Ramon - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Interesting and complicated. Passionate and vocal. I don't always think I'm right, just usually. Although I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong. I strive for fairness in my relationships, as if fairness mattered. I will tell you exactly how I feel and why, especially when you don't want to know. My penchant for overanalyzation coupled with the fact that I wear my heart on my sleeve gets me in trouble sometimes. I'm not big on the easy way out. My friendships tend to be pretty intense, sometimes in a good way sometimes in a bad way.

My Interests

Discovery. Curiosity. Meaning. The next page. Understanding. Forgiving. Forgetting. Moments. THINGS. Challenging myself and other people. Hearing your stories. You know, the one about that time where you went... and there was bedlam. Bedlam is underrated.

I'd like to meet:

People willing to construct new realities out of popsicle sticks and hope. Dilapidated souls in need of new life. People willing to show and prove. Shit talkers and conversation starters. People interested in never sitting still for too long.

Music:

A few things I've been feeling lately:
War: Slipping into darkness
Yusef Lateef: Love Theme from Spartacus
The Beatles: While my guitar gently weeps
Clifford Brown: Summertime
Dave Brubeck: Take Five
Radiohead: Fog
Keane: The Hamburg Song
Nina Simone: Mr.Bojangles
Oneness of Juju: African Rhythms
Kerri Chandler: Hallelujah
Zero 7: This broken social scene
Marcus Intalex: Nebulus
Sam Cooke: A Change is Gonna Come
Fania All-Stars: Calle Luna, Calle Sol
Terry Callier: Dancing Girl
Stefan Goldman: Sleepy Hollow
Chateau Flight: Baroque
Jose Feliciano: California Dreamin'
Max Roach: Garvey's Ghost (Along with Wayne Shorter's Lester Left Town, probably my favorite jazz piece of the last 50 years.)

Movies:

112 Angry Men. Life is Beautiful. Shawshank Redemption. Usual Suspects. Evil Dead 2. Glen Garry Glen Ross. When Harry Met Sally. Big Fish. Lost in Translation. Sleepy Hollow. Groundhog Day. LoTR: Fellowship of the Ring. Madman (Marz).

Television:

Law and Order, although I haven't had the opportunity to watch it in what seems like months.

Is there a greater moment of television comedy history than in the Seinfeld episode "The Stakeout" Kramer suggests to Jerry's mother to play the word "Quone".
"When a patient is difficult, you quone him!"

So yeah I'm one of those pathetic, uhhh late 20's? haha, people who still feel the need to quote Seinfeld years after it has jumped the shark.

Books:

Reading is a passion. My interest lay mostly in non-fiction, more specifically liberal economics, African-American history, race and class issues, World War II, American political and cultural hegemony, and Jazz. I've just recently started to read some fiction, which I'm pretty excited about. I'm open to suggestions.

Heroes:

We're all heroes. On the inside. When we masturbate. I'm a hero right now.

My Blog

Don Imus, White Denial, and Racism in America

Once again, Tim Wise knocks it out the park. Tim Wise has a voice, as a white writer dealing with race and culture, that I have not confronted any place else. He understands and almost per...
Posted by Ramon on Sun, 22 Apr 2007 08:11:00 PST

From Saul Williams to Oprah

Another lengthy post from Counterpunch.org. A good conversation piece, although not particularly moving. The idea that HipHop is a reflection of the culture at large is not a new argument....
Posted by Ramon on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:20:00 PST

Red Walls

I read this today (10/19/06) in the NY Times and found it interesting."When people say they want red walls, do they really want red walls?" Mr. Ho asked rhetorically over coffee one afternoon recently...
Posted by Ramon on Thu, 19 Oct 2006 08:16:00 PST

I'm not here

That there That's not me I go Where I please I walk through walls I float down the Liffey I'm not here This isn't happening I'm not here I'm not here In a little while I'll be gone The mo...
Posted by Ramon on Tue, 22 Aug 2006 09:06:00 PST

For Ant

On this day, this anniversary, I'm allowed to be a sentimental fool. Just so you don't forget...Remember the mean season? Remember the war between Shaka and Jesse? Remember Godfather...
Posted by Ramon on Fri, 18 Aug 2006 05:29:00 PST

Article by Tim Wise from CounterPunch.Org

The Absurdity (and Consistency) of White Denial What Kind of Card is Race? By TIM WISE Recently, I was asked by someone in the audience of one of my speeches, wh...
Posted by Ramon on Wed, 03 May 2006 10:01:00 PST

Not sure

I'm not sure what it means to be where I am, but I've arrived.
Posted by Ramon on Sat, 28 Jan 2006 10:27:00 PST

Great Jazz Quotes

Came across two dope jazz quotes that I have to share:"People that I love have awakened in the middle of the night when a person they loved died thousands of miles away. If one dying person can ...
Posted by Ramon on Fri, 27 Jan 2006 09:05:00 PST

New Books

Slavery and the Making of America. Horton and Horton The Fifth Book of Peace: Maxine Hong Kingston. W.E.B. Du Bois: David Levering LewisAmerica's Child Care Porblem, The Way Out: Suzanne W...
Posted by Ramon on Mon, 26 Dec 2005 01:55:00 PST

Cornel West on Katrina

Cornel West Sunday September 11, 2005 The Observer It takes something as big as Hurricane Katrina and the misery we saw among the poor black people of New Orleans to get America to focus on race ...
Posted by Ramon on Wed, 14 Sep 2005 06:18:00 PST