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Captain America The Winter Soldier

It’s a common conceit that any new series of superhero movies has to start with the origin. It doesn’t matter if 90% of the world’s population already knows that the death of Batman’s parents drove him to become a ludicrously rich vigilante, or that Superman came from the planet Krypton, or that Spider-Man was bitten by a radioactive spider. Movie studios are convinced that the story still needs to be retold on the screen, and then retold yet again if the series gets a new lead actor or director or executive producer or key grip. It’s a rare case—say, the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy—where the first movie of a superhero series gives us anything terribly new. More often they come into their own with the second movie. With the origin retelling out of the way we get The Dark Knight, we get Iron Man 2, we get The Avengers. We get Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

A 15-Year Murder Spree

Fifteen years ago, NATO was bombing Yugoslavia. This may be difficult for people to grasp who believe the Noah movie is historical fiction, but: What your government told you about the bombing of Kosovo was false. And it matters. While Rwanda is the war that many misinformed people wish they could have had (or rather, wish others could have had for them), Yugoslavia is the war they're glad happened -- at least whenever World War II really fails as a model for the new war they're after -- in Syria for instance, or in Ukraine -- the latter being, like Yugoslavia, another borderland between east and west that is being taken to pieces. The peace movement is gathering in Sarajevo this summer. The moment seems fitting to recall how NATO's breakout war of aggression, its first post-Cold-War war to assert its power, threaten Russia, impose a corporate economy, and demonstrate that a major war can keep all the casualties on one side (apart from self-inflicted helicopter crashes) -- how this was put over on us as an act of philanthropy.

Dominique LaRue is poised to be the next Queen Of Rap

Earlier this month NPR.com posted an article by University of Richmond Hip Hop Culture educator Erin Nielson which poised the question: Where Did All The Female Rappers Go?

   Well, Columbus emcee Dominique LaRue is having her Ohio release party for her album with DC/Indianapolis producer Maja 7th entitled Grand at Double Happiness Friday April 4.

   I asked her about the current marginalization of female rappers in Hip Hop.

   LaRue listed off a quite a few female lyricists, “We are here. Just getting recognition on a mainstream level has been an issue. But you know, Rhapsody, Boog Brown, there are other women ­­­ Ra the mc, In Silence, Nikki Linette, Psalm One, Invincible, Miss Corona, Apani, Jean Grae.”

   On instagram I often see the phrase, “Be the change you want to see”, and LaRue is working hard to put more women on the map starting with herself.

   When I met up with her and her manager Buka, LaRue had just returned from out of town shows. She had a release party for Grand in Indianapolis and also performed at a Women’s History Month Festival in Chicago.

Legendary Mixmaster Speaks On Hip Hop History

Whether you speak on his work as UTFO’s deejay,his influence on the technical development of the scratch or current presence in deejay culture Mixmaster Ice is a Hip Hop legend. The Harlem born, Brooklyn Bred deejay has been an Ohio resident since the Mid 90s so we have had the good fortune of seeing him at concert halls performing with other legends like Rakim, as well as rock dive bars and ratchet clubs. I spent most Sunday evenings from 2002-­2006 listening to Ice’s Old School Mixes during his stint on Power 107.5. So I was stoked that Ice came to my space in the Skylab building downtown last week. His hair was freshly braided. True to Hip Hop, Ice stays fresh so it cracked me up to walk him past a couple people in Death Metal t­shirts that were crashed out on the living room couch next to crushed beer cans. The best part is Mixmaster Ice made small talk with one groggy degenerate before taking a seat on my office’s couch and immediately took me back to the day he battled for the Mixmaster part of his moniker in 1982.

Sucking up to Johnny Thunders' ghost and other tales of woe

As Cleveland's sadder sister city to the west, Detroit, has been struggling to be reborn so it can rejoin the great American Midwestern civilization. Does one of its newest bands, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., indicate there is vital life and future left in the crater once proudly known as the Motor City?

   Cheekily named after America's premier NASCAR champ so it "could musically go anywhere it liked" (according to its founders, Josh Epstein and Daniel Zott, does cut new ground with itsindie­synth­pop­crashing­percussion and generally disarmingly happy­go­lucky lyrics and danciness. Read: girls love 'em.

