Kramer, kramer, kramer, What Now?

I completely agree with the idea of freedom of speech, but with all freedom come responsibility. Michael Richard's responsibility on that fateful night was to understand his audience, hone his craft, and deliver a performance that was appropriate to the venue. Yes he had the right to try out new material, as a matter of fact, I believe that one of the services a great comic provides to us is the opportunity to look at ourselves in a different light, and the really great ones, Ernie Kovac, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Andy Kaufman, George Carland and such have actually help expand the box to break down barriers and made the taboo less taboo.

What Mr. Richards did was a totally different animal, he has admitted that he was reacting with rage, this was not a well thought approach. He reacted poorly to a bad situation and now he is going to pay the consequences for it. And I feel that this is not due necessarily to a racist nature, cause like I said, we all have that right below the surface and we deal with it in different ways every day. His real failure was to live up to the concepts of preparedness and professionalism that goes with job of stand-up. Fortunately, this situation has opened a dialogue about race and words, and unfortunately some unscrupulous people will be making money from it. And let me go on record and say that the amount of compensation anyone should receive from this debacle should be no more than the price of admission paid on the night of that show (and maybe one free ticket)

As for chances, he has all of the chances in the world to recover from that disastrous performance. He might want to consider small dramatic parts in independent films; he might want to build up his voice-over resume, or any number of entertainment options. From what I understand his stand-up act was never that impressive, so this may be a great opportunity for him to take his career in another direction and work maybe he will work at it a little bit harder this time.

We Can't Tell The Truth - We Just Can't!

We live in a cynical nation and we all contribute to the cynicism because everyone lies and everyone else knows it. But people cant help it. Have you ever actively tried to get through the day without lying? It is practically impossible. Its almost like trying to get through the day without buying something made in China. I dont know if we are just preconditioned to lie or is it just so dam much fun that we cant help ourselves. Parents lie to kids, kids to their parents. You lie to your boss, he/she lies to you its a time honored way of coexisting. I have found myself lying to people in hopes that they would just stop talking to me, but everyone does that "Oh - I gotta go, myyy baby just woke up" But then you find yourself perpetuating this lie and carrying it on for years.


Im trying to get my wife to go in on a lie with me right now, but shes not buying. The lie is that we have just adopted a Chinese girl, and named her Liz Lee Lou. And we can keep it going for years. The kid will always be at the baby sitters or boarding school or her grandmothers, away at collage. This could be one of the great lies of all time. But Anne (my wife) is all about "keeping it real" Whatever!


The number one technology that has helped us to perpetuate the lie is the cell phone. The personal computer contributes considerably, but the cell phone is the A-number one tool of the liar. It gives one the opportunity to shift place, and time. Distractions can be indicated by simply moving or shaking the phone, or even by turning your head away and saying "what" every third word. So what is going to happen when there is 100 larity, and no dropouts anywhere the old "Im losing the signal hello hello" bullshit will no longer suffice


Many of us try to say that lie was just a joke or that we were just "kidding" BULLSHIT! Lies happen because we either want something to start "Yeah I loved The English Patient" or because we are trying to end something. " No its not you its me" Yeah its me hating that YOU are the way you are and you suck and lousy in bed. But whos going to say that?


Recently, I had a discussion about the difference between a lie and a joke with a group of 7 and 8 year olds. We were sitting making paper fish, or something. And one of them said something to another, which I thought could be hurtful. When confronted with this, the child responded by saying that she was just joking. So I asked them what is the difference between a lie and a joke? And they were very clear in their understanding. To them it all came down to intent. If youre trying to make someone feel bad, or like you or trying to get him or her to do something for you by telling a story that is a lie. If you want to keep them off balance for a little while and then tell them the truth thats a joke or "kidding" I think Im going to have to agree with the kids on this one.


You got your professional liars. That would be your politicians, your clergy, booking agents, and prostitutes. That's what they do. You're never going to make it in any of those games with out mastering the art of "the lie" or as their friends in the medias generously refer to it as "spin". Then there are the Simi-pros They're just trying to make it to the end of the day. This category would consist of teachers, parents, office administrators, and such, This is followed by "The perpetual", "The psychopath" and the most dangerous "The situational liar" These are the people that find themselves in a situation that is so beyond their every day existence that they have to create a lie that is so big that it usually barrels out of control. Those kind of people are the ones who get on TV crying and wearing a sweat shirt with a picture of a little girl with thier family and friends gathered around them. Someone in the background is holding a teddy bear, and some local guy has written a song.


