Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Friday, December 30, 2005
2005: Year of the W?
i made a new year resolution not to make any more new years resolutions and that if i wanted to change something about me i would just go ahead and do it and not wait for an arbitrary date.
the thank you george bush thing is very similar to something by paulo coelho the novelist
http://tinyurl.com/ae7gkand from yesterday…
Mudge – I usually find these things on other blogs
Mickey – I did watch the films. i liked the nintendo one a lot. did u see the ones i posted?
Posted by michael on from scotland 12/30 at 08:30 AM“It means that no human being should be written off, no change in thinking deemed impossible.”
Well, if that ain’t a mouthful, I dunno what is!
Wonderful, Mr. Zinn, and wonderful, Mr. Z. I shall endeavor to dodder along in your footsteps. I must “study” Zinn more closely, it’s clear. And the recrudescence of recrudesce clearly progresseth apace, accompanied by eumoirous utterances from me. Benisons!
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 08:57 AMGood morning, Michael...clearly the blogosphere is richer than I thought. I’ve been very reluctant to get involved, guess I have to rethink that.
Jim, from last night: “My cynical view is that going to court expecting justice is like having sex and expecting to get love. It happens sometimes but...” So true. I don’t know if that really cynicism, since it’s demonstrably true.
James, from last night: Wow! Diligent do-bee! How revolting to be in your office until 9pm. I hope much was accomplished to which you could point and say, “Make the gig permanent.”
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 09:10 AMthe blogsphere is sometimes very interesting and funny but it is also in depressing in that if you just flick thru randomly then you see that most blogs are about nothing in particular. i don’t mean to denegrate what people are into but the sheer amount of it that is about celebrity gossip and so forth is frightening. so many people living their lives vicariously through other people. you have anything you want in the world to write about and people write about what some coked up arsehole of a film star or pop star is doing.
in fact, i am sitting here tearing my hair out trying to think of something to write today (i had a late night and brain not functioning as it should) but i am going to write about this very thing.
i found the trick to finding good ones is not to search randomly but if you do find one you like then check the links on that one and then the links on those ones etc etc. not the hardest thing to work out but it does work.
Posted by michael on from scotland 12/30 at 09:21 AMSensible proposal, Michael. I will utilize it. The random search approach has a value for me, though, in that I am not solely interested in hearing fro people I already agree with, but even more so in finding ideas I disagree with and figuring out why..."am I offended by this? Why? Am I angered by this? Oh boy! What’s up with me?!” It helps me keep my brain as honest as my viscera will let it be.
Of course, I come “running” home when I get scared or pissed.
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 09:36 AMIt’s a funny thing that you write about this self imposed split in the world of “us and them”, Mickey.
Yesterday i wrote a couple of times but then cancelled before sending. I was conscious of my own bitterness in going on about Mr. Wise and all the other shills I thought were out there. I was angry about their “divide and conquer” agenda and realised that I was no better.
In the end Joe and Rosemarie gave me an opening to rant about justice. I guess that’s why I used the word “cynical” in it (Hi Mudge!).All the inner and outer waring gets me down at times. I hate it when I realise I’ve been sucked in again. It’s a lack of compassion. One can defend a position without becoming bitter. I’m beginning to see that it is a test of real courage and strength yet it appears as the opposite to the bullies of this world.
Thanks Mickey and All.
(Oracle says “gave”!Posted by Jim on from 12/30 at 09:43 AMThanks, Mudge, I sure hope so, esp. after what I went through with my little emissary of Satan in the past few weeks… I’m feeling the pain long after he is. In my wallet, not bladder-- though of course what I really feel like saying when I point to all this are those five words from Mr. Melville’s favorite office worker…
Something about Howard Zinn makes me happier than Chomsky or Ward Churchill, though I haven’t read nearly enough of all three. Zinn seems to smile a lot and actually enjoy what he does, while Chomsky seems to grimace rather than smile, and Ward just gives me the creeps sometimes. That’s my scathing analysis before betting back to work.
