"If she moves her eyes and opens her mouth just a little, the world she's trying to refuse will rush into her instantly..."
- Yukio Mishima (The Temple Of The Golden Pavilion, 1956)
The first historical example of free speech was in 200,000,000 B.C. which was documented on a Sumerian cuniform tablet unearthed during a Huntsville, Alabama Easter Egg hunt in 1978 by a child who unfortunately damaged the document by trying to eat the relic thinking it was a peanut butter chocolate egg. [Citation needed, some critics claim that the petrified fragment was actually a boiled Easter egg that was left in the field from the previous egg hunt in 1977]
The ancient excerpt, which an internet expert (who declines to identify himself) says is part of the first volume of the Lost Gospel of Murgatroyd, relates that the great King Nubilecanazzer McDougal the Glorious One, had just sentenced a peasant to several days of torture for unauthorized viewing of the Queen's royal buns (everyone just wore jewelery and yoga pants in those days) and the wag replied that said offense was impossible because the blinding light from such a shiny glutus blinded his wretched eyes.
This clever paradigm of free speech lasted about two minutes before the Monarch ordered a guard to cut the trailblazer's head off. The King's proclamation specified that any remarks the head might make while on display in the parking lot of the local supercenter were not subject to the King's approval. This was the first known example of protected speech as a matter of law.
...further evolution of free speech...
Internet scholar and Shitzu U Professor IvyDog noted that ancient tribes living in what is now the city of Chicago determined that it was probably better that any last words be spoken before execution, and to allow wide latitude over the subject matter, since any smartass remarks would be punished in the afterlife by the God's in a galaxy far away.
There's always been free speech. The question was how long the speaker would live afterwards, or if the point was worth the calories necessary to move the mouth muscles to form the words.
The Founding Fathers who created the U.S. Constitution kept the matter purely in the legal sphere, if for no other reason that it's virtually impossible to prevent societal suppression which ranges from angry mobs, gatekeepers, cancel culture, commissar types, or anyone offended enough to beat the crap out of the speaker.
Think in terms of adolescent behavior and you'll get the picture. In the words of the great German theorist and war monger, Santaclausewitz Dill, "War is just a continuation of high school scheisse."
...the First Amendment...
The savvy Internet user knows the First Amendment was created to allow people to insult each other and express banalities that no one wants to hear in the hope that something profound or relevant might be expressed, though decades of web activity indicates that it's a long shot.
Indeed, free speech needs to be nurtured and protected, unlike butt kissing, compliments, flattery, arguing about football, lying on dating site profiles, deceptive sales pitches and claims of superhuman sexual prowess or spiritual divinity (particularly in the music industry) which historically have met with enthusiasm and acceptance.
The thing about the concept of free speech is that the letter of the law states that it's an absolute, but like the Gospel or the process of scientific discovery, mankind has added the innovation of the "spirit of the law" concept which allows such pure ideals to be riddled with loopholes, exceptions, abuse, and of course, anything that expedites the process of squeezing every last dollar from people.
In other words, you can say wherever you want, but you'll be punished for it by every legal and extralegal means possible. A person can publish a controversial book, for example, but others may ban it, burn it, give it an insulting one star review or heaven forbid, not buy it. Married couples and families say things to each other that would normally require trauma counselors in the public arena.
...just sayin'...
Actually, just talking will get you into trouble these days, particularly on the Internet which guarantees the right to punish free speech. American jurisprudence recognizes this and the Fifth Amendment protects the right to clam up and not say anything that might incriminate them.
It goes without saying that it also means that others will assume guilt, put words in the uncooperative poltroon's mouth, concoct outrageous theories to explain the silence, and relentlessly try to badger and intimidate them into speaking, and that's just sports talk radio and cable news; it gets even tougher in the real world.
Silence is often considered a sign of submission but if that was all there was to it, then despots wouldn't need secret police and informants. No fascist is truly happy until they control what's going on inside people's heads.
...a penny for your thoughts...
Suppressing free speech is generally about thought control, or as George Orwell put it in his essay, The Prevention Of Literature, "Even a single taboo can have an all-round crippling effect upon the mind, because there is always the danger that any thought which is freely followed up may lead to the forbidden thought."
Although the most common examples are religious or political; suppression of free speech and thought is also present in the social or artistic spheres. The desire to create unity or agreement often degenerates into conformity, coercion, peer pressure, and expensive vinyl record box sets.
Whether this or that group eats it's own or turns into a snake pit is irrelevant to most people (if they're consenting adults) but it's a issue for an artist doing a noncommissioned work. There's always a conflict between integrity and compromise.
Political oppression is or isn't a factor depending on what country you're talking about. In the U.S. an artist can get away with almost anything in the political sphere (in their melancholy search for controversy). Pressure generally comes from society or peers which can result in being shunned or a tendency to self-censor.
