Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
What's notable about December 6 (besides my B&N talk)?
good luck with the talks.
on another note...take a look at this http://tinyurl.com/8bqcs
definitely one of the strangest things i have seen in a whilePosted by michael on from scotland 12/06 at 06:27 AMThanks, Michael.
Also, I just printed out the story you linked to. I may use it tonight. It’s a classic.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/06 at 06:36 AMOkay, I’ll bite:
Patient and steady with all he must bear,
except criticism
Ready to meet every challenge with care,
as long as it’s for profit
Easy in manner, yet solid as steel,
and dumb as a tin can
Strong in his faith, refreshingly real.
(up front about his “messianic militarism")
Isn’t afraid to propose what is bold,
a brave derring-do kinda guy who cut and ran from participation in Vietnam or his cushy Air National Guard appointment back home
Doesn’t conform to the usual mould,
the rest of us generally avoid war crimes
Eyes that have foresight, for hindsight won’t do,
never admits a mistake
Never backs down when he sees what is true,
never, ever, admits a mistake
Tells it all straight, and means it all too.
believes his own lies
Going forward and knowing he’s right,
dimly walking headfirst into disaster
Even when doubted for why he would fight,
"#### all y’all, I’ma drop me some bombs"
Over and over he makes his case clear,
nonstop rhetoric without an ounce of substance
Reaching to touch the ones who won’t hear.
"you will obey"
Growing in strength he won’t be unnerved,
isolating himself in the comfort of weaponry
Ever assuring he’ll stand by his word.
that’s what we’re afraid of
Wanting the world to join his firm stand,
or not, whatever. Smelly foreigners.
Bracing for war, but praying for peace,
the actual quote is “We were marching toward war, but now we’re marching toward peace."
Using his power so evil will cease,
which is how most comic book super villains get their start
So much a leader and worthy of trust,
of defense contractors, timber lobbyists, and homophobes everywhere
Here stands a man who will do what he must.
so perhaps he’ll take Eduardo Galeano’s advice, and save the world by bombing himself.Posted by Keir on from The Hague 12/06 at 07:45 AMthats more like it!
i particularly enjoyed…
“Doesn’t conform to the usual mould,
<i>the rest of us generally avoid war crimes<i> “Posted by michael on from scotland 12/06 at 07:51 AMmorning all...sorry I’ve been out of the loop for a while, but I’ve got a lot going on and will have for a while longer. Here is today’s Big Country link:
Norm Solomon analyze’s Sy Hersh’s “Air War” article and tells us that…
“according to the LexisNexis media database, how often has the phrase “air war” appeared in The New York Times this year with reference to the current U.S. military effort in Iraq?
As of early December, the answer is: Zero.
And how often has the phrase “air war” appeared in The Washington Post in 2005?
The answer: Zero.
And how often has “air war” been printed in Time, the nation’s largest-circulation news magazine, this year?
Zero.”
I wonder if they wouldq if they dropped a “nuclear” bomb on Baghdad?
Hope to be back soon,
JOS
Posted by JOS on from PR 12/06 at 08:08 AMWish I could be at your book signing, Mickey. I see it as a definite sign of “arrival.”
I read somewhere that Barnes & Noble gives 100% of their political donations to Democrats—as opposed to Amazon, which gives most of theirs to the bad guys.
I know, I know… Democrats are not an actual oppositional party, but symbolically, I feel a lot better about giving B & N a little money than I do Amazon (which gives much better discounts and has a better used book system).
All this to say, congratulations!
Posted by Michael Hawkins on from Boulder, CO 12/06 at 09:38 AMThanks, Michael H. I wouldn’t be so quick to declare the arrival thing if I were you. I just hope we get a decent turnout. Like a writer friend of mine always says, we should just sell snake oil instead. At least we’s draw a crowd.
Keir: If there’s a ever a job opening in the field of “poem restoration,” you’re the man. See what you started, Michael G?
(Can we call Michael Hawkins “Hawk” for the sake of simplicity?)
Big Country: Good to see you. Good luck with all you need to do. We’ll be here waiting.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/06 at 10:32 AMMickey: “Hawk” is good. I’ll use it for my handle here.
Posted by Michael Hawkins on from Boulder, CO, USA 12/06 at 11:01 AMHawk, your link is now on my site...as “Spontaneous Arising.”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/06 at 02:27 PMKaren Hughes is probably behind that poem and where it ended up she is the one traipsing across the Muslim World telling them love the United States love Bush we need to bomb you embrace the bombs it frees you.
