12 January 2011

harsh

[click image]

.

But apt...

.
love, 99
.
\\\\\ 1/12/2011 06:41:00 AM \\\\\

2 comments:

  1. Blue!1/12/11, 4:59 PM

    99...I wrote this Saturday...

    Golden voiced Ted Williams...What does it really mean ?
    by Duane Townsend on Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 11:14am

    For days now we've all been engrossed by the story of Ted Williams, the homeless man with the golden voice. He was 'discovered' by a journalist weeks ago and is now on a worldwide media tour. Many are moved to tears by this story, it is captivating and emotional. Yesterday I saw footage of Ted being reunited with his 90 year old mother with cameras rolling and news anchor people doing the play by play. What many of us don't know is that about a day before that reunion Ted was kept from his mother (whisked out a back door to avoid the meeting) because a rival news station brought his mother to the airport to meet him...you see they couldn't share their scoop with a rival, at that point Ted or his mother didn't matter, just the media's newest reality show and it's concocted and manipulated emotions.



    http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/01/07/ted-williams-doral-chenoweth/



    I began to ponder; what if that chance meeting with a journalist on a Columbus, Ohio street corner happened to a homeless guy that didn't have a golden voice ? Suppose his gift wasn't so apparent ? Would that reporter have even noticed the homeless guy if not for that voice ? Does it take a noticeable entertaining talent to 'be saved' ?



    The Ted Williams story is fantastic; for Ted and his mother. What about the multitudes of homeless folks roaming the streets whose value is not so apparent ? What does Ted Williams discovery and lottery winning like celebrity do for the over-arching crisis of poverty and homelessness in this country ?



    I've heard folks say "see just keep the right attitude and everything will work out...."; Like someone who is homeless and hungry, probably addicted and hopeless can really keep a proper attitude. I've also read by someone whom I respect that most homeless people actually chose that condition because they don't want structure. This person went on to say that "there are millions of Mexicans crossing our borders everyday to get work here, why can't homeless people do that too ? Out of fatigue I didn't even try to reason with this person that a homeless individual in Detroit could hardly get to Arizona or Texas or California to find work as a fruit picker or farm worker.



    To understand homelessness, poverty, mental illness and addictions one needs to try to understand what hopelessness and brokenness does to the human mind and spirit. I believe in personal responsibility also, but in taking that personal responsibility shouldn't we be responsible to humanity as a whole when observing someone in dire need ? Should we actually be writing people off as not worth the effort ? I ask again...where would Ted Williams be today had he not had that voice of gold ?



    This story is the perfect opportunity to ask ourselves the right questions about 'the least among us'. What has the Ted Williams story done for the alcoholic homeless woman panhandling at the gas station at this very moment, she needs a long term, committed recovery program...but immediately she needs something to eat for her body and a drink to help her get through this day. You see being homelessness feeds the addictions. An addict can connect the dots, but once their life has become unmanageable and they're homeless; connecting the dots doesn't matter anymore and resignation sets in.



    Will we see the Ted Williams story and get a momentary emotional bump, and then move on to the next media concocted emotion tugging story. While nothing meaningful changes.

    That my friends is the picture of media management to keep the status quo in place....and the beat goes on.

    ReplyDelete
  2. wimpy1/12/11, 5:09 PM

    Well, obviously, I'm with you or I wouldn't have posted Fish's harsh "comedy".... It just reminds me of NOTHING so much as the annual holiday sudden profusion of sappy and mostly useless gestures for the poor. I always end up devolving into my who-do-I-shoot? mode in my head as soon as I think of this shit. I am THRILLED for Ted, but I've met guys with GREAT voices asking me for change. In FACT, last time I was in Berkeley I had to run back and TELL the guy he had a fabulous voice, sounded like he should be a DJ for late night jazz. It's freaky that THIS happened... and it SHOULD have been in Berkeley too. BEST would be that we all stood up and demanded EVERYONE get fed and clothed and housed and healed... RIGHT now and for the rest of our time as a country. Period.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)