Jersey Polka Richie: Happy Fellow Polka

Wait--first she shares Fiddy Cent and says she enjoys the stories he tells through his songs--now she's sharing polka. What???

It's a melting pot, Folks. I always liked that concept. We haven't entirely lived up to what it should mean. There's still a lot of inequality in the division of opportunities and resources. But I'm not going to go into that at length here.

My background is primarily East European. I'm a Heinz 57. I'm a mixture of most of the world's whitest countries. My complexion is so pale that when the lights go out in a room, I glow. 

In my youngest years, I lived in an area where there were a lot of East Europeans. Germans, Poles, Hungarians, Austrians, Lithuanians, Russians--people who liked cabbage and sausage! They believed in keeping traditions alive. There were festivals of all kinds--any excuse for a festival was a good one. There was always music, and hence, my love of polka!

My family moved away when I was ten years old for a better opportunity for my father, but we went back often, usually around Christmas. 

Those old traditions are dying. Almost all of my grandparents' generation is gone now. My father has been gone for five years. One memory stands strong in my mind. It was not long before we left. I remember his dark curly hair with the threads of gray, his big schnozz that he joked about, his smile, beer in hand. He always regretted leaving. He became kind of a different person after we did, but he was stubborn and would never admit defeat.

Dementia and strokes stole his mind. It happened fairly early on. He was dead by 75.

I was ten years old during that last festival before our move. I had no idea just how young forty was.

I suspect now that my father may have had a mood disorder like I do, and that may have been in part what prompted the sudden decision to move on for "better opportunities." He would sometimes fly into frightening rages. Other times he would be very withdrawn. He worked hard, never missing a day for illness. However, I learned after his death that his personality tended to get him called on the carpet. He was toeing the line most of the time.

I think that there were times when my father was genuinely happy. So for him, here's the Happy Fellow Polka. I like to remember him that way.

~DJ Helena~

Hip Hop History: 50 Cent

"What the hell, DJ Helena? Why would a middle aged white broad be interested in 50 Cent?"

The man is a survivor. He came from very bad circumstances and turned himself into something. His songs tell stories, they don't glorify violence. Except for a completely ridiculous video game (50 Cent: Bulletproof) I've enjoyed his body of work.

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He was shot nine times: in the hand (a round hit his right thumb, to where the bullet passed through and out his little finger), arm, hip, both legs, chest, and his face (his left cheek). The face wound resulted in a swollen tongue, the loss of a wisdom tooth, and a small slur in his voice. He maintains a bullet fragment in his tongue because it was thought that taking it out would further damage his nerves and taste buds. His friend also sustained a gunshot wound to the hand. They were driven to the hospital where Jackson spent thirteen days.(From the Wikipedia entry.)

 "It happens so fast that you don't even get a chance to shoot back.... I was scared the whole time.... I was looking in the rear-view mirror like, 'Oh @#!*% , somebody shot me in the face! It burns, burns, burns.'"

 "After I got shot nine times at close range and didn't die, I started to think that I must have a purpose in life... How much more damage could that shell have done? Give me an inch in this direction or that one, and I'm gone"

Jackson has a tattoo of "Marquise" (his son) with an axe on his right biceps. "The axe is 'cause I'm a warrior. I don't want him to be one, though," he explains. He also has "50", "Southside", and "Cold World" inscribed on his back because "I'm a product of that environment. It's on my back, though, so it's all behind me."

~DJ Helena~

50 Cent: Many Men (Wish Death)

50 Cent isn't bragging about how tough he is, he's telling a story. He isn't glorifying violence, although there is violence in the story. It's worth taking into account what he has to say. It might be easy to dismiss this as "gangsta rap," but that would be erroneous.

This song at any rate does not glorify gang culture although it shows images thereof. Gang violence touches the lives of many people. Gangs are the result of poverty and lack of opportunity. Too little has been done to change this reality.