Culture Clash

CULTURE CLASH (Be a Better Human)

CULTURE

CLASH a venue for Galveston’s free thinkers

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table of contents Issue 1 (Nov/Dec 2017)

FEATURES 16 Dia De Los Muertos

CULTURE

CL AS H maga z ine

PUBLISHER Janese Maricelli-Thomasson

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LAYOUT & DESIGN JanMar Agency

20 Clashed your Culture Lately?

CONTRIBUTORS

26 The Fun Side of The Wall

Jessica Antonelli Olivia Bailey Barry Robin Collins Nellie Cornett Robert Kuhn Dan Marks Janese Maricelli Cheryl Prats Leslie Whaylen

DEPARTMENTS Be A Better Human 8 Plant Based 10 Eco Echo

Express Yourself MAKE A CONNECTION

13 What the F*ck

For ad rates or personalized marketing strategies, call us at 409.502.8221

14 Love Thoughts

#TBMG (Throw Back My Galveston)

CHECK US OUT

23 Gritty Galveston

facebook.com\CultureClashMag CultureClashGalveston.com cultureclashgalveston@gmail.com

Coolture 29 Pulse Events Calendar 28 Rants From the Road

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*The magazine is NOT printed on recycled paper or with soy-based inks YET! But we are working on it. Help us get there, advertise or sponsor us. Email for more details CultureClashGalveston@gmail.com

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COMMITTED TO STUDENT SUCCESS!

Galveston College offers associate degrees and certificates in academic, workforce and industrial training, and continuing education.

2018 SPRING REGISTRATION

EARLY REGISTRATION BEGINS NOVEMBER 13 LATE REGISTRATION JANUARY 11-12 CLASSES BEGIN JANUARY 16, 2018 For more information about classes and registration call 409-944-1220.

4015 Ave. Q, Galveston, TX 77550

the time is

now

Wake up Galveston!

The time is now and you better be ready. No longer will the rest of us sit still and shutup. We are a force and we have a voice.

Welcome to Culture Clash where the other 60% of the population are represented!

Within these pages you can find topics of interest ranging from environmental consciences to cultural awakenings. We have even sprinkled in art, music and good vibes too. Our contributors have expressed a passion for all that they do and you have been invited to the freak show.

I offer you the opportunity to try something new, something that maybe you didn’t even know you wanted. If there was ever a time to pay attention, this is it. Our world is changing and so is our quaint beach town. So read it, visit the good people that helped make it available, and send us your feedback. The more real the better! Then pass it along to a friend or better yet, someone who needs to see it!

Write us an email or shoot us a comment any time online: facebook.com/CultureClashMag CultureClashGalveston.com CultureClashGalveston@gmail.com Janese Maricelli-Thomasson Publisher & Bad Ass

www.gc.edu | 409-944-GCGC 4

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be a better human

Wake the Fuck Up! Everything you do has an impact on your health, family, friends, community, and world.

Think local, act globalyou know the drill.

Start Now!

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CULTURE CLASH (Be a Better Human)

PLANT BASED

By Olivia Bailey

VEGi

RESTAURANTS Old Moon Deli and Pies Vegan Sandwiches and Pies 408 23rd Street Rear, Galveston, TX 77550

Mosquito Café Yummy Salads 628 14th St, Galveston, TX 77550

EATcetera Vegan Soups and Sandwiches 408 25th St, Galveston, TX 77550

Olympia Grill Bomb Ass Falafels 4908 Seawall Blvd, Galveston, TX 77551

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What is a plant based diet you ask?

A plant based diet is centered on whole, unrefined, or minimally refined plants. It is a diet based on fruits, vegetable, whole grains and legumes. It excludes or minimizes meat (yes, fish is meat), dairy products, and eggs as well as highly refined foods like bleached flour, refined sugar and oil BUT, it is so much more than just food.

It is about having courage to step out of what mainstream culture, a culture that keeps us comfortably numb, says and does.

It is about reclaiming our health and redefining the very meaning and nature of eating and food.

It is about challenging everything that has been ingrained in us since we were little and being open to new ideas.

It’s about questioning “authority” and resisting the pressure to conform to the status quo.

It is about standing strong!

A plant based diet is about saying YES to health, life, and truth.

There are so many benefits to eating a plant based diet and here are a few that I find most important.

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Better sleep, more energy, and better mood. When fueling yourself with the most nutrient dense foods on the planet, (the foods your body is designed to eat) it begins to thrive.

Maintain a healthy weight. Your ideal weight, no calorie restricting on this lifestyle.

Plant foods are nutrient dense, and low in calories so you get to eat more.

