Monday, i suppose
Rain.
No bike ride.
What then?
Millions of things.
More than dreamed of in what's his name's philosophy.
I'm sure we should all be happy as kings.
Read up on any kings, lately?
Are they happy?
Some, i suppose.
Read.
Write.
Go back to sleep.
Yawn.
No bike ride.
What then?
Millions of things.
More than dreamed of in what's his name's philosophy.
I'm sure we should all be happy as kings.
Read up on any kings, lately?
Are they happy?
Some, i suppose.
Read.
Write.
Go back to sleep.
Yawn.
Labels: What?
posted by Lane Savant at 9:16 AM
12 Comments:
Hallo, Lane!
Are kings unhappy? Have you ever seen/heard Verdi's "Don Carlo"?
In it King Philip II has an aria "Ella gemai m'amo" (= "She never loved me") ("She"is his wife, Elizbeth de Valois). What could make anyone unhappier than not being loved by the one one loves???
The one I love sends greetings to you and Meredith and Keth. So do I.
Tschüß,
Anonomann
Hallo, Glenn!
Thank you for sending me earlier the names and birthdays of people born in my birthyear 1935 and that of the woman I love (a.k.a. "Lovely Librarian"). Based on that, the LL would GREATLY appreciate it if you could please post on this blogsite the same info for those born in 1967, when her younger son was born. As you can tell from the year, said son will soon have einen runden Geburtstag. Germans make MUCH more of a deal out of "round birthdays" (ones that end in a round digit, 0). So much so that the LL considers it a duty to attemd his 40th birthday party rather than accompany me on my duty-caused week's trip starting Friday (the 16th) to Turkey, during which the 40th birthday party will take place; understanding this custom, I fully agree with her decision.
My "duty trip" away from the EEC results from my "tourist" status here. My pension is not high enough to qualify me for a residence permit, and, as a "tourist", I can't be in the EEC for longer than 90 days at a time (just as German "tourists" can't stay in the USA for longer than 90 days at a time. The cheapest non-EEC place for me to spend a week is Turkey, so I'll fly to Alantra on the Turkish Riviera and stay in the town of Sidi, like the LL and I did last year.
The LL and I send our thanks for your efforts in compiling and sending the list of "famousities" to us care of this Blog-site, and we wish you and yours all the best!
Tschüß´,
Anonomann + LL
Hallo, nochmals, Lane!
If you need more books to read, feel free to read any of mine resting unread at present in you home. As a good Socialist, I believe in sharing. Thanks to you and Meredith for allowing me to share your home.
I am due to return to SEA-TAC @ around 5 p.m. on 11 January. So, I look forward to seeing you on Redwing in the early evening then.
Tschüß,
Anonomann
Are Kings happy? Another question for the ages. Actor Owen Wilson, very successful, just tried to commit suicide recently. I guess he was not happy, even though to the rest of us his life seemed ideal.
A DREAM OF KINGS (1969) directed by Daniel Mann, starring Anthony Quinn, Irene Papas, and Inger Stevens in her last film role before she committed suicide in 1970; another mysterious gorgous unhappy person.
If you are into Kings, then perhaps you will consult my list of Kings:
1.
Jeremy Irons (Actor, The Lion King (1994))
nickname "King"
2.
Samuel L. Jackson (Actor, Pulp Fiction (1994))
nickname "King of Cool"
3.
Howard Stern (I) (Self, "Howard Stern on Demand: Anna Nicole Smith Retrospective" (2007))
nickname ""King of All Media""
4.
Johnny Carson (I) (Self, The 52nd Annual Academy Awards (1980) (TV))
nickname "The King of Late-night"
5.
Michael Jackson (I) (Self, Moonwalker (1988))
nickname "King Of Pop"
6.
Jerry Goldsmith (Music Department, Star Trek: First Contact (1996))
birth name "Jerrald King Goldsmith"
7.
Stephen King (I) (Writer, The Shawshank Redemption (1994))
nickname "The King"
birth name "Stephen Edwin King"
nickname "The King of horror"
8.
Shahrukh Khan (Actor, Devdas (2002/I))
nickname "King Khan"
9.
Nick Nolte (Actor, Cape Fear (1991))
birth name "Nicholas King Nolte"
10.
Elvis Presley (Soundtrack, Big Fish (2003))
nickname "The King Of Rock 'n' Roll"
nickname "The King"
11.
Jerry Lewis (I) (Actor, The Nutty Professor (1963))
nickname "The King of Comedy"
12. Roger Corman (Producer, The Little Shop of Horrors (1960))
nickname "King of the Bs"
13.
Dean Martin (I) (Self, "The Dean Martin Show" (1965))
nickname "King Leer"
14.
Steve McQueen (I) (Actor, The Great Escape (1963))
nickname "King Of Cool"
15. Christopher De Leon (Actor, Bulaklak ng Maynila (1999))
nickname "The Drama King"
16. James Arness (Actor, Them! (1954))
birth name "James King Aurness"
17.
