Chicago Residences, I NEED YOUR HELP!

Pass on a message from a friend to a friend.
Help out Chicago's very own CAN-TV by convincing your Alderman to vote YES on the stone/burke ordinance. Even though you maybe a person that does not watch much T.V., just think about how you may be helping someone out. Use your voice and make a difference by supporting Chicago's communities and the people of Chicago.

Hello city dwellers, lovers of free speech & supporters of diversity in the media!

As some of you know, my work with the city's public access channels has always come with it's own set of challenges. We are facing a great challenge right now and I could really use your help.

There is an ordinance that will be voted on in March to determine whether or not our public access channels will retain its funding. If the ordinance is NOT passed we will have to cut back our services which means events like the recent journalism townhall, coverage of the Polynesian community concert held at the Old Town School of Folk Music last May, and long-time series favorites like Chic-a-go-go stand to lose the support CAN TV has always been able to provide.

I am asking that you either call, email or meet with your Alderman and urge them to vote "YES" on the Stone/Burke ordinance to fund CAN TV before March 16. Also, if you are available on March 16 at 10:00 a.m. I encourage you to attend the meeting at City Hall where the finance committee will vote on this ordinance. Details on how to reach your alderman and on the City Council meeting are posted below my signature.

If we can get this to pass the finance committee, it will be a great 1st step to ensure CAN TV's funding for the future and it's ability to service the diverse communities and residents of Chicago is secured.

You can link here to watch video clips of the finance committee's last hearing on this issue (I recommend watching the last clip - it's the liveliest).

Thanks in advance for your support!

-Czerina

HELP SAFEGUARD CAN TV'S FUTURE URGE
AYES VOTE ON THE STONE/BURKE ORDINANCE

As many of you know, CAN TV's outdated funding structure has created problems for years, threatening the future stability of this important community resource.

On Monday, March 16, 2009 the City of Chicago Committee on Finance will vote on the Stone/Burke Ordinance to resolve CAN TV's funding issues. We need your help to make sure the ordinance passes.

IF THE ORDINANCE PASSES:
CAN TV can count on reliable funding now and in the future.

IF THE ORDINANCE FAILS:
CAN TV will lose 1/4th of its funding this year alone, resulting in significant service cuts.


HELP PASS THIS ORDINANCE:
ATTEND the 3/16/09 meeting at 10am, City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St., 2nd floor, City Council Chambers.

CALL OR MEET WITH YOUR ALDERMAN prior to the meeting to urge a "YES" vote for the Stone/Burke ordinance.

For your Alderman's contact information call CAN TV at 312-738-1400 or look up the info here.

Reply to this email to let us know you will attend the meeting and whether you need bus transportation from CAN TV.

CAN TV | 312.738.1400 | www.cantv.org | info@cantv.org

Buckshot, Skillz, and Special Ed

these guys were performing at the Metro last night. Good show, but the only guy i am familiar with is Special Ed, and he is good.


here is a little crappy footage from the show from phill's cell phone performing the same song. i don't know if you can hear it, but his voice sounds older...

The of the Semester: Culture

being in an art school, i feel like there is always a need for a theme, or at least because i am photo major there is need for a theme. and being the angry "colored" kid, i am always going to bring up the issue of culture and privilege/ignorant folks with their lack of understanding. in my color photo foundations class last night, i think i mightve been too passionate about why i choose the southside of chicago to take photos.

oh well, i guess the angry asian is out for the public to see.

Piece of my heart. - Erma Franklin

Landscapes

this weeks color photo project is landscapes. I feel as though the southside of chicago is really neglected, for that reason is why i tend have mainly southside chicago photos...

Tilt Shift Time Lapse

I love tilt shift, i gotta wait until next semester to pick one up. :(


Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

D.C.'s Quarter

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/24/duke.ellington.coin/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

the first african-american to be place on u.s. currency by himself, and who is it? the great jazz artist, Duke Ellington.

