Join me as I co-host the massmouth Story Slam with storyteller, Laura Packer at Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge. The theme will be "The Errors of Eros."
What's a story slam? It's a competitive storytelling event in which ten storytellers are given five minutes a piece to tell a story based on a suggested theme. In between stories, Laura Packer and I will tell our own stories and lead improvisational games. I attended my first story slam last week, and it was certainly a great way to end my weekend.
massmouth is the network of Massachusetts storytellers.
Seems as if I am back to where I was ten years ago when I was hosting the annual "Love, Sex & Disappointment" spoken word show at the sadly defunct Bad Girrls Studios in Jamaica Plain. Still, it proves that I will do anything to thumb my nose at any perceived obligation to go on a date on Valentine's Day, but don't let me stop you from bringing your own.
Enough: I need to save some material for next week.
Doors open at 3:45pm.
Ryles Jazz Club
212 Hampshire Street
Inman Square
Cambridge, MA
Tickets are $7, $5 for students and seniors.
Facebook users can RSVP here if they like.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
February 14th: massmouth Story Slam: "The Errors of Eros"
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4 comments:
Hi Ian,
sorry I'm submitting this comment here, but as Thomas refused to post it on his blog I feel I had no choice. I don't mind if you choose not to post it.
Ian,
To try and portray a man with a lifelong commitment to peace activism and human rights as an apologist for genocide is sophistry of the worst kind.
I also take issue with your use of the word genocide throughout this discussion e.g. "genocide-in-progress", "genocidal apparatus" etc.
The International Court of Justice in 2007 ruled that Serbia was not guilty of direct involvement in genocide during the Bosnian war, but was guilty of failing to prevent genocide in Srebenica. So while Milosevic was effectively criminally negligent in that one instance, the ruling suggests he was not guilty of a "campaign of genocide" as you suggest.
Also the Srebenica massacre (I repeat the only act of genocide determined by the International Court) occurred AFTER the Nato bombings. The idea that there was a "genocide in progress" is an overstatement. You've rightly criticised others for using the term inappropriately so you should be extra careful how you use it.
There were atrocities yes, which Pinter unequivocally (though not exclusively) holds Milosevic responsible for. In his own words:
"NATO gave Milosevic the excuse he needed to escalate his atrocities,...The Serbian atrocities are savage and disgusting but there is little doubt that the vast escalation of these atrocities took place after the bombing began."
That a peace activist hold both sides responsible for the carnage that took place in a war does not make him an apologist for one side, unless you've found a definition for the word "apologist" that doesn't exist in any dictionary.
And I don't really see your point about how Havel's name was being sullied by quoting a comment he made at his friend Pinter's death.
beachill,
This is a really off topic place to post your apologia for Pinter, and so don't expect any follow-up on this thread.
a.) You are completely ignoring Milosevic's campaign in Kosovo, which involved direct use of Serbian forces to kill the Kosovar Albanians. Yes, arguably the Kosvars were combatants as well, but they were responding both to Milosevic's calls for ethnic cleansing and to Milsosevic's past dealings with other ethnic minorities within Serbia.
b.) It was during the Kosovo Campaign that NATO committed the greatest number of forces into combat and dropped the greatest number of bombs on Serbian forces. Clearly, this is a huge part of what Pinter is referring to in 2001.
c.) Stating that an act of genocide, i.e. the Srebenica Massacre was somehow not part of a genocidal campaign, even though it was preceded by genocidal rhetoric from both the paramilitary leaders who ordered the killings and their state sponsors in Belgrade, as well as by forced deportations of non-ethnic Serbian populations from Serbia and majority Serbian parts of Bosnia, is sophistry on your part.
d.) as to the quote you provided:
""NATO gave Milosevic the excuse he needed to escalate his atrocities..."
What? So he chose to commit atrocities with both forces under his control and and indirectly through those he was providing material support. and it's NATO's fault when the atrocities got worse? This is beginning to resemble the argument of Pat Buchanan that Nazi war crimes were actually the fault of Winston Churchill's opposition to the 1939 invasion of Poland.
e.) Pinter was not interested in holding anyone responsible, as was clearly demonstrated in the quotes you provided in the discussion on Hub Review. He wanted Milosevic freed without trial or at least only prosecuted if his those who brought the atrocities to an end would be prosecuted for bringing the atrocities to an end. That is sophistry and apologism.
f.) Calling somebody a "peace activist" or even a "saint" does not make him morally pure; Sometimes we discover that the heroes we admire have feet of clay. Part of maturity is accepting that.
g,) The only instances I have come upon where Vaçlav Havel praises Pinter is for advocacy for those oppressed under Soviet style communism (pre-1989), and for the influence he had on Havel as a young playwright. Nowhere yet have I found Havel praising Pinter's stance vis-a-vis Milosevic. So unless you can produce such a quote, I say you are sullying Havel's name.
>>The idea that there was a "genocide in progress" is an overstatement.<<
Some people just aren't worth arguing with.
So anyhow, how was the slam?
The slam was a lot of fun: There are some video clips here of me ad-libbing some stories from my sorid past.
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