we’re out Writers, and has been published in Five Police out here like they’re actually doing here with dreads and braids, and hot pants and United Snakes of America chose to deal with Fingers Review and Controlled Burn. She has something. Oh, police are going to get laid thick asses, that we’re gonna act stupid. No. this particular murder ... but you should not been a featured poet at venues all around the off, oh, let’s go help them. Are you fucking We have children out here. Let’s teach our expect justice to come from an unjust system. Bay, such as Love Jones, Fluid, LIP all Grrrl serious? I’m sorry children, for cussing, but You cannot expect the police to charge them- MC Battle, Show Your Scars, 2009 Women’s black children what this really is about.” this is how I feel. Saving them for what? selves with murder, when they do that as a Pavilion at San Francisco Pride, Evolution They’re not saving us! Sherri business. They are diametrically opposed to us Networking, I Am A Man Fundraiser, and “My ‘lil partner got killed near being treated as equals. The only thing that we Shepeoples. She was raised by an exquisite, Eastmont Mall, right across the street from the “I’m a little bit nervous, because it’s just a lot can gain as a community, out of this particular fierce, working-poor mother. She received her police station! Right across the street. [stops of stuff. I’ve been having dreams. I think God case, is to look around at each other, to see MFA in Writing and Consciousness. Tehea is and sobs] It don’t make no sense! I haven’t who really has your back. To see who’s really thrilled to be a journalist intern with Oakland is telling me to say something or do someseen a helicopter in Oakland in five years. In thing. I have a son to worry about. I’m really down for you, when it comes down to the Local. five years! Who is saving the youth? Who is fight, right? The only justice that we’re gonna hurt to my heart that we don’t have unity saving the youth? Nobody! We don’t have see in this case, is gonna come from the peo- This article originally appeared at Oakland amongst ourselves. I keep feeling like we’re programs for these kids, they got nothing to gonna die out, like the natives, like the ple that I’m looking at right here in front me. Local, for more on Oscar Grant visit the do! They tear up downtown, don’t even know Indians of America. I keep having that fear. I “You should know about Gary King “Justice” section of www.oaklandlocal.com. what’s going on. They don’t even know the Jr. You should know about Anita Gay. You wish we had more self pride. Oh my god. truth. They don’t even know their history. should know about Andrew Moppin. And [crying, stops] We seem like lost causes They don’t know who Emmett Till was, 14 know that this thing has been going on as long already. Let that baby die in the hospital. Let

The 2010 State of the Union: Sports Edition w/ Dave Zirin

itting in the darkly lit lobby of the Marriott in downtown Oakland, California the UnderCurrent had the opportunity to sit and chat with the worldrenowned sports writer Dave Zirin. In actuality, to call him just a sports writer is an injustice. Zirin is a true maverick (not the McCain kind) if you will of sports journalism, blending politics, social justice, and sports all into one.

UC: Do you believe college football will ever have a playoff?

DZ: I believe college football will eventually have a playoff because it makes too much sense monetarily. I mean if you took the top 16 teams and played them against each other until you have a #1, I think the fan interest would be huge. I think the financial incentives will soon be too big to ignore. I think the reason we don’t have one is because of smaller financial interests. Right now you have this bowl system where more than half the teams in college football play in a bowl and no college president wants to give that up because we live in an era, an insane era, where how a college football team does can have a serious bearing on the financial health of an institution. If it does well, the benefits accrue dramatically. A study done by college presidents that came to these findings themselves also found that if the football team did well, everyone benefits, but if the football team does badly, its like this huge sucking sound that just guts the university. In these times of economic crisis you have college presidents, athletic directors, basically pushing all their chips to the middle of the table in college football. You hedge against that investment by having the ungainly bowl system you have now. So that’s who is against it. I think there are bigger financial interests at play, particularly the networks. The networks I think will eventually win out over the course of years.

UC: In college football, a new phenomenon has appeared: over signing. This is a loophole in the NCAA recruiting rules that allow coaches to sign more players then they have room for, whereas they then have to remove certain players from scholarships in order for the program to remain under the 85 scholarship limit. How serious of an issue is this to college

interviewed by DA N IE L R AY

academics and how can we fix it?

DZ: To me it’s a symptom of a bigger problem. The way college football is run where college athletes who aren’t paid, who generate millions of millions of dollars, who have to get their scholarships renewed on a yearly basis—they are not guaranteed four years of schooling—it’s a plantation system. It’s corrupt to its very core. And like on a plantation, you get into a situation where some players are granted certain favors and benefits, and other players are treated like pieces of meat and often times it’s the same player. I think honestly a symptom of a broader problem. We can talk about dotting I’s and crossing T’s, but you’re really talking about trying to skin a tiger one stripe at a time. You can’t small ball these problems away. It’s literally like playing Whack a Mole; like if you or I were granted ultimate power to stop over signing; another issue would pop up next. It has to do with the very, very corrupt nature of the sport itself. UC: Recently in Santa Clara, Yes on J was passed by the voters, which would publicly finance the San Francisco 49ers stadium. What are your thoughts on taxpayers funding stadiums for sports franchises?

DZ: Every conceivable study from right wing to left wing think tanks show an undisputable fact that these publicly funded stadiums do not bring a return on their investment. Now we can argue about is there a psychological benefit to having a team in a given area. Like, would it make Santa Clara feel a different way if it’s hosting the 49ers? But I think that is honestly, unadulterated Madison Avenue horse shit. It’s throwing good money out the window. The worst part about it is that you’re handing it over to billionaires. I mean, people who could conceivably afford their own stadiums. That’s the

are locked out it also means the maintenance workers in the stadium are locked out, the concession stand workers are locked out, the people who sell souvenirs are locked out. There is a whole apparatus of industry that gets locked out as well. And the NFL players aren’t even trying to strike. They are saying, “let’s just play under the existing CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) until we negotiate a new one.” It’s the owners who are hungry for a lockout; because they feel like they got a raw deal on the last CBA and that they are out for revenge. Now I am a person who believes that the owners should be glad to be getting anything because no one pays a cent to watch Al Davis (Oakland Raiders owner) on the field. UC: Bryce Harper (who is white) was recently the 1st

overall pick in the MLB draft. At age 15, he dropped out of high school and signed with super agent Scott Boras. He has since finished school via GED. Why is it that in baseball, players can drop out of Authur, Dave Zirin high school and sign with a team, but in basketball, a playtrue obscenity of it. I’m a true believer that, has to attend at least one year in coler and this is what my new book, Bad Sports, is lege? actually about, that if taxpayers are putting money towards stadiums, then taxpayers DZ: It’s one of those things where to ask the should actually have a minority or even a question is to answer it. I think in basketball, controlling interest in the teams themselves. which is a predominantly African-American sport; there is a tremendous amount of paterUC: What’s your prediction of the possinalism in the attitudes towards players. The bility of a NFL lockout in the 2011-12 seasports where it is the most egregious contrast son? are sports like tennis, golf, and gymnastics, which of course, from a class perspective, are DZ: I think it’s profoundly high because I profoundly different than basketball in terms have interviewed the head of the NFLPA of who plays it, who has access to it, etc. So DeMaurice Smith many times and he said, I think that plays into certainly a lot of the “on a scale from 1 to 10, it would be a 14.” language, and I’ve written about it a lot in And I think people should support the NFL terms of why basketball has this age limit. players in this lockout for some of the reaThe weird thing is that in basketball, making sons that DeMaurice Smith made a very people stay in school for a year doesn’t do compelling case to me. It’s that it would be anything. It’s totally cosmetic and what it wrong to look at this as just a matter of bilalso does is corrupt the learning institution as lionaires vs. millionaires, which is how the well, because basically the players stay there media sometimes portrays these strikes and lockouts in sports. People have to also have Zirin continued next page... to think about the fact that when NFL players

Zirin continued...

DZ: I was in Vancouver before the start of the announced it’s going to do sixty events around good, “A community should not support a Winter Olympics and I was in South Africa coach th who does not support his community.” the country on the July 4 weekend to probefore the start of the World Cup and even It fucking nailed it. It absolutely nailed it. for the season and if they are good to be one- mote the idea of moving the game. They are though these countries (Canada and South Now, as for La Russa, I think we should take doing that because of all the brilliant work and-done they just drop out at the end of the his advice. One of the things he said is that he Africa) are completely different, the issues done by the people in Bay, but also from peoseason anyway. And all it really serves to do they were dealing with were exactly the same. supports people bringing signs into the park. is allow the NBA to use the NCAA as a minor ple in other cities when the Arizona Just like the Tea Partiers did in St. Louis with It’s because these institutions, whether you are Diamondbacks come to town. league, a free minor league; totally subsidized talking about FIFA or the IOC, demand a kind signs saying, “We Love Arizona.” La Russa minor league, subsidized in many cases by tax of franchise-headquarter type of relationship then said, “Yeah, I support people doing it.” UC: How do you think athletes have hanpayers that effectively brand players. Like to the city that they are connected to. Like if Let’s take him up on that. Let’s go to the park. dled this new immigration law? everyone knows John Wall, the number one you wanted to start a new McDonalds and you A lot of these stadiums have $1 seats now pick this year is the freshman point guard were thinking, “jeepers, McDonalds is really because of the economic crisis and lets hold DZ: That’s a really interesting question. from Kentucky, so he has this definitive brand unhealthy so my McDonalds is only going to up our signs showing that we don’t want When the law first came out 15 MLB players that didn’t cost the NBA a dime. serve salad,” McDonalds would shut you Major League Baseball in Arizona next year. at least spoke out against it immediately. Then down pretty quickly. It’s the same thing with No way, no how. UC: Kansas City Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe it was literally like a faucet being turned viothis. All kinds of deals were made with was recently quoted saying, “my teammates lently shut. There has been radio silence since UC: What do you say to people who say Vancouver what they call ‘civil society’ about then. Players have said to the media they will had it set up so there was a girl in every ‘keep politics out of sports’? how the Olympics would be facilitated. All room. The older guys get on MySpace and only talk off record and players who spoke on kinds of deals were made in South Africa the record have now said they only want to Facebook a week before we go to a city; DZ: It’s like saying keeping oxygen out of about how things would be produced. Each talk about baseball. So clearly the word came when a pretty one writes back, they water. It’s one of those things where as much and every time the IOC or FIFA would say, down from on high that this would not be a arrange to fly her in three or four days in as we might lament it and wish we could just “Ahh, no!” So you get these issues time and advance. They call it importing.” How seri- topic of conversation. That’s clearly to protect watch our games a la carte, and I feel that again. You get a total attack on civil liberties. not just the All Star Game, but remember half ous of an issue do you this is in the NFL? way sometimes, you have to put on some You get a criminalization of the poor because of the teams do their spring training in pretty serious blinders. I say this because, ok you have to make a city suitable for the interArizona as well. So it intimately connects DZ: I think it’s very serious for a couple of no politics, but then how do you explain the national audience. You get crazy budget bustwith so much of major league baseball and reasons. First, we’ll start with the small. branding everywhere? How do you explain ing deficit spending, which the people will you have had already teams have special sesDwayne Bowe pulled back the curtain a little the cheerleaders? How do you explain the fact eventually of course have to pay off, and sions and trainings on what to do if you’re bit to talk about this and spoke about things that beer costs $8? How do you explain that which by the way has wrecked Greece after stopped by police, as well as issuing special that players really aren’t supposed to talk the stadium has been publicly funded? How they went 1000% over budget on the about, so that in itself creates a minor tempest ID cards, which by the way only go to the do you explain the fact you have a second Olympics. I think that’s reason enough…but players and not their families. So it’s really in the teapot. It’s also a big deal because the national anthem during the seventh inning I’ll tell you another thing that sucks: if you disruptive to major league players, where over commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, has stretch? You see what I’m saying? Either we are one of the people hosting these Games, 27 percent are Latino. Now on the flip side of made it perfectly clear that he is going to it’s pretty rare that you could afford to go. In accept the fact that there is politics everythat, you had this marvelous moment during operate on a morality clause basically. He where, therefore why shouldn’t I have a say in so if I were in charge of the Sports Universe, I the NBA Playoffs where the Phoenix Suns reserves the right to suspend players if their what happens in sports as a fan? Or actually would be like, “free tickets to everybody public image isn’t in the public interests of the came out wearing the “Los Suns” jerseys and accepting the rules of the game, which are: whose tax dollars go to actually making this league. I find this to be insanely paternalistic became the first team in history to come out fans watch and are passive and you don’t look happen. It’s ridiculous to me that only 40,000 as one against a racist law. That’s never hapand ridiculous. I call them Commissioner behind the curtain at the sometimes-dirty non-South African Africans would be at a pened before. It was historic and I really do Kipling’s like Rudyard Kipling, like it’s the political economy of sports. World Cup game. Think about that. That’s white man’s burden to have to deal with black feel it has been really unrecognized for the half a stadium. That’s crazy; more Americans historic nature of what that was in coming out players. So it puts pressure on Goodell to UC: You have written a lot in the past at World Cup games than Africans. with those jerseys. decide, “Am I going to put more publicity to about the economic nightmares of countries _______ open an investigation or am I going to let it hosting events like the World Cup and the Dave Zirin has a new book out titled, Bad go? If I am going to let it go, will I be called a UC: Recently, St. Louis Cardinals manager Olympics. Could you give our readers some Sports: How Owners Are Ruining The Games Tony La Russa and Los Angeles Lakers hypocrite?” The main reason why I think it coach Phil Jackson, who many believed was background on some things they would be We Love. You can find more of his writing in matters is because the fastest growing sector terrified to know when it comes to these such outlets as the Huffington Post, The on the Left, have come out in support of of NFL fans are women. You go to a game events? and on his website Nation, the Arizona immigration law. What are and you see that. It’s not like a UFC event www.edgeofsports.com. where it’s all guys and crazy testosterone. It’s your thoughts on those coaches? far more gender balanced than I think people know. But its still an institution that just traf- DZ: I think Phil Jackson is a fraud. I think there are two ways to look at Phil Jackson. fics in sexism constantly and this definitely Either he did that as a way to needle the feeds the idea that the NFL is institutionally US soldiers total US total US US soldiers Suns for being Los Suns because he probasexist, that players view women as objects 10 killed in July soldiers killed soldiers killed killed in July 10 bly knew he would be playing them next in and that’s not healthy or helpful. the playoffs, in which case he is a complete immoral guy. I mean the fact that he would UC: Do you believe next years MLB AllStar Game in Arizona will be cancelled due care more about playing basketball headgames when they are passing this draconian to the Arizona immigration law? law, to me, shows me a serious warped value system. But if you take it to the next step, IRAQ IRAQ DZ: I honestly and truly believe it’s an open AFGHANISTAN AFGHANISTAN that he said this because he really believes question. I think activists have done an this in his heart, it then shows how out of absolutely and utterly brilliant job of putting We have not included numbers for civilian casualties because, though there are many studies and sources positing estimates, there is the All Star Game front and center as an issue step he is with that city of Los Angeles, no single, reliable, regularly-updated source of data regarding civilian casualties. Just assume that the number of civilians killed in which voted 14-1 in their city council to that will define whether or not Arizona is Iraq and Afghanistan dwarfs even the number of American soldiers injured, let alone killed, each and every month. Arizona. I mean people protested divest from going to become a pariah state for passing Phil Jackson during the playoffs in front of these laws. So it’s a terrific question and just recently, the National Council of La Raza has the arena. It shows you just how out of step he is. Their (the protesters) slogan was very

