Part 2 or 2

Rod Amis - Unbound

"STALKERS" Continues here. - Every few years some reformer gets elected and tries to slow down the palm greasing, the bribery, and the extortion from officials high and low. They throw a few people in jail. All their friends throw a party when the miscreant gets out. By the time the scapegoats have gotten out of the joint, the system has gotten itself back in place and the reformer is long forgotten.

When you consider that a goodly percentage of the businesses here are bars, it follows that a goodly percentage of the population here are bartenders or barmaids. Hmmnn ... That makes for a lot of people whose job it is to encourage people to get drunk. We know how to work the locals and how to play up to the tourists. When we find a good john, we show him some love, in our fashion. We keep him coming back and putting money in our tip jars, which means that we keep him (or her) drunk as often as we can. If they don't get drunk, we don't make rent. It's that simple.

Greg, the other day shift bartender at The Cat, jokes about the mantra of the Cynical Bartender: "I am not your bro', I am not your pal and I am not your friend - unless you're a big tipper."

Greg used to bartend at the Napoleon House in the Quarter. It does good steady business, a good mix of locals and tourists. Sometimes there are lines going out the door and around the block of people waiting to get in. (I've told you about the Napoleon House before, love. It's the place where a group of conspirators planned to house Napoleon Bonaparte after spiriting him off the island of Elba. The plot failed.) Greg got used to working the tourist trade there while pumping out drinks like a robot. It's taking him a while to get used to how little money you make at an actual neighborhood bar during the day. So we trade notes. I hip him to tourists in town who've discovered the place and how to push their buttons so they drink more and, thus, leave better tips. "These two are from [insert state] but grew up in [insert city]. They've been married [insert number of years.] He drinks [insert cocktail] but likes it like this [Insert description.] They're good for four or five drinks each if you get the husband talking about [insert topic] or steer the wife toward [insert snippet of family-related anecdote I've gleaned.] That's where your money is."

I know; it's like being a shark. But that's the only way I make rent and buy food. I'm a bartender. Mixology is easy, it's the other part of the job that takes the work.

---

9 January, 2003: THIS JUST IN
... from Arianna Huffington's 8 January column:

Our politicians have even refused to close a deeply misguided tax loophole that rewards buyers of extra large -- andextra wasteful -- SUVs with extra large tax breaks.

Think of that: at a time when our leaders should be touting the importance of reducing our dependence on foreign oil, the people being given a financial incentive to purchase a new vehicle are those buying fuel-chugging SUVs.

"I was surprised," said Karl Wizinsky, a health care consultant from Michigan who just bought a giant Ford Excursion even though he admits he doesn't really need it, "that a $32,000 credit on a $47,000 purchase was available in the first year. I mean, it is a substantial credit." Yes, it is. And it's created a substantial -- and artificial -- demand.

It's the kind of lunatic public policy that makes you want to slam on your brakes and scream out your car window: How can this kind of thing happen?

The answer is as simple as it is distressing: special interest money has once again trumped the public interest. That's why the auto industry was able to turn its back on hybrid technology for so long, and why our politicians refuse to this day to demand that the auto industry change its hydrocarbon-loving ways.

The numbers tell the story: the auto industry spent close to $37 million on lobbying in 2000. And you can bet that money wasn't spent trying to convince Congress to designate a "Windshield Wiper Appreciation Week."

... from Lionel Rolfe, the Menuhin scion who is off to Bulgaria for two weeks. (**Lionel thinks that, because we are friends, part of the purpose of my magazine is to promote everything he does. Apparently, he's never heard of the concept of quid quo pro. Meow!)

LITERARY L.A.
By Lionel Rolfe
Enlarged Third Edition
isbn 1-879395-22-3

Available online and at fine bookstores

Excerpts from Lionel Rolfe's "Literary L.A.," and music played by his mother the late pianist Yaltah Menuhin, is scheduled to air on Mona Golabek's "The Romantic Hour" Jan. 25 on K-MZT in L.A. and WQXR in New York (that's the classical music station owned by the NY Times). It will also be sent to about 80 stations across the nation. "The Romantic Hour" has a listenership of well over 5 million people.

