Even though I never really bought the whole, "This? This nationalist pride celebration is merely a coincidentally loud-as-hell attempt to preserve our culture in a ritual which happens to be most conveniently celebrated in the middle of everyone else's Sunday morning..."
If I were from that part of town, and had to watch the tourists stop to read the signs displaying stories of African-Americans Who Did Important Things all day, I'm sure I would have attempted to get something much worse past city noise ordinances.
I do, however, kind of hate the people who go to the drum circle to display their own free spiritedness and reverence for Mother Africa. The skinny white girl who always has to do some stupid skinny white girl dance with batons which I'll bet she bought on e-bay for this VERY PURPOSE. The tourists trying to figure out whether vaguely bobbing the head shows enough respect, or if they should also, like, sway a little to prove how much they truly enjoy black people being loud.
And, of course, the self-appointed local historians who read the sign and now have to tell everyone already standing right there in the damn park fifty feet away from said sign, "This place is a cultural treasure, we're lucky it survived," when the subtext is, "From that one time when the black people got mad and burned shit..."
7.15.2008
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Officially lost my interest. I have two tips for you:
ReplyDelete#1. Only post when you have something worth-while to talk about. Filling in blank space with so-so info = boring the hell out of everyone
#2. Talk about things that you are informed about and fluent in. This piece on the Drummers was not only offensive to me, but all comparisons made were like a shot in the dark.
Try again. On somebody else's time.
4TH DOWN.
ReplyDeleteOk Rusty you win.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you want for me to send you your money?
why.i.hate.liz
ReplyDeleteTry again on somebody else's time?
ReplyDeleteYou're the one that read the article, dumbass.
why.i.hate.dc... The people that inhabit it.
Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteYou've won one of the most prized honors an aspiring writer can receive - permanent guest status in a publicized blog with an established readership! Woo hoo for you! (I'm sure you're already drafting that e-mail to Mom and Pop! Isn't this WAY better than answering phones for free?)
Now, the previous celebrated (possibly infamous) writers should have left you with a clear template of topics to write about. You know, the things everyone hates about DC. Traffic, Metro failures, government corruption, Daniel Snyder, and irresponsible Post columns are all fair game! This should be the easiest gig you've ever had. Certainly easier than being a restaurant server or bar tender! The pay might be less, but you knew that when you applied (so, no bitching!). It's all yours! Go out and knock 'em dead!
Can you bitch about the residents? Um, sure. If you do it responsibly. If you want to hate on self important jerks who knock down old women trying to get to the orange line or d-bags in pink polos with popped collars, have at it. No one really likes them, anyways (except possibly their mothers, and I doubt even that).
But, seriously, avoid making fun of people who are just trying to live their lives. And attempt to stay away from those who may be trying to make the life of someone else better by sharing their talents. These are the GOOD people of DC. And no hate should be bestowed upon them.
Oh, and please stay away from moaning about other people's culture that you know little of - lest the audience begins to besmirch you for your implant, midwestern, academic all-star, Economist reading, Ivy League or "Better than the Ivy League" pomposity.
Best wishes and good luck!
Bama.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteYou guys used to spend all your time talking about how much you hated Rusty, and now it's me. It makes you cool. It really does.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteLiz
ReplyDeletelong time i used to live in DC, loved it. worked at city paper. worked at Washington Monthly. sold tickets at AFI. lived on E Cap street and helped Sen Pat Moynihan find a cab there once. he said thanks
danny
NOW in Taiwan. go figure.
Liz,
ReplyDeleteDrop the "white girl" stuff.
Ok, the abuse for writers is clearly an integral part of the DC culture. I'd probably feel the same if I were one of the outnumbered natives. But the spam goes.
ReplyDeleteWait… have you ever been to the drum circle? Because you’d realize that:
ReplyDelete1. The drums aren’t really that loud. Certainly not loud-as-hell and they don’t ruin anybody’s Sunday morning as you implied. You can really only hear them if you’re in the park or on the very edge of it, in which case you should probably go home and return to the park any of the 160 other hours of the week that nobody is drumming there. Except for the nighttime ones.
2. “If I were from that part of town, and had to watch the tourists stop to read the signs…”. Okay, the drum circle is at the top of Malcolm X Park, above the fountains. It’s elevated from the roadway on either side, and from all of the south side of the park. Basically, you can’t see it unless you are there! How can you complain about having to watch tourists that you can’t see?
Anyway, unlike some other comments I’m down the race analysis. The first post was sweet.
hahaha loved the entry. Don't listen to all the haters liz...
ReplyDelete