Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Buffed and ready for genocide
Good Morning All… Great post here today, Mickey. I got the vicarious feeling that I was there in NYC walking the blocks with you. It got me to thinking that if Vermont was flattened out it would be bigger than Texas. I REALLY liked your conversation between Ol’ Chris and the Indian.
Since it’s story telling time, here’s a story with religion, sex, and mystery.
Oh my God.
I think I’m pregnant.
I wonder who the father is.Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 06/24 at 07:17 AMHappy Saturday from rainy Austin.
Multiple decades ago, I spent a summer in Morelia with my sister CowSlutBitchHell and her first husband, Clueless Macho Man. (Damn, was he hot, though...looked like ol’ Chris Columbus of the triangular Circle’s trainer...ever notice that trainers are always three times as hot as clients?) It was a wonderful experience, except I was in the first trauma over my mother’s sexual abuse of me (she was just leaving the grooming phase preparatory to her gettin’ it on with me). So I was a complete pill. Nothing was right. Nothing could please me. I was a horrible little shit, in short, and my sister put up with me and with that behavior and was even, as best as she could be, kind and tried to show me a good time.
All these decades later, I still think back on that trip as a high point in my life because I was away from my abuser for a while. I’m sorry I had no resources to tell my sister what was happening to me. I know for certain that, in spite of her prickly spiny unpleasant ways, she would NOT have tolerated that kind of thing at all for even an instant.
What the Native Americans needed was big sisters. Columbus woulda run scared of my big sisters. CowSlutBitchHell coulda stopped the whole Spanish Inquisition with a few well-placed and perfectly timed glowers, a derisive snort, and a dismissive, “Boys and their toys, after all.”
They woulda just slunk off and been ashamed. I just know it.
Posted by Mudge on from Austin, Texas 06/24 at 07:26 AMUhhh...what happened to Michael from Scotland Via Korea’s story? I go away for a minute and something changes...anyway, I haven’t seen the Empress or my husband CatLady around here in a while. Anyone know where they are?
Posted by Mudge on from Austin, Texas 06/24 at 07:42 AMmickey, sometimes you come out with stuff i think
is just fantastic.“buffed and ready for genocide” is one of the best lines and ideas i have heard since you wrote abotu the possibility of noam chomsky crowd-surfing after his next lecture.
mickeys great story today is about what surrounds you in your home area. my story today is about being away from home and missing it or not.
“Did not strong connections draw me elsewhere, I believe Scotland would be the country I would choose to end my days in.”
Benjamin Franklin
i can honestly say when i was in nepal i never got homesick once. there was so much going on and the people were just incredibly nice all the time. for the record, i have now been to 10 countries and from my experiences so far i think nepal and scotland are the best two places to be - i think it is therefore obvious that i like mountains.here is different, it comes in waves. sometimes it is there and sometimes not.
it is always very difficult to put your finger on what it is you miss about your home. sometimes, for me it is the attitude that people have at home i miss. other times, when something happens you think of a particular person and think “it would have been perfect if THAT person was here to see this too, s/he would have loved this”
then there are times when you get attacks of wondering what is going on with all your friends and family. yes there is email and yes there are phones, but how much of what happens to each of us in a day do we tell someone else. how many of our thoughts do we really communicate?
you go away inthe knowledge that the people and the things that have been your life will have moved on a step by the time you return and you won’t know or be part of it. i honestly think this is why people are sometimes scared of leaving for a while, and it is a scary thought if you have been away for any length of time.
it is a sort of paradox (if that is the right word), you are never more conscious of where you are from than when you are NOT there. you become more interested in the cultures and mannerisms of your home when you are away than when you are at home.
in the same way that the soil that a plant grows in will determine its shape and development, the area that surrounds us through our lives and the cultures therein will often select which lens we choose the view the world through.
here are some of the attitudinal things that i miss....
“Scotland small? Our multiform, our infinite Scotland SMALL? Only as a patch of hillside may be a cliché corner to a fool who cries “Nothing but heather!”
Poet Hugh McDiarmid (1892-1978)
“I think I have made it clear how important drink is to the Scottish character. Is it any wonder how many Glaswegians (people from glasgow) hold teetotalers in such great contempt. In Glasgow, we’ve always enjoyed the ancient ceremony of throwing teetotalers into pubs on Saturday night”
Arnold Brown (lecturing to a class of immigrants about local customs).
Robert Burns is said to have watched as a sailor jumped into the harbour to rescue a rich man who had fallen into the water. As a reward, the rich man gave his rescuer a shilling. The crowd became angry at the small amount but Burns observed :
“This gentleman is the best judge of the value of his own life”.
