Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Thursday, June 08, 2006
America: The Land of Denial
Top of the morn, MZ.
I greatly enjoyed the article. Will try my best to disseminate.
captcha = labor (which reminds me, I must get ready for “work” now)
Posted by RT on from The Buyou City 06/08 at 08:22 AMHi everyone. I’m at “work” right now and its 90 degrees (or 32 degrees as the rest of the world says) in the office, 80 degrees outside. We just completed a half hour ‘one out, all out’ (in answer to ‘what do you do?’). I do so enjoy the weather reports on here, glad to contribute. If Mr Mew pops in, have fun at the Isle of Wight festival (not caught you in ages!). Will anybody else be watching any of the World Cup? No, I’m not the troll.. (honest)
Posted by Uncle Joe on from hot office in england 06/08 at 09:41 AMtimely reminder
http://tinyurl.com/lkl8mPosted by Uncle Joe on from still hot 06/08 at 09:45 AMUncle Joe...according to Kurt Nimmo it’s deja vu all over again:
Love the theme of this article, Mick and how it all came together. I’ll never watch a Yankee game the same again.
Posted by JOS on from Downtown Chicago 06/08 at 10:45 AMHello RT, Uncle Joe, and JOS. Yet another damp, rainy day in Astoria.
Excellent links above. Good context. (Captcha sez: “truth")
Completely unrelated yet highly enjoyable:
http://www.eliminatebono.comPosted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/08 at 11:39 AMdamn it, I cant get the Bono link to work, and I really wanted to eliminate him…
Anyhoos, great article today MZ - so much of this carries over to all spectator sport, including my beloved footy. I’m under no illusions though.
Not an exact tie-in, but I’m constantly thinking of Chomsky and the role spectator sport plays in societyPosted by Uncle Joe on from at home, slightly cooler 06/08 at 12:22 PMThanks, Uncle Joe...but I’m not singling out sports. I could’ve just as easily written this article using American Idol as the TV show. The main thrust, for me, is to recognize how deep our denial is. In order to get through a single hour, we must be consciously tuning out myriad horrors, injustices, and atrocities...many of which are paid for with our tax dollars and/or perpetrated with our tacit approval and/or silent complicity.
This doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t enjoy what life can offer but the global situation is so dire, we must start dedicating more time and energy to exposing it, discussing it, changing it.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/08 at 12:29 PMInteresting:
http://tinyurl.com/nulkxPosted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/08 at 02:13 PMYou are on a roll Mickey. These last couple of weeks you have been producing one great article after another.
At “work” I share my “desk” with several other people. During our “down” time we are “allowed” to read our own reading material. I have now decided that I am going to make a point of “forgetting” my reading material (your articles) at “work”. This should make things much more interesting there.
Posted by Fiona on from San Diego 06/08 at 02:19 PMHi Everybody...Sorry to be so out of touch here.
Does anyone know who is responsible for the most deaths Truman, Clinton, Bush, or Al-Zarqawi ?Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 06/08 at 02:22 PMHello Fiona. This has not been a good day (I’ll explain on a later date) but your comment just cheered me right up. We look forward to learning how your “experiment” goes. Maybe a Daturday story from you?
Hey there, RMJ. I don’t know the answer to your quiz, but one thing is sure: I know who came in fourth.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/08 at 02:31 PMI wander in at half-past three, dazed from a five-hour phone conversation that bids fair to reorganize my life. In a far better way than it’s organized now, may I add.
Wow.
From last night, I stopped reading The Infanta’s post part-way through and have not revisited yesterday’s posts. I just don’t care to interact with that kind of stuff, so I won’t.
Hello all, off to absorb the newness I’ve been presented with and wish all a cool, wet compress of a day.
Posted by Mudge on from Austin, Texas 06/08 at 03:35 PMLukewarm compress of a day seems to describe the NYC weather today. Mickey, if you’re having a mediocre day, maybe the cat video I left late last nigth after work could help fix that a bit… but Mudge, if you’re actually having a good day, the cat video could fix that for you too, so… back to work now, later, hm.
Home earlier tonight (yeah like earlier than 4a.m.) so less excuses.
Posted by James on from work 06/08 at 04:00 PMAlmost top of the morn down under, Mickey! You crack me up/enlighten me every morning with your great graphics, links, etc. - thanks so much.
And ‘hi’ as always to RT, Uncle Joe, JOS, Fiona, Rosemarie and Mudge who chimes in at # 12 today. Have you ever read ‘States of Desire - Travels in Gay America’ by Edmund White, mon cher Mudge? I’m about to give it a go - have finished White’s memoir ‘My Lives’.
Another cold and sunny day coming up in Daylesford - it is 7:03 am on a Friday morning and the sky is almost blue.
Arrivederci ..
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 06/08 at 04:03 PMAnd I so agree with Fiona: you are on a roll, Mickey! Keep rolling (and rocking) please ..
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 06/08 at 04:07 PMThis came to mind for some reason just now… maybe because I’m bored at work.
Posted by James on from work 06/08 at 04:57 PMHey Joe, yeah it does seem to have been a while...never mind, you’ll soon have a whole weekend to bully me.
Hello everyone else! I’ll be incommunicado for the weekend because of aforementioned festival, so have you all have a good’un.Posted by mew on from somewhere too bloody hot to sleep 06/08 at 05:12 PMHey Mew, James, Helga, and Mudge.
