Author Archives: admin

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“My Name is Haji Haji”

Last week, the St. Louis Fimmakers Showcase played the documentary short “My Name is Haji Haji,” which I worked on with Brian Spath. I had another short on the same bill, but in picking up Tyler DePerro, the DP/editor of “The South Side of Luck: Frank’s First Alarm,” he and I showed up late enough to miss both works. At some point in time, that’ll become an amusing anecdote, brought on by just a classic run of bad luck and weird circumstance. So goes life. For now, I’ll just remain miffed.

If things had broken a bit different, young Haji would’ve been in St. Louis to see his mini-doc on the screen of the Tivoli, too, but he wound up visiting Saint Louis during the wrong month this summer, missing the the showing by a couple weeks. Luckily, there’s the web, and the short “My Name is Haji Haji” can live there for a good, long while.

At the time of the shooting of the video, the fall of 2009, Haji was already living in North City. But he was a South Sider for about four years prior to that, part of a large, growing population of Somalis that’ve taken root in our city. He’s a real corker, with a curious, hyper-talkative way of expressing himself and watching him in new situations immediately got me to thinking of ways to feature the kid in his own video series, which we envisioned as “I Am Haji Haji.” But as soon as Brian and I started the project, his family first moved North, to an immigrant-centric housing complex on the City/Wellston border, followed by a more dramatic move to Lewiston, Maine.

We initially envisioned a variety of fun scenarios for Haji to get into, from cooking goat (a Somali specialty) to visiting new places and working/visiting with the crew, like at the City Museum or at Zoo. Who knows what it could’ve turned into? This summer, I tried to get back to the concept, but things didn’t click again. A new camera proved trickier than I thought, Haji got his job back at the flea market, then poof! he was gone again.

He’s a wacky kid, though, with an interesting, curious way of looking at the world. I’m happy that Brian dusted off the old tape and put together this short, shot over four sessions with him, most of them after his move to Maine was announced. Enjoy.

(Cross-posted with thesouthsideofluck.com. And thanks to DJ Wilson should’ve been in the credits, but we’ll add them here.)

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STL Filmmakers Showcase: This Wednesday, Double Docs

Two things here.

A list of the films playing the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase “Documentary Shorts” program of Wednesday, August 17, at the Tivoli Theatre.

Then, on of the two shorts in which I took part, featuring the late Stephanie Skaggs.

5 p.m.
Shorts Program 7: Documentary Shorts
81 min.

Gray Matters
Randy Shinn, 18 min.
A look at senior programs and the impact they have on the lives of the elderly.

Maturity and Its Muse
Franklin Oros, 40 min.
Senior artists talk about their lives and art.

My Name Is Haji Haji
Thomas Crone & Brian Spath, 9 min.
Haji Haji is a Somali immigrant with personality and charisma.

South Side of Luck: Frank’s First Alarm
Thomas Crone & Tyler DePerro, 3 min.
A visit with the denizens of a South Side tavern.

The Yodel Within
Matthew Rice, 11 min.
A young man is inspired to yodel after he watches a YouTube video of “The World’s Greatest Yodeler.”

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Two Blogs, Other

What a lightly updated blog this has become! Here are the most-recent self-promotional items of note. With more to come.

Blog one: thesouthsideofluck.com

Intermittent updates about the best kind of life: South Side life. It looks like two more independent study students from Webster U. are coming on-board for fall, one adding audio features, the other some video. It’s fun to put personal interests out there, especially when you can find young, talented collaborators to help execute those ideas. This one’s going to push beyond the initial summer run, it appears.

Blog two: silvertrayonline.com

Here’s the idea: three songs posted daily, in the form of good, old-fashioned music videos. Sometimes, a rock documentary trailer will sneak in. Maybe there’ll be an opportunity for an interview, or two, as well. Possibilities abound. Today was day one of this experiment, (which holds the same non-money-making potential of all my best ideas!) Part of this is simply shilling the Silver Tray radio show (back on the air today, actually), but it’s also a way to force me to keep at least mildly current on new music. So we’ll have old cuts for young people, and recent cuts for the geriatrics, who still enjoy finding new stuff. That’s the idea, anyway. Got a request?

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Slacker, Redux

It’s a small world, right? Let’s assess:

One of my favorite films is Slacker.

The town which I’ve visited the most is Austin.

A person whom I’ve known just shy of forever is Spike Gillespie.

This is appropriate enough background to say this: Spike is going to be appearing in a new version of Slacker, directed scene-by-scene by 20 different filmmakers. And in describing her role on her blog, I get name-checked in the piece. Craziness.

Time for a re-watch, methinks.

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Silver Tray Hiatus, Plus…

Just a little summary post on some projects.

What’s live is: www.thesouthsideofluck.com. This is a summer project, only, in all likelihood. Working with some Webster U. students to create short documentaries on South Side culture, I thought I’d give those the framework of a blog. As these things go, I decided to add some additional content, too. So, there are 14 posts up now, with half of them dedicated to our visits to local institutions, the other half to South City odds/ends. The videos will be airing soon, as Tyler DePerro, is able to complete them. Ideally, by the end of summer, I’ll have a project with a certain look/feel, one that can be adapted into other web projects. Feel free to check in and give some feedback.

