As I escape from the miles of streetsweeper dust
To break into a world of not-so-sunny,
Where are the surfers now?
California likes to fail me.
A Half Century past, we'd be illegal,
just because I'm white
and he's not.
Now my friends and family are illegal.
Thanks, California.
You Bastard.
As I run to the ruddy, dark dock
To find myself in a land of grey fog,
Where are the hippies now?
California likes to fail me.
The Butchy Bee sets sail
with the mourners
and the roses.
San Francisco on a Sunday.
Thanks, California.
You Asshat.
As I slog through the dysmal downpour,
To wind up in knee-deep mud,
Where are the environmentalists now?
California likes to fail me.
Working hard manual labor
for minimum wage,
always minimum wage.
School is far too expensive.
Thanks, California.
You Shithead.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Final Project Proposal
A) I am particularly interested in the topic relating to San Francisco institutions, especially as it relates to the "painted ladies." These are houses, of the Victorian or Edwardian era, that were largely destroyed by earthquakes or demolished to make way for something new. Those that remain are mostly renewed, having been repainted in the bright colors of the kind intended for such buildings.
B) These houses relate as an institution because they have both been reappropriated by San Franciscans and brought to life through the creative efforts of several people in the 1960's and 70's, and now as an exemplum of gentrification. Once affordable, middle-wage housing, these clustered Victorians are sky-rocketing out of rational affordability.
C) Beyond taking some photographs of these houses, I will also research the distinct neighborhoods, their fluctuating "vibes" (and corresponding real estate prices), and how that relates to Brechin, Solnit, and some of the Beat poets (especially Felinghetti, though he is not really of the Beat movement).
D) The "painted ladies" are a collection of beautiful and historic buildings, yet they are no longer of the approachable, graspable world; they have transcended into the realm of expensive dreamscapes, partially due to the middle-class workers who so lovingly restored them. These houses exemplify the continuing loss of culture in San Francisco, and the ongoing gentrification of a previously free landscape, as explored by Brechin, Solnit, Ferlinghetti, Ginsberg and others.
E) My main concern is that my research might not lead very far - I plan to visit the city tomorrow, and will try to get specific addresses and areas of the houses to connect to a larger context.
B) These houses relate as an institution because they have both been reappropriated by San Franciscans and brought to life through the creative efforts of several people in the 1960's and 70's, and now as an exemplum of gentrification. Once affordable, middle-wage housing, these clustered Victorians are sky-rocketing out of rational affordability.
C) Beyond taking some photographs of these houses, I will also research the distinct neighborhoods, their fluctuating "vibes" (and corresponding real estate prices), and how that relates to Brechin, Solnit, and some of the Beat poets (especially Felinghetti, though he is not really of the Beat movement).
D) The "painted ladies" are a collection of beautiful and historic buildings, yet they are no longer of the approachable, graspable world; they have transcended into the realm of expensive dreamscapes, partially due to the middle-class workers who so lovingly restored them. These houses exemplify the continuing loss of culture in San Francisco, and the ongoing gentrification of a previously free landscape, as explored by Brechin, Solnit, Ferlinghetti, Ginsberg and others.
E) My main concern is that my research might not lead very far - I plan to visit the city tomorrow, and will try to get specific addresses and areas of the houses to connect to a larger context.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Whitman/Snyder
Gary Snyder's essay, "Walt Whitman's Old 'New World'", is a look back on the ideal and liberal (now present) future America as predicted by Whitman, and how Snyder wishes it to be in the (actual) future. Snyder finds Whitman to be very constrained in his predictions, with a few very notable flaws:
Whitman never mentioned equality of races and cultures.
"[Whitman] assumed a kind of melting-pot futurein which the other races and ethnic groups would eventually become one with the liberal Protestant metaphysic that lurks behind his dream." (216)
He also never considered the impact the expanding society would have on the land and animals.
