Cafe Hon's Kitchen Nightmare

(Photo by Fern Shen, stolen from Baltimore Brew)

For anybody who has walked the Avenue in Hampden, a squirrelly little neighborhood in Baltimore with an abundance of character and boutique shops, Cafe Hon is a landmark easily remembered.  The giant flamingo outside, the kitsch oozing out the door, the recognizable "HON" logo all make it a fixture.  Owner Denise Whiting is as well known as any aspect of her restaurant, perhaps more so.  She trademarked "HON" last year, gaining the ire of most of the neighborhood and much of the surrounding areas.  After a series of public relations disasters, she invited Gordon Ramsay of Kitchen Nightmares fame to do a show at Cafe Hon, which taped last November.  It aired this past Friday, and you can watch it below on the YouTubes.  It is quite entertaining, and although I don't watch the show regularly I've been assured by people who do that it was unlike most other episodes due to HON's quirky set of circumstances.

Welcome to the CopyCat!

Baltimore natives Rob Brulinski and Alex Wein live in the CopyCat Building in the City.  This iconic, dilapidated remnant of the industrial years of Baltimore houses numerous artists and pranksters and over the last 15 years has become the center of the artistic community's nervous system.  Brulinski and Wein have decided to publish a book on the subject, and have started a Kickstarter campaign in order to cover the publishing cost.  A video was made and uploaded yesterday, along with the start of the campaign, to introduce the space visually.  There is also a website.  This brilliantly shot single-take of the building and a smattering of its occupants captures the frenetic comings-and-goings within this honeycomb of creativity.  I happened to have been a resident of the building myself for 5+ years and this brief tour evoked more memories from me than I knew I even had.  This building, despite its many caveats, has provided a valuable breeding ground for the arts and is the cornerstone of our community.  Visit the Kickstarter page and donate, and enjoy the video below.

Neon Indian - Fallout

My pal Eric recommended the "Space Stallions" video (see below), and while we're on stuff he likes we ought to take a moment and ogle Lilfuch's newest animated wondervid.  Adult Swim conjured this for Neon Indian's spacey, hazy Fallout and serves as a homage to the 80's and cartoon boobs.  Good stuff.

Space Stallions!!!!!

This animation was made by students for an animation class at the Animation Workshop in Denmark and is truly rad.  It just got uploaded at the end of January.  If there is any justice in this world it will be made into a full-length something.  Love it!

Noise Demonstration Baltimore Detention Center Monday 02/20th!

This country locks up more of its citizens than any other country in recorded history.  Yup.  More and more these people are locked up for non-violent drug offenses.  They are predominantly black males, and the rise in arrests does not reflect the drop in crime statistics across the country.  The Occupy Movement has organized a national day of Detention Center Occupations, and Baltimore is no exception.  There will be a noise demonstration at the Baltimore City Detention Center against the system that locks up our family and friends on Monday, February 20th at 8pm.  If you're interested meet at William F. Sugar Cain Athletic Field (E. Madison and Ensor) at 8pm.  I would be there if I could, but hopefully this event will be well attended and participants will bring the noise...
Useful links;
Occupy4Prisoners - Outlines the national movement.
The Justice Policy Institute did a phenomenal study of Baltimore's detention center in the Summer of 2010.  A highly recommended read to get the low-down on the numbers behind the bars.
Occupy Baltimore - While the event isn't on their calendar, a lot of these people will likely be there.
The New Yorker published an interesting article examining the social dynamics behind why we imprison so many people in this country just last month.

Baltimore Police vs. Video

  Last September I witnessed a search of some hippie / crust punk types being executed by a cop in Station North that I thought looked like it was heavily motivated by profiling.  Instinctively I whipped out my phone and started recording it.  Once the cop saw this, he jogged up to me, took my phone, and told me to sit down on the curb next to his squad car.  Telling the crusties to thank me for getting them out of trouble, his attention was entirely focused on myself and my phone.  It was then that I learned how much cops hate being videotaped.  After being threatened with arrest, the officer convinced me to erase the video on my phone, which he oversaw, and let me go.  I don't entirely blame the cop for being unreasonable, because at the time he may have believed he was within his rights to act as he did.
  As it turns out, it is legal to videotape cops as long as they are acting within the public sphere.  The Baltimore Police Department just issued a statement days before a court judgment was issued Monday in the case of Christopher Sharp.  The statement from the BCPD, issued by chief legal counsel Mark Grimes, says officers may not "prevent or prohibit" someone from recording in public.  Sharp, who is being represented by the ACLU, was at the 2010 Preakness and witnessed an arrest he felt was being taken a bit too far.  After being bullied into giving the officers his phone with the video on it, they erased every video on the phone and returned it to him.  The Department, probably understanding that they are about to get pummeled in court, issued this reiteration of a long-standing but poorly understood or enforced order last week.  A couple of videos regarding the Sharp case are below, with an interview with the plaintiff and another view of the original encounter from yet another witness with a phone.
  There are a lot of reasons that the ubiquitous use of phones as video watch-dogs needs to be dealt with in a more fair and clear manner.  As they become more prevalent, the police can either harness the power of this new source of surveillance or suffer its wrath.  Sometimes the footage can be used as evidence to support an officer in court, and a caveat to the Department's official policy regarding the freedom to disseminate these videos calls for citizens to cooperate with the police when their video may be used as evidence (such as catching a license plate on video, etc.).  See below for a clip that ended up supporting claims by police that their job is absolutely crazy.
  However, there seems to be a lot of ready examples of how the police have been caught either in compromising situations or outright disregard for civility on video.  Just ask Ricky Thomas, a Baltimore man blamed for assault on a police officer, who was acquitted because the incident was caught on video and he was actually the victim of police brutality (Baltimore Sun article here).  The most famous of these examples is of officer Salvatore Rivieri, who eventually lost his job over these incidents, berating a couple of kids because they were skateboarding in the inner harbor.  Notice the almost 6 million views.
  So with what seems to be an awful lot of fuss over the issue lately, one would think the officers would be more cognizant of their actions regarding camera-phones. Amazingly, just one day after Friday's issuance of the order from the BCPD, another incident happened in Federal Hill.  Scott Cover, a native of Federal Hill, witnessed an arrest and began to record it with his phone.  A Lieutenant noticed him and threatened him with arrest and chased him away from the scene, pepper spray in hand.  Watch that video below.
  Hopefully the BCPD will further clarify to all the officers what the rules are, and enforce them more vigilantly.  As citizens, it is our duty to assist officers when we can help them serve and protect, to not hinder them in performing their duties, and to call them on their mistakes when we witness them.

