Happy Birthday Bill Burroughs
February 5, 1914, was the birth day of William Seward Burroughs Jr. For the rest of this piece he will be known as WSB. This is both a handy abbreviation, as well as a touch of irony for Atlanta readers. WSB radio is a 50k watt clear channell am station, owned by the same media oligarchs that own the fishwrapper and channel two. The radio tv clusterfuck has long been the symbol of Peachtree Street white column respectability. Just to be clear/queer, from here on out in this feature WSB will mean a certain junkie writer, not welcome south brother.
This is a good day for birthdays. Hank Aaron in 1934. Adlai Stevenson in 1900. Peg Entwhistle in 1908. The last one lived until 1932, when she jumped off the Hollywoodland sign.
A well thought of radio institution called “This American Life” has a show this week, Burroughs101. Actually, there is a class by that name, and there will be an exam at the end of the semester. The show is narrated by Iggy Pop. It begins with a warning. “A warning. The following program contains references to homosexuality, drug use, sex with aliens, violence, and kitty cats. What did you expect?” The show was originally cobbled together by the BBC, which might explain things a bit.
Iggy Pop did a show at the 688 club. PG was in the audience. A man named Ivan Kral was in the band. When Mr. Kral came on stage, he blew his nose, and a white powder booger came out. The performance was not so much a concert as it was an endurance test.
The show has the lazy bloggers friend, the transcript. There are some lovely quotes. This show is not going to candy coat the bastard. This is a man who shot his wife while playing William Tell, and got away with it. As one non admirer says “I don’t just take the Burroughs myth with a pinch of salt. I view it as a unpleasant slug crawling across the lawn of literature. And I like to pour salt on it.”
Or this one. “Having used heroin yourself– I think used is a bit of an understatement. I was a heroin addict on and off for pushing a quarter of a century. For myself, I find the whole Burroughs myth pretty repulsive, actually. Because I understand what happened to me. I was an addict in waiting. I got my form prize or my English prize at The Naked Lunch. And a year and a half later, I was sticking needles in my arm. … You could be lying in some pestilential piss-soaked squat in the bowels of the city listening to some moron totaled on drugs drooling on and talking about Burroughs, because Burroughs was their Leon Trotsky. He was their Archbishop of Canterbury. He was the Pope. “
One of the questions of the early eighties was whether or not WSB was shooting up. Forget the nonsense about there not being any old junkies. Supposedly Ray Charles never really quit using heroin. So, in 1981, WSB was living somewhere in Manhattan, and it was a right of passage to go to the bunker and take heroin to him. Since he was the star, he used the needle first, which was an important distinction in those days … hiv did not have a name but was running wild through the junkie veins and queer buttholes of Reaganite America. We don’t know if WSB got hiv or not. He made it until August 2, 1997, when a heart attack sent him to meet his maker. Contemporary Allen Ginsberg cashed in his chips earlier that year. In Washington, silly billy POTUS was getting knob jobs from Monica Lewinsky, who now gives TED talks by calling herself a social activist. WSB was a social activist, at a time when few would publicly admit to such a distinction.
The answer to your question is, yes, WSB was shooting dope in 1981. Somebody saw this as being an unhealthy situation, and arranged for him to move to Lawrence KS. This was his home until WSB went to live with Jesus, who was pissed because WSB didn’t bring him any smack.
So WSB was living the beat life, shooting dope, fucking boys, and just being a general mess. In his spare time he was writing books. Naked Lunch was busted for obscenity, and became his best known work. It is the first thing by WSB that PG tried to read, making it to page twenty six before declaring the endeavor a hopeless waste of brain cells.
It is not known how much of Naked Lunch Dorothy Kilgallen read. She was called as a witness during an obscenity trial for Lenny Bruce. ” …There’s another book called The Naked Lunch which I couldn’t even finish reading, but it’s published, and I think the author should be in jail and he used– Q. Unfortunately we can’t do everything at once, Miss Kilgallen. Are you judging the non-obscene quality and the artistic quality of Bruce by the fact that The Naked Lunch is a book which, as of this date, is sold in the community? A. No, I’m not. I just mentioned it because you asked me for some books. Q. And The Naked Lunch is a book you found impossible to read, is that correct? A. Yes, I found it revolting. Q. What was revolting about it? A. Just the way it was written.”
