Notes and tidbits.

There is one thing I meant to mention in my last post which I forgot in my mental sputtering over the machinations of the Republicans and their Tea Party allies.

As I watched videos of hurricane/tropical storm Irene and its effects on Vermont, I saw something which I did find a little disturbing. The waters of several flooding rivers were running red. There was a river which turned red a week or so ago in the west or Midwest. There was a river that turned red in China the other day. There were others. But now, when I do a search for this topic, the news stories seem to have disappeared. Rivers running red is, of course, a sign of the Biblical apocalypse.

Last year, while I was writing about British Petroleum and the oil "spill" in the Gulf of Mexico, Austanspace noted the odd increase in earthquakes. This morning, as I was reading online news, stories started appearing about a category 6.8 earthquake off the Alaskan coast. Was it last week, or two weeks ago, there was the earthquake from Virginia which rocked much of the east coast of the United States. Last evening, there was a 4.2 in the greater Los Angeles area. Yesterday, there was a 5.9 quake in the Santa Cruz Islands. Also yesterday was a 4.6er off the coast of Sumatra. There was a 4.9 off the coast of Ecuador. And a 4.3 in western Iran. And a 4.5 near San Juan, Argentina. And that's just the reporting this morning.

Oh, I should probably mention that in one small Vermont town, the flood unearthed 30 some caskets from the graveyard. Many were opened by the waters, and bones are strewn all about. Route 100 even had an open casket w/dead body in the center of the road.

I've got to stop now and go off to work.

September 2 is the 245^th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar.
There are 477 days remaining until the end of time.

Jesus H. Christ.

I'm watching the news. The funding of FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) is under attack. The Republicans are lining up in an effort to tie any money spent on emergency aid to budget cuts.

Wait. What? I have just seen a commercial in which we see a house that has been destroyed in some calamity. It looked like it was taken yesterday or today in Vermont or New Jersey. It turned out to be a commercial for Insurance! What gall.

Michele Bachmann, comedy relief among the Republican Presidential candidates, came up with this little bit of humor Sunday night :



US House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is out there doing his usual imitation of extremely well tailored slime, insisting that any aid approved be paid for by budget cuts. Funny, he was happy enough to take FEMA money in his own state - and without budget cuts beforehand.

Florida just passed a law that limits welfare, unemployment monies, etc to those who are drug free in tests paid for by the worker (later reimbursed if it comes back "clean").  If you fail the test, no reimbursement, no welfare, unemployment, food stamps for a year, and then subject to a new drug test etc.

Meanwhile, the President has caved to the Speaker of the House - they were fighting because the President requested a chance to talk to the nation about jobs with both Houses of Congress present - the two will only be in session at the same time for two days. The speaker denied the President his request (something that has never happened before) as the Republicans have a Candidate for President debate that night. He suggested the next night - the National Football Leagues season opener. Obama caved.

Google maps took Route 9 - a major US Highway east west route, off the map between Brattleboro and Wilmington. That's how little is left.

Where are these people coming from? Where did they get these attitudes? Maybe the question is where have these folks been?

News from Austanspace...

If anyone is checking here for news about my friend Laura over at Austanspace:

Laura is fine. A friend has been putting her up. She hasn't been able to return home yet. The area in which she lives suffered damage from the "tropical storm" flood. There is a new and very large trench (5 feet deep and 10 inches wide) which went right up to the foundation of her home. The engineers are still taking a look at it, but they've allowed the electricity to be turned on. She'll be going over there some time today. Typically, she is more concerned about her neighbors than herself. In this morning's email, she noted that she "can't even keep up with all the emails full of love, so please do put that on your blog. i'm ok. it's all gonna be fine.".

The area we live in has suffered a great deal of damage. Just about everyone is helping out, often to or for people they don't know. That's one thing about Brattleboro and the area in general - people come out in droves to help when an emergency occurs. The past few months have been very dispiriting around here, but the response to people in trouble has been great amid all the chaos. That's one of the reason's we live here.

