poetwarrior

I was a member of First Unitarian Church of Dallas and I had returned from the GPM. I found out about a seminar for political activists sponsored by George Washington University. This was back in 1987, I believe. I got to go to topic groups that stretched the gamut of different tactics to help create political change.

I remember this one group lead by Senator Arlen Spector. His advice at the time was to send correspondence to our elected officials in our own handwriting. Of course, this was before the days of anthrax scares and the Patriot Act. We were warned against signing petitions since it only counts as one voice.

Now in this age of email, it is probably best to use the Interent to contact our elected officials. I have received quite a few responses to my personal emails, many of them quite positive.

As a digital activist, I encourage all citizens of the USA to use the Web to make sure your voices are heard. After all, a wise man once sang,”...if nobody wants to share the blame
Then everyone gets more of the same” (Todd Rundgeren)

I know this is starting to sound like a broken record, but when I was on the Great Peace March (gosh, I sound like someone’s grandpa!) I was able to visit this remarkable part of Central Park. It is dedicated to the memory of John Lennon Ono. This was a man I greatly admire, and it was sad for pretty much every one of his fans when he was murdered. Yet, Strawberry Fields is a place of hope, not grief.

The great mandela alone is reason enough to make a pilgrimage to this lovely garden area. It is a wonderful place to meet kindred souls and make new friends. If I had the chance to go there again, I’d be there right now. I’d light a candle for peace and hum “Give Peace a Chance” as I thank God for creating John Lennon Ono.

I went with a friend who was going off to Hampshire College to see David Byrne at the Inwood. He was fielding a Q&A session before screening Stop Making Sense to a full house equaly divided between serious film students (SFS’s) and Talking Heads fans (THF’s).

After answering such obviously lame questions such as, “Why the big suit?” David Byrne introduced the movie. After the lights dimmed and the projector whirred, an amazing thing happened. Scattered among the SFS’s were pockets of THF’s standing up to dance. The SFS’s tried shaming the THF’s from participating in a way to which we were accustomed. Scattered among the audience, a small cadre of THF’s would get up to dance and sing, only to be forced down by the SFS’s.

My friend and I grinned to each other and mouthed along with “Crosseyed and Painless” and “Life During Wartime” among other wonderful songs. I don’t know if there was ever a truce between the SFS’s and the THF’s. All I know is that it was a night of memories that will never fade away.

It wasn’t exactly what I would call a change for the better, but it was during the Great Peace March in 1986 where I visted many cities in the US, Pittsburgh being one of my least favorite. I don’t know if it was due to the fact that I ended up taking the earliest form of Esctasy (prescription strength) or perhaps it was my overstaying my welcome and missing some great events in Peace March history.

Twenty years can change a city considerably, but my memories of Pittsburgh were of the shut-down factories, the disshevled neighborhoods and the one good food co-op that I stopped at one day. These images stay fresh in my mind to this day. I’m quite certain that major improvements were committed against old neighborhoods which pushed out many poor and underprivileged ordinary folks.

If you think I’m not being fair, I do have one wonderful memory of Pittsburgh: it was the first place where I enjoyed a bottle of Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout, which is a much smoother brew than Guinness ever hoped to be. I believe it was at Primaneti Brothers Sandwich Shop where I enjoyed that divine nectar. Oh, and I did enjoy my very first sushi in Pittsburgh, thanks to Phineus…wherever you are.

Harvey Pekar is mostly known through the indie film based upon his autobiographical comix American Splendor. Long before becoming the darling of indie film, he schlupped his way to work at the local VA hospital, which gave him the job security to be a pioneer of slackers everywhere as well as creator of the longest-running self-published comix. Alongside Pekar’s verbal banter with friends and co-workers, artwork by R. Crumb, Greg Budgett, Gary Dumm, Kevin Brown and Gerry Shamray brings these ordinary folks to life in a way that makes Spiderman look like he’s got it easy.

