Hot damn, the Newsdesk.org project of Independent Arts & Media just won "Best Digital Media Presentation" from the Society of Professional Journalists. Congrats!
INDIANAPOLIS - The Society of Professional Journalists is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2009 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for excellence in journalism.
Judges chose the winners from over 1,300 entries in categories covering print, radio, television and online. The awards recognize outstanding work published or broadcast in 2009.
Digital Media Presentation (Independent)
"The Bay Area Toxic Tour: West Oakland," Kim Komenich, Kwan Booth, Josh Wilson, Newsdesk.org/Independent Arts & Media
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Turned in my Gilman keys for a reason.
I turned in my keys Friday & resigned from the Board of Directors & as Secretary. It's the 1st time since 1989 that I haven't had keys there & I am completely unaffiliated with 924 Gilman now. I feel a huge wave of relief, although it wasn't an easy decision to make.
Short version:
Gilman's always been a half non-profit, half-tax paying entity. It's been operating as a non-profit under the umbrella of another non-profit for a couple of years, and it's finally really close to being a legally independent 501(c)3 non-profit. This means it can go out & raise funds & in-kind donations from individual donors & foundations.
Part of Gilman becoming a non-profit involves having a Board of Directors (who would probably organize fundraising efforts) and restructuring it's governance structure to accommodate this, as well as rewriting the by-laws to add some tweaks & some major changes. It has been a collective that is run by the 2xmonth collective meetings since 1986, open to all. Before this weekend's by-law changes, anyone who had attended at least one meeting in the past was allowed to vote. I believe that the new by-laws (at least the last version I saw) requires voting members to do at least 1 task a month (which is completely reasonable).
I have a lot of experience with writing by-laws for non-profits & egalitarian entities, reorganizing governance structures, and planning fundraising efforts for these types of places. Doing this for Gilman was my main reason for attending the twice-monthly collective meetings again.
The recent by-law revision that happened showed me that the super-close coordination & collaboration that these HUGE efforts require wasn't going to happen, at least not with me involved. I reached out to the main regular volunteers & asked for us to collaborate, to work together, but was mostly rebuffed.
It's kind of crazy to me that a group of regular, hard-working volunteers would shine on legitimate offers of help to lighten their already heavy load. I was always up front with what I could offer & that I was not interested in personal drama. Unfortunately personal drama created by some of the current volunteers definitely played a part in their reluctance to collaborate.
So I said, fine, here's my keys, here's my resignation, good luck.
I'm ambivalent, because while I feel strongly about Gilman's history, I am very worried by the statements & actions of some of the current volunteers. "Gilman hasn't been run as a collective for 2 years" is one that is factually wrong but fervently expressed by the current Head of Booking. No doubt the recently-passed by-law changes will move the place further in his preferred direction. (By-laws that I happily helped re-write, by the way- I don't think a place should stay sacred & unchanging, especially when a lot of the changes are good ideas)
There's a sense of "us" (the people who can give many hours a week) and "them" (the larger community, including many Gilman veterans who have previously given many hours a week for years- decades- at a time). There's a contempt for the worth of the contributions of "them," even though "they" will be some of the main targets for any successful fundraising effort.
Additionally, there are issues of volunteer retention & volunteer relations- another out-going volunteer said that they were always afraid of being yelled at by their "parents," i.e. some of the main volunteers, if they did something those main volunteers disagreed with.
This disapproval of dissent by the main regular volunteers is not healthy for a community-organized space. I ran into this myself over the past few months when I refused to leave my experience & knowledge at the door & get in line, and instead have a discussion about pros & cons of various things. Nothing I have done is any different than what I or hundreds (thousands?) of past Gilman volunteers have done over the decades. Advocate for a position, go to a vote, & win or lose a collective vote. Rinse, wash, repeat. Democracy sucks, get used to it- or change the rules.
While I will not say that donating to Gilman is a bad idea, I can't recommend it either. That sucks to write after all of these years of being a huge booster, but that's where it is.
Short version:
Gilman's always been a half non-profit, half-tax paying entity. It's been operating as a non-profit under the umbrella of another non-profit for a couple of years, and it's finally really close to being a legally independent 501(c)3 non-profit. This means it can go out & raise funds & in-kind donations from individual donors & foundations.
Part of Gilman becoming a non-profit involves having a Board of Directors (who would probably organize fundraising efforts) and restructuring it's governance structure to accommodate this, as well as rewriting the by-laws to add some tweaks & some major changes. It has been a collective that is run by the 2xmonth collective meetings since 1986, open to all. Before this weekend's by-law changes, anyone who had attended at least one meeting in the past was allowed to vote. I believe that the new by-laws (at least the last version I saw) requires voting members to do at least 1 task a month (which is completely reasonable).
