City Snakes in Portland, Oregon

The Pacific Northwest is home to numerous types of City Snakes.

This adult male made it into a store.

A venomous City Snake. Always a good idea to keep one's distance.

This Is Not a Debate

I do not want to talk about guns or gun control.

I am not planning to discuss my opinions, fears, concerns, or beliefs regarding firearms and the laws which govern their use and possession.

I am not interested in any of that, and I am not alone. Almost everyone has complete lack of interest in having a real discussion about guns or gun laws or any related subjects.

This must certainly seem strange, since it only takes a few minutes on Facebook, or looking through the opinion pages, to find an article, rant, or study being employed to make a point about guns. There is no shortage of stories dedicated to crimes committed by guns. It would seem that people are constantly engaged in the so-called "gun debate."

Only, there is no such thing.

There is no debate about guns, or ammunition, or gun laws, or the constitution. Rather, there is an emotionally charged screaming match, pitting supposed patriots against supposedly concerned mothers, and self taught constitutional scholars against self appointed moral arbiters.

Just wait for the next mass shooting spree to take place - they are sadly very common in the US, but when it inevitably happens, you'll see what I mean. Within minutes of hearing the horrific news of another act of violence, which will undoubtedly leave several people dead and several more injured, the non-debate will begin. In news outlets both "conservative" and "liberal," pundits will rush forward to pontificate from behind their teleprompters. On social media. people you know will post articles and statistics and even their opinions, often in ALL CAPS. It won't be difficult, in either case, to pick up on a few key points.

The first is that people who are opposed to gun ownership or favor gun control, no matter how modest, are opposed to freedom. Those people, you will learn, are against our nations very own constitution. In fact, you'll soon find that anyone who proposes any kind of gun control at all is, in fact, a Nazi! You may even come to realize that gun ownership, far from being just a right, is actually something that should be mandatory!

On the other hand, you may encounter people that want to ban a lot of guns altogether, not just for criminals, but for everyone. Typically, most people will share articles that seem more sensible, though these will almost always be about children and guns. Other opinion pieces will go much further, and you'll learn that responsible gun ownership simply does not exist.

Both sides in this "discussion" will appeal to your fear that your kids will be shot, that Hitler is writing gun control legislation in a bunker beneath the White House, or that some shadowy organization is plotting against whichever side you happen to identify with.

That is not a debate.

In my experience, based on the things I see people post online or what I hear them say in person, is that after one of these shootings takes place, people go from 0 to 60 in about half a second. They are so emotional, they become unable to make an argument that doesn't involve concentration camps or dead babies. As soon as the subject is introduced, people become completely unable to have a reasonable discussion of any kind.

Think there should be licences to own firearms? You hate freedom. Think that people with a clean record should be able to own an AR-15? You're a nut-job. There is name calling, yelling, paranoia, finger pointing and assignment of blame.

However, there is no debate.

I don't pretend to have answers to the problems that surround this non discussion. I suppose I could try to think of ways to have a real discussion about this. I could try to share facts regarding how these kinds of mass killings, which are the emotionally charged gun events we are the most aware of, make up only a portion of the overall number of those killed. I could also point out that while we are all screaming at each other about a classroom full of dead children in a small town, there are actually other victims of gun crime who receive far less attention in our make-believe discourse. Maybe we could talk about pressure groups and the role they play.

I really don't have much of a dog in this fight. I don't own guns, nor have I been affected by gun crime. I am certainly concerned when people die needlessly, but I am not convinced that there is an easy way to legislate the problem into oblivion.

We are long overdue for a debate, of that there is no question. We need to have the discussion about these issues. We need to solve some of these problems. But, we need to stop fooling ourselves. There is no debate, there has been no debate, and when the same story about a mass shooting is presented to us yet again, there will still not be one.

"Poisonous Nostalgia" and the Fear of Having Missed Out

A January, 2014 opinion piece from The Daily Beast can be summed up in this paragraph:

' In every issue,New York magazine asks a notable New Yorker a series of questions, including the standard “Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square?” To cite a random recent example, actress and West Village denizen Patricia Clarkson offered the expected and acceptable answer: “Old Times Square. It just didn’t seem like a theme park.” Because there is a correct answer, of course. '

It's an interesting read, and no doubt a provocative one if you are of the opinion that "Old New York" is better than current New York. For me, it speaks to a powerful kind of malaise that seems to jump out from the shadows from time to time - a fear that I have missed out something better, cooler, more interesting, or more fulfilling.

