It seems that the connection between Portland and New York may be more tangible than I originally thought: According to New York mag's The Five Year Forecast, the legendary Pacific Northwest climate is slowly creeping to NYC thanks to global warming (in the long run) and a new El Nino phenomenon (starting this winter). So does that mean Hawaii's climate is coming to us? Or maybe Alaska's?
Really, though, I wouldn't trade our drizzly winter weather (and sometimes snowy like tonight - yay!) for 300 days of sun. That's just too much for me. But so is a winter frozen solid for months. So maybe Mother Nature can leave things as they are here and simply share our weather with New York. They always have to copy us, don't they? At least we'd be able to stop hearing, "I've heard it rains a lot there."
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Kiddie Rock
I tried to play the guitar at some point in my adolescence. I think I was 12 or so, and my dad plopped down the cash for a beautiful acoustic guitar and weekly lessons so I could back up my wannabe rocker chick persona with actual chops. Alas, I am not so musically gifted, and though I may have learned enough to play a mean "Me and Bobby McGee," I never even mastered "Stairway to Heaven."
I bring up my failed music career because of an article I came across in last Sunday's New York Times: Mama Was a Riot Grrrl? Then Pick Up a Guitar and Play. The trend in New York—and mainly Brooklyn—it seems, is for kids as young as 8 to rock out in fairly successful local bands like Care Bears on Fire and Tiny Masters of Today. Hell, these all-kid bands even got their own Saturday afternoon showcase during the CMJ Music Fest, the top festival for scouting emerging bands. And some of them, inevitably, have famous parents (Spalding Gray, Steve Buscemi, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins).
The thing is, it's not that kid bands are anything new, as the article points out (I mean, remember the Jackson 5?), but these new musician tykes are all about indie rock—practicing in basements, playing shows at places like Arlene's Grocery and the Knitting Factory, and citing influences like the Clash and the Pixies—a far cry from the manufactured pop kiddies of the past.
And where are these kids learning about good ole rock 'n roll? Why, from their hipster parents, of course. An article in New York magazine called them "grups" (taken from a Star Trek episode about a planet where there are no adults), the 30- and 40-something creative professionals who wear band t-shirts and Converse, carry messenger bags and listen to The Strokes on their iPods. And when they have kids, they turn them into mini-hipsters, playing Sufjan Stevens in the womb and dressing them in CBGB t-shirts and checkered Vans. Hmmmm....I think all the Portlanders out there would agree that grups are not just indigenous to Brooklyn.
Indeed, neither is the kiddie rock movement. The charming pre-teen sister duo Smoosh came down from Seattle to play our own MusicfestNW in September, and the Rock 'n Roll Camp for Girls has been a local institution since 2000. In fact, New York followed our lead with that camp by establishing the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls in 2004. (One final PONY connection: ten-year-old Izzy Schappell-Spillman, a member of Care Bears on Fire—who were also profiled in an even better New York mag article on the topic—attended the original Portland camp since her parents spend much of their time at local lit journal Tin House, which they co-founded.)
It's pretty obvious, then, that it's about time for Portland to nourish the kiddie bands in our own backyard, perhaps creating monthly showcases or cultivating more all-ages nights and venues. I may not have been skilled enough able to play in a band during my childhood, but that doesn't mean I won't be writing an article about those who can in the magazine soon (hint hint). And in the meantime, maybe I'll break out my old guitar and strum a few chords; it's never too late—or too early—to rock out.
I bring up my failed music career because of an article I came across in last Sunday's New York Times: Mama Was a Riot Grrrl? Then Pick Up a Guitar and Play. The trend in New York—and mainly Brooklyn—it seems, is for kids as young as 8 to rock out in fairly successful local bands like Care Bears on Fire and Tiny Masters of Today. Hell, these all-kid bands even got their own Saturday afternoon showcase during the CMJ Music Fest, the top festival for scouting emerging bands. And some of them, inevitably, have famous parents (Spalding Gray, Steve Buscemi, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins).
