Officer Krupke

Holy cow, it's been a long time -- 12 days since my last post, and it seems like ages since I wrote anything substantial in any sort of forum. My Beatles class has really come along nicely: we're winding down, actually -- tomorrow's on Politics, with emphasis on the Revolution/Revolution 1 discrepancy; and I'm gonna throw in a smattering of the "Helter Skelter"/Tate Murders because I'm fairly certain that these kids don't know/haven't even heard of Charlie Manson.

I, on the other hand, read the prosecutor's book (Bugliosi?) back when I was in middle school -- sheesh, couple that grisly book with all the Stephen King books I read back then, it's no wonder that my 7th-grade class voted me the "Student You'd Least Like to Meet in a Dark Alley."

There's a lot bouncing around in my head right now, but the "Skip" Gates controversy really boils my blood. Christopher Hitchens' article in Slate is particularly to the point: if Gates was white, none of this would happen. Officer Crowly -- coming off more like Officer Krupke, if you ask me -- ascertains that this short, old, black man using a cane is indeed who he says he is. Gates does so by issuing his Harvard ID -- at this point, what officer wouldn't take the high road and walk away? Okay, what if Gates did start talking about Crowley's momma?

How do you not recognize this guy? Now, I've read a short segment from his seminal work "The Signifying Monkey" for a class I took a while back on Thomas A. Dorsey. Fine, let's assume this guy hasn't read a lot of Afro-American Lit/Crit Theory...does he not watch PBS? There's an 80% chance that Gates is one of two black men on a constant loop on PBS these days (the other being the fantastic astronomer/astrophysicist/constant Colbert-Report-guest Neil deGrasse Tyson). Gates has been doing these episodes where he researches bloodlines of prominent black Americans, including Oprah, Quincy Jones, et al. Come on, seriously; you've at least flipped through one of these shows, right?

{{there's a guy totalling primping in the window at the booth; he's directly in front of me (<12") and can't see me!!}}

How does Officer Crowley end up escorting this guy out of his house, off the front porch, in handcuffs?!?!?!?

I'm not even gonna touch the woman who called in the 'suspected breaking & entering.' Um, you live in Harvard Square -- how do you not know "Skip" Gates? Wow...

Enough for now...hopefully I'll be checking before I hit the road for August. That's right: Toronto, South Carolina & Long Island all are on the docket this August, so I'm working my tail off now, so I can enjoy the beach/golf course/High Line/Broadway.