In which the author passive/aggressively accepts credit for something he shouldn't, shamelessly refers to himself as "the author," extols the virtue of righteous indignation, laments the excess of righteous indignation rampant in our society, and then even more shamelessly uses the title of Lenny Bruce's autobiography for the title of the post.
I have to admit, I was pretty stunned when Katie told me at the buffaBLOG Birthday Party that the NFTA reopened bidding for summer concerts down on the outer harbor after they took a rash of shit from the public (note, Katie didn't use those words). I really did not see that coming. This is Western New York after all, we shoot ourselves in the foot on a regular basis, but in this case... amazingly enough... it almost looks like the good guys just might actually triumph in the face of municipal bureaucratic nincompoopery. And no, I'm not going to claim credit based ego-maniacally on the theory that my post last Tuesday, a lamentation of the NFTA's recently announced decision not to pursue said concerts through withering scorn and excessive name calling, has influenced these events. That would be a stretch. Sure I'd like to take that credit, but modesty suggests that I did not in fact unduly influence the NFTA Board of Commissioners.
If anything, I contributed to the zietgeist of vigorous and colorful outrage that rightly erupted in the wake of the NFTA's initial foolishness. Katie mentioned the comment section for the Buffalo News article covering the NFTA decision being a factor, and indeed it is hilarious and overwhelmingly critical of the NFTA decision (except for a couple of schmucks who seemed to intentionally misapprehend the situation in the service of supporting the NFTA's initial foolishness), and it's easy to see how it undoubtedly played a part in the NFTA's reversal. It wasn't just that music lovers were upset that good shows wouldn't be coming here, it was the fact that the people were righteously pissed seeing ideas good for the region get shot down... again and they expressed it. I'm just glad this good old fashioned outrage was used for good instead of evil. Outrage comes easily, perhaps a little too easily in this so-called "Information Age," and let's face it, it's not always in the name of culture, and municipal intelligence. In fact, a lot of the time outrage is manufactured for somebody else's benefit and the clear detriment of others, so it's refreshing to see it here used successfully in the service of art and the community.
Still, we've got to keep our eyes on the prize. Nothing's been finalized or announced, so there's definitely still a chance that they could cock it up... but for now the possibility for some great shows is still alive, and that's down to our righteous anger. Bully for us, I think.
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