Outside of the second half of February, the October's tail end is always one my eyes glom onto. Like a twerking butt or squating thighs, the back side of October is strong, robust, ever-changing, and down right freaky at times. With the weather changing temperature, trees adopting new color, and many faces gaining spooky make-up, October is a month I think all of us cherish, but never spend much time talking about.
For sports fans, theee best baseball of the year takes place. Granted this playoff season was not particularly fun for us Giants fans - especially having to watch that suckbag Brian Wilson almost make it back to another World Series in Dodger blue - and we may not have been as intrigued, it is still a great time for the sport, nonetheless.
For music fans, there are concerts and festivals galore. Fall and Winter tours are just getting kicked off, we just recently celebrated the Treasure Island Music Festival, and of course, my favorite, The 27th Anual Bridge School Benefit is coming up this weekend at Shoreline Ampetheatre. No, I do not have a free ticket for you. Tons of albums have been released. Pusha T stole the show with My Name is My Name. I guess that band The Head and The Heart came back strong with that sophomore album that I haven't listened to and can't remember the name of.
For anarchists and government saps, you were able to commiserate together for almost 20 straight days while our government acted like 5 year old boys who thought the other 5 year old girls had some sort of vile disease. In all honesty, because we ended up diverting from a world wide economic colapse through pushing back the debt ceiling deadline, I think the only thing the government shutdown substantially effected was Donte Whitner ability to drop the 'W' from his last name. Idiots.
Last but not least, however, we still have the actual celebration of Halloween to look forward to. Because I am still a 7 year old child at heart, I still rock a costume and sometimes more than one. A few years ago I was a middle finger and the next night I was a rock star, two years ago I was a Giants baseball player, and last year I was a priest from Hell. Yes, that last one was actually true...Sorry Grandma. What to be this year? I am not one for repeating a look, but that priest one was pretty funny. I took to twitter the other day and said "For Halloween this year I am going to paste money to my body, light it on fire, and go as 'relationships,'" but something tells me that could be expensive and dangerous. So who knows, I'm sure we'll all dress up as something we wish we secretly were, but do not have the balls to actually be.
All in all, I think October has been a fine month and I look forward to seeing what the ending brings. Until then, hopefully I find something more interesting to write about than some stupid fucking monthly look-back. Cheers.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Thursday, October 17, 2013
The BART Strike: The Teacher vs. The Student
Hello there everyone. With the recent news that BART transportation will, in fact, be shut down in strike again starting tomorrow morning I thought it would only be fair for my 35 1/2 readers to swallow the pill that is my opinion on the matter. In fact, rather than bitch about the BART workers whining about an already ample salary that comes with health benefits and retirement or comment on how they are abusing unionized labor while affecting everyday employees or how the General Management of BART waits until the very last second to either continue talks or cease them... I thought I would liken it to something of a childhood tale: The Teacher and The Student.
For those who have no fucking clue as to what the BART strike even is the The Teacher would be portrayed by BART Management (specifically General Manager Grace Crunican) and The Student would be played by the BART Union (specifically the President of Services Employees International Local Union 1021, Roxanne Sanchez). Also, The Headmaster who comes into the story would be played by Governor Jerry Brown. As I said, most of you drive cars, don't know what BART is, and have no clue who these people are, so here is a children's story. Be clear though, I don't know much, but I know enough to turn the story into a dumbed down metaphor, so that's about 1,000,000 times more than you. Anyway, on with the tall tell tale...
On one fine fall morning, The Student came upon his very busy, very dependable school yard. Kids were on swings, parents were dropping off said kids in a timely manor, and each teacher over looked the morning operations with pleased grins. However, The Student was angry. See, The Student's teacher, The Teacher, had followed The Student around school ever since the very first day of high kindergarden. Coming up the ranks together, The Teacher and The Student butted heads to the point of near confrontation, but all scholastic operations ran smoothly and all other students, teachers, and parents, while they may have sensed a bit of tension, never thought a head on collision would ever take place. The school was just too important...
Then, one day, The Teacher gave the class an assignment The Student had no toleration for. The Student raised questions, but The Teacher did not want to hear it. Back and forth they went. The Teacher would assign the work, The Student felt more breaks should be given. As I'm sure you can see, The Teacher acted just as much like a child as The fucking Student did. The class halted. Work was stalled. And this once glorious school that was so dependable became a gridlock of frustration.
"Do this," said The Teacher.
"No." said The Student.
"Take that." The Teacher would demand again.
"Fuck you. I'm not coming to class," The Student finally demanded.
Very civilized dialogue **induce vomiting**
Now, one could argue The Teacher set themselves up for this kind of backlash. After all, The Student was given much before and was trying to use the leverage that was once so beneficial, again. The Teacher all of a sudden became a red-ass and was calling The Student out for being a suckbag. Since people knew how important it was for all students to be in class in order to keep the school running smoothly, The Headmaster finally stepped in to see what he could do about solving this almighty scholastic clusterfuck.
