i had some e-mail about yesterday's entry which was a joint entry c.i. and i worked on together.
first question was 'why did it post so late?' i got the idea late in the day. i wanted to work on it with c.i. because i do think there need to be more joint entries. things are really busy for c.i. right now and i left a ton of messages and noted in all of them, 'call me when you get this, no matter what time it is' which did happen.
i explained what i wanted to do and c.i. was cool with it. we discussed songs and i was really pushing for 'american pie'. c.i. pointed out 'it's so long!' and it is. it was also late and i wish that hadn't been the case. but we worked and worked on it.
some of it we just tossed in hoping to go back and fix it later.
then it was so late and i said 'i'm too tired' and c.i. said, 'you know what? that's cool. ellie greenwich and barry mann often ended up with something people liked when they threw something in and weren't able to fix it later.'
my favorite line (6 e-mails asked that) is the 1 about 'naomi and the book of baghdad' which c.i. came up with. c.i. said 'baghdad' like they do on the bbc and it just sounds so much better that way 'naomi and the book of baghdad.'
was it fun?
hell yes. if we hadn't had fun, it would have been awful. it was late but the time flew.
why did we do it together?
because the lack of disclosure on the part of you know who 1st surfaced together.
c.i. was contacted by a man wanting my phone number. why? i have no idea. he didn't seem to read what i wrote. so i'm guessing he saw 'sex' and thought 'score.'
i didn't know him. i was on vacation. c.i. called and i checked my e-mail throughout as most of my regular readers know. but the 1st time c.i. called i got told about the e-mail and how the guy, who doesn't know me and doesn't know c.i., is asking c.i. to give out my phone number.
that was sort of freaky and everything that followed was as well.
but we both got drug into this and i felt we should write it together.
it was so late and i made the mistake of saying 'i wish you'd write something about it' and then called back because mine was up and c.i.'s wasn't. c.i. was trying to write something. c.i. reads some of it to me and i say 'okay, that's a book.'
and turns out that c.i. worked and worked on it. no sleep at all last night and i honestly feel bad about that.
i know c.i. was tired all day and i urged that there be no posts tonight.
i hope that's the case.
so why 'american pie.' for a number of reasons. but 1 is that the daily howler died.
i'm sorry that's the case.
i'm sorry bob somerby goes out the way he does.
but that's the way it goes sometimes.
1 e-mail asked 'is kim gandy screamed' a knock at kim gandy?
no. 'dreamed' and 'screamed' rhymed which was the main reason we came up with it. c.i. did raise that after we came up with the line: 'people won't think this is an insult, will they?'
so we debated that line last night and then decided that these are times when you scream, that you scream when you're in pain and that 'the scream' is a famous work of art.
most of all, kim gandy will not go quietly into the night. she is going to fight for what is right with everything she has. (she seems like a giant on tv because she's so strong but she's actually not that tall.) if you're smart, you seem her as the warning system. when something's wrong, she says so. she doesn't sugar coat and she doesn't sit there with a silly grin on her face when she's interviewed. if it's wrong, she says it's wrong.
she's an important voice and 1 that i'm glad exists because she's a fighter and we need her so badly now. sometimes we have to fight and feel like we're on our own. with kim gandy heading now, we aren't. she's a real leader and 1 that this country needs now more than ever. she's an inspiration. if you don't read her column regularly, you should start reading it. you can find it and other things at now's website.
if you know about her, you know what i'm talking about. i don't know what to make of the naacp yet. they have a new leader and i'm waiting to see how that goes. but julian bond is a brave voice and hopefully the new leadership will follow in his footsteps.
there are so few really brave voices. there are a lot of people who try to appease the bully boy and then a year or 2 later they whine that they were tricked or they were fooled. when you're dealing with a bully, you have to fight. kim gandy knows how to fight.
what other songs did we consider? c.i. named some carly simon songs and they were good choices. we also thought about the beatles 'i am the walrus' and jefferson airplane's 'plastic fantastic lover' for melodies.
the other big question was from people who laughed and they were wondering if that was okay?
yes, it's supposed to be funny. but considering the way the world is today, i would urge you to laugh anytime you see the chance.
there was a lot of feedback on this and i'm so glad that so many enjoyed it.
