Historical Snippets

Since I don't own a television, I get my mass culture from the internet and Netflix.

Just by coincidence, in the past week I've encountered TWO reenactments of the Kennedy assassination.

The first was in a Marilyn Manson video; MM plays Jack. The second was in the movie, "The Salton Sea," where pigeons are drafted to play the ill-fated party, and a toy electric SUV substitutes for the Cadillac.

Philippines

Went to see the movie "Cavite" at the Lumiere.

It has an interesting enough plot, but much hand-held camera work (too much jiggling) and abrupt editing that is annoying. For a semi-amateur production I suppose it was good.

The main reason I wanted to see the film was because of my 18 months spent in the Philippines (age 19-21). It was a sad to see that the Philippines looks pretty much like it did 30 years ago.

Progress ? More people have cars -- there were more cars on the road instead of busses, jeepneys, and motorcycle-trikes, but the country still looks like a shit-hole. Haphazard construction everywhere, people living in corrugated metal shanties, electric lines sprouting willy-nilly, dirty exhaust and dust, chickens... The movie showed a cock fight, pretty much like one I saw in Baguio City -- a concrete block "arena" with much yelling and wagering.

Oh, and the slums still look the same -- people throwing their garbage and shit into the nearby waterway. Disgusting, with no hope for change because everyone accepts that the common public spaces are just garbage bins (unless you're in a private compound or exclusive area). This place makes the Tenderloin look like heaven, but it still doesn't make me want to live here anymore.

Do I LOOK for trouble ?!

Still house-sitting out on LaPlaya, across from the Safeway...

New-looking Ford SUV pulls up, and a late 20's, early 30's looking guy, athletic, clean cut, like a fraternity boy slightly grown up says, "Hey buddy, wanna buy some stereo speakers ? We just made some deliveries and we got some extras."

I reply, "Sounds like theft to me."

"No, we just made some deliveries and they're extra. What are you, gay? You look gay."

I reply, "You look gay."

He replies, "You weeny," as the SUV, which I notice has no license plates pulls away.

House-sitting, Ocean Beach

I've been enjoying the beach. Driving back to the Tenderloin made me angry... the sight of numerous people passed out on the sidewalks, the usual crackheads shuffling around.

These people don't need to be in prison, but they certainly make the sidewalks seem dangerous -- even though they're fairly harmless.

I've done a little thinking about what it is that disturbs me. I come from a place where people help one another out. But a drug addict is an insatiable hole in humanity. As a healthcare worker, I feel the pharmaceutical industry should be feeding that hole, rather than the law enforcement and prison industries feeding off of it. As a human, my immediate response to someone passed out on the sidewalk is to help them out. But there is no helping those who must feed their addiction as a priority over food and shelter. The sidewalks are littered with their carcasses.

Maybe the answer is army cots... I'd just as soon see army cots littering the street as people sleeping on the concrete. Of course, if you gave a junkie an army cot, he would quickly sell it for a bit of smoke.