PittsburghThoughts

Steely Dan - Black Friday(1).

Here it is, what some retail marketing genius sardonically dubbed, "Black Friday". Go forth and spend...sucker. I should talk, lately I've been spending more money than two hunkies from Mckees Rocks on payday. But, "Tis the season" fa la la la la and all that shit.

I admire the Jews in some ways, they have the temerity to NOT teach their kids about that gay, philanthropic eccentric who lives at the North Pole and his magic powers and flying reindeer. The Jewish religion's very existence depends upon the eschewal of outrageous, contemporary culture, but then again they don't bother with Jesus either; the godfather of western tradition/religion. They do, however, covet the money that issues forth from the rest of us godless hypocrites on that most holy of capitalistic enterprises, Christmas. Racist? No, envious.

But, Jews aren't alone in that regard, paraphrasing Tina Turner, What's God got to do with it? Having money AND religion should be akin to having your cake and eating it too. If you have one, you shouldn't be able to have the other. The Jews bypassed that conundrum entirely when they killed Jesus. Since then, they've been passing rich men through the needle's eye all day long and twice on Sunday. You've got to hand it to them, your money I mean.

I hate the Jews no more or less that the Catholics or Protestants or any of the other random, capricious belief systems that man has created to fill the vacuum of his soul, waking to find himself an orphan, alone on a hostile planet without even a candle and a match.

Somehow we made it though, are making it, God be damned. He's a good leaning post post simply because he's never there. He never lets us down. When he fails us, it's because WE failed him. Gota love it.

Today, when you confer your sanctifying graces to those salivating retailers with their secret Chinese torture chambers, living large in impoverished capitalistic havens, remember me to the one who lives there, the bait and switch impresarios, the puppy mill folks, the environmental who gives a fuckers, oh, and remember Saint Steely Dan's admonition, "When Black Friday falls, you know it's got to be, don't let it fall on me."   Steely Gene

A friend sent me this, enjoy, 

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Dear friends,

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In some ways, I like Thanksgiving because there is no emphasis on presents, no mad rush for shopping, no hustle and bustle of lists and chores and decorating and trying to cram in too much in a week or so (let alone feeling "festive" about it all). And, okay, the food aspect ain't so bad either! But the pace of Thanksgiving is one I wish we had throughout the year more often--slow and easy, hanging with folks we like (hopefully), not feeling too guilty about eating, enjoying the crisp fall air before winter sets in.

Let's face it--sometimes life stinks. It's hard. It gets harder as we age. It doesn't turn out the way we think. You can't even remember what it is you wanted to do, let alone accepting a lot of it isn't going to happen. Our time for "us" is short--we're too busy focusing on work, or children, or things that "have" to be done. Age starts creeping in and you find your conversations are often about friends with recent illnesses or infirmities or bad news. It's so easy to have all of this absorb our thoughts, our time, our energy.

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So Thanksgiving is a good day to take the time to think about the good stuff as well. For me, that means thinking about all of you. The friend who drove me to the airport on a wintry Christmas morning when I was in crisis; the friends who take in my mail and water my plants while I'm away; the friends who always call on birthdays and holidays or before or after trips to see how I'm doing; the friends who come to my crazy game nights and put up with all my "rules"; the friends who invite me on a spur of the moment picnic or over for dinner; the friends who call for no reason except to catch up; the friends who have seen me on and off-stage and actually think I have something to contribute; the friends who let me come out and play ball all summer and even begrudge me a compliment or two when I bat well; the friends who take hikes with me in the woods when I want to decompress; the friends who invite me to visit for vacation; the friends (that would be ALL of you) who listen while I talk and talk and talk and talk and...okay...you get the point.

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So here's to all of you at this Thanksgiving...for giving of yourself, for letting me be me in my own flawed way, for doing things with me and being there for me and keeping me afloat when I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. You have helped make my life more interesting and rewarding and rich. All my love!

Beth

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PS Here's something to consider for your Thanksgiving day crowd http://www.savedarfur.org/page/s/thanksgiving.

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And, as usual, a couple of my favorite quotes:

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Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.

Morning Homily,

If you've ever pumped good money after bad into an old car in the mistaken belief that you were somehow appeasing the "Car Gods" and that after substantial sacrifice and credit card overload that they would finally bestow their blessings on your ill repairable, hunk-o-junk and make it whole, you've probably heard the news about the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause too.

The best myth of all, best in terms of successfully getting people to believe the utterly impossible, is that, war brings peace. Peace brings peace, war brings more war. The counter myth, Christianity cuts those bonds with the past and thereby gives mankind permission, through Christ, to not engage in endless retribution and or revenge and to seek to make life on Earth more palatable. Go and sin no more, go forth and multiply and at the core of every "Christian's" belief system; "That guy over there starving, is me, that family shivering is mine, I have extra, here, take what you need."

