well, i barely made it to elliot's dedication, but make it i did...whew! he's such a cutie pie...i would not have wanted to miss that for anything...
after church, i picked up greendeeve and went to trader joe's to pick up teddy after his shift...we had plans to go to the wilson sk8tepark by the lake...i don't skate, but teddy says i'm his betty and that's why he wants me there...i have no idea what that means and went along just to watch...we went to jewel to get a picnic lunch but were so discombobulated we just got some fruit and ended up going to subway for some sandwiches...then we drove to the park and ate on the grass while watching the kids skating...
the park was pretty busy, since it was a lovely sunny sunday afternoon...lots of youngsters...but a few veteran skaters too...there was this one kid...he couldn't have been over 10 years old, but he had the long curly sunbleached blonde hair, white tshirt, jeans, a bandana sticking out of his right hip pocket, and the attitude of a future sk8tepunk...he was adorable! teddy & dave were old compared to the median age in that park which was something like 16.21948...but teddy sure does look cute in a bright red helmet! 
dave used to be on a skate team when he was younger...team rancid or something like that...so he can hold his on on a board...even though he's almost as old as i am!
actually, the really really good skateboarders were a bit older...in ted & dave's age groups...they were in the bowls doing fancy pretty stuff...those guys are mesmerizing to watch...they make it look so easy, but i know if i were to even attempt going from point a to point b on a skateboard, i'd end up at point z on my ass...i'm supposedly learning how to snowboard this winter, and i'm anticipating turning the colors cobalt and violet...
i have to say that when i was standing by a certain part of the park, there was a very pungent scent that permeated the immediate area...and i'm not even sure that it was a certain person...i think it was actually a mixture of all the different b.o's all wrapped up in one very special and deadly fragrance...
after the skatepark, we drove over to the iguana cafe where we lounged around waiting for yellowellow (ellen) dave's girlfriend to get out of her job as the wardrobe technician for the production of singin' in the rain going on at a theatre near halstead & chicago...i took a bunch of silly pictures of ted while refreshing myself on a mint chocolatechip milkshake...it was a much needed break after all that time in the sun...i was starting to get a photophobia induced migraine by this time...
we picked up ellen and headed on over to the gene siskel film center for a viewing of afropunk, a documentary about the issue of race, specifically african american, in the punk scene...this film was part of the black harvest film festival and i'd heard that rob lowe of 90 day men as well as some bad brains footage were gonna be in it, and that was enough to convince us to go see it...and as a person of color who appreciates the punk ethos as well as all that is punk rawk, i was interested to find out whether i would relate to some of the issues brought up...
when we walked in to the film center, we were suprised to see damon locks of the eternals (formerly of trenchmouth) passing out questionnaires to those there to see the film...i guess i shouldn't have been surprised, considering damon is a) black, b) an influential part of the punk scene for years and c) lives in chicago where this film would be shown only twice in the immediate present & future...it then occurred to us that damon was probably in the film too, which makes sense, cuz when you think about it, there were only so many black punk musicians that the filmmaker could interview who actually have a presence in the music world...
anyways, i have to say that afropunk is definitely worth seeing...the director & filmmaker james spooner never made a film before...he was a black punk rocker who made this movie to deal with his own issues about being black and being punk...it's a classic example of DIY (Do It Yourself), which is very much at the core of punk/indie ideals...he used his own money to buy the equipment and taught himself how to use a camera and editing software...besides being such a cool example of DIY, the content of the film was surprisingly good for a firsttime effort...he followed the lives of 4 african americans who identify themselves with the punk scene--tamar-kali, who fronts her own band, matt davis, the lead singer for ten grand from iowa city, moe mitchell, the lead singer for the hardcore band cipher, and mariko jonez, a dj and creator of socalinflight, a zine for the punk/indie community in southern cal...he also interviewed numerous others who are either on the scene or in punk bands...rob lowe was one of those interviewed, and damon was another...another guy named ralph from philly was also interviewed, and he's a good friend of damon's whom watchers stayed w/ when they were playing in philly...teddy remembered him and said he was a really super nice and hilarious dude...several people from chicago were interviewed as well...
the interviews in the film were engaging, and the comments people made were definitely ones i could relate to, being someone who sometimes feels a little out of place at shows where i'm either the ONLY asian, not to mention asian female, or one of maybe 2 if miss mia (of kim, pandapanda & chic-a-go-go) is working the club...unless it's a band with an asian in it, in which case you'll find a lot more asians...but usually, i'm the only one...also, i sometimes feel out of place w/ my asian friends cuz i am into punk & indie music, and most of them aren't, and i like going to shows & taking photos and wanna flee the corporate scene, not work my way up in it...i mean, i know that there are a lot more asians into the arts out there...i just haven't run into a lot of them...i guess being punk rock is kinda hard when you come from a cultural background that's steeped deep in confus(c)ionism and from the time you're a minute old, being programmed to being the model minority is what you're exposed to...the majority will go along with this...but there are those who break free, and they're punk rock, whether they go around sporting tattoos and blue hair and piercings or not (like me)...
the film also had some great music, including some bad brains footage that was sweet! i wish there had been more of that...
after the film, the director, who was there, answered questions from the audience...i found james to be very authentic and down to earth...his answers were honest and not canned or condescending...he was just really genuine...
afropunk is playing one more night, thursday august 14 @ the gene siskel film center on state street (like 164 north or something)...it's $8 and TOTALLY worth it...i'm really hoping they show it more widely in the future...everyone who's punk or indie or feels isolated or alienated or different or confused or misunderstood should see this...and those who feel totally mainstream should see this too...
Tuesday, August 12, 2003 at 7:01AM 
i got an email yesterday from southern records (i'm on their mailing list) that shocked me...it was about matt davis, one of the 4 main characters in james spooner's documentary afropunk that i was talking about yesterday...matt was the lead singer for ten grand, a band out of iowa city...he passed away on sunday at the age of 26 of a seizure...i could not believe it...i went on ten grand's website and on it was a messageboard with dozens and dozens of messages posted in the past couple of days by people who had been impacted by matt's life...many had experienced only brief encounters with this young man, but they were affected deeply by his warmth and friendliness during those short encounters...it's so strange to me to find out that he died on the day that i saw the film in which he was featured...26 is so young...i mean, i thought my dad was too young to die, and he was 64...26...teddy's 26...
