#its the mention of paul singing it at camp that really made me lol

[get-back-homeward]

Paul’s Trying To Get To You

The thread of this song weaving in and out of Paul’s most formative music experiences

Oct 1956: Elvis’s debut album is released in the UK as Rock ‘n’ Roll and the B-side includes Trying to Get to You

I just had to reach you, baby / In spite of all that I've been through / I kept traveling night and day / I kept running all the way / Baby, trying to get to you.

Well if I had to do it over / That's exactly what I'd do / I would travel night and day / And I'd still run all the way / Baby, trying to get to you

[full lyrics]

Jan-June 1957: Ian James gets the Elvis record and a guitar

“It was in this time frame that Paul formed a closer friendship with Ian James, an Institute boy (in his year) he’d known since 1954. Ian was also into rock and skiffle and he’d recently been bought an acoustic guitar by his grandparents, at whose house he lived in the Dingle. (Every guitar had a maker’s name: his was a Rex.) The two boys became good pals on the strength of it. While they tended not to see each other in the evenings, because they lived some distance apart, Paul often went to Ian’s house for an hour or two after school—they walked there together down the hill from the Institute—and Ian sometimes went to Forthlin Road at weekends, taking his guitar with him. Ian James held a triple attraction for Paul: he was an intelligent, decent and affable lad, he had some rock records, and he had a guitar—an unbeatable combination.

In the front room at home I had a table-top portable record player, three speed. I remember playing “Blueberry Hill” by Fats Domino over and over, just the first line and then I’d pick up the needle and put it back at the start. I also had Elvis Presley’s first album, which we played time after time after time, with “That’s All Right Mama,” “Trying to Get to You,” “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You),” “Mystery Train” … Elvis was the one to copy, he was the hero. He had everything: the charisma, the looks, the voice. Frank Sinatra had only one style but Elvis could do anything—gospel, blues, rock and roll, romantic ballads. There was nobody else like him. Paul and I talked about Elvis all the time.15

The Rex guitar was ever at hand. Ian showed and reinforced to Paul those three chord fundamentals that would get him started, C, F and G or G7, the basis for pretty much every song they loved.”

—Tune In (Ch. 5, Jan-June 1957)

July 1957: Paul is invited to join the Quarrymen and trades his trumpet for his first guitar

At some point in July 1957, Paul finally got his first guitar. It had been a long time coming and he was desperate. As he couldn’t afford to buy one he had the bright idea of swapping his trumpet for it, the one his dad had bought him two years earlier. Jim didn’t mind—it was clear where Paul’s interest was. “I traded in the trumpet for a £15 Zenith guitar from Frank Hessy’s. There was a feller there called Jim Gretty and he showed us (me and George) a great chord. I never knew its name—we called it ‘a jazz chord’…”

Mike McCartney has said of Paul and his first guitar, “He would get lost in another world. It was useless talking to him—I had better conversations with brick walls.” Paul played the guitar everywhere, even on the bus. At home he played it in the bath and sitting on the toilet. “The fine acoustic of the toilet area was always very appealing to me. And it was also very private, about the only private place in the house. I used to sit there for hours—there and the bathroom. Dad would shout, ‘Paul, get off that toilet!’ [And I’d reply] ‘I’m practicing!’ ”4

…Rod Davis has a recollection of Paul dropping in to see a group rehearsal at (of all places) Mimi’s house, and Eric Griffiths says the group all went to Paul’s house one afternoon for a rehearsal together—something Paul has never mentioned. (Like almost everything to do with the Quarry Men, solid information is lacking.)

…Ian James says he and Paul struck up an informal musical duo: “We used to take our guitars around to parties and play a few numbers. Have guitar will travel—wherever we went our guitars went too. We played songs from that first Elvis LP: ‘Trying to Get to You,’ ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy,’ ‘Mystery Train’…

—Tune In (Ch. 7, July-Aug 1957)

