Signal Wave
Good morning to all!
Today's OT is a little different than usual. Liberal Moonbat inspired this OT, because s/he did not know what age I was. First, s/he thought I was between 20 and 35, then, that I had been born in the 50s. Neither is correct; I am a GenXer.
This began as a reply to Liberal Moonbat, and then I realized it might be of some interest to others, or at least would answer the question of my age.
So here it is...
MY LIFE: PART I
1968: Can't Stop is born.
1968: Many good people are murdered because they aren't OK with a handful of rich white people getting everything they wanted regardless of consequences.
1968: The Democratic party becomes a shitshow.
1972 A President does ugly things with the help of some plumbers and creeps. He appeals to the worst people in the country to help him cover it up. To do this, the worst people in the country have to sabotage a legal investigation, and therefore, essentially, destroy the rule of law for the benefit of the head of state. They are fine with this because they are the worst people in the country.
1972 Meanwhile, a bunch of rich traitors decide they don't want a republic because in a republic they don't always get their way. They appeal to their friend, a corporate lawyer who will one day become a Supreme Court justice, and he says "Sure. No problem," and shows them how to turn a republic into a shitpile.
1974 The President and his plumbers and creeps get caught. The rule of law and the basic nature of a republic get reaffirmed. People don't realize it will be for the last time. People also don't realize that, rather than being depressed that the President was a bad man, or angry because somebody in their party was held accountable, they should be celebrating in the streets because their republic successfully defended itself.
1968-1974 Can't Stop listens to a lot of really good music. Skip over this part if you find Can't Stop's overabundance of videos annoying. Sing along if, like me, you really miss this music.
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byZn1KBzdeI
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSM9zc3SsuM&list=PLK4hWf5BLwHVMlX76A0XRq5...
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U8JlcB_BzA]
1975-1980 Can't Stop listens to a lot of music. Some of it is good. Some of it isn't, but is really good fun. Again, skip over this if you find the too many videos annoying. Sing along if you miss the music.
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo6aKnRnBxM]
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVx8L7a3MuE]
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvzJZTkWYoY]
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Q80mk7bxE]
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFPK5paOXnU]
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc3OnSQc48s&list=PLdl7lj9IwWtEX-iSYMkvH7E...
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd5ZLJWQmss]
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgUOEENrA1U]
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35x_rwyBh-8]
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qEsTCTuajE]
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMr3KtYUCcI&index=25&list=RD9qEsTCTuajE]
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJtL8vWNZ4o&list=OLAK5uy_ly8yTtEcPk3FkOU9...
1976: Can't Stop gets excited about the bicentennial. The League of Women Voters begins hosting the presidential debates.
1976- 1980: Can't Stop derives many basic values from Jimmy Carter, such as human rights and care for the environment. She develops the lifelong habit of turning off lights and appliances (such as TVs) at this time. She also develops her love of Star Trek at this time, watching it in reruns. Star Trek also has a profound effect on Can't Stop's ethics.
1977 Star Wars comes out. Can't Stop loves it, but not as much as Star Trek.
1979-1980 Can't Stop watches the hostage crisis unfold. Every night she sits in front of Walter Cronkite while he delivers the news of the day, and the news of the day usually involves the hostage crisis. Can't Stop forms her ideas of what the news should be at this time.
1980 A helicopter breaks down and Jimmy Carter's attempt to rescue the hostages goes awry. It is clear that this will end his political career.
1980:Can't Stop detects something bad. If it were a sound, it would be the hum the Death Star makes when it's powering up to fire:
[VIDEO::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inl8EzmAopE]
1980 Reagan is elected. Can't Stop moves from the St Pete Beach area to Gainesville, Florida.
1980 Can't Stop becomes part of a local church, Holy Trinity. She participates in a youth group and eventually sings in two choirs. The church becomes a cornerstone of her social life, and a refuge. People are kind there. It is an Episcopal Church, so many of the flaws in Christianity are muted, and reason is not seen as anathema to faith. She becomes deeply involved, and even becomes part of Happening and Cursillo, retreat movements designed to deepen faith of teenagers and adults (respectively). The church is a very good thing for Can't Stop.
