Beantown Bwana Part Deux

Sir Willem De Kay

2009-04-21T14:38:00.005-05:00

Yay! Somebody notices me! Now I truly is somebody!

Reunion with my blog

2009-04-15T11:19:00.004-05:00

OK, I tried to write a very heavy and profound blog entry yesterday, striking all the somber tones one does when re-entering the bloggosphere after a long furlough. And today, I was going to edit the draft version, perhaps to put a slightly brighter tone to the morose opening phrases.

Then I read it.

And then I said, "NAH!"

IT was shite. Pure drivel. So if you were kind enough to read even this far, which would make you very kind indeed, I won't bore you with that maudy tripe.

More to the point ... am I back?

Maybe.

The tough part about sitting down to write when you are out of work is that you feel guilty doing it because you are out of work. Aren't you supposed to be doing something more productive, like going to on-line university and learning to play the mandolin in subway stations for a touch of the ol' filthy lucre?

It is 'reinvention of the employable self' time in all media outlets --- perhaps because even the media monsters may be out of a job soon as well --- and we are all being advised to give up on the old engineering grind or the market trading yoke, and become organic farmers or hair stylists. I think that if you filled out one of those on-line questionnaires evaluating what you should do now that the sky has fallen and taken your office building with it, the web response would advise you to take a 180° turn, and in the immortal words of The Firesign Theater Company; "... cut off the soles of your shoes, move into a tree and learn how to play the flute."

Sage advise, that. I would particularly enjoy it, because throughout my adult working life (even when I was president of a small company), whenever I would hobnob with CIOs, Venture Capital Angels or other wheeler-dealers and be asked to commiserate with them over their labor related peccadilloes, I would take great glee in annoying them by saying stuff like, "Hey, don't ask me. I'm a commie."

Not that I was a commie, mind you. I just had reasonable relationships with union guys throughout my industry because I knew I needed them for anything to actually work. Not that only union workers could crew on as stagehands, lighting grips and riggers, camera operators, etc.; but that from city to city, I could only depend on union locals to provide qualified and trained personnel to get a lot done in a very short time.

And so, wouldn't it occur to a lot of people now that perhaps unions could be of some assistance in bringing the work force back on line? Since they have training systems for workers already in place, which corporations provide only at the most minimal levels AND with a gun to the CEO's head?

Ooooo! Scaary! Unions in offices! Boogah!

OK, the commie rant is now over. My more conservative pals can put away the long knives for the next cocktail party.

BUT, it does feel good to RANT! So maybe I'll do this once a day again, just like I used to. To feel like I am actually doing SOMETHING. While waiting to do something.

Golf and Republicans

2008-10-23T12:50:00.005-05:00

In the post below, I indicated my chagrin at the current GOP by saying, "L'il Mz Bootz: Yeah, verily, they (the GOP) doth piss me off to boot (yuck-yuck). But if weren't for them, we wouldn't have golf!"

Slyboots comments: "I thought that was the Scots. Are they considered Republicans? In the US sense?"

It was obvious that I had slighted the Scots, and since I would not EVER want a Scott pissed at me (I read Trainspotting and few other of Irvine Welch's books), I thought it advisable I rephrase my definitions of Golf, and its relationship to the Grand Ol' Party gang.

The Scots only created Golf to make better use of all that land between the crags and the sheep herds (other than worrying the sheep). White folks in general perfected the process by creating exclusive dominions on which to play the sport, finishing off the process in the States by putting black jockeys with lanterns on all the greens for evening play. These were real black jockeys, who had to stand there in 12 hour shifts.

Post slavery, this tradition was emulated by Republicans who, though they could no longer use real black jockeys, decided to create metal ones just for their driveways and front lawns. (Many Democrats were also involved in this chicanery, but at least they smart enough to paint their metal jockeys pink)

Not to be out done by former Southern aristocrats, current Republican activists further enhanced the illusion of exclusivity by inviting all the licensed contractors they knew to play in fund raiser tournaments for GOP candidates, who signed on for this self-deception whole-heartedly.

That’s probably one reason why Joe the Plumber is broke.

Say It Ain't So, Pup! Say It Ain't So!

2008-10-20T07:55:00.008-05:00

Don't you just love all the mea culpas that conservative pundits --- as opposed to what Chris Buckley calls the "Right Wing Sanhedrin" --- are issuing now that McCain has so thoroughly drifted from his initial stance as a conservative libertarian?

I just caught that blog piece by Chris Buckley (son of the late, great William F.) where he indicated his support for Obama rather than McCain. Ironical, ain't it? In his blog piece he of course acknowledges his past support for McCain, even against the rabid dogs of the Right. But he is not alone. David Brooks of the NY Times is in the same boat.

Oh, and the reason he posted this was that he wanted to endorse Obama, mostly because he couldn't take it anymore. If you don't want to dirty your screen with right wing wanky web ads, I will quote you the significant part of his comment for me:

"A year ago, when everyone, including the man I’m about to endorse, was caterwauling to get out of Iraq on the next available flight, John McCain, practically alone, said no, no—bad move. Surge. It seemed a suicidal position to take, an act of political bravery of the kind you don’t see a whole lot of anymore.

But that was—sigh—then. John McCain has changed. He said, famously, apropos the Republican debacle post-1994, “We came to Washington to change it, and Washington changed us.” This campaign has changed John McCain. It has made him inauthentic. A once-first class temperament has become irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget “by the end of my first term.” Who, really, believes that? Then there was the self-dramatizing and feckless suspension of his campaign over the financial crisis. His ninth-inning attack ads are mean-spirited and pointless. And finally, not to belabor it, there was the Palin nomination. What on earth can he have been thinking?"

What indeed? And sadly this is the position McCain's tactics have put most conservative thinkers (note ejaculators) are going through now. They finally got the candidate they really wanted, but after his going through the looking glass, he came out someone they could not recognize. And this is the essential truth: the heart of Republicanism has been ripped out of the GOP by reactionaries and the intellectual grandkinders of Reaganism. Reagan managed to convey conservatism without rancour, or spleen in most cases. And though John McCain was never a lambykins on any issue, he was always respectful and attentive to his opposites across the aisle, and would often be the first to work with them to right some wrong that was obvious. Not that he was my cup of tea, but at least he resembled the kind of Republicans I grew up with, and could respect.

Frankly, I think this shit would even make Nixon spin like a top. And he used to work for McCarthy.

Right now, the GOP is about as far from the 'party of Lincoln' as it has ever been. Are Nelson and Happy Rockefeller freakin' out in GOP Heaven? What do guys like Kissinger really feel? As a little kid, I helped out with local GOP campaigns back in Jersey, mostly because I knew Republicans who were good and decent people, who listened to us when we started to rant about Viet Nam.

These were the guys Eisenhower was talking to when he said "... we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex... Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

An alert and knowledgeable citizenry ... that's something the current thought-schtuping goose-steppers at the GOP are desperately trying to eliminate. And why they are losing their intellectual support so rapidly.

Perhaps losing the White House in 2008 will be the best thing that can happen for Republicans in a long time. The rational can get control of the party back, or at least help return the GOP to the dignity it once had. I'd like to think that some day, there might be a Republican candidate that even I could support for the office, simply because there should always be an alternative to extremisim. And I would like to think that the party of my father exists for some reason other than what it is demonstrating itself to be right now. Considering who we are really going to be up against politically, economically and strategically in the near future, it might be important to keep this in mind:

Like Spock said, quoting that old, old Vulcan proverb: "Only Nixon could go to China."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Sadly, Chris Buckley's tenure (though brief) has ended at the National Review with his offer of resignation to the Editor. Apparently, even the libertarian son of the FOUNDER of the National Review is not allowed to stray from the Grand Ol' Party Line. Oh well, he writes great books, so he's better off. Stinks of fascism, don't it?

Kiddie Terror

2008-10-17T10:00:00.008-05:00

Today I perused the London Times web site, and was greeted by one of the sickest stories I have read on the Al Qaeda Gang to date. See this link:

Link between child porn and Muslim terrorists discovered in police raids

How sick is that? I guess Osama Bin checkin' out the little peeps around the tent? Do they get 52 virgin infants when they get to Heaven? Or is that Hell?

Maybe I'm getting this all wrong, but isn't the West the Minion of Satan? Or are they hurting so bad they changed teams?

I also hear that Bin Laden is coaching Little League.

Undecided? ... Schmuck.

2008-10-16T08:30:00.015-05:00

At what point in US history did we all decide that the 'undecided' voter is more important than any other consideration in the analysis of either candidates viability or legitimacy?

What is an undecided voter at this point in the election? There may be two types, though they don't follow party lines.

First, obviously, there is the twit. He/She/It can't make up their minds because they have no minds to make up. They are only marginally aware of economic issues or national security concerns, and most certainly have no formed opinions of any sort, other than a predilection for either daytime TV (preferably from a cable network of obscure fame, ex.: "347- The Animal Prostitutes Channel"); or ESPN Radio.

Second, the "Contrarian"; and there ain't a worse social disease out there. This person considers their opinions to be equated with gold bullion or sacred texts. They are critically concerned with these issues:

A) Themselves

B) Their Investments.

C) Their determination NEVER to approve of any government, spiritual or intellectual authority.

D) Their goal of never committing their personal time to anything outside their immediate interests.

E) Their eternal quest to NEVER pay any price, tax or compliment to a higher (they read that as 'lower') agency.

Visible indicators of the Contrarian? Pursed lips, like they just sucked on a lemon, when asked to make a decision ... on anything. Slacks or skirts often torn from their eternal perch on fence tops. Smirks whenever other breathing entities express passion, compassion, concern, anger or happiness in regards to ... again, anything. Exaggerated sighing and sense of self-worth.

As I had said above, this disease is not limited to those of any particular ethnicity, religion or level of income. Commonly referred to in medical and psychology texts in the Latin as Contrarianus Maximus, the malady was originally confined to France (with the exception of Provence and the Languedoc region), but soon migrated across the world to all nations.

And though there have been many concerted efforts to find a cure through medical research, fundraising and the "Walk Against Conceit" campaigns by the yogurt companies; still there is no progress. We are stuck with them, and the Monster-that-be-the-MEE-DEE-YA informs us that if the 'undecideds' aren't placated, primped, patted and pleased then All the Demons of Hell shall be loosed upon our over-opinionated selves.

Feck that. Feck THEM. If you haven't got an actual opinion yet on the issue of who's to be the next POTUS, then you are either a Twit or a Twat (as our Jolly English cousins like to say, not the nasty thang you be thinking). And if your are a twit, well ... you get a pass. Can't be helped.

But if your are a twat, beware! Your days are numbered. America and the rest of the world not only want change, they want ACTION. When the masters of the Universe gather at Haavard B School not to congratulate each other, but to figure out how THEY can contribute to Society's Infrastructure through "Social Investment", then the hour of doom for Contrarians is at hand.

In November, there will be a decision made, it will most likely be for Obama, and I am very sorry to tell you Contrarians that the rest of the nation --- nay, the world! --- expects you to get off the pot.

Or just go shit yourselves.

Books NO Movies

2008-10-07T15:07:00.006-05:00

EDITOR'S COMMENT: Please note that the last paragraph of this post is nonsensical, as it has no bearing on reality. Bwana Jr commented was, " What Fecking Children of God movie?" I stand corrected: the movie I meant to say was "Children of Men". Duh.

I saw this great post from Willem De Mexico's blog, and had to agree with his premise that, " ... I understand that, as a reader, I'd love to see a book I enjoyed thrown out to the non-reading world - but, rarely, does it work."

Guillaume, I must agree with you. MY fav example of the inability to transcribe cool shite to film would be Neil Stephenson, especially his Baroque Cycle, once described to me as 'Harry Potter for Global Market freaks'. Well, I'm quoting a economics wanker there, so take it with a grain of salt.

Then there is the category of novels that should become films, and somehow do not. For instance, Madame de la Beantown and myself only read a few writers in a shared manner. I learned this lesson after she gave me a copy of The Notebook. I was forever cautious thereafter.

As this is definitely something that should NOT have become a movie, or any other piles of Sparks shite, I narrowed the list of 'shared reads' to protect myself. We settled on some really great stuff, and as for the middlin'/entertainin'/fav-rave-for-the-shitter, we settled first on Robert B. Parker (like eating a whole box of Oreos), and Mary Doria Russell , whose book The Sparrow and its sequel Children of God, proved quite fascinating to us both.

I bring her up because of a short correspondence I had with her and Barbara Hall, her (then) co-screenwriter. Hall was the producer of a CBS TV Series, "Joan of Arcadia". I don't really recall how I got into this thing, but I did. I just remember sending an email out of curiosity, and then getting slammed.

One line of discussion covered who exactly should play the lead character, a Puerto Riccan Jesuit ---

--- no, that is not an ethnic joke. I don't want to belabor this thang, so if you are really interested in all this sparrow story line, check this link) ---

---At one point, they moaned about the lack of any LA interest, even though the book sold a bizillion copies, etc. While discussing the casting idea, I mentioned that if you wanted a deep-yet-o-so-sensitive- guy, who could play Latin with gravitas and humor, and would put up with being raped by aliens, I suggested there was only one dude for the job; Johnny Depp. This caused a period of silence to ensue, ending with a message of joyous tumult ... Antonio Banderas was so interested he dropped some dough in their laps for development.

There was an extended disconnect with them after this (health problems for Mary, production problems for Barbara), that I lost contact. Mme. de la Beantown asked me some time later what was up, and I checked. Turns out BRAD PITT bought the rights to both books to combine them into a single film, and last I heard it was scheduled to release (?) in 2010.

What was all that shite for? I guess too many good novels become too many bad movies. Here's a thought... does anyone out there think the Children of God the movie was a good or bad version of the book?

Smoot-Hawleys of the Congress Unite!

2008-09-30T08:42:00.005-05:00

Hey Gang, WICKED long time since I've been on this here thang. Since the world is going to hell in a hand truck, I thought I might throw in my two cents before the big asteroid hits.

The best words I've seen to date on this here sitchee-a-shun is from a couple of unlikely (for me ) sources:

First, David Brooks of the NYTimes --- see his column today.