Aug 1957: Paul’s away at summer camp and then on holiday but glued to his guitar

[O]n August 7, the Quarry Men played the Cavern again…This Cavern booking would have been Paul’s Quarry Men debut but for him being away with the Boy Scouts at summer camp—another ten days of wet feet, wind and Woodbines. The 19th City troop’s destination this year was the Peak District—Callow Farm, Hathersage, Derbyshire—and both McCartney brothers went. Paul (inevitably) carted his Zenith along with his sleeping bag and tin mug. Almost as soon as they’d pitched tents, Mike had an altercation with an oak tree, badly breaking his arm; he was taken to the hospital in Sheffield while Paul remained at the camp and entertained around the fire with Elvis’s “Trying to Get to You.”13

Mike was in the hospital four weeks, his plastered arm in a sling, and on the day of his release—the last full week of the school holidays—Jim arrived in Sheffield with Paul and revealed they were all heading straight off to Butlin’s. Bett and Mike Robbins had fixed them seven days at Filey, on Yorkshire’s east coast…

Ever the keen photographer, Mike operated the camera single-handedly to take a fascinating photo of Paul on Filey beach with Bett Robbins and her infant son Ted. Paul is perched on Ted’s pushchair and playing the much-traveled Zenith. The photo could be the closest taken to the date he met John Lennon, showing a 15-year-old who’s come through his chubby period and is looking good.

—Tune In (Ch. 7, July-Dec 1957)

Oct-Nov 1957: Paul plays his first gigs with the band as John’s equal

In images of the Quarry Men before Paul joined they’re all wearing different clothes. In the first photo of the group with Paul they have a uniform look, and a sharp one at that: white shirts with black bootlace ties and black trousers, and John and Paul (only) are also wearing jackets on top, white or cream—it’s Paul’s “white sports coat” and something similar John has managed to acquire. This was undoubtedly Paul’s doing, reaching back to his experience at Butlin’s in 1954 when he saw how a singing group in matching gear claimed everyone’s attention. He’d brought the thinking early to John, and John had bought it. And something else is compelling about this Quarry Men photo: although it’s John’s group, new boy Paul is not at the back with Colin or Len, or to the side like Eric, he’s up front with John. Lennon and McCartney are clearly the front line of the Quarry Men, strumming crummy Gallotone and upside-down Zenith, and they’re the only ones with vocal microphones. The group is the two of them and three others. When one sings lead the other provides harmony; often they sing the lead in unison—and their voices go together.

One can only surmise what they sang into those microphones. Nigel Walley remembers plenty of rock in the repertoire in this period and not so much skiffle, including several Elvis numbers—“All Shook Up,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog,” “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” “That’s All Right Mama” and “Trying to Get to You”—as well as “Be-Bop-A-Lula,” “Blue Suede Shoes” (Carl or Elvis), “Come Go with Me” and “Twenty Flight Rock.”

—Tune In (Ch. 7, July-Dec 1957)

Jan-May 1958: Paul writes In Spite of All the Danger and John wants to record it

As George knew several more guitar chords than John or Paul, every time he showed them a new one they tried to write a song around it36—and it was in this period, possibly at Upton Green, that Paul wrote one he called “In Spite of All the Danger,” a chugging and melodic country-flavored number with a couple of extended lead guitar solos created by George. For this reason, the song was a unique deviation from the Lennon-McCartney credit: it went down as McCartney-Harrison.

The tune of “In Spite of All the Danger” was entirely Paul’s, but it leaned heavily on the melody of Elvis’s “Trying to Get to You,” a song that includes the lyric “[in] spite of all that I’ve been through.” Using an existing song as inspiration for the writing of another is standard practice, but the rock and roll era was already littered with outrageous examples of plagiarism seemingly free of legal action—possibly because the song being copied was not entirely original to that composer either.

…John decided the Quarry Men should make a record, and the others needed no persuading—just 3s 6d each. This time the answer to “Where we going, Johnny?” was 38 Kensington, where one Percy F. Phillips ran probably Liverpool’s only recording studio and record press.

Seventeen years later, without the advantage of hearing it in between times, John recalled what he could of the session: “The first thing we ever recorded was ‘That’ll Be the Day,’ the Buddy Holly song, and one of Paul’s called ‘In Spite of All the Danger.’ It cost us fifteen shillings and we made it in the front room of some guy’s house that he called a recording studio.”

