Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Monday, December 12, 2005
I hate Christmas
Can that possibly be Mrs. Reagan on Mr. T’s lap?
We’ll just skip breakfast this morning… because that just goes too “far.”
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 12/12 at 09:00 AMI was coming down to London on the train yesterday, looking out the window and pondering the fact that everything beautiful I could see was natural, everything ugly manmade - then saw the most amazing thing. A huuuuge dark cloud, right to the horizon, turned blood red, with misty woods and fields underneath. You know, one of those “woooow, the whole skys on fire” kind of sunsets. Beautiful.
Got to my sisters, turned on the news: http://tinyurl.com/bmwtf
Absolutely nothing to do with anything, but I enjoyed the irony, if not the gigantic toxic cloud.
I like christmas. Days off, family, food...great.
Posted by mew on from london 12/12 at 09:15 AMGood morning, Mew and Hawk. Yep, that’s Nancy with Mr. T. Sorry for the small image but I’m trying to reduce loading time for this page (and bandwidth usage).
Mew: I’m not clear. Was the sunset you saw really coloring caused by the big fire? And yeah, Xmas can be cool in terms of amily ritual and, indeed, time “free” from the mind-numbing work life. I agree.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/12 at 09:18 AMThe huge cloud was from the big fire. It was being coloured by the sunset.
Posted by Mew on from london 12/12 at 09:21 AMWow, Mew...what an image. Nautral beauty attempting to “put” a mask on the toxicity of human progress (sic).
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/12 at 09:24 AMYou know, Mickey, I vaguely remember Nancy sitting on Mr. T’s lap. I would’ve been in my early 20s at the time, and the image tweeked me pretty good. Somehow, all of America is wrapped up in that photo....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO 12/12 at 09:55 AMG`Mornin, Mickey & Hawk & Mew -
Nice to see you guyz.
This IS a strange time of year, yes?
In Mexico City, the biggest popular celebrations I observed took place not on Christmas, but on Mother’s Day… fireworks, parties all over the place, lotsa music everywhere… somehow, I found it very endearing.Hawk, your blog is wonderful.
And, I very much enjoyed your piece on Elie Wiesel, Mickey… very powerful reading. The phrase: “this professional sufferer” - is extraordinary, and applies to much of the pro-Israeli ‘industry.’
Superb stuff, Sir.Mew - that’s a helluva big black cloud! Well, looks clean to me. If I lived in the path of that vast, boiling darkness, I’d not be at all distressed because, after all, it’s being monitored by the “Health Protection Agency!” What more could a happy populace ask for?
Mickey, after I read your piece at CounterPunch, I clicked on a link to an article called “Sons of a Laboring God.” Good piece, but I was most outraged - and continue to be disturbed by the quote that began the essay:
“Too much public education only gets working people riled up and full of backsass.”
- Virginia Sen. Harry Flood ByrdNow THAT… is an American!
Posted by joe on from Oregon 12/12 at 10:54 AMAnd so-- anyone know where the Christmas tree comes from? The Tree of the Nine Worlds, from Norse mythology, to continue a theme of sorts; look it up, it’s true, not just my Nordic bias… like the NYT article points out, it’s easy to forget the real history of this holiday… don’t even get started about what mistletoe’s really all about.
Mudge, yeah, Minority Report really wasn’t so bad at all, but just not the Phil Dick movie I would have wanted to see. I read a rumor that if Scanner’s successful, the producers could move on to other of his novels and not just short stories.
“hell"-- not kidding. Which is itself a take-off from the Norse “Hel”.
Posted by James on from 12/12 at 10:59 AMI read a rumor that if Scanner’s successful, the producers could move on to other of his novels and not just short stories.
Hello James. Your quote here reminds me that, while walking across a park to catch a bus the other day, I ran into a Boulder fixture named Bruce—a guy I’ve seen around since I moved here in 1991, scraggly beard, says “Dude” and “no way” in every sentence, and is no doubt on a perpetual high due to longterm use of a certain molecular combination adding up to the letters L-S-D. He had just gotten off a pay phone and said, “Mike, have you read Ubik?” I tolk him that yes, I read it about a year ago, and enjoyed it immensely. He said that he just completed a screenplay for Ubik, and was in contact with the producers of the upcoming Scanner Darkly movie. He, like you, James, believes that there will be a slew of PKD movies coming out, especially if Scanner goes well.
