looks as if the zoning board has put the plans on halt for johnny brenda’s live music venue. perhaps its time that we give representative marie lederer a refresher course on what “representative” actually means…

snarkiness aside, allow me to talk straight for a minute. this new venue is a good thing. speaking as an independent promoter, the city needs space for people like us to do our work. now, dont get wrong, i love the khyber/north star/heyday folks, they’ve been totally supportive of what we do. unfortunately, with the closing of silk city last weekend [who knows if it will ever come back], the m-room cutting back its weekend schedule [seriously, less dj nights on friday, please, more live music] and all sorts of other things that are considered a blow to a thriving music scene, its important that spaces like jb’s become a reality.

so if you havent signed a petition, written your representative [hopefully they arent backstabby like rep. lederer] or done something to help the nice folks at jb’s, get on the ball. do it now.

Hey lovies,

We went to the Zoning Board of Appeals yesterday with a beautiful presentation. It included all of the lovely support petitions and personal letters written on our behalf, and press stories, including the Spirit article about the overwhelming support we had at the FNA meeting, and lo! State Rep. Marie Lederer, our neighbor on Shackamaxon (who ducked owner Paul Kimport when he tried to approach her while he canvassed our neighbors to talk to them about our expansion) planted a well-aimed knife in our backs.

Rep. Lederer sent the ZBA a letter directly opposing the planned expansion, claiming she was representing her constituents in the 157th. That seems to be at odds with the overwhelming numbers of supporters we had at our meeting and on our petitions. Perhaps she was responding to the nine neighbors at the FNA meeting who were against us? Johnny Brenda’s plans have been presented to the neighborhood association since June 2005, so it is odd that Rep. Lederer hadn’t made her personal feelings known to us throughout the process. Perhaps that is because she doesn’t attend FNA meetings. It seems unfair that she can claim to speak for those of us who live here and voted in support.

On another note, the representative from Councilman Clarke’s office refused to come out in support (opting instead for the lame ‘we have no objections’) due to phone calls received from the voiciferous 9 nays and their cronies.

My babies! Please help us. This is ridiculous! I know we’ve asked alot, but it’s because we want to give you a lot. This is our ‘hood now too, and I don’t think the city and state reps realize that there’s a new constituency in town…so make it known! And if you’re a long-time Fishtownie, we thank you for welcoming us…

Here are some politicians I suggest contacting (thx for this lutton)

I included Councilman DiCicco, since his district includes the Standard Tap, and Councilman Ramos, who lives in the area.

You can also send faxes automatically online, via www.hallwatch.org

Councilman Darrell Clarke
Room 484
City Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone 215.686.3442
Fax 1-215-686-1901

Councilman Frank Dicicco
Room 332
City Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone 215.686.3458
Fax 1-215-686-1931

Councilman Juan Ramos
Room 592
City Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone 215.686.3420
Fax 1-215-686-1930

Representative Marie A. Lederer
Penn Treaty Park Place
1341 North Delaware Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19125
Phone 215-426-6604
Fax 215-560-3995

ETA: oh my god, i have an opinion! heavens forbid. its a personal one, though, and does not reflect the official position of plain parade. just saying, ’cause some folks don’t know how to divorce the two…

what happens when somehow, i find myself after class with my professor, a couple students, a plasma screen television _and_ alcohol. now im not trying to justify my drunken rambling, merely putting into perspective for you:

seriously, if you didn’t grow up in a working class family, DONT EVER play _the grapes of wrath_ in my presence — that goes double should i ever find myself with a glass of wine inside me; i’ll go insane. i have to be up for work in three hours and because of this damn film im a messy combination of awake and bawling. i hate life. i hate america. help.

anyway, you should totally watch _the grapes of wrath_, its a mindbender.

it might be slim pickins here for the next couple of weeks as i slog through my paper for the EMP but ill do my best to write every now and then. here is what has been on my mind over the last couple of days.

» i saw “brothers of the head” last night. oh my goodness, its downright brilliant. “hedwig” meets “gimme shelter” meets the mütter museum. the music is totally awesome, too. i was expecting something a bit campy a la “velvet goldmine” but thats not the case. its really dark and sad. best thing that happened to me yesterday, natch.

its out in theatres JULY 28, which means you should totally go see it.

» BOO HOO. POOR FUCKING DIANE VON FURSTENBURG. im so sad about this because you, zac posen and countless other designers totally take time out of your lives to create lines for people who might not be able to plunk down eight million spacebucks on some shitty fashion retread.

and whats that i always hear about designers being “inspired” by street culture? isnt that a simple justification for when you swipe ideas from other artists? like how else do you explain paris hilton donning trucker caps? [and its not just the big fashion houses who are stealing, either. organizations like urban outfitters do this all the time.]

you might want to rethink your argument, ms. von furstenburg, because you sound like an entitled spoiled twat; this whole thing sounds like the internet rumor about lars ulrich trying to copyright an E chord, anyway.

» speaking of copyright, ive been slogging through my own battles. it seems you just cant share some photographs without having someone swipe your work for their website.

now, im well aware of the irony here — an mp3 blogger complaining about copyright. but im not trying to argue that im allowed to continue hosting something when the copyright holder asks me to take something down. if someone wanted their bands song removed, ill do it in a heartbeat and without argument.

i know a couple of you are either lawyers, law students or just well-versed in copyright/IP issues, so ill give you a bit of background information. the photographs in question were taken for a freelance job at sxsw. to archive my work, i use flickr. i like flickr because:

im sure there’s a couple other reasons but for the most part, thats it. in addition to the creative commons license i have on flickr [”all rights reserved”], i register work with the copyright office. [pertains to work done for freelance or anything i might show in a gallery] sometimes it can be a pain to do all the paperwork but i think of it as being part of a freelancer’s job.

anyway, i posted a link to the photographs in question on a messageboard because i thought people might enjoy seeing them. i enjoy sharing work and occasionally receive useful feedback out of the experience. i assume that if someone likes the work, they’ll contact me about using it on their site. depending on who is doing the asking, my agreement might range from a simple credit on their site to a licensing agreement.

so another person posted about more photos being up, and being curious, i checked their site out. needless to say, i wasnt pleased to find it was my work and lacking credit. [i was also bothered by the fact that the only credit for work on the site was a blanket, “Thanks to whomever posted the…”] i sent the person my standard message:

hi there,

i’d like for you to remove my work from your site. you did not ask permission to repost these, nor am i credited anywhere and last [but CERTAINLY not least] they are copyrighted. im a freelance photographer and you’re swiping my work.

you’re more than welcome to link to the work [in addition to providing credit] but not host them on your machines. failure to comply will result in my lawyers sending you and your webhosting company a cease & desist letter.

here is a list of the works in question:

[removed]

thanks - it’s really appreciated!

maria tessa sciarrino

pretty standard procedure in the photo business. some photographers arent even that kind, they’ll send a C&D without blinking. [most record labels will have lawyers deal with it.]

im putting the following responses on another page because i know the suspense kills you.

Read the rest of this entry »

from sean agnew. not sure if you have to RSVP or not RSVP information in the picture:

at Starlight Ballroom
with Free Beer As Well
9pm / 21+

it’s free because HONDA is promoting some new line of hipster cars. Not an R5 event because of the corporate sponsorship, just acting as a middle man to the venue and to let you know about a free show.

its something to do on monday night, if you are the restless type.