Joel Schalit

Into the Valley

On Sunday October 10th, I’ll be speaking about  Israel vs. Utopia at the Thames Valley Limmud in Reading, England. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to attend a Limmud event, in either the US or the UK, they’re really something else. I’m thrilled to have been invited to participate.

It’s been eighteen months since we first made our move to Milano from London. Though I’ve passed through Heathrow several times, I haven’t had the chance to go into town and catch up with any of my friends. Here’s to a short, albeit fascinating trip to one of my all-time favorite places.

California Highway Patrol

En route home from Berlin this morning, on Autobahn 6, we got stuck in a traffic jam. An hour north of Stuttgart, traffic came to a complete stop. For at least ten kilometers, or so we were told, nobody was moving.

An hour into our ordeal, I got out of the car and started taking pictures. Four automobiles in front of us were two camouflaged US military vehicles. One was a tanker, the other, what looked like a troop transport.

“Where are you guys from?” I asked two GIs, loitering outside their vehicle. Stunned by the question, as though on command, they both answered in unison, “California.” “Me too,” I replied. “San Francisco.”

“Transatlantic Deodorant Commercial”

It was the first thing that came to mind, as I saw this image flash across the TV screen. Standing on the platform at Stuttgart’s central station, I was waiting for a train take me to the airport, where I was to begin the first leg of a trip to the US.

Life Sized

He may be small. However, I’d be hard pressed to find an American who didn’t feel diminished these days. Freeport, Maine, 9/11.

Theory of Labor

Waiting for a basket of shrimp and fries. Freeport, Maine, September 11.

It’s Official

In two hours time, my big sister is to marry her longtime partner,  John Christie. Check out this fabulous wedding announcement in Sunday’s New York Times.

One-Way Street

All roads lead to the Frankfurt School. Walter Benjamin, in Strasbourg.

Less well-known, but no less important. Max Horkheimer, in Stuttgart.

Consider Yourself Sampled

For nearly a decade, Courtney Utt has designed my book and CD jackets, and has worked for me as a freelancer everywhere from Asphodel to Tikkun. When I was helping launch PM Press, I brought Court aboard to help design their initial titles, as well as assist with branding.

One of the most memorable jacket designs Courtney supervised was for Staughnton Lynd and Andrej Grubacic‘s wildly popular Wobblies and Zapatistas. Imagine our surprise when, showing Court around Berlin, we found these flyers, using the book’s cover, advertising a Die Linke event.

It’s a real tribute to Courtney’s art direction that, half a world away, the San Francisco-based designer would discover an event hosted by Germany’s most significant progressive political party, relying upon her work. Here’s to seeing more appropriations like this in the future.

Pardon My French

For French speakers, it’s a common English phrase. For everyone else, anti-Sarkozy graffiti. Théâtre National, Strasbourg, September 5th.

Contextualizing Islamophobia

A case study of the ties binding Europe’s most iconographic racisms. On Bundesbank executive Thilo Sarrazin, for France 24.