Bruce says he’ll let me read the script in about a month, when he’s ready to send it to the producers. I hope he follows through—I think Ubik would make a great movie, with the strange roadtrip theme that runs through it.
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 12/12 at 11:15 AMJoe—thanks for the compliment. It helps to know that folks visit my blog for things other than to steal the images (which I’ve stolen from someone else, of course).
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 12/12 at 11:16 AMHi Mickey
Yes, this time of year can be a confusing, even difficult time to be a member of our society. Last year I coerced you into buying my book “Christmas Wishes” by the old manipulation - you buy one of mine, I’ll buy one of yours. If you’ve read it you know I’ve struggled with this Holiday, trying to seperate the gross commercialism from the higher possibilities available in it. In particular I direct your attention to my story “My Fellow Americans, God Bless Us, Every One.” The President as Scrooge! Anyway, my contention is that if we can progress beyond all the in-fighting and general serious silliness, the Yule season can be a great springboard for wonderful change and good things. Turn the Holiday into whatever you want it to be, and then lead by example. Just some quick thoughts, and I apologize for the self promotion.
Posted by Rev Joe on from 12/12 at 11:18 AMRegarding the “Hawk” handle: it may be confusing to anyone reading the comments at Spontaneous Arising, since I have a “Hawk” who writes-in almost every day, a “Hawk” who is not me.
He is, in fact, my poppa.
He’ll be proud to know that I’m Hawk over here—and he’ll just have to be Wayne if he ever comments at Cool Observer....
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 12/12 at 11:24 AMHawk, that’s the coolest thing I’ve heard in a long time-- and those handy spray cans of Ubik make great holiday gifts. A Clans of the Alphane Moon movie would be the wildest thing ever… okay back to work, don’t want to get fired for Christmas.
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 12/12 at 11:30 AMHello Expendables. So much to say but not enough time...so let me give Rev. Joe a quick reply for now because it’s been a while. I’m sure you know my Xmas post was a somewhat tongue-in-cheek reaction to the hoopla about Xmas being dissed.
Also, I have zero “problem” with anyone engaging in shameless self-promotion here (as long as they don’t get in the way of my own rampant self-promotion, I guess). Feel free to post a link to your book, please.
Be back soon, gang.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/12 at 11:54 AMWell, if self promotion’s ok, I have a nice idea: while I’m not up to promoting my book yet (have neither site nor copies) I will happily send some of my writing to anyone who wants. One story in particular, Sherlock Holmes and the Underpants of Death, is a somewhat less than serious revision of The Hound of the Baskervilles.
That’ll be my Xmas gift to anyone who wants to spend ten minutes reading something very, very silly indeed.
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 12/12 at 12:05 PMThanks for the Shameless Self Promotion invite, Mr. Z. The simplest way to get my book is to go to:
http://www.noblebeastpress.com/
You can just click on the image of the book cover on the Christmas Wishes page and it will take you directly to the publisher, where I make a heck of a lot more Xmas green if you buy it direct. It can also be had at the usual online vendors or, preferably, ordered from the local independent bookstore(ISBN 1-4184-7782-6).
And enjoy the pretty pichurs at the Note Cards page of Noble Beast Press.Posted by Rev Joe on from 12/12 at 01:37 PMWow Hawk-- just checked out your blog, and besides the whole thing looking like awesome fodder for getting less work done (meant in highest flattery...)-- you kinda look like PKD himself! Though ten years younger than he was.
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 12/12 at 01:56 PMyou kinda look like PKD himself!
There can be no higher praise, James!
Is it the far-away gaze in my glazed eyes?
[Also, a little confession: they think I’m working like a maniac at this here ‘puter....]
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 12/12 at 02:06 PMpartly the beard (similar confession)
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 12/12 at 02:07 PMChris -
I’d be delighted to read a copy of “Sherlock Holmes and the Underpants of Death.”
Sounds like just the sort of weighty stuff preferred by old codgers like me…
My email is:Thanks very much for the Christmas gift… When’s the book coming out?
Rev. Joe - The pic of the Noble Beast looks quite a bit like a slightly smaller version of my rottweiler-lab, Elliot. She smiles ( which looks suspiciously like a growl… or like a psycho-dog, manifesting a bad case of rabies ) - she smiles when she’s very happy, or when she thinks she’s done something “wrong.” It amazes me that a puppy would watch people, and perceive that they show their teeth when they are pleased…
And… that she would “buffer” her discomfort when being “scolded,” by seemingly trying to remind us of our “happy” times…
Animals are remarkably interesting beings, and generally much more pleasant than “humans under Capitalism.”Your book looks wonderful - as does “Surf Zombies and Other Horrors.”