I have a lot of experience with writing by-laws for non-profits & egalitarian entities, reorganizing governance structures, and planning fundraising efforts for these types of places. Doing this for Gilman was my main reason for attending the twice-monthly collective meetings again.
The recent by-law revision that happened showed me that the super-close coordination & collaboration that these HUGE efforts require wasn't going to happen, at least not with me involved. I reached out to the main regular volunteers & asked for us to collaborate, to work together, but was mostly rebuffed.
It's kind of crazy to me that a group of regular, hard-working volunteers would shine on legitimate offers of help to lighten their already heavy load. I was always up front with what I could offer & that I was not interested in personal drama. Unfortunately personal drama created by some of the current volunteers definitely played a part in their reluctance to collaborate.
So I said, fine, here's my keys, here's my resignation, good luck.
I'm ambivalent, because while I feel strongly about Gilman's history, I am very worried by the statements & actions of some of the current volunteers. "Gilman hasn't been run as a collective for 2 years" is one that is factually wrong but fervently expressed by the current Head of Booking. No doubt the recently-passed by-law changes will move the place further in his preferred direction. (By-laws that I happily helped re-write, by the way- I don't think a place should stay sacred & unchanging, especially when a lot of the changes are good ideas)
There's a sense of "us" (the people who can give many hours a week) and "them" (the larger community, including many Gilman veterans who have previously given many hours a week for years- decades- at a time). There's a contempt for the worth of the contributions of "them," even though "they" will be some of the main targets for any successful fundraising effort.
Additionally, there are issues of volunteer retention & volunteer relations- another out-going volunteer said that they were always afraid of being yelled at by their "parents," i.e. some of the main volunteers, if they did something those main volunteers disagreed with.
This disapproval of dissent by the main regular volunteers is not healthy for a community-organized space. I ran into this myself over the past few months when I refused to leave my experience & knowledge at the door & get in line, and instead have a discussion about pros & cons of various things. Nothing I have done is any different than what I or hundreds (thousands?) of past Gilman volunteers have done over the decades. Advocate for a position, go to a vote, & win or lose a collective vote. Rinse, wash, repeat. Democracy sucks, get used to it- or change the rules.
While I will not say that donating to Gilman is a bad idea, I can't recommend it either. That sucks to write after all of these years of being a huge booster, but that's where it is.
Playoff MADNESS
Okay, non-sports people skip this.
I play in 2 ice hockey leagues- Silver B & Bronze. The teams are Sardogs & Gulag, respectively. (Silver B is the more skilled league)
These past 3-4 weeks have been playoff season @ Oakland Ice, and both teams made it to the finals with me in net.
Sardogs came in 7th (out of 8) for the season, but we went on to beat the #1 & #2 teams in the 1st 2 rounds of the playoffs in tough games. We went to the finals against the #4 team, the Cross-Czechs (made up of Czechs, Slovaks, & some north americans). They were really tough, having 4 high level players, and beat us 3-0. It wasn't for trying though, we just couldn't get through their defense to score. I'm really happy with how I played, considering the # & caliber of shots I faced (25 shots to 10 by us).
Gulag came in 2nd for the season, and we beat the Bronze league Cross-Czechs (they have 3 teams in 3 different levels @ Oakland) 4-0 in the semi-finals. The finals were last night against the #1 team, Gang Green who we've dueled with throughout the season, losing or winning by 1 goal. Their goalie & I were neck & neck for best GAA & Save % throughout the season too. I ended up squeaking out the #1 spot. It was kind of a perfect matchup- #1 & #2 teams, #1 & #2 goalies, a 1-game final.
We played to a 0-0 tie in regulation, then a 0-0 tie in overtime. Both of us were strongly tested by the opposing shooters throughout the game. Unfortunately, I blinked in the shoot-out & let one in. That was literally the game & we lost. It was the best frickin' finals I've ever been involved in, and one of the best games I've ever been a part of. A real goalie battle that was a lot of fun & a lot of work.
Sardog playoff run
Gulag playoff run
Bronze goalie stats GP shots GA GAA Save%
I play in 2 ice hockey leagues- Silver B & Bronze. The teams are Sardogs & Gulag, respectively. (Silver B is the more skilled league)
These past 3-4 weeks have been playoff season @ Oakland Ice, and both teams made it to the finals with me in net.
Sardogs came in 7th (out of 8) for the season, but we went on to beat the #1 & #2 teams in the 1st 2 rounds of the playoffs in tough games. We went to the finals against the #4 team, the Cross-Czechs (made up of Czechs, Slovaks, & some north americans). They were really tough, having 4 high level players, and beat us 3-0. It wasn't for trying though, we just couldn't get through their defense to score. I'm really happy with how I played, considering the # & caliber of shots I faced (25 shots to 10 by us).
