by Steed Dropout
April 26, 2016
WAVY AT EIGHTY
A joint with Jesus. Photo by Ted Friedman.Funky Nixons were smoking a joint with Jesus.*
Continue reading “Decline of Hip” »
by Steed Dropout
April 21, 2016
Stephanie Nicolle Garcia, right, surviving. Photo by Ted Friedman.As U.C. Berkeley belatedly curtails sexual harassment, with forced resignations, firings, and other sanctions, the radical group, “By Any Means Necessary, (BAMN)” could claim a victory, of sorts.
And BAMN claimed such a victory to me, this week in Sproul Plaza, where I ran into one its most effective spokespersons, Stephanie Nicole Garcia at the BAMN table.
Continue reading “Sexually Harassed by Cal Clowns” »
by Steed Dropout
April, 14, 2016
New sign blows smoke. Photo by Ted Friedman.Cody’s Books is sort-of-back, after a nearly twenty year Rip-Van-Winkle.
Cody’s Books, deceased 2008, has stood empty ever since–a big chunk of a blighted block at Telegraph/Haste. With nearby Moe’s Books, and the Caffe Mediterraneum, Cody’s formed an historic triangle harking back to Berkeley in the fifties.
The Bally-hooed book and author-talks center could re-open (softly) by week’s end, as a used books and records store.
Whether the opening is timely depends on what the Cody Building owner Ken Sarachan’s staff call’s ‘Ken time,’ a timing system of starts,stops, and reversals. “I can do something Ken wanted only to have him change it,” says a staffer.
Continue reading “Cody’s Books Mad Comeback” »
By Steed Dropout
April 9, 2016
Former Berkeley Art Museum. Photo by Ted Friedman.Let’s say you’re Southside, seeking restrooms. Yelp is no help.
We have held off our restroom recommendations for decades, not wanting to cause a stampede at our favorite piss destination.
Continue reading “Guide for the Pooplexed” »
by Steed Dropout
April 3, 2016
Trump’s Tower, by Ed Monroe.America’s romance with assholes begins in the Bible (Cain) and ends with Donald Trump (Cain’s Kin).
Trump also owes Charlie Sheen, Dabney Coleman, Hulk Hogan, and Jack Nicholson, actors who burnished the asshole persona.
Novelist John Barth noted, a half-century ago, that it was impossible to depict a villain in the age of the anti-hero.
The lives of scores of actors and politicians have proven Barth right. (Yearly books on Hitler and John Wilkes Booth are in the hundreds). Now comes Trump, an anti-hero to end all anti-heroes.
Continue reading “America’s Asshole, Trump: a Literary Analysis” »