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 12/30 at 09:49 AMFrom today’s AWAD:
“Literature is the language of society, as peech is the language of man.”
-Louis de Bonald, philosopher and politician (1754-1840)I found this profound...both in the good, affirmative way and the bad, scary way. What does modern literature reveal? A dichotomized society that has very little internal mechanism for conversation, therefore little means for resolution of any conflicts that arise.
Our Host’s books, f/ex, represent a reasoned POV that is not the majority POV. So the books are...ignored. Far better for society (and MZ’s coffers) if Bill O’Rumpwiper or Rush the Legless Druggie attacked and vilified MZ for his wool-headed damfoolishness, and thus got a conversation started. How many people were unaware, prior to O’Rumpwiper’s tirade on the topic, that there were people related to dead firefighters who weren’t buying the hagiography of 9/11? It is probable that this discovery, made on Fux “News” Channel, caused at least a few people to open their minds just a teensy crack.
There is no growth without conflict. We “cannot” afford not to grown, individually or societally. Doing so locks us into the ever-descending spiral of corpse-orate Murrica’s plunerous murder of the planet.
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 09:49 AMI think if you look upon the other person as the “enemy” then all hope of progress is lost. You need to be open in order to engage the other person and attempt to change their mind, or at least bend it a little.
Somebody wrote about all propaganda being based on making us think of other people as different from ourselves, so there does seem to be a constant effort required not to fall into that trap.
I know that I am learning more each day and the only think that makes that possible is trying to be objective and believing that I don’t know everything.
Mickey, your site is very informative, and I will probably buy 50 Americans in the New Year (I just finished “Killing Hope” and I need a different take on what America can be about). 7 Deadly Spins was great, and I have passed it on to a friend who is rapidly becoming “aware” of what goes on in the real world beyond tv and newspapers…
Rob
Posted by Rob on from Toronto 12/30 at 09:59 AMJim #6: “One can defend a position without becoming bitter. I’m beginning to see that it is a test of real courage and strength yet it appears as the opposite to the bullies of this world.” I wish more people felt this way...see my post #8 above. Bullies are the bane of conversation. It’s so maddening to have an inner bully that wants to shout down the opposition! I don’t want to engage them in debate, I want to crush them and wait for them to stop breathing before saying, “I’m right and you’re wrong and that’s all there is to it!”
So am I better than anyone? No, evidence says not. Am I trying to behave better than my worst? Yeah, with variable success. But the “quality” of debate increases with the civility of the participants, so I do my bit (sporadically) to keep the tone from spiralling further downwards.
James #7: Ouch on the wallet, indeed; Frank’s a lucky Satanic minion to have you for a kitty-daddy.
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 10:00 AMYeah, I have to tell him to go easy on the burnt offerings to me because the landlord doesn’t understand when the fire alarm goes off.
What’s AWAD?
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 12/30 at 10:04 AMRob #9: “I think if you look upon the other person as the “enemy” then all hope of progress is lost. You need to be open in order to engage the other person and attempt to change their mind, or at least bend it a little.”
Well-thought. May we all keep this in front of our eyes as we rampage around screaming imprecations at The Enemy.
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 10:08 AMJames #11: AWAD = A Word A Day. http://wordsmith.org/
I get an email of a weird or woderful or both word each and every day, five days a week, the a digest of feedback on the weel’s words; it’s called AWADmail. It’s been going on for six years or so...it’s a freebie, it’s always interesting and it leads me to such places as this:
http://tashian.com/multibabel/
The “Lost in Translation” site. Enter an English phrase, see it translated into several languages and then retranslated into English. ADDICTION WARNING: Dangerous dangerous place for Internet addicts, wordies, and bored cube-dwellers everywhere! James, DO NOT GO THERE!! I have “lived” to bring word (snerk) of this place but I implore you, do not follow!
