Je suis Charlie!

 

   "Je suis pizza de Charlie"(photo courtesy of Republican Herald)

After the recent attack in Paris I was told by my friend (I only have one), that I should go into hiding as satirists are under grave danger.  I considered that wise.  I plan to stay at the Schuylkill Mall in Frackville. 

Why should be go into hiding at the Mall? No one will find me there. Its my fortress of solitude when I want to be alone.

 In the past I had spoken to groups at the county’s French communities of Tré Mont, Mont Laffé, de Turks Ville, Grier Cité, Ravine, Marie Dé, and, Lac de Beury. They were not large groups and most of them did not comprehend my french. The largest group I ever appeared before was a group at the fry stand in Renninger’s Market. The fryer broke and I was able to talk for fifteen minutes to the hungry but hostile crowd.Whether they understood my french will never be known. My topic concerned frog legs. An important french topic.
So I have a connection with the French. Sort of. Learned the tongue at Nativity High School's "Language Lab" decades ago. Dois-je en dire plus?

After the Paris attack, I was told that I needed to cool it on the blog -  Especially with my articles on the cartoon characters that used to grace Garfield Square in Pottsville.  I was told that some people are offended by cartoons, to the point that they want to do bodily harm to those who depict certain characters in cartoon form.  

                     I can understand that and I feel their pain.  But with some good mental health therapy it gets better. Believe me.Cartoons, satire and parody never justify violence.

Little Lotta was depicted on Garfield Square at Christmas time about twenty years ago. I helped put her up. Apparently it was put there without being sensitive to the large overweight community of the county.  Despite my apology I was banned from many all-you-can eat church breakfasts for life.  

Broom Hilda was featured another year and it offended our growing Wiccan population.  Again I apologized but I am banned from the St. Clair Halloween Parade for life. Lastly, Mickey Mouse was depicted and it was called into question as being an offense to our state appellate judiciary. I apologized but was sentenced to house arrest for 30 days.  Quelle humiliation!

Do you know what it is like being in the house with Mammy for 30 days?? “Zut alors!”

 However in every instance I took my medicine (valium , if you really want to know) and learned my lesson.  

I vowed that there will never be a cartoon character on Garfield Square ever again.  And there never has been anymore. 

The New York Times and the Washington Post were hailed for releasing information leaked by Daniel Elsburg and Eric Snowden in the past. Supposedly they published top secret information.  Yet those papers and the other major media outlets, including the Republican Herald, now refuse to print or display the French magazine cover that resulted in the massacre of many innocent in Paris.  It is sort of a double standard. However the press and media are scared sh*tless and rightfully so.  Yet they weren’t so scared to display over the years photographs that were offensive to Christians, Jews or Buddhists.   

But everyone knows why they are so scared now. Even Fox TV is running scared.They will adopt self-censorship to appease fundamental islamists. No sense getting butchered by followers of the religion of peace, but until we stand up for our values and stop the fear-driven self-censorship, there will be no end to the butchering.  Every newspaper and media should proudly display a copy of Charlie.

       

   Above is a photo of the offensive magazine cover. Now I must go hide out at the Schuylkill Mall. No one will find me there. I will be all alone.   Take a look at many of the "offensive covers" on the link below:                                                           

                                        

                            

 Charlie Hebdo Magazine Cover Slideshow

Altamont Free Festival

The Altamont Free Festival ended up as the most infamous musical concert ever held in Schuylkill County.

It was held on the grounds of the Schuylkill Mall in northern Schuylkill County. It did not have to end like that as it had the makings of a great day. The performers were outstanding: The Jordan Brothers, The Other Side, Lil’ Andy, Tony Karpee, The Schuylkill Haven Belvederes’ Drum & Bugle Corp, Big Barrel Emil Simodejka, Buddy Widel Trio, The Individuals, and The Pottsville Barbershoppers.
With so many in attendance at the concert, some speculated that it would surpass Woodstock or the Bavarian Festival for sheer spiritual energy – surely the dawning of the new age. The venue was moved just a few days before the concert started under order of the local district magistrate. This was a premonition of the negative things to come.
The show began at noon on a cold December 6, 1969 on a stage that was only four feet high and would be surrounded by members of the Pagans, the Warlocks and the local Shriners, who acted as bouncers. There were no other security forces, so if they got out of line, there would be no stopping them.
By some accounts, the Warlocks were hired as security when the Tremont Division of the Eastern Star refused – a story that has been denied by all involved. All of the groups had provided security for other events in the county before, without incident but they never worked together. Altamont would be certainly different. The Warlocks, The local Shriners, and the Pagans would be a bad mix and not worth the $500 worth of beer that was rumored to be their salary. Surprisingly enough, 400,000 fans showed up even though deer hunting season was in high gear. Such a crowd that day brought the traffic on Route 61 and Interstate 81 to a crawl and even strained the restroom facilities within the Schuylkill Mall. Yes, there was violence at the festival as well as chaos - too much to talk about even almost forty years later. It has been said that wherever one finds violence, chaos is usually right behind; this would turn out to be an “anti-Woodstock, “anti-Bavarian Festival” and be forever known as the dark side of musical culture, immortalized in Don McLean’s famous “Shoo Fly Pie” wherein Li’l Andy presided over the “sacrificial rite” on the day Schuylkill County music died.
Who can forget the performance of “The Pottsville Barbershoppers?” This is the legendary group known for its tight vocal harmony, characterized by their consonant four-part chords for every melody note. It is said that the Pottsville Barbershoppers inspired such national groups as The Four Freshmen, The Limelighters, and The Beach Boys. Dressed in their red and white stripped blazers, they had just completed a dazzling twelve minute a capella foul-mouthed rendition of “Good-bye My Coney Island Baby” and had just started their suggestive encore of “I’ll Take You Home, Kathleen” when the violence began to escalate to serious proportions. No one knows who started swinging the pool sticks at the boilo-crazed people in the first row or who throw the quart bottles of Kaiers. Some say the Pagans, some say the Warlocks and others say Those Shriners. Although the concert was filmed by Sam-Son Productions for a planned Holiday television special on Pottsville’s Channel 7, it was impossible to determine who swung that cue stick or threw the bottle that resulted in bodily injury. It was filmed by Sam Lasante with a Bell & Howell Zoomatic Camera and the police were sure that it would offer a “complete record of the Altamont Free Concert.” The film was replayed thousands of times but to no avail. The police determined that the film did not depict violence about to commence but rather just showed the after effects of the violence. It was often compared to the Zapruder film.
No arrests were ever made. When the Pottsville Barbershoppers suddenly left the stage to be taken away by van to the Dutch Kitchen in Frackville, the crowds dispersed. Most headed home, some lingered to do Christmas shopping at the Mall, while others were too overcome by boilo and Kaier's beer and remained in the parking lot for days.

I was one of them.