Sunday, November 14, 2010

NOT ANTI-AMERICAN...ANTI-IGNORANCE!



I know, I know...ya missed me. It HAS been months since my last entry, and word has it on the mean streets of the blogosphere (god how I hate that term), that many of ya DAMMIT! DIATRIBE junkies have been jonesing but good. Much like Renton, Ewan McGregor's character in Trainspotting... suddenly going cold turkey. I can only say, I'm sorry, but daddy's been a very busy man. If you follow my fabulous, amazing, and quite flummoxed adventures on FakeBook, than you know that my proverbial plate has been runnething (how's that for a word?!) over for quite a while now...got committee meetings, deadlines, postcard designs,media interviews, artist talks, TV and radio appearances, planning after parties, putting up my hand and volunteering for just one more thing, etc., etc....just a lot has to be done if yours truly is gonna obliterate the stigma of mental illness. And, no, certainly not by myself, but with the help of all the good folk at The Mood Disorders Association of Ontario, and Workmen Arts -two not for profit organizations that really give a damn, and really do help those with various forms of "Brain Fuck" (my term. Words like depression don't begin to tell you the sheer horror and terror that one goes through)! I know I had a daily cage match with Brain Fuck for over 18 years!!!! The M.D.A.O. are the people who are bringing ya the amazing Touched By Fire art event at the Royal Ontario Museum on the 25th of November (and this year, we have the Flamin' After Party as well), and Workman Arts are the fine citizens who bring ya, not just the great traveling art show Being Scene, but the world renowned Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival (to name but 2 of their many projects).

So, now I sits in front of the fab DAMMIT! Mansion's new, cool, and very sleekesque new computer, stretch my fingers, and decide which of my many adventures I should write for ya...huh??? NOT! Gadzooks...my mind is shooting blanks. So it is true. Yours truly is indeed officially burnt out big time. So, how's this... lets do a stream of consciousness kinda thingy...just type whatever comes to my mind???? Don't take too much time to think...just type DAMMIT! type!!!!

OK...ahhhhhhhhhhh.....Alright, gonna start with a serious even controversial subject that has been gnawing away at me for awhile now. Barack Obama. You've all heard of him...President of that fine, though at times quite curious and frustrating country we call the United States of America? I was lucky enough to be in his home town (well... ya know what I mean), Chicago a few weeks ago taking care of some art and Touched By Fire business, while simultaneously being blown away by the quite mind blowing architecture and everything else this city has to offer. Now, a lot of you know that I'm a complete news junkie, so while on my hotel bed, after the hookers had left ...KIDDING....I watched as much of the thousands of 24 hour news channels that the TV could throw at me. This was when the mid-term elections were hitting fever pitch, and the election ads were dirtier than my own mind.

See, this is something I believed before Obama was elected. Believed it even more when he won the Presidency. I believe that there is a larger than you'd imagine group of citizens that just can't wait for this President to meet his very own personal Oswald. For the young, and the moronic, Lee Harvey Oswald was a chap down in Dallas who assassinated JFK (if you don't know who JFK is...it's too late for you...you're officially brain dead). I know, It's not something I'm looking forward to either, but you know it as sure as you know the sun will rise again in the morning. Look, I'm not even saying it's just in the U.S., I've spoken to a couple of people right here in T.O. (Toronto, for ya out of towners), who have spoken about this subject to me, with just a little too much glee in their voices..BUT...the United States, or a certain demographic, is still very much a bigoted and racist society. No, of course not as bad as say, when Dr. King marched into Selma...but still...all you have to do is listen to "the common man" (a term coined by the great writer Harlan Ellison) on the street being interviewed on Fox or CNN or NBC. Is it still worse in the Southern states? Was the Pope a fuckin' Nazi??!!!

If you're an American reading this, maybe even a friend, or ex-girlfriend(lots of those around)...You know how much I love your country( god knows where else I would get all my ideas for my art), and that I'm not talking about the vast majority...but, c'mon...you know I speak no lies here...be honest with yourself.
But, Why? Why would certain ignorant factions want the leader of their country, a man they barely even know, killed???? Here's two reasons...Yes, the idea that a man of (half) negro persuasion, could be elected into the highest office not only in the country, but perhaps the planet, just bugs these fucks way too much. In the first couple of months of his Presidency, the F.B.I. reported that Obama had already had more death threats made upon him, in that short amount of time , than any other President serving two full terms.

