I was very moved by John Colapinto's admiring and sensitive interview with Paul McCartney in the New Yorker. It's not online but an audio tape of Colapinto is, talking about the interview.
I have not read the biography of the Beatles, and though they were huge in my childhood and adolescence, I had forgotten them lately. But as I read about some of the songs this man wrote, and his relationship with John Lennon and the fact that neither of them could actually read or write music, I had a strong desire to revisit their amazing output again.
My mother used to boast that I made her buy me my first Beatles record at the tender age of 3. It was Meet the Beatles and I had her playing it over and over, scratched out of recognition, until it occurred to her that she could buy another one and defer going crazy until the next one came out. The last Beatles record my parents chose for me was Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. By then I was 7 and after that I picked my own. The Beatles were my religion for a while. I experienced prolonged spiritual ecstasies as I bought, opened, danced and made up words to their records. I was moved by the playful energy of the music, by the urgent vibrancy of the young male voices. When songs were sad I knew their sadness was honest and simple, not hokey and twisted like Mexican telenovelas. I also bonded with my parents over the Beatles. My mom told me that when they first came out, they were really shocking, at least to her. She didn’t like them. They were too rebellious. They looked weird with those mops of long hair and the skinny jackets and skinnier ties. My dad liked them from the very start. He once informed me that he could not abide Paul McCartney. He much preferred Lennon, despite his self-important antics and the hideous, talentless wife. I was surprised because McCartney seemed to me to be the goody two shoes of the pair and thus, a better role model for me. I thought it was very cool that my dad liked the less saccharine Beatle. My dad had a way of revealing what little of his rebellious soul he had left in him with comments like that. For instance, when I asked him about marihuana some years later he said, “Don’t try it. It’s too good.”
“Love”, “girl”, “you”, “dance” “happy”: I could understand most of what the first Beatles’ records said, but Sgt. Pepper was like the Rosetta stone. I went from Meet the Beatles to Sgt. Pepper with only the benefit of A Hard Day’s Night and Help! in between, but no Revolver or Rubber Soul, so it was a major shock. Something had changed that made my spine tingle. For starters, that album cover looked like an altar for the Mexican Day of the Dead. My dad tried to explain who some of those in attendance were at the funeral of the electric guitar. I recognized Marilyn Monroe and Chaplin, but that little kid slumped in the corner looking right at you in his striped pullover gave me the creeps. There were people even my dad didn’t recognize, and he knew everything and everybody. I had no idea of what the songs of the Beatles meant and that made Sgt. Pepper all the more esoteric. A song like “For the benefit of Mr. Kite” ignited my imagination with strange, almost apocalyptic images, perhaps because the only words I understood were “fire” and “horses”. The word “handkerchief”: in “She’s Leaving Home” was the object of almost Talmudic speculation. Some years later I was slightly disappointed to learn that it is something to wipe your nose with. There were lyrics in the inside jacket. That was new. And why were the Beatles wearing those lollipop-colored satin jackets and alarming facial hair?
“What happened to them?” I asked my dad. “Drugs”, he said. Both my parents blamed it on the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whom they viewed with distrust, just as they blamed the Beatles’ later demise on the wives – Linda and Yoko. My mom hated the wives. Linda was the bland, charmless, shiksa heiress to the Kodak empire, and Yoko was Japanese, ugly, unkempt and obnoxious. They were both singularly untalented but were bent on making art and music as if they were gifted by association (this was the received wisdom at home. Don't shoot the messenger).
Until fairly recently, listening to the opening chords of any song of those first records -- “Anytime at all”, or “I’ll cry instead”, made me feel what can only be described as instant joy. Not the memory of joy, but joy itself, bubbling up from a hidden recess in my self, concrete in the quickening of my heartbeat, the swift appearance of a smile in my face, the lifting of burdens off my back.
Then, not too long ago, as I copied them into my ipod, I found their eagerness to please irritating, which disturbed me greatly. They seemed too bubbly, too easy, and they didn't uplift me anymore. What happened to me? Better not think about it too much. I stopped listening. Yet after reading Colapinto's piece I'm ready to open my heart to The Beatles once more. I'm pretty sure they will not disappoint me and I will not disappoint them.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Notes from a curmudgeon
I was telling my theater-loving friend Don that American audiences on Broadway need to learn to curb their enthusiasm. First, they clap when a famous actor enters the stage, which is wrong. They interrupt the flow of the play and it must be awful for the not so famous actors on the boards. Then they give standing ovations to a fart, a cable, a backdrop, a cough drop. They have learned to ape this horrid behavior from the audiences in talk shows on TV. Take a look at the Tonight Show or Oprah or The Price is Right and then check out the Broadway audience. They think it's the same thing. They also hoot and holler and whistle as if they were in a rodeo or at a baseball game. It drives me crazy.
