Tag Archives: los angeles county

Here’s a Video of a Whole Bunch of Schoolkids Singing “Minor Threat”

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I’m sorry for (actually/no excuses) missing Sonic Sunday this past Sunday. There has been a lot to digest, and lot of information (and counters to misinformation) to spread, and the existential crisis of TWA (Thinking While American) had me a bit overwhelmed.

I’ll have a full-on series of “amplify melanated voices” links for this coming Sunday, and I will also have a special post on some updates for the Ben Irving Postcard Project this week.

In the meantime, here’s a video of a bunch of kids in the Wirtz Elementary School after- school program in Paramount, CA singing “Minor Threat.”

The caption by Rich Jacobs:

Wirtz Elementary School 5th graders go off with their version of MINOR THREAT Tim Kerr, Mike Watt, Mark Waters, Ray Barbee, Alexis Fleisig, Randy Randall, Hagop and a host of other musical champions musically backed up the 5th graders at Wirtz Elementary school in Paramount, California. Last year they did a Sly and the Family Stone song and the year before they did 2 Big Boys songs. They also do a ten minute FREEDOM improv jam where the kids play an instrument they bring to the experience. It is really rad. Here they sing the song: Minor Threat, originally written by the band of the same name. The power and vitality of the youth was palpable, inspiring and intoxicating. Eric Caruso is their teacher. He brought an idea to his principle to have an after-school art project since they did not have an art program. He gives them art assignments based on living artists work and at the end of each year, there is an awards ceremony. The artists give the students a prize. It is a really positive experience, as many of the students are underserved and have never been given the chance to do stuff like that.

Long Beach’s Great Wall of Mulch

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I know I don’t post on environmental science and physical geography nearly often enough (or…ever), so here is something fun for you all who may have stumbled upon my site.

from Mayor Foster’s site.

The city of my MA (and home for two wonderful years), Long Beach just completed the world’s first “Great Wall of Mulch.” At first, when I clicked on the link below, I was a bit confused. It seemed like Long Beach embarked on a massive publicity stunt. But, after reading on, I realized that it makes so much more sense than an eyesore concrete barrier, and is also sustainable, relatively inexpensive (only $150K) in addition to being just plain creative. It’ll be interesting to see where else around the world these alternative-material barrier walls start showing up.

For now, take a look at some other photos of Mayor Bob Foster’s dedication ceremony and pass this along to anyone wondering which CA cities are actually dedicated to sustainability.