West Side Story

[substitute]

So, the city next door to me has a half-assed thing going on where they want their police department to enforce immigration law. This is a terrible idea. It means more work for the cops, more risk to them from freaked-out illegals, and near total loss of any leads they might otherwise get from people with bad immigration status and good information

Comments

[maps_or_guitars]

Closing the Job Center? Sounds like a pretty messy situation, with much stupid. There's a little of that goes on in NYC, at least in Brooklyn, but it never seems to be quite as charged. Now, Long Island, I understand things have been getting vicious, with the white population delighted to make use of illegal labor but squeamish about having said illegals living anywhere they can see or hear.

Apropos the NRSK, good on you! How are you liking the new album?

[substitute]

Closing the job center is almost entirely a function of people not wanting the "dirty mexicans" near pricy real estate. They like cheap lettuce and home repair, though.

I like it. On first listen it's kind of derivative - I hear a different band in each song - but it's derivative of sounds I like.

[maps_or_guitars]

Ya, it's a particularly vicious form of nimbyism.

With New Radiant Storm King, the derivative question is tricky, because they've been around so long that it's hard to tell sometimes who was first. F'rinstance, Robert Pollard has admitted that his inspiration for "I Am A Scientist" came from repeated listens to NRSK's "The Opposing Engineer (Sleeps Alone)." They later did a split 7", covering each other's tunes...

What derivations do you hear? I'm curious.

[substitute]

Nirvana/Foo Fighters, Mission of Burma, Pavement, Pixies, Joy Division. The opening of "Scuttled" *is* the opening of "Love Will Tear Us Apart", for example.

It's good stuff but I don't hear anything musically interesting, just well-made songs. That's rare enough to get a tip o' the hat!

[flipzagging]

So the people asking for more of a place in American society show up with a Mexican flag?

[maps_or_guitars]

And where did your people come from?

One doesn't hear much complaint anymore about people showing up with Irish flags... now. But a century ago an Irishman couldn't even get his name printed in the papers when he died.

[substitute]

Agreed. My confusion was more over the organization trying to get Salvadoran immigrants to wave Mexican flags, which is nearly as bad as trying to get a Catholic Irishman to wave the Union Jack.

[maps_or_guitars]

There's a similar dynamic here between Puerto Ricans and Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans and Dominicans; not sure what the Dominicans think of the Mexicans. But one does not mix them up. Giving Salvadorans Mexican Flags? Teh stupids.