and on one of the 50″ projection screen i watched a looter coming out of an electronics store on sunset in hollywood, it is now a Ross Dress For Less, and he was wheeling out i’d say a 46″ projection screen, down sunset and then down La Brea.

people were looting because of the verdict of the Rodney King beating

i had a customer who said, maybe i should just drive down to LA and save $3,000.

his son, who was dicking around in the nearby camcorder area sarcastically yelled out

shotgun!

i was in Santa Barbara because i was in love with Jeanine and did not move to Prague with the rest of my friends who were starting the first english language newspaper there, Prognosis. which is probably just as well because if i had moved there, i would wager i would have met a beautiful Czech girl and i would still be there with our large family.

and the internet would have never have had almost 16 years of the world famous busblog

i know: joy.

xbi sent me to south central the other night

they were all, tell me what you see.

i said i see a park with sprinklers going, a motorhome parked in front of a nice house

theres palm trees, stars,  a park bench

they said, but is there a black out? do any of the houses have lights on?

i said, oh, no. i mean yes. yes theres a black out here.

and then i heard,

perfect.

it was so windy i literally saw tumbleweeds from The Past

that were blown into the Present due to the freak climate change.

what i remember about the riots was that it felt like what happens when you really have to barf.

something happens, you feel gross, and then everything comes out

even the bile.

especially the bile.

and then you look at it.

and clean it up.

and you feel better.

i can’t speak for all black people, but this black person felt better during and after the riots.

during because the message was being delivered in a powerful way.

after because the message was heard and shit quickly got in action.

did the individual parts make any sense when viewed in a vacuum?

burning your own neighborhood

stealing things you really dont need

rolling those things down a city sidewalk and thus throwing the light bulbs out of wack, ruining the tv

assaulting innocent white folk in a disgusting and shameful way?

no.

but that was the bile.

the filth at the bottom.

in the very first viral video we saw a man surrounded by people with guns and tasers and sticks

and we saw that man ruthlessly pummel a black man in a disgusting and shameful way.

the evidence was right there for all to see.

clear as numbers on a scoreboard.

and the verdict seemed like fiction.

a terrible dream.

even when things are painfully obvious that you should win, black people, you will lose.

and the people said

not today.

today, we all lose.