Casualty Counter 1,216

4,413

Settlement Reached in Two-Year Feud between SEIU and UNITE HERE

by M AR K BRE N N E R

will rejoin UNITE HERE by the end of the year. SEIU will organize food service fter nearly two years of warfare and legal wrangling, the hotel workers workers in health care facilities and gov(UNITE HERE) and service work- ernment buildings. The unions agreed to compete for food service workers in public ers (SEIU) announced on Monday an end to their bitter dispute. The deal promises to schools, colleges, and universities. In Canada, the two sides could not reach end hostilities that broke into the open agreement over jurisdiction or the division when former UNITE HERE President of existing members in Ontario, so there Bruce Raynor organized a faction within will be a short mediation process. The same the union to split from UNITE HERE and is true for 5,000 food service workers in join SEIU. The move, hatched with top SEIU Orlando, Florida. leaders including former president Andy UNITE HERE COMES OUT AHEAD Stern, locked the two unions in a battle over members and money and widened the The deal seems a clear victory for UNITE gulf between SEIU and the rest of organHERE and its two-pronged strategy of ized labor. It remains to be seen what building onimpact the UNITE the-ground HERE settlement resistance to will have on SEIU’s hosSEIU’s other tile takeover major conflict— coupled with with the National extensive Union of cross-union Healthcare solidarity. Workers, its One California rival. year ago SEIU was BANK, REAL pressing to ESTATE LOOM LARGE settle, demanding binding arbitration on a According to sources familiar with the set- proposal developed by UFCW President tlement, the deal will leave UNITE HERE Joe Hansen after several rounds of mediawith $75 million in disputed assets and the tion. That deal would have left UNITE HERE with less cash, no jurisdiction in the union’s New York headquarters, valued at food service industry, and no rights to the over $70 million. In exchange SEIU’s Amalgamated Bank or the union’s Workers United unit (formed when Manhattan headquarters. Raynor’s group joined SEIU) will gain UNITE HERE fought with few control of the Amalgamated Bank, whose resources at its disposal. At last year’s con$4.3 billion in assets produce a $20 million vention, leaders said all but $4 million of annual surplus. The bank, formed in 1923 by New York’s garment workers union, was the union’s assets had been tied up in lawsuits and that an additional $12 million had a key sticking point in negotiations and been siphoned off by Raynor loyalists on retaining it was a top priority for SEIU. the eve of the split. The settlement leaves UNITE But UNITE HERE held out HERE with exclusive rights to organize in against SEIU’s settlement, actually turning its core jurisdiction, the hotel and gaming momentum in its favor. It won several industries in the U.S. and most of Canada. important head-to-head contests with SEIU, UNITE HERE also retains organizing including defeating decertification efforts rights in the key segments of the growing food service industry, including commercial among cafeteria workers in the cafeterias, stadiums, concert halls, airports, Philadelphia school system and among airport concessionaires working for Delaware convention centers, and parks. Thousands North, a national food service company. of members whose locals left in the split UNITE HERE also built on longstanding resentment over Andy Stern’s leading role in the 2005 split in July 28, 2010

the AFL-CIO, and rallied the rest of the labor movement against SEIU’s raids at hotels and airports, which weren’t the first turf-stealing in recent years by “America’s fastest-growing union.” UNITE HERE also answered in kind with some of its own raids. ALLIES AND LEVERAGE

UNITE HERE gained leverage by making common cause with the National Union of Healthcare Workers, the upstart California union organized by former leaders of SEIU’s United Healthcare Workers-West. That local was trusteed and leaders ousted for their opposition to Stern’s centralization of power and deal-making with employers. By providing the new health care union with money, logistical support, and organizing staff, UNITE HERE helped NUHW win contests with SEIU over the last year, including December’s victory at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, the January election among social workers, nurses, and other professionals at Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California facilities, and more recently at University of Southern California Medical Center and Providence Tarzana Hospital. No surprise, then, that SEIU was eager to get UNITE HERE out of the picture before a make-or-break contest with NUHW this fall. Elections are soon to be held among 45,000 Kaiser Permanente health care workers throughout California. Like a 2009 peace agreement between SEIU and the rival California Nurses Association, the new settlement prohibits UNITE HERE from providing assistance to NUHW. That will mean recalling dozens of staffers currently in the field aiding the new union. The suddenly flush UNITE HERE may be able to leave NUHW with enough resources, however, to gear up for the Kaiser fight. _____ This article originally appeared at www.labornotes.org/2010/07/settlementreached-two-year-feud-between-seiu-andunite-here. _____ Mark Brenner is Director of Labor Notes, a 30-year old project dedicated to putting the movement back in the labor movement. He can be reached at mark@labornotes.org.

Fewer Immigrants, More Animosity:

The Obama Administration, Arizona, and Recent Trends in Immigration by M AT T E SP IN O Z A WA TSO N

s we draw nearer to November and election season, immigration continues to be a hotbutton issue in the Southwestern states and the nation as a whole. The date of implementation of Arizona’s new law has come and gone, and the harshest provisions of SB 1070 have been struck down in Federal Court (though not a final ruling, District Court Judge Susan Bolton’s preliminary injunction against SB1070 will prevent some portions of the legislation from taking effect), leading to massive protests (on both sides, though mostly anti-SB 1070) throughout Arizona and the nation.

The irony, though, is that the uproar about illegal immigration (particularly from the ‘keepgovernment-out-of-our-lives’ Tea Party folks who applaud Arizona and ‘big government’ in this particular instance…) is happening as more immigrants are heading home (data from the Department of Homeland Security shows that the number of illegal immigrants declined by over 1 million between 2008 and 2009), and as the Obama administration is showing itself to be tougher on immigration than any of his recent predecessors. The 4,145 cases referred to federal prosecutors in March and April of this year was the largest number for any twomonth stretch since the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency was created five years ago, says the Syracuse University-based Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. (1) The number of company-audits performed by ICE to keep our labor force free of undocumented workers has “roughly quadrupled since President George W. Bush’s final year in office,” according to the Washington Post. (2) And, the total number of immigrants deported from the U.S. has soared in the last year and a half, after tripling under GW’s direc-

Arizona continued next page...

Arizona continued...

Wish You Weren’t here

lawmakers and media outlets by a group resident of Staten Island who had anticalled “Concerned Citizens of the United Mexican comments yelled at him as his States,” who demanded the deportation of all assailants broke his jaw. (7)) In any case, the tion. Under Bush, federal officials deported those named on the list. The two state point is that the animosity toward immigrants an average of 250,000 immigrants a year employees involved were subsequently fired, doesn’t just stay on the page or screen or the (most of them ‘non-criminal aliens’, just as but the list is still circulating, and it’s not so airwaves; people react to the information they the case remains today, though federal offifar out there to imagine some good ol’ patriot- receive, often irrationally, and sometimes with cials are quick to point out the rising percent- ic American taking things a step further and dire consequences. age of ‘criminal alien’ deportations ). Under “taking care of what the Feds won’t do” by And, despite Governor Jan Brewer’s Obama, ICE is setting itself on a pace to aver- hunting down immigrants from the list… Utah claims that Arizona officials’ hands are tied age near 400,000 deportations per year, and is Attorney General Shurtleff responded to the without SB1070, the infamous immigrantincreasingly collaborating with local law list: “Clearly, it’s not even meant as a blackhuntin Sherriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa enforcement agencies throughCounty had his officers out the country. (3) help deport over 26,000 There are, no doubt, individuals, or “about a serious issues regarding quarter of the national human and drug smuggling total of 115,841 sent out along the border, and there are of the U.S. by officers in still people risking their lives 64 law enforcement agento cross that line in search of cies deputized to help better opportunities. Indeed, enforce immigration laws, thousands of people have died some since 2006, under in the desert since much the so-called 287(g) progreater border enforcement gram.” (8) The 287(g) began in 1994, and the numprogram is the mechabers are still rising, despite nism created under fewer immigrants entering the President Bush, and being country.(4) However, Arizona further utilized and supporters insist that the federexpanded under the al government “isn’t doing its Obama administration, by job” with regard to immigrawhich local law enforcetion; that just isn’t the case, if ment collaborates with “its job” is to harass, round up, ICE to round up undocuand deport people without permented immigrants. mission to be here. However, As for the if “its job” is to come up with Federal Court decision some sort of honest comprepertaining to the Arizona hensive reform effort for the law, the court noted the 11 or so million people danger to legal immialready living here without grants who will most cerdocuments, well, that’s another tainly be swept up in the story entirely… broad dragnet authorized As I was writing this by SB 1070, and for U.S. article, I came upon a new citizens, who are not piece by L.A. Times writer legally required to carry Gregory Rodriguez, who, after ID on them. Essentially, by Gabriel Gallardo (www.altoarizona.com) citing similar data (as well as Justice Bolton said that data from the Pew Hispanic some aspects of the Center that between 2005 and 2008, the num- list. It’s more like a hit list. It is, I think, to Arizona law are pre-empted by the feds ber of Mexican migrants to the U.S. decreased put people at fear, to terrorize, to get people because of prior cases demonstrating a desire by 40%), poses a similar question: “why all for uniformity in immigration laws, (striking mobilized to do things.” this uproar right now?” Rodriguez writes, down the key provision that “all arrestees will …But actual violence is also hap“the easy answer, of course, is that the econo- pening. In Staten Island, NY, crimes targeting be required to prove their immigration status my is tough and historically people have “Mexicans” have increased dramatically in to the satisfaction of state authorities”) while looked for targets to blame for their feelings recent months in the Port Richmond neighbor- other provisions, such as outlawing the hiring of impotence.”(5) Any student of California hood, there have been seven robberies or of day-laborers in public places, are permissihistory would have to agree with him; from attacks since April that police have classified ble because of precedent saying states have the anti-Mexican and anti-Chinese sentiment the power to regulate employment as they see as “bias crimes.” (6) (I use quotes around that gripped Californians in the mid and late “Mexicans” because often the victims of fit. It’s important to recognize that this was 1800’s all the way to present fear mongering, assaults and other crimes end up being just a preliminary ruling (where the Obama economic downturns have almost certainly led Salvadoran, Colombian, Ecuadorian, or from administration has demonstrated a “likelihood to an increase in anti-immigrant rhetoric, if of success” on certain of their arguments), and some other Latin American country, though not to actual violence against immigrant com- they end up just as dead for being a “fucking may differ from the court’s final ruling on the munities. matter (which should be out mid-August). Mexican,” as in the case of Luis Ramirez in Two state employees in Utah recent- Pennsylvania, who was beaten to death by And either way, the case will most certainly ly released a list of 1,300 names of supposed members of the high school football team, be appealed to the 9th Circuit, and attempts “illegal immigrants,” including details such as who incidentally were acquitted of murder will be made to take it all the way to the addresses and phone numbers, that was sent and convicted of simple assault in his death… Supreme Court. So we’re a long way away out to Utah law enforcement officials, state Or the case of Graciano Castillo, a Peruvian from any sort of resolution with regard to

Arizona or immigration reform on a federal level. The Obama administration has demonstrated its willingness to enforce existing immigration law, despite many claims to the contrary. What is needed now is for them to take seriously the necessity of actual reform for the millions of people who are here, the vast majority of whom pose no danger to this country. It would be almost silly to expect any sort of actual movement toward comprehensive reform as we near November, especially since it was Rahm Emanuel himself who once declared immigration “the third rail of American politics.” However, especially because we can’t expect Washington to voluntarily tackle this issue, we need to educate, agitate, and organize within our own communities to pressure the government to act, to get past xenophobia–disguised-as-patriotism, and to push through honest, comprehensive immigration reform. _______ NOTES: (1) “Federal Prosecution of Immigrants Soared in Spring as Obama Continued Aggressive Bush-Era Policies”, by Garance Burke. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/15/ob ama-immigrants-prosecution_n_648487.html (2) “Deportation of Illegal Immigrants Increases Under Obama Administration”, by Peter Slevin. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/25/AR2010072501790.ht ml (3) http://americasvoiceonline.org/pages/deportations_by_fiscal_year (4) See “Humanitarian Crisis: Deaths at the U.S.-Mexico Border”, by Maria Jimenez. http://www.aclu.org/files/pdfs/immigrants/hu manitariancrisisreport.pdf (5) He also notes that the “political discourse overall is pretty horrific” at present… “Immigration facts, figures—and thoughts”, by Gregory Rodriguez. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oerodriguez-vitriol-20100726,0,3410280.column?track=rss (6) Kirk Semple wrote a great piece on recent attacks on immigrants for the New York Times; “Attacks on Mexicans Leave Neighborhoods in Turmoil”. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/31/nyregion/31staten.html?_r=1 (7) “A Spike in Bias Crimes in Staten Island”, by Sumathi Reddy. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527 48704249004575385233007847238.html (8) “Arizona helped deport thousands without new law”, Associated Press. http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2010/07/28/ari zona-helped-deport-thousands-without-newlaw/

