As It Was Then, So It Is Now

This year, February gets a bonus day, so I'll close the month with one bonus memory.

Coincidentally, after posting about Blacklist Mailorder yesterday, I listened to Jello Biafra's "High Priest of Harmful Matter" spoken word album. I say "coincidentally" because I've just been listening to my records alphabetically in a concerted effort to re-listen to things that have been gathering dust on my shelves. Decades-old spoken word albums aren't something I would put on as a first choice.

Jello Biafra, of course, used to sing for the Dead Kennedys, and is also the label boss of Alternative Tentacles records, which shared office/warehouse space with Blacklist. We used to run into him when we were there volunteering, and would invariably talk about music. I still see him at a lot of shows too. Listening to the record reminded me of the time he spoke at San Jose State. I can't remember exactly what was included in that particular talk, although it was probably much the same as the material on "High Priest of Harmful Matter", which is about censorship and the infamous Dead Kennedys trial. What I remember clearly though, is the shirt worn by Jello that evening. He had somehow managed to find a yellow and red striped shirt that exactly matched the obnoxious carpet pattern in the SJSU student union building.

At the end of the talk, he brandished one of his shoes and said, "this is my shoe!", which effectively got our attention as we started to file out. He then exhorted us to put donation money in the shoe - probably to help with trial expenses.

Listening to the record now is more of a history lesson. It also makes me realize that, like many people, I have a tendency to view history through the so-called "rose colored filter" of the intervening years. The record reminds me that the right wing religious nuts were just as irritating back then as they are now. The only difference is that perhaps they were a bit more subtle then. As is the case with pretty much every aspect of modern popular culture, the new right is a brash, ignorant, dumbed-down version of what it was (It's like they're in a race to see how low they can sink - a tea party where they throw themselves overboard?).

For March, my goal is to spend much less time on the internet. I plan to allow myself a set amount of time just to clear e-mail, reply to messages, and of course, post updates here, but I've come to the conclusion that I could really be getting a lot of other things done if I limit my time online, so I'm going to spend a month tracking my progress and my withdrawal symptoms. Will I be successful? We'll see...