tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post2133802505953683732..comments2022-04-08T21:50:01.912-04:00Comments on LastoftheMohikanz: Stuy Heads, 1992, Part IFilmatixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03828810354654151800noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-58983918100903761572011-04-07T12:39:06.796-04:002011-04-07T12:39:06.796-04:00VL, haven't even checked it out yet, and can&#...VL, haven't even checked it out yet, and can't wait. I remember dragging my cousin, her fresh off the boat at 17, and me the same age, to see Leeway and ten other bands at L'Amours and her absolute astonishment at the goings-on. Gonna check this out as soon as I can.Filmatixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03828810354654151800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-69969808913060643652011-04-07T09:25:26.839-04:002011-04-07T09:25:26.839-04:00For your perusal, my memories of L'Amour.For your perusal, <a href="http://visualingual.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/lamour-rock-capital-of-brooklyn/" rel="nofollow">my memories of L'Amour</a>.VisuaLingualhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05940655509018040523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-37571810564801100122011-04-05T15:35:25.846-04:002011-04-05T15:35:25.846-04:00South Shore had fewer students when I was there, m...South Shore had fewer students when I was there, maybe 4,000 or so. Still, the school was monstrous -- a quarter mile from the gymnasium to the science classroom that had to be traversed within 3 minutes.<br /><br />Bloki is right. I'm from Gdynia, BTW, which is another ugly city.VisuaLingualhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05940655509018040523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-74007450898094450582011-04-05T10:48:11.256-04:002011-04-05T10:48:11.256-04:00VL,
Thanks for the links, once again! When I have...VL,<br /><br />Thanks for the links, once again! When I have some more free time very soon, going to read alot of your backlog too. It's in a similar vein, but addressing different elements utilizing your own expertise. Love it. You really crystallized thoughts I had about South Shore as a piece of architecture, since I'd always check it out when I transferred to go to Kings Plaza, or going to see the Polish around your way. It somewhat ties into the question of comfort re: urban stench. By which, I mean that part of me naturally recoiled against South Shore as a building, but found something comforting in it--perhaps I associated it with the grim "Bloki" of the hometown (Bydgoszcz, not the most aesthetically pleasing city. I can't believe there were 6,000+ students in that school at any time.Filmatixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03828810354654151800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-26441403145418730462011-04-05T01:18:07.039-04:002011-04-05T01:18:07.039-04:00South Shore: http://visualingual.wordpress.com/200...South Shore: <a href="http://visualingual.wordpress.com/2008/12/07/ugliest-building-in-the-world/" rel="nofollow">http://visualingual.wordpress.com/2008/12/07/ugliest-building-in-the-world/</a><br /><br />PJs: <a href="http://visualingual.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/on-olfactory-memory/" rel="nofollow">http://visualingual.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/on-olfactory-memory/</a><br /><br />Congratulations on two weeks!VisuaLingualhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05940655509018040523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-90142594981577086342011-04-04T22:16:37.804-04:002011-04-04T22:16:37.804-04:00VisualLingual,
Unless I'm losing my mind--whic...VisualLingual,<br />Unless I'm losing my mind--which is entirely possible, as I'm on my 2nd week of quitting smoking--where exactly are the two posts you linked to? I realized I'd read the Camden article a while back, as I read Hedges' stuff pretty much weekly, so intrigued by what else you're linking to.Filmatixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03828810354654151800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-49900286071593637482011-04-04T16:29:22.595-04:002011-04-04T16:29:22.595-04:00The world keeps getting smaller -- this morning, I...The world keeps getting smaller -- this morning, I met a couple of Brooklynites here in downtown Cincinnati. They're on a Midwest road trip and asked me for some suggestions on what to do here. They were familiar, or had already done, everything I could think of, and it turned out that they based this leg of their journey on a guide to "cool things" to do here that I had written for a big design site. So bizarre...<br /><br />Anyway, I spent way too much time last weekend trying to remember details of my adolescence. I even watched part of Decline of Western Civ. again. I discovered that there's a book about L'Amour that's supposedly coming out this year.<br /><br />In any case, give me a few days to polish off what I've written and get it online. In the mean time, you might find the two posts I linked to above to be of some interest.VisuaLingualhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05940655509018040523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-10297514458947773192011-04-04T11:22:22.436-04:002011-04-04T11:22:22.436-04:00VL,