Gulag came in 2nd for the season, and we beat the Bronze league Cross-Czechs (they have 3 teams in 3 different levels @ Oakland) 4-0 in the semi-finals. The finals were last night against the #1 team, Gang Green who we've dueled with throughout the season, losing or winning by 1 goal. Their goalie & I were neck & neck for best GAA & Save % throughout the season too. I ended up squeaking out the #1 spot. It was kind of a perfect matchup- #1 & #2 teams, #1 & #2 goalies, a 1-game final.
We played to a 0-0 tie in regulation, then a 0-0 tie in overtime. Both of us were strongly tested by the opposing shooters throughout the game. Unfortunately, I blinked in the shoot-out & let one in. That was literally the game & we lost. It was the best frickin' finals I've ever been involved in, and one of the best games I've ever been a part of. A real goalie battle that was a lot of fun & a lot of work.
Sardog playoff run
Gulag playoff run
Bronze goalie stats GP shots GA GAA Save%
| Jesse Townley | Gulag | 22 | 458 | 33 | 1.50 | 0.928 |
| Matthew Powers | Gang Green | 16 | 319 | 23 | 1.44 | 0.928 |
Monday, November 16, 2009
Jack Harrison RIP
My fellow Rent Board Commissioner Jack Harrison just passed away after an illness.
He was a combination of gruff common sense & thoughtful idealism, and I learned a lot from him in the short time that I worked with him during our shared campaign for office in 2008 and during this term on the Rent Stabilization Board.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
3 nights- 3 roads to The Rock (tm)!
The past 3 days revealed 3 different ways of being a lifer in the music scene.
On Friday, I was lucky enough to hear a preview of the whole upcoming Rancid record, "Let The Dominos Fall." Rancid, as everyone reading this knows, has been a band since 1992, constantly touring & releasing new records. Two of them had been playing in bands together almost continuously since 1985 or so, including Operation Ivy.
The new record was cohesive sounding, even though- like many Rancid records- it skipped from genre to genre. There seemed to be a unified sound & attitude throughout the record, and the band sounded confident & solid in this, their first record with their new drummer.
On Saturday I saw a new band play at Gilman Street. It was Classics Of Love and- speaking of Operation Ivy- is led by that band's singer, Jesse Michaels. While the band covered 2 songs from Jesse's earlier bands (Common Rider & Operation Ivy), the main punch to the stunning show was the new songs. Fast & mid-tempo punk, sometimes with an Agent Orange "Living In Darkness" feel, with a couple of ska-tinged songs thrown in.
It was really great to see an old friend belt out new songs with new heart and new band mates.
Tonight, Sunday, I saw the New York Dolls play in San Francisco. The 2 original Dolls, David Johansen & Sylvain Sylvain, are backed by 3 young Trash N Vaudeville types with solid chops. Always a rock and roll band first, they were loose & moderately raucous, though lead singer Johansen seemed subdued at times, kind of like he was pacing himself. They made silly Rock Faces, pointed at each other in mock amazement during solos, and introduced each other about every other song. Yes, they meant it, or at least most of it, & some of the stuff would've been ridiculous if Ratt or Motley Crue did it, but what are you gonna do? They're the frickin' surviving members of the New York Dolls!
And speaking of that, I was at one of Joshua Ploeg The Traveling Chef's dinners before the show & mentioned to a buddy that I was going to see the band. He responded with a list of the dead members- Arthur Kane, Jerry Nolan, & Johnny Thunders. I thought, "Yes, I can name the dead members too, but so what?" Watching the band kick out their songs (some more successfully than others), I realized that if I wasn't worried about "authenticity" it was a really fun show. In other words, if this was some band I just stumbled in to see, I would've been astonished at how rockin' they were. But because of the context & the history, I wasn't letting myself enjoy it too much.
Don't get me wrong, my first NY Dolls-related love is Johnny Thunders, his guitar tone, & the Heartbreakers. And I'm not saying that the 2009 version of the band was incredible- they had a bad habit of throwing in momentum-killing breakdowns in the middle of high energy classics like "Pills" & "Trash." They did NOT want to get off the stage- in fact Sylvain Sylvain stayed on stage between the set & the encore encouraging the crowd to chant "New-York-Dolls," as if that wasn't going to happen anyway.
In the end, they pulled it off, in spite of - or because of- the ridiculousness & grandiosity of their show. They believed in The Rock and they Sold it to us. If I had a dollar for every band who thought they could smirk their way through "The Rock" & ended up stinking, I'd be pretty fucking rich.
