Mardi Gras
It is fat tuesday again. For someone who lived most of his life in Georgia, it is just another day.
In 1990, PG went to carnival. He rented sleeping bag space in a house on Marigny Street, just outside the quarter. It was like nothing he had ever seen.
This was 14 months after PG quit drinking. If he had life to do over, he would have gone to Mardi Gras first. He did feel good about going through that much drinking without being tempted to participate.
By the end of the Rex Parade, PG was getting tired of the whole shebang, Mob scenes of drunks, in costume, can get old. PG has not been back.
Two years later, the Grateful Dead was playing at the Omni, and the camp followers were in the parking lot. PG would go on his lunch hour and observe. A young lady walked by, and PG said Happy Mardi Gras. She gave him a string of beads.
Five years after that, PG had a boss from New Orleans. He looked like the Grinch who stole Christmas. He also hated Mardi Gras. PG did not know this, and greeted him Tuesday morning with a cheerful Happy Mardi Gras. If looks could kill, PG would have dropped dead. This is a repost, with pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
The Healey Building
A local blog recently had a feature about the Healey Building PG worked at 57 Forsyth Street for five years, between 1991 and 1995. This is a good excuse to write some text, and upload some pictures.
PG represented Redo Blue in an architect’s office on the fourteenth floor. His printroom was the third window from the north end, on the third floor from the top. There was a large window, on the west side overlooking Woodruff Park. A surprising amount of attention was captured by the gold dome of the State Capitol. At street level was Broad Street, home to a constantly changing array of merchants.
There were some sights coming in that window. On the coldest winter day in 1993, a music video was filmed on top of the Church’s Fried Chicken on Broad Street. On the week before the Super Bowl, The Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, and Martin Mull, kicked field goals in the park. When PG left town that Friday, a large, inflated rendering of Izzy, the Olympic mascot, was resting in the park.
It was not completely happy times. In April of 1992, a jury in California delivered an unpopular verdict. The next day, April 30, the streets downtown erupted. People in Rosa’s Pizza got a broken window, to go with their calzones. The next day, a notions shop on the Forsyth Street side had a sign in the window, “Black owned business”.
William T. Healey opened his office building in 1914. There were sixteen stories, taking the entire block between Broad, Walton, Forsyth and Poplar Streets. The firm of Morgan and Dillon designed the building. The original plan was to have twin towers, with the rotunda, and arcade, in the middle. World War One, and the death of Mr. Healey, put a stop to those plans.
The tower stood on the edge of the Fairlie-Poplar district. In photos of downtown, the Healey building, and the Candler building, serve as easily recognized landmarks. For many years, many bus lines ended on Walton Street, at the south end of the building. Hundreds of people waited there to change buses.That custom ended with Marta trains.
The Healey Building has many features that are no longer seen. The terra cotta details are too fancy for today’s buildings. The stairwells had a garbage chute. You could go to the garbage hole on any floor, and throw your trash to a receptacle down below. The building does not have a loading dock. A freight elevator pops up from behind a steel plate on the Forsyth Street sidewalk. This takes deliveries into the sub basement, where they are transferred onto the freight elevator.
Since 2001, the building has been Healey Building Condos
Pictures today are from Wendy Darling, The Healey Building, “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”, and Chamblee54. This is a repost.
Jason Whitlock And Shaun King
This is a repost from 2016. There was a radio show yesterday. The actors were Jason Whitlock & Shaun King. It was tough to listen to. The two actors interrupted each other, and engaged in ad hominem arguments. At one point Mr. King, whose ethnicity is disputed, shouted “I’m blacker than you.” In twitter messages, Mr. King called Mr. Whitlock a “Tom ass bastard” who “will coon for cash.”
Carolina quarterback Cam Newton got media attention before Super Bowl 50. Mr. Newton had a spectacular season, leading the Carolina Cougers to SB50. On the other hand, Mr. Newton seems to be a bit of a “hot dog.” “I’ve said this since Day One, I’m an African-American quarterback that scares people because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to.”
In SB50, Denver beat Carolina. It was an ugly, defense dominated game. A week later, Mr. King published a story with dirt on Denver quarterback Peyton Manning. As Mr. Whitlock sees it, trashing Mr. Manning was revenge for Denver beating Carolina in the SB50.