...perception...
That's as far as I'd go in commenting on the political aspect as, particularly in regards to the Internet, because the further one goes into the subject, the more it becomes about perception and context.
It's the same with maintaining artistic integrity in the face of market forces. The line between that pressure and the artist's ability to produce salable art can get pretty blurry. An artist can create a work that glorifies or advocates commiting a crime or socially unacceptable act, but any resulting controversy can't necessarily be characterized as an attack on free speech if the aim was to get people to fork over the cash.
A classic attack on free speech uses tactics or measures to prevent it in the first place. Once the idea is openly expressed any oppressor is half-beaten. That's why totalitarian forces use secret police and informants. They don't worry much about the public acts of defiance. As John Lennon once said, they know how to deal with open violence. The ideal solution is to ensure no one discusses freedom in private, where most revolutions are born.
In the artistic sphere, that means compelling artists to self-censor. Orwell describes the result as, "If he is forced to do so, the only result is his creative faculties will dry up."
...freedom of thought...
The underlying issue is freedom of thought. To quote Orwell again, "Freedom of the intellect means the freedom to report what one has seen, heard, and felt, and not be obliged to fabricate imaginary facts and feelings." [Note: Modern writers understand that exceptions include political speeches, rock star biographies, cable news, health food claims, and legitimate attempts to ruin someone's life by spreading vicious gossip on the Internet]
Intellectual or artistic freedom is very much about nuance and context, which are products of an artist's perception or intent and the details most often attacked in a controversial work of art.
...Temple Of The Golden Pavilion...
One good example is Yukio Mishima's "Temple Of The Golden Pavilion," which was based on a true incident that shocked Japan in the 50s. It's not so much an example of free thought as the product of it.
The novel is about a young Monk who inexplicably sets a fire that destroys the famous Kinkaku-ji temple, aka The Golden Pavilion in Kyoto in 1950. On the surface it appears to be a senseless act and the young Monk gives no explanation at first. His motive eventually comes out in interviews with the police, and Mishima researched the reportage and even talked with the young man in prison before writing the book.
The book is considered one of Mishima's finest, and is well documented on the web, so those who want to know all the details can research it using their favorite search engine.
What's remarkable is that Mishima wrote the book entirely from the point of view of the young Monk, a true dispassionate account. As I've said in the past, that can be a rare kind of book. Particularly in the Internet era, that kind of nuance can be construed as sympathy or even tacit approval of a behavior or point of view.
Also, Mishima was a person who would have been controversial right now; a militant right wing Nationalist who wasn't "politically reliable" due to his artistic side, and thus found himself at various times criticized and attacked by both sides of the political spectrum.
...the temple...
Mishima writes long descriptive passages about the temple in the book, which makes sense as it became the young Monk's obsession, but he mixes in thoughts, commentary about the war (WW2), various interactions, and what can seem like off the wall details that subtly add more depth to the narrative. It's an early example of that Japanese form called an "essay novel," which combines historical narrative with story details so that by the end, you've have the backstory but also a feel for the Monk's personality.
The young arsonist in real life was a schizophrenic, but Mishima doesn't use that label or include medical details about that mental illness. Explaining the technical details in the narrative is something a modern writer might do, but here it's all about what's going on inside the character's head.
That's a subtle distinction but an important one. The young accolyte obsesses on details that most would consider petty or strange, and the author follows those trains of thought and behavior, making no attempt to rationalize any of it or offer any explanation. It takes discipline and a willingness to trust the reader and to resist the temptation to explain or judge to avoid having people think that it's really the writer's thoughts or to showcase how thorough the research was.
...the nurse...
One central incident is the Monk's hatred for a young nurse he hardly knows, and the conviction that his will caused her later death. In actual fact, there was virtually no connection, but in his mind, there was an obsessively detailed narrative that's more chilling than any clinical description a psychiatrist or expert could give.
In other words, an author can explain that this or that obsession is dangerous or venal, or a movie can show the emotion or violence, but not the kind of insight one can get from seeing the actual thought process or inner dialogue.
Mishima understood one aspect of obsession, which was every detail has the same weight or effect. One very small encounter with the nurse turned into a significant incident that became part of the narrative of the imagined relationship. Later on, though he was only a distant observer of her death, it felt as personal as if he'd done the deed himself.
Mishima wrote this book in an era where there was less incentive to make it more marketable by sensationalizing the weird details, so the build up towards the final obsession that compelled an act of arson on a national treasure has a twisted and detailed logic. It was the culimation of a lifetime of perceived slights and injustices.
...reads like poetry...
Another aspect of Mishima's style was that many of the passages are poetic, at least in the Japanese sense of the word. There's lots of interesting imagery, described in a spare, zen-like style, and digressions that fans of Marcel Proust or James Joyce would be familiar with.
