Unca Harlan's Art Deco Dining Pavilion
Joseph J. Finn
Rob,
No offense taken - I figure you had merely run into some crummy congregations, and simply mis-laid that qualifier in your statement. And David, well put in your explication.
Regards,
Joseph
Piaf CD Available
Harlan,
Through EMI Music France, Universal/Capitol has decided to go ahead and release Mme Piaf's 40th anniversay CD in Europe, in spite of Frank Church's aggressive canary shredder metaphor and generally low opinions of her vocal qualities. The compilation is titled "Eternelle, Les Plus Grandes Chansons d'Edith Piaf". It is comprised of 40 songs on two discs, and includes 4 previously unpublished tracks and a new version of "Padam...Padam".
The new tracks are:
"Je ne veux plus laver la vaisselle"
"Ses mains"
"Rue de Siam"
"Jean l'espagnol"
I bought an extra copy of this set. Just say the word, and I'll ship it tout de suite.
editing quibble (that's what they pay me for)
Philip:
Now that you got that part straight, you should keep in mind that in future, the phrase would be most accurately rendered as "to a . . . criterion. . . ."
"Criteria" is the plural, though not too many people seem to be aware of that. (They have even more difficulty with data and datum, though the effort to keep the former strictly plural seems to be a lost cause.)
Reform and Orthodox
Let me add my support to Joseph's objection. I wasn't going to speak up, because I'm not a Jew, but I do belong to a large and distinguished Reform congregation, and attend service roughly once a month and have sat in on services for nearly half a dozen other sects(?) here in Portland.
Alex Jay evidently hasn't visited a heckuva lot of Reform congregations -- or maybe they've all been in roughly the same region. Like Unitarians, which in the Northeast seem to be more deistic and conservative, as opposed to the West Coast where a third of the congregations tend to be atheist, a third agnostic, and a third interested in being connected to a supreme deity, Jewish congregations vary a lot.
I won't go into great detail; merely observe that our Saturday Reform services always have Torah portions and lots of Hebrew (Friday evening services tend to be less formal, but retain at least a half dozen Hebrew prayers). The final afternoon Rosh Hashanah service last Monday was a full 3 hours, 45 minutes -- apparently every prayer was done in Hebrew, English, AND sung by the choir. (Glad I didn't go! My wife stumbled out dazed -- not only from the fast, but due to a woman who had not heeded the regular warnings not to bathe in perfume), angry, and not at all spiritually uplifted. But that's the exception more than the rule.
I wrote the previous posting too fast:
"according a to more complex criteria" should read
"according TO A more complex criteria".
Obvious typo, but I had to fix it.
Phillip
KILL BILL, VOL. 1: Bloody as Hell (as it should be)
I agree with Frank about “Kill Bill, Vol. 1.” I thoroughly enjoyed the movie for what it is and plan to see it again before it leaves my local theatre, and I’m looking forward to “Vol. 2.” I also agree with whoever said it’s a shallow movie with nothing underneath the surface, but the surface is so lovingly made--I just ate it up. It was a fun ride. A good ole fashion revenge flick. Uma Thurman going out to get everybody, and she gets ’em good. And that’s it.
Criticizing the movie according a to more complex criteria than that seems foolish.
Which seems to be the case for most of the negative criticisms I’ve read about the movie (including what I've read here in HE's Pavilion so far). James Berardinelli’s review of the movie, for instance, is a perfect illustration of a movie critic taking himself, as a movie critic, too seriously, and the movie, as a “film,” much too seriously--and judging the movie all wrong. (http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/master.html)
For example, the protagonist in a revenge flick is defined more by their ability to kick ass than their ability to carry on witty conversation. As entertaining as it might be to listen to two gangsters discuss the deeper meaning of a foot massage, that kind of extended dialogue would most likely slow down the kinetic energy of the all cool kung-fu that’s going on in “Kill Bill.”
So the movie doesn’t have a lot of memorable dialogue. So what? “Kill Bill” isn’t “Pulp Fiction,” nor do I think it is meant to be. It is a wonderfully crafted kung-fu, Samurai, kill-em-all and kill-em-good, revenge flick.
When I hear criticisms like “it was too bloody and too violent,” it reminds of something I inadvertently heard Kathy-Lee Gifford say about “Pulp Fiction” one day while I was flicking as fast as I could through the channels: “Did it really need to be so violent?”
That’s like asking, “Does a musical really need to have so much singing?” Yeah, it does. It’s called “The Sound of MUSIC.” What did you expect?
Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie is called “KILL Bill.” Kinda tells you what you’re in for, don’t you think?
If you don’t like violent revenge flicks, you won’t like the movie. That’s it. Don’t go. But for what it is, it is extremely well made, stunning and amazing at times, and--I hate this phrase--but a pure cinematic delight. It’s like Homer Simpson discovering triple-chocolate ice cream. Kung-fu revenge flicks don’t get any better than this.
And somehow I seem to agree with Frank.
Phillip Cairns
St. John's, NL, Canada
Just read an intriguing spin-off of Charles Dickens's work OLIVER TWIST called FAGIN THE JEW, by Will Eisner. It's a really, REALLY good book, dealing directly with the circumstances Jews had to cope with on a daily basis in Victorian England.
So, yes, it's not a very happy story.
Eisner stays relatively faithful to Dickens's narrative, while re-inventing the story at the same time through the eyes of Fagin. The sequence of events and characters appear to be the same, but it's like taking a black-and-white film and then casting the actors in completely different lighting. The 'hero', Oliver, is a little less of a wide-eyed innocent and a little more of a fickle boy, even a brat. Nancy looks more like how a lower-class woman would genuinely appear in the ghettos of London, as opposed to the glamorous portrayal found in Hollywood musicals. Even Charles Dickens (whose two appearences bookend the tale) comes off as an indifferent jerk.
Probably one of the most memorable sequences has Fagin's father going to a pub to collect on the winnings from a boxing match. The men at the pub cheat him, and when he begins accusing them of their crime, he's brutally murdered in plain sight for his troubles. Fagin witness his father's death, and when he tries to scream for help, passerbys reply with "Ignore him! It's just another Jewish street trick!"
All the while, a pool of blood is quietly gathering around the father's corpse.
Sorry, 2nd post....but hey I found it!!
Amazing.....that was the episode!!! Seems I was an Ellison fan about 5 years earlier than I'd estimated. I saw this show once, over thirty years ago, and it really stuck with me, it was soooo creepy. The very last scene, in which the only artist remaining has just escaped the explosion in the studio...someone tells him he was lucky and he says "Yeah. Lucky."... and turns to show his abstract metal FACE.
Many thanks Jon, don't ask me why I'm so thrilled to discover that HE wrote "Earth, Air, Fire, Water"....makes me a bit of a sad anorak eh? But much of the stuff I thought was brilliant when I was ten or twelve years old turns out to be not-so when I see or read it again as an adult. I'm happy to find that this one really was quality stuff.
Shit, did I really write a sentence putting Orson Welles and Quentin Tarantino on equal footing? Must've been the NyQuil. Lemme check here...oh, nope, looks like I didn't. Mark Walsh must've ingested something stronger than my cough medicine. If you could, Mark, let me in on that action. Unless you're busy attending an Ozu retrospective, or something...
It's just fun to see a movie made by someone who loves film and film devices. I'm not at all sure KIL BILL is a good movie, but I enjoyed it. Which, sad to say, is all I can ask for these days.
Jon-- thanks for the link and the title.
Lee-- did you ever wonder why it is necessary to have the word "defenestrate"? I wonder, is it such a common occurence that a verb is required?
Kill Bill
I disagree with the comment that none of the actors in KILL BILL vol 1 can carry a scene -- certainly Uma Thurman can.
But while I enjoyed the film for its kinetic energy, and was hyped by its over-the-top trashiness, I do hope Tarantino has gotten this kind of thing out of his system (with the second half, of course).
Otherwise, as far as I'm concerned, he's Mamet without content.
From My Solitude...
Okay, three ayhem, and I get to go to work. Sorry about the time of posting (as if it makes any difference, but it's my only chance today), but Lee's comment needs response. Besides, I get to gloat at the fact of earning double time today as a statutory holiday. Life is good.
To all my fellow Canadians, Happy Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Heureux for those in Quebec. We're having goose this year, with a fine sausage and wild chestnut stuffing. I'm grateful that we have the feasting, and none of the parades that make the American holiday look like a warm-up to the Whatchagetme buying season.
Last, and most important:
Lee:
Ne vous inquiétez pas à son sujet. C'était mon erreur pour employer le "français de gouttière" avec l'abandon, particulièrement quand j'ai parlé mes gosses sur l'importance de l'étude pour lire et parler et de toutes les langues correctement. En fait, mon plus vieux attrapé aussi bien me là-dessus, et réprimandé me pour l'aspect d'être un hypocrite. L'enfant était correct, et à ma contrariété j'ai dû lui faire face avec elle.
Je n'ai aucune honte au sujet de avoir tort, il est le mal restant qui pose des problèmes. J'espère que vous avez suivi l'immersion. Avoir la commande de plus d'une langue porte un nombre juste d'avantages, bien au delà de facilité de voyage, et l'assurance suffisante d'apparaître plus cultivée que d'autres.
And, typing the English part took about ten minutes. Typing the French, three. Non mauvais, diriez-vous?
Have fun, kiddies!
Scott
Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving from Soviet Canuckistan. As far as I can tell, turkey and potato prices appear to be in a race to see who gets to $O.00/pound first.
Cheers, Jon
Kill Bill
I was going to hold my tongue on this, but seeing two raves for Kill Bill (though qualified, both of them), I felt the need for balance, and hence the need to counter the recommendations to see the film.
First, not only should the squeamish avoid the film, but anyone with even a reasonable tolerance for on-screen violence should do so as well. I found the endless scenes of slaughter more grisly than goofy (though they are goofy) and more mean-spirited than stupid (though they are stupid). I can sit through pretty much anything a filmmaker throws at me as long as I feel like I'm being rewarded for my stamina. But "Kill Bill" is simply one gratuitous bloodletting after another, without any of the solid comedic or dramatic touchpoints found in work like "Jackie Brown", "Resevoir Dogs", or even "Pulp Fiction", which skates the same line (though more deftly) and resembles the current film more than the other two. Hence, the film cycles from boredom to repulsion and back to boredom, ad nauseum.
Add on to that the fact that none of the major roles are filled by actors who can carry a scene, and that the dialogue is awkward and flat, especially for Tarantino, and you have a major clunker of a film that's main attraction seems to be a high number of decapitations. (At least that's what the audience I saw it with applauded at loudest and longest.) (And I'm not, not not not trying to imply that those here what liked the flick are the kind who hoot and holler at flying melons, but merely describing the audience I was in the middle of, and what bits of the film they really seemed to revel in.)
Sorry to be so vehemently negative about a film you guys dug, but I thought that with two urgings for people to see it already out there, that maybe anyone actually wondering about what to put out ten bucks for at the mulitplex might appreciate another point of view.
You can have the mic back now, stop pushing, and no need to call the cops, I'm going already fer chrissakes. Sheesh. I believe I had a hat when I came in. Thank you.