Another expert witness to testify … to a BBC reporter, not a New York courtroom … is Marcus Ewert. A Dunwoody native, Mr. Ewert took literary groupiedom to ridiculous lengths with Allen Ginsberg and WSB. “We’re getting into bed, and I’m sticking my legs down under the covers. There’s this bump that my legs feel. And I’m like, “Oh, what’s this hard thing my legs are bumping against, William?” And he said, “Oh, that’s the gun.” I said, “Is it a loaded gun?” He said, “Of course it’s loaded.” You’d sleep with a lover with a loaded gun in your bed. That’s kind of a metaphor waiting to happen.”
Mr. Marcus is now a children’s book author. An Amazon reader says this about 10,000 Dresses. “I returned mine today and was appalled as I read the story to my son before reading it to myself. Kids need to feel safe at home, especially when dealing with gender non-conformity. I wish the author would have reconcilled the reactions of the family members. It is great to have stories out there addressing gender non-conformity in kids, but we have a huge responsibility to make sure they are sending the right message.”
The death of Joan Vollmer is discussed. This is the lady who was playing William Tell one night, with fatal consequences. Some say accident, some say intentional. The word uxoricide is used, meaning the act of killing one’s wife.
The cut up technique is discussed. The show goes on to talk about how much WSB liked cats. He died, and people said nice things about him. Pictures tonight are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost. Last year, PG found an audiobook of Junky, read by Mr. Burroughs. A two part post, Junky, and Junky Part Two, was the result.
Keep Your Message
The first step for today’s exercise is to find the source of the material PG is using. This way, a link can be provided. The reader(s) can see the original material. The author, or at least the facebooker who posted the material, gets credit. To find this link, PG goes to facebook. After wading through the usual nonsense, PG determines that the post is not linkable. Here is the original:
Thanks to Don Spencer for some useful ideas: Words matter and 98% of our thoughts are unconscious. 1. Don’t use his name; 2. Remember this is a regime and he’s not acting alone; 3. Do not argue with those who support him–it doesn’t work; 4. Focus on his policies, not his orange-ness and mental state; 5. Keep your message positive; they want the country to be angry and fearful because this is the soil from which their darkest policies will grow. 6. No more helpless/hopeless talk 7. Support artists and the arts 8. Be careful not to spread fake news. Check it for yourself first. 9. Take care of yourselves; and 10. Resist! I recommend copying and pasting the content, otherwise only our mutual friends will be able to see it.
Polemic product was twitterized. 1/2take care of yourself #resist, do not spread fake news, focus on his policies not him, keep your message positive, 2/2support artists and the arts, do not worry about hypocrisy, no more helpless/hopeless talk, do not use his name do not argue. This version, without the numbers, is the text for today’s poem. An alternate edition, using capital letters when appropriate, is being considered. All caps is the work of the devil.
The first unit of background noise today is Curtis Sittenfeld Reads “The Prairie Wife”. The first five minutes are entertaining. Kirsten is a painfully modern housewife, who devours the multi media out put of Lucy Headrick, a lifestyle media monger, possibly modelled on @MarthaStewart.
@jesseberney “GOP is angry someone read a letter saying Sessions stopped black people from voting but not angry Sessions stopped black people from voting.” This is the type of internet logic that needs to stop. A few Repub senators stopped Elizabeth Warren from reading a letter by Coretta King. This is not the same as objecting to Mr. Sessions keeping black people from voting, assuming that he did. When we focus on these clever false equivalencies, the Repubs are driving America into the ground. Maybe it is the inability to make real change that causes people to whine.
Text today will be comic sans 42, with 160 gray inside and 0-160-0 green outside. The pictures will be dogs. The pictures were taken in the park last August. “The Prairie Wife” is heating up. Kirsten and Lucy had an affair when they were younger. Now that Lucy is famous, she comes out as bi … spelled buy, as in buy my books. “What if she’s carried a torch for you all this time and she looks directly at the camera and says, ‘Kirsten, please make haste to my quaint rural farmstead, pull off my muslin knickers, and lick my evangelical pussy’?”
A few minutes later “The Prairie Wife” is over. Kirsten tells husband about Lucy. Their life goes on. Lucy ignores Kirsten’s congratulatory tweet. Meanwhile, five text files have been made, and PG decides that the colors are not working. An adjustment is made: the inner color is 192 gray, and the outer is 0-96-0 green. Make inside lighter, while making the outside darker.
The meme and the poem are being enthusiastically ignored now. Dog pictures are easy to use… they are edited to have a message platform, and one size fits all.
