Little Jack Horner Sat in the corner,
Eating a Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said 'What a good boy am I!
The list song, "My Favorite Things," the humorous wink, "Life Upon the Wicked Stage," the thought-provoking songs, "You've Got to be Carefully Taught" and "Old Man River," and the classic life-event set-piece, "You'll Never Walk Alone," are all descended from the Pie Fight. Sort of. Oscar Hammerstein the lyricist was the grandson of Oscar Hammerstein the vaudeville impressario who invented - wait for it - the Pie Fight!
Pie Fights are messy, and so is this diary. Pie Fights are useful, too. I hope this diary can be useful as well.
Pie Fights brightened the great depression when arch-dowager Margaret Dumont got creamed (so to speak) by the Marx Brothers. As the glowering storms of war hit Europe, the Three Stooges paid pie this high tribute:
Now dailykos has picked up the gauntlet with the tradition that refuses to die: the Pie Fight! Only the pie has changed, first the real thing, then faked with shaving cream (easier to wash off, though usually less tasty) and winding up here in virtual form. Great Pie Fights have this in common: lots of people letting off lots of steam. It's a sure-fire way to wrap-up a scene. Then it's on to the intermission or the curtain call.
There are other things that may not be obvious about Pie Fights until you give it some thought. Pie Fights arise from affluence. And social occasions. And the presence of a gravity that is in serious need of deflating. At least in the pie thrower's opinion. Somebody was having a good time. Somebody was not having a good time. And, much like Jack Horner in the corner, we who observe Pie Fights should be able to pull out a plum or two from the experience.
In the chaos of a Pie Fight, though, sometimes the plums get buried. On dkos it means they wind up with no tips, no comments (pro or con) and are virtually discarded. Except they are never really discarded, because on the internet, nothing really disappears. So here are some plums of my own that I un-dissapeared from a recent Pie Fight.
In this particular Pie Fight, there were some subtexts: gay culture, class, money, trust-funds, church (and the falling-away-from), and identity groups. Based also on comments in other diaries I had learned that the person, to whom I initially addressed the suggestions below, wanted to learn more about the world and more about writing. And that he was rich, or at least comfortably well off. I've met people that (IMHO) allowed money to come between their talent and the production of what they should have been capable of. But a background of money doesn't always have to end in dilettantism. Look at the lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein. With that in mind, I wrote this comment of advice for a youth with financially comfortable means.
Buy a copy of "Auntie Mame" (not the musical Mame, I mean the original) and watch it. More than once.
Read, "The Magnificent Ambersons."
Read, "The Grapes of Wrath."
Read or watch a few of the "Jeeves" stories. Take note of Bertie Wooster.
Stand in front of a liquor store in a shabby part of town on Christmas Eve and give a few winos the price of a six-pack or the price of a bottle of wine. (Take a burly friend or two to be safe.)
Watch this before you totally give up on the church:
http://www.youtube.com/...
Visit the WriteOn diaries regularly (you said you want to write), and try doing the assignments each week.
At the risk of creating the sort of gravity that leads to a Pie Fight, (though I hope it won't) I should expand on some of the points.
1 - Buy a copy of "Auntie Mame" (not the musical Mame, I mean the original) and watch it. More than once.
Got a trust fund? Then Auntie Mame should resonate. Dealing with prejudice? Auntie Mame does that. Pomposity? Surrounded by snobs? Auntie Mame's got some answers. It showcases Rosalind Russell, lampoons interior design, trends, customs and conventions; and is just plain fun and fabulous. A viewing essential for some of us.
2 - Read, "The Magnificent Ambersons."
Not a lot of fun and frivolity here at all. And the Orson Welles movie of The Magnificent Ambersons is destined to live in the shadow of his Citizen Kane. But it's Booth Tarkington's novel (free on Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/... ) that told the story originally. And probably best. Social class, old money and the nature of both meets the then-new industrial age reality summed up by this comment, "...don't you think being things is 'rahthuh bettuh' than doing things?" Answer: No it is not (or at least was not). The thoughtful reader is invited to reflect on whether the wheel has done a 180 since then.
3 - Read, "The Grapes of Wrath."
Here, the thoughtful reader is invited to reflect on whether the wheel has done a 360 this time. It's one of those books you have to read. Again, not a lot of fun and frivolity.
4 - Read or watch a few of the "Jeeves" stories. Take note of Bertie Wooster.
After reading the two preceding books, a smile or two is in order. PG Wodehouse skewers social class and the idle rich with a razor sharp wit. And scarcely draws any blood at all. But the story gets told. I like the Fry and Laurie interpertation:
5 - Stand in front of a liquor store in a shabby part of town on Christmas Eve and give a few winos the price of a six-pack or the price of a bottle of wine. (Take a burly friend or two to be safe.)
If the person to whom the advice was targeted had been of drinking age, I might have suggested passing out the libations directly. Perhaps not, though. The main point I wanted to make is that, while there are deserving poor folks, there is merit in helping the unworthy poor as well. Poor is poor. And Christmas Eve is a tough night for being it. Especially for those that no doubt already realize their failures.
6 - Watch this before you totally give up on the church:
The intended advice recipient has told us he has not been treated well by the church. So disillusionment is to be expected. But sometimes there are surprises. Broadway Baptist of Fort Worth got in trouble with the Southern Baptist Convention for not being sufficiently mean to gay people. (And yes, this clip does have a brief contact message that scrolls with a phone number. If that bothers you, maybe don't watch.) Another very cool thing about Broadway Baptist is that it has benefited from a few rich people giving significant money. The church building is one example. And the 191 rank
Rildia Bee O'Bryan Cliburn Casavant Organ, named after Van Cliburn's mother and teacher, shows that money need not always be a corrupting influence.
7 - Visit the WriteOn diaries regularly (you said you want to write), and try doing the assignments each week.
One of my favorite classes here at the University of dkos. If you like to write, you should visit too. Prof Sensible Shoes convenes sessions at 8 PM Eastern on Thursdays.
If you find these suggestions useful or interesting, you are cordially invited to give a Thumbs-Up in the form of a tip, a poll vote, a comment or any combination thereof.
10:03 PM PT: I should have put 'irony' quotes around the word, "Unworthy" when speaking of winos. I did not, but I'll let it stand as an example of what not to do (even when the intentions are good). There's something in the Bible about the rain falling on the just and the unjust. And that's a good thing.