Scott: I hope I didn't come across as being catty; over the last year I've taken 3 months of classroom French into total immersion in France at both a research center and a factory; the people that I work with span socially from the grand école elite all the way down to your salt-of-the-earth ouvrier. I'm constantly challenged in sorting out slang and idiom from plain old bad french and I was interested to see a native speaker using that construction.
As for getting lovingly patted on the head by a French teacher…let’s just say that my last tutor’s opinion of my progress seemed to indicate that “defenestrate” is the same word in both languages.
Dorie: Ghost story? Ellison? To start, try
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-8806/epid-148711
Or type 'harlan ellison earth air fire water' into a google search and see what happens, I s'pose.
Cheers, Jon (whose idiomatic French is somewhat better than his formal French, especially when it comes to 'des hamburgers')
Remember Circle Of Fear?
I've just stumbled upon a reference to Harlan Ellison having written for the 70s TV show Ghost Story aka Circle Of Fear. I never knew he wrote for that series, is it common knowledge round here? Can anybody give me a quick synopsis of the plot(s)? I remember quite a few of those shows, just loved gettin' the bejeebers scared outta me when I was about 10 years old....tell me he wrote the one about the artists who discovered the old jars with spirits in them, that was absolutely THE scariest episode, real nightmare fodder!
JOSEPH: Perhaps I should have said, "The Reform congregations *I* have visited have all had watered-down services."
The one which springs most readily to mind was an old girlfriend's; rather than read Torah, the rabbi simply talked about what the portion for the day was about. Granted, that's an important part of the sermon, but I was shocked that the Torah itself was given an ornamental status only--like a person buying a library of books because they LOOKED good on the wall.
Congregations, I realize, differ greatly from shul to shul--but my experience showed me synagogues very different from what I assume yours is like.
Your shul may well be a great house of worship--and I do not doubt that this is so, for yours and many other Reform synagogues--it's just not what I've seen. Apologies for offending.
Mark,
"A sentence that puts Tarantino and Welles on equal footing - THAT'S the true indication that the Four Horsemen have mounted up and are ready to ride."
...certainly in the annals of human perception and taste, indisputably.
Reform Services
I take issue with your idea that Reform services are somehow "watered down" form of Shabbat services. May we agree that you misspoke, and meant that Reform has simply gone in a less-cumbersome direction than the traditional service?
Michael Reed:
THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!!!!!!!
Bill
When Tarantino has nothing to say, he keeps his mouth shut. When he chances upon an idea from another artist, he makes a movie. If it wasn't for Elmore Leonard and Hong Kong Cinema, this bum would still be renting you videos in West Hollywood.
And spare me all this crap about a Cubs/Red Sox Wrolds Series being the sign of the Apocalypse. A sentence that puts Tarantino and Welles on equal footing - THAT'S the true indication that the Four Horsemen have mounted up and are ready to ride.
Speaking of the Sox, that was plain foolishness what transpired on the field and in the bullpen at Fenway yesterday. Shame and eternal shame; nothing but shame all around. The WWF meet MLB and it was a long time coming.
Damnation!
Walshy
full throttle
I'm going to agree with Frank, for once, and urge anyone who hasn't to check out the first volume of KILL BILL.
It's wonderful to see a movie made with such enthusiasm and energy. Tarantino is as playful as Orson Welles. He throws in everything from animation to split-screen. It's charged with life, the way that, say, BOOGIE NIGHTS was.
This is a shallow movie. There's nothing at all underneath the surface. But the surface was lovingly made. And, this time, that's enough.
I will be honest, never did care much for Piaf's voice. Reminds me of a canary being thrown through a paper shredder. I respect her artistry, but since everyone else is on her boat, I thought I would play the bad guy role; which I play so well.
But I do love you all.
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Go see Tarantino's Kill Bill; a wonderful homage of the 70's kung fu movies. It is basically a comic book style exploitation film, that takes ultra-violence to new levels. So, if you are at all squeamish, DO NOT go. It is artsy when it needs to be, and fun and funky most of the time. Just great. Dirt simple plot, but oddly stunning film. Fight scenes are like deft ballet. Must see. Super violent though. Warning.
--------------
John Simon has gone after Gore Vidal for his misuse of the French language in his essays. Strangely, Vidal will not debate him. I love Vidal, but don't hide from your mistakes. If Simon is right, then admit that you are wrong. Some people just cannot admit they are not always on point.
Wink.
---------------
"Sanity is a madness put to good use."
George Santayana
On The Road With Ellison Volume 2
Greetings. It's Michael from Deep Shag Records with some news. After meeting briefly with Harlan last month, I am pleased to tell you that the second volume of On The Road With Ellison should finally be released in 2004. I am currently sifting through 40+ tapes covering Harlan's speaking engagements over the last quarter century. It is a very slow and painstaking task, but I'm sure I can wring enough sonically worthy stories, jokes and, dare I say, blistering commentary from yr. pal Harlan.
I will post updates to The Pavilion on my progress from time to time. To get the official release date announcement and other news, please join the Deep Shag Records email list at www.deepshag.com. Your info will never be shared and is used only to let you know about upcoming releases & events. Thanks for your interest.
Michael
born agains...
I've met born-agains of all colors that I considered sincere people--I think it breaks down more to class than race. Most of the genuine ones I knew were just regular people, working some menial job to make ends meet and then going to church as much as they could, probably just to feel like someone out there cared about them. I've been to some of those storefront churches and the people I've met there have been the most giving people you'd ever meet...although some are also absolutely wacko.
However, there's a big percentage of SUV driving soccer mom bland types too, especially in the bigger churches...I went to a Baptist church for a while [mainly because I was starved for some kind of social interaction] but got too freaked out by the pod people after a while. There wasn't any there there, to quote Dorothy Parker. They didn't seem to be evil or bigoted, they just seemed to be comatose in their approach to life.
But the caveat about the "sign of the fish" is a good one to heed. I avoid any business that has that symbol on its advertisements--to me they are the direct descendents of the moneychangers in the temples.
Lee:
Actually, in proper infinitve form, you are correct (and your French teacher would pat your head lovingly and smile at your attentiveness.). In slang form, however, my bad French is perfectly tolerable, used in much the same way as your English "you know", as in "I went to the store and found there was no bread, you know?". I'll now pause and let the patron author flog me verbally for the atrocious grammar in both tongues. Forgive a Quebecquois for using idiomatic form.
As to software, I've tried the other programs mentioned, and find them frustrating for much the same reasons you've mentioned. I don't like writing something, translating, then having to go in and correct half of what the program has brought forth. Reverso seems to have dealt with the problems of the comparative colloquial slang forms between French and English quite nicely, so I'm not having to patch up too much. I've often found that the lower priced software often forces the text into perfectly correct grammatical form, and gives the text a forced literate structure. Everything turns out too businesslike, without real character and personage showing through. Fine for business memos, but I don't like to appear as a person with, how do you say, a rod up his ass?
Scott
Correction
That's "L'accordeoniste" --sorry.
Here's what I found. . .
The six Piaf songs found in a French library in July of 2003 were:
1. "Le Fille de Joie est Triste" (an early version of La Accordeoniste")
2. "Je ne Veux Plus Fair la Vaisselle"
3. "C'Etait si Bon"
4. "Ces Mains"
5. "La Valse de Paris"
6. "Chanson d'amour"
These are supposed to be released by Universal Music/Polydor in October for the 40th anniversary. I went to the Universal site and the Polydor site and couldn't find any date for the release.
Steve Dooner
That was probably a rhetorical question but if you wanted to know.... it's "vous savez".
"connaitre" is to know a person, "savoir" is to know facts, have knowledge etc.
Scott: Wouldn't that be "vous connaissez?"
Anyhow, in fulfilling my current role of dad trying to pay the bills, I have ended up as an expatriate American doing two years in France. (There may not be any place in the world where Arnold's election is more of a pain in the ass to a travelling American.)
I'll check around the local CD shops for the Piaf releases. And seeing as Harlan's the one asking, I'd also be happy to buy and ship if no better route comes to hand - that's assuming I find the discs, of course.
PS
Systran has nice little two-language translators for $59. They're very good with idiomatic expressions, but choke badly on long sentences that take a different form in the other language. If you just need to do a sentence or two, their site (www.systransoft.com/) will do 150 word text blocks for free.
Babylon-Pro ($49.50 @ www.babylon.com/) is an active dictionary: control-right-click at any time on any word in any application in either language and it pops up a small tranlation box with the definition in the other language - no need to set direction of translation. The translation box can then be used to query the online Babylon site for verb conjugation lists, etc. It doesn't handle idiom or multi-word phrases, but is absolutely super for puzzling out blocks of text that are already 70% readable.
Wife bothered me while installing chair rails (no biggie, so long as the torpedo is properly filled), so here is what I know of Piaf discs:
Wife is right about "Passion", but wasn't aware of the 10 disc set. Had to show her the advance order I made. It'll beat the hell out of listening to copies made from my 78s.
Alex: Next time, try Amazon.ca, and go to the "Nos Boutiques Francophones", at the far right of the categories tab bar. Simply click on it to get which lauguage you need. Makes for quicker conversion to and from Anglais. Saves on the Reverso Pro 5 software package (much needed for us lazy French, who prefer writing in mother tongue than dealing with your corrupted and confused little vocabulary, vous connait?), and the $395 pricetag involved. Can't wait for the day I forget to use it before submitting a post.
There are advantages to having two offical languages, mes amis. So, now I go back to work, blearily hoping to finish before three in the morning.
Scott
A long, long time ago on the old (well loved) black and yellow board I said I believe Edith Piaf to be the greatest singer of all times. I am delighted to hear that Paris is pitching a fete in her honor. What was it Harlan said...a tortured angel? I thought that was perfectly articulated.
How sad was her life and yet I wonder if that devine sound could have sprung so effortlessly from her soul had she not come through the fire?
One of my favorites is L'Accordianiste. There are two versions one is superior to the other but both will raise the flesh on your arms.
I would love to hear the lost songs. What a treasure-- what an astounding find!
Cindy
Hey Alex Jay?
You ENJOYED a BABTIST service? It must have been a black congregation. The white babtists are the other half of the two groups of individuals that make me struggle to not be prejudiced. Was it you, Alex, who wrote (on the other board) that being "born again" meant different things dependent upon the color of the soul who claims such status? That would be a correct assertion. Black "born again" is generally genuine
(from my experience) WHITE "born again" (particularly the "in your face" sort) is ( in my experience) usually a ploy for increased commerce. Beware the fish-- those symbols of "Christianity" that some post on their websites or business logos usually mean you should clutch your wallet firmly and at all times know its whereabouts.
I think the phrase " born again" pertains to starting anew-- decisively putting aside the old ways and embracing a new method of living that would emulate that of Christ.
There is no local Synagog--probably not one for a hundred miles, but I'll find one.
Thank you, sweet Alex.
Cindy
Edith Piaf
Harlan,
Now that you have the CD info, if it's not available through Amazon or any of those large mail-order sites, contact The Bop Shop 585-271-3354 or email the proprietor Tom Kohn at tomkohn@rochester.rr.com He can order just about anything and have it within a week. There's more about the store at www.bopshop.com BUT a search will not turn up everything they have in stock, website listings are only the rare, out-of-print titles.
