When Billy Broke His Head Â… And Other Tales of Wonder. -1994 - video recording
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0842/is_n3_v20/ai_16025459 When Billy Golfus, an award-winning radio journalist was brain damaged as a result of a motor scooter accident 10 years ago, he became one of the 43 million Americans with disabilities--this country's largest and most invisible minority. He struggled with his own rehabilitation and came home from the hospital, only to discover that physical rehabilitation was only the first battle he'd have to fight. In America, disability is not just a medical fact, it is also a political reality. In this irreverent, first-person road movie, Golfus, a sort of underground Charles Kuralt, goes on the road to meet people with disabilities around the country and witness firsthand the strength and anger that is forging a new civil rights movement. This video blends humor with politics and individual experience with a chorus of voices to explore what it is really like to live with a disability in America--where pervasive discrimination and bureaucratic "helping" systems too often keep people with disabilities trapped in a labyrinth of government rules and legislated poverty. As Billy says, "This ain't exactly your inspirational cripple story." It's a documentary with an attitude, which should entertain, enlighten, and might even enrage it's viewers. cast for 'When Billy Broke His Head... And Other Tales of Wonder'

Billy Golfus - Host

production credits

Billy Golfus - Screenwriter, Producer, Cinematographer, Director
Slawomir Grunberg - Cinematographer
David E. Simpson - Producer, Cinematographer, Editor, Director

awards

Freedom of Expression Award (win) - - 1994 Sundance Film Festival
Freedom of Expression Award (win) - David E. Simpson - 1994 Sundance Film Festival

*******$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$*$********************

Okay, so if you haven't already realized, this post is about a film that was screened in our disability studies class.

The row of $$$ and *** is to mean that this is an extra special occasion and is worthy or our meritorious praise.

It is also a call to action and a call to arms, to change. Change the perceptions we hold about disabled people that invariably, but directly causes them so much harm.

In addition to the preamble review at the top of the post, I figured I would spend a minute sharing my own notes taken from the film.

Firstly; this film is from 1994 - but it has a freshness and vibrance that is unmatched in much of documentary film making. Hmm there must be something there, something of importance in relation to the Human spirit, the human condition, humanity...

This film is not the story of a disabled man
(with an impairment that is virtually invisible, meaning it is not readily apparent simply from looking at him, since he has brain damage)
in the sense that the usual story of disabled people is either THE TRAGIC BUT BRAVE VICTIM or the CUTE AND INSPIRATIONAL. Think - rick hansen,
to Harry Earles (the short guy below) in Tod Browning's ~ FREAKS


"Tod Browning dares to answer the question: Can a full grown woman truly love a MIDGET ?"So why this digression to media images, well, i guess it's because I am a firm believer in the church of the mass media, and I also belive that every mind numbing piece of mass media created has 'an' effect on the built and mental environments we traverse daily.

Back to the film:

"as long as you don't have a job, they do." Spoken by a woman with a disability in relation to the 'Bureaucratick' folks in control of her life.

The overwhelming sentiment is anger, partly directed at the American Gov't - because as citizens of that country, they are denied services that would enable them to be self sufficient

- in effect - when a person asks for assistance - first they are seen as a person who is asking for preferential treatment - no person should be asking for more - they should be happy with that which has been given to them - right? - WRoNG

- The box doesn't allow everyone to fit inside in a nice and cozy way - Thus when a person asks - if they are not flat out denied - they often lose that which they had already been granted - i.e., if you were being given anallotmentt each month - and you felt that you could help to improve your personal situation by getting a job for x hours and x pay per week - the system of 'social assistance - would likely decide that you were no longer in need of any social assistance

- even if the pay you made from the job was not enough to cover your expenses - then the choice becomes - well - do i keep the job and live in a poverty worse than before or do i go back to the 'assistance' I was on? - Meaning that when the Gov thinks that your life in poverty is getting too cushy, they slap you with a 'spindown'

- what the fuzz is a spin down - how Americann is that - but it probably happens in Canadaa just as often - a spindown is where you are slapped with hefty tax for brining in extra money - money that is seen as surplus and in addition to the X$s you have been allottedd by the assistancee' program.

The fact of the matterr is that, people are faced with disincentives to work and improve their own personal situation, (this is where the whole - "they are lazt argument comes in") there is no middle road - no grey area for pencil pushers - for the pencil pusher has no 'real' authority - this action must be made in other ways -

For example: the disability rights movement in the US is largely spearheaded - or that's the way it is shown in the movie - to be a major player in disability rights activism - they are called

A.D.A.P.T. their current agenda = "There's no place like home; and we mean real homes, not nursing homes. We are fighting so people with disabilities can live in the community with real supports instead of being locked away in nursing homes and other institutions."

