Red Right Blog |
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Rants, Rates, Slags, Slates. Manic-depressive posts from Red Wright-Hand. Because there are thousands of worthless blogs out there and who am I not to add to their number?
Total US troop deaths in Iraq to date (09/01/07) since 03/20/03: 3739
From 05/02/03 through 06/28/04: 718 Myeloma (etc.) Blogs
Adventures of Cancer Girl Browse
Arts & Letters Daily
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Tuesday, November 30, 2004
HURRY WHILE IT'S STILL NOVEMBER: Obits and reminiscences abounding online for Mississippi writer Larry Brown, who died the day before Thanksgiving, age 53. I had really only read a couple of his stories in anthologies (before I consumed On Fire over the holiday weekend), but they made an impression, not least because they recalled so well the atmosphere of Lafayette County in northern Mississippi, an area I visited for the grand total of a single week in November 1992. The county seat of Oxford, where I stayed, remains celebrated as the long-time residence of a certain earlier American writer, but Brown, whose style is about as antithetical to Faulkner's as I can imagine, was largely concerned with the same things as Faulkner: the quiet struggles of poor deep-Southern folks, lives riven by violence and liquor and natural disasters. I believe it was not Faulkner himself (whom Brown openly admired) who influenced Brown as much as both men being influenced by the same land: the shrinking woods, the sunsets, the segregated towns, the deep dark nights. Here's a link to a page with an audio clip of Brown reading from his story "Old Frank and Jesus." Tuesday, November 16, 2004
U.S. CASUALTIES! COMING TO YOU NOW IN FIVE FIGURES! Aw-right! According to official Department of Defense figures (as tabulated by the Iraqi Coalition Casualty Report), total US casualties since the start of George and Donald's (and Condi's and Paul's...) Excellent Iraqi Adventure passed the 10,000 mark earlier this month. In fact, they number, at this time of writing, 10,156. That's a bunch, even if 4,052 of them (approx. 40%) are listed as "Wounded--RTD: Wounded in Action Return to Duty within 72 hours." More than 10,000 US soldiers killed or wounded since March 2003. And, of course, no light, no end, simply all tunnel. We return you now to your regularly scheduled programming. Sunday, November 14, 2004
SOME LONG-DELAYED CULTURAL NEWS: Among the Missing, a 2001 story collection by Dan Chaon, is as good as everyone says. It's remarkable how much emotion and tension Chaon creates out of a disarmingly simple prose style. (Raymond Carver, who provides the book's epigraph, appears to be the model here, but Chaon's work struck me as far more subtle and rich.) These are tales of deep feeling, exploring loss and fear and personal collapse without ever succumbing to morbidity or anger. Quite an accomplishment, and an interesting contrast to You Are Not a Stranger Here, another highly regarded fiction collection that appeared a year after Chaon's, which often sinks, so it seemed to me, under the weight of its author's (no doubt genuine) sadness. Saw the Ramones documentary a couple weeks ago, and was suitably impressed. It's not a great example of filmmaking per se, but a comprehensive assemblage of interviews and archive footage...some of which is astounding: the band being mobbed Hard-Day's-Night-style in Rio de Janeiro (where they had major fans in the impoverished youth), and bickering live on-stage about what song to play next (something they managed to get out of their systems early, as anyone who ever witnessed their supersonic concerts will attest.) The doc really captures the feel of the band and the era they created. Then last night saw Sideways, and was impressed by Alexander Payne's work all over again: he really is one of the best current American filmmakers, and so much better at dramatizing the sexual messiness of life than such self-righteous pricks as Neil LaBute and Todd Solondz. The less you know going into this one, the better, I think, so just go...among other things, you'll get a painfully comic reference to Alain Robbe-Grillet. Watching this, you could almost believe the year is 1973. Movie-making has come to a pretty horrible state when the appearance of a solid character-study onscreen comes off as an almost radical event. MEMO TO CELESTIAL ADMINISTRATORS: You killed the wrong Old Dirty Bastard with heart problems this weekend. It was supposed to be the white guy, not the black guy. Meanwhile, at least one set of voters made the right decision this month. Sunday, November 07, 2004
