aaron neville sang this last night,
and he did a pretty good job.

and even though randy newman is more known for his songwriting than his singing, i have always loved his version of this song, the original. and i totally love the record that it came from "good old boys". but all his records are good.

and because kanye stole the show last night, i wanted to stoke people with this

randy newman
good old boys
reprise records, 1974 (mp3)

remastered version by rhino, 2001

"louisiana 1927"
(newman)

What has happened down here is the wind have changed
Clouds roll in from the north and it started to rain
Rained real hard and rained for a real long time
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline

The river rose all day
The river rose all night
Some people got lost in the flood
Some people got away alright
The river have busted through cleard down to Plaquemines
Six feet of water in the streets of Evangelne

Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tyrin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away

President Coolidge came down in a railroad train
With a little fat man with a note-pad in his hand
The President say, "Little fat man isn't it a shame what the river has done
to this poor crackers land."

Louisiana, Louisiana
They're tyrin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away
They're tryin' to wash us away

lyrics to good old boys, a concept album about the south + guilty, the randy newman box set + melting dolls

# | |

from yesterdays comments...

Tony-

I think you're a great writer and deserve everything you have earned.

However, i am sickened by those who want to start casting blame with everything that is going on. Even more, the finger pointing that is going on, particularly at Bush.

I am a Dem who believes in fair play and i am stunned how everyone wants to bypass any responsibility that rightly belongs on the city (mayor of NO) and state (governor of LA) when no one knows the story. If he screwed up there will be plenty of time to find it out and we most certainly will not hear the end of it. But, until that day comes, i just can't bring myself to read your writing any more.

You've got a great future and i am a bit sad that i'll have to skip your blog.

I wish you best of luck!

Robert | Email | Homepage | 09.02.05 - 5:59 pm | #

--------------------------------


Robert,

when the President of a country is 500 miles away from the epicenter of the biggest natural disaster in the history of his nation and decides to remain on vacation you shouldnt be so stunned at some finger pointing being sent his way.

when that President has a history of making the wrong choices when unprecidented tragedy befalls his people, you shouldnt be so stunned to see some criticism when his behavoir doesnt change.

we do know part of the story in relation to the Bush administration. we know that up to four years ago FEMA warned about the dangers to New Orleans and last year Bush cut the $27 mil budget requested by the US Army Corps of Engineers for improving the levees in 2005 by more than 80% to a paltry $3.9 million,

we also know that the $100 million 2005 budget requested by the Southeast Louisiana Flood control project was slashed to $16.5 million by Bush.

but mostly we know where the president's priorities are: in Iraq. not in Afghanistan, not in Saudi Arabia and certainly not in the USA. even when he was one state away it took him 5 days to get his ass to New Orleans.

you can run away from this blog all you want Robert if you "cant bring" yourself to read my writing anymore. but what youre doing is judging me on what bloggers are meant to do: provide an opinion to current events.

not only have i done that but i gave constructive criticism to the president as to what would best serve this country and his public opinoin.

if you cant handle that then good riddance and dont bother coming back here because let me tell you something, what you have seen this week on the busblog is pure tony pierce and if youre sincere in saying that i deserve everything that ive gotten based on my writing, this week is what my writing is all about - handling serious issues head on without blinking.

the funny thing about Bush is we do hear the end of his screw ups. Osama is running around free, we dont hear about him; we tortured people in Gitmo and in Iraq, we dont hear about that any more; Bush had a friggin President's Daily Briefing in August of 2001 titled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike US" that we dont hear about; his cheif of staff outted a CIA agent that we dont hear about; we went to fucking war over WMDs that we dont hear about; gasoline is $3 a gallon and there isnt a mob outside the gates of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave

and instead the busblog loses a reader?

good.

dont come back.

and when you're waiting for help, starving, thirsty, wet, sick, desperate, in danger, freaked out as dead bodies float by, with cops looting and quitting, with no one to help you, and the president is an hour flight away, i wont say shit on your behalf - five days later - because omg what happens if i lose a reader.

then you'll know that ive become the PC sellout fake dem.

and then you should really be "a bit sad".

bush chose iraq over new orleans + jason toney + Nat'l Guard Won't Let Red Cross into New Orleans?