…John again sings lead on “In Spite of All the Danger,” Paul provides more fine harmonies throughout, and George adds an “ah” backing. It’s said Colin and Duff hadn’t heard the song before, and so were feeling their way through it, but it’s not solely for this reason that it plods somewhat. Though the debt to “Trying to Get to You” is clear, it’s still an original number and an interesting, attractive one at that, written by a boy of 15—a fantastic achievement.

—Tune In (Ch. 8, Jan-May 1958)

[thotyssey]

On Point With: Shawn Paul Mazur & Matthew Gagnon

They met while working a night at Bar-Tini nearly ten years ago, and went on to become one of the city’s most successful party-making pairs. This weekend, their rooftop institution FLY Sundays at the Monarch premieres its fifth season--so now is a good time for Thotyssey to get all retrospective-ish with Shawn Paul Mazur and Matthew Gagnon!

Thotyssey: Hello gentlemen, thanks so much for talking to us today. I know you’re busy planning the return of FLY Sundays at the Monarch. How have you both been otherwise?

Matthew Gagnon: Oh, you know: living the dream! Haha. It’s been a rollercoaster year, to be honest, with opening my restaurant last August up in Westchester--a labor of love to the fullest.

Shawn Paul Mazur: I’ve been keeping busy. Other than Super Size Queen Fridays every week, I also work full-time in an emergency room, saving up as much money as I can before I start Physician Assistant school at Pace in July.

You guys have been in the nightlife business for a minute now. Not many people can make a successful, long-lasting career in that world, let alone as a partnership.  What’s your secret to staying together in business, and staying successful as promoters / producers in general?

MG:  Well the "partnership" aspect has been fairly easy (I mean, we do bicker from time to time like true sisters), but that’s just it: we’ve been best friends for almost a decade now, so at the end of the day we trust each other’s intentions and always keep it real with one another.

SPM: The keyword you mentioned is “partnership.” Luckily, Matthew and I had a great friendship for years before we embarked on the nightlife business together. We both have an attitude of putting the party and the fun before ourselves. I have no problem bussing glasses during the party, helping delivery bottles and glassware if it makes it a better experience for the people who there to enjoy the night.

MG: Staying ‘relevant’ in this industry, for me, is sticking to what you know and doing it well. You’ve gotta know the product you’re offering, keep it consistent but not be afraid to embark on new ventures. It can be a tightrope walk as there’s SO MUCH to do, especially in NYC. The idea is to hopefully have more hits than misses, and provide a fun atmosphere where people can just forget about life’s BS for a bit.

Where are you two from, and what brought you into the city?

SPM: I’m from the “thriving metropolis” of Erie, PA. Growing up in a small, fairly conservative, rustbelt city, I always knew I was different (gay) and never felt like I could truly be myself there. I knew NYC was a place you could be anyone you wanted to be, and that was what drove me to want to move there. After my tour in Iraq with United States Army, I finished college and moved here directly after.

MG: I’m originally from the woods of New Hampshire. I went to school in Boston, lived in Los Angeles for four years, and then made my trek back east to New York City. I was running an oceanside restaurant in Malibu at 24 years-old and thought, “WTF am I doing!? I need to SING! I miss blunt people! And I miss real WEATHER!” (Yes, I am a weather geek.) So off to NYC I went.

I know you two met while bartending at the late Bar-Tini Ultra Lounge. Did you gel along right away?

MG: I mean, I thought we did, haha! Buuuut it turns out Shawn did NOT have a great impression of me when we first worked together. I think he says to this day, “I thought to myself, 'WHO is this bitch’...??’” Truth is, I can be a real “dom top” behind the bar, and I had just gotten back from a summer of bartending in The Pines, where back then your bartending skills were judged with a stopwatch! So yeah, all business!

SPM: “Dom top!?” Okay, Rose! So, I helped set up Bar-Tini and had been working there a couple weeks before Matthew started. We worked together his first night, a Friday night, and he came in directly from a summer on Fire Island--all business and minimal-to-no fun. I was like: “who is this bossy diva?” Over the next few weeks he taught me how to be a much more efficient bartender, minus the stopwatch, and I taught him how to have more fun. After that, the rest is history and we’ve been best of friends ever since.

Do you miss Bar-Tini? It's maybe scary, the number of venues you must’ve seen come and go during your nightlife tenure.

