Last month Jason and I went to see Romeo and Juliet being performed in the park. We were already late and the rest of the gang was waiting by the theatre, so to get there faster we cut through the woods, because, you know, we thought we were smart and all. Instead we got lost and finally emerged somewhere else all dirty and sweaty. You are probably wondering, lost in a park? High Park is pretty big, and well, I guess we don't have a good sense of direction.
As I arrive to buy tickets, the girl at the stand hands them to me and says, "Are you Leandro?"
The fact that she knew me didn't seem to bother me. I was more worried about the way I looked that day. Unshaven, dirty, sweaty, and with an hair-do long gone out of style, so I timidly answered, "y-yes?"
"Oh cool! I read CoN!"
And I'm thinking "What the fuck? How the hell does she know I have anything to do with CoN?"
"I'm IMPROV's girlfriend!" she clarified. Probably the dumb look on my face gave away the fact that I was completely clueless.
"Oh, that's great!" and as if that was enough to explain it all, I grabbed the tickets and dashed inside.
Halfway through the play, with my ass incredibly sore from sitting on the ground, with a Romeo that showed no signs of puberty in his voice, Betty whispering, "Come 'on, kill yourself so we can get out of here," I realized I had been a bit too harsh and quick. Alas, I'm sure she has IMPROV writing a nasty article about me now...
Well, again, another long delay. I have been busy fighting with the offices of the college where I applied, since they seem to be enjoying themselves in making my life harder than it already is. Fortunately after a bit of struggle I managed to get into the course I wanted. To delay things even further, I left for Europe to deal with some family business, and I didn't have the time to finish CoN until I got back. 624 e-mails were (are) waiting for me, so if any of you wrote, eventually within the next 6 months, you'll get a reply.
I leave you now with a letter from a reader. The next issue does not have a theme, other than being a recycling bin of all other articles we had that did not fit anywhere. Issue 17, however, will deal with school (colleges, universities, the fucking annoying kid that sits behind you and rocks his head every two seconds and never talks). Please feel free to send your fanatical ranting to con@capnasty.org. We have, at the time of writing, three spots left.
From: Arno van BovenTo: con@capnasty.orgDate sent: Mon, 17 Aug 1998 21:31:01 +0200Subject: Re: Capital of Nasty III.14
With all due respect, I have to point out something to you about what you said about Steven Spielberg and Schindler's List. It is, by far, the worst movie I ever saw. Well, that is a matter of personal opinion of course, but allow me to explain my reasons in short: I believe that turning a tiny event that has some very smelly aspects to it, into a Hollywood blockbuster about some allegedly epic hero is very, very sick indeed. Schindler didn't 'protect' or 'save' the people on the list for purposes of humanity or resistance to the nazi-regime. It was a way of making sure he could keep his company going. (No wonder Spielberg chose this story; it does seem to be the one thing his US-audience can relate to most (->money), as issues of human rights seem to be not of any concern across the ocean..) There is a little of that in the movie if I remember correctly, but he *certainly*, I repeat, *certainly* wasn't the hero Spielberg tries to make of him. There is a lot of trash coming from Hollywood, but I especially hated this one because it had this 'politically correct' thing about it. C'mon! We are talking Spielberg here, the movie industry! It's a money thing... no matter what they pretend to be...
Enough ranting, all I wanted to tell you, really, is that if you are truly interested in getting to know more about WWII and the holocaust, you should really, really, really watch the documentary by Lanzmann, called 'Shoah'. It's sort of long (6 hrs I think, or 9 even maybe), but you'll sit through it breathless, motionless, and you will be suffering from insomnia for the rest of the week, or longer. One of the best documentaries I have ever seen.
Cheers,
arno (male, caucasian, non-jewish, anti-fascist, anti-racist)
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