Their past agenda was all about transportation - The figures from the film went a little like this - Denver, CO - There was a larger push and large demonstration of civil disobedience by disabled people in Denver than there was in Chicago - The demonstration ended up shutting down an entire govt building for a day - in Chicago, no demonstrationn of like kind happened -
Today (1993) - ALL buses in Denver are accessible by wheelchair's - In Chicagoo - 600/3200 buses are wheelchair accessiblee -

The moral of the story was - the more civil disobedience the more results.

To return to the Current mandate of ADAPT - here are some #'s reflecting a familiar schema of power - money and greed -

The nursing home industry (yes industry, of warehousing people in places that may even 'look nice') is a 6 Billion$/year (1994) industry.

The gov of America chips in 3.8 Bil/year

- hell yeah lets take care of these people,Ii know, we'll stick in a place with lots of these 'useless' people and they can all sit there and watch the TV and be useless together - yeah george that sounds like a great idea - hell why don't we all move in there - uh - no - wait -I don't want to live in a nursing home - oh wait - how many people actually choose to go there - or want to - or are asked - is there a choice -???

It costs roughly $45,000/ year to have a person live in a NH? (Not sure where the funding is all coming from, or percentages)?

There are over 2 million Nursing homes in the US.

So lets compare - The cost it would be to allow someone to stay home, in their own environment - in thier own surroundings - on their own schedual - with theirr own choices -- privacy - dignity - sanity - perhaps with assistancee from care workers - hmm - safety - a home I'm comfortable in and feel safe in and get to live my life the way I want to live = priceless and a lot less than the cost of a NH.




Disabled people are the largest minority in the U.S.

The real problems are not the buses - the doors - the stairs - the high shelves - the visual culture - no - the problem is the attitudes - the prevailing attitude that sees disability as a worse fate than death.





To Read some of Billy Golfus' writings: go here...http://www.mouthmag.com/do_goodertrouble.htm



Sorry for the literary vomit - I am in the middle of a very busy time.


A

From the band that had a major impact on my life course over the last 10 years - I was a little shocked at coming across the 'good riddance' web page and reading that of the members who were in the band when they released 'a comprehensive guide to modern rebellion,' and have rejoined to put out the most recent record and tour: only one member is in fact at the time of the web post - still a vegan... "Europe 2006 -by Russ Rankin In late February of 2006 Good Riddance embarked on a 16 day European tour. 2.24.06 Amsterdam, NL

The busy square near the club, while pretty touristy, is always fun to walk around in and theres a pretty legit coffee shop down the street called “The Coffee Company” where Steve(road manager) and I, being the only vegans on the trip, got several soy beverages. Steve is really helping out with everything and its nice to not be the only vegan on the trip. We also get to talk hockey which, if I go too long without doing, I tend to go a bit crazy." So, thats it, I guess my inspiration is gone. I guess we all just pack in the bag on veganism sooner or later right. that'shats not it for me.

Seeing that Russ is the only one I ever really looked up to and respect, and the fact that he is still vegan, means a whole lot to me. The fact that he can run literary circles around most of the shit they call 'music' these days is evidence enough for me that being vegan means you can write good lyrics. This photo is a link to peta2 : and shows dave instead of shawn as drummer guy.
http://www.peta2.com/outthere/o-grid.asp

Fo Sho.

A

Hey There Folks:

Those of you interested in Vegan food, all of you right?

Personally I like the series of books that start with "How It All Vegan."

There are other one's out there that are a bit fancier, but that set is a good one to start with because the means are fairly simple and the educational information about health and nutrition as a vegan is vital.

Education is the Key, it's one thing to be a Vegan, it's another thing to be a healthy vegan.

Initially I read "Diet For a New America" and "Diet for A Small Planet" and these books changed my life.

Give yourself time to adjust and adapt, the vegan police don't exist, do what you feel is best for your body.

In addition to the nutrition side of things there are so many factors and schools of thought, it is all personal choice and the freedom we have living in the west affords us so many options.

If you are in Edmonton check out Padmanadi

A

Happy Birthday to me.

A Quarter life crisis will now ensue.

A

As of late I have been having a hard time getting to the writing of this blog. As most blogs go, they react in flux and in flow with the authors who are responsible for their existence.

While trolling for fodder to add to this blog post I have been struck with a few instances of eureka!

The first being that, though I am not apologetic for anything written in this blog, I do recognize that some of the content may prove to be offensive to some readers. Some readers may have issues with spelling and grammar. Some may have issues with content, in and of itself. In response to the issue of spelling and grammar: This blog was originally conceived as an outlet for stream of consciousness writing, unedited, unedited, to allow for a cohesion of ideas irregardless of mechanical linguistics. To this end I do realize that in forming an idea and opinion of the author, a reader may be trapped by the advent of poor grammar and spelling, thus I pledge to work on resolving this issue.

