Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Bukowski's reminder
will comment on topic later
for the moment...nothing can describe how good this is....
Posted by michael on from exile 11/19 at 07:49 AMGood morning,
Bukowski’s too right; many of us simply don’t consider the misfortunes of others unless they get all ‘up in your face’. Others still find it too easy to keep them as ‘others’ despite close friend or family being one of them.
It really shouldn’t be this complicated. If we all just behave respectfully we’d have a lot less crap to shovel.
Like your Robin Hood story from yesterday...is it really a classic NYC moment? I don’t think of kindly strangers handing out money when I think of NYC, but more like him would make a better day for everyone (attitude I mean, not necessarily the cash - although that would be a nice bonus!!)
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 11/19 at 08:48 AMThat video is so awesome, it momentarily made me forget about Segolene Royal.
Thanks for the CB quote again-- worth it for pointing out that Buk website alone! And alas, when my aunt from Denmark visits, my mom usually drives her around town, so I don’t really know what it’s like to be a tour guide of the subways here.
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 11/19 at 08:49 AMI know Seth, so I wonder if maybe it was more of a classic Seth moment than classic NYC moment…
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 11/19 at 08:52 AMGood morning, Expendables. It feels more like November here today. 44 degrees at the moment.
Michael: Excellent video. I may have to re-post it here soon.
Empress: When I say “classic,” I guess I mean more for the fact that something that absurb is always happening here and the natives just take it in stride.
Right, Cat Lady?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/19 at 08:54 AMCat Lady #4: Yeah, stuff like that tends to happen when Seth is around. As for yesterdya, I think he and I were most curious to see if it was real money.
I’m off to the gym now. I’ll see you all later.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/19 at 08:56 AMi adore it
“neitzcshe is accusing the referee of having no free will and marx is claiming it was offside”
Posted by michael on from exile 11/19 at 09:00 AMListening to Tom Waits sing these words . . .
“Climb down from your cross,
we could use the wood.”Here’s a little story relevant to yesterday’s post (didn’t have time to comment).
In fall ‘97 I was out of North America for the first time, studying for a semester in London. One evening I was boarding the tube to see some Shakespeare performed when just behind me two tall black men with long white robes and white skullcaps stepped onboard. They sat across from me, smiled, and one of them asked me “are you a muslim?” I had kind of a long goatee in those days, but they might have just as easily assumed that I was a poet or that I had no taste.
Anyway, I told them I was not a muslim, that I wasn’t an anything, and a long, respectful, and very in-depth discussion on religion ensued. The other passengers listened on with interest and without hiding it. The two muslim men were really troubled not so much by the fact that I rejected their religion (because it was/is a “religion”, which I haven’t had any use for in my adulthood) but especially because I wasn’t much interested in “god”.
What was so memorable about this was how pleasant it was to respectfully disagree with each other, and in public (such that the other tube passengers, usually glued to their tabloid newspapers, were obviously and unashamedly amused). I know I came away from that conversation with a much better idea of why someone would be a believer, and I think those two men also gained something.
The climate in the London Underground, like everywhere on the planet, has changed some in the last few years.
Great link by the way Michael.
Posted by Keir on from The Hague (Jackowski election hdqts) 11/19 at 09:07 AMYeah, that’s right, both about Seth, and NYC-- that thing in the park was classic for here in the ‘expect the unexpected sense.’
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 11/19 at 09:09 AMi have read a bit of bukowski stuff and as much as he is nihilistically profound he often just sounds like a dirty old man
Posted by michael on from exile 11/19 at 09:30 AMmorning everyone…
in defense of NYC, there has been many a time that I have witnessed extraordinary acts of kindness there. Not that throwing money in the air so that people mob you is an act of kindness.
Catch you all later...my Jets are playing Chicago’s Bears today.
Posted by JOS on from I used to be a New Yorker 11/19 at 09:35 AMfunny you should say that, michael...that was the name of an article he write, “notes from a dirty old man” or something like that.