# | |

matthew good and i discuss katrina, kayne, and george



in our latest podcast

kayne: bush doesnt care about black people + mg outselling the stones + thanks, doc

# | |

we're all sad that the president had to cut his month-long vacation short so he could poke his head in at the devistation happening to texas's next door neighbor, louisiana.

it must be tough to be the president when everything you do is wrong.

it must suck to freeze up every time theres a tragedy. to sit there as cameras roll and listen to children read about a goat after your dude tells you that america is under attack.

it must suck to tell everyone that the usa needs to invade a country because of its threat to this find land, and then discover that the evil nation didnt have any weapons of mass destruction and had no relationship to the terrorism that happened nearly 4 years ago.

and it must truly suck to end your monthlong wake'n'bake so you can fly to washington dc to get briefed on how to handle the misery going down back in the south.

tonight i spent most of the evening watching the news. i was a little behind in current events because last night i hung out with an old girlfriend and we enjoyed the rock music of my favorite band tsar at the house of blues in anaheim.

and since i no longer work at a television network i dont have constant access to tvs where i earn my keep, so i turned on msnbc tonight and i had tivoed some other stations and saw reporter after reporter describe how the flooding and devistation in new orleans was like nothing they had ever seen.

i saw crowds chanting how they needed help, i heard people say that they went where they were instructed and they couldnt get food or water or shelter. i watched grown men break down and cry as they described how they watched dead bodies float past their homes.

but one thing i didnt see was the president. he had apparently flown right past louisianna for some reason.

some on the tv rationalized the violence and looting and rage and misery as being due to the idea that the stranded felt ignored and abandonded. im sure if any of the flood victims had heard word that the speaker of the house had on wednesday suggested that it might be a mistake to rebuild their city, that much of it should just be bulldozed, their frustration would have increased - if indeed it was possible to be more pissed off at the administration.

as i watched i had a hard time sitting still, i kept finding myself in front of my computer, i wanted to do something, anything. i made a small donation to the red cross, i warned those on a messageboard about how FEMA was hyping Pat Robertson's "charity" on their donations page, i called friends to find out what we could do... and i watched on my local news how some of our rescue workers were shipping machettes to new orleans to help kill the water snakes who could be deadly to those who had to travel through the flooded streets.

the whole time i wondered, doesnt the president feel like i do? doesnt he want to actually fucking do something? doesnt he want to hop on one of his airplanes or helicopters and just help a few people if he can?

does he seriously not give a fuck? do his handlers not care about even surfacy things like his approval rating being lower than nixons during watergate? how simple would it be for him to pilot one of those same choppers that he landed on that "mission accomplished" carrier several years ago and rescue desperate americans all night? not only would it improve his numbers, but for once he would actually be helping people.

yes i had heard that helicopters were being shot at. some say those were just rumors, but if i was president i would either a) shoot back, or b)suck it up and keep saving people anyway, and if i died, what a way to go down: actually helping someone. but surely the white house would know if those were just rumors or not, and certainly if it was that dangerous over there, the commander-in-chief would want to help the innocent citizens, not hide out in his big fat house. right?

isnt that why you become a public servant? to help?

how ironic that in the last post i was challenged to write something inspirational to aid my fellow african americans, when the president of the united states wasnt even helping his own people. has it really come down to that? when FEMA and the President have failed the nation, the next in the chain of command of superheroes are the bloggers?

and why would i only write something to help my brethren, why not write something to help everyone? just because im Black doesnt mean that im not interested in all people. do i really come off as being that sort of person?

whatever. well hopefully the President will be inspired by this blog post and get in his helicopter and put on his flight suit and accomplish the mission in front of him: go to new orleans and dont leave until everyone is safe.

wouldnt want to cut and run in america if youre not cutting and running elsewhere.

you can donate right now to the red cross + what bush was doing this week + blogging from the astrodome

# | |

well what an interesting day and a half. Lets review what we have learned.

