The Agenda

Nearly four weeks after I sent 10 questions about HCR 362 to Rep. James Langevin, I still have no answer. However Eileen Sadasiv has sent me a copy of a letter she got from Langevin on Iran and she OK'd my sending it further—see below.

Interview with IndieArts/ri Manager Tim O’Keefe

Who is IndieArts/ri?
IndieArts/ri is a splinter group of the Arts & Business Council of Rhode Island made up of a variety of artists, musicians, DJs and event producers who contribute to Rhode Island art and music. The day to day of IndieArts/ri, which will evolve, is Ted James and myself posting member’s events and in some cases free DJ mixes online at www.indieartsri.com.

The fiscal 2009 budget has now been approved by the General Assembly, and everyone expects the Governor to sign it. Here are a dozen things worth knowing about.

The author continues his tradition of bizarre meditations on film

By Evan Villari

[Note: This article first appeared in The Agenda #16]

Cheat Sheet: An Eastern European family hires Evan to transfer some film to video. The film, from an orphanage in Russia, is of a little girl this family is thinking of adopting. When the people at the orphanage strip the little girl down, Evan becomes uncomfortable with it, and begins to wonder if he might be involved in something illegal. This gives him the chance to reflect on some of his favorite Eastern European filmmakers.

And so patiently I waited. Happiness for a possibly sterile family was depending on my abilities. Railway tracks were quite literally crossed to get here. It was the end of the month and I wasn't proud of what I was about to do. A craigslist post had brought me here. He said she was from Russia. I of course knew this could have meant just about any satellite nation (formeror otherwise) in the Eastern Bloc. Although I must confess when the shoves get pushed around, my ultra-west, red-painting ignorance had a way of calling the whole of it Russia too. My thoughts wandered to a work by Jan Svankmajer.

With so many bands, groups, troupes, and DJs at IndieArts Fest 2008, The Agenda saw an opportunity to ask the entertainers some questions about the City of Providence.

1. Is there a lack of diversity in music venues in Providence?
   The ‘Mericans: No - you just have to go to places you don't usually go to
   Nick de Paris: Needs more electronic but getting there.
   Ty Jesso: There is plenty of musical diversity in Providence if you like DJs, but where has all the live music gone to? There are too few live venues, too few bands, and the live music audiences that you used to see out and about would rather sit, drink and listen to DJs in their fave local bars. Not a complaint, I guess.
   Swiss Chemistry Club: Safari Lounge; the old Green Room (before it started trying to look all up-scale-y); Fort Thunder; One Up; I liked the Liquid Lounge until it started looking like it was trying to be an upscale Hooters.

Lhude sing cuccu!

It's that time of year again when I start to fantasize about moving to Alaska (Weather Underground is forecasting highs in Anchorage today in the “upper 50s to mid 60s,” which is far more tolerable than the stinking sweating purgatory of Providence today). If you love summer as much as I do, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management wants you to know they feel your pain. If you need protection from the “unhealthy air quality” afflicting Southern New England like a divine punishment for something-or-other, head to the Da Vinci Center in the North End for some emergency shelter.

(As disgusting as this weather is, though, it's still no justification for closing public schools like those wimps in Pawtucket. Someone tell School Superintendent Hans W. Dellith to man the hell up.)

Don Mollis would like to remind youse that if you voted in one party's presidential primary (presumably the one that still counted by the time Rho Dylanders got our turn) and would like to vote in another party's primary in September (presumably the party that doesn't count in Rho Dyland), you need to do that thing with the stuff by June 11.

By Ted Rao

[This article first appeared in The Agenda #13, December 2005]

In the first column I listed my ten favorite Providence bands ever. Apparently, this was one of the more popular aspects of the column, since people started giving me their own lists as well. Again, gimme some shit; I’ll stir it. Here are some for you, and please e-mail me your own personal top ten, as well as all questions at iamprov@gmail.com. Babe’s on the Sunnyside, R.I.P.

Mat Brinkman:

1. (tie) Glory Hole / Pussy Galore (Ted: I don’t think Pussy Galore can be counted as local even if Jon Spencer did go to Brown)
2. La Machine
3. Dropdead
4. Em Dath Rir
5. Pleasurehorse
6. Mx Rx Px
7. Von Ryan’s Express
8. Six Finger Satellite
9. White Mice
10. The Body

By Ted Rao

[This article first appeared in The Agenda #12, November 2005]

Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey is a complete idiot. I don’t care that he’s got an MBA from Harvard; so does our President, and there’s a guy that my cat could beat at Scrabble. He will not, repeat, will not be able to beat Senator Lincoln Chafee in next year’s primary, short of Chafee being caught in bed with a dead hooker. Even then, I doubt it. Besides, even if he did, Sheldon Whitehouse would demolish him in the general election. So screw Laffey. Wait, why do I care? Laffey’s the mayor of Cranston. This column is about Providence, America’s greatest city. Onward.

Could you please tell me a little bit about that happy man that is often found outside the side entrance to city hall holding a small tape player/radio that plays old Buddy Cianci speeches and greets people passing by with the line "Buddy Cianci number one! Go Red Sox!" Where has he gone and what is he up to? I miss that old fella. —Jed Rocka

By Joan M. Wyand

[This article first appeared in The Agenda #19, July/August 2006]

A Monday in March was a beautiful day for a bike ride. After scoping out the construction of the impending 195 bridge, I biked up towards India Point Park.

I passed a dilapidated marina club that my friends and I had previously explored at night. The building is three or four stories tall and covered in rust colored paint. In the back there are two docks that could house about 20 boats. Two staircases align with the boat docks, leading up to multileveled cement decks with abandoned outdoor bars. The building seems as if it went through a hurricane. The metal handrails are contorted in the same way that the industrial steel billboards were demolished in New Orleans after Katrina. I had come back to retrieve the turquoise awning material I scouted out last time I visited.

But, but Jef... we need more luxury condos.

For the first time in U.S. history, more than one of every 100 adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report documenting America's rank as the world's No. 1 incarcerator. It urges states to curtail corrections spending by placing fewer low-risk offenders behind bars.

“As voters prepare to cast their ballots to nominate their choice for the next President of the United States, I want to make sure they know exactly where to go to cast their ballot,” says Providence Mayor David Cicilline in a press release today. Providentians seem to have divested themselves of their well-reasoned cynicism regarding the incredible fiction of American democracy, and will be turning out in “record numbers” on March 4th to register their support of future President John McCain, one of two identical lying, pro-war Democrats, or one of many irrelevant also-rans.

In any case, if you have some time to waste next Tuesday, you should go to the Rhode Island Voter Information Center website to find out the location of your local polling place (pictured, left). Note that your polling place for the primary election may be different from your usual November location, so it's a good idea to check, to ensure you can maintain the illusion of having your voice heard.

Don't be surprised if you hear that question a lot more often in the coming months. Rhode Island's premier manufacturer of Carcieri blankets has alerted us to the news that federal Medicare officials, looking to cut costs, have finally noticed an accounting irregularity here in Rhode Island. (Funny; you'd think they'd look here first for that kind of thing.)

Governor Carcieri

Dear Governor Carcieri,

I write to you to express my displeasure regarding a recent “Pro-Life” rally in the State House. Though I fully support any view you or anyone else may hold on this issue, I find it quite inappropriate for you to host such an event in the State House rotunda. You, as governor, are the representative of each and every Rhode Islander. For you to open the doors of the State House for supporters of one belief, simultaneously slams the doors on the other. Would you allow a pro-choice rally within the rotunda? Would you lend voice to the other segment of the population of this state who support the right to choose? I doubt it.