This is the program's Web site.
http://www.wqxr.com/cgi-bin/iowa/air/article.html?record=199

Station List - The Romantic Hours

WQXR invites you to listen online every Saturday night at midnight ET to Mona Golabek's The Romantic Hours - right here at WQXR.com.

The Romantic Hours also airs on these radio stations

* AL/Dothan, 7p Mon, WRWA*, 88.7 FM T * AL/Montgomery, 7p Mon, WTSU*, 89.9 FM * AZ/Yuma, 6p Su, KAWC*, 88.9 FM and 1320 AM * CA/Los Angeles, 10p Sa, KMZT 105.1 FM * CA/San Diego 7p Sa, KFSD 1415 AM * CO/Denver/Boulder, 9p Mon-Sat, KSIR, 107.1FM * CO/Ft. Collins/Greeley, 9p Mon-Sat, KSIR, 107.1FM * CT/Hartford, 11p Sa, WCCC, 1190 AM * FL/Ft. Pierce, 10p Sa, 9p Su; WQCS* 88.9 FM * FL/Melbourne, 9p Fr, WMFE *, 90.1 FM * FL/West Palm Beach, 2p Tu, WXEL, 90.7 FM * GA/Columbus, 7p Mon, WTJB *, 91.7 FM T * HI/Haleiwa, 10p Sa, K204BB *, 88.7 FM * HI/Hilo, 10p Sa, KANO *,91.1 FM * HI/Hilo, 10p Sa, KHPR *,95.5 FM * HI/Honolulu, 10p Sa, KHPR *, 88.1 FM * HI/Kauai, 10p Sa, KHPR *, 91.1 FM T * HI/Kona, 10p Sa, KHPR *, 88,3 FM T * HI/Lahaini, 10p Sa, KHPR *, 88.3 FM T * HI/Lanai, 10p Sa, KKUA *, 90.7 FM T * HI/Maui, 10p Sa, KKUA *, 90.7 FM * HI/Molokai, 10p Sa, KKUA *, 88.5 FM * HI/Oahu, 10p Sa, KHPR *, 88.1 FM * HI/Schofield Barracks, 10p Sa, KHPR * T * IL/Chicago, 11p Su WFMT 98.7 FM * IL/Danville, 11p Su WILL * 90.9 FM T * IL/Urbana/Champaign, 11p Su, WILL * 90.9FM * IN/Indianapolis, 10:15p Fr, WFYI * 90.1 FM * IO/Cedar Rapids, 9p We, KSUI * 91.7 FM * IO/Dubuque, 9p We, KSUI * 101.1 FM T * MO/Chillicothe, 6p Su, KRNW * 83.9 FM * MO/Joplin, 5p Su, KXMS * 88.7 FM * MO/Marysville, 6p Su, KXCV * 90.5 FM * NJ/Oakhurst, 12mid Sa, WQXR 96.7 FM T * NM/Albuquerque, 10p Sa , KHFM 95.5 FM * NM/Apache Springs, 9p Su, KENW * FM T * NM/Clayton, 9p Su, KENW * FM T * NM/Conchas Dam, 9p Su, KENW * 88.3 FM T * NM/Des Moines, 9p Su, KENW * FM T * NM/Ft. Summer, 9p Su, KENW * 91.7 FM T * NM/Las Vegas, 9p Su, KENW * 107.1 AM T * NM/Maljamar, 9p Su, KMTH * 98.7 FM * NM/Montoya, 9p Su, KENW * FM T * NM/Portales, 9p Su,KENW * 89.5 FM