Before long, PG was onto his next chore for the day… setting up an account with Social Security. Go to the web site, fill in the basic information, click next. “Your credit file indicates you may have a mortgage loan, opened in or around February 2011. Who is the credit provider for this account?” The answer to this is none of the above, since PG never took out a mortgage loan. “We have suspended electronic access to your personal information. We tried to match the information you provided with our records, but were unable to do so. You may try to access the electronic information again after 24 hours. Please verify your personal information again before trying to use this online service.”
The next step was to call the phone number. After dealing with an obnoxious answering machine, PG decided to wait for a call back. The lady tried to help PG set up his account, only to have the electronic access suspended every time. The next step is a visit to a local office. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
The Trial Of Lenny Bruce
Towards the end of his Booknotes chat, Nat Hentoff talked about censorship. As a journalist, his views were predictable.
Mr. HENTOFF: Any words at all. Words are–I mean, there is a great–there was a great scene in New York once when Lenny Bruce, who was a friend of mine, was on trial for his words. And Richard Cue, the assistant district attorney, was making a name for himself trying to blast all of the witnesses for the defense. And he got Dorothy Kilgallen, who was a very famous then syndicated columnist, a devout Catholic, a conservative and a great admirer of Lenny Bruce. And he con–he strung together, Cue did, all of the words in Lenny’s monologues that could be considered terribly offensive, and he hit her with them. It was a barrage. `What do you think then, Ms. Kilgallen?’ `Well,’ she said, `they’re words. They’re words. That’s all. Words.’ That’s the way I feel.
When PG heard this, he remembered reading about this trial. With the aid of Mr. Google, a transcript turned up. If you like to read about lawyers saying dirty words, this is the place for you.
Dorothy Kilgallen was, to put it mildly, a piece of work. She wrote for the N. Y. Journal American, and stepped on more than a few toes. A biography, Kilgallen, tells a few of the tales. Today, Miss Kilgallen is best known as one of the original panelists on “Whats My Line?”
The People v Lenny Bruce (Cafe Au Go Go Trial) was tried June 16, 1964 to July 28, 1964 in New York City. The Per Curium Opinion of Judge John Murtagh sets the tone. “All three performances of the defendant, Lenny Bruce, were obscene, indecent, immoral and impure within the meaning of Section 1l40-a of the Penal Law. While no tape is available as to the first performance [past midnight, March 31-April 1], this monologue, according to the testimony, was essentially the same as that of the second [April 1, after 10:00 p.m.] and third [April 7, after 10:00 p.m.] performances. In the latter two performances, words such as “ass,” “balls,” “cock-sucker,” “cunt,” “fuck,” “mother-fucker,” “piss,” “screw,” “shit,” and “tits” were used about one hundred times in utter obscenity. The monologues also contained anecdotes and reflections that were similarly obscene.
Dorothy Kilgallen was called as an “expert witness”. In lawyerly fashion, the prosecutor claimed she was not a genuine expert. After her credentials were established, there were questions like “Will you tell us what the artistry, or the social value, or the merit, or the good is, in the Bruce story of sexual intercourse with a chicken?” After the testimony described by Mr. Hentoff, Miss Kilgallen talks about something that does offend her.
Q. I wouldn’t take much time, but we did discuss before Lenny Bruce’s use of the words ‘mother fucker’ at his audience. Can you tell me when James Jones or Norman Mailer or Arthur Miller has called his audience ‘mother fucker?’
Mr. Garbus: Your Honor, may I object? We are talking about books against monologue. It’s completely an irrelevant question.
Judge Murtagh: We will allow it. Objection overruled.
A. I can’t tell you anything verbatim from the books, because I read them a couple of years ago or more. I would imagine–this would be my best guess–that they did not call their audiences anything. There’s another book called The Naked Lunch which I couldn’t even finish reading, but it’s published, and I think the author should be in jail and he used–
Q. Unfortunately we can’t do everything at once, Miss Kilgallen. Are you judging the non-obscene quality and the artistic quality of Bruce by the fact that The Naked Lunch is a book which, as of this date, is sold in the community?
A. No, I’m not. I just mentioned it because you asked me for some books.
Q. And The Naked Lunch is a book you found impossible to read, is that correct?
A. Yes, I found it revolting.
Q. What was revolting about it?
A. Just the way it was written.
Mr.Garbus: Objection, your Honor.
Judge Murtagh: Objection overruled.
