Friday, June 13, 2003

Because Dos Passos is a Murderous place in that far off year of 1933. It is a Poisonville and many of its inhabitants have developed an eye for Murderousness. They can see it slouching towards them. They can see it walking out of a room the way Joseph Conrad saw the man who became Mr. Jones turn and walk from a room. (Victory. 1916 Preface - I think). And so when they see Koo playing for those dogs and for Miss Alberta Hunter's flock of chickens who come to intermingle with the dogs and listen to Koo's ukulele plunking, those dogs paying them chickens no never mind - would you believe it? - when they see Koo sitting, they see Death sitting in sun-burnt cracker flesh. They hear Koo's ukulele plunking they hear the White Noise of Dying. Unlike Clyde, who missed the meaning of Cowboys and became thereby a Twisted Deity of Remorse, there's folks in Dos Passos can deconstruct absolutely the meaning of Koo. One of the avenues of research and investigation Ieuan Mannion plans to walk some during his time in Dos Passos is the strange history of the DogsOnRox Tribe. The DogsOnRox Tribe a post-Colombian culture known exclusively by their legacy of glyphs (?) on smallish stones depicting canines. We don't know if they worshiped dogs or ate them or both (maybe the Aztecs thought of themselves as humanists?). The thing is: many of the dogs the DogsOnRox Tribe glyphed we can't imagine them having ever seen. Some Historians have speculated that Cabeza Da Vaca must have told the DogsOnRox Tribe about Poodles and Pomeranians and Dachsunds and Corgis. Or maybe some other Spanish Explorer lent them a Book. With Pictures. Of Dogs. But we know it wasn't Go Dog Go unless there was a Time Machine involved. Maybe. Stay Tuned. 4:08:37 PM    comment []