Public Enemies

About a month ago, my wife Lisa and I drove out to Wisconsin to visit family in the North Woods, which is what they call the northern section of the Badger State, an area full of lakes and trees and hundreds of charming little towns. Manitowish Waters is one such place, and we were told that a movie had just been shot up there starring Johnny Depp. The movie is called Public Enemies, and follows the exploits of several bank robbers from the early 1930's- you know, the Great Depression. Now not all of the movie was filmed up there, but one section, which revolved around a famous gunfight at the lodge Little Bohemia, does. The lodge is still there today, and the food is great. If you're ever anywhere near the area, go. But I'm not writing today on behalf of the Wisconsin Board of Tourism. No, I'm writing today because after we went up to Little Bohemia and heard all about the gangsters who hid out up north, my mother-in-law Red Miller gave me a copy of the book Public Enemies- which I am fairly certain is the main source for the movie. It's a great read, and follows the exploits of Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, the Barker Gang, Machine Gun Kelly, and Bonnie and Clyde. (on a tangent, click here for a very funny short music video about B and C that features Bridgette Bardot) As I read of these famous outlaws, whom have all been lionised to one degree or other by our collective pop culture, I began to think about what it was that made them popular with so many people. Never before, for me at any rate, has the answer been so clear, and so resonant. In general, American banks and the folks who run Wall Street are perceived as institutions that screw the American people over and over, all in the name of greed- and when someone comes along and takes money away from those avaricious bastards, it feels good.
I wonder what would happen if someone starting looting Bank of America somehow, or Morgan Stanley, or whoever- what if there was a gang who kept taking money from these giant operations and somehow got away with it for a while? Would there be people who cheered them? What if some rogue found a way to rob some of those CEO's of their "golden parachutes"? Wouldn't he or she be an instant hero? I bet you, in the current atmosphere of fear and desperation pervading the American psyche, that if some nut job walked up to Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and kicked him in the balls, said nut job would be an instant hit on YouTube, and on the cover of every major news magazine, web site, etc. within a day.
Isn't that amazing? We now live in a time where it's really easy to understand the mindset of the average American during the Great Depression.
Speaking of which, the Dow dropped over 700 points today after the House failed to pass the economic Bail Out plan. Just exactly who are the public enemies these days?

It's the End of the World as We Know It, and I Feel Fine

I am surprised that there aren't more mentions of Ragnarok these days. Ragnarok, also known as the Twilight of the Gods, the End of All Things, and what's on the TV tonight. Maybe the similarity between current times and the Norse story of the end of the world is going to be the talking point for one of the political parties next week, after we are told yet again that the next Great Depression is almost here. While it is clear that times are a-changin', and that things aren't necessarily coming up roses at the moment, I find it hard to take all the gloom and doom from the current Masters of the Universe seriously. I've just heard it too much, too often, and from too many stuffed shirts whom I don't trust. (see Bush, George)

The right side of the political spectrum seems to be talking out of both sides of its mouth ad nauseum, like an uptight version of the Roman god Janus, if I may switch pantheons. And it's nothing new. Remember how after the attacks of 9/11, in between dire warnings of dirty bombs, anthrax, and Bin Laden, we were told to go shopping? Now we're being told about Washington Mutual crumbling, but not to worry, everything will work out if we can just get this bail out thing worked out.

Right.

I think I am doing Janus a dis-service by comparing those on the right to that venerable God of Doorways, beginnings, and endings. (and I'm not being soft on Janus just because I used him in my play Some Unfortunate Hour) No, let's lose the "J" and make a new god- Anus, American God of politics, known for talking out of both sides of his ass.

Okay, let's be fair. There are people on the left who do that as well. But it seems to me that the right has the lion's share of Anus-like folk. Just watch Fox News for a few minutes if you don't believe me.

All I'm saying, in a rambling, off kilter sort of way- is that I think the powers that be are full of crap, and I don't feel any comfort when I listen to them, with the exception of a few good folk, like Barney Frank and our next president, Barak Obama.

Okay. Rant over.

Just one more thing. My brilliant friend Jack Halpin texted me a great quote that I want to share with you all: Shooting wolves from a plane is to hunting what hiring a prostitute is to dating. Sadly true.

Now I am off to the races, to teach theatre to children, try to figure out how to sell my screenplay Elsewhere (an adaptation of my first play, Last Call), and then it's home to watch the debates, which for the moment are on again. But that's just what Anus is saying, so we'll see if it's comes to pass.