Larry King (I) (Self, Contact (1997))
18. Fernando Poe Jr. (Actor, Batas ng lansangan (2002))
nickname "Da King"
19.
Clark Gable (Actor, It Happened One Night (1934))
nickname "The King of Hollywood"
nickname "The King"
20.
Mike Judge (I) (Actor, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996))
aka "William King"
21. Michael Patrick King (Producer, "Will & Grace" (1998))
22. Mack Sennett (Producer, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914))
nickname "The King of Comedy"
23. Gregory Hoblit (Producer, Frequency (2000))
birth name "Gregory King Hoblit"
24.
Ron Jeremy (Actor, The Boondock Saints (1999))
nickname "The Porn King"
25. Allan King (Director, "Friday the 13th" (1987))
aka "Allan Winton King"
26. Graham King (I) (Producer, The Departed (2006))
27.
Regina King (Actress, Ray (2004/I))
28. Stanley Donen (Director, Singin' in the Rain (1952))
nickname "The King of Musicals"
29. Peter King (I) (Make-Up Department, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001))
aka "Peter Swords King"
aka "Peter Swords-King"
30.
Vincent Price (I) (Actor, Edward Scissorhands (1990))
nickname "King of the Grand Guignol"
31. King Vidor (Director, War and Peace (1956))
birth name "King Wallis Vidor"
aka "King W. Vidor"
32.
Michelle Yeoh (Actress, Wo hu cang long (2000))
aka "Chi-King Yeung"
Popular Titles (Displaying 16 Results)
1.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
aka "The Return of the King" - USA (short title)
2.
King Kong (2005)
aka "Peter Jackson's King Kong" - USA (promotional title)
3.
The Lion King (1994)
aka "King of the Jungle" - USA (original script title)
4.
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
5.
King Arthur (2004)
aka "King Arthur: Director's Cut" - USA (DVD title) (director's cut)
6.
The Fisher King (1991)
7.
King Kong (1933)
aka "King Ape" - USA (working title)
8.
Anna and the King (1999)
9.
"The King of Queens" (1998)
10.
The Scorpion King (2002)
11.
Chung Hing sam lam (1994)
aka "Chung King Express" - Hong Kong (English title)
12.
The King and I (1956)
aka "Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I" - USA (complete title)
13.
The Madness of King George (1994)
aka "The Madness of King George III" - Australia
14.
The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
aka "Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King" - USA (complete title)
15.
The King of Comedy (1983)
16.
King Kong (1976)
aka "King Kong: The Legend Reborn"
I warned you, sir of the weather report. Actually Saturday was a nice day, and it was supposed to be rainy too, ditto for Sunday --But on Monday the rains came to visit. Our plumber showed up in the pm to finish his sump pump job, plug it in, and collect the rest of his money. The new sump is 3 times the size of the old one on the opposite side of the basement. Let it goddamn rain, man, we are ready for it.
I drove into Tacoma and went to the Classy Chassis car wash and detail shop. I bit the bullet and had my pick up, Izzy, spruced up a lot. I had the oxyidation taken off, and a deep cleaning and polishing down, and then a "double" wax job put on it. My little red fire truck is tooling along now with its burly chest sticking out. You could comb your hair in the reflection off the hood or fenders now. The beads of water are an inch high and as numerous as the stars in the sky. For some reason I am pleased with myself, taking good care of my 1992 paint job. I like looking over a shiny hood. I like staring back at the vehicle as I walk away from it, or up to it. Call me crazy, call me American, call me a child of the 50's. Shiny red paint just torques my libido or some shit.
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamed of in your philosophy, Horatio." Or some quote close to that, right? Hamlet certainly was not happy. On the new Showtime series THE TUDORS, Henry VIII is played by the young Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and he is fond of saying, "It is good to be the King." but even he has his troubles with his love life, with the world at large, with the plague, with his cod piece.
So enjoy the sleep of the retired, the sleep of the listless, the sleep of the barely healed up from a head cold syndrome, the sleep of the innocent, the sleep of the wicked, the proud, the pariah. All those sleeps belong to you and others, and when you awake today, Tuesday, then you can "write" about what you dreamed of, or did not dream of, or of your half sleep, your naps, and daydreams, your meditation, your musings. Come sir, put those strong long fingers to the keyboard. We all await.
Glenn
Anonmann:
Here is the list of Births for the year 1967. 1967 was a tough year for me. I was in the Navy, and working hard to keep my butt out of Viet Nam:
January-February
January 2 - Tia Carrere, American actress
January 5 - Joe Flanigan, American actor
January 7 - Mark Lamarr, British comedian/TV and radio presenter
January 8 - R. Kelly, American R&B singer/songwriter/producer Wasn't he born in 1969 as per his article?-->
January 9 - Carl Bell, American musician (Fuel)
January 9 - Steven Harwell, American singer and musician (Smash Mouth)
January 9 - Dave Matthews, South African-born musician
January 9 - Dale Gordon, English footballer
January 14 - Kerri Green, American actress
January 14 - Sharon Beshenivsky, West Yorkshire police constable (d. 2005)
January 16 - Michael Burkett, a.k.a. Fat Mike, American singer and musician
January 18 - Iván Zamorano, Chilean footballer
January 23 - Naim Suleymanoglu, Bulgarian-born weightlifter
January 27 - Byron Mann, Hong Kong actor
February 1 - Meg Cabot, American teen author
February 6 - Izumi Sakai, Japanese singer (Zard) (d. 2007)
February 6 - Anita Cochran, American singer
February 7 - Cheung Man, Hong Kong actress
February 9 - Todd Pratt, American baseball player
February 12 - Chitravina N. Ravikiran, Indian composer and musician
February 15 - Trond Egil Soltvedt, Norwegian footballer
February 16 - John Valentin, baseball player
February 17 - Chanté Moore, American singer
February 18 - Roberto Baggio, Italian football player
February 19 - Benicio del Toro, Puerto Rican actor
February 19 - Sven Erik Kristiansen, Norwegian Black metal and hardcore punk singer who has the stage name Maniac
February 20 - Kurt Cobain, American musician (Nirvana) (d. 1994)
March-April
March 4 - Evan Dando, American musician
March 4 - Daryll Cullinan, South African cricketer
March 11 - John Barrowman, Scottish-born actor
March 16 - Lauren Graham, American actress
March 17 - Billy Corgan, American musician and songwriter
March 18 - Miki Berenyi, British lead singer of Lush
March 21 - Jonas "Joker" Berggren, Swedish musician (Ace of Base)
March 21 - Adrian Chiles, British television and radio presenter
March 22 - Mario Cipollini, Italian cyclist
March 25 - Debi Thomas, American figure skater
March 27 - Talisa Soto, American actress
March 29 - Brian Jordan, baseball player
April 2 - Greg Camp, American guitarist and songwriter (Smash Mouth)
April 2 - Helen Chamberlain, British television presenter
April 6 - Mika Koivuniemi, Finnish ten-pin bowler
April 15 - Alt, Brazilian comic creator
April 15 - Frankie Poullain, British bassist (The Darkness)
April 15 - Dara Torres, American swimmer
April 17 - Marquis Grissom, baseball player
April 17 - Liz Phair, American singer and songwriter
April 18 - Maria Bello, American actress
April 19 - Steven H Silver, American science fiction editor
April 19 - Dar Williams, American musician and songwriter
April 20 - Raymond van Barneveld, Dutch darts player
April 20 - Lara Jill Miller, American actress
April 20 - Mike Portnoy, American drummer (Dream Theater)
April 21 - Neil Marshall, British born Canadian aerospace engineer
April 22 - Sheryl Lee, American actress
April 23 - Melina Kanakaredes, American actress
April 26 - Glen Jacobs (Kane), American professional wrestler
April 27 - Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
April 29 - Curtis Joseph, Canadian hockey player
April 29 - Master P, American rapper, composer, actor, athlete, and sports agent
May-June
May 1 - Tim McGraw, American singer
May 2 - Jeff Curro, Jeff the Drunk from radio's The Howard Stern Show
May 5 - Takehito Koyasu, Japanese seiyu (voice actor)
May 11 - Big Poppa E, Poetry Slam artist
May 13 - Chuck Schuldiner, American singer and guitarist (d. 2001)
May 13 - Melanie Thornton, American singer (d. 2001)
May 14 - Tony Siragusa, American football player
May 15 - John Smoltz, baseball player
May 21 - Chris Benoit, Canadian professional wrestler (d.2007)
May 22 - MC Eiht, American rapper
May 24 - Heavy D, American rapper
May 24 - Steve McDonald, American bassist (Redd Kross)
May 25 - Poppy Z. Brite, American author
May 29 - Noel Gallagher, British musician (Oasis)
May 31 - Phil Keoghan, New Zealand-born television host
June 3 - Anderson Cooper, American television journalist
June 5 - Joe DeLoach, American athlete
June 7 - Dave Navarro, American guitarist
June 8 - Efan Ekoku, Nigerian footballer
June 10 - Darren "Buffy, the Human Beatbox" Robinson, American rapper (The Fat Boys) (d. 1995)
June 15 - Yūji Ueda, Japanese seiyu (voice actor)
June 19 - Bjørn Dæhlie, Norwegian skier
June 20 - Nicole Kidman, American-born Australian actress
June 23 - Yoko Minamino, Japanese idol star and actress
June 24 - Bill Huard, Canadian ice hockey player
June 24 - Janez Lapajne, Slovenian film director
June 24 - Richard Z. Kruspe, German musician (Rammstein)
June 29 - Murray Foster, Canadian Bassist (Moxy Fruvous)
July-August
July 1 - Pamela Anderson, Canadian actress and model
July 4 - Vinny Castilla, Mexican Major League Baseball player
July 4 - Andy Walker, Canadian television personality
July 5 - Silvia Ziche, Italian comics artist
July 6 - Heather Nova, British musician
July 7 - Jackie Neal, American blues singer (d. 2005)
July 8 - Marcus Chong, American actor
July 12 - John Petrucci, American virtuoso guitarist
July 12 - Count Jefferson von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth
July 13 - Akira Hokuto, Japanese women's professional wrestler
July 14 - Jeff Jarrett, American professional wrestler
July 14 - Robin Ventura, baseball player
July 15 - Adam Savage, Mythbusters co-host
July 16 - Will Ferrell, American comedian and actor
July 18 - Vin Diesel, American actor
July 19 - Rageh Omaar, broadcaster
July 25 - Matt LeBlanc, American actor
July 27 - Juliana Hatfield, American guitarist and songwriter
July 27 - Kellie Waymire, American actress (d. 2003)
July 28 - Taka Hirose, Japanese musician (Feeder)
July 31 - Minako Honda, Japanese singer and musical actress (d. 2005)
July 31 - Elizabeth Wurtzel, author and feminist
August 4 - Mike Marsh, American athlete
August 8 - Lorraine Pearson, British singer Five Star
August 8 - Rena Mero, WWE Women's Wrestler, Sable, Playboy Cover Girl
August 10 - Riddick Bowe, American boxer
August 11 - Enrique Bunbury, Spanish singer and songwriter
August 11 - Joe Rogan, American comedian and television host
August 12 - Regilio Tuur, Dutch boxer
August 13 - Amélie Nothomb, Belgian writer
August 16 - Pamela Smart, American murderer
August 16 - Ulrika Jonsson, Swedish-born television personality
August 21 - Carrie-Anne Moss, Canadian actress
August 21 - Serj Tankian, Lebanese-born singer (System of a Down)
August 22 - Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, British actor and model
August 22 - Yukiko Okada, Japanese idol singer (d. 1986)
August 22 - Layne Staley, American singer (Alice in Chains) (d. 2002)
August 25 - Jeff Tweedy, American singer (Wilco)
August 29 - Anton Newcombe, American musician (The Brian Jonestown Massacre)
September-October
September 3 - Luis Gonzalez, baseball player
September 5 - Jane Sixsmith, English field hockey player
September 9 - Chris Caffery, American guitarist and singer
September 11 - Harry Connick, Jr., American singer and actor
September 13 - Michael Johnson, American athlete
September 21 - Faith Hill, American singer
September 21 - Susie Dent, British lexicographer on Countdown.
September 22 - Félix Savón, Cuban boxer
September 25 - Kim Issel, Canadian ice hockey player
October 2 - Frankie Fredericks, Namibian athlete
October 4 - Liev Schreiber, American actor
October 4 - Ekin Cheng, Hong Kong actor and singer
October 5 - Johnny Gioeli, American Power Metal singer
October 7 - Toni Braxton, American R&B singer
October 8 - Teddy Riley, American R&B and hip hop singer
October 9 - Eddie Guerrero, American professional wrestler (d. 2005)
October 11 - Tazz, American professional wrestler, commentator,
October 11 - Artie Lange, American actor, comedian and radio personality
October 11 - David Starr, American racecar driver
October 13 - Trevor Hoffman, Major League Baseball player
October 13 - Kate Walsh, American actress
October 16 - Davina McCall, British TV presenter and UK Big Brother host
October 17 - René Dif, Danish-Algerian megastar (AQUA)
October 22 - Carlos Mencia, Latino actor and standup comedian
October 26 - Keith Urban, Australian-born, American country music singer
October 27 - Scott Weiland, American musician
October 28 - Julia Roberts, American actress
October 28 - Sophie, Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein, Princess of Liechtenstein
October 29 - Joely Fisher, American actress
October 30 - Gavin Rossdale, English musician
October 30 - Brad Aitken, Canadian ice hockey player
November-December
November 3 - Steven Wilson, Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist
November 7 - Sharleen Spiteri, Scottish singer and songwriter (Texas)
November 8 - Courtney Thorne-Smith, American actress
November 14 - Letitia Dean, British actress
November 15 - François Ozon, French writer and director
November 16 - Lisa Bonet, American actress
November 22 - Boris Becker, German tennis player
November 22 - Bart Veldkamp, Dutch-born speed skater
November 25 - Kazuya Nakai, Japanese voice actor
November 28 - Anna Nicole Smith, American model and actress (d. 2007)
November 29 - John Bradshaw Layfield, American professional wrestler
December 6 - Judd Apatow, mayor of comedy
December 6 - Hacken Lee, Hong Kong singer and actor
December 7 - Mo'Nique, American actress and comedian
December 8 - Kotono Mitsuishi, Japanese seiyu (voice actress)
December 9 - Joshua Bell, American violinist
December 11 - DJ Yella, American music producer
December 12 - John Randle, American football player
December 13 - Jamie Foxx, American actor
December 14 - Ewa Białołęcka, Polish writer
December 16 - Donovan Bailey, Canadian athlete
December 17 - Gigi D'Agostino, Italian musician and DJ
December 18 - Toine van Peperstraten, Dutch sports journalist
December 19 - Criss Angel, American musician, magician, illusionist, escapologist, and stunt performer
December 20 - Teoman, Turkish rock singer and song-writer
December 20 - Mikhail Saakashvili, President of Georgia
December 22 - Dan Petrescu, Romanian footballer
December 29 - George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, American Death Metal vocalist
December 30 - Massimo Milano, Italian ethnomusicologist
Unknown dates
Steve Aylett, British writer
LTJ Bukem, English musician
Chico Science, Brazilian entertainer (d. 1997)
Mairtín Crawford, Irish poet (d. 2004)
On my birthday that year, June 14th, Mariner was launched to Venus, and the Chinese tested their first hydrogen bomb.