Where is Turlock, down south?
I’ve lived in Kensington, East Oakland, San Francisco, Napa, Carmel, and Seaside… with several long stops in LA, which I don’t like much, and San Diego, which I almost loved… Don’t think I’ve been to / thru Turlock, however.
Much luck with your new book, Rev.Posted by joe on from Oregon 12/12 at 02:50 PMHi everyone…
My captcha word is “death” as I sit here waiting to see what Arnold is gonna do with Tookie.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/12 at 03:44 PMMickey: Mine says to go “easy.”
Auspicious?
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 12/12 at 03:52 PMJust heard, Mickey.
You know what I heard.Posted by joe on from Oregon 12/12 at 03:52 PMDamn.
Posted by Hawk on from Boulder, CO, USA 12/12 at 03:58 PMArnold may one seek redemption for the blood on his hands. We can only hope he finds a more mercy than he was willing to give today.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/12 at 04:11 PMI send ol iron face an email but he obviously decided not to show clemency to himself, pobrecito.
I´m reading Scanner Darkly at momentm here´s a Robert Crumb depiction of that time Dick claimed to be chanelling a higher intelligence (like Socrates and Goethe, who called it their daemon).
Mudge, I googled my surname, thar be Kilfeathers in Florida what?
Posted by Owen on from Barcelona 12/12 at 04:42 PMHere’s the statement from the Terminator: http://tinyurl.com/bw9yo. Made to sound as dramatic (cinematic?) as possible.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/12 at 05:04 PMIt appears that his book dedications were “the last straw.”
Be sure never to dedicate your books to anyone besides conservative Republicans, Mickey…Here’s a fine piece on capital punishment, from Mike Whitney. Among other things, he speaks about polls, which ask people their opinion on capital punishment. He continues:
“But, that, in fact, is not the question. The real question is whether or not the state has the right to kill one of its own citizens. That is the only question that should concern us...”“trouble”
Posted by joe on from Oregon 12/12 at 05:33 PMWell, I have just finished reading the denial of clemency for Tookie Williams statement, and I have to be honest, I am convinced. Schwarzenegger is a madman. How else to describe someone who has it in their power not to kill, who can think about it, and then, after giving it much consideration, after having lunch, calmly, dispassionately, one might even say happily, then decides to let the murder occur? No “just following orders” for him (that’s for the scumbag whose paycheck comes from delivering the injection). No. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered this murder. I wish him the misery of understanding what he’s done.
Posted by Keir on from The Hague 12/12 at 05:49 PMIt’s a vile day’s work for all involved, that’s for sure. A terrible loss and an ending. Anyone ready for a little of The Ballad of Reading Gaol right now?
Dear Christ! the very prison walls
Suddenly seemed to reel,
And the sky above my head became
Like a casque of scorching steel;
And, though I was a soul in pain,
My pain I could not feel.RIP Tucci
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 12/12 at 06:04 PMSorry, I posted before reading the Mike Whitney article that Joe linked to. Whitney, of course, says it much better.
Posted by Keir on from The Hague 12/12 at 06:20 PMThe Seattle Times asks: “Can a killer be redeemed?” (http://tinyurl.com/ac76a). Unfortunately, they were not talking about Arnold.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/12 at 06:38 PMDeath Row, in California, America’s most “liberal” state:
12 down…
654 to go…Bush, Chaney, and Rumsfeld killed more people before breakfast, than all the street gang - bangers in the US, combined, this year…
Posted by joe on from Oregon 12/12 at 07:19 PMCan anyone tell me the average amount of time a prisoner spends on death row? I was talking about it just now and I thought I’d heard 11 years as the average. Anyone have a more accurate number? I’ve heard a few that vary, but 11 years was the best I could remember.
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 12/12 at 07:23 PMHave just read the article about “can a killer be redeemed?” Tucci was arrested on my fourth birthday. ####! He spent most of my life behind bars, just for this cheap Humvee driving wanker to sign him off as part of the Republican nod? #### him. I heard Arnold has 11 Humvees, all doing something like 12 to the gallon. So Arnold has done incalculably more damage to the earth in those 26 years than Tucci could have done even if he became a Really Successful gangster. To recall that Monty Python phrase, makes you want to chew your own foot off.