Sorry; the two-disc set came out on September 23rd.
HARLAN: A quick look on the French version of Amazon.com (with some help from AltaVista's translation service for this non-Francophone) turned up two new albums (among a rash of reissues):
There is a HUGE 10-CD box set coming out on the 14th called the "Intégrale 40ème Anniversaire" collection. Unfortunately, there is no listing of all the songs.
However, there may be a two-disc set that is what you want: "Eternelle : Les Plus grandes chansons d'Edith Piaf" which lists four songs as "New" and one as a "New Re-recorded version".
The new songs are (he said, apologizing in advance for his horrid translating):
"Je Ne Veux Plus Laver La Vaisselle," or "I don't want to wash dishes anymore"
"Ses Mains," or "Its ("His"?) Hands"
"Rue De Siam," or "Siam Street"? "Streets of Siam"?
"Jean L'espagnol," or "Spanish John"
and
a new re-recorded version of "Padam ... Padam." No clue as to what it means.
The ASIN of the big 10-disc set is B0000AKPR1, and the two disc set's ASIN is B0000AKPQZ.
Hope that helps!
Mr. Ellison:
The latest Piaf CD Scott and I own is "Passion De La Vie", and it's on the Arkadia label. They released the most recent we have.
Try the Arkadia website:
http://www.view.com/arhome.html
Or phone: (213) 533-0007
I'll ask the husband, after he finishes the upstairs hallway. He loves the old chaunteurs, and I can recall Piaf being on our turntable quite often during our courting.
Now, if you'll excuse, Hallowe'en pumpkin teapots and mugs need a coat of glaze.
Bye, Melissa
HELP AND/OR INFORMATION REQUESTED
In conjunction with the big Parisian celebration of the memorial for Edith Piaf, I've been advised that archives have recently been scoured, and six unreleased piaf songs have been found. Apparently a new CD is now, or imminently, in release. Does anyone out there -- particularly one of my amies lurking in the Francophile shadows -- possess the specifics I crave? Etonne-mois! Particularly the label, the title, and how to order it?
Your good offices in this small matter will be appreciated.
Respectfully, Harlan Ellison
Thanks to Harlan and Alex
Harlan: Since you are one of the minds that I most respect in the world today and especially since you are a creator of culture, your comment has left me truly humbled. Thank you.
Alex: Thank you for the apology. I wish you only the tenderest and most moving verses of the Bible, Upanishads and Ovid.
"Ovid's always been my favorite poet."
--Elwood P. Dowd
Steve Dooner
Atheist
Believer in physics, evolution and astronomy
And, burdened by illness, I forgot ANOTHER thing I wanted to show you guys. Here is a link to a 1940 article from Das Schwarze Korps, the weekly newspaper of the SS, denouncing Superman and Jerry Siegel's work on same as "Israelite/Saduccee poison" ...
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/superman.htm
Oh--and CINDY: If you wish, go to the local synagogue and ask if you can sit in on a Shabbes (Sabbath) service as an observer. IF you do so respoectfully and ask what will be expected of you--as I'm certain you would--they'd be happy to have you. My recommendation would be to go to a Conservative synagogue, as Orthodox services would be too hard to follow (and women are sequestered from the men), and Reform services would be too watered-down.
I've enjoyed the Baptist services I've attended, and the Catholic Midnight Mass I was at one Christmas, so I see no reason why any other religion wouldn't reciprocate.
TO STEVE DOONER AND THE REST OF THE BOARDMEMBERS:
I apologize.
Being under the spell as I am of the Yearly Alex Jay Berman Memorial Almost-Flu and General Annoyance, I should not have posted as I did. I was up to personal discourse, but not critical discourse, so my points meandered and foundered.
I LOVE old stuff; at least a quarter of my three thousand-odd books here in the apartment are older than I am. And I have read and enjoyed all but one of the things you cited--I'm not sure if I've read that particular Sapphic poem or not.
But what annoys me greatly is the insistence that immediate premium be placed on "ancient texts" when so many bad translations and interpretations abound of the holy texts which the world's religions DO follow; when great large parts of said texts have no bearing on the present day, and especially when shills and shucks also abound, creating cultish shams which ensnare the gullible.
Remember Pyramid Power? Hell; the Arts & Entertainment channel, usually pretty good, STILL does a "Mysteries of the Pyramids" special every couple of weeks.
And in regard to religion, there are just FAR too many jackasses who insist on quoting certain Bible verses, such as the injunction agaisnt homosexuals or the old "Suffer ye not a witch to live," all the while thundering that the Bible--every verse, parable, and line--is the be-all and end-all of what should be followed. "God said it, I believe it, that settles it," goes the refrain.
Yet these selfsame people have no problems eating milk with meat, wearing clothes of mixed fibers, or ignoring the simple "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," picking and choosing from the verses of these "holy texts," finding the bits which suit their individual predjudices.
(Or in Islam, the most egregious examples are the Sura of the Cow, which is now used to justify hatred and war against non-Muslims and the oppression of women when such was never the intended meaning, or the Sura of the Spider, in which we are told, "He that fights for Allah's cause fights for himself. Allah does not need his creatures' help." Many modern-day Muslims entirely overlook the words in the Sura of Women: As for those that pay no heed to you [who do not follow Islam], know then that WE have not sent you to be their keeper. Allah takes note of all their plots. Therefore let them be, and put your trust in Allah.")
Those who profess to follow the "ancient holy texts" to the word do not take into account said texts' many contradictions. They mistalke parable for word-for-word commandment, take sentences out of context to justify their own hatreds, and generally play fast and loose with their interpretations of what their God or Gods demand.
And, as I said, there are those who put forth NEW "ancient" traditions; who have become purveyors of false "knowledge of old," taking piecemeal old superstitions and new rituals spun from whole cloth and present them as their own "ancient holy texts."
I realize my thoughts are wandering again, and this damned virus is having its way with me (I rarely get sick, and so regard it as a personal insult and foolishly attempt to ignore it when I do), so please forgive the scattershot nature of this post. Still, I hope it clears up what I said earlier.
Brian: No more decapitation images (in jest or otherwise) that include my pal Dooner. Any thought of the world losing Steve's encyclopedic and humane mind is dark, man, too fucking dark. And having Frank Church do it only dumps a quart of salt onto an already raw wound.
Best,
Mark
Frank Makes The Hit List
Well, Frank, that is, of course, the last time I humble myself enough to concede I hadn’t had much spare time to look up those online sources (OBVIOUSLY, I know about them ya dumb fuck) - unsure about which ones were more valid than others (in case you didn’t know it, Frank, you fatuous dork, those sources vary). After all the information I’ve provided here in the past from a great well of wisdom (I shout SHAZAM every morning) all you can do is take a condescending shot - your ONE opportunity, as you know full well you’re not dealing with some ignorant asshole. Yes, there are many sources online; a myriad. But with lots of my own work to do, sitting for hours with a lordotic bend in my spine, I thought I’d turn to some people here possibly informed enough on the topic to direct me to the RELIABLE sources (sparing myself the need to cull from stuff that just reiterates what I already know...but COULD be mistaken) and perhaps have some constructive input about it themselves (that, of course, excludes you). In short, I had the hidden motive of sparking what I thought would be an interesting subject for discussion. (And of course I DO take Stossel with a grain of salt; I know his motives; this was simply an argument I wanted to explore further.)
Now, FAIR sounds like an interesting source. I didn’t know about it. If I hadn’t asked, you see, I wouldn’t have gotten it. Soooooo, WHEN I have a moment I’ll take a look at it.
Having said that, Frank, this is the last time I show humility. I am a dangerous sociopath; a killer on the loose. I’ll be here on the street corner waiting for you, Frank. WAITING for your next inevitable discharge of irrational rubbish and misinformation. WAITING…with a meat hook to put through your ass. When I get through with you you’ll find yourself hanging upside down in a slaughter house envying Jurgis Rudkus.
STEVE DOONER
Brilliant comment. You are what is meant, when someone makes reference to "a cultured individual."
Harlan
My name is...
Inigo Montoya, you killed my father. Prepare to die.
That's my quiz result. At first I got Aragorn, but I wasn't answering quite honestly enough.
re: 'Shamanistic Wisdom of the Ancients'
Merry Mother of God. Who the hell needs Swedish doctors?
ALEX,
Who gives a flying rat's ass about the last ten years? I'm referring to Arnold the Auteur, Arnold the Artiste, the Arnold behind CONAN THE BARBARIAN, behind TOTAL RECALL, behind HERCULES GOES BANANAS! Not the hateful parody that came later, the commercial sell-out abomination responsible for JINGLE ALL THE WAY and END OF DAYS! Ah, for those magical years when Arnold was a cinematic poet that ranked alongside the likes of Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini!
But I forgive him. Heaven help me, I forgive him.
HAAAAHAAAAAheeeheeeheeeeee....."alleged penis snatchers".....I was going to write something pithy and in general agreement with your last statement, but I'm laughing too hard.... (I know, it's not funny and people got killed but HONESTLY!!!)
Shamanistic Wisdom of the Ancients
CNN serves up a pithy example of ancient wisdom in modern practice: todays Gambian shamans extort wealth from a local male population that belives it is possible to use voodoo to shrink a man's genitals to nothingness with a touch. Lest any think I am making this up, I include the link:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/10/09/gambia.penis.reut/index.html
It's CNN, so it must be true.
Some of humanity's most touching views of the world are carried forward through old writings. Texts like the pentateuch with it's ancient view of the firmament as a tent with little holes in it letting the light of God shine through.
But there is some flaw in our psychology as a species that allows more or less irrational belief systems to function as a basis by which a large population is led by a charismatic minority to believe in the existence of invocable supernatural powers. All religions lead down down the same boring road: using irrational fears to concentrate power in the hands of a few.
If religion didn't cost so much in the area of personal freedoms, I wouldn't have anything at all against them.
Coupla comments.
First of all, to Rob, about John Stossel: Take anything he says with a big grain of salt. Even when he reports a True Fact, it is placed in the service of a nearly-evangelical desire to promote an extremist laissez-faire capitalism. _FAIR_'s done a couple of takeouts on the guy, and many are available at http://www.fair.org/media-outlets/stossel.html. And there are many web resources for research into child labor around the world.
Chomsky essay on stuff: http://bostonreview.net/BR28.5/chomsky.html
To Chris L, re killing a friend for immortality. That made me think of a neat scene, which goes as follows. Satan has two guys in front of him, Steve and Frank. Satan turns to Steve and says, "I will offer you immortality. But you must kill your friend to earn it."
Steve looks at Frank and says, "Immortality, but I'd carry the guilt and pain of being a murderer with me for eternity. But it'd be a net gain, overall-- both of us expect one human lifetime, which emans if I refuse, we have two lifetimes. But if I accept, I could live for at least three lifetimes, so there's a general net gain for human life..."
Frank sees where this is going. He whips out a sword and cuts Steve's head off. "I accept!" he says. "Give me immortality!"
Satan looks at him evenly. "I wasn't talking to _you_..."
Rob, ya dunce, ever hear of a service named Google?