But, it's not just the rebel flag waving red necks who have problems with the tint of the Commander and Chief's skin colour (that's Canadian for color) that are doing the threatening. I've also noted that a lot of Americans have trouble that he's smarter, more intelligent than they are. Instead of being proud that they have finally elected somebody who can recite the whole alphabet (ahem-W-ahem), and that the rest of the world respects...they are not only intimidated by his smarts, but actually hate him for being, dare I say it...an intellectual. They (re: the Tea Party for one) think that being as stupid as they and their kin are, would make for a better leader. They call this type of person elitists, and (gulp) Liberals. The good news for this special breed of hillbilly is that in 2 years, you can correct this mighty slight, and elect President Palin. No threat of education or intellectualism there! I'm afraid it's not if this sad event will happen, but when. You know I hate being wrong...but I would love to make an exception to that little rule this time around.

Again, I am not saying that's the majority of Americans, but to you out there reading this, you know who y'all are...asking who the fuck do I think I am, passing such judgement???? I'm just some foreigner with an opinion, someone who gives a shit. You can just call me the elitist Liberal from Kanada! Oh, I know elitist and Liberal is "fightin' words" to many people. Me? I consider that a compliment. What, don't tell me that you still subscribe to that ancient myth, that all men (and women) are created equal? Not true, and it has nothing to do with skin colour there, Billy-Joe!

I know...I know...what happened to that quick fire, stream of consciousness, multi-subject blog entry that I promised in the beginning. Sorry about that...it's that passion thing that always gets me in trouble. I apologize (again).

Now, before a good portion of my U.S friends (and enemies), start packing heat, and book a flight to this fair city (yes...Toronto is in the province of Alberta)...let me say this is NOT an anti-American rant...it's a anti-ignorance/idiot rant!!!! And, to not only save my skin, but to keep at least some of my my American "FakeBook friends", I now present a list of 35 things I love and admire about our trading partner to the south.....

1- Winona Ryder (future wife)
2- Chicago (I have to agree with Johnny Depp, my new favourite American city)
3- Vanity Fair magazine
4- PBS
5- Trent Reznor (He was Nine Inch Nails...an honest to goodness genius)
6- Marilyn Monroe
7- Marilyn Manson
8- The Kennedy Boys
9- New York City (too many reasons to list here...the women for starters)
10- The Charlie Rose Show ( Best education I've ever received...counting all schools)
11- Hot Dogs
12- Bob Dylan
13- Invented Rock n' Roll
14- The Empire State Building
15- The Chrysler Building
16- Pop Art
17- Mad Men
18- The Wire
19- David Foster Wallace
20- Jean- Michel Basquiat
21- Hollywood (Despite 90% crap...you guys still make the best films in the world)
22- Harlan Ellison
23- Bill Clinton ( Brought the Bad Boy back to the Presidency)
24- Cool Flag (yeah, ya guys have tainted it...but I'm a sucker for stars on anything)
25- Natalie Portman (Hot, smart, and a helluva actress...just like m' Nonie)
26- Norman Lear
27- M*A*S*H
28- New Yorker magazine
29- New York Dolls
30- Muhammad Ali
31- David Letterman
32- Victoria's Secret
33- Orson Welles
34- Tom Waits
35- Big Mac

...now, I could go on and on and on, but ya get my drift, right????
Now...I'll publish this...before I really get on a tirade about the Christian Right!!!!


Joey DAMMIT!

2 comments:

  1. fOKKEN Brilliant Dude + BANG FUCKIN' ON!!! Keep On Rockin' in da FREE WORLD******** Southern Man don't want U around anyhow.... Lynard Skynard vs Neil Young*

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  2. I realize that, as a Canadian, you feel the need to not come across as anti-American, but the sad and pitiful reality is that most Americans are dumb-asses with no memory beyond two weeks ago, no understanding of cause and effect, no ability to think critically, and an easy adherence to fascist authority.

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