After the hurricane

Town is a mess. An even bigger mess than my room. A still larger mess surrounds us. The hurricane faded away about 2:30pm or so yesterday afternoon. Here are a couple of pics I purloined off the web:

Here's a couple of clips 





Well, that was something, eh? The upcoming clip affects me quite a bit. This is not a Brattleboro clip. It comes from a smaller town further upstate, but it gives you an idea what the country side around here looks like:





This next is from our Community Television:



A lot of roads have damage. In this county alone, there are at least 13 towns or villages which are cut off from everything becasue bridges washed away, or the road washed out, etc:

The folks who were in low lying areas were evacuated before the storm to stay at the local High School. Here's the gym being readied:

A little panorama, please

As I mentioned, the news from the towns around Brattleboro is bad. Areas completely cut off. Still a lot of people without electricity. And they might not get it for a week. The stories vary. It is difficult to tell what is real, what is exageration, and what is made up. A couple of towns up the road there is one of those picture postcard villages (it was, ummm, 'helped along') named Grafton, well known for its cheese. Here's two of my own pics, one looking back towards the village, and the second of a visitor's stop at  the Grafton Cheese Company entrence. It's just the beginning of what we've lost.

Where is Jon Hall when you need him?

As Austanspace noted, hurricane hysteria is at its pique. The supermarket where I work has had two days of sheer customer madness hell. We get in a shipment of water, and it sells out in minutes.

One of my usual customers told me that she had called her sister in North Carolina. Her sister was in line at the supermarket down there. The woman in line before her was stocking up on lightbulbs in case the electricity went out.

Okay, off to work....

a birthday note:

Today would have been Michael Jeter's 59th birthday. Sadly, he died from AIDS in 2003. I never knew the man, but I hope he was as crazy and sweet as some of his roles. He was a very entertaining performer, and I just wanted to remember him.

Here he is in a segment of a wonderful movie called "The Fisher King":



I'm not sure who had the notion to make a musical out of "Grand Hotel", and at first thought one wants to scream "Noooooo". But it worked and it was a damn good show. Set in Germany in the days before facism took over, Mr. Jeter is Otto Kringelein, a Jewish bookeeper who is deathly ill. He wants a taste of a better life and spends a day at Grand Hotel. Here, with Bruce Barrett as the Baron (a theif)they perform in a number directed within a inch of its life by Tommy Tune:



Happy Birthday Mr. Jeter.
I have to go off to work just now, but I will come back later this evening and try to find a better copy of the Fisher King quote.

I felt the earth move under my feet

Not long after finishing the previous post, the earth in these parts shook. Stuff in my apartment  shook, especially my "tower" fan. For a couple of seconds I had that queasy feeling I had in a quake in Boston back in the eighties. It seemed to stop, but things kept on swaying. I looked out the back door and saw a large tree limb had fallen. It wasn't big enough to have made the place shake, though. There were multiple posts on ibrattleboro.com. News wires lit up. You'd think that it was a slow news week and the starving reporters were descending upon their prey.

Buuuutttt, if you look around just the tinniest bit, you'll find stories like "USA becomes Food Stamp Nation?" As it turns out, over 46 million US citizens have, oh, what was the phrase? , “food insecurity”.  That's 15% of the population.  And that's an increase of 74 percent since 2007, when the poor already knew we had a problem on our hands. Last year, the US spent $68 billion on the program. Some time back the neo-con Republicans suggested giving the states block grants as funding The grants would mean the states couldn't, say, be able to stretch to cover disasters, unless they paid for it on their own dime. But what it really means is that the federal program is in the power broker's view. Just remember - it's not that they want a piece, a share - it's that they want the whole thing.

Also reported today: the US Department of Agriculture has refused to ban sugar laden soft drinks from Food Stamp eligibility.  The USDA was noted as saying that it would be too big and complicated to implement. In addition, the department had concerns over its "potential viability and effectiveness."

