Haven't posted in a long minute..
But.. I just came across something undeniabley post-worthy (at least, it is, to me, this second..)
JE.. Slick -- this guy is slick -- and I hope his wife pulls through -- and.. is he my candidate?
Check out his latest talking point.. it is energizing..
Do you, Speaker, marry Ken?.. Part 2
COMMENTS: an experiment
I think that there's maybe only one or so other people than me who read this blog.. If you care, comment now or forever hold your peace (until my next post..). I must be attention-starved.. Why else would I have a blog. Anyway, I want to see if anyone is out there (that means you too, JW).. Your comments don't have to be witty - and they don't even have to be well-thought out.. A simple, "word", or "I disagree" is fine. Or maybe I am just crazy.. Well.. my family is known for talking for themselves moreso for others, and so now I guess I'm writing for myself moreso than others.. But I digress.. This post is about you, not me (at least ostensibly).. This is a roll call -- to paraphrase Sean Combs, "Comment or Dye"..
(If I wasn't afraid of being proven wrong I would say that I would be surprised to see more than 2 comments.. Then again, I can always revise this post later so that I'm retroactively right, but would I really go there?..)
Do you, Speaker, marry Ken?
I have a bone to pick/axe to grind/complaint to make, and I guess only the 1.75 people who read this blog will know about it. Last night on PBS was a documentary, "Do You Speak American" which I had heard/read hear and there was good, but didn't think much of it until I realized, flipping through the channels, that it would be on, and so I watched (it's three one-hour segments long). All throughout I was like, "this is awesome", awaiting the point when they would get to California talk. So, eventually they do, hitting the much awaited (by me) "Chicano Dialect" of English (see video clip in question here).
So.. They get to this point, and they have these two young dudes speaking in a way that is very familiar to me. So anyway, here they have a professor, Carmen Fought (from Pitzer, no less, which sucks as Pitzer is a school near and dear to my heart), seemingly doing a good job describing the Chicano dialect. Then, while the dudes are talking, on the screen flashes the word "hotness" -- THREE TIMES no less -- and shortly thereafter Fought, with the cheery smugness only a very genuinely delighted and happy intellectual has, notes (something to the effect of) "when they say hotness - they're talking about cute girls".
I didn't think that was right, and I even rewound the tape (yes, I'm a nerd -- I taped it -- learned that trick of taping PBS from my father) and re-confirmed what I suspected/knew.. I don't think they used the word "hotness" ONCE. The first time they used the word "heinas" which is like a fine dip (another colloquialism, I know, but whatever - a fine girl).. and then, another time they said "fine ass" as in "a fine ass honey" or whatever.. Maybe using the word "hotness" is a new thing among kids, but it sounds out of place -- I'm convinced they were talking about "heinas" and "fine ass girls".
How Fought misinterpreted this I don't know -- maybe her audio was bad.. But come on, man! You're making Pitzer look really bad.. She totally discredited herself.. How wack..
Also, what they fail to mentioned in the documentary is that the various dialects affect one another. The (rich, assumedly, if that's a word) kids from Irvine said "tight" to mean good, and they actually were insightful enough to note that their lingo comes from hip-hop. But I started saying "tight" maybe 8 or 9 years ago. But I also say "foo" (fool), and have probably been saying that since, I don't know -- junior high. This all goes to say that the documentary seems, in hindsight, pretty sloppy. Maybe the idea was to give a broad sense, but it really oversimplified how entrenched some of these ways of speaking in California are by focusing almost exclusively on (there was a twenty-something surfer) people under 18.
So.. I guess I still recommend watching it -- it's interesting.. but also really, maybe too imprecise and hand-wavy. Or maybe I'm just (finally?) starting to see the difference between journalism and scholarship.
On a totally unrelated note: Joe Henderson's version of "On Green Dolphin Street" from the album FOUR is off the freaking chain.
Philadelphia, my city?