I think standing ovations should really be reserved for the apex of genius. and those instances come along very rarely. One can express one's appreciation for a performer by clapping really hard and screaming Bravo or Brava, as is the case, but one only stands up at the sight of absolute greatness.
I just hate when the inevitable moron in one of the first rows stands up in order to be acknowledged by those on the stage, not the other way around, and then the rest of the sheep feel compelled to do the same, so the entire theater stands whether they feel the ovation is deserved or not. Thank God, here in NY the theater people still have their wits about them and they do not fabricate curtain calls when few are deserved. If it was up to the audience, we'd be there all night, screaming like teenyboppers at the sight of their idols over and over and over. It's vulgar.
One of the nice things about the opera crowd is that it is a highly opinionated crowd, and operagoers do not stand for communal cheerleading. If they don't like someone, either they mute the applause, or they hiss or they even boo. And the screams of Bravo and Brava are well earned and well deserved, highly idiosyncratic. The theater should be the same.
I think standing ovations should really be reserved for the apex of genius. and those instances come along very rarely. One can express one's appreciation for a performer by clapping really hard and screaming Bravo or Brava, as is the case, but one only stands up at the sight of absolute greatness.
I just hate when the inevitable moron in one of the first rows stands up in order to be acknowledged by those on the stage, not the other way around, and then the rest of the sheep feel compelled to do the same, so the entire theater stands whether they feel the ovation is deserved or not. Thank God, here in NY the theater people still have their wits about them and they do not fabricate curtain calls when few are deserved. If it was up to the audience, we'd be there all night, screaming like teenyboppers at the sight of their idols over and over and over. It's vulgar.
One of the nice things about the opera crowd is that it is a highly opinionated crowd, and operagoers do not stand for communal cheerleading. If they don't like someone, either they mute the applause, or they hiss or they even boo. And the screams of Bravo and Brava are well earned and well deserved, highly idiosyncratic. The theater should be the same.
Looking for a subject
I spent most of the morning scanning the headlines, looking for a suitable subject to share with you, my darling readers. Couldn't find one. I don't want to talk about anything. Not about Lindsay Lohan's rehab redux, not about Hugo Chavez strongarming the soap opera and dreck purveyors in his country, not about the fact that American soldiers in Iraq are being killed by the same people they are training and they are starting to be very fed up (what's taking them so long?); not about that weird David Remnick assertion in the New Yorker that The Sopranos is a comedy. That really is news to me. I thought and hoped it is a tragedy. But maybe Remnick has seen the last episode, where Carmela and Tony live happily ever after, without punishment or legal persecution. It seems rather unlikely, no?
Not about the fact that Miss USA fell on her ass and was loudly booed by the Mexico City audience at the Miss Universe Pageant (another strong indication that there is no God, only Donald Trump). The reason for the booing: the appalling immigration debacle here in the States. The reason for falling on her ass: a perfectly good example of an apt metaphor. That's how we are these days. Falling on our ass, everybody in the world hurling scorn and derision at us (more than the usual, I mean).
Not about the fact that Miss USA fell on her ass and was loudly booed by the Mexico City audience at the Miss Universe Pageant (another strong indication that there is no God, only Donald Trump). The reason for the booing: the appalling immigration debacle here in the States. The reason for falling on her ass: a perfectly good example of an apt metaphor. That's how we are these days. Falling on our ass, everybody in the world hurling scorn and derision at us (more than the usual, I mean).
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
I'm thinking Obama
The Democratic competitors this year are quite interesting. It is a solid year with Hillary and Barack and John Edwards. I somehow gravitate towards Obama. Like many others, I'm not floored by Hillary Clinton. I despise her stance about Iraq. The fact that I am a woman doesn't mean that I have to vote for her. It would be cool to have a woman president, but it would be much cooler if she stuck to her principles. I hated how she supported Bush after 9/11. You can see the insincerity a thousand miles away. I remember some years ago she had a meeting with Yassir Arafat. The Jews of New York had a conniption. My problem with her is that instead of holding her ground and saying, "listen, this is a free country and I talk to whomever I very well please if I deem it important to do something about the hellhole that is the Middle East; she backtracked and pussyfooted and apologized. She should not have apologized. She should have thought twice of talking to that creep, but come on, even the Israelis were talking to him at that point. So I don't trust her.
Obama, in contrast, I like. I like that he was against the war from the get go. I like he is handsome and intelligent and seems to relate to reality, not only to politics. I'm not happy with his religious bent, but geez, that's the cross we atheists have to bear in this country. Everybody is chums with God, for crying out loud.