Meat or Rice: a Medford Boorman History Wish You Weren’t here

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Close the goddamn door!” This, the angry unanimous shout of everyone in the dark bar as I entered, letting in the sun and the heat. It was a furiously hot Fresno day and my swamp cooler at home just wasn’t up to the job. So, to avoid heat stroke—you know, for my health—I had moseyed on over to the local watering hole to see what the regulars were up to. I had opened the door and they wanted it closed, and dark.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I groped my way down the bar to an empty stool, a couple guys remarked that the front door should just be barred while the sun was up. The light hurt. Just force people to go around back, they said. The back door had a sign that read, “Exit only. No Re-admittance,” but no one paid attention to it. We all came and went, taking it as more of a suggestion. I took a seat near the middle of the bar, next to my buddies Frank Maddox, Tommy Agorapian, and Medford Boorman. “What’s happening guys?” “Nothing,” Tommy said. “We were just discussing immigration.” “Nothing’s sacred,” Frank was saying. “Sports is supposed to be pure. And here,” nodding to the TV, “Arizona’s ruining my day again. They had to pass that SB 1070 and now we got boycott talk all over my ESPN.” He was talking about the new immigration law in Arizona that, among other things, required the cops to check the immigration status of anyone they suspected of being here illegally. There was talk of boycotting next year’s All-Star Game in Arizona. “Why’d they go and pass that law?” Frank said. “Well, the election’s coming up,” said Tommy. “They gotta whip up some-

by PA U L GI LM O R E thing and immigration seems to get the votes.” Tommy Agorapian was the house political scientist. He liked to think he was “above” ideology, always giving us the big picture analysis—invariably a story of unbelievably cynical hacks jockeying for power in a game we plebs had absolutely

no part in—a story we liked because, hell, it gave us an excuse to just sit on our asses and drink beer. “It’s a script,” he said. “The GOP looked at the polls in key districts, and said okay, health care’s done. It’s time for the immigration chorus again, and the whole noise machine—Hannity, Limbaugh, O’Reilly—they’re like stage managers. Everybody starts screaming about illegal immigration. So it’s football season already. Political football, man.” Pouring a beer, Dave the bartender eyed Tommy in the back bar mirror, “Clever one there. You stay up all night to think of that one, Tommy?” “Yeah, man. I did,” Tommy replied. “The work I do for you guys, coming up with witty stuff like that. But you gotta admit the timing’s a little convenient. This is all about the election coming up.

says, but more like a broken record. Xenophobia is a tradition, especially here in California—as American as fucking hot dogs, man.” “Are hot dogs American?” I asked. Med ignored me and went on. “For all our talk about diversity, there’s always been a group who think America was made to be for whites only—White Anglo Saxon Protestants—and the rest are just visiting, even the Indians. They want their world to be lily white, but they also bring in others—to work for them, cheap. And they panic every so often when they fear that they are getting overwhelmed and their ideal white America is disappearing.” “Yeah? Well what does that have to do with this ‘meat or rice’ shit?” Tommy asked. “I’m telling you man. Patience. Let me buy you a good fucking American beer. Hey Dave, a pitcher of Bud.” “Is Budweiser American?” I asked. Med went on: “Back in the 1800s there was a huge anti-immigrant movement here, against the Chinese though, not the Mexicans. Folks were whipped into a panic thinking the Chinese were going to overwhelm them if they kept letting them in. Down in goddamn L.A., they fucking lynched 22 Chinese in 1870. A lot of these folks, sad to say, were part of the labor “Goddamn meat. Or rice.” movement. A lot of workers, getting paid What the fuck are you talking crap, wanted to be seen as white about, Med?” Frank asked. Americans—entitled to better stuff—and so I winced. Never ask to know they couldn’t bring themselves to join “what the fuck?” unless you really want to together with the Chinese. Instead, they know what the fuck. tried to drive them out—by any means they “Meat. Or Rice. You guys haven’t could.” heard that one?” Boorman asked. This of “How do you know this?” asked course meant he was going to tell us, Tommy. regardless. “I was sure I’d told you that “Hell, man.” Med continued. one.” “They had the Workingman’s Party of “No, Med. I never heard that California—it was on their platform! They one.” Frank said. helped write our state Constitution. This “Well let me tell you man,” kind of racism was normal. It became a big Boorman started. “Everyone’s talking like political movement in San Francisco too, this is about goddamn illegal immigration, and all over the state. ‘The Chinese Must but peel back the layers and, well, this stuff Go!’ It was California that got the first Federal exclusion act through, excluding all goes way back. It’s the new nativism— they’d be screaming just as much if everyone was legal. It’s a script like Tommy Fear. Now we’re all supposedly gonna die tomorrow unless we build some dragonfilled moat to stop all the diseased drugdealing Mexican terrorists from coming across.” “Meat or rice,” said Boorman. “Huh?” I said.

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Chinese immigration. And when the economy got bad, they really attacked. In Fresno, too. White folks forced the Chinese out of white neighborhoods in 1874. In the 1880s they pretty much burned down Chinatown. And in the summer of 1893, after the exclusion act was renewed, requiring the Chinese folks already here to carry papers, the whites had a pogrom up and down the Central Valley. A pogrom! Vigilantes forced some 500 Chinese folks out of the vineyards and fields around Fresno, killed some, sent the rest packing. They bombed Chinese businesses. In Selma, Tulare, all over, vigilantes drove the Chinese out and looted their homes. The authorities could hardly do anything. Kids used to tell stories of how much fun they had throwing rocks at the Chinese veggie vendors, cutting off their pigtails, and just plain beating them. We don’t know exact numbers, but Fresno had like 2700 Chinese people in 1890 and under 700 left in 1900.” “Christ.” I sighed. “Yeah, well. Christ wasn’t around man.” Med replied. “So,” Tommy asked, “meat or rice?” Med gulped his beer, and started again. “Well, they argued that the white folks would just die out if the Chinese kept coming. Whites needed meat to live and work, they said. And the Chinese supposedly only needed rice. ‘Meat or Rice— American Manhood versus Asiatic Coolieism.’ It was a speech delivered to Congress in 1902 by the head of the AFL, Samuel Gompers, sad to say. It was all about ‘protecting the American way of life’ they said. Meat or rice. It’s my stand-in phrase for all

Wish YOu Weren’t here sucks—getting fucking fumigated every week?! They got sick from it. I mean these guys were just assumed to be disease carrying rats, man. But we’ll let you pick our food for a few cents a day. That’s no goddamn good. But that’s what it is. An obsession with cleanliness. Clean hair, clean—white—skin. Clean blood and genes. Being ‘fit’ genetically. Xenophobia and Germaphobia man—they go together. Makes me want to stand in solidarity with some of these anarchist punk kids around here and not fucking take a shower.” “Well, now don’t go crazy there.” Dave the bartender said. Med returned to the story. “The Meat or Rice crowd had a heyday in the 1920s. The KKK saw a real resurgence. They were all over California. Oakland was pretty big KKK territory. Anaheim was probably fucking run by the goddamn Klan. And here in Fresno too, man. And it wasn’t just an anti-black thing—I mean yeah, of course, the Klan hated blacks, but it was this cleanliness shit. They were antithis vicious racist nativist shit—the ‘meat or immigrant. They thought Jews and Italians and Catholics and, around here, Mexicans, rice’ people who always act like it’s were like fouling up their beautiful clean either/or.” white dream of California. They attacked “That’s pretty bad, but it was a hundred years ago, Med.” I reminded him. Charlie Chaplin’s movie, The Pilgrim, for Chrissakes! They hated Chaplin. A bunch “Yeah well, it didn’t end there, of cops here in Fresno were members—it either. Once the Chinese were done with, they moved onto the Japanese. They passed was controversial though, at least. They had a rally in Radcliffe stadium.” the Alien Land Law in 1913—Japanese “Fucking City College?!” Tommy immigrants, who could never become citiwas surprised. zens because they weren’t white, couldn’t Med looked down and reached for own land. And then in the 1920s, they his wallet. “Yeah—I’ve got a goddamn picpassed the National Origins laws, keeping ture in here somewhere. But at the time it the Southern and Eastern Europeans out— was Fresno State really—FCC’s record is “riff raff immigration,” they called them. clean on that. All of this was whipped up Now it wasn’t just ‘Meat or Rice.’ It was by all sorts of folks in California, especially ‘Meat or Spaghetti,’ and ‘Meat or Matzo’ Hearst.” too.” Med was worked up now. Once he got going, well, he got going. “They kept the Mexicans coming in though—no quotas for Mexicans. Why? The growers were addicted to them. Cheap controllable labor. Think about today, with ICE—immigration and customs—Mexicans are just another import to them, like semiconductors and Toyotas. So there was no quota, but deportation was still easy, for all sorts of reasons—‘liable to be a public charge’ being the big one. You could send ‘em back when you didn’t want ‘em anymore. And humiliating? You bet. Folks commuting from Mexico had to report for a weekly bath—fumigation, man.” “Christ, I wish we still had that rule for some of the guys in this place.” Frank said. “Fucking A,” someone grumbled in agreement. “Yeah, really funny,” Med replied with a scowl. “But not funny. That

“Hearst?” “Yeah.” Med paused for a gulp of beer. “He loved to bash Mexicans. A vendetta. He was pissed that goddamn Pancho Villa had seized some Hearst timber lands in Mexico. Took it out on Mexican Americans. Railroading those Sleepy Lagoon kids into prison. The Zoot Suit socalled riots. He goddamn practically invented those stories. Ever heard of reefer madness?! Mexican dope fiends are gonna steal your little girl? Well, that kind of shit sure sold some newspapers. Political capital too. Hearst Castle is built on hatred of Mexicans, man. No lie. It just goes on and on. And I won’t even get into the goddamn Bracero Program and the ‘guest worker’ crap that folks talk about.” He paused, winding down. Then he turned and said, “Look, I’m not saying that there aren’t issues. You just have to watch out for someone crying ‘meat or rice.’” “But today is different,” Frank said. “That racist stuff isn’t kosher anymore man. Come on. Immigration’s a real issue. I mean, folks in Arizona are descendants of the Klan?!?” “You said it. I didn’t.” Med replied. “Just look at the script.” And with that he clammed up. We all turned to the TV. Giants down eight to one. Someone got up to leave. “Close the goddamn door.” _______ Paul Gilmore teaches history at Fresno City College. Don’t get him started.... Paul can be reached at oscartategilmore@hotmail.com.

Wish you weren’t here

ocrates: Who’s at the portico, Xanthippe?

Xanthippe: It’s for you. Angry mob. S: Again? What do they want this time? X: You’d better talk to them yourself. They’ve brought hemlock. S: All right, all right. What’s the problem, people? My worshipping of other gods? My corruption of the youth of Athens? My Form agenda? Oh, it’s you, Ludos. Ludos: Socrates, this is the last straw. I’m absolutely furious with you. S: You’re always furious. L: Yes, but this time I’m really, really furious. I mean, look at your lawn. S: I believe it meets Housing Association guidelines. L: It’s immaculate, Socrates. Your hedges look great, the grass is mowed—it’s even edged along the sidewalk. We won’t stand for it. Angry Mob: Let’s get him! S: Wait—I’m not sure I’m following you. Couldn’t we engage in a lengthy, rambling dialogue over this before I am summarily beaten, stoned, and serially violated? L: Sure, why not? What did you have on your mind? S: Well, for starters, I am used to angry mobs gathering before my stoa with torches and pitchforks demanding that I do mow my grass. Now that my grass is mowed it seems that I have an even angrier mob before my stoa, with even more torches and

show up behind Oikos Depot early in the morning, and he and a bunch of his friends are always there, ready to hop in the back of my chariot and do work for me. L: So he’s definitely not one of us. Now tell me: have you ever checked him for the papyri he and his kind are supposed to be carrying. Something that says he is legal? S: I do think he is of legal age of consent, Ludos. He certainly looks older than nine. So what is it you’re after? A birth certificate? L: Ha! Birth certificate. Those don’t mean anything. Have you not heard, Socrates, that Pericles’ attorney general, Dokumentos, has decreed that all foreign metics living in Athens must have on their person at all times a papyri giving them permission to reside and work within the city walls? And, furthermore, that anyone who looks like they might be a foreign metic is subject to random strip searches? S: Sadly I do not look foreign. And I don’t think Topiaros has such work even sharper pitchforks. What gives? papyrus. If he did he would probably have L: Don’t play dumb, Socrates. charged me a lot more for doing the yard. S: That is kind of my schtick, you L: Then he’s breaking the laws of know. Athens, Socrates. He should be beaten, L: Yes, but we know, as well, that you stoned, and serially violated. never take money for your teaching—that S: Mmm. while other sophists charge five or ten L: Socrates? Socrates? Are you paying drachma per lecture, you sit at the agora all attention? day and give lessons for free. We know, as S: Hmm? Oh, sorry. Just a little daywell, that you are in hock up to your eyedream there. But go on. We were talking balls, and that the local wine shop has about Dokumentos? The one they call stopped your line of credit. And, further“The Friskmaker”? more, we know that you are old and lazy L: I can’t believe you hired an illegal and would never have done this yard work metic, Socrates. Don’t you understand yourself. what an awful problem it is to have all S: Oh, of course not. I hired Topiaros these foreigners running around our great to do it. He’s awesome, isn’t he? Works city? You gave work to a—what is hard, keeps quiet, doesn’t slack off…. Topiaros? He sounds Boeotian? That work L: So you admit it! We demand to see could have been given to an Athenian. Topiaros’ papyri, if he has any. And I susS: It’s true, I used to hire young Plato to pect he does not. do the lawn, but the end result was never as AM: He probably doesn’t! Let’s get good as his mental image of it. Actually, him! now that I think of it, I believe Plato is S: Whoa whoa whoa. What kind of making pretty good money as a supervisor papyri are we talking about, here? I don’t of Topiaros and other Boeotian lawnboys. even think he smokes. L: That’s probably just a fluke, L: Not rolling papyri, you old fool. Socrates. When a Boeotian takes a job, it Something that proves Topiaros is truly one puts an Athenian out of work. End of story. of us. S: I guess this is the wrong time to S: One of the mob? mention that Xanthippe’s maid is also unL: No! One of us. You know. papyried. S: I’m really not following this. L: Your wife is in on this, too? Perhaps L: Someone who is just like us and we need to serially violate her as well. belongs here. Someone the government AM: Uh…it’s getting kind of late, actuhas got official papyri records about. ally! We did have some errands we needed Someone like you and me. to run! S: Ah! A pedophile. S: But now that Xanthippe is freed from L: By the gods, Socrates! Try to follow doing housework she has actually reme. Is Topiaros from Athens? entered the workforce. She makes more S: I don’t think so. All I know is that I

