Friday, October 14, 2005
My Spoken Word Minute
Since you cannot hear me recite this, you'll have to speak out loud for yourself: In the middle of it all we stand dumbfounded, amazed and saddened--just for a moment--at the sights of struggle. A fly gets in our castle and we decide it's time to take a stand. Maybe because it's oh so fashionable. But the sad thing, the really twisted thing 
is that we've seen all this beautiful imagery before: the 64 year old man with the cuffs on his hand beaten to a pulp by the men in blue; the gathering of boys, barely men with m16's and ill-fitting gear popping caps in the asses of the predetermined enemies; or worse the harbingers of fright and doom every day on the 6 o'clock news. It's a shock to us each time, like a terribly bad mystery movie. We know "whodunnit!" Yet, we stand, in the same spot, preparing for the next zealot or next tyrant to sweep us off our feet and carry us to another decade of fun-filled trauma. And we still haven't guessed the answer to the riddle: we are not alone.
The dichotomy of emotions from outrage to euphoria all in one day filled the hearts of thousands who crowded the streets in 2 near simultaneous events, an anti-war protest and the 2nd annual Love Parade festival. My friends and I, 5 total, armed with cameras captured both events just by walking a block over from Van ness boulevard to city square in San Francisco. I mentioned to Bahram that the events reminded of the evening news; one minute anguish about a horrible war and the next sports all within minutes. He said, "isn't that just like life...you don't know whether to laugh or cry." 
Since you cannot hear me recite this, you'll have to speak out loud for yourself: In the middle of it all we stand dumbfounded, amazed and saddened--just for a moment--at the sights of struggle. A fly gets in our castle and we decide it's time to take a stand. Maybe because it's oh so fashionable. But the sad thing, the really twisted thing 
is that we've seen all this beautiful imagery before: the 64 year old man with the cuffs on his hand beaten to a pulp by the men in blue; the gathering of boys, barely men with m16's and ill-fitting gear popping caps in the asses of the predetermined enemies; or worse the harbingers of fright and doom every day on the 6 o'clock news. It's a shock to us each time, like a terribly bad mystery movie. We know "whodunnit!" Yet, we stand, in the same spot, preparing for the next zealot or next tyrant to sweep us off our feet and carry us to another decade of fun-filled trauma. And we still haven't guessed the answer to the riddle: we are not alone.A Tale of Two Cities
The dichotomy of emotions from outrage to euphoria all in one day filled the hearts of thousands who crowded the streets in 2 near simultaneous events, an anti-war protest and the 2nd annual Love Parade festival. My friends and I, 5 total, armed with cameras captured both events just by walking a block over from Van ness boulevard to city square in San Francisco. I mentioned to Bahram that the events reminded of the evening news; one minute anguish about a horrible war and the next sports all within minutes. He said, "isn't that just like life...you don't know whether to laugh or cry." Side note: As we walked back to the parking lot after the protest, we spotted some of the protesters carrying their now retired, handcrafted, anti-war banners back to their SUV's.
¶ 3:01 AM