Also, for a wee bit of comfort, try this from the Wall Street Journal's "Intelligent Investor" page. It might make lunch go down a little smoother.

It is almost fun to watch the GOPs fall down and go boom. I really can't believe that voting down the bailout was any kind of cogent plan on their part. Brooks said it best in his column (and he was trying to be kind):

"House Republicans led the way and will get most of the blame. It has been interesting to watch them on their single-minded mission to destroy the Republican Party. Not long ago, they led an anti-immigration crusade that drove away Hispanic support. Then, too, they listened to the loudest and angriest voices in their party, oblivious to the complicated anxieties that lurk in most American minds.

Now they have once again confused talk radio with reality. If this economy slides, they will go down in history as the Smoot-Hawleys of the 21st century. With this vote, they’ve taken responsibility for this economy, and they will be held accountable. The short-term blows will fall on John McCain, the long-term stress on the existence of the G.O.P. as we know it.

I’ve spoken with several House Republicans over the past few days and most admirably believe in free-market principles. What’s sad is that they still think it’s 1984. They still think the biggest threat comes from socialism and Walter Mondale liberalism. They seem not to have noticed how global capital flows have transformed our political economy. "

Read the rest if youget the chance.

These Guys Do Rock

2008-08-01T08:37:00.005-05:00

Josh is a musician who has worked with me on event stuff here in Boston. This week, Josh was feeling poorly, really coming down with something, but soldiered on for the gig. He was concerned that his voice might be affected, and that he would not be able to perform for the crowd this weekend.

How big a gig, I asked? "Oh, probably 20,000 people or so."

Dude, what?

"Oh, we open for Cold Play this weekend at the Boston Garden." Oh.. ho-hum.

Dude, what the FAAK are you doing at this mingy gig if you're due there?

"Well, I was already signed for this and I couldn't not show."

OK, well hopefully he won't have to slum among us plebians in future!

SEE HIS VIDEO

Oh Cameraman, though art way too close!

2008-05-20T08:32:00.003-05:00

I spent last week as a cameraman for webby broadcast of the AIA Conference up here in the ol' Beanpot, which is all about architecture and sheeeet. In my new life as Mr Videographer, I am once again get within a hair's of the semi-famous. But usually those sem-favs that have something significant to say, as opposed to covering celebs who have not much.
This picture has nothing to do with it, I just stuck it in for yucks. Oh, wait, I have it 'cause my late father-in-law's first serious girl friend was in the picture ... Helen Walker! Wanna here something weirder still? Helen Walker was pals with my second cousin, who's husband owned the Brown Derby. She was a Ziegfeld's Follies girl before they got married. Oh, and her husband was a wife beating dick. Glad he died.

Meanwhile, back in the Beanpot ...

One thing about this particular speech circuit is you get to see not only who may be coming up in the world of political and financial power, but those who have been on the world stage for a long time, and are getting ready to leave it. The comments of this latter group is often glossed over in the press, and set to the middle section of the major news coverage (i.e., the details of which only the most wonky of policy freaks pay much attention to).

But what I now see is that the 'hind sight' commentary can be one of the most valuable messages to any group of people who want to create and maintain significant social change!

Of those guys moving on this score, the first and last speakers of the AIA conference win hands down. The first was the guy who REALLY created Habitat for Humanity --- I know Jimmy Crack Carter gets top billing, but he picked up the ball from the O.G. --- Millard Fuller. Interesting guy, a Son of the South who decided that making bundles of bucks just wasn't enough, and ended up on a milk farm to learn humility. His speech is Session One (two parts), a LONG sermon but kinda worth it.

The closer was really kinda fantastic; Andrew Young, former Mayor of Atlanta, US Ambassador to the UN and personal aide to MLK, Jr. His message was really simple: Poor is the new Black. The division between the haves and the have-nots threatens the fabric of our society. Better get on it.

Oh, and if you watch you get to see some of my camera work. The down low shots were my favs.

OTHER THAN THAT<>

Monster Boy, Bwana Jr be home from Chilladelphia, and he has even worked on a few of my crews! I get to whip him when they reel in the 500' camera cables and say stuff like, "C'moan boah! Poot yo' back in to it!"

(Stolen from the old United Negro College Fund ads, remember?)

Obamamaniacs, Come Out!

2008-04-18T08:51:00.004-05:00

Blooger Boogered my first version of this, so I will be more careful this time. Did Fox buy them?

It would appear that the rest of the world doth get the quandary we Americans are all facing, namely that the "BIG NEWS NETWORKS" are getting in the way of the political process. It is embarassing to read comment like this from the Times of London. And it may be high time for the "BIG NETWERRKS" to get the hell out of the way.

Particularly sad is this little snip from the debates last night, where the Anchors being heckled by the audience for their shallow performance.

Here are a few points to consider:

There is only a hair's breadth between most major policy viewpoints in Obama and Clinton's campaigns, which is bad for yellow journalism. The dependency on over played minor mistakes in both campaigns has brought the public discourse to a pitiful palaver.
National News organizations based on the American concept of ABC, NBC (not MSNBC) and CBS are clinically dead. Since they limit themselves to lowest-common-denominator thinking on what is important to the US voter (which shows you what they think of us hayseeds), they can't be trusted to deliver anything meaningful to the process. I think they should stick to celebrity interviews.
ABC news in particular seems to be huckstering for the Clintonistas. Which ain't no big surprise, considering who Stephanopoulos used to work for. But Gibson seems to be doing a clumsy two step to help McCain, the candidate from The Committee to Re-Invade Viet Nam (Sweeeeet, 30 Rock!)
Of course, MSNBC is still livin' in Obama-Land, but we'll cut them a break today.
And since Hilary isn't making any visible progress in acquiring actual voters, she is taking a page from the book of the Great American Revolutionist, John Reed by essentially telling the American Voter what they ought to think and when to think it. She will acquire all the superdelegates she can through back door maneuvers and co-opt the Democratic nomination process. It is dismaying that she wants to turn the Democratic Party into the Politburo...Can anyone say Trotskyite?
All politics is local, so if Hillary gets away with it, she'll be Pillary Clinton in the press forever more. She should really think about this.

Bizarro Addendum

2008-04-12T12:46:00.006-05:00

(See the Lives of the Fathers of the Desert, and the authors quoted by A. Maury, Magie, 317.)

'In the fourth century the Messalians, believing themselves to be full of demons, were constantly blowing their noses, and spitting unceasingly, in their incredible efforts to expectorate these.'

Ibid AD NAUSEUM:

'If in God's infinite goodness there is room for the lowliest, if He ever seems to have a preference for such out of pity, why should not my ass be allowed in church? He has his defects, no doubt,—which makes him only the more like me. He is a sturdy fellow to work, but ... he is intractable and obstinate, in one word, he is my very counterpart.'

Bizarro Esoteric Quote o' the Day

2008-04-12T11:06:00.005-05:00

'All primitive peoples start alike; this we see again and again in the accounts given by travellers. Man hunts and fights. Woman contrives and dreams; she is the mother of fancy, of the gods. She possesses glimpses of the second sight, and has wings to soar into the infinitude of longing and imagination. The better to count the seasons, she scans the sky. But earth has her heart as well. Her eyes stoop to the amorous flowers; a flower herself in her young beauty, she learns to know them as playfellows and intimates. A woman, she asks them to heal the men she loves.

Pathetic in their simplicity these first beginnings of Religion and Science! Later on, each province will be separated, we shall see mankind specialise—as medicine-man, astrologer or prophet, necromancer, priest, physician. But in these earliest days woman is all in all, and plays every part.'

The Sorceress

By Jules Michelet
as translated by Alfred Richard Allinson from the French

(original title "La Sorcière," Paris: E. Dentu [1862]).

Out of Stir

2008-04-10T12:18:00.004-05:00

'Stir' - an old American euphemism for jail or prison. I title this 'Out of Stir' mostly because I can't think of much else to describe my 'quiet time' on my old site o' shite. I haven't posted since ... fish had feet!

I has been experiencing some changes in my life, not all fantastic let me assure you; but all the important stuff is still there... family, relationships and a regularly functioning brain wave.

I am no longer at that big ol' stinkie Institute. That went by the boards for me in a blur. I will not post about it, mostly because I fear their minions will come and execute me in me sleep. Which might be most profitable for the Missus, but would leave a hell of a mess at home. And I tend to enjoy breathing, thank you.

And though I do not slave for the Masters of Technology no more, I oddly have been called to do much work for the slave masters of Modern Medicine, followed shortly by the Fashionista Fascisti. SO ... lots of gory footage of surgery, and then even scarier ... Fashion Shows! (Who knew that athletic shoes could generate whole lines of clothing? and why??)

I was hoping that my first post after the thawing of the glaciers --- oops, that was to be a time-line joke, but it is sadly more true than any of us would like! --- would contain some hugely important comment on the malaise of our new century, or the relevance of the new politics, or even a short piece on how a high/low ratio transfer box and locking center and rear differentials add to the credentials of the Toyota - Land Cruiser Amazon VX 4.7 ... yeah, I lifted that last one. I bet SlyBoots will know from where!

But since this is my Opening Day, and there are now F-18s flying over my head here as I punch the keys, I will post with a whimper rather than a wow.

It's OK, I have learned to downsize my expectations!

It's been eons, I know ...

2007-12-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

Mery Christmas to all youse guys out there, who haven't seen or heard from me in many a moon.

Sonja standing with Bwana Jr

2007-09-29T10:18:00.001-05:00

Bwana Jr experiences the shock and awe of having a contemporary relative give birth to a baby.

Huzzah! An Editorial COMPLETELY Out of Left Field

2007-08-30T13:49:00.000-05:00

Who's bendin' down to give me a Rainbow...?

Who'd a-thunk it? The Wall Street Journal today actually published an editorial that was in support of wind power? 'Od's Botkins!

The Bahston Globule took perverse dee-lite in covering the WSJ OP-ED piece today:

"In what has become the consummate example of beau monde environmental phoniness, residents around Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket are facing off with Greenpeace activists again over a proposed wind farm in the middle of their handsome vistas. The environmental group considers wind power a key source of renewable energy, while some of the locals consider it an offense against the scenery. The Cape Wind project for its part would plunk 130 wind turbines on Horseshoe ..."

Well, that's all you kin git, 'cause the Darth Vadir of the Newsworld caught us all linking the editorial itself, and it went bye-bye, unless you want to cough up the doe-ray-mee.

But ... ain't it just amazing? The Journal just put a harpoon into the throbbing hearts of all the richest assholes in the Nantucket Sound region (or thereabouts) who absolutely insist that it is only ecological worries that cause them to prevent millions of citizens getting relatively cheap, very much needed electricity from wind power.

Because its unsafe. And untested.

Ever been to Denmark, Richie-Rich?

I bitched before that the CommonWealth of Masterchusetts has to lay out a few million to 'test' wind power because of these assholes who don't want to spoil the view. And I have posted on how poor folks down below the Cape were willing to have a few put up practically in their back yards just to get things going.

Now the WALL STREET JOURNAL is outing these bags. You can't look much skankier, can ya?

Young Lust in Beantown

2007-08-21T07:36:00.000-05:00

Bet that title gets me on Google.

I've been searching for something to ... stimulate me into blogging again, and just when I was sure I would never post again, along comes a great, big, juicy ....SCANDAL. And right here in Ye Olde Beanpotte!

Since sex sells papers and Internet ads these-a-days, some may have noted a minor league teen sex scandal that occurred in the hallowed halls of Milton Academy during the past year. Well, probably you have no clue about this at all. And with films like "Notes on A Scandal" coming out of Blighty recently, and various Cable TV movies on Oxygen hardly worth note, we are seeing a tremblingly titillating new type of crusading journalism approaching the horizon: Teen Angst from Sex Abuse in Posh Places.

Now in this particular case, the sex was strictly among underage students and it happened at a very well respected private academy that serves the hoity-toity of Bahston and its environs. I won't go into the lurid details, but suffice to say that there was some multi-party hankie-pankie happening in locker rooms, dorms and various vehicular transports.

These 'cautionary tales' often trot themselves out to provide 'worldly knowledge' to kids on the errors of sexual activity at an early age, though nominally they are targeted for progressive, concerned parents. But frankly, they're just soft-core kiddie porn for the freakizoids out there that the FBI SHOULD be watching, but finds itself way to busy making sure American Septuagenarians are getting strip searched in US Airports because a 'Bob Smith' once emailed Saddam Insane.

But THIS one gots a double-edged blade! Some high society juene filles decided to 'tell all' to Abigail Jones and Marissa Miley, authors of "Restless Virgins," a new book. But said finking fillies got much more than they bargained for; a tell all about them, replete with multiple positions and partners, and thinly guised aliases. So now everyone in their sororities know they were school pump bags. Quelle horreur! ---Duh!

One statement by the authors, I suppose offered in support of the graphic nature of their writing, does interest me:

"The authors agree that casual sex among teenagers is a national phenomenon that
can be blamed in part on the hyper-sexualized culture.

"You've had Abercrombie [& Fitch] selling thongs to 10-year-olds, and TV sex scenes doubled from 1998 to 2002," says Miley, who majored in English and economics at the University of Pennsylvania and now lives in New York. That, coupled with websites such as Facebook and MySpace, have created a universe where little is considered out-of-bounds.

Jones calls it "generational exhibitionism."

"These kids are putting their lives on display," she says. "People didn't
used to have sex in front of others. This is the first generation of kids coming
of age in the Internet, and there's a breaking down of privacy."

I suppose that this statement is truly significant from a viewpoint of generational shift; this next generation (of which Bwana Jr be a member) is viewing intimacy completely differently than the parents, especially in regards to public expression of sexuality.

I mean, the Boomers who post their sex lives with movie files and digital photos are considered freaks by most of their contemporaries. And moreover, viewed as pathetically obsessed with the cult of perpetual youth, i.e., if I am 50-ish and still humping the planet, I am VITAL AND ALIVE AND WANTED.

Yippee.

And though they may in fact be less Victorian and prudish then their contemporaries, they don't appear to be that happy. Rather they appear a bit desperate. They want attention, more than anything else. And they don't want anyone to say they are OLD --- this being death word amongst Boomers.

