Jo’s Weblog

There’s bright sun shining on your face, there is probably about 40% or more of heavy humidity, and you are stuck in traffic, in a car with no air conditioning. You cant open the windows too much because you know by a fact that if you do, you are most likely going to get robbed or have a gun pointing right on your head waiting for you to get off the car or stay in the car ready for some “secuestro express”, of course that depends on the mood that the guy holding the gun feels like. Then again the gun holders, are never in a good mood, they come from “los barrios” which are the dirtiest, lowest, and most dangerous places of the city, in those Barrios, everyone knows each other, and most of the time they are very united, meaning they know everyone’s sufferings. So when they see where and how they live and then look at all the nice houses and neighborhoods, and the working class, who get most of the money anyways, because the rest, most likely more than half, is unemployed. And those are the people who carry the rage. (I have sympathy for some of them, they have a point, and most of the people in Caracas don’t)

You can’t wait to get home to have lunch. while you are on the journey, you won’t be surprised that a couple of cars jump right in front of you, just to get ahead or to get your attention, for you to get off the car and ask for their information to “sue them” except that’s the last thing that’d you do if you are a real Caraqueño, because if you did get off the car, that’s a free way for them to rob your car, which happens 24/7; either way you rather avoid the situation, because it doesn’t matter how well or good people look, you can always get fucked.

You are thinking that maybe if you had tilted windows it wouldn’t be that bad, and you wouldn’t be a tag for someone to rob you. You are almost home; you can see the gass in the air and the pollution, which makes the humidity and the heat a lot worst. You buy some raspado, and chupi chupi from the “Buhoneros” (people who sell food, drinks and pirated merchandise on the highway when there’s traffic) Finally you get off the highway, which means you can go a little faster because there are less cars towards the area you are heading to. You see the big sign CHACAO. Yes! You are almost there. You gain some speed in the car, forgetting about all the lumps, and bumps, and broken pieces of street that are on the road, which might eventually end up on giving you a flat tire. But today is not the day for the flat tire. You pass right by Plaza Altamira, you can see all the homeless, and all the poor people, They hate you because even though you are not dressed up, or have the nicest car, they know you got more money than they do, just by the fact that you don’t get to join them in the metro (subway) you just try to ignore the situation, because that’s all you can really do at the moment, you know some day some how, you’ll show them you are not as bad as they think you are; or maybe not. You also see in Altamira the people you see daily at your home who clean your room and wash your cloths, funny thing is, you trust them more than you trust your real blood family, because they are who truly raised you, that’s why you know how they eat, and drink, and how they speak, and that they are not as ignorant as others may portray them, just because they have absolutely no chance of education.

Once you pass Don Bosco you know you made it home safe, unless of course one of the guards at the doors is a fake one and has planned to take over some car, but no, not today either for this situation, since you are lucky you live in a really nice neighborhood and you got a cheap car which means, if anyone thinks about stealing from you or taking you, is not going to be you, why? Because there are better cars to rob and people who show off more money than you do, so you know you are safe. Finally you are home, and you made it, with your life, and the car, it’s great, you eat some of the best food, done by the people who raised you, and who you trust more than anyone. You are home.

Mrs. Dalloway I think would have had been much more fun to read if it wasn’t written the way it was, even if that’s what makes it so great for others. I think that the subject was really interesting, but just because of the way the language is used, and how everything seems to go sooo slow, it just loses the reader. I like a book that has great themes and keeps me attached to it, and I just have to keep reading, and I don’t have to read the same paragraph more than three times because I dozed off by the second line. Even though it was boring to read it did however have some really interesting points, such as Mrs Dalloway appearing to be someone that she doesn’t feel is really her, she feels as she puts up an act to appear someway to be accepted by high society, but in the end she knows more than that.  My favorite part was when Mrs. Dalloway some how felt some kind of connection with the veteran that killed himself, just to safe his own soul form being captured, I think that to a great extent she admired him, and at the same time she felt relieved somehow. “She felt somehow very like him—the young man who had killed himself. She felt glad that he had done it; thrown it away.”

