Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Friday, July 13, 2007
The Blackout of 1977 (30 years later)
Good Morning Mickey...yeah...I’ve done the inventory thing in a couple of places. It’s like another form of torture by the capitalistic system.
1977 was nothing special or even interesting for me. One of my few memories, I was seeing my first shrink, hoping he could give me some insight into my insanity. I saw him for 3 years, nice man, never once did he offer to pay me. I spent much time assessing popular ideas.
Other than that, the only thing happening was a source of great experimental music out of Europe.
Posted by joe of maine on from 07/13 at 09:41 AMI was at the Mets-Cubs game that night. Len Randall was at bat when the stadium lights turned from white to orange then out. The emergency generators came on after a few minutes then the organist started playing Christmas songs and everyone sang along for a while then left in a very orderly fashion. I remember private citizens directing traffic on to the Grand Central Parkway, and the rest of the drive home was rather usual except for the invisible skyline of Manhattan from the George Washington Bridge. All was normal [sic] back in New Jersey.
Posted by bdaly on from Upper Saddle River 07/13 at 10:37 AMOk, so here’s a story:
I was waiting for the 2 train this morning on the 14th street platform reading one of the latest books from AK Press, a collection of essays edited by Stevphen Shukaitis and David Graeber, entitled “Constituent Imagination: Militant Investigations, Collective Theorization.” It’s a great book, certainly not as confusing or pretentious as the title may make it appear (although there is an essay by Antonio Negri that would be practically impenetrable for those uninitiated to his brand of dense Marxism). The book is essentially an anti-authoritarian take on research practice, and intellectual practice somewhat more generally, and how such practice can aid radical social movements without falling into the trap of the academic ivory-tower tradition that seeks to impose a privileged form of knowledge from above.
Instead, the book investigates ways (through theory, education, and practical application—including an essay on the DIY movement) that researchers can form a non-hierarchical, parallel relationship with the objects of their research (especially social movements), in order to offer intellectual aid as a kind of gift—not as a form of authority. It may sound like it’s especially geared towards radical academics, which it is, but there’s also ample discussion of alternatives to academia, such as the DIY model, free schools (like the Toronto Free School), radical bookstores and others. Anyway, I digress…
The point of this story was supposed to be that, while I was waiting for the train and reading this fantastic and engaging book, a guy next to me on the platform taps me on the shoulder and pulls out THE SAME GODDAMNED BOOK. Now, this would have been no large coincidence if I had been reading, say, Jonathan Safran Foer’s ubiquitous “Everything is Illuminated” or the latest Danielle Steele tome, but we’re talking about a book written by anarchists, for anarchists, and, as far as I know, there’s only one place in all of New York that you can even buy it (Bluestockings).
So, needless to say, it was quite a rare episode of chance (or maybe books on militant research are flying off the shelf, who knew?). Even more, the guy ended up being really interesting himself—author, Wobbly, organizer with Peace Action NY, and political science professor at Brooklyn College (where he ditches grading and exams, which he loathes, for class debate and self-evaluation). We ended up riding the train for quite a while, discussing theory and praxis of militant research, education, activism, political art, and even the films Matewan and Reds, and how they’re both wonderfully subversive movies about the labor movement (so much so that I’ve heard that when Matewan came out, many video rental chain stores refused to stock it).
I ended up being a half-hour late for work, which we both agreed was a good thing, exchanged information, and were off. It was an unexpected, but thrilling start to my day, and reminded me why, even though living in the heart of the beast can be maddeningly frustrating sometimes, I really do love New York.
[btw, if any of the others here don’t know who I am yet—due to the fact that one’s web-page link doesn’t appear on one’s comments here—my blog is friendlyagitate.net]
Posted by jason on from greenpoint, brooklyn 07/13 at 11:28 AMgood stories everyone.
scotland used to play england once a year at football (soccer) in an international (ahem) friendly. in 1989, when i was only 12, there were a lot of things going on. the drive for scottish independence was in an up phase (as it is now - for the record, as a political scientist i am certain we have another downturn to come and then at the crest of the next wave in about 20 years or so we’ll have it - thats a rational analysis, heart says sooner).
thatcher was never popular in scotland and she made an inflammatory gesture at a non-national team competition the previous year - she turned up.
this led to 80,000 scots (bipartisan in terms of the two teams) showing her large novelty red cards and singing ‘maggie maggie get to ####’ and ‘dennis thatchers wifes a whore’ for the whole game. she never did come back as far as i know.
no one ever liked her but the vitriol was partly so bad because she was introducing an unpopular poll tax and using scotland as the guinea pig to see if it would work in england. in other words we werent happy.
at the same time in england, the depression she caused had led not to a drive for english independence but a drive toward rightwing neo nazism.
these two things were to clash that day. scotland and england have never played an (ahem) friendly since.
i was on the bus on the way to the game. there were a couple of thousand english in town. rumours were running about incidents in the train stations, the bus stations and various pubs. the traffic was busy with everyone trying to get to the stadium.
then we see 4 english guys, unprovoked, jump on to the bus we were on and drag someone out the bus we were on and proceed to beat the shit out of him.
some scots guys in the pub across the street saw this and dived out. those english guys got a hiding (scottish word for a kicking) and were dragged off somewhere i know not where.
