Kate's Queen City Notes

Blundering through Cincinnati, laughing all the way

Author Archives: allthenamesaretakensothisisreallyreallylong


by Leave a comment

100 Books by 40: MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN

Title: Midnight’s Children
Author: Salman Rushdie
Published: 1981

Americans don’t learn about what happens in other countries. This is most likely an exaggeration, but I feel like my teachers covered The Revolutionary War ten times before graduating from high school. It’s probably more reasonable to assume it was covered all three middle school years as well as all four high school years.

The extent of my knowledge of Indian recent history is this. The Brits colonized India as they did much of the world, which explains all the extra vowels in English as written by almost everyone on the planet aside from Americans. And then Gandhi lead peaceful protests and Indian gained independence. And honestly, the only reason I know about Gandhi is due to the popularity of the 1982 Ben Kingsley movie of the same name. (Way to go Hollywood, you didn’t completely shit the bed with that casting as Kingsley is half Indian.)

By the time the movie was broadcast on TV, I might have been eight or nine? I can’t recall. What I do remember was being traumatized by the slaughter of the peacful protesters. I was old enough to process that context, and it drove me to return to the movie as a teenager.

Midnight’s Children is a novel describing the instability that followed India gaining independence from Great Britain. The main character and related characters are fictional, but the political changes and events in the book are real. The prose is lovely. However, having zero knowledge of India’s recent history greatly diminished my enjoyment of this book. Rushdie doesn’t provide enough context around the political events for this woefully ignorant American.

The prose and the narrator’s voice in this book are delightful. It’s play with words, plot, and characters. But the thread that really holds is the historical events, and without knowledge of those bonding with the characters proves difficult.

This American is only vaguely more informed about India’s history. I have, at least, left this experience knowing how little I know about India. I would like to say I will learn more. This book list tho…


by Leave a comment

MPMF15 – Perspective

In recent years I have taken lots of pictures at MPMF and written detailed reviews of the acts. This year I am doing differently. I have my reasons.

I covered Bunbury in June and had obligations to deliver reviews and pictures. And while this sort of work is fun and challenging, it is still work. The headspace I inhabit to shoot and write is different from the headspace I inhabit to listen and watch. I wanted the experience of listening and watching.

And then there’s the fact that I am technically a tourist at MPMF15. Moving to Seattle at the end of August, makes this MPMF a homecoming of sorts. I am seeing people that I don’t get to see on the regular anymore, and I want to savor those interactions.

Finally, I made the tactical error of leaving some critical items in Seattle. I left the USB cord and my external hard drive in Pioneer Square. These items do me no favors from Washington state.

So here’s what will happen. I will write a summary of my favorite MPMF experiences next week. And a couple of weeks after that I might have a few pictures up. Until then I can say that the first two day of the fest have been great. And being back home? Splendid!


by Leave a comment

MPMF15 – I Spy

Ok. My schedule… Here we go.

Friday

  • 6pm Jr. Jr.  – Indie Craft Village
  • 715pm Big Scary – The Drinkery
  • 815pm The Donkeys – Christian Moerlein
  • 845pm The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers – Lightborne Lot
  • 915pm Purity Ring – Washington Park
  • 10pm The Ridges – Lightborne Lot
  • 1030pm Roadkill Ghost Choir – Mr. Pitiful’s
  • 1045pm toss-up between HEAT/Heartless Bastards – MOTR/Moerlein
  • 1145pm Sarah Jaffe – Mr. Pitiful’s
  • 12am Bully – MOTR
  • 1215am All Them Witches – The Woodward

Saturday

  • 3pm The Harlequins – Washington Park
  • 515pm Caspian – Washington Park
  • 615pm PRIM – Lightborne Lot
  • 630pm Ride – Washington Park
  • 730pm Culture Queer – LIghtborne Lot
  • 830pm No/No – MOTR
  • 930pm Ggoolldd/Alanna Royale – Maudie’s/Mr. Pitiful’s
  • 10pm Cathedrals – Lightborne Lot
  • 1045pm Sylvan Esso – Moerlein
  • 11pm Strand of Oaks – The Woodward
  • 12am Diet Cig – Maudie’s
  • 1215am Zola Jesus – Taft (BAHHHH WHY??? Between this and Sylvan Esso/Strand of Oaks playing at the same time? Worst conflicts of the fest. This is where not having my bike is a big problem. If you don’t know why I am freaking out, let me elaborate. It’s a 20 minute walk at least between Maudie’s and The Taft. I am guessing that I will have to nix Zola Jesus here.)
  • 1230am Sphynx – The Drinkery

