First Taco Walk, now 1 Night Stand. It's not derogatory to suggest that no idea is safe from being hijacked by Develop New Albany.

The reason why I don't write fiction is that real life is endlessly bizarre, so let's take a look at the next purloined event from the foot-shot specialists. It's called 1 Night Stand, and if this term sounds weirdly familiar to you, keep reading.

The 1 Night Stand originated in 2009 as an idea minted by Jala Miller, a civic-minded private citizen. She proceeded to organize a sequel, or maybe two, before the notion ran its course.

Now DNA is bringing back an event that wasn't ever their intellectual property to begin with, though as we've seen so depressingly with the Taco Walk (are various walks and crawls the only thing these people can think to do?), no one at DNA seems bothered much by the blatant pilferage, and elected officials merely shrug.

Details
We’re excited to be bringing back the 1 Night Stand! This is an event that was held in Downtown years ago and we’re looking forward to reviving it. This will be a Downtown New Albany Pub Crawl. Participants will pre-purchase a wristband with drink tickets along with a t-shirt and on the day of the event, will choose where to spend their drink tickets at participating locations. We anticipate this being a big draw to Downtown during the summer and a fun event showcasing our local bar/restaurants. Any questions please email developnainfo@gmail.com or message us on Facebook. Any derogatory comments will be deleted.

Boy oh boy, those last lines: "Any questions please email developnainfo@gmail.com or message us on Facebook. Any derogatory comments will be deleted."

Our vanguard of Gahanesque party planning expertise is getting a bit touchy, don't you think? And yet, I persist, safe in the knowledge that my question wasn't derogatory, and if I asked it via e-mail, it would be ignored like all the previous ones have been.

Did the founder give explicit permission for the name to be used, or was it another instance of intellectual property appropriation? DNA has a past, folks.

A week has passed, and guess what?

No answer.

The Green Mouse tells me another local event organizer was planning on staging precisely such a pub crawl reprise later this summer, and actually asked and received permission from Jala, the founder, only to be usurped by the mayor's preferred monopolists.

My advice to all and sundry: if you have a great idea for a community event, keep it a secret. The very walls have ears -- and grubby, grasping fingers.

Here's the story of the original 1 Night Stand from NA Confidential on August 5, 2009.

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"NA 1 Night Stand," a pub crawl, coming to downtown New Albany on August 29.

When first we heard from Jala Miller, she was moving into her new apartment in the building that houses Studio's Grille & Pub in downtown New Albany. Shortly thereafter, we were introduced, and I heard her idea for a downtown pub crawl, something that would being attention to the many new establishments coming to downtown New Albany.

Most important to me is her view of the demographics involved (her words):

To make this event a success – it is important that everyone “looks at the big picture”. The goal of this beer walk is to get the younger generation to want to visit New Albany “as a whole” – to make it a destination similar to that of Bardstown Road. In order for this to happen, the bars participating will need to be excited about it!

Jala has the plan together, and here are preliminary details. I concede that the date coinciding with Brew at the (Louisville) Zoo is inconvenient, but to be truthful, summer weekends tend to be booked from May through October in recent years. NABC will be participating in "NA 1 Night Stand" in a yet-to-be-determined fashion, hopefully with an outdoor party to serve as the trial run for similar events coming in September and October.

Event: The NA 1 Night Stand -- "Check 'em all before you fall"
What: Festival
Start Time: Saturday, August 29 at 3:00 p.m.
End Time: Sunday, August 30 at 12:00 a.m.
Where: Downtown New Albany

Description:

"The 'NA 1 Night Stand' is a one day welcome or reintroduction to downtown NA and all of the redevelopment that has been taking place. Join us on August 29th for a 'Beer Walk' different than anything NA has ever seen. Beer Olympics sign in begins at 3:00pm at Steinert's.

"Participating establishments will be featuring drink specials, food specials, and other attractions such as live music throughout the entire event day. Raffle prizes will be awarded throughout the day thanks to many local sponsors!"

Comments to city council: "Let’s talk about Develop New Albany’s second edition of the Taco Walk."

Let's all eat at Israel's Delicias de Mexico Gourmet on Saturday, May 19.

Today is the second iteration of the Taco Walk, now a "signature" Develop New Albany event, and accordingly, non-agenda public speaking time at Thursday's city council meeting was devoted to reading the following summary, which also has been sent to the city clerk for inclusion in the official minutes of the meeting. 

This way, in the absence of public dialogue (and with the newspaper predictably AWOL), at least there's a permanent record of sorts. We're hoping nothing happens today to compel revisiting this topic -- at least until next year. 