"Here's what I'm going to do," said The Headmaster. "I am going to give each one of you shit heads 60 days, call it a cooling off period, where you, The Student, will go to class, and you, The Teacher, will teach different material. No mention of the previous assignment will be brought up in front of the class. But let me make one thing perfectly clear, at the end of that 60 days, The Student better have that paper done or The Teacher better think of a way to satisfy The Student while still receiving a 100% effort in the class."
The Headmaster did not seem to be fucking around. So, the 60 days comes and gos. The class goes on. Other kids and teachers forget. But what do The Teacher and The Student talk about. Not a goddamned thing. Nothing at all. The Teacher wanted the class to remain the same, The Student wanted change. When do they wait to talk? The 11th hour, or in this case the 60th day....
Class disruption continued. The Teacher did not want to give in, The Student did not want to give up. And so this sad, sad state of affairs continues. No moral, no endgame, no solution. The Student was a child, but so was The Teacher. You would think one could learn from the other, they could work together, but it is sadly untrue.
Prideful? Childish. Quit the shit and find a common ground. At least this blog wasn't a bigger waste of time than these BART negotiations.
For those who have no fucking clue as to what the BART strike even is the The Teacher would be portrayed by BART Management (specifically General Manager Grace Crunican) and The Student would be played by the BART Union (specifically the President of Services Employees International Local Union 1021, Roxanne Sanchez). Also, The Headmaster who comes into the story would be played by Governor Jerry Brown. As I said, most of you drive cars, don't know what BART is, and have no clue who these people are, so here is a children's story. Be clear though, I don't know much, but I know enough to turn the story into a dumbed down metaphor, so that's about 1,000,000 times more than you. Anyway, on with the tall tell tale...
On one fine fall morning, The Student came upon his very busy, very dependable school yard. Kids were on swings, parents were dropping off said kids in a timely manor, and each teacher over looked the morning operations with pleased grins. However, The Student was angry. See, The Student's teacher, The Teacher, had followed The Student around school ever since the very first day of high kindergarden. Coming up the ranks together, The Teacher and The Student butted heads to the point of near confrontation, but all scholastic operations ran smoothly and all other students, teachers, and parents, while they may have sensed a bit of tension, never thought a head on collision would ever take place. The school was just too important...
Then, one day, The Teacher gave the class an assignment The Student had no toleration for. The Student raised questions, but The Teacher did not want to hear it. Back and forth they went. The Teacher would assign the work, The Student felt more breaks should be given. As I'm sure you can see, The Teacher acted just as much like a child as The fucking Student did. The class halted. Work was stalled. And this once glorious school that was so dependable became a gridlock of frustration.
"Do this," said The Teacher.
"No." said The Student.
"Take that." The Teacher would demand again.
"Fuck you. I'm not coming to class," The Student finally demanded.
Very civilized dialogue **induce vomiting**
Now, one could argue The Teacher set themselves up for this kind of backlash. After all, The Student was given much before and was trying to use the leverage that was once so beneficial, again. The Teacher all of a sudden became a red-ass and was calling The Student out for being a suckbag. Since people knew how important it was for all students to be in class in order to keep the school running smoothly, The Headmaster finally stepped in to see what he could do about solving this almighty scholastic clusterfuck.
"Here's what I'm going to do," said The Headmaster. "I am going to give each one of you shit heads 60 days, call it a cooling off period, where you, The Student, will go to class, and you, The Teacher, will teach different material. No mention of the previous assignment will be brought up in front of the class. But let me make one thing perfectly clear, at the end of that 60 days, The Student better have that paper done or The Teacher better think of a way to satisfy The Student while still receiving a 100% effort in the class."
The Headmaster did not seem to be fucking around. So, the 60 days comes and gos. The class goes on. Other kids and teachers forget. But what do The Teacher and The Student talk about. Not a goddamned thing. Nothing at all. The Teacher wanted the class to remain the same, The Student wanted change. When do they wait to talk? The 11th hour, or in this case the 60th day....
Class disruption continued. The Teacher did not want to give in, The Student did not want to give up. And so this sad, sad state of affairs continues. No moral, no endgame, no solution. The Student was a child, but so was The Teacher. You would think one could learn from the other, they could work together, but it is sadly untrue.
Prideful? Childish. Quit the shit and find a common ground. At least this blog wasn't a bigger waste of time than these BART negotiations.
Monday, October 14, 2013
A Holiday For Columbus? I'd Rather Work On A Monday
I have hated this day for quite awhile. I can actually think back to one of the first times I gave original thought to the disapproval of Columbus Day. The year was 2008 and I was writing for my high school newspaper. Our class teacher and paper moderator, Ted Morton (no relation unfortunately), posed the question to each of our editors: "What is your favorite part of Columbus Day?"
As is custom, when this "holiday" comes around, schools get the day off. Serra was no different and most of the editors staffed to the paper at the time referenced this scholastic absence as their most enjoyable part. Very similar to now, I had a moderately large mouth in high school and was much more akin to taking the side of the opposition or saying something different to get a rise out of people. All in all, I can't remember exactly what I said, but it was something along the lines of, "I actually don't like Columbus...The guy stumbles upon a habited land and calls it his own? Get less original."
