Jeff Farias will interview Savannah today for his Phoenix-based talk radio program The Jeff Farias show. Savannah is honored to have the chance to talk with Jeff about her work and has sent some books to be distributed this Friday (10/02/09) as part of the show's excellent "First Amendment Fridays."
Tune in tonight, Tuesday, 9/29/09, at 7:30 p.m. EDT here: http://www.thejefffariasshow.com/?p=1401
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Savannah reads Post-Modern Colonialism at Baltimore Bookfest
The premise of American Soma is this...
American Soma is comprised of a variety of dystopias, either personal or communal.
The personal dystopias are intended to point to larger communal problems. Each story intended to have allegorical significance
The book’s original title was Behold: Mankind, and was supposed to made reference to social satirist George Grosz’s incendiary 1923 portfolio of satirical drawings, although Grosz's was a more diffuse criticism of mankind.
"American Soma"
title story imagines the mass drugging of the nation through popular foods, like pizza, coffee, and beer to assure the results of a presidential election. This is my nod to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.
"Evolution"
Story is about the slow morphological adaptations in mankind due to chemicals in our water.
I wrote this in 2004, when fish were found to have both sets of reproductive organs.
Confirmed in April 2009 = PBS ran an edition of Frontline called “Poisoned Waters” which revealed that the environmental threat from chemicals in consumers' face creams, deodorants, prescription medicines and household cleaners…they wash into storm drains.
In "The Fountain," the dirty water of a dive bar toilet can make people younger. Considering that injections of botulism toxins and painful chemical peels are now the accepted way to rejuvenate your appearance, I imagined celebrities reaching into a scummy toilet in order to maintain their youth.
"Postmodern Colonialism" is a not-so futuristic story, which charts conquests achieved through expansion of capitalism and war. In host nations, protective compounds are created, in which American white collar employees (mostly male) are stationed and eventually cannot leave—for safety reasons.
The personal dystopias are intended to point to larger communal problems. Each story intended to have allegorical significance
The book’s original title was Behold: Mankind, and was supposed to made reference to social satirist George Grosz’s incendiary 1923 portfolio of satirical drawings, although Grosz's was a more diffuse criticism of mankind.
"American Soma"
title story imagines the mass drugging of the nation through popular foods, like pizza, coffee, and beer to assure the results of a presidential election. This is my nod to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.
"Evolution"
Story is about the slow morphological adaptations in mankind due to chemicals in our water.
I wrote this in 2004, when fish were found to have both sets of reproductive organs.
Confirmed in April 2009 = PBS ran an edition of Frontline called “Poisoned Waters” which revealed that the environmental threat from chemicals in consumers' face creams, deodorants, prescription medicines and household cleaners…they wash into storm drains.
In "The Fountain," the dirty water of a dive bar toilet can make people younger. Considering that injections of botulism toxins and painful chemical peels are now the accepted way to rejuvenate your appearance, I imagined celebrities reaching into a scummy toilet in order to maintain their youth.
"Postmodern Colonialism" is a not-so futuristic story, which charts conquests achieved through expansion of capitalism and war. In host nations, protective compounds are created, in which American white collar employees (mostly male) are stationed and eventually cannot leave—for safety reasons.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Chris Hedges Writes a Compelling Call to Action
An excellent appraisal of war's cost and its use to the corporate state appears at Truthdig this morning. Author Chris Hedges writes a compelling call to action:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090914_stop_begging_obama_to_be_obama_and_get_mad/
Stop Begging Obama and Get Mad
By Chris Hedges
"The right-wing accusations against Barack Obama are true. He is a socialist, although he practices socialism for corporations. He is squandering the country’s future with deficits that can never be repaid. He has retained and even bolstered our surveillance state to spy on Americans. He is forcing us to buy into a health care system that will enrich corporations and expand the abuse of our for-profit medical care. He will not stanch unemployment. He will not end our wars. He will not rebuild the nation. He is a tool of the corporate state."
(read the whole article at the link above)
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090914_stop_begging_obama_to_be_obama_and_get_mad/
Stop Begging Obama and Get Mad
By Chris Hedges
"The right-wing accusations against Barack Obama are true. He is a socialist, although he practices socialism for corporations. He is squandering the country’s future with deficits that can never be repaid. He has retained and even bolstered our surveillance state to spy on Americans. He is forcing us to buy into a health care system that will enrich corporations and expand the abuse of our for-profit medical care. He will not stanch unemployment. He will not end our wars. He will not rebuild the nation. He is a tool of the corporate state."
(read the whole article at the link above)
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Cartel
How can kids graduate from high school and still not be able to read or write? This movie, distributed by the Moving Picture Institute--whose tag line is "Promoting Freedom through Film"--offers a valid, compelling, and frightening explanation:
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