John Edwards I like too, but he looks like Ken, Barbie's boyfriend. Maybe we should have voted for him instead of creepy Kerry. Too late. Still, it would be way cooler to have a Black liberal president in the US of A, for a change.
Obama, in contrast, I like. I like that he was against the war from the get go. I like he is handsome and intelligent and seems to relate to reality, not only to politics. I'm not happy with his religious bent, but geez, that's the cross we atheists have to bear in this country. Everybody is chums with God, for crying out loud.
John Edwards I like too, but he looks like Ken, Barbie's boyfriend. Maybe we should have voted for him instead of creepy Kerry. Too late. Still, it would be way cooler to have a Black liberal president in the US of A, for a change.
I have to chime in
Somebody sent me a really offensive email the other day. It was this fake letter from an Iowan asking his governor that he wants to become an illegal alien. The letter is despicable, selective in the information it presents, misinformed and racist.
As much as I loathe to reprint these lies, I do it so you can see what people with a diminished capacity in their brains do with their time. I'm sure all those All-American right wing assholes are congratulating themselves for such an example of what passes for wit in their moronic circles.
Dear Senator Harkin,
As a native Iowan and excellent customer of the Internal Revenue Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance.
I have contacted the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to determine the process for becoming an illegal alien and they referred me to you. My primary reason for wishing to change my status from U.S. Citizen to illegal Alien stems from the bill which was recently passed by the Senate and for which you voted.
If my understanding of this bill's provisions is accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United States for five years, all I need to do to become a citizen is to pay a $2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years. I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process started before everyone figures it out.
Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay taxes every year so I'm excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine. Is there any way that I can apply to be illegal retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for me and my family because we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.
Additionally, as an illegal alien I could begin using the local emergency room as my primary health care provider. Once I have stopped paying premiums for medical insurance, my accountant figures I could save almost $10,000 a year.
Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school applications, as well as "in-state" tuition rates for many colleges throughout the United States for my son.
Lastly, I understand that illegal status would relieve me of the burden of renewing my driver's license and making those burdensome car insurance premiums. This is very important to me given that I still have college age children driving my car.
If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal (retroactively, if possible) and copies of the necessary forms, I would be most appreciative. Thank you for your assistance.
Your Loyal Constituent,
Donald Ruppert Burlington
Get Your Forms NOW!! Call your Internal Revenue Service at 1-800-289-1040.
Please pass this onto your friends so they can save on this great offer!!!!
Here is my response:
Ask this asshole if once he becomes an illegal alien he will be willing to cut his own grass, care for his own children, clean his own house and pick his own food, without health insurance and for less than the minimum wage.
Then he can become an illegal alien.
The immigration bill is extremely complicated and nobody really understands it, but it is not a good bill. It is a political bill, not a practical bill, and therefore it sucks. It is a bill that appeases the assholes who are against amnesty, but it doesn't really do that much for the millions of illegal families that work hard in this country, doing the jobs that no one else wants.
This editorial from the NY Times explains why the bill is mean-spirited.
As much as I loathe to reprint these lies, I do it so you can see what people with a diminished capacity in their brains do with their time. I'm sure all those All-American right wing assholes are congratulating themselves for such an example of what passes for wit in their moronic circles.
Dear Senator Harkin,
As a native Iowan and excellent customer of the Internal Revenue Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance.
I have contacted the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to determine the process for becoming an illegal alien and they referred me to you. My primary reason for wishing to change my status from U.S. Citizen to illegal Alien stems from the bill which was recently passed by the Senate and for which you voted.
If my understanding of this bill's provisions is accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United States for five years, all I need to do to become a citizen is to pay a $2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years. I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process started before everyone figures it out.
Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay taxes every year so I'm excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine. Is there any way that I can apply to be illegal retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for me and my family because we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.
Additionally, as an illegal alien I could begin using the local emergency room as my primary health care provider. Once I have stopped paying premiums for medical insurance, my accountant figures I could save almost $10,000 a year.
Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school applications, as well as "in-state" tuition rates for many colleges throughout the United States for my son.
Lastly, I understand that illegal status would relieve me of the burden of renewing my driver's license and making those burdensome car insurance premiums. This is very important to me given that I still have college age children driving my car.
If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal (retroactively, if possible) and copies of the necessary forms, I would be most appreciative. Thank you for your assistance.
Your Loyal Constituent,
Donald Ruppert Burlington
Get Your Forms NOW!! Call your Internal Revenue Service at 1-800-289-1040.
Please pass this onto your friends so they can save on this great offer!!!!