1981 Can't Stop goes to high school.
1983 Can't Stop has a top-notch English teacher, Mrs. Sharp, who teaches her the basics of good writing.
1983 Can't Stop is assigned a paper in her Spanish III class. She is supposed to study one Latin American, Spanish-speaking country. For no particular reason, she picks Chile. She discovers how Pinochet came to power, who put him there, and what the results are for the Chilean people. Like Jimmy Carter's focus on human rights and the environment, this makes a lifelong impact on Can't Stop.
1983 Unbeknownst to Can't Stop, the CIA starts working with the Reagan administration to stop the "Vietnamization" of American culture, which is a fancy way of saying they don't want large, left-wing movements marching in the streets.
1984 Can't Stop works for the Mondale campaign in Florida, and organizes an anti-Reagan rally outside her high school.
1984 Reagan gets re-elected. Can't Stop feels like she is living on a tiny, tiny island surrounded by a vast, hostile sea. Despite her horror at watching the majority of Americans, including many who used to be left-wing, rallying to Reagan and the new culture of cruelty, she retains some of her faith in the American people.
1985 Can't Stop graduates from high school and goes to the local university. She protests on just about every left wing issue you can imagine, but focuses particularly on the environment, women's rights, and ending the horrendous foreign policies the U.S. has toward Latin America. Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador figure prominently in her thinking. She still despises Pinochet.
1985-1990 Can't Stop becomes the center of a wide social network, with high school friends, political friends, and academic friends all in the mix. This is noteworthy because later in her life, Can't Stop lives almost like a hermit. This might have to do only with Can't Stop, or it might reflect a cultural shift, or both.
1986 Can't Stop is part of so many groups that it's almost ridiculous, including women's rights groups, anti-war groups, anti-nuke groups, what might be loosely described as stop fucking around with Latin America groups, and anti-apartheid groups. She also marches for the environment and against piss tests. She doesn't notice many right-wing people marching with her against piss tests. She retains this memory for later reference. Despite her early association with the Democratic party, she never thinks of her activism and the party as connected. For some reason, that never occurs to her as significant. Meanwhile, the Republicans are all over campus, recruiting members of her generation, in particular young conservative activists, to their cause. This pattern will continue, and eventually Can't Stop will notice it.
1987 Can't Stop is part of a feeble attempt to create a nationwide progressive student network. Can't Stop meets her beloved mentor, David Leverenz, who teaches her how to write a decent critical essay and how to close read, essentially transforming her thinking forever. Can't Stop becomes an English major and finds she can express her politics in her academic work. This is both good and bad, but she doesn't realize that, and falls to enthusiastically. Feminism becomes more prominent in her thinking. To ensure clarity, it should be pointed out that this is a feminism that discussed, and often criticized, war, capitalism, the nation-state, abuse of the earth, and even, occasionally, racism, as well as addressing power relations between the genders, sexuality, and women's economic status. It is also a grassroots feminism driven by, and practiced in, many small face-to-face groups. The mass media and political parties take little notice of it except when angry crowds shout at each other about abortion. Can't Stop doesn't realize what an asset being ignored is, but she will later.
1988 Can't Stop votes for the first time. She could have voted in 1986, but like most Americans, the congressional election was off her radar, and it took a presidential election to get her to the polls. This would change later. She wants to vote for Jesse Jackson or Paul Simon, but is offered Michael Dukakis. George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis get together and write a secret memorandum about how they are going to run the debates, unbeknownst to the League of Women Voters. They agree to control who will be allowed to sit in the audience, and who will be allowed to be on the panel that asks questions. They also abolish follow-up questions, which are too hard to predict, and might result in them being asked to use their minds or tell the truth. The League of Women Voters abandons the debates in disgust. During the debate, George H.W. Bush repeatedly attacks Dukakis by saying "You're a liberal. You're a liberal. You're a liberal." Dukakis seals the deal for right-wing domination of American politics by saying, panicked, "No, I'm not, I'm not!" Dukakis is, in fact, not particularly liberal, but his desperate attempt to avoid being called so reinforces the notion that being liberal has no place in American politics. Can't Stop votes for him anyway, because he's not George H.W. Bush.
1989 Can't Stop turns 21. Her mother gives her a tour of the shrines of women mystics in Europe as a present. While in Spain, Can't Stop, a devoted Christian, considers entering a convent. She decides against it because she wants to live her life rather than devote herself to the inner world. Back at college in the U.S., she discovers world after world of literature. A group of intellectually sharp, politically astute, and profoundly kind friends arises in her English department. They sharpen their wits on each other without resentment. They discuss forming a new school of criticism, but structural forces will rip them apart over the next two years as each goes to a different grad school or job.