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 10:17 AMTo give a “Lost in Translation” example:
Original English Text:
Something tells me I’m into something good
Translated to Japanese:
何かは私がよい何かにあることを私に告げる
Translated back to English:
Something informs the fact that it is something where I am good to me
Translated to Chinese:
某事通知情况它是某事我是好的对我的地方
Translated back to English:
Something notice situation it is something I is good to my place
Translated to French:
Quelque chose notent que la situation il est que quelque chose I est
bon à mon endroit
Translated back to English:
Something note that the situation it is that something I is good in my
place
Translated to German:
Etwas beachten, daß die Situation es ist, daß etwas I in meinem
Platz gut ist
Translated back to English:
Something note that the situation is it that something I is good in my
workstation
Translated to Italian:
Qualcosa nota che la situazione è esso che qualcosa I è buona nella
mia stazione di lavoro
Translated back to English:
Something famous one that the situation is it that something is good
in my station of job
Translated to Portuguese:
Algo o famoso que a situação é ele que algo é boa em minha
estação do trabalho
Translated back to English:
Something the celebrity who the situation is it who something is good
in my station of the work
Translated to Spanish:
Algo la celebridad que la situación es él que algo es buena en mi
estación del trabajo
Translated back to English:
Something the celebrity that the situation is he who something is good
in my station of the workWouldn’t Herman’s Hermits be proud of their miniml skills of poesy being represented by any of these? “However,” for MAJOR fum with language abouse, never forget http://www.engrish.com/
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 10:24 AMFriend of mine from high school who works at some non-profit in Tajikistan is addicted to that translation site. Here’s my job anxiety defined:
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 12/30 at 10:38 AMI can’t paste the photo from engrish.com here, but it’s soooo worth the visit for the 12/30 photo!! Go go go!
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 10:38 AMThanks, Mudge. You’ve made my day!
(Oracle says “special”. That must be you)
Posted by Jim on from 12/30 at 10:39 AMOh that’s too funny, and so sad that it’s true!
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 10:41 AMJim #17: Gald I did! Which thing turned the trick (ABOVE the waist sense)?
My #18 was in response to James #15.
Captcha is “thirty” ahhhhh to be thirty again! What a horror! What agonies awaited me! TG I’m 46!
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 10:47 AMCheck this out from Chris Floyd (always worth reading). This is very apropos today.
http://chris-floyd.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=362&Itemid=1That tee-shirt is something special!
Posted by Jim on from 12/30 at 10:51 AMJim #17: Gald I did! Which thing turned the trick?
The whole thing really, Mudge.
The “lost in translation” site (hours of fun ahead)
The Engrish site really appeals. I love that sort of humour. (My wife tells me I’m racist but she just doesn’t understand!!)
And the cartoon is SO what happens everyday but left unexpressed.All in all, a much needed tonic. Thanks heaps
Posted by Jim on from 12/30 at 10:59 AMA late g’morning, Expendables. Welcome to Rob from Toronto. Thanks for the kind words. Hope to see you back here soon and often.
Michael: Yes, I did watch the Rings parody vids. Good stuff. Sorry I didn’t comment earlier.
Mudge: Benisons right back at ya.
James: That “toothpaste” site rocks and the image you chose was perfect. P.S. Foodswings was excellent.
Jim: I must second Mudge’s praise of your truism: “One can defend a position without becoming bitter.”
I’ll be back later. “Living” is getting in the way of my blogging.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/30 at 11:27 AMHi Mudge, Jim, James, Rob, Michael, MZ and everyone whose either just waking up or is otherwise not here yet:
Mickey said: ...and I’d have that person judged, categorized, pigeon-holed, and lined up on the “other side.” [...] In turn, I’ve had variations of the “you’re either with us or against us” tactic used on me...and it’s both disconcerting and frustrating.
