Blocks & Lots: An HP parody of Rihanna's S&M

What I did instead of paper research, sigh :

Na na na na

Bushwick

Na na na na

Bushwick

Na na na na na

Bushwick

Na na na na

Bushwick, Bushwick, Bushwick

Na na na na

Bushwick

Na na na na

Bushwick

Na na na na na

Bushwick

Na na na na

Bushwick, Bushwick, Bushwick

Na na na na

Feels so good at the DOB (Oh oh oh oh oh)

There's no way I won’t come back (Oh oh oh oh oh)

Now the files are my pleasure cause the dates we couldn’t measure (Oh oh oh oh oh)

HP is great, HP is fine (Oh oh oh oh oh)

Out the archive, outta time (Oh oh oh oh oh)

The addiction of the records leaves me wanting more (Oh oh oh oh oh)

Cause I may be dirty, but I'm perfectly fine with it

Dust in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it

Bricks and slate may be out of date

But NBs and Alts excite me

Cause I may be dusty, but I'm perfectly fine with it

Mold in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it

Vinyl and siding I may hate

But blocks and lots excite me

Na na na na

Bushwick, Bushwick, Bushwick

I like it-like it

Bushwick, Bushwick, Bushwick

I like it-like it

Bushwick, Bushwick, Bushwick

I like it-like it (Na na na)

Bushwick, Bushwick, Bushwick

I like it-like it

NY is great, NY is fine (Oh oh oh oh oh)

Out of info, outta files (Oh oh oh oh oh)

The addiction to finding leaves me wanting more (Oh oh oh oh oh)

Cause I may be nerdy, but I'm perfectly fine with it

Asbestos in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it

Plaster and putty lose their integrity

But stone and wood excite me

Na na na na

Bushwick, Bushwick, Bushwick

I like it-like it

Bushwick, Bushwick, Bushwick

I like it-like it (Na na na)

Bushwick, Bushwick, Bushwick

I like it-like it

Bushwick, Bushwick, Bushwick

I like it-like it

Blocks & Lots

Blocks & Lots

Oh, I love the history you give to me, oh, you turn me on

It's exactly what I've been learning for, give it to me strong

And meet me in the library, make my mind say ah ah ah

I like it-like it

Cause I may be geeky, but I'm perfectly fine with it

Dirt in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it

Real estate records may make me confused

But census lists excite me

Cause I may be dorky, but I'm perfectly fine with it

Old in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it

Class and school may make me snooze

But CAD and maps excite me

Na na na na

Bushwick, Bushwick, Bushwick

I like it-like it

Bushwick, Bushwick, Bushwick

I like it-like it (Na na na)

Bushwick, Bushwick, Bushwick

I like it-like it

Bushwick, Bushwick, Bushwick

I like it-like it

Blocks & Lots

Blocks & Lots

Blocks & Lots

Blocks & Lots

I Don't Wanna Go to Class-A parody of the late Amy Winehouse's Rehab

For those of us just waiting until Christmas break....

They tried to make me go to class and I said no no no

Yes, I am resting but when it comes to testing I know know know

I ain’t got the time if my grades are still fine

They tried to make me go to class I won’t go go go

I'd rather be on my couch

I ain’t got five days a week

Cause there’s nothing, there’s nothing you can teach me

I can’t learn from Wikipedia

Didn’t get a lot from school

But I know I ain’t no fool

They tried to make me go to lab, I said no no no

Yes, I am fine and when I get mine you’ll know know know

I ain’t got the time if the answers are online

They tried to make me go to lab I won’t go go go

The teacher said, “Why do you think you’re here?”

I said, “I need a degree”

So I can, so I can make some money

I always keep my resume near

He said, “I just think you’re a slacker”

This me, “Yeah, but I’m doing my best”

They tried to make me go to lecture I said no no no

Yes, it's not fair, but I just don't care you know know know

I don’t ever wanna think again

I just, ohhh, need to pass

I’m not gonna spend the months

Have everyone think I’m a fool

And it’s not a long wait

It’s just until they let me graduate

They tried to make me go to school and I said no no no

Yes, I could try but when I am fly you’ll know know know

I ain’t got the time if my thesis is still fine

They tried to make me go to school I won’t go go go

Gunfights

I'm quick to the draw and I'm quick to the punch
In a gun fight I'll always draw first
I shoot from the hip
I don't wait for the count
There's always a choice
And the choice is made for me
In a gun fight I'll always draw first

They don't call me Calamity Jane
They don't say get your gun, Annie Oakley
They shut up their doors
And they lock up their whores
So their men don't get caught in the fire

I'm quick to the draw and I'm quick to the punch
In a gun fight I'll always draw first
I shoot from the hip
I don't wait for the count
There's always a choice
And the choice is made for me
In a gun fight I'll always draw first

They don't call me Calamity Jane
They don't say get your gun, Annie Oakley
They shovel and they dig
And they bury the bodies
And in their whispers they wish me to hell

This is Preservation

Abstract from the Paper “This is My Land”

In the summer of 2010, activist Rolando Briseño led a group of four actors in setting up an upside-down statue of San Antonio in front of the Alamo in what he called the “Flippin’ San Alamo Fiesta: Cultural Adjustment Performance.”[1] TexasMonthly reported that the upside down statue is part of a Catholic tradition that symbolizes prayer. However, the action could have an even stronger interpretation—some believe that an upside-down talisman of San Antonio has the power to return lost items.[2] And, indeed, Briseño would like to see the restoration of a positive Mexican American role in Alamo history. His goal is to “reconceptualize the Alamo as a space for celebrating the confluences of cultures—Native American, African, Mexican, and Anglo—rather than as a shrine to Anglo dominance”.

In the purest sense, historic preservation is not about rewriting history, but about preserving what’s there already. However, as issues of culture and heritage are highlighted in our increasingly diverse society, preservationists may have to become comfortable with the broadening definition of their jobs. We are starting to ask are we just preserving for the sake of preservation, if not, then why? As students of historic preservation, we are taught to read a building, but we should also become comfortable with restructuring that history. Not in the sense that we can make physical alterations, but in the sense that we are not afraid to challenge the traditional authorized heritage discourse in order to tell a more nuanced story, even in sites of controversy. Through interpretation we become historians; we must be responsible with the history we tell.

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[1] Silva, Elda “Turning culture on its head.” San Antonio Express-News, K.5. June 13, 2010. Retrieved December 12, 2010, from ProQuest National Newspapers Premier.

[2] “Invoking the Saints with Talismans and Other Amulets.” Unhealthy Devotions. 2008 http://www.unhealthydevotions.com/new-age/invoking-saints-with-talismans-amulets.htm