A. It seemed to use words for shock value, not for any valid reason, and I object to that.
Q. And when Lenny Bruce–I ask you to turn to the April 1st tape . . . and read the portion starting–‘tits and ass, that’s what is the attraction, is just tits and ass and tits and ass’–and goes on all through the page, and ask you if you find some shock value in that?
A. No, I don’t think it’s particularly shocking, it’s just a word.. . .
Q.. Do you, in your column, use the words tits and ass?
A. Never.
Q. You know exactly what Lenny Bruce was talking about?
A. Yes. . . . I think there he’s being critical of the monotony of what is on view in Las Vegas.
Dorothy Kilgallen died November 8, 1965. Lenny Bruce died August 3, 1966. Kilgallen biographer Lee Israel was convicted of selling forged celebrity letters. Nat Hentoff died January 7, 2017. This is a repost. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. These images are Union soldiers from the War Between the States. The spell check suggestion for Kilgallen: Millennial.
35 Links
display of a link in this facility does not indicate approval of content ~ Is Your Kid ‘Gifted’? It Might Depend on His Race ~ The Immigration Ban is a Headfake, and We’re Falling For It ~ Feathers ~ Why I’ve Always Been Silent About Israel and Palestine. And Why I’m Speaking Out Now. ~ cowboy ~ How to Get Started with Google’s Free Nik Plugins for Photography ~ fool test You got 10 out of 10 answers correct! Perfect score! You are a genius! Very impressive. ~ ~ Questions Cloud Risky Raid That Killed an American Commando in Yemen ~ Donald Trump’s Blunder Down Under ~ 10 Twitter Accounts That Will Have You Woke AF ~ Cut the Crap The simple mistake you’re probably making with your knives ~ Steve Bannon’s first major play is shaping up as a full-blown fiasco ~ The Source of Bad Writing ~ ‘Black bloc’ protests return for Trump era, leaving flames, broken windows from D.C. to Berkeley ~ the thing is that we’re losing terribly ~ Why Trump’s National Prayer Breakfast speech matters ~ The LGBTQ March Will Be Intersectional or It Will Be Bullshit ~ When they go low, going high is not enough ~ Milo vs Ann Coulter on Donald Trump’s Mischievous Late-Night Tweets ~ devils advocates wise ~ 5 Ways Powerful People Trick You Into Hating Protesters ~ Anarchists, NOT Cal students, responsible for violence in UC Berkeley protests ~ What is a Black Bloc? The tactic that unleashed chaos in Berkeley ~ Specialist Generalization ~ I’m no pussy when it comes to swearing ~ picture ~ The Washington Post Walks Back Report Of Steve Bannon ‘Confrontation’ ~ oxymoron ~ Fill In the Idiom Quiz ~ The Mythic School of the Mountain: Black Mountain College ~ Can We Guess Your Age By the Words You Use? ~ historic racists ~ The Highway Hit List ~ You Can’t Kill Racism With Kindness ~ In Trump’s Washington, Nothing Feels Stable ~ ‘Trump is setting us free:’ White supremacists celebrate reports that Trump will dial down scrutiny ~ @realDonaldTrump Only 109 people out of 325,000 were detained and held for questioning. Big problems at airports were caused by Delta computer outage,….. protesters and the tears of Senator Schumer. Secretary Kelly said that all is going well with very few problems. MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN! ~ 1/3 Now, the old motivator is being trotted out. If you are silent in the face of evil, you aid the oppressor. Or something like that. 2/3 What this chestnut doesn’t say is that maybe the evil you are reacting to is a fake out powers that be want you to react to over react 3/3 They can then continue to do what they intended. It is time to be smart. When you are goaded into foolish action, you are complicit. ~ @BernieSanders We should be looking for guidance now not from pollsters and political consultants, but from leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. @chamblee54 @BernieSanders please take your own advice and shut up you have caused enough damage @commonsense quit looking at twitter and get to work ~ I am always skeptical when someone says what they are going to do. I would be interested in seeing how this plays out. ~ Welcome to Bitch Media! Get snappy feminist news & analysis straight from Bitch to your inbox: Sign up for our Weekly Reader! ~ I just got a wrong number phone call. The voice asked if my wife was there. I said hello again, and there was a clicking sound. Then I heard the caller say that the called said hello again, and hung up. A woman then spoke. She said it was because you sound so fucking weird. Then the line went dead. ~ just who was in crowd rioting over #MiloYiannopoulos was it govt rabble rousers working crowd to incite a riot, that they blame on libruls? ~ i suspect a government/right wing agent provocateur was involved in the #UCBerkeldyRiot something is fishy about this ~ Drumpf Brunch ~ I would like to know more about the event