So right after the movie ended I wasn’t really sure on how to react, I was a bit confused, probably as all those neighbors that ended up bashing sal’s place. I think the movie has a very strong point of view. In the movie, I think the neighbors took it to an extreme by completly bashing sal’s pizzeria.But I also think that violence is necessary to use at points, specially when is in self-defense, or just make a statement.  however in this case violence was unessecesary, and that instead of protesting against sal, they should have protested against the cops, after all, they were the ones who killed Radio Raheem. I do agree however, that Sal’s son, was very openly racist, and it did bother his father, and his younger brother. I think sal would have reacted towards Bugging out and  Radio raheem the same way even if they were white, I think Bugging simply took everything too harsh, and because he acted violent and started yelling in sal’s shop, sal did the same thing he reacted towards violence with violence, its the way humans react, I think because of situations like that in this country people keep making racism such a big deal, as if people were to just let it go the tention would eventually disappear, the more the hatred is fed the more is going to grow, so why still keep it alive? I mean even today even if you look at someone in the eyes or just glance at people, they start giving you this like terrible stare as if one was racist and did something disrespectful to them, and people just have to be so aware all the time just because if one says something without meaning anything you’ll find yourself being yelled at or some weird crap. I just think that because it has been brought to a point that is no longer necessary it has brought everyone into this paranoid society where everyone takes everything as an insult, everyone is on the defense, people need to relax for a while, and I mean everyone, it doesn’t matter the race or w/e I mean seriously before i ever came to this country race was the last thing i saw in a person, I still think that way, but other people just seem to be so paranoid about it. I mean seriously the situation here is just ridiculous, and people like to make it even worst just for the hell of it.  Just by the fact that to apply to a school or a job one needs to specify one’s race? that is just pathetic, who the hell cares if you are white yellow blue? fuck it, and I think what this movie just takes it to another extreme that doesn’t need to be taken,  seriously i think that if they were to form a riot against anyone should be the cops, they form part of the system, and the same system is was keeping this “racial” issue alive, once again just by always classifying people by their race. And they were the ones who acted with extreme violence and killed Radio Raheem. So why blame it on Sal? supposedly they grew up on that pizza, even Sal kept saying that he did not want to move the pizzeria out of there because he had just seen so many kids and families growing up there, he felt like he was part of their daily life, i don’t think thats racism, i think thats part of belonging to a community. And I do think Sal overworked Mookie, but he did the same with his two sons; i mean seriously who in this country does not work like a slave? everyone does, because people get the worst pay ever, people can barely pay their rent, and the only way to not get a shitty pay is to get education, and to get education you have to pay a fortune, and to pay a fortune you have to be rich, and the rich are the ones who exploit the workers who get a shitty pay. Its a whole cycle, that once again goes back to the system which keeps it that way.

This past winter brake when I went back to Miami, my best friend and I decided to walk from downtown Miami to Key Biscayne. (its like 10 miles)
Dani (my best friend) and I where at this other friend’s house in little Havana,  around the downtown area of Miami. We got carried away, and forgot we needed a ride back home, and we couldn’t find a ride, gas money is a pain, and most of our friends are broke, plus the cops at 3 am around Key Biscayne are pretty fierce. So we decided we would walk there. It was probably the worst idea we’ve had since I was in Junior year. Anyways, we started walking, and then we got to that huge bridge to pass to the Key, that’s probably the only fact i know about bridges they are like roads above the oceans, rivers or lakes that take you to the other side, I know is lame, but I’m not much of a bridge person. We had already been walking for not too long, but we were pretty tired. Once we were at the middle of the bridge we started taking pictures, and enjoying ourselves for a little while, the view was great, you could see the typical Miami vice building view, only you could actually smell the ocean, and feel the nice humid breeze, with that little bit of sand it picks up and gets stuck inside your nostrils or teeth.  It was nice, there were no cars out, so we got to walk in the middle of the highway. Once we were off the Bridge we decided to stick out our thumbs cause we were not going to walk anymore, and this big bold tourist guy was nice enough to give us a ride. It was exciting, the only fun part was when we were on the bridge.

Blue lottery sign
no money
I’m broke
I’ll survive
Daisie’s whale
The freezing breeze
I cant feel shit

Grand ave, bubbly letter graffiti
pink and blue
white ground
I’m still thinking about that whale
that messed up with my head
creamy cookies
I’m still hungry
oh look the crack house!

what’s your favorite form of art?
drawing and painting, not making music,
but enjoying it.
let the adrenaline run through my veins
and feel every nerve in my body, like an orgasm
feel like I’m surrounded by dragon mouth flowers
and sometimes feel like I’m part of El Tunel
maybe I’m just on an LSD trip
the chiaro-scuro effect makes those huming birds
seem like they are not here
or are they just images in my hands?
does time pass slower in Pluto?

what used to be st. mark’s is no longer existent, there’s now barely some suggestions of memories left behind. This place full of history, and things to tell, has now become sopisticated for all to enjoy and have a cup of coffee, or have some nice lunch at the Chipotle, or even get some groceries. what used to be controversial and actually stand for something has now been bought out, to be part of a clean and “safe” city. But by being safe, we might be killing culture, history and the inspiration of artists, the community of musicians, punks, squatters, activists, and hippies of a street that has so much more to tell then just the trendy people walking down the street. So now let’s take a look back:

- Right after WWII the lower east side was inhabited by many political movement participants and artists. This was due to the fact that the rent was cheap around that area, which later on attracted the students that attended Columbia and NYU. eventually these movements grew and people started having a sense of their own ideals, in which people like “the beat generation” and artists like Jackson Pollock and Dekooning evolved. The mixing of ideals and contra culture set the start of a community of artists and thinkers to come.