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 12/12 at 07:27 PMSome death row stats here: http://tinyurl.com/7f797
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/12 at 07:32 PMI need to say something right now about the timing on this shit. I only heard (my bad, off the right loops) about this execution at the weekend. So, I sent an email to that small dicked cretin in the governor’s mansion and got the regular automated cocksuck by return, quicker than it would have taken to put the mails in a pile and read them. No surprise.
Today, I got two classes of kids to write clemency letters. I didn’t tell them what to write, just gave them the raw facts and they lashed them together to say something (collectively) along the lines of “pull back.” So far, so good. Too late to send to the States in time for tomorrow, I know, but I was hoping Schwartz would give him a little more time.
This is now irrelevent.
However, Clarence Ray Allen is the next due to die on Jan. 17, 2006. I suggest we all get as many people as we can to specifically use Tucci’s death as a lynchpin to write in, shame the buggers into clemency if we can, but cause whatever fuss possible to prevent this. I know nothing whatsoever about Clarence Ray Allen but killing a man behind bars is like kneecapping someone in a wheelchair.
In the name of the next people to have this horrible last night of sleep Stanley Williams is now bravely enduring, can I suggest we throw all our weight behind this? Get as many people as we can to express their views in writing to these shallow, pointless bastards?
I can honestly say I have no idea what it feels like to be condemned, or to have someone else kill a loved one. I don’t feel that invalidates my views because, powerful as they are, these experiences are subjective; society needs to be objective and most particularly about the issues of life and murder.
“San Quentin, may you rot and burn in hell.”
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 12/12 at 07:39 PMCheers Mickey for the link. I was so busy foaming over my last post I didn’t notice until just now, so cheers.
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 12/12 at 07:41 PMYeah, these executions really trouble me, but this one, especially, pisses me off. I can list the reasons, of course, but the most significant reason, I’m sure, is that -
I’ve paid more attention to this one, than I usually do, to such things. In other words; watching a murder in progress - any murder - is a horrid experience…This is the case, not surprisingly, with almost everything the Empire undertakes to do: If I pay attention, I’m horrified.
Governments, any and all with which I’m familiar, are organized crime -
only organized crime. And, true to their calling, the gangsters who run the world, do so with murder and terror and incredible, almost ubiquitous barbarity…Posted by joe on from Oregon 12/12 at 08:14 PMThat’s a very fair point and well put. Marlon Brando claimed The Godfather was his comment on government, and it’s true. There’s a few great points in P J O’Rourke’s Parliament of Whores, one of which is “would you shoot your granny to pave I-95?” It’s all gunpoint dealing and Joe, you hit the nail on the head.
Posted by Chris Wood on from Manchester, England 12/12 at 08:38 PMThis is the case, not surprisingly, with almost everything the Empire undertakes to do: If I pay attention, I’m horrified.
Spot on, Joe. Spot on.
There’s this rich old lady living in another part of the States who made that very same observation for herself. But then, realizing her progeny was wreaking havoc upon the world, she drew the conclusion that it would be better not to trouble her beautiful mind with such thoughts.
The dying words of Nero’s mother, for those who like a good, trivial tangent, were “smite my womb”.
2:50 in The Hague. See ya’s tomorrow.
Posted by Keir on from The Hague 12/12 at 08:42 PMPerhaps the whole thing could have been better settled with a Pay-Per-View cage match between Tookie and Gov. Sperminator. I might have even gotten my TV hooked up to an antenna or cable for that one. The late great Bill Hicks once had a bit about using the terminally ill and condemmed as living expendable stunt people in the movies ("Do you want your beloved Granny to spend her last day hooked up to machines, watching her last heart beat through her translucent skin work its way dowm her blue veins - or do you want her to meet Chuck Norris?").
In the end it’s just one more thing the “State” does in my name, without my permission, and about which I get no actual say. Representative Democracy is a crock! At least the way it is currently being practiced. I wonder how much of the Governor Gropenfuehrer’s statement he actually comprehended? Maybe at some point in his lifetime he will comprehend the depravity of this decision.Posted by Rev Joe on from 12/12 at 09:00 PMWhen I worked at a ritzy gym in the 80s, I got to know Arnold a little. Make no mistake, he’s not stupid. Not even close. He’s got a cunning mind and has marketed himself well from Day One. I don’t often agree with Jesse Jackson these days but he got it right when he said this was a political decision. In time of doubt, politicians pander to what they perceive as their core constituency.