Here’s yet another short video worth a look: http://tinyurl.com/hmyd9
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/08 at 05:19 PMThat Yankees article is nonsense. Hey Mickey Z, when you have sex with your wife, do you think about rape in Africa? When you have a drink with friends, do you think about an alcoholic father that has just beaten his wife? Can’t people just escape from time to time? Do we all have to have social justice on the mind 24/7?
Posted by Jeremy on from NYC 06/08 at 05:54 PMYikes! No workday websurfing’s complete w/o a troll visit… well here’s that damn cat video again to balance it out (yes it’s okay not to think about all the strife in the world while the cat plays on the computer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdXTDovB9K8
Posted by James on from work 06/08 at 06:11 PMI’m a troll because I criticize one article? That’s fair.
Posted by Jeremy on from NYC 06/08 at 06:15 PMJust for the record. I’m a fan of Mickey Z’s writings, just not this one in particular. However, I completely understand your frustration with pop culture.
Posted by Jeremy on from NYC 06/08 at 06:39 PMJeremy, there were a few troll issues here last year and just yesterday, they were discussed. So, you walked blindly into that mindset...calling my article “nonsense,” to boot.
Okay, having said that, let me officially welcome you to the blog and suggest you check out comment #7 for my earlier response.
It’s a friendly crowd here...hope you’ll stick around and join the fun.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/08 at 06:45 PMJeremy #19:
“This doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t enjoy what life can offer but the global situation is so dire, we must start dedicating more time and energy to exposing it, discussing it, changing it.” Mickey Z #7
I don’t agree that Jeremy was trolling. His comment addresses MZ personally, and rather bluntly, but it begs a discussion rather than a dismissal. MZ did qualify his statements from the original post. His article was a call to awareness and action rather than an accusation in my opinion.
Posted by Cart on from near Warshington DC 06/08 at 06:50 PMInsurgent Leader Al-Zarqawi Killed in Iraq
So what? A quote from this <AHREF="http://tinyurl.com/osh2n">article</A>:
“Copying Osama bin Laden’s leadership strategy, Zarqawi set up numerous semi-autonomous terrorist cells across Iraq, many of which could continue operating after his death.”
Posted by Cart on from Warshington DC 06/08 at 07:28 PMOK, screwed that one up. tinyurl.com/osh2n
Posted by Cart on from Warshington DC 06/08 at 07:30 PMThank you, thank you, I’ll be here screwing up my posts all week!
Posted by Cart on from Warshington DC 06/08 at 07:31 PMSince I’ve been out of touch for a few days my comment might be a little dumb but thinking about Jeremy #19, yes, maybe it should be 24/7. Doesn’t it seem odd to celebrate with massive trivial sports events while people are being blown up. I am not saying that all joy and happiness should be eliminated but I have believed for a long time that the national focus on the trivial is kind of sick. Did I offend all of the sports fans here? Sorry, maybe I’m just out of step again.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 06/08 at 07:34 PMOne way to be an activist 24/7 would be to make lifestyle choices that leave less of a footprint...but that still doesn’t mean you can’t watch the Yanks rock the Sox every now and then.
Cart, keep those links coming.
Speaking of Jeremy, where the hell is Jeremy from Taiwan?
Captcha sez: “movement”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/08 at 07:40 PMI am not talking for Mick here, but in my mind the article attacked the very real issue that most Americans go through their day without thinking about these things...ever. These things are never mentioned...in many people’s minds they do not exist. In order to introduce these realities...sometimes you have to shove them down people’s throats. Nobody said anything about thinking about them 24/7...how about once?
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 06/08 at 07:42 PMYou said it better than I, JOS. Dead on.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/08 at 07:51 PMHey Jeremy, glad to hear you’re not as abrasive as I took you for, I guess it’s like he said, there’s been troll issues here before, and also I guess that using MZ’s, or anyone’s, sex life as an example stuck me as a bit trollish-- well if nothing else, isn’t that a pasttime which uses very few natural resources? But never mind, people have already discussed this article better than I could. Society as a whole does have a rather skewed lack of perspective with their priorities.
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 06/08 at 07:56 PMJOS, if you take a look at some of the fans sitting in the upper deck and bleachers, they’re lower-middle class and i’m sure they personally face the issues that we speak of on a daily basis.
Posted by Jeremy on from NYC 06/08 at 08:05 PMI am a bleacher creature...and yes certain people face the hardships that our way of life has given them and yet still stand up and shed a tear when God Bless America is sung during the seventh inning stretch. All the more reason to face reality and do something about it.
Posted by JOS on from Chicago 06/08 at 09:15 PM@ Mew (#17): did you say something about it being too bloody hot to sleep?
@ Jeremy: I think we all need a daily dose of humor and escape to provide balance in our lives, which is exactly the sort of thing I see here at Mickey’s: a “stream of consciousness” blogging style, integrated with thought-provoking quotes, goofy clip art, links to bizarre videos, etc…
On that note, I think you’ll discover (as I did) that MZ is just very creative in his attempts to reach out to new audiences; something I feel is urgently needed in this day and age.
@ JOS (#30,34): right on.
Posted by RT on from Home of the Houston Disastros 06/09 at 02:59 AMThank you, RT.
Right on cue, I just made a very goofy post for Friday.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/09 at 06:27 AM
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