Bidding Wars, Voyager, short stories, and a mid-grade novel, oh my.

 As with everyone, 2020 has presented unique challenges for our family. But it's also provided a number of opportunities. I've been writing and editing and revising fiction for a long time, and really haven't done anything with it. The novels Bidding Wars and Voyager have been hanging around since 2014, and I did take some tentative steps with connecting to agents, but the timing always seemed to be bad. Either the agent was trying to diversify his or her list, or he or she was at a point in their career where their docket was full, or something. I received some useful feedback and support, but ultimately, no big advance or offer.

The more I thought about the traditional publishing trajectory, the more I started to resent the idea that I might have to give up cover design to someone else. And of course the book would be shaped by other hands. I know that can be for the good, but I was really happy with the way I told the stories I wrote. While I love collaborating--and often my favorite projects are ones where I co-authored or co-edited it with someone or a group of someones--these felt like the versions of the books I wanted to put out. So, rather than trying to establish a new relationship with an editor, I connected with my friend, co-author, co-teacher, Heidi Wall Burns and had her edit the books.

I'm very happy with the results. Here's what I have to offer:

• Bidding Wars is a speculative fiction novel.
  
• Voyager is a multigenerational sci-fi novel.
  
• Emergency Preparedness is a collection of short stories
  
• The Thompson Twins and the Case of the Missing Beaver Teeth is a mid-grade, interactive detective novel
  

If you want to sign up for my newsletter, you can do that on my webpage. 

And, if you want signed copies of any of the books, you can do that from this page here.

Thanks so much for reading, the support, the feedback, and the conversations.

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The long and winding road to publication

This certainly isn't the trilogy of books I thought I'd write when I first dreamt of writing books, but April 2nd will see the completion of a trilogy of sorts. No, not a trilogy, more of a set of matryoshka books—each one nested in the other. You see, the book being published in April—“I’m Just a Comic book Boy” Essays on the Intersection of Comics and Punk—was the first one we pitched and is the last one being published. (You can order it on: Amazon or McFarland now.)

Here’s that story—it’s a bit of a long and winding road. If you know me, you know that’s just how I roll. Hang with me.

January 25, 2011, I had an idea for a Humanities class. The focus would be the Cold War and the Punk movement. Why those two? Mainly because my memory of 80s punk bands—really more hardcore—were the anti-politically charged bands like Bad Religion, Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, and, later, Fugazi. I also realized that most of my students had no living memory of the Cold War and figured it would be an opportunity to expose them to something new through music, art, film, and literature. I knew about the underground comix of the 60s/70s, and wanted to include one, but didn’t know enough to wisely select one. So, I emailed my comic-expert friends: Anthony, Chris, and Keegan.

Thus began an interesting Facebook thread where we bandied about a number of possibilities. The most obvious fit with the punk movement would have been Love and Rockets, but the question was, which issue or issues, and how would students obtain the books? Four years later, in 2015, Fantagraphics would be creating beautiful collections of the Palomar series, but that wouldn’t help me in the here and now. In the quest for a self-contained, not super long, but relevant to the comix movement or the punk movement, Chris suggested Justin Green’s “Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary.” His message said the work as, being “about a teenager who is trying to reconcile his neuroses (later diagnosed as OCD) and his Catholic upbringing. It has some of the same themes as found in punk (i.e. outsider status and rejection of religious belief systems) and it has a memorable scene where Binky (a stand-in for the author) hallucinates that his fingers have turned into penises.” Sold!

By March, the class was coming together quite nicely. I created a zine-style syllabus (complete with cut-out letters, typographical errors, and sloppily pasted art) and pitched the following works: Allen Ginsberg's Howl, Justin Green's Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, William Gibson's Neuromancer, Jim Carroll’s The Basketball Diaries, and Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto. In addition to the texts, we’d also watch a few films in class: A Clockwork Orange (1971), Surburbia (1983), and The Basketball Diaries (1995). The class was accepted, put on the books, I promoted it with posters around Armstrong Hall, and, August 2012, I stepped into a class with five too many students that I allowed to hang around in case anyone dropped. No one did.

Chris and Keegan continued to be my experts that helped me figure out how to teach comics. I remember debriefing with Chris after day 1 of Binky Brown (October 10, 2012) and thanking him for suggesting the book. Not only did it serve the desired purpose of talking about the DIY production of the undergrounds and addressing a number of important issues, it caught all the students by surprise and everyone wanted to talk about it. Some great discussions came out of those classes. So, Chris, I thank you again.

Those students told their friends and some of them wanted to visit class, and I let them. Why not? Hard to deny a little anarchy in a class on punk. Then those students wanted to know when I was going to teach the class again. As much as I enjoyed the class as it was happening, I was always thinking about how to improve it. I don’t know any instructors who kid themselves into thinking there wasn’t something better they could have done. And I definitely would have loved a chance to offer the class again to take advantage of the improvements I would have made, but realistically knew this was a topics class and it was unlikely to happen. I would go on to teach comics in other classes, but never quite the same line-up of texts or the same subject matter.

But, there was something about Binky Brown that really stuck with me long after the class was over. Chris and Keegan and I continued to talk about the punk movement and comics, and Chris suggested that maybe we pitch something to the Comics Arts Conference at the Comic Con in San Diego. Keegan had presented there before, so he took point on the proposal, and we looped Christopher Douglas into the mix to round out our panel.

