Is Dennis Prager Dennis The Menace?
Why Are So Many Good Things Being Destroyed? is a recent offering from public nuisance Dennis Prager. It is a doozy. If you want to see the video, you can follow the link. Prager University (PU) has a transcript, and a study guide. The original concept of this post was to work with the study guide, and answer questions like “Why do you think that the Left destroyed the Boy Scouts?” Before we could get to those questions, there is an internet rumor to consider.
Did Dennis the Menace grow older, and become Dennis Prager? As some of you know, cartoonist Hank Ketcham really did have a son named Dennis. “The comic-strip Dennis was conceived … in 1950 … Alice Ketcham stormed into his studio, fuming “Your son is a menace!”
“But the years have not been as kind to Dennis, the cowlicked kid who innocently launched a cartoon empire. Now 46 (in 1993), he works as a tire retreader, living with his second wife, Janet, a part-time office cleaner, in a trailer park in Grove City, Ohio, just south of Columbus.
It is more than just geography and lifestyle, though, that distance father and son. For the past 28 years, they have barely seen each other and spoken only occasionally by phone. “I hear from Dennis about once a year, mostly when he needs money,” says Hank tersely. “I don’t want a closer relationship—nor do I want a confrontation.” “Dad can be like a stranger,” counters Dennis, who has never met his two half-siblings. …
” … Alice meanwhile … became an alcoholic. In 1959 she filed for divorce, and as her condition deteriorated, Dennis, then 12, was sent to a boarding school near Carmel. “I didn’t know what was going on,” says Dennis, “except that I felt Dad wanted me out of the way.” A few months after he left for school, his mother died from an accidental overdose of alcohol and barbiturates at the age of 41.”
“Shaken by his wife’s sudden death, Hank could not bring himself to break the news to Dennis over the phone. Nor could he even tell him in person—until shortly after Alice had been buried. “Mom had always been there when I needed her,” says Dennis. “I would have dealt with losing her a lot better had I been able to attend her funeral. …”
“…In 1966 he joined the Marines; during his subsequent year-long tour of duty in Vietnam, he says, “my grandmother and aunt sent me letters. But never Dad.” … Discharged in 1970, Dennis underwent three months of counseling for post-traumatic stress syndrome at a VA hospital and drifted through a succession of jobs—ranch hand, poultry-farm worker, prison guard.”
Meanwhile, Dennis Prager was born August 2, 1948 into an Orthodox Jewish family in New York City. Through various twists and turns, he became a radio star. Mr. Prager, known for hawkish military opinions, apparently did not serve in the United States military. This contrasts to Dennis Ketcham’s service in Vietnam. In all probability, Dennis Prager is not Dennis the Menace.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the pictures in April, 1941. Ironing. Family on relief. Chicago, Illinois WPA (Work Projects Administration) work on playground on southside of Chicago, Illinois This is a repost.
Mr. Eno And Mr. Isherwood
I was listening to a conversation between Brian Eno and Rick Rubin. Mr. Eno made a comment that sent me down a google rabbit hole, looking for a digital holy grail. When I did not find what I was looking for, I returned to the conversation. Before long, Mr. Eno said something very similar.
“I’d heard something on NPR. It was a poet, a black poet from somewhere in America, reading this poem called Cadillac. I spent years trying to find this thing. I never found it. I wrote to NPR, and I phoned them up, and everything. It was called Pink Cadillac … this amazing, very rhythmic poem, about how he wanted a Pink Cadillac.” This quote got me thinking about another detail.
There are bits of knowledge that want to remain hidden. One is from Christopher Isherwood. It was in a magazine, sometime before 1994. The author died in 1986. The comment was about when you choose a religion. It is not the doctrine that attracts you to a religion, it is the people who introduce you to this observance. If the right person had told Mr. Isherwood about Catholicism, he would have become a Catholic. Instead, in 1938, Aldous Huxley and Gerald Heard introduced Mr. Isherwood to Swami Prabhavananda, and the Vedanta Society of Southern California.