"We're gonna miss her so, she got snatched from the back, they broke in the house, 2 guys I think they were black"


Cause face it usually a black guy in the story wearing Nikes or something. In these situational lies the only real winners are people who have talk shows, because weeks go by, and then slowly it starts to unravel. The local sheriff changes his tone from "We have a description from the mother and we are following up on our other leads. Translation: We are busting down all the doors in the projects"

And later to "The attorney of the mother refuses further comment. Translation: We know this bitch did it. The next thing you know were talking bi-polar, postpartum depression, or some other disease that part of the symptoms apparently is to blame a black guy. I can't wait to see whats coming next.

I dont believe anyone anymore. The last "real person" I believed on TV was Tawana Brawly. Do you remember her? About 1980, she said that she had been kidnapped by 6 white men, and the smeared her with shit, said they put her in a hefty bag and left her on some deserted road.

People were up in arms. Bill Cosby, and Al Sharpton, and lesser know black celebrities of the time. but then we all found out that it was all lies. They became suspicious when the artist sketch of her description of the men all looked like the cast of the show Dallas.


We are a cynical nation and we keep on lying to one another. We don't want the truth cause as Jack Nicholson says in that movie. "We can't handle the truth" So lets just keep on lying and keep on acting like we believe the lies, because anything else is just too much work, and we dont want that. that's the American way.

What Else could you be? - I mean YOU'RE BLACK!

Massachusetts has a new governor, and guess what he's black! That's right, first Duncan Wilder, now Deval Patrick. I think that that is a great thing and says where we are going with race relations in America, oh, yeah, and another thing. You know what? I was driving through Newton Mass the other day. Newton is an affluent community near Boston, and I work as an art instructor in one of the many after school programs there. Anyway, this is going to make you laugh. A cop pulled me over, a white cop that is, and I am a black man. I had on a T-shirt that said Ward After School Soccer, and when I told the office that I was sorry for running the stop sign and attempted to explain that I was late for work at the school, that was within our sightline. He seemed to have a puzzled look on his face and then asked me a most curious question, and I quote "What? Are you the janitor of something?

I hope that Deval has a good press agent and that he gets his face out there. I wouldn't want him to suffer through the same kind of idiotic, and embarrassing questions from our less enlightened neighbors.

A Great Christmas Gift!

Saturday, September 02, 2006
Hire a black man to be your friend!

Being a black man, there are things that I can only imagine. For example; sometimes, I would imagine that being white is not all it’s cracked up to be, and being a white man can just be a downright drag. You’re expected to act a certain way, do certain things and most of all, you’re supposes to have a certain group of friends who look like you and act like you. Sometimes when you think you have it all then you realize that there is one thing missing. Diversity!

Are you looking to demonstrate how diverse your friends are? Do you want to add a little Funk to your dysfunction? Well you can now “HAVE A BLACK MAN AT YOU PARTY! For a small negotiable fee, I would come to your party and be your very close black friend from childhood or just a guy who you met and it just seemed to click. You could even tell them that I was the houseboy from your fraternity days (that costs a little more). Put your liberal friends to the test or piss off your conservative ones and have a nice laugh while doing it. You will be the talk of the boardroom and the bedroom for weeks to come. Show them that you can kick it in all circles, show em that you can get down with your bad self. And this ain’t no Carlton from Fresh Price kind of black man. I can play various black stereotype like the “pull myself up from my bootstraps black kid from the projects” or ‘the convicted felon on the road to going straight. This can be hours of fun without any real danger.