April 25, 2013, our panel was accepted at Comic Con, and on July 21 at 1PM we presented to a wonderful room of people. It was by far the largest audience for any presentation I had done at conferences to that point, and we received wonderful questions from people wearing cat ears and cosplaying in general. It was fabulous. Audience members came up to chat afterwards and offered suggestions, and eventually the conversation spilled into the hallway so the next panel could go without interruption. While at the conference, Chris and I swung by the McFarland booth to gaze at Comic Books and the Cold War, which had just been published including an essay he wrote on Harvey Kurtzman and the “Yellow Peril.”

I don’t remember the exact words, but Chris said something along the lines of, “I wonder if we could put together a collection of essays based on our panel.” We talked about it a bit, and then worked on drafting an email to the editor that had worked with Chris on the Cold War book. That email was sent 9/3/2013, and 2/3/2014 we got word that it's going to happen. Which meant, now we actually had to write essay versions of our presentations so we have sample chapters and create a call for papers to see if we could solicit enough other essays to fill a book.

The CFP for essays went live: 2/20/2014.

In the process of writing the essay-version of my presentation, I ended up reaching out to a number of my heroes. Justin Green answered all my ridiculous questions, pointed me in various directions to find other answers, and ultimately ended up just being a wonderful resource and friend. I also reached out to RaymondPettibon (if you don’t recognize the name, he was a short-lived member of the band Black Flag, he designed their Black Flag logo, almost all of their flyers/posters—not to mention the cover to my favorite Sonic Youth album and a long list of art I admire). Anyway, I wanted to use some of his Black Flag poster-art in my essay. Like Justin, he was wonderfully friendly, helpful, and generous. Similarly, EdwardSanders (from the band The Fugs, which played a bit part in my presentation) proved to be wonderful to talk with, generous with his time, and willing to share stories and talk about living through the experiences I had only been reading about.

By December 4, 2014, a draft of the introduction was being kicked around. Each of us adding bits and pieces.

On January 14, 2014—Anthony, Chris, and I proposed a panel to the NCTE conference happening in DC. The topic had nothing to do with comics, but we liked working together and DC was in Anthony’s backyard. Seemed like a fun opportunity to get together. The focus was going to be “using narratives in the first-year composition classroom.”

Responses to our CFP began rolling in. The four of—Douglas, Field, Keegan, and I—met via Google Hangout, and hashed out our favorites.

June 20, 2014 our NCTE conference presentation is accepted, and Saturday, November 25, 2014 we presented. As we were packing up, an editor from Rowman & Littlefield approached us. “You three really work well together and your topic is very interesting, have you ever considered writing a book about it? Here’s my card…” Honestly, we hadn’t thought about it, but now we were… and pretty quickly we reached out to her and said we were definitely interested. Now we had to write essay-versions of these presentations, and figure out how we’d flesh out the rest of the book with more of our ideas.

Meanwhile, Heidi Burns and I were talking about the Multigenre ResearchProject (MGRP) and we pitched a proposal to a local MN conference (MNWE). It was accepted. No one approached us afterward asking us to write a book, but Heidi and I just clicked. We had similar work ethic and interests, and figured maybe we’d ask the R&L editor to see if she’d be interested in another book. Anthony, Chris, and I were making headway with the R&L proposal gave ourselves until July to finish up our sample essays and submit the final proposal.

March 10, 2015, Douglas, Field, Keegan, and I sat down to review the actual punk-essay submissions. We worked through them over the next week or two, made final decisions, and notified the authors by May.

With everything else on hold, Heidi and I pitched a book on the MGRP to Sarah on April 1, 2015. She seemed interested, and we put together the proposal and sample chapters. On July 17, 2015, the MGRP book proposal was accepted. In November, Heidi and I (and Colin) presented at NCTE in Minneapolis, and had a chance to actual sit down with Sarah from R&L. We chatted a bit and finalized some details.

The Spring of 2016, Heidi and I co-taught a section of English 101. It seemed like the natural extension of our collaboration, and it was one of my favorite experiences in the classroom. So nice to be able to lean on one another’s strengths, and to learn from each other. Meanwhile, we were swapping drafts of chapters back and forth on the MGRP project. By April, most of it was done. By May we had some edits back from R&L, and by the end of May the link went up for pre-orders.

One of the other pieces of finishing this project, was reaching out for people to blurb the book. So, on May 4, 2016, we reached out to a bunch of MGRP gurus. Almost everyone responded and was willing, and interested in reading our book... including Tom Romano and Nancy Mack. They were wonderfully supportive and helpful.

October 12, 2016, the MGRP book is published (find it on R&L or Amazon) 

Meanwhile, work continued on both the punk-project and the narratives book. Final edits on Tell Me a Story (the narrative book) were sent to Sarah on 8/15/2017, and it was published a month later. Find it on R&L or Amazon. 

Which leaves only the punk-book left to finish. Edits from the authors took longer than expected, but the biggest ordeal was really obtaining the rights to publish the images we needed. Some of those rights were easily and readily obtained—for example Raymond Pettibon tweeted me his permissions—but others required some diggin. For example: the images I wanted to include from the Dutch edition of the out-of-print An ABZ of Love. The artist had passed, the publisher had gone out of business, and the on-demand publishing companies that were reprinting the book didn’t return my phone calls or emails.