Here is my response:
Ask this asshole if once he becomes an illegal alien he will be willing to cut his own grass, care for his own children, clean his own house and pick his own food, without health insurance and for less than the minimum wage.
Then he can become an illegal alien.
The immigration bill is extremely complicated and nobody really understands it, but it is not a good bill. It is a political bill, not a practical bill, and therefore it sucks. It is a bill that appeases the assholes who are against amnesty, but it doesn't really do that much for the millions of illegal families that work hard in this country, doing the jobs that no one else wants.
This editorial from the NY Times explains why the bill is mean-spirited.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Noodletown!
If it's three o clock in the morning, and after a night of barhopping in Manhattan, your entrails are screaming for food, you lucky New Yorker have one recourse so fantastic, that I bet that you won't ever be happier at 3 in the morning anywhere else.
Praise the Lord for Great New York Noodletown, on the corner of Bowery and Bayard.
It used to be just Noodletown, then it was NY Noodletown and now it's Great NY Noodletown.
I think it should be called: Most Magnificent Shrine of Wonders and Divine Pleasures Great New York Noodletown, O Happy Day.
You possibly won't be happier doing anything else, anytime else, but at that late hour, the food of the Noodletown is even better, like manna from Heaven.
So you walk in and almost all the tables are taken. I saw a guy eating not one but two platters of noodles. Why not? If your entrails are rioting for food, order the half roast duck, which to my knowledge is probably the best in New York, and the salt baked squid, a fried marvel of salty crunch, and anything else on the menu; you will be forever grateful you went there, and so will your entrails.
We were on our way to the karaoke in Chinatown, but we had to eat first, so my adventurous friends Marta and Berta lit up the night sky when I remembered that Noodletown was open late. We forgot all about the karaoke. We were so happy. I was so happy I just wanted to stay there for the night, then wake up and order some more food. The chow fun with roast pork. Yum.
It was very cool too because Marta recognized a guy who used to dj at some parties, so we invited him to join us and had not only a fantastic dinner, but also a wonderful time with an almost stranger.
These kinds of things should happen more often.
We had been dancing at the Sapphire Lounge, which plays predictable but unoffensive disco and hip hop and nowadays, sadly, reggaeton (at which strains we packed up and left). Then we tried a bar called 205, where you are supposed to give a password or be in the guest list or who knows what. My mantra is Never Beg. We tried our luck. We said we just spontaneously sauntered by. This line has allowed me in twice this weekend, and I think it is more because everybody left town than anything else, but what is always surprising is that once you have been given the keys to the kingdom, you walk into a practically empty space. Meanwhile, hordes outside are begging for entry. It's such bullshit. The music there was very good too, and it took us like two hours to realize that they had space downstairs where hordes were dancing to house music. Bertha, our envoy, came back with reports that it was jammed and the music sucked. Hence, to Les Enfants Terribles, where in a spirit of Gallic rebeliousness, at late times, people are allowed to smoke. There is always a more interesting crowd in that place (read older and foreign) so we walked to that no man's land that is Ludlow and Canal, but the kitchen was closed and our entrails were roaring.
Noodletown beckoned. Total Happiness.
Praise the Lord for Great New York Noodletown, on the corner of Bowery and Bayard.
It used to be just Noodletown, then it was NY Noodletown and now it's Great NY Noodletown.
I think it should be called: Most Magnificent Shrine of Wonders and Divine Pleasures Great New York Noodletown, O Happy Day.
You possibly won't be happier doing anything else, anytime else, but at that late hour, the food of the Noodletown is even better, like manna from Heaven.
So you walk in and almost all the tables are taken. I saw a guy eating not one but two platters of noodles. Why not? If your entrails are rioting for food, order the half roast duck, which to my knowledge is probably the best in New York, and the salt baked squid, a fried marvel of salty crunch, and anything else on the menu; you will be forever grateful you went there, and so will your entrails.
We were on our way to the karaoke in Chinatown, but we had to eat first, so my adventurous friends Marta and Berta lit up the night sky when I remembered that Noodletown was open late. We forgot all about the karaoke. We were so happy. I was so happy I just wanted to stay there for the night, then wake up and order some more food. The chow fun with roast pork. Yum.
It was very cool too because Marta recognized a guy who used to dj at some parties, so we invited him to join us and had not only a fantastic dinner, but also a wonderful time with an almost stranger.
These kinds of things should happen more often.