What’s likely dead is: www.aseasonatthetrack.wordpress.com. Each of the last two years, I’ve thought that it’d be fun to chronicle the Fairmount Park experience, through visits to the place, itself, along with the roadside curiosities along the way. Each year, too, I’ve thought that you can only have so many non-paying projects in circulation. This one seems destined for the chopping block. With my betting pedigree, it’s also cheaper to not spend too much time at the rail.

In terms of a temporary pause, this summer I’ll be taking a break from the KDHX show Silver Tray. My understanding is that Spencer Musselman, who has often shared a microphone with Art Dwyer of “Blues in the Night,” will be hosting during June and July. That means a funkier, more soulful presentation than the Tray. Also, I’m lead to believe that we’ll rotate back to the the current status sometime in August. The rationale for my brief departure is pretty straightforward: the Friday, mid-day slot is an excellent one. Prime-time, in some respects. But with my working on Thursday nights, I tend to: sleep in, host the show, have lunch with my associates Jenn and Steve, only to realize that it’s somehow 3:30 (or later). This summer, I hope to work on three writing projects, each with a reasonable time commitment involved, so freeing up a weekday is somewhat necessary. (The number’s four when I include The South Side blog.) I also wouldn’t mind finding time to make some cash and, realistically, I need to get my fitness in check. All of this says that something’s gotta go by the wayside, if only for a bit. I thank the station for the break and look forward to running an energized show, come late-summer. The last version of Silver Tray, for now, airs in one hour.

By the by, since you’ve made it this far, tell me: do you have any good O’Connell’s Pub stories? Know someone that worked there for a minute? Did you have a good first date at the Pub? Bought a cool piece of furniture from J. Parker Antiques? Remember the Gaslight venue of O’Connell’s? If so, let me know.

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So, Yeah, Friday Was a Great Day

Ah, Friday.

If I’d only enjoyed my first visit to Blues City Deli, with my friend and former radio co-host Amanda Doyle, that alone would’ve been a cool way to spend part of an afternoon. (That’s without the complicated-to-explain addition of some bargain t-shirt shopping at a clearance warehouse; next time.) And, earlier in the day, there was shared membership pitching on Silver Tray, with Valis (of KDHX’s day-breaking Trip Inside this House); that was pretty boss, as well. Then, to have a chance to go back into the studio, post-lunch, to enjoy three hours with Art Dwyer on “Blues in the Night,” well… that was simply one of the most enjoyable blocks of time I’ve ever had on the station. Just fantastic fun.

But the night’s activities turned a great day into something even more sublime, as The Painkillers played a wonderful set at Off Broadway, a venue that was suitably full for the occasion. There were so many rich, overlapping moments in the evening. Sean Garcia, who played music with me in our teeth-cutting, new wave days, before he went onto a successful run with Three Merry Widows, was on guitar and vocals. And he perfectly captured the feeling of late Painkillers guitarist/songwriter/vocalist Jeff Barbush, while melding into the trio of Jack Petracek, Carl Pandolfi and Mike Martin. Now, Martin and Garcia had their own nice run together in the band Tinhorn, so that bit of chemistry was expected; but together, the three, along with vocalist Tim McAvin, who joined the band for a trio of late tracks, was superb. There may’ve been a bit of nerves early, but those drifted away relatively quickly, as the group blended originals with some of the covers they were known for during the 1980s. If there’s a next time, here’s hoping that the group hones in even more deeply on their own catalog; the covers, though cool, are no more enjoyable than the originals.

As noted here before, the band’s CD is out now, in a new, remastered, expanded form. On Euclid Records’ house label, the 21-song disc is available at the shop, or via mail order.

Two things have circulated through my head since Friday night, now two days into the history bank.

1. In the liner notes, I used a word (in two forms) a total of three times in the first paragraph. I’m not sure how that happened, as I read and re-read that piece at least a dozen times before it was finally set in stone. But if the band can live with work they put out in their early-20s — material that they might feel self-conscious about to some degree — then I should be able to handle something as simple as using “portrayed/portrayal” three times in a forever-out-there set of liner notes. Right? Right? (Ugh.)

2. The whole getting into the ’80s state of mind has been freeing. Makes me wanna do something with that DIY energy I’ve just tapped. So there’ll be something coming live on May 1. Or not. Related to all this. Or not. Visit back on May 1.

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Gn’R, Baby

Earlier today, the sounds of classic Guns n’ Roses was pouring out of the O’Connell’s Pub kitchen. With a light turnout in the restaurant and bar, the music was wafting through the room at a nice level and it started a conversation about the 1991 Riverport riot. Turns out that one of the servers at O’Connell’s was there, too, and we had a nice conversation about what the mayhem looked like from different angles in the venue. (She was on the lawn, I was deep in the stage-left seats.)

Two thoughts emerged:

Music really does bring people together. True.

And 1991 wasn’t exactly yesterday. Yikes.

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Humor Me?: Flickr

I’m celebrating the upcoming arrival of my first check of the semester – due week six, no less! – by repurchasing my flickr pro account.

With a night in, I’ve organized all my sets and collections. How delightfully nerdy.

I’ve also undertaken some up new shabazz. To wit…

Did some solo UE at the abandoned Cahokia version of Parks College. And I’ve also started my long-backburner’ed latrines series. Classy! And there’s a red door series brewing. Tips?