#eric luse

[swanlake1998]

yuan yuan tan and gonzalo garcia photographed performing in balanchine's apollo by eric luse

[starlightmay]

Queen at the Oakland Coliseum Arena in Oakland, US (part two).

— September 7, 1982

©️ Eric Luse, Steve Jennings

[aids-snapshots]

Snapshot: San Fransisco Gay Men’s Choir 1993 Photo

115 members of the SFGMC who have died from AIDS since 1989 [Photograph], by E. Luse, 1993, (https://www.sfgmc.org/our-story)

The photo above was taken in 1993, and yet it continues to make rounds of the internet every few years as if it is something novel. At nearly three decades old, what is it about this particular photo which enraptured us? The shot was taken by Eric Luse, for the San Francisco Chronicle, after artistic director Stan Hill came up with the idea. Meaning to represent the impact AIDS had on their community in 1993, those in white were the surviving members of the original San Fransisco Gay Men’s Choir (SFGMC). Those in black represented the others who were lost to AIDS over the last decade (Manoukian, 2022).

An artistic rendering of the loss sustained by the SFGMC in 1993, the photograph carries enough sense of weight and innate clarity of the loss that it finds an audience again and again and again. The means of dissemination, with the internet allowing for content to spread widely and without proper credit, means things can go viral without reason. A post from 2021 of the photo on Reddit found over 45,000 “upvotes” (Fluid-Daydreamer, 2021). This in a sense, takes on the concept of photography as a socio-technical network where the accessibility of images, even ones which were prior to the ubiquity of the internet, can find new life on social platforms.

With changing social standards, along with changes in technology, the emotional resonance of an image like this photograph can be even more potent. This work was created in what Gómez Cruz & Meyer (2012) called the “fourth moment,” finding an initial audience in the physical world through the newspaper. The growth of the fifth moment, where user control is a primary factor in the growth networks and the distribution of content means a potential audience easier to find, and even easier to grow. As was the case with this photograph, the fifth moment of photography is an additive process (Gómez Cruz & Meyer, 2012). People can crop the photo, add text, alter or post it within a community that is more likely to appreciate this. Although the process means some details fall away, such as the time frame, the core ideal remains. In this case, the lives lost due to AIDS impacted SFGMC deeply and will be carried forwards for time immemorial.

📸 Series 📚 Bibliography

[openbookunedited]

#UnEdited’s Blog, “The Open Book,” always keeps its head on a swivel in search of new and interesting artists, podcast, topics, and more. That just so happen to randomly allow us to stumble upon an interesting podcast called “The Nod.”

Obviously with titles like, “An Oral History of Knuck If You Buck,” I could not ignore such an alluring conversation. During this particular episode, Brittney Luse and Eric Eddings discuss the everlasting power of the crunk music anthem “Knuck If You Buck”. With interviews with former group members, The Nod opens the door to the inner workings of what went into the creation of Crime Mob as a group as well as “Knuck If You Buck” as a song.

Exploring a wide range of black cultural topics, Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings find a way to keep us intrigued as the maneuver through issues like purple drank and the rise and fall of black tv.   

Click, Listen, and Enjoy!     

[debdarkpetal]

Queen at the Oakland Coliseum Arena on Sept. 7, 1982. Ph. Eric Luse, The Chronicle 1982.

Via Queen At The Races on Facebook.

[excelsi-or]

14/11/19 - stubborn as hell (woozi)

to a boy i love right now

w.c. 1.4k (this is a slight angsty one just as a heads up :D)

Black Lives Education rec: Check out The Nod podcast with Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings. It’s two black hosts telling stories about black lives. They aired their last episode in January this year, but there’s a two year back log of episodes. 

November 9, 2019

November 14, 2019

In the middle of typing up her ecological term paper, her phone starts ringing. Seungkwan looks up from his end of the table and frowns.

“Who’s calling you?”

She shakes her head and flips the phone over, not missing a beat on her keyboard. As she glances at it, she stops. “Mingyu.”

“Why’s he calling you?” Seungkwan asks.

She shrugs. Not that she and Mingyu haven’t become great friends, but with the end of the semester looming, the friends they have who are still in school have declined nearly every opportunity to hang out the past two weeks. Wondering if it’s an emergency, she answers.

“Noona,” Mingyu starts as a greeting.

“What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

Mingyu hums. “I’m okay, but is hyung staying at your place?”

She leans back in her seat and brushes a stray hair out of her face. “I haven’t seen Ji in two weeks. He texted me this morning though. Why? Is he not home?”

Mingyu groans. “He hasn’t been home in a few days.”

“Are you just assuming he’s at work?”

“Well, yeah. Hyung used to do this thing in school where if he was really busy, he just wouldn’t come home.”