Perhaps the contrast of an entire generation really thinking that sex is simply no big deal, just another fun physical activity like break dancing to be share with your peeps; perhaps THIS is the news flash. Because we know that the pervs will buy the book to whack off, and the self-styled "Cool Parents" will read it for tips on how to better serve their kinders (you know, the ones who always serve booze to under aged kids at parties in their homes because, "they'll just do it elsewhere, this way we can watch them) {aka SUPER pervs}. I sure as hell won't read it.

My daughter would just DIE from embarrassment.

Sometimes a Great Surrealist

2007-08-17T06:33:00.000-05:00

I don't gots alot to say and whatnot ...

2007-08-15T11:25:00.000-05:00

I suppose that when you fall out of the habit of doing something every day, it becomes increasingly difficult to return to your former repertoire. I looked up the word "habit" in Websters On-Line Dictionary, and here's are some definitions of usage that might apply:

5 : the prevailing disposition or character of a person's thoughts and feelings : mental makeup

6 : a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior

7 a : a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance
b : an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary
c : ADDICTION

Following that were some nifty synonyms:

HABIT, PRACTICE, USAGE, CUSTOM, WONT .

So, when I say that I have fallen out of the HABIT of blogging, it implies I do this unconsciously ... which is wrong, since I am usually conscious when on the Bloggosphere.

OR, if I where to say I fell out of the PRACTICE of blogging, it infers I do it often and by choice. There ARE some things I do often by choice. But blogging apparently is not one of them.

To steal directly from M_W, USAGE ... "suggests a customary action so generally followed that it has become a social norm . " Whilst blogging has become a norm in some neighborhoods in the Bahston Beanpot, and the Bahston Globule apparently has declared Bahston to be one of the top blogging cities in the USA, that statement was slightly qualified by their original source The Bostonist, in that sports blogging is the main rage in Ye Olde Bahston Towne.

I do not think it is my CUSTOM to blog, in that it (M_W)" ... applies to a practice or usage so steadily associated with an individual or group as to have almost the force of unwritten law . " Ain't no-body gonna tell me I have to blog. No forking way.

Which leaves us with ... (M-W) "WONT ... usually applies to an habitual manner, method, or practice of an individual or group . "

It is my wont to get up before 5:30AM. But I would like to sleep later.

SO, since none of the above apply, it would seem that my original premise for not blogging lately is the correct one:

I am a lazy shit.

Except for stealing from other sources. Then I am very ENTERPRISING.

So ... wtf?

2007-08-03T13:36:00.000-05:00

So, wtf, you ask?

I am realizing I've become extremely lazy. I haven't spent any time reading other blogs, let alone posting on my own. I admit I have been kept very busy by my wife, who has seen fit to redecorate the entire manse since our return from Spain.

Now, we ain't rich folk, and we do the work ourselves. I have a family history in the paint and decorating business --- we owned a paint, wallpaper and art supply business that closed after 100 years of service to the Greater New York area --- and I still have 'hand', in that I can paint, refinish wood, hang wallpaper, and to some extent do 'faux finishes'. I even know how to do gold leaf application, but NOBODY has the money for that anymore. The fake stuff looks just as good

But I DIGRESS...

Since I have been home, after working on the house when I get home from work, I then expend all my other energy on complaining about doing the above, which leaves very little time for blogging (especially if you have Video on Demand). Add to that the valuable and precious time I need to spend with my teenager daughter (she STILL lurves me), I'm just plain too pooped to pop.

So I have decided to start my campaign in earnest next week. I will come up with an outline of the Spain trip, with diagrams, detailed notes and groovy web links.

I think.

Cat of Death

2007-07-26T08:12:00.000-05:00

Yes, yes, I know. I should have posted some of my FAAAAHbulous Spain stories by now, but I'm busy AND I'm lazy; and one of my mad scientists has to go to DC today and get the National Science Medal from Dumbo Dubya, so he's freakin'.

But I could NOT let this story go without bringing it to your attention, dear reader. Oscar, The Certified Cat-O-Death, and practically a hospice consultant for Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University.

This cute little feline has sat death watch at the side of many advanced dementia cases in extremis. In fact, this cat has accurately predicted and witnessed the deaths of over 25 patients in this unit. It simply knows when the patient is going to kick, mostly by sniffing at them while perched up on their beds. If they ain't ready to go, he leaves. If they are, he curls up and snuggles them. Until they do die, and then he just leaves.

Read the article in The New England Journal of Medicine: it is way freaky.

¡Danza del torero!

2007-07-18T12:49:00.001-05:00

It's got a back beat!

The bull was not invited ...

I'm the Barber of ... Pedraza?

2007-07-18T12:41:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting place. A castle. No. A real one.

Castille Padraza

¡Ruego, Si, Hola!

2007-07-18T06:32:00.001-05:00

I be back in USA. Wahoo.

See the Flickr site for nifty pics from Spain.

Away from Bahston

2007-06-29T07:04:00.000-05:00

I be in Spain, dudes and dudettes. Will enter info as needed.
Prado was good. Food has been great. We stay out all night and drink like fish.
Excellent.

Next Stop, Barcelona!

Bwana Jr is here.

2007-06-21T11:27:00.000-05:00

He hath returned. But for a short while. Next week it's back to West Chilly. (That be Philly)

NO MORE EFFING HOBBITS, PLEASE.

2007-06-19T12:12:00.001-05:00

Somebody effing save me from this shit.

The Whitey Bulger Effect

2007-06-19T11:32:00.000-05:00

Even though Whitey Bulger has been on the lam for more than a decade, his effect can still be felt here in Beantown. Witness the "Ever-Haunted-Bucket-'O-Blood" that was the Triple O Bar in Southie ...

recently reopened under 'new' management and renamed The 6 House.

Some think it should be renamed once more The 666 House.

There have been repeated stabbings, shots fired, and at least two dead in incidents occuring within a few months of each other.

Bahston Hairuld Columnist Peter Gelzinis thinks so, too. See his recent column.

And, if you are curious about Where in the World is Whitey Bulger, you can follow recent sitings on this cool map that the Hairuld gleefully provides.

I intend to call in a few sightings in Spain and France this summer, just for shits and giggles.

Editor's Note: Recently, I have experienced lots of pain trying to use the Bahston Globule's web sight to get JUST BASIC NEWS. It seems their designers are too precious to operate a useable site. Therefore, I have pulled their RSS feed from the site, and have replaced it with the Bahston Hairauld's, which is shite-load more agreeable to use.

Just don't take their editorial opinion as mine own.

And Even Newton was Figs in the Attic ....

2007-06-19T11:17:00.001-05:00

The recently revealed 'document' (which appears to be a scratch paper at best) purported to be Sir Isaac Newton's prediction of the Apocalypse taking the world in the year 2060 (give or take a fortnight?)

See wacko article.

Pound a Nail

2007-06-19T10:39:00.000-05:00

What I should be doing, but have not for some time ...

God Hates A Sinner Lost

2007-06-01T09:50:00.000-05:00

Last night I screened this documentary at Media Lab for the artsy crowd.

A "Hell House" is the exact opposite of a Haunted House at Halloween. It invites local teens, church families and church tour groups to come walk through the various ways one can enter Hell for eternity: having an abortion, having sex with a relative or out of wedlock, murder ... all these will land you in Hell if you don't repent in time. Suicide in particular is a favorite 'scene'. In each of the rooms you pass through, there is a ghoulish "Death Monitor" who narrates the evil import of the protagonists unthinking actions, and who is also interacting with the 'sinner', who hears their demon quite clearly though no one else in the scene can.

At the very end of the Hell House Tour, each group is led into a room where a stern preacher talks about the dangers of falling pray to Satan, and offers them 10 seconds to decide whether they will enter a further door, and pray for their souls with a team of Pentecostals. It's either Heaven, or the Highway to Hell. No in betweens.

There was much snickering in the audience at first, but as the expostulations of the Hell House participants became more intense, a sort of awed hush filled the room. I think most of those there didn't know any Fundamentalists personally or had ever interacted with them. But the filmmaker did a great job of really allowing each Pentecostal Player really explain their motivations, and I think the jaded Cambridge audience was finally taking them seriously by the end of the film.

George Ratliff made this film, and he takes no position whatsoever on the subject matter. He also does not employ "Voice of God" narration, since he feels even that becomes a commentary. He shows us these congregants of the Trinity Pentecostal Church in Texas as both decent and caring people, and as ... well ... folks who speak in tongues.

From what I heard, the screening for the church folks before release went very well, and they liked how it came out. They even laughed at themselves occasionally, which is encouraging. I'd recommend it to any Comparative Media Studies program.

And you wonder how these words are smithied?

2007-05-31T14:35:00.000-05:00

Ever wonder how the word "Gerrymander" came about? Here's how.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Origins of Gerrymander, at Summer and Arch

By Michael LevensonGlobe Staff

"Even in a city that loves history, this marker stands out. It does not honor the home of a fiery colonial preacher, ancient burial ground, or beloved 19th century brewery.

It commemorates a less exalted -- and often vilified -- milestone: In 1812, on the corner of Summer and Arch streets, Governor Elbridge Gerry and State Senator Israel Thorndike drew legislative districts -- one shaped like a salamander -- designed to keep their Republican friends in power.

Gerrymandering was born...."

And you thought the Karl Rove was naughty!

Eurotrashy Shite

2007-05-31T13:44:00.000-05:00

Here's something I put together from old video files I took with my malenky digital camera from The Bwanasphere Euro Tour 2005. I only did it to annoy Bwana Jr and to remember how to do this shite so I could put up all my shitty files I'll be making in Spain this summer.

THAT will be TRULY EXCRUCIATING.

No sooner had I posted this, then I was shared this from the UK to shut me the feck up.

Not to feel too pleased with myself, my very first posts to YouTube yielded this response in Dundee...

THIS JUST IN -----

2007-05-29T15:58:00.000-05:00

Police: Man stole 1,500 pairs of shoes

May 29, 2007

WAUKESHA, Wis. --Police seized more than 1,500 pairs of girls' shoes from the home and storage unit of a man arrested for breaking into a high school, police said Tuesday. "He liked to smell them," said Lt. William H. Graham.

Hugo Chavez Reinvents National Kinda Socialism

2007-05-29T15:31:00.000-05:00

Hugo Chavez, who many of us found to be a whole lot of fun when it came to his crazed Bush Bashing, has ceased to be funny anymore. After trying to force out every foreign oil company from Venezuela, now he's decided that these matters and others should no longer be discussed outside government monitored media.

In other words, free speech is gonzo.

I guess this just indicates what a loon the man has become. Showing up randomly in other Latin American countries to lead demo-extravaganzas funded by Citgo is another worry for the region.

We Bahstonians all kinda liked the guy because he put some money into the old Citgo sign in Kenmore Square, sold heating oil dirt-cheap to Joe Kennedy's not-for-profit home heating oil company strictly for the poor and aged of the region ... and 'cause he just pissed off Bush so well.

Now, he's getting kinda spikey. And Bush just doesn't need to be presented with yet another "Evil-Doer" to fack with. Next thing you know, Chaney will order the invasion of Caracas with airborne postal workers.

2800 Sausages To GO, Please!

2007-05-29T13:10:00.000-05:00

An 11-year-old kid from Alabama with a target pistol, a full clip and 3 hours to kill, chased a wild boar through the brush firing 8 times (apparently 9 is the charm with a .22 pistol, I guess) until the hog finally dropped.

It weighed in at an incredible 1049 lbs. It measured 9' 4" from the tip of it's snout to the end of its...whatever.

I would hate to see what this kid does in a fair fight.

A Guy Who Carried Lincoln

2007-05-22T13:36:00.001-05:00

This guy is Bwana Jr.'s Great-Great-Grandfather.

His name was Johnson.

He was in the Civil War, in the Union Army.

He was in Ford's Theater the night Lincoln was shot.

He helped carry Lincoln to the hotel across the street.

He got blood all over him, and the handbill from that night's performance.

This is it.

Babylon Sister ... Shake it.

2007-05-10T16:52:00.000-05:00

The Babylonians were the first to record philosophy in writing. There is a 5,000 + year old clay table that reads:

“We are doomed to die; let us spend”

Which Means:

“We are doomed to die; let us spend”

Strangely, this school of thought still obtains...my wife is a disciple.

BA-doom.

Boston Pops One in Yer Eye

2007-05-10T09:45:00.000-05:00

Looks like there's beanpots full o' fun going on at Boston's Symphony Hall. Apparently, a couple of liquored-up fans got into it in the balcony of the venerable music hall during last nights performance by the Boston Pops with Musical Guest performer Ben Folds.

Seems shirts were torn off, chairs were flying and ladies were screaming ... more like the cheap seats at Fenway during a Sox-Yanks series.

Groovy conductor Keith Lockhart stopped the music while the melee ensued. Both gentlemen were ejected from the game, though no charges were brought.

(Surprise! I poked an attorney in the face once, and the COPS pressed the charges!)

Sounds like it was a middle-aged hissy fit against a younger fella.

I'll give you the BAHSTON GLOBULE'S la-dee-da, pukka version,
and then the grittier BAHSTON HERALDO's in-yer-face-ya-rich-bastid line.
They definitely have the better headline.

Countdown to Ecstasy

2007-05-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

What will Tony-Baloney Blair be doing in his office for the next few weeks, now that he'll be resigning as Labor Party Leader?

Will he:

Put his feet up on the desk?

Wait for George Dubya Bush to call, take it, and tell him to feck off?

Drunk dial Alan Cameron and call him a Nancy-Boy?

Become a Catholic?

Become a flagellant? Is this the same thing as above?

Tell his wifey to shut plug her pie-hole until he's clear of 10 Downing?

There are SO many things to choose from. Let's hope Tony enjoys his retirement.