money than ever, providing ox-cart rides to Boeotian day-laborers. In fact, despite the large number of Boeotians in the city these days, it seems as though the Athenians themselves are doing quite well. L: But you could have hired an Athenian maid! S: We would have had to pay the Athenian maid near-poverty wages, whereas now a young Athenian lady is freed to find more productive employment. Perhaps as a translator—those Boeotians hardly speak a word of Attic, you know—or as a temple prostitute. Look, I don’t mean to quibble here, Ludos, but it does seem that your economic argument is a bit naïve. L: It’s not about economics, Socrates. S: Indeed. For it seems that if you truly hate these non-Athenians so much, you’d love seeing them forced into taking these terrible jobs, paid slave wages, and generally treated like sub-humans. For that is what we are all doing, isn’t it? L: Yes, well, as I said—it’s not about economics. S: Yes, you have said that. L: It was never really about economics. It’s about the dilution of our Athenian culture. Athens has been granted by the gods to the Athenian people, and its riches and benefits should flow directly and only to those who have an undiluted Athenian heritage. Do you realize that some of these Boeotians are staying here? And even inter-marrying? S: I would take you more seriously on this point, my friend, if you had a good native-Athenian name, like “Two Javelins” or “Walks In Sandals.” But in fact your own ancestry is Lydian. I mean, I think it is, since your name actually means “Lydian person.” L: Actually, in The Old Country the name is “Ludobs” but when we arrived at Andros Island, the immigration officer dropped the “b.” Originally, our name meant “Lydian reactionary prone to crazy ranting.” In some ways, I think “Ludos” is a little better. S: To be sure. At any rate, I imagine that when your family arrived as metics at some time in the past, knowing little or no Attic Greek, they sought work where they could so that they could give you, their offspring, a chance at a better life. L: Well, that’s just it. These Boeotians aren’t coming to stay. They’re coming here and working and then sending the drachma they get back to Boeotia! S: Ah, that explains it. L: Explains what, Socrates? S: The other day I was hanging around

Metic continued next page...

Wish You weren’t here Metic continued...

outside the wine shop trying to get someone to buy me an amphora, since, as you mentioned, my own upturned face is no longer welcome there, and I met a young man who had the strangest idea for a business venture. He was interested in exporting wine and he needed a little venture capital. I couldn’t give him money, of course, but I offered him my services. L: Philosophical services? S: Mmm…sure. Anyway, I could tell by his chiseled abs that he was of a noble birth and that he was quick of wit, so I was surprised when he told me that he had had trouble breaking into the wine business here, and that he was preparing a trireme full of wine to sail to Boeotia of all places. Last I had heard, the Boeotians subsist almost entirely on rocks and gravel. Their economy is so stunted that they have only one pair of shoes, and that they take turns wearing them. How, I wondered, was this young man going to make money selling wine in this desperately poor country? L: And? S: It turns out that the remittances that the Boeotians make here and send back home have made a tremendous difference to the Boeotian economy. A few drachma here and there means little to you and me, but it means the world to them. Their standard of living has increased to such a degree that they now enjoy satisfying and nutritious meals of grass and insects three times a day, and just about everyone in Boeotia owns one shoe. Many even own two shoes. And they are a willing market for Athenian wine, as it turns out—it doesn’t make you blind as often as their local beverages do. Why, I wouldn’t be surprised if that young man does quite well, and if, in fact, the knowledge gained by the day-laborers and the connections established between Boeotians there and Boeotians here doesn’t end up helping both economies. L: Will you please stop talking about economics! S: Of course. Shall we look at this a different way, then? Consider it as a question of social justice…. AM: Boring! S: I see. L: Let’s just go round up this lawnboy of yours and ship him home. That’s the worst punishment I can think of, anyway. Not getting to be in this golden, glorious city-state of ours. That’ll teach him. S: I actually don’t think that Topiaros wants to be in Athens. L: Preposterous! Everyone wishes that he or she were Athenian! Besides, why else would they sneak over the wall illegal-

ly? They all want to live in Athens and work in Athens and call themselves Athenian. We are, after all, the pinnacle of civilization here in the ancient world. We are giving the future generations philosophy, math, culture, wine, drama, olive oil, architecture, democracy, the Hippocratic oath, aqueducts, and the Olympics. AM: Not to mention a Greek economy that will never, ever fail! L: We are the best, Socrates. And we always will be. S: You know, Ludos, I have often heard Topiaros speaking to his compatriots as they practice their Attic Greek. And all they speak of is their love for their own culture, language, and homeland. True, they have a lower standard of living there compared to us, but I sometimes wonder if we ourselves haven’t caused that disparity and thus have given the Boeotians the need to leave the homes they love just to look for work in a distant land of which they truly want no part. L: You are making no sense. S: Perhaps not. But every once in a while I think we might have it all wrong. What if, for instance, it’s not just that we are rich and Boeotians are poor and that’s the end of the story. What if our involvement in Boeotian politics, culture, and affairs in general has been precisely what has led to our prosperity and their worries. I mean, we did colonize them in 457 BCE for ten years. And it made them so mad that they fought in the Peloponnesian War against us. We occupied their country, forced our way of government on them, and stripped away all of the natural resources we could. And all of our drama and other arts paint the Boeotians as lazy, dull, and stupid. I mean, it’s not like we just magically got rich and successful. Perhaps our prosperity is built on the backs of other lands’ degradation. L: And perhaps you are…full of poop. S: I suppose. Athena has blessed our fair city-state, and she watches over us as her chosen people. That is true, of course. So I guess the magical thing might be the way to go when we tell the story. L: Now you’re talking. The only thing that can possibly harm us is if we allow ourselves to become diluted by outsiders. It is our purity that makes us strong. S: You see, there again I’m not completely sure. I mean, I used to think that this world around us is a poor imitation of a purer realm, a realm where the eternal Forms reside, a realm of perfection. Someplace super-nice—like Santorini. This Realm of the Forms would be where Triangles and Justice and the number Four hang out together and are happy. And if all of that is true then it would mean that any-

time anything is diluted in this world, it gets further from the True, further from the Form of the thing. So letting Boeotians bring their food and their culture and their language into our city-state would make us less Athenian in the end. L: Exactly! By the gods, haven’t you seen that Univision tragedies are cracking the top ten these days? And tzatziki is no longer the number one selling condiment in Athens? S: Well…. L: I mean, who are we if we are a citystate of Boeotian salsos eaters rather than tzatziki lovers?! Am I right? S: The point I was making is sort of the opposite, my friend. I was saying that I’m not so sure that this doctrine of purity isn’t without a definitional problem. Isn’t the true Athenian condiment just the condiment that is eaten by Athenians? Isn’t the Athenian language just the language that is spoken by Athenians, however they speak it? Have you read any of Dekonstruktos’ dialogues? L: I heard he smells like cheese. S: A little. Actually, he argues that the doctrine of purity always makes an appeal to a binary in which an originary state is valued above what comes later. But even this talk of “origins” and “later” is already infected by something other than itself. Do you follow? L: Uh…sure? S: Take the Attic Greek that you and I love so much. If a Boeotian word is admitted into it, we worry that Greek was somehow diluted. But within Greek itself there are phrases that can mean different things and thus need translation to and from themselves within their own idiom. “Logos”—the word itself—can mean “reason,” “rationality,” “language,” or “salt cod.” So what does it really mean? What does the word purely refer to? What does reason tell us “reason” means? The question is rendered ridiculous by its own asking. When we look closely at our language—and it follows for our culture as well—each of these “signs” refer only to each other, thus making the system already undecidable and plural. There is so much talk of “The Other,” but one is first always already an other to oneself. You cannot appeal, then, to a purity of Greek or of Athens or of being Athenian. L: I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I think it and you must be full of poop again. S: I understand. But it really is an interesting point. Try this one last way of thinking about your xenophobia. When you make the claim “You are not Athenian, but I am,” where are you standing? L: In your lawn.

S: I mean where are you standing metaphorically? Is there a space in which you have a firm foundation of identity from which you can push off and make such a claim, or is it not the case that even your own question, and the language you use to ask it, are included and called into question by the claim? There is, as they say, nothing outside the text. There is no space from which to launch an attack of purity that is a space not touched by necessary impurity. L: If there is nothing outside of the text, then all texts are all always self referential, if I read you right? S: That’s how I read it. L: Aha! I’ve got you! If everything is self-referential, why is this dialogue all about metics? Doesn’t your preoccupation with foreigners reveal you to be a meticsympathizer? Is it not the case, also, that your famous “Republic” dialogue opens in a metic household and doesn’t even take into account that these are horrid metics listening to you go on and on about politics and justice? S: What do you mean “this dialogue”? L: Right. Look, that’s enough philosophizing. Let’s put an end to “the metic” and actually do something, like make you drink the hemlock we brought while we search your home for your own papyri. That upturned nose of yours isn’t helping you any. S: But we’re under three-thousand words at this point. The later works are always long—especially when my interlocutor is a foreigner. And there isn’t some sparkling, comedic, witty ending to wrap everything up nicely. And no one has said “Sure, why not” yet. That’s the catchphrase in these things. So it can’t be over. Ha ha! AM: Ludos said “Sure, why not” on the first page! And we just said it again! S: So, what? The dialogue is just going to end? _______ H Peter Steeves, PhD is Professor of Philosophy at DePaul University and can be reached at psteeves@depaul.edu. Steven J Ingeman, MLIS, is an independent scholar and Circulation Supervisor at Mary Riley Styles Library in Falls Church, VA and can be reached at singeman@fallschurchva.gov.

Sunday

Monday

1 l

The Mentors, Thrawtle, Crucial Point,

Ordstro, Stuck on Stupid, 700

$5, Audie’s Olympic

Klub, Manic Relapse, CYC, 6p

2 l

Metal Mondaze w/ DJ Evil G, Free, Audie’s Olympic Jazz Jam hosted by Javon Davis, IBC, 7p

8 l

Lightnin Woodcock, Stab City, Spider

9 l

Jazz Jam hosted by Javon Davis,

Problem, $5, Audie’s Olympic

IBC, 7p Michael Schenker Group, Lynch Mob, Sister Sin, $39.50+, TT, 7p Jamaica My Weekend Caribbean Music Celebration, $12 adv/$15 day of, Tower District, 5p-10p The Whiskey Avengers (Official Jamaica My Weekend Afterparty) $3/$5, Audie’s Olympic Parastic Skies, One Choice, Contend, CYC, 6p Jazz Jam hosted by Mike Dana, TKG, 6p

15 l

l l

22 l

Outlaw Country w/ DJ Audie 5000,

Jazz Jam hosted by Andre

Free, Audie’s Olympic

Feindz Kru DJs, $5,

Streetwalkers and Total

Pecha Kucha Volume 8,

Bush, TKG, 6p

Unusual Size, Thrawtle, $5,

Spindrift, Ch

Full of Hell,

Rademacher

Audie’s Olympic,

7p-2a

Crossroads of Comedy, CRS,

l l

10 l

Streetlight Suzie, 2 more

bands tba, DJ Dinobyte, $5,

Audie’s Olympic

The Neptunes, Motel Drive, Frankie & The Pool Boys, $6, Audie’s Olympic The Miracle Dolls, Iwanaga, Glamour Tronic, NOBTA, CYC, 6p William Fitzsimmons, FP, 9p Patio Party, AQS Wednesday Night L80's Party!, CRS, 6p-2a

11 l

The Upside Down, 1776, Quiet Americans, $5, Audie’s Olympic Eva Scow Trio, CPV, 6:30p

Patio Party, AQS

Cloud 99, LMK, 10p

Ressurect, Drum & Bass

Fay Wrays, Soft Crest, Crime Wave, Kuan, Matta Gawa $5, Audie's Olympic, 8p l Vieux Farka Toure, Lance Canales, $15, FP, 8p l

24 l

Audie’s Olympic

* Calendar

18 Merle Jagger, $5, Audie’s Olympic Cloud 99, LMK, 10p l Patio Party, AQS l

40 Watt Hyp

Neasham,

Austin's Com

l The C

l Open

l Karen Margu

l Bay Area Blu FCB, 8p

l Black Veil Br

25 l

Girl in a Coma, $8, FP, 8p

$5, Audie’s Olympic

The Blasters, Cattie Ness & The Revenge, $18/$20, Audie’s Olympic Cloud 99, LMK, 10p Patio Party, AQS

Girls Night O

Inner Ear Po

Karen Marguth l

l The Growlers, The Fling, El Olio

Wolof, Quiet Americans $6, Audie's Olympic, 8p

current as of printing

where: 2ST: 2ND Space Theatre, 928 E Olive AAM: Arte Americas, 1630 Van Ness AQS: Aqua Shi, 1144 E. Champlain Dr. #108 ADG: Austin’s Downtown Grill, 820 Van Ness Ave BLN: Babaylon , 1064 N., Fulton Ave

Austin's Com Woodward S free, WWP

26 l l

l l

Art

Girl In A Coma, DJ Dinobyte,

Javon Davis, IBC, 7p

DJ's Auzzie & Gariette, Free, Audie’s Olympic Jazz Jam hosted by Javon Davis, IBC, 7p

Flood, $6,

more, $14,

Party w/ The Bass

Jazz Jam hosted by

Art Ho

l Austin's Com

Birthday's, Vacation Dad, $5, Audie’s Olympic John Heart Jackie, free, VVV, 10p

$1 Punk Nite (4 bands for a buck!) Bands, Audie’s Olympic 52nd Annual Greek Fest, $5 admission, SW corner 1st and Clinton, 11a 6p