I know, I know. Not exactly the opposing statement that raises pitch forks and torches, but most people skip out on stirring the proverbial pot and say they enjoy Columbus Day and I enjoyed taking the extra 30 seconds and speaking up for something else, whether or not I truly had a horse in the race. However, as time went on and more experiences were mentally encapsulated, I started to realize there was actually some weight to my statement.
This weight was evidenced by way of a few very important instances and (dare I say) a slight bit of maturation. Let's be honest and talk about the Christopher Columbus that teachers, family members, and friends don't want to talk about or, even worse, don't know anything about.
Yes, Columbus did travel to The Americas in 1492 and it is true that he went to spread the good word of Christianity. The Nina, The Pinta, and the Santa Maria hung their Spanish flags high and sailed across the crushingly great seas of the world. Oh, people love telling you how silly it was that he and his other voyagers mistook The Americas for India and dubbed the natives "Indians." It's all very cute because a lot of the natives knew very little about this religion known as Christianity and I know I was taught Columbus was so good to them because he took the wonderful time out of his day to teach them English. According to Social Studies classes and ignorant pride, Christopher Columbus was a great dude. We should have a holiday in his name. We should be so very happy he accidentally graced our lands some 500 years ago.
In all actuality, Columbus would be what modern day activists and politicians would refer to as a "tyrant." In four voyages to the "West Indies," Columbus was accused of forced labor, slavery, food deprivation, and, in one account,
As is custom, when this "holiday" comes around, schools get the day off. Serra was no different and most of the editors staffed to the paper at the time referenced this scholastic absence as their most enjoyable part. Very similar to now, I had a moderately large mouth in high school and was much more akin to taking the side of the opposition or saying something different to get a rise out of people. All in all, I can't remember exactly what I said, but it was something along the lines of, "I actually don't like Columbus...The guy stumbles upon a habited land and calls it his own? Get less original."
I know, I know. Not exactly the opposing statement that raises pitch forks and torches, but most people skip out on stirring the proverbial pot and say they enjoy Columbus Day and I enjoyed taking the extra 30 seconds and speaking up for something else, whether or not I truly had a horse in the race. However, as time went on and more experiences were mentally encapsulated, I started to realize there was actually some weight to my statement.
This weight was evidenced by way of a few very important instances and (dare I say) a slight bit of maturation. Let's be honest and talk about the Christopher Columbus that teachers, family members, and friends don't want to talk about or, even worse, don't know anything about.
Yes, Columbus did travel to The Americas in 1492 and it is true that he went to spread the good word of Christianity. The Nina, The Pinta, and the Santa Maria hung their Spanish flags high and sailed across the crushingly great seas of the world. Oh, people love telling you how silly it was that he and his other voyagers mistook The Americas for India and dubbed the natives "Indians." It's all very cute because a lot of the natives knew very little about this religion known as Christianity and I know I was taught Columbus was so good to them because he took the wonderful time out of his day to teach them English. According to Social Studies classes and ignorant pride, Christopher Columbus was a great dude. We should have a holiday in his name. We should be so very happy he accidentally graced our lands some 500 years ago.
In all actuality, Columbus would be what modern day activists and politicians would refer to as a "tyrant." In four voyages to the "West Indies," Columbus was accused of forced labor, slavery, food deprivation, and, in one account,
Columbus once punished a man found guilty of stealing corn by having his ears and nose cut off and then selling him into slavery. Testimony recorded in the report claims that Columbus congratulated his brother Bartolomé on "defending the family" when the latter ordered a woman paraded naked through the streets and then had her tongue cut out for suggesting that Columbus was of lowly birth (Giles Tremlett (7 August 2006). "Lost document reveals Columbus as tyrant of the C. The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 16 May 2013.)
This is the guy we have a "holiday" for? I am not here to say the Americas never would have been found and people would not have been unjustifiably pillaged, raped, and murdered if Columbus never showed to the party. Unfortunately, Colonization proved these disgusting endeavors to be "the way of the Pilgrim" and to think these types of actions have not happened elsewhere and won't happen again would just be naive. It happened with Vikings, Romans, and damn near every modern day society. We live in a world where domination comes by way of fear and power. It is sad.
What is more sad, though, is that we have dedicated a holiday to this tyrannical suck bag. That does not need to happen. Do we have historians who look back on this 10 year beginning of Native American destruction and cry genocide? I am sure there are, but even priests along for the voyage looked back on his "Divine Right" of taking the Americas and surrounding islands:
"Endless testimonies...prove the mild and pacific temperament of the natives... But our work was to exasperate, ravage, kill, mangle and destroy; small wonder, then, if they tried to kill one of us now and then... The admiral (Columbus), it is true, was blind as those who came after him, and he was so anxious to please the King that he committed irreparable crimes against the Indians (de las Casas, Bartolome (1971). History of the Indies. New York: Harper & Row.)
So, I hope I have not given you too much. I hope I do not appear to be sitting on some high chair of reason and everyone else is below me and the others who feel the same way I do. All I hope for is you can look past the day off or funny stories and look at what history truly gives you. Think of the Native American people and how they feel on this day. Because to Native Americans, this is not just another "holiday." Christopher Columbus was a dick-head...and there is no better way to say it. He sucks.
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