This is a great insight to carry into the New Year. Catching ourselves doing the Us vs Them thing can be very enlightening, realizing that that person, somewhere inside, is no different from me—and, in fact, I have been that person from time to time. Seems like, when we check ourselves making separations from others—folks we don’t really even know, usually— we end up making connections that would otherwise have passed us by.
As for New Years Resolutions… I usually hold them in total disdain, but I made a sincere one last year that has radically changed my life (it had to do with a contemplative practice), so I’m going to try it again. This one will involve an increase in physical exercise. I’m one of those people who, until his mid-20’s, was a fanatic athelete, but got so burned out on the forced discipline that it’s been really difficult to do anything along those lines ever since. I started riding bike to work last year (instead of the bus), and this year I’ll add some crunches and pushups to my morning routine.
I’m just “saying”....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 12/30 at 11:31 AMGood morning James, Michael, Mudge, Rob & MickeyZ
or should I say: Hello James, Michael, Mudge, fruchtsirups of & MickeyZ Rob, your name has a pretty funky conotation when babelled!
Those links are all interesting.
Among all the many things MZ and the other articles list, I can thank gwb for ensuring that I learn more about my southern neighbour’s governmental & administrative system than I ever really wanted to know; and for making my struggle against my own overwhelming bitterness and even greater one. MZ your observation at the SUV driving mcdonalds phone talker is something I so readily identify with that your conclusion to avoid making these summary judgements of others is something for me to think on. I can only promise myself that the next time I rush to judgement, I’ll also rush to remind myself of why I shouldn’t.I came upone the engrish site ages ago and had forgotten about it - it’s hilarious - I like the real signage they show (check the ‘recent’ “section").Thanks for getting me back there.
Here’s a link to Eric Margolis’ latest column. Nothing mind blowing, but I find it refreshing that a relatively mainstream journalist has his head on the right way around.(even if he seems to get a lot less tv panel invites)
I usually enjoy his historical analogies.
http://tinyurl.com/87p9zPosted by Amelopsis on from Canada 12/30 at 11:32 AMMorning Hawk,
Simultyping, we were.
I “respect” your succesful execution of a New Year’s resolution. It’s a very satisfying thing when we see results from our accomplishments in a personal way. I try not to do these things with a date in mind, but I really do have to make a few resolutions myself.
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 12/30 at 11:36 AMJim #20: I am not authorized to view that resource, according to the website. Another day, perhaps.
#21: Racist, because you find the mangling of your Mother Tongue by well-meaning but clueless people of other ethnic and national identities funny...? In that case, all the male English people who laughed at me for saying, “Get up off your fanny and come with me!” are racists. So were each of the Parisians I enountered who out-and-out guffawed at my attempts to speak their hideous honking language (Spanish spoken with a German accent; I mean really, English has no uglier sound than “donc” so blahblahblah with the “mellifluous” propaganda!). Oversensitive much?
I agree that it would be racist if WE, native English speakers, were to create and market this sort of thing in a spirit of mockery. But these things are happening entirely without our intervention, and without our knowledge!
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 11:39 AMHi Amelopsis,
I just left a note at your blog. It was cool seeing Mudge, Mickey and Michael from Scotland over there—I just added thumping the tub to my blogroll. I’m learning a lot from everyone’s Magnificent Sevens lists.
I think the reason that last year’s resolution worked so well for me is that the right time had arrived. Had I attempted to force the thing prematurely, I’d have let it drop after a month or two. So, it’s gratifying to know that it was more than a lark.
I think this year’s resolution is also primed and ready. We’ll see....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 12/30 at 11:53 AMGood morning Mudge,
I just wanted to say that, despite my diminished level of participation here the past several days, I’ve been loving your comments. You’re a keeper, as the carnivorous fisherman said....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 12/30 at 11:56 AMSorry about the link, Mudge. I should have checked it.
Try this
http://chris-floyd.com/
and scroll down to the second article “Gospel Truth” . Some of the comments are worth reading, too.Speaking of “sorries” - Sorry James, I didn’t realise t’was you who posted the office cartoon. Nice one!