Very much looking forward to it...And by vaca...VL,<br /><br />Very much looking forward to it...And by vacation, I meant the old "let's get rid of the kids by packing them off to one family friend's house in Pennsylvania". Me, Agnes, and some random other kids hung out for two weeks one summer, listening to Aerosmith and Enya (?). Cheaper than camp--though one year I DID go to Harcerze, also in PA.Filmatixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03828810354654151800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-90082589982978773862011-04-03T09:27:32.440-04:002011-04-03T09:27:32.440-04:00Whoa. I knew Patrycja and was good friends with Ag...Whoa. I knew Patrycja and was good friends with Agnieszka. I never vacationed with those people, but maybe you and I somehow met in the last millennium. This world is so small.<br /><br />I've been gathering some of my memories into a post that I'll put up this week. It's crazy how reading this has brought back so many memories.VisuaLingualhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05940655509018040523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-16498789715304911722011-04-01T01:29:18.194-04:002011-04-01T01:29:18.194-04:00VisuaLingual, I had to write you back right away. ...VisuaLingual, I had to write you back right away. Dagmara, Marika are exactly who I'm talking about! That's pretty crazy, since I remember also when their little sister was born, and just saw them for the joint baptism of their babies in Greenpoint, where the youngest sister now lives. I remember a slew of other Polish kids we'd vacation with in Pennsylvania--Agnieszka, Patrycja.<br /><br />Anyway, it's testament to how just a comment on this can bring back a flood of memories. I graduated in '92 as well, and while we branched out in later years, were hardcore kids through and true for a good long while. And I was really intrigued when I'd finally heard ill Bill, Necro, et al were from nearby. Did you go to hardcore/metal shows, too?<br /><br />Definitely getting old(er), but I think there's a unanimous feeling that the latest changes are just a microcosm of a larger decline in the US--I know people have complained in each successive generation that "things just aren't the same," but have they ever experienced the same draining of everything unpredictable, exciting, and chaotic from the fiber of the city? Sometimes I feel like a less-staunch version of Bill the Butcher from Gangs of NY, except it's not the Irish I'm wanting to run out of town, but the hordes of the absolutely clueless.<br /><br />Anyway, it's pretty amazing, this small world of the natives. Really nice to get your comments. I'm honestly thinking of one day making my way elsewhere in the U.S. I guess I'd be a newbie wherever else (I did live in LA for almost 3 years a little while back), but I'd hope to approach my new home with some respect, perspective, and street smarts. Hope Cincinnati's treating you well!Filmatixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03828810354654151800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-43238484924942018102011-03-31T15:48:29.030-04:002011-03-31T15:48:29.030-04:00I once wrote some thoughts on South Shore and Glen...I once wrote some thoughts on <a href="http://visualingual.wordpress.com/2008/12/07/ugliest-building-in-the-world/" rel="nofollow">South Shore</a> and <a href="http://visualingual.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/on-olfactory-memory/" rel="nofollow">Glenwood Projects</a>. I'm sure you're thinking of the same place. In fact, we may know people in common - I'm Polish and knew most, if not all, of the Poles living there at the time.<br /><br />The daughters you mention -- are they, by chance, Dagmara and Marika? They're actresses now; I remember Daggie as a little girl, wanting to become an actress. How many people grow up to realize their childhood dreams?<br /><br />Two more "success stories" from the PJs are Ill Bill and Goretex [Billy and Ronnie back in the day]. In fact, South Shore, though it was a complete shithole [or maybe because of it] also spawned Biohazard and Life of Agony.<br /><br />I left for college in 92. It was right after the riots, and I couldn't wait to leave. I haven't lived in BK since 99 -- over the years, life has taken me to CA, MI, IN, MA and now Cincinnati, OH of all places. When I do go back to visit, I find myself muttering and shaking my head like a curmudgeon. It's hard to know if the city is changing beyond the ever-constant ebb and flow, if this current shift is somehow more fundamental than previous shifts. Maybe we're just getting old?VisuaLingualhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05940655509018040523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-78491893983625306332011-03-31T07:48:42.789-04:002011-03-31T07:48:42.789-04:00VisuaLingual--thanks for the Bay Ridge fix. I hope...VisuaLingual--thanks for the Bay Ridge fix. I hope it's just that I didn't really grow up in that part of Bklyn, and thus my shaky knowledge on neighborhood borders in those parts.