MG: We talk about that ALL THE TIME! Lol. It feels like just yesterday when Shawn and I were the two sole slingers of drinks at the ‘Tini...long before Hell’s Kitchen had... what is it now? 101 gay bars? It is definitely wild to see the evolution (and sometimes dissolution) of venues around town--but to be honest, the same concept applies to running bars. Keep it consistent, know who you are and what your guests want,and keep evolving into a better You. If you pay too much attention to what everyone else is doing, you’ll stumble off your own path.

Matthew, you recorded music in 2015 under the name Mathieu Blue. 

MG: Aw, I sure did! Recording my first original EP was truly a dream come true. I’ve been singing my whole life, but stepping into my artistry is where I felt like it all finally came together. There’s nothing like singing the songs you wrote, delivering YOUR message. 

Will there be more music in the future?

MG: I’ve spent the last year and half opening [my restaurant] The Birch Collective. But I’m super excited to announce I have started working on new material, and plan on releasing a sophomore EP this coming winter. Stay tuuuuned.

 And Shawn, are you musical as well?

SPM: Besides singing in choir and playing the trumpet in the high school band--that’s the extent of it.

When did you two decide to take it to the next level and produce your own events?

SPM: I bartended in NYC for a few years, and ended up meeting a lot of people that way. I had a 9-5 sales job that I ended up hating, and didn't want to do anymore. A friend of mine at the time was hosting an underwear party on Fire Island, and asked if I wanted to host with him--because he knew a lot of people, and I knew a lot of people he didn't, so together we would be a great team. At the end of the summer when Fire Island was over, we had another friend who knew someone that owned a bar in Meatpacking called Griffin. He asked if we wanted to start a Sunday party there, and that was how Griffin Sundays was born.

MG: I used to throw these wild parties with a close friend of mine (and roommate at the time) back in Santa Monica. Police would always shut us down! Don’t get too excited, it was more for noise than anything... maybe a beer funnel in the courtyard. Moral of the story: I’ve always enjoyed hosting and putting on an event. 

After beginning my NYC nightlife journey as a bartender back in 2009, championing bars like Bar-Tini and Industry, and even being the general manager of Barracuda for several years, I’ve been able to get a solid handle on how people have fun and what that atmosphere really looks and feels like. There’s a sixth sense that kicks in to, where you can walk into a room / venue and say, “Okay this is good, that’s not so great, this can change, we can add this, let’s omit that.” The devil IS in the details (Shawn and I are both nuts about that fact). 

I will say that being able to produce events in one of the greatest cities on Earth and call that “work” is something I haven’t lost any gratitude for. When you do what you love, there’s no such thing as “ugh, time to work.” On the contrary, it’s “Woohoo, time to FLY!”  

You both were involved with Vodka Soda / Bottoms Up pretty early in that bar’s existence. What was that experience like?

SPM: I don’t know her.

MG: Shawn and I actually launched the venue for all intents and purposes, including the hiring and training of the staff. Our role at VSBU was pretty blurred, however, as it became clear the owners were looking more for managers rather than event producers. Our hands were continually tied in what we could actually do to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for our crowd. Once the toxicity from above (one owner in particular) reached a fever pitch, we decided it was time to move on. I realize in situations like this there can be many stories based on revisionist history, but that’s what actually went down.

These days, your weekly Hardware affair “Super Size Queen Fridays” packs the house each week, featuring Mike Borowski DJing and queen Bootsie LeFaris being Bootsie.  What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen go down there?

MG: Umm, people going down? Haha, kiddinggg. 

SPM: Every week is a different batch of crazy there, which is why I feel it’s so much fun and packed every week. I feel like Bootise’s performance on TOP of the bar each week is always crazy, and a highlight of the night.

MG: Honestly though, SSQ Fridays has really taken on such a life of its own. It reminds me of this really fun pop party I used to go to in my early 20’s in West Hollywood, with people just living their LIVES. Borowski spins ALL the juicy throwbacks, and of course “fills in” the rest with some of today’s stuff. I think I am most proud of how unpretentious the room feels when you walk in. No one gives a DAMN–they’re having too much fun to judge anyone else and it’s contagious.

