Gina Harris's Blog, page 51

Band Reviews: The spreadsheet

Shortly after I started reviewing bands, I realized I needed to organize my data. 

Previously I had just kept notes on whom I needed to review in a writing document, and then deleted the names after the review. That was not a good reference system.

The new file was a spreadsheet with three tabs: reviewed bands, bands that I was going to review (which were the bands that followed me on Twitter), and as I started getting recommendations, I tracked those on a separate tab.

I felt this had potential, but I was not sure how to best fill out the columns for the reviewed bands. I started by tracking the names and whether I had seen them live, but it seemed like there should be more. I had a hard time deciding what.

In the process of working all of that out, I realized that there is a limit to how much any of them matter. However, I would like to go over the thought process.

If you want to follow along, I have uploaded the current version of the spreadsheet to my Dropbox:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/f4mj6t7kafarmqtuyf8k1/Band-reviews.ods?dl=0&rlkey=0hfh4k9n45s7bf9skawhege5v 

The data crash forced me to start over anyway.

One thing I had done previously was that I only listed a band in the spreadsheet the first time they were reviewed; it seemed most important to track the number of bands. There were some reviews that were not of bands that I didn't include at all.

This time around, everything is there. There are two number columns, tallying the number of the review and the band. Sometimes there are indications that this review is a "Repeat", or that the review contained more than one band, or that the review is not of a band. I am still using "band" for solo musicians though.

Therefore, I now know that I have written 665 reviews, covering 654 bands. It feels more accurate to have both numbers.

I still track if I have seen them live. I did not have to go back and change any, because I started working on this after my last concert. In the future, I believe I would update that cell after seeing a band live after having previously reviewed them, but I hope I get a chance to find out soon.

You would think the "band name" would not require any deliberation, but there were a few that have since changed their names.

"Active" and "From" were columns that felt really important, but that turned out to be surprisingly arbitrary. If a band starts in one town, but then moves to another, which do you use? It is also more common for bands to be scattered in different areas and use video conferencing to get around it. Plus, I have a few bands who claim mythical locations as their homes.

Time active is even more of a guess, but it means different things to different people. Some bands can go years without doing anything but still consider themselves active. Conversely, there was one band that had three breaks, but each break lasted less than a full year; wouldn't it make more sense to just call that a long vacation?

I always felt like the Main URL would be very important, with a question about which to use, but it is much less common to have competing links now. Time simplified that one for me.

Then, I have the link to my review. That was a tricky one when each band had only one line; is the first review or the most recent the most important? Deciding to count every review simplified a lot.

Also, if there were multiple contenders for the Main URL, that review captured them all. That can be helpful for detective work, especially when some of these bands have vanished.

Finally, there is just Notes.

I thought about capturing the genre, but that is often not as simple as you would hope. I thought about different key words that might make searching easier, but I didn't really like those.

One thing I tried to capture in the old sheet was if they were signed or not, and to what label. That happened because of Pete Wentz tweeting out an interest in unsigned bands one night. A lot of bands aren't bothering with labels anymore. For one thing, compensation has gone downhill.

The biggest part was realizing that this is ultimately for me. I wanted it to be useful for other people, but who is going to pore through a spreadsheet looking for bands to fine. Really, it's for me. 

It does take off some of the pressure (not as much as you would think), but it's still nice to be able to put it out in the world.

The other two sheets are still there, for reviews that have not yet happened.

There are fewer bands that have followed me since I stopped reviewing. Following people on Twitter to gain fans was never that effective, and I think more bands have caught on. Still, there are eleven, and I will definitely listen to them. I try and keep track of their name, the date they followed, and a good link.

There is one band that I have been meaning to redo because of an error in the original review, and they have a new album out. There are also three where individuals followed me, and I did a review, but they joined other bands later, or had been in other bands earlier. 

For example, I don't remember when Scott Wilson first followed me (and I have no idea why), but I reviewed Tantric in April 2017. About two months after that, though, he left Tantric and went to Saving Abel. It's not that the Tantric review doesn't count, but it feels like I should review Saving Abel. I take being followed by musicians and bands very seriously. 

Also, some musicians have new albums out, or projects, and I take note of that.