last night. CNN reports says “The university blamed “150 masked agitators” for the unrest, saying they had come to campus to disturb an otherwise peaceful protest. … At least six people were injured. Some were attacked by the agitators — who are a part of an anarchist group known as the “Black Bloc” that has been causing problems in Oakland for years, said Dan Mogulof, UC Berkeley spokesman. ” Why were these people there? Was it a republican false flag operation to discredit the resistance? Why are people paying attention to that idiot Milo Y ? BTW, Milo already has a book deal with Simon &Schuster. This whole thing is fishy. ~ sorry, had to delete your post. No links to his coverage and don’t even want to see his name to be funneled into some algorithm. ~ I would like to know more about the event last night. Some reports say it was “150 masked agitators” that caused the violence. Who were these people? Why were these people there? Was it a republican false flag operation to discredit the resistance? Why are people paying attention to that idiot ? BTW, %^&* already has a book deal with Simon &Schuster. This whole thing is fishy. ~ @guardian calling people racist is not going high left should lose it sense of moral superiority and realize that they do awful things too ~ 404 Unfortunately, the page you are looking for does not exist. ~ Conway Twitty wants to record that ~ There is a song about Donald Trump coming out. Orange Wisconsin. ~ The demoze campaign strategy of calling everyone else a racist did not work. ~ the original ending to deep throat had linda lovelace saying she needs nine inches the man asked if he should cut four off ~ @NateSilver538 to paraphrase Oscar Wilde @Nordstrom & cynics know cost of everything and value of nothing ~ @WernerTwertzog Interviews are important for ascertaining which feigned personality you wish to hire. ~ @twitler Mi capacidad pulmonar está directamente relacionada con mis pulmones – My lung capacity is directly related to my lungs ~ @dark_shark “A reliable sign of an impoverished nature is the seeking of fault in others.” – Robert Fripp #KingCrimson #guitarist ~ luculent is an antonym of itself unlike pedantic, an adjective that describes itself ~ But isn’t a contronym/contranym a word that is an antonym of itself (auto-antonym) by definition? ~ @Budweiser Official Bud tweets are for people 21+ only. We can’t talk to you until you follow us and verify that you are over 21. ~ How much did @Budweiser pay @BreitbartNews for the endorsement? #BoycottBudweiser ~ @mtaibbi People like Sasse and John McCain will be important in the inevitable constitutional showdown over executive power. ~ pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. ~ selah
Bathtubs In The US Capitol
Two days ago, 99invisible posted a show, The Bathtubs or the Boiler Room . It seems as though an NPR reporter likes to go places she is not supposed to be in. In the basement of the US Capitol, she found a bathtub, carved out of a chunk of Italian marble.
“The bathtubs were installed around 1860 during the expansion of the Capitol. DC is known for its swampy summers, and legend has it that senators could be banished from the chamber if they were too smelly. But lawmakers—like most Americans at the time—didn’t have indoor plumbing at home. They needed a place where they could wash up. So, the Architect of the Capitol ordered six marble bath tubs, each three by seven feet and carved by hand in Italy, to be installed in the Capitol basement—three on the House side, three on the senate.”
The tubs were imported from Italy, and sent to the port of Baltimore. They arrived just in time for the War Between The States. They were quite a luxurious item. Today, they are forgotten, surrounded by HVAC machines, with one covered with plywood and file cabinets.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
Dangerous People
It is another saturday morning. Wake up, take medicine, eat breakfast, drink coffee, and consider the possibilities for the day. PG has been on a poetry binge lately. It is best to keep the momentum up. There is always material to be adapted.
There were a few paragraphs on facebook about the question of violence in protest. The other night, a few people in Berkely CA decided to greet Milo Haircut to their campus. Some “black bloc” troublemakers showed up, and did their thing. Is Milo so bad that the disruption was justified? Was black bloc played? If so, who was pulling the strings? Where does this leave us in the 045 regime? Inuiring minds want to know.
After a few trips to facebook and twitter, the rant was sawed into bite sized chunks. This will work nicely as text for today’s pictures. This poem does not have the performance appeal of sonnets about butt sex, but will do for today. When other poems are combined into a performance piece, today’s product might add flavor to the soup.