We had been dancing at the Sapphire Lounge, which plays predictable but unoffensive disco and hip hop and nowadays, sadly, reggaeton (at which strains we packed up and left). Then we tried a bar called 205, where you are supposed to give a password or be in the guest list or who knows what. My mantra is Never Beg. We tried our luck. We said we just spontaneously sauntered by. This line has allowed me in twice this weekend, and I think it is more because everybody left town than anything else, but what is always surprising is that once you have been given the keys to the kingdom, you walk into a practically empty space. Meanwhile, hordes outside are begging for entry. It's such bullshit. The music there was very good too, and it took us like two hours to realize that they had space downstairs where hordes were dancing to house music. Bertha, our envoy, came back with reports that it was jammed and the music sucked. Hence, to Les Enfants Terribles, where in a spirit of Gallic rebeliousness, at late times, people are allowed to smoke. There is always a more interesting crowd in that place (read older and foreign) so we walked to that no man's land that is Ludlow and Canal, but the kitchen was closed and our entrails were roaring.
Noodletown beckoned. Total Happiness.
Friday, May 25, 2007
I'm gonna sue yo ass!
A woman is suing the courts in some state because she wants to be able to swear her oaths placing her hand over the Koran, according to her beliefs. Since I saw this in mute at the gym, I don't know what the guys from the ACLU had to say, although I can guess, but here is my suggestion: as this is, supposedly, a country where there is separation of church and state, there really is no reason to be swearing on any religious text whatsoever. Let's swear on the Constitution and everybody will live happily ever after. If I ever were required to place my hand upon a book and swear, I wouldn't choose the Bible. As good a book as it is, it doesn't hold any coercive effect on me. I would choose the Constitution, because it makes sense to swear to uphold the laws, by placing your hand on the laws. Or if given a chance by this increasingly anything-goes-society, I could choose Swann's Way by Marcel Proust, or King Lear or Libra by Don De Lillo (lots of truth in all three).
But the question is, why do we atheists and agnostics have to say "so help me God?" Why do we have to swear upon a book we may respect, but which does not compel us to be honest more than other books? We are very discriminated against in this society. This is not good.
A guy is suing IBM because they fired him for looking at porn sites at work. He comes back with the excuse that he is a Vietnam Vet that suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and this is how he self-medicates, and instead of IBM firing him, they should offer him sympathy and counseling.
Okay. Maybe it is all true. Maybe we should be grateful that he self-medicates by watching porn instead of sniffing crack or taking a gun to a park and blasting away innocents. BUT, this story points to the very American habit of invoking all kinds of lame excuses for all kinds of unsavory behaviors and never ever taking personal responsibility for your adult actions. If you survived both Vietnam and IBM, as affected as you are, you are an adult and you know full well that what you are doing is wrong. A nicotine fiend could say the same thing: please allow me to smoke because I had a miserable childhood. Please let me do my coke in peace at my desk, because I've had such a rough life. THERE ARE STANDARDS, people. It's hard to have sympathy for people who are so aggressive about getting it.
I had a colleague once, a very talented guy, who decided to get another job and I had to search for some stuff in his internet bookmarks after he left. I found most of his bookmarks were of women bathing and undressing and who knows what else. I had a real icky feeling, not only of not really knowing what kind of person I had been working with so far (and what kind of person goes away and doesn't erase it?), but also of a very unwelcome transgression. You can watch all the porn you want in the privacy of your house, but don't do it in the office. It violates the unspoken rules of civilized, respectful behavior. Still, my colleague, being European, if caught would have probably shrugged it off instead of coming up with some excuse to justify his unacceptable behavior.
A couple is suing McDonald's because their kid got super sick by eating McD's French fries and hash browns which contained traces of milk. If you are so concerned by the health of your kid, maybe don't take him to McDonald's; not exactly the paragon of healthy eating to begin with. Is McDonald's responsible because your child has an extreme susceptibility to milk? I don't think so.
You know, where I come from, in the land of the Enchilada, we are not that careful with anything. We also don't have recourse to sue people when things happen to us. There is no such thing as suing because somebody left an unattended hole in the street and you fell to your death. We live with the knowledge that we better watch out, because peril is always lurking somewhere. There are never any caution signs; people do reckless things all the time. Nobody compels companies to watch out for your safety, you have to do that yourself. I'm not saying this is good. In Mexico, sexual harassment is the norm, for instance, and until recently, there was no medical malpractice law to speak of. But we still believe in the concept of accidents. Or personal responsibility or sheer bad luck. Not everything can be blamed on someone other than yourself, and not everything has a price.
But the question is, why do we atheists and agnostics have to say "so help me God?" Why do we have to swear upon a book we may respect, but which does not compel us to be honest more than other books? We are very discriminated against in this society. This is not good.
A guy is suing IBM because they fired him for looking at porn sites at work. He comes back with the excuse that he is a Vietnam Vet that suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and this is how he self-medicates, and instead of IBM firing him, they should offer him sympathy and counseling.