“He (Isherwood) published an account of his spiritual journey at the end of his life, called My Guru and His Disciple.… It’s interesting because it’s so frank and unromantic about the spiritual life. Where Alan Watts basically bullshitted his way to guru status while secretly being an alcoholic and treating his wives like crap, Isherwood is totally upfront about his boredom, his frustration, his vanity, his sexual escapades … he gave us a wonderfully unvarnished account of spiritual mediocrity. As Pema Chodron says, we spend most of our spiritual lives in the middle – not completely lost, yet not completely saved. Just muddling through.”
I did not find the quote I was looking for, but I did find another piece to the puzzle. I went back to Mr. Eno and Mr. Rubin. Then, out of nowhere, came this: “I think that’s the that’s the power of religion as well. The power of religion is not the connection with God, but the connection with the rest of the congregation. The connection with all of the people who also believe in that particular story. I’m not really religious myself but i really respond to that idea.”
“I don’t want to be a believer. I want to be somebody who, as far as possible, understands and knows things. Believing things leaves me a little bit unsatisfied. If I find myself believing something, I want to test the belief. I want to say how do I find out how valid this is.”
“I always used to say that artists are either cowboys or farmers really and they’re both both ways of being an artist are fine you know the farmer wants to find a piece of territory and fully explore it and exploit it … the other kind of artist is the one who just wants to find somewhere new he just wants to find the neck the next frontier the next piece of territory and that’s what he gets turned on by so i i think i’m more in the second category though people listening to my work would say but it all sounds exactly the same brian.”
If you want more, you can listen to the complete interview, or other episodes of Broken Record. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
Google Searches And Black Mortality
This is a repost from 2015. PG was trolling twitter one day when an item caught his eye. @Flyswatter “There’s a correlation where racist Google searches and high black mortality rates occur.” The tweet linked to an article at HuffPo (the long winded sister of PoPo) with the disturbing title The Connection Between Racist Google Searches And Black Mortality Rates.
“A new study shows a chilling correlation between the number of racist Google searches in an area and the long-term mortality rates of the black people living there. … David Chae … an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, determined how racist a geographic area was by how frequently an epithet for African-Americans appeared in area Google searches. Internet searches are a good way of measuring societal attitudes, Chae said, because people don’t self-censor in their own homes. Areas with the most searches for the epithet “n*****” had the highest mortality rates among African-Americans, found the study, which Chae and seven coauthors published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE. “
The article refers to a serious scientific study, Association between an Internet-Based Measure of Area Racism and Black Mortality. Some people with degrees broke the country into 192 Designated Marketing Areas. In the DMA where people performed more Google searches for the “n-word,” Black people were more likely to die.
“In this study, we investigated the utility of a previously developed Internet search-based proxy of area racism as a predictor of Black mortality rates. Area racism was the proportion of Google searches containing the “N-word” in 196 designated market areas (DMAs). Negative binomial regression models were specified taking into account individual age, sex, year of death, and Census region and adjusted to the 2000 US standard population to examine the association between area racism and Black mortality rates, which were derived from death certificates and mid-year population counts collated by the National Center for Health Statistics (2004–2009) DMAs characterized by a one standard deviation greater level of area racism were associated with an 8.2% increase in the all-cause Black mortality rate, equivalent to over 30,000 deaths annually.”
“This previously developed variable was calculated as the proportion of total Internet search queries containing the “N-word” (singular or plural) using Google from 2004–2007. More colloquial forms of the “N-word” (i.e., ending in “-a” or “-as”) were not included given prior analysis of top searches revealing that these versions were used in different contexts compared to searches of the term ending in “-er” or “-ers” … Area racism was standardized so that a one-unit increase in area racism indicates a one standard deviation higher proportion of Google searches containing the “N-word.””
The study was inspired by a New York Times article, How Racist Are We? Ask Google. In this study, areas where people googled the “er” version of the “n-word” were less likely to vote for Barack Obama. “(I did not include searches that included the word “n**ga” because these searches were mostly for rap lyrics.)” LANGUAGE ALERT Use caution when reading this article. It uses the “n-word,” using all six letters without any euphemizing symbols.