Me Hero

2007-05-04T10:48:00.000-05:00

Quote of the Day:

"Again, I always go to sea as a sailor, because they make a point of paying me for my trouble, whereas they never pay passengers a single penny that I ever heard of. On the contrary, passengers themselves must pay. And there is all the difference in the world between paying and being paid. The act of paying is perhaps the most uncomfortable infliction that the two orchard thieves entailed upon us. But being paid,- what will compare with it? The urbane activity with which a man receives money is really marvellous, considering that we so earnestly believe money to be the root of all earthly ills, and that on no account can a monied man enter heaven. Ah! how cheerfully we consign ourselves to perdition! "

Wampanoag Whoopie!

2007-05-04T06:05:00.000-05:00

Looks like some dreams will be coming through for the Wampanoag Tribe here in Massachusetts. On traditional Mashpee land, a new card casino may soon rise. That will mean all us pale faces can gleefully lose our doe to the folks who originally lived here, and who have put up with us for so long.

I plan to get there when it opens, find my pal Tracy (he be a Wampanoag, lives in Mashpee, and I KNOW will be at the door), and plunk down some dumb money.

And yeah, I want to LOSE the first hand. Just for principle's sake.

The Mountain Meadow Massacre

2007-05-03T09:02:00.000-05:00

So, yesterday during dead air time I watched Frontline's "The Mormons" Part I on-line. Interesting way to watch a documentary ... pausing whenever you feel like it. It takes some of the drum roll out of the mood .... or that one LOOOOOOONG minor chord they play for 'drama' so that you hold your breath.

Anyhoo (who dies when you use that word?), I was impressed with the gentleness the filmmaker displayed detailing the Mormons' spiritual birth and migration West, and how even handed they were with that history, allowing Mormon scholars to outline the why and wherefore of events from the Mormon perspective. And explaining how they were hounded out of every state until they left the US and entered Mexican territory.

Et cetera, ad nauseum. Then suddenly, something that I had never heard about before! The Mountain Meadow Massacre. I thought myself fairly knowledgeable on the Mormons, but this one came as an utter surprise. It suddenly made sense to me why Zane Grey's Rider of the Purple Sage western adventure stories depicted evil old Mormon men holding women hostage in Utah Badlands, in cahoots with the Mexican Imperial factions.

SO why did the Mormons go nuts and kill 160+ men, women and children from Arkansas? Payback? There were some bad days in Missouri and Arkansas for the Mormons as they moved West. Self defense? No, the Arkansans were unarmed at the time --- they were tricked into thinking that the local Indians were going to attack, and the Mormons told them that if they left all their things and guns behind, and just walked out of their encampment, they would be safe. That's when the Mormons shot them all, except for kids under the age of 8, who according to the Mormon dogma, did not have fully formed souls yet, so were "untainted". They were adopted by Mormon families.

No, it was pure terrorism. The US Army was on the way to 'enforce law and order' in the Utah territory after Washington obtained the Mexican Territories. They wanted to send a message to Washington that they were not to be effed with anymore.

Unfortunately, the Arkansans were in the wrong place at the right time.

Well, to add more juice the mix, there's a feature film coming out this year about The Massacre called "September Dawn".

How ironic it happened on September 11, 1857.

Melville Moment of the Day

2007-05-01T12:01:00.000-05:00

There is a move afoot among a group of 10-year-old Massachusetts kids to make "Moby Dick, or, The Whale" by Herman Melville THE OFFICIAL BOOK OF MASSACHUSETTS. I voted for it, by GAWD!

There were, of course, a few nancy-boys and Clintonistas who insisted that this offical tome be "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott; and while I also laud this book as very important to the psychology of Massachusetts women (big AND little) in my own home, and an important work, I STILL VOTES FOR MOBY DICK.

Louisa May did try to be balanced; remember, she also penned "Little Men", but they were all gay anyway. Also on the list:

The House of Seven Gables, Nathaniel Hawthorne (Nope. It's already a tourist trap in Salem)
On the Road, Jack Kerouac (a Lowell boy and a bit of a stoner)
Make Way for Ducklings, Robert McKloskey (Also a Boston Tourist Trap, and an urban myth)

When I suggested that perhaps there was room for an official BOYS book and an official GIRLS book, the shit hit the fan, and I shut my mouth. But Moby Dick still gets my vote, because it is the most ripping Yankee tale told short of The Last of the Mohicans.

You can see I found the e-book version and started reading it again. I, like Melville, was a kid from the New York area that longed to see open water, meet serpent-like monsters of the deep and generally feck-off and run away to the sea.

One other reason it has such importance to me personally: one hot summer when I was a wee lad of 6 or 7 years, I ran with the neighborhood pack of kids, looking for something to do and causing mayhem for the older neighbors. One of these old guys lived next door and decided that "someone should try and occupy these little savages instead of abandoning them to the street." He said this while giving my hard pressed Mom the evil eye. His answer? He would READ to us every morning from 10AM to 12PM, directly after which we were to report to our homes for lunch and a verified hour of PEACE AND QUIET so he could nap. He promised that if we didn't observe this to the letter, he would not read to us AND he would get his gun out.

Seeing as we liked breathing (of COURSE we believed the old fart), and our parents of both native- and newly-immigrated stock saw this as "enriching", we were delivered to the old man's living room promptly one Monday morning, 10AM.

Now the man's name was Mr. Bogey. And yes he was scary as the name implies, being old and cranky but mostly because he talked so funny. That was because he was, " ... a native born MAIN-AH. From DOWN 'EAST." He had the misfortune of having been an attorney in NYC for his business career, and stuck for most of this initial portion of retirement in the Jersey suburbs, at least until his new manse somewhere around Tenant's Harbor was completed. But he was going to drive some 'Cul-chah' into the stoney brains of these neighborhood urchins, by GAWD.

And of course, he had me at "Call me Ishmael ...."

Happy May Day, You Commie Bastids!

2007-05-01T10:02:00.000-05:00

This here fella was Illinois Governor John Peter Altgeld, and in 1896 was the guy who pardoned all the Haymarket Square "Bombers" that were still breathing (4 were hanged), saying their imprisonment and was unconstitutional. Born in Germany, he came to the US at the age of 2, and served in the Civil War on the Union side. Altgeld was a Judge in Chicago, a business leader and Democratic Party dude.

He had also refused to call out the state militia against the Pullman Strikers. The then Attorney General Richard Olney wrote an injunction against the strikers, and demanded that President Cleveland call in the US Army.

As Governor, though he was often accused of using the state militia too often in most labor disputes, Altgeld decided the Pullman Strike was a legitimate action, and stood up to these fat-cats, he ended up being labelled an anarchist and a socialist.

What interests me about this guy was that he started out pretty mainstream and anti labor. But because the White House was determined to get rid of ALL labor organizers, along with any new foreign immigrants (especially Jews ---see the political cartoon below), he became a progressive.

SO ... let's go rock Cheney's limo, and set fire to it. Just for shits and giggles.

You Think He Doth Protest Too Much?

2007-04-30T13:39:00.000-05:00

George Tenet's book is out this week, and he's hopping mad. Mad at the White House for dissing his CIA team. Mad at Cheney, Rice and the other Neo-Con/Pentagon apparatchiks that blundered and lied their way into an Iraq invasion ... and supposedly mad at himself for allowing the CIA to 'guess wrong' about WMDs.

And from his viewpoint and what has been said about he CIA over the past few years, I'd be pissed too. It would appear that the CIA --- and he in particular --- became the fatted calf to be sacrificed for White House/DOD/DIA and State eff-ups of CATASTROPHIC proportions.

But is George Tenet being just a weeeeee bit disingenuous? I should not judge him before reading his book (which I hate paying for, but can't see a way out of), it would appear that he and the CIA are responsible not for where we are in Iraq today, but where we would be had we NOT destroyed the infrastructure and bureaucracy of the Ba'athists; in other words, reexamining a more Allende-like situation, where we would need to defend bumping off a foreign dictator, and justifying it with words like "imposing Democracy".

I am not so dumb as to think that bad political organizations like the Ba'athists can be cured by sweet talk over tea, but Iraq STILL would have been a lose-lose situation. In other words, hindsight ain't so golden in Tenet's case, since the CIA would still have been playing the King-Killing game anyway. Which is supposed to be ILLEGAL, according to Congress.

All this book and others like it point to is a big, circular argument trying to justify the COSMICALLY STUPID action of invading Iraq. And letting all those America, British and other Western military forces die there for no good reason. They are no less noble in death because of it; it just makes their lost lives that much more tragic.

Oh, yes ... and the million or so Iraqis who died without any say in the matter.

City of Brotherly Love Not So Fraternal with Psychics

2007-04-27T13:39:00.000-05:00

Interesting link to the Philadelphia Inquirer story today about the Quaker City's crackdown on store front fortune tellers!

One fellow quoted in the article made a very good point:

The owner of Psychic, a fortune-telling shop at 2041 Walnut St., sat on his steps yesterday and complained bitterly about the police action. He would not give his name or his lawyer's name.

"First of all," he said, "they've got to stop the 129 murders in this city. What we do is entertainment."

He also said the police Major Crimes Unit had shut him down even though he had bought a business license from the city and paid taxes.

"Shouldn't they be cracking down on rapes and murders, not palm readers?" he asked.

Excellent point, Mandrake! Considering that Philly has the highest murder rate on the East Coast, perhaps they should be more focused on that issue. Or ....

Could this be a clever plan by their City Hall to hire all those out of work soothsayers to sort out the mysteries behind all those murders??? INQUIRING MINDS WANNA KNOW!

AP-WIRE: Phila, PA; 4/27/2007:

ENGLISH MEDIUM CRIES "MURDER MOST FOUL"

Liverpool born, Derek Acorah, lately shit-canned by the producers of the UK TV hit, "Most Haunted" (See your local TRAVEL CHANNEL guide for times) has had scarier experiences in his storied life as a medium and spirit hunter, but not many compare with his huge reversal of fortune today just moments after opening his first "Spooks-Be-Us" US franchise in Center City. No sooner had Derek opened the doors this morning, then the boys in blue charged in wearing full SWAT attire and hustled him outside into an unmarked black armored van.

"They're takin' me out to their Black Mariah! Halp! Halp! SOOOMbody HAAAALLLP!", he cried out as the doors swallowed the former footballer and occasionally competent psychic. A blind old woman on the sidewalk at the time asked, "Was that Ringo Star? I had his baby, the bastid!"

A potential customer, who staggered out into the sunlight after this stupendous event, muttered to himself, "He's gone from Most Haunted to Most Fucked."

Derek's attorney had no comment. However, SAM, Derek's spiritual guide and a 2000-plus year old spirit entity, declared that Derek had misrepresented the situation in Philadelphia to him, and that he would be filing a suit of Discorporation in the near future.

Atlas Ralphed

2007-04-25T13:12:00.000-05:00

I am not a big fan of Ayn Rand's novels, though I believe I have read them all. It's not that she wasn't a good writer, she was. The problem is her philosophy, Objectivism, which can be loosely translated to mean that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or "rational self-interest;" i.e., feck everybody else's problems, if you can't deal then crawl off and die. I am too noble to waste my time with your paltry short-comings.

Now, why am I not surprised that somebody has a film version of "Atlas Shrugged" in production already, and then why am I doubly not surprised that Rand's heroine, cold little Dagny Taggart, is being penned for portrayal by Angelina Jolie? I am not sure that anyone has really explained Rand's F-O-A-D belief system to the entity that is BrAngelina, as they are all up themselves to do the movie. Apparently Ms. Jolie is a big fan of Rand, and Mr. Pitt hopes they will rewrite the story line so that Rand's other leading character from "The Fountain Head", Howard Rourke can be played by Pitt in this clusterfeck. I think he wants it so bad 'cause Howard was an architect, the closet dream of Mr. Pitt for many years.

How's this for an interesting viewpoint?

Has no one explained to these people that shite like Rand's has brought us Libertarianism, Reaganisim and Neo-Conservativism? Well, actually you can blame the Neo-Con movement on Former American Trostskyites at Columbia University.

But once again, Hollywood attempts to feck about with something it doesn't really understand, and expose millions of impressionable young minds to this horseshit all over. The important thing on this planet is TO GIVE A SHIT ABOUT SOMETHING OTHER THAN YOURSELF.

Are they trying to regurgitate the Me-Generation? I am afraid the BrAngelina have fallen victim to the Cult of Personality.

Ecstasy, With A Lower-Case E

2007-04-24T13:17:00.000-05:00

I have stumbled across a couple of interesting pieces recently on the massive depressing atmosphere floating around most of Western Civilization --- as opposed to the massive clouds of dust and smoke floating around Mideastern Civilization, and fuck-all knows of the way Eastern folks are handling it. They keep damming up rivers and drowning people ... that should be pretty fucking depressing.

But I digress. What am it that doth makes us so blue and sad, makes us feel so unconnected to the Great Big Universe, that in general causes people to become NeoCons and Republicans?

It is the BIG DISCONNECT from JOY, RAPTURE and ECSTASY. Yes, some might get an instant reconnect using E, but then your kidneys will fail earlier than age 92, and then where are you?

One writer, Barbara Ehrenreich, who in her new book, Dancing in the Streets explores the experience of collective joy, ponders the questions, “if ecstatic rituals and festivities were once so widespread, why is so little left of them today? If the 'techniques' of ecstasy represent an important part of the human cultural heritage, why have we forgotten them, if indeed we have?”

AMEN, SISTER! That is probably a major sticking point for modern humanity. Have we forgotten how to do this? We don't get down with ourselves anymore in big spectacles of fervor and passionate expression. It is very uncool to want to experience the transport of religion, or great art. The closest we get to it is sporting events, and even those have become big money, anemic affairs where we pay others to cheer and jump about for us (especially hotties). The sports experience has become the Corporation's bitch, and we won't see her set free very soon. Not when sky boxes dominate the price of every event.

What's that leave us with? NASCAR and Snake Handling? Both can be deadly between flying tires and venom.

I remember somebody asking me at church once what I felt was missing from the experience. Remember, it's a Unitarian Universalist church, and I'm a Catholic/Protestant half breed.

What was missing? "Incense, drama and Saints that die gooey deaths." I mean, it was a great place for the peace and inner calm, and for a life-long comparative religion course. But it wasn't RELIGION. It wasn't MIDNIGHT MASS. And it certainly wasn't GOSPEL, or SPEAKING IN TONGUES.