Love For ALL!

Happy Valentine's Day!  Hope you get to spend it with someone you love.  The Maryland legislature is currently debating the Marriage Equality Bill, which would legalize gay marriage in Maryland.  This just seems like a no-brainer to me, and should have been passed a long time ago.  The vote will come sometime later this week.


While this may not have to do much with Valentine's Day, it is worth noting that currently before the Baltimore County council is Bill 3-12, an act that, if passed, would prohibit “discrimination against a person in certain matters on the basis of a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression; defining terms; and generally relating to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.”  This is a contentious issue to some, but I believe will eventually be accepted in the same manner as gay marriage is being accepted by more and more people today.  Rob Hatch and I assisted Equality Maryland (who is a major proponent of the bill and a statewide version that will be proposed soon) produce a public service announcement last September, and it went online in November.  Check out their website to see how you can help the cause of happiness and equality for all, and watch the video below.

Jenn Wasner - Real Talk

On the 11th, just a few days before Valentine's Day, a novel event called the "Slow Down" was held over at the Wind Up Space here in the Baltimore.  Featuring a ton of the best local talent there is, it was an evening of slow song covers with the purpose of bringing couples together to trip the light fantastic.  One of these performances I would consider a "must see"; Jenn Wasner (of Wye Oak and Flock of Dimes fame) covering R. Kelly's "Real Talk".  Her enthusiastic interpretation of the classic was enjoyed, along with the whole evening, by all.  Many thanks to Tom Kessler for shooting this - he has been picking up a lot of the taper duties lately - and you can catch his active YouTube channel here.

Robby Rackleff; Interview

Wham City's Robby Rackleff has been a Baltimore institution of weirdness for years now.  Sometimes he goes by his alter-ego Blue Leader, but increasingly he just lets the funny fly on his own.  The uncomfortable and awkward videos he has been uploading lately are usually parodies of the uncomfortable and awkward situations we all find ourselves in.  Here's a fresh look on the interview process, which any of us looking for employment all dread as it is.

M.I.A. - Bad Girls

Romain Gavras, the French director known for last year's video for M.I.A.'s Born Free, is as fearless and as aggressive a director as they come.  His unrelenting vision makes for visually arresting works that summon political archetypes and contrasting ideologies.  Just this past Tuesday M.I.A. released the video for Bad Girls, and it is absolutely breathtaking.  Shot with long, elegant jib shots over an exotic expanse of Arabian highway, with a contingent of armed youths driving fast cars recklessly, it is a visual feast.  Bad Girls is also rife with mixed messages, being less about women and more about crossing cultural borders in sometimes less than healthy ways.  The songs strengths have little to do with M.I.A.' lyricism, and more to do with the exceptional production behind it.  The video's strengths have as much to do with Gavras as with M.I.A.  Watch it below, as well as last year's Born Free, which is worth watching if you haven't seen it.

Happy Birthday Phillip Glass / OK Go & Chevy Blow My Mind

I haven't posted in a bit, and there's a few great things that have come out recently, so I'll double up.


OK Go, four guys from Chicago, now living in LA, are perhaps a band more known for inventive music videos than for their music.  Their latest video, which was made with heavy sponsorship with Chevrolet, is nothing short of amazing.  The amount of work and creativity involved in pulling it off is absolutely astounding.  I want to dislike it because of all the corporate branding, but I just can't because it is so damn good.  Check out their rendition of "Needing / Getting" played using a car as their instrument.


January 31st was Phillip Glass' 75th birthday.  Glass, everyone's favorite (or at least the most known) minimalist composer, just released his 9th Symphony.  In three movements, he describes it as "big and unrelenting".  While I was looking for video of it being performed in Carnegie Hall on the 31st, the same day the recording was released (I didn't find any video up as of yet), I did reacquaint myself with this amazing video from Sesame Street made in 1979.  The music was composed for Sesame Street, and if you show your baby this they will grow up to be a genius.

Vermin Supreme 2012!

A few weeks ago during the New Hampshire Presidential primaries a candidate for this nation's highest office came to my attention.  The man had the mixture of honesty, insight and tenacity that seemed great to me, and spoke on issues I cared deeply about.  Specifically, tooth care and the harnessing of zombies for the production of electrical power.  I meant to post the video of his appearance in the lesser-known candidates forum in NH, but never quite got around to it.  This morning Baltimore's City Paper just ran a front page story on Mr. Vermin Supreme, the candidate shaking things up with his visionary perspective and wry wit.  You can imagine my surprise when I found out he ran for mayor of Baltimore against Kurt Schmoke while he was a resident of our fair city.  The interview in CP is quite informative and a recommended read.  Within the weeks after the NH primary a slew of new videos have also gone up.  My favorite is "I Am a Meme", which is below.  This blog officially would like to endorse Mr. Vermin Supreme for President.