AY, OH, WAY TO GO, OHIO, or THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU: I certainly don't have anything authoritative to add to the oceans of commentary spilled forth since the morning of November 3rd, other than my personal juicy fuck-you to everyone who voted to give George W. Bush a second term in the White House. From this moment forth, whenever I hear someone complain about the hemorrhagic costs of the Iraq war, the loss of jobs, or the next big terrorist attack on US soil, I will first ask them who they voted for in this election, and if I determine their vote was for Bush, I solemnly pledge to cram my boot way up their ass, be the ass female or male. Seriously, you have to go back to the O.J. Simpson acquittal to find a decision based on such a blatant disregard for evident facts. As has already been pointed out in a variety of forums, all the states directly hit by 9/11 (and the likeliest targets for any future such attacks) all voted for Kerry, while the far more sheltered "red states" went for Bush. Is there some mystery involved here? Of course not. It's simply that voters in those Northeastern states are less confused about the nature of their real enemies...and more mindful of who sat in the White House (or, more accurately, who zig-zagged nervously across the country aboard Air Force One) on Sept. 11, 2001. Why did working-class union-member voters in Philadelphia turn out in such numbers in an attempt to dump Bush? Because they're wised-up to the Administration's true plans for workers (like the new overtime rules passed earlier this year). Because they're too realistic to be swayed by appeals to absurdly minor issues like gay marriage. Because.... Aw, who am I kidding? The GOP strategists played this one like champs. Their grass-roots campaign trumped the Demo grass-roots campaign. The longwinded, anti-war professorial New Englander candidate with the FOREIGN-ACCENTED spouse didn't stand a chance against the folksy, repetitive churchy candidate with the worshipful small-town-librarian spouse (even if her driving record is a tad spotty). People vote with their big broad guts. People in the red states are cocooned and provincial. Americans with better-than-average educations and better-than-MOR tastes get the hell out of the red states (if they're from there originally) and move to the Coasts, while the rest stay put, experiencing global news from a vast remove, and making mammoth box-office hits out of barbarically reductive pseudo-religious movies. There are, broadly speaking, two Americas, and this Sunday morning I'm damn glad to live in the one that voted the way it did. The way I feel right now, the rest of you (if I may quote our illustrious and newly-re-elected Vice President) can go fuck yourselves. Thanks for everything. Monday, November 01, 2004
Well, this is it, less than 24 hours till the polls open...and my main reason for not posting so often here lately is the fact that I've been giving much of my spare time since September to preparing for this day. That, and the fact that I still have a poky dial-up connection at home. Depending on the outcome, I may be too depressed to post after Nov. 3rd at all, but...only positive thoughts allowed today. (Yeah, I'm taking a page from our commander-in-chief's book, har har). Anyway, thanks to any and all who still bother to check out this sporadic blog, and for god's sake, get to the polls tomorrow and vote. FORWARDED FROM MIKE WATT'S MESSAGE LIST: Subject: FW: RE: PERSONAL PLEA - POLITICAL > > From: "Elizabeth Hahn" > > Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 01:17:27 -0400 (EDT) > > > > my friends....and close to home. > > > > > > From: Diana McGowen > > Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2004 00:14:34 +0000 > > Subject: RE: PERSONAL PLEA - POLITICAL > > > > Donnie, > > > > Thank you for sending this out. With my husband in > > Iraq, I know first hand how Bush has not made us safer, > > in fact quite the opposite. It's unfortunate that he > > uses religious fear tactics to scare us into thinking > > he can make a difference. The only people he is > > interested in making a difference for are the Bush > > Family (and the Cheney's). None of his > > policies...environmental, economical, health, homeland > > security, etc.. NONE are in our best interest. Electing > > John Kerry may not bring my husband, or the rest of the > > troops home any earlier, but maybe it will prevent them > > from having to go back. These guys are worn out. They > > are both physically and mentally exhausted. Not only is > > that unfair, considering their wage, but it's dangerous. > > If anyone you know, ever wants to know exactly what it's > > REALLY like over there, I'd be happy to tell them in his > > words. Because it's NOT what Bush says it is!!! Thank > > you for trying and hopefully, one at a time, we can > > reach the undecided. Thank you and if anyone who > > believes in prayer can say a prayer for the troops and > > my husband it'd be much appreciated. > > > > Lots of love, > > Diana > > > > > > > > From: Don Stroud > > > Subject: PERSONAL PLEA - POLITICAL > > > Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 16:10:36 -0700 (PDT) > > > > > > Please Dear friends...vote for John Kerry. It's not > > > the answer to our problems, but it's a start at saving > > > ourselves from a future that quite frankly scares me > > > to death. If you want to vote with your heart and not > > > for "the only choice they gave us"...save it for a > > > better time. If Kerry loses this election, our chances > > > of ever changing things in this country will fall so > > > far behind us they will be a distant sentimental > > > memory. If you are receiving this message and you are > > > voting the other way, I truly believe you will look > > > back on this time in our lives and wish you had seen > > > the signs. The current administration has done nothing > > > to make us safer, happier or more free. Not one thing. > > > > > > Thank you, > > > Sorry I had to - > > > Donnie Stroud > > > |