It was kind of dull. I know the kids had a blast, more than adults, because they got to learn every freaky Bible story from the Old Testament, along with its matching Babylonian versions (yes, they are all the same). But for the adults? It was more of a book club.

OK, I'll get off that rag, but you see my point. What have we to compare with the rites of the Bacchae, the Dionysian orgies, etc. Didn't those Slavs used to chase each others' asses around the woods and boogie for days on end? Even the Brits did that way back in Ye Olde Daye. Well, maybe they were Celts, but you know what I mean.

Compared to that, we got nada.

But to experience great passion also means to have strong and sometimes violent feelings on a glandular level, which is pretty much what one sees in those places that hate us Godless Infidels. How could we return to the real experiences of transport and vision, without losing contact with our inner adult? And creating a false temple of passion with drugs like E and acid is a false solution (and idol for that matter).

I guess I'll have to take up fly fishing.

Hot Fuzz and Hot Speakers with EYES...

2007-04-23T09:54:00.000-05:00

Saw the much-anticipated "Hot Fuzz" flick this weekend, and enjoyed it immensely. The boys have done themselves proud.

Here are the lads being playful. Vaguely homo-erotic, isn't it?

One scene that comes to mind is the command center for Sanford's Neighbourhood Watch Association (cleverly labelled NWA), which maintains a bank of digital cameras covering every conceivable inch of "England's prettiest village".

While these cams are ubiquitous in London and other parts of Europe, there are just beginning to be utilized here in the States. I noticed this piece in The Independent today on how the Labour Party has changed everyone's way of life through creeping big-brother-watching solutions to policing the streets: And one very interesting addition to the thousands of cameras. Adding a speaker to it to screech at the 'yob' who is doing the offending in the camera lens! Quoth the Independent:

"Could Foucault be talking about his future vision of Middlesbrough, the town which has adopted talking CCTV cameras in its town centre, presided over by council apparatchiks who bellow to citizens from their screen-filled observation posts that they are to pick up the fag end they just dropped, or risk arrest? Or is he talking about the whole of Britain, a nation so in love with the CCTV camera that it boasts one for every 14 citizens, and has spent, in the last 10 years, more than three-quarters of its Home Office crime prevention budget on this technology of record?"

I am sad to say that, considering recent events, perhaps these cameras are needed to keep an eye on our gun toting loons. Not that it would have stopped what happened on the Virginia Tech campus last week, but a system like this set well in place could have helped to reduce the body count (as if that mitigates the horror).

Do I think I am losing my liberty if a city camera can see me when I commit a civil transgression? Like running a stop sign (GUILTY in the PAST) or flipping the bird to a fellow motorist (DITTO- PLUS UNCIVIL AGGRESSION)?

Frankly, that train has already left the station. We are always being observed at least as a flock, by our financial transactions, our web clicks/choices, even where we are driving (do you use a transponder to pay your road tolls? --or parking?) While we do have the right not to incriminate ourselves in a public hearing or a court of law (key concept here), the right of the individual to privacy does not include a secluded glade wherein one can commit capital crimes. That's like saying, "If a tree is raped in the woods, and no one sees it, does it matter?"

(Believe me, in New England it could happen.)

What constitutes my right to privacy is no one invading my home to observe me using the john at 3AM, or to record my public utterances without my permission (I have had to get those disclaimer releases signed about a billion times, an utter pain in the ass, but I wouldn't give it up for anything). OR have anyone listen in while I worship with my family in church (STOP THAT LAUGHING, RIGHT NOW). OR watch me vote for that matter, though I guess they will find out the result eventually (except in Florida - snort!)

That's the same illusion as the guarantee of private communications on the Web. PLEASE! The only guarantee of secrecy on the Internet is hiding in plain site. Too many places to look, so who's going to find you?

Those are the keys to maintaining a free citizenry, unshackled by Big Cheney's plan to listen to each registered Democrat's individual farts at night. THAT kind of guy is dangerous. You know, the kind of fellow that reads spy novels by Robert Ludlum, or maybe Scooter Libby.

Or hires him to do dirty deeds done dirt cheap.

Vermont Senate Acts as the US Senate Should ...

2007-04-20T13:18:00.000-05:00

... out of shame?

This just in .... Vermont's State Senate has become the first state legislature in the Union to actually put to a vote whether President Bush and VP Cheney should be impeached for their participation in IRAQ-GAK (the Iraq War Bamboozle).

The vote tally? Yea - 16; Nay - 9.

Mr. President, you haven't landed support in Vermont Marble ...

... the Vermont Marble has landed on you!

Selling War: How US Media Guilded the Lilly

2007-04-20T11:14:00.000-05:00

Today in Editor & Publisher appears a review of the upcoming Bill Moyers documentary, "Buying the War." Weirdly, I found out about it through Drudge... go figure.

Moyers lets everybody have it for helping the Bushies hard sell the Invasion of Iraq as a necessary part of the 'War on Terror' (or, as Borat says, 'Your Terror War'). He also may come the closest I have seen to accusing Colin Powell of being party to this Great Big Lie.

I can recall some news sources at the time indicating that everyone in the know at the Pentagon and the CIA thought most of the salacious 'facts' presented by Bush, et al, were at best murky ... and some outright bullshit. As we all found out.

I guess the saddest part of all this, 5 years and thousands of US, British, and other countries' lives lost, not to mention the 600,000+ Iraqi Dead; the saddest part is watching public figures like John McCain who, though I don't generally agree with him, still respected, debase themselves by supporting digging a DEEPER hole for us there.

Isn't this the ultimate reactionary political scenario? We doggedly continue to support a mission created by fools that endangers the very standard of who we are as a nation, simply because we're "stuck"?

Eff that shit! I have had it with trying to fix Iraq, even if we did break it. Enough is enough. Leave today, go home, and let the crazed freaks duke it out among themselves.

We Ain't Sinking in Beantown, the Water Line Be Movin On Up

2007-04-09T11:31:00.000-05:00

Observe the difference in these two images of Boston Harbor and the Charle River area. Yoy might think that the one on the left is a current image, and the one on the right is Boston before we the "Back Bay" was drained and filled in. But you would be wrong!

Why? Mostly because the right hand image is a forecast of the Boston area about 50 years from now, after Global Warming has melted most of the ice caps. It is oddly similar to the original Boston landscape. Ironic, ain't it? Here 's some of the science chatter locally via the Bahston Globule.

The above graphic comes from THIS SEQUENCE (check it out!)

Oh, and that does mean that my office would be under about .... uh. lemmee see ... 25 feet of water! Cool! I could come to work in an aqualung!

Trying to Fit in? ... Maundy Thursday Gang Bangers

2007-04-07T09:33:00.000-05:00

These wild fellas are hoping to improve community relations by taking their Morris Dancing troop into West Philadelphia, celebrating Maundy Thursday in their own, special way.

Do you think they will come out alive? Inquiring minds wanna know!

Those Darn Christians!

2007-04-06T12:51:00.000-05:00

Since Easter is upon us, and the day of celebration of the resurrection of the Christ is of the utmost in many evangelical and fundamentalist minds, I thought I would address what was of utmost importance in the forming of Christianity as a religion in the West. Namely, the persecution of the martyrs (as I believe it is referred to).

I went trolling through my web archives of ancient texts to get the down-low at the time, from a worms' eye view so to speak. I rummaged through my link into The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon (the man, not the ape); and in particular,

(Volume 1) Chapter XVI
Conduct of the Roman government towards the Christians, from the reign of Nero to that of Constantine.

In it, Gibbon tries to explain why Christianity, the mildest of religions, was so downtrodden by the Roman Emperors, practisers of Polytheism which is perhaps the most liberal of all religious beliefs. For instance, the Jews were a major pain in the glutus-maximus on numerous occasions, and were sorted out right quick often. Yet, even after all this malarkey, they were even allowed NOT to pay tribute to the Pantheon of Gods like every other Roman citizen or subject, mostly because they were such noisy complainers, but great producers (no steak knifes for them!).

Why O Why didst they prosecute and persecute the kindly Christians so voraciously? Because they committed the UNFORGIVABLE sin in Roman Society... INTOLERANCE of the beliefs of others.

Herein I quote Gibbons; this subsection of Chapter XVI is titled:

The Jews were a people which followed, the Christians, a sect which deserted, the religion of their fathers.

"By their lofty claim of superior sanctity the Jews might provoke the Polytheists to consider them as an odious and impure race. By disdaining the intercourse of other nations they might deserve their contempt. The laws of Moses might be for the most part frivolous or absurd yet, since they had been received during many ages by a large society, his followers were justified by the example of mankind, and it was universally acknowledged that they had a right to practise what it would have been criminal in them to neglect. But this principle, which protected the Jewish synagogue, afforded not any favour or security to the primitive church. By embracing the faith of the Gospel the Christians incurred the supposed guilt of an unnatural and unpardonable offence. They dissolved the sacred ties of custom and education, violated the religious institutions of their country, and presumptuously despised whatever their fathers had believed as true or had reverenced as sacred. Nor was this apostasy (if we may use the expression) merely of a partial or local kind; since the pious deserter who withdrew himself from the temples of Egypt or Syria would equally disdain to seek an asylum in those of Athens or Carthage. Every Christian rejected with contempt the superstitions of his family, his city, and his province. The whole body of Christians unanimously refused to hold any communion with the gods of Rome, of the empire, and of mankind. It was in vain that the oppressed believer asserted the inalienable rights of conscience and private judgment. Though his situation might excite the pity, his arguments could never reach the understanding, either of the philosophic or of the believing part of the Pagan world. To their apprehensions it was no less a matter of surprise that any individuals should entertain scruples against complying with the established mode of worship than if they had conceived a sudden abhorrence to the manners, the dress, or the language of their native country."

SO this will help explain why all that nasty shit happened to them. It might also explain how other groups perceive overbearing Christian organizations, authorities or nations.

I guess they never got The Robe on DVD.

Obama Be Jesus?

2007-04-03T09:15:00.000-05:00

Not to leave any Saint unstuck... this is a puppet sculpture by David Cordero, a Chicago Sculptor who apparently likes poking sacred cows.

See the article on him from the Globule:

'Sculpture of Obama as Jesus causes stir'

Mitt in The Funny Papers

2007-04-03T08:30:00.000-05:00

(This image brought to you by The Heretik!)

It seems Doonesbury is having fun with Mitt Romney's flippity-jippity thang, having reversed his position on gay rights, abortion and gun control. I'm thinking that, if Garry Trudeau is focusing on him --- and we all know Garry gets his info intravenously from the Democratic Party Gods --- then we should all be thinking on just how saleable the Mitt is to those people who have had their brains Reaganized for the past 8-10 years.

Now, the Demo Party Organ that is the Bahston Globule, did alert me to said Doonesbury Strip in this article, which also tells us in very serious tones that, if you make jokes about Mitt, they will come ... meaning, the voters. It would seem to the Globule, and to the BU PoliSci Prof they do quote, that ANY publicity for Mitt is BAD publicity, simply because it will make middle-aged women voters google his image and swoon at his movie star visage.

As if. I don't think a middle aged guy with Grecian Formula touch ups is really going to turn on Ms Middle American Mom ... not when

(a) their boys and even their girls who joined up to help America after 9/11 are being sacrificed at the altar of Smirking Neo Cons.
(b) See above.
(c) See above again.

Sorry about the bullets, but things always come in threes, don't they?

Mitt does seems a regular fellow on first glance, and did have the capacity for actual rational thought (at lease, at one time), as opposed to the rest of the vitriolic right. But Mr. Olympics is a sneaky customer, as all us Massholes found out.

And since he seems to have found the Mother-Lode Vein O' Gold for running his campaign, there are some big movers behind him.

Be prepared.

My, MY, Look Who Has All The Marbles!

2007-04-02T11:38:00.000-05:00

And you all thought I was obsessing about nothing! Drudge and most other news outlets are reporting that the Mitt-ster is second only unto Hillary Clinton in fund raising, ranking number one in the GOP ranks for dollars raised ($23ml to date).

He is therefore the official Dark Horse of the Apocalypse. Watch him and his minions carefully. THis guy sweet talked his way into Massachusetts politics, and managed to alienate everybody (including Mass Republicans) by the time he was out of office. He even treated the Lt. Gov like his bitch, and offered not a sliver of support to her guvernatorial campaign, though she faithful approved every blunder he committed, and refused to speak ill of him even when he dissed her.

I guess he was always a hack hiding in sheeps clothing. I still have a hard time imagining him as a hard-line conservative (I'm hoping its an act to get the Jesus vote). But he's sticking to the super conservative party line, and that makes me VERY uncomfortable.

While I still have serious doubts ANY Republican can get elected to the Oval Office in 2008, I think he still bears watching.

The Animal Story ... Unearthed from the Bowels of History

2007-03-29T13:51:00.000-05:00

I found some old files of posts, so I thought I would republish this one... it were my one and only Animal Story. I only add it to the new site now because I don't want to lose it again.

Only out of shear guilt do I finally attempt to post that which I so strangely requested from all (3 or so) of my readers, a story of an encounter with a wild animal within city limits. SlyBootess has come up with multiple accounts, all excellent; though her personal position on animal killing by hoo-mans seems to have gone from "it's a definite no-no" to "I like stomping things to death" to "I would like to kill something". I have no ethical or moral comment on these posts, other than to say, 'Right On, Sister~~!" I have wished to kill things many times, both animal and mineral.

Our story begins in a very special landscape in the Boston area, the Brookline Hills. What makes this area so spectacular --other than the big mansions and such --- is that it did not truly exist in its current topography since the dawn of time. Well, hills were there, but they were modified. And many big rocks were added. No, this was not a deleted scene from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe". Bill Nighy was not making changes to God's punch list.

