32 posts tagged “abq”

I've been in Cleveland Ohio since Sunday of last week.  I am here for training for my new job as an Assistant Editor with PR Newswire.  My job will keep me in the Albuquerque office of PR Newswire.  I am very excited about this new opportunity.  I will NOT be blogging much about the specifics of my new job in interest of disclosure and out of respect to my new company.  However I will continue to blog about new media, technology, and communications here at Mind of Estevanico.  All of these conceptual areas relate to my new job and I am looking forward to seeing how my new job will expand my knowledge base and human connections.

 

I am deeply concerned about access to high speed Internet.  The limited choices among Internet service providers and the rates that most telecoms demand for high speed broadband are pretty much a joke for the average citizen of the United States. What is even more concern to me is how little attention the average American pays to issues regarding the Internet, new media, and technology which are in a revolutionary framework at present.

I have not had a chance to deeply delve into the issue and status of  access to broadband services here in Albuquerque (I am aware of Comcast, Qwest, numerous WiFi "hot" spots in ABQ, and talk of a universal "free" access pilot project in ABQ) but I need to start putting my ear to the ground and keeping my eyes open a little more on the subject.  I have blogged here before about my complete fascination with Brian Russell and Ruby Sinreich in Chapel Hill, NC.  they provide a very concrete model of the online presence and type of civic engagement that I would evenutally like to get to for myself here in ABQ.

See Brian's recent post at Yesh.com regarding the development of WiFi "hot" spots in Chapel Hill. Kudos to Brian and Chapel Hill for progress.

Here are a couple of good resources related to broadband access that I really need to start paying more attention to:

Speed Matters - http://www.speedmatters.org/

MuniWireless - http://www.muniwireless.com/

I will not say much more about the Bush administration on this blog because it looks like fate and time are speaking loudly enough.  Please do read this post from barbwire on the Daily Kos about Bush's recent visit to ABQ.

God knows I love New Mexico and my new "hometown" (yes I can call it that now after living here for a solid year) of Albuquerque.  One of the things I love about living here is the burgeoning film industry that is just overflowing around the state and ABQ in particular.  I had a conversation the other night with a casual acquaintance named Kate who starred as Lady Macbeth in a recent stage production of "Macbeth" at The Vortex in ABQ.  Kate is very excited to have landed a small role in a film that is currently being shot here called "Swing Vote" which is a film financed by Kevin Costner.  Kate told me that she has a scene with two of the film's stars Dennis Hopper and Nathan Lane.  I was so excited for Kate and enthralled by her opportunity for she was truly brilliant in "Macbeth".

This morning I was reading the "New Mexico Business Weekly" online and came across this intriguing announcement.

Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes shooting in my "hometown".  Awesome! I'm trying to meet Eva!

 

A few days ago I was creating a new playlist on iTunes for my iPod Nano which I've been listening to a great deal these days as I sit at Java Joe's in downtown ABQ or Gecko's up in Nob Hill.  One of the tracks that I included on that playlist is called "Consanguinity" taken from a work called "Streams of Consciousness" which is comprised of duets performed by the South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and the legendary jazz drummer Max Roach, originally recorded in 1977. 

I have long wondered how Max Roach had been doing over the years.  Max has long been one of the touchstones of my jazz education.  I guess it first began the first time I heard "Money Jungle" which I consider one of the greatest jazz trio works ever produced.  That work features Roach on drums along with Duke Ellington on piano and Charles Mingus on bass.  However the work by Max Roach that I heard early on in my jazz listening and still resonates oh so profoundly with me to this day is "We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite". I first became aware of this work while working at Papa Jazz, a great record store in my hometown of Columbia, South Carolina.  I worked there prior to moving to Ann Arbor in the early 1990s.  My boss at Papa Jazz, Tim Smith turned me on to "We Insist". The album is deeply inspired by the civil rights movement. My greatest memory of listening to this work was during the time I spent in the Peace Corps in Africa.  I had "We Insist" tracks recorded to a cassette and I recall playing it for several neighbors in my village of Kambo in Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo) on my battery operated short wave radio/cassette player  just to see how they would react to this "jazz" from America. I played the tune "All Africa" ... the immediate response from village neighbors was "this sounds like music from our churches".  I smiled, nodded and knew that Max Roach was right on the money.

