About Katie H
I’m from the lush, milk and honey land of the Bay Area so arriving in Greenpoint on St. Patrick’s Day 2009, the first day of my new life in New York, was a bit underwhelming. But I soon found a special place in my heart for this Polish-centric, Superfund-level polluted, subway-isolated nook of Brooklyn. Now I can’t imagine living anywhere else. Cheers, Greenpoint!
One of the things I miss most about living in San Francisco are the beautiful, cheap Victorian houses that have rooms with large bay windows and boarded up fireplaces with ornate mantles that are perfect for displaying old pictures of your mom from the 70’s, some antlers, and your stash of pot. It really encourages you to stay inside most nights and listen to folky, relaxing music as the fog rolls in. Magic Magic Roses is the perfect soundtrack for such nights. Continue reading →
“Searching For Sugar Man” is the unlikely story of Rodriguez- or Sixto Rodriguez- or Jesus Rodriguez. Although a man by many names, he has few cultural references. In all instances, it’s the story of a late 1960’s musician who released two albums in America with little to no fanfare, quit professional music in 1973, and went back to full-time work on demolition jobs in his hometown of Detroit. Unbeknownst to him, he was enjoying a parallel universe career in South Africa as a musician in the ranks of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Jimmy Hendrix.
The story of South Africa goes that in some whim of fate, Rodriguez’s album Cold Fact was brought into the country, possibly by an American girl visiting her boyfriend, possibly not. Either way, its revolutionary, folky songs took hold in the Apartheid-shackled country and became the soundtrack of a young generation. It was bootlegged out to the masses and later went on to sell roughly a half a million records in South Africa alone. Continue reading →