Ahem:
http://www.hrw.org/children/labor.htm
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/
"14- and 15-year-olds may be employed outside of school hours for a maximum of 3 hours per day and 18 hours per week when school is in session and a maximum of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week when school is not in session. This age group is prohibited from working before 7 a.m. and after 7 p.m., except during summers when they may work until 9 p.m. (from June 1 through Labor Day)."
I would say that this part of the law could be amended to not exclude someone from being a batboy. But, as usual, Stossel is picking nits.
Most of the child labor in the world is in India, where children are forced to make expensive rugs on looms, so that rich people around the world can empress their pathetic, plastic friends.
Of course, the prostitution of children in Asia is a world wide scandal.
Then you have prison and slave labor in China. Indonesia is a special friend to this sickness. Ever since we supported the dictatorship of Suharto.
Rumors in South America and Central America for years, that there is a secret organ trade; where street children are kidnapped, and they are killed for their organs.
Much of child labor was abolised because of years of good activism, and stronger laws. But these laws are important in keeping the world free of this blight. Sure, there are dumb exceptions, but Stossel is still a little bitch boy.
Stossel, according to FAIR, has been wrong on almost every show he has done, but has never been fired; unlike someone else, who would have been canned years ago for such shoddy reporting. And they whine about Jason Blair.
More stuff for you Robby:
http://www.caa.org.au/campaigns/nike/
Sure, the workers in third world countries have a better standard of living, but they are still being exploited. I am not saying they should not work, but we should make sure their pay and standards are better--simple.
-----------------
::DISENGAGE MATURITY VECTOR::
Rush is a pill popper!! Rush is a doper!! Rush is going into rehab with the riff raff!! Rush needs better, "personal responsibility!!" Rush is a doody face!!
Todd, Cindy, your hero is a goner!! WoooooooooooHooooooo!!
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!
::REENGAGE MATURITY VECTOR::
Ah, yes, there are many striking ancient texts that I peruse on a regular basis. Plato can be quite poetic, in a mythic sense, and the scriptures can be disarmingly poetic at times.
A spot of Tea?
I seek some information I can trust. I hope someone here has the facts down on this issue (please read this all the way through; don't stop in the middle figuring you got enough to warrant a reply).
I stumbled on 20/20 journalist John Stossel - who I generally regard as an asshole - doing a story in his typically brash fashion on our "ill-informed" notions about child labor laws. "Do child labor laws go too far?", he asks.
Scenarios he uses to support his argument:
'The law says no child under 14 may hold a job. And there are strict rules about 16-year-olds. The laws were passed in the 1930s to protect children who might be exploited by factories, or forced to work by their families. In Georgia, a newspaper caught a minor league baseball team, the Savannah Cardinals, with an underage batboy. The crime? Some baseball games last later than 7 p.m., and the child labor laws say that a child under 16 may not work that late on school nights. So was this batboy being exploited? He didn't think so. "I was disappointed that somebody would take somebody's dream away like this," said the boy, 14-year-old Tommy McCoy.'
'Why stop him? If it's terrible for him to be at the ballpark past 7 p.m., then how come it's OK for so many little kids to watch the game? But when we watched the bureaucrats at work these days, we didn't see "victims" who wanted rescue."'
'I don't think the government should be able to tell us if our kids can work or not," said his mother, Staci. Good point. Our government should decide what's best for every kid and every parent? Give me a break! '
OK...sounds like a strong argument to justify modifying an outdated law. But he proceeds to argue that the infamy of third world sweatshops is mythologized too...that the industry provides stepladders to better jobs for low wage workers there. Well...considering the resentment I've held for Western companies exploiting child labor and the poverty-stricken, often in shoddy - perhaps unhealthy - work conditions, I'd like to know to what extent I might have misjudged things.
Now...in the wake of such historical monuments as Janet Cooke and Mike Barnicle (about whom, incidentally, The Simpsons did a send-up - in the character of 'McGarnicle') I've come to distrust many journalists out there - particularly right-wingers (Harlan, in your decades of market-trotting as a writer I imagine you knew a number of these guys. DAVID, YOU'D probably have something to say about THEM too). I've heard nonsensical bullshit from Stossel before; material he channels tightly, leaving out certain pertinent facts to paint broad depictions - as he did here since it's not like he explored every third world country exploiting labor. He typically uses the KATO INSTITUTE for his data. Yet, I'm not THAT well-read on this particular issue and I wonder if, however well-intentioned our protests are in the U.S. against outfits like Nike, we rage with a distorted understanding of the details.
I'm somebody named Marcus, I think from Babylon 5.
Darn, I wish I'd gotten Raistlin Majere - I shoulda answered yes to the "Would you kill your friend for immortality" question if I wanted that. Raistlin is from the Dragonlance books, in case you don't know.
I think Alex Jay speaks much wisdom. There is a strange notion imbedded in the culture that ancient knowledge is somehow superior. Yet this same people probably would also agree that we have progressed in terms of knowledge over the years, which certainly seems like a contradiction to me.
I don't doubt for a minute there were plenty of brilliant folks from long ago who said and wrote brilliant things that are as insightful and relevant today as when they wrote them. At the same time, there is probably a whole lot of ancient knowledge that sounded pretty good at the time but which subsequent knowledge and research has proven invalid. Crap, we don't need to look too far back to find examples of this: cigarette smoking improves your circulation! Duck and cover! I am not a crook!
We know more about the world today than we knew thousands of years ago. There's certainly knowledge that's been lost over that time period too - they weren't as obsessive about recording history as we are today. But I'll take most modern medical treatments over a course of leeches any day.
Socrates and Plato to Francis Bacon to Albert Einstein... everyone has stood on the shoulders of giants. All were brilliant men. But scientific knowledge is a process of refinement and improvement (albeit not in as smooth and steady a path as we might like to think.)
It's vital to heed the wisdom of the ancients and even more vital to challenge it.
And you can talk about Enkidu and Priam and Odysseus and all that blah blah. Ain't nothin' compares with Snorri and the Edda. Best mythology ever. Maybe it doesn't quite qualify as ancient but it kicks ass.
AACKK!
That should read ". . .there are a lot of things to love about this damned human race." Sorry.
On Ancient Texts
Alex: It is true that great books like Neruda's collected poems or Harlan's "Deathbird Stories" are as great, if not greater, than many ancient texts. Also, I agree that we should certainly drop any foolish superstition or silly biblical law that holds a culture in the vice of an out-moded tradition.
But I must answer your question: "What's so great about ancient texts?" My answer: a lot.
Here's a partial list of what's great:
--Enkidu losing his animalism in the arms of the harlot
--Listening to Andromache,whose entire family had been killed by Achilles, plead with her husband, Hector, not to fight Achilles so that she will not lose her family a second time.
--Sappho's poem, "To me he is like a hero"
--Ecclesiastes saying that sun rises on the good and the bad alike.
--Old King Priam kissing the hands of the man who killed his children.
--Argos, Odysseus' twenty year old dog, seeing his master again just before his death on a dung heap.
--Dido's silence in the underworld
--Tamar tricking Judah
--That moment in the Song of Solomon when the daughter of Jerusalem seeks her love in the night and her hair becomes wet by the drops of evening.
--Yahweh punishing Bildad, Zophar and Eliphaz for acting like theologians and blaming Job's sorrows on Job.
--Jocasta saying that many a man has shared his mother's bed in his dreams.
--Odysseus plucking the string of his bow to the sound of Zeus' thundercrack.
--That mysterious line from the Rg Veda's "Hymn of Creation": "In the beginning non-being existed not nor being."
Alex, sometimes where you're going is where you've been. I know this that isn't always the case, and I hope that humanity can create new dreams, as Mark Twain advised in The Mysterious Stranger. Yet, I still look to the best texts of the past, and I see that there's a lot of things to love about this damned human race.
Please realize that I do not revere old texts because they are old, I admire them because they are human and alive. Some of that old stuff is as good as it gets.
Steve Dooner
Atheist, Humanist,
Lover of Ancient and Modern Literature
RE: quiz
Raistlin Majere--I am not familiar with him...?
Who the hell is Galadriel?
Meantime,
Say what y'all will about Ahnuld-- for all that's wrong with him there must be a helluva lot that is right or he wouldn't have a woman like Maria still clearly over the moon for him.
She apparently has either a high bullshit threshold or there is more to that man, mentally, than meets the eye. I can't see her staying with him through this mess unless he possesses an astounding degree of wit and intelligence to offset his bahd behayffyor.
Alex Jay,
I thank you most kindly for the beautiful description of your recent adventure in Shul. If they allow shiksas I would love to go some day and experience what you describe. I used the word here once already but it sounds so beautiful.
I was also quite impressed that the small ones did not distract you and touched by your understanding of their limitations. I loved what you said to those who were not exemplifying the spirit of the occasion.
Cindy
Sheryl,
Welcome!
:)
Cindy
Ther recent comment by Bruce Miller regarding "ancient holy texts" set me to thinking. And since Harlan is an avid devotee of things and times past (as am I), this set me thinking on a different track.
What's so great about ancient works? Why--aside from historical and anthropological interest--are we so slavishly in thrall to anything with an "ancient" tag on it? Because someone in the way back Year Dot saw a collection of spots on a sheep which resembled the Elvis of his time, why should we follow any of the ranting prophecies this caused him to spout?
Now, far be it from me to say that the old should be forgotten; Santayana in Heven, no! But we seem to have this societal blind spot when it comes to pointing out that some "ancient" stuff was utter and complete shit.
And, as any antique dealer knows, it doesn't matter how important a piece is, unless you fudge it and make it LOOK old, it won't sell.
So you have yipyops selling crystals and herbs and star charts and the Wisdom and Healing Arts of the Ancients, all just dripping with Capital Letters ...
Bugger that.
Gimme penicillin and DNA and X-Rays, thank you; no goat sacrifices for me (not a diehard Cubs fan).
The Bible, just as an example, has some fine life lessons, and some beautiful poetry. Why, though, does that make it better than the noral code instilled in me by my parents, and, say, the work of Neruda?
After all, Neruda never has holy men cause bears to attack children making fun of his baldness ...
My husband may be a sleazy mercenary....but I'm the handsome Aragorn!
Deb*
Sci-Fi Fun
Enjoy. I'm Bobba Fett.
www.tk421.net/character/
-TODD
Joel,
The killer in all this recall hooey is one simple little thing; Davis was termed out. He could not run for Governor again. A complete lame duck. Funnier still, there's a possibility (slight though it may be) that because of the recall, he could conceivably run for Governor again. And while I'd never vote for the guy, I appreciate the cojones it took to suggest it.
As far as my choice for Governor? Hobsons choice really, no to the recall, Bustamante as my choice for replacement (I wasn't really thrilled with *any* of the 130+ choices).
Have no fear Joel, things'll straighten out eventually, just hang tight while the coaster works its way up the first hill.
-Andrew
Arnold a dolt?
A dolt? Hardly. Otherwise he would have just been yet another forgotten musclehead who tried to make it big in Hollywood. The man must have something on the ball to have had such a lengthy career.
The dolts would be whoever came up for the provision for a recall in the first place. As bad as Davis sounds [and as I'm reading more and more about my new home state of CA, it seems like many of these things Davis is being blamed are about stuff that happened before he even took office], I'd have preferred that he be allowed to serve out his term, then be voted out. The constant voting on every single thing and the various givebacks and recalls seems to take power out of the hands of the voters more than anything else.
