(no subject)
I didn't mention it last night, but now that I've slept on it, I'm grumbling a bit about the local "hippie" milieu that I was tolerating for a little while through events at the UMI Cafe down the street.
I got an email through a listserv a few weeks ago mentioning a group of 3-4 Venezuelan political hiphop groups that were looking for a show in Ottawa around now. Then I saw someone reply on the listserv "cool! let's put it on at Umi Cafe.." and I remember thinking "Huh? What a dumb idea, that place may be free but it's way too small."
Last night I was sitting around without much to do and I saw that the show was listed at Umi Cafe at 6:30 and it was already 7:30 so I thought, "Hey, I should go check out that show!"
Just as I was arriving I saw my friend Charline walking in the door and I said "Ah, you had the same idea eh?" the place was already pretty packed, but we managed to get seats sitting on either side of someone who goes there every week to read poetry.. (There are only about 6 tables in the place!)
So we were waiting forever and finally their Friday night "Open Mic" started.. so we were sitting through all this so-so poetry, an old bearded guy singing some 60s songs with a guitar, a girl playing some Yann Tierson-like piano piece, and so on.
I kept waiting and wasting money on dumb stuff like raffle tickets and soft drinks and "Pie for Africa" (??) and at that point it was 10:30 and the bands still hadn't started, when they announced the house band of Umi Cafe (this sort of reggae band) would be playing a set! So I was like, "screw this, I'm getting clastrophobic!" There were probably 30 people standing all around the tables.
So, I left.
To be fair, one of the Venezuelan guys was given a slot in the Open Mic to talk about his photography, which was posted around the cafe, while someone from Toronto translated. But, the prints were small and cheap (from a colour printer??unframed?) and they said they couldn't print more due to financial reasons. Wow, none of the Canadian organizers went out on a limb at all!!
So, what was the thing of putting on an event of 4 hip hop groups in a tiny cafe which can only seat 18 ppl or so!! And obviously not marketing it anywhere as a hip hop event since it was the same regular crowd of hippies and fellow travellers that is there every friday night. BUT I guess if it was put on at a club or a warehouse or somewhere that a crowd could actually come, someone would not only have to put down some money, but also run the risk of some scary brown ppl showing , plus have to have the bother of going outside your comfort zone of the little organic cafe!
I got an email through a listserv a few weeks ago mentioning a group of 3-4 Venezuelan political hiphop groups that were looking for a show in Ottawa around now. Then I saw someone reply on the listserv "cool! let's put it on at Umi Cafe.." and I remember thinking "Huh? What a dumb idea, that place may be free but it's way too small."
Last night I was sitting around without much to do and I saw that the show was listed at Umi Cafe at 6:30 and it was already 7:30 so I thought, "Hey, I should go check out that show!"
Just as I was arriving I saw my friend Charline walking in the door and I said "Ah, you had the same idea eh?" the place was already pretty packed, but we managed to get seats sitting on either side of someone who goes there every week to read poetry.. (There are only about 6 tables in the place!)
So we were waiting forever and finally their Friday night "Open Mic" started.. so we were sitting through all this so-so poetry, an old bearded guy singing some 60s songs with a guitar, a girl playing some Yann Tierson-like piano piece, and so on.
I kept waiting and wasting money on dumb stuff like raffle tickets and soft drinks and "Pie for Africa" (??) and at that point it was 10:30 and the bands still hadn't started, when they announced the house band of Umi Cafe (this sort of reggae band) would be playing a set! So I was like, "screw this, I'm getting clastrophobic!" There were probably 30 people standing all around the tables.
So, I left.
To be fair, one of the Venezuelan guys was given a slot in the Open Mic to talk about his photography, which was posted around the cafe, while someone from Toronto translated. But, the prints were small and cheap (from a colour printer??unframed?) and they said they couldn't print more due to financial reasons. Wow, none of the Canadian organizers went out on a limb at all!!
So, what was the thing of putting on an event of 4 hip hop groups in a tiny cafe which can only seat 18 ppl or so!! And obviously not marketing it anywhere as a hip hop event since it was the same regular crowd of hippies and fellow travellers that is there every friday night. BUT I guess if it was put on at a club or a warehouse or somewhere that a crowd could actually come, someone would not only have to put down some money, but also run the risk of some scary brown ppl showing , plus have to have the bother of going outside your comfort zone of the little organic cafe!