<br /><br />I grew up in Starrett City from the time I was 11, and moved from Elmhurst, Queens before that. And the South Shore/Canarsie was more something I was told (or feared) rather than experienced. I admit I was the picture of the Shook Nerd at the ages of 13-14. Would love to hear more about your time there. Also, don't know if it's the same projects, but think my Dad's Polish friends, and their daughters, were in that same section, who we'd visit.<br /><br />Probably the smartest chick in my Junior High in Starrett, a quite nerdy white girl, actually was valedictorian at Canarsie. And Starrett was def. poor to very lower middle class, black, white, and Latin alike. But, yes, the sheer tensions were deep, no? The "money porn" life going down in the city these days just feels insane.Filmatixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03828810354654151800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-75383906585482417612011-03-30T14:40:01.233-04:002011-03-30T14:40:01.233-04:00Wow, just wow. This brings back so many memories! ...Wow, just wow. This brings back so many memories! I went to high school around the same time as you, though it was South Shore, which you accurately described as a living hell. I'm sure I could have tested into one of the special schools but, honestly, my family didn't have the resources or wherewithal to consider it.<br /><br />So, if you would have otherwise gone to South Shore or Canarsie, I'm kind of curious about where you were living. I grew up in the projects practically across the street from South Shore, but the high school included students from Flatbush, Mill Basin, Bergen Beach, and other nearby neighborhoods. It was a volatile mix of mostly nouveau riche white kids and working-class black kids. I was in the honor program, which was almost exclusively white and wealthy. I was white and poor. Your assessment of the tensions of the time seems right on.<br /><br />One correction, though -- L'Amour was in Bay Ridge.VisuaLingualhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05940655509018040523noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-21182397725530781692011-03-29T16:55:54.021-04:002011-03-29T16:55:54.021-04:00heh - keep 'em coming - you bringing back MEMO...heh - keep 'em coming - you bringing back MEMORIES! Bx Sci alumni here, summer of 88 Washington square alumnus! I call it the age of wonder - a magical time that will probably never be replicated... from those cliques came forces that shook the world.60Hzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18428300389610117367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-79113462580533500772011-03-29T14:36:37.817-04:002011-03-29T14:36:37.817-04:00Hey, thanks so much! I did see your other comment ...Hey, thanks so much! I did see your other comment for another entry, and actually wrote you at City of Strangers. But if there's another comment for another post that's missing, let me know, maybe Blogger dropped the ball.Filmatixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03828810354654151800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18440710911968686.post-8164022106885543402011-03-29T08:51:53.080-04:002011-03-29T08:51:53.080-04:00Hi,
Man, great post. The first time I lived i...Hi, <br /><br /> Man, great post. The first time I lived in this city was in early '91, at the Hotel 17, behind Stuyvesant Park. I used to have coffee in the park in the mornings if it wasn't too cold, and look out on the kids from the school (I didn't know anything about the school then) and the homeless guys getting up next to them, hacking into the morning cold, and thought about how worlds collided in New York. I used to wonder what the kids thought of the city around them. with all these different people, all this activity. And now I know. I wonder if you were one of those kids. <br /><br /> That was a great year. I was pretty much out of the hardcore scene by that time - I'd gone from Vancouver to Montreal to London and ended up in NY by accident - but NY was a great place to hang out. Chaotic, brutal, open. Such fabulous energy. London and even Montreal had had their own thing going on, but the NY of that period was pure mainline energy and humanity. I've tried to recall it since but so little remains of that era it's hard to see now. <br /><br /> Looking forward to your second post. I sent a longish message to your last post but it doesn't seem to be up. Did you get it? <br /><br /> T.City Of Strangershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12158677428956744517noreply@blogger.com