1989-1990 Can't Stop becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the exclusivity of Christianity, and the notion that those of other faiths (or none) will burn in hellfire. She notices that she is claiming to believe these ideas on a weekly basis when she recites the Nicene Creed, which amounts, in her case, to lying to God.
1990: Can't Stop graduates from college, and takes a year off before applying to grad schools. She meets a circle of friends who are feminists and pagans. She leaves Christianity for earth-based feminist paganism, and forms a coven with her friends. She is freaking out a bit because college is over. She loved college, and is not sure she is going to love the rest of the adult world.
That's enough autobiography to be going on with, isn't it?
How are you all this morning?
Comments
Good morning, CStMS. A most interesting essay and
history. And Blackbird for a lead-off tune, no less, a commendable choice. Thanks for the essay and the music, even though I'm not fan of some of it. It's still dark here and I've got a metric ton of stuff to do this week, including running up to UC's Botanical Garden this afternoon and evening. It's a distraction that won't go away unless I just start doing this stuff a bit at a time, so I guess I'll just dodder off and get started on stuff I can do while in bluetooth range of your playlist.
Have a great one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
@enhydra lutris Hey, E.L. Thanks for
Hey, E.L. Thanks for stopping by. Actually, thanks for always stopping by.
I'm guessing you probably like the first raft of videos and dislike most of the second. Am I right?
Hopefully once you get clear of your busy day you'll stop back by and satisfy my curiosity.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Close, but not *most* of the second, but a few. I've never been
a John Denver fan, but since I couldn't recall Calypso at all, I gave it a listen and it was good. Wildfire and Convoy have never done anything for me, however, and still don't. That leaves Michael and his family. I'm of the opinion that they are the epitome of TV/MTV music, and I am a radio/record music type person. I really think that if it wasn't for the visuals neither he or they would've been that big a deal, mostly soft pop, silly pop and tween pop. Later, when he became a mega-star the musical content may have changed, I dunno. When he died and there was all the wild honorifics, I gave a listen to "Smooth Criminal" to see what had changed, and was less impressed than ever.
This reply risks turning into my MTV rant, so I'll just say that without the costumes, dancing, posturing and all that, the stuff I call MTV music simply isn't impressive. Listen to any of it with your eyes closed and then compare to pre-MTV and or non-MTV music. I recall somebody raving about MJ once as a pure singer and I asked them to listen to him without visualizing him or his dancing, and then Roy Orbison, without visualizing him. He conceded. /rant
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
@enhydra lutris I'm not much of an
I'm not much of an MTV person either. While it's true Jackson was a better dancer than singer, he was actually a good singer, particularly when young. As for the musical style, I find it cheery and bouncy, but it's true it's also poppy and somewhat superficial. However, it's considerably better than what happened to pop in the 80s, and I'm not even gonna talk about now. There was still *some* pop I liked in the 80s.
There are a lot of other tunes I might have included from the 70s (the Doobie Brothers, more Eagles, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love," "I'm Not In Love," "Stuck in the Middle With You," "Cover of the Rolling Stone," Tom Petty's first two albums) but it was getting too long anyway.
I really should add this one, though, which might now be my favorite song in the world because it is, I think, the most cheerful song in the world (apologies to those who hate disco):
EDIT: Oh, hell. I can't believe I forgot this one! In 8th grade, this was my favorite song:
EDIT AGAIN: Shoot. I can't believe I forgot all of Led Zeppelin!
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
@enhydra lutris How do you feel about
How do you feel about Pink Floyd?
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
I remember when they first came out (Pink Floyd), and if you
think back, it was an era of tremendous music of various types, and they held their own. I liked them but they weren't one of my go to bands. I still listen to them on occasion, becuase they bring what they bring, but they're still not a group I automatically turn to, but more of a niche, sort of "oh yeah, and Pink Floyd", but that probably has a lot to do with my musical roots too.
Look at who they were up against - Mowtown, lots of great music and groups when you were in the mood for that type of music.
Blues Revival - real blues,and a lot of them getting live shows in the Bay Area, like Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Junior Wells, Big Mama Thornton, etc
Blues-Rock, Yardbirds, Bluesbreakers, Butterfield Blues Band, Electric Flag, Mother Earth, Clapton, Mayall, et al
L.A. - Doors, Mamas & Papas, Lovin Spoonful, etc.