Stock imagery provided by ShutterStock.com

OUR FAVORITE

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CULTURE CLASH (Be a Better Human)

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RECIPE

Less harm, more compassion.

The life of the farmed animal is not a happy one. This is not your ‘happy cow eating grass in a big open field’ that mass marketing and big business want you believe. These animals are living in confined spaces, in each other’s feces, kicked-around like they are simply a product, and they are not. These animals are sentient beings.

Better for the environment.

Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, water consumption, and pollution, and is responsible for more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry and virtually every other environmental ill.

We all have a choice. A choice for better health, a choice to be more compassionate, and a choice to take care of this beautiful planet we all live on, and that choice begins with what you choose to put on your fork.

My family and I have been plant based for over 3 years now and here is one of our favorite recipes. It takes about as much time as needed for your pasta to boil -15 minutes or less.

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Easy Plant Strong Mac-N-Cheese INGREDIENTS: 12 oz pasta of choice (I use a Gluten Free brown rice, quinoa pasta) 1 15 oz can Cannellini Beans drained and rinsed 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or juice of 1 lemon) ½ cup Nutritional Yeast 2 cups nut milk of choice ¼ tsp turmeric ½ tsp garlic ½ tsp salt (add more once served to taste) ½ tsp pepper (add more once served to taste) Cook pasta according to package, or better yet, make it from scratch!

While pasta cooks, add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Drain cooked pasta and pour sauce over noodles and stir.

We serve-up steamed kale with sea salt along with our Mac. GIVE IT A GO! Learn more about the Plant Based movement on my blog PlantStrongMom.com, on Instagram @plantstrongmom_ or Facebook @plantstrongmom

Photo by Olivia Bailey

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Prevent and/or reverse lifestyle diseases. The top leading causes of death in America are all lifestyle diseases and it has been proven that a plant based diet can prevent or reverse them in most cases.

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CULTURE CLASH (Be a Better Human)

ECO FRIENDLY CLOTHIGNG Lines Alternative Apparel This simple, comfortable brand uses non-toxic, low-impact dyes on all eco-fabrics and over 80% of garments are made with sustainable materials and processes.

AlternativeApparel.com

EcoVibe This Portland shop is powered by 100% renewable energy and makes their clothes out of bamboo, modal, tencel, cork, and recycled polyester.

Plus, they have a section for curvy women.

EcoVibeApparel.com

Thomascelli Designs

By Pat McGrew

We can be so proud of our ecologically-correct, fit and healthy selves … we recycle our plastic bottles, use natural laundry detergent, bring our bags to the supermarket, pop our herbs and vits, do yoga. We are eco smart, right? Maybe.

But maybe we are being strongly influenced NOT to be as eco smart as we should be … by the fashion industry.

So what is fashion? To me, it’s the compulsion to be perceived as attractive and successful. We would never wear a 1950’s hat or be caught dead in jeans with cuffs … unless Vogue or Glamour told us it is “now” to do so. In that case, we simply must wear a 1950’s hat and jeans with cuffs, or be looked down upon! Fashion rules what we wear … from fashionista to hipster to goth, you gotta look like you gotta look. And we love it! At least I do.

But what does this have to do with being ecological and healthy? A LOT!! We often don’t give much thought to the fabric and leather industries, the boat and truck shipping involved, and … horror of horrors, the dyes. We hear about sweatshops in Asia. But when we see that oh-so-adorable top at the mall, does it even enter our mind if it was made under terrible sweatshop work conditions? Were the fabric dyes dumped into the drinking water for the children of that nation to consume without choice? Is the fabric truly safe to wear against your otherwise healthy skin? Was that cotton grown permeated with pesticides? How will you eventually dispose of some lovely synthetic fabric?

Oh my, the list goes on and on. And we are here to help.

Here, in this section of Culture Clash, we will discuss the many impacts of what we wear, our sheets and towels, our purses and shoes, and how we can expand our attitudes toward our health and Mother Earth to be better world citizens and smarter shoppers, and maybe, just maybe, prevent that weird little mysterious skin rash.

Photo by Mallory Curlee

This designer creates from TLC, scraps and profanity. All garments are made to order from vintage, recycled materials. Galveston Owned!

Facebook.com/ThomasscelliDesigns

Eco Echo

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Ooops … what are those skin tight, super sexy yoga pants made out of?

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RESOURCES Super Human Support

ROBERT KUHN

Want to be a better human but don’t know where to start?

We got you boo!

Watch Documentaries Earthlings (2005)

The 95-minute documentary uses hidden cameras to bring to you shocking footage of what goes on behind the closed walls of the meat industry.

Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (2014) It tries to analyze the policies of various environmental organizations like Greenpeace and Rainforest Action Network in the light of environmental impact of animal agriculture.

Read Cook Books

Thug Kitchen; Eat Like You Give a Fuck Thug Kitchen started their wildly popular web site to inspire people to eat some Goddamn vegetables and adopt a healthier lifestyle. Beloved by Gwyneth Paltrow (“This might be my favorite thing ever”) and named Saveur’s Best New Food blog of 2013—with half a million Facebook fans and counting—Thug Kitchen wants to show everyone how to take charge of their plates and cook up some real fucking food.

Clean-up Your Act

There are about 10-15 different organizations here in Galveston that you can work with to help out environmentally. Surfrider Foundation Galveston Chapter is just one. Their mission is the protection and enjoyment of oceans, waves and beaches through a powerful activist network. GET INVOLVED! “I am not just a member, I am the Vice President!”

- Janese Maricelli, Publisher- CULTURE CLASH

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“Maria the Gun” is a progressive album of multicultural American folk and rock and roll music. Join Houston native and Galveston favorite, Robert Kuhn, as he takes you on a musical journey through space and time!

ALBUM AVAILABLE ONLINE or in person at

CACTUS MUSIC

robertkuhnmusic.com

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CULTURE CLASH (Express Yourself)

express

Stock imagery provided by ShutterStock.com

Yourself

Got something to say? Go on and say it! We put it out there for the world to see and now there is no turning back.

Express yourself and tell Galvestonians all about this island’s schools’ segregation, we wanna know.

CultureClashGalveston@gmail.com

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WHAT THE

By Culture Clash Staff

F*CK!

CULTURE CLASH (Express Yourself)

Do you ever have those really intense ‘what the fuck’ moments where you are not sure what part of the puzzle you are missing? I have those sometimes, all of the time.

And the most recent is the crosswalk in front of the San Luis Hotel.

What is going on there exactly? All too often I cruise by and witness pedestrians trying to cross while cars zoom past them. Just tonight I saw a young couple with an infant standing there questioning the safety of this newly painted, well-marked crosswalk.

My latest routine is to stop, turn on my hazard lights, and bite my lip hoping no one slams into the back of me. This is ridiculous and very scary. Nowhere else have I seen such a highly trafficked road with a crosswalk slam in the middle without some sort of blinking light or something. Right? Is this some cruel joke?

Not in Texas. We do not slow down for pedestrians!

A quick Google search brings up Sec. 552.003.

PEDESTRIAN RIGHT-OF-WAY AT CROSSWALK which clearly states it is in fact illegal to run through that crosswalk if someone is waiting to cross. What the fuck?

I love the idea of the crosswalk. That has needed to happen, giving people an alternative to walking several blocks to the nearest crosswalk. Call me unGalvestonian like, but I would love to see the entire

Photo by Maricelli Photography

Seawall a 20 MPH zone and full of crosswalks with blinking, low profile but highly visible yellow lights scattered across the road... just...like...California. Then maybe my family and I could get across the street to eat our Ben & Jerry’s while watching the waves roll in.

What is the answer? Lights and signals? A stop sign in the middle of the street? An officer posted there? No crosswalks, dead tourists?

SHARE YOU THOUGHTS AND IDEAS ON THE TOPIC, VISIT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE facebook.com/CultureClashMag

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CULTURE CLASH (Express Yourself)

By Barry

Stock imagery provided by ShutterStock.com

THOUGHTS

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CULTURE CLASH (Express Yourself)

Is all of this really worth upholding?

A society of schedules, jobs, obligations, and extensions none of which add up to that which we search: Happiness.

Health. Wholeness.

You’re a banker, you process numbers and somehow make money in processing that token of frivolous value and a destined failure.

You’re a lawyer, speaking in a profoundly confounding tongue, prosecuting those who live not so differently from yourself. Judging them based on some old dead guys’ opinions - and not only their opinions, but their greed to dominate.

You’re a doctor, handing out prescriptions that doom your clients to perpetual return.

A teacher feeding bright, hungry minds irrelevant information on wars and cruel men instead of putting their eager hands to the dirt, showing them what we really need to know.

You drive your car which takes you so far, so far from your family, friends, self, your relaxing place, your calm. You sit in traffic because every one is on their search for peace and no one has the tools to get there.

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Sophisticated? Smart? Not here, not in this society.

Modern technology has revolutionized our potential to connect from anywhere. Why do we still drive to cubicles?

Love. Mother fucking Love. Some one did a good job of making my young mind hungry to satisfy this thing that is grander than everything, this thing that I will find with one special person, this thing that will separate me, us, from the crowd. How cruel, this notion, separate and divide, divide and conquer. Should they not teach communal love? Love of every. single. body that crosses our path?

