January 2015 / CLUB SANDWICH

Friday, January 30, 2015

Wait...

Was Fidel Castro the first health goth???

If you're in London for some reason, check out Hue: Color as Object. Color as Material. Color as Memory. at the Old Fire Station, which opened today and runs until February 28th. Also on the 28th is their lecture and demonstration about pigment, Making Color. Los Angeles has color too, kind of - Ace Hotel will be presenting Albers in Command on January 31st (tomorrow!), a celebration of Command Records, Enoch Light, Josef Albers, lounge music, modernism, graphic design, and records. It's not explicitly about color but Josef Albers, known for writing a list of colors used on the back of his work, wrote a treatise on color theory, Interaction of Color, around the same time that he was designing album covers for Command. There's also an Interaction of Color app that I've never used but refuse to delete, even in times of serious space-need.

There's probably another color thing I could put here but I need to go eat something, so

BREAKING: Bored old guy representing some nowhere place proposes a stupid thing

lol is that a clove

So some state senator from Azuza (where even) proposed a bill yesterday that could raise the legal smoking age to 21 because he's bored or covering up something or maybe just hasn't gotten the memo that teen smoking is actually the lowest it's been in 22 years. Where are your people? Can someone tell this man to worry about actual issues like prison overcrowding or MEDIUM, NOT EVEN LARGE OR JUMBO eggs being $5 a dozen at the grocery store right now.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Only built for internet linx

I am beyond excited for the U.S. release of Girlhood, a tender treatment of black girlhood and friendship, subjects that are rarely touched on in film. At a time when black children aren't even seen as such, the assertion that we have boyhoods and girlhoods is a welcome one.
Actually, the entire film line-up for the Pan-African Film Festival looks promising.
Over 9 billion served!
As a black woman who's been buying APC for over ten years now, Jean Touitou's "Last Niggas in Paris" stunt was truly upsetting. The whole thing was idiotic and misguided - you pay homage to a friend by plastering a word that, historically, has been a vehicle for so much mental, emotional, and physical pain when used by people who look like you? NAH, T. Not to mention the use of the word "ghetto" which automatically makes my eye twitch whenever I see or hear it. Thankfully Timberland (why can't I type that without typing "Timbaland" first) felt some type of way too - they've cut ties with APC.
A friend and I have been discussing the marked increase in the number of tents set up by homeless people outside of boundaries of the unofficial "tent cities" that are set up on the eastern edge of Downtown Los Angeles, a trend that makes sense considering the city's attempts at "cleaning up" downtown through its Healthy Streets initiative. The systematic dispersal of Downtown L.A.'s homeless population under the guise of "cleaning the streets" (not to mention the implementation of other measures, such as cutting down shade trees and installing sprinkler systems in parks) and other ways cities across America have been criminalizing homelessness or at least making an already difficult situation worse is why I was so surprised to read that Seattle's mayor has proposed a series of tent encampments for the city's homeless population. While tent cities are in no way a long-term solution for homelessness, it's (depressingly) refreshing to see a city leader address the issue in a way that resists both criminalization and dehumanization and opens the door for outreach and permanent solutions. We'll see were this leads, though.
If you, apparently like many in America, are suffering from "compassion fatigue" and can't stand to read about homelessness (maybe get the fuck off of my blog if so TBH), here's a bunch of words about potatoes for your heartless ass.
Hitler be like, "America taught me"
"Inglewood isn't what you think it is" - OOH SAY IT ONE MORE TIME FOR THE FOLKS IN THE BACK
Russians aren't flocking to couture shows like they used to. I wonder why?
Code-switching, and the whiteness of public radio voice (TW: the article contains a photo of Ira Glass, whose smirk is triggering to me, at least).
EDIT: There is some good news re: homelessness in Los Angeles - the VA building in Westwood is finally moving towards offering permanent housing for struggling veterans after years of bullshitting: "It calls for the VA to develop by mid-February a strategy and action plan for homeless vets in the region that fundamentally shifts the approach at West L.A. Instead of insisting that vets undergo treatment for their illnesses and addictions before moving into long-term housing, the agency will put them into housing first — a model that's proved to be far more effective at getting the homeless off the streets. The VA also agreed to finalize a new master plan for the West L.A. campus by mid-October, paying particular attention to the needs of homeless vets for permanent supportive housing." HYFR