Beatles, Stones, Who, Kinks
Simon & Garfunkel
Bee Gees (First album, and, generally pre-Disco)
Buffalo Springfield
Bay Area - Airplane, Dead, Country Joe & the Fish, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Quicksilver, Steve Miller (and all of these guys live all over the place all of the time, often for free)
Jazz old and new a big talent pool
Guys like Sandy Bull and John Fahey, also popping up live here and there
Dylan
Taj Majal (at some point)
So yeah, they were/are good, but not dominant (nobody was, one day ya gotta have Butterfield and another day you just really need some motown, or Jerry Garcia jamming with Merl Saunders and whoever else sat in and sometimes just drag out the flamenco.)
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
@enhydra lutris By the way, Blackbird is
By the way, Blackbird is one of the three songs I remember from very early childhood. My grandma used to sing "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" to me when I was little, and my mom and stepfather played The White Album and Ram when I was 3 and 4 years old (1971-2), so "Blackbird" and "Uncle Albert" figured prominently in my childhood. My mom and I used to sing "Uncle Albert" together, thusly:
(Mom) "Live a little, be a gypsy, get around"
(Me) "Get around"
(Mom) "Get your feet up off the ground, live a little, get around."
(Mom) "Live a little, be a gypsy, get around"
(Me) "Get around"
(Mom) "Get your feet up off the ground, live a little, get around."
(Mom) "Hands across the water"
(Me) "Water"
(Mom) "Hands across the sky"
(Me) "Sky, sky, sky"
(Mom) "Hands across the water"
(Me) "Water"
(Mom) "Hands across the sky."
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Good morning, all!
Gen-Xer here. The invisible generation. "More Silent than the Silents" is our motto.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
good morning
'May you live in interesting times' is widely reported as being of ancient Chinese origin but is neither Chinese nor ancient, being recent and western.
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/may-you-live-in-interesting-times.html
Curse or not, it has been a time to remember and these are interesting times. Thanks for the OT and have a good one.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
@Lookout You too, Lookout. Hope y
You too, Lookout. Hope y'all are doing well up there.
One of the funny things about Florida is you can refer to pretty much anybody as "up there."
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
I really enjoyed this OT today
It is nice to get to know more about you, Can't Stop.
My biography would be far more boring and less activist than yours for sure. But it is so good to see how you and others among us arrived to where we all are today. Thank you for sharing about yourself.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
@gulfgal98 You're welcome gg. You
You're welcome gg. You were a public planner, which in my book means that your job was a kind of civic service--and didn't you do a long-term protest for peace?
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Yep
Land use planner in local government. Some used to call us communists, LOL. If there wasn't someone mad at us, I used to say that we were not doing our jobs. And half the time the elected officials did not listen to our advice. My favorite thing was when some elected official would exclaim in a public hearing "Staff, how did this happen?" I wanted to answer, "Because you idiots did not listen to our recommendation before."
Activism came after I retired.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
good morning cstms...
Thanks for the very interesting bio. Learning to write a good critical essay is a good thing.
On feminism... My cousin used to say that feminists were people who didn't wear bras and had hairy legs. He thought that was hilarious because that clearly meant men were feminists. Have a great one...
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
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@magiamma You too. Thanks for
You too. Thanks for stopping by, magiamma.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Interesting lives
I had an amusing conversation with a young girl who said she'd like to write about her experiences except for the fact that she didn't have anything interesting to write about. I commented that she probably does, but stories sometimes take time to ripen before they can be told.
I also tell that to myself as a consolation for getting older. Age as a concept is sometimes easier to swallow than reality. I've recently been reminded of this when a new employee who started work at the store caught my eye. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it out loud because he can't be a day older that 25 years old. Sweet, funny, endearing, and lovely to look at, he reminded me that if I was 30 years younger, I would not only flirt with him, he could conceivable flirt back.
But I'm not 30 years younger and the poignant realization that boy crushes are definitively in my review mirror made me think of how asleep I've been about my future, romantically speaking.
So that, I'm afraid, is how I'm doing this morning. Contemplating what I'm going to need to do to buck myself up for the daunting endeavor of dating again at my age.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
@Anja Geitz Being 50 years old, I
Being 50 years old, I feel ya. I am struggling with the old age and mortality myself. Trying to come to terms with them before they get any closer.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver