I'm oddly nonplussed about my birthday tomorrow. Maybe going to dinner with Rachel in Hopewell. That would be enough, but may hook up with Philly cousins Sunday.
"Hooking Up" is the title of a book of essays by Tom Wolfe. The first time I heard it was at Boston College with friends. I couldn't figure out what it meant. Sex? Making Out? Just meeting someone? I thought the term was stupid in its inexactitude, but now it's become part of the common lexicon.
The one thing that's hard to believe is that guys now text girls messages like "want to come over and hang out?" at 3 am on a Saturday night. What do girls think they mean; come over and watch old movies and eat popcorn? It's all part of the routinization and dullification of sex, the lucky little bastards.
No deep thoughts tonight. I'm working on a writing project I'll describe if it pans out. Otherwise, just thought I'd note that I'm not dead yet.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Ghetto Paradise
Single-family detached stucco bungalows, usually one story high. A patch of grass in front. Palm trees in the background. This is the South Central LA ghetto pictured in John Singleton's "Boyz in the 'Hood" (1991).
What confuses both the film's viewers and foreigners who actually visit the area especially is that it doesn't look so bad at all. It's only the behavior of some of the "boyz" and the easy availability of even automatic weapons that is bad.
Mike Davis, LA's expert on LA, writes about when he took a Middle Easterner around South Central. The man admires it; "all villas (detached houses), no apartments."
But then there were the sickening images of the 1992 riots, especially the trucker being pulled out of his vehicle and having his face and head smashed in with a fire extinguisher by a rioter who did a little victory dance around him, seemingly for the benefit of the news helicopters.
A friend whose work was transferring there from DC was more than a little alarmed about the prospect. I told him the hard racial truth about LA: stay on the Westside, where his office and all the LA glam is, and you won't even know South Central exists. He came back and told me he saw about two black people the entire time.
But even the boyz had access to cars. In the shadow of Malibu and Beverly Hills, I guess it's all about relative deprivation.
Best reply to rapper idiocy goes to Lux. Back in the day, I was singing "Ice Cube/will swarm/on any motherfucker in a blue uniform."
To which Lux replied, "does that include the mailman?"
What confuses both the film's viewers and foreigners who actually visit the area especially is that it doesn't look so bad at all. It's only the behavior of some of the "boyz" and the easy availability of even automatic weapons that is bad.
Mike Davis, LA's expert on LA, writes about when he took a Middle Easterner around South Central. The man admires it; "all villas (detached houses), no apartments."
But then there were the sickening images of the 1992 riots, especially the trucker being pulled out of his vehicle and having his face and head smashed in with a fire extinguisher by a rioter who did a little victory dance around him, seemingly for the benefit of the news helicopters.
A friend whose work was transferring there from DC was more than a little alarmed about the prospect. I told him the hard racial truth about LA: stay on the Westside, where his office and all the LA glam is, and you won't even know South Central exists. He came back and told me he saw about two black people the entire time.
But even the boyz had access to cars. In the shadow of Malibu and Beverly Hills, I guess it's all about relative deprivation.
Best reply to rapper idiocy goes to Lux. Back in the day, I was singing "Ice Cube/will swarm/on any motherfucker in a blue uniform."
To which Lux replied, "does that include the mailman?"
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Heavy Metal-Leg
It's a compound fracture in two places on my right leg. As of yesterday my ankle-area there has been filled with some kind of metal and screws. Six to eight weeks to recover, and it's my driving leg.
Shit. Ice. There goes plan 259-b for getting out of this place. I was ready to work as a busboy in restaurants in New Orleans whose owners my family knows. The one job requirement, however, is being able to move.
The funny thing, of course, is that I like ice. I see it and think of the Clash's "Straight to Hell." It's about the Amerasian kids born in Vietnam after our presence there. They think of the north and it's "clear as winter ice, this is your paradise." There is apparently a group now called "Clear As Winter Ice." Google it.
Last year was so snowless I went all the way to Stowe, Vt., to cross country ski through the mountain woods of the Van Trappe (of Sound of Music) family's lodge and land.
I still highly recommend Stowe. No commercial chains are allowed, so there are great local places. I wonder if I can ski one-legged.
Shit. Ice. There goes plan 259-b for getting out of this place. I was ready to work as a busboy in restaurants in New Orleans whose owners my family knows. The one job requirement, however, is being able to move.
The funny thing, of course, is that I like ice. I see it and think of the Clash's "Straight to Hell." It's about the Amerasian kids born in Vietnam after our presence there. They think of the north and it's "clear as winter ice, this is your paradise." There is apparently a group now called "Clear As Winter Ice." Google it.
