Real Photos from the Streets of Dayton, Ohio - 01-09-07

Somewhere near Edison Street in
West Dayton if I recall correctly.

Heading home for the holidays
off of Kilmer Avenue.

The view on Great Miami Blvd.
heading towards either downtown or
Interstate 75 South.

Abandoned house, the last one standing on
that side of the street on Grand Ave., just
east of Grandview Hospital.

While on the other side of the street, beautiful
historical homes stand intact.

Five Oaks Methodist Church on the corner
of Grand and Forest is spectacular.

Da' Wing Shop on Hoover Ave. is Da'Closed.

Man waits for the bus at the corner of
Shaw and Forest Avenue.

Looking down Forest Ave at the intersection
of Grand, stands a spectacular and grandiose
reminder of American greatness no longer
duplicated, only replicated.

Heading into Five Oaks though, the greatness is
quickly deteriorating, as this abandoned home
on the corner of Five Oaks and Richmond tell
the tale of.

The oft-graffitied building at the corner of
Delaware and Richmond warn the neighborhood
to stay away from the genetalia of whoever "Tay-Tay"
is, lest you catch H.I.V. Why do you never see or hear
public service announcements this brutally honest?

On the other corner of Richmond and Five Oaks,
we can see the legacy of the gated community
that residents of the hysterial drug war generation
have left us with, giant metal trash collectors at
the end of many streets.

At the corner of Niagra and Wheatly,
this giant structure left for junkies to
squat in is a common nomenclature of
the general environment.

Motorcycle clubs are FLOURISHING in Dayton,
which has a lot to do with the suburbanization
and corporatization of the whole biker thing. This
old club on the corner of Rosedale and James H.
McGee appears to be driving on strong.

There is no more decrepid atmosphere than
d8n in the wet pre-wintertime. Bus riders wait
for RTA on Wayne near Keowee.

Heading down Norman Ave. is humbling. You can
feel the vibrancy of the past crashing down to
the reality of the present with every single
home that goes into foreclosure. Dayton is one
of America's top cities for foreclosure rates.

Finally, on a brighter note, my band, drexel, played with
a FABULOUS musical outfit this past Friday night in
Newport, Ky. - Tornado Trousers.

Tornado Trousers is a huge outfit of guitarists,
harmonicas, drums, a jug percussionist and
backup singer, as well as a lead singer who lies on the
floor singing his darndest through a hollowed
out washing machine that has been mic'd.

They sing hilariously real songs like "Freddy
Fender Bender" and too many more to name.
They are definately on my "positive cultural developments" list.


The lead washing machine gets ready to rock and roll.

I think this picture truly exemplfies the music of
Tornado Trousers.


Clean, Clean harmonies.

Check out Tornado Trousers at:

http://www.myspace.com/tornadotrousers