"... it troubles [Snyder] that the years during which Whitman wrote "Democratic Vistas" (1868-70) were years of defeat and misery of Native Americans, and were the very years when the commercial destruction of the North American bison herd was fully underway." (217)
Snyder finds these two points to be incredibly important, but does give credit to Whitman for including such modern liberal ideas as gender equality and open, instant communication. Beyond a reflection on Walt Whitman, Snyder is also calling upon the modern world to take his opinions into account. People must begin changing the way they treat wildlife and nature, and give it a likelihood of survival at least equal to mankind. Mankind must also start accepting itself, in all forms and variants, including different religions, races, and cultural backgrounds.
We, as humans, can only start bringing about equality of peoples once we have equality of class. As long as there are financial and social spearations, there can be no cultural equality. As for the equality of nature, we are working to achieve greater pieces of naturally reserved lands, and we watch after endangered species. We are at least trying to bring about an improved status of nature, though it is currently close to impossible to bring about social equality.
Whitman never mentioned equality of races and cultures.
"[Whitman] assumed a kind of melting-pot futurein which the other races and ethnic groups would eventually become one with the liberal Protestant metaphysic that lurks behind his dream." (216)
He also never considered the impact the expanding society would have on the land and animals.
"... it troubles [Snyder] that the years during which Whitman wrote "Democratic Vistas" (1868-70) were years of defeat and misery of Native Americans, and were the very years when the commercial destruction of the North American bison herd was fully underway." (217)
Snyder finds these two points to be incredibly important, but does give credit to Whitman for including such modern liberal ideas as gender equality and open, instant communication. Beyond a reflection on Walt Whitman, Snyder is also calling upon the modern world to take his opinions into account. People must begin changing the way they treat wildlife and nature, and give it a likelihood of survival at least equal to mankind. Mankind must also start accepting itself, in all forms and variants, including different religions, races, and cultural backgrounds.
We, as humans, can only start bringing about equality of peoples once we have equality of class. As long as there are financial and social spearations, there can be no cultural equality. As for the equality of nature, we are working to achieve greater pieces of naturally reserved lands, and we watch after endangered species. We are at least trying to bring about an improved status of nature, though it is currently close to impossible to bring about social equality.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Coit Tower: Symbol of San Francisco
The last time I went to San Francisco, it was with my family. While passing through the city, I pointed at the tall, white tower off in the distance and asked, "What is that building? And why is it there?"My mother, a woman born and raised in the Bay Area, thought for a moment and responded, "It's Coit Tower. I think it has something to do with firefighters."
Not satisfied with this limited response, I asked several more questions. "Who built it?" "Is it a memorial?" "Could we go there?" None of these were answerable by my mystified parents.
Coit Tower, at the top of Telegraph Hill (so named because the hill was home to the city's first telegraph pole from 1850-1853), is visible from multiple parts of the city, and if often represented in the cionic images for San Francisco. It's a building found on posters, postcards, book covers, and websites, but what is it?
The tower was funded by a wealthy woman named Elizabeth Wyche "Lillie" Hithcock-Coit. She was born to a wealthy family of high social status in 1842, and the family moved to SF when she was still a young girl. Legend has it that as a teenager, Lillie rushed to the aid of one of San Francisco's poorly-manned volunteer fire brigades (the Knickerbocker company), and soon became a beloved mascot for the city's volunteer firefighters. Growing up in the city, and continuing to help the fire department when able, Lillie was eventually granted an honorary member of the Knickerbocker company. A fairly independent spirit for a woman of her status, Lillie was often seen out and about wearing trousers, smoking cigars, and betting long before it was socially acceptable for a woman to do so. After getting married, travelling the world, and becoming independently wealthy, Lillie moved back to California. When she died in 1929 at age 86, Lillie left one-third of her fortune to the city, for public beautification projects.The tower itself was built in 1933, several years after Hitchcock-Coit's donation. Today, it sits in a park, right behind a statue of Columbus, which really brings out the imperialist, expansionist, and Western idealist allusions of the phallic, fire-nozzle-like, white tower. I believe that the inner content of the tower, a series of detailed murals from the 1930's, make the building all the more racist and imperialist. The content of the murals is something akin to everyday life of art-deco-era San Francisco, but with representations of minorities working as maids and fisherman, whereas the white figures are average citizens in street scenes. This, plus the uniquely masculine form of the tower and the male Columbus statue, completely belies the powerful female figure that brought about the tower's construction. I believe we have forgotten about this woman as a character, and as a major figure in Imperial-Era San Francisco.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Brautigan's Abuse
It was discussed at length in class on Tuesday, October 14th, whether or not Brautigan wrote from a misogynist or sexist point of view. My opinion is that Brautigan writes women to be voiceless, opinionless idealized statues of sex and passion. His women hardly ever move, and when they do, they do so in small, typical actions (like turning water on and off in "I Lie Here in a Strange Girl's Apartment", and seasoning meat in "The Garlic Meat Lady from"). Brautigan divides each muse into distinct, sexualized parts, and then explains the physical beauty he finds therein.
