Click...click...click...
Again my freakish timing holds, and along with Grader and Heather, I am able to be a part of the Live 8 movement. I'm not really sure why Philadelphia is one of the cities, I think that it maybe had a Live Aid concert as well, but it has certainly worked out well.
The stage was on the steps leading to the Museum of Art, which you will all know from Rocky, and meant that the crowd could fill in the avenue right back to the Town Hall. Some reports say that a million people were there, others 200,000 in any case a shitload and probably the biggest crowd I've ever been in - beating Time's Square for New Years 2002. Heather coped admirably seeing she doesn't really like crowds. And we had no troubles with traffic and parking somehow fluking everything making the whole trip about as smooth as you could imagine - well until we got to the site.
Apparently in America a blanket placed on the ground holds the same legal property rights as a fenced off plot of land. It was one of the craziest things that and none of us could really believe these people who had got there early, set up huge picnic areas right near the front - some even having charcoal barbeques going- and who then were getting really really angry when the other few hundred thousand people tried to enjoy the experience.
At first, me the naive little kiwi boy just went strolling through and was shocked at the reaction engendered. One particular guy who the term red neck hardly covers it started going on about his Grandma who had made the blanket - "so why would you bring it to something like this, what is this a music festival or a fucking picnic?" and then called me a hippy, I think it was the hair good thing he didn't see Grader's pink shirt. You have to wonder what he was expecting really with it only being about the most left wing event since the anti-war marches. This was a common thought that only grew through the day.
The hopelessness of the idea of convincing the general American population that there is something bigger out there was amply proven by the three ample black girls next to us. I don't think I have ever witnessed such selfish behaviour amplified all the more by the nature of the event we were at. Actions include grabbing the 'One' campaign beach balls thrown out for everyone's entertainment and deflating them so they could sit their fat asses down. The worst was yet to come when three cops suddenly came through the crowd from the direction of the medical tent clearing a path for the stretcher carrying team of medics following. The importance of this didn't seem to register with these girls who were just about to get a deserved knightstick to the head before they loudly moved.
One of the coolest things ever was right at the start when Will Smith kicked off a round the world shout out getting Philly to shout howdy to London to say good afternoon to Paris to say Bonjour to Rome and on to Berlin, Moscow, Ontario and back to us. The global community is fucking cool! A bit later they re-established the connection and after being told about the sobering fact that one child needlessly dies every three seconds all the venues followed the lead of a video clicking our fingers every three seconds.
We got to see some pretty good bands, nothing compared to London which had the mother of all line-ups. But those to come to the party included Kaiser Chiefs (who? who? who?) to kick it off which they did well. Black Eyed Peas followed by Bon Jovi - booyah!!! Destiny's Child, Kanye West, rubbish, rubbish, rubbish, Dave Matthews aaaarrrrgggh, Def Leppard!!!!! Alicia Keys for confusingly only one song, Linkin Park which song are they doing they all sound the same joined by Jay Z why are you giving these little dicks credibility. And then it was too tortuous to wait around for Stevie Wonder so we left.
I may seem pretty down on America in this post and I apologise to all of those who I know are out there who do see some of these issues and feel the same. It kind of seems that those people I meet are cool and know what's going on and the rest are happy to kill in ignorance, so I guess I also apologise to those who I'm about to meet in the next few weeks :)
It was unbelievable the reaction of the crowd when they were being told about the reasons behind the whole event. It was as if they just thought it was some free concert for their benefit. So many people around us had brought enough food to pretty much consume non stop for the entire day, and continued doing so even while being told that their lifestyle, which seems to be considered some God given right, is directly causing millions and millions to suffer. It became clear that the most dangerous thing in the world is the American Dream. I can't remember where I heard it but 'your average American doesn't want restrictions put on the rich because they don't want them to be there when they get rich themselves.'
I can also understand why Americans struggle to see why they should be sending aid overseas when there is so much poverty at home. This became especially evident on the day itself travelling through Philly with huge areas so derelict they were one step from falling down. I can only imagine the hopelessness those living there must feel. But surely a country as full of resources as America should be able to take care of these things and so you look around to see where some solutions could be found and it's hard to look past the size of that defense budget. The country doesn't have a health system, as Grader found out last week, and even cheap health insurance is $200 a month! Land of the free indeed.