Maybe the best way to be creative is through font selection. A while back, PG took an image/text combination, and produced 28 versions of it in different fonts. There is surprisingly little variety. There is serif, and sans serif. There are fat letters, and skinny letters. Courier is spread out, and a bit complacent. Impact, the all caps weapon of choice for facebook, is beyond tacky. PG has been using candara, for sans serif, and cambria, for serif. The other option is faux cursive segoe. Maybe comic can be put into play, just to piss off any graphic geeks who wander in.
A twitter account posted a picture. The comment is “no, we can’t always “just agree to disagree.” The picture says, in all caps, “we can disagree and still love each other, unless, your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.” This is credited to “Robert Jones.” A google search leads to a rant based on the quote. “Note: this piece has been updated. The quote at the beginning of this piece, which we originally attributed to James Baldwin, is actually from Robert Jones, Jr, who goes by @SonofBaldwin, and who gave us permission to use his words.” The quote is pinned atop his twitter page, @SonofBaldwin.
Lets break this down. We can disagree, unless your disagreement *is rooted in* my oppression, AND denial of my humanity AND right to exist. There are a few weasel words there. What does “rooted in” mean? This is a botanical term, and just might with animals. Especially those high functioning mammals, whose brains produce opinions, and then fight over whose opinions have the most truth. This root structure is connected joined to three items. Is non acceptance of disagreement mandated only when all three conditions are met?
The condition that catches PG’s eye here is “denial of my humanity.” Many people like to fight racism through name calling. Is labeling someone racist a denial of their humanity? Once you other someone by pinning a derogatory label on them, they become less human. That is not my neighbor, that is a racist. I can do anything I want to that person, and it is ok, because he is a racist and he deserves it. Is this denial of my humanity?
Maybe it is time to go basic with the poem. Font will be comic sans, size 38. Inner color is 192 gray, with a 0-96-0 green border. The pictures will be railroad graffiti, photographed 04-19-2016. If the train had stopped the next day, the pictures would have been 04-20. It is time to turn off the internet, and focus on the product. The soundtrack will be RISK #816.
The desire to give credit, where perhaps debit is more appropriate, sent PG to the internet in search of the link listed above. While there, it shouldn’t hurt to look at twitter, now will it? This leads to the discovery of a delightful waste of time, I’m no pussy when it comes to swearing. A british article about swearing! And in the first paragraph is the word of the month. “…More bluntly: once, telling someone to “fuck off” suggested they had probably bashed you round the head, swindled you out of a fortune, robbed your sweetheart from beneath your nose. Now, they probably just pushed in front of you in the queue for a wankerccino.”
Pussy has always been a strange word to use for a weak person. Vaginas are built to take a pounding, and then deliver a human being. This point was not made in this otherwise erudite consideration. Cunt…. used in England much like asshole in America… gets into play here. “Cunt, or be cunted” is a splendid expression, even if the meaning, and application, are a bit fuzzy.
RISK is a story telling show, usually with 3-4 tellers. The first performer in today’s show is Donna Edwards. Her father said she was a late bloomer. She thought this meant her penis would arrive soon. One day at school, her first period came. Fortunately, her church happy grandmother told her the truth about being a woman.
Dave Kendall is the second storyteller. He was burned badly as a child, and had a long stay in the hospital. Eventually, he got to go home, and was sort of normal. The third story has a lot of comments. It must be controversial. PG thinks it best to listen first, and then see what other people want him to think. Thinking for yourself can be a luxury.
Randall Robinson was the counselor in a church camp. There was a young girl, with a troubled past, named Elisabeth. There was a volunteer, nicknamed the white witch, who did not get along with African American Elisabeth. One night, there was a foot washing. Elisabeth asked to help, which children did not usually do. One set of feet, that Elisabeth washed, belonged to the white witch.
Some of the commenters were disturbed by the apparent racism of ww. Mr. Robinson wrote a lengthy clarification, where he talked about some of the subtle issues involved. There are usually details that cannot be included in a spoken word story. Some of these details have an impact on the story. If you have the time, listen to the story, starting at 42 minutes. The comments are in the linked page. It is best to listen to the story first.
You take your own memories into a story like this. Many people who know PG probably know what is next. There was an African American co-worker, who alienated PG from Jesus. After a while, PG sincerely believed that Jesus hates him. Fast forward to the story about Elisabeth. A part of the foot washing is to say Jesus loves you. This cliche is a staple of Jesus worship, and PG has come to see it as a lie. Jesus hates him. To have a young black girl, wash the feet of her white tormentor, and say Jesus loves you…. Everyone hears with a different set of ears.