12 years old i was. i had seen some stuff like this before at games but not this bad. before it had always been about a hundred folks at most and the police had it relatively under control. it was partly because of this game that new police tactics were developed and that this sort of thing just doesnt happen at football anymore.
i looked up the street and this scene was happenign everywhere. the police could not keep the thing under control at all. there were at least a thousand people involved.
the english neo-nazis had come up to cause trouble that day and on the appropriately named ‘battlefield road’ that day they had bitten off more than they could chew. ordinary scots folk were setting about them because of the unprovoked attacks on random scottish people.
at 12 it scared the shit out of me. by 13 when it happened on the smaller scale in different games i used to sit as close as i could to watch it all unfurl.
they now try to avoid letting scotland and england play.
Posted by michael on from scotland 07/13 at 01:27 PMin the interests of fairness i should say that the scots did this to englands ground in 1977 but it was only over-exuberance after an unexpected victory. there were not random attacks on random people, just a pitch invasion and a general trashing of the pitch
<br>Shot at 2007-07-13
Posted by michael on from scotland 07/13 at 01:45 PMHello Expendables from a cloudy Astoria. This has been an excellent, excellent day for stories. Thanks one and all.
And Jason, I’ve added you to my blog roll. That should increase your traffic by at least one or two visitors per year.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 07/13 at 02:30 PMDemocracy (sic) in action (sic:
http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2007/07/13/always-check-the-microphone/
Posted by James on from work 07/13 at 04:05 PMMichele and I just came home from “Water Taxi Beach”
http://www.watertaxibeach.com/index.htmlJames: They have tofu dogs there…
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 07/13 at 05:10 PMI was out on a date that night with an older woman (I was 17 and she was 19...and I was besides myself with joy...she was pretty cool and she liked me). We had just come from the West Side in a taxi when we turned around and saw the entire West Side go black.
The East Side (we had just arrived at 65th and 5th Avenue) followed a couple of moments later. She had been living in India for a couple of years (her father was an executive vp with Union Carbide...wanna guess where he worked) and her first comment, “Oh this used to happen all the time in India...particularly during the conflict with Pakistan...” I pointed out that this was NYC and it wasn’t supposed to happen at all...the last time being 1965 (which I also remember).We wandered around the East Side for a while, enjoying the carnival like atmosphere and getting slightly loaded. She lived in a large apartment building with a big exterior garden around it. Since the doormen were busy and somewhat “blind” we climbed over one of the obstacles and spent many hours lying on the grass talking about all manner of things. One could actually see stars that night in Manhattan.
Mickey, hard to believe it’s been thirty years, huh?
Posted by The CultureGhost on from Concord CA 07/13 at 10:58 PMIt seems virtually impossible that 30 years have passed, Ghost. Thanks for sharing your story.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 07/14 at 05:57 AMHello all - Stories ? Mmmmmm?? Well, 2 lil’ ones come to mind about the summer Manhattan/Northeast blackout from several years ago - post-9/11 == 2003. My middle (23 at that time) kidlet and his 19 yr old sister had just flown in and settled into the Marriott Marquis, xx floor, for a 4 day Theater stay and general goofing around - extended week-end. The younger urchin had just re-set the a/c when - zonk - the bathroom lites flickered and - wham/thud - no juice for the in-room “what’s happenin’ at the marriott this week-end tv-pix” faded to black. Teddy called out from the bathroom stool - “Hey - doofus—what the hell just happened?” == Tessa shot back, “ Don’t call me “doofus” = in Spanish - no less = u know ma said we’re supposed to get along and act decent this trip to NYC!” = Rocketman (Teddy often plays the EltonJohn foil to his dueling piano-partners BillyJoel) fired back - “Allegere encima - de cucaracha!”—and the back and forth exchange continued - unabated - till the toilet flushed and ++ El hombre Ted y el pequeno azoto abajo de la escalera mas cercana del fuego para encontrar el pasillo encendido radiante mientras que el generador de la emergencia tareno ++ So much for NYC decorum and Times Square at Rush Hour mahem - smile -! Teddy and Tessa ambled out of the Lobby and into the streets of mid-town Manhattan on a Thursday -5pm- hot n’ muggy afternoon. The FoxNews Team was already set-up and filming “man-in-the-street interviews” for later remote from the scene broadcast. (Murdoch never misses a moment to cash in on reality!)—Theodoro—jumped right in and bagged a minute or 2 in his best Mexico-City style dialect while his “Tessa de la hermana de la bobble-muneca” looked on. Our first post-workday clue that anything was up - came from Peter Jennings during the 5:30 cdt broadcast of World News Tonight. “What next?” Our lil’ grandbebe - Jaelyn Maria Rosario Moraga “M” - had just turned 4 months that day and grandmama was fussing - putting together yet another “care-package” of sleepers and a Target giftcard for baby supplies destined for the next morning’s mail. We learned early the next day all about “the Pee-Wees” big adventure—through a very early am call from a friend that someone who sounded like Teddy was featured on a newsclip on the Fox and Friends Morning Show. Go figure—and mama thought I was “el unico looney uno en la familia” (smile) == http://tinyurl.com/2bjtfe == as only Big Appleites would have it! == captcha says - lights - camera - “action”
Posted by Richie on from st cloud / n ft myers 07/14 at 07:23 AMmorning all
another story, back to nepal this time.
