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METAPHORICAL
Those of you who remember the pre-316 drive
between Athens and Atlanta can note the re
markable changes brought by this road. And now
before our disbelieving eyes we ca'n appreciate
the metaphorical lesson this road now teaches.
"Coming Soon," the sign read, "Don't Make Me
Come Down There," the billboard warned, and all
the while we imagined some disembodied char- _
acter with a chip on his shoulder and some score
to even. Alas, did we confuse the subject by not
reading the fine print or did we only miss the
notice of sponsorship? Maybe the stark lettering
visually en-spelled us to obey the command, "Pay
no attention to the man behind the billboard!"
We quietly went on our secular way, living our
carefree secular lifestyles—but he's been watch
ing, calculating, conspiring with his believers
hid among us. New signs downtown read "Eye on
Athens." Is that you, billboard man, and these
strange street corner pods watching over our
downtown strolls your lidless eyes? Do you prefer
the epithet Big Brother or Big Daddy?
Of course I've noticed the heavy machinery
parked beneath one of the 316 pulpits (3:16—
got it). I can see it now. With the division of
Athens-Clarke County a fix, you can carve your
division and the many others which you have in
store for our beloved community into the very
ground we stand on. Your divide-and-conquer
agents out among us are quickly learning the
craft. You can't miss them really. They're the ones
who walk in the public domain with one hand
behind their backs and fingers crossed. You're
finally here, just like the sign said, and I'm cer
tain your upcoming advertisement blitz will be as
entertaining and metaphorical as it is heartless.
However, you may find that here deeds conse
quent to embodiment weigh more than words
convenient to illusion.
But while we’re at it, here are a few sugges
tions for some timely billboard banter which you
may find amusing, even if merely provincial* "No
Taxation Without Representation”—since you've
come for the true believers, the Chamber of
Commerce ought to bear the burden of your awk
ward presence among us. "No Annexation Without
Reparation"—or do you believe political theft
has no consequences? "Don't Tread On Me!"—rat
tlesnakes warn before biting, don't they?
S. Scurry
Athens
HOPEI
I was pretty annoyed at the sight of writer
Gordon Lamb clambering up on what has to be
the world's smallest high horse concerning the
"Friends in Hope" fund for Athens band Hope For
Agoldensummer. He would perhaps be justified
in taking potshots at a band who solicited dona
tions in the name of a nonprofit organization
and kept the proceeds, but it seems pretty clear
to me that the band and the fund's founders are
being completely upfront about what the fund
is for. Perhaps if the bandmembers were wealthy
trust-fund brats with no talent like some other
local music acts, they wouldn't need to seek ex
ternal financial help. Everyone knows that bands
don't make much money around here and need
help any way they can get it
If Mr. Lamb had done even a small amount
of research into the question, he would have
found out that the "Friends in Hope" fond was
established by fans of the band completely inde
pendently of the band's direction or oversight. It
seemed to me that Lamb was really just looking
for a reason to launch a smear attempt against
a band that he does not personally like, a type
of character assassination that has no place in
a magazine ostensibly dedicated to supporting
the arts.
David Ferguson
Athens
4 FLAGPOLE.COM • FEBRUARY 22,2006
CONTACT US AT P.0. BOX 1027, ATHENS, GA 30603, EDITOR@FLAGPOLE.COM
OR VIA THE “TALK BACK TO US’’ LINK AT FlAGP0LE.C0M
HOPE 2
I must say I was disgusted at Gordon Lamb's
potshot at Hope For Agoldensummer [Threats
& Promises, Feb. 8]. His report of their fans'
fundraising MySpace page was nothing more
than careless, jealous banter. Personally, I find
it impressive that the band's fans are so eager
to see HFAGS make it that they would go to
such lengths as starting "Friends in Hope." It is
refreshing to see music fans so vehement to see
a band succeed. I'm sorry to see Mr. Lamb call it
"grubby" and to indicate that the only "return*
for one's donation, another Hope record, would
be lame. He seems to be getting personal His
blurb was utterly unprofessional and unkind. And
no one looks bad in this charitable situation but
Gordon. Shame on him. Not that he could change
so many minds about Hope For Agoldensummer.
In fact, his nasty comments only make me want
to further support Hope For Agoldensummer, like
maybe visiting "Friends in Hope." I used to see
the Threats & Promises guy around town and
thought he was a nice chap. Now I'm not so sure.
S3 Ursrey
Email
MANIC DEPRESSION
I just wanted to respond to Blair Heald's ar
ticle on manic depression ("A Frustrating Mess,"
Feb. 1]. It was both refreshing to hear of some
one who has dealt with the difficulties of manic
depression as I have, but also depressing to hear
of the pain she has been through during her
bouts with this illness, or legal "disability," or is
it part of special creative abilities?
