Let’s demand sensible gun control now
Posted: December 18, 2012 Filed under: Politics | Tags: gun control 4 CommentsI don’t often write about explicitly political topics because the focus of my journal is the nexus of politics and popular culture — especially music and film. And truthfully, what I’ve been writing lately is pretty heavy on the pop culture side. But recent events inspire me to write about my position on gun control and see what happens.
If I were Queen of the USA or of the world, I would banish all guns to the bottom of the sea. We don’t need to be able to kill each other with guns. I know I could do a lot of damage with a good kitchen knife or even by stabbing someone in the throat with a sharp pencil. But a knife or a pencil can’t kill dozens of people in a few minutes. Read the rest of this entry »
On being a lefty
Posted: December 3, 2012 Filed under: Politics | Tags: Left-handed, Politics 4 CommentsYes, I am a lefty — in all ways. My political views are generally left-wing and I’m a left-handed person. You probably know about my political lefty-ness if you know me or have read some of my political posts on this site. (Or if you follow me on Twitter. And you can do that by clicking on the Twitter follow button on the right.) But I’m also interested in aspects of left-handedness, which affects such a small proportion of the population. About 10 percent of the world population, according to most estimates.
My leftyness is predominant but not total. I’m technically mixed-handed. I do some things with my right hand (cut with a scissors, throw a ball) but I’m left-handed for important things in life, such as writing, eating, mousing, and typing on an iPhone or iPad. If I was a guitar player, I’d play a left-handed guitar. Read the rest of this entry »
Krugman on the Fifties–not on Twinkies
Posted: November 19, 2012 Filed under: Politics | Tags: Music, Politics, the Fifties 2 CommentsPaul Krugman’s column in today’s New York Times is titled “The Twinkie Manifesto.” nyti.ms/SGrTXC Nice headline but it’s not really about Twinkies. Normally I wouldn’t be saying nice things about the fifties as I did in my tweet (quoted below). A lot of women who lived through the fifties would agree. All that subtle and not-so-subtle discrimination that affected our lives and futures. Just a few personal examples.
In high school, I wasn’t allowed to take shop — print shop — because girls couldn’t take shop. My father was a printer, for heaven’s sake, and I wanted to take print shop. In college (at Missouri’s journalism school), I was discouraged from aiming to be a reporter because as a woman, i would be stuck on what was then called “the society page.” (It was the woman’s page with club news, bridal shower photos and recipes.) My favorite job at Mizzou was being co-editor of the college humor magazine Showme. (I was of course, the first girl editor of Showme. Guys reigned in the joke pages and at our gag meetings at a local bar.) After graduation, when I was looking for a job in “industrial journalism,” the manufacturing company I interviewed with offered me a job as a researcher. But I would prefer to be a writer, I said. No, we don’t hire women as writers. (Fortunately, I didn’t try for a copywriting job at an ad agency or I would have ended up as a secretary.)* Read the rest of this entry »
Springsteen as POTUS-maker?
Posted: November 14, 2012 Filed under: Politics, Rock and roll | Tags: Music, Politics Leave a commentI was going to write a post on this subject, given Bruce’s support of President Obama’s reelection campaign in performances throughout the swing states. I would even have mentioned his contribution of surely the worst campaign song ever, “Forward.” And Bruce was riding around with the president on Air Force One. Adele and Doug Springsteen’s boy from Freehold, New Jersey, on Air Force One. You gotta love it.
But given some of the articles written since the election, I don’t need to give Mr Springsteen credit for electing a president. Others have already done that. Read the rest of this entry »
Me and the Spanish Civil War
Posted: September 18, 2012 Filed under: Movies, Politics | Tags: Abraham Lincoln Brigade, Movies, No pasaran!, Spanish Civil War 1 CommentI don’t know what it is about the Spanish Civil War. Did I participate in it in a prior life, as a nurse or photographer? I was born just about the time the war was heating up, and I find it hard to believe in past life stories, no matter how fanciful and charming. However, that war and events surrounding it have always fascinated me.
Always is too strong a word. I never learned anything about the Spanish Civil War in history classes at Harriet E Sayre Elementary School or Steinmetz High School in Chicago, or at any of the universities I attended (Drake, UIC and Mizzou). It’s shocking how few Americans know anything about this part of our history. I’ve had people say “Do you mean that time in the 1890s when America sent boats into Cuba?” No, that was the Spanish-American war. Kinda different. Read the rest of this entry »
¡No pasarán!
Posted: September 2, 2012 Filed under: Politics, Punk rock | Tags: Pussy Riot 13 CommentsThe Pussy Riot trio is pictured as they went to trial. We see the double confluence of music and politics in the shirt worn by Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, on the right. Not only is Pussy Riot demonstrating against Putin’s Russia. Her shirt celebrates the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s. “¡No pasarán!” They shall not pass.
I’ve posted an essay here about my special interest in the Spanish Civil War, which was an important period in American political and intellectual history. Many Americans, unfortunately, are not knowledgeable about or even aware of this war. The civil war in Spain in 1936-39 was the first act of the wars, both cold and hot, that followed for the next 50 years.
Listen to the words!
Posted: August 23, 2012 Filed under: Music, Politics, Rock and roll Leave a commentJim DeRogatis posts a great article on the meaning of music and its bleed over into politics. He describes the Pussy Riot event and provides lyrics to the song that offended Russian authorities. (Also see the post No Pasaran! for a photo of the Pussy Riot three.)
And he reviews the Paul Ryan claim that he’s a fan of Rage Against the Machine. http://www.wbez.org/blogs/jim-derogatis/2012-08/what-words-mean-101817 …
nancy bishop's journal 