Bear shot by hunter bites back, dies http://tinyurl.com/exopm
the bear population is out of control? what about the homosapien population. People ruin bears habitat even drive to the forest to shoot up bears then when bears come into the city they claim bears deserve to die because that is our space. More Than 50 Black Bears Killed in N.J. http://tinyurl.com/desjb
Posted by tm on from the cold 12/06 at 02:45 PMI’m with you 100% on this one, TM.
Also interesting to note that the almost identical language and methods were used to hunt and exterminate the indigenous human population on this continent.
To borrow from the poem above: “Here stands a species that will do what it must.”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/06 at 02:51 PMBusy at work now, pushing to finish proofing this stuff in time to be there w/camera in hand, but man I gotta know-- will the bucket girl from the bottom of the post be there? I think I’m in love…
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 12/06 at 03:08 PMThere once was a girl with a bucket...
Looking forward to seeing you “there,” James.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/06 at 03:14 PMAnother treasure-trove of information Mickey! Thanks so much.
And hi to all of you MZ’ers/expendables! Hope it is as sunny where you live as it is in Daylesford, Australia - about 72 F are forecast and sunshine.Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 12/06 at 03:19 PMOh, and good luck with your appearance at Barnes & Noble, Mickey!
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 12/06 at 03:32 PMThanks, Helga.
P.S. Do you ever get bad weather in Daylesford?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/06 at 03:33 PMKeir: “Tells it all straight, and means it all too.
believes his own lies
Going forward and knowing he’s right,
dimly walking headfirst into disaster
Even when doubted for why he would fight,
"#### all y’all, I’ma drop me some bombs"ROFL, as they say amongst y’all young’uns these days! This is completely hilarious by itself, but rises to Lenny Bruce-level satire under your not-so-gentle fingers. Thank you!
Hawk, the Demublicans and Republicrats might be the main parties but that’s changed before in American history...the Socialists are weighed down with generations of calumny, the Greens are just weird, and so what’s going to come into being to channel reasonable people’s (read: left-wingers) political passions? That said, I’ll still patronize the Riggios’ store in preference to the Bezos’ store, and best of all patronize the local indy, BookPeople, which is not quite as big as Powell’s but is equally important to us here in “liberal” Austin.
James, looking forward to your impressions of MZ’s sell-out tour’s first date.
Hi Big Country! How’s it hangin’?
Michael, where’s this interesting new thing you’ve been working on? Did I miss it yesterday after I signed off? I’m a curious man, don’t torture me with silence, or you’ll basically be Blair Lite! (A joke)
TM, bears and people CAN get a long if the poeple, the self-declared “uber-species” will simply learn not to spread like cancer over the entire landscape. Sad that “we” don’t want to, eh?
Hi Helga! Daylesford’s sounding nice, since it’s cold here...in the 40s F. My puppies ask to go out, thinking it’s going to be 60 or so, then wait a few minutes to see if the temperature will start behaving itsels; when it doesn’t, the chilly dogs clamor for the comfort of the pack’s heated den.
MZ, may your sell-out be a sell out! Many dozens of books sold and autographed so as to be unreturnable!
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/06 at 03:40 PMJames, from yesterday: I haven’t seen the Bartleby adaptation, and I probably should. I’ll move it up in the Netflix queue.
Joe, from yesterday: Novel’s on the list...a good thing...but WHERE on the list? Wherever, move it higher! You have far more to say than your essays, however admirable and trenchant they may be, can hope to encompass. Tell me a story!
RMJ, from yesterday: Hello gorgeous.
Owwen, from yesterday: So I get a file from you 12/7/05, right? That’s 48 hours....
Off to my Tuesday writers’ group in an hour, so I need to put some polish on my short story. It’s “rather” awful, since I can’t write short stories for sour owl poop.
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/06 at 03:53 PMUgh presidential acrostic!
Posted by Owen on from Barcelona 12/06 at 03:58 PMMudge, check out the Notes From Underground movie after that if Netflix has it-- kid you not, it’s out there, from a few yrs ago. Wasn’t perfect, but a surprisingly good try.
With a name like Mudge, something tells me you’ve read Notes from Underground.