Lurking Corpses, Rodents of

WEDNESDay

$4, SL, 7:30p

Abuse, CYC

Audie’s Olympic

Feindz Kru, Free,

29 l

Shotgun Radio, Bass

TUESDAY

Girl

Karen Margu Krish Dhana Dream fro

Austin's Com Woodward S free, WWP

CIF: 935 F St CPB: Cracked Pep CR: Club Retro, 445 CRS: Crossroads, 3 CT: Crest Theater, 1 CYC: Chinatown Yo Street FAM: Fres Art Mus, FCB: Full Circle Bre

Thursday

friday

op(Tower/Downtown)

hief Nowhere, Lance Canales & The

, Audie’s Olympic CYC, 8p

pe, free, WWP Amphitheater, 6p

l l

r, Wet and Reckless, Oily

medy Show, ADG, 8-9p

l l l

Choptops, Motel Drive, Midnight

Howlers, $9, Audie’s Olympic

ning Night: Woodward Shakespeare Festival's King Lear, free, WWP,

uth, LMK, 8p

ues Society: Bobby Joe Neely, $7,

, CR, 6p

medy Show, ADG, 8-9p

l l l

Out!, Free, Audie’s Olympic

oetry Jam, $5, FCB, 8p

h, LMK, 8p

medy Show, ADG, 8-9p Shakespeare Festival's King Lear, P, 8p

ls Night Out! vs. 80's Nite, Free, Audie’s Olympic uth, LMK, 8p am (author of American om an Indian Heart), $40, TT, 7p medy Show, ADG, 8-9p Shakespeare Festival's King Lear, P, 8p

50 N. Brawley 3315 N Cedar Ave 1170 Broadway Plz outh Center, 901 F

, 2233 N 1st St ewing Co. 620 F Street

l Happy Hour w/ Glen Delpit & The Subterraneans, $5, Audie’s Olympic 5:30-9p l Beyond Sinister Skyes, CYC, 6p l PK, Picture Atlantic, My Beautiful Surrender, & Becausewelove!, KPJ, 7:30p Exit Through the Gift Shop, $10, TT, 5:30p and 8p Nights in the Plaza: Ruben y la Nueva Onda, $10, AAM, 8p Fres Folklore Soc: Kina Mendez Cantadora de Flamenco de Jerez de la Frontera, $20, The Brick Wall/JA Photo (2003 N Van Ness), 7:30p Chris Janzen Ensemble, IBC, 7:30p Bay Area Blues Society: Bobby Joe Neely, $7, FCB, 8p DJ Sammy, AQS Woodward Shakespeare Festival's King Lear, free, WWP, 8p

Zepparella, Gypsy Cab $10/$12, Audie’s Olympic Olivia's going away show w/Sing the Body & more, KPJ, 7:30p Nights in the Plaza: Kemaya, $10, AAM, 8p Argyle Pimps, SL, 9p Meatball Magic, free, RL, 10p War Starts Sunday, BLN, 7:30p Cockamamie Jaime (The Argyle Pimps), BLN, 9p DJ Sammy, AQS Woodward Shakespeare Festival's King Lear, free, WWP, 8p

Hop (Metro)

pper Bistro,389 E Shaw

The Iron Maidens, Moses, $10/$15, Audie’s Olympic Art Under the Stars w/ Fierce Creatures, Heart of Gold,$10, FAM, 8p-11p Nights in the Plaza: La Sonora Explosion Dinamitera, $15, AAM, 8p The Turn of the Screw (Madwoman's Attic), $10, Broken Leg Stage/KP Actor's Gym (1470 N Van Ness), 8p Norman Skinner, Chamber 7, Imagika, more BLN, 8p DJ Sammy, AQS

l l l l

rides, Vampires Everywhere,

6 l

, TKG, 9:30p

saturday

l l l l

l l

l Happy Hour w/ Glen Delpit, Free, Audie’s Olympic, 5:30-8pm l Smoke & Feathers, Lance Canales & The Flood, Style Like Revelators, $7, Audie’s Olympic l See You Soon, Omotola, Reggie Ginn, & I Do Not Exist, KPJ, 7:30p Steven Adler, SL, 8:30p Critical Mass Bike Ride, meet at Broadway Studios at 5:30p 50th Annual Greek Fest, $5 admission, SW corner 1st and Clinton, 5p - midnight VOODOO GLOW SKULLS, The Action League & The NoTones, $10-12, BLN, 9p DJ Sammy, AQS Woodward Shakespeare Festival's King Lear, free, WWP, 8p Night of the Blues, AAM

27 l l l l l l l

FP: Franks Place, 1432 Fulton St IBC: Iron Bird Café, 1915 Fulton St ITZ: Studio Itz, 370 N Fresno St KPJ: Kuppajoe, 3673 N First St LMK: The Landmark, 644 East Olive PAL: Palominos, 805 East Olive PDP: Piazza del Pane, Cedar & Nees RL: The Red Lantern

The Spiritual Bat, Sullen Serenade, DJ Maverick

Rotting Out, Alpha & Omega, Side Swipe, CYC

l l

Cadaverick, $6, Audie’s Olympic

The Turn of the Screw (Madwoman's Attic), $10,

Broken Leg Stage/KP Actor's Gym (1470 N Van

Ness), 2p and 8p

Cloud 99, Patio Café, 6:30p

Bottles & Beats w/ DJ Ernie, AQS

14 l l l l l l

Sweet Virginia, Jail Break $8, Audie’s Olympic

Mr. Leonard's Jazz Suite, VVV, 9p 12 Gauge Serenade, SL, 8:30p Nate at the Movies, $3, FCB, 8p Bottles & Beats w/ DJ Ernie, AQS Mujeres Por la Dignidad Rebelde & Displaced People (Film), Free, AAM, Noon

21 l

Frankenstein 59, Poorman's Poison, Gospel Spaceship, Burlesque Dancers, $6, Audie’s Olympic Catagium, Napalm Raid, CYC, 6p

Bottles & Beats w/ DJ Ernie, AQS

l l

Mayer Hawthorne & The County, $15, FP, 8p

Raiders-Bears game party to Benefit Local Military Families, CRS, 1p-2a

(Matt's Bday) Grave Robber, Leper, Space Hooker, Trumpet Solo, $6, Audie’s Olympic l Tower Block Party w/Patrick Contreras, Strangevine, TT Parking Lot, 8p Fres Folklore Soc: Fishtank Ensemble, $15, Wolk Garden (6661 N Forkner), 7:30p Kevin Shigeo Yokota Quartet, TKG, 6p Liama Boy, $6, FCB, 8p 51st Annual Greek Fest, $5 admission, SW corner 1st and Clinton, 11a - midnight Bottles & Beats w/ DJ Ernie, AQS

28 l l l l l

RR: Roger Rocka’s, 1226 N Wishon SBN: Sequoia Brewing, North, 1188 E. Champlain SBT: Sequoia Brewing, Tower, 777 E. Olive SL: The Starline, 831 E Fern SLG: Starline Grill, 833 E Fern TC: The Captive,1440 N Van Ness

Got An Event? Email:

TKG: Tokyo Garden, 1711 Fulton St TM: the Manhattan, 1731 W. Bullard TP: Thai Palms, 7785 N. Palm TT: Tower Theatre, 815 Olive WST: William Saroyan Theatre, 700 M St WWP: Woodward Park VVV: Veni Vedi Vici, 1116 N Fulton

calendar.undercurrent@gmail.com

guitars convey a sense of impending doom and the gravity of our concerns; on the album it’s obvious that metal is the best medium for their expression as they challenge people to look at their belief systems. “There are some similar themes, lyrically, throughout the album. One is the idea that popular media has a strong influence on almost everybody in the world in This metal some way or another,” Reid said. trio was formed by “To me it is important to have influsinger-songwriter and ence, but to ultimately be led by my bassist Reid May, with own heart and mind. My other his best friend, Nick main concept goes with what Napoletano, on drums Gandhi said: “Be the change you and his younger brothwant to see in the world.” When er, Pierce May, on lead you have something important to guitar. say, don’t be afraid to share it. “There are There are people looking for guidsome really cool rock ance and influence. As long as you bands here and in the are being honest, you have nothing Bay Area that have to fear.” been a good fit for us Reid’s brother, Pierce, tranto do shows with,” scribes that same message to his said Nick. “The indie guitar playing. “For the most part, I crowd has accepted us, try to approach everything I do, be to my surprise.” it rhythm or leads, in a way where it “The great speaks for itself, whether it’s ten thing about Fresno notes or ten thousand. It’s whatever indie rock is that all the song calls for,” he said. genres seem welcome Trumpet Solo’s honest to the stage and the approach is what gives their music scene. Instead of metal its full expression. On songs like bands only playing “Swine Flu” they’re reminding peowith metal bands, or ple to choose their battles wisely, folk bands just playing and to with other folk bands, acknowlthe Fresno indie rock scene knows that it’s more self-conscious about what you peredge the more releall rock-and-roll. If you can perform, you ceive as mistakes, while others might view vant problems that will have a shot at an audience who is open them as a stroke of artistic genius.” Even affect the entire to anything,” said Reid. with this challenge, it was clear to them that world. Reid said From August through December they should record live, in order to capture that NPR was one 2009 they wrote songs, practiced, played source which their energy. shows and recorded in a shared rehearsal “I guess recording the band live on inspired much of space across the street from Audie’s two tracks on a cassette tape is a strange his own material. Olympic, which they shared with other thing to do when you have friends with Pro “The gulf local musicians. oil spill is really Tools around. I did the vocals on one other Trumpet Solo’s debut album, 2010, with only a couple of overdubs,” messing with my track later, was recorded live on tape and was finished Reid said. mind,” Reid said. in a single take. Independent bands have a “For problems like The lyrics on 2010 are honest history of experimentation with lo-fi recordsociopolitical criticisms; in many ways, feeding the homeing, as it can capture a band’s unique aestheir style is satirical because they hold a less, you can give thetics, but it also takes a lot of courage to mirror up to society’s problems. The heavy them a sandwich. do. hen Trumpet Solo formed last year, they quickly became a curiosity as they performed outside of the metal scene, at venues like Tokyo Gardens and Audie’s Olympic. It seems that the local indie rock scene has adopted them as one of their own.

“It represents us the way we really sound, without all the fancy post-production stuff that’s all over music these days,” Pierce said. “Recording an album, you get

Meet Trumpet Solo

This is something I can’t imagine a solution. It’s a technological and scientific problem. It’s horrible. What it does do is make me not want to consume byproducts of oil. I think the Earth and all its resources is a beautiful and wondrous thing. Human greed is destroying the balance.” On their first recording, the band has already harnessed their vision and style, which can be a major challenge for a band of any genre. Their unique experiences mingling among artists of contrasting styles and ideas helped to illuminate their own. “There are always ideas coming in; it’s just a matter of sitting down and sorting through them!” Pierce said. “We have captured such a great jumping off point. It makes me excited for the next album!” Nick said. The band said that they’re currently working on their next group of songs and have a clear idea of what they will experiment with next. “This next time around we definitely want to fortify our sound and will be into a more experimental approach,” Reid said. “The new songs will have a different feel. I think we will discover how we want to record them after we play them together a bunch of times.” Taking an objective look at the band’s creative process, Nick said, “So far, Reid is the major song writer for the band, and it works because there is a lot of honesty among us. Pierce, too, has contributed a lot within the initial songwriting process. The next album will be a different animal. Reid is very open to us contributing more to the songwriting process, and I have a few ideas up my sleeve.” Trumpet Solo will be performing in San Francisco on Thursday, August 26th at Kimo’s with Albion and The Big Fold, and in Fresno Saturday, August 28th at

Audie’s Olympic with Six Ounce Gloves and Spacehooker.

Ariel Bird Goodman “ The Monkey Scribe Twins”

Tell us about this particular cover image. It depicts “The Monkey Scribe Twins” who are Mayan artisans. They carry paintbrushes, carvings tools and books full of scripture. They are twins named Hun-batz and Hun-cheun and are Gods of art, writing and calendars. They are characters in the story of The Popol-Vuh (the Mayan creation myth). In this story the twins are turned into monkeys, tricked by their younger brothers the HeroTwins. This piece is part of a mural in progress going on at Crazy Moon Studios. What got you started in your artistic endeavors? I’ve been doing art all my life. According to my mom I would throw tantrums as a baby and demand paper and pencils... How long have you been creating art here in Fresno? Just in the last year I moved back to Fresno and have become a part of an art collective called Crazy Moon Studios. Since then I’ve gotten more familiar with the local art scene. Has Fresno or the Fresno art scene had any influence or effect on your work? Totally. Its here that I’m flourishing as an artist, maybe because I grew up here or because it is a smaller scene than the bay area for instance. And I love that I can surround myself with other artists, really talented creative people, many that I have known for a long time. Working with other artists here recently has been an incredible experience. This is the

first time in my life I have felt part of an art community. How would you describe your style? Often I do replicas of specific documented Mayan art —such as the boating funeral procession carved on excavated bone fragment— I found that in a book called The Blood of Kings. Other times I will draw something just out of my head and it will look Mayan because it contains those cultural motifs and icons. Basically I really gravitate towards Mayan artwork and I have been replicating it for so long that it heavily influences my style. If someone wanted to see more of your work, how would they go about that? Come by Crazy Moon Studios @ 1407 N. Van Ness in the Tower District. I have a little workshop and small showing space. We are open a few hours a day and we have art shows every first Thursday for art-hop (5-8pm) and every third Friday (7-11pm) for our Half-Moon Show. Also, come by La Luna Loca Tattoo on Fulton this month to check out the Women’s show, featuring art from all the talented females at CM Studios. You can also check out www.myspace.com/arielbird for some digital images and updates. If someone wanted to give you money for your work, how would one go about that? Send me an email: arielbirdie@ gmail.com or leave a note in my mailbox at Crazy Moon. What projects are you working on or dreaming up for the near future? I just finished a credential program at Fresno State so hopefully I can

