Sunday, May 8, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
RTR's 2009 Photo Retrospective
It's been a couple of years since I have posted a photo retrospective. Below are 25 of my personal favorite photos that were posted on Flickr during 2009. I shot these pictures for myself, my blog, the Peace Education Center (PEC), and other local Lansing (MI) activist groups.
The Flag Presentation at My Father's Funeral
Bill Petry Leads Lansing Peace Vigil
Local Solidarity Group Support Peace in Gaza
The Glenn Beck Protest
at MSU's Kellogg Center
Scott Harris and Kathie Carlson at PEC's Alternative Holiday Sale
PEC's Volunteer Crew at Lansing's Old Town
BluesFest
Local Band Playing on the Bridge in Old Town
Near the BluesFest
Health Care Supporters at the Michigan Capitol
Weston's Henna Design
The Kilvingtons: Another Family for Peace
Out Now
East Lansing City Councilperson
Nathan Triplett Visits PEC's Booth
at the Great Lakes Folk Festival
Activist Kathie Kuhn Fronts the September 11th Lansing Peace Vigil
Peace
2009 Peace Education Center
Annual Membership Meeting Group Photo
Young Bob Dylan Lookalike at the Rothbury Festival
Radio Session at the Allied Media Conference
Sparty at the BluesFest
End of a Long Day
at the Alternative Holiday Sale
Chris, Tessa, and Deb
Scott Harris of Everybody Reads
at PEC's Alternative Holiday Sale
Lansing Peace Community:
Holiday Group Photo
Cajun Music at the Great Lakes Folk Festival
PEC Volunteers at the Lansing Westside Neighborhood Festival
Supporters of Efren Paredes, Jr.
IWW Panel Discussion at the NorthStar Center
PrideFest Speakers at the Capitol Building
-- Rico Thomas Rico
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Festivus for the Rest of Us: A Holiday Tale Retold
[Note: Below is an edited version of the story of my first Festivus in 2007. - RTR]
I spoke with Joanie early yesterday and she graciously wished me and Ruth a happy winter solstice. Her kind sentiments were greatly appreciated and I sincerely wished her the same. You see, Joanie is one of my friends who celebrates the winter solstice, while other friends spent their Decembers celebrating Christmas or Kwanzaa or Hanukkah.
Christmas is still at the forefront in our home. In fact, I was scheduled to have a Christmas holiday dinner with Ruth, her sister, and my brother-in-law. It was one of those once-a-year dinners with the in-laws at the Outback restaurant. Also, the next day, December 23rd, we were scheduled for a family gathering with the Rico clan, including my siblings from out-of-state arriving for the Christmas holiday. No matter how you slice it, these family holiday gatherings are always full of surprises.
Later in the day, in an odd turn of events, I learned from Ruth that this evening being December 22nd made it “Festivus Eve.” She casually explained that “Festivus for the Rest of Us” was the newest, somewhat-backhanded holiday celebration in direct opposition to the gross over-commercialization of Christmas by the dominant Christian society. (Which begs the question, What Would Jesus Buy?)
This was the first I ever heard of Festivus.
To my astonishment, Ruth told me of Festivus, a holiday in which the day – December 23rd – is celebrated by the “airing of grievances,” or sharing with your family and friends all the ways they have let you down or disappointed you during the year. A bare, unadorned aluminum pole is the symbol of Festivus. Ruth had me at “grievances.” I was sold. Sign me up for the Festivus holiday.
In a real kicker, Ruth explained Festivus was hatched during an episode of “Seinfeld” – season 9, Episode 10, to be exact. The holiday was concocted and described as a joke thread throughout the episode. This, in my view, should solidify it as a December holiday.
Festivus Eve Dinner
By the time I learned about Festivus, it was too late to rent and watch the Seinfeld episode. Instead, we scrambled to get spiffed up and head to the Outback.
Even though I was barely into the Festivus spirit, dinner ended up being an airing of grievances. My brother-in-law was highly agitated by the fact that he could not watch MSU sports on TV because of the dispute between the Big Ten Channel and the cable TV companies. Damn it, he was no longer going to send MSU anymore donations as result. He fully blamed MSU for the “blackout” situation.
Now, I spend most of my waking hours during the year worrying about war, peace, a lying president, torture, secret prisons, destroyed CIA tapes, etc. Still, I’m like Marky Mark from Downtown, I have opinions on almost everything, especially sports issues. In this case, I was not backing the multi-billion dollar cable TV industry over the multi-million dollar college sports industry. I spoke up and absolved MSU of responsibility for the TV dispute. My brother-in-law flashed an angry Christmas temper with a rock-sold, “You’re full of sh*t!”
I explained my rationale further. He doubled his emphasis in the crowded restaurant, “YOUR’RE FULL OF SH*T!!” At that point, I reciprocated with my own Festivus greetings and barked back “You’re full of sh*t!” I looked at Ruth and she looked that me. A new holiday had been christened.
After the Festivus greetings were diffused by a quick change of subject, I did not say much else during the dinner. My brother-in-law is an 80-something WWII Navy vet, so I resisted telling him all about my work with the anti-war movement. It potentially could have turned into the Tiger Stadium centerfield bleachers all over again – one side yelling “Eat Sh*t!” and the other side yelling “F*ck You!” back-and-forth in a perverse version of the old Miller Lite commercial. Instead, I kept my mouth shut.
On the way home, Ruth and I ended up renting the Seinfeld Season 9, Episode 10. It was best $1 we spent all Christmas season.
My First Festivus Day
Before heading to Fowerville to meet the Rico clan on Sunday, I ran into Everybody Reads Bookstore to grab the Sunday NY Times. Deb behind the counter informed me there was no Sunday Times waiting for me; the distributor shorted me again.
Oh, well.
What could I do? I wished her a Happy Festivus Day -- and she cracked up! Deb and Chris had rented Seinfeld, Season 9, Episode 10, the night before. What a hoot!
Ruth and I arrived at my niece’s home in Fowlerville, only to discover a full power outage in the neighborhood. My niece had a house full of guests and the expectation of Christmas entertaining. In a stellar example improvisation, food was being cooked and warmed in the garage on the summer gas grill. We ended having a good chuckle about the year's happenings, the food turned out great, and nobody told me I was “full of sh*t.” Still, I asked everyone at the table, “Did you know today is Festivus Day?” My nephew from Texas looked over and said, “Where’s your aluminum pole?”
I’m on to something here.
-- Rico Thomas Rico
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Greetings to the Department of Peace Supporters
I met some WONDERFUL people from the American Midwest at the Department of Peace regional conference in Livonia, Michigan. The 3-day conference was a well-organized, well-paced and always interesting. I shot lots of video and tons of photos. I will roll photos out in the next day or two and video as soon as I get to the Cat Lair to start editing. I am now on my way to Ferndale, Michigan for the anti-nuke concert featuring Bad Heart Bull of Chicago. BHB will stop in Lansing tomorrow and Grand Rapids on Tuesday.
I will direct my new Dept of Peace friends to visit my new blog here, my youtube channel here, RTR on Tumblr here, and my twitter feed here. You can also find me on Facebook here. Also, you should visit my cats -- who have been out-micro blogging me lately -- on Tumblr here. My live stream channel is here, where I am currently looping the health care panel discussion from the 2010 LaborNotes conference.
Finally, I hope to see you all at the U.S. Social Forum. If you decide to attend, please let me know and we can connect again.
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