Ministry Fiction Irritant #004

This came to me today from who knows where while stuck between stations on the subway, reading Ander Monson's Other Electricities:

X dedicated songs to her -- "Light My Fire," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "Lay, Lady Lay". He kept at it, knowing that she wasn't listening, long after they broke up, until the day the oldies station changed formats.

Note to Self about Always-Unfinished Novel featuring an Ill-named Character Returning to His Ill-named Hometown OR Ministry Fiction Irritant #003½

Ranthus learns that the New Century mythos ... is just a pack of myths.

Like a stagnant stream
Frozen in December ice
Control Alt Delete

Ministry Fiction Irritant #003: Monkey Men

I slip a knife into the peanut butter jar and I hit something. I know its metal by the muted plink sound. It's only Monday, a quarter to six in the morning, but this – whatever it is – has become my life. I fish out the blockage with the knife: my keys, still on the ring, submerged into a full jar of peanut butter. It's the work of my roommate, Henry, or his friend, who I know only as Rem-Dog. They're asleep now. Henry in his bed, Rem-Dog on the floor in the living room. These mornings are my only peace and work has become an eight-hour vacation. How did this happen?

I've had that bit for months and months. The story's been slowly growing. Been trying to put the final nail in this weekend, holed up at the BU library with J. As the story was very loosely inspired by a lyric from The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed, I decided it would be fun to cram as many details from that album as possible into the story. I may have ruined Let It Bleed for myself. The only way this could be worse is if it had been inspired by an Exile on Main Street lyric. Thank you for your attention in this matter. Stay with Anonymous Rendezvous through the night, we will interupt regular programming as more details become available.

Found: Lost Found Portraits

spf24567
Originally uploaded by adamiwebb.

When my hard drive crashed 18 months ago, I lost a slew of photos and unfinished stories. Out of all of it, this is the only one that stings. I rescued a small version of the file -- along with about 80 others -- from my old Fotolog today.

Sleight of Hand

Christopher Hitchens, from Cartoon Debate, The Case for Mocking Religion:

Islam makes very large claims for itself. In its art, there is a prejudice against representing the human form at all. The prohibition on picturing the prophet—who was only another male mammal—is apparently absolute. So is the prohibition on pork or alcohol or, in some Muslim societies, music or dancing. Very well then, let a good Muslim abstain rigorously from all these. But if he claims the right to make me abstain as well, he offers the clearest possible warning and proof of an aggressive intent. [...]

I'm not sure what I think of that last sentence -- and Hitchens pushes the point further as the (great, great, great) article continues. What he doesn't address is that the vast majority of Muslims are staying out of this. There's a small malleable group being pushed by an even smaller group of fanatic religious leaders who are stoking the flames (the cartoons were printed five months ago!) and using this issue in many of the same ways that the American religioright uses the issue of abortion -- as a distraction.

Someone told me last week that he thought the Republican leadership didn't really want Roe v. Wade overturned because then they lose their pull with the religious population that is swinging the elections their way (and just barely) -- and there's a pang of truth to that. (Though I wonder if upholding the new ruling would provide the leverage needed.)

(While I've detoured to the current administration: I figured there had to be a linguist studying the Orwellian way language is being expertly used to repackage Our Fearless Leaders' actions and arguments. I found George Lakoff. Dig in.)

Back to the cartoon riots (fucking cartoon riots!), the only way I can see this is as a grand religious powergrab. (Google "grand religious powergrab" and you get nothing of use unfortunately.) And why? My best answer is that it's the only way for religiofantatacism to survive. These extrapolations are over-simplified but... The Danes better be a bunch of heathens because otherwise what's the downside to being the sixth richest country in the world? When a group has a common enemy, they stop or slow self-criticism and self-analysis. The only way to maintain fanatacism is to keep things fanatical.

20 mpg

This is the most brilliantly idiotic (idiotically brilliant?) thing ever.