The Temple Of The Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima was one of the best psychological novels of it's time and is still highly regarded now. The passages that combine stream of consciousness, historical events, and action are worth reading by anyone who studies the art of writing.
Mishima was a man who blew hot and cold and his own life was a series of spectacular successes and failures, but he could put that all aside and put himself into the mind of another and tell that monk's story. Perhaps that was possible because he saw something of himself in the extremes of that young man's personality, but the compelling story that resulted showed that above all else, Mishima was an artist.
That's probably why, as Orwell would have said, he was politically unreliable, but that's also why the art he created was so great.
...March update on The Quitters...
I'm well into the third month of "The Quitters" and while it's had it's ups and downs, it's been a great experience. I enjoy writing, so how could it not be?
The Amazon bonus system on Vella was a pleasant surprise. I'd keep writing even the readership was nonexistent, but it's still nice that the book is generating income on top of the royalties.
The promo has evolved from pics to music videos/book trailers. I have a sizable amount of instrumental music on the Electric Fog Factory YouTube site so these videos combine my two main projects. It's quadrupled the traffic to the music site so it's working out well.
Those who've seen the video have noticed that the music is eclectic and that the "theme song" that's played during the last part where the book info is shown sounds more New Wave or Alternative. Which is sort of true, but the cut, "Rug Becomes Sky" is very much in the mold of one of the legendary First Wave bands, Television.
Music Video Book Trailers one and two for "The Quitters" by Al Handa, a Serial Novel on Kindle Vella. Both 1&2 now on YouTube!
Features 60s rock, #EDM #Dub, rockabilly, psychedelic, acid jazz and #punk music from DJ Boogie Underground, Mark McGraw and Handa-McGraw International on YouTube.
...punk in 1977...
Punk in 1977 was diverse, and hadn't narrowed into the hardcore image that many have of it today. In fact, it was so varied that even Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers were initially identified as a punk band. In other words, it was difficult to put a label on it, though the press focused on the Sex Pistols and the leather crowd.
But, it was all good. Some of my favorite bands of all time came out of that first wave, like Television (and the solo work of Tom Verlaine), XTC, Wire, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Clash, Buzzcocks, Chris Spedding, Siouxie, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Nick Lowe, Blondie, Patti Smith, and Talking Heads. Add in the ones I didn't name and you have a wide variety of styles and sounds.
...coming in April...
April will be a big month for the book, as the exposition phase is almost done, so I can move the various story arcs into meatier subjects like music industry corruption, payola, rock press, myth making and good old boy sexism. That's an important point as myth often becomes popular history.
The time period of this book encompasses the early days of feminism and the sexism females experienced in the music world (which was nothing new). The punk mythos was that more female bands and stars emerged than in rock, which was true, though nowhere near the number Top-40 produced.
Most of the opportunities for females in the music industry were in classical, popular or Top-40. It doesn't need to be argued that rock and roll was a boy's club. Just look at the existing documentation and music charts. The small number of exceptions only make it more obvious.
...women and opportunity...
Women did find more opportunity in the early punk movement, and if able to find their own sound and move past the hardcore punk genre, found great success in the more mainstream categories like New Wave, power pop, alternative, etc, particularly with the rise of MTV which helped them bypass the normal channels in the industry.
Feminism in the 70s was just past the "bra burning" stage and still finding it's way. Even liberal males resisted the movement though perhaps willing to pay lip service to the concept of equality. There were exceptions but none that showed that sexism didn't exist. My book won't be a definitive look at the movement, which is better documented elsewhere, but it was a factor so it's addressed in the book.
It was never my intent to write another fluff tale (like the Buddy Holly Story movie) so the episodes coming in April should make for interesting reading and on my end, enjoyable and rewarding to write.
Chapter Overview With Samples:
With eight chapters live, those who've read the book can see that the various plot and character arcs are starting to really develop. The first three chapters, which describes an audition gig in real time, has bits and pieces along with the action passages that begin to flesh out the personalities involved.
As you can tell from the chapter titles, this isn't going to be a mythological bad boy punk story where everyone wears ripped t-shirts. If for no other reason, SF Punk wasn't like the press photos and canned interviews. There was a definite intellectual or anti-intellectual atmosphere in the scene, and plenty of tongue-in-cheek talk. There's a definite strain of black humor (and slapstick) in the proceedings. You really had to have a sense of humor in that scene.
Also, how Nym's personality and musical skill develops is important later when the scene shifts to Southern California, with it's considerably larger and more diverse music scene.
Chapter 3 and 4 are a break from the fast paced action, and gives the reader a glimpse of Nym's world, of the motivations and aspirations, introduces a new character, and creates a more complex picture of Jesus Guy, who comes off a really weird dude in the earlier chapters.
