I’m going to Greece, Θεσσαλονίκη, for a long weekend. I really need to get out of London. I’ve been here for nearly 2 months now without a break. It’s enough to drive anyone crazy. No wonder people turn to drugs and alcohol to “enjoy” life here…
It always creeps up on me, this overwhelming sense of BULLSHIT when I’m living here. If I think back to when I used to live in Greece, then, yeah, I guess I had the same feelings. Maybe I couldn’t pinpoint it like that, but then I was a teenager and it was understandable and even excusable to be able to find only one word to describe the current state of affairs. Now, nearly 40 years old, I still expect to wake up one morning and see the headlines in all the papers: “BULLSHIT”
Just that. I guess it would be a possibility if there was any such thing as independent media. But of course, the media is governed by bullshit as well. So how could that work then?
“BeeeBeCeeeeee ray-dio twoooo… and now the news, read by Jeremy Vine… (Jeremy comes on)… US presidential candidate Barack Oba… bullshit… (pause)… Prime Minister Gordon Brown is meeting with his cabinet today to discuss the impending reshuffling of… bullshit… (pause, deep breath)… The turmoil in the financial markets continued to send… bullshit…”
Here’s the great Jonathan Richman (and what a fantastic introduction!):
In attempting to write how I feel lately, I’m finding it easier to just play some music. It’s all been said already, by others, better than I can ever say. The current situation makes me think of this Circle Jerks song:
In a sluggish economy
inflation, recession
hits the land of the free
standing in unemployment lines
blame the government
for hard times
we just get by
however we can
we all gotta duck
when the shit hits the fan
10 kids in a cadillac
stand in lines for welfare checks
let's all leach off the state
gee! the money is really great!
soup lines
free loaves of bread
5 lb blocks of cheese
bags of groceries
social security
has run out on you and me
we do whatever we can
gotta duck when the shit hits the fan
Coming soon to a city or town near you (if you live in the US or the UK)…
In the meantime, I’ll dance my way to the swimming pool and avoid looking at the stupidest most irritating fucken’ newspaper headline I’ve ever seen:
My response to Matt’s comment: You probably have a point about One More Grain. I do love that song, “A Town is What You Make it“, but other than that I really can’t say. I’d be interested in seeing them live, but, seeing that they’re about to release the annoying “Scarborough Fair” as a single… you must be right!
And yeah, you’re also right about BCCE being one person really. And he’s got another brilliant new song up on myspace, entitled Mum. Go Boycott! “It’s the stone-age. We love it!“
And a more structural, cultural, sociological, architectural and historical take on little boxes:
Well, in England you’d call it a coach. Entry from travel journal, Bariloche 17/06, on bus waiting to leave for Mendoza:
The bus from Bariloche to Mendoza was pretty empty. Bubba had managed to get a few more pesos together to afford a “cama executiva” and settled into his seat/bed and waited for the bus to leave Bariloche. A gorgeous Argentinian woman with the most beautiful eyes this side of the Andes was sitting across the isle from him. She wore a tight low cut blouse and in between her ample breasts was nestled a big fat christian cross. The bus started moving. Bubba sneaked a peek at her across the isle and crossed himself feverishly as the driver pulled away from the depot. …
Looking out the window in Neuquén, Bubba was disgusted by the site of two policemen, yeah, MALE, kissing each other on the cheek. It was like a real-life Banksy. He was however, blown away by the beauty of some of the female police officers he had seen in Argentina. “This is a country I wouldn’t be afraid of breaking the law in“, he thought.