As far as content goes I am responding to two items in particular, the first being the bacon filled condom. Yes, I though it was kind of gross, I also thought it was a cultural artifact that adds to textured sense of percolated constructionism. Also I would like to point out that letters to the editor are always welcome. In fact, I encourage those who choose to write in response, do so in the section that follows posts, the place where a reader may post a comment (and you don't have to be a blogger to write, you can be anyone). In this case I am choosing to republish an email sent to yours truly;

"How about writing about people that fill their gas tanks with $35
of gas in a big GM car and then drive a month on this gas and still have
some left at the next fill the following month. I agree about the pollution.
I drive about 2500km. per year. How about preventing unemployed easterners
from migrating from the east to the west and increasing the vehicles that
are already on the road and increasing the pollution. What are they coming
here for? For Ralph's Bucks? Too much money here anyway. That's why people
are spending $400000 to buy a house. How many young people under 25 can
afford a $300000 house and mortgage payments of $2000 per month?"

In response to this email, I must say that by criticizing the writings of an author, or the content that is written about, or the political bent towards which certain pieces are formed, would it not simply be more effective to reclaim the medium for oneself by actively participating in a dialogue that is made public, i.e., by writing in the comments portion or by creating a blog of one's own in response. Albeit, the means of production i.e., blogger may not be in one's own hands, but a venue for performance is certainly left up to the creative motives of individual authors.

Ahh. That feels better, that was an issue I have wanted to address for some time now.

In reference to these images at the top and bottom, I was fortunate enough to find a webpage that has archived, catalogued and made easily downloadable for use by d.i.y. folks who are looking for them. Perhaps, individuals who by some path have chosen to identify themselves more closely to diy than to mainstream ideological paradigms.

As is often the case, blogs that are linked closely are often found traversing similar ground at the same time. Borrowed from the Yolk.

"The Revolutionary Knitting Circle Proclamation of Constructive Revolution

We hold that all communities should have the means necessary to meet every essential need of their own people.

To that end, the Revolutionary Knitting Circle calls upon people everywhere to take up the struggle through the tools of local production. We shall bring forth not only our voices raised for global justice, but we shall rise together, with the tools to liberate local communities from the shackles of global corporatism.

By sharing in the skills and resources of our communities, we shall become free to cast off dependencies on global trade for our subsistence. In so doing, we shall all be able to enter fairly into meaningful and equitable trade of not only goods, but also those cultural intangibles that are necessary if we are to bring about understanding, justice and peace to truly enrich our individual lives and our communities.

By returning production of the essentials of life to the community, we can eradicate the dependence imposed by the elites - giving communities the freedom to guide their own destinies.

We call upon all people who would see their communities freed from corporate slavery to come forth to share in action dedicated to removing the production of essential goods from the hands of multi-national corporations and returning that production to the people.

This is a daily struggle." -Knitting Manifesto. A group based out of Calgary, AB

____________________________________________________________________
To return to the original idea of this blog. I wanted to point out that images have played such an intrinsic role in my life, that I can hardly imagine a situation where I am hard pressed to associate it with an image. Thus I have been steeped and indoctrinated into a world of bold images, counter media images, images that reflect a diy ethic. These images have been influential in my life for some time now, they become referents, those that are not easily erasable from memory.

Vivisection: words cannot describe. Visit for images.






A

There is a sense of emergency here, a quiet revolution. Slowly, these bricks that once held businesses and homes are becoming depopulated. Only the fray remains. The core has been effectively drained of its vitality, a box store mall to the north has become the surrogate town center. A city marked with immense grain elevators dwarfing those we are accustomed to, or were accustomed to, on the praries. These giants shall remain as a testament to the economic prosperity of a thriving post war grain port, a proverbial hub of industrial movement. The waterfront is littered with these behemoths, the last initiative to dismantle one of the out-of-service structures, took nearly ten years to complete, and was wrought with increasing expense, a project that no one here will attempt again.

In this alley the spirits still walk, they make their way to the elevators, to the mills and to the mines. These sites of 'work' are now closing or closed, the end result is always the same. Without viable industry, industry does not survive. People are forced to choose a home that they know and love, or a future somewhere else. Most point themselves towards the east, some to the west, and some hang on to what they have here, the certainty of a fifty thousand dollar job a year is long gone. At this level, the town is glazed with formaldehyde, rendering all that is, into an adhock museum. These bricks shall remain, their purpose lost, the decay spreads, and barrel fires keep more than old mens hands warm.