Are they not literally stuck on the same path as ourselves, born to live and die, and why aren’t we taught to see them as family?

Our families are so small when they really could be one.

Yet we fight, and we struggle, and we strain to reach some thing that is not reachable, that is not real. What we have is here, all around us, every minute and every day.

We can focus on this, build this, connect this all together so it blooms like nectar for the bees.

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CULTURE CLASH (Feature)

It Ain’t Trick-or-Treatin’

By Leslie Whaylen

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kids to visit a different cemetery on the island each year for Dia de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Our first outing was to the cemetery on Broadway that stretches between 43rd and 40th Streets. Its yellow blanket of spring flowers was long gone, but this lack of vegetation made reading the gravestones easier. In the next few years, we visited the cemeteries off of 61st Street; Calvary Catholic Cemetery on the west side, Lakeview Cemetery on the east side with its Jewish aliquot, and the Greek Orthodox and Serbian Orthodox Cemeteries closer to the Seawall.

A couple of years ago my family had the fortune of finally finding the Rosewood Cemetery, Galveston’s first burial ground designated exclusively for African Americans. This cemetery took some time for me to research and find because not many people know about it. It can’t be located with Google Maps. This old African

Make up by A Pinch of Wonderful

Photo by Maricelli Photography

A day or two after Halloween, I take my

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CULTURE CLASH (Feature)

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CULTURE CLASH (Feature)

American Gravesite

American cemetery is likely better known by visitors, who use the hotels, than residents. Designated in 1911, the cemetery is now managed by the Galveston Historical Foundation, and is located just behind the Comfort Inn off 63rd Street.

Each year in a cemetery, the kids and I roam around, looking at the names, and searching for the oldest gravestone. Some Galvestonian names are familiar.

Others are not. Etched into marble, granite, and cement is information about the people who lived, worked, and died on this sand barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico. We look for veterans. We look for babies. We mourn the loss. I scan the property, looking for the oldest looking trees. Underneath

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them usually you’ll find the oldest graves. One year a friend gave us a Cemetery Scavenger Hunt, a list that included items such as someone named Mary, the year 1938, something written in a different language, a tombstone taller than you, and 3 angels.

Dia de los Muertos is a time of remembrance of those who are no longer with us. It is a day when we can pause, look back and honor not only our loved ones in our families and friendship circles, but also those of strangers who once upon a time called our island home too. I invite you to pick one of the island’s burial grounds to walk through this Dia de los Muertos. Maybe we’ll see you out there?

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olivia Bailey Photography

Galveston's Family Lifestyle Photographer 1-2 Hour Sessions • Location Options

512-573-5783

OliviaBaileyPhotography@zenfolio.com facebook.com/OliviaBaileyPhotography

Congrats to Galveston Island Brewing for bringing home a medal from Great American Beer Festival ®.

Bronze for Blue Bridge Hoppy Amber in the American-Style Amber/Red Ale! You guys deserve it.

Sending Big Love From All of Us At

CULTURE

CLASH C U LTU R EC L A S H G A LV E STO N . C O M • N OV/ D EC 2 0 1 7

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CULTURE CLASH (Feature)

Clashed your

By Leslie Whaylen

Culture Clash readers, when

Stock imagery provided by ShutterStock.com

was the last time you intentionally placed yourself in a culture clash, to be in the racial minority? Here in Galveston and according to the last census (2010) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, our islanders are 45.2% white, 30.2% Hispanic, 18.9% black, 4% Asian, 1.3% mixed, and 0.5% other. Simply put, out of 100 Galvestonians, 55 of us are not white.

Our 27-mile long island supports three higher learning institutions: Galveston College, Texas A&M University at Galveston (TAMUG), and University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). My curiosity drove me to research the demographics of these educational centers and how they compared to Galveston’s population. At Galveston College in 2015 (gc.edu), and similar to Galveston’s demographics, the sum percentage of minority students (58%) exceeded white (42%).

UTMB’s Fall 2016 student enrollment

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CULTURE CLASH (Feature)

Culture Lately? (utmb.edu) registered 47% white. TAMUG’s Fall 2013 enrollment listed 77.5% white (tamug.edu).

I am white and sometimes I seek out situations and places that differ from my race and culture. My mother, I often have said, is a wannabe Mexican and a wannabe Native American. She purposefully places herself where she, also being white, is a racial minority.

