CJ: I agree that
the last few chapters are kind of a let down after Frank's exploits of early
years, but I imagine we felt just a little of his emotions while reading these
chapters. He was fighting a system that is built on years of tyranny &
nepotism.
FM: In “Porn Wars,” he gives us a good
accounting of the events that led to his appearance before Congress to battle
the PMRC (Parents’ Music Resource Center) and their quest to censor
questionable lyrics in music released to the general public. This eventually led to the stickers we see on
new recordings which indicate that the content is unsuitable for young
audiences. The PMRC was a group of
several wives of Congressmen (including Al Gore’s wife, Tipper Gore) who
decided to use the influence they had through their husbands to fuel their
crusade. Tipper had bought her daughter
a copy of Purple Rain and was shocked at some of the content. The song “Darling Nikki,” on this album by Prince,
was the initial catalyst for this entire witch-hunt.
CJ: The description
of how fundamentalism has come to control our nation is a sad testimony. In
reality we're not much different than that original group of Puritans who
sought to have only their religion honored in this country. In "Porn
Wars" Frank discusses how "things certain Christians don't like"
become law. It doesn't matter how much evidence is presented or how common
sense should play into purchasing music for your child, if the powerful in
Washington decide to make a law, we just have to live with it.
FM: Zappa, regarding Prince’s part in this
whole struggle asks, “Where was he
throughout all this? He went apes**t and
sued some spaghetti company for calling their product ‘Prince,’ but remained
curiously silent during the recording-ratings stuff. None of the artists who made it onto the list
which became known as The PMRC’s Filthy
Fifteen had anything in their lyrics even close to the stuff in my catalog,
and yet, for some reason, I was never accused of being a ‘violator.’”
CJ: The rest of
the Porn Wars chapter was intriguing from a political standpoint. He touches on
the unseen power of the rich and powerful with the "Radio Blacklist"
report who seemed to vanish off the face of the earth and the retraction of his
offer from Peabody Conservatory. I've recently seen rumblings of PBS dropping
investigative shows because of Koch influence. Censorship is still alive &
well in the old USA.
FM: “I know you’ve
heard it all before, but, one more time, folks:
The U.S. Constitution specifies that the church and state be kept
separate.” Yes, this was written before
the advent of presidents and Congressmen and -women who have done all they can
to trivialize the Constitution; and no, the wording in the Constitution doesn’t
really get all that specific on the subject.
(The phrase “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion” doesn’t quite pack the same semantic punch as Thomas Jefferson’s “separation
of church and state.”) And this was also
written shortly after Reagan’s controversial presidency and with a decidedly
anti-Reagan viewpoint. Like the rest of
us, Mr. Zappa had no way of knowing how much worse it would get!
CJ: The chapter
"Church & State" makes me kind of sad. As a Christian, I daily
fight what Frank describes in this chapter. A few idiots is who the general
public sees portraying Christ. Hello - that guy who contacted him privately was
probably the only person in this chapter who even has a clue. No wonder folks
are running from the church! Frank had it right (I think like Jesus intended)
when he said "Anybody who wants religion is welcome to it, as far as I'm
concerned--I support your right to enjoy it. However, I would appreciate it if
you exhibited more respect for the rights of those people who do not wish to
share your dogma, rapture or necrodestination."
FM: Zappa makes a
special effort to debunk the idea that the “media” has a “liberal” slant. “Suppose a … frothing ‘liberal’ … tried to sneak some form of ‘bias’ into a story, do we think he’d last a week? Get serious.
Frothing right wing extremists are, however, prominently displayed and
in plentiful supply on CNN.” One has to
wonder if he still feels that way today.
The title of this chapter is “Practical Conservatism” and he calls
himself a Practical Conservative. This
may be largely a reaction – widespread at the time – against the “threat of
Communism.” He says, “Mr. Gorbachev has
apparently stumbled onto one of the best-kept secrets in recent Soviet
history: Communism doesn’t work. It’s
against a basic law of nature: “PEOPLE
WANT TO OWN STUFF.” And, “In every language, the first word after
“Mama!” that every kid learns to say
is “Mine!” A system that doesn’t allow ownership, that
doesn’t allow you to say “Mine!”
when you grow up, has – to put it mildly – a fatal design flaw.” Thanks, Mr. Zappa! Thomas Jefferson couldn’t have said it
better!
CJ: I found
Frank's outlook on religion right in line with mine, although our beliefs are
on opposite ends of the spectrum. He was dead on with the statement "How a
person worships is a private matter, and should not be INFLICTED UPON or
EXPLOITED BY others." He continues on about "bad facts" making
"bad laws". Fear and ignorance will the death of us all. Chapter 17 Practical Conservatism is a
synopsis of why capitalism (and communism) doesn't work. As long as there are
humans there will be greed. Chapter 18, Failure, made me wonder...did
Frank come up with idea for the 3-D printer & Itunes? He never used either
of those words and I'm not sure on dates, but this book may have been penned
before either of those existed for the public. If those were his ideas, it just
proves what he discussed in the previous chapters about the power of those in
high places. The text of this
autobiography can be summed up in Frank's statement about stupidity. He spent
his life trying to point out stupidity in our society and was basically told to
behave or answered with "yes, we know, isn't it great?" I thought
Frank would have made a great president back in the PRMC days. I wish he was
still around, I'd write him in!
Week 1: Chapters 1-7
Week 3: Chapters 15-19
Week 4: Chapters 20-31
Barbara Kingsolver's fifth novel is a hymn to wildness that celebrates the prodigal spirit of human nature, and of nature itself. It weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives amid the mountains and farms of southern Appalachia. Over the course of one humid summer, this novel's intriguing protagonists face dispa...rate predicaments but find connections to one another and to the flora and fauna with which they necessarily share a place. – Amazon
Kingsolver is one of those authors for whom the terrifying elegance of nature is both aesthetic wonder and source of a fierce and abiding moral vision. She may have inherited Thoreau's mantle, but she piles up riches of her own making, blending her extravagant narrative gift with benevolent concise humor. She treads the line between the sentimental and the glorious like nobody else in American literature. - Kelly Flynn
There is no one in contemporary literature quite like Barbara Kingsolver. Her dialogue sparkles with sassy wit and earthy poetry; her descriptions are rooted in daily life but are also on familiar terms with the eternal. With Prodigal Summer, she returns from the Congo to a "wrinkle on the map that lies between farms and wildness." And there, in an isolated pocket of southern Appalachia, she recounts not one but three intricate stories. - Amazon
There is no one in contemporary literature quite like Barbara Kingsolver. Her dialogue sparkles with sassy wit and earthy poetry; her descriptions are rooted in daily life but are also on familiar terms with the eternal. With Prodigal Summer, she returns from the Congo to a "wrinkle on the map that lies between farms and wildness." And there, in an isolated pocket of southern Appalachia, she recounts not one but three intricate stories. - Amazon
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