The following is an expression of my rights (and responsibilities) of Freedom Of Speech as laid out in the First Amendment of the Bill Of Rights of the United States of America. It is written in response to an appalling Zoning Board Hearing in Northampton, MA in May of 2005. Many residents of West Farms Road and surrounding streets showed up to the hearing with closed ears and closed minds. Possibly the most shameful of all was City Councellor LaBarge, who didn't show up. She had a meeting in which I was allegedly invited (they claim to have left a voicemail) with the neighborhood two days before my hearing. I was required by the city to notify the abutters on my Zoning Board hearing in writing more than a month in advance. I deserved at least a little more than an alleged voicemail a day or two before their meeting. Yet, I was publicly chastised for not showing up to their meeting - allegedly I "chose" not to attend. Hard to attend something you don't know about. I have since heard that they "all feel badly" for how things went. Good, they should feel absolutely horrible. They should carry that with them for the rest of their lives - maybe they won't treat people in such a bigoted, despicable, paranoid fashion ever again.
The Zoning Board of the City of Northampton deserve a thanks for their patience and understanding. They were thoughtful and intelligent throughout the whole fiasco.
I am proud to say that I, and, even more, my wife, held our dignity throughout the entire two-plus hour meeting. And we're very happily settled in the same area of the state, but in a different town (ironically, only a stone's throw from that neighborhood.) Our neighborhood is lovely, the neighbors friendly, thoughtful and intelligent, and the town welcoming. We're far better off for things having gone the way they did, and that's where we got the last laugh, the satisfaction of dodging the Ward 6 bullet that was that neighborhood. Does that excuse what happened? Absolutely not. But apparently it happened for a reason. Living well is the best revenge, as they say.
It
is copyright 5.12.2005 and may not be printed. reprinted, quoted, cited,
duplicated, published, translated
or used in any way whatsoever without express written consent of the author.
Read it here. That's why it's here.
5.12.05
It's amazing. The Internet is such a wealth of knowledge and information, yet people with scared, paranoid agendas, and a rudimentary knowledge of "GOOGLE" will look something up, extract what they WANT to see, and make ASSUMPTIONS based on what they find. (Or, only allow themselves to find. Really. You know who you are! Do you really believe, in 2005, that something you find, print out, present to some board or panel or whatnot, will really be taken as proof of anything. ANYTHING? Anyone can find anything to support any argument using a search engine. FOR EXAMPLE: (OOH! Scandalous!) Do you want proof that Bert and Ernie are GAY?! Go to Google.(ALSO: Expect some rebuttals against this "view" in the search results... But, if you're trying to make a point, ignore said rebuttals... and that's the point here.) (Alas, also in this issue, Heaven forbid that there are GAY people out there! Mercy! And in such a gay-friendly, tolerant, OPEN MINDED community like Northampton Massachusetts! YIPES! >>It's just a 'for example' - bite me, as they say, if you think it's meant as anything deeper than that...<< but those in glass houses... (Those involved in this attack who would fight against persecution if it pertained to them clearly were unaware of the persecution, stereotyping, and prejudice they were imparting - or simply were too closed minded or selfish to care... hypocrites.) (Rachel Maddow, are you listening?? We should chat...) And, if you're going to print out my website, print out ALL of it - including the bits that I have from time to time like the TSUNAMI RELIEF fund. Or my series of New England nature recordings. Yeah, I'm an ogre. BIG ogre.
Here's the deal.
Just because the words 'cult' or 'kult' or some stupid skull pictures show up
in a search with my name in it doesn't mean diddly-squat. (Not MY website, ignoramus,
but the ones run by someone else - one who HAPPENED to run an interview with
me... I had NOTHING to do with the skulls or the name "movement of fear"
- which, simply, is a quotation from ANOTHER band's lyrics from over 20 years
ago. Egad!) If you are going to yellow-highlighter a printout from the 'interweb'
and try to make a moral case about someone (me?!) then why not actually meet
me in person. (Or, have a real case - does NO ONE remember the silliness
of the PMRC? Whoops - forgot - it might as well be the same era with W in office.
