Upcoming October Readings

Thursday October 8th, 7:00 Modern Times Bookstore, San Francisco with Ananda Esteva, Maiana Minahal, Dani Montgomery. Civil Defense Poetry night!

Monday October 12th, 7:00 Avanti Popolo: Italian Americans Sailing Beyond Columbus, City Lights Bookstore, SF Annual anti-Columbus celebration of real Italian American culture. WIth Michael Parenti and others. www.citylights.com

Saturday October 17th, 6:00 Litquake Litcrawl, phase 1. Manic D Press Showcase at Adobe Books, San Francisco Thea Hillman, Jon Longhi, Tarin Towers, Jennifer Blowdryer, James Tracy, Eric Spitznagel, Jennifer Joseph www.manicdpress.com, http://www.litquake.org

Saturday October 24th, workshop at Santa Cruz State University Practical Activism Conference http://activism.ucsc.edu. My friends from Headrush Crew are going to hold down the spoken word. Not to be missed.

Italian Street Art

(Milan)

Travelling through Italy, it was a kick to compare and contrast the Street Art (Spray Paint Grafitti, stencils, stickers) to the ancient murals and statues of the Roman Empire and Vatican Inc. Politically, the two art forms couldn’t be farther apart: one commissioned by power and the other committed on the fly. However, both are comments on empires past and present.

(Venice)

North American lefties can often romanticize Europe as an oasis of tolerance and enlightenment. However, xenophobia and bigotry against North African immigrants and Arabs runs pretty high there too. In Rome, I witnessed Italian police chasing African immigrants all around the Vatican City area for the crime of selling knock-off Prada bags on corners.

(Venice)

A variation on a stencil that I think originated in North America.

(Milan)

The issue of Blood Diamonds is very much in the public awareness in Italy.

(Bologna)

Portions of an incredible 400-foot mural in Milan dedicated to Carlo Giuliani.

Finally, some apolitical eye-candy…