If true, this is ugly. The idea seems to be that a team with a black quarterback was whipped by a team with a white quarterback, so you get even by publishing dirt on the white quarterback. It is also stupid. Mr. Manning didn’t play that well in SB50. It was the Denver defense that shut down Cam Newton. If you are going to get revenge, it should be against the Denver defense. The only problem is that they are not well known names, and will not get the attention that bashing Mr. Manning will get. Nor will it fit the racial narrative … of eleven starters on the Denver defense, ten are black.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. Some of the pictures are from “the morality play “Heaven Bound,” staged by the Big Bethel African Methodist Choir, at the Atlanta Theatre (23 Exchange Place), Atlanta, Georgia, August 1937.”
Six Letter Word
This is a repost from 2013. 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, a white man. The concept is not pleasing to many people.
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 herself judge, jury, and hangwoman. There is a rush to be seen denouncing the so called racist, usually at top volume.
Racist is a six letter words. 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 epithet.
Last summer, 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.
On election day, the voters chose to create a new city. 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.
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 expression into your speech.
There is a logical fallacy in that sentence. You make a statement, go past considering whether or not it is true, and go directly to asking “why.” 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 acting as “the final jurist” on racial matters.
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 word does not mean very much.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
Make The Trains Run On Time
This is a repost from February 2016. @ilduce2016 is still tweeting. … “Trump re-tweeted a Mussolini quote. … when its source was pointed out to him, he replied, “what difference does it make whether it’s Mussolini or somebody else?”
@ilduce2016 is a satiric twitter account. The picture shows Benito Mussolini with a Donald Trump wig. At 7:10 AM – 28 Feb 2016, this was posted: “It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.” – @realDonaldTrump #MakeAmericaGreatAgain. At 7:13 AM – 28 Feb 2016 the comment was retweeted by @realDonaldTrump.
At 7:37 AM – 28 Feb 2016 noted twitterhead Glenn Greenwald was all over it. @ggreenwald Donald Trump just re-tweeted a parody account depicting him as Mussolini, with one of Il Duce’s best-known quotes. In the best internet tradition, no one seems to know exactly when Mr. Mussolini said this, and what this had to do with making the trains run on time. “Various websites attribute the quote to Mussolini, saying it appears in the article ‘Duce (1922-42)’ in TIME magazine (2 August 1943).However, it also resembles previous proverbs and remarks made by others including 18th century Sultan of Mysore Tipu Sultan who said ‘To live like a lion for a day is far better than to live for a hundred years like a jackal.’ “
PG has seen the quote before. A babytrump named Isaiah Hankel made a motivational video, with the salient quote at the start. It was liked by a facebook friend, which got PG’s attention. Here is what PG said about it.
There is a video out now, where the speaker says “It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.” This man must not like to wear wool.
A lion is a predator. It lurks in the jungle, and kills to eat. It does not produce anything except it’s own survival. A sheep lives in a community. Every once in a while, it gets the coat clipped, and grows another one. The fur goes to make woolen clothing, which keeps people warm in winter.
Maybe if you want to be an egophile, living on the destruction of your neighbor, then you might be better off as a lion. If you want to contribute something of value to others, it is better to be a sheep.
An egophile, living on the destruction of your neighbor. Which Presidential candidate does that sound like? Or better yet, which POTUS wannabe does that NOT sound like. Sorry Bernie, not everyone is fooled by your happy talk.
The chamblee54 post noted above was tough to find. For some reason, the google apparatus does not recognize it. PG found the link on a list of posts. If you google “The Value Of Sheep” on chamblee54, you are directed to Philosophy Of 2Girls1Cup.
Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. These pictures were made at the Grant Park Zoo, in May 1937. There were no sheep in captivity.
Georgia Statehood Day
@EdDarrell “Hey, Georgia! Fly your flags on January 2, 2016 , to honor Georgia Statehood Day!” PG has lived in Georgia all his life, and never knew that this was statehood day. Today in Georgia History has this to say: “Georgia elected six delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. Only four went. And only two—Abraham Baldwin and William Few—signed the final document. … Georgia called a special convention in Augusta to consider the proposed charter. The delegates voted unanimously to ratify the new U.S. Constitution, on January 2, 1788.”
