1. "I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition." — John Lennon, spoken at the end of The Beatles last public performance, quoted in "The story of the Beatles rooftop concert at the heart of ‘Get Back’" (WaPo)." (I heard this last night as I took in the final hour of the 8-hour Peter Jackson documentary, which I have now watched, in its entirety, twice.)
2. "I cannot believe you would make me audition for you. You look like clowns. I am not bluffing." — Dave Chappelle, quoted in "SEE IT: Dave Chappelle criticizes affordable housing plan before Ohio village votes against it" (Daily News). (I heard this today because the incident occurred on Monday and the story was prominent in the news today.)
Lennon was being comically humble, exiting the stage as if the band were tiny when it was the biggest band the world has ever known (and it still is, more than half a century later). As you may know, because I've said it before, the jokes that delight me the most play with the idea of big and small, and this little line of John's falls roughly in that category (understood broadly (not narrowly!)).
Chappelle, who is specifically a comedian, was dead serious, and he meant to appear as large as possible as he spoke at a Yellow Springs village council meeting, where he intended to intimidate the council into voting the way that suited his real estate interests. For him, the concept of the audition meant something that was beneath him. Everyone is supposed to know who he is, how great he is, and how much is owed to him.
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19 comments:
"There are no small parts, only small actors."
The Chappelle story is fake news. $400k real estate is not "affordable housing".
I think that the key difference is not in the speaker, but in whom the speaker is addressing. Lennon was speaking to what I presume was a crowd of fans, the people who had made the Beatles a success. It was a sign of respect and also a recognition of the relationship between the two groups. In contrast Chappelle is speaking to a group of elected officials, people who are ostensibly public servants. At the end of the day, they work for the residents of the town, including Mr. Chappelle, and not the other way around. Too many elected officials and bureaucrats, especially at lower levels, seem to let the small amount of power they have distort their perception of the world and the people around them. Chappelle is well within his rights to remind them of how the world actually is.
Yeah, Shapple knows what "affordable housing" is Pinko Code for. He's having none of that Ghetto shit.
Not Dave's proudest moment. NIMBY-ism never looks good.
Ann - on the original Let It Be album as released in 1970, Phil Spector had added Lennon saying “I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition." to the end of a different take of “Get Back” than the version that Lennon had said it on at the end of the rooftop concert. (“Get Back” as released as a single in 1969 didn’t have this line in the recording as Spector had nothing to do with this version). Most of the time that I have heard “Get Back” on the radio since then it was always the single version, not the album version.
Mr. Chappelle wants to keep his neighborhood expensive and inaccessible by preventing new dense real estate development. Mr. Chappelle, however, is unusually blunt and honest. He could have complained about traffic or the environment or pressure on local schools. His NIMBYism and hypocrisy are kind of extreme. I mean, it's just low income housing (a.k.a diversity), not a toxic waste dump.
I had a similar experience with a proposed peaker plant near some farmland I own. Man, I was pissed off. Those things are disgusting. And what's worse, the proposal tried to compromise with local residents by putting the entire power plant in a massive ten story barn. "It would be hidden away and out of sight." What?!! Anyways, it never got built. Tons of people showed up and hollered for a bit and the power plant people went away.
"I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition."
We are not amused.
"Pride is the number one offender." so goes the saying in the rooms.
This is decidedly off-brand.
Two questions:
1) Who made Dave Chapelle the King of Yellow Springs?
2) What does Dave Chapelle have against affordable housing?
Jesus......who the fuck puts stickers on their laptop?
I mean.....what is this the 7th grade??
MAYBE the stickers are meant to cover the cameras? Paranoid?
'Jesus......who the fuck puts stickers on their laptop?'
I don't, but my wife does. And just about everyone in Silicon Valley does.
It's just cheap marketing...
Affordable housing is just a euphemism for ghetto. I wouldn't blame Chapelle for being pissed.
After I graduated from law school and while I was studying for the bar, I moved into a brand new “luxury apartment” complex that had an affordable housing/section 8 component. The lower income residents ruined the place. Domestic violence, drug dealing in the complex, trash everywhere. People would spit on my car and throw food garbage onto my balcony. Police were a constant presence. Within a few months it became obvious that the entire complex was a shithole, and no one was going to pay full price to live there, and it was a rush to the bottom with the kind of tenants they could attract. We moved out as soon as our lease was up. All the good intentions in the world don’t change the fact that this kind of zoning kills the viability of new developments. Assuming that he has some stake in the development, Dave Chappelle has good reason to be mad about it.
A little more context before passing judgment on Dave Chappelle
I live near ‘affordable housing’. About 8 units.through my tax dollars, partially.
It was largely built by volunteers, and young people I’ve never seen before. It moves people in temporarily (supposedly) who are in need of assistance.
One lady who’s lived there for about 3 years has accidentally started 2 fires and burned a portion of the place down. I’ve talked to her and she’s probably not criminal, just confused and a bit messed up. I don’t know why she’s been there for so long.
A young couple was decent too. Young white girl and a black guy with neck tats and both had a 2 yr old. We’ve talked to them a few times. They might make it towards some success given what I saw of their habits.
There’s also been a rash of car break ins at night for the surrounding complex. Connected? Maybe. Someone slipping in and stealing what’s at hand. There are a few thugs coming and going. Loud music and swagger. Not too many though. They stare you down.
It’s been mostly quiet.
It has probably hurt our property values a bit. I’ve never seen the people who administer the program though there are probably on site visits. I’ve never seen the city council who voted for it (ha ha). I’ve never seen the volunteers who built it come around except for some repairs after the 2nd worse fire (2 back units had serious smoke, water and fire damage). This was mostly contractors.
Chappelle is correct though. The whole boondoggle about affordable housing was a lie. Only 1.75 acres were set aside for affordable housing...the rest of the land was for considerably NOT affordable housing...
“The whole development deal, cloaked as an affordable housing plan, is anything but affordable. Three out of 143 lots would have been for ‘future’ affordable housing. The rest of the homes were to be priced between $250K and upwards of $600K. In Yellow Springs, and in many other places, that is not considered affordable housing. Instead, it’s an accelerant on the homogenization of Yellow Springs.”
"According to the Dayton Daily News, the proposed development involved more than 100 single-family homes with prices ranging from $250,000 to $600,000. A second option would involve 64 single-family homes, 52 duplexes and 24 townhomes with 1.75 acres set aside for affordable housing to be built at a later date."
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