Barring some last-minute plot twist, it is becoming increasingly likely that Philadelphia will become our permanent home (permanent as in, the next half-decade, even though I've already been here nearly as long). Given this reality, there are a few things I am considering.
The inferiority complex is hard to avoid, even as a non-native. But it is also true that, as a non-native, I see the potential greatness of this city. I read somewhere that Philadelphia has a larger percentage of natives than any other big city, and that may be part of its image problem. I definitely feel that the city has a lot to offer, and at the same time I feel a disconnect with the natives. This tension (between natives and non-natives) also exists in Los Angeles, however Los Angeles never seems to market itself in a way that resonates with the reality of the natives. Unfortunately, I think if Philadelphia wants to be seen as more of a world city, it has to attract world citizens, and part of that is to decrease the importance of "native" culture in its marketing and image. Growing up in a world-famous metropolitan area makes me crave importance of place (which is why I love New York). I want to feel as if I'm on the edge of the world. Philly would probably wise to put less emphasis on the past, and a lot more on the future.
Somewhere I read the word provincial used to describe Philadelphia , and maybe it's appropriate. You get the feeling that they would need to import New Yorkers to explain to them how to exploit their inherent assetts (actually, doesn't that describe Ed Rendell?). Natives definitelyknow a lot more about this place than I do, but I feel that what I see as good in the city may be different from what they see.
I don't know.. Eagles going to the Superbowl? I could care less. Wing Bowl? What is a wing bowl, and why does it seem to be such a big deal? Energies focused on getting excited over the wing bowl of all things could be better spent. Is that something you want your city to be known for? Ben Franklin? Didn't care about him before I got here, and care marginally more about him now. There is no way to make Ben Franklin cool. Stop trying. Move on. Maybe give some respect to your historical monuments - treat them like they're important, don't trivialize them or make them cartoons by having folks run around the city dressed up as Ben Franklin. Mummers? Maybe I'll care in another 5 to 10 years. Who but Philadelphians know or care what a Mummer is?
And so, all of this thinking has gotten me to this point. If I'm going to be satisfied with this city, I've got to help, in my own small, insignificant, passive way, to make it the city I (and many others) want. The city in some ways needs to grow up. It can do it -- it has a lot going for it. With all that said, I will try my hardest to avoid using the word "Philly". I think this word epitomizes everything that's holding this city back. People often shed nicknames and the like when maturing, and the city should as well. "Philly" is for the locals. "Philadelphia" is for the world. Natives of San Francisco (a city Philadelphian's who've been there can't seem to stop raving about) hate when their city is called "Frisco". If Philadelphia wants to achieve the status of San Francisco, then maybe it starts with the little things. Years ago, when I began to see the woman who's now my wife in a new light - began to see something special in her, I stopped calling her by her nickname and started using her full first name. So, for various reasons -- since I'm not from here, but also out of respect -- this city will never again be "Philly" to me.
With all of that said, if in the off event we are in Philadelphia even longer than the next 5 - 10 years, I realize that part of my uncomfortableness with Philadelphia may have to do with community. People, I gather, look to find communities that reflect their values and maybe remind them of home. Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods, but I don't know if any resemble something close to what I grew up with. So my love-hate relationship with Philadelphia may be as simple as lack of familiarty. Conversely, South Philadelphia, with its growing populations of Vietnamese and Mexicans, is beginning to take on the characteristics of a "Little California". An article in the most recent Philadelphia Weekly talks about some of the difficulties in the morphing of the Italian Market to the International Village, specifically Mexican immigrants, crime, and the ability of the city to change along with its population.
That was a mouthful.. I think I've gotten most of it out..
Vindication, and other things
I want to touch on these topics more later, but I need to start getting productive today..
Anyway, briefly..
1) USC is the UNDISPUTED national champion.. Makes you wonder if last year's team would be undisputed if they weren't ROBBED of the chance to play in the title game..
2) There is an amazing article on Hip-Hop in this week's Village Voice here.
3) There is a thought-provoking article in Slate about Fat and Feminism Vs. Feminitiy here
more to come, but for now that's it..
