"Is there a need for art?" - New poem in 2024

 Photo of one of my favorite graffiti pieces I saw in Hollywood, in 2021, I think.  Is it art?  Everyone has their opinion, but I dig this piece.  #steveemigphotos.

Is there a need for art?

The truth out there is plain to see

Yet humans continue to disagree

Sitting on a rock on a hill, enjoying the view

Of the city below, where humans do what they do

The good, the heroic, the evil and mean, 

The city is the place of human fears and dreams

Though we still can't place where cities got their start

I asked out loud, "Is there a need for art?"

Take away Roman columns, Egyptian hieroglyphics, Greek plays, 

Would it matter how humans spend their days?

Take away cave paintings, ivory etchings, and architecture grand

Would humans still see the guidance of a Creator's hand?

What if the music of a million years had never been heard?

No books, no movies, no poems spoken, only everyday words

What if every spark of inspiration had just fizzled dead?

Would civilization have happened, if all the great ideas had been left unsaid?

The answer is obvious, a definite, "No!"

Without arts of all kinds, there would be nowhere to go

So despite all the pain, all the hate, all the war

Perhaps there's a reason that we're all here for

Perhaps there's a reason actors act and singers sing

There's a reason novelists and poets are seeking something

It's why designers design and movies get made

Why directors direct, and put on their plays

Perhaps it's all part, of a story grand and strong

Playing out over the eons, a span longer than long

Is there a purpose to Art?  An enthusiastic "Yes!" I declare

Music, dance, and stories are always found there

This truth came to me, on a rock on a hill

The grand story of humankind... creativity, drama, and free will

-The White Bear

I just wrote this one, in January 2024, while laid up in a sketchy-ass homeless recuperative center, where I couldn't access social media, write on my blog, and was listening to other people's music and chatter for over a week.  There's such a strong surge of censorship being pushed onto social media and online platforms these days, by certain groups who hate books, art, and most of makes life interesting, that's it's like this continuous under current of hate and negativity.  I've written very few poems in the last 16 years, and this one came out pretty messy, when it came time to write it down.  But it captures a lot of what I feel these days, being creative in my own unique ways, in a world where there's so many forces coming down on arts of many different kinds, because they don't conform to certain ideologies.  

I recently wrote a big post on my Substack about poetry, writing poems, and becoming a poets decades ago.  If that sounds interesting, check it out:

Steve Emig The White Bear's Substack

Oliver Anthony just gave the 99% a theme song...

A week ago, few, if any, people across the United States knew who Oliver Anthony was.  Then he uploaded an incredibly heartfelt song about making a living in America these days.  And this song, "Rich Men North of Richmond," caught fire.  It had 8 million views already when I first listened to it yesterday, it's got 9 million this morning.  Just listen.  Maybe you feel a lot like Oliver does.  I know I do.  This is a GREAT song.  

There comes a time when the working people on the far Left, and the working people on the fear Right, and all the formally working people trying to make a living again, realize they're all pissed off about the same basic thing.  It's just getting too hard to make a decent living as a reasonably honest American.  

There are no "elites."  There are only a bunch of bought and paid for douchebags, politics, both sides of the media, who've run up TRILLIONS of dollars in debt to prop up their benefactors.  The working people of America, on both sides, are just damn sick of the douchebaggery.  That's why this song struck such a chord with millions of people in a few days.  

Bogger's note: It took me about an hour to write this quick post, because my wifi was being throttled back to keep me from promoting this song.  I couldn't get Blogger to load, and then couldn't get YouTube to come up.  That's one of many douchebag tactics these days to keep certain ideas out of the media, and to discourage blogger, writers, and people who think and share certain ideas.  I first heard of this song on the Wealthion YouTube channel, of all places.  

For those of you who haven't looked at a map, Washington D.C. is north of Richmond, Virginia.

I'm doing a lot of my writing on Subtack these days, check it out:

Steve Emig The White Bear's Substack

The most rational discussion I've seen about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars

So... the Oscars (aka Academy Awards) happened Sunday... and 99% of the conversation is about Will Smith getting up, and slapping comedian/host Chris Rock, after a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith.  In this NSFW (lots of language) conversation, here's MMA fighter/comedian/podcast legend Joe Rogan, and MMA fighter/commentator Josh Barnett, discussing the incident.

First of all, here's the clip of the slap, followed by the joke Chris said first.  

I didn't see this happen live, I heard a mention of it yesterday, the morning after the Oscars.  This crazy incident has brought up all kinds of opinions from people across the spectrum.  But the conversation between trained fighters, Rogan and Barnett, above, is the most level headed take on it I've seen, and it's about 15 minutes long.  First, Joe Rogan is the first person I've seen mention Will Smith's double reaction, laughing at first, then Jada's upset look, and then Will walks up and slaps Chris.  Second, Chris Rock can take a hit, I'll give him that, he didn't even put his hands up to block.  No stunt double needed there.

I agree with Rogan that I think Will was acting completely on impulse.  I don't think he had any thought of consequences at the time.  Yes, Will did apologize to the Academy during his acceptance speech later on, and I've heard he apologized to Chris yesterday on Twitter.  But he handled the situation horribly at the time.  

As I've thought about it over the last day and a half, like so many other people, I see Will's act as that of a person of privilege, who believes there are, or will be, no consequences for his actions.  That was the act of a spoiled rich kid turned adult, whose problems have been solved by someone else their whole life.  That's the kind of person we'd expect to hit someone on a live TV broadcast.  Now that's not how Will grew up, to the best of my knowledge.  But that's how how acted in the moment, like someone who had no concern for consequences at all.  Normal people know they'd get tackled by security if they ever tried something like that in a similar situation.     

When you bring the race into it, Will did the same kind of thing that black people have had to deal with from wealthy, privileged White people, for 300+ years in this country.  Except the guy throwing the bitch slap is a rich and famous black man.  There are so many different issues wrapped up in this little incident, that I'm kind of glad it happened.  Yes, Jada has a medical condition that led to her shaving her head, and Chris likely knew that.  But it was at a TV show, watched by millions, where Chris Rock's job was to roast a few celebs for laughs as part of the show.  If you're in the first few rows at the Oscars, you know you may have a joke directed at you.  You can argue whether the joke was in bad taste.  But I don't think it was malicious, Chris was doing his job as a comic host. 

This blow-up by Will Smith now has people talking about alopecia, and what jokes are acceptable to women with one issue or another.  It has people talking about jokes and free speech.  It has people talking about wealth, privilege and lack of consequences for some people's actions.  It has people talking about assault.  It has people talking about how fucking crazy the world itself has become.  It has people talking about copycat idiots attacking live performers in the future.  It has people talking about a whole bunch of social and human issues.  

It also has a lot of people thinking about social issues, and how we interact with each other in all kinds of everyday situations.  In the long run, the one douchebag moment of stupidity may yield several silver linings.  Chris Rock is OK, and seems to have literally, and figuratively, rolled with the punch.  Maybe this will ultimately prevent some stupid actions by a lot of other people in the future.  Let's hope so.  

If this incident is on your mind, watch the video above, there's a lot in it to think about.  

I have a new blog now, check it out:

The Spot Finder     #thespotfinder