Mickey, did you post the mobile crane link? I didn’t see it. Anyway, what’s this about “life” getting in the way of the virtual? The way to fix that problem is to repeat 50 times a day “We’re an Empire now”.
Better get back to bed. It’s 4:00 in the morning here.
Posted by Jim on from 12/30 at 12:01 PMMy gosh, I tyoe a simple response and the comments I’m commenting on are a dozen comments back!
Empress dear, how’s that NUtI thing goin’ in snowy Canuckistan? It’s heading for 80F here today. Bright and sunshiney. Envious?
“I can only promise myself that the next time I rush to judgement, I’ll also rush to remind myself of why I shouldn’t.”
That’s all any of us can really promise, I think. I know it’s my goal to root these thought-habits out, but I am resigned to having a struggle on my hands.I bookmarked the engrish site long ago because it’s a never-fail laugh. Feeling like the world’s absurdities are always negative? Engrish.com will blow that theory out of the water!
Hawk #23: “Seems like, when we check ourselves making separations from others—folks we don’t really even know, usually— we end up making connections that would otherwise have passed us by.” This very behavior is the reason I’m here in MZ’s parlor today. I got an over-the-transom novel MS from Mick in 1992. I thought the twenty pages I read were funny. I gave it to my assistant to report on. She said it was funny, and cited several examples. None of us could come up with an editor or a publishing house that would, in our opinion, “get it.” So back went the MS with a letter encouraging further contact. After a time, up came the idea for There Is No Good War, to use its current title. The rest y’all’ve heard before.
Faithless to every capitalist tenet, I didn’t reject the man, just the book. A long journey later, I consider MZ one of the few people I met during my stay in NYC who was actually loyal and comradely through thick and thin. I cite him as an example often when ranting on about the need to be careful in one’s treadin through this world.
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 12:09 PMMudge, the NUti works really well, as long as I don’t check the mail or answer the phone; or leave the house in general. But since that’s not a sufficiently expansive setting for the NUti, and since the leprechauns pot of gold is late in arriving, I think I’ve got some figuring to do.
Canuckistan is all fargled up as far as weather is concerned - no snow outside and it’s been a week of gray skies and intermittent rain. NOT my idea of a winter wonderland. So - yes - I’m a little envious of your comfortable climate today.
See you all a little later
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 12/30 at 12:36 PMHey folks. Can anyone give me feedback about the Harris Literary Agency? They’ve just offered me a contract, but it’s slightly suspicious (asking for $250 up front) and I’ve heard some bad things about them.
Anyone any comments?
My NY resolution is to worry less about small, crappy stuff. Learn to just say “#### it.”
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 12/30 at 01:29 PMHello all...a sunny, relatively warm New Year’s Eve Eve here.
Chris: I personally will not deal with agents who ask for $$$ up front, but Mudge is your go-to guy here for more info on this.
Hawk: Good luck with the work-out plans. I plan to slightly reduce the amount of time I spend in the gym in 2006 (and the time I spend at my computer, btw).
Amelopsis: Hello, Empress...watch out for those SUVs.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/30 at 02:06 PMMy resolution for the New Year: to visit your great blog each and every day, Mickey! That was easy .. And someone should invent a category ‘blog with the best graphics’ - mickeyz.net would be No. 1 with me.
And thanks for reminding us expendables (hi all of you!) what Bush has done.
It is 7:18 am on 31 December 2005 in Daylesford, and this is going to be the hottest 31 December ON RECORD - temperatures between 104 and 114F are expected across the wide brown land. And some ‘scientists’ still don’t believe in global warming.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU!Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 12/30 at 03:18 PMMichael from Glasgow, that Coelho piece is priceless! Thanks for the link.