‘teach’ art in high school. In terms of painting I’d like to start working on way bigger canvases than I can afford right now...so yeah, dreaming about that... Also I think I will learn how to tattoo... Please provide a short bio. Ariel Bird Goodman is 28 years old and lives in Fresno. At 16 years old, Ariel traveled to the ruins of Tikal in Guatemala, and thereafter Mayan culture has influenced her artistic concepts and expressions…

“Sunset” bracelet, pictured above, will be featured in the December issue of Bead Trends magazine, and will be available for purchase December 1, 2010

Au Revoir Simone Night Light

Our Secret Record (2010) reviewed by N IC HO LAS N O CK ET BA CK

When Little House on the Prairie Has a Rave, They Play This Band Still Light, but feature the likes of Max Cooper, Mack Winston, Dam Mantle, and Jens Lekman whose remix of “Shadows” provides his classic stratum of orchestral melodies with heartbreaking vocals. The Dam Mantle remix of “Knights of Wands” offers splatterings of retro computer game sounds ala Kung Fu, Nintendo 1, with a blend of kinky bass and synth…like Animal Collective at a Chucky Cheese. If you like Passion Pit or Rilo Kiley or Baths or simply just like to get stoned with girls between the ages of 17 and 25, this album should be in rotation as of yesterday. If you’d like a taste of what the album can offer, download their Clock Opera Remix of “Tell Me” which is a sprightly tune that u Revoir Simone are Erika Forster, Annie gives you notes of The Ting Tings and Enigma in the Hart & Heather D’Angelo, a trio of chicks same swallow, frightening to think of but tranquil and from Brooklyn who’ve made some serious fully composed when you hear it. And with that, kids, waves throughout the synth and indie scenes, making you’ve just been served; as the teens would say in the appearances on hipster mags the nation over. Their Bring it On. hit 2000 film image is an amalgam of young librarian, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and quasi-hot in a “that could be my cousin shopping at Target” way. Putting together electro-pop music since 2003,the band gets its name from a scene in Tim Burton’s classic film, Pee-Wee Herman’s Big Adventure (remember that, readers who were born before 1995? Pee Wee is telling Simone goodbye at the Texas Bus Stop before he’s chased by her boyfriend Andy, ANDY!!!)

N Palm Ave

W Bullard Ave

With a collective love for antiquated drum machines and synthesizers, Au Revoir Simone have woven a patch-quilt of tripped-out remixes, handpicked from some of this genres illist. The songs are taken from their previous release Still Night

The Undercurrent ’s Summertime Slump-Busters ...and we don’t mean that sexually reviewed by N I CH OLA S N OC KE TBAC K

East of Eden

Karamazov, following a dysfunctional cast of miscreants and faux-patriarchs into a labyrinthine maze of abuse and incest. Following myriad stories from the book of Genesis, Steinbeck assemPenguin Classics (1952) bles characters that underscore many of the most human of follies, including hen one thinks of California, three things come to Cain and Abel, and Jezebel. One can’t mind: Snoop Dog, Lime-Green Chronic Buds, and help but be struck by how vulnerable John Steinbeck, a most quintessential Cali triumvirate. The the heart can be, the mystery of identifirst two, however, offering ephemeral entertainment, as the ty, the fatal outcome of love’s absence, music stops and cotton-mouth ensues, but the third offers and inexplicability of love itself, impressive, low cost pleasure that sticks around even after whether it be familial or romantic. Like many of his pieces, East of Eden is set in Salinas, California, following Adam Trask from the farmlands of the East to build a life in California. But, as in all epics, things don’t end meekly. After he meets a woman who will eventually turn brother against brother, igniting both figurative and literal fires, she births twins, Cal and Aron, which bring them both to the brink of madness. And, if you’re familiar with the story of Cain and Abel, you know that the two are destined for mania. Now that’s some hot shit.

John Steinbeck

Safe from the Neighbors Steve Yarbrough Knopf (2010)

you’ve torched through the six hundred and second page. The Central Valley becomes scorched this time of year, both our bodies and the soil, so it’s only fitting that a Steinbeck piece gets thrown into rotation in the summer. Steinbeck himself called this piece “the first book” and it feels very much like reading the primordial work of your favorite author. The range and scope are mammoth, reaching as far as a Dostoyevsky work in every way; in fact, this book reads very much like The Brothers

efore taking a class taught by Steve Yarbrough at Fresno State years back, I read his back catalogue of novels and found something so authentic and sincere, that I jumped at the chance to read his latest effort—I normally will never buy a hardcover book, it’s like music, who spends full price anymore? If you are not familiar with Yarbrough’s work, it’s in the same vein as Steinbeck or Faulkner…a rich, rural tapestry spun from one of America’s premier yarn tellers. As with many of his prior works, this piece is assembled around a diverse group of banal, tightly wound characters, finding themselves in situations that can only lead to catastrophe. We learn about the events from the protago-

nist, Luke May, who teaches high school in a Mississippi Delta town, where Yarbrough himself grew up. Luke is as ordinary as one man can be, carrying on a less than thrilling relationship with his wife, that eventually leads to philandering (in the foreign language department, if you will). Luke’s own personal history comes back to haunt him when he realizes his family had something to do with the murder of a woman years ago. Yarbrough intertwines real historical events with fictional character that give the novel a pathos it otherwise wouldn’t have. It is a heartbreaking look at how small-town life can swallow you up in its own history, leaving your neighbors to judge things for themselves.

Ride to Wahalich by ASH LE Y FAI R BUR N

n August 14th, bicyclists from throughout Fresno will be making the long ride to a sacred mountain proposed for destruction by the Mexican corporation Cemex. Jesse Morrow Mountain, known to the Choinumni band of Yokuts as Wahalich, is the first mountain one encounters when driving to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. If Cemex is granted the necessary permits from Fresno County, they will mine Wahalich for gravel, creating unimaginable pollution through mining, their processing plant which will be at the base of the mountain, and the hundreds of trucks that would drive to and from the mine. In addition, the mine will disturb the sacred site and burial grounds of the Choinumni people, a tribe that lived in this region for thousands of years. Whether you oppose this project due to the air and noise pollution it would cause, or because of the issue of land rights, we need you!

Come be a part of raising awareness about this impending man-made disaster and help show Fresno County how many residents oppose the project. To join this bike ride, we will meet at Al Radka Park at Clovis and Belmont on August 14th at 7:30 a.m. We will take Belmont all the way to Trimmer Springs Road, then turn to catch the 180. It will be an easy ride, not a race. In all, the ride will be about 30 miles roundtrip, with transportation available for those who cannot make the return trip. All participants are encouraged to bring their own extra tubes, plenty of water, and snacks or lunch. Help save Jesse Morrow Mountain and Central Valley air quality! _______ Ashley Fairburn loves riding bikes and feels like a sucker every time she pays for gas. She can be reached at ashfairb@gmail.com.

El Teatro Campesino presents Popol Vuh: The Story of Seven Macaw

August 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, September 4, 5, 6

k. I’ll be up front: to attend this free event you’re gonna need to get to the coast. San Juan Bautista to be exact. But as August becomes September & Fresno stays hot, I figured I’d give you an excuse to round up the family or some friends and take a nice day trip to enjoy a classic mythological tale being presented outdoors by some of the masters of community theater, El Teatro Campesino. The Teatro has its roots in the Central Valley, where Luis Valdez, Agustín Lira and others helped to energize striking farmworkers in the UFW strikes of the 1960’s. The theater has changed a great deal in the 44 years of its existence, from its move to San Juan Bautista in 1971, to the success of Luis Valdez’ hit play-turnedBroadway play-turned-movie Zoot Suit in the 1970’s (and subsequent film production of Ritchie Valenzuela’s life story, La Bamba in the 80’s), to the many television, film, and live theater projects of the last 15 years, to Luis Valdez’ son, Kinan Valdez, taking over as director recently and pushing the Teatro in new (and very old) directions.

I spoke with Kinan recently about the Teatro and this upcoming show in particular: “The Teatro experi-

mented a lot with indigenous themes in the 70’s, but those experiments halted in the 80’s.” Kinan continued, “We want to re-interpret these ancient stories for this age and time; we’ve adapted the story of the Popol Vuh almost as an allegory for our times. Especially right now, when everybody’s focusing on ‘Mayan prophecies’ and 2012, it seemed particularly important to go back to the Mayan story of creation contained in the

by M AT T E SP IN O ZA WA TSON

Vuh, a lesser known story about 7Macaw, Vucub Caquix.” Popol Vuh. And also time for theatre 40 years ago, the Teatro to come back to the people, which is started presenting plays about the why this is a free production that we Virgen de Guadalupe and Las Pastorelas during the Christmas season to reach out to the community. “What started as a humble theatrical experiment has turned into a beloved tradition, where thousands of people come each year to see these plays,” said Kinan. Kinan hopes that the presentation of the stories of the Popol Vuh might follow a similar path, evolving into a new summertime tradition. “Presented outdoors in San Juan Bautista, Popol Vuh: The Story of Seven Macaw promises to be a FREE family-friendly spectacle full of passion, pageantry and puppets” [As of printing, the specific parks in San Juan Bautista where the Teatro will perform were still being finalized—check their website will be performing in various parks in for locations, updates, and more and around San Juan Bautista. The about the history of ETC: elteatrohope is that this will be merely the campesino.com] first year of an annual tradition; this is just one small piece of the Popol

Poetic Justice Project: Prison Town Tour

[Poetic Justice Project PRESS RELEASE] he original musical drama OFF THE HOOK, set in a California prison and featuring a 15-member cast of formerly incarcerated people, will play in Fresno on Saturday, August 21 at 7pm at the Big Red Church, 2131 Van Ness Blvd. OFF THE HOOK examines the ever-present threat of violence and racial segregation in prison. Separation from family, the danger of becoming too close to others and, finally, the triumph of the human spirit come to life in OFF THE HOOK. Bill McLaughlin, a professional actor and director with more than 30 years experience in stage and film, is directing the Nik Johnson as Razor and Cooper Wise as play. All performancJohn Boy es will be followed by talk-backs with the audiences. Read more about the production, see rehearsals, and read actor bios at http://www.poeticjusticeproject.org/. Tickets for the show can be purchased at brownpapertickets.com.

DEATHSMILES

aksys games (2010) / (Xbox 360)

ideo game publishers Aksys are known for taking risks and releasing some of Japan’s hottest 2D games here in the U.S., and have once again with the release of Deathsmiles for the Xbox 360 system. However, unlike other 2D releases Guilty GEar and BlazBlue, Deathsmiles is not a fighting game. Deathsmiles developer, Cave, has taken gamers back to the realm of the bullet-hell, or side scrolling shoot ‘em up genre. Not since Treasure’s Ikaruga have I had so much fun, or found a smoother playing game of this type. The bullet-hell genre features side or vertical shooting action, but throws in mass amounts of enemy bullets that the player must traverse through. The bosses are massive and impressive in design, ranging from a disembodied head tied to the ground or trying to outrun a giant undead cow. The end boss (tyrano satan!, not a dinosaur though...) fires what look like ovarian eggs and sperm at you at one point in higher difficulties. Other than that there is no real adult content, so Deathsmiles is safe for everyone. Ok, I have to get something off my chest here before we go any further. As much as I loved this game there is one glaring problem that you need to consider...the game has infinite continues in all modes of the game. This may be a deal breaker for some, and usually would have for me, but what drew me in was the ambiance of Deathsmiles. The graphics are great in all modes (except arcade mode, uses original SD graphics) with enemies that look like they came out of a claymation movie, but somehow have a cartoonish look to them; like a drawing with texture. Deathsmiles also has a killer soundtrack (which comes with the game!) and between the combination of sights and sounds, you may as well call this Castlevania: the side scrolling shooter. But that’s a good thing. Again though, there is still the ‘continues’ problem. You pick from a selection of four

both left and right directions. There are six different modes of play in Deathsmiles, but for the most part it’s the same game with tweaks made to the game play. Arcade mode is a port over of the original arcade game complete with original graphics and screen size (which is not that big). The next mode is the Xbox 360 mode. This is an enhanced version of the arcade game, but has enhanced graphics in HD, a larger screen size and an extra stage that is quite difficult. In addition, on the mission map there are initially three areas, each with two chapters, with three difficulty levels that can be selected. Acrade mode gradually increases in difficulty as you progress, eventually having you play at level “angels” with different properties (fire, wind, three difficulty. Then there are version.1 of phantom and fairy) and each comes with a both arcade and Xbox 360 modes, featuring “familiar”, also known as a little flying creacontrollable familiars (moved with the right ture that shoots enemies with you and absorbs stick), an overall higher difficulty level/more enemy shots if hit with them. It’s hard to not on screen bullets, and an increase in point just die your way through Deathsmiles; what’s total needed to gain extra lives. Mega Black to stop you? I have found that limiting the Label (MBL) rounds out the offline games in amount I use works, but that’s just me. Who’s Deathsmiles. MBL features an extra playable to say you’ve got that kind of self control? If character, an insane level 999 difficulty and an it sounds like a problem, look past it and read extra level to the mix. MBL also has the reqthe rest, I may change your mind as I did my uisite version.1 treatment as well. Rounding own....down right scary. out the game modes is score attack, and is Deathsmiles originated as an arcade available online only. As the name of the side scrolling shooter, also developed by mode implies, you try to rack up the highest Cave, that utilized a horizontal screen as score on the online leaderboards. The arcade opposed to the more traditional vertical and Xbox 360 modes feature two player co-op screens used in arcade games. The need for off and online. this comes from the style of gameplay impleStory wise, Deathsmiles is pretty mented in Deathsmiles. Enemies scroll onto shallow. The gates of hell have opened, you the screen from both the left and right, and and your friends must close it. Gameplay has accordingly your character can also fire in a few different firing methods. Rapidly press-

ing either the A or B button will fire left or right and is stronger than holding down either. Your character will also move faster, very helpful when maneuvering through bullets. By the way, the whole of your character is not vulnerable, just a heart shaped medallion in the center of you character; also known as its hit spot. Once you fully realize this, Deathsmiles becomes much more manageable. Oh right, controls.....you can also hold either L or R trigger to fire left or right, but the benefit here is that you get a combination of the other two firing types, strong bullets with fast controls. Holding either A & B together or L & R together will have the same effect as holding the X button. Holding the X button lets your familial take over and will automatically attack the closest enemy, and is an overall very strong attack. Using the X button attack will deplete your item counter, which maxes out at 1000. You fill your item counter by picking up icons that your enemies drop, ranging from crowns (high value) to skulls (low value). The main benefits to the X button attack are that your character is temporarily invulnerable to bullets and a mass increase in your scoring the longer you use it. All in all, I’ve got to applaud Aksys with bringing Deathsmiles to the west. In researching Deathsmiles, I’ve often read (from reputable media outlets) that many write it off as a game that doesn’t necessitate the price tag and should have been a download on the Xbox marketplace. I sorely disagree and hope that many will support Aksys and the hardcore/old school video game mentality. It’s games like Deathsmiles that give a gamer their stripes...just don’t abuse the continues! Deathsmiles rates a 8/10. ______ Hugh Starkey has lived in the valley his whole life, which is how long he’s been playing video games. That makes him wonder if he himself is living in a game…He can be reached at weilandmercy@gmail.com.

deathly allergic to formula, plastic dining chairs, and baby spittle. Offer her a cigar that reads “It’s a boy-and certainly not mine,” salute her and leave forever. Easy, peezy, Japaneezy. —Nocky

The Undercurrent editors strongly suggest that under no circumstances, for no reasons imaginable, or in any possible worlds, should the advice given by Mr Nocketback be followed, contemplated, or considered. We completely absolve ourselves of any unfortunate consequences that may occur as a result of Nocketback’s advice, solicited or otherwise. That said, send your questions, problems, or concerns about money, love, or life to: nocketback.undercurrent@gmail.com.