The idea is to give the free chapters more substance, and insert a new one that I was going to write later, but decided needed to be earlier in the story. Most readers who visit Vella will get 200 free tokens, so the changes don't affect my chapter plan. That many tokens will get you through most of the book.
The new Chapter 3 will follow Nym after the gig. This will give the reader more insight into Nym's personality. This new chapter will be live around Feb. 17th or sooner if it's completed before then.
Chapters 5 and 6 pick up the pace, though each features more character development. Both Ross and Stew show flamboyant public personas which turn out to be more interesting and detailed in Chapter 8.
Chapter 7 focuses on Marly, the promoter who's infamous for his tough comedy routine to clear the Club before closing. As you go deeper into the book, it'll become obvious that a large part of the Punk scene is part of his long range plan that mostly succeeds, but also has the seeds of future discord and division.
Chapter 8 is a personal favorite (along with 4 and 6), as it gives me a chance to put many of the characters in one place and able to talk casually. There's a hint of future controversy that'll create a lot of turmoil in the later chapters.
The chapter 9 excerpt is from an episode that isn't completed yet, but Nym's personality is fleshed out further, both in inner dialogue and as seen by a couple of other characters.
...Chapter Excerpts...
Chapter 4: Nym’s Cool World
"It's a crisp August evening in the sin section of Broadway Street. The summer crowds are gone, and the sound of cars and busses are replaced by the shrill, desperate pitches of strip joint barkers now fishing in depleted waters.
Night is the best time, there's less detail, and the world’s simpler. It's easier to be me, enjoying the feeling of knowing I’m coming back to play again.
I’m skipping the third band, and just workin' on my Punk 'tude outside the pinball parlor next door. I'm puffing on a French cig, which adds cool and helps me resist the rich smell of Phillipino food from the restaurant section of the club. My macaroni and cheese dinner with a coke chaser is starting to wear off."
Chapter 5: The Negatives: A Punk Action Movie In Real Life
"The crowd’s colliding like bumper cars, so Ross jumps and twists in the air, giving the tourists a picture of wild, chaotic energy.
It's like a modern art painting in motion! The Negatives' show has something for everyone!
I'll have to ask Ross how he manages to get so much of his tongue hanging out like that. Whenever I try, I start gagging.
The fourth song, "Planet Toe Jam" is slower, which cools down the slam dancing. They want the crowd to just stand there, which sets up what's coming next. Plus in a longer set, it helps to have a romantic number so people can slow dance if they want to."
Chapter 6: Herman Hesse's Glass Bead Game - The Punk Version
"I gotta say he looks the part of a great artist; a big burly skinhead type who named his band after a Hermann Hesse novel. He says names like "Steely Dan" from Burroughs' "Naked Lunch," are too New York for his taste. Besides, being named after a dildo is so 60s!
I took Ida to see his show last month, and after she calmed down and agreed to not press charges, described the act as "Butt Love horseplay masquerading as performance art. It's definitely not entertainment."
I told Stew what she said, and he had the comment added to the group's press kit and asked me to thank her for the great review!"
Chapter 7: Marly Tells A Punk Bedtime Story
"Marly cuts the horn, then freezes like a brave knight who's just slain a dragon, which seems odd until I realize that some tourists are taking pictures.
I subtly turn so my left side faces the cameras and pout at the ceiling. I take the goolie out of my mouth and hold it with two fingers near my chin, so the smoke curls near my face. Keeping it in your mouth makes you look like a puppy chewing on a biscuit, not very punk."
Chapter 8: Celebration At The Pup Chuck Wagon 24 Hour Hot Dog Diner
"There's no better place for a rising star to bask in new found glory than Pup Chuck Wagon, the 24 hour hot dog diner, a haven for San Franciscans who have more coolness than cash. Cheap food and everything you sit or eat on is washable!
I can afford a mustard dog, small fries and coffee if I use my bus money. It's only a half hour walk home and this night of achievement calls for a feast!"
Chapter 9: Nym's Walk Home
"How did you know I spent my bus fare?"
Jesus guy sighs, "You passed a bus stop on Stockton without stopping, I'd have given you the fare but Phil came, so I just took the next bus."
"You assumed Phil would give me fare money?"
"I ordained it, it's what I do child, besides, I can't go giving you cash every time you go broke, my wallet would be so light it'd float me back into Heaven and I'd have to do the Resurrection all over again."
The Al & Ivy Homeless Literary Journal Archive:
Cover Reveal For Hide In Plain Sight
This is the cover for the upcoming book, Hide In Plain Sight, hopefully out sometime in 2022.
The American Primitive Acoustic Collection by Handa-McGraw International can be streamed on all of the major services, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and dozens of others. Note: only available on YouTube until April 21st
The Music Of Handa-McGraw International can also be heard on the Electric Fog Factory on YouTube. You can hear the album, and dozens of unreleased cuts and demos, plus exclusive video of Ivy.