Say WHAT? Get the feeling this idea pissed off major money? Are they really so enamoured of collecting big sales, raking in the attendant medical costs, and etc., and so on and so forth, or are they fattening us up like Turkeys on their way to Tanks giving? Whatever they're up to, the question isn't if they will be using those 30 million surveillance cameras that have been installed since 9-11, the question is why they feel that they need them.

Another story I read this morning: did security businesses and their attendant sales and services suddenly multiply? Or can I still get in? Video surveillance is about a $3.2 billion dollar business - and that was in 2007. The msnbc senior editor writing this then noted: "Although advanced security measures are now commonplace, they are rarely being used to nab would-be terrorists. Instead, security cameras often serve other purposes, such as catching students or workers who are misbehaving, or tracking down common criminals." The article went on that  "In the wake of Sept. 11, and thanks also to technical advances, it’s become far more commonplace for companies to use devices such as keystroke trackers, which monitor everything you type on your computer."

On the ABC Network news at 6pm there was an interesting bit of footage. A judge dismissed the attempted rape and assault charges of Dominique Strauss-Kahn (former head of the IMF) on a question of the credibility of the Maid who brought the charges. Never mind that there are several such charges which have come to light. As Mr. DSK exited the building, he had to push through a growing crowd of maids. They were there protesting. There were a lot of them. They were black and Hispanic..
Direct quote: "Strauss-Kahn's lawyer Benjamin Brafman described the encounter in his luxury suite at the Sofitel Hotel in Manhattan on May 14 as quick and consensual. "She was a willing participant," he told Reuters in an interview. Assault was implausible largely because "she towers over him," he said."

Didn't we already fight all  this out in the 1960's and 70's?

And then there was this little bit about the teenage family members who went on a crime spree. Mug shots got released I guess.

They were compared to Bonnie and Clyde. When those two were in their day, the Depression had changed the poor's situation considerably. People were going mad, losing their minds.  Look at the stereotypes above. From the left, there's a sulking smoldering look right out of the gang movies of the 1950's - or to be more precise, the 1970's when the movies made those same figures (anti)heroes. The middle one has gone bug eyed crazy, like a movie psychopath of the late 1920's and early 1930's. The woman looks to be in charge. And she looks like an especially diabolical mass murderess on a tv show.  Kinda like the depression and prohibition eras, huh? Do you suppose they were entertainment for those 30 million surveillance cameras?

What's it all imply? That the poor expand into a larger underclass, the rabble (Marat we're poor) who are expendable? That there will be riots in the streets? That they know they're going to need those surveillance camers? Maybe they are counting on the war+ business trainee soldiers of the Mideast wars to put down "terrorist" uprisings? Translation : they are preparing, getting ready. And what have any of us done lately?

Before I forget, a little after the earthquake, when things had settled down, I heard a woman screaming "Get away from me." I looked out the window and saw her walking north on Putney Road. She was wildly gesturing while she talked, engaged in discussion. I shifted around to get a better look.  She was still talking. I looked to see to whom. There was no one there.


August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 487 days remaining until the end of time.

Catching up

It's an insanely beautiful day. The light is a little different here,  just like Cape Cod has a silver quality to it, here it's something about the blue of the sky and an interplay of light and shadows. Its the kind of light that gives great depth perception.  The temperature is cool, daddy, cool in the mid sixties. It's a perfect beach day and my mind starts to wandering wondering. But stop. The catching up needs to happen.

Back when Murder at the Co-opt was being written and performed, I had started to name my three favorite blogs of less than 300 followers. Rory gave it  to Austanspace, who gave it to me.  Yes, I'm talking about the
award. I've found references to it seem to start this past February. No obligation to pass it on, no need to write about 3 others, it's jes' us talking to us.