We've learned that some people have a very difficult time discussing racial bias in journalism. We've learned that some people have a very difficult time realizing that the media's influence in public perception is stronger than some believe.

And we've learned that some people have a hard time believing that the press can make such blatantly racist blunders, which could be symptoms to the underlying racism that still exists in American culture.

We were also reminded that the anonymous negative commentors are just as clueless and worthless and cowardly as we always remembered them as being. In fact the usually logical Abner Delecroix for some reason refused to read the entire post that he chose to comment on, and decided not to click the link that showed the AFP had indeed called Blacks looters and whites "finders".

I spend so much time writing, do the anonymous commentors Only look at the pictures and choose which words they are going to read? Lately I have only written one or two posts a day. Do us all a favor and read them before you put your foot in your mouth.

Yes in the initial post I provided two pictures, but I linked to a third. That third one showed that AFP was capable of calling alleged looters looters, and that, unlike some have claimed, it was not an issue of two different agencies defining terms. The problem at hand was that AFP had called Blacks with goods looters and whites with goods finders.

Not only had I explained that in the body of the post supported by links, but I also answered this in the comments. But at the root of anonymous negative commentors is something twisted that makes them poor readers, poorer critics, and that might lead to their cowardice of refusing to play the game like everyone else and putting their real name/email/blog next to their bullshit.

Abner went a step further and alleged that I was a race-baiter. Because as we all know, if you see the press call whites "finders" and Blacks "looters" and you call the press out on their bullshit, and if you link to other discussions where others have concurred, then you are a race-baiter.

Bloggers and wanna-be bloggers out there learn from this lesson: no matter what you do to prove a theory or write a post there will be snipers that will come at you from the weeds. They will attack you when you are making a clear and valid point. Instead of aiming at the issue at hand they will name-call and try to distract the audience away from the point. Ignore those critics, especially when they don't have the nads to put their real name/email/blog next to their distortions. They will try to smear and discredit you and all I can say is ignore them, theyre just slapping at your arm as youre driving the lane. Go for the hole and tick tock don't stop.

But ultimately we learned that racism still does exist. In fact its so pervasive that it is deep inside of respected journalism and it seeps out when even they don't see it coming. Which means its probably in more people's hearts than we all think. Therefore think about your perceptions and your biases and if youre a journalist, just tell the damn story and keep your opinoins to the Op-Ed page.

And bloggers, definitely call out those who deserve to be called out, especially those who propigate stereotypes to millions through captions of photographs. Odds are there are far more people who will read the caption than the story, so those words are the most powerful in the grand discussion that we are all part of.

danielle + ben + blogger unknown

# | |

Tony, I agree with you that the journalism here is shady. However, let me play devil's advocate here...

The fact is that when there is "looting" or "finding" going on (or whatever you want to call it) more often than not it's black people. I mean, let's be honest with ourselves. Is this an absurd statement? I don't think so.

Here in Chicago there was looting whenever the Bulls won a championship in the '90s, some years worse than others.

Now, the looting didn't happen in the white areas of Chicago, and it didn't happen in the white suburbs. No, the looters were in the black areas turning over cars, setting stuff on fire, smashing storefront windows, and stealing TVs, microwaves, clothes, and whatever else they could grab in the moment.

Why? I guess because they could.

Give me another recent example of looting in the U.S. and I'm guessing the culprits, more often than not, were black.

Am I wrong to make this presumption?

I'm not saying that white people never loot, nor am I saying there weren't any white people looting down in the South these last couple of days. Idiocy is not bound by race.

But I'm guessing the vast majority were black (and, btw, I don't begrudge anyone who was taking food and water, regardless of color.)

Yeah, you're right. It's sad that so-called professional journalists are so dumb.

But it's also sad that whenever you hear of looting, most people will think of a black person jumping through shards of glass with a computer on his/her shoulder.

And it's not like the reputation isn't earned. It's been earned.

Look, like I said, I agree with your post, but the truth is that black people, as sad as it is, are more likely to be deemed to be looting than white people because, well, they've been more likely to loot in the past. When that reputation is shed, then we can REALLY shit on these crappy journalists.