Um, ‘police’-- uh oh…
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 12/06 at 04:04 PMGotta run now...but just wanted to point out to Mudge the NaNo icon below my bio.
I’ll try to check in later with details on the talk…
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/06 at 05:17 PMBest of luck tonight, Mickey - and to you, too, James. Don’t worry about the weather; fair-weather friends will all be home reading books by Hillary or Bill or Howard Dean, anyway. And life is always a lot more than it appears to be. It wasn’t good weather that got you into B&N in the first place, and it won’t be the numbers at tonight’s gathering that finally carry your work up onto the ‘national’ stage, where it belongs…
Hello everyone -
Welcome back, Hawk!
Mudge - I meant YOUR novel. I’m not going to be writing fiction in the forseeable future. I get e-mail from people, thanking me for a good night’s sleep, after reading some of my little “stories” posted here, from time to time. Apparently, I’m a - “free dose of Lunesta! Thanks, so very much!”I’m not a major Normon Solomon fan, but his article has certainly given me one of those “shivers” of insight. Thanks for the link, JOS!
The US can certainly create as much or more chaos from the air, as can be generated on the ground, and without many - or any - of the casualties which sometimes seem to threaten the plan for global conquest. Moreover, when people drop bombs from a few miles in the sky, they’re not able to see the results of their handiwork… All the better; the BushMen will not have to worry about all these anxious, tormented veterans swelling the ranks of anti-war groups. And, at least as importantly, ALL of the pilots are officers, many of whom come from elite families. Such folks are far less likely to experience night sweats or bouts of metanoia after hearing about the horror and devastation
caused by their bombs.It’s win-win all round…
Posted by joe on from Oregon 12/06 at 05:59 PMPS -
I’d like to call everyone’s attention to a fine article by Mike Whitney, in today’s CounterPunch.
It’s a disturbing read, but almost certainly accurate.Whitney is - almost - always, worth a look…
Posted by joe on from Oregon 12/06 at 06:49 PMMickey: Most excellent linkage for Spontaneous Arising. Many, many thanks.
Joe and Mudge: Careful, you’re starting to make me feel right at home around here....
...and no, that’s not such a bad thing....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 12/06 at 08:50 PMWell hell, Hawk, c’mon in, take your boots off ‘n’ warm up by the fire!
Joe, Joe, Joe. Writing only improves with more writing. And I am certain you’re misinterpreting others’ reactions. I maintain you’re nowhere near as good a judge of talent as I am, so I assert my expertise and tell you to ignore anything other than a direct “your story bored the life out of me, and I needed 48 hours to recover from it” as a perceived criticism.
>sigh< What am I to do with you?
James, good bet re: Notes from Underground I’ve entered it on my Netflix queue, and am completely amazed someone had the vision and the balls to make a movie out of the book! I am flummoxed to figure out HOW they made a wtchable movie out of it. I look forward to seeing it sometime in 2006, which is about when it’ll float to the top of the queue.
My sister calls me the world’s most optimistic curmudgeon, so I gues I’m schizoidal to others.
Funny fact about my NaNovel: As I was viewing the USGS topographical maps of the part of Texas I pried open and splopped my fictional 255th county and its denizens into, I noticed that in the real Texas there is, spang in the middle of that area, a feature of the hills called MUDGE GAP!!
I felt it was a sign from Heav’n above that I am on the right...ugh, make that correct... track!
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/06 at 09:39 PMHey Expendables. I’m heading to bed soon but thanks for all the good wishes. The night went well. Decent crowd, good energy, and I have to admit, it was a trip to see my name on a big poster in the B&N window.
I’ll post more details tomorrow and maybe James will give a more objective recap, too.
It’s 11:19 in cold, cold Astoria. I’ll see you all tomorrow.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/06 at 11:20 PMHey everyone-- yeah, maybe tomorrow I will manage to type out an objective post about it, though I fear coming off like a devoted fanboy now or my own self-promoting demogogue, as I got to share the spotlight, reading that intro… really, it was a good time, and successful near as I can tell. Photos and more to come!
And Mudge-- where to start about Dostoy? If I were a bit younger, I guess I’d have gone nuts for Salinger/Catcher, but I latched on to Notes in college (I’m 34) and it haunts me in varying ways since. Do write after you’ve seen the movie, let me know how you like. In meantime:
http://www.notesfromundergroundmovie.comGood night all, thanks for a fun time, MZ!
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 12/06 at 11:32 PM
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