As I have gotten fewer new band follows, the bands that I have found through friends and other musicians and books and magazines has just kept growing. Material is not a problem, only processing it.

I think I'd like to review a 1000 bands before I retire, but we'll see how it goes.

For now, there are two more Review Retrospectives waiting, and then I think I want to try reviewing new bands again. 

I can't guarantee quantity or consistency, and I know I lost a lot of readers during my down period, but having new reviews will be a good thing to get back.

APAHM2021: The weight

As much as I enjoyed and learned from Slanted, it was not all fun and games. There is a lot to make you angry, and a lot to make you sad.

Because the author is Simon Tam, there are also casual nerd references to enjoy, especially with how naturally they are included. There is a lot of heart and much that is admirable, but that is combined with a lot of exhaustion on Tam's part. It is only human to feel for him.

The court case took nine years. Even with various lawyers working pro bono, there were still filing and copying charges, travel, requests for interviews, and some very abusive language, even from natural allies. 

That was all combined with personal loss, and needing to make a living and maintain relationships. It was a Herculean effort, and it was ultimately successful, but not without great personal cost. That is not even mentioning all of the good things that the band was trying to do, with work shops and fundraising and drives and fighting bullying. They did do good, perhaps in ways in which they were uniquely able to do so, but it is important to understand the effort.

With a full book covering the nine year battle, I know more about their struggle, but I had also started to think about that when watching The Problem With Apu. You see the disappointment as Hari Kondabolu's attempts to meet with Hank Azaria failed. We see the effort that he puts in educating, and yet during any comedy set there can always be someone who will just say "Thank you. Please come again," and feel like they are so clever. 

Once again, my reading and watching related to the news, with the reactions to Naomi Osaka choosing her mental health over money. Federer protecting his knee has not drawn nearly the same level of complaint. That is not a coincidence.

This is older news, from 2017, but someone posted Anna Muzychuk refusing to play in Saudi Arabia as a protest against their treatment of women, even though it would mean the loss of two world titles, so a loss of status and money.

That was the Women's World Speed Chess Championship. Every single competitor would be forced to be accompanied, and covered up, and bear the weight of that country's misogyny for the entire time there. Who scheduled that in the first place? Shouldn't there have been other people protesting? Shouldn't there have been people in leadership positions (probably men) saying that this is not acceptable?

There are people who are burning themselves out to try and stand up for what is right; that burden should be shared by many more people. If enough participated, it might stop feeling like a burden.

Notice that these people mentioned are fighting racism and sexism that they experience. In doing so, they have to fight against the inertia and complacence of those not affected. 

I can't help but notice that the best articles on Naomi Osaka's withdrawal from the French Open have been primarily written by women, plus one man of Asian descent.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2021/may/31/were-not-the-good-guys-osaka-shows-up-problems-of-press-conferences?

White people, where are we? Are you tired of hearing about racism? Try living it!

This is currently something I am addressing more on the Sunday blog, looking at areas and methods for fighting white supremacy, but before narrowing down, there has to be the initial commitment.

Can you care about an injustice that will not be leveled against you? And then what are you going to do about it?

APAHM Synergy: When the news and the reading correspond

Speaking of Executive Order 9066, I recently finished another book about the law not being applied equally: Slanted: How an Asian American Troublemaker Took on the Supreme Court by Simon Tam.  (I recommend this book.)

In the process of going over their court case, others are referenced, including some that argued against internment. The legal cases weren't really what stuck with me, but for more information on those specific cases, a good starting point can be https://www.thoughtco.com/supreme-court-cases-involving-japanese-internment-2834827.

I mentioned some convergence yesterday. I was reading about the loss of Japanese property as a windfall for other people in the cities. At the same time I was being reminded of the financial losses that accompanied the deaths with the Tulsa race massacre. It worked together as a reminder of how racism serves capitalism.
There was some other convergence on the topic of language. 
Fictionally, in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry's parents forbid him to speak Chinese anymore, demanding that he only speak English. As they do not speak English, this has a negative impact on family communication, but shows the pressure that was felt to clearly not be Japanese, despite that in no way leading to being accepted as American in 1941 Seattle.