You can rant about the journalism here, but there are bigger problems than that, problems you may be neglecting to look at because of the whole racism angle.

I mean, what's worse? A few dumbasses in a newsroom, or a mob stampeding through Wal-Mart, stealing all the guns, and then running all night through the streets gang-style armed and dangerous? (BTW, this actually happened yesterday. I'm not sure what color the men were, but I'd guess black, if only because of past history.)

Me? I'll take the dumbass in the newsroom eight days a week.

- UC

when i first read this comment i was blown away by the ignorance and racism in this.

but as ive let it sit with me for a while and as ive re-read it, i can see where the dude, UC, is sorta coming from.

so lets get into it civilly.

first of all, all people loot. black white brown yellow. all people. to say Blacks do the majority of looting is ignorant, untrue, and yes, racist. what you see on TV is a small percentage of people looting and oftentimes what you see on tv are Poor people looting in the wake of a natural disaster like what we're seeing now, or a riot, or after a sporting event.

i went to school at UC Santa Barbara where we didnt really march downtown to topple cars, but we did cause personal and public destruction after big victories by burning couches and dumpsters - which ocassionally started bigger fires like the telephone poles next to the dumpsters and couches.

sporting event looting is a little more common in big cities where the team hasnt won a title in a long time. yes i remember the rioting/looting in chicago in the 80s with the bulls and i also remember the same thing happening in detroit when the pistons won.

chicago stadium isnt in a white part of town. therefore it doesnt suprise me that non-whites were involved in the crimes. and detroit isnt pearly white either, therefore it should be no suprise that Any crime activity in that fair city would probably be done by non-whites.

and not too long ago the Maryland Terps beat Duke in college hoops. not only did I see white kids out there rolling over cars and lighting them on fire, i saw young women out there.

all of these sorts of looting are sports-related emotionally-charged mayhem caused from a positive experience. and they are color-blind.

another type of looting came after the Rodney King verdicts here in LA. race was very integral to the coverage of those riots and looting because what people discovered was it wasnt a black/white thing because LA isnt black/white. it turned out to be a black/white/hispanic/korean thing where black businesses were burned by blacks and hispanics and korean businesses were burned and looted by others, and images of all types of people were published doing all sorts of illegal activity.

that looting was charged by anger. those crimes were committed as a form of payback of years of oppression and bad spirits. and again, it was color-blind.

a few years back we saw in Iraq looting of museums and even zoos by the oppressed people of that country. again, it was retrobution of years of bad tidings and misery. and no, there were no black people there.

but even more recently we have seen the looting of pension funds by white people at Enron, and the looting of our future by the record-breaking deficit spending practices of more white people at the white house. the difference is the media doesnt cover it that way so you dont see it that way.

which was the point of last night's post: The Media Shapes the Public's Perception of Race in Relation to Theft and Recklessness.

it's definately horrible to steal bread. its not cool, and even if it's about to spoil or about to be stolen from someone else, the practice goes against our key foundations as a civilized society.

but when that activity gets painted with one broad negative brush by an News Agency in relation to Blacks differently than how it gets painted in relation to whites, those stereotypes are unfairly and inaccurately reinforced.

and worse: we see that racism is so prevelant that it has even seeped into the collective unconscious of those who should know how to communicate best: professional journalists whose jobs it is to describe activity in clear concise ways.

UC looks at the world based on how what he sees through the media. when the media is fucked up then UCs perspective is fucked up.

it is difficult to change human nature - which steals and cheats and lies - but it is easier to influence journalism and journalistic standards which shape public perceptions.

yesterdays fuckup by AFP and Yahoo!, and the fact that those fuckups still exist prove that we still have a long way to go in regards to race, the press, and how we view ourselves in this complex society where somethings arent complex

white people looting are looters.
black people looting are looters.
enron looting are looters too, theyres just fewer cameras around.

unknown column + kitty bukkake + nsfw jenny good + laist

# | |

black people loot, white people find.

aka Another reason why you need some brothas in the newsroom.