To recap: one set of lifers stuck together & stayed consistent, changing or expanding its musical horizons throughout. Another lifer started near the bottom again, with a new band name, new band members, new songs, and just a couple of nods to his long history. A third set of lifers came back together after 3 decades & picked up the pieces/found new pieces and started their engines again. They kept a lot of their history intact- including the band name- but added new songs, new records, & new band members.
We can all identify lifers who have failed in any or all of these 3 situations- heck, music is littered with the bloated walking corpses of bands or lifers who just won't stop doing a bad thing. But these 3 lifers give me & the rest of us hope that yeah, there's always a chance to get back onto the stage, go back into the studio, and keep on creating noise beautiful noise!
P.S.- Check out Josh Ploeg's new band Warm Streams!
On Friday, I was lucky enough to hear a preview of the whole upcoming Rancid record, "Let The Dominos Fall." Rancid, as everyone reading this knows, has been a band since 1992, constantly touring & releasing new records. Two of them had been playing in bands together almost continuously since 1985 or so, including Operation Ivy.
The new record was cohesive sounding, even though- like many Rancid records- it skipped from genre to genre. There seemed to be a unified sound & attitude throughout the record, and the band sounded confident & solid in this, their first record with their new drummer.
On Saturday I saw a new band play at Gilman Street. It was Classics Of Love and- speaking of Operation Ivy- is led by that band's singer, Jesse Michaels. While the band covered 2 songs from Jesse's earlier bands (Common Rider & Operation Ivy), the main punch to the stunning show was the new songs. Fast & mid-tempo punk, sometimes with an Agent Orange "Living In Darkness" feel, with a couple of ska-tinged songs thrown in.
It was really great to see an old friend belt out new songs with new heart and new band mates.
Tonight, Sunday, I saw the New York Dolls play in San Francisco. The 2 original Dolls, David Johansen & Sylvain Sylvain, are backed by 3 young Trash N Vaudeville types with solid chops. Always a rock and roll band first, they were loose & moderately raucous, though lead singer Johansen seemed subdued at times, kind of like he was pacing himself. They made silly Rock Faces, pointed at each other in mock amazement during solos, and introduced each other about every other song. Yes, they meant it, or at least most of it, & some of the stuff would've been ridiculous if Ratt or Motley Crue did it, but what are you gonna do? They're the frickin' surviving members of the New York Dolls!
And speaking of that, I was at one of Joshua Ploeg The Traveling Chef's dinners before the show & mentioned to a buddy that I was going to see the band. He responded with a list of the dead members- Arthur Kane, Jerry Nolan, & Johnny Thunders. I thought, "Yes, I can name the dead members too, but so what?" Watching the band kick out their songs (some more successfully than others), I realized that if I wasn't worried about "authenticity" it was a really fun show. In other words, if this was some band I just stumbled in to see, I would've been astonished at how rockin' they were. But because of the context & the history, I wasn't letting myself enjoy it too much.
Don't get me wrong, my first NY Dolls-related love is Johnny Thunders, his guitar tone, & the Heartbreakers. And I'm not saying that the 2009 version of the band was incredible- they had a bad habit of throwing in momentum-killing breakdowns in the middle of high energy classics like "Pills" & "Trash." They did NOT want to get off the stage- in fact Sylvain Sylvain stayed on stage between the set & the encore encouraging the crowd to chant "New-York-Dolls," as if that wasn't going to happen anyway.
In the end, they pulled it off, in spite of - or because of- the ridiculousness & grandiosity of their show. They believed in The Rock and they Sold it to us. If I had a dollar for every band who thought they could smirk their way through "The Rock" & ended up stinking, I'd be pretty fucking rich.
To recap: one set of lifers stuck together & stayed consistent, changing or expanding its musical horizons throughout. Another lifer started near the bottom again, with a new band name, new band members, new songs, and just a couple of nods to his long history. A third set of lifers came back together after 3 decades & picked up the pieces/found new pieces and started their engines again. They kept a lot of their history intact- including the band name- but added new songs, new records, & new band members.
We can all identify lifers who have failed in any or all of these 3 situations- heck, music is littered with the bloated walking corpses of bands or lifers who just won't stop doing a bad thing. But these 3 lifers give me & the rest of us hope that yeah, there's always a chance to get back onto the stage, go back into the studio, and keep on creating noise beautiful noise!
P.S.- Check out Josh Ploeg's new band Warm Streams!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Flesheaters video!
Hockey update soon- lots has happened. Only I really care about it, but I'm the only one who reads this, so here's a placeholder from the awesome awesome 1980s L.A. band Flesheaters. Someone else on-line described them as holding down the horror side of the X/Blasters scene- this video shows that pretty clearly!
Speaking of this, Mary Woronov of Death Race 2000 makes an appearance too!
Speaking of this, Mary Woronov of Death Race 2000 makes an appearance too!
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