Amplified Test 1 – Azhar Usman
Photo by Alisa Hauser
Azhar Usman jokes that he looks like “that guy from LOST. Not the Indian one, the fat one!” The Chicago comedian uses humor to poke fun at racial stereotypes, referencing his own life as the child of Muslim immigrants growing up in mostly Jewish Skokie.
Usman recently did an extended set in front of an intimate audience at Chicago’s Th!nk Art Salon as part of their ongoing War & Peace exhibit. Usman performs regularly alongside a Rabbi/comedian in a show they’ve dubbed the Laugh in Peace Tour.
The evening took a surprisingly deep and personal turn when Usman shared a story about learning to parent four young sons inquisitive beyond their age.
3:09
Click here to hear Usman’s entire set at the Th!nk Art Salon, recorded by Chicago Amplified.
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Tags: art, Chciago Amplified, Chicago, comedy, family, Islam, religion, Skokie, WBEZ
For Sale: HHB Portadisc $800
The HHB Portadisc MDP500. This professional portable minidisc recorder is absolutely top of the line. This one is basically like new. I purchased it in 2003 and used it in the field for a long time. The sound quality for interviews and field recordings is sublime. It also doubles as a studio deck, with built in compressor/limiter, duel stereo XLR inputs and a USB connection. When I freelanced more I used it to record any voice tracks directly into my computer. I’m only selling it now because I have a second recorder I use professionally and this one is too nice to sit unused.
Comes with black carry case, wall power adapter, and USB 2.0 cable. It retails new for approximately $1500, so you are not going to find a better price for something like this. Review here: http://emusician.com/daw/emusic_hhb_portadisc_mdp/
Please email me at robinamer [at] gmail [dot] com if you’re interested.
Pictured with black carry case.
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Thanks, KUT!
Ah Austin. The coolest city in Texas. Now even cooler because they keep licensing my radio pieces for broadcast. Thanks, KUT!! My piece on Malort aired last night on their late night documentary show, O’Dark 30. Now I’ve received word that Austinites can hear Ghosts of Gary sometime soon. Details when I get them.
Also, I looked this morning and saw that my video piece on the Fireside has been viewed over 1600 times since Friday morning. WAT. This has been a great week.
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~Update 8/2/10: This has now been sold. Thanks. ~
I’m changing my editing suite at home so I’ll be selling my copy of Pro Tools LE 7.0 and its accompanying hardware, the MBox 2.
This is a professional quality digital audio editing suite (software and hardware). Great for audio production including music. Comes with Mac and PC compatible versions. Also comes with Pro Tools LE 6.8.1, and software from the “Pro Tools Ignition Pack”: Ableton Lite 4, Reason Adapted, BFD Lite, Melodyne, Broadjam and Bunker 8.
I’m asking $215. Retails new for approximately $350 – 400.
If you’re interested, please email me at robinamer [at] gmail [dot] com.
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Depending on whom you ask, the Fireside Bowl is either simply the bowling alley in Logan Square, or the best punk rock club Chicago ever knew.
In its venue days it was falling apart. It was loud. It stank to high heaven, and the men’s bathroom had no doors and no seats. It was punk rock to the core.
In 2004 it shed its punk rock past, ceasing shows in favor of recreational bowling. Fans of the space thought they’d never see another show at the Fireside.
But in June the venue began a trial run of shows, attempting to cultivate patrons during its slow summer season.
I went to a recent show with the Chicago News Cooperative’s Meribah Knight to ask what made the Fireside a punk rock legend.
Read Meribah’s print piece and see a gallery of photos at The Chicago News Cooperative or at The New York Times!
Editor’s Note: Hooray! I am EXTREMELY happy about this piece. It’s my first freelance multimedia piece, period, and it’s for the CNC and the freaking NEW YORK TIMES. I am really pumped. Also it was fantastic working with Meribah. She’s such a great writer and reporter, and was so easy to work with. I’m doing the happy dance at my desk right now.
I also want to thank everyone we interviewed, especially John Benetti, who connected us with so many great folks; Martin Sorrondeguy, who is an incredibly inspiring guy; and Annie Strong, who gave me a ton of old photos and music files which were invaluable in making this piece. Rebecca Ann Rakstad and Patrick Houdek also made their photo collections available, which again, was amazing and much appreciated. Thank you so much!
