Here’s some good news from the UK disability arts newsletter, ETC. (To subscribe, silvie@disabilityarts.info) To my mind Ian Dury’s “Spasticus Autisticus” should be the disability community’s rockin’ anthem. If this movie is successful it should help bring the disabled Dury...

Crutch user comes through the door of the Registrar of Voters As relieved as I was by last week’s election (except for California’s continued homophobia) I was especially pleased to see recognition of our voting power in our local newspaper....

From what I can tell from this side of the pond, there was a huge hue and cry when it was announced in 2005 that a sculpture of a naked, pregnant, disabled woman would be on display in Trafalgar Square...

Last saturday, October 18, the People’s Republic of Berkeley, birthplace of the independent living movement, unveiled a massive, social realist statue honoring the town’s political activism. It’s depicts people engaged in some of the town’s different protests. For once a...

One of the pleasant surprises using my Tivo is the programs it records on its own using my favorites. Last night I noticed that I could watch Tavis Smiley‘s interview of the governor of New York from Monday, July 21,...

The day before the nation’s independence day (not ours on July 26) the US Mint unveiled a new bicentennial silver dollar celebrating the 200th anniversary of Louis Braille’s birth. The picture at Language Log shows a rather large, copper colored,...

It’s been months since I had been in a meeting discussing disability topics. (I’ve been spending most of my time helping get SoCo Depot up and running.) The meeting was at a conference sponsored by the California Department of Alcohol...

Best New Disabled Performer (who declines the disability label)Melody Gardot, www.melodygardot.com Best Newly Discovered Song with Disability Content by Disabled ArtistsRay Charles and Chet Atkins, “We Didn’t See a Thing” Best Rediscovered Disability Autobiography by an Amputee in MusicThe Barbarians,...

Best Soul RediscoveryBetty Davis, www.lightintheattic.net/releases/bettydavis/ Most Surprising Kick-Ass Performance & Roof Raising by an All Acoustic Trio EverDevil Makes 3, Mystic Theater, Petaluma, September 7, 2007 Still Rockin’ After All These Years, Garage Rock DivisionLittle Steven, www.littlestevensundergroundgarage.com/ Kevin Smith’s State...

Well, I spoke too soon about Music Within, the ADA movie. It was universally panned and when I saw a few more clips I realized it would be as boring as the critics said it would be. I don’t think...

Well, well, well. It has been awhile since we’ve had a big-budget movie about us with name, AB, actors. It’s Music Within, opening in limited release October 26, 2007. You can see the trailer athttp://www.musicwithinmovie.com/ The plot is about the...

A friend and colleague has his antenna out for disability-related songs since we talked about our music explorations. (He’s fascinated by the use of anthems — both contemporary and historical — and how they connect.) He pointed me to an...

El Cochecito (The Little Coach) is a new dark comedy with disability and freedom at its center. It’s being shown at the diTHIS! Film Series. The Series showcases films on disability that you probably won’t see anywhere else. The description...

Another one! Disabled artists are everywhere. Our local PBS station aired a documentary, “Man on Fire,” about Jose Clemente Orozco. He was a muralist and contemporary and rival to Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo’s husband. Towards the end of his life...

It’s something. I was checking out the Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 CD compiled by Lenny Kaye. The CD pulls together bands that are just pre-psychedelic and are often called garage bands. It’s was influential in...

According to a New York Times story (registration needed) Teruo Ishii’s 1969 “Horrors of Malformed Men” has been reissued. I’ve never heard of it, which is not surprising as I don’t see very many non-mainstream movies these days. Unlike when...

This morning in our local paper, the Press Democrat, a columnist said, talking about the invitees for an upcoming community supper, “The idea is that folks wealthy and poor, native-born and immigrant, able-bodied and disabled…will sit and visit… .” I...

For the second time this week I’ve seen reference to how someone’s disability helped to make a new product or song. This is the exact opposite of the super crip or the overcomer. It shows a reality that I know....

from a disability perspective.Archives Sunday, August 12, 2007 Old AttitudesThe word amputees and surfing in an LA Times headline on my newsreader caught my eye this morning. It was a nice, little feel-good piece on veterans with recent amputations going...

I’ve been fascinated by the wheelchair fashion of a number of our locals. Two necessary items they use to decorate their power chairs or scooters are American flags in different configurations and an orange signal flag. Interesting, yes, but not...