This is far separate from how Ginsberg uses his explicit sexual imagery. Ginsberg does not isolate women as a separate, silent species, but instead spends his time identifying with other males. "Howl," for example, uses multiple words like "cunt" and "snatch," but does not single out the female form; rather, he tends to use the terms in metaphor and int the context of an actual purpose for the vagina. Ginsberg does not gloss over all femininity, but instead contrasts it to the masculine world that he knows, and the (presumably mostly male, as he only mentions other men by name throughout the rest of the book) "minds of [his] generation."
Taking into consideration the poor, unfamiliar light cast upon the female race by these authors, what do you think characterizes gender biases of the Beat and post-Beat eras?
This is far separate from how Ginsberg uses his explicit sexual imagery. Ginsberg does not isolate women as a separate, silent species, but instead spends his time identifying with other males. "Howl," for example, uses multiple words like "cunt" and "snatch," but does not single out the female form; rather, he tends to use the terms in metaphor and int the context of an actual purpose for the vagina. Ginsberg does not gloss over all femininity, but instead contrasts it to the masculine world that he knows, and the (presumably mostly male, as he only mentions other men by name throughout the rest of the book) "minds of [his] generation."
Taking into consideration the poor, unfamiliar light cast upon the female race by these authors, what do you think characterizes gender biases of the Beat and post-Beat eras?
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Ferlinghetti's Balance in "The Old Italians Dying"
Ferlinghetti's poem, "The Old Italians Dying," is a perfect balance of artfulness and approachability. Between the distinctly understandable language choices, and the sad sense of romance, the poem reaches a point where it is worthy of both the poet and the lay person's praise.
Part of what makes this poem so accessible is the crystalline imagery at the opening. When Ferlinghetti begins with "You have seen them," he goes on to describe "the old men" sunning themselves while feeding the birds, and the exact details present a picture clear enough that you actually have seen them. He utilizes everyday diction, with especially exact descriptors, like "faded felt hats," "wood benches in the park," to make this particular poem especially vivid and approachable.
The latter half of this poem becomes more artistic: it deals with the sense of inescapable and imminent death, and the dark, quiet realm of waiting for the ultimate destination. Ferlinghetti does an amazing job of transitioning from the simple picture of the old men in the park, listening to the bells, into the feeling of time marching on, leading this line of men who are really just "waiting their turn." The "bell tolls & tolls," as the "black hired hearses draw up," leading to the final end of the old Italian men, and, eventually, the final end of Italian tradition.
Question: What other artistic imagery does Ferlinghetti utilize to represent death and mourning?
Part of what makes this poem so accessible is the crystalline imagery at the opening. When Ferlinghetti begins with "You have seen them," he goes on to describe "the old men" sunning themselves while feeding the birds, and the exact details present a picture clear enough that you actually have seen them. He utilizes everyday diction, with especially exact descriptors, like "faded felt hats," "wood benches in the park," to make this particular poem especially vivid and approachable.
The latter half of this poem becomes more artistic: it deals with the sense of inescapable and imminent death, and the dark, quiet realm of waiting for the ultimate destination. Ferlinghetti does an amazing job of transitioning from the simple picture of the old men in the park, listening to the bells, into the feeling of time marching on, leading this line of men who are really just "waiting their turn." The "bell tolls & tolls," as the "black hired hearses draw up," leading to the final end of the old Italian men, and, eventually, the final end of Italian tradition.
Question: What other artistic imagery does Ferlinghetti utilize to represent death and mourning?
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