And, there was also the matter of what to call the book. Originally, we really liked the idea of calling the book “America is Killing its Youth”: An Intersection of Comics and Punk. The “America is Killing its Youth” part is a lyric from the song “Ghost Rider” by the band Suicide. (If you didn’t know, in 1970, Suicide printed flyers for their shows using the phrase “punk music” on them, and as near as anyone can tell… this is the first use of that phrase.) Chris ended up pursuing obtaining the rights to use the lyrics, and had conversations with Alan Vega and Marty Rev—both were happy to let use the title and just asked to receive a copy of the book. There was one obvious problem with using the lyric as a title, and that was that nearly half of the essays in the book dealt with comics outside of America—so, “America is Killing its Youth” didn’t really represent what was in the book, even though I liked the sound of it. Also, McFarland really wanted a more obvious connection to the punk movement.

Enter: the Ramones. Their song “Come on Now” had a great line that would work: “I’m just a comic book boy.” Chris explored how to obtain those rights, spoke to people, and ended up with a number. McFarland liked this option better, but it was up to us to front the bill for the lyric-usage. Fortunately, that number reflected the fact it came from a lesser known song, from what’s pretty universally accepted as the least-popular Ramones album. We divvied the amount and called it a day.

Finally, after chasing down comics arts everywhere and revising and revising, on December 11, 2018, the final edits were in. Shortly after, digital proofs were sent and Chris went to work doing a final round of edits and updating the pagination for the index that he had constructed.

And now, finally, April 2, 2019, eight years after the very first conversation that would lead to the production of this book and five years after the proposal was actually accepted and two other books later, you can find this baby in print. So, without further ado (although, really, you got through 2,312 words of ado so who am I kidding?), find it here on: McFarland or Amazon. 

And, as an added bonus for getting all the way to the bottom of this long message—or at least scrolling to the bottom—here is a Spotify playlist with songs that are referenced within the book, or are thematically relevant, or inspired by, or simply that the authors and editors liked for one reason or another. Music----> here.

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Shakopee (the city and the Native Americans, and the history)

Two random events caused me to fall down a rabbit hole of research, and I figured I might as well share it. Warning, it's not particularly a happy story, but if you don't already know it, it's a story you should know. Particularly if you live in Minnesota.
The two events are:
1. a friend, jokingly (I think), pronounced “Shakopee” as “sha-CO-pee” (with the accent on the CO), and it made me wonder if I’d been pronouncing it correctly or not, and,
2. I heard that a daguerreotype of the execution of Shakopee and Medicine Bottle was being sold, and it made me wonder who they were and why they were being executed. (you can find the link here: http://bit.ly/2qXlMqp)

So, here you go:
First, it is indeed pronounced the way I’ve been pronouncing it all these years, which is: Shock-a-pee. Easy.

In my quest, I encountered the various ways it’s been spelled:
Shak'pi, Shah-kpa-dan, Shakpay, and (apparently closest to the original Dakota) Xakpedan.

Second, who was Shakopee? Well, there were three.
Shakopee I (~1750-1827—sometimes records say 1837, but 1827 seems more consistent). He was married to White Buffalo Woman, and they had sextuplets. Holy shit, right? Apparently the odds of having natural sextuplets (ie: without the use of fertility drugs) is 1 in 4.7 billion. Buh-billion. I can’t seem to find anything indicating whether (or how many of) the children survived. The French called him “le demi douzon,” and he became known as “half dozen,” or, simply, “six.” Shakopee is the Dakota word for “six,” so the assumption is he was given the name Shakopee after his wife had sextuplets. Then, because he was the chief, the area in which he lived became known as the Shakopee Indian Village, or Shakopee’s Village, or, more simply, Shakopee.

Shakopee II (1794-1857). He was born Ojibwa, but was given to Shakopee as a way to form an alliance between the tribes. Shakopee adopted him as a son. Shakopee II is generally known as being a strong orator and great speaker. Originally, he fought against Americans in the War of 1812, but then he became dedicated to the United States.

Shakopee III (1811-1865). He was the first-born son of Shakopee II. Born Eatoka, he took on the name of Shakopee III in honor of his father. He was given the nickname “Little six,” I assume to differentiate between himself and his father. The accounts of him, mostly written by white settlers, state that unlike his father, Shakopee III was not a natural born leader. But, then again, Andrew Jackson and white settlers had wrecked havoc on the native people and their lands. He was accused of participating in the “Indian Massacre of 1861,” in which several (7 by some accounts, thirteen by others, seventeen by others) white settlers—mostly women and children—were killed by Native Americans. Shakopee III was also one of the leaders in the Dakota War of 1862, the end result was 303 Native Americans were condemned to die in December of the same year. The US was in the midst of the Civil War and Lincoln was concerned about how it would look to European allies if he ordered the execution of 303 people. So he asked for the list to be whittled down to the 39 most egregious. A list was generated. He exonerated one final one, and 38 Native Americans were hung. Depending on the account you read, they were either all males, or some females, or all males with one twelve-year-old girl. The remaining 265 were exonerated, but most died in camps or of starvation. Shakopee III and Medicine Bottle were not among those executed on that day, they fled to Canada, until they were eventually captured, drugged, and brought back to Fort Snelling, where they were hung November 11, 1865.

Because cadavers were hard to come by then, and people were still learning about the inner-workings of the human body, the corpses of the hanged Native Americans (Shakopee III and Medicine Bottle included) were distributed to doctors for dissection. One of the beneficiaries of this was William Worral Mayo. After dissecting the cadavers, Mayo had the skeleton preserved and it was used to teach his sons about the bones of the human body. Eventually, in 1990 I think, those bones (and others) were returned to the Native Americans for proper burial.