) Oh, someone left a voicemail? Guess what? Technology is not perfect
- perhaps I didn't hear the message. It happens. Were you so concerned
that you thought a voicemail was enough to contact me? I wouldn't be that
confident. If it were MY kids, MY house, MY family, I would have kept calling
'till I got a live voice on the other end. Obviously, that's not important
enough - you all had already made your pre-biased, Google-search decision on
the matter, and felt that a voicemail was adequate/sufficient when it came to
an attempt at interpersonal communication. You all had the benefit of two
weeks notice by mail and a printed announcement in a newspaper to be aware of
and attend this hearing. We got an alleged voicemail at the eleventh hour with
the assumption that we actually got the message and therefore had adequate notice
of this (unmoderated, nonpublic) meeting (it came to our attention that
the City Councilor was privy to this meeting as well - an elected official I
might add. Yep - that's how I like my elected officials to act, quietly, hushed,
behind the scenes. Brave.) It's pretty clear you were happy to not have me/us
there, and you could then proudly claim I "chose not to attend." That's
BS and you know it - I was never given the same courtesy and opportunity
to attend your 'meeting' as you were to attend my hearing. All I can
say now is thank God (yes, God, capitol G - surprised? Did you read this far?)
that I/we were made aware of that bigoted community/neighborhood that we almost
invested in. Man, we dodged that bullet - escaping the reactive, narrow-minded,
uncommunicative, ill-advised and paranoid region we might have had to raise
our kid(s) in. Oh, and if you're the one who dropped the 'clever search engine
bomb' on me in attempts to find something incriminating in a Gerry Springer
kind of way (no offense to Gerry - he's a saint in my book), let Google index
this: satan, devil, rock-and-roll-debauchery, godless, lawless, evil, skull,
skulls (don't forget the plural!), knife, cult (kult? as in the band's spelling?
not my band, you moron) dark, (ooh!),, beer (or is it 'beers'?!) devil-music
(really! do you burn books, too? Do you have ANY idea what the title of my last
album is referencing? You highlighted it as if it was something 'bad' - you
missed the point that it's about mob-mentalities, how people get together in
a state of fear and talk each other into a frenzy, effectively fanning the flames
of the one they're burning at the stake. It's sad I have to explain this, but
the irony is too good to let slip by unmentioned: The very thing you thought
was somehow worth mentioning as an example of my 'evil dark music' actually
describes exactly yourselves and the conditions in which you mention
it!) I think all of those terms were brought up in the hearing in
reference to me, someone that the accuser did not know in any way than what
was ASSUMED from an INTERNET SEARCH. Uh, no... no, you don't know me. (And you
missed 'The Beatles' - they're the ones who had their records and stuff burned
in the 60's remember. Bad influence, them mop-tops. I mention them in this website
too, but they were obviously not good fodder for the fear-monger, so their presence
was not highlighted.) Did
I mention it's your loss? That I/we could have been the best thing to happen
to your little world? Peaceful neighbors who GAVE A FLYING POO what went on
the neighborhood, 'cause WE were gonna raise OUR kid(s) there, too?!?! No. You
did not - you ignored the fact that we are a happily married couple with full,
professional, spiritual lives (well, it seemed 'satanism' or something was assumed
about my spirituality... You morons.) It was all "rock and roll" which
meant "Trouble with a capital 'T'
(And that rhymes with "P" and that stands for pool!." Billiards.
I blame it on billiards. (The Music Man. A wholesome musical about -
Mob Mentality and Fear! Apropo.))
The Zoning Board
clearly stated that what kind of music I or my clients make was irrelevant.
This concept was lost on the mob - "why isn't it?" Because, morons,
that
A) You actually have NO IDEA what kind of music I or my clients make! Or, for
that matter, my religious beliefs (which are also irrelevant to you - sorry,
it's none of your business, but I would have happily told you if you asked.
You probably would have been pleasantly surprised...) (You made some pathetic
assumptions from your Google search regarding Out Out, but severely missed the
mark on that.)
B) And as for my clients? Did you listen to each and every record
I've ever worked on? How about view all of the museum installations, educational
materials, books on tape, documentaries, etc, that I have under my belt? No
- you thought "devil music", closed your mind and blew harder on the
fire.
And C) you are not the morals police anyhow. The kind of assumptions and restrictions
on thought and speech that your behavior condones is, first of all, a direct
violation of the First Amendment of the Bill Of Rights of the United States
of America, and secondly, is the kind of thinking that generates societies with
fascist dictators and terrorists running the country. I think we can all agree
that the latter is not how we want America to be, but you dumbly wandered into
that territory anyway. It's that kind of hypocritical, selfish thinking that
creates police states where no one can be an individual lest they be prosecuted
as criminals. And music is ART, people, not real life, so even if there is an
idea being expressed you don't agree with, no one is going to force you to listen
to it, certainly not me. Turn off your damn TV sets, stop watching to the movies.
Cancel all of your subscriptions, don't walk into a public place, and don't
use email or go online if you don't want to occasionally run into something
that you don't agree with. You live in America, the Land of the Free and the
Home of the Brave, but you act like cowards, like the three monkeys ('see no
evil' etc etc.) I am proud to be an American, and I believe in our Constitution.
Behavior like yours contradicts the very patriotism it takes to call yourself
American, in my opinion. (And all of you out there in internetland, if you think
that because I am a proud American that I support everything my country does
in it's own name, you clearly haven't noticed some of the links on this site...
particularly towards the bottom of the links page...)