No, the interesting tid bit about this particular patch of Earth is that on it sits the home residence of it creator, Frederick Law Olmstead, the man who practically invented landscape architecture. On a small scale, landscape architecture can help make a visually-and logistically-challenged piece of property more usable, more arable, and easier on the eye. On a large scale, such as the vision of Mr Olmstead, it can be a bit presumptuous; Olmstead created the landscapes he wanted by literally building hilltops, dragging thousands of tons of stone into where he thought there should be a mini mountain, planted fauna in places they had never existed before, etc. A nightmare to the Green Peace crowd. But his stuff is pretty, and it lasts like all get out. So many new residents in Boston think this is the natural way the land looked forever. SPECIAL NOTE: Olmstead designed the man made island on Lake Michigan in Chicago that was to become the World's Fair or the Columbia Exposition. There was a great historic novel written recently about it called "The Devil in The White City"; which chronicles the development of the project by 5 incredibly egotistical White Guys who thought they owned the world, and of the story of someone who may have been America's first official serial killer.

But I digress.

SO back to the landmass that is the Brookline Hills. It is situated in what is called "The Green Necklace" of Boston, a series of interconnected parklands that reach from outside of the Boston, all the way into the Back Bay area. This allows you to pass through the most of the city entirely through park lands, rather than city streets. The Brookline Hills are particularly pastoral, in that the area is also bordered by THE Country Club of US Open fame. What this does is create loads of green space for animals to use as well.

Anyhoo, one Early fall morning (5:45AM, EST, appx.) I was driving through this select sylvan 'hood on my way to the 'Tute in Cambridge. As I rounded the curve that lead down over the man-made mountain by the aforementioned Olmstead, I noted his original residence and studio to my left, and pondered the kind of ego that could create landscapes just because he thought them up. Glancing to my right, a large mansion of quasi New England style rose on the artificial hillside. Its sweeping drive arced down the hill to a large wrought iron gate of a simple, Shaker-inspired design. The gate was open, I noted. And something seemed to have come out of it, at least as a flutter in the corner of my eye, which is why I looked at it. When my eyes returned to the road directly in front of me, I saw that which drew my attention.

A buck. A big mother buck. I think in England they would call it a Stag. And this buck was a least 8 points, or had been before he had broken on antler on some unknown obstacle, as it drooped precariously from the rest of its stem.

It was at least as tall as my shoulder, and the antlers would have cleared my head. And it was puffing steam out of its nose like a cartoon bull. And it was now stopped dead in the road in front of my (relatively) new(ish) car. And I was driving towards it.

Since I had been daydreaming a bit on this part of my commute, and since it is very hilly and leaf strewn, I was driving slower than usual. While you would think that my reaction would have been one of shock and dismay, somehow it was neither. I recall laughing, and doing some maneuver with the wheel that allowed me to drift languidly past Sir Buck. Who was plenty pissed at me for some reason.

My window was open at the time, it being a balmy early morning, and this put me at eye level with Sir Buck. I could see he was checking himself, clearly eager to slam into my side at the least provocation. Apropos of nothing, I called quietly but clearly over to him through the open window, "Dude. Chill. You're already all effed up."

As these last words left my lips, Sir Buck seemed to take in my words, and started to walk slowly alongside my car down the hill.

Lights appeared in my windshield from a car coming in the other direction, towards Sir Buck. I gently admonished him to get off the road. He declined. The other car turned out to be a Brookline Police Patrol Unit, driven by a gap-mouthed newbee officer. He turned on the blue lights and slowed to a stop, as I slowed coming nearer to him. Sir Buck stopped at this point, looked at me, then the cop, and turned gracefully up the drive to Olmstead's Estate House and its broad lawns.

Now I was parallel with the cop's window, which came down. He looked at me and said, "Wow. I've never seen one up close."

"They should put in a deer crossing sign," a voice said. Both the cop and I looked around to see an older gentlemen in a business suit standing beside a Mercedes 500 SEL at the mouth of the Shaker-simple gateway of the big manse on the right. "Once one comes through, there will be plenty more after that."

"Do you think I should put out some flares?" asked Officer Newbee.

"No," I said. "I think the morning rush is over. See ya." I nodded to Mr Richee-Rich and Officer Newbee, and puttered down the road. I still needed to get to Cambridge.

It's (Bible) Thumpin' Time!

2007-03-26T13:35:00.000-05:00

Perhaps with the unheralded return to the silver screen of TMNT, it's time to start thumping the ol' Good Book to the kinders... so's that they have some clue of what the hub-bub's all about, bub.

Time Magazine presented its for/against case article (this is independent journalism?) for public schools to provide basic religious literacy to those who ask... not religious instruction, just a frame of reference.

It didn't occur to me automatically that there may be many little Boomer and X-ers spawn who have not clue one on any religious belief, what different religions are about, and why people get all up in each other and like kill one another. Because why?

If a parenting pair have decided not to pursue any religious observation in their family's lives, it may leave a big black hole in the cultural educations of their offspring. There may be a whole generation of know-nothings-not-by-choice. Obviously this becomes fertile ground for America's Christian Imans... Dobson, et al ... to go hog wild trying to control the curriculum for those school systems who experiment with comparative religion electives in secondary schools.

But, there are many comparative religion course programs in colleges and universities, and I think their design could inform the choices of regional and local school committees. Of course, I would just suggest you go hire a Unitarian to do the job. They're famous for this kinda shite.

Here's a cultural example of why this type of curricula might be of use.

I was a big fan of the HBO series "Deadwood", which was known for it's highly creative, obscenity -laced prose. One might ask, was this just artistic liscense on the writers' part? NO! David Milch spoke here at the 'Tute recently, and he made a very interesting point. At that time in American history, most people were literate AND the two books that every little red school house used to teach readin' and writin' were the King James Bible and a Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

So, a majority of people could quote scripture, Iago or Macbeth, and cuss like stevedores. Put that all together and you got the colorful expressions in the wild streets of Deadwood, South Dakota.

Their ability to express infinitely obtuse concepts from these three meager sources proves that knowledge of the Bible does not an uptight Christian make. And, contrary-wise, a knowledge of the Koran does not a mad mullah make.

Perhaps we should all consider the value of knowing whaddafuck other people are ranting about before we cast aspersions on their wobbly bits?

Strongman Politics: Bush Becomes Huey Long

2007-03-22T12:20:00.000-05:00

Nicholas Kristof was getting pummeled by various newsgroups for his 'anti-Israel' attitude, coupled with the usual racial rhetoric that entails. As I read through his blog comments on THEIR comments on him, it struck me that supporting Israel now or not, this issue is immaterial to the basic debate on The War on Terrorism (it predates it, for one thing) AND the War Against IRAQ (I mean, of course its against the Iraqis ... they still can't tell us who the bad guys are, so they'll just have to suffer, won't they?)

Let me re-phrase the above. We are in a wrong headed war only because of one characteristic of the Bush W Administration: Political Expediency at ALL COSTS.

Has or has not this been the hallmark of the current gang o' thieves in the Big White House? They corralled us into a war in IRAQ as an extension of the War on Terrorism with outright misdirection, bells, whistles, posters and mirrors. Was it Bush losing control of war and foreign policy to the Neo-Cons? Don't forget that both Wolfe and Rumsey signed that letter to Bill Clinton forming the "New American Century" think tank.

Bill was more amenable to the covert concepts from the Neo's, mostly 'cause he wanted to put a hit on both Qaddafi AND Saddamee. But the same guys talked him out of that because the Jesus Nazi's caught him with his johnson hangin' out.

So with Bush in power, the Neo's move in with him, since they will back his Jesus Nazi act. They're practical. They can wait.

And they start putting all the Intel from NSA, CIA, etc through the feed back loop, so that they can cook up the infomercial at the UN they conned Sect of State Colin Powell into MC-ing. Wow, did they hang him out to dry or what?

THEREFORE (big drum roll, please) is it any surprise that they used the same political expediency philosophy in the dismissals of eight federal prosecutors? And isn't this something like the political style of the potential presidency envisioned by Huey Long?

Bush ain't dumb, he's a demagogue. He doesn't stumble on purpose, he makes sure his agenda is met, and makes it look like the little guy effed up. Hence Scooter Libby's ritual sepuku, and the Attorney General's soon-to-come Roman Senator Bath routine (they often were offered an 'honorable death' by cutting their wrists in a warm bath ... echoed in the movie, The Godfather II).

Thank Gawd Bush can't run again. The closest thing to him on the political horizon would be Mitt Romney, but he ain't got a snowball's chance in hell.

Was Leni the Nazi Angelena?

2007-03-22T10:23:00.000-05:00

The NYTIMES Sunday Book Review has a super-sexy
double header review of TWO new bio-books coming out simultaneously on Leni Riefenstahl. It will probably be on the web site on Sunday, but right now you can only get it on the TIMES Select page (la-dee-da me!).

One review is by a German Historian , another by a former US Movie Industry Exec.

"... Dolly back as two new biographies of Leni Riefenstahl appear virtually at once. Jürgen Trimborn’s book, well translated from the German by Edna McCown, has the better pictures. Steven Bach’s book, backed up by his deep personal experience as a high-echelon film executive handling dingbat directors, has the better text. Though neither book is precisely adulatory, put them together and they add up to an awful lot of attention. She might be dead, but she won’t lie down. "

The review also indicates that Leni was a big time star way before she was putting out Hitler's Hits. And she became politically active just as the Nazi's were gaining the Reichstag.

So, was she Der Furher's Angelina Jolie?

She was also wicked into Africa (she had a great book of stills she shot there out in the 1980's). And somehow, everybody still showed her lots of artistic respect DESPITE the fact she promoted the one of the most evil political concepts in human history.

Yeah, fascism sucks ... but what great fashion stylings!

Folks will forgive a great piece of ass anything, won't they?

Well, I'll get on the forgiveness bandwagon early and accept future mia culpas from BrAngelina if the global warming thang ain't for real.

As if.

A Great Voice Is Stilled

2007-03-21T14:17:00.000-05:00

My fabu dude, LX (see link), is calling it quits on the old Bloggosphere. The circle of those who I always exchanged posts with is getting smaller and smaller. I tend to write a lot less. I've lost my UK audience (all 6 of them), and I'm sure they think I had something to do with Iraq. I kept telling them, no, that was the OTHER guy named Dick.

I almost quit when my old site went ka-blooey. I thought, "Hey, maybe I should just fake my death or something, and stop writing all this drivel that no one is reading anyway." But my son started up a sight, and I saw others who had encouraged me encouraging him as well. And then I sort of had to think about how much I really wanted to read about der kinder having the wild life at University.

And my reading of sites has slacked quite a bit as well. I find myself reading classics text on the web --- right now working my way through Caesar's Gallic Wars Commentaries, and a little Plutarch on Marc Antony the Fuckest-Uppest --- and waiting in van for my invitation to the US Premiere of Hott Fuzz (Nick, you bitch).

And the last two days I spent screwing around with bad editing software trying to post the poems of somebody else, which I thought might be interesting to my son, so I shared with others. That stuff will have to come down, I expect a publisher trying to sue me any minute.

And yet. And yet. I still can't say I'll quit doing this. I find it cheaper than talk therapy at $75.00 an hour, and much more fun.

So maybe I'll stick with it. Only this time, BACK UP!

Major Jackson Part Une & Deux

2007-03-20T15:30:00.000-05:00

All right, since there are only 3 people in the world reading this blog now,
I think it's OK for me to post these links to my youtube stuff, and a recording I
did recently of Major Jackson, a poet from Philly who an Associate Professor of English at University of Vermont and a faculty member of the Bennington Writing Seminars.

It also says on his site that "Currently, he is a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University." He swears to me he isn't just there to chase the betties.

I had to break up the recording into 3 parts to fit into streams on YouTubey, and PLEASE forgive the cheesey images. I'm having a competiton with friends on who can make the shittiest video with Window MoveMaker and still get it function on the web.

I win! The following are just parts one and two. Part three to follow. I put some images up of the book, and he already has his own copy of the recording I burned on site, so I don't think he'd be too pissed. The sound is a little rapsy, mostly because I recorded without filters (duh), so next time I'll do better, and if you don't like it, piss off!

Part I

Part II

Fascisti Films Presents ...

2007-03-20T13:40:00.000-05:00

Perhaps Italy feels left out in the cold, what with the success of British, Bollywood, Chinese and even Spanish films starting to do well in world markets and the US... and they have apparently decided that with the beginnings of interest because of the HBO "Rome" series (which 'finales' this weekend), they might stir up the historical pasta pot and come up with some new controversial subjects.

SO where will they mining data? Mussolini's Fascist period, of course!

First story to get the nod according to Variety is the long untold story of Benito's namesake and illegitimate kid ---

"Last week, Marco Bellocchio confirmed he is prepping a feature that will tackle the long-suppressed tale of Mussolini's illegitimate son, also named Benito, who died at age 27 in a mental institution where he had been relegated by fascist militiamen eager to erase proof of his existence. Though known to historians, this is a skeleton that had been buried inside the country's collective closet.

"It's an Italian tragedy; a largely unknown story, which I think will cause lots of discussion," says Bellocchio.

Yawn.

What else ya got?

Meanwhile, Marco Tullio Giordana, best known Stateside for his absorbing 1968-generation epic "Best of Youth" next month will start shooting "Crazy Blood," a biopic about fascist-era thesping couple Osvaldo Valenti and Luisa Ferida, both shot dead in 1945, just as WWII ended, by partisans angered over their fascist connections. Monica Bellucci will play the Mussolini-era diva, star of Alessandro Blasetti's 1940 hit epic "The Iron Crown."

Well, that's a little bit better. Monica B is such a hottie. She could get me excited reading the phone book. The SALT LAKE CITY phonebook.

Oh and this is a BAD picture of Monica. The others were so hot I wouldn't use them.

Boomtown: The New Deadwood

2007-03-19T10:38:00.000-05:00

Today I read a review of the latest book by Christopher Buckley, "Boomsday"; which comically details a day in the not-too-distant future when outraged X-ers will wage a PR campaign for the Baby Boomers to commit collective suicide, so that the X-ers won't need to pay for their continued non-productive existence.

This did sound pretty funny to me, until I realized that it will open the floodgates of the cultural zeitgeist, and create and actual movement of the same sort by well-intentioned, idealistic pin heads such as those who organize demonstrations against 'globalization', or who burn down new housing developments because they 'interfere with nature'.

And yes, I AM saying this because I am on the back end of the Boomer Boom, and will probably be one of those guys who still works even though they should retire. Just so as not to be a burden.