Together we’ll create a back story or a "black story", Photoshop photo album featuring a wide variety of shots that might include; you and me as kids or at an Earth Wind and Fire concert, double dates at the prom, shots of us from The million man march, and many more. We’ll tell old jokes that only the other knows and we can even work out a scene from “The Defiant Ones”
Don’t delay, the party season is here and I’m booking quickly. Remember, I do birthdays, holidays, bar mitzvahs, weddings, and sweet 16 parties. Don’t let your lack of pigmentation get in your way order today. Sure you’re white and you don’t know any black people at all, well that’s ok because now all of your friends will think you do, And don’t worry, it can be our little secret.

My Computer Loves Me!

Friday, September 01, 2006
Lucky Me, Lucky Me!

I am having a great day; things could not get any better. I don’t want anyone to feel bad, but I’m going to just have to brag anyway. First of all I turned on my computer and went on-line and to my surprise I find that not only was I selected to win 2 free I-Pod nanos, but that there are women in my area who want to meet me- RIGHT NOW! Do you believe that? Meet ME. My head is spinning. As if that were not enough, when I go to my e-mail I get an e-mail from a Nigerian diplomat and thay’re going to be sending me money (I don’t quite know all of the details) but cool, out of all the people in the world this Nigerian has picked me. The computer is an amazing thing, and I can only hope that you as my friend can gain access to all of the wonderfulness that the Internet has to offer. By next week I will have a collage degree, cheaper medicine from Canada, I’m going to loose unsightly pounds, and I expect before the end of the month I will have a huge penis thanks to my good friends on-line.

This all happened before I got out of my pajamas. So check this out, I walked downstairs, dreaming of looking slim as I’m driving my new Lamborghini, holding my law degree and swinging my massive schlong. I open my mailbox - the first letter I see tells me that I may have already won the publishers clearing house thing. There is another addressed to Maurice Rucker, who is me, and or current resident, coincidently this is also me. For no reason I received 20% of off my next purchase and Bed, Bath and Beyond (Not just Bed and Bath) have you ever heard of a luckier day? I hope it keeps up, and I hope you get some of this good stuff, but I guess I can’t expect everyone to be as lucky as I am. All of this, plus people who don’t even know me want me to be their Myspace friend. Is that amazing or what? I guess there’s just something about me. Some of the girls even invited me to look at their web-cams. How lucky was that? I feel like the “Rhinestone Cowboy getting cards and letters from people I don’t even know, and offers coming over the phone”.

I’m as giddy as a schoolgirl. I don’t want to go to sleep now, but I must, but I can only hope that tomorrow will be is lucky as today. Do you think it will? Yeah, I think so too.

Ridin Wit Da Radio!

Monday, September 04, 2006
Drive around,tune In, and turn on!

As a creative person, my life demands that I, from time to time, must pursue employment that requires less of an emotional and or intellectual commitment, but still within keeping of an income that that government has designated slightly above the poverty line. So, with that being said, this past summer, I took a job as a delivery driver for probably Boston's most high-end flower shop.

It was a cool job until the boss, who I imagined was going to be cool, funny smart, and teach me soooo much about the flower industry became a micromanaging, condescending, little control freak with a Napoleon complex and a streak of paranoia usually only seen in coke heads and Mexicans in California.

So needless to say, that job didn’t last very long. But one very cool thing about being the delivery guy was that I got to listen to the radio all day long. And there is nothing better on the radio than talk radio. It is the best! I listen to it almost exclusively.

WBUR in Boston is my mainstay, although I have just discovered Air America Radio, a station with a left-of-center format. They talk about what I feel, but honestly Al Frankin. who is on from noon to 3:00 every day, can get on my nerves. I agree with a lot of what he has to say, but I don’t know, he just seems to be a little tooooo self-important. Whereas Stephanie Miller (9 – noon) is a completely different story. (va-va-VOOM)

On Sunday mornings, I turn to WGBH to get away from the WBUR God show. Not that I don’t like God, I just think that this particular show is boring. I also turn to GBH to listen to Prairie Home Companion. I discovered this show as a hippie kid, hanging out in head shops in Troy, New York. I do listen to conservative right- wing radio on long trips because 1) it keeps me awake by giving me the opportunity to yell at the radio and 2) it pisses my wife off, and it's actually appealing to me to see her mad at something other than me. But I enjoyed driving around in the delivery van all day listening to all of the programs, in between walking up to million dollar homes and handing them million dollar looking arrangements, mostly to people who could be named Consuela or Lupe.