SURPRISE of the night: no one mentioned 'goth' 'crack' 'drugs' or 'whores'!
(Maybe they should have - it would have been almost as strong an argument as
the prejudice that was put forward. And now Google will associate those words
with me too! - just make sure your yellow Highlighter takes note! And
as they say, any publicity is good publicity. Think about it.) But, by the way
it went down, they must have thought I wanted to put in a strip club!
Wow. It's no wonder the country is in such a state - as George Carlin said:
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are
stupider than that.". I'm probably paraphrasing, but it's what I call "Carlin's
Law". If I haven't said YIPES yet, now's the time.
OK. "The Bottom Line Is".... If you, any of you, jump to conclusions about someone you don't know, you're acting on prejudice and bigotry - not rational thought and intelligence. If you disagree, too bad. It's The Truth About You. Deal With It. (Don't give me any 'moral absolutist' BS on this - if you're actually reading this and can still call me a moral absolutist, I think you need to reread and reevaluate.) How can I feel this way in this situation? Because we were going to give the neighborhood the benefit of the doubt by investing in a house - and my livelihood - and in that they would assume we were well intended and honest/moral people before condemning us to guilt and evil and whatever else they decided on. We didn't make any negative pre-judgements about them. We merely applied for a permit for me to pursue my livelihood - honest and aboveboard. Clear enough to me. I can live with my karma. I gave them the benefit of being honest, clear headed adults. Not reactionary bigots. I said it. Bigots. (Hypocritical at that. You figure out what I mean if it's not immediately clear.)
Some fools lost potentially some of the best neighbors they'd ever have because of a bigotry against their perceptions of what a 'recording studio' and its clients are today. They made these assumptions in a vacuum. Their loss. (OOH! Rock and roll moment ahead (not):) I am not an irresponsible derelict like MTV (as many see it) dictates all of us 'musician types' to be. Nope. I am a (hopeful) dad-to-be who is in the AUDIO business who wanted to set down roots in a (supposedly) nice (supposedly) liberal/open minded community. Nope. Not gonna happen. They thought I was gonna bring "NOISE" and "BEER" to the neighborhood. Heaven forbid that they have a party at their suburban pool-side. Nope - no beer - and please, no loud fun! "We demanded the neighbors be quiet(er) than church-mice, so our backyard bar-b-que must be enjoyed in chaste quiet. Loud revelry not permitted!" Oh, and if you wear a leather jacket, well Fonzie, you're out... And in the end, their (unjustified, unsubstantiated, or at the very least, underinformed, paranoid) fears were quelled - the 'crazy rock and rollers and their noisy property-devaluing studio' aren't moving in. Did I mention dodging a bullet? Well, we did, and it bears repeating. Hope they're happy. Now that I know what's what in that part of town, I sure am. I want no part of intolerance like that - the presumption of guilt before innocence, the trial and prosecution of 'problems' before substantiation.
What am I talking about? The assumption that a 'recording studio' in a residential neighborhood will somehow corrupt the world. No. Not possible. Even at the busiest of times, the traffic generated will be far less than anything nearby, like the town dump(!), the local gravel pit(!) the farm stand across the street (!) or even the convenience store/gas station less than a half mile away. No. No rational arguments here - it's all about 'beer drinking' and 'rock and roll.'
Let me say, I'm
grateful to know that we dodged that bullet - can anyone imagine moving
into a neighborhood like that and finding out that kind of closed-minded hostility
AFTER the fact? No thanks. And if you're seeing this 'after the hearing' let
me address it three ways:
1) If you were 'on the fence' and your neighbors swayed you without knowing
the whole story - you hopefully are contented and happy with your wisdom and
can live with your place in the world. "Others be damned" - you've
got your own.
2) If you are the folks who like to Google the Internet looking for 'dirt' -
I am glad, no grateful, you found "it" - you saved me/us
the hassle of living with closed minded ignorants as neighbors. Sadly, the sellers
had referred to you all as accepting and nice. Boy were they duped.
3) If there were any people there who were considering that our proposal wasn't
so bad after all, after the public hearing, certainly none of you spoke up in
that regard. But who would? Would you admit to your mob-mentality neighbors
you'd actually changed your mind against them? Or were you quietly pondering
selling your house to get away from the neighborhood that had now show its scary
little teeth? In any regard it was all of you who lost out.
Did we lose? No - it looked quite clear that the board was going to approve
our permit. No, we got out before we were forced to buy a property and live
under the neighborhood's policing, watchful eye for the rest of our lives. Can
anyone imagine the constant scrutiny? ("Are those friends or clients
coming over? They better not be clients - it's 'after hours!!!' GASP."