But Christianity wasn't the west's gift to the world, that would be Democracy. Democracy is sort of the political arm of Christianity. In this country, since Reagan, the enemies of Democracy, the republicans, begrudgingly, embrace the larger meme, Christianity, for to deny Christ, is to crucify him again and again and even the most heartless republicans won't stand against Christ, yet. They'd rather slowly, methodically pervert his teachings one by one until, even Christ, is lost in obfuscation and confusion.

In their expediency to create heaven on Earth for the few, democracy becomes and easier target even though more people died for democracy than ever died for Christ. But, since they believe themselves to be reasonable in the fact that, rather than actually becoming the Anti-Christ and having to explain to their children and grandchildren why they love evil so much, they are satisfied to become the surrogate saviors of the rich and even, through the power of mass hypnotism, the poor.

And so, they lurk in broad daylight, in their think tank war rooms, their K Street whore house and in their most magnanimous incarnation; the mega-chruch flim flammer replete with over-punctuated delivery and sporting event spirituality.

While it may appear that the erosion of principles, both Christian and democratic are unwitting, they are not, useful idiots can always be harvested to make a strong case against proletarian self interest. To recognize thus, we need to be constantly reminded that we only achieve abundance when we progress as a whole, otherwise we...forget.

The scene: The Bloodsuckers Ball, The White House, Transylvania, USA. Cue the bass drum:

Dr. Moreau: What is the law?

Sayer of the Law: Not to eat meat, that is the law. Are we not men?

Beasts (in unison): Are we not men?

Dr. Moreau: What is the law?

Sayer of the Law: Not to go on all fours, that is the law. Are we not men?

Beasts (in unison): Are we not men?

Dr. Moreau: What is the law?

Sayer of the Law: Not to spill blood, that is the law. Are we not men?

Beasts (in unison): Are we not men?

Dr. Moreau: Mr. Parker, do you know what it means to feel like God?

The beasts eventually abandon the law and turn on their creator:



From Wikipedia:

Island of Lost Souls is a sci-fi/horror film starring Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi. Produced by
Paramount Pictures in 1933 from a script co-written by science fiction legend Philip Wylie, the movie
was an early film adaptation of the H. G. Wells novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, which Wells published
in the 1890s.

I saw this movie on television when I was a kid, it scared the shit out of me. It still does, only now its resonance to terror, like all great horror classics, has transcended its medium and has become allegorical to the world in which we live.

In his dreaded “House of pain,” Dr. Moreau created his man/beast nation, educated and nurtured them but like the Frankenstein monster, they eventually turned on their creator for daring to become God.

Our creators, the founding fathers, stitched together a fledgling nation; we too have forgotten the law. We too are descending into primal chaos and terror.

We are now auditioning writers and actors for the second act of the great American novel to be written over the next 4 years. They may fail or succeed in their quest for national redemption but the part we play in their drama remains within our control and that is OUR redemption. Gene

I once posted a link to one of James Johnson's videos; A Bush Man. Here's more of his eerie, surrealism. I hope he disturb and entertain you as much as he does me.  http://www.jameswjohnson.com/movies/jwjvids.htm

 Black Summer #0 by Warren Ellis, art by Juan Jose Ryp

Call me late to the party, but I had no idea Bush was already dead in Comicbookland. That's Superhero, John Hourus standing amidst the carnage. Like John Horus's comic book hero predecessor, Popeye, once said, "That's all I can stand, I can't stands no more!"

This month's, The American Prospect did a politically inspired comic book expose' in their Culture & Books department. I'm mirroring what they have done; showing a gruesome scene from someone else's work that really expresses my sentiments. I'm shocked that Black Summer had the guts to do this and although, The American Prospect is available online, I cant' find any reference to this article in their archives... playing it safe I guess. 

The American Prospect's point; comic book art depicting outrageous political acts is nothing new, Captain America punched Hitler out in 1941 and Superman hawked war bonds during WWII but the sophistication of today's comics is unprecedented.

American culture may save itself after all.  Gene

Since it's the first of the month and, since I haven't been been around lately, I thought I'd drop in to say hi, Hi.

There are lots of things to talk about, especially in the political spectrum but so what? Bush has said, he's going to either do what he wants or not do what he doesn't want. The man is a monster and Congress won't or can't slap him down.

Maybe Laura could shut off the pussy but I doubt if Bush has had a hard-on since he was high.

Our idiot savant has become what he has always wanted to be. He has us by the balls and will no doubt make an 11th hour power grab. We'll do what we always do, nothing.

Congress will bitch, moan and cry foul. Henry Waxman will issue subpoenas, historians, politicians and pundits will fume but everyone will be in the thrall, held captive by the audacity of hopelessness.

I hope it happens. I want the American people to see who they are; powerless drones, props in a C-movie, stupid and subservient. I want our rulers to rule, no more equivocation, send dissenters to the gallows, break out the guillotine.

You can't stand by and let evil sink it's claws into your neighbor and then scream, "No Fair," when it comes for you.  Gene