The Constitutional Convention was called to revise the Articles of Confederation. They wound up scrapping the old document, and creating the Constitution from scratch. The “Founding Fathers” created the system of Government that we use today, along with a way to amend the Constitution. (PG has served on bylaw revision committees. The one thing you must have is a way to amend the bylaws.) The new document would not take effect until nine of the thirteen colonies ratified it.
Delaware was the first state to approve the Constitution, on December 7, 1787. It’s neighbors Pennsylvania (December 12) and New Jersey (December 18) soon followed. Georgia was the fourth state, and the first southern state.
Slavery was still legal in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey in 1787. One famous citizen of Pennsylvania, Ben Franklin, owned two slaves, named King and George. Franklin’s newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, routinely ran ads for sale or purchase of slaves.
The concept of flying the state flag has an ironic twist in Georgia. The design of the flag has changed twice in the last twenty two years. In 1956, the legislature voted to incorporate the St. Andrews cross, aka the Confederate flag, into the Georgia state flag. (If you want to debate their motive for doing so, please go somewhere else.) After much controversy, the flag was changed in 2001, and again in 2003. It probably will not be changed again.
Pictures are from Special Collections and Archives, GSU library. This is a repost.
Racists Got Racist
The story below is a repost from 2015. Looking back from 2023, this piece feels quaint. It appeared on Gawker. The G-blog has been through tough times, but continues to hang in there. Today’s headline: Drake Brags About Exclusive Toilet Access
“#blacklivesmatter took a dairy inclusive turn this weekend. New York City was the scene when #BlackLivesMatter Protesters Hit Whites Where It Truly Hurts: Brunch.”
“… a group of about three dozen demonstrators … hitting such quiche-and-mimosa joints … When they arrived, they began reading the names of black Americans killed by police to diners. … As is to be expected when such a sacred institution is so callously attacked, the protests sparked lots of fervent tweeting.” @genophilia “Racists got racist” gigantic pussy having top heavy slag @sheixx_ “It’s fine for blacks to loot, rob, rape and kill whites, but if whites complain about it, now that’s racist.” Lol
The original post has more text, which is not necessary for today’s edition. The gawker original features the type of purple prose that is less fashionable today: “It’s hard to imagine a funnier needling tactic. People are reacting viscerally to the idea that diners were targeted as racists simply for enjoying a Sunday morning meal—and if they had been subject to any discomfort beyond five awkward minutes, they’d have a legitimate complaint. But it’s just brunch, and as soon as you complain about it, you get to the heart of the issue: while some people are out there wondering whether a trigger-happy cop might decide to gun them down today, you just want to finish your capers and lox in peace.” Pictures for this bit of social justice nostalgia are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.
David Crosby
David Crosby let his freak flag fly today. After 81 years on the planet, and numerous “people problems,” this should not surprise anyone. Considered by some to be the American Keith Richards,
David Van Cortlandt Crosby was the C in CSNY. He was a founding member of the Byrds, “The American Beatles.” (The British press gave the Byrds hell about that nickname.) Croz wrote/sang great songs, did a mountain of drugs, spent time in a Texas prison, had a liver transplant, and much more. DVCC is also considered a flaming asshole by many, many people. You have to take the bad with the good. … Chamblee54, aka PG, wrote about DVCC several times. This piece is borrowed from four posts. Pictures are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.
David Crosby Lives … “PG just finished part two of the David Crosby autobiography, “Since Then“. This book is evidence that truth is stranger than fiction.” … “At the start of the book, LA is hit by a major earthquake. This destroys a house Crosby has. If the earthquake doesn’t get the house, the IRS will. An accountant has not done his job, and Crosby owes major bucks to Uncle Sam. Moving along, a son given up for adoption finds Crosby, and winds up playing guitar in a band called CPR. Crosby wrecks his motorcycle and nearly croaks. Crosby’s liver goes haywire, and he almost croaks. Ditto heart attack, and arrest for felony gun possession.” …
“One of the last visitors before the liver transplant was Graham Nash. As he is leaving, Nash tells Crosby “If you die, and leave me alone with Stills, I’ll fucking kill you.” For all the pretty music in CSN, there are some strong personalities. Stephen Stills is renowned for his attitude. David Crosby is known to have an opinion or two.” … “Getting back to the David Crosby story…there is just too much to sum up here. At the end of the story, he is still going. He stopped at two artificially inseminated babies, to go with four (at least) kids produced the old fashioned way.”
Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life … “No story involving David Crosby is complete without a drug lecture. One story was so explosive, the legal department called Graham before the book was published, just to confirm the story. It is on page 263. David sold his Mercedes for crack. The man who bought it od’d. David broke into his house, stole the bill of sale and car keys, took the car, and sold it again.”
On April 22, 1960, The Everly Brothers were in Manchester. Graham (Nash) and Allan (Clarke) were determined to meet their heroes, and hung out on the steps of a hotel until late at night. Finally, the Everly Brothers arrived. They spent a half hour talking to the star struck young men. “and it changed my life.” This story is on Page 43 of Wild Tales.
Bing Crosby And David Crosby … chamblee54 Did you ever meet Bing Crosby? @thedavidcrosby Yes I did @FoxH2181 DC tells the late robin williams about it on youtube … PG eventually decided to listen to part one of Robin&David. Early in the show, David talks about being in the first class cabin of an airplane. David was in full hippie glory, in contrast to the general ambience. Soon, Bing Crosby came on board. A man went up to Bing, and asked for an autograph. All that was available to write on was a can of beans. Bing Crosby was very gracious to the fan, which impressed David Crosby immensely. … There was an empty seat beside David Crosby, and Bing Crosby sat in it. “These other guys don’t know who you are, but I do. I like your music.”
PG is easily amused, and decided to go for part two. David Crosby tells a story of going to see the symphony as a young boy. He is impressed by the sounds that are produced by all the elbows sawing on violins at the same time. David Crosby winds up as someone that likes to collaborate, to be a part of a team. “we do shit it together” … “David Crosby retweeted your tweet.” @chamblee54 @FoxH2181 @thedavidcrosby David Crosby on CSN at 24:01 “we douche it together”
Page 43 … Water Brothers was a benefit concert performed by David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Neil Young. After performing “Almost Cut My Hair”, Mr. Crosby starts to talk. “I’m going to sing the most positive song that I’ve written recently For a long time I didn’t write any positive songs, my friends used to puke when they saw me coming.” The song was Page 43.
Look around again, It’s the same old story,
You see, it’s got to be, It says right here on page 43,
That you should grab a hold of it, Else you’ll find, It’s passed you by
Rainbows all a round, Can you find the silver and gold? It’ll make you old,
The river can be hot or cold, And you should dive right into it,
Else you’ll find, It’s passed you by
Pass it round one more time, I think I’ll have a swallow of wine,
Life is fine, Even with the ups and downs,
And you should have a sip of it, Else you’ll find, It’s passed you by Lyrics007
There is one part that PG doubts. It is about drinking. Those gifted with moderation can swim in this river. Others need to get to the shore before they drown. There is a time to enjoy your life, and there is also a time to lay off the jug. Keep a portion of your harvest in reserve. Otherwise, life will run you over, while it is passing you by.
Thou Art That
It started out as joke comments. Thank G-d for secular humanism. ~ You’re welcome. PG got to thinking, and wondered what the punch line was. Is there a difference between G-d and man?
Zen and the art of motorcycle repair says that the division of G-d and man, subject and object, is the dirty work of Aristotle. PG is not philosophically grounded enough to know, but suspects that unity is better than division. Is the earth a unified whole, “thou art that”?
Now, the truth just might be that G-d is separate from man. While unity may sound appealing, it might not be the way things operate. Just because a belief makes you happy does not mean that it is true. Let no man bring together what G-d has rent asunder.
If there is a division between G-d and man, then where does the boundary lie?
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
This is a repost. Is it art?
Hollywood’s Eve Part Four
This is part four of a book report on Hollywood’s Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of L.A., by Lili Anolik. More chapters are available. one two three Pictures for this profusion of confusion are from The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.
