Leslie Hodge (aka DJ Leslie). 1971-2015. R.I.P.

There will be a gathering at Zaphod's Tuesday, June 23 from 8PM onward in celebration of her life and her tireless contributions to music in the city that fun (otherwise) forgot. She provided proof to my seemingly tenuous statement that there were a near infinite number of amazing people in this town (yes, I'm multi-counting certain people) and so many awesome and creative things to do... but you had to look past the veneer of bureaucratic complacency that blankets the city to find it. I always liked industrial music, but she helped me love it. No matter how much I listened to or where I turned for it, she always had something more interesting to share than anything I'd managed to find. We crossed paths repeatedly, but never more than that. She was a complicated and often troubled (and problematic) person, however she fit the lived experiences of many lives inside her 44 years. She succeeded as a woman in an industry and genre that was often closed to women, and as such was a role model to many (women and men alike). From what little I know, she led a hard existence (to put it mildly), but for the most part she turned adversity to creative purposes instead of letting life get the better of her. Sadly, it finally did, and she left us suddenly with her voice and her music still reverberating in our ears and in our hearts.

DJ Leslie 1971-2015: The heart of the underground

Forgotten fun?

I watched that documentary I linked to in my last post all the way through and felt compelled to write something in response. It kind of makes me sad because Ottawa could definitely be so much more than it allows itself to be. I'm also sad that any time I meet someone who is creative and full of life, my only advice to them is to find a city (or town, or hamlet) that is not Ottawa and they will stand a chance to shine. Ottawa eats its own for the most part in my experience (Parliament Hill isn't the only place where politics happens around here) and I've seen such talent wasted as they dash themselves senseless on the unforgiving and uninterested shoals of Ottawa city life. Anyway, in response to the video's question: "what do you think our elected officials need to do to make Ottawa a cooler and more vibrant city?"...

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I think street food and street performers should be deregulated (I might phrase it unstragulated) and that would be a good start. I could do my own documentary on what elected officials need to do to make Ottawa a cooler and more vibrant city (I could go on for hours), but even the smallest of details are so badly hamfisted that I despair of a breakthrough in my lifetime. The fact is that it seems worse every year. As a minor example, I was in the market a while back and could not find a chip wagon when I went looking for one with a friend from out of town... they've apparently been banned (along with food "carts") from that area ... http://ottawa.ca/en/business/business-licenses-applications-and-permits/business-licensing/new-street-food-vending. What the heckskie? I agree with the statement in the documentary that what makes a vibrant city is for it to facilitate the gathering of people where things are happening (or to bring people together and allow things to happen), wherever that might be. There are huge issues in Ottawa with that, but I will go back to the smaller and seemingly trivial instance of "the chip wagon"... it's a place where you can at least say hello to other people who are out enjoying the day and grabbing a bite, but all we are apparently allowed to do is sit in restaurants at tables (where talking to your neighbour is generally discouraged from an etiquette point of view)... even when we travel downtown, we are forced to isolate ourselves in the company of others. There is no fun to be found in that sort of environment. Yes, there is fun to be "found", but it's never just "there".
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