Then for me it's back in the car with Nina Tottenberg. I've never seen her, and I hope I never do. I've imagined her to look like a cross between a young Gloria Steinem and Angelina Jolie. I don't know why. That image just works for me. I saw Terry Gross once, and I was not happy – not that she is an unattractive woman. She’s actually kind of cute with the glasses and short hair and all. She just didn't look the way that I thought she would. She has that great laugh, and she just knows how to conduct an interview. She seems to be smooth and funny and unflappable. But why I thought that she would look like Katharine Hepburn is beyond me.

I like the morning radio call-in shows on NPR and I'm even tempted from time to time to call in. Because that's something I would do. When I was a working musician, I would spend a lot of my late nights returning from a gigs in Rhode Island, or New Hampshire or some other ungodly location @ 3:00 a.m. I would listen to WBZ radio. Because the only thing on NPR @ that time of night is the BBC. I don't even know what Greenwich Mean Time is, but I guess someone cares, cause they keep saying it over and over. There is also a superior sounding guy named Robin Lustig or something like that. No one wants to listen to someone who is apparently over educated, telling his guest in an oh-so-proper and yes condescending accent laden with a tone of insincerity and disdain. "This is your second time in front of the Judge Magistrate, and your barrister has requested a bail reduction because of your apparent hardship which I'm sure was brought on by all of your years of drugs, drinking and debauchery, but I'm sure you don't expect us to believe that that was someone else's computer with the child pornography on it - do you Mr. Glitter?”

I want to hear a local guy, someone on the same time schedule as me. Someone who is nearby someone who is well read, but not too hi-brow. "Hi this is the Jordan Rich show. Tonight we'll be having our monthly look at new movies - anything you've seen? Any thing you like? And later on book-lady is here. Give us a call at..." See, THAT I can handle, but these public radio types "Welcome to The Connection. Today, economist Dr. Lotta Bigwords will be talking about her book entitled Everything You Know About Math is Wrong and Here's Why. This will be followed by our discussion of a recent Yale study on how lint is formed and what that means to the American space program and your calls.” Apparently only MIT graduates are put through to this show. They say some of the callers are from elsewhere, but I am very, very suspicious. But I listen, I learn and eventually the show will have an interview with Bob Dylan or something and it'll be worth it.

Jerry, don't be a jerk! aka Sign Of Our Times

Sunday, September 24, 2006
The Signs Of Our Time!



Boston City Councilman Jerry McDermott’s recent resolution to remove the Citgo sign from the Boston skyline seems to be just another attempt to infuse the debate over George Bush’s policies with one person’s personal politics. Hugo Chavez, by inappropriately and foolishly using the world stage of the U.N. to apparently develop a stand-up routine for the left and a lightning rod for the right should be called to task, and possibly face a reprimand from the U.N. – although I don’t feel that is forthcoming.

But the Citgo sign, well the issue of the sign’s existence is frankly a non-issue. Making it an issue is just one more way to distract the public’s attention from the fact that under the disastrous policies of George W. Bush we as a country have become less effective in helping to shape a positive world view, and have become a laughing stock to even some that were once our allies.

So please, Mr. Councilman, if you are trying to turn the Citgo sign into the next “Freedom Fries,” please stop, and just continue the good work that you have become known for in the Allston/Brighton district you serve. And let us stay away from escalating the hatred, mistrust, and small-mindedness that seems to be the hallmark of this current administration. Let’s get back to the time when being an American was a good thing, something that people around the world could respect. There are issues here and abroad that need all of our attention, from day care for the young and old, the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, -- and soon, Iran. We are dealing with issues of health, our city streets, homelessness, gender equality -- and the list goes on.

Please – let’s focus on the real issues and not get distracted by ridiculous political posturing.

HERE I AM FOR NOW!

This is my new blog page for the many of you who have gotten use to me elasewhere, this is now where you will find me.
One of my first actions on this new site is to transfer all of blogs from other pages here. This will be followed by adding some of the videos I have place on YouTube here.
That's it!
Mozz

One Year Later

This is a repost of a blog that I worte in October 2005. With results of the most recent elections, I thought that it would be a good idea for us to applaud what we have done and recognize the power that we all have.