Posted by JOS on from I used to be a New Yorker 11/19 at 09:37 AMi knew that, but i dont think “dirty old man” is something to wear as a badge of honour
Posted by michael on from exile 11/19 at 09:40 AMAmelopsis #2 said, “...Bukowski’s too right; many of us simply don’t consider the misfortunes of others unless they get all ‘up in your face’. Others still find it too easy to keep them as ‘others’ despite close friend or family being one of them....” That is so true. A while back I started to visit a local nursing home on a regular basis. I did not know anyone there but asked the management to direct me to anyone who never had visitors come to see them. There were many abandoned people there. I sort of adopted 5 of them. One, an elderly deaf lady. She was cheerful in spite of the fact that her deafness had isolated her there. Another was an older lady who had lost her ability to walk. I often visited her during mealtime after I realized that she could not feed herself and there was no one to help her. She often went hungry. One of my “adopted” friends was a facinating blind man. He had spent a lifetime working on the railroad and had great stories to tell. Some of these people had no family. Others had families that were very distant but some others were just abandoned. One wise old man I remember always used the phrase “thrown on the ash heap”. A couple of days ago someone here at Mickey’s said that maybe the best thing we can do to change the world is to practice kindness in our surroundings. I think he was right. BTW, the nursing home that I visited was the “best” in the area. One of the things that I learned on my first visit was that the residents there who need help are not allowed to go to the bathroom when they need to. They were allowed bathroom privileges only on a schedule that fit in with the staff. Think about the indignity of having to wear a diaper only because no one cared enough to help. Maybe that was one of the things that bothered me the most...the dehumanization that goes on all over this country to anyone who is without money and power.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/19 at 09:52 AMHello again, everyone. Another great day of conversation here. Thanks, all.
I have a video to add to the mix:
http://tinyurl.com/u266sPosted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/19 at 11:07 AMWell that’s a piece. Youngfox tells me it’s a scene from Jesus Camp, which I’ve not seen, but apparently they have those kids speaking in tongues, writhing on the floor weeping etc.
And CNN would have us believe that we need to view their footage from the exotic and war torn middle east to see children being indoctrinated with hate.Here’s something from left field: Michael you’re in Korea right now and I have another blogging friend whom I might ask the same thing.... Do you see a lot of animal markets there and do you come accross restaurants serving any manner of what I would describe as ‘cruel’ dinner? I see so much of this about Asia (eviscerating cobras in front of diners to serve them up just like choosing a lobster from a tank here - and worse)
I wonder what you have to say of your own observations on this first hand?Captcha says “question”
Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 11/19 at 11:46 AMreading Keir´s story reminded me about the last time a religious guy accosted me on the metro, in the spring. My favourite way of dealing with these guys is to get superspiritual on them and funnily enough they usually back off. So a Hari Krishna comes up to me with some book “written by he divine master Somebody” and I tell him I´m not into things by guys who call themselves masters. He sez Hey you realise the effort it takes to write a book? and I sez I´m a writer. He sez What do you write about? and I said Infinite consciousness. He sez Well this infinite consciousness has got to come from somewhere hasn´t it? pointing to his books, and I sez Well if it´s infinite the idea of locality is kind of redundant so it comes from everywhere and nowhere. He sez but surely you don´t believe everything is all chance?
The word chance in Spanish is “casualidad” and I sez the notion of causality didn´t resonate with me either, I feel that everything can exist harmoniously together in one present moment instead of chains of cause and effect and other time-binding notions. To this he sez But if I tap you on the hand you´re going to feel something - twas funny he started talking infinite consciousness with me and swiftly reduced it to talk of Pavlovian kneekjerk. I didn´t respond to him, he had this puzzled look in his eyes about his own response; plus he figured I wasn´t an easy sale so he dashed away from me.Posted by owen on from schmarcelona 11/19 at 04:09 PMkneekjerk = kneejerk
Posted by owen on from schmarcelona 11/19 at 04:11 PMI like that approach, Owen. It reminds me how every time I am approached in the subway by a “Jew for Jesus,” I want to tell them I’m a Buddhist for Allah.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/19 at 05:09 PMI lived in Texas for two years back before George W. Bush (then known more honestly as “George Bush Junior") was the gubner there. I was studying at the University of North Texas. I was accosted by religious types on a daily basis. Everyone wanted to invite me to their bible study. Finding new ways of dealing with wide-eyed uber-Christians (and the occassional hairy fishnuts) became a real challenge. Owen’s approach seems pretty decent, though perhaps time-consuming.
Posted by Keir on from The Hague (Jackowski election hdqts) 11/19 at 07:01 PMYeah, Keir...Owen’s style is more agreeable than this.
Captcha sez: born (as in “again”?)
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/19 at 07:10 PMApproached By Religion Dept.: I used to be frequently, but lately haven’t been approached by Jesus freaks. Maybe it’s God’s way of saying that my responses are solid enough that He’s wasting His time.
Did I just write that???
Am awaiting Richard Dawkins’ “The God Delusion” from the local library. I wonder if God’s Beat Cops are trying to limit its circulation, as happened with Proulx’s “Brokeback Mountain” (stolen, lost, late, etc.).
Other News #1: has anyone yet coined the term “rump Constitution”? If so, I’m counterfeiting with great satisfaction.
Other News #2: I thought the Bukowski documentary “Born Into This” was pretty good, though I haven’t read much of his work.
Captcha sez “general”
Salud!
Zen ProlePosted by Zenprole on from Urth 11/19 at 08:37 PM
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