Both Austanspace and Rory have great blogs. I highly recommend both of them. Rory has two blogs. His main one is The Scottish Scribbler which currently has a wonderful story about Rory and his sassy daughter, and one about bad art album covers. I've been saving such things for quite awhile now, and immediately thought, "I've got to send or post the cover of The Faith Tones' "Use Me Lord". But then I saw that he had it in the "ultimate" spot. I have to admit that this did not "sit" well. I had to examine my feelings. And I saw it as a challenge. You know what I mean.  About a step before the "of course you realize this means war" stage. It has occurred to me that this attitude might be a bit too aggressive . But still the hunger lurks. Peons. I still have the insert for Sgt. Pepper's, dammit.  And I still have one of the fuzzy red flocked in gold letters "Odessa" albums too! So there!

I love album art. Even the bad ones. Intended without pain or injury, no challenges (unless you want to pick up the gauntlet) here's a few of my "bad" (a relative term which implies a prejudged oh never mind) favorites, In no real order, my contribution to the field.

So how's that! And I'll raise you an "All My Friends Are Dead".

to be continued...

It's still the same old story...

One of the blogs I visit from time to time has a name that I think is great : Joe.My.God.
The following was posted today.
Monday, August 22, 2011

IOWA: Student Dies After Gay Bashing
A 19 year-old college student was beaten to death in Michele Bachmann's hometown of Waterloo, Iowa this weekend. Witnesses say Marcellus Richard Andrew's attackers shouted anti-gay slurs while kicking him in the head.

The updated story

WATERLOO, Iowa --- A brutal fight that claimed the life of a Waterloo teen started with taunting, witnesses said. Police confirmed that 19-year-old Marcellus Richard Andrews was officially pronounced dead at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Relatives and acquaintances said he died after being removed from life support at an Iowa City hospital. "It's just not fair," said friend Nakita Wright. "I don't wish that to happen to my worst enemy."

Officers and paramedics said they found Andrews unconscious with severe head injuries in the early morning hours Friday.

Andrews, who was slated to start studying interior design at Hawkeye Community College, spent part of Thursday practicing with members of the Crusaders, a drill team sponsored by Union Missionary Baptist Church. He led the step team for the group, which was days away from competing in March Against Darkness.

Night found him at Nakita Wright's home on Cottage Street. She said the problems started at about 12:45 a.m. Friday when she and Tudia Simpson, her cousin, went for a walk down the street. Andrews opted to stay behind, waiting on the enclosed porch, she said. The two women hadn't made it as far as Adams Street a block away when they heard yelling back at the house. They ran back and found a truck stopped in the street, and the occupants were taunting Andrews, calling him "faggot" and "Mercedes," a feminization of his first name, Simpson said.
The arguing and name calling continued, said Simpson, who admitted throwing the first punch, striking a girl. "She kept saying it, and I hit her," Simpson said. From there, the fight was on, with Nakita Wright and the others joining in, according to their account.

At some point during the scuffle, Nakita Wright felt her leg brush against something on the ground. She looked down and saw Andrews. "I tried to help him up, and then this boy ran back and kicked him in his face," Nakita Wright said.

After the brawl ended, she tried helping Andrews to his feet. He appeared dazed. She grabbed one arm and coaxed him as she lifted. He pushed up with his other arm, but then gave up.
Nakita Wright dialed 911.

He was flown to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for treatment.
Word of his passing came as the Crusaders Drill Team took part in the March Against Darkness competition at Central Middle School, said Alexis Wright, a cousin of Nakita who works with the Crusaders.

In addition to being step team captain, Andrews had helped train team members, Alexis Wright said. "He would practice with the little ones, making sure they get it," she said.
Andrews had been scheduled to lead the team's Saturday night performance and deliver the opening salute.

Instead, when the event started, organizers had a moment of silence for Andrews, who at that time was understood to be on life support. Later, during an intermission, officials broke the news he wasn't going to pull through over the public address system, Alexis Wright said.
"All the children were affected by it. When they announced, they were literally on the floor crying," she said.

