From: "D.S. Black" <dsblack@sirius.com>
D.S. Black is a practicing premillennial nihilrealist who lives in San
Francisco. He can be contacted: dsblack@sirius.com
D.S. Black
Two commentaries by our intrepid reporter of the Bay Area, DS Black, who can be reached at
dsblack@sirius.com. The following is in regard to a commentary column appearing in the 17
January 1999 Examiner regarding recent (last week!) war games (no less).
General C.C. Krulak today makes the case for an "Urban Warrior" invasion of San Francisco by the Marines. The long and short of his rationale is we (that is, U.S.) need to be better prepared for the vagaries of urban warfare, which are notably chaotic.
Not for operations at home, ostensibly, but for use the next time the US undertakes a Somalia-style campaign, coming ashore under fire into the waiting incandescent eyes of CNN and other inquisitive media.
If the Park Service had not nixed the idea of several hundred full-metal-jacketed Marines tromping over the sensitive sand dunes of Baker Beach, you could be sure that they would have been met by an equal number of "rebel elements opposed to the operation." And no, these rebels would have been more than just role-playing grunts, they would include peace-loving residents outraged by this martial charade being played out before us at our expense.
It was a surreal moment in both the history of television and the history of war to see the Marines arrive in Somalia on a night-time beach in 1993, where they were met by blinding klieg lights of news cameras in Mogadishu. How to sort out the unfriendlies?
Krulak wants his troops better prepared for next time. If they were to train here, they could certainly expect a monumentally weird reception. There would be rounds of incoming from brigades of our media, both mainstream and marginal, who include loveable, pie-launching, clothing-optional activist and performance types. Without live rounds, the Urban Warriors would have a hard time meeting the firepower of San Francisco's finest pyro artists, should they cross our many lines in the sand. Baker Beach, remember, was the site of the original Burning Man event.
How would the Marines pacify rebel forces who are pierced, with more tattoos per bod than the average sailor? Would there be defections from c-ration-sick troops to Food Not Bombs, and how would the upper brass reconcile "Don't ask, don't tell" with their occupation of the Castro District? Would the Urban Warriors defend the Banker's Heart from the antics of St. Stupid and a few dozen guys and gals in Santa Claus suits?
I'm almost sorry we won't get to see these and other entertaining scenarios played out, for they would make the City a temporary Theater of Operations, an urban warfare performance zone that we will no doubt be seeing more of in the future. At least this time they promised not to use live rounds.
But for the sake of Baker Beach, I'm glad it will remain--for the moment--a thought exercise.
MILLENNIUM BUGGY
o'K
whY
2000?
S/B
2000-
-won
Already!
KY2000
Lube for a Run
of the Mill
Any 'Em
Oh-oh OOOH
Ought Naught Nought
Not? Cool!
Eh, enough with the 'tude,
Dude. What is forever
Whether you're nil or null.
K-pasoŠ Yo? YoŠJaaa-nee
Masssssss!
Think we're there
Almost! But I could be
Wrong again.
Say what? Serious?!
Here we go
Oh, No!
-D.S. Black
1-25-99
From dsblack@sirius.com Wed Oct 20 20:57:37 1999
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Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 20:49:38 -0800
To: Recipient List Suppressed:;
From: "D.S. Black" <dsblack@sirius.com>
Subject: Democracy Can Be Serious Fun
Status: RO
X-Status:
Thought this msg I wrote the Motel 666 list might be of interest as a view
on SF leading up to the election.
Apologies in advance for wafting a wee bit of politics into the mix. Those
who do not live in SF, or who take strenous exception to any of what
follows...das toot mir light!
Steven
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 19:08:32 -0800
To: motel666@egroups.com
From: "D.S. Black" <dsblack@sirius.com>
Subject: Democracy Can Be Serious Fun
Status: U
Respected Moteliers.
When we went to Black Rock City and built the Motel, we created a world of
our own choice. For a time we tasted a sweet if illusory freedom out there
on the playa.
Last weekend's party at Scout's was a blast, but it also brought home the
fact that we ain't in toto any more, Kansas.
We're backŠand the City is gearing up to ask its residents to comment on
the state of things. For San Franciscans, the questions are as vexing as
they have ever been.
I don't know about you, but I've been so revolted by the narrow slate of
choices this time round, that I was giving serious thought to writing in
Burning Man for mayor, or even Ranger Ruth (actually, she'd make a better
sheriffŠ). But seriously, election day is November 2. That's coming up!
Time to sharpen a pencil. Better yet, pack a pen!
I've asked myself: do I really want to see a reptilian political
mercenary, a dunderhead ex-cop, or a debonair friend to evil developers
running this City? None of the other candidates who will appear on the
ballot for mayor is viable, though I sorta like one or two of them..