RACHEL KUSHNER: You mentioned to me (in an email) that you learned new things about yourself from listening to that (very juicy) podcast by Lili Anolik on Bennington College. Can you say more? BRET EASTON ELLIS: It was just odd to hear your life presented as a kind of oral history lesson and even odder to realize that this era at Bennington has somehow become a compelling story for a lot of people. If only we knew back then, I think we might have behaved a bit differently. I think there was an overemphasis on drugs (maybe not) that surprised me, and some publishing stuff surrounding Less Than Zero that I don’t quite remember in the same way a few editors do. I also learned a lot about Donna Tartt, which I hadn’t expected.
BEE is the thread that runs through all of these rags. I first heard about Eve on his podcast, including the Earl McGrath quote. Lili was a guest, probably when she was promoting HE. Lili, at some point, did a podcast series about Bennington College, featuring BEE. Finally, Eve wrote a blurb for Less Than Zero, when BEE was a young nobody.
185 “Eve wasn’t attempting books, though she did blurb one, the debut of a valley boy, a mere sixteen when he completed the first draft. “This is the novel your mother warned you about … Jim Morrison would be proud.” … BEE met Eve after LTZ was published. “My memory of Eve in the semi darkness of Ports in 1985 is that she was very buxom, very flirtatious, great smile. She wasn’t a ditzy Southern California girl. She was almost a parody of that idea. And then through the parody, this no-nonsense intelligence would come out.”
Ports was an accessory for Eve during the squalid overboogie days. “Forty years ago today, on Feb. 9, 1970, a burly actor named Jock Livingston and his artist wife, Micaela, opened an extraordinary, eccentric, and eventually rather legendary restaurant called Ports, across the street from Goldwyn Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood. … The place had formerly been a bar called Sports Inn and Jock had climbed up a ladder, … and removed the first letter and the last three. … Micaela had very definite ideas about the people who dined and drank (and worked) at the establishment, and she expressed them with a biting wit. When one brash young man was overheard complaining loudly that he’d been sitting there for 10 minutes and hadn’t gotten menus, she said, sotto voce, “You haven’t even earned your napkins yet.” When a regular described a vapidly handsome young waiter as looking like an 8×10 glossy, she added, “Yes, and only on one side.”
Self promotion is important in the BEE-Lili-Eve world. Capitalist BEE is currently hustling The Shards. Lili returns the favor on facebook: “Lili Anolik reads the iconic opening of Less Than Zero. Return to 1980’s Los Angeles with Bret’s new novel, The Shards, on January 17th. Pre-order now.”
One page 198, Mirandi Babitz enters. Mirandi (née Miriam,) the younger sister of Eve, was a valuable source for Lili. Mirandi was an important part of the story. Mirandi was dating Julian Wasser when he took the chess photograph. Mirandi owned a leather shop, and made a pair for Jim Morrison.
222 “Miranda watched Morrison perform at the London Fog, then called Eve.”You have to see this guy, he’s Edith Piaf with a dick.” Eve stopped by the club the next night, seduced Morrison the night after that … her description of Morrison was pretty irresistible, and Eve, as a rule, didn’t resist.”
241 *”I’m not going to identify this famous lover or any of the other famous lovers mentioned in this section. Why not? To paraphrase Eve, so I don’t get sued!”
250 “… after we’ve brought Eve to the Village Idiot for a lunch of Ale steamed mussels and deep-fried brussel sprouts and cinnamon-sugar-dusted churros, after Eve dragged me to a nearby 7-Eleven so I can buy her $100 worth of British tabloids and disposable e-cigarettes” When Lili caught up with Eve, the LA woman was in reduced circumstances. Eve never really had a job, and when she caught on fire, there were $$ problems. Even in her glory days, Eve knew how to work people. What are tits for?”
Lili pursued Eve. There was a profitable story to be told. Lili saw a payday, took Eve to lunch, and bought her prezzies. When Eve finally accepted Lili’s invitation, the author flew from New York to Los Angeles the next day. Being a doctor’s wife has its advantages. The End
Hollywood’s Eve Part Two
Publishing Hollywood’s Eve Part One had an unexpected complication. When tweeting the link, I thought it would be cool to tag author @LiliAnolik. Only one problem … the link would not come up. I thought her name was spelled Lily, with a y. Fortunately, WordPress is easy to edit, and I was about to correct this. … So it is another day. The episode will actually be about the Hollywood’s Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of L.A. Lili has a lot of *notes, for details that don’t fit her narrative. One way to cover HE is to go through the *notes, and see what they inspire.