Hope things go well for you over there on the Turkish Riveria, sir. My best to you and the LL.
Glenn
Doug:
I just received my copy of THE BUSINESS OF FANCYDANCING (2002). I am looking forward to watching Evan Adams as the gay Indian poet, and searching for the book store scene and the emergence of Doug Palmer as movie extra, and star in the making.
I did some more research, and I found out that Sherman is 6'2" tall. That's is big for a Native American. By the way, he prefers the term Indian over Native American.
Alexie is a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian born and raised in the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. His father held various jobs, including truck driver and logger and his mother was a social worker. Alexie was born hydrocephalic and underwent a brain operation at the age of 6 months, but was not expected to survive. When he did live, doctors predicted he would live with severe mental retardation. Although spared this, he did suffer through seizures and bed-wetting throughout his childhood. Preferring to stay inside, he developed a love for reading, liking Steinbeck as a five-year-old. Alexie faced alcoholism for five years before becoming sober at 23. He graduated with honors from Reardan High, where he was the only Indian. Alexie planned to be a doctor until he "fainted three times in human anatomy class" and stumbled into a poetry workshop at Washington State University. He attened Gonzaga University in Spokane on a scholarship and graduated in American Studies from Washington State. Alexie received two prestigious fellowships and soon after cranked out eleven books, placing the number of his total pieces of work at over 300.
FANCYDANCING did get some awards. At the 2002 DURANGO FILM FESTIVAL, it won a Jury Award for "Best Narrative Feature Film". At the LA OUTFEST it won two awards, Evan Adams got "Outstanding Actor", and Sherman received "Outstanding Screen Writer." Interestingly it also received "Best Feature" at the SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN AND GAY FILM FESTIVAL --and several other awards from another Gay Film Festival. Oddly, Sherman did not receive any kudos for directing. I will have to check that out.
Glenn
I went to the official Sherman Alexie website, which you should link to, and I found that he used a lot of good friends in casting FANCYDANCING, friends from theatre and film and the Rez, and that he seems to stay in touch with them. There was this article too.
Chapter & Verse
Reclaiming God from pro-war hypocrites--and unmasking Bush as a lousy Christian
by Sherman Alexie
Let me quote from the book of Bill Hicks: "I was over in Australia and somebody asked me if I was proud to be American. And I said, 'I don't know. I didn't have a lot to do with it. My parents fucked there, that's about all.'"
Let me celebrate the fact that my Roman Catholic Coeur d'Alene Indian father and Assembly of God Spokane Indian mother fucked somewhere in the vicinity of Wellpinit, Washington, and made me an American. My passionate parents engaged in interdenominational and intertribal sex within the sanctity of marriage.
When I was six months old and being prepared for life-threatening brain surgery, my father had me baptized Catholic and my mother had me baptized Protestant. When it comes to the afterlife, I'm covered. When it comes to my current life, I'm vaguely Christian. And as a vague Christian, I want to reclaim God and Christ from the right-wing, pro-war, patriotic hypocrites. More specifically, I want to paint a big old red "L" on the United Methodist George W. Bush's forehead because, according to The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, he is a lousy Christian.
According to their rulebook, the United Methodist Church "officially opposes capital punishment and urges its elimination from all criminal codes." And yet the sacrilegious Bush presided over the executions of 132 convicted criminals while he was Texas' governor. During a 2000 interview with the conservative journalist Tucker Carlson, W. wickedly mocked Karla Faye Tucker, the only woman to be executed in Texas during the 20th century. When Carlson asked W. how he felt about pleas for Karla Faye's clemency, he pretended to be her on death row, and whimpered, "Please don't kill me."
I wonder if Pontius Pilate was that funny about state-sanctioned murder?
The United Methodists believe that "citizens of all countries should have access to all essential information regarding their government and its policies. Illegal and unconscionable activities directed against persons or groups by their own governments must not be justified or kept secret, even under the guise of national security."
So much for the Christian nature of the Patriot Act!
The Bush administration profanely refused to release documents indicating the meeting dates and attendance rolls of the energy task force chaired by Dick Cheney, another good Methodist man. If I were a lousy Christian like W. or Dick, I wouldn't have wanted the voting public to know that those lousy Christian Enron officials were once so welcome at the White House.
The United Methodists insist that "homosexual persons no less than heterosexual persons are individuals of sacred worth" and the Church is "committed to supporting [equal] rights and liberties for homosexual persons." But during his irreligious 1994 campaign for governor, Bush defended Texas' sodomy law, which makes sexual activity between same-sex adults illegal, as a "symbolic gesture of traditional values." And in 1999, as governor, he supported an ungodly measure that banned gay couples from becoming foster parents or adopting foster children. As president, Bush allowed the military to discharge nine students, including seven students of Arabic descent, from the Army's main language-training center because they violated the "don't ask, don't tell" policy by identifying themselves as gay.
How do you say "homophobic heathen" in Arabic?
The United Methodists also believe that "the manufacture, sale and deployment of armaments must be reduced and controlled; and that the production, possession or use of nuclear weapons be condemned. Consequently, [the Church] endorse[s] general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international controls."
Does that mean God wants the United States to destroy all of its weapons of mass destruction?
And I'm not subjectively quoting from the Methodist rulebook. W.'s own church isn't too happy with him.
The United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society believes "United Methodists have a particular duty to speak out against an unprovoked attack [on Iraq].... It is inconceivable that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior and the Prince of Peace, would support this proposed attack."
So, my brother and sister Christians, what would Jesus do in a time of war? Be careful with your answer. It was Shakespeare, the public Protestant and private Catholic, who warned, "The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose."
Have you ever been randomly recognized on the street?
In Seattle, maybe the only city in the world where writers are celebrities, I get recognized every time I leave the house. On a busy day, if I'm in a very public place like a shopping mall, I'll get recognized five or six times. Outside of Seattle, I get recognized not for being a writer, but for being profiled on 60 Minutes or the only national television shows I've been on. In Dallas, a waiter said to me, "Hey, aren't you that famous Indian?"
In the end of a book I read recently, one of the main characters is leaving civilization as we know it behind her forever, and decides to take only three books with her. Which three books would you take?
Emily Dickinson's Collected Poems, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, and Leslie Silko's Ceremony.
Reading along on his home website I found out that he has a wonderful dry sense of humor, much prevelant in his writing, and that he enjoys doing stand up comedy. He lives somewhere in Seattle, and has two sons, with an office downtown.
The website was www.fallsapart.com and/or shermanalexie.com and it would be cool for you to link him up to FFTL.
Glenn
How wonderful to know that my favorite Indian author, Sherman Alexie would have one of my books of collective poems as one of his three most important books on a desert island. I happen to know that he has 5,000 books in his possession, so that is a great honor that he treasures my work. He is as crazy as the poet Buttkus who has, I hear, 12,000 films in his home. Oh so manic, don't you think?
Emily
You know I am sure that Sherman Alexie is a "nice" guy, as Doug put it, but let me submit he is one smart cookie. His website reflects that his office is also his production company. He is barricaded up with a small posse of agents, friends, and clerical staff who look out for him, legally and spiritually. His list of speaking engagements, and articles is quite impressive. I think his lexicon of published works is like over 300 now. Everything is worded carefully in terms of any contact with him. It is like the machine, the gaggle and group that James Michener surrounded himself with. Like the writers of the century's past did, become the CEO of their own career, and have others doing much of the research, and scut work, and clerical work. I am certain that there is no other way to behave and still remain successful and sane --yet it puts Alexie into a "special" status. He is not some talented amateur. He is the real deal. It does not dampen my enthusiasm for reading his poetry and prose, yet there is something captialistically perverse about such carefulness, such precision in one's life.
I loved this bit he wrote about Hollywood and the Indians.
I hated tonto (still do)
by Sherman Alexie
Los Angeles Times, June 28 1998
Commentary: Sherman Alexie recalls growing up with stereotype movie Indians — and loving them, wanting to be them. (Well, most of them.)
I was a little Spokane Indian boy who read every book and saw every movie about Indians, no matter how terrible. I'd read those historical romance novels about the stereotypical Indian warrior ravaging the virginal white schoolteacher.
I can still see the cover art.
The handsome, blue-eyed warrior (the Indians in romance novels are always blue-eyed because half-breeds are somehow sexier than full-blooded Indians) would be nuzzling (the Indians in romance novels are always performing acts that are described in animalistic terms) the impossibly pale neck of a white woman as she reared her head back in primitive ecstasy (the Indians in romance novels always inspire white women to commit acts of primitive ecstasy).
Of course, after reading such novels, I imagined myself to be a blue-eyed warrior nuzzling the necks of various random, primitive and ecstatic white women.
And I just as often imagined myself to be a cinematic Indian, splattered with Day-Glo Hollywood war paint as I rode off into yet another battle against the latest actor to portray Gen. George Armstrong Custer.
But I never, not once, imagined myself to be Tonto.
I hated Tonto then and I hate him now.
However, despite my hatred of Tonto, I loved movies about Indians, loved them beyond all reasoning and saw no fault with any of them.
I loved John Ford's "The Searchers."
I rooted for John Wayne as he searched for his niece for years and years. I rooted for John Wayne even though I knew he was going to kill his niece because she had been "soiled" by the Indians. Hell, I rooted for John Wayne because I understood why he wanted to kill his niece.
I hated those savage Indians just as much as John Wayne did.
I mean, jeez, they had kidnapped Natalie Wood, transcendent white beauty who certainly didn't deserve to be nuzzled, nibbled, or nipped by some Indian warrior, especially an Indian warrior who only spoke in monosyllables and whose every movement was accompanied by ominous music.
In the movies, Indians are always accompanied by ominous music. And I've seen so many Indian movies that I feel like I'm constantly accompanied by ominous music. I always feel that something bad is about to happen.
I am always aware of how my whole life is shaped by my hatred of Tonto. Whenever I think of Tonto, I hear ominous music.
I walk into shopping malls or family restaurants, as the ominous music drops a few octaves, and imagine that I am Billy Jack, the half-breed Indian and Vietnam vet turned flower-power pacifist (now there's a combination) who loses his temper now and again, takes off his shoes (while his opponents patiently wait for him to do so), and then kicks the red out of the necks of a few dozen racist white extras.
You have to remember Billy Jack, right?
Every Indian remembers Billy Jack. I mean, back in the day, Indians worshipped Billy Jack.
Whenever a new Billy Jack movie opened in Spokane, my entire tribe would climb into two or three vans like so many circus clowns and drive to the East Trent Drive-In for a long evening of greasy popcorn, flat soda pop, fossilized licorice rope and interracial violence.
We Indians cheered as Billy Jack fought for us, for every single Indian.
Of course, we conveniently ignored the fact that Tom Laughlin, the actor who played Billy Jack, was definitely not Indian.
After all, such luminary white actors as Charles Bronson, Chuck Connors, Burt Reynolds, Burt Lancaster, Sal Mineo, Anthony Quinn and Charlton Heston had already portrayed Indians, so who were we to argue?
I mean, Tom Laughlin did have a nice tan and he spoke in monosyllables and wore cowboy boots and a jean jacket just like Indians. And he did have a Cherokee grandmother or grandfather or butcher, so he was Indian by proximity, and that was good enough in 1972, when disco music was about to rear its ugly head and bell-bottom pants were just beginning to change the shape of our legs.
When it came to the movies, Indians had learned to be happy with less.
We didn't mind that cinematic Indians never had jobs.
We didn't mind that cinematic Indians were deadly serious.
We didn't mind that cinematic Indians were rarely played by Indian actors.
We made up excuses.
"Well, that Tom Laughlin may not be Indian, but he sure should be."
"Well, that movie wasn't so good, but Sal Mineo looked sort of like Uncle Stubby when he was still living out on the reservation."
"Well, I hear Burt Reynolds is a little bit Cherokee. Look at his cheekbones. He's got them Indian cheekbones."
"Well, it's better than nothing."
Yes, that became our battle cry.
"Sometimes, it's a good day to die. Sometimes, it's better than nothing."
We Indians became so numb to the possibility of dissent, so accepting of our own lowered expectations, that we canonized a film like "Powwow Highway."
When it was first released, I loved "Powwow Highway." I cried when I first saw it in the theater, then cried again when I stayed and watched it again a second time.
I mean, I loved that movie. I memorized whole passages of dialogue. But recently, I watched the film for the first time in many years and cringed in shame and embarrassment with every stereotypical scene.
I cringed when Philbert Bono climbed to the top of a sacred mountain and left a Hershey chocolate bar as an offering.
I cringed when Philbert and Buddy Red Bow waded into a stream and sang Indian songs to the moon.
I cringed when Buddy had a vision of himself as an Indian warrior throwing a tomahawk through the window of a police cruiser.
I mean, I don't know a single Indian who would leave a chocolate bar as an offering. I don't know any Indians who have ever climbed to the top of any mountain. I don't know any Indians who wade into streams and sing to the moon. I don't know of any Indians who imagine themselves to be Indian warriors.
Wait -
I was wrong. I know of at least one Indian boy who always imagined himself to be a cinematic Indian warrior.
Me.
I watched the movies and saw the kind of Indian I was supposed to be.
A cinematic Indian is supposed to climb mountains.
I am afraid of heights.
A cinematic Indian is supposed to wade into streams and sing songs.
I don't know how to swim.
A cinematic Indian is supposed to be a warrior.
I haven't been in a fistfight since sixth grade and she beat the crap out of me.
I mean, I knew I could never be as brave, as strong, as wiser as visionary, as white as the Indians in the movies.
I was just one little Indian boy who hated Tonto because Tonto was the only cinematic Indian who looked like me.
Cool bit of prose, isn't it? Remember that his first big break came with his book LONE RANGER AND TONTO FISTFIGHT IN HEAVEN. Jay Silverheels certainly did get Sherman's goat. I guess he never had a real "Kemo Sabe". A real shame that. The Lone Ranger was always able to take off his mask, and put on disguises, like the old whiskered prospector, to go into town and do some spying. Poor Tonto was always sent on ahead to set things up, which always bothered me. Tonto was never disguised or pretended to be anything more than an Indian. Why did all those white men in all those evil and cruel towns and ranches never seem to notice he was hanging around setting things up for the Lone Ranger?