i was team leader of a group doing voluntary work in nepal. when we were walking up to the village in which we were doing our work it was a bit of a hike. up to 14000 feet and then back down to 12, starting at about 6000.
one of our group had fucked his ankle in a bit of drunken mayhem so he was finding it tough going. as team leader i was trying to run up to the guides and ask them what was going on, how far to go etc and also trying to run back down to see if the folk in the rear were ok.
now, the nepali way of being nice is to tell you what they think will make you happy, if that is not the truth then so be it. it is well meant but it can be frustrating.
me - “is there anything in this jungle we should be concerned about?”
guide - “no”
i didnt believe him at all so i kept at it and eventually he said “leopards”
me (a bit taken aback) - “oh. is it a big problem?”
guide - “last year leopards killed two people so people killed 10 leopards”
now we can get into the rights and wrongs of killing the leopards but all i want to say about it right now is just going into a village and telling someone who has just had their brother/wife/husband/child killed by a leopard not to kill the leopards is an attitude that needs a bit of work.
anyway, the guide was carrying a large walking stick thing. i asked him if we should all have one? what is it for? does it make it easier?
guide - “you’ll see”
thats all he would say.
this is still fairly low altitude and i was lucky to see him do what he did because he did it in a flash and it was undoubtedly the most stylish thing i have ever seen.
a bit further on there was a snake on the path. black, with a red underside. he walks on AND WITHOUT EVEN BREAKING STRIDE the stick was under the snake and the snake was 20 yards down the mountain allowing us to go on.
SO UNBELIEVABLY FUCKING COOL
Posted by michael on from scotland 07/14 at 07:48 AMMichael - yikes—I love the way your stories == intrique - unwind - ascend - and crescendo in simulcast—“u just wanna be there” - STYLE == First class tale - my brother—and all other Mickey Z LaFamilia daughters and sons—HAVE A GREAT SATURDAY.... LEOPAED SKIN BAGS and the MUSIC VID == From = SNAKES ON A PLANE = http://tinyurl.com/p8837 = featuring a cameo appearance by Samuel L Jackson == a way cool actor and artiste’
Posted by Richie on from st cloud / n ft myers 07/14 at 10:09 AM"That should increase your traffic by at least one or two visitors per year."
Thanks, I guess that will just about double my readership then.
Posted by jason on from greenpoint 07/15 at 09:25 PMI was sitting in my living room making a bowl of mac and cheeze...funny how time flies...then I would never though I would be so heavily involved in gaming.
Posted by Kevin on from 02/13 at 01:21 AMHehe, this is an extencive post! Interesting though, you were early with a personal shrink.
Hehe lots of strange comments here as well, I to have visited Marriott Marquis.Posted by Punk rock on from London 05/28 at 10:43 AMI want back
Posted by sexspace on from 07/31 at 08:15 PMGreat post. I wonder what it was like in those times.
StrollerPosted by Daniel on from 08/12 at 04:58 AMGreat article. This would have raised quite a free eyebrows back then.
<a href="http://myglycoshop.net>Glyco</a>Posted by Dan on from 08/17 at 09:16 AMGreat article. This would have raised quite a free eyebrows back then.
Iveco DailyPosted by Mike on from 08/17 at 11:16 PMGreat post.
Buy Tramadol OnlinePosted by Glyco on from 08/19 at 05:00 AMGreat post. really enjoy the blog.Keep it coming man. thanks
Posted by SilkRoad Online Gold on from NEWYORK 08/30 at 04:57 AMGood Morning Mickey...yeah...I’ve done the inventory thing in a couple of places. It’s like another form of torture by the capitalistic system. These stories are simply GREAT! Your articles are more than awesome… Must admit that you are one of the best bloggers I ever saw.You are putting very good effort into the stuff you post.
Cheers,
Nail ArtPosted by False Nails on from USA 10/06 at 08:53 PM
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