Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Real Men Dont Walk

In the 1990s, living without a car in Hillcrest, I frequently encountered the violent threats faced for "walking while gay." Shouts of "fuckin' faggot" from big wheeled pickups screeching down University came my way, snickers of hate from suburban roughnecks in the cab not unlike those shot from Mr T.'s Tank.



With help from Mars Inc. the "born again Christian" living in Sherman Oaks peddles good ol' boy nostalgia for the cartoon masculinity of A-Team/Rambo/Reagan:



a world destroyed by limp wristed pacifists like Unitarian Universalists and "The Church of Liberalism" as described by Ann Coulter.

The battle for big gun, fast car, blow-em-up, Death Race/ oil rig reality manliness verbally fought out daily by Michael Savage, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly conveys the suffering of former army privates now forced off food stamps inspiring shotgun revenge.

Every man wants to be a macho macho man
to have the kind of body, always in demand

Jogging in the mornings, go man go

works out in the health spa, muscles glow

You can best believe that, he's a macho man

ready to get down with, anyone he can

--"Macho Man," The Village People

Monday, July 28, 2008

My Book On NPR

Well not quite.
But a story last Saturday on Weekend Edition captured its essence.
If someone asks what my book is about, one answer would be it is a 240 page reply to this story.