016 * “Eve has told this story both orally and in writing many—many times as in many—many times. Though the major details remain constant, the minor change. … I went with this one for no better reason than because I like it best.” Julian Wasser was a photographer, a bf of Mirandi Babitz … Eve’s sister … and a California player in 1963. He took a famous picture of Eve playing chess with Marcel Duchamp. Eve’s fashion statement in the picture was very well received.
023 “What are tits for?” * “A rhetorical question posed by Eve, in casual conversation.”
034 “New York is hot in the summer, so I got a boyfriend who had air-conditioning. Ralph Metzner. Ralph was part of Timothy Leary’s team. I hated Tim. He was an alcoholic, and he always ordered everybody around as soon as he walked into a room. He made me type all his lectures, and he couldn’t write.” Eve went to New York in 1966, stayed a year, and had a lot of adventures.
044 “In every young man’s life there is an Eve Babitz. It is usually Eve Babitz.” This observation is in every piece ever written about Eve, so we can now take that off the to-do list. It is blamed on Earl McGrath, who was a well connected piece of work. “I was researching a piece on Andy Warhol and … Edie Sedgwick and received a message …He needed to reschedule the day of our interview. “ Earl’s memorial service has been postponed to let the smart set at Jerry Hall’s wedding to Rupert Murdoch fly across the Atlantic including the bride and groom.”
Earl McGrath is one of the degrees of connection that populated Eve’s life. Earl came from humbled beginnings, and charmed/fucked his way into friendships with many famous people. Eve met Earl one morning at Peter Pilafian’s house. Earl came by one morning to hit on Peter, and became friends with Eve. Earl and Eve were faghag buddies, until they were not. Earl appears in “Slow Days Fast Company” as a toxic queen. … Earl does not have a wikipedia page. Nor does Lili Anolik. As best I can determine, Earl did not have a middle name.
060 It is another rule … all stories about sixties California must mention Charles Manson. “The first time I saw Sharon was at the Cafe’ de Paris in Rome. It was 1961, the same year I saw the pope. I couldn’t believe anyone was that beautiful.” Later, Bobby Beausoleil stayed with Eve for a week. “He’d worn a sign that said “I am Bummer Bob.” I let him stay but hadn’t slept with him because anyone who called himself that, I figured, must have the clap.”
097 *”Once when we were at lunch a woman—Eve’s age—perfectly pleasant seeming, waved from a neighboring table. Eve didn’t return the wave. I asked Eve who the woman was, and she said, eyes wide, voice grave, “That’s my enemy.” (Eve and the woman had, as it happened, shared a boyfriend forty years before.)”
100 Eve wrote to Joseph Heller: “I am a stacked eighteen-year-old blond on Sunset Boulevard. I am also a writer. Eve Babitz.” This letter is another part of the Eve legend. As in other Eve stories, there are several versions, so you must pick the one you like. In this interview, Lili says that Eve had an affair with Mr. Heller. Google does not confirm this detail.
Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.” Other parts of the Hollywood’s Eve series are available. one three four
New Law About Voting
This is a repost from 2022. The Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act failed to pass after a Senate fillibuster. … Democrats have proposed a new law about voting access. Grandpa Brandon thinks denouncing “voter suppression” is the way to build support. Unfortunately, the debate has centered around toxic, race-pandering rhetoric. Almost nobody says what the proposed new law would do. A bit of googling turned up a document from Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. If you get tired of the chamblee54 version, you can go to the original source. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.”
Most of the proposals are the federal government telling states how to run elections. The IANAL masses might wonder if this is constitutional. Another feature of this bill is that the instructions are given to the states. In Georgia, the elections are mostly run by the counties. This did not stop Democrats, or Donald J. Trump, from blaming the Secretary of State for inconvenient election results.
Lets take a look at some of the specific proposals. With regards to early voting, the bill requires the states to offer early voting for a specified time period. No-excuse absentee ballots are subject to a national standard, along with other regulations concerning mail-in voting.
Election Day holiday: “The bill would make Election Day a legal public holiday…” This sounds good in theory, but may be troublesome to many employers. One thing that might help here is to move ED to Monday. Voting on Tuesday is a holdover from days when farmers went to the county seat on a horse. Voting on Monday would make things a bit simpler.
