I like money. Combined with gangsters, it makes the world go ’round.

I like money. Combined with gangsters, it makes the world go ’round. You can toss it into the air like confetti or just make big ol’ hearts out of the stuff. But I live in Oakland. And most of my beloved peers don’t share my blind jubilation of the almighty dollar. This is for a variety of reasons. Some come from substantial money and carry a burden of shameful contempt for anything with a monetary value and strive to live what they consider to be humble lives, free of the embarrassment of the class they fell from. Others, are born into abject poverty and are angry at the whole world for the difficult hand they were dealt and it’s whole system of capital, trade and currency, of which they can only fathom in broad, ignorant generalities.

Both of these peoples butt heads routinely on boring issues but both, ironically yearn to be from the class where the other was originally spawned. This wall of culture is often hard to breech in most places in the world. But in lil’ ol’ Oakland, California and similar areas, things are so utterly fucked, injustices so starkly polarizing and housing so dirt cheap that peers of all classes come together and survive symbiotically on each others’ strengths.

Here are some people and places that I think are products of Oakland’s unique cultural dichotomy:

LOCAL PERSON: MONICA CANILAO

I recently sat down with Monica for an interview. I brought a tape recorder along to appear professional and journalistic and to better assist me in my profile of her. But I couldn’t get the thing to work. probably because I’m not a professional journalist and, like Sara Palin’s child, I’m a fucking retard bitch and every time I open my mouth, dicks fall out and no one wants to hear it.

So we just chatted. And I realized that I was in the presence of a genuine, well respected artist. And one of the busiest ones I’ve ever known. She does what she does because it’s fun. And that’s some true shit. From the Swoon boats in the Hudson to the houses in Detroit, including all her drawings, mixed art, installations, books and various Illegal Troubles, she seamlessly conquers every medium she finds interest in and is humble, to boot. And despite the enormity of her portfolio she hasn’t spent shit on anything. She finds or reuses all of her materials and tools. Not because she panders to the scene but because she grew up here and cares about the health of The Bay. But now I’m just putting words in her mouth. Monica works hard. Go see her stuff.

LOCAL PLACE: THE YELLOW ROOM

A bunch of crazy assholes from all types of classes crammed themselves into a house (shown at 0:20 of the above video) to keep the rent down, painted the living room yellow and now grow all their food in their back yard, but they’re not annoying. Every show I go to here makes me feel like a lonely small town straight edge kid at his first Earth Crisis show on the day the world ends. God bless them.

-BILLY AGAN

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1. SCENE REPORT: OAKLAND, PT I
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3. SCENE REPORT: QUEENS, NEW YORK
4. SCENE REPORT: PENETANGUISHENE, ONTARIO, CANADA
5. SCENE REPORT: DOUGLASVILLE, GEORGIA