The Pied Piper of Hützovina

The mate and I watched The Pied Piper of Hützovina several nights ago. The documentary was made by Pavla Fleischer as she followed Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hütz through Roma camps in Europe. He was born in 1972, in Boyarka, Ukraine to parents with Russian and Servo Roma ancestry. He and his family fled the country after Chernobyl, traveling from the Ukraine to Poland, Hungary, Austria and Italy, traveling through numerous Gypsy camps along the way. He arrived in Vermont in 1991, and soon after he moved to New York City where he started numerous punk bands. Gogol Bordello formed around 1999 and has been touring non-stop since. The band is made up of immigrants from anywhere you can think of-- Russia, Israel, Ethiopia, and Ecuador (to name a few).

Eugene also appeared in Wristcutters: A Love Story, playing himself alongside Patrick Fugit. He starred in Everything Is Illuminated with Elijah Wood, acting as Jonathan Safran Foer's translator. "You don't eat meat? Steak? Chickens? What about sausage?"

"What we're making isn't folk music, but savage intellectualism. We speak a language of a new world community that understands cultures can relate. So people who still speak of nationalism or racism or what separates us, they are inadequate for this time. Evolution goes on." -Eugene Hütz

What I'm Reading (Website Edition)

I thought I'd give you all a good idea of what websites I love and read on a (sometimes) daily basis. Check 'em out... they're all pretty fantastic. Here are my favorite recent articles from my favorite sites:

• Chicago Police Don't Give a Shit About Women. The sexism and plain hatred seen at Take Back the Night rallies around the country seems to be growing. Sad.
• Blogging Against Disablism Day: Addressing Ableist Language. Comments on "ableist language"-- what it is, what it means, and why you should stop.
• Scott Baio's Online Meltdown: A Complete Timeline. Yes, I still love this article. The things he and his wife said were downright appalling. And disturbing. And offensive. Poor Baios.
• In Defense of Lindsay Lohan. I honestly feel bad for Lindsay. She may have issues, but her father isn't making them any better (and neither is her mother). I pray she will eventually get the help she needs.
• Patton Oswalt Outraged At Joke-Stealing Comic. Watch both of the videos. Really. I can't believe this-- it's word-for-word theft. Amazing. (SIDE NOTE: I really dislike Huffington Post most of the time, but their Comedy section is usually worth my time).

"Confederate History Month"

"It needs to said, and it needs to be repeated--the first president to be murdered in this country's history was murdered by a white supremacist. We have to say this. It's not enough to think about what white racism costs black people, we have to think about what white racism costs white people."

-From The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates (the love of my life) writes on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln: Commemorating CHM: White Supremacy Killed Lincoln.