The film version features Paul Giamatti as Pekar and Hope Davis as Pekar’s wife, Joyce Brabner. The real Harvey Pekar also pops up commenting on how Giamatti barely resembles the humble narrator himself. Even so, I could scarce think of a better actor to get under Pekar’s curmudgeonly skin.

Regarding the comix themselves, one of my favorite stories is called “Jury Duty.” The sheer boredom of this rite of passage as well as Pekar’s brutal honesty-which gets him excused from having to sit on an actual jury-shows the criminal justice system for the sham it really is. After all, those who care about humanity are the ones most likely to be excused when their names are called.

Still, this native son of Cleveland Heights has gone through much in his life. His ongoing battle with cancer was chronicled in his graphic novel, Our Cancer Year, to wide critical acclaim. I’ve had the pleasure to have met Harvey and Joyce at a San Diego ComicsCon when the theatrical play that pre-dated the film of the same name was performed in Harvey’s honor. The brilliant character actor Dan Castellaneta, whose dead-on performance was a wonderful gift to the man he portrayed, is something I could never forget.

I visited Cleveland when I was on the Great Peace March in 1986. I found it to be a clean but humble city. This was before the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was built. Even so, I felt rather safe walking alone on its streets. I felt safe in Cleveland, and if I could one day return to see all the changes that have taken place over the twenty years since I was there, I would.

I’d also like to say thanks to Harvey Pekar for being exactly the person he is. Without you, I would have never discovered just how great an ordinary life can be.

I went to the San Diego ComicsCon back in 1997. Apart from the usual geeky comicbook fans, there are also more independent publishers and film studios. Mad props to Fantagraphics and Troma Films for making my last vistit to San Diego memorable for different reasons. At the Fantagraphics booth, I was privileged to meet Jim Woodring, creator of the Book of Frank. Meanwhile, Troma’s films never fail to out-gross in the gross-out catagory.

The best thing, though, is staying cheaply and taking the Trolly system within walking distance to the Convention Center where the ComicsCon is a long-standing source of tourist revenue. Bring lots of money for the restaurants, many of which live up to their “A” ratings by the health department.

While I haven’t been there for awhlle, I may return there one day.

While Salinas isn’t all that well known (apart from a reference in the song, “Me and Bobbie McGee”), it is a place that is growing as a tourist destination. Even so, it has much to offer locals as well.

My favorite place in Old Town is the Maya Cinemas. It is the only movie theater in Salinas that features crying rooms in some of the larger auditoriums. Few know about this fact, but it is a big reason to visit this year-old movie theater. They also have a Kid’s Movie every Saturday and Wednesday at 10am. Tickets are cheap for these showings of second-run family films. If that doesn’t grab you, consider this fact: self-serve buttering stations for you popcorn.

If that’s not reason enough for locals to stay within city limits, I don’t know what is. If you need another reason to visit the Old Town section, every Saturday there is an Organic Farmer’s Market where fresh produce (including heirloom tomatoes) and Sparky’s Root Beer are available.

When I was on the verge of homelessness, a friend of mine who rented a small room in a residential hotel in Chinatown told me that there was a room vacant. So I was accepted as a tenant there, and I even ended up living in the room right across from where my friend lived.

It was the only place I could afford to live at while attending SFSU to complete my BA in English Lit. It was great while I was there, and I left to get married to someone I met onine. (That was a big red flag, BTW, but I was in love with love so I hardly cared.) Even so, I was able to enjoy the local cuisine, especially dim sum. You have not been to Chinatown without experiencing a real dim sum meal.

Were it not for the cheap lodging in Chinatown, I probably never would have been able to finish my degree, so in that way my life did change for the better. It is certainly the best place on the West Coast to enjoy the Chinese New Year celebration. I even bought a “Year of the Tiger” T-shirt, since I was born in a Tiger year. My best experiences (including my college graduation) happened during Tiger years.