Late Entry Is A Serious Contender For Apple Roller Of the Year 2021

 

I have to admit, I NEVER HEARD OF THIS GUY before November 9th, 2021.  But all and sundry are describing him as a LONGSTANDING AGENT OF CHAOS who encourages the concertgoers who like his sound to GET DISORDERLY.  Before November 9th -- his critics say -- he front-loaded the day's disaster by encouraging fans to show up at Astroworld even if they didn't have tickets.  I CAN RESPECT THAT.  A man willing to undercut his own profits to get more fans into his show, WHILE CREATING DISORDER for the security staff trying to keep it orderly AT HIS OWN CONCERT...well, that's very Discordian of the guy.

The November 9th show was held in a big, open, concrete-lined PARKING LOT with no seating, no way to divide or corral people into discrete areas, and -- very importantly -- NOTHING TO KEEP THEM FROM STAMPEDING to get closer to their idol.

Travis Scott -- originally named Jacques Berman Webster II -- has also been captured on film apparently encouraging a fan to leap off the balcony at one of his other shows.  Every clip I've seen of that moment ends before I can determine whether the guy decided not to jump after all, splattered himself all over the ground or if -- like any speaker-diver of my era -- he was borne aloft to safety on the upraised hands of his compatriots.  The commentators emphasize that Scott seemed to be encouraging the guy to jump in the first place, AND THEY DO HAVE A POINT THERE.  Scott sure isn't encouraging orderly behavior.  This, along with smaller stunts like showing his fans how to FLIP THE BIRD to security people trying to prevent fans from rushing the stage.

In case you've somehow managed to avoid this story:  On November 9th, the crowd went wild, rushed the stage, and quite literally FLATTENED dozens of their fellow fans.  Eight died right there on the spot; a couple dozen were hospitalized, including an elementary-school-aged boy who is still in a coma as I type this.  Scott continued performing for another 40 minutes.

And then, this primary confusion arises: half the commentators say he made this happen, wanted it to happen and even STOPPED THE AMBULANCES FROM GETTING IN.  A few of these people went so far as to call the show a SATANIC RITUAL.  They point to part of the stage display to underline their point:

Others say Scott HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON, learned about it only after the show and rushed out of an afterparty in dismay after someone broke the news.  IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN what he knew about it and when, but it just seems to me that when people are being stomped to death and carried out on stretchers a few feet away from you and placed in ambulances with their bubble lights flashing...it seems that you would somehow know about it.

I had my own moment of confusion about the fracas when I first heard about it.  There was something posted online about "the Travis Scott concert at Astroworld" and I immediately pictured a performer wearing a cowboy hat and a Western shirt with sequins on the flaps of the breast pockets.  It was hours afterward that I learned I was hearing about the events at a rap show.  HOW DID HE DECIDE TO ADOPT THAT NAME?  

Is this just another attempt to confuse us?

There is no confusion about the casualties.  So far, John Hilgert, Rudy Pena, Franco Patino, Jacob Jurinek, Bharti Shahani, Madison Dubiski, Danish Baig, Axel Acosta and Brianna Rodriguez have died. I heard there is still an 8- or maybe 10-year-old boy in a coma at the hospital.  Many others are still inpatient in somewhat better condition.  

We'll see how the remaining casualties do...

DISCOVERING SCARFOLK

 

This little gem of a book -- ISBN 0091958482 -- is the edited odds-and-ends collection of a man who, very unfortunately, did discover Scarfolk and put together what he could to make sense of the place, despite HEAVY BRAINWASHING, the erasing of large sections of his memory and the replacing of his sons by a couple of badly-damaged adults who dressed and acted like children.  The town itself is a combination life-threatening OBSTACLE COURSE, re-education camp that is bound to remind readers of what China is currently putting the Uighurs through at the moment, and Orwellian THEME PARK in which your every move is being recorded for an obscure religious cult called the Officists, who apparently worship office supplies, leaving their calling card -- hole-punch paper dots and spilled staples -- wherever they pass through.  The other theme -- CRUEL BUREAUCRACY -- is unmistakable.  It's a remarkably paranoid, delightful read. DON'T MISS THIS ONE!