| (no subject) |
[Aug. 5th, 2009|07:25 pm] |
Obama called the recent arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates inside his own home a "teachable moment" about the realities of race in this country. As a white person, I would like to impart my own teachable moment, perhaps the first time I came to recognize the phenomenon of white privilege.
When I was nine years old, my younger brother and I lived in Botswana, where my parents coordinated a Habitat for Humanity project. We traveled often, and over the Christmas holiday of 1995 we went to Zimbabwe and Malawi. We spent Christmas Day on the shores of Lake Malawi, eating fresh-caught fish and even going to to local Christian church. On the way back we stayed in a national park with lodging consisting of large tents with mattresses and mosquito nets. It was there that my father noticed he had a red mark on his wrist that seemed to be spreading up his arm. Fearing a spider bite containing venom that would travel to the heart, we located the nearest clinic and sought him medical attention. None of us were visibly panicked as we arrived at the clinic, which was in a rural area. Upon entering the clinic, we saw a long line of people sitting on the floor- haggard mothers with screaming and crying children looking extremely ill, waiting for treatment. A doctor sighted us and my parents explained the issue. He took my parents with him and my brother and I trailed behind, walking past the sick people, at least two dozen of them, looking at us the moment after the doctor had deemed my father's condition far worse than theirs. In the end Dad got a prescription for antibiotics and the doctor gave my parents the contact information of some American Peace Corps doctors who spoke better English than he did.
All was fine. No one in my family died as a result of this incident and the whiteness of my father's skin secured him his well-being.
Tim Wise recently wrote an article encouraging white people to tell these kinds of stories. Just as we must give credence to the stories of people of color clashing with white supremacist ideals, it's important for us white folks to notice when we are given unfair advantages and preferences. |
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| live long and die out |
[Jul. 13th, 2009|11:13 am] |
I have a Pol Pot lodged in my subconscious.
As well as a conservative, Catholic schoolboy
And a proto-fascist white supremacist xenophobe
And a green, insurrectionary anarchist
And a mild-mannered liberal
And an apolitical, disaffected hipster
And a Jihadist
I think it helps to acknowledge our dark sides.
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| i am in portland |
[Mar. 20th, 2009|02:54 pm] |
and am extremely grateful for family and fate.
soon i will rid myself of this.
job starts monday! |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 3rd, 2009|09:23 pm] |
"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness"
-J.K. Galbraith
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 25th, 2009|05:21 pm] |
I don't have much to say, so here's a baby porcupine eating a banana:
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 15th, 2009|04:31 am] |
From Matt Taibbi's "interview" with G.W. Bush in Rolling Stone.
~~~
GWB: We were in bed one night, watching TV, and we saw this thing on the news about some poll in the Middle East showing that I was the most hated man in the Arab world, getting three times as many votes as the second-place guy, who was Ariel Sharon. And I said to [Laura], "Jeez, what the fuck did I do to deserve that?"
And she said?
She didn't say anything. She just kind of gave me this look. Like she was sad. My dad does it too, sometimes. Like there's something they want to say to me, but won't.
I think there are a lot of people who feel that way.
Really? What do they want to say?
Do you really want to know?
Sure.
OK, here it is. You're the child of two emotionally absent aristocrats who denied you any kind of love and affection from an early age. You grew up resentful and lacking completely in natural gifts or curiosity and by early adulthood found yourself desperate to fulfill the expectations by then mostly had for your much more competent brother, Jeb. You failed every test you ever faced as a young man and were unable to hold any job at all until the age of 45 or so, at which time you decided to try to win some self-respect by going into the family business. You were aided in this quest by a bunch of narrow-minded lackeys and holdovers from your father's administration who every step of the way manipulated your obvious Oedipal resentments to their advantage, enriching themselves and their friends. All you wanted was a pat on the back and a few accomplishments of your own to hand your hat on, but instead you're about to spend the rest of eternity pondering your now-official legacy as the worst and most pigheaded leader in the history of Western democracy, a man who almost single-handedly sank the mightiest nation on Earth by turning the presidency into a $50 trillion therapy session that ended in two disastrous wars, a financial crisis that threatens the entire system of international capitalism, and a legacy of corruption on a scale not seen since the Borgias or maybe Nero.
That, Mr. President, is what they're thinking and not saying to you.
Jeez, I thought you guys were a music magazine.
We are. You have any album recommendations?
Sure, I thought you might ask that. I like-
Just kidding. Time's up. Sorry.
No, really, I do have one more thing to say.
What's that?
I'm sorry?
You're sorry? For what?
[Sighs] I, uh...you know, I remember back in 1989, I was thinking about buying a couple of Sizzler franchises in Lubock.
You should have done it.
And I told my dad what I was thinking, and you know what he said?
No. What?
He said, "Good idea, son. It's hard to fuck up steak."
We get it. Your father was a dick. So what? Buy a puppy or something. That's what everyone else does.
Yeah [A single tear rolls down his cheek] I guess I fucked up, huh?
Big-time. Can we have the world back now?
Sure, I guess. I really am sorry.
Gotta run. Later.
[Whimpering] I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 22nd, 2008|02:06 pm] |
Every time I'm about to write something serious, I end up writing some inconsequential opinion about some musical phenomenon.
