or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
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"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
September 02, 2006
Yow
I've been wondering: how did Dennis Perrin's debate in Tarrytown on the mideast go? Well...
The complexities, manias, and sorrows of the Middle East have driven many people insane, and in the years of debating and discussing this issue, I've encountered my share (though some would say that I, too, am nuts, and sometimes I feel that's true). But last Wednesday night, I hit the lunatic jackpot.
For instance:
...it was [Sidney] Zion's turn, and I focused more on his tone rather than his exact words. Zion was loud, belligerent, and appeared to have a seething hatred of Arabs. He then dismissed Nada's "bullshit," and called her a stupid "little girl." Much of the audience booed him on this point, and Zion yelled right back at them...It was then I noticed that Zion had a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch stashed under the table. In the moments when he wasn't bellowing, he poured himself drink after drink, getting more hammered as the night wore on. And of course the more hammered he got, the more abusive he became...
[A]n older man who said he was an Israeli from Haifa...took serious issue with Zion's raving. He followed up a point I'd made earlier about Israel's alliance with Christian Phalangists in southern Lebanon, and how this brutal occupation helped give rise to Hezbollah. ("Brutal?" Zion shouted at me. "Are you fucking crazy?!") The Israeli man noted that Lebanese Christian rightists were in league with the German Nazis during World War II, and how shameful it was for Israel to be associated with them. Zion was so loaded at this point that he thought the man called Israelis Nazis, which of course he hadn't. But reality meant nothing to Zion as he screamed at the man, "Fuck you Jew-boy!" As the man quietly returned to his seat, Zion kept yelling, "Don't you walk away from me, Jew-boy!", undeterred by the audience's open outrage.
And there's much, uh, more.
By the way, here's the description of Sidney Zion from his lecture agent's website:
You won't find a style that can match Sidney Zion's for wit, savvy, clarity, fearlessness and vision. So unique is his voice that aficionados don't need a byline to know who they're reading, the lead sentence tells them.
BONUS: Zion went to law school at Stutts!
Posted at September 2, 2006 12:35 PM | TrackBackDarn. This both justifies my decision not to go (I went running instead) and makes me regret it. I didn't think I'd learn anything new (I've read at least some of Said, Morris, Segev, Pappe, etc...), but there was the possibility of an entertaining circus. But if that was the reason for going, wouldn't I do myself more good by running intervals at the local high school track?
Darn. Wish I'd gone.
Posted by: Donald Johnson at September 2, 2006 12:54 PMWhat kind of intervals did you do?
I've long believed the only hope for world peace is for everybody to become a vegetarian and do lots of aerobic exercise. You're much more relaxed.
Posted by: Jonathan Schwarz at September 2, 2006 12:57 PM5 intervals of 800 meters at what I'd guess is my 3K race pace, with 400 meters of slow jogging to recover after each. Then 4 laps of 200 meters sprint interspersed with 200 meters of slow jogging. Plus the 3 miles of round trip slow running to and from the track. I do the intensities by feel--don't have a stopwatch. Which is probably good, because I don't know how much age is slowing me down.
I think we're boring the rest of your readers to death, but running talk fascinates me.
Wednesday evening was nice and so I couldn't resist the urge to run outside, but I just read Dennis's account and man, that was
quite a show. It's too bad he couldn't have had some serious opposition. There are commenters at Obsidian Wings who would have been worthy opponents.
I think we're boring the rest of your readers to death, but running talk fascinates me.
I don't know. Hearing myself talk about politics is starting to bore ME to death. We may be transitioning toward more running talk in the future.
There are commenters at Obsidian Wings who would have been worthy opponents.
Who do you have in mind? There's a depressingly small number of non-crazy conservative voices on this issue.
Posted by: Jonathan Schwarz at September 2, 2006 01:34 PMIs this on video anywhere? Why wasn't Brother Theodore invited? I love dada theater.
Posted by: Lloyd at September 2, 2006 05:37 PM"Is this on video anywhere?"
The person hired to videotape this forgot to charge his battery, and after ten minutes had to shut down. A real pro. But several people in the audience had cameras, so we'll see if anything pops up online. There is an audio recording, which I should receive soon, and which I'll put online when I can.
Posted by: Dennis Perrin at September 2, 2006 05:49 PMGood grief, so much for an informed discussion.
"Fuck you" is always so enlightening and broadens your spectrum wonderfully.
But I admit I look forward to hearing a recording of the debate.
Posted by: rob payne at September 2, 2006 07:10 PMDennis-
Thanks. Good write up, by the way. I won't bother to look, but I imagine if this event is covered at all on FreeRepublic.com, the consensus will be that Zion done told you moonbats good. A righteous Fisking.
There are commenters at Obsidian Wings who would have been worthy opponents.
Who do you have in mind? There's a depressingly small number of non-crazy conservative voices on this issue.
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No conservatives in mind, actually, at least not at Obi Wings, where the conservatives who are vocal about Israel/Palestine act as though a couple of faked photographs somehow shows that there is no evidence of Israeli war crimes. There's Andrew, the new ObiWi member, but he's more a libertarian (the sincere kind, not the pro-Bush kind). He's reasonable. But the serious opponent I had in mind would be Gary Farber, a centrist liberal. He acknowledges that Israel is partly to blame for the conflict--IMO he doesn't go far enough in this regard. But he or someone like him would be a reasonable sort of debate opponent for Dennis Perrin.
But now that I think about it, the mere fact that he acknowledges Israel is partly to blame already puts him on the leftwing fringe of American politics on this issue.
Ain't it nice, you've got someone who uses public discussions as a drink-rant fest! Whee...
Posted by: En Ming Hee at September 2, 2006 10:22 PMI thought Stutts sold their law school after that unpleasant business from a few years ago. No?
Posted by: Jonathan Versen at September 2, 2006 10:56 PMBlack label? What the hell kinda drunk drinks black label? "Smooth" says the ad campaign, like brown enamel paint.
If y'all don't quit that silly running and take up brisk walking, you're gonna blow out your knees.
Posted by: Jesus B. Ochoa at September 3, 2006 10:47 AMJesus speaks the truth. Save your knees for when you need to get away fast; the likelihood of such an occasion seeming more and more likely each day.
Posted by: Realrealgone at September 3, 2006 11:11 AMSounds like from Dennis's description that they should have filmed the "debate" audience reactions and all and thrown it up on youtube and googele video. This is one of those moments that needs to be preserved for posterity.
Posted by: patience at September 4, 2006 12:27 AM
