Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Blogger and VPR commentator Caleb Daniloff — pictured here at the last Vermont blogger meetup — is moving to Boston:
My thinking right now is I'll shut down what i saw todayat the end of the month. I hope to start another blog once we getsettled in Beantown. In the meantime, I welcome and encourage any andall of you to join my mailing list (it's private, non-commercial). Justgo to my website, click on“join the list” and fire off a blank email. Basically, I send outalerts when new writing or radio commentaries are pending. And I’llcertainly send out a mailing for any new blog venture. There are manythings I'll miss about life in Vermont. Being part of the bloggingcommunity is right up there. It’d be a true honor to take a bunch ofyou with me.
We'll miss you!
This doesn't have to do with Vermont blogs, or new media, or any of my usual topics, but I feel compelled to share it.
Got an email this morning from Kara DeLeonardis, executive director of the R.U.1.2? Queer Community Center. Somebody vandalized their sign this weekend. This is the second act of vandalism in the past month — somebody threw bricks through some windows there in early May.
The vandalism makes me sad, but I have to say, I'm surprised it took so long for something like this to happen. The center has been open on Elmwood since 2004, and I think these are the first serious incidents they've had. Is that pessimistic of me?
I don't get much flack for being gay here — I can't even remember the last time I felt harassed in Vermont because of my sexual orientation. But I'm not naive enough to believe that means everyone accepts me and my queer family.
What a bummer, to see my suspicions confirmed in this way yet again.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Remember the 802 Music Video? I posted it as a Vermont YouTube of the day on May 2.
Since then, its creators, Colin Arisman, Kevin Hartmann and Luke Martin have gotten quite a bit of press. Channel 5 and WCAX did segments on them, the Barre/Montpelier Times Argus wrote about 'em, so did the Rutland Herald. Now the New York Times has a story.
OK, it's great that these guys got exposure in the NYT, but look at this ridiculous lead:
Vermonthas long been a muse for poets and painters, but rappers have neverbeen known to draw inspiration from its bucolic landscapes andpostcard-perfect small towns.
Until now.
The quietstreets and low crime rates of Vermont have worked their way into thehip-hop world, thanks to a rap video called “802,” made by threestudents at Montpelier High School.
Oh those wacky Vermonters! Aw, shucks! Ugh.
One precious nugget of this coverage that you might have missed — Barre City Councilor Carol Dawes' employer, Central Vermont Adult Basic Education, suggested that she write a rap for them. Here's an excerpt of her CVABE rap, as reported in the TA:
CVABE, spreading lit'racy /
CVABE, spreading lit'racy /
From the north, Lamoille County / To the south in Randolph town /
From the mighty Connecticut River / To the west down in Moretown /
In the learning centers, libraries, the workplaces and homes / We are spreading lit'racy, we are helping you become... /
A better reader, better writer, better in math, too / Maybe even helping you become a great compu... /
...ter whiz. Or learning English as a new way to talk, / We will teach you the skills so you can walk the walk. /
Now why can't I find that rap on their website?
Writer Ken Picard brought this to my attention. Ken wrote a fantastic story last week about Chinese restaurant workers in Essex Junction. Apparently someone started a blog to talk about the issues in the story.
It's called Chu? Shì Yuán. The anonymous blogger says the name means "cafeteria worker" or "cook."
Apparently the blogger is not Chinese, but thinks that he? she? has something to add to the discussion. Why? Says the blogger:
- I am a naturalized citizen of the USA.
- Myfamily had a business that employed some persons with Green Cards whohad little or no English skills. Some of them found life in the USA sounpleasant, they moved back to their home country. Others adapted tolife here.
- I have some limited understanding of the Chinese culture and people, though I am not Chinese myself.
Althoughthis blog will focus on the plight of the Chinese restaurant workers inEssex Junction, Vermont, the ideas presented are wider in scope andapplicable to other groups such as migrant workers who work seasonallyon farms. Lessons learned here will be open for all to see.
Interesting.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Tanner at Highgate found an old journal while going through boxes last weekend. Check it out:
I could tell from the binding of it alone that it was old; the leatherwasn't smooth, nor was it ever at any rate, it was a style I've neverseen before; very course and bumpy - and the edges of the pages weregilded and still lustrous... the whole book had the weight and smell of"old" and i was excited.
The book was designed to be a condensed journal, where the author wrote just a few lines about each day, for five years. This one was started in 1931.
Writes Tanner:
Being as it is, it becomes, at leastafter the first year, a rather interesting daily habit as you get toread what it was you were doing and thinking on this day, the previousyear, and eventually the previous years before that; and now i -77years later; get to read it all.
I'ma voyeur at heart; that's why i think i enjoy reading people blogs -being a shy kid growing up, you learn to enjoy watching people inaction, when you get a chance to look behind those outward trappings,it's even more interesting, and when you get to look through time, well- it's enough to make me giddy.
Tanner plans to post excerpts from this diary on his blog. He starts with the forward preceeding the first entry.
"John had an automobile accident Dec 21-1931. When Leo McGeltrick run into him Evelyn Goldenbury was put the hospital. Eye surjical (sic) and face terribly cut.
Charlie + Mildred were married - Nov 14 1934."
Looking foward to reading more...
(photo from Tanner's blog)