Advice from your elders...

[joelpatterson]

I met Stokley Carmichael once, the black activist guy from the 60's, on the campus of San Francisco State, he was giving a "lecture" or an "appearance" or something. The moment he started speaking, he was telling us about a program by the FBI to infiltrate the campus, just to monitor everything going on, it was half extremist rant, and half just common sense obviousness, I was a big believer in secret government programs. He was so refreshing--fearlessly talking about the sordid underside of life in the US of A, of which he knew more than a little.
After the "show" I stood in line to greet him, and when I shook his hand, kind of awestruck, I just mumbled something about how inspiring it was.
"Well, you are inspiring too!" He held me with his strong leathery hand. I was sure I hadn't heard him right, so I stared uncomprehending and said, "...what?"
"You are a special person, you have a tremendous power!" I wondered what in the hell he was talking about. "What can I do?"
"Organize!" he beamed at me. He said it was as simple as talking to people. "Organize, organize, organize!"
I went back to the evening meeting that was dominated by a type now you would recognise as an infiltrator, a loudmouth who brayed on about the glories of Communism and calling for action--unspecified, disruptive action--but the thing is he was far too disruptive for any of our incohate idealism to coallesce here tonight. It ended tensely, and I drifted away, and got on with my life.
I thought about this yesterday, when I got all the shockmounts in order for my two sets of gear, the studio stuff and the remote stuff. Too many had been sharing the same shockmount. Now... it's all organized. Totally.

[cgarges]

He probably meant "organize" in a solidarity-type way. Like, organize a group of people to raise awareness, not "tidy up your gear."

I met Max Roach when I was in high school. He was the same way. VERY supportive and refused to leave the clinic until he'd heard all the students there play his drums. He loved all of it--from the hard-core Gospel beats to the metal thrasher almost destroying his kit to my half-assed attempt at trying to swing. He told everybody that they sounded great and he did it with a big smile on his face. I went and grabbed a snare drum and got him to sign the head. It says "To Chris-- Stay strong! Max Roach." Gotta love that kind of thing.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[I'm Painting Again]

thats an awesome story!

[JamesHE]

I have a feeling the next time I'm in my space tidying up cables or organizing my rack or something I'm going to feel the need to belt out:


"Organize, Organize, Organize!"

[I'm Painting Again]

I like in Taxi Driver when Travis Bickle says he needs one day to get a sign that says "one of these days im going to get organemizized"

[Randy]

I like the story my wife heard from David Dellinger. He told her that one of the things he learned from years of nonviolent protest and activism is to get an enema before hunger striking.

Once again we learn that keeping things tidy is very important.

[alissa]

i just took this personality test. is says this about me:

orderliness results were very lo which suggests you are overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense too often of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment.

WTF? i'm asian.

[soundguy]

lars's elders had the best advice.

dave

[Spark]

One shouldnt always listen to thier elders, heres a prime example:







Sorry couldnt resist...

[hammertime]

Maybe "organize" just meant do something, don't be bogged down in Hamlet's plight about thinking too much about metaphysics, because it will basically lead nowhere. Because if you look at the Universe from the standpoint of doing nothing, and confront the abyss, you might find it hard to get back up again, and wind up like these old activists smoking crack in a dumpster.