In real life, Simon Tam was nearly put into ESL and advised not to speak any Chinese languages as a child lest it give him an accent. Tam was born in San Diego in 1981.  Forty years after Pearl Harbor, we were still racist.  Forty years after that, we have a better understanding of how valuable it is to be at least bilingual if not multilingual, and how starting early helps. Some parents pay heavily for immersion programs.  Somehow, we are still racist.
Of course, at the same time that I was reading these books, news was breaking of mass graves being found at a residential school in Kamloops. Residential schools were also places where children were forbidden to speak their family languages, and severely punished. That wasn't the only abuse that happened at the schools, but the pure superiority and despising of all that was native was never going to discourage abuse.
It's genocide. Even when there were not deliberate deaths, trying to destroy a group and their identity is genocide. Destroying family ties plays a role. 
And -- even when your means of destroying a group is intended to be more the identity and community and language -- physical deaths happen. Not being premeditated murder doesn't always mean it was an accident.
I'm just going to leave this here:
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2019/09/native-american-heritage-month-2018_17.html

APAHM Comics, but especially They Called Us Enemy

I could have easily done a post on comics last week. I did read some looking for Asian-American authors, though I got two Asian-Canadian and one Japanese author mixed in. There is one I am thinking about more, and it is going to lead somewhere.

I will still name the comics:

Nijigahara Holograph by Inio Asano

This One Summer by cousins Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki

Supernova (Amulet 8) by Kazu Kibuishi

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei

That is in reverse order from how I read them, because Takei's work is the one that has stuck with me most, over a year after reading it, and is the one that relates most to additional reading.

I am not going to spend a lot of time on the others. I do think that it is perfect that This One Summer, with its youth and secrets and summer vacation, was written by cousins. The futility in Nijigahara Holograph sticks with me as well, though it seems like there should be a way through. 

Of course, if you are not already, you can always become my friend on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/gmharris  I review lots of books, pretty regularly.
 On to They Called Us Enemy. 
I know one reason I am thinking about it more now is because I just read Jamie Ford's Hotel On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.
While the book focuses on a Chinese boy, his best friend is a Japanese girl who is interned with her family. We see some of that.
There are things that you know on one level; I have known that the internment happened for some time. Stories bring facts to life, and multiple stories drive them deeper.
Somewhere in the reading, I realized that while most large cities have a Chinatown, there used to be Japantowns too, at least on the West Cost. Then the people living in them were taken away, providing great financial opportunities for those left behind.
Maybe I was thinking of it more because of a flurry of attention to the Tulsa Massacre, and how roads were constructed and new things built in a way to hide the evidence, but also to transfer wealth from the marginalized to those who marginalized them.
This year was the first year that I saw that Executive Order 9066 could be applied to those of German and Italian descent too. Occasionally it was, but no, that law was not applied equally. I am going to need to watch Allegiance, and that will happen, but for now the image that stays with me from Takei's book is his father slipping out of an office they are both working at because Eleanor Roosevelt is going to stop by. Even though it is meant to be an honor, and George himself is excited, his father cannot shake the hand of the woman whose husband sent him to that camp. 
There are people who are still alive who were in those camps, though they are old now. The process for admitting it was wrong did not happen until Carter, with formal acknowledgement under Reagan. That's in my lifetime.

Is the past even past?

Review Retrospective: Not reviewed, but seen

As I get closer to completion, there has been this nagging feeling about some omissions.

Technically, if we are just going over reviews, then it is not an omission because I have never reviewed any of these bands. I have mentioned some of them, possibly often.

However, if we look at some of the other posts -- including the one on emo bands that I just wrapped up -- several of the posts have involved songs or bands that have not been reviewed but have been an influence. 

Most of these bands have been very important to me; it feels wrong to leave them out.

And I have seen them all in concert!

"Take On Me" by A-ha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11Xbc914

They were my second concert, because Charlie made it to Portland earlier, but they were the first band I truly loved. Technically, we have tickets to see them again. The show keeps getting delayed, but it's going to happen.

"In Deep" by Charlie Sexton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJNHhB2_R4s

I still loved Charlie a great deal. The sounds are totally different, with A-ha so synth-centric and Sexton so focused on guitar, but they both work for me. 