Dear Nocketback, I am looking for impartial advice. My fiancé and I are getting married next month. We have a four-year old together. My mother-in-law has always been good, not interfering, or manipulative. Until now. She is in charge of the rehearsal dinner and instead of having it catered, she decided to host a barbeque. I was disappointed but agreed. My fiancé and I gave her the list of the invitees and now she says that she has family in town, about six people, who she is including at the dinner. She knows my feelings and is blatantly disregarding them. —Monster-in-Law

Dear MiL, A barbeque? That’s fine if you’re planning a Hip-Hop video shoot or perhaps feeding the Dear Nocketback, construction team working on your pool. A wedI have a bit of a dilemma in the sense that I ding, my dear, requires an elegance I feel your believe my girlfriend is lying to me. Basically, mother-in-law is unfamiliar with. No worries, she told me recently that she’s pregnant. Now that would be great news to most people, but the though, you have options. Why not tell her that thing is, I’ve had a vasectomy. I haven’t told her cornbread and tri-tip are for people who find daytime television entertaining and drive about that because we’ve only been going out American cars—not your style. Give her a for a month. I had it done about two years ago menial task like scouring the city for a good after my previous girlfriend made me. I don’t really want to get into that, but what should I do deal on plastic folding chairs (she’ll be familiar with those) then plan the dinner yourself. As a about my current situation? matter of fact, I’ll do it. Make a reservation at —Danny Boy the Ripe Tomato (it’s French)—boom, done. Tell your mother-in-law the dinner is at Perko’s Dear DB, and enjoy the day. In the immortal words of the It seems to me like you’re being bamboozled (that’s a family-friendly term meaning “getting late Tupac, “It’s All About You.” —Keeping it Ever-So Real, Nocketback royally screwed up the pooper with a broken Miller High Life bottle”) It pains me to drop this truth-bomb on your face, but, YES, she’s probably lying to you. Her reasons may be financial, or perhaps simply Freudian. Nonetheless, I have a series of options for you; but please don’t think you can save this relationship…it’s as finished as a mahogany book shelf from IKEA. Try these: 1) Wait for the child to be born, then if it comes out any other ethnicity than your own say, “Gotcha Biatch!” and moonwalk out the hospital room with a Joker grin on your face. 2) Tell her that you also have a surprise for her, then hand her a document you created on Microsoft Word that says you have full blown HIV, and then ask, “whose surprise is more shocking?” 3. Let her know that you’re

dam: Immigration, the act of entering, versus emigration, the act of exiting, is an interesting topic for me. Being white, male, and born in the USA, I’ll admit that it’s not a topic that I explore often due to my privilege. But, being a central California resident, I’m most certainly aware of it as a policy (most recently with Arizona’s new legislation as a tool of oppression) and as a struggle for those who actually attempt to engage in it both illegally and legally. We most often hear about immigration via politics, because it’s much easier to pander and fear-monger with an issue that is tied to something like racism, xenophobia, and/or nationalism. It’s interesting to me, that in a country known as the “melting pot” or “salad bowl”, filled with diverse cultures, foods, and of course, people, the way people refer to immigration is through the use of pejorative, hateful rhetoric. Immigration is what makes the world go round. Where would humanity be today if we weren’t explorers, constantly pushing the bounds, meeting new people and trying new things? That, in my mind is the absolute essence of immigration: blazing a new trail. People have different motivations for blazing that trail whether it is escaping oppression, following love, looking for better opportunities, or simply wanting to be somewhere different, but they all do it because they want something different and new. The intense backlash we are seeing towards immigration baffles me. When I think about all the things I like when it comes to music, to food, to film, to

whatever, almost all of it can be traced back to another culture, another country, another place. Why would I want to oppose the forces that bring and integrate such awesomeness into the country I’m a citizen of?

d: Upon first blush, I’m for a more relaxed immigration policy, perhaps even a near open border if we could. But, I recognize the overly idealistic nature of these thoughts. So, I think we need a reasonable plan for immigration. I don’t know what that plan is, and I won’t pretend to be intelligent enough to form a comprehensive policy. Whatever we come up with we must always keep in mind that people want to come here for legitimate reasons like jobs and opportunity, why not accommodate as many as we can? But, therein lies the rub. We live in an alleged land of opportunity, but still many of our citizens are denied opportunity. We live in a land of plenty, but there are many that go without. Sadly, it is not these with the most need, these being left behind in our American society that are generally clamoring against those that wish to be here. It is those with the power, it is those at the top of society, it is those who fear a changing populous. This isn’t me just saying the rich people are evil or full of hate or xenophobic. This is me acknowledging that those in power are always seeking to maintain power, to maintain the status quo. And, if we allow more people in, especially if we allow them to become a part of this great land

through citizenship then the grasp on power may be loosened. Were the Irish welcomed with open arms? Were the Italians welcomed with open arms? Were Catholics welcomed with open arms? Was anyone that was different than the dominant, controlling culture ever accepted with open arms? Sadly, that answer is no, despite the statements engraved at the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” So what do we do then, how do we handle a country that no longer believes in immigration? Simply put, we voice our opposition to these policies. We vote out those politicians that support such discrimination. Locally, we do the same, but we also need to find tangible ways to support those people that are here. Immigration is not some faceless policy issue. We can support agencies like Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministry (firminc.org), Fresno Metro Ministry (fresnometmin.org) and every other agency that we can identify that is actively working to aid those who are coming here to pursue the American dream. Fresno and the San Joaquin valley are an area of opportunity. We are a destination for immigrants, whether or not the powers that be want them here. With that in mind, I encourage every resident to find some way to help out their fellow human.

Choose Your MisFortune

Then look over at page 28 and see what your misfortune holds

Celebrate Creativity and Thriftiness in

few months ago I went on a tour of some gardens in Fresno. The day was a blur of sun, plants, and oh-so perfectly manicured lawns. A child I was with kept lamenting that he wanted everything we saw…tree houses, aviaries, rope swings…to which I replied, “Do you have a credit card?” What was most striking about the majority of the homes was that their gardens weren’t creative or even memorable—it was that, to be frank, the homeowners had A LOT of money. Yea, well, if I had an acre of prime real estate and hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire a small army of architects, designers, laborers and to buy plants, fountains, pools, and three separate dining areas I’d have a hell of a yard too! This is the epitome of the prevailing attitude of many Fresnans and a lot of our society in general—celebrate money. You are applauded for having it and congratulated buying the “right” things or for hiring the right people to help you…so I have to ask…is this worthy of all the fuss? My (obvious) conclusion is that it is not worth much at all. I understand that throwing money at projects makes things a great deal easier…but what about originality, art and soul? These words are thrown around a lot and are utterly diluted in much of our culture, but these words are the color in our pen and ink world. I realize all of this is fairly easy for me to say, mainly because I am a creative person (sometimes!). But what about those of you out there that don’t want to be a part of the non-creative “cattle drive” (or who don’t have a choice ‘cause you don’t have the money) I have some suggestions: Fountains: Ok, everyone (read: pseudo bourgeois of Fresno) has a freaking fountain and while they are attractive and

calming they can be super expensive and seem kinda similar—faux concrete, splashy splashy whatever. Making your own can be easy and also fun and creative by using found objects and/or pottery, rocks, etc. All you really need in some kind of basin for water, a little water pump and some assemblance of “stuff” (see above). In the past I have made some inventive fountains with a pump, plastic tubing and a metal trough with old plumbing hardware…the only rule to remember is this– water + electricity = bad juju. Vignettes: Yards (small or large) can be hard to know just what to do with whether the Garden you are creative or not. There are a lot of different things to do, but WHAT? And where? …thus begins frustration followed by letting the grass die and letting the dogs dig up everything because who cares anyway? Sadly, I have been there myself. I have worked for years on my yard and it is now a jewel to me, but there was a time when someone described my lawn (or lack thereof) as “cratered and dusty…hey, kinda like the moon.” Thanks. Anyway, I have a large yard, and it was totally overwhelming…so I started slowing dividing it up into workable and understandable sections. The dogs got put into a very large kennel. The garden got fenced in. With the remaining more open spaces, I asked myself what I wanted from the yard…what feeling, look, etc. I actually chose a word that I wanted to be used to describe the yard as I worked on it, and that word is “charming”…you could pick a word, song, color, or pictures from magazines…anything to inspire you! All I wanted was the yard to bring a smile to my face and anyone else who happened upon it. As far as practicality goes, I wanted to have a place to eat outside (I mean an ancient picnic table and bench) and a chair (super cheap plastic) with a small table to drink tea on and to just sit and look over the yard. Overall, I wanted the yard sliced up into a series of enchanting vignettes. Here are some examples: I was given a lot (I mean A LOT) of succulents so I devoted a little corner and small table to them. Grouped like this they are more interesting and have more of a visual impact. I had some painted gourd bird houses that my students made but didn’t have room for, so I hung them up in a tree…making for a colorful and a bit bizarre little scene. Divide, visualize and conquer, troops! Plants and Other Stuff: Ok, so you are on board with dividing up the yard…but now where to get plants and which ones? First of all, make sure you have a good idea of what you want from the yard (see above).

Also know what kind of time you want to invest in overall maintenance. Then do some research! Know what kind of light and soil you have (or get some pots) and keep Fresno’s zone 9 climate in mind. There are a mindnumbing amount of books on these subjects, but the local libraries are a great place to start. With plants, so many people (especially people who haven’t hired someone to know all this stuff for them) just pick what they like and don’t have a clue how to take care of it. Picking out things you are drawn to is great, but know what you are getting into before you buy anything…otherwise pick a store with a good return policy! Cheap plants can be found at mass retailers, but they tend to be smaller (younger) than ones at actual nurseries. On the other hand, retailers will take back dead plants over and over again…most nurseries just say you are s.o.l. A GREAT place to get the cheapest plants (although no return policy) is from yard sales…especially from people who are moving. I personally would rent a fleet of u-hauls to transport all my green leafy kids, but most people are not so, er, emotionally involved with their plants! For example last year I acquired two giant, gorgeous plants from someone who was moving and then came by a gang of (afore mentioned) succulents from a kind friend who was thinning out her collection. As far as other “stuff” (pottery, signs, statuary, etc) goes, pick carefully…it is pretty easy to find these things for zero to little money (yard sales, dollar stores, friends and family) but I encourage you to always edit things down (less is more oui?). My rule for myself is that I have to LOVE the object and/or it has to have a lot of meaning for me. Now, just a warning, this can take years to do…and isn’t easy…it can be hard to really “see” things when you are living in the middle of it. It helps to look at things one by one as opposed to as part of the whole picture.

Just the other day I was looking at a few shelves and asked myself if I really wanted an old pot I had made on display…the answer was a resounding “no.” It is also hard to let go of things that you may not like or want anymore but have some kind of sentimental value…it is interesting that the emotional value of some things changes over time. I like to be ruthless with things…chuck ‘em! I feel lighter and invigorated when I edit out my stuff, and I notice it lets the objects I really want to shine have room to be better appreciated. So friends, you don’t need no stinkin’ money (at least not much!)…start with an idea and look at your space, be it a deep lot or a 2ft by 4ft patio, divide and conquer—pick a small area to work on and then and move on. There are two great pieces of advice to keep in mind always…first, don’t worry about design and theory, etc…pick objects and (well researched) plants with your heart and everything will magically go together. (If they don’t it won’t matter…you will love everything too much to care). The other advice is to keep in mind that a yard, just like a house, is a constant work in progress. I read once that it takes 8 years to have a great garden. Don’t expect things to be done in a 3 hour span of a weekend afternoon (I know, I know…I am so anti-American). Observe, shift, change, but most of all enjoy…it’s not about money, it’s about being a part of an immense living work of art. _______ Christy Cole can pinch a penny into ten equal parts and live on it for a week…ok, that’s a total lie, but she is pretty parsimonious! She is a teacher in Fresno and can be reached at callansmama@hotmail.com.

Misfortune Cookies by Nick Nocketback

1 2

Look for happiness in everyday transacti ons. Try visiting a Korean ma ssage parlor. Your mo ther nev er loved you. Sorr y.

3 4

A very trusted friend will do something terrible to you this month, start acting like a dick to them right now.