I experienced this when I moved to Austin and was told by friends who had lived there for some years that the city was less fun that it had been before. It was hard for to imagine that was the case, since I had no problem finding enjoyable places to be. It has been a similar experience moving to New York, though I half expected it to be this way. A lot of the people I know here have a distinct look on their faces when they talk about how it used to be here - wistful, sad, and very, very, nostalgic. 

Growing up, I had always imagined that somewhere, people were having incredible experiences. They were seeing the best bands, having the wildest parties, accumulating stories that could fill the pages of a lurid book. I don't often feel like this anymore, as I can happily say I have had some experiences that I wouldn't trade for anything. I really do believe that you can control how exciting or fulfilling your life is. Yet it is hard to hear people talk about the good old days with such awe and fervor without feeling some jealousy. 

I have no idea what it was like to live here, especially as a teenager. All the Lou Reed and Cro Mags songs in the world can't really tell the whole story of what growing up in the dirtier, older version of New York was like. I simply won't permit myself to become despondent over a nostalgia that doesn't belong to me. 

I do know that I felt a sharp discomfort walking around Union Square a few days ago, when I happened to look at a painting being sold by a local artist. It was a scene of a city street, a lot like something you might see on a New Yorker cover, only it showed a busy corner Starbucks, right next door to a Papa John's. Consider that for a moment. That corner Starbucks, next to a Papa John's - that scene might as well be from my hometown. After all, the Papa John's at which I worked in high school is next to a Starbucks in a suburban strip mall. Now, sadly, we can have the experience of the suburbs here in New York City. No matter if you yearn for the days of Taxi Driver or think Giuliani was a great mayor, I think we could all agree that New York is supposed to be a city apart. This is meant to be a place like none other. What was the point of moving here if I could have just lived anywhere else?

On our phones and out of our heads

I am now old enough to remember how things used to be. Cars looked different, people wore clothing that looked different, and, most crucially, we didn't all have cell phones.

Perhaps it should be no shock that we now find ourselves incapable of going anywhere without our phones for even a minute. People seem genuinely unable to be doing anything without recording and sharing something with anybody who will notice. Dinners, trips to the park, and sadly, concerts/events - every moment people spend in any of these scenarios is captured and broadcast.

Concerts are the worst. As soon as an artist comes on the stage, out come the phones. Phones are getting larger, so when concert-goers do this, they obstruct the view of anyone behind them. There is also a particular breed of degenerate who will use their tablet to take videos. It drives me insane.

The worst part is, these people are wasting the money they spent on tickets, and missing the spontaneity of the performance they are attending, preferring instead to upload the video to Facebook or post the picture on Instagram, or whatever the hell it is they're doing.

Are modern humans incapable of experiencing anything anymore? Is it too much to bare, just enjoying something while it happens?

Evidently, the frustration many feel nowadays will soon become a thing of the past - rather than struggling to access social media in a black hole that inevitably emerges at festivals and other large events, venues will soon begin providing wireless systems to make such urgent communications more accessible. What a relief!

The only solution is to throw your drink. Just aim at the person blocking your view, and try to land your half finished beer square in the middle of their screen. I doubt they'll keep their phone up much longer.

Job Hunting

I am looking for work. Still. The holiday slow-down seems to be in full effect. It's never a good idea to have so much free time you can spend stressing out about this stuff.

Meditations on the World's Fair

Were you aware that the Worlds Fair was still a thing? If you didn't, you aren't alone. Awareness of what are today generally referred to as World Expositions would seem, at least anectdotally, to be quite low.

Well, maybe that's not quite accurate. Awareness of the 2010 Word Expo, held in Shanghai, seems to have been no issue at all. Approximately 70 million people attended the event between May and October of that year. Other World Expos have also had large turnouts, in terms of both visitors as well as participants.

So I suppose that what I really meant to say was that awareness of these events is at an all time low in the United States.

New York City hosted World's Fairs in 1939 and 1964/65. The remnants of these still stand in Flushing Meadows Park, in Queens. The structures are impressive, even if they have largely been left to decay, and parts of the Park which were designed for the event are still evident. Recent visits to Flushing have made me think about the meaning of World's Fairs, and why these events seem to have disappeared from the American consciousness.

The Unisphere, erected for the 1964/65 NY World's Fair, was an engineering marvel

World's Fairs have long been intended to showcase a nation's achievements in science, technology, agriculture, engineering, exploration, and ultimately, their power in general. The Fairs became popular during the late 19th century, when technological advances allowed many industries to grow and change rapidly, and in the case of the US, seem to have culminated with displays of mid-century space-race prowess. Governments, companies, and various organizations take the opportunity to showcase their greatness in various fields, and large structures are normally built for both practical reasons (pavilions intended to house the displays,) as well as for symbolic reasons - the Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World's Fair.