earlier today i told you how i watched the news yesterday and winced when i saw my people seemingly looting in streets seas of new orleans.

i winced because as a proud young black man it hurts me whenever i see one of my brethren getting caught in stereotypically embarrassing activity - even when its happening in an impoverished part of america in the wake of an ungodly rough natural disaster.

in fact some might argue that stealing diapers and milk and bread in a flooded-out grocery store isn't true looting because those goods would spoil or be damaged well before that market could re-open.

im not so gracious. theft is theft and i dont like to see anyone do it regardless of the situation.

but thats me, mr. vegas.

there was a great deal of looting in the last few days in the big easy, apparently, because even white people got into the act.

the problem is, for some strange reason Agence France-Presse via Yahoo! decided, through editorializing in their captions, that when Black people liberated libations from the flooded foodstores that they were looting

however AFP figured that when this white couple pictured on the left were caught doing the same exact bullshit they had merely "found" the merchandise.

now some may say, ah theyre French, theyre not racists. the French LOVE Black people! look how warmly they accepted our jazz musicians 40-50 years ago.

etc.

and those very same apologists might say, "perhaps 'found' is what you get when you translate "loot" into french and back to english"

and of course thats what id want to believe too - the notion that AFP doesnt know how to call looting looting

but then how do they explain this?

so now we're back to white people find and black people loot.

merde.

then we have the issue with Yahoo! who collects these pictures and throws them up on the web. i dont really see how theyre blameless in this apparent racism either.

yes its not their pictures or their text but they are partners with AFP and AP and the rest - are you telling me that theres no oversight whatsoever to make sure that inaccuracies and mistakes dont get distributed throughout the world?

what if someones phone number accidentally gets in the caption? what if someone's address gets in the information? what if the complete wrong name is thrown up there and its a murder suspect or a kiddie porn suspect? Yahoo bears no responsibility for what they send to their readers? i think not.

and isn't it an alleged looter? arent you innocent of a crime until you are proved guilty? did all their sense get hurricaned away while they were writing these captions?

what if that Black kid was sent by his father to collect everything that he could from their market before the cop-looters showed up? what, a Black man cant own a market?

thats why the pros say alleged my friends, alleged.

i dont care if that cameraman saw that little kid kick down the door and run out of there with a garbagebag full of bubblegum and whiskey, how is that cameraman supposed to know that wasnt bought a day ago and he has a receipt? how does he know he wasnt sent by his neighbor who owns the market to get him his Tums?

alleged.

a Brotha in the newsroom would ask those questions of his editor. and theyre not bad questions to ask "boss is this looting or is this taking? are we editorializing if we say loot? shouldnt i just write 'a young man swims home with his bag full of items from the market'?"

but what i really want to know is how on Earth the white couple ended up with a caption that read that they just happened to "find" bread in the store and how that wasnt looting.

was there a sign on the store that said "take all you can find! shit we're flooded, y'all!"

and if there was i as the editor would have asked for a picture of the sign, and if one didnt exist the caption would have included the text of the sign.

i talk a lot about the Daily Nexus at UCSB on this blog.

we wouldnt have made these mistakes and we didnt have a journalism school on campus, we didnt have any creepy adult advisors telling us what to say and what not to say, we just had a bunch of over achieving writers who loved journalism and who taught each other that to be objective is to be professional and there is always a better way to tell a story

and the best way is to be fair and true and ultimately responsible for what happens under your masthead.

AFP and Yahoo! need to apologize for this major gaffe.

and if theyre serious about their apologies they need to hire some African-Americans pronto on their editorial staffs to make sure this shit doesnt happen again.

white people find + black people loot + via metafilter + also discussed on fark

# | |

three questions



1. what happened to burnatonce?
i tried to "upgrade" to the newest version
and it took away my dvd burning capabilities.
does anyone have the old one or a recommendation?

2. are you ready for my new book now
or should i wait to put it out around Christmas?

3. what happened to the antichristsuperstar (pictured)?

