I DIDN'T MENTION THIS but a month ago or so I got an email from a staff member over at Boise State University's Cultural Center [ware the music] who wanted to know if I minded if they used that little YouTube montage I made of some fotos (one I had taken at one of NYC's 2006 Mayday events) set to the masterful and moving Ben Harper's Oppression (33,000 views and counting, I'd never have guessed when I made it....).

Boise State U has an annual event called "Tunnel of Oppression," at which they screened it. (I know the title conjures up some either horrific or hilarious images as far as audience participation, but let's not go there.) Janna (think that was her name, hope so), who was on staff, told me that topics such as are addressed in the vid are "hard to bring up" for dialogue sometimes, in her area. From the looks of it, they are doing good work on continuing and engaging the dialogue, which does my heart good to see.

Well, of course I said yes when they asked me, and I even sent them a DVD of the master burn, which shows the video at a MUCH better resolution. This is the first email I've received after the event. I keep waiting for Ben Harper to write me and be pissed off with something like "Hey, I was chilling in Boise and I saw what you did! Keep your damn Xicano pride off of my ditty!" At which point I will laugh at him for using the word "ditty," and simultaneously be very sad. And then I'll record a cover version and use that instead.