Gilman's vid, from the ramparts...
Here's activist videographer and all-around hell-raiser Dennis Gilman's latest video of vignettes from last weekend's Occupy Phoenix protest. Shannon Rivers, as always, is way cool. And the gal on the guitar is quite talented.
Martin, from back in the day...
The first thing the chanting made me think of was Steve Martin's "non-conformist oath," which goes like this:
Martin: Let's repeat the non-conformist oath:I promise to be different.
Audience: I promise to be different.
Martin: I promise to be unique.
Audience: I promise to be unique.
Martin: I promise not to repeat things other people say.
Audience: [Laughter, mumbling.]
Martin: Good!
Apparently, I wasn't the only person who thought of this old Martin bit, as a guy at Occupy Pittsburgh got the crowd there to repeat it. Funny stuff.
Not everyone's lost their sense of humor, thankfully...
I know many lefties are ticked off with my colleague James King's scabrous take on the Occupy Phoenix protest, but if he's hitting a nerve, it means the nerve is there.
Don't be so thin-skinned, people. I might want to join a protest. I'm less inclined to join a religion.
Keep in mind that radicals like Abbie Hoffman used humor as a weapon. They weren't afraid of it, and gave as good as they got.
Finally, when I look at a King post on the OPP where he scored 200-plus comments, that means he's doing something right.
Like the classic Naughty by Nature joint goes, I'm down with OPP, yeah, you know me. But sans comments and pageviews, we're dead in the water, folks.