Additional information:
Little Six Casino is named after Shakopee III. It began as Little Six Bingo Palace in October 1982, turned into Little Six Casino two years later in October 1984 (or 1990, depending on the source), and it’s the sister casino to its big brother Mystic Lake Casino (which opened in May 1992). Together, they are one of the most successful Indian gaming operations in the United States.

Mdewakanton means “those who dwell at Spirit Lake” (which probably is what we now call Mille Lacs Lake, which is Minnesota’s second largest inland lake after Red Lake).

Shakopee (the town name at least) makes a cameo in the first Cars movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFrxy2NCHcA

The city also has a cameo in the SNL skit "B-108 FM" (this one is my favorite, but Lindsay Lohan also appeared on a sketch 3/3/2012): https://www.hulu.com/watch/447644

If you have any corrections please let me know. I will happily update it and would love to have the information.

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The first punk band: the case for The Fugs

[should you prefer a pdf of the essay, here you go: http://bit.ly/2pqPbbx]

The first punk band: the case for The Fugs.

There is always a danger in declaring something as the “first” of its kind. The minute one points the finger another will come along and adjust the gaze further back. Attempting to identify a "first" and at the same time dismissing anyone else's attempt to do so is an occupational hazard of being an academic--not to mention a symptom of living in the modern world and not being able to consume all of the knowledge available. I say all of this fully realizing that someone can, and will, undercut the argument that I am about to make.  But, we must begin the discussion of punk somewhere. It helps to have a case study to explore the various aspects of what punk music is, so let's start with The Fugs.

A casual listen to their songs might not immediately summon up the image of The Sex Pistols or The Ramones, or any of the typical 70s punk “sound.” And, they certainly don't immediately conjure the image of a punk--there are no black leather jackets, or safety-pin piercings, or tattoos, and no mohawks or liberty spikes. No, The Fugs were a different breed. They were raised on the Beat Poets and were friends with Ginsberg and Warhol. But, even a cursory glance at the song titles will reveal a band very different from others in 1964 (when they were formed) and even 1965 (when they first performed). Their first album, The Village Fugs Sing Ballads of Contemporary Protest, Point of Views, and General Dissatisfaction, included ten tracks, including: “Slum Goddess,” “I Couldn’t Get High,” “Boobs A Lot,” and “Nothing.” The Fugs also recorded an additional twelve songs during that session, including: "Jack Off Blues," "Bull-Tongue Clit," "Coca Cola Douche", "We're the Fugs," "Kill for Peace," and “CIA Man.”

While most of the songs from this record are playful, and sometimes downright silly, "Nothing," "Kill for Peace," and "CIA Man" really stand out as songs that show a critical bite that inhabits the socially conscious punk bands to come years later. "Nothing," as Ed Sanders recalls in Fug You (2011), was "written to the melody of a Yiddish folksong," and quickly became one of their anthems (120). The song embodies the spirit of Dadaism and negates everything from the days of the week to "fucking," "sucking," the "Church," "God," and philosophy in general. The simple song intensifies and the singers howl at various times, but ultimately, like good punk song, the focus is on the message of the song and the intensity, and earnestness, of the performance. "CIA Man" and "Kill for Peace," feature the same simplistic song structure, but take a satirical swipe at the U.S. government--much in the same way Dead Kennedys will in the 80s with "Kill the Poor," Holiday in Cambodia," "I Kill Children," and "When Ya Get Drafted." The song "CIA Man" proclaims the titular character to be a sort of boogeyman who can: plan riots, overthrow dictators, buy governments, "squash republics like bananas," "train guerrillas by the dozens," and "take the sugar from its sack, pour in LSD and put it back." Similarly, "Kill for Peace," depicts American aggression, suggesting killing: the Prussians, the "gooks," and, of course, the Russians. There is nothing subtle in these lyrics, which is a tradition carried on by Bad Religion, Crass, Fear, and other punk bands.

While there was an investigation of obscenity with regard to the lyrics of “Louie Louie,” there was no room for debate with regard to the Fugs—their lyrics were printed loud and clear in album liner notes (see endnote 1). And, Sanders made sure his audiences could hear his words. In fact, clarity of message was one of the primary concerns when Sanders founded the Fugs. His inspiration was the Beatles. He writes, "I couldn't help but notice how The Beatles' words were crystal clear! Intimately hearable! That would be my goal with The Fugs--that the words could at last star in the musical mix" (68). Most likely, the reason "Louie Louie" was investigated and The Fugs weren't, was because "Louie Louie" was a pop smash played on nearly every radio station across the country, and the Fugs' songs weren't (see endnote 2).  Though their hope was to spread the anti-war message as loudly and to as many listeners as possible, there was some benefit to being a bit obscure. The "crystal clear" lyrics ensured the Fugs wouldn't be a number one hit anytime soon.

