Category: Creative Resistance

Holy Thursday and other items

39 million without access to treatmentHoly Thursday AIDS action: This afternoon some Clark and St Michael’s students went to the local office of Abbott Laboratories dressed up as bunnies and carrying 4,000 black plastic eggs. They delivered 300 letters asking Abbott to make one of their AIDS drugs available to all of the developing world, as they’ve done in South Africa. An Abbott guy gave them the name of someone they can discuss the issue with, so the demo had a happy ending.

I made a short movie of the events (WMV, 1.9MB).

Easter Bunny at Abbott Labs

Update: NECN video clip of the event. I like how the anchor says they were “rotten” eggs, then Andy Lacombe clarifies that they were plastic. There’s no way there were 8,000, though.
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If elected, I’ll ask for a recount.

The NPR affiliate in Norman, Oklahoma — KGOU — aired a great story about my campaign for Mayor of Oklahoma City today. The reporter, Scott Gurian, used to hang out with folks at the NYC Catholic Worker, so he understood how to interview and report on a Catholic Worker running for a political office. I put an mp3 of the story at my website, http://www.bobwaldrop.net/waldropkgou.mp3

49 hours at Wal-Mart vs. 39 hours in an abandoned building

Editor’s note: This is our 100th post.

In the heart of the dead (as advertised) but employees can’t find it, the inventory number is missing, the bar code won’t scan, ‘Price check on aisle one nineteen!’ they have promised again and again so we are here to collect: health, happiness, fulfillment, quality and especially savings in the isles of the only home we know.

The statement also applies to the 49 hours I had previously spent at Wal-Mart. Despite the ironic tone, those Wal-Mart pieces were an experiment in compliance. In Wal-Mart, I endeavored to accept the offers of consumer culture—health, happiness etc.—as if they were made in earnest. I decided that the intense, extreme, adventurous and sublimely happy life displayed in product advertisements was the thing for me.

Wal-Mart was a perfect site for the quest because it is the ultimate experience of abundant promise and dismal reality: the products versus the customers. There, amidst a crippling one billion choices, the perfect item is said to lurk; as customers our mission is to find it. My visit to Wal-Mart was an act of total compliance with that mission. The stipulations I brought were a sincere expectation of achieving that goal and a preference for process over product. In the end I felt successful for having made good on their false promises.

On the one year anniversary of the 49 hours I spent at Wal-Mart, I endeavored to colonize another modern fixture, the abandoned city building. Beginning on the evening of Thanksgiving 2002, I operated under the following procedure:

  • I will illegally enter an abandoned building.
  • I will have the door locked behind me.
  • I will have no prior information as to what is inside.
  • I will bring the clothes I wear, flashlight, paper, pen, camera, water, food, chalk, pliers, screw driver, and a two-way radio.
  • I will remain inside the building for 72 hours.

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Thoughts on “My 49 Hours at Wal-Mart”

Rumor has it that you can get anything at Wal-Mart. That is one of the many reasons to avoid it. But on the day after Thanksgiving, 2001, I endeavored to submit entirely to the world of Wal-Mart. My intention was to hyper-accept the offers of consumer culture—health, happiness, fulfillment, comfort, etc.—as though they were made in earnest. On the day after Thanksgiving I entered a Super Wal-Mart planning to stay continuously for seventy-two hours or until I was thrown out.
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My 49 Hours at Wal-Mart: an announcement of possibility

Letters to the outside:

Hi drew,

Believe it or not, I am writing you from Wal-Mart. I am now well into my thirty-seventh hour of continuous occupation. My plan was to stay for seventy-two hours but I have had absolutely no luck finding a suitable place to sleep—go figure! Actually I just got busted trying to bed down. I guess the camping section manager saw the rack of orange camo cover-alls wiggling as I tried to get comfortable below. Just as I settled down I saw a pair of feet approaching. “What are you doing under there?” she asked. I assumed that I’d be escorted out the front door (or worse) so I didn’t bother with an elaborate excuse. “Hiding,” I said as I climbed out and waited, like a good criminal, for the firing squad. But the strangest thing happened! She just stood there looking at me. I know she wanted to open the application but she didn’t have the right program. After a few seconds I just walked away. I took off my wig and spent the next few hours hiding in the magazine section. Now the “Radio Diner” is open again and I’m back in the booth where my “refill” cup hides… I think the whole thing’s blown over.

Always Wal-Mart tm
Always
Mark
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How to knit a plastic bag

Reusable bag titan Rajiv Badlani points out that because you can’t convince every shopper to use cloth shopping bags, there will always be some plastic bags out there. He plans to recycle these into textiles.

You can do something similar at home, with shopping bags or the plastic bags they put your newspaper in on rainy days. All you have to do is cut the bags into ribbons, twist the ribbons into a sort of yarn, and then knit or crochet the yarn into whatever you like. This is an inexpensive way to make holiday gifts for the environmentalists on your list.
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How to make 2,000 crosses

2000 crosses on Worcester CommonTo mark the deaths of 2,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq, 2,000 white crosses were made and installed on Worcester Common. Here’s what we learned about making crosses.

Step 1: Materials

Ideally you’d find some scrap latticework, or some white, waxed corrugated cardboard. If a cemetary-supply company sells crosses cheap in bulk, that would be even better.

I was stuck using wood.

I used “pine strapping,” boards 1″x3″x8′. I could haul 50 boards in my minivan at a time.

I cut the boards in half widthwise, then into 1-foot sections, then cut these in thirds by thickness. I used a table saw. Some of the cuts were tricky.

Mike Leslie: You’re cutting the house in thirds?

Mike Benedetti: I’m cutting the halves in thirds.

The pieces are thus about a foot long, 1.5 inches wide, and 1/3 inch thick. (Actually, they’re a little smaller, because as you know a 1×3 board is not 1-inch by 3-inches. You knew that, right?)

One person with one saw can cut enough wood for 2,000 crosses in three solid work days.

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Checks for people who don’t like money

Editor’s Note: Mike Ciul needed to order some checks. He decided to make a statement by having them printed with his own background designs. I’ve seen the checks made from the watercolor design; they are beautiful. Click on the picture for a high-res version.

“Capitalism is a pyramid scheme”
Capitalism is a pyramid scheme

“The love of money is the root of all evil”
The love of money is the root of all evil

As far as I know, there is only one company that will print your design on a check. That company is Checks Your Way.

You should specify that you want to use my (Mike Ciul’s) design in the special instructions at the end of the ordering process, and specify that you have my permission to use it. (I hereby give everyone permission to use my designs.)

If you make checks from these designs, please send an email to captainmikee at yahoo dot com to let me know. Thank you!

Checks for people who dont like money

How to Make a Sign

When it’s time to hold a demonstration, use signs and banners that are readable, neat, and attractive.

Art stores sell a product called foamcore that is much more durable than posterboard, which disintegrates in the rain and flaps in the wind.

Banners, made of white sheets folded lengthwise, are great in rainy or windless situations, but require more effort to hold.

Lettering and artwork should be in acrylic paint, because it is brilliant and waterproof. Magic markers stink. They are too thin, streaky, and pale.

Which signs can you read? Letters on a poster or banner should be at least 3 in x 6 in. The best test for legibility is to stand 30 feet away from your signs and try to read them. Consider how little time drivers have to take in your message.
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