Ego, by Mike Gold – Brainiac On Banjo #250

November 21, 2011 Mike Gold 3 Comments

At first I was going to amaze you with my ability to predict today’s Congressional Supercommittee activities and then, in my patently self-serving way, explain the political wisdom behind my prediction. I was even going to call it “Congressional Turkeys.” But then I remembered: this is Brainiac On Banjo #250! So, instead of all that, I’m gonna talk about me.

This is, like, roughly the end of my fifth year annoying people with my political obnoxiousity. Being blessed with a short attention span and, until recently, a lot of energy, there are few specific things I’ve done for at least five years straight. Both of my marriages. Paternalizing the wonderful Ms. Adriane Nash. My second stint at DC Comics. Driving my 2005 Ford Focus (97,000 miles and counting). Maybe a few other things that will occur to me over the next five years. And we can argue how much of this I’ve actually done “straight.”

So, why this? Why Brainiac On Banjo? I didn’t even create the title; I lifted it from the late and truly great Vivian Stanshall from the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and their song “The Intro and the Outro.”

Why? Because there are few opportunities to have a no-holds-barred yet still respectful dialog about important stuff with people I respect. Every week I toss out a hand grenade and a whole bunch of us smother it with our bodies. For me, this is great fun.

At the very ripe yet not as old age of 61, I may have acquired a certain amount of wisdom and perspective. Yet I try to write this weekly column in the same spirit, with the same joie de vivre I had when I started writing polemics for the Chicago Seed back when I was 18. Sometimes – last week, for example – I attack issues that I believe are too important or too oppressive to exhibit such joy, but even there when I get the facts and details down and get to the conversational stage, I try to step back and lighten up. This is a function of age: the younger one is, the more black-and-white the world seems. That’s totally understandable, but I’m glad I mostly grew out of it. Mostly.

This is why I’m so opposed to objectivism and the other various organized religions. There’s no room for dialog, no open-minded discussion. As our better teachers have shown us, you can pry open a closed mind but, sadly, as experience has shown us, some people have minds that are soldered shut. Once I realize I’ve encountered one of these types, I have learned to simply walk away.

That’s a life lesson for the blustering wag: don’t waste your energy preaching to the chorus, even if it’s somebody else’s chorus. Use your energy productively. Having a point of view yet being open minded at the same time is the most productive form of organizing.

But all of this would be shouting into the void if not for my friends and family here in this venue. I’ll continue espousing simply because I don’t know how to do anything else… and I’m grateful I am truly blessed with so many fine, intelligent and almost adult friends.

Obnoxiousity and Paternalizing, trademark and copyright arrogantMGMS, 2011. All Rights Reserved. So you can blow me, Stephen Colbert!

—

Patriot and weirdo Mike Gold performs the weekly two-hour Weird Sounds Inside The Gold Mind ass-kicking rock, blues and blather radio show on The Point, www.getthepointradio.com, every Sunday at 7:00 PM Eastern, replayed three times during the week (check the website above for times) and available On Demand at the same place.