If Brown is reelectedŠI wonder just how many of us who currently live in
San Francisco will be able to *remain* here by the time he leaves office. I
seriously doubt a City run by and for the rich is going to sustain the
likes of you or me much longer.
I voted for Brown once, but won't be fooled again. At least he hasn't
jailed me or my friends the way Jordan did in the early 90s (that's a whole
'nother story), though his politics of pique did lead to a short-lived and
intemperate campaign against the Critical Mass bike ride. Oh, and in case
you forgot, he thinks *we're* all a bunch of hissing snakes. So who does
that leave?
The one write-in whose votes will actually count is Tom Ammiano.
>From his web site (http://www.ammiano4mayor.com/)
Tom Ammiano, President of the San Francisco Board Of Supervisors, has
indeed filed papers so that your write-in
votes for him will be counted. Any vote that Tom gets will help ensure a
run-off in December. If Tom is FIRST or
SECOND in vote tallies, his name will appear on the ballot in the run-off.
To write in Tom, follow these 3 easy steps:
Step 1: Bring a pen
Step 2: Write in the office - "Mayor"
Step 3:Write in his name - "Tom Ammiano"
************
OK, enough propaganda. Why vote for Tom?
Well, he is that absolute novelty: an intelligent, sensible person who has
political potential, and somehow has not (yet) sold his soul to the devil.
I could not believe this when I met him a year ago, but Ammiano is actually
a decent human being who generally does right.
Like anyone, we have disagreements. But besides being sharp, funny, and
irreverent, Ammiano has what it takes to make an effective difference.
Instead of serving the interests of a few, he is looking to make life more
liveable for regular folks who maybe ride Muni (as he does) or who are
tenants and find their purchase on this place ever more tenuous. Ammiano is
a man of the neighborhoods; he will not be beholden to the exacting
taskmasters of downtown. (Many of whom, need I add, don't even live here.)
It is infuckingcredible to find a candidate who does not invite cynicism.
If Mayor Ammiano is possible, then it is possible still to feel hope for
the future of this City.
OK, I'll get off my soapbox now.
yrs for a vivid tomorrow,
Steven Black
Mission: Vote!
----------- --------------------------------------
D.S. Black The fact to which we have got to cling,
dsblack@sirius.com as to a life-belt, is that it is possible
to be a normal decent person and yet
to be fully alive.
-George Orwell
______
dsblack@sirius.com Ne m'attends pas ce soir,
car la nuit sera noire et blanche.
-Gerard de Nerval
In August, I was persuaded by a disreputable sort to appear at an open mike that was infesting a bar (the Tip Top Inn) on Mondays near my house in San Francisco's Mission District. Here are the two works that I wrote for these occasions.
SAD TROPIC
I wanted to be topical. I thought I'd hit while we're hot. I'd seize the day by the carpal tunnel, only this is looking more copper canyon by the minute. Must be the beer talking. It's been a slice, this razor blade of life.
I wanted to be topical. I thought: semen-stained dress! Now that'll meet the test of time, won't it? A story that can hold its own, even in the subpoenal colony. Give me a yarn that will floss away the plaque of Truth decay.
I wanted to be topical: so au courant. Me: a man of the people. Tiens!
Je suis Americain-hein!
I wanted to be topical-yes! Where will it end? What the fuck does it matter-Where it begins and where it's headed.
I wanted to be topical, chop the news into matchsticks, but since the sun set we're left with a gauntlet of nightsicks.
I wanted to be topical, but my pencil broke, my keyboard froze, my ink got drunk, my subscription lapsed, my paycheck bounced, my landlady became a woman of the people and lowered my rent.
I wanted to be topical, but Kerouac is once again making boozy headlines while I look out the window on the crackheads of Lilac Alley.
I wanted to be topical. I could tell you what sucks and what doesn't, but we'd never get outa here.
>Subject: Last Weekend's Clean-up Trip to Black Rock
>
>Visit to a Dead City
>19-21 September
>by Dr. Steven Black
>
>None of us had quite recovered from our last stay on the playa. We were
>still in the throes of Post Burning Man Syndrome (PBMS) which is
>symptomized by lethargy, depression, a tingling of the extremities, acute
>nostalgia, weird dreams of the desert and our return to the city.
>
>Some suggested the best remedy was Decompression, in the form of a party
>loaded with other playazens showing their burn scars, slides, video, photo
>albums, drugs, and likker. In past years that was sufficient to help ease
>the return to normalcy. But each year it gets harder; I knew this time
>would be a long and sucky road. We thought: what better way than a return
>to the scene of our recent carnage?
