Sorry I didn't post yesterday. After some work in the morning I spent the daytime at with a friend at a palliative unit, and then I had my own doctor stuff to do in the evening. Today was my orientation for the surgery where they told me all the where to be and when and what to bring type stuff and they took a little blood, and then on Monday morning they pull out the drills. I've got ModBlog pre-loaded until Tuesday, and I should be fine to post then anyway.
“We don't want to forget to tell you that you've been breathing poison gas for the last ten minutes. (Coughs). It's a very poisonous gas, and in just a few moments you will pass out and die. Thanks for your trust in us.”
I'm posting that Grobschitt video in part because last night Jon, Saira, and I were talking about how it's very difficult for people who haven't experienced racism personally to understand how even light jokes can be really hurtful… In my case, I still feel very uncomfortable when I hear “krautrock” — a term that boggles my mind that it was accepted, because calling German Progressive Rock “krautrock” is like calling rap “niggertalk”. It's hurtful and demeaning, even it seems to have been by and large accepted.
Even though I'm white living in a largely all white society, I know what it's like to get bullied and beaten up daily while being called “kraut” due to my accent. I can't imagine how much it would have sucked if it was about my skin color as well… I think a lot of the time people assume that racist jokes told in good humor don't hurt, and on one level they shouldn't, but it's sort of like telling dead baby jokes to someone who lost a child. They're never going to appreciate it… It's funny because with terms that people don't think about like “gypped” or “jewed” or “krautrock”, it's surprisingly hard to convince people you're not being oversensitive.
I think I'm rambling, so feel free (or not) to enjoy some more krautrock Grobschnitt.
PS. If you appreciate stage theatrics, watch the second clip, and the last third of the first.