Last year was so snowless I went all the way to Stowe, Vt., to cross country ski through the mountain woods of the Van Trappe (of Sound of Music) family's lodge and land.
I still highly recommend Stowe. No commercial chains are allowed, so there are great local places. I wonder if I can ski one-legged.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Ow! Foiled again with a broken ankle
Broke my ankle in two places last night after shoveling my father's front sidewalk. After I was done, I took the driveway to the back, since the snow was packed. Unfortunately, it was also hiding a sheet of ice beneath it. My right foot twisted around and I was down.
I'm writing now with my leg in a wrapped up temporary splint from the hospital until I can see an orthopedic guy tomorrow.
This kind of puts the Kibosh on my escape plans, either to New Orleans or LA. New Orleans regulations require that, to get a tour guide license, you must have lived in the metro area for a least six months. LA seems to be the only city where they may be hiring, plus the rent is relatively cheap if you live away from either the Westside (W. Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Brentwood, the UCLA area etc.) or the beach, or hip areas like Silverlake).
Plus, it would be kind of funny to live in the San Fernando Valley, since so many movies and TV shows are filmed there. Its also known as "Porn Valley," since almost all domestic pornography is produced there. I'm too fat to be lured into gay porn, and too small where it counts to replace Ron Jeremy.
In fact, I don't think I'd be allowed in Southern California at all at my weight. They stop you mid-flight and demand that you parachute down into the Midwest where your kind belong.
I'm writing now with my leg in a wrapped up temporary splint from the hospital until I can see an orthopedic guy tomorrow.
This kind of puts the Kibosh on my escape plans, either to New Orleans or LA. New Orleans regulations require that, to get a tour guide license, you must have lived in the metro area for a least six months. LA seems to be the only city where they may be hiring, plus the rent is relatively cheap if you live away from either the Westside (W. Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Brentwood, the UCLA area etc.) or the beach, or hip areas like Silverlake).
Plus, it would be kind of funny to live in the San Fernando Valley, since so many movies and TV shows are filmed there. Its also known as "Porn Valley," since almost all domestic pornography is produced there. I'm too fat to be lured into gay porn, and too small where it counts to replace Ron Jeremy.
In fact, I don't think I'd be allowed in Southern California at all at my weight. They stop you mid-flight and demand that you parachute down into the Midwest where your kind belong.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Prom Night in DC
The inaugural balls in DC were doubtlessly populated by people who never even went to their own high school proms.
Geeks, policy nerds, science geeks and the occasional vice student council speaker were instead there in swarms. NY and LA no doubt had a good laugh as the uncool kids celebrated the inauguration as someone way out of their bureaucratic social league took power.
David Brooks has said that society could be explained by the table one ate at in their high school cafeteria. Geeks, nerds, jocks, gearheads, stoners, skaters etc.
But then there is revenge. In a recent (and terrible) movie it is the nerds who are at the top of the social pile.
A wealthy alum has donated a Spanish-style mansion for them, complete with pool and jacuzzi. The girls flock to them, knowing that the guys will be obscenely rich after graduation. It truly is Revenge of the Nerds.
But for DC, it is a short vacation from the demands of their world. What so shocked Thomas Frank, from Kansas and Chicago, was Washington's permanent wealth. Four of the 10 wealthiest counties in the nation are around DC. It is white-collar to the bone, never having had a manufacturing sector and never having even a real large port.
Instead it has expensive lobbyist steak houses. Enjoy your dinner, Mr. Obama.
Geeks, policy nerds, science geeks and the occasional vice student council speaker were instead there in swarms. NY and LA no doubt had a good laugh as the uncool kids celebrated the inauguration as someone way out of their bureaucratic social league took power.
David Brooks has said that society could be explained by the table one ate at in their high school cafeteria. Geeks, nerds, jocks, gearheads, stoners, skaters etc.
But then there is revenge. In a recent (and terrible) movie it is the nerds who are at the top of the social pile.
A wealthy alum has donated a Spanish-style mansion for them, complete with pool and jacuzzi. The girls flock to them, knowing that the guys will be obscenely rich after graduation. It truly is Revenge of the Nerds.
But for DC, it is a short vacation from the demands of their world. What so shocked Thomas Frank, from Kansas and Chicago, was Washington's permanent wealth. Four of the 10 wealthiest counties in the nation are around DC. It is white-collar to the bone, never having had a manufacturing sector and never having even a real large port.
Instead it has expensive lobbyist steak houses. Enjoy your dinner, Mr. Obama.