She remembers Mingyu and Wonwoo mentioning it on enough occasions to know that it had been an issue. One that their professor had had to talk to him about. She’s never known him to do it, so she assumed that he stopped doing it. 

Mingyu continues. “I don’t know where else he would be. If it’s not home and he’s not with you, where else would he go? It’s not like we’re fighting.”

What’s going on? Seungkwan mouths to her, taking this call as an opportunity to take a break.

Something about Jihoon, she mouths back. “Do you want me to go check on him? Have you gone to the studio?”

“I was just about to go,” Mingyu says. “But maybe it’s better if you go. He’ll listen to you.”

She looks back at her paper, which isn’t due until next week. She glances over her shoulder at the dark sky then turns to Seungkwan. “Sure, I’ll go and see what’s going on.”

“Great, thanks noona.”

“Text you when I’ve talked to him.” She hangs up and addresses Seungkwan’s questioning gaze. “What do you say to a short study break?”

Seungkwan throws his arms up in hallelujah. “Yes! Where are we going?”

“We’re going to go to the company building and see if we can get Jihoon to go home.”

“How are we going to get in?” Seungkwan glances at the time on his phone. “It’s like 10:30. It’s not locked?”

She smirks. “Ji gave me a key a few months back.”

“You have a key to the company?”

She holds a finger to her lips as she gets up to grab her key ring and wallet. She throws a jacket over Jihoon’s sweater, pulls on a pair of thicker socks and meets Seungkwan at the door. The man is already in his shoes, ready to bolt out the door.

“It’ll be good to get a break,” Seungkwan says, stretching his arms over his head.

She chuckles. “How’s Hansol?” She straightens and follows him down the hall to the elevator. “I know you’ve been texting him non-stop all night.”

Seungkwan nods. “He’s been bouncing lyric ideas off me. Apparently, he and Mingyu hyung are stumped for lyrics. Guess without Jihoon hyung, lyrics don’t flow as well.”

“They’re working with a new musical production student, right?” They climb into the elevator, continuing their conversation about Hansol and the new rearrangements in the music department as they ride the bus to Jihoon’s company.

Seungkwan stares at the building as they approach. “It’s smaller than I thought.”

She chuckles, digging for the key in her pocket. “You thought Ji got into a big company right off the bat?” She peers in to make sure the alarm is green and lets them inside. She’d noticed one band of light coming from the third floor where Jihoon’s studio is located. “None of the acts coming out of here are very big, but he gets his own studio.”

Seungkwan nods, impressed. They take the elevator up to the third floor and she looks both ways as they step out, reorienting herself. It’s been well over a month since she’s dropped in on one of Jihoon’s late night studio sessions. She hangs a left and inspects every door and finds the line of recording rooms. The middle one is Jihoon’s.

“I’m gonna wander around. Text me when you’re ready to go.” Seungkwan looks around and heads down the hallway towards the practice rooms. She knocks twice on Jihoon’s door and pokes her head in. 

Surrounding the man are various takeout cups. If he’s been eating from these takeout restaurants, there are no signs of them. At least he’s been leaving the studio to throw his garbage out. He has his headphones on as he stares at a screen with moving parts. She waits until there’s a pause in their movement before interrupting him, understanding his process by now.

“Ji,” she says a bit louder so he can hear her through the headphones.

Jihoon spins around his chair and stares at her wide-eyed. His eyes are bloodshot with light shadows developing underneath them. “Jagi?”

“Hi.” She stays near the door, not expecting this to take long.

“What are you doing here?”

She explains the phone call with Mingyu. “How long have you been here?”

“I don’t know.” Jihoon searches for his phone and calculates back the days. “3 days now.”

She looks down at the small couch against the wall. It’s so much smaller than the couch in his old studio on campus. That will explain all the ‘my back hurts’ texts she’s been getting. “So do you think you should come home then?”

Jihoon shakes his head and motions towards the screen. “I have a few songs I want to finish here.”

“Ji, you’re going to burn out.”

“It’s fine. Once these are done, I’ll go home and sleep.”

“But isn’t your brain tired? Have you been sleeping properly?”

“The others go out to eat and bring me back stuff. I’ve been eating.”

She nods her head slowly. “But—”

“I’ve been getting my eight hours. I’ve been eating. I’ve even had time to text you,” Jihoon interrupts. “I don’t see a problem. I’ll go home when I’m finished.”

“Why are you the only one still here?”

Jihoon shakes his head, brushing off that question. “I’m fine.”

“Ji, Mingyu is worried that you aren’t coming home.”

“I’ll text him where I am.” Irritation is starting to trickle into his voice. She tries not to let it get to her, because she knows it’s a combination of the lack of quality sleep, the shitty food, and the stress that are making him irritable.