The thing is, it's not that kid bands are anything new, as the article points out (I mean, remember the Jackson 5?), but these new musician tykes are all about indie rock—practicing in basements, playing shows at places like Arlene's Grocery and the Knitting Factory, and citing influences like the Clash and the Pixies—a far cry from the manufactured pop kiddies of the past.
And where are these kids learning about good ole rock 'n roll? Why, from their hipster parents, of course. An article in New York magazine called them "grups" (taken from a Star Trek episode about a planet where there are no adults), the 30- and 40-something creative professionals who wear band t-shirts and Converse, carry messenger bags and listen to The Strokes on their iPods. And when they have kids, they turn them into mini-hipsters, playing Sufjan Stevens in the womb and dressing them in CBGB t-shirts and checkered Vans. Hmmmm....I think all the Portlanders out there would agree that grups are not just indigenous to Brooklyn.
Indeed, neither is the kiddie rock movement. The charming pre-teen sister duo Smoosh came down from Seattle to play our own MusicfestNW in September, and the Rock 'n Roll Camp for Girls has been a local institution since 2000. In fact, New York followed our lead with that camp by establishing the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls in 2004. (One final PONY connection: ten-year-old Izzy Schappell-Spillman, a member of Care Bears on Fire—who were also profiled in an even better New York mag article on the topic—attended the original Portland camp since her parents spend much of their time at local lit journal Tin House, which they co-founded.)
It's pretty obvious, then, that it's about time for Portland to nourish the kiddie bands in our own backyard, perhaps creating monthly showcases or cultivating more all-ages nights and venues. I may not have been skilled enough able to play in a band during my childhood, but that doesn't mean I won't be writing an article about those who can in the magazine soon (hint hint). And in the meantime, maybe I'll break out my old guitar and strum a few chords; it's never too late—or too early—to rock out.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
It's about damn time!
Wow. It's been something like a year and a half since I lasted posted on my beloved blog. How sad is that?
Pretty sad....but is it as sad as the fact that I'm at work right now after having been here all night making edits to the December issue and waiting for five copies to print so the staff can do a final proof tomorrow? Wish I could say I would be able to sleep all day tomorrow (a favorite pasttime of mine), but I can't because we have to do the final close of the issue. Ahhh, the "glamourous" life of a magazine editor.
But that's not what this is about....in my sleep-deprived delirium, I've finally gotten off my ass and logged back onto Blogger. I've been thinking about resurrecting PONYtales for awhile now, and I guess now's the time.
As a gentle way to break back in to our theme of Portland-New York, you should all check out Overheard in PDX, inspired by another favorite, the original, Overheard in New York. You won't believe what people say. Would be interested to embark on a qualitative study of how overheard comments differ in New York and Portland....hmmmm.
Oh yeah, and notice the reciprocal link to the magazine on the Overheard in PDX site. Love it!
And now back to my real job, the thing that people actually read...at least that's what I'm told.
Pretty sad....but is it as sad as the fact that I'm at work right now after having been here all night making edits to the December issue and waiting for five copies to print so the staff can do a final proof tomorrow? Wish I could say I would be able to sleep all day tomorrow (a favorite pasttime of mine), but I can't because we have to do the final close of the issue. Ahhh, the "glamourous" life of a magazine editor.
But that's not what this is about....in my sleep-deprived delirium, I've finally gotten off my ass and logged back onto Blogger. I've been thinking about resurrecting PONYtales for awhile now, and I guess now's the time.
As a gentle way to break back in to our theme of Portland-New York, you should all check out Overheard in PDX, inspired by another favorite, the original, Overheard in New York. You won't believe what people say. Would be interested to embark on a qualitative study of how overheard comments differ in New York and Portland....hmmmm.
Oh yeah, and notice the reciprocal link to the magazine on the Overheard in PDX site. Love it!
And now back to my real job, the thing that people actually read...at least that's what I'm told.
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