# | |

my buddy travis knows that unless people are holding onto telephone poles horizontally im not at all interested in the weather.

so last night i watched a little bit from the weather channel. more than i expected.

ive been to new orleans before. ive been to the South before. as great as the French Quarter is/was, some of the outskirts were not so great. infact ive never seen any poverty like that in a long time.

so of course when i saw the looting that followed the terrible hurricane i winced because i never like to see my people outright thieving, but when the reporter said that people were stealing diapers and food i was all, see SEE!

but because nobody was watching tv with me the dustbunnies made like tumbleweeds and followed the breeze a little further away from me.

maybe i dont care about the weather because theres so very little that i can do about it so why bother, and why talk about it. talk till youre blue in the face its still not going to change anything.

the only thing that could have changed were the evacuation proceedures. like they could have said it would be illegal to be caught on top of your roof, or on top of your neighbors roof if the floods came. but i guess thats pretty harsh when the poor mans house was being flooded.

ok so there probably isnt anything that you can do about the people. if the people want to try to hide out in their houses, i guess you pretty much have to let them, but you can change the coverage.

if i ran msnbc or cnn i would have the no-anchor disaster coverage. just the video and a variety of music.

if its storming there would be metal. slayer, iron maiden, judas priest, all the faves. if my people are caught looting, i guess you'll have to throw on some n.w.a or ice cube. it breaks my heart, but what can you do. if you want to show standing water after the storm maybe some cool jazz, but you know id be booming the tom waits rain dogs while the weather doppler 8000 was rolling.

but definately no anchors. definately no crawls. definately no frat boy wanna be weather heros holding on to a stop sign showing us how strong the winds are - making me root for lightening.

the best story that i heard yesterday was a new orleans limo driver who was heading out of town and how he picked up two families and drove them to chicago

and only charged them $1,250 each for the ride.

i was impressed cuz no way would i have charged them anything.

unless they had said something dumb like cindy sheehan is just a left wing tool or were wearing yankee hats.

JaG + JMo + 1051 + jim gilliam

# | |

people ask me questions all the time about lots of things but they hardly ever ask about secrets. tell us a secret, they never say.

heres a secret i learned from bukowski and salinger and twain and de maussapant or however the hell you spell his name: give the readers a reward for making it to the end of your shit.

if youre smart you'll give em little treats on the way to the end, but definately you better give their asses something as a sign of thanks if they rode with you all the way to the finish line.

by the way, yes, tsar did just get three stars in rolling stone and yes they are playing at the house of blues in anaheim wednesday (tomorrow) with the new york dolls

flagrant disregard is one of my all time favorite bloggers. i recently watched ryne sandberg get his number retired at wrigley and if i was smart i would make a busblog hall of fame before some other asshole gets to it. and if i had such a hall of fame flagrant would be on my first ballot.

i know that might be a surprise to you because most of you dont read her, and its not because i dont link to her enough or talk about her enough, its because either you people dont believe her or cant figure her out or hate the fact that she doesnt have pictures (even though you let instapundit get away with it).

anyways todays entries are so bittersweet to me because i always love it when she writes but i never know when to take her seriously when she talks about her suicidal fantasies and her depression.

today i took her seriously and it made me a little sad.

i never know how to write to her, i never know what to say, because i watch how she disects the things that even her brainiac shrink says to her and she destroys people simply with her thoughts. everyone is an idiot to her, and i can see that.

but since im comfortable with my idiocy and im cool with my asswipeness, i just write her anyways. sometimes im just saying hi. sometimes im just letting her know that im out here, but lately ive been trying to get her to do a podcast with me, not because any of you would care, but i would care, especially if some tragic accident happened to her, because sometimes you can create your own fate and i would hate it if her mind won the fight that she sometimes seems to be losing.

im a multidimensional fool (aka clinicaly insane). im part xbi superhero who seriously would drive out to the valley and go to target for her and leave her packages at the door, but im also part gonzo journalist who is far more interested in talking to my favorite bloggers than you probably know.

and then im part blogging fool and i know what makes for an interesting blog and podcasts definately helps out a blog because it give dimension to an otherwise two-dimensional medium.