Filed under: Multimedia Projects | 1 Comment
Tags: Chicago, Fireside Bowl, Logan Square, music, punk rock
More News
I haven’t wanted to say much about this yet until it happens, both because I don’t want to jinx anything and because the story is time sensitive, BUT…it looks like I will have a multimedia piece in the web space of a major American daily next week. THIS IS VERY EXCITING. I’m collaborating with Meribah Knight, a print reporter and all around awesome lady, to whom I was introduced by my former boss. We clicked as soon as we met and I’m hopeful that this will be the first of many collaborations with her. For this piece we’re co-reporting the story. Then, she writes the print piece and I create the audio/video/photo/whatever piece that runs alongside it.
Obviously I’ll share more and post a link once the piece is completed and online.
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Exciting News!
I just got word that the Third Coast International Audio Festival, audio doc powerhouse extraordinaire, wants to license one of my pieces for their show Re:Sound! I am really really happy about this. The Third Coast Festival is pretty directly responsible for me living in Chicago, having professional connections in radio, and loving the medium of audio documentary as much as I do. They are amazing curators who bring together outstanding content from all over the world, and I am extremely flattered to have my work included in their broadcast.
They’ve licensed Ghosts of Gary for a broadcast on the theme of “loss.” It’s scheduled to air July 3rd. See their show page for details on how to hear the show, or to subscribe to their excellent podcast. Whee!
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In Which I Get Bitten by a Dog
Hector with Ralphy and his step dad. Photo by Shauna Bittle.
:37
Ah, the life of a documentary maker. It’s not all wine and roses, you know. The making Out(Spoken) had some pretty rough moments.
In addition to being a gay rights activist, Hector prides himself on being an animal rights activist. He’s a vegetarian, and has two dogs he rescued from a shelter. Miley, a Chihuahua named after Miley Cyrus, and Ralphy, a mutt that looks to me like some kind of German Shepherd mix.
From the moment Shauna and I walked into Hector’s house, Ralphy behaved very aggressively towards both of us. He kept lunging at us, bearing his teeth and barking, while Hector restrained him by the collar. To keep Ralpy away from us, Hector put him upstairs in his bedroom while we toured the house.
But then it came time to go get footage of Hector in his room. I followed Hector upstairs, and as soon as he opened the door to his room, Ralphy jumped out and attacked me unprovoked, biting me on my left ring finger. Because I was recording during this whole situation, I got the moment on tape.
Luckily the bite wasn’t too bad; I didn’t even need stitches. And thank goodness Ralphy had had all his shots. But it was scary as hell. I was bleeding everywhere, and we went to the emergency room at U Chicago just to be on the safe side.
Poor Shauna. She was terrified of the dog. When I came downstairs she had barricaded herself in a back room. I was grateful that she came with me to the hospital. And poor Hector. He and his family felt terrible. Ralphy had never bitten anyone before. My best guess is that he was scared of our recording equipment.
So here for your listening pleasure, is me getting bitten by a dog. Tape contains at least one expletive, uttered by yours truly. I don’t know how scary it is for you, but it makes me get all jumpy when I listen to it now.
Filed under: Behind the Scenes, Multimedia Projects | Leave a Comment
Rehab Hurts
Rising Sun Mills, located down the street from Chris Freed’s building, was rehabed and converted into condos. At the time it was purchased for renovation, there were still several small businesses and artists with spaces in the complex.
During the housing boom earlier this decade, developers began scooping up abandoned or underused factory buildings to convert them into condos. But as I examined in this piece for the public radio show Marketplace, this trend may have been bad for business.
This piece originally aired on Marketplace on February 16, 2005.
You can listen to the piece on Marketplace’s website here.
Photo courtesy of Art in Ruins.
Filed under: Audio Projects | Leave a Comment
Tags: adaptive reuse, industry, Marketplace, Providence, rehab
Noney
3:14
This piece originally aired on the public radio program Marketplace on April 6, 2005. You can hear the piece on their website here.
Whatever the face value of the money in your wallet, chances are good it’ll be worth less – eventually. That’s what inflation tends to do to cold hard cash. One could invest in art, for example, but you’d have to part with your cash. Or would you? Robin Amer reports.
Visit the Noney website here, and Providence artist Alec Thibodeau’s other work here.
Filed under: Audio Projects | Leave a Comment
Tags: art, bartering, Marketplace, money, Noney, Providence
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