Make all your de cisions using your crotch on the 30th; it’ll surprise you how much yo u already do.

ances for ing your ch s. s are hurt t, not pant ce oi en m ch re ng ut room acco Your clothi th ba or f rget is success. Ta

Viva Vegan! by Terry Hope Romero

reviewed by J E SSI HAF E R

’ve just scratched the surface of the vegan Latin cookbook Viva Vegan!, by Terry Hope Romero (co-author of must-have vegan cookbooks Veganomicon, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar). I meant to try more recipes by now, but part of why I haven’t is because after trying my first pick – vegan Cuban sandwiches – I ended up making them over and over again. The vegan cheese (hurray for Daiya!) and vegan “ham” slices I would normally see as cop-outs were actually a subtle and significant counterbalance to homemade, marinated seitan (wheat gluten often used as a “meat substitute”). Adding pickles and grilling on sandwich rolls made for a sandwich unlike any I’d had before, and even the non-vegetarians who tried it were impressed.

Happily, though, the cookbook does not over-emphasize vegan cheese or processed meat substitutes. Looking through the other 200+ recipes in the Viva Vegan!, I found a cookbook that will walk people step-by-step through what may be new concepts, if those people are new to either vegan or Latin food. I also found a cookbook that takes the cuisine found throughout Latin America and presents both vegan interpretations of traditional dishes as well as innovative, fusion-ized recreations based on traditional flavors. Romero also takes basics like rice and beans and reinvigorates them for those who aren’t as familiar with how the personalities of these staples vary from

region to region. I made “Red Beans with Dominicanstyle Sazon” for an (omnivore) family gathering and received unusually enthusiastic compliments, well-deserved (if I do say so myself) since the peppers, onions, and herbs incorporated in these beans lend a surprising bit of spunk without allowing the beans to overpower a main dish. “Venezuelan-Style Black Beans,” “Columbian-Style Red Beans,” and “Costa Rican Refried Rice and Beans” are on my “to make soon” list. All that said, great sandwiches and amazing beans could not trump the ecstatic joy of making my own churros with chocolate dipping sauce. While these took a little bit of work (and moral support from friends anxious to eat these), it wasn’t too terribly difficult, and the results were amazing. What to make next?! Perhaps “Amaranth Polenta with Roasted Chiles,” “Potato-Chickpea Enchiladas with Green Tomatillo Sauce,” or “Crepes with UnDulce de Leche and Sweet Plantains.” Or if I’m feeling even more ambitious, perhaps I’ll try my hand at some empanadas, like “Sweet and Spicy Seitan-Potato Empanadas.” I’m also looking forward to trying some of the afore-mentioned beans with some “Pan-Grilled Vegetables in Chile-Lime Beer” to use up the last of the summer squash from my garden this year. I also look forward to making “Crunchy Fried Yuca” and “Mofongo” to fondly reminisce about my recent trip to Puerto Rico. Viva Vegan! gives you opportunities to venture into impressive and involved dishes while also presenting options for more simple dishes, and all while proving that great Latin American cuisine can be achieved without meat or dairy.

Gewurztraminer

ne of the greatest obstacles to enjoying wine is trying to follow all of the rules imposed on wine. Even if one were to set aside all the technical aspects of wine, (is that the bouquet, or the aroma you’re smelling? A weighty question, undoubtedly.) we are still left paralyzed by all the labels, varietals, and vintages, and then there is the pairing of wine with food.

In the past I’ve written about big, tannin heavy reds that could stand up to heavy, fatty foods, and if you read the labels of wines you often see suggestions for certain pairings. When I drink wine with dinner, I don’t always follow standard wine pairings, but one that I’ve found especially good is a nice Gewurztraminer with spicy Asian, or Mexican dishes. The Gewurztraminer I’m drinking now is the Alexander Valley Vineyard’s “New Gewurz 2007.” What makes Gewurztraminer so well suited with Asian & Mexican food can be found in the name itself. Gewurz, which means “spicy” in German (traminer means “coming from Tramin,” a small Austrian town, which is home to the grape), perfectly denotes the characteristics of the wine. Gewurztraminer’s have very strong aromas (the fruit smell). Fruit, and floral notes don’t tickle your nose as much as they nearly punch you in the face. One of the strongest aromas you will notice is that of lychee, which itself has strong floral

tastes. Gewurztraminers fit so well with spicy Asian and Mexican food not only because of spicy aromatic taste, but also because of its slightly sweet flavor. Gewurztraminers are also unique in their crispness. This spicy, slightly sweet wine is so crisp that it almost jumps off your tongue like a sparkling wine. A glass of Gewurztraminer is a perfect accompaniment with a plate of Pad Thai, or a spicy pozole.

Three Poems by mia barraza martinez

my favorite picture of miguel barraza

calwa park – one a.m.

not tonight

it had to be a sunday morning because daddy was home and napping on the couch i can hear the mischief in my mother’s voice despierta tu papí she whispers a laughing whisper my skinny tanned legs stick out of blue polka dotted shorts canter into the living room lean against the stone slab of his talking rising chest snores hit my witch kid hair say whisper pa, papí, papa and i smile an open window missing tooth smile as his eyes pop open he looks up at the smiling lens of her 35mm and for once doesn’t frown or turn away from the camera he lifts my hair to one side cascades like dark, tangled water over one shoulder and his eyes crinkle into a smile i look calmly away

i remember the round light of my flashlight hitting the graffiti wall at calwa park

after i read your message i put my phone down on freshly laundered sheets. i take off the perfume at my wrists, pour it back in the bottle.

content in his tree trunk arms grape vine thick knuckles.

i remember the clangs and clinks of the chain link fence as we stuck in our toes and jumped over. the yellow lights from the beer warehouse across the street. the empty immobile swings. i remember the metal bones of a rocket ship sticking up out of the ground like a stoic weed. the naked tree branches and their lonely fingers. your feet sinking into mud next to mine. the way you tucked your hands into the pockets of your black peacoat. your mustache against my top lip. each piece of graffiti hitting the eye like a ghost on acid or a bite of aluminum or a rainbow twisted out of dali’s alphabet. i remember your cold fingertips brushing a strand of hair from my forehead like brushing dust from a painting. i remember holding my cold fingertips to spray-painted smoke on a brick wall. the crunch of candy wrappers under our sneakers. the metal skeleton of a beached submarine. i remember five raindrops soaking into my hair. the shock in my ankles as we tumbled back over the fence. i remember the streets washed in new colors as i sat in your car on the way back home. the white door of my apartment pulsating against its frame.

you’re in love with my loneliness, the way it looks at you from each of my breasts. the way it hooks my skinny leg across your lap. the way it steals a kiss from you and quickly pulls away, eyes lowered in shame. after i read your message i put my body down on freshly laundered sheets. pull the mascara from my lashes,

_______

pour it back in the bottle.

mia barraza martinez lives mostly in fresno, sometimes in porterville. she is a student at fresno city college & wherever else she happens to be at the time.

How Close is the Jersey Shore, Really?

by NI CH OL AS N OC KE T BAC K

he following is a dictation taken verBackwards Hat: So, we’re sitting batim from the bar…no real names there at the mountain and she’s way into it; have been used (I didn’t even figure I mean she’s like throwin’ it at me. out what the names were). Guy Fieri: Wait, wait, you talkin’ bout Traci or Sabrina? SETTING: Bar in the Tower District, withBackwards Hat: Shit, Traci told me out giving you the exact name, let’s just say she was pregnant right after I hit it. Fuck the façade is built of stones. no. I’m talking about Sabrina’s thick ass. Guy Fieri: Dammn! That’s THE PLAYERS: One adult male with a bonkers, yo! Is it yours? Rockstar energy drink, hat turned backBH: Are you retarded, man? She ward, and a pair of white sunglasses, yes told me she was pregnant like right after I white! And, it’s far past sunset. As well, one finished in her. adult male with unnaturally white, spiky Guy: Oh. So, you’re not still talkhair, looks very much like a thin Guy Fieri ing to her? from “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.” BH: Dude, shut it, I’m not gonna mack on some preggers bitch; what’s wrong

with you? Anyway, so we’re at Table Mountain’s parking lot in her Ford Focus and she’s totally giving me the “bone-me” vibe… Guy: You mean like, she’s grabbin’ your junk? BH: Well, no. Dude, she put her iPod on a Keith Sweat shuffle; c’mon, put 2 and 2 together. Guy: So you weren’t actually necking? BH: Necking!? Are you 75? No we weren’t making out, but she was real drunk, like five shots deep. Guy: Before you even went in to gamble? BH: Gamble? Shit, I’m broke; I got her twisted at Brad’s house before we

even left. I’m not trying to spend money like that. I knew she’d be into getting pounded out in her car so we pre-partied at Brad’s and I kept telling her that she had to take another shot because it would make Brad pissed if she didn’t. She thinks Brad is like a fuckin’ city councilman. Thumb up her ass. God she’s so dumb. Guy: Why would you wanna hook up with her then? BH: Jesus, Bro, she’s ridiculously hot. I mean we’re talkin’ about a young-ass Penelope Cruz. Who wouldn’t wanna plough that? Guy: Word! Okay, I guess that makes sense.

Fiction continued next page...

Fiction continued...

BH: You’re fuckin’ skippy it does. So, listen, she throws on that Keith Sweat mix and I’m like, okay, time to go for it. So I lean over, throw a hand on her tit and a hand on the back of her neck and start licking her ear. At that point she kind of backs off and I whisper in her ear “let me put my dick in your ear so you can hear where I’m coming from.” She giggles and I’m thinking, dunzo, I’m in there, so I start really going for it. And you know what this bitch does? Guy: What? BH: She tells me…you ready? She says, “I think I’m gonna be sick.” Guy: No! BH: Yup, and with that, she totally blew chunks all over my chest; I’m talking about straight projectile vomit down my shirt and on my pants the windshield—everywhere. Guy: Holy shit! Wha, wha, what’d you do? BH: I was trippin’ out, so I took my shirt off—that shit was brand new, man. Then she started crying. Guy: God damn, did you help her out? Like help her clean up? BH: Hell no. Who’d you think I am, Dr. Phil? Naw, Bro, she was like “will you please drive me home? My dad thinks I’m at Janelle’s and if I’m not home by 12:30, he’ll call her house.” Guy: Whoa, how old was she? BH: Exactly, that’s what I said. She told me she was a junior at Washington Union. And I was like fuck that, underage and I have to drive to Easton. Bullshit. I got out, threw her a peace sign and dipped inside to call a cab. Close call, man, too close. Guy: So what happened to her? BH: Who cares, I’m just pissed my new Ben Sherman buttonup was ruined. (Hearty laughter ensues and they both take a pull from their respective beverages…long pause, maybe three minutes.) Guy: So what’d you wanna do after this? BH: I don’t know; I might call Traci.

A Currency Curriculum on My Deathbed

by N IC HO LAS N O CK E TBA CK

haven’t told anyone this and hadn’t planned on it, so if you are privy to this information, I’ve already died. No, no, don’t feel bad, people die every day; plus, you probably didn’t even know me. The chances are slim, anyhow.

Without giving too much away, I was a very important figure in this city, so much so that I even have a street and a sandwich named after me (I’m more proud of the sandwich, by the way; anytime someone satiates their hunger with your name, you’ve accomplished something, sexually or otherwise, especially when you have the only lunch item served on banana bread). I’m purposely getting off topic due to the gravity of the situation. In a nutshell…don’t you hate it when people use idioms like that, the layman hasn’t a clue from whence the term originated. I’ll fill you in on a couple, in case you are interested. “In a nutshell” harkens from the medieval period when women, who wanted to have intercourse with someone of a lower class, would hide the key to their chastity belt in a nutshell and toss it from their window into their laborer’s open hands. The problem with that, of course, was when the potential lover’s jittery hands would get the best of him and a squirrel or other feral creature would take off with the nutshell. The randy woman in waiting would then have to explain things to her fuming papa or find a butter knife and try to MacGyver the situation. Other more self-explanatory idioms include “snowball’s chance in hell” or “when pigs fly” but one of my favorites is “three sheets to the wind” which, etymologically speaking, is a seafaring term meaning when all three sails are fully opened and you are going as fast as your ship will allow. We know it to mean when you’re inebriated to the point of no return, which may or may not be followed by a malicious STD. Again, I’m delaying the inevitable. Okay, down to brass tacks…hey, there’s an idiom I finally figured out later in life. The origin of the phrase, dating from the late 1800s, is disputed. Some believe it alludes to the brass tacks used under fine upholstery, others that it is Cockney rhyming slang for

“hard facts,” and still others that it alludes to tacks hammered into a sales counter to indicate precise measuring points. I do apologize; it looks like I’ve done it again. This is a matter of tremendous importance and I shall stall no more. I’ve asked my niece to publish this in all the Central Valley papers upon my passing with the hope that readers will benefit. You see, people are not reading any longer. Oh sure, folks will check emails on their mobile phones and even peruse sundry websites, picking and pulling pieces of information to use at the office—“Hey, Jane, don’t you just feel horrible about the 1,100 people who died in that flood in Pakistan?” And it’s the 1,100 that proves to her colleagues that she is a “Reader.” But it is to the real readers that I address this, those of you who see the term fiction in the heading and get excited. Those few who haven’t a need for television when the public library offers free entertainment. And with that, my bookish, erudite comrades I will now give you the information that you’ve so patiently been waiting for these 573 words later. For those that believe in the power of fiction, I have left a sum of $100,000 dollars in twenty dollar bills. Suffice it to say, those initially reading this will reap the rewards. At the risk of waxing cryptic, I’ve hidden the recipe for this money in a book, naturally. It appears on the 135th page of Nicholson Bakers’ The Fermata. On that page there is a five digit clearance code that you can dictate to a clerk at the United Security Bank on Inyo Street in Fresno. Before I disclose the location of the book and let the cat out of the bag…that reminds me, there are two commonly heard suggested origins of this phrase. One relates to the fraud of substituting a cat for a piglet at markets. If you let the cat out of the bag you disclosed the trick—when you originally paid for a meaty pig. This form of trickery is long alluded to in the English language recorded as early as 1530. The other theory is that the ‘cat’ referred to is the cat o’ nine tails, which was used to flog ill-disciplined sailors. Oops, I’ve done it again. Wait, where was I?