If you have any further insights to the American God Anus, please share them in the comment section of this blog.

God Bless America.

Friday wrap up

So, here it is the end of the week, and my God did a lot of things happen. First off, i got this nasty cold that's been going around out here in Colorado- call it the purple state flu or something like that. i've felt out of it, underwater, and just plain off- maybe it's just the fact that the economy has tanked in ways that didn't seem possible to most of us. i have read plenty about the Great Depression- Hoovervilles, the crash, and all that- but i never thought i'd be able to relate to it as well as i think we all can now. It boggles the mind, and nobody seems to be able to explain what's happened completely. If you can tell me what the hell is going on- other than that a bunch of greedy bastards have somehow screwed the pooch to the tune of a trillion dollar bail out- let me know. Let us all know.

Anyway.

i also made the huge mistake of watching the re-make of The Wicker Man the other night. Re-makes almost always stink. It's some sort of rule. i had this thought while watching it that McCain is sort of a re-make of Bush. Seriously- same basic plot, same basic characters- just sexed up a little. No thanks.

i enjoyed watching the polls move in favor of Obama. Oh yes i did.

i also got my confirmation of being registered to vote here in Colorado. This will be the first presidential election i've voted in during which i don't live in either California or New York- so it's kind of cool to think my vote could help turn a traditionally red state blue.

Also found a cool article by playwright Eve Ensler about Governor Strangelove.

Speaking of playwrights, this Monday in NYC, a scene from Burning the Old Man will be presented at the NYIT Awards. The scene is being presented by Boomerang Theatre Co., who are being presented with the Caffe Cino Fellowship Award. The presentation will feature the talents of one of my best friends, Vinnie Penna, so i am very happy. On top of that, Martin and Rochelle Denton will be recognised with the Stewardship award for all the amazing work they do with both nytheatre.com and NYTE. They are the main reason i am a playwright, and their value to the theatre is incalculable.
So, if you are in NYC and can make it, go to the show- on top of the awards and scenes, there will be the likes of Edward Albee, Blue Man Group, and many other giants of theatre.
Also this week, the president spoke twice, for a couple of minutes, about how things stink and not to worry and we may as well try to flap our arms as if they're wings in the belief that it'll make us fly. Maybe it was part of the cold, but i just couldn't focus on him when he spoke.
Speaking of the Purple State Cold- yes, that's now it's official name- my head is feeling warm and it's time to rest.

It's the Economy, Again

Well, no sooner had I posted my second blog about how it was all over for McCain & Co., than the stock market crashed and burned- big time, to borrow a phrase from Mr. Cheney. And with that crash comes the country-wide realization that yes, indeed, the issues matter. A lot.
Most of us have never lived in anything close to such trying times as these. The economy is being called the worst since the Great Depression. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not really going so well. McCain can say "we're winning" as much as he wants- until I see our troops coming home in huge numbers- indeed, until the troop level in Iraq is at least a little lower than pre-surge- I don't think people are going to buy it. Not for any significant length of time. And then there's global climate change, which some people say is the reason we have so many monster storms demolishing Texas and Louisiana again and again. Let's face it, folks- things are rough, and as such, issues matter very much.
Campaigns can write as many speeches as they want, manufacturing righteous indignation about imagined slurs in between cute stories about hunting Moose on the tundra- that won't and can't stop the world from turning and bringing the unexpected. Stuff happens, to borrow a phrase from another pillar of society. And when said stuff happens, we inevitably take a longer look at who is applying for the job of running the joint once the current head honcho hits the bricks. McPalin looked fine when the issue was personality and moose hunting and lipstick applied to both pigs and pit bulls. But now that we've all been abruptly jerked back into reality by the worst day on Wall Street since re-0pening after 9/11, I don't think the GOP ticket looks so good to as many folks as it did just yesterday morning. Today- not last week or a month ago or a year ago or back when he was having trouble as one of the Keating Five- but today, the day being called Black Monday, today John McCain said the fundamentals of our economy are strong.
Huh?
Is he kidding? Nuts? High? I mean, it seems to me that the fundamentals of our economy have been upended by a bunch of de-regulation mad lobbyists- most of whom now seem to be working on the McCain campaign. Call me crazy, but I don't trust the Republicans anymore. I just don't. I never did all that much, but there used to seem to be at least some modicum of sanity and honor in the party, Nixon not-withstanding. Amazing as it may be, I find myself waxing rhapsodic about the good old days of Reagan and Bush 41. The party that can claim Lincoln has become so obviously out of touch with reality, so crassly bought and so callously run, that I have no respect for it what-so-ever. No doubt, soon there will be some spokes model or other from the right telling us all that what really caused the current financial mess wasn't lack of regulation, greed on a massive scale, lazy CEO's, or anything like that, but rather the Democrat Party and all their evil ways. They'll tell us that it was those darn corporate taxes that made it all happen. That and of course gay marriage.
And when they do, I'll just sort of quote Bush and say:
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Governor Strangelove and How I Stopped Worrying

