Where the Hits Keep ComingInadvertently, an email of mine asking for disability researchers investigating how popular music sheds light on disability politics, identity, history, multiculturalism, or sociology was posted on a listserv. I got a few potential leads and interesting responses. One was from someone at a Welsh independent living center who is an underground/metal/experimental […]
Occasionally, on my emails I’ve been using the footer, “Yeah that doctor told me, ‘Son you don’t need no pills, just a handful of nickels and a jukebox will cure your ills.’ Carl Perkins, disabled rockabilly pioneer” I thought people might like to know a bit more. On the website, Rockabilly Hall of Fame, I […]
Wheelchair Morality According to the New York Times review this morning there is a new movie, “Sympathy for Delicious.” It’s the directorial debut for Mark Ruffalo. It tells the story of a wheelchair user who only wants to be a rock star DJ but his ability to miraculously heal everyone but himself keeps getting in […]
Last October I gave a talk on how disability culture and identity impacted Henri Toulouse-Lautrec at the de Young Museum. It was for the Disability Open House. We chose Toulouse-Lautrec because the museum was exhibiting “Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Beyond: Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay.” There were three pieces by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec in […]
Penngrove California: In the latest news from the Penngrove Disabled Action Brigade, the advocacy group has once again published holiday greetings. It is a long-standing tradition, going back to when the organization was known as the Penngrove Handicapped Social Club. For now, the Brigade has shelved their universal healthcare/public option advocacy fight. Instead, their primary […]
In today’s entries to the Disability in the Humanities listserv, DS-HUM, there was a discussion of a new album cover of Nikki Minaj. I couldn’t resist opining:It looks like the Pink Friday album cover is a continuation of Nikki Minaj’s redefinition and playing with the images of women rappers. From a quick reading of Wikipedia […]
Whew. I think I might have been in the presence of a decent vehicle that can transport a power wheelchair. Other than light rail (the best and easiest) the MV-1 is purpose built to meet and exceed ADA standards. I’ve been following their story for the past couple of years, hoping they would succeed. They […]
Under the influence of our 14 year old, dance-crazed neighbor I’ve watched Glee from the beginning. (Under her influence I’ve also watched every episode of So You Think You Can Dance for the past three years.) On first watch of Glee I was impressed with how exaggerated and over the top the show was. It […]
After reading the review of a cutting-edge San Francisco restaurant I was wondering about the meaning of “ramp.” I went to the dictionary on my computer. (I’m using the latest Macintosh operating system which has the pretty decent New Oxford AmericanDictionary. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a listing for ramp the food, but there was for “a […]
Buff Bagwell was a US wrestler who used a wheelchair for prop. This was years ago. I found an action figure of him. Pushing a button on the back of the wheelchair caused the wrestler figure to leap out of his wheelchair—strange but kind of cool. Today, not being able to remember his name, I […]