Sunday

  • 3pm Bones Jugs and Harmony – Indie Craft Villiage
  • 5pm Gran Bel Fisher – Washington Park
  • 615pm Great Peacock – Washington Park
  • 730pm Pokey LaFarge – Washington Park
  • 845pm Iron and Wine – Washington Park
  • 9pm Kid Runner – The Drinkery
  • 945pm Public – The Taft
  • 1030pm The Tuneyards – Moerlein
  • 1145pm Pure Bathing Culture – Mr. Pitiful’s

Bahhhhh!!! this is happening!!!!


by Leave a comment

MPMF15 – I Fell Off the Wagon

I failed miserably at posting my recommendations this week. It’s hard  moving to another city and trying to suck every amazing experience out of it as quickly as possible. See other blog posts for more on that topic.

Here’s what I would have recommended this week had I managed to do it.

  • American Wrestlers
  • Caspian
  • Public
  • Roadkill Ghost Choir
  • Ggoolldd
  • Diet Cig
  • Sweet and the Sweet Sweets

Here’s what I have already seen and loved. The only reason these bands didn’t make my must-see is because I have seen them, in some cases multiple times. They are excellent, don’t let the fact that I might skip them for acts I haven’t seen dissuade you from checking them out.

Now all that’s left to do is get my Schedule for the fest sorted. I say that as though this is an easy task. It’s not. Post coming soon.


by 1 Comment

First Impressions Seattle

This is basically going to be a random collection of things I’ve noticed about Seattle since moving here about 2 weeks ago.

Biking stuff: The bike lanes and paths are pervasive enough here that I can get to most parts of the city within a 10 mile radius of downtown and have mostly bike lanes or paths. This is awesome. There are tons of bikers here, but not for the reasons I originally thought. I thought it was because the city was full of forward thinkers, and I am sure there is some of that. But it might also be because the traffic is pretty terrible. Only Cincinnati friends will get this, but here we go… Imagine that every neighborhood in Cincinnati had the road configuration of Mt. Adams. No major roads or highways in. No major roads and highways out. Now imagine Cincinnati was twice as big in terms of population. Now imagine that 71 doesn’t exist. Well, now you’ve basically got Seattle traffic. It’s not uncommon for traveling 5 miles to take 20 to 30 minutes. So, back to the foward-thinking bikers. It’s actually faster to travel by bike at certain times of the day here. So, I think the active bike community here is driven in part by philosophy and in part by practicality.

Note that Seattle is hilly much in the same way Cincinnati is. Downtown is in a basin, and you are climbing to get out of it. There are three things I’ve noticed about the cyclists here that gratify me. They seem to be extremely practical. So, fixies? Great big no. I have seen one since I have been here, and I have seen LOTS of bikes. All cyclists shamelessly wear there cycle-appropriate gear everywhere. And in general it seems when the people of Seattle need to make a choice between form and function, they all lustily choose function. Finally, I have yet to see a single cyclist break traffic laws. The only tense situation I have witnessed between a cyclist and a motorist involved the cyclist dressing down the apologetic motorist. The motorist was incorrectly turning into the bike lane when the cyclists had a green light and the motorist had a red. A police officer apologized to me when a car happened to be in my right of way for a few seconds.

Food stuff: The food scene here is bigger than Cincinnati’s without question. However, it seems that everything is priced around the same price point. So, you’ll pay Senate prices everywhere (~$15 to $20 per plate no booze), but you won’t get Senate goodness. I’ve not had a bad meal here, but I have had quite a few mediocre meals with a few stand outs. I had duck confit hash for brunch a couple weeks back, and it was out of this world. I also had some pad thai and green papaya salad for the same price that was just ok. I think I need to do more exploring. I know I will find stuff that’s stellar, I just haven’t figured out how to pick the best from the rest yet.

People stuff: The people here are really pretty great. The city seems to be completely made up of nature-loving hippies, hipsters (the weirdo kind and not the pretentious kind), and computer coders (that could border on douche bag, but not excessively). There isn’t a salmon shorted bro to be found. So that is just lovely. I live right next to the sports stadiums, and although it’s a little loud on game day, people are polite. Even when drunk walking home they do nice things like throw their trash in trash cans. Yay adults!