She pushes still. “Ji, I’m worried too. Can’t you at the very least go home tonight and come back early? At least to sleep in your own bed and have breakfast with Gyu.”

“I’m fine,” he enunciates. “You don’t have to take care of me. I can take care of myself.”

She nods her head, understanding that he’s going to be stubborn as hell. “Fine.” She ducks out of the studio and goes to get him a glass of water. She returns to the studio and sets it by his elbow. Jihoon stares at it as if he doesn’t know what a glass of water looks like.

“Drink it and I’ll leave.”

“Jagi, I told you—”

“Yes, that you can take care of yourself. I get it.” Her own irritation is apparent now. They scowl at each other. “Drink it for my peace of mind and I’ll leave, Jihoon.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes, but downs the entire glass in front of her. “Happy?”

She shrugs. Up close, his thick hair is greasy at its roots, matted from where his headphones have been sitting. She notices the black cap next to him. Her tongue runs along her bottom lip, but she says nothing. “I’m gonna go then. You’re apparently fine.”

“I’m fine,” he repeats.

The constant repetition suggests he’s not fine, but he can take care of himself. “Okay.” She squeezes his wrist. “See you.”

As she nears the door, Jihoon tosses a “love you” in her direction. She tosses one back and closes the door behind her. “Seungkwanie!” she calls.

Seungkwan bounds towards her from wherever he’d disappeared to. He looks around. “Where’s hyung?”

She shakes her head. “He’s gonna stay here.”

“But—”

“He can take care of himself, so let’s go.”

Seungkwan hears the frustration in her voice and doesn’t push. “Are you going to text Gyu?”

“Ji said he would, but yeah, I will when we get home.”

Next: November 15, 2019

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Last night, I tried to do a search of my blog to find posts I’ve made calling out people for body shaming the IMPOTUS (and for shaming him for presumed mental illness -- which, if he suffers from it, I believe is irrelevant).

The only hit that came back was This Post, headed by a photo of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.  Except, the photo had been removed for violating Tumblr’s community guidelines (?) Whut?!

(I checked my settings, and according to Tumblr, I have no flagged posts. So IDK what’s up)

So I’m trying again.

Here’s my image description from that post:

[[Image description: a screen shot of a tweet from @ hanifleylabi, which reads (quote): The men in white are the surviving members of the original San Fransisco Gay Men’s choir. The rest represent those lost to AIDS. (unquote)

Below that is a photo of the choir on stage, taken from a balcony. Seven men are in white, facing forward. One hundred and thirty-two men are dressed in black, and are standing with their backs to the camera. Description ends]

[queen-freddie-mercury-blog]

Freddie Mercury commands the stage at the Oakland Coliseum Arena on Sept. 7, 1982. Photo: Eric Luse

[citymaus]

“Sixty years ago this week, officials opened the Embarcadero Freeway. While never beloved — The Chronicle’s editorial board called for the “foolish freeway” to be demolished only six months in — it would take the 6.9-magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake, and a concerted civic effort, to finally seal its fate.

“If the quake had continued for another five seconds, we think the Embarcadero Freeway would have failed,” said Ronald Mayes, a bridge engineering expert.

workers check out the embarcadero freeway on april 17, 1990. photo: brant ward

“Those who wanted to get rid of the eyesore saw an opportunity. But neighborhood activists and business owners from Chinatown, North Beach and Fisherman’s Wharf worried that without a quick fix to the freeway, their businesses would be in peril.

Leading the charge was Rose Pak, the forceful Chinatown community leader. She told a Board of Supervisors meeting that business in Chinatown “had plummeted as much as 70 percent” in the four weeks since the quake.

Mayor Art Agnos stayed neutral at first, until he warmed to a plan to replace the freeway with a sunken roadway, a project that would take an estimated four years to complete.

Business groups were alarmed — they didn’t want to wait that long. Pak “issued the call to Chinatown’s 950 businesses to close their doors between the hours of 1:30 and 4:30” to attend the Board of Supervisors meeting discussing the plan.

chinatown residents and workers attend a board of supervisors meeting on april 16, 1990, on the demolition of the embarcadero freeway. photo: eric luse

“Merchants ... gathered en masse in City Hall in a show of force,” Marc Sandalow reported. “The crowd overflowed the supervisors’ chambers and spilled into nearby hallways and the City Hall rotunda.”

It wasn’t enough — the Board of Supervisors voted 6-5 to demolish the freeway, if federal funds could not be found for its replacement.

demonstrators rally on dec. 17, 1990, to show their support for tearing down the embarcadero freeway .photo: jerry telfer

“It wasn’t long before the plan shifted to just getting the damaged ghost highway down as fast as possible — and even some business groups started to agree. The demolition crews began setting up in early 1991.

