So with Jan. 6 come and gone, everybody seems to have taken down their Christmas lights. We have an Epiphany and the world gets darker — that seems backwards.
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Al-Qaida has frequently employed a “sleeper-cell” strategy, with its agents posing as peaceful, innocent citizens. Now, let’s be very clear — I’m not saying that Adam Yoshida is a concealed terrorist, a Manchurian blogger. But on the other hand, it’s impossible to rule it out. These things are, after all, unfalsifiable by their very nature.
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This, from Mother Jones, is pretty cool: “Waiting for Godot — and Much More — in New Orleans“:
Earlier this month, the Classical Theatre of Harlem, together with Creative Time, a New York-based art collective, wrapped up a two-week run of Beckett’s most renowned work with a final production in the Gentilly neighborhood. The play’s organizers had to turn people away the weekend before, when Didi and Gogo did their waiting in the still-decimated Lower Ninth Ward.
Even though the play was mounted in two locations, Paul Chan, the artist behind the project, made sure that the whole city felt Godot’Â?Â?s presence (or rather, his absence). … Across New Orleans, telephone poles bore simple signs with the first three lines of the play: “A country road. A tree. Evening.”
Mojo has posted a photo essay from the project, and Creative Time has a fascinating video account.
And yes, that’s Wendell Pierce — Bunk from The Wire — in the role of Vladimir. If you’ve ever seen the infamous one-word crime scene scene, then you know the man can do Beckett justice.
Speaking of The Wire, I’m watching Season 3 on DVD, and there, as Bunny Colvin gives his classic “paper bag” speech, who do I see but my old friend Victor Lopez, brilliantly portraying Unnamed Western District Officer No. 14. I realize that extras probably don’t count, and community theater stage productions definitely don’t count, but if they did, that would put me only two degrees of separation away from both Pierce and Method Man in the Kevin Bacon Game, which is kind of cool.
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Chrissy e-mailed this link: “The GOP Primary Field in Buffy Villains.” Brilliant.
Keep in mind, though, that vampires don’t all look like monsters. They often pass themselves off as normal humans. Now, let’s be very clear — I’m not saying that Adam Yoshida is an unholy, undead demon, a Manchurian bloodsucker. But on the other hand, it’s impossible to rule it out. These things are, after all, unfalsifiable by their very nature.
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Four days of rain in late December kept 2007 from setting a record as the driest year in Atlanta’s history, but the city remains down to a 90-day water supply. The National Weather Service says more rain is likely this week, which is good news.
The severe drought afflicting the Southeast needs to be addressed, primarily, as a matter of public policy, but thanks to Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue’s decision to hold a public prayer vigil on the steps of the state Capitol, it’s also interesting as a matter of pop-theology.
Following the Nov. 14 prayer vigil, Atlanta received only 0.76 inches of rain for the rest of the month — more than 3 inches below the normal November average. In December, Atlanta received 4.78 inches of rain — nearly a full inch more than the average for that month. January, however, has been bone dry so far — 0.87 inches below average. In total the city has been about 3.3 inches below normal since the semi-official supplication.
Possible explanations:
A. Sex, drugs and rock & roll: Georgia remains an unrighteous society whose prayers must go unheeded. (The increase in December precipitation might have resulted from the annual Christmastime surge in churchgoing.)
B. There is no God. If this purportedly almighty, sovereign deity doesn’t jump through hoops when called upon to do so by the governor — the duly elected representative of the people — then either this deity doesn’t exist or, at best, he has no respect for the democratic process.
C. There is a God, he just doesn’t like Georgia. See also: August, humidity.
D. There is a God, he just doesn’t like Sonny Perdue. See also: Confederate flag; opposition to apology for slavery.
E. As the above foolishness demonstrates, it’s probably best to focus on the public policy questions and do your praying somewhere other than on the steps of the Capitol.
I pick E (and maybe also D, a little bit).
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Speaking of slavery apologies, New Jersey is the latest state to take up the issue. Good for them. Critics of the gesture are saying that it’s purely symbolic. Possibly. But not apologizing is pretty damned symbolic too, I’d say.
“History is what it is,” said Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, R-Morris. “It is not something for which anyone can or should be expected to atone.”
Six words, Mr. Assemblyman: “Doomed to repeat it” and “never again.”
My family is from New Jersey. Richard Clark(e) settled down in Union County in 1640 and I was born in Union County 328 years later. (We didn’t get the memo on that whole “Westward ho” thing — it took us almost 350 years to cross the Delaware.) In great, great (add a whole bunch more) grandpa Richard’s will he left his son, among other “properties,” his “serving wench.” Whether or not that is something for which I, as his descendant, can atone, I think I should be expected at least to try.
The resolution N.J. is considering expresses, “profound regret for the state’s role in slavery and apologizes for the wrongs inflicted by slavery and its aftereffects in the United States of America.” For my part, and Richard’s, my only question is where can I sign to endorse this?
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NAMBLA teaches its members to conceal their predilections and activities from the rest of society. Now, let’s be very clear — I’m not saying that Adam Yoshida is a concealed pedophile, a Manchurian molester. But on the other hand, it’s impossible to rule it out. These things are, after all, unfalsifiable by their very nature.
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