Susan's Scribblings the Blog

I just came from the Monster-Mania convention, and boy are my feet tired. Really. Rule of thumb at any convention event is “no seats allowed.” All the better to encourage walking among the vendors, of which there are many. I walked off about ten pounds. My friend picked up tee-shirts and various little things, while I came out with a horrific looking soda can cozy. Last year I got a tee myself, but since admission was $35, that put a bit of a dent in my spending loot. Besides, I don’t think my boss would like a horror film gewgaw sitting at my cubicle.

Twice a year a hotel in Cherry Hill, NJ is packed tighter than a creepy clown car, swarming with horror buffs, so we go at least once. I like horror, but I’m selective, preferring vampire fare to the zombies (whom I consider reanimated, not undead), slashers and mutants. People arrive casually dressed, but some are in costume to be seen and talked about and give the children a scare. Over a few hours I saw Anubis (one of the best costumes), a few incarnations of the Joker, clowns of all shapes and sizes, military zombies and even the killer Buffalo Bill from “Silence of the Lambs” in his creepy drag outfit (unfortunately he had to wear flesh tone undies). The conventions also have visiting cult celebrities, and this one featured Adam West (Batman) and Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), both of whom I spotted in the autograph lounge.

The “dead”-icated convention fans stay the entire weekend, but an afternoon is enough for me. The next event comes in the spring, and my friend and I are talking about going in costume ourselves, to be seen and give the kids a scare. Now we just need a good idea for a duo (not a dynamic one) costume. I thought about the twin girls in “The Shining,” but we don’t look alike. Maybe if we go as ourselves, that will be scary enough.

I came home the other night to find my mother seated in front of the television, watching a PBS music program, and it wasn’t Lawrence Welk.

She was watching a fellow named Emmett Chapman and a band called the Stick Men (which includes King Crimson associated musician Tony Levin), demonstrate a versatile instrument he invented: the Chapman Stick, a device resembling a guitar with extra frets, no filled-out body to speak of, and a bevy of ways to play it and/or imitate or enhance other instruments. It can be strummed or tapped, adjusted to produce a large variety of sounds (like bass and harmonies with chords) all at once.

The sound was mesmerizing and fun to listen to, and it was interesting to bridge the gap in our ages and appreciate something unique in modern music: my mother doesn’t particularly like much past the Sinatra era, but she liked this. I enjoyed the music and overlooked some of the titles of the pieces (“Lark Tongues in Aspic Part II” or something like that), but appreciated that the audience in the venue was quiet and engaged, and I didn’t need earplugs.

Sure, I’m no expert in music terminology, so as Chapman discussed the qualities of the instrument I figured whatever he was saying was impressive. What matters is that the instrument makes a fine sound and can probably be played by anybody. It’s not a ukulele, but it’s not trying to play the Prokofiev 3rd Piano Concerto, either. I’m surprised more guitarists don’t try this instrument.

I wonder what it would be like to pair a Chapman Stick with a Theremin?

Matthew Homyk was murdered by bullies at the age of 14. The teen from Brunswick, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland) was terrorized on an anonymous post-heavy site frequented by the over-13 crowd,  called Ask.fm. After seeing enough nameless posts of negativity, the young man ended his life.

Though this website’s FAQ page specifies that users can control what is seen and what they see (by changing their profiles and preferences), and encourages parents and users to speak up when bullying occurs, we all know it is not possible to monitor everything that gets posted. Besides, with this type of posting allowed, with no posters’ identities to be traced and no repercussions, I can’t imagine the site being used for anything but negativity, rumors and lies. The point is, users can say anything and remain anonymous, so unless you are certain that only your friends will post positive things, blocking anonymous posts is, essentially, blocking all contact with your peers. The bullies know this, and they exploit it.

Also, answers by the staff at Ask.fm saying “we will do what we can” to the question “How do you know if a user is over 13 years old?” does not offer hope that anything can be done to prevent younger school-age children from making the site a destructive dung heap of psychologically crippling hate. All they have to do is subtract 13 from the current year and lie.

It makes me sick to read about victims and their families and, unfortunately, the media tends to focus on them exclusively. What I would like to see is one gutsy media resource who will strap on a pair and call out the bullies for their side of the story. I would like to hear from Matthew’s tormentors, and I have a ton of questions I would like them to answer.

As we look at what bullying does to our society, it seems as if being a bully is a direct path to terrorism, subversive and even criminal behavior, yet we don’t seem to work on obliterating it at its source: the impressionable young who jockey for their places in the pecking order of life. Some of them win by honest, fair play: the rest by intimidation and death. Look at any terror leader, standing at a lectern warbling about war and destruction, and behind it all you see the playground bully lording over the schoolyard while the families of the oppressed children stand by and sigh, “kids will be cruel.”

Wake up! We are the ones who can stop kids being cruel. It’s time to look at this scourge for what it is and put an end to it.