During her married life as an Air Force wife, she advocated not living on the military bases. Instead, she wanted to integrate herself and her family into the surrounding communities. I was born in Laredo, and before I could crawl, I had pierced ears because, “All the little Mexican babies next to us had them.” My mother exposed me to pow-wows, country folk in the deep woods, and schools where children didn’t wear shoes. As an adult, I moved out of the country to a South Pacific Island with a distinct culture, where the white race is a small minority, and English isn’t the first language learned at home.

My attitude towards other cultures and races is not static. Rather, it changes over time, largely influenced by the people and their attached cultures I come into contact with. Sometimes when I am in the racial minority, I feel a heaviness. I attribute this weight to the actions performed by some of my pale-skinned ancestors when they assumed a posture of racial superiority, and the centuries-long consequences

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that followed. The expansion of my societal awareness is often a deliberate choice made by me, whereas minority races involuntarily face culture clash every day. Recognizing this and after becoming a mother myself, I took my son to his first powwow off the island near Lake Livingston. He too needs a clashing of his culture. Don’t we all?

Every contributor in this magazine’s first issue is white.

Come change that, and submit your article, letter, photography, international recipe, or artwork to CultureClashGalveston@gmail.com 21

throw back

my galveston #TBMG

Life on this barrier island is always changing. It may be a glorius place of gentrification now, but it wasn’t always so pretty.

Stock imagery provided by ShutterStock.com

Send us your Gritty Galveston stories, CultureClashGalveston@gmail.com

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Photo by Maricelli Pho tog

raphy

CULTURE CLASH (#TBMG (Throw Back My Galveston)

By Dan Marks

When I tell people I’m from Galveston, they say, “Like the Glen Campbell song?” Yeah.

That’s exactly what I mean.

When my family first moved to Texas in the 70’s, Galveston was a dumpy little island with a long beach. We didn’t hang out in town. Not with kids.

Downtown was a little rough. And the beaches were so covered with oil from the tankers washing tanks that every store sold “tar remover” for your feet.

On occasion we would stop and rent a Sunfish at the floating dock where the boat ramp at Jamail Park now stands on Offatt’s Bayou. (If you didn’t know it was called “Jamail Park”, don’t sweat it. I didn’t either. I had to drive by to get the spelling right for this story.)

After that we headed somewhere west of the Seawall to pitch a tent, usually not stopping until San Luis Pass.

It was a long ride for a kid with a short attention span. But we had big bonfires, good surf fishing, and guitar music by moonlight. We brought everything we needed from Houston. Oh, children, this was way before Walmart.

There used to be a bait shop at the foot of the San Luis Bridge, and good C U LTU R EC L A S H G A LV E STO N . C O M • N OV/ D EC 2 0 1 7

GLEN CAMPBELL WOULD BE PROUD crabbing in the rocks. There wasn’t a lot of dune grass and we lit fires indiscriminately.

Sand has long since filled in the rocks, narrowing the pass. And some hurricane took care of the store. The vast expanse of pasture that used to dominate the ride is now filled with housing developments. But the Kettle House is still there. And the big engine block in the tidal pond next to Woody’s has only recently disappeared. It’s the little things.

Moving into an apartment here in the 90’s, I found Galveston’s “beautiful” Victorian homes weren’t always so beautiful. Some fellow carpet-baggers, friends of my parents from high school, bought a house near the Bishop’s Palace. They spent a good six months cleaning up after the junkie squatters.

There were lots of cheap, abandoned, and unused buildings around town, free for the taking.

Some of this history lingers into modern times. While hipsters move into my District 1 neighborhood and bitch about nonexistent grass that I haven’t cut, buildings that predate me stand rotting with little attention from the City.

The Martini Theater on 21st Street might

be beautiful inside. I wouldn’t know. It has been closed for as long as I can remember. With hopes of starting a business, I called up the family to inquire about a purchase. They informed me that the three little cubicle fronts on the northwest corner brought in enough money to pay the taxes. And that was incentive enough against selling, or apparently investing any more for repairs. But that was before Ike. Another great example is the Falstaff Brewery on 33rd. My nephew visited from San Antonio for a week. Did he want to go to the Strand, or East Beach, or Floats? No. Apparently the Falstaff Brewery is famous on the underground Urban Explorer circuit and he had to have a go. I walked him to the old loading dock, where a dead body had recently been found, and wished him luck.

While I waited, I thought about that Glen Campbell song. I’d listened to the words. It has nothing to do with Galveston. It’s about a soldier in Vietnam. He’s thinking about the Island, and seagulls crying, and sea winds blowing. He doesn’t really want to be in Galveston. He just wants out of Vietnam!

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CULTURE CLASH (Coolture)

c00Lture Artist: Gilbert Ruiz GilbertRuiz.com See it NOW at the Proletariat Gallery & Public House 2221 Market St #100

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What’s cool? You decide. We think of coolture as art, music, literature that really gets your mind moving. Culture Clash is all about cool, now we can show it off.

