"Angels"

... we have heard on high....

I first met Scott Alger when he lived at the Hotel Maplewood,

a three-flat in Humboldt Park

where I rented the top floor (and roof. )

He had his own floor too.

(His brother owned the building- but that's another story.)  

(Humboldt Park urchins in front of the"Hotel Maplewood" (circa 1986)

I thought I was pretty good with kids but Scott was like the pied-friggin-piper. 

He took in whole families.  Black, white, Puerto Rican, didn't matter.  He practically adopted them.  He took care of them, fed them, housed them, befriended them, made them laugh, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera ....

...and he still does to this day.

Last week I paid Scott a visit at his beach house.  We hadn't seen each other for a couple of years and he gave me a cd of songs.  I popped it in the cd player for the ride home. 

"Song 4" on the disc hit the air and I sort of heard it.. and repeated it.  I played it again,

and again...

"Holy (expletive), I thought, this is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard."

The sights along the road with the horizontal December sun setting along  the streets of Joliet, Illinois provided a suitable backdrop.
A school bus in front of me, some geese, an empty lane, a few dozen traffic signals, the semi-bleak visuals, the solitude.... so simple and serene....recorded in high def...
... just the same as the first time I heard it myself ...
...became video and memory.

I called Scott to find out the name of the song and give him my complements.  He said that he wrote it about 24 years ago and that I am one of the few who has actually heard it!  He gave me free reign to distribute it for him and I didn't even steal the copyright...
so here it is...
after 24 years ...aging like vintage wine.

"Angels" is dedicated to those who died in Connecticut
but really was written for any child who you love and protect. 
Thanks Scott.

Joe Pumpkin

December 19, 2012

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SAN FIASCO

May 21, 1979 -the "White Night" San Francisco Riot-

Original Super 8 film by Joe Kotas

It started with a news announcement on the radio, the afternoon of May 21, 1979. I was in San Francisco, hanging out in "The Avenues" with my brother Karl and friend Gary Tarbox. It was a beautiful sunny day.
The implication that the man who killed Mayor Moscone and Harvey Milk got convicted merely of manslaughter was immediately apparent to my friend who lived there. He said, "There's gonna be a riot."
The San Francisco gay community began to organize. They marched down Castro St. to City Hall. The atmosphere grew tense. No government officials provided any consolation to the crowd. The murderer was in hiding.
SMASH!
The glass on the City Hall doors was the first to go. A small fire on the corner of Polk Street was set ablaze, then a police car in front of the building. The protestors were not pleased with the unjust verdict.
And it was a nice night for a riot.
As the evening wore on, the anger grew. A large dumpster was easy pickings for a molotov cocktail. The cops in full riot gear could only stand around and act like they were in control.
One by one the cars were torched. The participants and spectators alike felt they were witnessing a historic spectacle. As the violence grew, nobody knew, what was going to happen next.
After about a dozen vehicles were set on fire, the cops finally assembled into one long line, four deep, driving the crowd into the streets with billy clubs and shields.
Joe Kotas
Chicago
January 2012