It was a tragic end to a busy weekend for the team, which started the with a parade in Parkersburg and another Saturday event before the March Against Darkness, Alexis Wright said.

Andrews had studied at La James College and took part in Job Corps. He had bought his Hawkeye college textbooks earlier in the week.

Authorities continue to investigate the assault. No arrests have been made in the case.
The police have made no arrests, despite the fact that the attackers knew Andrews' name.

  

A birthday of note

Today is Joe Strummer's birthday. He was the lead singer of The Clash, a politically aware punk rock group awhile back. Strummer was also the group's co-founder, lyricist and rhythm guitarist.  Today he would have been 59 years old.  Here's a pic and a quote:

”I will always believe in punk-rock, because it’s about creating something for yourself. Part of it was: ‘Stop being a sap! Lift your head up and see what is really going on in the political, social and religious situations, and try and see through all the smoke screens.” Joe Strummer, July 2002

Here's a song that really is not typical Joe Strummer, but then again it is.

 Turn up the volume before starting!

Happy Birthday, Joe.

    

Uh, Oh.

My God, is no one watching?
This show has gone from being comedy to being subversive.
This kind of thing can not be allowed to continue.
I'm not sure how long these clips stay available, so try them right now!

World of Class Warfare - Warren Buffett vs. Wealthy Conservatives

www.comedycentral.com

Comedy Central Funny TV Shows Roast of Charlie Sheen

The Daily Show - World of Class Warfare - The Poor's Free Ride Is Over
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

This just in...

This mornings news included this tidbit:

Bat causes stir at NH selectman's meeting
Aug 18, 9:12 AM (ET)

EPPING, N.H. (AP) - Maybe the bat just wanted to air its concerns to the board.
The Board of Selectmen in Epping, N.H., was discussing road signs this week when the meeting was interrupted for about two minutes by a bat that swooped and flitted over the panel, causing members to duck and chuckle.
The bat was eventually chased out the door.
Selectman James McGeough calls the wildlife encounter a comedy of errors, and jokingly suggested police shoot it.
Board Chairwoman Karen Falcone tells WMUR-TV ( ) the meeting became a "frenzy." Town officials have long known that bats live in the tower above town hall, but this was the first time one made an appearance at a meeting.

Emily's Restaurant

So, we've made a left, run through the arcade, and then there comes - a blank, really blank,  just nothing at all like an edited memory about a horcrux kind of blank. Oh, wait - I'm beginning to see one of the empty spaces - it's set back from the boardwalk a bit. It's the Flanders Hotel. I can't believe I forgot that place. I even worked there for awhile.

Built in the 1920's in the "Spanish Mission Revival style", The Flanders had a private beach, and its swimming pools were filled with salt water. It was a pretty swank place. In my day there, it was getting a lovely genteel patina of shabbiness. Except in the workers housing whose patina was more Tobacco Road.

There was this one guy, a dishwasher there who had something like 7 or 9 degrees. He just preferred to be left alone, and I guess he made a mindless zen ritual of washing dishes (a  mostly automated procedure). As winter arrived, he'd go wash dishes at a swank hotel in Ft. Lauderdale.

I worked in the kitchen and did a little bit of everything from cooking to dish and/or pot washer. Then I moved to the other side of the door and became a waiter. I subbed for the maitre de. I even played the piano one night.

The whole place had an almost old world charm. It was even rumored that the old ballroom was haunted, as well as the cellar catacombs. When it was built, it was so modern it was "fireproof". Sadly, this turned out to be true in 1927.



The place changed hands in 1996, and was renovated with an eye towards luxury condominiums. It now has luxury suites for rent - a single with ocean view is only $400.00 per night in high season. One of the ocean view penthouses will run you $950.00 per night. From what I gather there are portions of the place which were sold off, money came in from a new partner? and who owns what sounds complicated. In 2009, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. I'm afraid though, that it's too late already. Modern photos of their high price digs don't quite look right. It's all phony now, like the faux nouveau glass paneled door to a section of the new dining facilities named Emily's, their name for one of the ghosts whose name is actually Marilyn or Maryanne. What can I say?