The stage was on the steps leading to the Museum of Art, which you will all know from Rocky, and meant that the crowd could fill in the avenue right back to the Town Hall. Some reports say that a million people were there, others 200,000 in any case a shitload and probably the biggest crowd I've ever been in - beating Time's Square for New Years 2002. Heather coped admirably seeing she doesn't really like crowds. And we had no troubles with traffic and parking somehow fluking everything making the whole trip about as smooth as you could imagine - well until we got to the site.
Apparently in America a blanket placed on the ground holds the same legal property rights as a fenced off plot of land. It was one of the craziest things that and none of us could really believe these people who had got there early, set up huge picnic areas right near the front - some even having charcoal barbeques going- and who then were getting really really angry when the other few hundred thousand people tried to enjoy the experience.
At first, me the naive little kiwi boy just went strolling through and was shocked at the reaction engendered. One particular guy who the term red neck hardly covers it started going on about his Grandma who had made the blanket - "so why would you bring it to something like this, what is this a music festival or a fucking picnic?" and then called me a hippy, I think it was the hair good thing he didn't see Grader's pink shirt. You have to wonder what he was expecting really with it only being about the most left wing event since the anti-war marches. This was a common thought that only grew through the day.
The hopelessness of the idea of convincing the general American population that there is something bigger out there was amply proven by the three ample black girls next to us. I don't think I have ever witnessed such selfish behaviour amplified all the more by the nature of the event we were at. Actions include grabbing the 'One' campaign beach balls thrown out for everyone's entertainment and deflating them so they could sit their fat asses down. The worst was yet to come when three cops suddenly came through the crowd from the direction of the medical tent clearing a path for the stretcher carrying team of medics following. The importance of this didn't seem to register with these girls who were just about to get a deserved knightstick to the head before they loudly moved.
One of the coolest things ever was right at the start when Will Smith kicked off a round the world shout out getting Philly to shout howdy to London to say good afternoon to Paris to say Bonjour to Rome and on to Berlin, Moscow, Ontario and back to us. The global community is fucking cool! A bit later they re-established the connection and after being told about the sobering fact that one child needlessly dies every three seconds all the venues followed the lead of a video clicking our fingers every three seconds.
We got to see some pretty good bands, nothing compared to London which had the mother of all line-ups. But those to come to the party included Kaiser Chiefs (who? who? who?) to kick it off which they did well. Black Eyed Peas followed by Bon Jovi - booyah!!! Destiny's Child, Kanye West, rubbish, rubbish, rubbish, Dave Matthews aaaarrrrgggh, Def Leppard!!!!! Alicia Keys for confusingly only one song, Linkin Park which song are they doing they all sound the same joined by Jay Z why are you giving these little dicks credibility. And then it was too tortuous to wait around for Stevie Wonder so we left.
I may seem pretty down on America in this post and I apologise to all of those who I know are out there who do see some of these issues and feel the same. It kind of seems that those people I meet are cool and know what's going on and the rest are happy to kill in ignorance, so I guess I also apologise to those who I'm about to meet in the next few weeks :)
It was unbelievable the reaction of the crowd when they were being told about the reasons behind the whole event. It was as if they just thought it was some free concert for their benefit. So many people around us had brought enough food to pretty much consume non stop for the entire day, and continued doing so even while being told that their lifestyle, which seems to be considered some God given right, is directly causing millions and millions to suffer. It became clear that the most dangerous thing in the world is the American Dream. I can't remember where I heard it but 'your average American doesn't want restrictions put on the rich because they don't want them to be there when they get rich themselves.'
I can also understand why Americans struggle to see why they should be sending aid overseas when there is so much poverty at home. This became especially evident on the day itself travelling through Philly with huge areas so derelict they were one step from falling down. I can only imagine the hopelessness those living there must feel. But surely a country as full of resources as America should be able to take care of these things and so you look around to see where some solutions could be found and it's hard to look past the size of that defense budget. The country doesn't have a health system, as Grader found out last week, and even cheap health insurance is $200 a month! Land of the free indeed.
2 Comments:
Tom, it almost sounds as if you're experiencing righteous anger on behalf of the world! Can this be the same Tom who didn't want to sign up for $10/month a few years ago to help the poor.... getting angry at Americans for there opulent lifestyles, writing about poor people like you really care, getting all long haired, left wing hippy like on us! It just doesn't seem right! Give me some old fashioned cynicism so I know where I stand, all this genuine passion and emotion is too hard to deal with! Give me some more of that ‘I want more money so I can buy more stuff and be cool’ attitude. I don’t know you any more Tom.
It's unfortunate but it feels like the cool river of truth and justice has washed away the sediment of lies and self interest that supported my rock of understanding. Now I'm left at the mercy of the current.
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