I chose this song because this is one of the albums that I picked up when working at K-Mart, and I bought it solely because of his song. (Though the record is pretty decent overall, like most 80s soundtracks.)

"That Was Then, This Is Now" by The Monkees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T7NuBTmQ7g

While they were not quite as emotionally important to me, I did watch the show. I was excited to get a chance to see them, then possibly a little disappointed at the weathering. Ultimately I am grateful that I went, and this is still a pretty good song.

“To Be A Lover” by Billy Idol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L9epO3tJT4

This was my fourth concert. I saw him when he was touring supporting Charmed Life, but this song is from Whiplash Smile. Charmed Life was when his legs were shattered and he wasn't working with Steve Stevens anymore, plus losing Perri Lister (because of his cheating)... it is not as fun an album, though it was still a fun concert.

This also means that I have never seen Steve Stevens live.

"Love And Affection" by Nelson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1W6-ErrHls

They went country after, and at least one got kind of douchey, but I still really like this album. Getting to this concert was significant because I had to find a ride up from Eugene and I was supposed to meet someone, but we still relied on pay phones at the time (the horror!). Ultimately, I did make it, but I also had an unused ticket. Still a good memory.

This was my fifth concert if we don't count the one where I lost my tickets, was frustrated, and snuck backstage, but couldn't hear anything and didn't see anyone except some dancers. The wouldn't count, right? 

Somewhere between that first five concerts and starting to write reviews, I did start making it to concerts more often. I stopped counting by this point, but there are still two that are not reviewed but very important.

"Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9gKyRmic20

Especially Neil, but both Finn brothers have meant a lot to my musical tastes. I loved Split Enz early, even watching their televised concert that was aired on Nickelodeon a few times. Then, they broke up, but here came Crowded House (which Tim did join, but later, and I associate them more with Neil). I have seen Crowded House (after Paul's death, but with Nick back), and I have seen Finn Brothers, but not in that order. I just don't know that they could do anything that I wouldn't like. 

So it really never is over.

"Basket Case" by Green Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUTGr5t3MoY

Somewhere in a story that I have thought out but not written, there is a girl who gets struck by this song like a bolt of lightning.

I have only seen them once, and I still wish I'd understood better what was going on with the puppets. I know the review in the paper criticized it for being just like their last show. Maybe, but it was new to me. I didn't hear the audience complaining. 

So many music reviewers suck, especially in how they can't comprehend any taste that varies from their own, but I was mean that night too.

On the train heading home we were talking about the concert. This woman (whom I thought of as old, but I am probably now her age) cut in to talk about her love of Andre Rieu, whom I guess she also thought was cool because he had long hair. I listened less and less patiently as she kept going on. She was not taking in this conversation, only giving. When she got to Bob Dylan I think I said something about how horrible a singer he was. I don't like him, so there are a lot of things I could have said.

She countered "But he was the voice of a generation!"

"Not mine."

And that successfully ended the conversation. 

I would totally do that again. 

I would probably not sneak backstage again. However, wandering around, talking to stage crew and arena staff -- and for the first two, bus drivers -- yes, always and forever.

APAHM 2021: The Documentaries

One nice thing about writing about the movies is that they really were watched in May 2021; I did observe the month in the intended time frame.

Which is probably the only reason I was able to find the first movie.

I have been wanting to see The Problem with Apu since it came out in 2017. It was not easy to find, even searching on different streaming services. (I may have been looking at the wrong ones.)

This year I was determined to make it happen. I went to the IMDB page to check distribution, thinking that I was going to have to buy or rent a copy. It showed that it was scheduled to air on TruTV. Record!

I don't know if anything changed with distribution, but I suspect the month where we think about Asian-Americans might be getting more attention as we see increasing violence against them. That seems like a reasonable response, I guess, though it is hard to feel good about that as a reason. 

I was nonetheless very happy to find this movie so easily.

The documentary is valuable. It is very much Hari Kondabolu's personal journey and feelings. We get to hear from many other people. This shows us the extent to which the caricature of Apu is used to mock people who are either Indian or perceived to be Indian. It is more than I would have thought, which was probably (and depressingly) naive.

I think there could have been room for more critical analysis, but even though that is a thing I like, that might have made other people consider it boring. Listening to people who are actually affected by specific flavor of racism and letting them have a voice may be more valuable, and more to the point.