I knew this day was coming.  I opened the door to my home this morning to retrieve the daily New York Times and as I unfolded the paper I saw Max's picture and didnt' have to read any further.  I knew immediately what the news would be.  R I P  ... Max Roach you were/are my MAIN man!

Readers of this blog surely know of my love for public radio.  I have been blessed to live in cities where the public radio is good.  Ann Arbor, MI featured WEMU from neighboring Ypsilanti, MI.  Boston of course featured NPR flagships WGBH and WBUR and here in ABQ I am fond of KUNM and KANW.  This morning while lucid sleeping/dreaming I was listening to KANW and a great program called "Justice Talking" which is according to NPR is an "award-winning radio that engages listeners in timely, refreshingly honest debates on the current legal battles that capture our nation's attention" ... I love this show.  Today's episode was EXTREMELY provocative it was titled "The Cuban Embargo - Should U.S. Policy Change?"  The show covers several topics that are very poignant in light of the future of Cuba given the current health situation of Fidel Castro. Two that struck me as very interesting were host Margot Adler talking with NPR correspondent Tom Gjelten about the Bacardi family (yes the Bacardi of rum fame) and its long and complex history with Cuba and the story of Lillian Holloway  from Philadelphia who is a fifth-year medical student at Doctor Salvador Allende hospital in Havana, Cuba. In September 2000, Fidel Castro announced the implementation of full scholarships for American students of little means to go to medical school in Cuba.  Very interesting.  If you are interested at all in Cuba then you must visit the website and listen to this show.  I was transfixed.  I have long had an interest in Cuba and hope to visit there in the very near future.

I've become a bike commuter which has worked out pretty well living in downtown Albuquerque.  I use my bike, ride the bus, and depend on friends for rides to get around this town.  After living in Boston for six years I became very accustomed to the "T" which for all of its drawbacks and faults is a very efficient and fairly extensive means of transportation to get in and around the Boston metro area.  When I moved to ABQ I had a car which I no longer own.  I've been meaning to do a post on public transportation in Albuquerque but haven't done my homework enough to make any definitive statements.  On the other hand I saw the above quoted titled in my Google alerts for "Albuquerque" this monring and I drilled down to find  this  and found it humorous as well as obnoxious but somewhat true.  Credit goes  to the same source,"The Luigiian" for the above cartoon.

One of the constant complaints of downtown urban dwellers of ABQ like myself has been the lack of a descent grocery store in promixity to downtown.  Today on the Duke City Fix (I love you guys!) I read this story about the coming of a Pro's Ranch Market to the Old Town area of Albuquerque.  I've checked the store's website and talked to a few other people about it and it sounds great.  We welcome you Pro's Ranch Market to ABQ and can't wait to sample your wares.

Alright we are approaching being in ABQ for a complete year.  I love this place.  Nice to see this in the New York Times ...

 

2007 has been a very strange year for me.  I have undergone an almost complete and radical transformation of who I am.  The biggest reason for this transformation has been my relocation to Albuquerque.  My six previous years in Boston can be described in one word ... depression.  Albuquerque has been the biggest ANTI-depressant I could have ever asked for.  The sun shines here almost daily.  The cost of living here is very affordable.  The city of Albuquerque offers quite a few cultural and intellectual amenities to satisfy my wide range of interests.  Above all, the people of this town that I meet are some of the most interesting, open, and geniunely friendly people I have ever met anywhere and I have traveled wide and far.  I would like to say a personal thank you to all the neighbors and friends I have met here in ABQ.  Thanks for helping me out when I needed you.  It is my continued prayer to find myself in a position to be of great service to others.  I have been truly blessed to find myself in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

At present I am engaged in the study of the Spanish language/Latin American studies and I have begun delving deeply into issues regarding  the digital convergence of broadcasting, satellite, cable, wireless, telecommunications and technology most specifically related to education. I have got my eye on a couple career plans for the future.  Wish me luck.

 

note to self:  This is a good website related to new media - http://www.telmetech.com/