Under The Bus Milo
It is the friday before the super bowl. Atlanta has been disappointed by its pro teams so many times. It is tough to get excited over this game. It would be fun for the falcons to win, and it does seem like a possibility. All things are possible in a world without g-d.
The poem for today is part two of the Shakespeare insult generator trilogy. PG began to copy insults, with the intention of molding them into a sonnet. Before too many brain cells died, there were 32 lines. These were loaded into a double sonnet, which should make a dandy production piece. The original 32 lines were divided up 12-8-12. Today’s product is the 8 section. It has four lines that were used to sonnetize the 12 line segments, and 4 sub par lines that were left over.
Pangloss.com is the host of today’s SIG. If you go to the Pangloss home page, you will get a random quote generator. “If the great Dr. Pangloss were here, he might say something of the sort: “About the only worthwhile thing you can learn from a bore is how truly golden silence can be.” – O. A. Battista Pangloss was a character in Candide, written by François-Marie Arouet, known by his nom de plume Voltaire. Dr. P was fond of saying, “This is the best of all possible worlds.” “All things are possible in a world without g-d” is the modern translation.
The Pangloss Insult Generator… not really an accurate description of the contents, but a terrific acronym… has a few more zingers. “Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy ? I don’t know and I don’t care.”-William Safire ~ “The worst of all deceptions is self-deception.” -Plato ~ “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.” – Robert Byrne ~ “Do you know what a pessimist is? A person who thinks everybody as nasty as himself, and hates them for it. – George Bernard Shaw ~ In keeping with internet custom, a source for these quotes is not given. The less famous the name after the quote, the more likely the quote is to be genuine.
The font today is candara 42. After some experimenting, the inner color is 255-224-0 yello. The border is 0-160-0 green. The pictures were taken on Peachtree Road in Chamblee, near Marta and Walmart. There is a townhouse building. At the bottom of the stairs to each unit is a brick wall. Pictures of these little walls serve as the background for this poem. The pictures were taken July 19, 2013, between 9:14 am and 9:20 am.
Lately PG has been on a Raymond Carver binge. Several of his stories are available as online audios. (here, here, here) Short stories are good for background listening…they don’t have the time investment of a novel, and can usually be heard in one session. Mr. Carver makes PG think like the voice of the story… close attention to minor detail, always thinking about what the next move will be. The two are different. RC is straight, married twice, stone alcoholic, finally had a burst of productivity before death at 50. PG is queer, single, and retired from being a drunk before he became alcoholic. PG is 62, and gets less productive every day. But he has that next day.
The high point of the day so far is a comment on facebook about Milo Y. and Ann Coulter. They did a show together last year, when Donald Trump was sending out tweets about how his wife was prettier than some other guy’s wife. The chat ended with the two discussing DJT’s pecker… Milo said “it’s huge, I just know it.” If any of the people trashing starbucks in Berkley could hear that show, they would know that Milo is an idiot. The best thing to do is ignore Milo, and wait for DJT to throw him under the bus. Others will be waiting.
Non-Racist Or Anti-Racist
There is a tasteful bit of white guilt porn on the innertubes. The video is from the Guardian, a British enterprise. Are you racist? ‘No’ isn’t a good enough answer. The transcript has 365 words, one for each day of the year. The word for today is and. The most recent tally shows 4,714,039 views on facebook, which does not pay royalties.
The talk is an exercise in semantics. Either you are non-racist, or anti-racist. The possibilities that you are a known-racist is not considered, as is the concept that attitudes about race are nobody else’s business. The speaker, Marlon James, instructs the listener that you MUST be anti-racist. Nothing else will do. This means that you must take some type of action against racism. What exactly you are supposed to do is not specified, but you need to do something.
Mr. James lists five points that the mythical non-racist uses to justify their non-ness. “I’m not a bigot. I don’t sing that ’n’ word when my favorite rap jam comes on. I didn’t vote for that guy. I’m not burning any crosses. I’m not a skinhead.” From these five nots, a certain lifestyle emerges. “What you end up with is an entire moral stance, an entire code for living your life and dealing with all the injustice in the world by not doing a damn thing. That’s the great thing about “non-”: you can put it off by simply rolling over in your bed and going to sleep. So why are you sitting at home and watching things unfold on TV instead of doing something about it? Because you’re a non-racist, not an anti-racist.” Or maybe you are an uncle-racist, and auntie-racist won’t let you do anything.