While radio-unfriendliness becomes a hallmark of later punk music, this isn't the case with the two bands most commonly fingered as the "first" punk bands--The Sex Pistols and the Ramones. Both bands, along with the MC5 and Iggy Pop and the Stooges, were on major labels that wanted to sell records (see endnote 3). And, sell records those bands did. The Fugs were not, and did not. They were initially on Folkways Records (known for folk, world, and children's music), and then each album after the first was pressed on ESP-Disk. Originally ESP was created to release Esperanto music, and founded on the principle of providing artists "complete artistic freedom, unimpeded by any record company interference or commercial expectations" (see endnote 4). And they took that artistic freedom to heart. Their sound is unpolished, their lyrics provocative and even goofy at times. Though the Fugs didn't have major labels knocking down their doors trying to sign them, they also didn't seek that kind of publicity--it wasn't worth compromising their mission and intent. This ethos resonates loudly with other later punk bands who signed to independent labels like: Caroline (1973), Mystic (1976), SST (1978), Cherry Red (1978), IRS (1979), Alternative Tentacles (1979), Reach Out (1979), Epitaph (1980), Dischord (1980), Frontier (1980), Touch and Go (1981), BYO (1982), Combat (1983), Sub Pop (1986), and Lookout! (1987). To be "punk," in the purest sense, was to have artistic integrity and a label that would support it. The Fugs found that perfect marriage.

In addition to having a label that allowed true artistic freedom, the Fugs also shared a common "punk" trait with bands that came after them--an obscene name. For punk bands, dubbing themselves something offensive was almost a sure-fire way to attract attention. There’s a long history of “offensive” naming in punk music, for example: Cock Sparrer in 1972; Sex Pistols, Big Balls and the Great White Idiot, and Throbbing Gristle in 1975; Buzzcocks, The Members, The Slits, Penetration, Joy Division (see endnote 5), and Vibrators in 1976; Dickies, Sniveling Shits, and Nipple Erectors in 1977; Urinals, Dead Kennedys, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, and Crass in 1978; Bad Religion and Circle Jerks in 1979; The Dicks, and Meat Puppets in 1980; The Meatmen, Butthole Surfers, and Hard-ons in 1981 (see endnote 6).  While most other bands that are frequently named as the "first" punk bands opted for a non-provoking name (Barbarians 1964, Kingsmen 1963, Kinks 1964, Los Saicos 1964, MC5 1964, Sonics 1964, Stooges 1967), the Fugs chose to name themselves after, "Norman Mailer's euphemism for 'Fuck,' which he utilized in his World War II novel, The Naked and the Dead" (Sanders 120). Though substituting "fug" for "fuck" kept the censors happy in both cases, readers and listeners knew what the original artist meant. They were the Fucks.

So, what makes the Fugs punk? Their name (the Fucks). Their label (independent, allowing artistic freedom, which they took full advantage of). Their lyrics (crass, direct, clearly audible and frequently repeated throughout the songs). Their lack of polish (clearly DIY). The Fugs even got in on the marketing gag by selling, "Fugs panties, with a gold 'Fugs' on each and an arrow leading downward to the mons veneris" (Sanders 150). And, above all, their willingness to challenge conventional norms. These traits all make the Fugs the first and purest punk band, and the model that later punk bands will follow.

End notes
1. The March 1969, FBI report on the Doors includes a document that references the Fugs.  It reads, "Not everybody is as blatant as 'The Fugs.' The group derived their name, of course, from the four letter word for intercourse. They are well-known on college campuses and in clubs in major cities. Their records are very successful. You might want to listen to a few cuts, without any ladies within earshot. A copy of their most recent LP is attached. Cut 1 describes the group's philosophy. Cut 3, Side 1, describes the use of saran wrap as an emergency contraceptive in the back seat of a car. (This is a well-known substitute for rubber condoms among young teenagers at our local schools as well as PS 152 in the Bronx.) Side B has a satirical piece on the 'fucking CIA man'. Cut 2 on that side describes the use of the Coca Cola as a douche, pointing out that it provides a good taste as well as protection." Despite this detailed account, the FBI doesn't investigate the Fugs. They do, however, attempt to shut down his independent press (Peace Eye), his paper (Fuck You/ A Magazine of the Arts), but, ultimately, the only time Sanders sees court is during the Chicago 7 trial.

2. Though, that's not to suggest that the Fugs didn't register on the radar. On July 9, 1966, the second Fugs' album (this one featuring "Kill for Peace") hit the Billboard Top 100 Albums at 95, and climbed to 89. Also on the charts at that time: #51 Sounds of Silence (Simon and Garfunkel), #65 Rubber Soul (Beatles), #81 Uptight (Stevie Wonder).

3. The Sex Pistols were dropped from EMI, then A&M, before finally signing with Virgin. Sire Records, the label the Ramones were signed to until 1990, was a subsidiary of Warner Music.

4. This quote comes from the ESP-DISK Record Catalog from January 1, 1969. They also included the motto that reads: "The artists alone decide what you will hear on their ESP-Disk."

5. Joy Division, though not immediately as obvious as some of the other names listed, is named after the Nazi "division" of prostitutes who pleasured soldiers in concentration camps. The name came from a reference in Yehiel Feiner's novella House of Dolls (1955).

6. After 1981, the band names become even more blatant in an attempt to shock audiences. I need only point to two examples to make this claim: Crucifucks (1982) and Anal Cunt (1988).

Bibliography
Armstrong, John. Guilty of Everything. Vancouver: New Star Books, 2001. Print.

Bangs, Lester. "Protopunk: The Garage Bands." Ed. Jim Miller. The Rolling Stone: Illustrated History of Rock & Roll. New York: Random House, 1980: 261-4. Print.

Boot, Adrian and Chris Salewicz. Punk: The Illustrated History of a Music Revolution. London: Broadwall House, 1996. Print.

Gimarc, George. Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock 1970-1982. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2005.

Kurlansky, Mark. 1968: The Year that Rocked the World. New York: Random House, 2005. Print.