* NM/Quay, 9p Su, KENW * FM T * NM/Raton 9p Su, KENW * FM T * NM/Roswell, 9p Su, KENW * FM T * NM/Roy, 9p Su, KENW * FM T * NM/Ruidiso 9p Su, KENW * FM T * NM/St. Augustine, 9p Su, KENW * FM T * NM/Tucumari, 9p Su, KENW * FM T* NM/Wagon Mound, 9p Su, KENW * FM T * NY/Buffalo, 10p Fr, WNED * 94.5 FM T * NY/Jamestown, 10p Fr, WNJA * 89.7 FM T * NY/New York, 12Mid Sa, WQXR 96.3 FM * NY/Poughkeepsie, 12Mid Sa, WQXR 103.7 FM T * OH/Cleveland, 11p Sa, WCLV, 104.9 FM * OH/Columbus, 9p Sa, WOSU * 89.7 FM T * OH/Coshocton, 9p Sa, WOSE * 91.1 FM T * OH/Mansfield, 9p Sa, WOSV * 91.7 FM T * OH/Marion, 9p Sa, WOSB * 91.1 FM T * OH/ Painesville, 11:05p Th/Fr, WBKC * 1460 AM * OH/Portsmouth, 9p Sa, WOSP * 91.5 FM T * OH/Wooster, 1105p Th. and Fr., WCLV, FM T * OK/Oklahoma City, 10p Sa, KCSC * 90.1 FM T * OK/McAlester, 10p Sa, KBCW * 91.9 FM T * PA/Erie, 11a Th, and 9p, Fr, WMCE FM 88.5 FM T * PA/Johnstown, 11p Sa, WQEJ 89.7 FM T * PA/Pen Argyl, 9p Su, WWFM * 89.5 FM T * PA/Pittsburgh, 11p Sa, WQED * 89.3 FM * PA/Westchester, 4p Su, WCHE 1520 AM * TN/Kingston, 10p Sa, WKTS * 90.1 FM * TN/Nashville, tba, WFSK * 88.1FM * TX/Abilene, 10p Sa, KACU * 89.7 FM T * TX/Andrews, 9p Su, KENW * FM T * TX/Dallas/Ft. Worth, 9p We, WRR, 101.1 FM * TX/Cedar Hill, 9p We, WRR, FM T * TX/Houston/Galveston, 10p, Su.& 9p We, KRTS, 92.1 FM * TX/Lubbock, 10p Sa, KOHM *, 89.1 FM * TX/Odessa/Midland, 9p Su KENW * 88.7 FM T * Texarkana, 9p Su, KTXK * 91.5 FM * TX/Waco, 9p Tu, KWBU 107.1 FM T * WA/Leavenworth, 10p Mo, KOHO 101.1 FM * WA/Seattle, 11p Sa, KING, 98.1 FM * WI/Milwaukee/Racine, 10p Fr, WFMR, 106.9 FM

* public station T Translator

**Short translation: You OWE me, Lionel.

---

10 January, 2003: I HAVE NEVER BEEN MUCH A LOVER OF WOMEN'S HATS. I think very few women can avoid being completely swallowed up by a hat, particularly as they are designed for women. One exception is ... Sophia Loren. Her features are strong enough that she can play with the feminine hat. After all, few other women have sported a capeau so well that the image would be immortalized on a postage stamp in Somalia.

Loren has devoted a great deal of her time and resources to supporting and working for the United Nations in various ambassadorial positions, among them work for UNESCO. That latter agency's primary concern is the welfare of the world's children. In most of the countries I visited in my globe-trotting thirty years, I have seen personally the benefits of the work UNESCO is doing. I have met a number of fellow artists who have worked with and for UNESCO abroad, as well. That the United Nations and UNESCO are not as prominent in this country has everything to do with what I consider one of the problems of the American soul.

The poorest people in America, independent of race or region, are women and children. You need look no further than the Republican Party platform to figure out why. The only children rich people are concerned about are their own, that they attend the right schools and get to know the right people to enable them husband the family fortune.

Well, Yours Unruly believes that you can judge a people by how they treat their children. America eats its young, as I've said before. We have more children in poverty, without adequate health care, and with fewer legitimate hopes for the future than any industrialized nation. We invest less in education and have more teenage suicide than our international peers. The evidence is glaring and indicting.

When an American politician mouths the homily, "..for the children" you should instinctively reach for your wallet. What he or she is really saying is "I'm gonnah play on your heartstrings to fill another barrel of pork that your children will never benefit from in the least."

You need look no further than the "economic stimulus" package being recommended by the Bush administration to see who is meant to benefit in this country for decades to come. It ain't kids, my love, and it ain't working families. Right now, in America, it is an excellent time to have a last name like Vanderbilt or Morgan and a P.O. box in my mother's country, Bermuda.

---

Rollin' down Imperial Highway
Big nasty redhead at my side
Santa Ana winds blowin' hot from the north,
We were born to ride!
Roll down the windah,
Put down the top
Crank up The Beach Boys.
Baby, don't let the music stop!
We're gonnah ride it
'til we just can't ride it no more! - Randy Newman, "I Love L.A."