The study claims to have been peer reviewed. It does not indicate the race of the people making google searches for the “n-word that ends in er.” This search statistic, which is not broken down on the internet, is the only measure of “racism” that is used. The mortality statistics for mixed race, and non black POC are not mentioned. Media coverage of sporting event riots was not discussed.
Pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Thrunombulax
@KateParkerSB “Hmm. Trying to combine epiphany and ignoramus here. Epiphoramus for the person and epiphorant for the phrase?”@chamblee54 “I googled epiphoramus. It apparently has never been typed into the internet. I did find this: epiphora.” Epihora is doctorspeak for watery eyes.
The search for epiphoramus led directly to Thrunombulax, a word PG has tossed about for years. It came from a Frank Zappa song, Cheepnis. “The monster, Which the peasants in this area call Frunobulax (apparently a very large poodle dog), Has just been seen approaching the power plant.” Observant readers will note that FZ spelled Thrunombulax with an F. This misunderstanding led to Thrunombulax scarcity on google.
If you type Thrunombulax into google, the search engine will helpfully look for THROMBOMAX 12MIU/1.5mg “Sterile Lyophilized powder for Injection. Thrombomax (IL-11) is a new treatment option which is FDA approved & now available in Pakistan for Thrombocytopenic patients.”
Thrunombulax appeared 3 times between 2006 and 2015. The first appearance was at a now-silent blog, piersgavestonjr. 12-step program “5- It is late, I am sleepy … Am I being called back to Thrunombulax (the planet of my birth)? 6- My giving advice about depression is like Cynthia Mckinney (my representative in congress) giving advice about hair care.” A 2008 search for Thrunombulax, Stumping Google, turned up the blogspot post, and Cheepnis.
Slaughterhouse-Five Part Two was a stream of consciousness tribute to “so it goes.” “PG has long suspected that he is a Zorlac, from the planet Thrunombulax. PG is quiet about this, as prejudice against Zorlacs is acceptable by polite people. Many white people are trying so, so, hard not to appear prejudiced against anyone. When they see an approved target for their tribal rage, white people lose it. Just look at the way people with deviant attitudes about race relations are portrayed. With this in mind, PG has learned to keep quiet about his Thrunombulaxian origin. The relationship of Thrunombulax to Tralfamadore is unknown.”
If you google “Thrunombulaxian” you get this: “It looks like there aren’t many great matches for your search. Try using words that might appear on the page you’re looking for. For example, “cake recipes” instead of “how to make a cake.””
Thrunombulax does appear again. Bubba Claus Country Christmas Album “Get nascar news, scores and videos to be in a country christmas. remove financial association from credit report … To be right amount of commoditizing its contents, and career that have been deleted from thrunombulax to undergo lazik eye surgery tuesday morning.” Pictures today are from The Library of Congress
Addendum A search at duckduckgo yielded two more results. Eat Pray Love Chronicles Part One “He is a Zorlack… the race of people that even the most politically correct feel encouraged to hate on. PG did not ask to be a Zorlack. If he had his druthers, he would still be on Thrunombulax, among critters who understand him. Life is not fair, even if fair is a baseball hit between first and third base.”
Who is PG? “PG is a Zorlack. This tribe of morphodidic questagonals migrated to earth from the native planet of Thrunombulax. The time of this migration is not certain, as Zorlactites do not recognize earth based systems of measuring time. … Zorlacks have been the object of prejudice in every … On earth, the prejudice is fairly mild. Earth creatures are infamous in the universe for their hatred of each other. … On Thrunombulax, there is no distinction between G-d and Man. The two are seen as part of the same continuum. The Zorlacks are amused by the belief systems that make this distinction. Some Earth people like to think that their religious ideas are universal. This is a source of derision in galaxies and black holes alike.” Why is google hiding this passage? …
Did Joseph Think It Was His Kid?
NOTE: This feature was originally published in March 26, 2013. This is the day after March 25, nine months before Christmas. IOW, a crucial day in the most famous unconsummated marriage in history. PG began to ponder the traditional marriage of Joseph and Mary. The question of the day is “when did Joseph and Mary get married?” Facilities such as Liberty Gospel Tracts and Fish Eaters Traditional Catholic Forum have answers.
