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Date:         Mon, 31 Aug 1992 09:48:19 -0500
From:         ANTHLAL@UMNACVX.BITNET
Subject:      i have seen the best minds of my generation, starving,
              hysterical....

...and standing in line at lollapalooza to buy a 25 dollar t-shirt.  o moloch!
destroyer of cities!  o moloch!  burner of children!  what the heck is up with
the zeitgeist?
jamie beat me to the punch by telling travis that his question of "how does it
feel...to be on your own?  like a complete unknown?" was irrelevant.  i'm
bummed about this, since i think i could have posted it first if i hadn't been
reading those term papers on macedonia that someone thoughtfully posted.
i'm reading these things, i'm hearing a voiceover that says "encyclopedia
brittanica!  your best entertainment dollar.  call now for an in-home
demonstration."

well, another august has come and gone (by the gregorian calendar, for those
of you keeping score at home, since it seems to be a point of contention).
another television season on its way.  another season of "all things considered,
    minus the charm of nina totenberg."  this year has been a weird one.  i have

been on this list, off and on, for about a year now.  (these two statements
have little to do with one another, really. really, i mean it.)  the emmy
awards last night dismayed me, to some extent...i could just see robert and
his family, gathered about the sony 24", popcorn at the ready, excited about
the possibility that their favorite shows might Win Valuable Prizes, when...
disaster music goes here...along came the Liberal Media Bias (patents
pending).  wow.  talk about alienating a big group of people!  dan quayle
took it in the teeth last night.  then, this morning...to just increase the
weirditude factor...candice bergen goes on record as saying that she actually,
in her heart of hearts, agrees with the vice-president's take on family values.
   o moloch!  stranger than fiction!

the best minds of my family, though, are abandoning the shores of our fair
continent to do meaningful things.  the 21-year-old is going to somalia to
help with the relief effort.  my father is going out of the country to do
some consulting with people trying to fix jugoslavia, or what's left of it.
my mom is still here (presumably with her finger on the pulse of the
mysterious perot/roosevelt connection).  my sixteen-year-old sister is taking
off for kayenta, a reservation out in arizona someplace, to learn to speak
navaho.  (she's skipping school, o'course, but they know about it and think
that's just fine.)  i'm just up here killing time, though, worrying about
the world and geopolitical conflict.  degree?  what degree?  am i
supposed to be getting a degree?  o moloch!  eater of worlds!

i don't know.  this weekend was just so strange.  i went to one of the multiple
bob dylan concerts.  that was a treat.  i have seen the best minds of my
generation...and i can't understand a word they say.  note well, all of you
over 30:  my generation is bright, politically active, and literate to
some extent.  we vote.  we think.  and, apparently, we smoke a whole lot of
dope.  the concert was an example of the juggernaut that is the propaganda
machine.  bob dylan:  prophet!  voice of the sixties!  righter of wrongs!
yeah, right.  make that "bob dylan:  wearer of dumb hats!  owner of mixmaster
hairdo!  recipient of thousands of dollars for brief concert appearances!"
of course, i expected this.  and of course, you get what you pay for.
o moloch!  father of despair!

there's a lot to be thankful for, i know:  no plans as yet for mary hart to
appear in a sitcom.  suzanne somers's proposed musical-variety show fell
through.  no emerson lake and palmer albums released in the recent past.
the economy is bad but housing starts are up.  thank god for small favors.
labor day weekend makes its inexorable way toward us.  as i told a friend of
mine earlier, i am planning my usual labor day:  watching jerry lewis for 24
hours straight.  bring on the dancing chimps!  drag out tony orlando!
get dean-o off the respirator for a sec and get him out here.  it's not
the same without sammy, you know, but at least liza is still with us.  did
i mention that this is not just masochism?  it's, like, penance.  i *do*
get up and barbeque stuff when the local affiliate people come on.  i'm no
that strong, you know.  and beer.  did i mention the presence of beer?
a lot of beer?
but back to the point:  labor day is upon us.  time to clean out the garage,
consider buying a mulching attachment for the lawn-boy.  the smell of burning
leaves is in the air.  or is the faint scent of burning cities?  or just
another part of the whole mt. pinatubo thing?  is that revolution and despair
on the wind, or just liza singing "cabaret" for the zillionth time?  it's
a hard call.  o moloch!  leviathan!

predictions:  perot will be on the ballot in key states, i.e. ny and ca, and
              will unaccountably receive enough votes to significantly
              help bush.

              the iraqis will not sit still for this zone biz too much longer.

              disease, already a fear in florida, will start picking up as
              more days go by without sanitations services.

              ronald reagan will be subpoenaed if bush is not elected.
              and maybe even if he is.

i have seen the best minds of my generation, starving, hysterical, naked.
it's the same old stuff, just a different day.

have a good one, y'all.  o moloch!  benevolent father!

                             * * *anneliese "joo got some 'splainin' to do!" l.
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