>
>Accordingly, BookBill, Schuyler and I left after work on Friday, arriving
>on Saturday at the deeply rutted entrance to Kuwait, er, Black Rock City.
>With all the desperate treads of deeply mired vehicles still in evidence by
>the Burning Man entrance/exit gate, it looked like the site of a recent
>battle. The wreckage and remnants of abandoned camps and half-destroyed
>artwork only heightened the unreality of the place.
>
>We brought bikes, which were useful for cruising around and collecting
>little bits of trash. Because of the rain that trapped many vehicles on
>the Tuesday after Burning Man, much of the garbage left behind was glued to
>the playa surface, hardening into the epidermal porcelain finish of the
>desert floor.
>
>One especially disturbing bit of flotsam (and hard to peel off the playa)
>was the Wednesday edition of the Black Rock Gazette. Most of the front
>page of that edition had my digital fingerprints all over it. To find that
>a box of this newspaper had been distributed to the four winds made me
>regret continuing to work in paper-based media. I must have picked up
>20-30 copies in the area between the Esplanade and the orange trash fence.
>
>Every heap of debris was different. One pile of lumpy ash was jammed with
>half-burnt copies of Penthouse and other smut publications. You would
>think that porn is a highly volatile, flammable material, but not so!
>Slick and vaseline-lensed magazines do not burn so easily-it's more than a
>just a matter of closing their covers and striking.
>
>People need not only to learn about packing up their trash and taking it
>when the leave, but also how to better burn their shit in the first place.
>If there are any pyrotech writers out there who want to pad their resume by
>doing a volume on HOW TO BURN REAL GOOD AT BUN-RING MAN--respond off-list!
>
>I was able to fill in a few of the smaller holes that were dug in the
>playa-but larger ones either require a team with many shovels or a large
>earth-mover. The three of us joined a group of guys from San Luis Obispo
>and another San Franciscan loading up a flatbed truck with the cindered
>remains of 15 or so piano carcasses. It was dangerous and dirty work.
>BookBill nearly lost a fingertip to one of the broken piano frames. Sharp,
>rusty, heavy, and very unwieldy, these things were a nightmare to move.
>
>And besides the concentration of them where Steve Heck left his Land Junk,
>we found a couple pianos here, a couple there that also needed to have
>their tetanus-dripping strings and loose-nutted screws removed.
>
>Cursed be anyone who brought a piano to the playa and left it for others to
>deal with-our sweat and blood will linger and eventually stain their eyes,
>if justice were poetic.
>
>We were warned by the other piano movers how strange the clean-up crew was
>at 80 Acres. As most of the people who came out for the weekend were
>staying at 80 Acres (up the road past Fly Hot Springs) we decided to camp
>there as well. Black Rock City was just too depressing a trash heap to
>spend the night in.
>
>Saturday evening, after putting up our tents, BookBill, Schuyler and I
>ventured down to the main gathering area where we heard that soup was on.
>Because the Dept. of Public Works was headquartered at 80 Acres, the ranch
>had amusing street signs, beginning with Avenue Road, followed by Street
>Street and-my favorite-Y Drive.
>
>"The girl can stay, you two can go," was how CircusBoy greeted us.
>BookBill brought our gifts forward, and started laying the bottles out on a
>table. The tequila bottle vanished almost instantaneously--there was no
>time for toasts, it was gone.
>
>Schuyler was weirded out by the scene of all these scruffy circus-folk.
>When one of the three young women who were there pointedly asked, "Who's
>she?" Schuyler decided it was time to return to our camp. We could tell
>that our arrival had upset a delicate social balance.
>
>Bill and I lingered, nevertheless, having a bowl of borscht and getting the
>low-down on the clean-up effort. There was some irritation that the fellow
>nominally in charge of the clean-up-Chicken John-had returned to San
>Francisco to do a gig. Joegh Bullock, the Central Camp Coordinator who won
>this year's Donner Award for setting his camp on fire, was also disdained
>for organizing a Decompression Party "when there is still so much cleaning
>up to do."
>
>The folks who had been there since Burning Man had in many cases been
>living in the desert for a month or more, were singed around the edges by
>the sun, and wild-eyed from staring too hard at the moon. This was a new
>moon weekend, and I was sorry to hear we had just missed Tracey and Miz
>Jewelz, who had both returned to California the day before.
>
>Continued under next rock:
>
>Church of the New Hanging Moon
>Delurking at Dusk Under the Water Woman
>(OK, Eddie.com, this is yr cue!)
>
>
>(apologia: this is a shorter report than I intended it to be. on the
>22nd, I had an operation at Alta Bates Hospital which left me with very
>little energy. Just like the Sheik's son Max, who also was hospitalized on
>this day, I had a bit of my guts removed.)
>