Said RideSpaceMountain, about my phrase "there's a choke point somewhere, controlled by idiots," in the comments to this post about the outsider artist Lee Godie.
I'd wanted to embed a trailer for a documentary about the artist, and the Vimeo page gave me the HTML code, but then, on publication, it wouldn't display, and there was a reference to some privacy policy. I said: "That seems so out of keeping with the spirit of the artist, so there's a choke point somewhere, controlled by idiots."
I was just putting up this new post — because I want to encourage the world to adopt the line, "there's a choke point somewhere, controlled by idiots" — when RideSpaceMountain re-commented: "Correction: Alan Moore made that quote, no[t] Zappa."
I was torn! I do want to popularize the expression there's "a choke point somewhere, controlled by idiots" — and not just because I want to be famous but because I think it might be helpful to think in those terms. It's not that everything everywhere is screwed up and everyone is stupid, a very pessimistic view, but that maybe there's a specific problem somewhere, and maybe just one or 2 idiots. That's actually optimistic!
But maybe this isn't bloggable without the folk hero Zappa. Better than Zappa! What an accolade! And who's Alan Moore? That's quite a plunge, from the Maunaloaesque height of Zappa to whoever this Alan Moore character is. Okay, I looked it up. Maybe he means a lot to you. Maybe better than Alan Moore is bloggable. Sorry, I don't read that sort of comic book (though I am a big fan of a certain sort of comic book).
I'm glad Frank Zappa isn't the source of the quote "the world is rudderless." I just don't imagine Zappa going in for the metaphor the world is a boat. And, Frankly, if the world were a boat, I'd want it to be rudderless — like Noah's ark — because who wants the whole world with a destination and all of us stuck going there?
ADDED: I looked to see whether Frank Zappa had ever used a ship or boat in his lyrics. The answer — if I can trust Genius.com with the lyrics of the lyricist often called a Genius — no.
On my search for "boat," Genius, apparently grasping at straws, served up things with "beat" (or, desperately, "botulism"):
I clicked through to "Beatles Medley" and read the lyrics while listening on Spotify:
Jim... once had a girl, or should we say, she once had he
She... showed him her room, isn't it swell, Texas Motel...
Ha ha. Very funny. Speaking of The Beatles, Meade said, "We all live in a rudderless submarine."
Yes, The Beatles had the idea of the world as a sea-going vessel, and they liked it.Isn't it wonderful?
I'm seeing a rudder though... and I know that thing had a destination, Pepperland... if you can ever get past the Foothills of the Headlands and the Sea of Holes.
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I do want to popularize the expression there's "a choke point somewhere, controlled by idiots" — and not just because I want to be famous ....
Alas, if the phrase does become famous, it will probably be mis-attributed to Zappa or Churchill or Twain.
because who wants the whole world with a destination and all of us stuck going there?
technically, The Whole World Has a destination.... It's Going Straight To HELL
However, None of us are 'stuck' going there.
There was this carpenter, you see; And HE built bridge to Heaven.
With three nails, and two cross-ties.
No boulevard, no avenue. Not a road by man can carry you. A highway built by hands unseen.
None of us are stuck on this boat we call home. Jesus paid our fare Jesus is the way
The entire world is controlled by idiots.
Just look at the 'leadership' of our political class...both parties.
It would be difficult to fuck everything up this badly even it that was your plan.
"Maunaloaesque height of Zappa to whoever this Alan Moore character is." What an unusual perspective. It reminds me of the Gay Talese magazine piece "Frank Sinatra has a Cold". Sinatra gets into an argument with Harlan Ellison. Talese ends the story of the incident with: "And three minutes after it was over, Frank Sinatra had probably forgotten about it for the rest of his life—as Ellison will probably remember it for the rest of his life: he had had, as hundreds of others before him, at an unexpected moment between darkness and dawn, a scene with Sinatra." Well, from the next century, sure, everybody has heard of Sinatra, but if you've heard of Ellison, you might very well consider him the bigger star. Certainly, there are hundreds of people who will tell you the story of their scene with Ellison; he was nearly as good as Sinatra at making a scene.
In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards. ~Mark Twain
When I saw the name Alan Moore, the first person I thought of was Alan Price, then, no not him...
ADDED: I looked to see whether Frank Zappa had ever used a ship or boat in his lyrics. The answer — if I can trust Genius.com with the lyrics of the lyricist often called a Genius — no.
Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch
You can hear it here.
Brown shoes don't make it.
'Alas, if the phrase does become famous, it will probably be mis-attributed to Zappa or Churchill or Twain.'
I saw a sign recently with a drawing of Confucius.
It read, 'I never said all that shit.'
: )
Frank Zappa Was prescient.
Alan Moore was enlightened.
Lemmy is god.
:) Alan Moore is the greatest comic book writer who ever lived. To me at least, completely in a class by himself. Frank Zappa?
I saw that line and the first thing that came to my mind was Honore’s, “Don’t get stuck on stupid, reporters”. Sadly, there is enough stupid to go around and get built into the system.
Okay, you've got me curious, so what sort of comic book do you like?