LGT (the B got kicked out for some reason) contributes a bible passage, Matthew 1:18-19. 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
Put her away in the privy? That is some kinky business there. Maybe the Christians and Jews have it all wrong. The thirds Abrahamic religion, Islam, might have the answer. A site, TurnToIslam, has another point of view about the traditional definition of marriage.
What about Mary, Jesus’ Mother peace be upon both of them? How old was she when she got pregnant? Not only was it a custom in the Arab society to Engage/Marry a young girl it was also common in the Jewish society. The case of Mary the mother of Jesus comes to mind, in non biblical sources she was between 11-14 years old when she conceived Jesus. Mary had already been “BETROTHED” to Joseph before conceiving Jesus. Joseph was a much older man. therefore Mary was younger than 11-14 years of age when she was “BETHROED” to Joseph. We Muslims would never call Joseph a Child Molester, nor would we refer to the “Holy Ghost” of the Bible, that “Impregnated” Mary as a “Rapist” or “Adulterer”.
“….it is possible that Mary gave birth to her Son when she was about thirteen or fourteen years of age….”Mary was approximately 14 years old when she got pregnant with Jesus. Joseph, Mary’s Husband is believed to be around 36. Mary was only 13 when she married Joseph. When she first was arranged with Joseph she was between 7 to 9 years old.”
According to the “Oxford Dictionary Bible” commentary, Mary (peace be upon her) was was 12 years old when she became impregnated. So if I want to be as silly and ridiculous as many of the Christians, I would respond to them by saying that Mary was psychologically and emotionally devastated for getting pregnant at a very young age. And speaking of “child molesting”, since most Christians believe that Jesus is the Creator of this universe, then why did G-D allow himself to enter life through a 12-year old young girl’s vagina? Please note that we Muslims love and respect Allah Almighty, Mary, Jesus and Allah’s Message to the People of the Book (The Jews and Christians). In other words, we Muslims would never make fun of Christianity through such childish topic like this one as many ridiculous Christians do make fun of Islam through our Prophet’s (peace be upon him) marriage.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Jaw-Dropping Racism Poll
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Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses
How Learning Works: Eight Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching, 2nd Edition
Dropping the SAT Requirement Is a Luxury Belief Disguising self-interest as virtue
happiness w/labels ~ eating poetry ~ SIEMIATYCZE ~ havana syndrome podcast ~ dilbert
Om Akkaphan Namart ~ The Poetry He Invented ~ phillips state prison ~ beltline
mantra ~ Opeyemi Olukemi ~ repost ~ blank check pod ~ repost ~ phillips state prison
gavin macleod ~ blair white ~ palace shaw ~ status symbol ~ mtg
kate smith ~ dilbert ~ the ivy exile ~ e. palestine ~ michael hobbes
gonzalo liraS ~ ysl ~ buckhead city ~ jamie lee curtis ~ video
working antisemitism ~ we say gay ~ the gays ~ rasmussen ~ chosen
“Tuning ’77” a seamless audio supercut of an entire year of the Grateful Dead tuning their instruments, live on stage. Chronologically sequenced, this remix incorporates every publicly available recording from 1977. ~ On November 6, 2006, I purchased a vehicle with 25,390 miles. I got a notebook to serve as a log. On March 1, 2023, the vehicle has 158,617 miles, and has more to go. The notebook has run out of pages, and is being replaced. ~ @wildethingy We couldn’t decide who should get the marijuana stash in our breakup so we settled for joint custody ~ Eating Poetry By Mark Strand Ink runs from the corners of my mouth. There is no happiness like mine. I have been eating poetry. The librarian does not believe what she sees. Her eyes are sad and she walks with her hands in her dress. The poems are gone. The light is dim. The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up. Their eyeballs roll, their blond legs burn like brush. The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep. She does not understand. When I get on my knees and lick her hand, she screams. I am a new man. I snarl at her and bark. I romp with joy in the bookish dark ~ @chamblee54 You should never wrestle with a Hogg. You will get dirty, and @davidhogg111 will enjoy it @Mr_Honkitude ~ pictures today are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library ~ selah
PRX Racism Scandal Part Three
“Everyone at PRX should know that each characteristic on the list of White Supremacy Culture Characteristics is fully expressed in the workplace …” The first time I ever heard of WSC was a scandal at PRX. The story about WSC yesterday got me to take a look at PRX, and how they were doing, WSC wise, in the 30 months since the scandal broke.