And thanks to you, Mickey, and to all of you fellow MZ’ers for all the other links.Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 12/30 at 03:23 PMAnd one last thing for now: I agree with what you say about Zinn vis-a-vis Churchill and Chomsky, James from Hell’s Kitchen (LOVE the name of that part of Manhattan btw).
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 12/30 at 03:27 PMA very last thing to Mudge in dear, dead Austin: have you ever listened in here, specifically to Michelangelo Signorile?
http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/CachedPage&c=Channel&cid=1104779631490
Great show - and not just for gays/lesbians!
And if you were in Daylesford, Australia, in March 2006 you would be royally entertained here:
http://chilloutfestival.com/2006/index.htmlPosted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 12/30 at 04:04 PMSorry, wrong Sirius URL, Mudge! This is the right ‘address’:
http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/CachedPage&c=Page&cid=1018209032790Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 12/30 at 04:06 PMThanks, Hlga. Since 2006 will reach you before us, let us know how it is, okay?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/30 at 04:08 PMThanks, Helga, glad to know someone else feels that way about those guys… I know I have to read more Chomsky to be a good radical or whatever the label is today, but he just feels like such homework. And I won’t call it Clinton Hill or whatever it is no matter how gentrified it gets. Funny how my neighborhood was more accurately depicted in King Kong than in so many other recent movies, even though it was set in the 30s. As much as things change…
Mudge, still waiting on that whammy, and loans and stuff like that don’t count, right?
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 12/30 at 04:24 PMHere’s something to keep all Expendables occupied, should they have as much time on their hands today as I do.
Warning: fast connection a definite plus.
If you locate the test-portion of the page (hint: upper right orb), here’s how mine came out:
Slightly Off: Everyone thinks you’re normal, but they don’t know you as well as we do. You have a secret craving for okra, you’re taking a correspondence course in insect taxidermy, you like to read under your bed with the dust bunnies, and you need to tap on the closet door before you can get dressed in the morning.
I bet I’m not the only one here who can claim such a description....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 12/30 at 04:41 PMJames: As “far” as I can tell, the easiest way in to Chomsky: interviews. Lots of books out there of collected interviews.
Hawk: I took the test, too:
Certifiable
As long as you are on your meds they will let you play with the computer. And as long as you are allowed to play with the computer, I can watch your every twitch and stutter, feeding my insatiable thirst for weird people. Please share the red pills.Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/30 at 04:50 PMThis is good, Mickey. We’re learning more about you all the time...!
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 12/30 at 05:06 PMHawk #28: Gee, thanks! I’m pleased and flattered!
Jim #29: Ohhhhhh. I get it now!
Empress #31: I’m such a curmudgeon in general that not answering the phone and not going out of the house doesn’t sound at all bad to me. Hmmm. Gray skies and no snow and not warm works fine so long as it’s temporary, but it sounds like this is turning into a long-term terror.
Chris #32: Money up front for what? Copies of MSS you send by electronic file? Messenger bills? International postage? Phone calls? These are allowable charge-backs, so long as the agency says up front that’s what the money’s for.
I agree with MZ, don’t work with people who ask for money up-front. I make an exception in cases where it’s clear what they want it for and how it’s to be accounted for, but even then only if you can afford it comfortably and need make no sacrifices to pay it.
That name sticks out in my memory not at all, but Harris is fairly generic in last name terms. Check them out with the AAR, and also look over the FAQ. http://tinyurl.com/8n5p6
Hi Helga, I love Michelangelo’s work...he has a new book out that I covet...but I have no sound card just now so can’t listen to stuff. I will at first opportunity. The Chill Out link is fun! Daylesford is bloody-bastard HOT today! I am so sorry!
James #40: That whammy’s departed. It was for five days. What is it you need now? Not money-wise, but what purpose are you gonna use the money for? “Paying bills” is useless in whammy-world, never works.
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 05:08 PMYeah, I guess I meant about money, and I guess about bills, rent and electric and silly stuff like that. Had to go to mom about the Frank bills, never a fun thing to do at 34. I know, not that old, but still too old for this. So then, I don’t know, some other whammy, somehow, to compensate with something, I don’t know. Novel-writing progress, finally understanding all these world events we sometimes discuss here, dating, I don’t know.