The Real Show Begins
After a two-year campaign and endless coverage of his Cabinet picks, Obama has to take the most drastic of measures: governing.
The media could not be more dissapointed. Covering the election was fun, what with lighting up blue and red states on the screen, traveling all over the nation, and listening in and opining on Obama's soaring speeches.
Governing and making policy, on the other hand, are a drag. It's that whole legislative branch thing that's always getting in the way. Obama at least has a Democratic majority on the Hill. But that doesn't mean they'll rubber stamp every initiative coming from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.
There's a famous quote from Bismark. Making policy is like making sausage: you don't want to see how it's done.
The media could not be more dissapointed. Covering the election was fun, what with lighting up blue and red states on the screen, traveling all over the nation, and listening in and opining on Obama's soaring speeches.
Governing and making policy, on the other hand, are a drag. It's that whole legislative branch thing that's always getting in the way. Obama at least has a Democratic majority on the Hill. But that doesn't mean they'll rubber stamp every initiative coming from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.
There's a famous quote from Bismark. Making policy is like making sausage: you don't want to see how it's done.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Of the Cardinal Staff
There was, I admit, a certain panache in writing for the Daily Cardinal, even for myself, a sometime contributor.
My Poly Sci professor asked me, in front of the class, whether he should await more "fiery editorials." from me. The Wisconsin-type local in the same class said he thought it was "cool" that I wrote for it, with no east coast sarcasm implied. I got most praise when I attacked the 60s baby boomers for their supercilious attitude; always telling us (in the late 1980s) how much better and socially concerned they were than we were.
But the 60s ended, and the 70s seemed to be little more than a totally baked pot party.
Now, apparently, the Badger Herald is the dominant paper (Wisconsin is the only major campus with two newspapers), having been established in the late 1960s, it is the most-read paper (If papers have any readership on campuses at all).
The Cardinal actually folded in the 1990s because of lack of advertising. It re-emerged later that decade.
So who cares? If you look through the Wikipedia entree, you will find far more news industry names than the Herald. Anthony Shadid, the editor-in-chief while I was there, is now a Washington Post reporter who has received numerous awards for his coverage of the middle east, and has written two books on the subject.
Sarah Kershaw is a New York Times reporter. Scott Sherman is a contributor to the Nation. Nathan Bracket is now an editor at Rolling Stone. Tom Vanderbilt has written three books, the last the critically acclaimed (first page of the NY Times book review) book "Traffic."
But the Cardinal, the more left-wing of the papers, became notorious for its endorsement of radical campus uprising. It even approved of the bombing of Sterling Hall, where a post-doc researcher was working and killed in the summer of 1970. Many people, including advertisers, thought that that action (the target was the Army Math Research Center) was beyond radicalism and forgiveness.
So, in the age of Obama, we'll see what happens to possibility of two dueling campus papers in an age in which few people bother to read them or any other publication.
My Poly Sci professor asked me, in front of the class, whether he should await more "fiery editorials." from me. The Wisconsin-type local in the same class said he thought it was "cool" that I wrote for it, with no east coast sarcasm implied. I got most praise when I attacked the 60s baby boomers for their supercilious attitude; always telling us (in the late 1980s) how much better and socially concerned they were than we were.
But the 60s ended, and the 70s seemed to be little more than a totally baked pot party.
Now, apparently, the Badger Herald is the dominant paper (Wisconsin is the only major campus with two newspapers), having been established in the late 1960s, it is the most-read paper (If papers have any readership on campuses at all).
The Cardinal actually folded in the 1990s because of lack of advertising. It re-emerged later that decade.
So who cares? If you look through the Wikipedia entree, you will find far more news industry names than the Herald. Anthony Shadid, the editor-in-chief while I was there, is now a Washington Post reporter who has received numerous awards for his coverage of the middle east, and has written two books on the subject.
Sarah Kershaw is a New York Times reporter. Scott Sherman is a contributor to the Nation. Nathan Bracket is now an editor at Rolling Stone. Tom Vanderbilt has written three books, the last the critically acclaimed (first page of the NY Times book review) book "Traffic."
But the Cardinal, the more left-wing of the papers, became notorious for its endorsement of radical campus uprising. It even approved of the bombing of Sterling Hall, where a post-doc researcher was working and killed in the summer of 1970. Many people, including advertisers, thought that that action (the target was the Army Math Research Center) was beyond radicalism and forgiveness.
So, in the age of Obama, we'll see what happens to possibility of two dueling campus papers in an age in which few people bother to read them or any other publication.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)