When in doubt, have an outside study done. PRX hired Prince Lobel Tye LLP to investigate. “Palace Shaw, a Black woman and former employee of Public Radio Exchange, lnc. (“PRX”), sent an email to all staff in which she recounted what she described as the “systematic mistreatment” she experienced that prompted her to resign from her position. … The investigation did not uncover any evidence of unlawful discrimination or anything to suggest that any PRX policy was violated related to Ms. Shaw’s employment. However, there was some evidence that microaggressions and unconscious bias, while not unlawful, may have adversely affected Black, indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) employees, including Ms. Shaw. … there is nothing to suggest that Ms. Shaw was ever treated adversely because of her race or gender, the touchstone of a cognizable discrimination complaint based on her being a
Black woman. No singular reason emerged as to why the Black women to whom Ms. Shaw alluded left PRX. They all did so for different reasons, and none of the three cited mistreatment because they were Black women as a motivating reason for leaving PRX. However, the investigation uncovered signs of what can be described as unconscious bias and “microaggressions” that tended to make the work experience for some BIPOC employees difficult. … These types of complaints were not universal among BIPOC, and some said they had never experienced unconscious bias or microaggressions.”
“In April 2021, PRX hired Byron Green as senior director of DEI.” Current: “A October 2020 investigation … did uncover what it called unconscious biases and microaggressions that made work difficult for BIPOC employees at PRX. How have you been working to address issues of inherent biases and microaggressions?” Green: “Straight on. Notably we’ve done emotional intelligence, identity development and unconscious bias training at large. …”
PRX CEO Kerri Hoffman, whose hair-touching sparked this drama, is still in charge at PRX. Aggrieved employee Palace Shaw has turned up at Ten Percent Happier. “The Dalai Lama’s GUIDE TO HAPPINESS. We went halfway around the world to find out what it actually takes to become happier. Journey with us and learn how to train your mind to be happier over time alongside the most qualified people on the planet—including the Dalai Lama.” TPH recently featured Ms. Shaw on a podcast episode, Why The Tears, about the difficulties some people have with crying. The transcript does not include the word “white.”
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. “Meeting of UCAPAWA (United Cannery, Agricultural, Packing, and Allied Workers of America) in Bristow OK.” Russell Lee was the photographer, in February 1940.
White Supremacy Culture
@jessesingal “2/ It is genuinely bizarre. In the case of journalists, they are making these really intense accusations against other journalists and they get super pissed when you ask them for specific examples.” @chamblee54 “Asking for specific examples is white supremacy culture.”@NotaNeoLiberal1 “And most certainly a trait from someone imbued with colonizer ideology.” The @chamblee54 comment got 115 likes. @dcherring “lol.”
“White Supremacy Culture is a form of racism centered upon the belief that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds and that whites should politically, economically, and socially dominate non-whites. While often associated with violence perpetrated by the KKK and other white supremacist groups, it also describes a political ideology and systemic oppression that perpetuates and maintains the social, political, historical and/or industrial white domination.” This is a typical description of WSC. It does not make a lot of sense. WSC is connected to WS, which is essentially anything that you say it is.
Most WSC talk centers this list of characteristics. It is from “Dismantling Racism: A Workbook for Social Change Groups, by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun, 2001.” There is a list of items that WSC embodies. “the belief that there is such a thing as being objective” “equating individual acts of unfairness against white people with systemic racism which daily targets people of color.”
@chamblee54 first became aware of WSC by reading about the PRX Racism Scandal. PRX is a foundation-funded organization that assists public radio endeavors. A young lady of color, Palace Shaw, quit her job at PRX, and issued a viral letter about her experience. PRX CEO Kerri Hoffman touching Palace Shaw’s hair was the first issue addressed in the viral letter. FWIW, this list of WSC characteristics does include hair-touching.