- Then the jazz musicians followed, and started the jazz wave.

- 60’s folk musicians then came along, such as Bob Dylan.

- 70’s the revolution of punk started, and bans such as The Ramones were often seen around, and were frequent at C.B.G.B’s venue.

-80’s artists like Basquiat gave art a more urban feel to it. (he lived at Tompkin’s park, usually frquented by heroin junkies today, most likely the only interesting place left in the lower east side)

- During the 90’s rent went up and many young people could not afford it, so they decided to stay in abandoned buildings which where never torn down, these people became known as squatters, and later on they were kicked out of these buildings. For a long period of time these squat houses were home to many people, but now there is only one left.

so who and what defines safety when is killing history and culture?

Terible traffic, and there’s the bright sun shining on your face, you are stuck in a car with no air conditioning, and you cant open the windows too much because you know by a fact that if you do, you are most likely going to get robbed or have a gun pointing right on your head waiting for you to get off the car.  You can’t wait to get home to have some lunch. while you are on the journey, you won’t be surprised that a couple of cars jump right in front of you, just to get ahead. You are thinking that maybe if you had tilted windows it wouldn’t be that bad, and you wouldn’t be a tag for someone to rob you. You are almost home, you can see the gass in the air and the pollution, which makes you even hotter just by seeing all the vapor and humidity around you. You buy some raspado, and chupi chupi from the “Buhoneros” (people who sell food, drinks and pirated merchandise on the highway when there’s traffic) Finally you get off the highway, which means you can go a little faster because there are less cars towards the area you are heading towards. You see the big sign CHACAO. Yes! you are almost there. You gain some speed in the car, forgetting about all the lumps, and bumps, and broken pieces of street that are on the road, which might eventually end up on giving you a flat tire. But today is not the day for the flat tire. Then a car next to you, bumps into your car, not too hard, but something someone you would get off for to have them pay the small damages. You see the other car and you know right away not to get off, these people are off to either take your car or take you, so just ignore the tap. keep on going. You pass right by Plaza Altamira, you can see all the homeless, and all the poor people, you know they hate you because even though you are not dressed up, or have the nicest car, they know you got more money than they do, just by the fact that you don’t get to join them in the metro (subway) you just try to ignore the situation, because thats all you can really do at the moment, you know some day some how, you’ll show them you are not as bad as they think you are. once you pass Don Bosco you know you made it home safe, unless ofcourse one of the guards at the doors is a fake one and has planned to take over some car, but no, not today either for this situation, since you are lucky you live in a really nice neighborhood and you got a cheap car which means, if anyone thinks about stealing from you or taking you, is not going to be you, why? because there are better cars to rob and people who show off more money than you do, so you know you are safe. Finally you are home, and you made it, with a car, and your life, its great, you eat some of the best food, done by the people who raised you, and who you trust more than anyone. you are home.

Walt Whitman’s crossing Brooklyn Ferry, is a very illustrative poem without him being too specific. Whitman gives serious details about his surroundings within nature and human relations. He makes the mood and has the reader see his perspective of things, he shows without telling; and without overwhelming the poem with too many details, he does it in a way in which the imagery and the symbolism are almost abstract to the reader but somehow understood. Whitman seems to feel this relationship with the masses by forming part of the popular masses, forming part of crowds. He seems to feel that at some point everyone has gone through that same exact experience in the ferry and felt and seen the same things, which makes his connection with the crowd in which he makes himself a part of.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h2/h2_1971.646.18.jpg

This photograph was the one that most caught my attention. The expression that was captured on the old woman’s face, was this expression of tiredness, exhaustion, worries, humble and almost nostalgic.  While the man right by her side, in contrast to her, seems to be a very arrogant, a business man, someone who goes in life with out a care of anyone who surrounds him. Also the atmosphere in which the two figures were captured, makes the suggestion that they are in a public place, there doesn’t seem to be much of a relationship between the two characters, they might even be strangers. The lighting f the scene gives a great mood to the sensation of the image specially with the both very different facial expressions.