But you KNOW this thing is coming, right? And since most blogger folks are not Boomers, I can expect that this will be a rallying cry in the future.

Well, be forewarned. Boomers are notoriously grumpy fuckers. IF you try and take them out, they may take a few of you with them.

I'm just saying.

Tarentino & Rodriguez' Blood Bath ... Yippee!

2007-03-15T10:48:00.000-05:00

From the NYP article :

March 15, 2007 -- THE people who dole out ratings at the Motion Picture Assn. of America just might flip out when they see "Grindhouse," Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's tribute to the ultraviolent, nudity-drenched pictures that once screened 'round the clock in the grungy movie palaces of 42nd Street. ....

... "Grindhouse" is actually two short movies - one directed by Tarantino, the other by Rodriguez - with an intermission between them. During the break, a series of fake trailers will be shown for such fictitious titles as "Werewolf Women of the SS," directed by Rob Zombie.

"In one scene, a cute, topless girl is roughly tied down on a table by evil female Nazi experimenters who begin draining her blood and, as she screams in agony, they brand her like livestock with a coal-hot steel swastika," our source said. "And every girl in the Nazi concentration camp is topless."

I seem to recall that there actually was a movie with this story line released back in the 1980's which I believe was titled, "Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS". Quasi-porn horror, British release, I think.

HA! Found it!

Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS (1974)

Night of the Living ROMNEY ..... OOOOOOooooo - Scary!

2007-03-15T10:08:00.000-05:00

Just one more reason NOT to vote for Mitt Romney when election time rolls around in 2008.

HE LIKES TO KEEP DEAD BODIES LYING AROUND ---- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

What do I mean by this? It seems that there is a distinct problem in Massachusetts in the Medical Examiner's Office (see Bahston Globule story).

There is a massive backup in autopsies here in the MASS GRAVE (boo!), with not only corpses stacking up (in a refrigerated truck out back, no less) but offal from the actual autopsies is causing plumbing back ups, sometimes leaving pathologists and their Igors standing in 2+ inches of gore while operating! YUCH! EEEEUUUWWW!

How did this outrageous state of affairs occur? Maybe it's because the MITTSTER closed ALL 4 OTHER MEDICAL EXAMINER OFFICES THROUGHOUT THE STATE. Which leaves one team of 12 pathologists and a small number of techs to do the work of what had been done by nearly 40 pathologists, etc. AND doing TWICE THE NUMBER OF AUTOPSIES SINCE THE CLOSING.

Night of the Living Romney. Maybe he thinks there's a rapture coming, and all this stinky stuff will go away.

John Dunleavy is a Donkey ... But Not in a Nice Way

2007-03-14T07:35:00.000-05:00

This bit of St. Patty's Day madness is brought to you by New York Post and the Letter D for Dunleavy ... or Douche Bag (well, that adds a B).

Apparently, Mr Dunleavy is the organizer of the St. Patty's Day Parade in NYC. Traditionally, the NY Fire Department leads the event. Last year, they held up the start of the parade so that New Orleans firefighters could join them with a big banner thanking the people of NYC for their support of Katrina relief effort.

SO ... Dunleavy decides the NYFD should be punished for their insolence of slowing the start by 35 minutes, and should be demoted to the back of the bus.

He'll show 'em.

Nicki Tsongas Takes Over

2007-03-14T07:10:00.000-05:00

The woman who helped run the Bradley campaign in Massachusetts, and widow of the late Senator Paul Tsongas (D), will be the one most likely to take over the newly emptied congressional chair of Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Lowell, MA), who will become the new Chancellor of University of Massachusetts - Lowell.

Nicki seems to be ready for a quick couple of rounds against whatever fop Mass Republicans come up with, and should take the seat pretty easily.

The balance in the house will remain unchanged.

This Just In ... Ian Paisley Must Die

2007-03-13T11:02:00.000-05:00

An op-ed piece from the Bahston Globule today on the "agreement" that's been doing lack luster service in Northern Ireland. They trot something out like this every Saint Patty's day. But, considering we do have an actual Irish population (born there, came here, joined the band and bought the tee shirt), I suppose it was worth publishing.

Abe Lincoln was a Negro!

2007-03-13T10:22:00.000-05:00

OK, I did some more weirdo Internet searching, and while looking over the sites I mentioned below, I spotted an entire category of ethnological research (legit, supposedly) 'lost peoples' or small but very singular ethnic groups in the Western Hemisphere. Some are culturally aligned, like "Os Confederos"--- a group of American Southerners who expatriated to Brazil after losing the Civil War.

Still others are surprising amalgamations of distant cultures, like “Melungeons" who though originally were considered the earliest settlers in Appalachia and from a mix of Scot, Portuguese, Native American and African ancestry, are now possible considered descendants of Turkish servants liberated from Spanish and Portuguese masters by Sir Francis Drake. Drake unloaded these guys in the Carolinas, and they supposedly pushed inland to intermix with Native American Tribes.

Of those people, some famous Americans that may be descendant from them are:

Abraham Lincoln, Elvis Presley and Ava Gardner, to name a few.

Traveller Addendum

2007-03-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

This here fella's blog is a current repository of traveller info. Don't know how accurate he is, but it is interesting reading: Patrick Mead.

Thisi guy is kind of interesting. HE also writes for another site, Sacred Ink. What's up with it, I don't know, but wow! "A Tattoo ministry for people who don’t quite “fit in” with other church folks."

This book is about various scamming travellers in the US.

Hello America ... Fancy a Shag?

2007-03-13T07:32:00.000-05:00

It seems that kudos can be delivered to Eddy Izzard, transvestite préféré de l'action de ma famille; as well as the magnificant Minnie Driver (always underated) in the new FX series "The Riches". It's premier last night was more than I expected it to be, and somewhat less of a polished American TV Comedy that the FX network droogies bally-hooed.

Which is a good thing.

You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?

Basically, it was appropriately rough in its first outing, taking pains to make the misery of a travellers life quite clear, while allowing us to still admire our wayward gang's determination to remain outside the mainstream of the "Buffers".

I believe that this is the "Americanized" version of the original show broadcast in the UK, which must have focused on British "travellers" (not Tinkers?"). What is very interesting about this new 'translation' is that the subject matter doesn't need re translation. Anywhere you go in the urban sectors of America, people at least understand the concept (if not slur) 'gypsy'. And out in the hinterlands of America, most rural folks have met (or know someone who has been fleeced) by 'a traveller'.

Here's the only site I found so far that reflects the American "travellers" lifestyle. And if I may bore you sillier still, there is an excellent academic site for referencing American Travellers: http://www.gypsyloresociety.org/interact.html. There seem to be at least 10 different ethnic tribes of travellers in the USA, and most of them came here around 1880.

If you have ever met or known any of the folks, and still have most of your possessions and livestock, then you are particularly blessed. My first occasion to know a Romani family was in the early 1960's, when a big family moved in next door to my Grandmother's house.

Since my family never spoke ill of them, and I was just a wee tyke myself, I was pleased to meet new kids to play with, especially a family of kids who all had pierced ears and earrings. The filial relationships were quite complex. For instance, the little girl about my age was the Auntie to 3 grown men. AND she ordered them around. It wasn't any charming game they played; it was deadly serious. She yelled, they jumped. Several times she ordered them to take us to the corner store and buy us ice cream. They were very kind to me, but I had the feeling something was up with these folks. After one of the ice cream excursions, my Grandmother pulled me into the house and told me I "... shouldn't accept gifts from them. It means you owe them something."

Something in her manner told me that, as one of the members of our family that still had two languages, she might know a thing or two about these folks. I was more cautious after that, but cleverly remained friendly. Anyway, they seemed to have no shortage of money; they put in a great big pool that summer, and everybody knows you throw caution aside for a free swim!

Back to the subject, I think I will enjoy Eddie's new project. I think it might even catch a nerve in the American Psyche. Soon there will be all sort's of traveller's slang used at the water coolers of America! Just in time, too; since they plan to kill off all the Sopranos this year.

Constipedia

2007-03-08T13:11:00.000-05:00

Tom! PUT THAT THING AWAY! You'll poke somebody's eye out!

2007-03-08T11:31:00.000-05:00

From the Bahston Globule: "March 8, 2007 -
A Brazilian website reported yesterday that Tom Brady's girlfriend Gisele Bundchen may be pregnant and, if so, the Pats QB is the father. According to the popular celebrity website Glamurama.com.br, Bundchen would be no more than two months pregnant, but may already have told select friends and family.

Tom should be more careful where he points his thing --- ur THAT thing. He's inpregnating women by being within swingin's distance.

Maybe he's crossing over to Pro Baseball?

SaaaaWINGGG BATA-BATA-BATA ....

SaaaaWINg IT.

Wonder what his stance is?

.500 at bats.

The Stats are fantastic so far.

Dweeb-Boyz/Dweeb-Boyz/Whatchagonnado-when-dey-come-for-you...

2007-03-07T18:00:00.000-05:00

Sean Stevens, 28, and Peter Berdovsky, 27, were subdued today in Charlestown District Court. (Photo Courtesy Boston Globule)

The Bad Boyz of Guerrilla marketing were a much calmer pair in court today than during their last fabu appearance in front of a Townie Judge. Their case is in the discussion stage between Bahston prosecutors and New Yawk Mahketing Attuhrneys.

Interestingly, this was NOT the only bizarro world marketing plan to effect Beantown (the City, not the Bwana). Here's a l'il somethin' more from the Bahston Globule article today:

Less than a month after the Cartoon Network incident, the makers of Dr Pepper ran a nationwide hidden-coin hunt and placed one of the prizes in the historic Granary Burying Ground, which holds the remains of Samuel Adams and John Hancock, among others.

Outraged city officials worried that eager coin hunters would damage the site, and Dr Pepper canceled the contest in Boston. The soft drink maker apologized and donated $10,000 to the operators of the graveyard for their "time and trouble."

Fair is Fair

2007-03-07T11:07:00.000-05:00

Too often we clip little creative items from sites like google and others, simply to reinforce visually our own post-opinions. I have done so innumerable times, at thhe expense of others. Today, I want to give a credit to a pic I stole of sowmbody else's site, which they must have worked on feverishly for many hours (or at least went to the trouble of stealing it first).

So the pic I used on "Laissez-Faire Spirituality" really came from "The Washington Pox".

I'll try to remember to do this in the future...for at least a week. Then it's back to being sticky fingered me!

Laissez-Faire Spirituality

2007-03-07T10:26:00.000-05:00

Anon, another NYTIMES Mag piece about Science and Religion, an analysis of the continual dance of ALL or NOTHING AT ALL thinking, or MY BRAIN IS BIGGER THAN YOURS. Not the author of the NYTimes piece; who did a good job of dancing over the ice flows of a treacherous river of BELIEF/DISBELIEF.

The article examines the latest brou-ha-ha between the guys like Dawkins ('I'll hold my breath and turn blue unless you give up believing in gOD!') and the super crazy not-so-intelligent design gang ('I'll hold your neck tightly until you turn blue unless you give up rational thought!').

What the author ends up focusing on is the quieter debate of whether religious belief is a byproduct or an adaption within the human brain's evolution; in other words, was religious belief a necessity to human adaption for survival and reproduction success?

Read the article. I'm just butchering this thang.

What I WOULD like to come away from this post is to ask the worlds of Academia, Religion and Geo-Politics to return to a sainer point in this tit-for-tat battle of 'Who Came First, God or the Idea of God?"

It used to be an unwritten Code of Ethics: Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, render unto Me (yes I am God) what is mine. Or better yet, a quote from the NYTIMES article:

"... Science, as the old trope had it, was assigned the territory that describes how the heavens go; religion, how to go to heaven.".

Or maybe Gene Shepard's old saw:

"In God We Trust,

All Others Pay Cash".

Bessie Der Clonen

2007-03-06T10:56:00.001-05:00

FebSHots 028, originally uploaded by beantownbwana.

Yes, Mz Boots, HE/SHE be edumacated!

Bessie The Hack Cow

2007-03-05T11:48:00.001-05:00

FebSHots 036, originally uploaded by beantownbwana.

Bessie the Hack Cow overlooks the sushi bar, thanking her cow-gods that people loves them raw fish thangs.

Rory the Coyote Hack

2007-02-28T12:20:00.003-05:00

Rory2, originally uploaded by beantownbwana.

This looks like a coyote. But it is not. ITs' a HACK.

A 'HACK', according to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary is "...(6) a usually creative solution to a computer hardware or programming problem or limitation" .

Here at the 'Tute, HACKS are a time honored tradition, Rory answers the call for two purposes: first, to scare off the Canadian Geese that have been shitting all over the outdoor track, and second, to scare the shite out of newbies to think an actual coyote is staring at them, and so focused on them he's ready to pounce.

Slick Dancing Mitt's PPS

2007-02-27T13:20:00.000-05:00

(Photo Courtesy of Buddy Stone)

It would appear that no one's campaign is safe from the sticky-tipped finger of fate anymore. Seems Mitt Romney is now the victim of the same tactics applied to former NYC Mayor Rudy Guliani. According to a leaked document quoted in the Boston Globe - --no love lost there, Mittster! --- the campaign apparatchiks are concerned that " ... His hair looks too perfect, he's not a tough war time leader, and he has earned a reputation as "Slick Dancing Mitt" or "Flip-Flop Mitt."

All that tied in a bow within a 77-slide PowerPoint presentation. The Globe even provided a graphic supposedly from the original (though they did not hesitate to use the branding opportunity for themselves).

I guess you could ask yourself, is this really journalism, or just folks trying to act smarmy at the expense of another's (choose one) fuck-up/duh-moment/larceny? Yes, it is news. And yes, it's fun to read how they are trying to make him ultra conservative AND personable all at the same trough. Which further leads me to believe he is NOT the ultra-conservative he is painting himself these days.

Faust, anyone?

But I really enjoyed the "Things He Can Run Against" bullet list, topped by FRANCE. Will Mitt declare war against the Great Contrarian Nation? What fun! Almost as funny as that BBC mini series The State Within. Bring back the documentaries on Cambrian Cheese!

Euro Thanksgiving

2007-02-27T12:09:00.001-05:00

P1010207, originally uploaded by beantownbwana.