The other movie was Who Is Arthur Chu?, also from 2017, but only discovered recently. I don't remember how it came up. (I streamed the film through our library's Kanopy connection, so it may have been while searching for something else there.)

My love for Jeopardy! is well-established. I remember and did not like Arthur Chu then. Yes, I did find the category jumping annoying, but what really bugged me was the $5 wager on the daily double. At least do $100! It was too obvious that he was not a fan of Jeopardy!, and that bothered me.

(I understand that this could be perceived as jealousy, though I do not feel that it is.)

Anyway, I didn't like him then, but a little after I would start seeing thoughtful and good tweets from him, including some well-written essays on important topics. I started to like him then, as a writer and Tweeter.

There were some things that felt very familiar in the movie -- some from my own life, and some from other family dynamics through books or friends -- but the part that stuck me most was between Arthur and his wife at the time, Eliza. It was this question for both of them, individually, about what to do. 

For Arthur, it was more about how to do some good now that he had a platform; what were good ways to use that? For Eliza, someone creative who had a day job but also was dealing with a chronic illness, how do you balance that? For both of them, there was the question of sticking with the day job, or pursuing new things; could they afford to? Could they succeed without leaving?

These are very familiar questions. I don't have my answers yet, but many of my questions come back to what good can I do, and how much good different paths will allow.

That makes me want to circle back to Kondabolu. That there was a documentary made about him is because in his comedy he was addressing the damage that the character of Apu does. That happened after trying to use the racism against himself and his parents for laughs, and finding that he could not feel right about that.

Good on him for that; a lot of comics never get there. 

It is worse if the laughs come from making fun of people they don't care about. Ir is sad when a lot of comics don't seem to have any self-regard (sometimes also somewhat understandable), but it is infuriating that there are still people who build their acts on bigotry. It is infuriating that they still have an audience.

We need to be demanding better. I do see some movement in that direction, but there is a long way to go.

Yes, part of that is not continuing to reward people for racist humor and entertainment based on stereotypes, much of which is pretty tired and not nearly as clever as they think. 

It is also making a point of listening to voices that aren't always white and male and straight. I should watch more specials from Asian American comedians. There are more available on Netflix than you might think. Give a new author a try, or a new band. If you like something, recommend it.

Yes, we can question Hank Azaria and Matt Groening about Apu, but it hasn't done much good. That doesn't mean that the questions shouldn't be asked, but the uplifting of other voices may ultimately be more helpful.

And then sometimes it's also touching, or funny, or really makes you think. I love the windows that books and movies and music have opened to me. 

There is so much out there, waiting for us.

Ruined for Rom-Coms: APAHM 2021

This title uses the abbreviation for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, which may be a little more elegant than some of the others. 

Realistically, I understand that some of my dissatisfaction with the titles is social conditioning where talking about race feels rude. I acknowledge this discomfort and affirm that it is worthwhile.

I avoided Netflix for a long time; the last thing that I need is another monthly expense. As I was setting some viewing and listening priorities (along with the reading), I was frustrated that so much content is now part of paid streaming services. 

I am still holding out on Tidal, ESPN+ and Disney+, but I gave in on Netflix specifically for Hannah Gadsby: Nanette, When They See Us, and (most relevant to today's post) Always Be My Maybe.

Those were the primary reasons I gave in, but then there were lots of other things that I could and did want to watch. I've gone past the free trial, okay? The then question became what to watch, in what order. It totally made sense to watch Always Be My Maybe in May, along with To All the Boys I've Loved Before.

It appears that I can no longer view romantic comedies without being distracted by the main characters' trauma. And the supporting characters' trauma. 

I initially blamed it on all the trauma reading that I have done recently. I am more aware of signs and effects and it's not like turning my brain off is my best skill.

To be fair, I have kind of hated a lot of romantic comedies, as least in concept. The last one I really loved was While You Were Sleeping, from 1995.

Around the time that Julia Roberts was the queen of the genre, I remember reading an article pointing out that a lot of the class barriers and sexual mores that used to drive the genre were no longer in place. Because of that, the films often made the romantic obstacle that the characters were just jerks to each other. That can be hard to get behind.

