Friday Quote

"And when people got angry the ground would shake; and when people were muddled and uncertain about things the Moody Land got confused as well— the outlines of its buildings and lamp-posts and motor-cars got smudgy, like paintings whose colours had run, and at such times it could be difficult to make out where one thing ended and another began…
'Am I right?' Haroun asked his father. 'Is this the place the story was about?'
'The Moody Land was only a story, Haroun,' Rashid replied. 'Here, we're somewhere real.' When Haroun heard his father say only a story, he understood that the Shah of Blah was very depressed indeed, because only deep despair could have made him say such a terrible thing"(48).

- Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Non-nudist

Two quick t-shirt ideas. First from my brother:

pagan + control freak = catholic

Second from me staying up to late:

WWFC?

What would Foucault Critique?

Banal Omnipresence

Fridays are now Quotable Fridays. We start of with a tidbit from Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation. Hat tip to Bhaskara for recommending I read it, though I can't claim to have understood it all.

Disneyland is there to conceal the fact that it is the "real" country, all of "real" America, which is Disneyland (just as prisons are there to conceal the fact that it is the social in its entirety, in its banal omnipresence, which is carceral).

Military Civilians

I just wanted to highlight Send R.O.T.C. Back to School, a recent op-ed from the NY Times, which urges Obama to make invest more in ROTC and help the military recruit on campus. What I found interesting was not the rah-rah-military attitude but the connection the author makes between elite civilian universities (specifically Yale) and the military.

But rebuilding a connection between America’s military and its most selective colleges is about more than providing exceptional opportunities to exceptional young people. It is, ultimately, about our military’s relationship to its civilian leaders.

And then later on more explicitly:

My students understood that many of the cadets they met would soon be at war. And without my saying it, they also knew that the decisions leading to war are made by elite civilians like themselves.

The Aesthetics of Protest

I remember going -- back in high school -- to the Santa Barbara Museum of Art to see an exhibit entitled "Pirkle Jones: Sixty Years in Photography". I went as part of a field trip organized by the Music and Arts Conservatory, the head of which is an elderly Russian lady named Lana Bodnar. From October to June of 1968 Pirkle Jones -- along with his wife Ruth-Marion -- photographed the Black Panthers in Oakland. These images formed a central part of the exhibit. A few of my peers were dismissive, uninterested and otherwise unimpressed. Lana remarked something to the effect: 'you may not agree with the Black Panthers, or find them somewhat extreme, but just look at the way they hold themselves in those photos, tall and proud. You don't see pride like that very often, especially not amongst black youth today'.


I'm not a huge fan of uniforms and militaristic parades, but Lana had a point. And it's not restricted to the Black Panthers. Dr. King marched in a suit and tie, for example, and silent vigils are still popular. Let's call this the aesthetics of Quiet Dignity.

I think nearly every planning meeting I have been to has emphasized that the action should be fun, exciting and enjoyable. And, I am certain that every large action I have been to has looked like a hippie reunion. Two prominent examples spring to mind: the Gay Pride Parades and the 1968 Festival of Life. Let's call this the aesthetic of Loud Life.

These are two different ways of facing the Powers That Be™. Quiet Dignity can be incredibly powerful, but runs the risk of buying into the normative power paradigm. Loud Life disrupts the normative power paradigm, but in practice often amounts to no more than a demonstrative act that is easily written off and marginalized. It would, of course, be foolish to suggest that one is always preferable to the other, or that this represents an exhaustive cataloging. I bring it up for three reasons:

(a) It might be interesting to look at historical movements and see why a certain aesthetic developed in that particular context. I would love it if someone with more historical knowledge than I took on such a project or if folks could point me towards already existing resources in this direction.

(b) We often fall into a rut and repeat similar actions over and over and I think it is important to remember that there are different approaches. Gene Sharp's list of 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action [also available as an 11x17 poster] is a good resource. But in general, I feel like we reinvent the wheel, or repeat what our immediate antecedents have done without reaching out enough to history and parallel movements.

(c) There may be commonalities that can help us understand what works and what does. The call for "fun" actions is often a reaction against lame Liberal demonstrations. But, perhaps it's not (at times, self-indulgent) fun so much as dignity and power that we feel is lacking? Fun, of course, may be lead to those, but we keep demanding it as if it's something new so perhaps a clearer understanding of what we're after would help us get there, and looking at other movements might give us that understanding.

Food Nation

Bhaskara, so even my all American peanut butter and jelly sandwich isn't safe from theory? And I even made it with whole wheat bread.

If you walk into your standard issue chain bookstore and saunter over to the "social science" -- or whatever they call the one and half bookshelves crammed in a nook in the back -- section you will find a plethora of food related volumes. Michael Pollan springs to mind as does Fast Food Nation, but there are plenty more, and that's not even including all the diet books and cookbooks. For a country that barely eats real food America sure is obsessed with the stuff.

I must admit: I am not entirely immune. I take my food choices seriously. I am vegetarian, prefer locally grown produce, care about sustainable farming, dumpster, and so on down the line. On the one hand these are very important issues. On the other it's flirting with yuppie style sublimation of ethics into consumerism. There are lots of cool projects related to food -- community supported agriculture, urban gardens etc. -- but they still leave me with a funny taste in my mouth. I love food. I love cooking and, perhaps more than anything, I love gathering around a meal with friends. But do I really want to be this obsessed with food?

I agree with you Bhaskara that the situation is insane, but I'm not sure what the radical response would be. Perhaps polarbear would deign to join the blog and expand on his biopower comment for the rest of us?

Peanut Butter Panic

The recent recall of peanut butter products produced by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) has resulted in abundant dumpstering opportunities. And so far so good (no violent salmonella induced vomiting).

However, such a massive recall indicates the instability of food production practices in North America. Clearly, with eight people dead and hundreds more sick and hospitalized, the situation is serious, yet the immediate recall of all products seems like an inappropriate response (not all the products are contaminated), a response on par with other scare-mongering, blame-escaping corporate practices.

How is it less expensive to dump all the products than risk a class action lawsuit?

Book Deal

In conversation with Steve S. an idea arose that I wanted to share with folks. The local/indy music scene seems to - on the whole - be thriving. The analogous literature scene, however, isn't doing as well. The strength of music lies in its ability to create a community through public performance. Literature, however, tends to be more solitary. To break past that and start building a "literary scene" we thought it would be neat if writers took up some aspects of performing: either by organizing their own shows (come listen to a night of short stories by local authors), or - better yet? - in conjunction with musicians (come listen to FooBar play and Etaoin Shrdlu read her latest story). It would be really awesome if this would ultimately culminate in Book Tours in which a group of writers would travel around - the same way bands do - reading their prose (or poetry) at small venues. I know there exist open mics and that slam poetry is very performative. The idea here is to organize something closer to a traditional music show, but with writers instead of bands. Hopefully, not only would this spread some awesome writing around but it'll inspire more folks to tackle writing -- the same way everyone and their mother's second cousin is now 'starting a band'.

Warhol Panopticon

Concept by Techphobe; Realized by J-dV.