Of the lot who ran, I guess I would have preferred Bustamante, though Flynt would have been great for the entertainment value. And I'm willing to give the new gov a chance, but don't like the people he's got advising him, so I'm not optimistic. The only good thing I can say is that at least he isn't a social conservative, or at least he doesn't seem to be.
I suppose I deserve an ass-kissing, er, kicking for even asking, but why not? Instead of the governor-elect, of all the candidates register to run, whom would you have preferred succeed Davis?
Just curious.
Let the beatings begin.
Until next time. . .
Jim Hess
Harlan's comment gave me the giggles. Gary Coleman is a smart guy, but ends up as a security guard, on the brink of being homeless, while Aanold, who is a dolt, becomes Govna. And you all wonder why I am far left. Phew.
-----------------------
" Well, first of all, Gandhi was once asked what he thought about Western civilization. And his answer was he thought maybe it would be a good idea. And you can say the same about capitalism. Maybe it would be a good idea -- we've never had anything remotely resembling it. And the reason we haven't is, you know, the owning class would never permit it. Because they know perfectly well that if capitalist institutions were established, it would destroy the economy in no time. So therefore they insist on a powerful state that intervenes to protect them from the ravages of the market. Okay? Everybody seems to know this except the economists."
--Noam Chomsky
The Government we deserve
Thanks for the link to Harlan’s quote. He ended it with the quote I kept thinking about - "People get pretty much the kind of government they deserve."
Look, people in Arizona have absolutely no right to laugh about the governor of any state. Our history starts with a governor who lost the election for his third term, so called it null and void and re-polled until he won. In the last 30 years we’ve had two kicked out of the governor’s chair – fraud and stupidity. Per our constitution, the replacement is the Secretary of State, who is usually a nice civil servant who was elected as reward for years of dedicated service and suddenly finds himself or herself in charge. One of the Secretaries of State proceeded to pass away two weeks after being appointed, and thus Bruce Babbit was brought unto us. Oh yeah, one governor also quit to be an ambassador in South America – apparently more exciting than being the governor of AZ. It’s all so ludicrous that there was a local hit musical here called “Guv” based on this information.
All that being said, we get the government we deserve. We elected these people. We elected Arnold. We elected Bush. No, I didn’t vote for them, and you didn’t vote for them, but We, the people, sure did.
Arizonans with a brain (and, yes, I know previous postings have questioned whether such a creature exists) are scared about the California elections. Arizona has always been a California wannabe – we’re just always ten years behind. It can happen here, and it will. (Governor Glen Campbell? Maybe better, Governor Alice Cooper.) So we can’t take the same “Oh it’s your state not mine” mentality that some are taking. (Not picking on any postings here – I think I understand the context and realize that visitors to this site are not washing their hands of the situation, just referring to the effects of distance. However, there is a smugness in some national and local reports that smacks of “it will never happen here.” How quickly people forget Bonzo’s good friend.) What it means is “me” has to make sure that the next “we” does something a little closer to correct, so that We, the people, when we get the government we deserve, deserve something better than we are getting. (Honest, it was profound when I wrote it.)
an Ellison quote...
In keeping with the almost quaint tradition of talking about Harlan Ellison on this board, here is a quote about the CA. election that showed up over on Infinite Matrix yesterday.
http://www.infinitematrix.net/faq/editorials/index.html
Also, I picked up the Edgeworks Abbey/iBooks HC edition of VIC and Blood yesterday from my local comic shop - Dreamscape in Bethlehem, PA. - and it's a very nice package. People will have to decide for themselves if the new text piece is worth the price break between the HC and the TPB edition but it was for me. It's nice to know that the voices of those 2 characters has ownly grown sharper and more clearly defined over the years instead of fading or becoming some sort of nostalgic recreation of something that has passed into the mists. It's very apparent to me that those voices are still very much alive in Harlan's head. Good on ya.
- Barney Dannelke
DTS: If Romeo was a secular humanist, then how would his relationship with Friar Lawrence be handled?
Mark
Apropos of nothing (well maybe the references to atheism) in the posts immediately below...I think some hotshot director should do a remake of "Romeo and Juliet" (I know --another one?) -- but this one would be for the "Y" (or is it "Z") generation now hitting their teens. And Romeo should be a secular humanist, whose mother and father are scientists and atheists, while Juliet is the daughter of a Fundamentalist Preacher who is also a famous Televangelist (sort of a Jerry Falwell type). (Maybe Tybalt could be a bomber of abortion clinics) Yeah, it's a bit trite...but it sure would be fun. Hell, it might even get as many people riled up as Mel Gibson's "The Passion."
Gotta keep the scales balanced.
--DTS
Dorie's Feet
There's a very real possibility that Dorie possesses two distinct sets of chromosomes, each set fighting to give shape to its own personal vision of physical perfection. I read that that's possible in the NY Times, so it must be true. Of course, the article discussed a situation involving two distinct sets of HUMAN chromosomes.
Alternatively, I've also heard that the nastiest viral infections involve the transfer of bits of the DNA of domestic animals (pig, duck, etc.) into the viral RNA that replicates in human cells. Maybe she just had a really most sincerely bad Hong Knog flu in her formative years.
Whichever turns out to be the case, the moral of the story is to just keep reading anything you find lying around on the internet. After a few years, you will be able to explain absolutely anything, several times over! I think this forum's tedious and possibly never-ending sewage flow on whether Arnold should or should not be in politics must be related somehow, but I won't hazard a guess as to why.
horror films...
I hate the recent crop of horror remakes, as well as the endless movies based on video games. I guess it's the 21st century version of movies based on hit songs, a la "You Light Up My Life."
The original films are good enough for me.
What do you mean by 70s-style horror films, Frank? The Texas Chainsaw remake?
The first Blair Witch was an interesting gimmick, though not original. Haven't seen the second [I generally avoid sequels] but I've heard it might have been better as a stand-alone film.
I don't think much of most of the horror films of late--the many franchises and sequels have really done a number on the genre. About the only decent one I can think of lately has been The Ring, and that was a dumbed down version of a Japanese film.
BTW, thanks to the poster who cleared up the thing about Davis and the car tax. I just couldn't believe someone would be so stupid as to sign off on that, and it turns out that no one did.
Does anyone think Bustamante will have trouble in 2006 since he didn't stand by Davis, or at least, because he isn't perceived as having stood by him?
Dorie, Harlan. . .
Apparently Bruce is somewhere weeping into his copy of St. Thomas Aquinas, for he seems to have shugged off before his moment of Kairos with not even one simple transfiguration. Oh well.
Yours in fraternal Atheism,
Steve Dooner
FRANK: This Inquiring Mind wants to know: what the hell do water fowl have to do with Rob & Brian? Were you being speciest? Or is calling someone a duck the latest very hip(hop) type of insult? Furthermore, why would you young people appropriate this particular species as the symbol of loud-mouthed, arrogant behavior (not that I'm saying anyone HERE, on this board, is loud-mouthed or arrogant -- hey, it's the political season and I've a right to dance).
OR...am I completely wrong-headed in my assumptions? Is it possible you were merely experiencing a moment of what clinical psychiatrists call Nostrodamuschism? Were you, in fact, presaging the comments that Harlan would make about Dorie and her webbed feet? Are you some sort of cyberspace Kreskin?
I remain on the edge of my seat as I await answers to these and other questions (which you'll know even before I ask them).
--DTS
P.S. DID anybody out there get a chance to check out the nine episodes of "The Tick" on the newly released DVD? Hilllllarious!
Harlan, how'd you know about my feet??
OK I put on my trifocals and I found the post. Is he serious??? Who are "you guys"? Is it a bad thing to be an enigma? And as a Jewish Atheist with a reasonable grasp of the fundamentals of grammar, may I please please apply for the position of one of Your Friends Who Look Foolish To Posterity?
or maybe it was Posterior....putting the specs back on now....
OK, Andrew...
See the forum for response.
DORIE:
Yes (he was able to tell her cheerily), your eyesight is failing, your pre-Alzheimer's is in full blossom, and you've stumbled over your own great webbed feet.
Bruce Miller's charming gardyloo is precisely where we left it:
Wednesday 8 october 2003 / 3:32:14 and counting.
Widdle kisses'n'baby-nibbles from
Yr. pal, Harlan
Now I'm ever so keen to read what it was this Bruce Miller posted, and I don't see it. Was it obnoxious enough to have been removed by the webmaster? Is it right in front of me but I need new glasses? I always like a bit of sophomoric syntactical illiteracy with my after-dinner cordial.
Andrew--
I think by "we" Sheryl meant the 6 out of 10 people in her office.
That said, isn't there an actual psychopathic lying murdering cheating stealing Republican or three to worry about? Like the one running the USA, and his cronies?
Sheryl,
I'm gonna break my own rule (no long winded political diatribes in the pavilion) to answer some of your allegations regarding the recent recall debacle.
>> The reason we voted for Arnold....
First, you might want to rethink this “we” stuff. I was firmly against the recall (my dislike for Davis as a person notwithstanding) as were many here in California.
>>1--Nobody (not even a Republican) would throw away upwards of a fifty million dollars in PAYCHECKS he won't get for a governor's salary…
Who says he’s really giving up anything but his time? Last time I checked, he hasn’t exactly been the most “in demand” celebrity of late. Plus, his business dealings and investments have given him a very tidy nest egg.
>>2--It's not like he's a REAL Republican; most people call him a RINO. What he is, is a fiscally conservative social liberal. What's gotten us into this mess is fiscally liberal (with taxpaer money, that is) social liberalism.
How long have you lived in this state? Since Proposition 13 (maybe even earlier), this state has had its finances devastated by referendums voted on by the voting public. Not only that, but much of the current damage occurred due to policies enacted by the *previous* (read, Republican) governor. Plus, we currently have a president who, in less than three years has managed to, not only wipe out a massive budget surplus, but also run up the largest deficit in modern history. You think that maybe, this might affect the states just a little bit? Ask the other 47 states with large shortfalls where the malfeasance is.
I’m gonna cut this as short as I can by winding up with this;
1. Arnie can’t unilaterally repeal the “car” tax as per his campaign promise (a tax that Davis had little to do with, the hike was automatic).
2. Groper gate wasn’t Davis (I don’t think) as it came too late to do any harm. I do think that maybe Arnold’s people may have put the right words, in the right ears, to set Davis up though.
3. No one, I mean no one, really knew the extent of the budget shortfall at the time of Davis’ reelection. I think we all knew it was gonna be pretty bad though.
4. How much of the taxpayers money really needed to be wasted on this? $30 million? $70 million? Was it really worth it?
5. The recall started almost immediately after the last election. It was going nowhere until Issa (whatta prick!) dumped a shit-ton of money into it. No Republican conspiracy? Fueled by voter anger? Whatta bunch of hooey.
6. Maybe I oughta suggest that we take this to the other board (and now my blood pressure’s up again, christ…)
My apologies for the abnormally (for me anyway) long post. You might notice that I’m a bit cranky…
Yours in anguish,
Andrew
Sheryl, welcome to the nude bar-B-Q, but you are wrong about your love muffin Aanold.
