7/27 Racist Diamond

I met JM Coetzee today. For those who don't know, he's one of the greatest writers alive with enough literary bling to make the homies say 'ho' and all the girlies scream. Well, I met him as much as one can meet the man so reclusive that he accepted neither of his Booker Prizes in person: I sat 3 seats away and was lucky enough to hear him articulate himself. But his privateness is so legendary, it was hilarious to see. His partner didn't even sit with him during Derek Attridge's talk 'On Knowing Literature'-- he had an entire row to himself.

Changing gears, September is going to be a kick-ass month for concerts and it makes me wish even more I was back in SD. Shows I would go to:

9/3 - Damien Jurado, Okkervil River
9/6 - Lily Allen
9/16 - Guster
9/18 - The New Pornographers
9/22 - William Elliott Whitmore

Changing gears one more time, Blood Diamond is perhaps the best movie I've seen in years. Also: the most racist movie. Hey, Hollywood-- just because you highlight a tragic and true happening in Africa doesn't give you the right to infantilize the black hero. The wily white female reporter can keep her wits about her after a few weeks, but the man who's lived there his whole life and has everything in the world to lose can't even tell a lie? Or understand how people tell lies? News alert: if he's stayed alive for decades in a violently war-torn country, he understands how people can fucking lie. Making the 'Good Black Man' more 'human' than any human could possibly be actually destroys his humanity, is unrealistic and downright racist. We wouldn't take that shit from Leo Dicaprio, but if the black man with the funny accent does it? OSCAR TIME!!!

I had barely contained my rage for the day, Hollywood, and it took 1/3 of a bottle of vodka to further contain it after seeing that film and thinking about how hard you patted yourselves on the back for being 'socially aware'.

Drink Count: 8

P.S. Hollywood: Blasting hip-hop whenever black people are getting ready to kill each other or in the process of killing each other is in no way less offensive. Way to reinforce some incredibly negative stereotypes, dickheads.