Tokyo F.A.T
“What up kid, I know shit is rough doin’ your bid.” – Nasty Nas
I always thought that if I went to prison, I’d try to get some reading done.
I haven’t gotten caught yet, so its hard to test my theory. But luckily (luckily?) FAT has its own Convicted Fellow, Mike Baca. Mike just started his three month bid at Rikers (the whole story + how to help can be found —> here <—), so I put together a package of books that I hope can help him through his incarceration. Mike’s “Summer of Bummer” (no homo) reading list goes as follows:
Watchmen – Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. One of the illest comics of all time, Moore kills it with the storyline. Great scenes of New York getting utterly destroyed in the near-apocalypse.
Batman: Year One – Frank Miller. Also on the comics tip, Miller is the author of the recently-re-popularized Sin City series, but I think he shines best here illuminating the nascent years in the story of my favorite superhero. Beautiful murky colors throughout.
Comics are good to escape, but I wanted to provide something scholarly as well, a real investigation to wrap the mind around in a different way. I considered books about corruption in government and racist cops, but I figured Mike will probably get enough of that first hand. Eventually I went with
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York – Robert Caro. Weighing in at a whopping 1,336 pages, this Pulitzer Prize winner could last Mike all 3 months, after which point he can lend it to me. But hey, what better subject for a graffiti writer is there than the man who truly left his mark all-the-fuck-over New York?
More history:
Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation – Jeff Chang. A great read, really covers all the social movements, and goes into depth with specific albums and artists, but not too clinical. Sent him my own copy.
and naturally
Penthouse. This issue is from 2002, after they made the jump to hardcore (and peeing) back in ’98.
OK Mike, hope you enjoy these page-turners. I’ll expect a full report once you’re back on the streets.
Want to send stuff to Mike? Do it thusly:
Michael Baca (B&C: 1410720441)
1600 Hazen St.
East Elmhurst, NY, 11370
(here is a big list of shit you can’t send to inmates.)
COMMENTS
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I think it’s great that you are mailing books to someone in jail, but Penthouse magazine is degrading to women. The message seems to be that helping one male in jail is enough of an excuse/justification to simultaneously promote and support the objectification of the entire female gender. Yay sexism! Remind me again how many women are involved with fffff.at?
shut up.
(I was kind of wondering how long it would take before FAT got called out on its lack of womens. While I do agree that it would be nice to get some women who are making cool shit down on the fat crew, this website has been up for like what, 3 weeks? We get nervous when we talk to girls, so it might take some time.)
Anyways, I think you need to take me up on the sexism issue before you go accusing all of fffff.at because I chose what to put in the package. I don’t know if you think that Penthouse or just pornography in general is degrading to women, but either way I disagree. I’ve never been to jail, but spending an extended period of time completely cut off from the female gender, I think that I would like to have some sort of outlet for sexual tension.
If you have any alternative publications or information, I’d encourage you to send it Mike’s way.