I wish I could post memes here. The reason I misattributed that quote is because there's a meme with the same misattribution to Zappa. When I made the first comment I immediately had a desire to see the old meme that inspired it, only to have google immediately inform me that Moore, not Zappa originally said that.
Since making the correction, this has caused me to think about two existential problems. 1) The motivation of the original meme and the original memer in deliberately misattributing the quote (memes are relatively recent invention, meaning finding the appropriate attribution would have been just as easy as it was for me) and 2) how memes are and will become just as liable to misinformation as any other format (maybe more so), and probably more impactful in the same ways in the future.
Interestingly, it is precisely that it is so believable that Zappa would say such a thing that makes it work so well. I'm glad I listened to my teachers growing up when they told me to check my work.
“The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory, is that conspiracy theorists believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is actually chaotic. The truth is that it is not The Iluminati, or The Jewish Banking Conspiracy, or the Gray Alien Theory. The truth is far more frightening - Nobody is in control. The world is rudderless.” - Alan Moore
“The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory, is that conspiracy theorists believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is actually chaotic. The truth is that it is not The Iluminati, or The Jewish Banking Conspiracy, or the Gray Alien Theory. The truth is far more frightening - the choke points are controlled by idiots.” - Alann Moorehouse
In Plato's image of the cave, a very small number of people can shout and, with all the echoing, sound like a lot of people. Many individuals are intimidated into keeping silent or even trying to tell themselves that if there is a consensus, it is probably true. A choke point for the formation of public opinion.
The idea that it is only a few idiots that are the problem is tempting but a little dangerous. It naturally leads to thinking we could accomplish so much by just taking out a few idiots.
Also, this kind of thinking seems to be pretty widespread. Not dominant though. Even more widespread is the notion that there are vast hordes of problematic idiots.
The best thing Alan More ever wrote was a PG Wodehouse/HP Lovecraft mash-up for the "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" series called; "What Ho, Gods of the Abyss!".
If you're under 50, Alan Moore is, maybe, as famous as Zappa; you're probably more likely to have experienced his actual work. I tried to think of something by Moore to recommend to the skeptical, but I'm not sure there is anything:
-Watchmen is his masterpiece, but if you don't know a lot about traditional superhero comics, too much of it will just go over your head.
-From Hell is great, but, Jack the Ripper stories aren't everyone's cup of tea, although I think Eddie Campbell's art might appeal to Althouse.
-The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is brilliant, and, much like Watchmen, has a lot to say about how popular culture functions, socially and politically, but it really leans into telling new stories with the beloved pre-comics pulp heroes to an extent where it would be easy to miss the deeper themes.
-V for Vendetta As a 1984-ish, near future dystopia, this might appeal more to a non-comics reader, but, I just don't think it's that good.
-Promethea J H Williams III's art is mindbogglingly good, and the feminist themes are interesting, but it's also very superhero focused, and it really digs in to some of Moore's more peculiar world views.
So, well, so it goes...
Back when the drinking age in NJ was 21 and 18 in NY we would frequent at bar in Greenwood Lake called the Yellow Submarine. It had no rudder, didn't even float even though it was on a lake. But it had alcohol.............. and girls!
It is a point controlled by an idiot, full of sound and fury, choking everything.
We all live in a bubble of our dreams/thoughts where we play for fun when we are not in survival mode. Which brings to mind the latest 4 hour Joe Rogan Experience with Jordan Peterson , who lets it all out in Rogan’s company.
@NorthOfTheOneOhOne
Thanks!
Genius didn't turn that up, but I can see that "ship" is in the song "Drowning Witch."
There's also something called "Ship Ahoy," but I rejected it as not really being a song...
"Okay, you've got me curious, so what sort of comic book do you like?"
Things in the underground comics tradition
I loved RAW magazine in its day. I like Julie Doucet, Chester Brown, Daniel Clowes, R. Crumb. I'd consider anything published by Drawn & Quarterly. That sort of thing.
Moore was flat wrong. The human world is nothing but competing conspiracies. He's only correct in that there is no Master Conspiracy. (I would say, yet.)
But with the generally low level of human intelligence we see exhibited every day in every way, conspiracies are hardly necessary.
Yes, I am saying that the great majority of human beings are dumbasses, always have been and always will be.
@Ficta
Thanks.
I've just never had any interest in superhero comic books, and I don't even like that kind of drawing. I've seen a *few* superhero movies — nearly all Batman movies, and I mean the really old ones, from when I took my sons to the movies. The only other one I've seen is "Iron Man." I forget why. I just don't care about the activities of superheroes and don't see any reason why I should.
I wonder if Frank Zappa ever felt any compunction about being so loud and untalented and so selfish and so proud of his lousy music?
I mean, in private life, the little Boomer-lite might have been a great guy, but in public life he really imposed an awful lot of terrible cold-hearted unhumorous unfunny art on a gullible victimized public.
Unfortunately most of the chokepoints are being controlled by the same handful of idiots hanging out at 1600 Pennsylvania ave.
My world would be much poorer without "Dyna-moe Humm" and "Penguin in Bondage."
YMMV.
Thanks to RideSpaceMountain for the clarification above.
"The Winnipeg Arena's gonna be on fire"
With that tag, you have to be 18 years of age or older.
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