For the past two weeks, the world has seemed to be slouching toward Armageddon yet again-to be not only flirting with disaster, but making sweet love to it- and the harbinger of this awful vision was a lipstick wearing Pit Bull named Sarah Palin. It's like everyone drank the Republican Kool Aid and believed that Senator Voldemort and Governor Dolores Umbridge(to nowhere) were bound to win and that was that. Game Over, my friends, and get ready for four more years of- well, you get the picture.

But then, when things looked just awful and all was lost, like Gandalf showing up at Helms Deep, that sweet feeling of hope returned to my heart, and it all got better. Quite quickly. Now, I'm not talking about that odd interview with Charlie up north- to me, that sense of dread passed a few days before we all learned that you can see Russia from parts of Alaska. That just confirmed what I sensed to be true- the jig is up, the genie is out of the bottle, and happy days are here again.

I believe that the McCain ticket has reached it's high water mark, and now has nowhere to go but down into obscurity, to lost honor and ignominy.

Don't believe me? Just look at what was on tv this past week. There was Old Johnny on the View getting beat up on-including accusations of approving of lies and distortions- and the reaction to said beating is McCain being booed by an audience comprised mainly of women who look like the people I am supposed to believe are now moving in droves to the GOP ticket. There was also that ridiculous ad accusing the other side of teaching little kids about sex when in reality they were teaching them how to avoid predators. Of course, there was Governor Strangelove freaking out on national tv, winking, fidgeting, and kind of rambling. I mean, it was weird- I don't care what the pundits from her party say, Palin seemed like someone who'd taken a lot of cocaine and was trying to maintain because their parents have dropped in unexpectantly.

And there was Obama on Letterman, smiling and speaking with confidence and ease in front of a cheering audience. There was Obama at a news conference talking about lipstick and pigs with power and dignity and grace- which is what he does well, and which is why he is the nominee.

Beyond all that, I have a gut feeling that it's over for the goon squad that is the McCain-Palin ticket. People always say to follow your instinct, because it's almost always right. I've found that to be true in all my personal experiences. This innate sense of hope is the same feeling I got during the Schiavo thing- that feeling that the free ride was over for the right wing, that the pendulum of politics had swung as far right as it was going to swing, that the worm had turned. Right now there are lots of people on the left who are in a panic- they have seen idiots elected before, they have seen nasty ads work, they've seen a vast majority of America appear to be blind, deaf, and dumb- and I understand that. I do. But it's over. Time to realize that McCain-Palin is the real bridge to nowhere, and that we are all going to rise and say, loud and clear, thanks but no thanks.

iMcAllister- Chapter One

I McAllister. I write blog. Today first blog in life. I think I like. Don't really get why I is "i" these days, but what Hell? i go with flow. Talk like Sasquatch sometime. Great book, you should all read. Call something like "Bigfoot, i not dead".
Good news- i liberal commie and i think we win this November.
Why?
McCain-Palin are Bridge to Nowhere.
Serious.
Okay, now i will stop talking like that.
But this really is my first blog. Many more to come, i assure you.
i intend to write about whatever floats into my head each time i get in front of the computer. Sometimes, it'll be about politics and why i think the GOP is a cabal set on the destruction of civilization as we know it. Other times, it'll be about my life- like how my dog barks too much or how i always boil my coffee when i reheat it. Often, i'll be trying to use this blog to get word out about something going on that i want people to know about.
Like the fact the my play Burning the Old Man is going to be produced in Prague this April at the theatre Vaclav Havel did most of his plays at. It's already translated into Czech. Putovani S Urnou. That's the title in Czech. Prague is called the City of Magic, and is the capital of Bohemia, and is also where i got married. It's really beautiful, and i think you should go there. Say, April next year. And while there, go to the theatre. In fact, go to Divadlo na Zabradli.

So, I guess you can surmise I am a commie pinko leftist bleeding heart who is sort of ego-centric.
And yes, I do believe in Bigfoot, UFO's, and ghosts. Doesn't everybody?