At least not to get arrested if I go to the New Year’s Even critical mass ride. They went easy on us at the ‘05 NY’s Eve ride and saved the heat for other months, let’s hope it’s like that tomorrow, too. Leaving work now, type later at home.
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 12/30 at 05:16 PMJames #45: Ahhh, the rescue whammy. That one’s ineffective, I fear. Sorry not to be able to whammy. I will do some happiness zapping for the cops on New Year’s Eve.
How about purposes? What new purposes do you have that need practical support?
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 05:27 PMHi Expendables -
Sorry I’ve not been a participant, today.Mickey - as fine a front page, this day, as any I’ve ever seen. Superb work, my friend.
I’ve been out filling and conveying and placing sand-bags, around my house, and around various places on the street. It’s like mini-New Orleans, around here, and I admit to being a bit frightened. My place looks pretty good, thusfar, but… whoa! I’ve never been in the midst of a flood situation, and it’s just like it seems on TV - really spooky.
A guy from across the street came over with a little bulldozer / backhoe, and dug up a bunch of rock and dirt and dumped it all along the edge of my yard, so the water’s pretty much stopped, from that direction. Sand bags are channelling water around the house, from the other side… It’s hard to know what to do, and where and how to place the bags. ( BTW - those bags are big, heavy, soaking wet - and there are a LOT of them to put down.)I think we’re going to be OK, but I have to go back out. It’s started to rain ( soooo fuckin’ hard! ) again, and I have to figure out what to do with my garage, where I now sit, or it’s going to be flooded. The whole street ( 9 houses ) has come out and most folks have worked together throughout much of the day. Moreover, as you’d guess, I’ve made lots of political comments, and NO ONE has disagreed at all. At one point I even said, to this Christian guy, and his son: “Well, that’s what governments do - they channel money from the many...”
and the guy finished…
“...Into the hands of a few...”Jesus, I almost wet my pants…
(No one would have noticed because they were soaked already.)See you guyz later…
Be well.Posted by joe on from Oregon 12/30 at 06:29 PMSafety for you and yours, Joe...amazing what adversity does to prejudice, eh?!
AND there’s a tropical storm in the Atlantic...Zeta, this one’s called. What a bloody awful year in so many ways. What is it we need to learn from all this crap?! I am reminded of a friend’s aunt at times like this...she was a grinch of the first water, makes me look like chirpy little Pollyanna. When times were hard she’d trot out this truism:
“CHEER UP! DARKER DAYS ARE COMING!”
I always used that as my touchstone. “That can’t be right”, I’d think...and still do. But I always got a chuckle out of her obvious relish in being Little Mary Joyless. It’s just bizarre what makes some people happy....
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 06:43 PMSending safety wishes to you and Suzanne, Joe. (Too bad we couldn’t get Hawk up to you to help with the sandbags. He’s looking to workout harder.) Mudge, can you do a no-more-rain whammy for Joe and his neighbors?
And thanks for the kind words about today’s post, Joe. Mark from Press Action liked it enough to clip out a bit and post it as an article here: http://tinyurl.com/chtav. Thus, recrudesce is reaching a wider audience.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/30 at 06:49 PMToo bad we couldn’t get Hawk up to you to help with the sandbags. He’s looking to workout harder.
Watch it, Mickey!
Although it’s true—if I was in Oregon, I’d help Joe with the sanbags.
Sounds like something out of Kesey’s Sometimes a Great Notion—rivers spewing over their banks, that sort of thing.
So yes, please be safe. You’re needed here, Joe.
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 12/30 at 07:35 PMAh, Hawk, you know I’d be right there beside you.