   At the A&R March 15 the quartet did what only the British seemed able to do in the 80s, namely take electro­styles and customize them so tastefully that style pretty much became substance, a viable if not pragmatic alternative in the pop universe.

John Petric interviews Columbus' own Zachery Allan Starkey

Zachery Allan Starkey will go down as one of Columbus's stranger home­grown musical exports. A black­haired, Hitler Youth haircut­sportin' dude who embraces the latter ­end of British post­punk electro­pop, he can sing off­key for hours and yet can get a dance floor filled at will. Could it be he's one of the nicest guys this city's bratty/catty music scene's ever produced? Quite possibly, quite possibly. I do know this: you can take the Zac out of Ohio, but you can't take the Ohio out of the Zac. Our loss is the Big Apple's gain, where he moved in 2010. High Street hasn't been the same without him. We talked recently. ZS: I've missed you, Johnny Go, what have you been up to? JP: Why, thank you, Zachariah's Red­Eye Saloon! I've been finishing my life's work, a book: "How To Get Bitches To Do What You Want On The First Date," by Tony Redunzo, the Make­Out Man." That's the whole title, too. The whole thing is taken from a skit I did in this communications class in the eleventh grade where I read in improvised character a story from National Lampoon called "Tony Redunzo, Make­Out Man." Whaddya think about that, huh, buddy?

Socially Just Dining: Nicola

If you are a connoisseur Italian food, Nicola brings the taste of authentic trattoria locally, and they happily accommodate veganizing their delicious offerings upon request. There is an abundance of fresh, organic, premium produce to work with on the menu that can meet the needs of vegans, gluten­free and other allergies people may need to negotiate. I’ll be very interested to see what kinds of creative vegan desserts they develop. They can also provide a creative opportunity for a group (up to 80 people), such as a special event wine and dinner pairing, or speaker platforms and film screenings. I’m looking forward to organizing a Vegan meet­up with them as they were quite enthusiastic about accommodating our rapidly growing community.

Coalition rallies against fracking at the Ohio Statehouse

 

 

 

Despite the chilly wet weather, over 70 fracking opponents held a spirited rally for the "Don't Waste Ohio" Legislator Accountability Day at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio on April 2, 2014. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is the process of injecting mass amounts of water into rock formations in order to shatter the ground and release oil and natural gas.

The citizen groups were attempting to gain sponsorship for grassroots led legislation introduced in 2012 to ban Class II injection wells (HB 148, SB 178). This legislation would ban liquid fracking waste in Ohio including: Class II injection wells, enhanced recovery wells, road brine application and treated fracking flowback from being  re-introduced into public water supplies. There are currently 234 injection wells in Ohio and 202 of those are active.

Getting to Solartopia!

High above the Bowling Green town dump, a green energy revolution is being won. It’s being helped along by the legalization of marijuana and its bio­fueled cousin, industrial hemp. But it’s under extreme attack from the billionaire Koch Brothers, utilities like First Energy (FE), and a fossil/nuke industry that threatens our existence on this planet. Robber Baron resistance to renewable energy has never been more fierce. The prime reason is that the Solartopian Revolution embodies the ultimate threat to the corporate utility industry and the hundreds of billions of dollars it has invested in the obsolete monopolies that define King CONG (Coal, Oil, Nukes & Gas). The outcome will depend on YOUR activism, and will determine whether we survive here at all. Four very large wind turbines in this small Ohio town are producing clean, cheap electricity that can help save our planet. A prime reason they exist is that Bowling Green has a municipal­owned utility. When it came time to go green, the city didn’t have to beg some corporate­owned electric monopoly to do it for them.

Is Columbus ready to Ban the Box

Ex­offenders are told by society to make positive changes upon release in hopes of bettering their lives and the lives of those around them. Living, thriving and surviving as a supposed “free” ex­convict, ex-­offender, ex-­felon or whatever the label is, is very difficult to do when no one wants to give a second chance to a person even with seriously valuable skill sets, especially in this economy.

   What happens when more than qualified ex­offenders are turned down by companies, organizations, and sometimes entire professions due to a past conviction? Ex­convicts often resort back to criminal activities in order to make money to take care of themselves and/or their families. Lack of job opportunities is a direct result of a high recidivism rate (rate at which felons keep going in and out of prison). Though some former felons can get their records expunged, they still have to “check the box” on a job application asking “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?”

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