Bush signed off on over 100 executions in Texas and was rewarded with two terms in the White House and his finger on the military trigger.
When Clinton was first running in 1992, he was considered soft so, he rushed back to Little Rock to oversee an execution...proving he had the balls to be president. The man he watched die was so mentally disabled, he refused his last dessert, saying he’d eat it when he got back.
Like any hack actor, Arnold will not stray from the script.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/12 at 09:12 PMMickey - I did not mean to imply that Awwnold was stupid, more that the statement didn’t sound like his own words, and I seriously do doubt he would understand the language contained in it without help. My brother was into body building and we had our own run-ins with him out here in Colliefawnia, as well as with people in the Weider organization who knew him well. The word you used - cunning - is right on the nose, and the same could be said for (P)resident Bush. As bad as Bush’s grades were, and as happily as he plays the idiot, there is a nasty bit of cunning behind it, the same sort one sees in all psychopaths. Have you ever read the book “Without Conscience”? A pretty interesting look at the psychopathic mind. After I read it I had a whole new perspective on our “leaders” and the type of personality that seeks out that position.
Posted by Rev Joe on from 12/12 at 09:25 PMYeah, sorry if it looked like I was responding directly to you, Rev. I’ve just heard so much about what an idiot this or that politician is and it struck me to say something now.
Good to have you back on the board, btw…
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/12 at 09:38 PMCynical take on Arnold’s choice: http://tinyurl.com/dvapu
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/12 at 09:42 PMKeir, what a tremendous phrase: “Smite my womb.”
Mrs. Bush might say that at least twice, for, through her ultra-elite portal, both G.W. and Jeb, emerged into our world… ( Smite my planet!)Rev. Joe, one has to wonder, if Arnold actually had to perform the execution himself, either in the “ring,” or just by pushing the button, whether or not Tookie would be spared. Those who bathe regularly in blood seem somehow terrified of getting it on their hands.
Mickey -
What a frightening, revealing bit of information about Mr. Clinton - the man who, almost single handedly, constructed the stage upon which the Bushistas have performed their magic.“No thanks, I’ll eat it when I get back...”
Posted by joe on from Oregon 12/12 at 09:43 PMYeah, Joe, and there’s another Clinton and Bush on the horizon.
It’s 10:12 pm in Astoria. With a heavy heart, I sign off. Thanks, everyone.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 12/12 at 10:12 PMDamn it...what a waste. Hello everyone.
Talk about premeditated murder.
Posted by JOS on from PR 12/12 at 10:19 PMWell, Hello Big Country!!!
Very, very good to hear from you, my friend.It IS premeditated murder, isn’t it? We’re watching a murder unfold, and we’re entirely unable to stop it.
There is a famous scene in “The Deer Hunter,” in which DiNiro and pals go off into the forest to hunt. DiNiro had been to VietNam and back, and is not quite the playful buddy he’d once been. In their hotel room, a friend ( “Fredo” from “The Godfather” ) waves a pistol around and, with mock-menace, points it at various people in the group. DiNiro grabs the gun, grabs “Fredo,” shoves the gun in his face and says: “See this? This is just this… it’s just this...”
An incredibly powerful moment.
I wish I could somehow hold government in my hand, and set it amidst the murdered and tortured and tormented, and exclaim the same thing… over and over again, till someone actually heard my cry…
Posted by joe on from Oregon 12/12 at 10:38 PMJust got back from the festivities at the Transportation Alternatives holiday party where I heard the news… ech. Hope tomorrow brings brighter things. Maybe by week’s end there’ll be a transit strike to wake people up about things around here…
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 12/13 at 01:19 AMAgh… just got back from the Transportation Alternatives holiday festivities where I heard the news. Ech-- maybe the next few days will bring brighter news, like a NYC transit strike to wake people up around here.
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 12/13 at 01:26 AMIn the Empire, one day ends and another day begins… It’s very dark outside…
Posted by joe on from Oregon 12/13 at 03:01 AM
Next entry: What will Tookie's death mean in the long run?
Previous entry: Fight Card: Steve McQueen vs. George W. Bush, Arnold vs. Tookie, and Mickey Z. vs. The Mythmakers
Copyright © 2005-2007 Mickey Z.