Okay. Maybe it is all true. Maybe we should be grateful that he self-medicates by watching porn instead of sniffing crack or taking a gun to a park and blasting away innocents. BUT, this story points to the very American habit of invoking all kinds of lame excuses for all kinds of unsavory behaviors and never ever taking personal responsibility for your adult actions. If you survived both Vietnam and IBM, as affected as you are, you are an adult and you know full well that what you are doing is wrong. A nicotine fiend could say the same thing: please allow me to smoke because I had a miserable childhood. Please let me do my coke in peace at my desk, because I've had such a rough life. THERE ARE STANDARDS, people. It's hard to have sympathy for people who are so aggressive about getting it.
I had a colleague once, a very talented guy, who decided to get another job and I had to search for some stuff in his internet bookmarks after he left. I found most of his bookmarks were of women bathing and undressing and who knows what else. I had a real icky feeling, not only of not really knowing what kind of person I had been working with so far (and what kind of person goes away and doesn't erase it?), but also of a very unwelcome transgression. You can watch all the porn you want in the privacy of your house, but don't do it in the office. It violates the unspoken rules of civilized, respectful behavior. Still, my colleague, being European, if caught would have probably shrugged it off instead of coming up with some excuse to justify his unacceptable behavior.
A couple is suing McDonald's because their kid got super sick by eating McD's French fries and hash browns which contained traces of milk. If you are so concerned by the health of your kid, maybe don't take him to McDonald's; not exactly the paragon of healthy eating to begin with. Is McDonald's responsible because your child has an extreme susceptibility to milk? I don't think so.
You know, where I come from, in the land of the Enchilada, we are not that careful with anything. We also don't have recourse to sue people when things happen to us. There is no such thing as suing because somebody left an unattended hole in the street and you fell to your death. We live with the knowledge that we better watch out, because peril is always lurking somewhere. There are never any caution signs; people do reckless things all the time. Nobody compels companies to watch out for your safety, you have to do that yourself. I'm not saying this is good. In Mexico, sexual harassment is the norm, for instance, and until recently, there was no medical malpractice law to speak of. But we still believe in the concept of accidents. Or personal responsibility or sheer bad luck. Not everything can be blamed on someone other than yourself, and not everything has a price.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Subway
I read somewhere that the MTA is going to ask people to rate the subway service in NY. They want suggestions. Here are some:
1. The public announcement services would be a joke if they weren't so annoying. Nobody ever knows what these people are garbling over the screechy, hair-raising speakers. Have you been to Berlin? There are clocks telling you how soon the train will be at the station and the announcements are delivered in a pristine voice with clear sound that everybody can understand. Particularly lately, when there have been so many service changes it is actually astounding if your train actually goes to its usual destinations, the public announcements need to be improved.
2. What good is it to announce the next station inside the train when the train has actually left the current station? Can somebody explain to me what is the logic of this? The next station should be announced when the doors of the train are still open at the station, so people can decide whether they need to board or leave. Not when the train is moving and you don't know what station is about to befall you. Go to Berlin. The Germans know how to run trains.
3. Do something about the smells.
4. Do something about the rats.
5. Some stations are pretty and others are in terrible shape. Be consistent.
6. The turnstiles against farebeaters are security hazards. If anything ever happens in the train or on the platform, how are people going to get out?
The subway rules. I love the subway. It's the only way to get around town fast.
1. The public announcement services would be a joke if they weren't so annoying. Nobody ever knows what these people are garbling over the screechy, hair-raising speakers. Have you been to Berlin? There are clocks telling you how soon the train will be at the station and the announcements are delivered in a pristine voice with clear sound that everybody can understand. Particularly lately, when there have been so many service changes it is actually astounding if your train actually goes to its usual destinations, the public announcements need to be improved.
2. What good is it to announce the next station inside the train when the train has actually left the current station? Can somebody explain to me what is the logic of this? The next station should be announced when the doors of the train are still open at the station, so people can decide whether they need to board or leave. Not when the train is moving and you don't know what station is about to befall you. Go to Berlin. The Germans know how to run trains.
3. Do something about the smells.
4. Do something about the rats.
5. Some stations are pretty and others are in terrible shape. Be consistent.
6. The turnstiles against farebeaters are security hazards. If anything ever happens in the train or on the platform, how are people going to get out?
The subway rules. I love the subway. It's the only way to get around town fast.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Review of a book that I haven't read
Here is a very interesting excerpt of God is Not Great by polemicist Christopher Hitchens.