OR "Is he going out to his studio NOW??? I can't believe it!" (remember,
this studio could have been used by me ANY TIME OF DAY OR NIGHT for PERSONAL
reasons and uses (including
having friends over!) AND THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN
NOTHING YOU COULD DO. It would have been my right just as it would be yours
to have any hobby YOU choose. (This is America, still, isn't it?
Perhaps I shouldn't assume civil liberties anymore - they're being worn down
grain by grain.) Also, complete soundproofing is just that. Complete. You wouldn't
have heard a note, anyway. Morons.) I wanted to have the permit from the town
so when there were times the studio was making me money as a business it would
be legal. You assumed something sinister. Morons.)
Did we lose? No - we sat there and heard, (audibly loud enough for our benefit?!),
the muttered cursing in a public Council Chambers, at a
point where the public portion of the hearing was over, your swearing
under your breath at anything the board said that wasn't to your liking. Did
anyone there have the courage to actually call the board members "assholes"
out loud? No, but they sure had the breath to mutter it over and over just loud
enough for those around them to hear. Classy.
Did we lose? No- you all did, because we care enough about the neighborhood
we live in to not live in one like yours. The next people who go in front
of the board and get a permit to do something in that property many not care
so much about you all, and move in and do their business regardless of anyone's
concerns of 'neighborhood' or 'values' - and then you'll be stuck having a war
with them. Your loss, really, it seems here. (It
appears that if I was a heating specialist, a roofer, or a plumber, perhaps,
you would have never batted an eye. If I wanted to put in a Hair Dressing Salon
- that would have been just A-OK. Even if I was a hairdresser and didn't give
a flying leap about the neighborhood, having loud raucous parties every night
of the week, you'd still be stuck with the rowdy hairdresser and couldn't say
a darn thing. May your karma bring you what it will.)
But a business that would have generated less traffic, had more to worry
about in terms of liability it would have been a quieter and safer endeavor
to engage in in the neighborhood than the aforementioned Hair Salon (you wanna
talk about strangers coming-and-going? - and thus, the integrity of the clientele
- hey, if you've got more to lose, you're more worried about who knows
you have it, you fools. C'mon. Common logic here.) Cripes, a hair salon
(or a convenience store, or farm stand - which are ALREADY THERE) would be a
more likely target for criminal activity (holdup, anyone? "gimme all that's
in the register!"))
If all these 'abutters' really cared about their community, it wouldn't have been an ambush, like, let's face it, it was - nor would they have jumped to these stereotypical conclusions and assumptions (lessee... how many people have friends over for BEER and BBQ every now and then? How many teach PIANO/GUITAR/VOICE/CROCHET? How many, in reality, permit or no, have a friggin' palm reading/studio/massage spa/furniture restoration space that they advertise SOME way or OTHER in their HOUSE? C'mon. And that's NOT a "business"?!? And one that would attract more benign clientele than an AUDIO studio would? (Did I mention not jumping to conclusions about a business' clientele? You mean I have to repeat it again?) What kind of assumptions are WE bringing to the party now? And WE, trying to be upfront and honest about it, basically get lynched. Yes, Lynched. (Ease up - it felt like it. No, no one got hanged and I'm not implying it was that severe - it's an illustrative point I'm making... (it was more like Salem, Massachusetts, 1692.) You know, why, in this day and age, do I feel I need to explain these metaphors? Perhaps is it the completely intolerant society that we all live in, happily pretending that we're oh-so-advanced and open-minded, that we aren't 'politically correct' but merely conscious - that we're beyond snap judgment and bigotry? (There's that WORD again. Ahem.)) It's actually a well-documented mob mentality. When a frenzy gets built up and a large group of people, regardless of their individual, perhaps objective, rational, intelligent views, get worked up into a lather in a group mentality. In this case, 'not in my back yard.'. Ever hear the term "NIMBY"? There ya go. Mob mentality. People as individuals are intelligent, rational beings. Put them in a group and everything changes. ("A person is smart; people are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it." - "Men In Black". Great movie - good comments on acceptance in there, too. And a fun watch - recommended.) And once the group gets rolling, even if one wants to change their mind, they're now afraid to - for fear that the mob will start considering them a"THEM" instead of an "US". The world is not monochromatic, but mob mentalities make it that way by design. Us or Them. Scary way to live.
Oh, and several gasped that we have a DOG. May I remind you all that some of the loudest complainants have a PIT BULL? Real safe breed choice. (Does their homeowners insurance company know about that?) And the same complainants have a pile of what can be referred to as 'crap' at the back corner of their property, abutting the property in question - including an abandoned Major Appliance?! Oh, of COURSE that would NEVER be a PROBLEM.
duh.