Re: Beauty should be seen, not heard

Tom Condit (tomcondit@IGC.APC.ORG)
Sat, 25 Jan 1997 12:48:03 -0800 (PST)

1. The Coffee Gallery, which was actually a bar, in San Francisco's North
Beach used to have a free speech platform over the bar where people could
get up and say whatever was on their minds. (This was only one night a week,
Monday if I recall correctly.) This was patterned after "Blabbermouth Night"
at a Chicago club owned by an old wobbly.

One night fairly early on in the evolution of the antiwar movement (1964, if
I remember right) Baby Jane Holzman, a famous topless dancer who worked a
club around the corner, came over during her break, got up on the platform,
and gave a blistering speech denouncing the Vietnam war, then went back to work.

2. During the Gulf War, I was dragged into watching the Music Awards on TV
by our resident teenager. The various muscians, including many supposedly
"socially conscious" rap and hip-hop artists, were all tagging little
"support our troops" lines onto their intros. Then New Kids On The Block
came on. The lead singer was wearing a loose a-shirt with "WAR SUCKS" on it
in prominent letters, they tore into the war, then finished with clenched
fist salutes. For the rest of the evening, the other musicians were
departing from their prepared text to flash little "v" signs with simpering
shamefaced smiles.
New Kids on the Block hasn't been heard from since.

Tom