I have noticed that there are several books that defend atheism lately. This is obviously connected to the fact that religion nowadays has become not only monstrously perverted in some cases, but in most cases hugely irrelevant to human reality. However, I think that being an atheist and hating religion can be two separate things, though they are not easy to detach from one another.
The first one concerns a simple question: is there a God? Frankly, at this point I think we can all agree that nobody knows for sure. Faith is no proof of anything.
I am reading a book called The Essential Kabbalah, which is a collection of actual kabbalistic sources and has nothing to do with Madonna or red thread bracelets. The way the Kabbalists depict God and his emanations, sounds remarkably similar to the theory of the Big Bang and the Black Holes.
The Kabbalists say that God is better described by what it isn't, than by what it is. It is not a man, nor a woman, nor a human, nor anything. It is anywhere and everywhere. It is total absence and total presence, and too complex for us to grasp or describe. They describe how at one point its immense darkness exploded into an emanation, in a way that sounds very similar to the theories of the beginning of the universe by modern scientists. This makes sense to me. In their philosophical and mystical wanderings, the kabbalists tried to explain the nature of the universe, just as physicists do but without the math.
To me, this means that perhaps God is Nature. God is Creation itself, in all its complexity and paradox. I think this is what science says that God is. So we come full circle and everybody lives happily ever after. This I can buy. The angry God with antropomorphic tantrums, petty grievances, authoritarian pronouncements, total apathy to human suffering and terrible manners, no dice.
Now, apparently Hitchens berates all the world's religions. This is where he and I differ (and in the Iraq war, and in thinking that women are not funny). Certain parts of religion have been civilizing forces. The concept of the Sabbath, or the Ten Commandments, for instance. But obviously these are man made laws and have little or nothing to do with God. People who think the Bible is divinely written can think whatever they want, but it is like lunatics enforcing their loony beliefs on the sane part of the population. It's as if we were all forced to lead our lives by the daily horoscope. Can't be done. And for all his protestations about art and literature, I think it is safe to say that without the Bible or the Greek religious myths there would be no Shakespeare, no Cervantes, no Western art or literature, no nada. So let's give credit where it is due. Hitchens says atheists hate ritual. He should speak for himself. Ritual can be magnificent and nurturing to the soul, even the soul of an atheist.
It is unfair and reductive to compare Moses' puny burning bush to what you can see through the Hubble telescope, or to the DNA ladder, like Hitchens does. The Bible is a stunning work of literature and a pretty amazing law tract, among other things. And in contrast to pure science, it offers psychological insight into the human condition.
So we cannot say everything about religion is evil. What we can say is that religion, because of its absolute pieties and its zealous, simplistic grip on morality, is very easy to abuse. Like political power. When abused (most of the time), religion simply becomes superstition and snake oil marketing, which clerics use to further their power and influence in the world. The worst abuse of power can come from clerics from every persuasion everywhere who exploit the blind faith of other mortals. I have seen this with my own eyes: people think that a cleric has some special communication channel with God and even perhaps some whiff of infallibility or sainthood because of his proximity to God. Armed with this arrogant knowledge, the cleric then spins these poor, gullible innocents like a top.
I don't need to get into the kinds of unfathomable evil this has unleashed in the world. From inquisitions and pogroms and ethnic cleansing and civil wars, and endless murder and persecution, to the molesting of young children with impunity, and the enforced ignorance of the impoverished masses. Marx was being polite, I tell you. The poison of the people is more like it.
Of course, there are clerics here and there who are truly decent and pious and who became clerics in order to do good. They can probably be counted with the fingers of two hands and the toes of two feet.
It's the people who appropriate and institutionalize and misinterpret the sources of religion that deserve hanging.
I have noticed that there are several books that defend atheism lately. This is obviously connected to the fact that religion nowadays has become not only monstrously perverted in some cases, but in most cases hugely irrelevant to human reality. However, I think that being an atheist and hating religion can be two separate things, though they are not easy to detach from one another.
The first one concerns a simple question: is there a God? Frankly, at this point I think we can all agree that nobody knows for sure. Faith is no proof of anything.
I am reading a book called The Essential Kabbalah, which is a collection of actual kabbalistic sources and has nothing to do with Madonna or red thread bracelets. The way the Kabbalists depict God and his emanations, sounds remarkably similar to the theory of the Big Bang and the Black Holes.
The Kabbalists say that God is better described by what it isn't, than by what it is. It is not a man, nor a woman, nor a human, nor anything. It is anywhere and everywhere. It is total absence and total presence, and too complex for us to grasp or describe. They describe how at one point its immense darkness exploded into an emanation, in a way that sounds very similar to the theories of the beginning of the universe by modern scientists. This makes sense to me. In their philosophical and mystical wanderings, the kabbalists tried to explain the nature of the universe, just as physicists do but without the math.
