Well, even though we still don’t have martial law in the U.S. (one of my friends has informed me that military operatives are in the streets anticipating potential flash riots that might escalate) – I still find many of my predictions coming through, and, I still feel like I am 2-years-ahead-of-the-curve (with regards to anticipating dynamics of our American milieu). But the paradoxical aspect of being an anachronism is: we often struggle with living in the present — as we spend so much time in the future and/or the past.
I will never understand (or watch) Reality TV – yet it seems to appeal to many people. For me there is no point to it – it’s an absurd, masturbatory experience: resulting in an anti climax! Even Blondie has begun to tackle “Reality TV.”
A friend just sent me something that I hope was “staged”: a woman running out in the street after being frightened by a masked “friend” and then being hit by a car. Regardless of whether this footage was real or not — it obviously made the Internet and probably freaked many people (with delicate sensibilities like myself) out! I wasn’t ready for this!! I have entered The Videodrome in very naïve fashion: the fragile line between empirical reality and video reality has been irreparably compromised for me.
I shall certainly never be able to “text” – as I have typed so many papers over-the-years (including this column) – that when given the opportunity to talk or type – I will always talk. And power point and/or digital slide presentations are so far beyond my scope – I always marvel at folks who put such media presentations together (which makes many-of-my-students happy campers). Speaking of presentations, I surely hope that university education (indeed, all education) doesn’t go online – I’ll be doomed (unless I can film a few ‘model’ lectures and copyright these). Like Arash always says: your head is so full-of-stuff (allota shit let me tell you) – that you can’t possibly fill it with anything else.
And MySpace and Facebook have passed me by…how does anyone have time for this shit?!
But I still have some predictive prowess left in me, to wit:
George Skelton in my beloved Times has been editorializing and commenting on how the recall of Gray Davis really didn’t change a thing for California. After 7-years-of-Arnold – he leaves us exactly how he picked us up. (My readers know that I had complained about Arnold’s performance a-while-back – yet it is only now becoming dialog for the Cali political pundits).
I complained about Cheney being Satan many years before I wrote about the Satanic Cheney – and Prickly City has only recently begun dealing with the evil of American politics in rabbit caricature, senator-elect, Kevin (who is not phased at all by Satan – why should he be?).
I miss Boondocks…no one was more “spot on” and acidly sarcastic than (Aaron McGruder). I always felt that he talked about American race relations as they needed to be talked about – not like Uncle Tom, Bill Cosby. I often wonder if Aaron was simultaneously threatened and/or paid off by our own government – as his cartoon commentary was mightily incendiary (Aaron M. would have lent a great deal to my predictive abilities, ah well…)…
I know I can get a bit crazy at times, like when I warn my juvenile detainees that they probably don’t want to be locked up in prison, or get too deep into Echo and Huntington Parks – because with resources drying up – and red meat becoming one of those lost food stuffs, state prisons might become the new slaughterhouses (not to forget those easily cordoned sections of urban streets…)…
But this is only a modest prediction of one possible shape of things to come. When dog food and vet bills are as cheap as bullets – I will put the guns away and get some more big dogs – until then, I can’t afford the dogs.