I got smashed last night trying to see if my new medicine required an activator. Why no, no it didn't, but it activated a fucking horrid headache (thanks to my girlfriend for fixing that for me though). I think sometimes that the Prohibition was the last cool moments of alcohol, and F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is the standard of scathing Prohibition era verisimilitude (sorry Boardwalk Empire, you know I love you). Within the text is Fitzgerald's own subconscious absonant machinations interwoven with first hand experience with the golden age of speakeasies and gluttony. The imagery constructed by Fitzgerald and the literal and metaphorical hydric state of 1920's United States served as a backdrop for Fitzgerald's character's own internal conflict in psychoanalytical terms.

I'll put away my thesaurus now.

In all honesty, I like to think the same about me sometimes, albeit in a far less impressive manner whenever I get shitfaced at Geeks Who Drink. Within the questions and offensive jokes, the background of people getting hammered and having fun, there's this sense that I'm mostly trying to convince myself I'm a comfortable, fun drunk who is intelligent as well.

Moving on, I'm going to segway into our round 6 on elections last night using The Great Gatsby as well.

Introduced in chapter two of TGG is the “valley of ashes.” The valley is, “...bounded on one side by a small foul river, and, when the drawbridge is up to let barges through, the passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half a hour. (24; ch.2)” The small foul river represents the superego's pursuit of worldly possessions and wealth while the ashes are the broken dreams and plight of the poor. Once the drawbridge is raised, representing the disillusionment with the dying American dream, the passengers on waiting trains (being the incoming immigrants to America during golden age 1920's) are faced with the harsh realities of the Great Depression. The river should be nurturing the farm, but instead its stagnant waters do little more than coax passengers down its abysmal lengths offering nothing but a view of a dying establishment.  The dualism shown in the valley of the ashes is quite poignant. Water typically is a life giving source but here it serves as a stygian trail for the passengers, ferrying them to a realm of dead opportunity. In addition, farms are typically symbols of renewable resource, but the farms described in The Great Gatsby are symbols of the desolation caused by the voracious acquisition of material goods by the high society of 1920's America, much to the detriment of the lower class.

It's a very relevant image given some of the political arguments I've heard between Obama and Romney supporters. I've said over and over again I don't want to "rock the vote" because I believe the entire system is just fucked, but  it doesn't mean I can't recognize the issues and their validity. I just don't think anything will be solved without copious violence and an upheaving not seen since ancient Rome.

***

Congratulations to Dead Hookers for taking first place after an audio tiebreaker! See you next week!

• The Royal Hilltop - Aurora 8:00 PM
• Darcy's Bistro & Pub - Denver 8:30 PM
• Prickly Pete's - Denver 8:00 PM
• The Whiskey Bar - Denver 7:00 PM
• The Cheeky Monk - Westminster 9:00 PM
• The Ram (Meridian) - Meridian 9:00 PM
• Lisa's Restaurant & Lounge - Augusta 7:30 PM
• Opal Divine's (Marina) - Austin 10:00 PM
• Opal Divine's (Penn Field) - Austin 10:00 PM