(And some of them would have only taken a little more effort to fix, fyi.)

These two films were both cute and funny. The characters are generally sympathetic. I kept wanting to yell at the screen:

Can't you see how this is affecting him? Shouldn't somebody mention that?

There were dead mothers in both, plus other parental issues, so my tether might be a little shorter there. 

Then, as things get resolved, my brain is reminding me of what things are still going to come up without being directly addressed. I like to think that they have the commitment and the resources to work it out, but it's there.

Another movie I watched via Netflix was The Lovebirds, with Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae. I did better with that one. It was probably not technically a romantic comedy though. 

It started with the end of a really good date where there is an adorable resistance to parting. Then it fast forwards to where the relationship appears to be on the rocks, with heads constantly butting and poor communication. Absurd coincidences and bad luck (and realistically some poor decisions) give them a chance to realign and improve. 

Plus, there were no obvious parental issues. 

That can only help.

Displacement, children's books, and authors of Asian descent

I didn't read many children's books this time around, but I had thoughts about them because of possibly silly reasons.

One book was The Name Jar by Yangook Choi. 

Recently arrived from Korea, Unhei is going to pick an American name. Her new classmates put name suggestions into a jar while Unhei thinks more about names and learns more about her new neighborhood and class.

By coincidence, the last time around one of the books read was Juna's Jar, written by Jane Bahk and illustrated by Felicia Hoshino.

In this case, the jar holds many different things that Juna finds during the day and then shape her dreams at night. A move is the source of the conflict again, but in this case it is that Juna's friend Hector has moved away. Her loneliness is combined with worry about him, and the story follows her path to acceptance and being ready to make new friends.

At the time, I noticed it more because my kindergarten teacher sister had also brought home Jane Clark's Gilbert the Great, about a young shark mourning the departure of his best friend, a remora named Raymond. 

It can be hard being the one left behind; books that deal with that are important, even with different levels of realism and seriousness.

As it happens, the other book I read relatively recently also kind of dealt with that:

Fauja Singh Keeps Going: The True Story of the Oldest Person Ever to Run a Marathon, by Simrat Jeet Singh and illustrated by Baljinder Kaur.

Fauja Singh's story is about more than moving. He is unable to walk when young, and it affects his chances for schooling. Whatever he lacks in other ways he makes up for in sheer determination, eventually not just walking but running, and building a good life for himself and his family. 

Then, his children leave him behind; not losing contact, but not being near. When his wife dies, he goes to live with one child's family, leaving not just his home and village behind, but also his country and language. Running becomes a way of connecting, to people around him, and to the world beyond that.

It is a wonderful story, and possibly better for adults. With the others, I was thinking about loss and connection. I was reminded that there was another book about displacement in that first round of children's books, A Different Pond, written by Bao Phi and illustrated by Thi Bui. As a father and son fish at one pond in Minneapolis, the father talks about a different pond in Vietnam.

Displacement comes up often in the books for grown-ups too, but in these short and simple tales there is a lot of heart. They may be comforting for those grieving separations, young or old.

I should mention that I also -- in my Caldecott Medal reading -- read Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young. 

It is actually more like the story of the Wolf and the Kids than that of Red-Riding Hood, but red is a key color in the illustrations, and it works.

Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Reading Update

That just rolls off of the tongue, doesn't it?

I have previously only done one specific Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage month. I questioned how well I was doing it at the time, though it did mainly stick to the one month.

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2018/06/asian-pacific-american-heritage-month.html

https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2018/06/apahm-2018-reading-and-asian-pacific.html 

Then, things fell apart more, but I did take notes when I read other things that I meant to get to.

This year, with increased violence against Asian Americans, it felt more important to practice and celebrate, but also, I am so behind where I want to be.

I have notes on books that I read in 2019 and 2020, and now even some that I have read in 2021. I am also not going to stop reading off of my list after this week of blogging. 

This week is just going to be about different things that have struck me, even as I read at least two relevant books this week that will probably not make it into this round of writing.

For the record, today I started one of 43 books left to read after having finished two others. I have at least three movies and a play I want to watch, after having finished four movies quite recently. 

My intention is that I will have completed all of those before next May. Then I will just dive into books by Margaret Dilloway and Gail Tsukiyama. Maybe binge the Fresh Off Boat television series, though maybe only the first three seasons? That would require some research.