Captcha sez: peace.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/30 at 07:37 PMPeace—that’s the ticket....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 12/30 at 07:40 PMWishing blue skies and sunshine to Joe. Flooding can be mighty stressful. I lived on the coastline within earshot of the surf for many years. I was never flooded there but know many people who were. Then I moved to Vermont...high and dry, not near any body of water. In Vermont there are no real standards for building contractors. This has led to major problems for many home owners. My builder made some serious mistakes. I am now left with a 200 foot drainage ditch that must be kept clear all year. In the past, I have spent many a winter night in sub zero temperatures chopping ice to clear out the ditch. My thoughts are with you, Joe.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 12/30 at 07:51 PMMZ #49: I don’t do so good on the VIF (Vast Impersonal Forces) whammies, I’m more adept at VIP (Very Important Personal) ones. It’s all an “art,” so....
I love it that PressAction has your snip as an article! It is well-deserved notice for an even wider audience than us’ns.
Hawk #50: I keep thinking I’ve read Sometimes a Great Notion, but I haven’t. Should we think about that book for a future Expendable Media Appreciation Night? What ever happened to that idea, I just now was moved to wonder...?
RMJ #53: Hello, warmth and dryness travel from me to you and Joe, please. Chopping ice in sub-zero weather sounds like complete hell to me. What coastline did you grace with your fabulousness?
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 12/30 at 08:24 PMNothing sloughs away the bullshit and brings folks together like real peril. I believe you and your neighbors will rise to the occasion, where as a certain Federal (ir)response would fall painfully short. Good luck to you and your community. May some good come from this large “volume” of water.
Posted by Cart on from near Warshington DC 12/30 at 08:37 PMOf “course”,my last post was meant for Joe. Doh.
Posted by Cart on from near Warshington DC 12/30 at 08:40 PMHi Mudge, I have lived in a lot of places, even Texas. I love the ocean and have lived near it in Florida and also New Jersey. BTW, New Jersey does have some very nice places to live. The coastline of Maine also has some very nice places. When I was moving from Texas, I bought an old beat up Studebaker for $50. to make the trip. It was the middle of the winter and that was a trip that I will never forget even though it happened a long time ago. Since moving to Vermont I have, by necessity, become an expert of sorts, when it comes to drainage problems. Sand bags help but sometimes it is also important to find another way of diverting the water.
There has been an increase in the action on the Press Action site. Maybe some Expendables would like to take a glance over there once in awhile.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 12/30 at 08:48 PMMudge #50: Sometimes a Great Notion is definitely a book I would read again (though I gave my copy away a while ago—no problem, though, what with used bookstores galore around here).
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 12/30 at 08:54 PMHello everyone. Mudge, I did give a brief mention of the Book Club yesterday and, like you, I have not read Sometimes a Great Notion. If others agree, it could be the first book we read and discuss as a group. I’ll add it to the main post tomorrow to “simply” feel it out.
RMJ: I agree, re: Press Action. I have a feeling Mark is about to kickstart that site again.
Hey Cart, how are ya?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/30 at 09:15 PMOn second thought, I “may” re-think that book choice. I just realized it’s 640 pages. Perhaps we should start smaller?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/30 at 09:20 PMDoing my part to help recrudesce, um, recrudesce:
http://tinyurl.com/dvv8g
http://tinyurl.com/8z7kePosted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/30 at 09:30 PM“ I have not read Sometimes a Great Notion. If others agree, it could be the first book we read and discuss as a group. I’ll add it to the main post tomorrow to “simply” feel it out.”
I’m in! I’ve already booked it at my library!
Wasn’t he the guy that started the 100th Monkey myth?
My back hurts thinking about those sandbags, Joe. Good luck to you and your neighbours.
Haa! Orocle says “club”!
Posted by Jim on from 12/30 at 10:47 PMG’Night, all. Let me know what you think about possible book club choices.
Good wishes to Joe and Suzanne in Oregon...and Frank the cat in Hell’s Kitchen.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/30 at 11:05 PM
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