“Voter validation: The bill would promote a national standard for states that have an identification requirement for in-person voting, allowing for the use of a wide range of forms of identification (including electronic copies) and alternative options for voter validation. States that do not impose an identification requirement would not be required to have one.” Voter ID is widely denounced as being racist. If this passage is any indication, Voter ID is here to stay. (In the controversy over Georgia’s SB202, the ID requirement was widely seen as a feature of Jim Crow on steroids. It turns out that SB202 calls for the voter writing their driver’s license/ID number on an absentee ballot application.)
“Cracking down on deceptive and intimidating practices: … It would also establish federal criminal penalties for deceiving voters…” If it was a federal crime to deceive voters, every politician in America would be in prison.
“Voting rights restoration: The bill restores federal voting rights to formerly incarcerated citizens upon their release … removing the vestiges of restrictions born out of Jim Crow.” Kentucky had a law disenfranchising felons in 1792. This was a hundred years before the Jim Crow laws were passed. There are arguments to be made on both sides of this issue. It should not be addressed with misleading racial arguments.
“Countering long lines and related discriminatory practices: The bill creates protections for individuals subjected to excessive lines on Election Day — most often Black and Latino voters — by requiring states to ensure that lines last no longer than 30 minutes …” This is more gratuitous race baiting. While the idea of lines less than 30 minutes is appealing, one wonders exactly how the feds are going to enforce this requirement. Also, since the elections are usually administered by the counties, what are the states supposed to do?
“Requiring paper records and other election infrastructure improvements: The bill requires states to replace old, paperless electronic voting machines with voting systems that provide voter-verified paper records and provides grants for states to purchase more secure voting systems.” Georgia is going to a system with a backup paper ballot. When you cast your vote, a laser printer prints out a sheet of paper with your vote, represented by a QR code. This paper is then fed through a roller into a receptacle. To this uninformed voter, that seems like a lot of moving parts. While the new system MIGHT work in a high volume election, there is a high potential for screw ups. These are Georgia elections we are talking about here.
There are sections of the bill devoted to Campaign Finance Reform, and Gerrymandering. You can look at the Brennan Center document for more information. While the new bill has good intentions, the suspicion here is that the proposals will make things worse. God is in the details.
“The bill would require strong, uniform rules for congressional redistricting, including a ban on partisan gerrymandering and strengthened protections for communities of color.” Gerrymandering is like the weather … everyone has opinions, but relatively few know what they are talking about. If you create a black district, then the districts surrounding it are going to get whiter. If you tinker with the districts to favor one group, another group is going to be unfairly affected. The bill has good intentions, that might not be well thought out. God is in the details.
“Automatic voter registration: The bill would make automatic voter registration (AVR), which 19 states and the District of Columbia have already adopted, the national standard.” In Georgia, when you get a drivers license, you are automatically registered to vote. This eliminates any of the “exact match” issues that Democrats made so much noise about in 2018. The DMV is an exact match operation. Also, paperwork at the DMV is typed. Illegible paper applications were a major reason that registration applications were thrown out in previous elections. Illegible applications were also a problem with the New Georgia Project, a voting registration program directed by Stacey Abrams.
“Same day voter registration: The bill requires states to offer same day voter registration … SDR permits eligible voters to register to vote and cast a ballot in federal elections on the same day.” The sense here is that this is not a good idea. What happens when you move, and want to vote in another precinct? Will your old registration be cancelled? How do the states/counties keep up with all this? Is there a national database, that tells Georgia to cancel your Atlanta registration because you have moved to Alabama? And how are we going to process all of this while people are waiting in line behind you to vote? Once again, SDR might be a good idea, but there are a lot of details to work out.
“Protections against unlawful voter purges: The bill provides safeguards to prevent unlawful, faulty, error-prone methods for purging voter rolls … Further, states would be required to notify within 48 hours any individual removed from the list of eligible voters of their removal, the reasons for their removal, and how they can contest the removal.” In 2018, before voters were removed from the rolls, they were sent a post-card, and asked to reply. If they did not reply, they were removed. Now, if the state could not get in touch with them before, how are they going to reach these voters now? The feds do not always think these things through.
Chamblee54 
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