Want to feature your work or event in the Coolture section? Shoot us an email CultureClashGalveston@gmail.com

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pulse

CULTURE CLASH (Coolture)

FEEL THE BEAT

Nov-Dec 2017 Calendar of Events

Merel and Tony and the Woe Woe Woes/Nancy’s Son Friday, November 3 8 PM - 11 PM Old Moon Deli & Pie Town Mountain Sunday, November 5 8:30 PM - 12 AM Old Quarter Acoustic Café Album Release: EL LAGO, VODI, with Tee Vee Friday, November 10 8 PM - 11:55 PM Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe Massive Outdoor Art Gallery.

Family Festival. Music Concert. All in one! All roads lead to creativity when over 200 artists converge on the streets to celebrate the artistic spirit of Houston.

November 18, 10 AM - 5PM Nov 19, 10 AM - 5 PM Hermann Square at City Hall

Stock imagery provided by ShutterStock.com

DECEMBER

Ruby Breeze

Recipe: Deep Eddy Ruby Red, pineapple juice, cranberry juice.

Stranger Things themed art show Dec 2 at 2 PM to Dec 3 at 5 PM

Texas Art Asylum

1719 Live Oak, Unit L, Houston, Texas 77003 FREE

Available at: Shrimp N Stuff Downtown 216 23rd Street Rear, Galveston, TX 77550

Ian Moore

Friday, December 8 at 10 PM - 2 AM

Old Quarter Acoustic Café

413 20th St, Galveston, Texas 77550 $25 Admission

Ryan Ross Band

Saturday, December 16 at 10 PM - 2 AM

Yaga’s Café

2314 Strand St, Galveston, Texas 77550 FREE

Two Tons of Steel

Saturday, December 23 at 7 PM

Old Quarter Acoustic Café

413 20th St, Galveston, Texas 77550 Admission TBD

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DRINK UP

Photo by Elsa Shervin

NOVEMBER

Drum circle every Friday Night at 10:00pm Jimmy’s on the Pier Let’s Raise it Up Galveston!

Get the latest updates: facebook.com/galveston.djembe

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WALL CULTURE CLASH (Feature)

THE FUN SIDE OF THE

By Jessica Antonelli

flavors are out of this world. The city is becoming internationally recognized for It’s a Unesco World Heritage site. The cradle of its incredible cuisine, and a gaggle of Mexican Independence. The #1 city in the world, innovative young chefs innovate from according to Travel & Leisure magazine this year. traditional recipes. Yearly food festivals The word magical gets thrown around a lot. First are drenched with more and more time travelers often visit a new country and see the artesian beer from breweries popping surface level only, thinking that a different culture up, or Mescal, the smoky brother of is summed up by what’s in the souvenir stores. But Tequila. But Andy’s Taco stand, which SMA is up in the mountains, tucked away in a scenic pops up evenings on Insurgentes Street, valley a few hours north of Mexico City. It’s not a will sell you the best taco you’ve ever cruise ship Mexico experience, you are IN IT. tried for less than a buck.

The setting, a typical Mexican day, looks different In SMA, life moves at the speed of than in the States. At 5am, light sleepers might be nature, not the speed of email. There roused by firecracker pops. No, not early morning is time to stop and listen to stories, gun violence, but church-sponsored cannon shots and spend lots of time with family. If signaling prayers to the heavens. By 7am, the roosters you befriend a local family—and it’s announce the day. Businesses don’t get into full encouraged to be friendly to your swing until 10…ish. Walking to work, people prioritize neighbors and local businesses—then the friends & family they run into, and take time to you might get invited to a birthday party genuinely answer the question, “How are you?” for a niece or nephew. You walk in with “Como estas?” a gift, thinking you’ll be outta there Lunch does not exist as we know it. Instead, in 30 minutes, but you’ve crossed the comida is served around 3ish, the main meal of threshold into Mexican time. Four, maybe the day. Mexican food is not Tex-Mex. It’s simpler, six hours later, you leave wondering how cleaner, fresher, lighter. Way less cheese. Salsa it’s possible to drink so much tequila at a mostly on the side, in every variety of spicy. Things kid’s birthday, humming the piñata song. can be simple when the produce is local—the When I first visited, the characters I

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Photos by Jessica Antonelli

San Miguel de Allende, in the heart of Mexico, has been named many things.

CULTURE CLASH (Feature) came across seemed out of a movie. Breakdancers.

