I was walking home yesterday down Essex street and I passed a very disturbed and rather large young man wearing a white t-shirt adorned with huge black letters, apparently written in marker, presumably by him (I'm equating his rather deranged aura with the impossibly bad penmanship.) True or not, the shirt was definitely a one-off home made piece. It said, rather to the point, "Kill all homosexuals. Die faggots die." We had a moment of eye contact in which I expressed my disapproval. Nothing too serious (I'm a bit ashamed to admit) but enough that I was a little scared he was going to start something with me (that sort of eye contact being a pretty aggressive act in some sub-cultures.) He decided to keep walking. Anyway, it sort of freaked me out, because I don't usually see stuff like that in NYC. Then today I found this story, which didn't particularly make me feel better or worse, but it made some sort of impression. There are a lot of fscked-up people out there, and a even more "normal" ones (peaceful ones?) rather scared of the first group. (Really nice design on that site too, as is usually the case with Derek Powazek's stuff.)
1) i lived in sf for off and on 3 years in the early 80's, but i lived in a hippy fog--when i go back and take public transportation i notice strong tension:>(********2) from what linda told me this guy and his shirt is an art piece, he wants people to come up and talk to him about it(i hear painting is coming back...)********3) the dude working on this apartment where i live came over the other day and after a while i noticed his shirt, it was hitler saluting and it said hitler world tour 1938-1945 and on the back it listed all the cities. he saw my look and said dont worry i wear it as a joke and to see peoples reactions...HELP
I'm not sure what to make of that (#2). An artist? I thought they were supposed to be subverting the dominant culture. Or is that passe now? What kind of "conversation" could you possible get into with him that would make up for his broadcasting of such negative energy? Strange. To be completely honest, it was very provocative, but my brain made a split second fight or flight decision. I didn't fly, I knew I had to do something, but my quick decision told me that this guy could easily beat me up, and may well be armed. So I did as little as I could (while still doing something.) I gave him a dirty look. If he had been a smaller male I would said something to him. If it is art, maybe confronting me with that is the point. Still, I can learn that point (might makes right?) almost anywhere; plus, it doesn't seem like that great of a point to learn. Anyway, I know it's not your art piece Mike, I'm just sort of puzzled by the whole thing. And frankly, I kind of doubt that the guy I saw is the same one Linda was talking about.
i was thinking maybe it was german like the simpsons episode where sideshow bob sends the death threat to bart. unfortunately it doesnt work in translation. although if you were demeaning queers you might want to refer to them with a female article. even so, it would translate to "the faggot the." Sideshow Bob's German
Torsten Kracke points out that "Sideshow Bob's German is quite bad,
since `Die Bart, die' is complete nonsense in German. The praeposition
`die' declares the gender of the following word as female or plural.
E.g. `The Simpsons' is called `Die Simpsons' here and you could say
`Die Lisa, die', but it would still sound very strange. `The Bart, the'
would translate as `Der Bart, der'."
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- jim 7-24-2000 3:52 pm
1) i lived in sf for off and on 3 years in the early 80's, but i lived in a hippy fog--when i go back and take public transportation i notice strong tension:>(********2) from what linda told me this guy and his shirt is an art piece, he wants people to come up and talk to him about it(i hear painting is coming back...)********3) the dude working on this apartment where i live came over the other day and after a while i noticed his shirt, it was hitler saluting and it said hitler world tour 1938-1945 and on the back it listed all the cities. he saw my look and said dont worry i wear it as a joke and to see peoples reactions...HELP
- Skinny 7-25-2000 2:02 pm [add a comment]
I'm not sure what to make of that (#2). An artist? I thought they were supposed to be subverting the dominant culture. Or is that passe now? What kind of "conversation" could you possible get into with him that would make up for his broadcasting of such negative energy? Strange. To be completely honest, it was very provocative, but my brain made a split second fight or flight decision. I didn't fly, I knew I had to do something, but my quick decision told me that this guy could easily beat me up, and may well be armed. So I did as little as I could (while still doing something.) I gave him a dirty look. If he had been a smaller male I would said something to him. If it is art, maybe confronting me with that is the point. Still, I can learn that point (might makes right?) almost anywhere; plus, it doesn't seem like that great of a point to learn. Anyway, I know it's not your art piece Mike, I'm just sort of puzzled by the whole thing. And frankly, I kind of doubt that the guy I saw is the same one Linda was talking about.
- jim 7-25-2000 6:58 pm [add a comment]
i was thinking maybe it was german like the simpsons episode where sideshow bob sends the death threat to bart. unfortunately it doesnt work in translation. although if you were demeaning queers you might want to refer to them with a female article. even so, it would translate to "the faggot the."
Sideshow Bob's German Torsten Kracke points out that "Sideshow Bob's German is quite bad, since `Die Bart, die' is complete nonsense in German. The praeposition `die' declares the gender of the following word as female or plural. E.g. `The Simpsons' is called `Die Simpsons' here and you could say `Die Lisa, die', but it would still sound very strange. `The Bart, the' would translate as `Der Bart, der'."
- dave 7-25-2000 7:30 pm [add a comment]