Marcus, Greil. "Anarchy in the U.K." Ed. Jim Miller. The Rolling Stone: Illustrated History of Rock & Roll. New York: Random House, 1980: 451-7. Print.

Marsh, Dave. Louie Louie: the History & Mythology of the World's Most Famous Rock 'n Roll Song. Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan UP, 2004. Print.

McCarthy, Jim and Brian Williamson. Gabba Gabba Hey: The Graphic Story of the Ramones. London: Omnibus Press, 2013. Print.

Melnick, Monte A and Frank Meyer. On the Road with the Ramones. London: Bobcat Books, 2007. Print.

Perry, Mark. Sniffin' Glue: and other Rock 'n Roll Habits. London: Omnibus Press, 2009. Print.

Ramone, Dee Dee and Veronica Kofman. Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2000. Print.

Reynolds, Simon. Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. London: Faber and Faber, 2005. Print.

Rockwell, John. "The Sound of Manhattan." Ed. Jim Miller. The Rolling Stone: Illustrated History of Rock & Roll. New York: Random House, 1980: 415-23. Print.

Sanders, Ed. Fug You: An Informal History of the Peace Eye Bookstore, the Fuck You Press, the Fugs, and Counterculture in the Lower East Side. New York: Da Capo Press, 2011. Print.

Sanders, Ed. "Liner notes for The Fugs First Album." The Fugs. Fantasy Records, 1994. CD.

True, Everett. Hey Ho Let's Go: The Story of the Ramones. London: Omnibus Press, 2005. Print.

Tucker, Ken. "New Wave: America." Ed. Jim Miller. The Rolling Stone: Illustrated History of Rock & Roll. New York: Random House, 1980: 440-4. Print.

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The re-making of a Sneetch

The Sneetches is one of my favorite Seuss stories. So, when Rebekah Folwer mentioned Kohl's was selling stuffed Sneetches, I got very excited. However, when I finally got to Kohl's I was surprised to see they only Sneetches with stars on their bellies. Where were the ones without? I looked at both entrances, but no dice. I was disappointed, but not enough to leave empty-handed. I took my Sneetch home, and almost immediately began to wonder why they didn't make the Sneetch with a removable star. I mean, that's how the story works (Off again! On again! In again! Out again!

Through the machines they raced round and about again...)

The plan formed: 

1. buy another Sneetch

2. cut a star out of the Sneetch

3. attach the star by velcro to my pre-existing Sneetch

4. be happy

And so I bought a second Sneetch and the project began. Here is the unadulterated Sneetch.

I did my best to eye-ball the size and shape of the star, and cut a section out of the new Sneetch. But, it turned out that big enough. So I cut another, larger section. During this process, Parker asked if he could have the cut-up Sneetch. So, I decided I'd do my best to patch up the new Sneetch. (I should mention, I'm not very good at sewing.) Here's the patched-up Sneetch.

Parker didn't seem to mind my shoddy workmanship. 

After a few false starts, I finally managed to cut a properly-shaped, properly-scaled version of the star out of paper. I tried to trace the star onto the fabric, but my pen wouldn't do the trick. I hastily grabbed a Sharpie, which wrote wonderfully on the fabric... but left a red stain around the edges of it. Oh well, more of my shoddy workmanship.

Now, with the properly-sized star cutout, I turned to my wife. She thought the whole endeavor was silly, but was willing to help. I needed her to somehow "edge" the star so it wouldn't fray. She worked magic on her Serger. A little Velcro later, and a few stitches to hold it into place... and...

Tada!

Yes, it was silly and took much longer than it should have, but it amuses me to no end.

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Poaching: shoot to kill policy

On our first day at a game reserve in South Africa, our guide offered to take us on a walking game drive. So we followed her through the bush. She carried a large caliber rifle (to me, it looked a comically large elephant gun). At one point, someone asked something about the rifle. Our guide responded, "oh, that's not for the animals. It's for poachers." What? "If I see someone who isn't authorized to be here, I'll ask you to turn your head and pretend you don't hear anything." She seemed serious, but I wasn't sure if she was just acting tough or what. So, when I got home, I did some research. It turns out she wasn't kidding at all.

First, a quick disclaimer: the numbers are difficult to come by. First, sometimes "South Africa" is used as a way to describing the regional area of the south portion of the continent of Africa, and other times it's to refer to the country of South Africa. So, while several sources reported data about "South Africa," it was frequently hard to know if they meant the country, or simply that portion of the continent (which would usually include: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa, but sometimes also includes Kenya). I'll be as careful as I can to sort it out. With that out of the way...

Understatement: poaching is a problem in Africa. The various countries (54 at last count) have attempted any number of approaches to solve it, or at least slow it, and yet poachers continue to kill one of the biggest tourist attractions the continent has to offer. RadioLab did a wonderful story to parse out the very difficult balance of allowing big money, big game hunts (http://bit.ly/1Lieika); they also touch briefly on poaching, but their focus is really on legal hunts. As for illegal hunting, the most common punishment was a fine, then imprisonment, and most recently death. That's right, see a poacher? Kill him or her (usually him, though).

All legal, licensed hunting of big game was banned in Kenya in May 1977. Prior to the ban, "some white hunters began shooting at the poachers themselves, not because they wanted to protect the animals, but because the black poachers had killed the animals that the whites were hunting" (Steinhart, 2006, Black Poachers, White Hunters: A Social History of Hunting in Colonial Kenya). It's unknown how many poachers (black or white) were killed during this period, but the approach seemed to be a significant deterrent. In 1984, Zimbabwe officially adopted a shoot to kill policy, and other African countries followed.