just today at work someone was saying that someone else was saying that my real voice doesnt match up to my writing voice and i should knock it off with the podcasts, but i disagree. ive heard bukowskis voice and i dont care that it doesnt match up with his writing voice. this whole nonsense is supposed to be about transparancey. im not trying to win you over so you will like me, im trying to win you over so you will shower me with gifts and so the ladies will make hot love to me.

have you ever heard someone say, yeah i was gonna suck him off so good -- until i heard his voice.

the ladies are going to hear it sooner or later, and its nothing that im ashamed of, its a normal voice. i cant help it that it doesnt match up with the blogvoice. speaking of which i have talked with flagrant once and her voice didnt match up to her blogvoice either. did i care? only slightly cuz i thought she was goofing on me by handing the phone to her sister or something.

whatever. at some point people have to trust each other, and i dont know how i can establish a greater trust with ms disregard than the fact that ive been in her corner for years and ive kept the secrets of tons of people in the meantime and i feel like ive conducted myself online pretty much as a gentleman.

far as i know.

the reason i would like to podcast interview her is because shes fascinating to me, and if her blog is even 75% true i have probably 200 questions that i would love to scratch the surface with and if at any time she didnt want to answer a question she could say Next and i wouldnt take it even the slightest bit personally.

her blog is such a mystery, maybe one reason she is hiding out is if indeed its a fakeout blog and shes really some dude. in that case id be happy if she just hid out.

if she was really what we see, and if she really wanted to check out, and if she really did check out one day - we all will, i suppose - then id be so bummed if she didnt give us some of the answers to some of the questions that some of us, me in particular, have about her life and her mindset. cuz shes got some things she could teach us, i bet ya.

is that selfish of me?

yes.

lots of life is selfish, i just hope its not impolite.

since my book is being factchecked and i had nothing better to do tonight, i got off my lazy black ass and did a photo essay about the sunset junction

in honor of sk smith who turned 29 this weekend.

so here it is a new sunset junction photo essay + planet lisp has some pics + as does lori + i saw marrisa there but i was too drizunk to say much other than hi + i was spotted but not approached + twice!

# | |

often theres email that i dont have enough pics of half naked dudes on the busblog, so there you are ladies, lap it up.

there was basically a gay fiesta at the sunset junction yesterday, which is fine with me cuz at least they know how to party.

a few things happen at those sorts of festivals, you realize your neighbors are so much cooler than you give them credit for, you see that the tattoo parlors are cleaning up (and doing great work), you discover that youre fatter and more out of shape than you ever imagined, and you witness that theres tons of gay dudes in LA - and not all that many lesbians.

i got some sunglasses for two bucks.

soon as i got there yesterday i got my hand stamped, then i bought a beer ticket and then i went to the stand and got myself a Dos Equis dark. a lot of hoops to jump through but thats our american government at work: beers legal but if you want to drink it with a bunch of leatherboys on a closed off portion of sunset blvd that charges $10 to get in, youve gotta play the little game so the kids cant get booze - as if they couldnt sneak it in! as if the hundreds of cops wouldnt see them with their 40s. as if kids have a hard time finding booze in america. as if the kids even drink nowadays anyways after Rush turned them on to Oxycontin.

got my beer and made a beeline to the chicken on a stick stand. i was nearly tempted by the hot sausages the thai food and or the gyros but the party hasnt fully started until im on my second beer and my second chicken on a stick. i dont care whose playing on what stage or what hot model is rollerskating by in a bikini top.

jack black jumped on stage with the Eagles of Death Metal as i was winding down from my heat induced pre-sunstroke. he was jumping around like crazy cuz he said it was his birthday and what a cool place to have your birthday. EODM were ok. maybe my concentration was bad cuz i just wanted a bacon wrapped dog for my walk home and the Weirdos had blown my mind.

maybe i just wanted to take a pick-axe to government because these sorts of street fairs happen almost every weekend in frisco, but here in the second largest city in america they hardly ever happen and you know its because of all the dicks you gotta suck to make it happen, and thus they pretty much only happen in westhollywood and silverlake.