While in Portland, on my brother's birthday, we drunkenly listened to the new Nas, and shrieked with glee over how good it was. Shortly afterward, while talking about what initially attracted us to rap/hip-hop. I found this video on YouTube
Das EFX- They Want EFX
(The video itself is pretty lame, haha)
When I was 8, my brother made me a tape that had this song on it. I remember listening to it over and over and over again, totally blown away by how many words and phrases he was able to spit out in such a short amount of time.
I urge you, if you have younger relatives who think "rap" is restricted to top 40, please turn them on to songs like these. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 13th, 2008|03:12 pm] |
| | I decided to make an archive of some of the radio shows that Eddie and I had this past semester. Download and enjoy! Each show had a specific theme. *** More comin' soon! |
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| radio radio radio |
[Apr. 27th, 2008|10:48 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Furry Lewis- "Kassie Jones" | ] |
Our last radio show was quite the sentimental affair, as Eddie is graduating this semester. We alternated in four song blocks, like we've done all semester, except this time I played all songs Eddie had shown me and he played songs I introduced to him. Also, for the last time we played the two best PSAs at the station -- Andrew WK telling you about a hotline for troubled youth and Ashton Kutcher pretending to care about epilepsy awareness. ("Do you know anyone with epilepsy? Do they ever get hassled about it? Well, that's pretty lame.") We rarely played any other PSAs.
We independently decided on the last song, which is also the song in the last scene in "Slacker." We both thought it was a perfect closer. Enjoy.
In other radio news, I'm gonna be Promotions Director for WBCR next semester. My job basically involves pimpin' the station whenever possible. I want to spotlight the really good shows. A lot of people think they have enough good music to warrant a radio show, and, unless they're complete fucktards, most of them get radio shows. Unfortunately, the majority of shows are just people playing what's on their iPod, without any real cohesion or focus. I want to highlight the people who play specific styles, or have talk shows or a special focus of their show. I also plan to make the `BCR blog wicked awesome. I'm psyched about this.
I'm thinking for my show next semester, I want to do a "Plunderphonics" type deal, where I play mash-ups of all stripes, from standard mixed-up pop tracks to fucked-up sound collages from people like Negativland. Also, I have plans of doing my own remixing/chopping/editing/etc. this summer, so hopefully I'll have some of my own stuff to play.
Sounds are the only salvation. Mark my goddamn words |
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| haha yes |
[Apr. 18th, 2008|07:10 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | X- "I'm Coming Over" | ] |
Oh the things you find when you search for things like "meltdown" or "losing his shit" on YouTube.... |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 16th, 2008|08:49 pm] |
I need to do something with my evening other than reading about the psychological history of Seung-Hui Cho
I feel like I've been hit by a truck |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 7th, 2008|12:18 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | dead boys- "what love is" | ] |
Last week The Round Table put out its annual "parody" edition, and it was pretty great. Considering how shitty the paper has been lately, with half and full page "ads" BEGGING students for submissions, it was a relief to read a bunch of hilarious and satirical pieces from people I know.
Makes me think that the Round Table should be just satire, with maybe a little "news supplement" towards the end or something. People take their humor pretty seriously. Anyway, I wrote something for that issue and it was published. Here it is.
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 6th, 2008|11:15 am] |
| [ | music |
| | country teasers- "anytime, cowboy" | ] |
listen to the country teasers |
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| pome |
[Mar. 30th, 2008|01:02 pm] |
Rescue the Dead Finally, to forgo love is to kiss a leaf,
is to let rain fall nakedly upon your head,
is to respect fire,
is to study man's eyes and his gestures
as he talks,
is to set bread upon the table
and a knife discreetly by,
is to pass through crowds
like a crowd of oneself.
Not to love is to live. To love is to be led away
into a forest where the secret grave
is dug, singing, praising darkness
under the trees. To live is to sign your name,
is to ignore the dead,
is to carry a wallet
and shake hands. To love is to be a fish.
My boat wallows in the sea.
You who are free,
rescue the dead.
-David Ignatow
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 26th, 2008|02:02 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Parliament- "I Call My Baby Pussycat" | ] |
I've been in a bad mood all day ever since I read about the giant ice shelf collapsing. It wasn't the "cause" but definitely the catalyst. I kind of just want to smoke an ounce and curl up in a ball and listen to pleasant music. ATTN HUMAN BEINGS: STOP BREEDING PLEASE.
I have a feeling that all my friends are really tired of me talking about end-times so much, but I feel it so hard.
It's okay, though, because I'm seeing BOREDOMS in Chicago tonight.
I don't think I could ever been seriously romantically involved with someone who wasn't a good writer, or at least liked to write. Everyone I've ever dated has been a really good writer, and I feel like I've furthered a lot of relationships with people by talking to them online. I often feel like I communicate better in writing than I do in speech, anyway. Weird, cuz I don't write as much as I'd like to.
Someone wanna give me a job for the summer? Stipulations are as follows:
1) It's not in Cleveland
2) It's kind of bizarre.
Sometimes my current music is just the song that's been stuck in my head all day. |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 13th, 2008|11:38 pm] |
Hey, kind of late notice, but
If you're up at 1 AM Central (2 Eastern, 10 West) listen to me and Eddie's radio show.
Tonight's theme: No Boys Allowed.
All girl pop, female blues/soul, garage rock, etc.
www.beloit.edu/~wbcr |
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