It Dont Mean A Thing (If It Aint Got That Swing) - Ella Fitzgerald

Grandma's Hands

i can't say i have ever experienced what bill withers has with his grandmother, if i have it was when i was so young i couldn't remember.

i do remember my great-grandmother, she would bitch at my father that my sister and i barely spoke chinese. my grandmother would care for me when i haven't started school yet and protect me from my schizophrenic uncle. then for my grandfather, he was cute, but anything i would do that was remotely dangerous, he would tell me in chinese, "watch you die!"

Secret Heros: The Asian American Anthology

April 2009, there is a comic book coming out. The setting is during WWII after Roosevelt signed the 9066 in response to the attack on pearl harbor. Main character is a Japanese-American superhero who was thrown into the interment camps. http://www.secretidentities.org/

The comic book world is expanding their characters to more than mutants and white folks. What I like about this comic book is that it may bring up issues that relate to Asian-Americas, but also expose more stereotype to those who never had first hand experience. One way to relate this to a more understanding issue is the Tyler Perry shows. Sure he might bring out the life style of one stereotypical black family, but that does not mean that is all black-americans have experienced that way of living. When it comes to race in the media, I feel it will always be an issue on how its being portrayed.

The Glory Days

times like last night, i can't believe how i act reflects my father. then again, i understand why he is so frustrated with my mother, but that doesn't mean he needs to act like that with others who "love" him.

watch the young ones

DCFS warned for those who have young ones in their lives to look for changes in behavior and watch for symptoms of depression. chicago had it's third suicide case of month. 2 which were 10 to 11 year old boys, and this week, 11 year old girl.

The Lost.

for every up there is a down, for every down there is an up. --that is my constant thought for the week. soon it will be back to normal where it comes up every so often.

it sucks to care and to feel unwanted/invisible. mistakes have been made on both ends, but only one person can see pass it (or can i). as i said repetitively as a kid, i wish for a reset button.

Shoe Project

in my color photo foundations class, we were assigned a project to shoot a transportable object of a primary color with other primary colors, complimentary colors, different lighting, emotional, and unemotional. i don't think i did a really good job, but the best photo out of all is the one below.



the red shoe is the primary color object. i know i lose things a lot, so i thought to use my shoe since it is a bit harder to lose track of.

Sometimes you just gotta let things be...

i know across the universe is just a movie, but i think this part of the movie is very moving.

media is what moves youth and even adults these days. the travel of message goes further, faster, and covers more than by mouth. yes, media may only cover one side of a story, but when it comes to certain situations, it just helps widen eyes.

Fuck you, Fox News!

about a week or two, miley cyrus, a teen idol, had a picture of her and her friends making "funny faces". funny faces were the chinky eye/slant thing, where to some asians is offensive when a non-asian, and sometimes even asian folks, are doing it.

first off, miley cyrus wrote a half-ass apology saying she didn't do anything wrong and did not even write a lick of some sort of an apology. then she wrote another half-ass apology letter actually apologizing. at this point, i don't care about miley cyrus, for as long as she understood she did something offensive.

now for Fox News, they had this to show, http://www.foxnews.com/video-search/m/21878925/no_offense.htm

okay, so an Asian Lawyer from LA decides to sue Miley Cyrus for 4 billion dollars. Yes, that is stupid, but why make matters worst in debating that it is stupid with a bunch of white folks on a republican news show?! ALL THOSE MOTHER FUCKERS ON FOX NEWS ARE DEBATING ON THE SUBJECT OF RACE AND THEY ARE FUCKING WHITE! i wonder if they realize how ignorant they all sound. mother fuckers in this mother fucking white ass dominating country. FUCK!

Oh yes, Fox New's Motto -- "Fair and Balance". Fair and balanced my fucking ass. where is the asian person stating their opinion, or the black person when the white female new anchor is talking about the black kids using the "N" word on the train. Balance where is the person that has the opposing opinion on this subject matter? Where is the fucking FAIR and BALANCE of fucking Fox News?!

the unproductive weekend

got some glamor shots done.


i found a cowgirl.


and i witnessed momobot in action.