Jewelry artists. Bright college bound local girls. Retirees creating a daily schedule of language, art, writing, or yoga classes that rival a heavily loaded college semester. It’s a city where artists and creative have flocked, because the rich and vibrant local traditions are regularly practiced, and are cause for regular inspiration.

Schools perform for religious and historical celebrations in the local squares, and brightly feathered dancers parade through town on pre-conquest holidays in keeping with ancient traditions. People are connected to their roots and history on a daily basis, and it’s a refreshing and magnetic way of life for the transitory 5,00010,000 ex-pats who float in and out according to the season. Yes, they complain about the endless fireworks displays given nearly every weekend for some wedding or unknown-to-the-gringos Saints Day, but c’mon, our biggest issue as foreigners is to complain about how long the incredibly beautiful fireworks displays go on for. Tough life.

You can’t deny the multi-cultural nature of San Miguel, and the Gringo population does its best to learn Spanish and contribute to the community, although worries about gentrification are legit. Gringo being any North American north of the Rio Grande, and in winter the Canadians outnumber the Estado Unidenses. I’m going out of my way not to call us from the United States, “Americans,” because it’s considered offensive to the majority of human beings on the central and south American continents. We say “American” as if we were the only Americans on the hemisphere. We are all Americans. This isn’t something you would get punched in the face for or anything, and I certainly never thought about it before I starting coming to Mexico. But it’s the kind of uncomfortable nudge you get when you learn what it really means to understand a different culture, and after you try it for a while, you may find it enriches your experience of life.

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Oh, and what do Mexicans think of the 45th President of the USA? There’s a sign at a favorite local cafe, “Celebrate!

You’re on the fun side of the wall!” He’s universally disliked.

But that is not projected on individuals from the States. We are welcomed with open arms, handed a tequila and asked to a nephew’s 4th birthday party.

And in these days, Mexicans have their own issues to deal with. People are still cleaning up after the earthquakes in Mexico City and hurricanes on the coast, and just as we saw during Harvey, neighbors supported neighbors and strangers and immigrants alike pitched in for relief efforts. In SMA, the weekends fill the streets with people from Mexico City the way Galveston fills up with Houston folks on Memorial Weekend, and when Mexico City was in trouble, SMA rallied. There are still donations centers open around town, and support has been encouraging in tough global times.

If you’re thinking of coming to San Miguel de Allende, and you’re racked by fears that Mexico is unsafe, you had better just stay home. The last thing this city needs is a wave of gringos coming down and trying to have a superficial, souvenirs-and-diarrhea only experience of Mexico. If you want to stay in your comfort zone and not evolve as a human, there are beach resorts for that. If you come to SMA, I recommend you come with an open heart and an open mind, and enough Spanish to say “Por favor” and “Gracias,” and “Check please!” (because in Mexico they will leave you to sit for hours if you don’t specifically ask for service). If your significant other or parents are hounding you, you can reassure them that yes, it’s perfectly safe. And it is as long as you don’t stand in the middle of the street counting your money, or walk around looking down at your phone. The streets are all cobblestones, and even though it’s gorgeous, it’s the twisted ankle capital of the world. But seriously, the biggest thing to fear, is that you will visit and fall so in love with the city that a little piece of your heart will break off and stay here forever. So if you’re cool with that, bienvenidos!

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CULTURE CLASH (Coolture)

RANTS

FROM THE ROAD Stock imagery provided by ShutterStock.com

By Robert Kuhn

One thing I love about the publisher of this magazine is her openness to the gentrification of thought and culture through art. This is Culture Clash magazine. This is people being people the only way they can be … themselves.

A few days ago, I was invited to contribute a piece for an early issue of Culture Clash Magazine. I was thrilled and honored to be a part of any Galveston creative endeavor, so finally I find myself with a day off from road in Mystic, Connecticut in the spare bedroom of the super generous club owner and friend. I borrowed a typing device and sit down with a glass of hard local cider and hope for the best.

Happy Columbus Day. I look in the mirror and say "f... Columbus". I consider taking a selfie-video and posting it as content to the music page, but reconsider.

Budhists avoid mirrors at all costs. This writing is now beyond reconsideration and into the realm of straight up open, unapologetic vulnerability. Honest listening and circumnavigation are all we have left. It's all that interests me in this world of work and bore anymore. It's hard work to control your writing. Concentrate. Be cohesive. Write about something. "Write about politics or the environment or the wall" they tell me. Just write. Take the amp off of standby and see what happens. Open, you've finally landed in the unexpected. The monarch butterflies are floating. The geese are flying low. Wild Turkeys.The van needs an oil change and the bass man needs a shower.

Harvest Moon. Foliage. Indian Summer. Sugar Mountain.