It was a summer friend who worked at the Flanders who turned me on to Lenny Bruce. Gosh, all those years ago. But I remember. And I remember the slum conditions of the rooms for the workers. A different world from the one inhabited by hotel guests. And I remember the sad elegance of a once grand hotel, catering to an aging clientele who were out of their time as the world passed them by.  I was lucky to see it.

The first arcade on the left

There was only one block between Uncle Harry's and the Boardwalk. Just as you got up a ramp to the boardwalk was a side door to kid heaven. It was an old arcade. It was immediately apparent that little had changed since the late 1930's or early 1940's. Just inside the door were about 5 or 6 Skee Ball machines. The old ones. With the 10 foot ramp. I couldn't find an exact picture, but they looked something like this:

There were another series of them just to the right of the main entrance.  I hardly saw them. Just to the left was a Grandma machine, and I always headed right for it. Put in your coin and grandma would start moving. Her hand would drift over a line of cards. She would look from left to right until that magic moment when she selected a card and sent it down a chute to you. The card was printed with your fortune.

 

 At this arcade, they had the gypsy grandma. She looked more like this:

Just across from grandma was a row of kinetoscope machines (which used a celluloid loop) and the kind with flipping cards - I can't remember what they were called! Grrrr.

Just around the corner were a couple of fan photo type machines. You'd put in your coin and a card with a picture postcard of a movie star would emerge. I still have a couple.

Of course all that is gone now. The entertainment technology of a simpler age.

I've been having problems with blogger this evening. I know it's only Mercury Retrograde at work, but well, you know. Later.

The Last Two Weeks of August

It's getting cool at nights now. And today, as I write, it's rainy with a temperature in the mid 60s Fahrenheit. Summer is ending. In a week or so the kids here will be going back to school. They go back so early here.

When I was a kid, school always started the Wednesday after Labor Day. I noticed some years ago that summers end earlier in New England than where I grew up in New Jersey. Up in Maine, most people have cleared out by the week before Labor Day. In New Jersey, I can remember standing on Labor Day morning on a Boardwalk so busy that you couldn't walk more than a couple of feet without bumping into someone. By 1pm, most of those folks were gone. By 4pm you could throw stones with all your might and not hit anyone.

As a matter of fact, it would be right about this time of the month that we'd all head to Ocean City for the last two weeks of August. My grandmother's Uncle Harry had a house there. This was in the late 1950's. I can't find a picture of the place (except in 8mm), but this gives you a fairly good idea of the area.

 By the early 1960's he'd sold the house, starting us on a one week stay at various places like the Sindia Apartments. The Sindia was a famous wreck from the days of the China trade.

Good God, the size of that thing. The ruins below were gone by the time I came along.

But, the following was there as long as I can remember, including the years I lived there (I left in 1972). I've read that they are now underground - thanks to a beach replenishment project. Local lore had it that a solid gold statue of the Buddha was on board the ship and never recovered...

Ocean City has been in my mind for a few months now. It first started showing up in my dreams. I'd find myself in the "Gardens" (read: Italian ) section of town...   well, it got me to thinking about maybe going back. At least it's an upfront tourist town. It's built for people watching. I can see myself, happy, retired, very poor,  sitting on a bench and watching the passing parade. Many of the benches on the boardwalk have backs which swing so you can sit looking out to sea, or set it to watch the world go by you on the boardwalk.

I've no idea who this is, and I really don't care all that much. So feel free to go ahead and make up your own story about her. It's from 1937 and that lady is sitting on the kind of bench I mean.

Oh, before I forget: One year we rented rooms at the new Sting Ray Motel. It was very modern for Ocean City. And it certainly didn't fit in architecturally. But it was right by the Boardwalk. And it was a block long. And see that section on the left? It is directly across the street from Uncle Harry's.

Ocean City Memories will be continued...