It's Mao, again.

this time with her paw over her eyes.

Mao

i am allergic to cats, but do you see this cat...

her name is mao, and she is awesome. why is she awesome, because she sleeps like this...

Color Processing

i finally got some enlargements done.




cool thing about color photo process is the cyan, magenta, and yellow nozzles on the enlarger. when you adjust those things, colors are all over the place.

Black and White Photo Processing

in my b&w photo class, there were many many steps to get a photo enlarged. first off, after exposing your roll of film to the capture your view of the world, you will need to get into a pitch black darkroom. in this room you will need a your roll of film, bottle opener, scissors, and developing tank with reels. be sure no light can get into the room, after sealing up, open up the film container with the bottle opener, then separate the film from the plastic spool, roll the film on to the reel, and place the reel into the developer tank. make sure the tank is sealed tightly, when done so, it will be safe to turn on the lights

next step, get by a sink, pre-soak film with water at a temp of 68 degrees, empty water after 60 seconds, then put in the developer, followed by stop bath, then fixer, water rinse, clearing agent, hurricane washer, photo-flo, and lastly hang dry. all that usually takes me a half hour with loading the developing tank.

then for the actual enlarging, first off is your test strip, but before getting to it you need to set up your station. load film carrier with film and a photo of what you want in place, turn on enlarger, adjust photo to desired size centered in easel, sharpen photo to your eye's sharpness, then use grain focuser to sharpen grain. then with enlarger off, place photo paper, with emulsion facing up, into easel. using cardboard or something large and dark enough to cover the size of the photo paper, cover a portion of the photo paper, then turn on the enlarger for a couple seconds. uncover more of the paper and turn on the enlarger for the same amount of seconds. continue to do this until all of the photo paper has been exposed to the enlarger.

now for the chemicals, place the photo paper into developer for the appropriate time (it depends on the portion of chemical to water to temperate is used), then into the stop bath, fixer, and water rinse.

and that is where i am going to stop. there are just too many steps...

Dilbert

...this is the funniest strip. man it really got me laughing at the office. comparative literature! that's the line that really hit the spot.

btw, i stole this from Robert's Blog

Color Contact Sheet

finally done some printing for my color photo classes. composition isn't great, we just have to get use to shoot and printing in color, so above are just sample shots. soon my life will be filled with color photos of my making. how exciting life can be :)

Pedals Plus People, by shortformelissa

so over the summer in florida, i was introduced to a lovely lady and photographer, mel... short for melissa. well anywho, she has a photobook out! so for those that are into bicycles, or photos, or just to be supportive, she has a book on the web for sale.

you can get your copy at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/545315

her flickr, flickr.com/shortformelissa

Charles Bradley and The Menahan Street Band

i <3 this song

A Girl Like Me

i got myself into an interesting class; culture, race, and media.

the above video i need to reflect on it. which is something i can totally do, but i still feel like there is something missing in my class that i can not pin-point. and i feel like i can not participate until i figure it out. it can be that i am the only asian female and there is about 15 males, 13 of which are white, in a class about 20 students total. which makes me feel like there isn't enough mixed "cultural/racial" input.

oh and if anyone knows the sunday host of wnua 95.5fm radio, stan west. well luck me, i got a chicago celebrity as a instructor. he is a good man with a lot of input.

Payphones

i don't know about you guys outside of chicago, but i haven't seen a working payphone in awhile. it's a sad sad thing. 11 years ago, i can remember calling collect to my mom all the time while she was at work cause i didn't have any coins. you got more legit beggers asking for payphone money, now it's decreasing because there is less excuses to use coins.

i actually miss the feel/sounds of a payphone. holding the heavy plastic between your ear and shoulder, the steel cord, hanging up and hearing the chime. ahhh the payphone...

the payphone is going extincted.

Taggart Transcontinenal live at Fizz

friday night i went to a show at fizz to see taggart transcontinental. a friend from school is apart of the band, and it was known that the big boys were there to see them play...