How former au paires part-tay on T-Day.

Too Big for Me Britches

2007-02-27T11:32:00.000-05:00

Once again, I prove I am too big for mine own pantaloons. That post yesterday was way too long, and could only be loved by Jude the Obscure.

Berskhires Bongo Bucks - Anti-Globilization, Hooo!

2007-02-26T14:22:00.000-05:00

The Berkshires are a lovely part of rural Massachusetts, found in the Northwest corner of the Commonwealth (we ain't no state). It contains some of the prettiest landscapes scenes in New England. And some of the fruitiest people.

If there is a 'People's Republic of Massachusetts', it's here. Like the crazy lemmings of yesteryear who flocked west to California for the Summer of Love, anti-globilization obsessionists often migrate to the western part of 'Mass.' so they can commune with other 'Mass.holes'. I suppose it makes folks from the North Shore, Greater Boston and South Shore communities much happier, though it may be a burden for those living on the Eastern New York State border.

Anyway, I'm sure some of you may have already read this little story on the NYTIMES web site:
This Land: Would You Like That in Tens, Twenties or Normans?

If the link won't work (it's from the TimeSelect Page), here is the article below.

February 25, 2007

This Land
Would You Like That in Tens, Twenties or Normans?
By DAN BARRY
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.

The scene could have been lifted from a caper movie:

An old Volvo station wagon zooms through the southern Berkshire Hills. Its nervous driver pulls up in front of a bank. But instead of pulling off some heist, her gang begins hustling boxes of freshly minted currency in, not out.

Once inside, they pause to admire the wads of tens, twenties and fifties. No $100 bills, though; no Benjamins. But there are some Hermans, and even a few Normans.

So began this area’s great socioeconomic experiment, one in which several dozen businesses agreed to include an alternative currency in their daily transactions and give a discount to those who used it.

Now people can pay for groceries, an oil change, even dental work with currency bearing the likenesses of local heroes like Herman Melville and Norman Rockwell.

Be forewarned, though: these bills do not travel well. Try paying a tab in Boston with a Norman and you could wind up in the Charles.

The central purpose behind BerkShares is to strengthen the local economy, perhaps even inoculate it against the whims of globalization, by encouraging people to support local businesses. Amazon does not accept BerkShares, for example, but the Bookloft on Route 7 does.

Five months into the experiment, some people embrace it, some endure it, some ignore it altogether. At the very least, BerkShares have reminded everyone just how complex this thing called community is.

The Volvo’s driver that day was Susan Witt, white-haired and 60, and her bank delivery had been a long time in coming. As the director of the E. F. Schumacher Society, which promotes concepts like regionally based economies, Ms. Witt had spent a dozen years refining the idea of a currency specific to Berkshire County.

She raised the money, gathered a band of like-minded people and secured the support of banks and the Chamber of Commerce for a one-year trial. By late September, a Massachusetts company that specializes in banknotes had printed the bills, complete with serial numbers and anti-counterfeiting features.

Then there they were, 835,000 BerkShares stacked on a bank table.

In addition to Melville on the twenties and Rockwell on the fifties, there was a Mohican on the ones; Robyn Van En, champion of community-supported agriculture projects, on the fives; and W. E. B. DuBois, a founder of the civil rights movement, on the tens.

“I cried,” Ms. Witt recalls.

Now people are walking into banks and exchanging federal currency for a different kind: 11 BerkShares for $10. The idea is that merchants will absorb the 10 percent discount, then use those same BerkShares to pay their own bills.

Theoretically, you would pay Roger the Jester with BerkShares for performing at your child’s birthday party, the jester would use the bills to buy food at Guido’s Fresh Marketplace, Guido’s would pay its vendors, and so on.

Steve Carlotta down at the Snap Shot camera store says BerkShares have strengthened customer loyalty. And Melissa Joyce, manager of the Berkshire Bank branch on Main Street, says they have led to something almost forgotten in this electronic age: lines of bank customers, all waiting to trade Benjamins for Normans.

“Our whole goal is the face-to-face transaction,” Ms. Witt says.
But the Great Barrington area, while simply beautiful to look at — cuddled in the Berkshire Hills, beside the Housatonic River — is a complicated place, with artists and affluent weekenders living beside farmers and blue-collar workers. And BerkShares have come to highlight the tug of war between the ideal and the real.

For example, the Berkshire Co-op Market took in an astounding 160,000 BerkShares in the first three months. But it soon found that many vendors would not accept the currency for large payments, which translated into a $16,000 hit in discounts. The co-op has since cut back on its participation.

Guido’s has become BerkShares central. But Rick O’Neill, the store’s customer service manager, says it absorbs the 10 percent discount by cutting back on advertising, which, in turn, hurts local publications.

That is why John Conlin, the owner of an entertainment-system store called Tune Street, deposits his BerkShares rather than spend them in other stores. Guilt, he says. “I don’t want to impose that 10 percent on another business owner.”

Then there is the unsettling side of BerkShares that goes beyond the suspicion that their popularity is driven more by the discounts than by any sense of community. Simply put: If you’re not with us, you’re dead to us.

Paul Masiero, the owner of Baba Louie’s, a restaurant on Main Street, whose family also owns Guido’s, says he did not immediately join the BerkShares program because of the extra bookkeeping. Then he heard that some were saying baba-phooey to Baba Louie’s.
“We felt they were bad-mouthing us around town,” Mr. Masiero says, half-smiling. “So, eventually, we signed up. And we’ve had a warm, fuzzy feeling ever since.”

He adds that his employees were already nudging him to embrace BerkShares because the principle is sound. So now he accepts them on his two slowest days, deposits them and takes the 10 percent hit.

Ms. Witt makes no apologies for avoiding places that do not support the program. “It’s an economic choice,” she says.

Sipping tea in the Neighborhood Diner, which accepts BerkShares, she talks of hoping to open a BerkShares ATM and smiles to show the handiwork of a dentist being paid in BerkShares installments.

The total job will cost about $1,000, she says.

That’s a lot of Hermans.

Now, perhaps you might wonder just how these people could spin their wheels so extravagently on activities like these, try and ensure that local businesses will LOSE at least 10% of their gross profits (and profits are pretty lean out there to begin with), and continue to exist without needing to follow the mundane existence of the rest of us; i.e., WORK.

It is the amazing ability of an entire region to subsist strictly from tourism, meager farming, and an eternal and unstoppable tidal wave of grant writing (federal and local). Beyond local academic institutions --- a high number for such a sparcely populated region --- the only other occupations are high end carpentry, plumbing and electrical servitude to the very wealthy. Or working for the Mass. Turnpike.

I have no major objections to those who seek an 'alternative' lifestyle. I am a bit odd myself. But does this not smack of the penultimate navel-gazing of aged hippiedom? How cracked does one have to be before the family breaks out the Elmer's Glue?

I suppose this is some sad reflection of the Tax Revolt here in Massachusetts called Shay's Rebellion just after the Revolution. We should all remember that the American Revolution was conceived and organized by thorough capitalists. And that they expected everybody to pay the debts created by this new liberty ASAP. Which drove New England into a financial depression, which caused a back lash by farmers who were being taxed out of existence.

Ultimately, all I can say is that I certainly wouldn't choose to live in such a whacka-whacka community. I just feel sorry for the kids who are stuck there with the old hippie parents. And I hope you all understand I am not anti-progressive politically. I just wish these old fuck heads would lay down and stop sucking up our resources for pointless exercises in futility.

I suppose you can all now understand just how Republicans can be cultivated in a Blue State like Massachusetts. Mostly out of sheer bile.

Brit Kit Kat Killer?

2007-02-19T18:55:00.000-05:00

UK Police interviewed a suspicious tabby cat in Cherry Hinton, near Cambridge. Naughty Mr Nibbs has been suspected of providing comfort and support to his 'master', Miles Cooper, 26; who was arrested at 3am yesterday by detectives investigating seven explosive devices sent in Jiffy-Pak type envelopes to companies linked to motoring enforcement and the “surveillance society”.

"Crickey!", bemeowaned Mr. Nibbs, "I had nuffink to do widit. Tha' booger's been muckin' about wid all dem envelopes and such like for weeks, and by Gawd I wouldn't lick a single sticker for him. Now, where's me bloody cream, Misses?"

Five Card Studly Wampanoags

2007-02-16T11:16:00.000-05:00

Hot dog! The Federalis have granted official 'recognition' to the Wampanoag tribe here in Massachusetts. If you read your newcomer's manual closely upon arrival on these golden shores of America, you might remember they were the welcome wagon for the British Pilgrims that came in 1620.

They populate Cape Cod, with a large settlement in Mashpee, MA; and all the Islands of Massachusetts (Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and the Elizabeth Islands). They were also sea-going Native Americans, who probably met the Vikings when they showed up here in Newport. I do realize there is some debate on this subject, but there are two 'runestones' located in this area that I have seen with friendly Danes, and they agree it looks like Viking runes to them, though they did mention it looked like the Vikings were pretty hammered at the time. So were they, come to think of it!

BTW, the thing that really is great about this Wampanoags recognition is that they then get to fleece white people with games of chance. And this will go double for my buddy Tracy, a member of the Nation, and one hell of a card player.

We used to joke about it years ago; how he would open up a 5-Card Stud table in a cheezy fake tee-pee in his front yard (Wampanoags built their own version of the Wigwam, which they called a wetu.). Most of the time, we enjoyed torturing my old business partner, who could never figure out if Tracy was black or ... what? Tracy would never confirm or deny any potential racial background with him. Once, he even told him he was related to Ghandi.

It would seem that our newly minted Governor Deval Patrick has a commission 'studying' whether the Wampanoags should get a casino or not. I'm not exactly sure he has any say in that, since they have relatively extensive tribal lands on Martha's Vineyard (Gayhead). I think they could go ahead an build it, then set up a defensive perimeter, since the tribal lands are surrounded by water on three sides, and you have to go through a narrow pass, uphill, to get to them. Time to play a little "Yankees and Indians", right Tracy?

Best Ghost Story I Ever Read

2007-02-14T11:39:00.001-05:00

OK, so I'm a sucker. I went ahead and bought the TimesSelect service for the year from the NYTIMES.com; after all, how else are they gonna make any doe-ray-me without actually printing a newspaper?

So, to start enjoying my fair young pretty (bwoo-hoo-hoo-ha-haaa), I clicked immediately to a title and writer that piqued my interest: Ghost Stories from Dick Cavett. DO I need to relate whom in particular Mr. Cavitt is or was within the American Zeitgeist? I'll do what he refuses to: offer a link so you'll have some context before reading the whole post.

Did you read that? Get it? Good. Onward and upward.

Since I paid for this shite, I feel no compunction ---

(Ed. Note: Just like Havelock Ellis 'showed no compunction in planning devilish engines of...destruction' -- Havelock Ellis, you rock!)

--- in sharing a quote from his "Ghost Stories" that I think may be the best ghost anecdote I have ever read.

"Many years ago, Groucho Marx (Must I identify him for the young among us?
I refuse. Look him up.) and his brothers (the real Fab Four) were playing a
vaudeville house in Chicago. Groucho could always go unrecognized in public,
thanks to the painted-on mustache he wore onstage. This allowed him to, as he
put it 'go anywhere and mingle with the common man in all his dreariness.'
Back then, there was a prominent trance medium holding forth, and her devoted
disciples (sometimes spelled s-u-c-k-e-r-s) solemnly offered to take the man
born Julius Marx with them to a séance. Always intellectually curious, Groucho
was glad to be asked along — though he told me he was 'vaguely insulted' when
his new friends solemnly cautioned him to show the proper reverence. 'I’m not a
clown 24 hours,' he said. 'I can also be serious.'

The séance was held in the darkened parlor of some wealthy believer’s
apartment. Groucho reported a heavy air of sanctity about the place, “and not
entirely from the incense.” Lights were low and the faithful conversed in hushed
tones. The medium began to chant unintelligibly, and then to emit a strange
humming sound (I can’t help seeing her as Margaret Dumont), eventually achieving her trance state. 'I am in
touch, I am in touch with the Other Side,' he intoned. 'Does anyone have a
question?'

Groucho arose and asked, 'What is the capital of North Dakota?'

He recalled being chased for several blocks, but escaped injury."

NICK FROST GETS ME HOT ... FUZZ

2007-02-13T19:14:00.000-05:00

Dearest Readers (all 3 of you);

I must reveal my deepest, darkest secret. I am hot for NICK FROST. His quivery bod is just ... well, disgusting, or used to be. Think he's much more fit nowadays.

Here's the body of an email I got from HIMSELF (well, me and a few hundred other dweebs) to promo the new pic that will release in North America ... sometime.

Members of The Fuzz -

Enter to win a chance to be one of the first in the US to see Hot Fuzz! One lucky fan and a friend will attend a special advance US screening of "Hot Fuzz" as the VIP guests of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

Enter now and get ready to meet the squad and sneak a peak at the action-packed ride that is Hot Fuzz!

-Fuzz Leader

I quiver in anticipation.

No, really I don't. I'm just making attempt at being sardoninc, or sartorial, or whatever.

Gay.

Is This Rude?

2007-02-13T18:01:00.000-05:00

Tell me if you think this banner from a Variety Europe email blast is slightly ... questionable.

Any issues come to mind? No?

WTF?

2007-02-13T15:22:00.000-05:00

For those of you who are sympathetic, there is something you can get me.

This:

It is supposedly the PERFECT glass from which to drink Sam Adams Beer.

Blogger sent me some weird email response to my request for help. I guess the true test would be to see if I can set up another page called Beantown Bwana. If Blogger doesn't allow the use of the name, then I would surmise they still have all my shit someplace. Bastids.

(Editor's Note: I was unable to use my original post URL, as it is 'already in use'. WTF? WHERE?... but that leads me to believe that the stuff exists SOMEPLACE)

Back from the Dead???

2007-02-13T15:15:00.000-05:00

I be thinking I bring back da old site, mun. Find dem ol posts and stick them onto dis one, like.

Maybe more better I not do so, but afeared I lose to many friends in the strange new land I be inhabiting.

Wot to do?