Mozz


Tuesday, October 25, 2005

6:13 PM - Rosa Parks died yesterday.

Rosa Parks died yesterday, and it got me to thinking how one person's immediate need – that need being, to sit down on a bus – changed an entire nation. Damm, the whole world was now looking at America through different eyes. Here was a woman who did not fit the stereotype put forward by the American government at the time. She was a seamstress, well spoken and meek. She was not an uppity nigger or someone trying to steal chickens from you or playing craps in the ally. She was a churchwoman who had just worked a long, hard day and all she just wanted to do is sit - the - fuck - down. But in that America this woman, simply because of her skin tone could be – and was --arrested. And what a great day for all people, because set into motion on that day was a civil rights movement that would affect you and me and our children's children for years to come.

We celebrate Rosa Parks through books and stories and songs, we teach our children about her courage and dedication. I would guess within the next year (or maybe it has already happened) someone will propose a bill for a Rosa Parks holiday. Maybe it will come from an African American agenda or possible a feminist organization or maybe a Jr. Senator from Alabama trying to make a name for him/herself. Well, more power to them, because any recognition for anyone who helps to improve the human condition is deserving of it.

But here is what I'm thinking: everything good or bad is not about the initial action, it's about the reaction. Marriage does not happen because someone asked someone to marry him or her it happens because someone says yes. The people who arrested Rosa Parks are really in part the ones responsible for the fundamental change in how people are treated in America. It helped to uncover to the world the injustices taking place on our soil. Like on the day the doors were flung open at Auschwitz and the horrific details were discovered, we as a nation were being seen for what we are.

So let's applaud the backwards people, the racists, the homophobes. Because without them, other well meaning, and seemingly intelligent people will not ever see the true consequences of allowing brothers and sisters to be treated as "other." Hooray for the Senator McCarthys, the Jessie Helmses, the George Bushes. These are the people who cause the quiet ones on the sidelines to answer the call to action. Because of their reactions to or lack of action in response to the needs of many, a few were and are forced to react to them.

We are on the precipice of a change in America, because once again people are hungry and tired and they just want ... to ...sit...the...fuck...down!

Also as of today the death toll of Americans in Iraq is 2000 – how will you react?

I am , let'ss say just a little bit curious about the sentence received by Josiah Spaulding III, son of the Wang theater president, as reported in the August 26, 2006 Boston Globe in response to his brutal attack of 2 young black women with a metal baton. The idea that a rich young white man , or anyone for that matter in Boston can in this day and age receive as his punishment for a racially motivated physical attack a visit to a museum to learn about African American history, a trip to Washington DC to learn about Jewish history, some minor cosmetic surgery to remove tattoos, all followed by the opportunity to learn about the plight of the homeless by volunteering at a shelter tells me that there is something very, very wrong with this city. Or maybe they are just testing out a new concept for yet another reality show called "How Much Will your dad pay?"

This rediculus sentence is an slap in the face against young people, black people, and women. Even more so, it is a show of contempt to all of us in a city that has arguably one of the most scandalous histories in modern race relations and has worked hard to erase the causes of those. He does not go to jail why? Is money that powerful, or have we as a city become so complacent that if it’s not happening in our own specific neighborhood, we don’t really care? With malice and forethought this crime was carried out in front of an audience of friends and onlookers. The idea that Josiah the Younger left his home on that evening carrying a collapsible metal baton indicates to me that he had a goal, and the goal was connected to violence in some way. I don’t feel that his sitting in the Museum café having a kosher lunch is the way to help those two women regain a sense of peace.

So it goes: another story of how money and power wins out over morality and justice. We all work hard so that out children can have the things we never did, and the Spaulding family is no different than any other. But we in this society are supposed to have mechanisms to protect all us from the people who would do us harm, the people who would take advantage of us – and it shouldn’t cost extra.

So I am outraged, and as the popular bumper sticker says, “If you’re not outraged you’re not paying attention.” And that does not just apply to the war in Iraq, Lebenon or poverty in the streets. It applies to our criminal justice system for kowtowing to the rich and influential and leaving the rest of us unprotected.