He doesn't need any more money, so your money issue is moot. And remember, he has investments that make money as he sits in the Governer's chair.
Power is the main reason people run for office. Aanold wants power, and has a sick need to be adored. He may think he has the right solutions, but so do most demagogues.
I bet the reason you voted for him was because you saw him as an outsider; like a Jessie Ventura type. Ventura himself was asked about Aanold's chances, and Jessie said the the GOP would control him to the point where his original vision would be taken over.
Aanold is a major insider. He has been friends with noted Republican scum for years. And never trust a Hummer driver who promises a clean environment.
---------
Dim the lights, Rob and Brian are up for the next slow dance.
Ducks.
--------------
I was wondering about all the 70's style horror movies being made lately. I never got the memo saying that style was back in vogue. Well, as long as the movies are good. Anything beats the endless remakes of Scream.
And they need another Blair Witch film.
-------------
"Nothing is so admirable in politics as a short memory."
John Kenneth Galbraith
The reason we voted for Arnold....
It's been a long time since I've been in "speaking" mode, but I just have to comment on a couple of things y'all are assuming here.
I'll start with YES, I DID VOTE FOR ARNOLD. So did 6 of the 10 people in my office. We discussed it a lot before we did it; I'm going to tell you why we did, because I think the reasoning is pretty typical.
1--Nobody (not even a Republican) would throw away upwards of a fifty million dollars in PAYCHECKS he won't get for a governor's salary (not even the California governor's salary) unless he's at least serious about TRYING to make some changes.
2--It's not like he's a REAL Republican; most people call him a RINO. What he is, is a fiscally conservative social liberal. What's gotten us into this mess is fiscally liberal (with taxpaer money, that is) social liberalism. Maybe the sheer force of his personality will be a sufficient bridge between the fiscal/social conservatives and the fiscal/social liberals to get us in a slightly more stable situation until the world economy cycles up. The world economy is as much, if not more of, a factor in California as the US economy, and both are going to have to do better before California recovers significantly.
3--He's basically a good guy. Nobody I know took ANY of those allegations seriously, because everyone knows--including all of you, if you think about it for more than a minute--that if any of the stuff these women were claiming had actually happened, some of them would have called Gloria Allred WHEN it happened, and tried to collect some of the millions he has in the bank. That's why the allegations didn't come out until 5 days before the elections; the LA Times didn't want anyone to have time to disprove them. But a number of other papers were able to link 4, maybe even 6, of the accusers to people directly involved in the Davis circle, even at that late date. Doesn't bode well for the rest of them.
4--He's a very intelligent guy. Nobody gets where he is, not just in show business, but in the other arenas he's involved in, without having something between his ears.
I was a petition person--kept a couple around, and if people mentioned they thought Davis should be out the door, I told them "I have a petition you can sign, if you haven't already." I sent in 30+ signatures that way--seven sheets with five each, but the last one wasn't full. Since I work at a major university, you can guess the differential between liberals and conservatives around here, and I can tell you that it wasn't just the conservatives signing. Most of the people who signed the petition I had signed for the same specific reason I did--THE BIG FAT LIE.
Gray Davis was saying right up to election day that Bill Simon's numbers were wrong, that there was nothing like a $20 billion dollar deficit on the way. Then what, 2 months later, he jumps up and says, 'well, yes, and actually, it's not 20 billion, it's 25--no wait, it's 30--no wait, it's 35--no wait, it's 38--'
And then it was published--I don't think it was the LA Times, but it was one of the major newspapers here in the state; I check in with most of them online a couple of times a week, so I never remember where I've seen something first--but one of them published a story proving that DAVIS KNEW BACK IN JULY 02, 3+ MONTHS BEFORE THE ELECTIONS, THAT NOT ONLY WAS $20 MILLION RIGHT, IT WAS LOW! He had the reports in his own, personal, hot little hand and read them in front of aides. Discussed them. And stood then in front of people on the campaign trail and lied through his teeth about what he knew. That's what the story said, and that's what people began to find out.
People signed petitions and voted to recall Gray Davis for what they percieved as a moral FRAUD, ladies and gentlemen. Not some "Republican Conspiracy" engineered to ruin the state--because they found out that he had known and had LIED. Repeatedly. It wasn't legally fraud, no. But almost everyone I know who signed a petition felt that they had been defrauded; that they wouldn't have voted for him had he admitted the truth. I can say for certain it's why I downloaded the petition, signed it, and kept one around for others to sign, were they so inclined.
It had nothing to do with policies, the economy or anything else. It was because we felt DEFRAUDED. And unlike most of the states in this nation, in California we had a provision to do something about it.
There have been recall petitions filed on every governor in this state for the last 50 years, including Reagan. The reason this one worked is because this particular governor betrayed his OWN power base. There were obviously a lot more people voting on the recall than signed the petitions, and a lot of them had different reasons for VOTING for the recall, but the reason most of us signed the petitions was The Lie.
Even with the recall certified, every registered Republican in the state could have voted yes on the recall, and it wouldn't have been enough. It took the Democrats to remove Gray Davis. And it took the Democrats to elect Arnold. The real Republicans were the 13% who voted for McClintock (which I considered, but he's more valuable at this point as an ally in the legislature than as a governor, to my mind.)
I'm grateful to have a smart, independently wealthy, concerned citizen headed for Sacramento with the desire to make changes foremost on his mind, instead of how to raise money to put in his re-election campaign/retirement fund.
I'm a Smiley Girl. We're getting a new governor, and I've got my LOTR Trilogy Tuesday tickets in my pocket. Life is good in California this morning.
TO BRUCE MILLER:
Hallelujah, I have seen the Light.
Whatta helluvan epiphany!
Even were I not swayed by the egregious elitist presumption of your post, sir, I would certainly be convinced by the depth and vastness of its lack of logic, relativism, or rhetoric; not to mention the succoring misspellings, misuses of language, and sophomoric syntactical illiteracies.
But I AM swayed, hallelujah! You have brought me to god. The next question, however, is the sticky one: which god is it you want me to acknowledge? Wouldn't it be just the shits, s'far as you're concerned for my place in the Pantheon of Posterity, if you'd brought me to god, only to have me proclaim obeisance to Ra or Kali? Ahura Mazda, the Persian sky god, the god of wisdom, always seemed to me to be a nifty choice if one were casting about for a serviceable deity.
In fact, sir, and unbelievable as it may seem, there has already been written and used as final dissertation for a Doctor of Divinity degree from a (get this, it'll killya) major ultra- Fundamentalist Christian University, a brilliant and exhaustive study of my writings and their value for intelligent Christian Fundamentalists. I've read it, and it's insightful, smart, and gracious. When I sent a copy to Gary Wolfe, the co-author of the recent OSU Press study of my work, he was similarly impressed by its erudition.
And so, bizarre as it may seem, I'm already SSSSSSAVED, and you need not worry about me. Selah.
yrs. in Ahura Mazda, harlan ellison
The husband's busy, and I'm getting increasingly so. We probably won't be in for a while, in case any start to worry.
I've not much to say on The Californian Steroid-induced Sexual Offender Governor, except to point out that it could be worse. Reagan could've run again, and probably would have won. And, he would've been more lifelike in his performance as Governor than the Austrian Groper could ever be.
Sleep well, Brian and Rob. Remember that the sand in the box isn't for eating, but making your roads for your Stanley Kubrick inspired Hot Wheels collection. And, with that, I say Good Day to you, Sirs and Madams.
Melissa
Also fairly new here
Hello and welcome to Joel McLemore :)
I have GOT to close these damn blinds at night.
I'd also like to add that Harlan-baiting is also a little out of place on this forum. I'm referring specifically to Bruce's request that Mr. Ellison, "write some sort of apologetics for your whole athiesm/scepticism gig!" Hasn't he been goaded and irritated enough in other environments? And hasn't he already defended in more public environments, with eloquence and passion, the right of a well informed person to change his mind as often as necessary to align his life best with what seems true at a given moment?
Given his general and well publicized dislike of electronic media, it's a bloomin' miracle that he checks in here at all. I was competely shocked the first time I saw his name heading a post. If this forum doesn't maintain itself as a place where he can find a group that knows his work well enough to discuss it, and if it doesn't offer him the respect that 40+ years of down-in-the-trenches public combat deserves, why will he continue to come here?
Moderator? Who dat?
The only moderator on here has seen enough of Rob and Brian to know when they are engaging in something truly malicious and when they are just exchanging tongue-in-cheek banner.
However, if either ends a post with "Good day, Sir! I said GOOD DAY!" then rest assured I will take immediate action.
Take the Personal Attacks Offline
Brian and Rob,
I'm not one of the moderators, but I respectfully suggest that you both cease the personal attacks and insults IMMEDIATELY on this forum, and take your disputes to private email. Just as Harlan wouldn't want two people fighting in his house, you shouldn't consider this forum an arena in which to exchange verbal blows. Okay?
-- Jon
Rob, you are an IMBECILE.
Rob calls me a "very misled Schwarzenegger-lover." Well, he's entitled to his stupidity. But he is NOT entitled to make this claim on the basis of my post.
Please recall that I'd said that the reason I wasn't _too_ disturbed was because I'm a continent away from the Turgid One's domain. I also mentioned his family's background among the Nazis, his expressed admiration for Hitler, and his "chumminess with the old California Republican Guard, the fascist creeps who turned up in Reagan's "kitchen cabinet," the World Anti-Communist League, and just about anything Ed Meese laid his grimy fingers upon."
Most people would read this as an indication that I do have a deep suspicion of the guy. Even my qualifications about this stuff couldn't _possibly_ amount to any degree of love for the guy.
So, in that spirit, I'd like to mention Rob's sexual desires for barnyard animals, his weekend recreation of hiring overweight women to shit on his groin and vomit on his face, and his continuing efforts to share these activities with the local boy Scout troops. Obviously, I say this out of love for the guy. But maybe I'm misled.
BEN: A Philistine, am I? Fine.
But can you name a single watchable movie besides TRUE LIES the man's made in the last ten years?
Um,'WEASEL', that is - not weasle. It is now my favorite word so I better learn to spell it right. OK, that's enough of me for another day.
I just moved to California last week, and they elected Arnold a week later...talk about bad luck!
If I could have voted [I checked, one has to register 15 days before an election so I couldn't have] I probably would have voted for Flynt, just to hear him give a State of the State Address.
It sounds like Davis was a bad deal too. Things will be hard regardless of who is governor. The ultra-right people don't seem to like Arnold much, judging from the talk radio shows so he must not be all bad. I'm just leery of his lack of experience, and it's often a rude awakening for people who are successful in business and then try to go into politics. And the people he has advising him is also a bad sign.
I thought Bustmante would do better. Do you think he's ruined his political career?
Oh well, I guess if he messes it up he'll be recalled or maybe even voted out in 2006. Just hope it isn't too bad in the meantime.
Anyway, I'm new here...been an Ellison fan since high school, though.
Hoping a 6 1/2 hour+ space between posts is enough
Ed,
Re: your recall correction.
I'd like to be able to weasle my way out (I SHOULD go into politics myself) and say that's EXACTLY what I meant. That the recall law had been enacted as a move AGAINST Southern Pacific's vile long-standing hegemony. But - clearly - I was caught flashing my dick to the wrong judge.