I, too, have been labeled by the profession
als of psychology and psychiatry as one having
Bipolar Disorder. To complicate things, I have
been through traumatic things throughout my
life which ultimately unleashed the dark side
of this illness in me. I was first labeled as one
having chronic depression by those psychos ob
serving me during a depressed phase. I was put
on Paxil for two weeks to see if that would help.
After a week and a half on Paxil and very little
sleep, a state trooper picked me up while sitting
on the railing over Interstate 75 and took me to
the Alachua County Crisis Center. There it was ac
tually a patient who first diagnosed me as being
manic depressive, and not a professional While
seeing the psychiatrist, she observed me through
an open office door dancing to Earth, Wind and
Fire's song "Brick House." She told the doctor
that I was manic. He agreed and then took over
the diagnosis, but she was never compensated
for assisting him with his professional services.
Then it was 1200 mg of the toxic salt lithium
each day. I didn't last tong on that and went off
of this med for the sake of my liver and myself.
Then the traditional medication that is most ef
fective for me got me through a few more years
of troubled waters. Then another very traumatic
experience triggered another intense episode,
complicated by my traditional medications
becoming unavailable due to federal regula
tions against it. (And to farmers like George
Washington. He grew it extensively according
to the testimony in several volumes of his di
ary, which would yield him several mandatory
minimum sentences if he were alive today, due
to the hateful actions of much lesser men and
presidents than he.)
So after giving in to the folks in charge of
the madness against God-given medications from
the Bible, which was originally printed upon
such substances, just as Betsy Ross made the
first American flag out of the stuff, as were the
parachutes, ropes and tents of World War II; I
was detained and again over-medicated with
more highly profitable pharmaceuticals which
were very toxic to my liver. These kind folks
thought that 28 days of solitary might also help
my condition, which started with five days of
fasting and occasional push-ups to taunt them,
along with my ability to remove handcuffs put
on a little loosely around my wrists. After be
ing acquitted and serving 118 days of detention
which would have been time served if I were
found guilty, I was put on 1600 mg of Depakote
a day, to up the stakes for being like someone
Freddie Mercury sung about in some Queen song.
Once again, the stuff was very hard on my liver,
just like binge-drinking hard liquor. The court-
ordered PhD psychologist/ psychiatrist admitted
that he too loved my traditional medications and
that refining the use of the pharmaceuticals for
manic depression "was like doing surgery with a
hacksaw."
So I obeyed the wishes of the pharmaceutical
industry for a time and this former cross-country
star gained almost 50 pounds and was barely
able to walk a mile, and was unable to hold
a job. So finally I kicked that pharmaceutical
habit, and went on my traditional medications,
got a job doing landscaping and irrigation and
lost almost 40 pounds. The last 10 pounds, I'm
still working on years later. My traditional medi
cations helped to pacify my anger and control
the manic episodes and lift me from the depths
of depressive phases, allowing me to do qual
ity technical work requiring extensive use of my
brain and exhaustive use of my body, simitar
to the exertion of long distance running. And I
remained a complete contradiction to the big
oted stereotypes promoted by idiot presidents
like Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon and a couple
of Texas Bushwackers who entertain themselves
with incarcerating patients and farmers like
George Washington, just like their predecessor
King George in whom we had a revolution to
liberate ourselves from.
It is important to note that a few other
Americans who have been diagnosed by the pro
fessionals as having had manic depression include
Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Albert
Einstein and Abraham Lincoln, who reportedly re
sorted to using cocaine, as Zyprexa was not avail
able back then. And across the ocean, Winston
Churchill also had manic depression, even in
England's darkest hour. He also has been reported
to have a problem with excessive drinking,
though neither alcohol nor manic depression pre
vented old Winston from rising to the occasion to
stand against the darkness of the day, similar to
the courage of Abraham Lincoln. It is important
to note in this society that likes to write such
people off as mere crazies, that without them we
would NOT have the light bulb, the telephone,
special relativity and other modem theories of
physics, and maybe we would not have our free
dom either. And we would not have the dazzling
guitar work and songs of James Marshall Hendrix,
our beloved brother of rock and rotL
Name Withheld
Athens
MORE ON MANIC DEPRESSION
This is in reference to the article "A
Frustrating Mess: On The Inside With Manic
Depression" [Feb. 1). Having lived with some
one with this disease for two and a half years
and having to cope with the mood swings, the
rages, the cutting, the lying, the cheating and
being used because I was "convenient" to that
person for their own self-serving purposes, I can
honestly say, it was the most difficult two and
a half years of my life. No, it's beyond that, it's
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