“Everyone at PRX should know that each characteristic on the list of White Supremacy Culture Characteristics is fully expressed in the workplace … For current donors/financial supporters: How much would you be willing to increase your current pledge if PRX makes necessary changes to address its white supremacy culture?” Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
The Poetry He Invented
PG has learned that two poems he enjoyed were “borrowed.” One was in Mad Magazine. It was a poem about baseball. “Tigers Tigers, burning bright, in the ballparks, of the night, your pitching’s fair, your fields adroit, so why no pennant for Detroit.” Not only was this a memorable rhyme, but it has the word adroit. While this is a wonderful addition to a vocabulary, in fifty six years PG has never used it. Maybe the only purpose adroit serves is rhyming with Detroit.
PG is not terribly well educated when it comes to poetry. A lot of things slip by him. He did develop an admiration for Allen Ginsberg, which led to William Blake. One night, with the World Series in the background, PG found a poem by Mr. Blake, The Tyger.
“Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry?” Could it be that Mad was more fun to read? A more adroit turn of phrase? Or less prophetic … The Tigers won the World Series before the sixties were over.
In a few years, PG moved byond Mad Magazine. He read about these albums being sold by Warner Brothers. They were collections of songs from different artists, designed to make you want to buy more. “The Big Ball” cost two dollars by mail order. Side four was devoted to weird stuff. Captain Beefheart, The Mothers of Invention, The GTO’s, and Pearls Before Swine. The last band had a song, Footnote, which is included today.
Footnote is a quiet song, with easy to remember words. PG listened many, many times, and thought he had it figured out. It was about an arms dealer. Of course, most think the Pearls Before Swine is something in the Bible. Another version is when Clare Boothe Luce went into a room ahead of Dorothy Parker. “Age before beauty” “Pearls before swine”.
So anyway, there was an article about something, somewhere. It was quoting Wyston Hugh Auden, known mercifully by his initials W.H. This is another famous person that PG knew little about, other than his friendship with Christopher Isherwood. The quote was familiar. Then it hit… this was that song by Pearls Before Swine. It seems like the performer borrowed the lyrics from Epitaph on a Tyrant. Pictures for this repost are from The Georgia State University Library.
This Is A Repost
A tweet started it all. “15 words you need to eliminate from your vocabulary.” In case you were wondering, they are: 1. That, 2. Went, 3. Honestly, 4. Absolutely, 5. Very, 6. Really, 7. Amazing, 8. Always, 9. Never, 10. Literally, 11. Just, 12. Maybe, 13. Stuff, 14. Things, and 15. Irregardless.
In the original tweet, the url did not work. PG googled the phrase, and got a bunch of other 15 word collections. He thought it would be cool to see the other collections, and maybe compile the results. However, all of the other collections used the same 15 words. The Muse started it, and even got mighty Time to copy them.
Two words you need to eliminate from your vocabulary is a non conformist. “1. Replace the word ’’but’’ with ’’and’’ … 2. Replace the phrase ’’I have to’’ with ’’I want to’’
Ditto “7 Words To Remove From Your Vocabulary.” Their crew of deplorables include: “I Should… I Can’t… I Hope… I Have To… I’ll Try… I’ve Got a Problem… But.” This gives us 25 words to never use… enough to write a poem. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
I hope that maybe I can’t absolutely
I’ll try I should but I’ve got a problem
Irregardless I have to stuff things literally
Just very honestly never really went dim
A David Bowie Book
David Bowie: A Life was sitting on the biography shelf at the Chamblee library. It is an “oral biography.” Dylan Jones gets the blame, and the copyright. He took a bunch of interviews, and curated salient passages into a narrative. It is a fun book to read, full of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
The Amazon one star reviews beg to differ. Guitar Gregg “I thought this would be biography not assorted comments. Very few comments from David Bowie. Who cares what Debora Harry or hundreds of “Joe blows” have to say? No pictures? 500 pages? Too much too little. Buy his cd’s instead.” worst read ever “Belongs in the fire … worst read ever!”
PG enjoyed DBAL. At some point, the lurid tales of depravity got too quotable, and PG started keeping a list. In this book report, we will use this list, until the list, or the reader’s attention span, is exhausted. There may be another installment. Part one was published last week.