“Aye, I’m telling ye, happiness is one of the few things in this world that doubles every time you share it with someone else.”Attributed to Sir Harry Lauder, comedian and entertainer (1870-1950)
“There is no sunlight in the poetry of exile. There is only mist, wind, rain, the cry of the curlew and the slow clouds above damp moorland. That is the real Scotland; that is the Scotland whose memory rings the withers of the far-from-home; and, in some way that is mysterious, that is the Scotland that even a stranger learns to love”.
H V Morton, English travel writer, in his classic book “In Search of Scotland” written in 1929.
Posted by michael on from exile 06/24 at 07:46 AMHello Expendables. First of all, let me explain that Michael sent me that story via e-mail and I misconstrued that gesture as a request for me to post it. Thus, it has been deleted.
Okay, enough formalities. Thanks for your kind words, Michael. Your story was touching. I have not done nearly enough traveling in my life but I could envision that same feeling of homesickness for certain.
RMJ: You summed it up in three lines, huh?
Mudge: I love the idea of seeing Columbus (or any human in power) as an abuser. Sometimes, in order to appreciate how bad we’ve screwed up here on Earth, it helps to view the dominant culture as an abuser or even a rapist. Reducing it to such a personal level helps light a fire in terms of how serious things are and what needs to be done.
So...has anyone clicked on “Hitler Cats” yet?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/24 at 09:00 AMForgot to mention: I have not heard from the Empress and I have left a comment on her blog (perhaps a few others can do the same?). As for Mudge’s husband, the straight male Cat Lady from Hell’s Kitchen, he’s probably home preparing for a soiree he’s hosting tonight. I’d expect a cameo appearance soon.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/24 at 09:03 AMi thought the hitler cats thing was a throwaway line - didn’t notice the link. going to look now.
mudge, thats incredible stuff. i want to say something about it but not having went through that sort of thing i don’t know what to say.
Posted by michael on from exile 06/24 at 09:13 AMTrue enough on #6, MZ-- rarely has my neighborhood’s name felt more appropriate than right now-- enjoy the weather, everyone, while I slave over a hot stove, and blender, and oven, for anyone that can make it tonight… Yikes, only several more hours, so much food processing ahead of me yet! Remember, you can’t have you chocolate avocado pie until you eat your spinach-kale cream dip!
I might click on the Hitler cat link, but the one pictured already looks too much like my older one for my comfort…
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 06/24 at 11:21 AMSeguing from Hitler Cats (the guy shown here is the hands down winner), I recently saw an 80 year old silent movie about Napoleon in which so many of the personality traits which Hitler exhibited--megalomania, “triumph of the will”, supreme belief in The Cause, etc.--were all already there in the much extolled European ideal of the “Great National Redeemer”. FYI, review of an interesting book by Enzo Traverso.
Posted by sk on from 06/24 at 01:27 PMHello again. Have fun at the party tonight, Cat Lady. With chocolate avocado pie and spinach-kale cream dip, it sounds like the night will be a smash. Sorry to miss it...Michele and I will make the next soiree for sure.
SK: Great to see you. Thanks for the links. It sure seems like the beat just goes on, huh?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/24 at 02:56 PMGreat story today MZ; I both laughed and cried. You also reminded me that I need to start doing some curls again…
@ RMJ: still laughing and crying, albeit now more succinctly.
@ Mudge: see response to RMJ above. Good stories y’all.
Okay, so here’s my little story for today; very much related to NYC. I also have a related poem, but will save that for another post. The poem is one that I wrote shortly after 9/11, and MZ’s post today reminded me of it. Anyway, here’s the story first:
A Call To Recall: Personal Reflections on 9/11
by RT
I was “out of town”, in a small Texas town, all alone, when the ringing of a nearby telephone woke me up out of a deep sleep:
“Hello?”
“Did you see what just happened?”
“No - what just happened?”
“Turn on the TV! Two planes just crashed into the World Trade Center!”
“What? You serious?”
“Yes I’m serious! Just turn on the TV! This is terrible—I just can’t believe this is happening! You must see this!”
“Okay, okay. I’m turning on the TV right now.”
“Gotta go—I have more calls to make. I’ll call you later today.”
“Okay.”
Click.
So I turned on the TV, and lo and behold, there it was: the New York skyline ablaze, showing on every major television network.
Immediately upon seeing the scenes, my mind began to race like greyhounds do at the dog track. I don’t think my eyes blinked for a half hour as I tried to make sense of it all.
I couldn’t move from the chair. I stared numbly at the screen while the robotic press corps fed me a never-ending stream of updates and information regarding the situation.
Like so many others that day, I was overwhelmed with feelings of both sadness and anger. I felt bad for all the lives just lost, and then began thinking of all of the things that could follow: more attacks, retaliation - perhaps nuclear, the end-of-the-world, and so on.
But one thing I knew for certain: the policies and actions of my government helped create the conditions for such an atrocity to happen in the first place, and that one day those policies and actions would come back to haunt us. Such was 9/11.