One of my favorite attempts at a Western was THE LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER (1981), not to be confused with the compilation film THE LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER (1952) with Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. In the 1981 film, the director was the immensily talented former cinematographer William A. Fraker, so the movie looked great, sumptious vistas and skies, vast prairies and tall majestic mountains. After a long search Klinton Spillsbury was chosen to play Texas Ranger John Reid, who became the Lone Ranger. He looked great but had a voice like Truman Capote I guess. They had to bring in James Keach to dub over all his lines. Spillsbury's career was short-lived. The taller and more muscular Michael Horse played Tonto, as a force to be reckoned with. The supporting cast chewed up the scenery just fine, starting with Christopher Lloyd as Major Bartholomew "Butch" Cavendesh, the fiendish villian who slaughtered a whole company of Rangers. Jason Robards played a drunken President Ulysses S. Grant. Matt Clark was in it, and I especially enjoyed old trouper and stunt man Richard Farnsworth as Will Bill Hickok. This film is a bit of an anomoly, and it does need to be viewed to be believed; although it is a farce, and I think was meant to be.
I am reading Alexie's INDIAN KILLER presently and it is quite a book. I love all those references to Seattle and the Northwest. It makes me want to rewrite my 1975 manuscript BAERBAK, about John Baerbak, Seattle private detective, who lived in an abandoned building, was a movie buff, who had to hunt down Cody, a Viet Nam vet who turned hitman, and who was also a movie buff. Many of the clues Baerbak had to discipher were clues from movies. Maybe it is about time for John Baerbak to become better known. Retirement might also bring back to light and my pen of correction my first unpublished novel manuscript, BLACKTHORN, my existential Western, that included graphic sex scenes, free verse poetry, and some metaphysical references. I also killed off my hero, which is a No-No. An English professor of mine at the UofW told me that the book broke every rule and principle of the Western Writer's of America, that it was like Kurt Vonnegutt had written a Western; quite a compliment actually when I reflect upon it. Since you, Sir Savant, will not serialize your prose fiction manuscripts on this site, maybe at some future date we will run one of my novels in serial form, chapter by chapter, like in the old Saturday Evening Post. How would you like that, sir?
Glenn
Ganz vielen herzlichsten Dank,
GLENN,
for the list of famousites (including two "lady" wrestlers!!)
born in 1967 --
and especially for sending it as soon as you did, so that I could give it to the LL tomorrow before she takes me to Hamburg where I'll catch my plane to Turkey and she'll stay for son Toralf's birthday party on Sat., the 17th.
It is now Thurs., the 15th @ 5:38 p.m., so I got your list just in time; again, thanks, THANKS, THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The LL also thanks you for your greetings and sends hers in return to you and Melva.
The info on what transpired on 14 June 1967 is also interesting and I'll add it to the list I'll give the LL to give to Toralf Saturday.
Were you born on 14 June 1967 or in some other year?
Your info elsewhere on Alexie is also interesting. I, too, am the son of an Episcopalian father and a Roman Catholic mother; I don't remember either of them ever going to either church except for weddings and funerals, nor do I ever remember them either having any sex with eachother or being in any way loving to eachother or my mother ever being loving to me; either my father must have raped her or I, too, resulted from a virgin birth. As the LL and I are both agnostic, we believe it must have been the former. They divorced when I was 13; my mother wanted custody so she could put me in a Catholic boarding school (we now know what sort of misdeeds happened beneath the Crosses there!!!); I asked the judge to please give custody of me to my father, which he did (thank "god"!!!!).
Again, VIELEN haerzlichsten Dank!!!
and Tschüß,
Anonomann.
Anonomann:
You are so very welcome for the list. It is a small kliene thing I have done, but I am glad it made you and the LL happy.
Perhaps my points of view and points of reference are "young at heart", but no I was not born in 1967. My goodness I was born on June 14, 1944; and that's a lot of fours. Think about it. I have know Doug since 1959 from high school, coming up on 50 years of friendship. From 1975 to 2006 he and I did not have much contact, although in the early 80's he did work on a couple of my cars. June 14th is Flag Day. So you can wave your flag on my birthday. Ms. Betsy Ross came up with the first American flag, the "Don't Tread on me" beauty on June 14. As patriotic as our fascist leaders claim to be, no one has ever made a big deal about Flag Day. I wonder why. Certainly it is as significant a day as the birthday of Martin Luther King.
Again, enjoy your time in Turkey, and endeavor to behave yourself. Nice to hear that you will be in Seattle in early January, staying at Rancho Palmer, or Hacienda Savant.
Glenn
I wonder how Sherman feels about the "what do you mean we, paleface" joke.
I know it gave me more respect for long suffering Tonto.
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