This started off as the scariest Halloween that I’ve ever experienced. I’m not scared of very many things. This is a list of things that scare me:
Sharks
MS-13
Sharks are carnivorous sea creatures. MS-13 is a Salvadorian street gang. Both are known for savage murder. I wasn’t near the ocean, so fear number one was not a concern. Fear number two became a concern, when I found out where the Halloween party was.
The party was at a historic hotel next to MacArthur Park. I knew the park for its lake, and gang-related drug warfare. After finding hearing the location of the party, I developed a plan to avoid all trouble. Run up Alvarado, to Sixth, and dash into the party, without getting murdered. Easy-peasy. But things changed when we were invited to pre-party on Alvarado and 11th.
Alvarado and 11th is the heart of MS-13 territory!
That’s cool. I hope that similar litigation can come into play with the Scientologists in Los Angeles. I’m not talking about their potentially shady business practices, or predatory practices on non-English speakers. I’m talking about a traffic light.
I live in the Scientology district of Hollywood. Everyday I drive home down Fountain, right behind the church’s huge complex. There is always traffic when Fountain crosses L Ron Hubbard Way. It backs up traffic for like three blocks. I think that semaphore was illegally placed by the Church, to make people stop and consider taking a stress test.
The problem has gotten so bad, I had to find a shortcut. I go two blocks out of my way to avoid the hold up in front of the Scientology center. Let’s do something about it!
It references an event from November 2007. At the Ibero-American summit, Hugo Chavez interrupted José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Spanish prime minister. Then Juan Carlos, King of Spain, leaned forward, turned towards Chávez, and said “¿Por qué no te callas?”
This outburst was well received in sectors of Ibero-America, especially by those who feel that Chavismo is too radical. This video quickly became viral, and prompted several notable versions. (My favorite one is the Reggaeton style.) The phrase “¿Por qué no te callas?” was emblazoned on t-shirts, and even became a popular ringtone.
The above picture connects this meme to the meme-of-the-week. In a sort of cosmic revenge, the new interrupter, is interrupting the old interrupter.
This anti-Chavez imagery speaks to something the socio-political position that these Venezuelan tumblrs hold. In a nation like Venezuela there is vast disparity between the rich and the poor. Chavez’s objective to redistribute wealth is something that affluent people are not excited about. (Along with general distaste for Chavez’s pushes for lifelong autocracy.)
I think we (the meme-o-sphere) see so much opposition to Hugo Chavez, because many of his supporters often don’t have access to the internet. You probably don’t have time for funny internet videos, when you live in the slums of Caracas.
If you drive north from Los Angeles, you’ll pass Six Flags Magic Mountain. I always think of the intro to the 90s sitcom Step By Step, because they filmed the intro there. I’m thinking about this now, because the producers of the show superimposed a lake over the parking lot.
That was mega-movie-magic, this is nature’s take on compositing.