I haven't decided yet whether or not I deserved your CLOSING shot (ONE side of my brain said I obviously did; the other said 'let's go clobber the bastard'). Usually I DO check the niceties before 'spouting'. In this case, I heard the history behind the law summarized on NPR and settled with that - confident I heard things right (I had only JUST walked into the room). I didn't - as I often do - follow up the report with research (I often get obsessed with new information and pursue further data on it). Hence, I opened my yap prematurely.
Actually, I do appreciate the information. It's bloody interesting.
Of course, this doesn't diminish the dimension of abuse of a law that was meant to stop a railroad. All Davis is really guilty of (and hopefully I'm not forgetting anything as I say this) is a spending hike that exceeded the effects of inflation and not revealing things when he should have about where money was going. But the same was true during the previous Republican administration. (In fact, spending from the general fund, as I recall, grew by a SMALLER percentage in the first four years of Davis' tenure than during the preceding four years under Wilson). I hate many things Davis did. But it's not like we took down some looming Nixon figure. I didn't read the recall law itself but this all implies to me that it needs modifying to address unlawful behavior SPECIFICALLY, not just an official fucking up.
...and Frank,
Arnold will have no choice. Reagan raised taxes immensely when he was governor - after campaign claims promising otherwise - and simply got away with it by blaming his predecessor. Arnold just pulled the same stunt, making "crazy, impossible" crowd-pleasing promises that he won't be able to keep. And astonishingly the crowds here are too lame, stupid, and ignorant to grasp all this: essentially, apart from bailing out those taking legal flack for the deregulations that led to ENRON (BEFORE Davis came along), Arnold will be doing largely the same bit as Davis did. The question will be - in his efforts to protect his wealthy constituents - WHO will he raise the tax burden on and WHAT will he deregulate? AND what will he do to the few services left? I kind of perceive it as the ghost of Wilson running the store. It's rather scary.
I KNOW what to expect...I just want to be able to survive it.
Rolling in a Conversational Hand Grenade
Folks,
Just thought I'd pass along some interesting links about the California Governor's alleged abuse of women.
Oh, not Arnold's record -- but Gray Davis's. Pretty disturbing stuff:
http://jillstewart.net/issue1004.html
The original article she mentions is here:
http://windsofchange.net/archives/004099.html
-- Jon
Very possible that Aanold may be more liberal than we give him credit for. He could actually do some good things--by mistake, of course.
And I'd bet he will raise taxes within a year. Trust me.
The GOP will hate him very soon.
------------------------
Stupid quote of the week:
"The American left is the only intellectual force in Western history to gain moral superiority by being wrong. In world history, I can think of only one other movement that has gained moral and intellectual superiority in this way, the mullahs of Islamic fundamentalism."
R. Emmett Tyrrell
Rob: The recall mechanism was introduced in 1911 by then Gov. Hiram Johnson, who was one choleric SOB (read up on the relationship he had with his father). It was one of many Progressive-oriented measures attempting to rid state government of corruption, which, yes, thanks to the coffers and avaricious shenanigans of Southern Pacific, the Big Four, et al., ran rampant and unchecked. The mechanism's intent was to empower the populace with a way to eject a public official if he proved too corrupt. If he, yes indeedy, broke the law. It came about not from "grimy and corrupt" roots, but as a reaction of the same, with the best intentions. Regrettably, the Progressive movement (and its related Bull Moose run of Theodore Roosevelt of 1912) floundered just before the howitzers fired in August. As we realized so painfully this morning, the mechanism obviously went down. But even back in 1911, opponents questioned whether the mechanism went too far, particularly since it applied across the board. Judges, justices, and the like.
A great book that deals with this (in part) is Kevin Starr's INVENTING THE DREAM: CALIFORNIA THROUGH THE PROGRESSIVE ERA, the second book in his excellent series. Helps to know the niceties before spouting.
"Now we just need another recall so we can elect us a good solid Harlequin to put everything in order."
Robin Williams in the Governor's manse...
Yep, I can see it.
Finally getting my Diamond Press copy of "Vic and Blood". Nice to see the author's still in the habit of keeping us poor fools waiting
Resident Hellion, return to lurkmode...
We feel your pain, Californians
I want to offer all the Californians my deepest sympathy on the election of your new governor. You guys didn't deserve that. I hope that you will have libraries and social services left after the Terminator.
BRUCE: Spare me the "more enlightened because you read ancient theology" dreck. No one, not even the authors of the Rg Veda or the Upansihads, imagined a universe as vast, as multi-faceted and as beautiful as the one science has given us.
The true enlightenment that comes from ancient texts is not one that supports silly theological notions about dying and ressurecting gods or eternal life in some meaningless heavenly autocracy.
Read the ancient wisdom correctly, and you will know that Quoheleth (or Ecclesiastes) barely believed in any sort of divinity that made a damn's worth of difference in this world. Also, Moses, in his sermon on Mt. Pisgah, insisted that his people "Choose life," not the death-centered theology that Christians and "after-lifers" adore.
Eventually, Bruce, we will outgrow the need for theology departments, and we will learn that ancient texts--whenever they were any good--were about human wisdom, human psychology, human truths and human suffering. I'll venture to say that there's barely any kind of transcendence in the Bible at all. The whole concept of God in that book is just a reflection of the best and worst human qualities. Don't believe me? Read the book of Job.
If you want transcendence, you can try on Buddhism and even that will only lead you to perfect atheism. The Buddha realized 2,500 years ago that all the gods are within us. When you truly enlarge your consciousness and say goodbye to superstition, you will be a happier wiser and more "spiritual" person. When you realize that this life is propably it, you'll start to love this life. Try to turn on to atheism, man. It's the future.
Steve Dooner
Pastoral Atheist
What's everyone complaining about?
We have our nation's first governor who is based on a Harlan Ellison character. "From _Soldier_ to Governator" - it's an inspiring story, dammit.
Now we just need another recall so we can elect us a good solid Harlequin to put everything in order.
Aaahnuld Matters to You and You and You
Brian's response to the new California guv is a response I've heard a lot lately.....I don't live in Cauleeforneeya so my only concern is to be angered by what and who happened.
You don't get off that easy folks. California is one of the largest economies in the world. World. Planet. I don't live there (lived there for one year in 1968), don't plan on living there, and yet I am very concerned with what is happening.
If California goes down the tubes, this country will be in big big trouble. How can something so large fail and not affect everyone else who resides here (an abroad)?
Yes, there have been a lot of jokes over the past few months about those cwwaaaazyyyyyy Californians and their cwwaaaazyyy recall, but whether it's was Davis who was going to sink the state quicker than any quake, or whether it will be Auuunuld, or whether it will be some other nutty event in the neverending tale of the state's troubles......if they sink, we all sink.
Think about it.
Yes, I am a Republican. No, I am not an Ahnold backer. If I had my say, I would have gone with McClintock.....but hey, he's never squished and alien (unless he's run over some border-crosser while jaunting toward Mehico for some cheap booze and ho's).
-TODD
Lecture Time!
I can tell that very misled Schwarzenegger-lover, Brian (whose complacency reminds me of voters here), EXACTLY why Arnold (with his fallacious "for the people" dribble) can quite conceivably do worse damage than the previous governor (just through policy alone fer chrissake): he is being guided and advised by ex-Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, the very guy who, in fact, started our problems (and no one remembering it; THAT, of course, is the idea) by signing an over-reaching deregulation bill for energy companies - in turn leading to the ENRON debacle and price controls by oil companies. Given Arnold knows nothing about running a state, Wilson has in a rather ironic way taken back the governor's chair.
I'd like to tell you an important historical fact about this recall law of ours: it emerged in the rumble and dust of 19th century railroad companies (manipulators of just about everything back then) who sought to deal with any politicians interfering with their sovereignty. Never had anything to do with penalizing a politician for breaking the law, or the such. So, its very roots are grimy and corrupt.
Several people I told this to admitted they wouldn't have participated in the recall election had they known these facts. The only reality people saw was the one Republicans wanted to paint. Indeedy, Republicans generally win races on the basis of peoples' ignorance. People see only what's RIGHT in front of them - they've no ability to project, to see the bigger picture. This is what most typically gives politicians power.
various and sundry
Jeff Lampert: Wow, that was a while ago, wasn't it? Glad you found the columns worthwhile. Your girlfriend is one brave gal -- I mean, Senegal is one thing, but Sunnyvale???!!!
Cindy wants to see the pictures. Eventually, I guess, but it's not real high on my priority list. I have a lot of thank-you notes to write, a reading of sorcery and suspense tales on the 20th, a big party with my Gentle Giant friends at the end of the month, a possible essay for an academic anthology due at year's end, and serious thought about my next book project.
Lee: you brought in ballet dancing. Oddly enough, in my book and a number of times on the speaking tour, I mentioned ballet as well as football whenever people brought up the "women in porn and the sex trades are oppressed and exploited" argument. Where are the efforts to rescue football players and ballet dancers from the ghastly things they do to their bodies for money? (Not to mention boxers.) Although I can get as excited as anyone over a game or a performance, there's something about pro ball and ballet that kind of reminds me of bear baiting or blacks engaged in bare fisticuffs at the turn of the last century for the entertainment of wealthy white guys. (Except in the case of ballet the audience tends to be wealthy white gals.)
On the brighter side, did you ever read Toni Bentley's fine memoir, _Winter Season_? She was in the corps de ballet at -- New York City Ballet, was it? Anyway, under Balanchine. Lovely book; skillfully and sensitively written. Wonder whatever happened to her. . . ?
I'm not as bugged about Schwarzenegger's win as most, but then again, I'm here in Pennsylvania, an entire continent away from the entire mess. And I'm tempted to say that Arnold probably won't be any _worse_ than nearly any other candidate for high office... but I said that about George Bush in 2000, and he turned out to be a major fuckin' demon (to borrow some Hicks), so maybe I ought to keep my wonderful hand-cut-crystal-opinions to myself.
Instead, I'll toss out another opinion. Has anyone else gotten really, really fed up with the "politics of celebrity" chat that turns up every time something like this happens? It's as though every semi-intellectual gets a radio signal from Central Command to write an editorial, or Web blog, or chat-piece about the cheapening of politics, how Americans are such doofuses they confuse the celebrity and show-biz with real life, and how this signals the coming Apocalypse, or something. It's truly amazing how so many well-educated, thoughtful, and intellectual people can zero in on the _same damn opinion_ and mouth it perfectly.
But politics and celebrity isn't anything new. We just emerged from the Recorded Century, where radio, films, and (later) television presented our politicians as faces and voices, and not just speeches reprinted in the newspapers. We've had celebrity politicians since FDR and Huey Long. We've had celebrities active in politics, as speechmakers and campaign activists, since the 1930s-- Orson Welles stumped for FDR, and we all know about the campaign the studios ran against Upton Sinclair. John F. Kennedy was at least as much a celebrity as he was a statesman-- and he was President more than _forty years ago_. So why are people wailing about this as though it's some new, sinister development?
Okay, this is separate from Schwarzenegger himself. His family's got a Nazi background, and there's that Reifenstahlian body-fetish stuff in bodybuilding, and that comment about admiring Hitler's political skills was amazingly stupid (tho if it'd been uttered by, say, Ian Kershaw, no one would have minded). As long as he stuck to movies, none of this had any importance beyond "do I want to see this guy shoot people?"