Maple. Last night we played music for the mayor and he and his wife grabbed wooden and metal spoons to beat rhythm. We taught them the chorus and they sang along.

"Heaven help us there's a light going off in the hall. When you get there you can't find nothing at all. I'm going up 28

on hurricane mountain, and I ain't coming down again."

We're 5 weeks out on the road right now with the band with two left to go. From there I continue alone into the west as an acoustic songwriter. I'll return to recite poetry in Galveston at the Proletariat on November 21st-ish. I'll probably wing it again, but here is something from Hafiz to make you remember: “I've said it before and I'll say it again, It's not my fault with a broken heart I've gone this way.

In front of a mirror they have put me like a parrot. And behind the mirror, the Teacher tells me what to say. Whether I am perceived as a thorn or a rose, it's the Gardener who has fed and nourished me day to day.

O friends, don’t blame me for this broken heart. Inside me there is a great jewel and it's to the Jeweler's shop I go.

Even though to pious, drinking wine is a sin, don't judge me. I use it as a bleach to wash the color of hypocrisy away.

All that laughing and weeping of lovers must be coming from some other place: Here all night I sing with my winecup and then moan for you all day.”

If someone were to ask Hafiz, "Why do you spend all your time sitting in the Winehouse door?" To this man I would say "From there, standing I can see both the path and the way.'" - The cup is empty and so am I. C U LTU R EC L A S H G A LV E STO N . C O M • N OV/ D EC 2 0 1 7

people

of galveston

Photos by Maricelli Photography

INFO NEED

CULTURE CLASH (Coolture)

must see art HAPPY COUPLE

by Gilbert Ruiz GilbertRuiz.com See it NOW at the Proletariat Gallery & Public House 2221 Market St #100

DAWN

by Suzanne Peterson jlphawk.suzanne@gmail.com See is NOW at Affaire d’Art 2227 Postoffice St

(Wedding Dresses) “We are the Hash House Harriers, an international group of non-competitive social runners.

We follow the Hare’s markings. At least when we can see straight.”

(Tattoo) “We’ve been open few months. Straight outta Athens, Texas. Galveston has been good to us.”

(Graffiti) “I don’t mind controversial; nothing really offends me. But please, let’s not talk about Trump, I am so over it.”

(Witches) She scrunches her nose and peers up at the CC photographers, “ ”.

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CULTURE CLASH (Coolture)

Galveston Synergist Project

By Culture Clash Staff

Galveston is home to a rich pool of people who have both musical and visual abilities

Photos by Nellie Cornett

and who add collaboration to its vibrant scene including Grease Trap Syndicate, NHAL, Wake the Zine, Old Quarter, Coast to Soul, GAR, GAC, Shrimp Boat Productions, mural projects by ClayCup Studios and more! Galveston Synergist Project founder, Nellie Cornett, moved to Galveston in 2011 and fell in love with the community and island. Inspired by zines such as Wake the Zine, and by a tascam recorder that hip hop jewel Evak and his close friend Ben sold to her one day, Nellie daydreamed about the possibility of creating music albums and art-zine combinations with the rich talent of community. Starting in October 2016, Nellie took that dream to the streets and founded the Galveston Synergist Project.

Focused on the truth that sharing with each other the roots of our expression and inspiration empowers, the Galveston Synergist Project has the goal to curate compilations of collaborative multi-media artistic synergies in Galveston, Texas.

So far, the Galveston Synergist Project has hosted an annual project that calls in artists of different disciplines to collaborate on a single project. This single project yields a compilation album, an art magazine “zine”, and a showcase performance.

Last year’s project was called “Primordial of Human

Experience”, involving 14 different artist teams and was a great success! Photographs here show images from that event. You can also listen to the album on BandCamp. com for free, just search for Galveston Synergist Project.

This year the Galveston Synergist Project is proud to host a second project called “Patency, Locusts of Control”, or Patency, for short. Patency boasts a firey collaboration of over 20 different artists, about a dozen teams, and a color art zine.

Many scene powerhouses and hidden gems will debut!

All of the magic will be released to the public at the blowout showcase performance at the VFW post 880, in Galveston on Saturday January 6th, 2018. At this showcase the public will get to listen to a myriad of powerful and relevant acts by the involved artists as well as have the fortune to receive a limited edition copy of the compilation album and art-zine combo!

Definitely a must-see for anyone passionate about the scene.

Don’t miss this unique experience to watch and own a piece of Galveston expression.

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Learn More at GalvestonSurfrider.com Monthly Meetings Every 2nd Thur. @ The Mod C U LTU R EC L A S H G A LV E STO N . C O M • N OV/ D EC 2 0 1 7

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