Of course, DNA might begin to show responsiveness to reality by removing the sombrero from the "official" event poster, but even this lies beyond the organization's ability. 

It's sad. Very, very sad.

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COMMENT TO CITY COUNCIL DURING NON-AGENDA SPEAKING TIME, THURSDAY 17 MAY 2018

Let’s talk about Develop New Albany’s second edition of the Taco Walk, coming this Saturday (May 19).

There are two fundamental problems, neither of which the organization has been willing to address openly – although let me tell you, I’ve tried, but in New Albany, the anchor seal of approval apparently means never having to answer e-mails, admit errors, say you’re sorry or turn mistakes into useful teaching tools – which is what should be happening here if we can just un-circle the wagons.

First, cultural appropriation, which is defined as “a concept dealing with the adoption of the elements of a minority culture by members of the dominant culture. It is distinguished from equal cultural exchange due to the presence of a colonial element and imbalance of power.”

As for imbalances, the most recent numbers show that the population of New Albany is 85% White, 8% African-American and 3% Hispanic/Latino.

So, Taco Walk was brought to DNA in 2017 by a citizen volunteer named Kelly Winslow, as a way of showcasing any and all downtown restaurants willing to fashion a taco, without reference to ethnicity, including Japanese tacos, vegan tacos, fudge tacos or any other creative flourish.

As it turns out, local memories are short. In 2015, then-president James Ramsey of the University of Louisville was photographed with university administrative workers dressed to party in sombreros, serapes and fake mustaches. There was a tremendous scandal, and the university was compelled to apologize.

Less than two years later, DNA’s brain trust repeated Ramsey’s mistake, with the governing committee itself, minus Winslow (the volunteer, who was horrified) bringing sombreros and maracas to Taco Walk, then adding the creative twist of parading through the streets while singing the Frito Bandito corn chip theme song, and posing for photos in the News and Tribune – which also failed to notice what was happening.

Really? Do any of them pay attention to internet essays each year during Cinco de Mayo warning against bad behavior?

By the way, the Frito Bandito song was written by a New York City ad agency in the late 1960s. There’s nothing Mexican about it. There are good reasons to wear a sombrero, but cultural appropriation is when you borrow the symbols and use them to reinforce a stereotype, which in this instance is the view that while Mexicans are happy napping while using a sombrero as shade, and rising from their naps to sing and dance, it’s unlikely they’ll do any useful work – and this, as most of us should know by now, is really, really dumb.

I’m hoping that DNA’s brain trust knows better than to stage a minstrel show in blackface, or have a wet t-shirt contest, or indulge in preening lisping stereotyping of gay Americans of the sort that used to be Hollywood caricatures, and if they know better in these cases, then the sombrero-wearing, maraca-shaking misbehavior should be left to the ticket-buying public; if Joe Six Pack wants to make a complete fool out of himself, fine, but DNA itself shouldn’t encourage it.

The second issue has to do with Winslow, who brought the idea to DNA in the first place, thinking she’d found an organization to partner with, but was very disappointed in the way Taco Walk went down. She decided to take her idea and decline further participation, to which DNA said nope, it’s ours now.

It may not have been intellectual property rights enforced by written contract, but if you ask me, that’s still thievery. From where I’m sitting DNA has been bullying and trolling Winslow ever since, and I’m not the only one who’s noticed it.

I’d like to ask at what point this organization, which I believe still receives a funding tithe each year from the city, is held accountable for matters like these – like cultural appropriation and infringement of intellectual property rights, or is it fine so long as that mayoral anchor seal of approval is hanging around their necks?

Last year, seeing a Taco Walk board member wearing a sombrero, shaking maracas and singing the Frito Bandito song made one employee of a downtown eatery cry.

When does DNA apologize, not just to her, but to us all?

Thank you.

C'mon, DNA: The time has come. A fact's a fact. Taco Walk belongs to her. Why not give it back?

Going into 2018, Develop New Albany has two huge unresolved issues to address pertaining to the Taco Walk last August.

One of these is DNA's encouragement of cultural appropriation during the event, which refers to sombreros, maracas and the Frito Bandito -- or, Mexican, Latina/o, Chicana/o, "Hispanic," Mexican-American, and Latin American stereotyping.

Tacky acts of cultural appropriation simply were not necessary for the success of the Taco Walk, which was intended to be a celebration of the restaurant community and a showcase for downtown. Needless to say, since August, people around the country have lost their jobs for less. I'm not suggesting a purge, but open public dialogue is needed most of all.