At no point is a course of anti-racist action suggested. Should you go block traffic on the interstate? Should you vilify a member of your community who expresses incorrect opinions on facebook? Should you go to the state capitol, and talk to your representative about laws you are not familiar with? Exactly what are you supposed to do? Will this action do more harm than good? Is this action any of your business? Do you know what you are talking about? Maybe the effect of your action is not important, as long as you are doing something.
The monolog takes a strange turn now. “Now, do this for me: take the “c” out of racist and replace it with a “p”. “I’m not a rapist. I’m not friends with any rapist. I didn’t buy that rapist’s last album.” All these things that you’re not doing. Meanwhile, people are still getting raped, and black boys are being killed. It’s not enough that you don’t do these things.”
Ok, so now we need to take meaningless action against rape, and black boy murder. Again, what are you supposed to do? There is also the matter of privilege. Is it really the white person’s business that black boys are shooting other black boys? And what are we supposed to do about this? Maybe you can say rude things about police. Whatever you do, say #blacklivesmatter instead of #alllivesmatter.
The video comes to a merciful end with the words “We need to stop being “non-” and start being “anti-”. Or take action against glamorous issues that have no effect on most people, but make you feel good to talk about. The Academy Award nominations have been announced, and not enough POC have been nominated. We can take action on twitter, as this tweet illustrates. #oscarssowhite that pointed hoods will be included in the swag bags this year.
The pictures today are from The Library of Congress. These details are from picture #06666, documenting “First Internation[al] Pageant of Pulchritude & Seventh Annual Bathing Girl Review at Galveston, Texas.” It was taken in 1926. This is a repost.
Six Letter Label
There is yet another blog post about Shirley Q. Liquor, I’m Tired of Explaining Why I’m Offended by a Racist Drag Queen. SQL is a comic character, a black woman played by Charles Knipp, who is white. The concept is not pleasing to many people. This is a repost.
There is a sentence in the post which needs to be broken down. “Here’s my question: When people like me say that something is potentially racist, why do we have to defend ourselves to White people who act as the final jurist of the opinion?”
To begin, people very seldom say anything as restrained as potentially racist. The judgment is made with great force and certainty. The accuser appoints themself judge, jury, and hangperson. There is a rush to be seen denouncing the so called racist, usually at top volume.
Racist is a six letter label, just like the N word. It is a word that gets attention. Racist is casually tossed around, and is filtered out by many people. Maybe, just maybe, there are better ways to deal with situations without using this six letter judgment.
In 2012, PG received a mailer that had some questionable content. It discussed the creation of a city of Brookhaven. The mailer was displayed, and the racially obnoxious aspects of it were discussed. Six letter labels were not used.
On election day, the voters chose to create a new city. PG’s protest did not do any good. Would using a six letter label have made any difference? Probably not. This blog does not have that large of a readership. Also, some people who were troubled by the mailer felt that a new city was the correct thing to do. PG just wanted to let people know he was not pleased. (Ironically, this debate took place at the same time as a local clusterfuck involving Sharon Needles. While PG was fighting racially charged campaigns in one community, he was being labeled a racist is another.)
PG is white, and can only speak for himself. When he hears the word racist, his BS detector kicks into action. These arguments are rather one sided, with white people usually the bad guys. If you want to influence behavior, you might think twice before tossing a six letter label into your speech.
There is a bit of logical fallacy in that sentence. You make a statement, go past considering whether or not it is true, and go directly to asking “why”. That would seem to be the case here. When is a person made to feel that “we have to defend ourselves to White people who act as the final jurist of the opinion?” Do these PWOC (People With Out Color) use a weapon to force this explanation? Why would you have to explain yourself anyway?
It is *racially specific* that she says white people in this sentence. Would it be better if a POC (Person of Color) didn’t automatically believe everything the author says? PWOC PG has observed POC, who generally act as the final jurist on racial matters. Maybe it is POC privilege.
When you google the phrase “what is racism?”, you get 156 million results. The definition is changing everyday. Certainly when you discuss so called reverse racism, or anti PWOC nastiness, there are many who say that racism is a society wide privilege for the PWOC, and that POC cannot be racist. Whatever. Racism/anti-racism can give you a headache, if you think about it too much.
The point is, when you hyperdefine a concept like racism, you run the risk of defining racism so narrowly that offensive entertainers do not fit the definition. Shirley Q. Liquor talking about her nineteen babydaddies does not affect the larger issues of white privilege. Or maybe racism is anything that annoys a POC. At some point, the six letter label does not mean very much.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
Chamblee54 
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