“There’s one instance — probably included just so it would be cited — about someone calling Bowie’s room in New York with an offer of a still-warm corpse. “The town had never seen anything like David before,” says onetime groupie Josette Caruso. “And he obviously looked like such a freak that some sick people thought he might be into necrophilia.” (He wasn’t.) (Page 142)
Page 146 “He (Lou Reed) had an auteur complex, and Bowie didn’t fit into that. Lou was also a prime member of the awkward squad. He could lose a charm competition with Van Morrison.” In 1972 David had gone through years of struggle, and was starting to make it. After the Ziggy Stardust tour, he was hot. At this time, David wound up helping two struggling artists, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop
The Elton John/Rolling Stone article was published during one Iggy phase. “May 1975 — It’s four in the morning, Hollywood time, and David Bowie is twitching with energy. … Bowie clutches his heart and beams like a proud father watching his kid in the school play. His whisper is full of wonder. “They just don’t appreciate Iggy.” he is saying. “He’s Lenny fucking Bruce and James Dean. When that adlib flow starts, there’s nobody like him. It’s verbal jazz, man!” … Bowie and Iggy never did make it back into the studio. Pop slept past the booked time, called up drunk several nights later and when Bowie told him to “go away” — meaning “hang up” — Iggy did just that. Now he’s disappeared. “I hope he’s not dead,” says Bowie, “he’s not a good act.” Iggy will show up later in this story.
Page 151 has stories from the Ziggy tour. In Seattle, the entourage went to a gay bar, and someone invited David to a party. When the next day came, and the tour needed to go to the next city, David was nowhere to be found. When he finally called the hotel, all he knew was that he was in a house, with a lot of trees around it. A hotel employee talked to David on the phone, and they managed to figure out where he was.
Page 155 Lori Mattox was a fifteen year old rock fan in 1972. “We got to the Beverly Hilton, and all went up to Bowie’s enormous suite. … We were getting stoned when, all of a sudden, the bedroom door opens and there is Bowie in this beautiful red and orange and yellow kimono … “Lori, darling, can you come with me? … Of course I did. Then he escorted me into the bedroom, gently took off my clothes, and de-virginized me.”
There is a lot of text about David’s sex life. The boy got around, in spite of, or because of, his open marriage with Angela. Apparently, nature was generous with David. While performatively gay during this era, David made plenty of exceptions with ladies. DBAL is an entertaining book.
Page 176 Ava Cherry was a girlfriend who stuck around. “… and yes, we did have some fun together. We were staying at the Sherry-Netherland one night in New York, where David had given a party for Rudolph Nureyev. At the end of the party, everyone was gone apart from me and David and Mick, (Jagger) so it just ended up with the three of us sleeping together.”
Page 263 87 pages later, David has burned out on American rock stardom, and is living on top of an auto parts store in Berlin. This is the phase which produced Low and Heroes, two creative, though non commercial, efforts. Iggy Pop is back in the picture. Longtime assistant Coco Schwab never left. Iggy Pop : “There’s sevent days in a week: two for bingeing, two for recovery, and three more for any other activity.” Coco Schwab “I remember one elevated subway ride where you ride into East Berlin with no checkpoints and then back out with Absinthe into the west. Trust Jim (Iggy) to find that one.”
Page 277 David meets Adrian Bellew, who is in Frank Zappa’s band. David is talking to Adrian about doing a tour with David. At some point, the two go to a restaurant, where they run into Frank Zappa. “…David tried to strike up a conversation with Frank, saying “This is quite a guitar player you have here” And Frank said, “Fuck you, Captain Tom.” David persisted, and said “Oh come on now, Frank, surely we can be gentleman about this?” And Frank said, “Fuck you, Captain Tom.” … so David said, “So you really have nothing to say?” To which Frank said, “Fuck you, Captain Tom.”
Picture are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the photographs in April, 1941. The setting was Chicago, IL. The bar at Palm Tavern, Negro restaurant on 47th Street. Chicago IL Having fun at roller skating party at Savoy Ballroom. Chicago IL This is a repost.
Chamblee54 
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