From 1984-1993, more than 170 poachers were killed. These numbers represent the killings that were reported, so they are only estimates. The Protection of Wildlife Act (1989) was passed to prevent rangers from being charged with murder if they shot poachers. The intention of the act was for rangers only to act in self-defense, but in 1990 more poachers were killed than rhinos. The act was quickly dialed back as a result of UN human rights violations.

I couldn't find figures between 1993 and 2009, but the following are the best numbers that I could verify from reliable source:
2009--15
2010--17
2011--35 (232 arrested)
2012--42
2013--57
2014--106
2015--127

Other articles estimate 500 poachers were killed between 2010 and 2015. It should also be noted, that since 2004, more than 1,000 rangers have been killed worldwide. I tried to narrow that scope to just South Africa, but failed to find anything that was very reliable. Suffice it to say, there is a war going on between rangers and poachers. Unfortunately, this has also become a race-based war, because most of the poachers are poor black Africans who poach to sell ivory or horns to dramatically increase their livelihood. So great is the reward, that they're willing to risk their lives to attempt it.

Here are some links if you want to read more:
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35503077
http://www.newsweek.com/quora-question-should-poachers-be-s…
https://www.savetherhino.org/rh…/thorny_issues/shoot_to_kill
https://news.vice.com/…/south-african-park-rangers-have-rep…
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35503077
https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews/videos/10154260949837217/
http://www.newsweek.com/quora-question-should-poachers-be-s…
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Poachers-White-Hu…/…/0821416642
https://businessperspectives.org/…/2…/EE_2014_03_Cheteni.pdf

#poaching #didyouknow #southafrica #wildlife #endangeredspecies

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Homeless veterans vs (?!) Refugees

It's probably stupid to get worked up about memes on the internet, but since that's how so much information is conveyed these days--particularly on social media--I can't help but react. Today, in our (probably) never-ending series "dissect a meme," we take a look at the "homeless veterans" memes in circulation. Primarily, these are ones that take a stand suggesting that people can choose to either be outraged by the way the Trump administration is treating refugees and immigrants OR homeless veterans. You know, ones like these: http://bit.ly/2kAparf or http://bit.ly/2l92BYj or http://bit.ly/2kEDaju or http://bit.ly/2k83Jud or the variations.

The basic problem with these, is that this is not an either/or proposition. We can do both, and we can certainly "care" about both groups. Paying attention to one doesn't suggest we don't care about the other. But, since one (refugees and immigrants) recently suffered a major set back due to a change in policy, it's understandable that people might be talking about them more than the other.

My other complaint about these memes, and usually the comments that go along with them, is that the accusation is that Democrats (or liberals in general) don't care about homeless veterans, but Republicans do. Yet, it's the Republicans (and conservatives in general) who point the finger at Democrats (liberals in general) for being the party of "handouts" and "socialism." Which is it? Plus, if you look into it, you'll find that Democrats have proposed far more legislation to help homeless veterans than Republicans have.

The earliest bill to explicitly help homeless veterans is H.R. 558 "Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act." It was introduced by Thomas S Foley, Democrat from Washington State on January 8, 1987, and it became law July 22, 1987. Here's the information about the legislation: https://www.congress.gov/bill/100th-congress/house-bill/558…

It's not until 1989 that there's a co-authored bill (with a Republican and Democrat) initiated.

And the first Republican introduced-bills, that becomes law, is introduced September 19, 1995.

Ultimately, Democrats proposed 251, Republicans 192, and Indepedents 4. This total includes bills, amendments, and resolutions. And, lest anyone think the Democrats didn't care about homeless veterans during the Obama years, Democrats proposed 120 (bills/amendments/resolutions) from 2009-2016, Republicans proposed 72, and Independents proposed 4, during that same period.

74 of the total 447 proposed (from 1987 to present) became law. 28 of those were originally proposed by Democrats, and 46 by Republicans. The most recent became law December 16, 2016. The most recent Democrat introduced-bill that became law was introduced January 3, 2013 and became law December 16, 2014.

If it is something you're interested in reading more about, and/or helping with, check out the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (http://nchv.org/index.php/policy/) and their link with the most recent legislation regarding homeless veterans: http://nchv.org/index.php/policy/policy/active_legislation/ (5 of the 8 pieces of legislation were created by Democrats)

The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans gets good scores and is a reputable charity: https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm…

By the way, don't get tricked and go to: http://www.americanhomelessvets.org/ (or American Homeless and Disabled Veterans--they're the same organization), because they are known for not living up to their promises: http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/07/us/veterans-charity-fraud/

If you want to sift through the bills, here's what I did: Go here: https://www.congress.gov/, select "all legislation" and search for whatever terms you want. I did "homeless veterans" (with the quotation marks). Then I sorted by "date of introduction - oldest to newest". (Admittedly, there might a bill/amendment/resolution that indirectly assisted homeless veterans, and I might have missed that. If so, please do point it out.)

Finally, here is a rather snarky--but not inaccurate--webpage outlining ways that Republicans have not been the "savior" of veterans as they like to claim they are: http://usuncut.com/…/happy-veterans-day-5-times-republican…/

One final, final point that I'm not sure exactly how to make (because I don't want to diminish the sacrifice veterans made), but in terms of simple numbers: there are ~30-50k homeless veterans and ~780k refugees (since 2001), and millions of immigrants in the United States. So, based on sheer numbers, the homeless veterans "problem" affects fewer people than that of refugees and immigrants. Of course you could make an argument about duty and responsibility to people who served... but, still, the sheer scope of these issues makes them anything but an either/or proposition.