I was thinking today, while doing my laundry, how to leave you this week, my dearest. It's a new year and I should leave you on a high note, I decided. I'm so serious and Jeremiad sometimes.

I was disappointed with my last epistle for you. So consider this the beginning of the antidote. Picture me in my Hobbit Hole chopping potatoes and carrots tonight for another of my peasant stews. More Comfort Food to prepare me for going back behind the bar tomorrow morning, as we open at noon on Saturdays now. Victoria is playing music for me as I work. It's supposed to drop down into the 30s (Fahrenheit) here tonight, so a stew will be a good response. I am glad that Victoria is playing an upbeat Randy Newman tune, because I was sinking into another of my maudlin moods. Upbeat music is easier to work to and I need the change. This is not a night for Mahler.

I shall retire early this evening in order to escape my thoughts. Sleep is tonic. It will allow me to forget that I am spending another night alone without you. If I am fortunate, I shall not awaken at 3 a.m., as is my habit, with rambling thoughts of things I should regret...

Somewhere, I suppose, there is a romantic sixteen year old who dreams of growing up to be a writer and has just stumbled upon these words. He or she drinks down every sentence like draughts of water discovered in a desert pool. It is refreshing to find someone who actually thinks the way you do. And the young one is thinking: I'll do that one day!

If I were nearby, I'd say: "Click away from this page and run like hell. Take Accounting or Physics and do everything you can to purge yourself of your errant thinking now. The world you are visiting is passing into dust deservedly. If you want to be happy in your life, get off this road right now."

But the young one won't listen, as I did not. The bug will have already taken hold. Words will sprout and glow like St. Elmo's fire in her mind. She will pick up a pen. The damage will already have been done.

Things I Love This Week

1. That G21 was able to start 2003 with a second edition that kicks ass and takes names! Congrats to all our writers!

2. Making the rent for this month.

3. That we men get to share this planet with women.

---

Thanks for coming back this week.

"Work like you don't need the money,
"Love like you've never been hurt,
"Dance like no one is watching..."
Rod

Search www.generator21.net [ ] Our Link Partners the Web for

ROD AMIS has published this magazine since 1990. It first appeared as a hardcopy 'Zine. In March, 1996, he launched it here on the Web. Rod was a Contributing Editor at Suite101.com, where he wrote the " 'Net Publishing" feature. His work has been featured in the San Francisco Bay Guardian Online, NRV8, and at WebLab's Reality Check site. Rod was also a contributing writer on technology for Faulkner Information Services. He wrote on Web issues for MethodFive.com's Hyper newsletter.

Rod was a columnist for the Andover News Network, where he wrote over two hundred articles on web design and development issues. He was also principal writer and Editor for IT Manager's Journal, where he reviewed technology issues weekly, producing 383 editorials. He became the Managing Editor for Electronic Mail/Newsletter Publications at Andover.net at the end of February, 2000, and left in September of the same year. He was a contributing writer for ACCESS magazine, which appeared both on- and offline for 10 million readers in 100 newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle, New York Post, Boston Herald, Austin American-Statesman, Denver Post and Orlando Sentinel, among others. Rod was the US reporter for Silicon.com, a division of Network Multimedia Television in London, UK, reaching 3.5 million European readers, until May, 2001.

This year he worked as Assistant to the General Manager of a Big Easy company that does restaurants and nightclubs. (Think: The Boy.) Oh yeah, Rod's had Day Jobs working construction. Mostly renovations of old New Orleans structures, houses and a bar. Sometimes he designs Web sites for other people so that he can get his creative juices flowing the way he can't at a staid publication like this one. And he's been the instructor in Editing for Internet Publications at the Novi Sad School of Journalism in Yugoslavia. Right now our Resident Philosopher has joined the pantheon of New Orleans bartenders and still doesn't know when he'll have a "permanent residence" that he likes.. In his spare time, he chases women in the manner that a fly pursues a spider.

Rod lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. This town is eroding his normal sense of driven purpose. He wants to live somewhere civilized when he grows up. Wish him Luck.

He continues to be committed to integrity, chastity and a dose of humility.

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