Regardless, for all of the ways that I overextend myself and get too ambitious, that does feel achievable. The question then becomes whether I write about all of those at once. One of them is a physics book, and one is on permaculture. It's not always simple, but I always admit that.

I don't know quite how it will go. I do form little subsections. For example, some of the books seem to focus on the difficulty of relationships with your parents, and I will probably try reading those around the same time. They may inspire their own thoughts. 

Doing this has been an ongoing process. When I started with my first Black History month, it could easily have just been four books a month, one month a year. It wasn't, because I started realizing how much more there is to know and understand. Some of that is me being me, but I think many people could find similar effects.

That is one reason why I am now going through and looking at my old posts and coming up with a better list of recommendations. If you want a basic timeline of the history of slavery and its results, what books are good for that? What books are good for building empathy on a specific topic? That is a project that is still taking shape.

For now I will mention a few books that were not really a part of intended reading, but came up in other ways, reminding us of the messiness.

The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia by James C. Scott, finished July 9th, 2020.

I picked this up in the PSU bookstore many years ago, when I would just sometimes stop by and look around (between 1994 and 1996). I picked up too many books on impulse to read them all, but when I was doing some other economics reading I threw it in. It was in fact really interesting, with thoughtful comparisons made and good research data. For the record, economics is not always interesting.

Know My Name by Chanel Miller, finished August 15th, 2020.

Like many people I was touched by Jane Doe's letter to her rapist, Brock Turner. I am sure I would have read her book anyway. As it was, I read it in the middle of some feminist reading, specifically about rape culture, where it fit well. This is a good, human, and important book.

The Rainbow People written by Lawrence Yep, finished May 4th, 2021.

Perfect timing for this year's reading, but it happened because as I near the end of my Caldecott Medalist perusal, I was reminded of my love for David Wiesner's Tuesday. I decided to just check out whatever the library had that he had illustrated. That included this book of tales told by Chinese immigrants in the late 19th century. Serendipity.

And, for the most questionable one...

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat and illustrated by Wendy McNaughton. 

I finished the book on October 1st, 2017, and did not think of it as relevant reading. I signed up for Netflix to watch (among other things) Always Be My Maybe. Seeing there was a series for the book, I wanted to watch it, but also wondered if it would relate.

Nosrat was born in the United States, but her parents come from Iran. That is the Middle East. Does that go with the Far East? Afghanistan used to be considered to belong more with India and Pakistan.

Arab American Heritage Month is sometimes celebrated in April (I just learned that), but Persians are not Arabs. Sometimes Persians get March, but March is Women's History already. 

I could argue that that there is a need for a lot more understanding of all of the peoples and the history between them in the Middle East. 

It gets tricky. I know that, and I will keep working at it.

Sometimes it is amazing how much it takes.

Review Retrospective: Emo or Not Emo?

I am not even going to look up any of the old posts; I have written so much about emo and trying to understand emo.

For a brief recap, when I started listening to My Chemical Romance (first Review Retrospective!), there were constantly arguments in comments about whether or not they were "emo" and what emo actually means. I did not have a frame of reference.

I was excited to find a book about it: Andy Greenwald's Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo. I should not have been excited; the book misses a lot. I first finished it on December 23rd, 2012, and I still didn't have any confidence in the topic.

The book was still the key to my figuring it out. I eventually read the book again and listened to at least some music from every band mentioned in it, even when they were bands that were clearly not emo (like Pantera). Then, for the bands that I found more interesting, I listened to their entire discography.

I set myself up for failure by deciding to listen to all of Mogwai. One eerie instrumental song can be great, but a bunch in a row gets on my nerves. Even so, I should watch Before the Flood, an environmental documentary that features their music.

I have watched at least three movies because of this book. Speaking of that, Greenwald completely missed the point of Rich Egan's getting into the business because Greenwald did not know what was in Another State of Mind, which inspired Egan. I'm not saying Greenwald needed to watch the movie, but he should have asked more questions.

I found a lot of music I liked, but a lot of it was not emo. Of the bands chosen for the daily songs, the greater half are more traditionally punk, though emo springs from punk.