And although I was traumatized and deeply saddened by the events that day, much like everyone else I know, I had hoped that it would at least serve as a wake-up call to Americans on numerous fronts: political, economic, and social. As for me, the actual wake-up call I recieved that morning prompted me to recall a few things, namely:
I recalled the events of 1993.
I recalled the various military actions of the U.S., especially in the Third World.
I recalled the protests against the WTO in Seattle just two years earlier.
I recalled my delight to again step on U.S. soil after a week-long trip to London, safe and unharmed from the long flight across the Atlantic.
I recalled my life-long desire to visit New York City to see the cultural diversity and historic landmarks there.
Maybe one day.
But perhaps most notably, as I scanned the images of a smokey New York skyline that day, I recalled my love and admiration for the Statue of Liberty, and what I’d like to believe the statue is supposed to represent: liberty and justice for all.
Again, maybe one day.
THE END
Posted by RT on from The Buyou City 06/24 at 04:15 PMAs promised, here’s the poem I wrote:
Mediacracy
The papers are tossed and they fall in ascent.
Quite common, with the abundance of paper.On their heads they see the bold print,
They’re always in line, not in between lines.
Preceonceived notions remain,
Decisions and actions escape them.But then they all had started the day,
They left their homes on their way to the station.
Preconceived notions intact,
And then the reaction had happened.So shallow are words from those who ‘know best’,
King always correct with his great words of wisdom.
Preconceived notions prevail,
More decisions and actions to follow.Miles of malls, Gods play with their dolls,
To buy and sell hearts, and to mold and shape minds.
Established structures intact,
While using the paper for power.But if papers are burning and falling, descending,
Have they finally learned how to read papers?September 14th, 2001
Posted by RT on from The Buyou City 06/24 at 04:19 PMGreat stuff...thanks for sharing, RT. We’re almost 5 years removed from 9/11 and it be abundantly clear that it wasn’t “the event” that woke up the populace, huh? Now go do some curls…
I’m planning a 9/11-related post tomorrow, btw.
Off-topic: Did anyone see that beautiful goal in the Argentina-Mexico match?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/24 at 06:26 PMMZ, consider those as my contributions to Expendable Writing Month…
Re: curls - with or without the drink, MZ?
Actually, Im in self-rehab at the moment. Wish me luck.
And wishing good weekends to the rest of y’all (from an uncomfortably hot and humid city near the Gulf Coast)
Posted by RT on from The Buyou City 06/24 at 07:35 PMWell then, RT, make that most definitely without the drink.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/24 at 08:33 PMMan, you better be feeling less under the weather and off having a great time tomorrow, because this thing here turned out to be a blast regardless of my initial trepidations of low rsvps… not sure what all the other Expendables’ excuses for not showing were, though! Next time… okay, now almost done cleaning up so less excuses for not writing that novel tomorrow. Almost July!
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 06/25 at 03:10 AMOk, I feel bad about what happened to the Indians. I feel bad about slavery. I know these things were wrong and white people from Europe have caused both atrocitys that shaped America’s history. I often wonder what can we do about those events now? None of us were alive at that time. Not any living white, black, and red people were alive back then. I wonder what good does it do to be angry about it now.
Posted by David on from Louisville KY 06/25 at 07:27 AMHi David. Thanks for stopping by. I’m running out the door but felt I needed to reply.
There are atrocities happening every minute of every day. There’s slavery today. There are indigenous peoples being chased from their land and being killed for their land. We can’t change what was done in the past but we can make the connections to what is happening—on our dime—today.
I’m not going to be around for a few days. Would love to continue this conversation upon my return, okay?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 06/25 at 07:38 AMI’m two days late here, but what the heck…
Firstly thanks to all of you who were wondering about my absence from the Expendable hang-out. Work has been stressing me as well as being very busy and that’s my only excuse for having all but ignored the internet for the better part of the last few months.
Anyhow - I felt compelled to second Mickey’s thoughts in response to David from Louisville’s musings on historical atrocities.
It is my most ardent belief that it is incumbent on us as human beings to do what we can as individuals to ensure that other living beings are fairly treated. Much more easily said than done.
To attempt this, every individual must make drastic and meaningful changes to most things in their day to day lives...beginning with being mindful and then taking it slightly further every day in the smallest of ways.More easily done than I think most would willingly admit, since it all comes down to individual choices. Only as MASSES of individuals can there be real change.
Now I’m rambling...doubtless evidence of my giddiness at being back at the comfy CO.
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canadia 06/27 at 02:41 PM
Next entry: A 9/11 question to help you forget I'm not around this week
Previous entry: Bush joins U2, Gandhi gets violent, plus: Israeli logic, Thai bathrooms, & Sherlock Holmes
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