Home Sweet Stuff

Home Sweet Stuff
By Meredith Rivlin
There is a man in Burlington who, like many residents, bikes everywhere. But he is not like them. He is a 40-something Jamaican man whose trove of possessions is attached to his bicycle. The bike’s frame is not a fancy one, like the bikes of Burlington residents: it has three gears at most and is gray or black; I can’t remember these details because it’s not the bike itself that draws attention—heads turning, cameras flashing. It is what some consider a collection of junk, piled precariously in baskets and tied onto the frame of his bicycle, questionably secure. There must be over 100 objects, vestiges, and relics attached.
I’ve never spoken to the man—Super Birdman, I think he calls himself. But I’ve seen interactions between him and others; tourists take out their cameras to snap a picture of the foreign sight they saw in a town that turned out to be sublimely familiar. Barely speaking, Birdman waves his hands up to lenses like a celebrity (and he is!) evading the paparazzi, and says “no” to the people hiding behind their cameras. He points to a sign on the front of his bike attached to a basket, next to a fake flower bouquet, a radio, and a small, round fan, that reads “Pictures: $2”. People are baffled and displeased as they replace lens caps and wait to hear the digital “ping” of their robotic medium. They walk on to the next scene available for point-and-click-and-delete-if-necessary shooting, declining the pseudo-beggar, the one who looks least pathetic and only asks for money when about to be violated photographically. So the smug family walks on to mumble about how he should get a real job, and that it’s just not fair—they’ll have to relive this scene with that damned language, those “remember when”s, instead of scrolling through their 21st century slide show.
Birdman is like any tourist attraction here in Burlington and like the other marketed attractions, there is a price of admission. Whether or not the Birdman would explain his kitschy collection or just pose (I wonder if he would smile?), only those desperate and removed and bored enough to pay the money for a photograph know. Perhaps he buys more things, or maybe pays rent for a place where he keeps the rest of his larger treasures.
Or maybe it’s for an empty house. A bed, maybe a few plates on which to eat. The rest is attached to his bike which he rides up and downhill, on busy streets and side roads, as he pulls a fast one on American tourists who think that their possessions define them as people. What is so striking about Birdman’s collection is that it is so portable. Imagine the weight of all your belongings everywhere you go, his loaded bike demands of us. Would you need the space of a large van, or would a bike and some baskets suffice?

Injustice Anywhere

Barbara and Robin Levine-Ritterman became the first same-sex couple married in Connecticut since the state passed gay marriage

On November 4^th 2008, America won by electing Barack Obama as our president. Liberals stood with wide eyes and gaping mouths in disbelief; the youth were filled with hope and alcohol; and an African-America was judged on the content of his character, not the color of his skin. From Democrats to Republicans; activists to apathetics; atheists to crazy Christians; Indiana to Indonesia; from puppies (especially Greyhounds!) to polar bears—we all won on November 4. In California, however, it was a different story.

California. The home of Hollywood, the Redwoods, and a heady girl named Kelly. California is surely a mystical place and has certainly set the pace for American radicalism and progressive politics.

In May 2008, California became the second state to legalize same-sex marriage asserting that under its constitution, marriage limiting to only a man and a woman violated the equal protection clause. California granted a seemingly basic human right, marriage, to gays; in short, the bill allowed consenting adults to marry whom they love.

On November 4, however, that right to marry was taken away from gay Californians with the passage of Proposition 8. Joining thirty other states, California has now restricted marriage to one woman and one man. While I don't think California gays recently joined in holy matrimony will be returning their wedding gifts to Crate & Barrel anytime soon, the passage of Prop. 8 was undoubtedly a huge setback for the LGBT community.

While Prop. 8 dehumanized gay commitment, another proposition on California's ballot granted some living creatures a more humane way of life. Proposition 2, or the Standards for Confining Farm Animals, requires that calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely. In the crudest of terms, Prop. 2 insures that animals have wiggle room before they are slaughtered (and that is why I am a vegetarian).

Farm animals gain rights, people loose rights. Without a doubt, Proposition 2 is a great thing; animals deserve ethical treatment even when they are raised simply to die. But shouldn't gay men and women receive just treatment when they simply want to be legally committed?

Perhaps animal rights was more tangible and safe for the average California voter to support. Annually people donate more money to animal shelters than to women’s shelters because cats and dogs are presumed helpless. Women can leave abusive relationships and people can chose to be gay. I realize the two issues are not mutually exclusive; it is not quid pro quo. But the fact that these two propositions were side-by-side on the California ballot simply highlights the disconnect of humanity.

In the aftermath of the passage of Prop. 8, California is already rethinking the decision. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed disappointment at the measure’s passage.
“It is unfortunate, but it is not the end because I think this will go back into the courts,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said. “It’s the same as in the 1948 case when blacks and whites were not allowed to marry. This falls into the same category.”

And as Martin Luther King once said, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Please watch Keith Olbermann's powerful and eloquent condemnation of Prop. 8:

End of an Era

Forget Bush. The Obama presidency holds greater significance for the counterculture (or American Apparel fanatics as it may be).
Park Slope blogger declares: "OBAMA VICTORY RENDERS HIPSTER 'MOVEMENT' OBSOLETE—Neo-Cynicism Now Strictly For and By the Fags.'"
Urban Outfitters is selling the "hipster" lifestyle, maybe they can put a slouchy hat and suede boots on Hope, too.

I Wish I Had a River

Happy Birthday, Joni