[Please do feel free to share and distribute however you want.]

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The secret message of Go, Dog. Go!

As the political pundits turn their attention to deciphering the agenda of the candidates and looking for "hidden clues" into just who these candidates are, I turn my attention to a children's classic.  After reading P.D. Eastman's Go, Dog.  Go! for the 90th time, I feel uniquely qualified to reveal the "hidden" message from within this text.  It's a message that has been staring me in the face the other 89 times I read it to my children, and yet this time somehow it stood out more clearly.

Ready?  Here it is: this book is all about how men control relationships, and how hats, not food, are the gateway into our hearts.

Don't believe me?  How does the book end?

A male and female dog driving off into the sunset wearing goofy hats.  Right.  And how did we get there?  A series of encounters between these two dogs and hats.

The first encounter, a casual conversation while walking:
"Hello!"  "Hello!"  "Do you like my hat?"  "I do not."  "Good-by!"  "Good-by!"  She's clearly disappointed that he didn't like that hat, "I was assured this was of the latest fashion!"  The male dog isn't wearing a hat.  As the story progresses she, attempting to capture his interest, will continue to challenge her local milliner for the finest headgear to catch the eye of the yellow canine.  He, meanwhile, will say, "huh.  That was random.  I have a sudden hankering for a hat," and visit his local hatter.

Second encounter, now on scooters: 
"Hello again."  "Hello."  "Do you like my hat?"  "I do not like it."  "Good-by again."  "Good-by."  Note the "hello again."  She's making sure he remembers that they've spoken before: "remember me?  Check out this doozy I have on my noggin."  But, again she's disappointed, "Curses!  I thought for sure the feather would win him over!"  He now is wearing a bowler, and as he scoots away has stolen her feather.  Racy.

Third encounter, on the ski-slopes:
"Hello again."  "Hello."  "Do you like my hat?"  "I do not like that hat."  "Good-by again."  "Good-by!"  Having gone skiing, they're both wearing weather-appropriate hats.  His is short and conservative.  Hers long and goofy--attention grabbing and impractical.  However, he shrugs her off and zooms down the hill, leaving her to grumble "good-by" as she heads back to murder her stylist.

Final meeting, at a party on a tree:
"Hello again.  And now do you like my hat?"  "I do.  What a hat!  I like it!  I like that party hat!"  One can only almost imagine the disdain and snarkiness of her comment, "And now do you like my hat?"  But!  Instead of the disappointment we've come to expect, her ridiculous hat is met with success!  We have a winning combination!  The guy is even wearing a fairly silly hat.  Maybe it's because they're both drunk from the "big dog party," or maybe it's just that hats have a secret seductive quality.

So what's the rest of the book?  A bunch of stuff to distract you from the real message!  Don't be deceived.  P.D. Eastman clearly has a hat fetish.

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Boogers

This one has no art to go with it, is considerably shorter, and has less back-story to it.  But, here we go:

Parker, the 8-month old, has had a runny nose lately.  Something I hadn't anticipated when we decided to have children was that I might slowly lose my mind.  I find myself saying, and singing ridiculous things to entertain these two joys of my life.  And, occasionally, I write them down.  Here's one of them.  Sung to Parker.  In honor of his runny nose.

Boogers in your nose!
That's where they goes!
On your face?
They're out of place!

Yep, that's it.  It's usually followed immediately by wiping his nose with a Kleenex--which he hates.  The song is merely a distraction from the torture of booger-wrangling that will follow.

(Below are the pen scribbles of the original.)

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Anatomy of a poem--"The boy on the ceiling"

If you know me even moderately well, you know poetry isn't really my "thing."  But, after reading Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein and a whole slew of other children's literature to my sons, the desire to rhyme has overcome me.  What can I say?

Dylan, now 3, seems to have mastered potty training.  Which is awesome.  Yesterday (December 18th), he was sitting on the potty and telling me how big his poop was going to be.  It was going to be "THIIIIIIS BIG."  How big?  "So big!"

I posed a question for him: "what if the poop was so big, that it smashed you onto the ceiling?"  He couldn't seem to picture this.  He told me that in order to get to the ceiling, you need a ladder.  "Right, but what if the poop was like a ladder?"  A poop ladder?  "No, just a big pile... with you at the top?"  Still, no luck.  "I'll draw you a picture when you're done."

And I did.  Here it is (it was hastily done):

Since the art, to me, looked Shel-Silverstein'esque, I figured I should probably construct a poem to go with it.  Between potty trips, and our younger son (Parker) playing and grabbing the pen and piece of paper I was working with, I wrote a rough form of the poem.  Here it is:

It's really not much to look at, but it shows some of the process so I decided to include it.  The start point is "Dylan went pee..." but I quickly ran out of room and so the poem winds around its way around the paper until the final lines are at the top above where the poem actually begins.  (Yes, I probably should have grabbed another piece of paper... but children only allow you a few moments of freedom, and you need to roll with it when inspiration strikes.)

I tinkered with the poem a bit more, combined the art and the poem together through the magic of Photoshop, and present it here.  By no means do I present this as a great piece of art (either the poem or the drawing), but it amused me and thought I'd share.  I'd love any critical suggestions for improvement, and any comments in general.

Anyway, here it is:

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