The demolition kickoff was a big party. A group of Ethel Merman look-alikes sang a version of “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” presumably in honor of the earthquake. A Dixieland band wearing hard hats performed underneath the structure. Commemorative posters marking the freeway’s demolition were sold for $10.

“Mayor Agnos climbed into a big red hydraulic battering ram, thrust his thumb in the air for the cameras, and punched loose a small chunk of concrete from one of the damaged columns,” Sandalow wrote.

The party continued with fireworks as people rushed to get souvenir pieces of concrete. The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus sang “San Francisco, Open Your Golden Gate.”

“I knew one day it would happen,” said former Mayor Dianne Feinstein, now a senator, who attended the ceremony. “It just needed that push from Mother Nature.””

read more: sfchronicle, 06.02.19. 

[tvguidancecounselor]

TV Guidance Counselor Episode 531. Brittany Luse & Eric Eddings

February 2-8, 2002

This week Ken welcomes longtime friends and co-hosts of the "For Colored Nerds" podcast, Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings.

Ken, Brittany and Eric discuss living in L.A. and NYC but still doing a podcast together, being a vibes person, getting married, Bernie Mac, Mac & Cheese, growing up in Memphis and the Detroit area, living in NYC, The Original Kings of Comedy, Larry Wilmore, driving around and looking at Christmas lights, why middle of the road is popular, Ken's Jimmy Fallon hate, Ken's James Corden Hate, sitcoms based on stand up acts, how 9/11 lead to a rise in reality TV and violent shows, Sex in the City, seeing Cynthia Nixon on the subway, 227, African American Actors' Roundtable, Marla Gibbs, Touched by an Angel, My Girl 1 and 2, forgetting Billy Blanks, Everclear vs Everlast, the 2002 New England Patriots Super Bowl, Sabrina, Inside the Actors Studio, Greg Kinear, the Golden Age of Celebrity Sex Tapes, Unsolved Mysteries, Sightings, The Real World New Orleans, SVU, the Steven Segal trilogy, Witchblade, Black female stand up comics in the 80s, Whoopie Goldberg, Tami Roman, Will & Grace, Gilmore Girls, how creepy "My Father the Hero" is, Shelby Woo, which Dawson's Creek cast member we think we are, That 80s Show, Charmed, Just Shoot Me, David Spade, taking the blame, Ernest Dickerson, how Tales from the Crypt Demon Knight is Jada Pinkett's best role, Porn on PBS, loving Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Mortal Kombat, Double Dragon, Space Jam, loving the (Summer) Olympics, knowing nothing about basketball, World Cup, Survivor, never taking credit for Cheers and Jeers, Brenda Strong on The Weakest Link, and Kevin Nealon's Conspiracy Zone on TNN.

Check out this episode!

[theblackguywhotips]

2496: For Colored Nerds Who Tip

2496: For Colored Nerds Who Tip

Rod and Karen are joined by Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings of the For Colored Nerds Podcast to discuss our love for their show, that time Rod forgot to email them back (awkward), how Brittany and Eric met, starting their podcast, dealing with criticism as Black creatives, the dynamics of creating The Nod, working with a team, creating a show on Quibi before Quibi shut down, going through their…

[arkoptrix]

James Krenov’s hands by Eric Luse

[leanpick]

Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings of ‘For Colored Nerds’ Play for Keeps

Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings of ‘For Colored Nerds’ Play for Keeps

After graduating in the recession era, both groped toward the semblance of a career path. Luse moved back in with her parents and worked a series of internships and low-level clerical jobs at companies undergoing mass layoffs. She says she quit a full-time position in 2011 after being sexually harassed. The following year, Luse got a call from Eddings, who was working as a social media producer…

[isfeed]

The Nod hosts ditch Spotify to relaunch their original show

The Nod hosts ditch Spotify to relaunch their original show

Photo: For Colored Nerds hosts Eric Eddings and Brittany Luse | SiriusXM/Stitcher The co-hosts of The Nod are back, and this time, they’ve separated from Gimlet Media and Spotify and are instead taking their work to SiriusXM’s Stitcher. Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings tell The Verge today that they’re relaunching their Black culture show For Colored Nerds this fall, which they created, hosted, and…

[saturdaysound]

In this episode, The Nod’s hosts Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings reunite members of Crime Mob to get the inside story of Knuck If You Buck, the club anthem that defined the crunk era and took them from high school kids to rap legends. All tea, no shade—straight from the people who lived it: Diamond, Princess and Lil Jay.

[alaturkanews]

Brittany Luse & Eric Eddings On Qubi Show “The Nod” Lusa & Eddings talk with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith about how they turned their podcast into a TV show, covering black culture in 2020, and their thoughts on "BlackAF."