Personally, I doubt Schwarzenegger'll be trying to herd Jews onto trains for ontological-reassignment procedures. But he is excessively chummy with the old California Republican Guard, the fascist creeps who turned up in Reagan's "kitchen cabinet," the World Anti-Communist League, and just about anything Ed Meese laid his grimy fingers upon.
FAISAL,
I hear ya. Despite my better judgement, I still would've LOVED to have seen his take on I AM LEGEND, but we can't have all the candy in the store window.
ALEX,
"... NO MORE SCHWARZENEGGER MOVIES!!! Woo-hoo!"
Philistine.
becasue for becasue. Damn!
The Recall: Rich is a better man than I, becasue he can find humor in the fact that The Black Plowman is Gov. of California. I can't get past the travesty of having a third-rate action hero overseeing the world's sixth largest economy. It just keeps getting creepier.
Bruce: You have ceramic balls and you have just placed them in Harlan's Atomic Kilne.
Mark
Rich,
Weirldy, the wife of one of New Hampshire's Senators, Kathleen Gregg, was abducted and robbed yesterday (she's okay).
Rob,
You forgot the followup from Patterson, after Springfield votes him back in and Homer out:
"Oh I'm so happy. I'm not much on speeches but it give me joy to...leave you in the filth you created. You're screwed, bye."
I think I'll skip the questions on why theology students would even be studying Ellison and how one person can alter the "natural course of history" when ALL of us are altering our courses of history everytime we do something (since "history" is a living thing and constantly being written---see Jim Davis' comments some months back) and comment on the recent recall election in California:
HA HA!
But seriously, you guys are being a bit hard on the Terminator. I mean, he's got experience in...uh, well, he has some good ideas on how...umm, well, lessee, ummmmmm...Wait. I got it now. Rob Lowe and Jay Leno stumped for him so that's gotta be good for something, right? Right?
(And I can't wait to see the movie where Arnold is Governor and masked terrorists kidnap his hot looking daughter and he goes after 'em himself 'cause he's the Governor and he can do what he wants and then it turns out the terrorists are Democrats led by Gray Davis and the alien from the Predator movies. Should be good stuff.)
(And I thought what Lee said in regards to posterity was good.)
"tiger-mauled" being the adjective back there.... in other words it's pretty damn stupid to cavort with tigers in the first place, no sympathy for Roy.
Hi Harlan,
Look--you and your friends might look pretty foolish to posterity if you don't write some sort of apologetics for your whole athiesm/scepticism gig! Future theological students are going to be studying all your works with awe and trepedation--and then they'll see and all that skeptic junk they'll think, "Wow--are these the same people?" "Why did their brains suddenly shut off when it came to the ancient holy texts?"
I know by telling you this I am upsetting the natural course of history, but I can't stand by and watch you guys become a major ironical enigma until the end of time (and beyond) can I?
You need to write some sort of letter to posterity explaining yourselves so you can receive the respect and recognition you so rightly deserve--before it's too late!
Frank, Hey, I heard the Commies won the World Series, congratulations.
Political Anagrams
According to Dave Barry, Dick Cavett noticed that when you rearrange the letters of "Spiro Agnew", you get "Grow a Penis." Barry once noted that "Paul Tsongas" is an anagram of "Gaseous Plant."
But today's anagram is the topper. While flipping channels between the agonizing end to the Cubs game and something about an election of some kind on CNN (and the Daily Show), I saw a snippet of some sort of documentary about Ahnuld on VH-1. As they went to a commercial, the words "Arnold Schwarzenegger" appeared on screen, then permuted themselves to become...drum roll please..."He's Grown Large and Crazed".
The defense rests :)
BTW, Cindy, I think we're about to have a Westworld remake here anyway 8P
Also, I'd like to put out a belated thank you to David Loftus, who pointed me to his articles on West Africa when I first posted, many moons ago, regarding my girlfriend's tour in the Peace Corps in Senegal and my upcoming visit. Both of us enjoyed your articles immensely. (As for the trip in Feb, I had a blast! In June, she finished her time of service and is now in the process of moving out here).
Lastly, Rob, regarding that Simpsons episode, let's face it: Everything I Needed To Know I Learned From the Simpsons. Your quote sums up the recall perfectly, as opposed to the last gubernational election ("Don't blame me! I voted for Kodos"). Now if someone had fed the Gov-Elect a three-eyed fish...
How upsetting!
Sniffle,
No Conan 3....
I'm off to drown my sorrows.
FAQ
It astounds me that you guys are so completely failing to see the bright side of this election.
Sure, this means the world's fifth-biggest economy in the world and, arguably, its third-most influential population are going togo into the toilet faster than a drunken frat boy "buying" his first "Buick", but just THINK ...
... NO MORE SCHWARZENEGGER MOVIES!!!
Woo-hoo! Break out the champagne and Cheetos!
I'm reliving that Simpsons episode with Steve Martin, where Homer challenges the current Sanitation Commissioner to an election. In the debate the Commissioner (Steve) tells the crowds something like: "if you want an experienced public servant vote for me; but if you want to believe a lot of impossible, crazy promises...by ALLLLLL means vote for this phony". The next shot shows us the headlines: 'Landslide Victory for Homer Simpson'.
...well, let's see now...we've already lost just about every medical clinic around for people without money, schools have been cut, welfare's been cut, research has been cut...Arnold says he wants to pay off the 34 billion dollar deficit through cuts alone - and there ARE lots of libraries throughout the state still draining on our cache, not to mention hospitals, coverage for the elderly, legal services, environment, and there are still some colleges and universities taking an awful lot from our taxpayers....OCEANS of potential resources to draw from...of a matter of fact - shit! - I don't think we even need these damn roads. We'll all just start using our private jets, fer chrissake. Yeah, onward 'n upward. I'll just sit back on my gilded tail and enjoy the ride.
And you people said I was crazy back in 1987....
when I said 2 of the stars of "Predator" would be state governors one day. Now: when can we expect Carl Weathers to announce his candidacy?
I just cannot believe it. Apparently you need no sort of training or education or anything--if you look good on camera, we in California will make you governor.
At this point, I feel like asking for all my tax money back, and going to live as a separatist, up in the...in whatever mountains around here that separatists hang out.
The only thing that makes this remotely bearable, is the thought that someone, somewhere has probably made a great deal of money off this fiasco, and will doubtless start another recall motion in a few months for this piece of ham. Maybe that will be our raison d'etre of the California government--constant recalls, while our society falls into chaos and we end up cooking our meals over the flaming trash cans that feature so prominently in every post-apocalyptic tv show.
Feh.
Harlan,
That was beautiful.
Cindy
Frank,
So was that.
:)
Cindy
All of y'all;
Sunuva BITCH!
Ahnold WON.
That means that he won't be starring in Westworld, and I had my heart set on a remake... not that anything could rival the original.
Cindy
David,
I'm glad you had a wonderful trip-- I look forward to enjoying it too through your pictures. Maybe you could post a link?
I hope you sell a truckload of books.
:)
Cindy
Ah, yes. My Corporate America Flourescent Lighting strained eyes originally misread your statement, Frank. Thanks, Jon.
-Matt
I think Frank's comment means "Has no one any sympathy for the tiger who mauled Roy?" and not "Has no one any sympathy for the tiger-mauled Roy?" If the former is true, the comment doesn't blame the tiger.
Cheers, Jon
Frank -- regarding your comment:
"Am I the only one who has no sympathy for the tiger mauled Roy? It was a wild animal, and had no place on a stage in Vegas. So there."
Are you suggesting that it was the tiger's fault that it was on stage in Vegas? Last I checked, it didn't just wander onto the stage straight from the wild...
-Matt
Publix Book Mart
Lee, the store in question was called Publix Book Mart. In Harlan's Cleveland days, it was not across from Playhouse square. It was down on Prospect Avenue, at the corner of ninth street. Harlan mentioned shoplifting at Publix in one of his earlier books--and the owner bragged about that ever after.
Publix was a terrific store, too. In my late teens, I bought a nearly complete run of Astounding Science Fiction, issues from 1937 through 1953, out of one of their locked-up, request access only, basement rooms. A dime a copy. I later sold them (mostly to Rusty Hevelin) to pay tuition at graduate school. And there was an even better used bookstore nearby, Kay's Books, with literally 2 million volumes. You could find anything in those stores.
Trouble is, when Mrs. Kay sold off her stock to a Chicagoan, and Publix moved and shrank to a tiny store, it destroyed the used book market in Cleveland. We'd never built up many small used bookstores, because of the enormous stock at Publix and Kay's It's still hard to find a good used book in these parts.
Posterity
About 15 years ago I was a ballet dancer working in Cleveland, performing at Playhouse Square for the Cleveland Ballet. There was a small bookshop directly across the street from the theatre where a much younger Harlan used to shoplift books. At least that's what the owner alleged when I bought one of Harlan's books there.
I like to imagine that over the intervening years the shop owner has been recompensed for the pinched tomes through subsequent sales of Harlan's own books. Posterity in general may be along the same lines for Mr. Ellison: hard to deal with in the moment, but oh so worth it in the long run.
As for the written medium in general, it has been going to hell in a handbasket for centuries. 165 years ago, Dickens wrote, "(Oliver marvelled) where the people could be found to read such a great number of books as seemed to be written to make the world wiser. Which is still a marvel to more experienced people than Oliver Twist, every day of their lives."
Somehow there are always people needing to write, finding ways to get books published, which somehow then get into the hands of readers that need to read them. Two hundred years after the fact, I can still pick up a copy of Fielding, or Austen and get rocked by something wonderful.
That's better than ballet, which is a crappy art that takes ten years of blood, sweat and tears to learn, dies utterly the moment that you do it, each time you do it, with maybe a couple of photos to hang on the wall giving only the dimmest possible idea of what the perfomance was like. After ten or fifteen years and maybe 1500 or 2000 shows in 50 different cities, you gradually burn out physically even as your artistic maturity coalesces.
You then wake up to the grim realization that you have little money, lots of scar tissue, and no high school diploma, and also need to find another way to make a living. Harlan is quoted on this site saying, "Anyone can become a writer. The trick is staying a writer." Well, no one can stay a dancer.
But the great works in literature, among which Harlan's work taken as a whole must surely be numbered, they have probably the best chance, of all works of the human spirit, of carrying on undiluted, distinct and accessible.
Here's another example of Internet piracy causing shitloads of harm. Valve Software's been preparing a sequel to its game _Half-Life_ for about five or six years now, and its expected release was to come somewhere between September 30th and the holidays.
Now, _Half-Life_ was an industry wonder, a game which sold amazingly well when it came out, got lots of great reviews, and once fans started tweaking the game engine and creating multiplayer mods like Counterstrike, it qukckly became the single most popular game played on the Internet. (Screw the Sims.) And when people saw previews of the Half Life sequel-- with a new game engine that handled physics brilliantly, and some computer characters which were amazingly lifelike thanks to some high-end programming-- people were expecting this one to go through the fuckin' roof. I, for one, bought a new computer system in anticipation of both _Half-Life 2_ and _Deus Ex: Invisi