Nature stuff: Have you seen my pictures? Yeah. So, the proximity to many, many camping areas and hiking trails is really phenomenal. Sorry about it Midwest, Seattle is smoking you here. I will lump the weather in here, because it’s a natural thing. Although I have had some rainy days here, the days when it isn’t raining are just gorgeous. It’s typically a high in the 70’s and lows in the 50’s. Perfect weather for doing anything… I mean anything at all outside. Ok so sure, a good part of the winter is rainy but nearly all of the summer has great weather. Plus, on the winter days where it does happen to be dry, with the highs in the 50’s you can still sneak off for a hike.

I am still exploring spiritual and music stuff. That will have to wait for another post.


by Leave a comment

MPMF15 Must See – K. Flay

I like Hip Hop. The hostility toward women and glorification of our consumer culture that is often present in the lyrics turns my stomach sour, and I find I can’t continue to listen even when I like the groove and vibe. So, when I find a Hip Hop artist I can get behind, it makes me happy. I give you K. Flay.

I am a sucker for urban environments and their associated visuals, so I loved this video. There’s something barren and beautiful about the concrete landscape that I have learned to love. Maybe it’s just that it stands in contrast to the suburbs I grew-up in, and the rural areas I played and worked in?

Check out K. Flay at MPMF at The Taft Ballroom Sunday Sept. 27 at 11:00.


by Leave a comment

MPMF15 Must See – Miracles of Modern Science

“I’ve been so drunk on safety.” Yeah, which is how I am just now living across the country. So, I get those feels Miracles of Modern Science.

I’m excited to see what this performance is liken given the unusual instrumentation of this act. Violin, cello, mandolin, drums and sometimes bass? Why not? I wonder if that drummer ever feels outnumbered by all those string players. See them at Arnold’s at 9:45 Saturday the 26th.


by Leave a comment

MPMF2015 Must See – Pure Bathing Culture

OHHHHH SPANDAU BALLET AND COCTEAU TWINS HAVE BEEN REVIVED! Their new incarnation is called Pure Bathing Culture, and seeing them live will enable me to live out a dream… almost. This is horseshoes, so almost counts.

Uncomfortable admission, if I could wave a magic wand and live out a decade as an adult that I am not currently living in it would be the 80’s. Not, you know, the roaring 20’s with stylish flappers and rich in history. Not the 40’s, with all the strife of war, but the US’s unified response to it, plus FDR (while not my favs, as Teddy has that honor, still a very inspiring man). Nope, nope, nope, none of that.

Give me Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, neon clothing, asymmetrical hair cuts that look good on no one, unchecked glorification of consumerism, AIDS, and those hideous straight-leg, high-waist revolting excuses for pants. And now that I got all that out there, I know I am a crazy person. WHO WANTS TO RELIVE RONALD REAGAN? And mind you, as a gay homosexual AIDS was perhaps the worst thing to happen to the gay community (aside from years of institutionalized bigotry and unchecked violence), yet I am still claiming RONALD REAGAN as the worst part of that decade.

Why? Why am I subjecting myself to this? Because music. 80’s pop is my cat nip. I roll around in it irrational and wild-eyed. I was old enough to be aware of what I was missing in that decade. Born in 1976, the early 80’s are fuzzy, but by 1984 I was with it enough to observe the culture, but from a kid’s perspective. And I think that’s the key here. It’s that the 80’s I can conceive of in a way that I can’t decades that I wasn’t alive for, even if as a child.

Which brings me to my dream. I wish I could have been in my late teens or early 20’s in 1980. I want to know what the clubs were like with all the absurd fashion choices and music. I want to see what this music was like when it was played in all the clubs and bars.

Clearly as I have no time machine that won’t happen, but Pure Bathing Culture will get me close. Their stuff drips with neon colors and Flock-Of-Seagulls hair, and I love it. And the fact that they quote Benny Mardones in this song… Cherry meet top of sundae.


by Leave a comment

MPMF15 Must See – Sphynx

It would be reasonable to think that I am clustering my recommendations by music genre, but I am not doing so intentionally. This is another electro-pop indie band. Um, it’s worth checking out their YouTube uploads to get a visual on them. They look like what would happen if Lynyrd Skynyrd and Poison had rocker babies.

And they sooo covered this song. And they sooo made this video. I have to see this happen at MPMF Saturday Sept 26, at 12:30 at The Drinkery.