To me, this means that perhaps God is Nature. God is Creation itself, in all its complexity and paradox. I think this is what science says that God is. So we come full circle and everybody lives happily ever after. This I can buy. The angry God with antropomorphic tantrums, petty grievances, authoritarian pronouncements, total apathy to human suffering and terrible manners, no dice.
Now, apparently Hitchens berates all the world's religions. This is where he and I differ (and in the Iraq war, and in thinking that women are not funny). Certain parts of religion have been civilizing forces. The concept of the Sabbath, or the Ten Commandments, for instance. But obviously these are man made laws and have little or nothing to do with God. People who think the Bible is divinely written can think whatever they want, but it is like lunatics enforcing their loony beliefs on the sane part of the population. It's as if we were all forced to lead our lives by the daily horoscope. Can't be done. And for all his protestations about art and literature, I think it is safe to say that without the Bible or the Greek religious myths there would be no Shakespeare, no Cervantes, no Western art or literature, no nada. So let's give credit where it is due. Hitchens says atheists hate ritual. He should speak for himself. Ritual can be magnificent and nurturing to the soul, even the soul of an atheist.
It is unfair and reductive to compare Moses' puny burning bush to what you can see through the Hubble telescope, or to the DNA ladder, like Hitchens does. The Bible is a stunning work of literature and a pretty amazing law tract, among other things. And in contrast to pure science, it offers psychological insight into the human condition.
So we cannot say everything about religion is evil. What we can say is that religion, because of its absolute pieties and its zealous, simplistic grip on morality, is very easy to abuse. Like political power. When abused (most of the time), religion simply becomes superstition and snake oil marketing, which clerics use to further their power and influence in the world. The worst abuse of power can come from clerics from every persuasion everywhere who exploit the blind faith of other mortals. I have seen this with my own eyes: people think that a cleric has some special communication channel with God and even perhaps some whiff of infallibility or sainthood because of his proximity to God. Armed with this arrogant knowledge, the cleric then spins these poor, gullible innocents like a top.
I don't need to get into the kinds of unfathomable evil this has unleashed in the world. From inquisitions and pogroms and ethnic cleansing and civil wars, and endless murder and persecution, to the molesting of young children with impunity, and the enforced ignorance of the impoverished masses. Marx was being polite, I tell you. The poison of the people is more like it.
Of course, there are clerics here and there who are truly decent and pious and who became clerics in order to do good. They can probably be counted with the fingers of two hands and the toes of two feet.
It's the people who appropriate and institutionalize and misinterpret the sources of religion that deserve hanging.
He does ride the subway!
...with an impressive security detail, but still. Today I saw Mayor Mike on the 4 train at City Hall station. This kind of thing makes me feel like we live in a Marvel Comic and I think it is super, duper cool.
I wanted to say hi and tell him he needs to do the congestion tax asap and we're with him and do something about the rats and the cabs and the banks and the duane reades and the prices of condos, and we still love you, you are doing great, but I figured that if I tried to talk to him maybe the beefy security agents would tackle me to the ground and break my bones, cause I was in the possession of a hefty computer case carrying the Final Cut Pro I need for my film, so I didn't.
I wouldn't have noticed the Mayor if it wasn't for a French tourist who exclaimed, "Ces't Bloomberrrg"! And then of course, 6 humongous guys in suits and NYPD officers, but all and all, quite a discreet boarding of the subway. Even though he has sold out the city to the rich, I like Mayor Mike.
In other news, right now New York City seems to be in the throes of a mini-tornado. The wind is whipping all kinds of things up and I can see people leaning against it, from my window, which is shaking and creaking violently. A dark cloud is rapidly heading downtown. Marvel Comic.
I wanted to say hi and tell him he needs to do the congestion tax asap and we're with him and do something about the rats and the cabs and the banks and the duane reades and the prices of condos, and we still love you, you are doing great, but I figured that if I tried to talk to him maybe the beefy security agents would tackle me to the ground and break my bones, cause I was in the possession of a hefty computer case carrying the Final Cut Pro I need for my film, so I didn't.
I wouldn't have noticed the Mayor if it wasn't for a French tourist who exclaimed, "Ces't Bloomberrrg"! And then of course, 6 humongous guys in suits and NYPD officers, but all and all, quite a discreet boarding of the subway. Even though he has sold out the city to the rich, I like Mayor Mike.
In other news, right now New York City seems to be in the throes of a mini-tornado. The wind is whipping all kinds of things up and I can see people leaning against it, from my window, which is shaking and creaking violently. A dark cloud is rapidly heading downtown. Marvel Comic.
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