You see, punk -- which I love and has its own Review Retrospective -- tends to be political. Emotional Hardcore took some of that energy and applied it to personal issues. Then, other bands took that focus on self-reflection and slowed it down (possibly with more whining, but not every time). 

One of the big disagreements with emo is for people who think that word should be used for the hardcore versus slower, softer stuff. Then, later, when some bands who sang about sad feelings also wore a lot of black leather and heavy eyeliner, that got called "emo", but often as an insult. The other disagreements come from that.

The only real exploration of the disagreements I recall in the book is a reference to Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional (who is totally emo) not being comfortable with the term.

After having listened to hours and hours of music, there is a sound that I consider to be "emo", or perhaps two sounds. It is not the first wave of emotional hardcore, like Rites of Spring. You could easily just hear that as hardcore, and it is not infrequent for hardcore to have emotional elements.

It comes a little closer with the next round of Jets to Brazil and Sunny Day Real Estate, so totally bummed out music. When I hear The Promise Ring, yes, I know that is emo. However, when I am thinking emo the most representative band is probably The Starting Line. That is moving in a direction toward pop punk, but still feels more like emo than punk.

And in general, they dress more like Richie Cunningham than Edward Scissorhands. (Except with more tattoos.)

There is a strong element of DIY (Do It Yourself) in the punk ethos that does relate to the fashions, in that shopping at thrift stores was common. So, while "Buddy Holly" is not their most emo song, it makes sense that Weezer would have a video referencing Happy Days.

I'm not sure why the other look started getting the emo label, but there is always overlap. Fall Out Boy's music is not very emo, but their lyrics certainly were, at least for their early albums.

I realize this may not establish clearly in your mind what emo is. Part of the problem -- and I did realize this early -- is that a lot of the more prototypical bands are not well-known. That's why I did so much listening. What that accomplished for me is that when other people use the word -- even if they are not all using it the same way -- I can understand where they're coming from. (Even if they're wrong.)

It is not exactly rare for people to dispute genre classifications anyway; it happens more with this particular one. I am into knowledge and communication (and music), so understanding a word means something to me.

Other things came from the project. Because Rye Coalition (not emo) was the next band mentioned in the book after Mogwai (also not emo), and both Mogwai and Rye Coalition have werewolf songs, I became more aware of Halloween music possibilities. I have had some fun with that, but I am not done.

Nor am I done listening to bands. I still want to do full reviews of several bands from the book: Jawbox (kind of emo), FenixTX (kind of emo), Superdrag (not emo), Social Distortion (not emo), Face to Face (not emo), SamIam (emo), Allister (emo), The Rocking Horse Winner (emo), Something Corporate (emo), Frail (not the emo one, though that exists), and Finch (kind of emo).

At some point, I will really need to go through and listen to Say Anything, The Starting Line, and Saves The Day together, just to make sure I have them all straight. I don't think I do yet, but I finally have Jawbreaker and Jawbox sorted out.

Working on it.

Daily Songs:

“See If I Care” by Face to Face -- They are considered punk. I like the attitude of this song, though there is an emotion below it that belies the lyrics. I get that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXx3uRg8kIs

“On a Rope” by Rocket From the Crypt -- Once more, very punk. Irresistible rhythm on this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YQoK7Ff334

“Brandenburg Gate” by Anti-Flag -- Not emo, very punk. This song completely won me over at the time. It has faded for me a little as I realized that I respect the band more than I enjoy them, which is not the same thing. Still a pretty good song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWE4VXGMeIk

“What It Is To Burn” by Finch -- Less emo than some, but not completely unreasonable to call emo. Still, you can't help but notice more hardcore elements in this song of torment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLbHfOhJNR4

“Shoulder To The Wheel” by Saves The Day -- Yeah, they're pretty emo. In that genre, one of my favorites songs with a great energy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5eOwgzJmV0

“Shut Up” by Simple Plan -- Can reasonably be called emo. This didn't even come up from the book, but was suggested because of the other things I was listening to. I'm glad it was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpds3V90VbM

“Still Alive” by Social Distortion -- Social Distortion is pretty solidly punk, but this song is nonetheless very personal. There is hope and vulnerability and I love it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDcI8oKKWlM