Author: Warin

Can’t Forget New Jersey

Posted on by in Barclays Center, Brooklyn, Drazen Petrovic, New Jersey Nets, Rutgers, Vince Carter.

Two years ago today, in a packed Prudential Center in downtown Newark, the Nets said goodbye to New Jersey.

The New Jersey Nets played 35 years in the Garden State, in three different arenas, and to mostly sleepy crowds and little back page exposure. They had more losing seasons than winning ones and always seemed to fall off just as things were looking up. Being a Nets fan during the New Jersey years was often times anything but fruitful.

Drazen Petrovic
NBA.com

This was the franchise that went from winning the ABA championship with Dr. J as the league’s most marketable star, to entering the NBA a year later with no Dr. and playing at Rutgers’ athletic facility while their stadium was being built. There would be more bad news over the years: bad draft picks, washouts, trade demands, guys who didn’t care and the way too early death of Drazen Petrovic.

Despite all of this, in 1998, I won tickets to my first Nets game and been a fan ever since.

Sports wields incredible influence in American society. For me it was seeing a team representing the state I was living in and was generally fun to watch in spite of the losing. One memory in particular stands out. In 2001 I was in the barbershop and taking some good natured ribbing from my barber for being a Nets fan. Angrily, I told him the Nets would not only make the playoffs, but make the Finals and play the Lakers. He broke out in laughter and told me “that will never happen.”

One year later, it happened.

Seeing the Nets make the Finals in 2002 and 2003 are memories that I will remember for the rest of my life.

These days the Nets play on the corners of Fulton and Atlantic at the 18-month-old Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Perhaps years from now I’ll take my son to a Nets game and tell him about the wizardry of Jason Kidd, the box office appeal of Vince Carter, the euphoria of making the NBA Finals, the horrors of 12-70 and moving on from a previous identity. The stadium may be different, the uniforms may have changed, the fan base may still be relatively new, but in the end, I’ll tell my son, you can’t forget New Jersey when discussing the Nets.

Using Art to Put A Dent in Street Harassment

Posted on by in Brooklyn, drawing, street harassment, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh.

“Hey ma, just come over here right quick.”

“Hello sweetie you got a sec?”

“Dem clothes look real good on you. You got a man?”

These are just some of the things said to women on street corners across America every single day. Many women might continue walking and ignore the verbal slings, but artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh decided to take a different path.

The Brooklyn resident, who herself has admitted to being street harassed, speaks to various women about their experiences with street harassment, and with their approval, draws their portraits and puts their faces up in differing locations as a way to bring attention to the issue. I think Tatyana’s project emphasizes that these taunts are going after women who possess feelings and emotions just like everyone else. And through this project, they’re not only making their voices heard, but sending a message.

//player.vimeo.com/video/91678581
Stop Telling Women To Smile from Dean Peterson on Vimeo.

Nas – The World is Yours (1994)

Posted on by in hip-hop, Illmatic, music video, Nas, rapper, the world is yours.

“The World Is Yours” is a single off of rapper Nas’ ‘Illmatic’ album that was released on April 19th, 1994. Considered one of the finest hip-hop debut albums of its time, ‘Illmatic’ is still a gem 20 years later. Nas recently released a documentary about the making and story behind ‘Illmatic’ which premiered at the Tribecca Film Festival this week. Whose world is this?

Happy Jackie Robinson Day

Posted on by in 42, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie Robinson, Major League Baseball, Sports.

On this day 67 years ago, Jackie Robinson made his major league debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers and ushered in a watershed moment in American history. As the first black men to play in the big leagues, Jackie Robinson experienced insults and a racial animosity that no American athlete before — or since– has gone through. Today Major League Baseball commemorated the man who carried a burden in which we all rest upon.

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

Posted on by in Native American, stereotype.

I would have loved to been there to hear this conversation.

At a time when the debate over using offensive Native American caricatures is raging around teams like the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians, we don’t often hear from Native Americans themselves on these issues in a national context. Which brings me to the image above.

I saw this photo a few weeks back on Twitter and found it interesting for a number of reasons. For starters, hear is this white guy clearly with red coloring on his face and a shirt that says, ‘Fear the Chief.’ He is confronted by a Native American man who looks none to happy with the man’s caricature of his people. And lastly, this being 2014, there is a crowd of people in the background capturing this on their cell phones. Thoughts?

Sarah Jones Will Not Be Forgotten

Posted on by in Crew, fatality, Safety, Sarah Jones, The Oscars.

Every year the Oscars host their In Memoriam section which showcases a montage of all the people within the film industry who’ve passed within the last year. Though she wasn’t featured in that section, the fact that The Academy did not forget about Sarah Jones is a testament to the many people who made sure it was important that she was remembered.

Sarah Jones was a 27-year-old second camera assistant who was killed by an oncoming train while filming on the tracks for a movie entitled “Midnight Rider.” Several other crew members were injured but she was the only fatality. Questions were raised as to whether producers of the film had the necessary permits to even be filming on the tracks. Considering what happened, I highly doubt it.

Sarah Jones’ death brings up a complex issue of crew safety on set and wanting to prove yourself in the film industry. As a person starting out in the film industry, you are eager to prove yourself, even many times at the cost of your own safety, with the belief that your team would never put you in any immediate danger. Unfortunately for Sarah, her producers were more worried about shooting a scene (while ignoring the necessary rules and regulations in the process) than ensuring the safety of the crew. Now they have to explain to her family why their daughter is gone.

In my five years of working in the film industry on and off, I’ve seen and done some relatively dangerous stuff myself. Shooting on rooftops, arranging props on ladders, and even witnessing some of my fellow crew members climb a 200 foot hill that had no netting for a shot. However one particular experience stands out.

In the summer of 2011 I was working as a production assistant on the set for an independent film and we were filming a car chase scene in Brooklyn. In the particular scene, it involved one car pulling out of a space and the second car following in pursuit. Well, when the first car was pulling out on a two way street, it nearly got sideswiped by an oncoming vehicle in the opposite direction and missed it by mere inches. The producer involved immediately blew a gasket and walked off the set incensed at the lack of precautions taken. All of us crew members just sat back stunned.

So I say this to say, that unfortunately these things do happen, but rarely if ever do you here of any crew members dying as a result of such carelessness. Hopefully more crews will take more precautions in light of this tragedy and the memory of Sarah Jones will not soon be forgotten.

Spreading Awareness at Harvard

Posted on by in College, Harvard University, I Too Am Harvard, Oxford..

Earlier this month I came across a project at Harvard University called the “I, Too, Am Harvard,” campaign. Using a series of photos, each participant holds up a whiteboard with some message detailing a particular phrase or question they’ve been asked as a student of color at Harvard. The people involved make it known just how much ignorance they routinely deal with in school from their peers. This project really is bringing awareness to what many students at Harvard (and I’m sure at other predominately white institutions) have had to put up with on a consistent basis. The project has been so successful that students of color at Oxford University have made a similar montage of messages as well. Take a look below.

http://itooamharvard.tumblr.com/

http://itooamoxford.tumblr.com/