1-3. My fellow NAMAC panelists: Moderator Kyle Harris of Free Speech TV—a terribly charming person and eloquent speaker on issues of political aesthetics, which by the way was sort of what our panel was on, and we sort of forgot to mention it, but this wasn’t Kyle’s fault; Franklin Lopez , a really smart and thoughtful corporate detractor who’s fortunately also incredibly prolific; and Cynthia Carrion, who along with the equally cool Mariela Rosario is working on MNN Youth Channel.
4. Bats. I thought they were going to be amazing, and then when they did not show up I was disappointed, but then when we finally saw them, they actually were amazing.
5. The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal. If you haven’t seen this film yet, really. You are wasting your life. It Is 15 different kinds of funny, and all of them treat you, the viewer, exactly like the intellectually minded cultural producer you probably really are.
6. Hanging around Morgan Sully. The goofy Bay Area musician/CTC Vista has the easiest and most profoundly affecting laugh I’ve ever come across. Stunning shit, that.
7. Lunch with DeWayne Slightweight. I went to Texas for the first time in my life and had sushi with a fellow Chicagoan. Doesn’t seem right, but there it is. DeWayne does comics and performance work, and sometimes collaborates with the super rad Edie Fake, who I’ve been trying to track down to interview for months now.
8. Watching movies under the nighttime sky in Texas. I’ve seen movies outside before, but never a well-curated gaggle of short docs, and never ever in the middle of nowhere Texas, and certainly never when kids are running around trying to get me to drink as much beer as I can. There were a couple that were really phenomenal (see #5 above) and also: OUTER SPACE, and then of course the actual (half) moon.
9. Second Life art classes. Nettrice Gaskins is teaching virtual art classes to her students at Massachusetts College of Art and I feel profoundly conflicted about it. But as she says, all teachers use tools that are clunky and have other agendas than the ones we’re trying to impart, why not use one that’s easy and fun? And even that answer freaks me out.
10. Tacos and Margaritas with Reel Grrls and Media Democracy Coalition. We skipped a panel on artists, educators, and activists working together to, like, discuss strategies for same. I think we pinned it, too.
