Thursday, May 31, 2007

So I Met The Stash Dauber

As my man The Stash Dauber has already chronicled (BTW, don't you EVER sleep man!) I had the honor and good fortune to tip a few with the man live and in person at the Wreck last night. We had quite a bit to talk about, but most of it revolved around the topic: what is the nature of "a scene."

I really kind of hate the word "scene" anyway because it sounds kind of pretentious. And I guess in a way it is supposed to be pretentious and exclusionary. But the word I like better is Stash's word: community. And when you talk about community, it becomes easier to talk not just about the people -- the scenesters if you will -- you can talk about the place and the places. And that's my favorite topic -- what gives Fort Worth its sense of place.

When all of the Apple Stores and all the high-end condos are finished, will Fort Worth lose something? As Stash pointed out last night, the artistic, creative types are harder to stamp out than cockroaches. They find a way to survive. And in Fort Worth, unlike Deep Ellum, the "scene" isn't ghettoized. It's all over town.

But I think it is still a question worth asking. As we build all these new buildings and swim in sea of money from the Barnett Shale, are we losing some of that old Cowtown character?

Also, Stash and I talked about my new pet project: a zine mining all of the old 80s punk rock tales from the D and the FW -- the Axis, the Hop, the Twilite Room. I've already told Stash that he's drafted. Mike, Russ, Sean and Joel -- you guys are next. And anyone else who wants to hop on board -- drop me a line on the gmail at the (dot) caravan[dot] of [dot) dreams.

By the way, Stash, thanks for the books!

6 comments:

stashdauber said...

oi -- 'preciate the invite to participate in yr 'zine project.

a caveat, though: if the subject matter is the '80s, i know nada; i was in the airforce from '82 to '92, so i was unaware of any of the local goings-on even when i was stationed at carswell.

you can imagine how bummed i was when i saw shirley clarke's "ornette: made in america" doco a decade or so ago and realized that ornette (and blood ulmer, and shannon jackson, and...) usedta play at the venue from which yr blog takes its name all the time in the '80s, and i was in town, and i never went! too busy "guarding freedom's frontier," was i...

Steve-O said...

I doesn't HAVE to be 80s. It can go back to the 70s for you, my man. I KNOW you have some good stories to tell from back in the day.

stashdauber said...

trouble is i can't 'member most of 'em!

Steve-O said...

That means you were really there, Stash. Or it means you're just old. ;)

Anonymous said...

I'm not ashamed to admit it, but you'll be shaking your fists at me for this: I spent more time in random Grand Prairie parks than in Deep Ellum in the 80s. Sorry.

Steve-O said...

Ho:

You do not get off that easy. You've GOT to have some kind of story. One does not become the postmodern David Niven hanging out in GP parks.