Over time, participation in the Fairs became expensive. In some cases, governments have been reluctant to pay membership to the International Exhibitions Bureau, the body which sanctions Expos. Many Fairs have become travesties, their operating companies going bankrupt as a result of the huge costs associated with putting them on. Some Fairs have even gone bankrupt while the event was taking place. 

The US has not hosted an Exposition since the 1980s. However, Expos continue to take place across the globe, and though there is almost always an American presence at them, no one here ever seems to know that these proceedings are even happening. I am not convinced too many people even care.

Does this country even still have achievements it wishes to showcase? We scarcely make anything at all here, so industrial technology is more of a novelty nowadays. As the Europeans were landing a probe on a comet, the authorities here were sifting through the ashes of a commercial spaceflight test that went awry - our national space race has been handed off to private enterprises willing to take the risk so that people may one day fly slightly outside of the Earth's atmosphere at great cost. It's not exactly the kind of thing that would make people as excited as, let's say, the Apollo missions. 

The US does still produce a lot in terms of technology. I would be willing to guess that there has been far greater attention paid by the press in recent years to "Mobility Week." Evidently, this is a convention that showcases everything related to mobile technology, and is expected to draw tens of thousands to it's upcoming convention in Las Vegas. As impressive as the science and engineering behind mobile technology may be, I can't say that I would find it as inspirational as seeing a manned spacecraft. I am not even sure I would find it more interesting than a trip to the T Mobile store down the road from me. I think this would be the case for any number of internet technology conventions or auto shows that routinely take place all over the United States 

Views of the Pavilion and Observation Towers

There is no question that this country leads the world in technology. Perhaps it is my own sense of how mundane and ordinary such technologies are that makes feel this way. It just seems that being the best at apps or social media is not the same as the endeavors to which we were committed in the past. It may also be the case that some of our greatest scientific and academic achievements are not widely being celebrated in our news media. Perhaps we are also overlooking impressive accomplishments in architecture, where American architects still compete with designers from other countries for bragging rights. But why? Why would we look past all the things we still do so well? Are we just too used to being at the top?

That might explain why Astana and Shanghai are cities in which you might find a World Expo. Developing economies and societies appear to be much more focused on telling the world that they are achieving great things. India has made impressive advances in it's space program, China has become an economic powerhouse, and countries like Kazakhstan look as if they have bright futures. Might this be a case of an aging power readying itself for retirement? Is the US looking to accomplish anything else? Are we looking to engage with or lead the world in any other fashion than with our military? More to the point, will we always be a nation that puts little value on events that happen far away from us? That might explain why some viewed our showing in Shanghai as being less than stellar:

In the end, the US Pavilion offers no vision of the future. Like so many of the busted malls at home that it so closely resembles, the US Pavilion is fragmentary and momentary, not the beacon of hope the Expo hosts expected or that the American people deserve. For a long time, pre-opening polls listed the (in concept) US Pavilion as the most highly anticipated attraction for Chinese Expo-goers, after the giant red China Pavilion. No longer. A week before the Expo, China Daily, the nation's official paper, has removed the US Pavilion from its list of important things to visit and see at the Expo.

I may be reading too deeply into this. I may also be attaching greater significance to World's Fairs/Expos than I need to. It just seems like if everyone else is taking great pains to show the entire globe that their society is engaged in something big, we might want to do so as well. I sometimes wonder if Americans don't care to attach importance to this kind of global exchange, as if being unaware or uninterested in what everyone else is doing is part of our national character. It's a bit like calling it a World Series because one city in Canada may have a shot at celebrating. In this case, however, everyone else is playing, and we don't even realize the game is taking place. 

I am willing to concede I may be wrong, but I am not convinced that too much of what we do or produce as a nation is all that inspirational, or that when it is, it is not celebrated in any meaningful way. I hope that changes. Surely we need more to be proud of than just events from our past. What will we say in the future if we don't share our current accomplishments with the whole world?

Sculptures, Mosaics, and Inscriptions at Flushing Meadows Park

As Winter Approaches

Again I have gotten caught up with many things. But as the temperature drops, I am reminded of how much I like winter in NYC. As per a reader request, here are some pictures from last years very long, very snowy winter season.

I have some other articles in the works, and I can promise there is more to come for this blog.

I present to you - a City Snake in the Snow, as seen in Astoria Park.

I have more snakes to share with you, and more things to complain about, more to follow soon!