The second issue is DNA's blatant expropriation of intellectual property afterward. Simply stated, the idea for the Taco Walk was brought to DNA by Kelly Ott Winslow, a community-minded volunteer outside the organization, and now, in essence, the idea has been stolen from her -- and this is intolerable.

Why do I keep pounding this drum?

If only in part, because DNA is the recipient of taxpayer dollars. They're given to DNA each year by Jeff Gahan, and so he (along with mayors before him) shares responsibility in ensuring the money is spent responsibly. In the case of Taco Walk in 2017, it wasn't.

That's a problem.

Good, bad or indifferent, DNA's non-profit status does not exclude the organization from answering legitimate questions like these. Time and again, we see that stonewalling behind closed doors is New Albany's major problem, not its desired solution.

There is a simple way to resolve the situation.

To begin the New Year on a high note, the truly decent thing for Develop New Albany and Mayor Jeff Gahan to do is to say they're sorry, both for the cultural appropriation and the intellectual property violation, and to give the Taco Walk back to whom it belongs, although I'm forever mindful of that old Biblical observation about a camel and the eye of the needle.

First this. Then we have the open, above board discussion about cultural appropriation. There is no reason why this cannot be resolved satisfactorily.

Basic human decency, guys. I know you can do it.

It's not about me or my pen.

It's about doing the right thing.

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Recently:

DNA's and the newspaper's masks ... or, thoughts occasioned by an excellent essay called "Meet the man who hides behind a mask."

GREEN MOUSE SAYS: We keep trying to ask DNA about the Taco Walk, and DNA keeps making like Jeff Gahan on the down low.

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2017 TACO WALK LINKS

Aug 19

Who'd have guessed? William Anthony Nericcio's "aggressive, relentless, and, at times, pathological interrogation of Mexican, Latina/o, Chicana/o, "Hispanic," Mexican-American, and Latin American stereotypes."

Aug 15

Taco Walk teaching tools: Time for DNA to stand up, step forward and begin learning AND teaching about cultural appropriation.

Aug 15

Commentary: Cultural Appropriation Is, In Fact, Indefensible

Aug 13

James "U of L" Ramsey, sombreros, stereotypes and DNA's institutional legacy of tone deafness.

Aug 13

A message from Mayor Gahan.

Aug 12

Whether DNA gets a penny, $5,000 or $100,000 from City Hall, it is obliged to be transparent about its activities and expenditures.

Aug 11

Let's all eat at Israel's Delicias de Mexico Gourmet on Saturday, August 12.

Aug 6

Meat Loaf Is the Answer, Part 1: Local food culture presupposes local culture. Popeyes, anyone?

Aug 6

Meat Loaf Is the Answer, Part 2: Let's come together over meat loaf.

Aug 6

Meat Loaf Is the Answer, Part 3: A brief postscript to yesterday's Taco, Broccoli and Lutefisk Walk reference.

Aug 5

Develop New Albany's Broccoli Walk is August 12. What? Oops, sorry -- it's a Taco Walk.

Branding mud-struck: Why did the city of New Albany steal Anchor Brewing's seal?

There's a definite resemblance. Maybe the legal department should have looked a bit closer before anchoring the city to a new "branding mechanism."

We receive comments, like this one here: Seals, branding mechanisms and a city anchored into place by sheer dullness of bureaucratic intent.

It's sadly fitting they've chosen an anchor as a graphic representation of the city. An anchor fixes a potentially moving object to a place. It gets stuck in the mud and silt and keeps things from moving. That's why it's called an anchor.

This is not a "marketing piece", a "branding image" - it's not a progressive symbol, it doesn't imply a growing and vital city. An anchor? Who designed this?

This is "marketing" just like offering seven MILLION dollars to Pillsbury AFTER they said they they were leaving - that wasn't a "plan to attract businesses to the city" either. Too little and much, much too late.

And another by e-mail.

In going through files recently, I noticed that the city's new "branding logo" has replaced the old city seal on mundane printed things such as the city sewer bill.

I'v also noticed the inclusion of the city's new "branding logo" on the new street signs.

Questions abound:

1) How can the city seal be changed without public discussion and vote by council?

2) Why wasn't someone with real graphic design experience used to create versions of the logo that could be easily seen at various distances or in various uses?

The artwork is much too "thin" and confusing when seen in reverse, at a distance on street signs.

Who designed it, why and at whose request? Was a fee paid?

Sorry, but these questions are disallowed. After all, the new un-seal, as appended to metal and stone objects all across town, is temporary. Only permanent features may be questioned.

But if you persist, try sending smoke signals to the Bored of Works.