unless youre the lakers and you just won a championship, but those arent really street fairs, and even though the chicken on a stick man is there, theres no soul and the only good part was watching mark madsen dance and shaq going into his goofy rap.

my new book is coming out next week and that and my new job have kept me happy today. its bizarre how happy i am to get up on a monday morning, slightly hungover for my short commute. maybe im happy cuz i know im only going to get better at what i do and im only going to make those around me happier.

and this book, its the best thing ive ever written. i cant even believe it. i dont care if anyone gets it or buys it or even likes it. i love it and i just want to put it on my shelf and love it.

i might make a super huge one just to put on my coffee table.

at first i made it so i could live off the profits, but when i discovered i didnt need that money i didnt make it. now its coming out because i love it. if it was my girlfriend id take it to the movies.

too bad courtneys in rehab cuz id send her one.

tsar plays wednesday at the house of blues in anaheim with the new york dolls. im getting my tickets today.

buggy doo + zulieka + lane + busblog woman of the year

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eight minutes with tony. eight cuz im in a shitty mood. its one fifty two am on sunday night, so monday really and i should be in a great mood, i got to go to my favorite street fair, i got to hang out with karisa for a little while and i heard great music and when i got home there were some messages for me including one from someone who had been to the fair earlier in the day who was drunk and soaking in her pool and wanted to know if i wanted to come over.

my life is so bizarre i wish i could tell you.

instead of going over to that dramafest i stayed at home and watched puff daddy turn the mtv video awards into the bet awards and being a gentleman of african descent i didnt mind the okie doke at all.

infact the shot of the day was snoop dogg and gwen stefani posing and profiling for the kids.

although the performance of the night, suprisingly was miss kelly clarkson who didnt hit all the right notes but showed the exhuberance of what pop music should be all about.

bu mostly i sat on my couch and steamed because of something that got under my skin a day ago that i shouldnt have even let bother me but it did. i found out something about someone that had nothing to do with me, but of course i made it about me and i know the devil is for real because he sat in my ear and said shit like she never did those things with you

you, tony pierce

she did it with someone who wouldnt even get four hits if he had a blog
someone who doesnt even know who ozzie smith is let alone have his rookie card
someone whose cd collection isnt as large as yours - so large its spread across america like fine art.

someone who isnt coming out with a new collection of poems and stories any day now.

that devil whispered so quietly in my ear that for the first day i didnt even hear him.

i woke up pissed off this morning and i didnt know why, i thought it was a new neighbor who took up after the old neighbor and went outside early sunday morning to smoke and talk on the phone as if no one could hear her, as if no one would have their window open on such a warm weekend, as if everyone wanted to hear her phone conversation early in the morn.

i just need to let go. emptiness the buddhists call it, let the water out of the pitcher and you'll be free. dont hold on to stale memories and dreams that will never come true. quit comparing yourself to whiteboys with no soul, or to fakers with no heart. people make bad decisions all the time. i make bad decisions all the time that could hurt peoples feelings but its not intentional, its what you do.

you cant eat beefaroni every day

sometimes you have to hit the road less traveled.

my times up but i have a few more things to tell myself to hold up. tony youre never going to get out of this rut unless you keep on letting new things happen and quit holding out for something from the past to catch up with you. no way. havent the teenage girls taught you anything. or the cheerleaders or the lack of weed or the lack of greed. let the winds blow and go that way. quit trying to fear the reaper.

best time you ever had while traveling was waking up going to the train station and riding the next train whereever it was going.

youre not so smart that you know the future

and the best way to kill satan is to enjoy today.

i had chicken on a stick today and it was fuckin awesome.

some pics from sunset junction + lil mija + xTx + radiohumper

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three new podcasts for your ass



raymi and i talk about her fave blogs

karisa and i (pictured) chat at Fred62 (not pictured)

jeanine and i reminisce about how i gave her lsd so i could kiss her

to subscribe (free) to my podcasts, just open your iTunes
click Podcasts (below Library)
and drag this feedburner button into the iTunes Podcast section

now everytime i make a new podcast
it will automatically show up in your iTunes

major props to Odeo + raymi + karisa, jeanine and chris

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