Listen up, cool cats. Put down your doobies, adjust your berets, finish your daily abortions and get ready to learn about some stuff. Yes, I realize that "Desperate Housewives" is on, but you're smart, you can multitask. Starting this morning, I am going to make concrete use of my well-traveledness in these great countries of ours, both the U. S. of C. and the newly-ordained Jesusland (see Nov. 4 for clarification). In fact, the only two U.S. states I've yet to visit are North Dakota and Alaska. Therefore I shall refrain from comment about them. The others? You are not so lucky. Therefore, in no particular order and until I get bored with myself, here is the first installment of Your Pocket Guides to the Red States, by me (and to keep it topical I added a Kafka-only component. How tubular, I know).
Lesson One: The Bottom Right-Hand Corner
Louisiana
Visited in: 1996, 2002
High point: the greatest food ever invented
Low point: a homeless man yelling "show your tits" at me. Not during Mardi Gras.
Telling anecdote: While driving through Louisiana (or rather, getting chased through it by Hurricaine Isadore, which is coincidentally the name of my dearly departed though rather jowly Belarussian great-grandfather), Mr. Stained Sweatshirtpants and I decided it would be prudent to cease and desist all efforts to maneuver the car through a torrent. We exited the freeway around Baton Rouge and ambled into a Holiday Inn lobby. The woman at the counter took one look at us (Jacob was wearing the aformentioned Sweatshirt I Would Burn If It Didn't Mean The End of my Relationship; I had short hair that was partly dyed blue) and told us they were "all sold out," even though there was nary a car in the parking lot. We ended up staying at the Motel 6 next door, which was immactulately clean and much cheaper than that stupid Holiday Inn. The funniest part was that that night, Mr. I Think The Sweatshirt Makes Me Look Cool had a guest role on the show "Ed," which was on the network NBC, which was probably watched that night by the self-same woman who refused to let us sully her fine establishment with our heathen seed. Not that that should have made any difference in us getting a room there, I just throught it was funny.
Most Appropriate Kafka Parable: "My grandfather used to say: 'Life is astoundingly short. In my memory things are now so compressed that it is impossible for me to see why a young man would decide to take a ride to the next village without fearing--aside from unfortunate accidents--that the normal span of a happy life is far from adequate for such a ride." ("The Next Village")
Florida
Visited in: 2002
High Point: Disney World (and I do mean "high point" if you get my drift)
Low Point: Disney World, when it wore off
Most Bizarrely Out of Place Accent: out of the mouth of one of the guys who mans those con-artist "discount park tickets" booths in parking lots all around the Orlando outskirts, promising free or half-price tickets to Disney World for the simple act of checking out of the Golden Link Motel (which was 27 dollars a night) and into whatever shithole "resort" he was pushing for no less than nine days. This wouldn't have been so weird if he hadn't talked like a sterotypical New Jersey mobster.
Most Appropriate Kafka quote: "'Like a dog!' he said, as if the shame of it would outlive him." (from The Trial)
Georgia
Visited in: 1999, 2000, 2002
High Point: The Atlanta underground mall
High Point #2/Scariest Place Ever: Stone Mountain
Fun Fact: Every street, avenue, lane and boulevard in Atlanta is called "Peachtree," so unless you are a homeing pigeon, do not attempt to go anywhere there, ever.
Most Appropriate Kafka Parable: "It was very early in the morning, the streets clear and deserted, I was on my way to the station. As I compared my watch with the tower clock I realized it was much later than I had thought and that I had to hurry; the shock of this discovery made me uncertain of the way, I wasnt' very wella acquainted with the town as yet; fortunately there was a policeman at hand, I ran to him and breathlessly asked him the way. He smiled and said: 'You asking me the way?' 'Yes,' I said, 'since I can't find it myself.' 'Give it up! Give it up!' said he, and turned with a sudden jerk, like someone who wants to be alone with his laughter." ("Give It Up!")
Alabama
Visisted in: 1996, 2002
High Point: Who the hell are we kidding? I drove through that motherfucker as fast as I could. Those people are boiled nuts. They even have signs admitting it!
South Carolina
Visited in: 2002
High Point: "South of the Border"
Low Point: Jesse Helms
I was supposed to go to the fifth official S. Family Reunion on Kiwah Island this year, and I was looking forward to it for months, both seeing my extended family and the alleged best beach in America. Unfortunately Hurricaine Francis (who had the same name as my bestest friend) had other plans and I spent the weekend sitting around my apartment watching Da Ali G Show. Now Ali G is the funniest piece of walking performance comedy since Andy Kaufman (and a hell of a lot more mentally stable), but I still rather would have been in South Carolina.
Most Appropriate Kafka Story: "A Hunger-Artist," in honor of the many Shoney's buffets.
Recent Comments