FLY Sundays, a rooftop day / early evening party at the Monarch Rooftop Lounge, is what you’re both best known for. You put great DJs on rotation--and there’s a fantastic view of the skyline, including the Empire State Building. How did this all fall into place?

MG: I always talk about FLY’s inception as a perfect (sun)storm. Shawn and I both reached a point where we were ready to move on from some old ventures; Shawn was still co-producing Griffin Sundays, and I had previously pulled out of co-producing the Sunday rooftop party, Summer Camp. Since the Bar-Tini days, we had always talked about doing a party together because that’s what had always made the most sense, but of course hindsight can be 20/20. 

Shawn and I decided to put our undivided effort into creating a new weekly summer event where we could each bring our previous ‘Sunday Funday’ production experience to the playing field and watch whatever that would be come to life–and boy did she. The first Sunday of FLY was beyond our wild expectations. We just looked at each other with wide eyes, and I am pretty sure we each thought in tandem, “Soooo...what took us so long!?” Lol.

FLY’s legendary door queen Markus Kelle is starring in an upcoming indie slasher film Killer Unicorn, alongside the finest of Brooklyn nightlife! Has she ever tried to ax murder either of you?

MG: Like any evil little sister, she has tried every chance she’s gotten. That’s why I keep cans of silly string hidden at FLY...trusty repellent! 

SPM: Markus has always been nice and civil with me!

MG: Real talk: I am very proud of Markus and her endeavors. She’s one of the smartest and quickest bitches on the beat.

So, FLY Sundays returns for its fifth season to the Monarch on May 20th! Can you believe it’s been five years!? 

MG: We CANNOT believe it. Time FLYs. We’re really honored to have a seasonal party hold the gravitas that she has over the years. Truly. 

What do you have planned for this season?

MG: As always, we have a few tricks up our shorts that we’ll reveal throughout the season. We’ll feature some new talent on the Rooftop. And of course our FLY fam will return, boasting the infamous FLY Punch Bowl Knockouts, PW’s Cotton Candy, Spike Snow Cones and other goodies. Also, Monarch did a full-on aesthetic revamp, which I know our guests will be really excited about. Season 5 is looking CHIC FLY.

This weekend, the SPRAY party (and major benefit) that hits Fire Island and major benefit in August is first having a “preview event” of sorts at The DL on May 19th! The lineup of performers, DJs and hosts is sickening, and you two are gonna be part of it. How epic shall this be?

SPM: Very much looking forward to this event. Not only is the lineup of performers, DJ’s and host amazing... any time we can party and have fun while giving back to the community and anyone in need, I'm All Aboard!

Matthew Gagnon: It IS quite the lineup, and we’re super excited to be a part it! We’re even more excited that proceeds will go to some really great places, including the Ali Forney Center. And on a ROOFTOP? Duh, we’re THERE.

Will there be more FLOAT boat parties this summer?  

MG: FLOAT was a LOT of fun, and honestly one of those memories I’ll think of forever. Who gets to throw parties on a party yacht and sail around Manhattan!? As fun as it was, the effort that went into the actual logistics of the event proved to be super intense. You’d be amazed how hard it is to dock anywhere north of, well, the South Street Seaport! Who knows, never say never about the future.

Anything else you wanna plug?

MG: Markus’ back door?

SPM: Markus’ mouth.

Final question: if Mazur & Gagnon had to form a superhero or supervillain duo, what would the group be called?

MG: The FLYtastic Two!

Thanks, guys!

Shawn Paul Mazur and Matthew Gagnon host FLY Sundays weekly at the Monarch (3-11pm), and Super Size Queen Fridays at Hardware (11pm). Follow them on Facebook and Instagram, and subscribe to FLY’s newsletter.

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On Point Archives

[ceciliawyu]

It has taken me over a month to write this since I first came across Nobel Science Laureate Otto Meyerhof ‘s grandson David in an invite-only private forum. I listened with heavy heart as the thinkers of the USA, mourn the death of reasons and the rise of American neo-nazism. Initially, I reasoned that those who voted for racism, bigotry and misogyny deserved the America they get and those who opposed it should have done more in their own country. But something in Otto’s journal, impacted me on a different level.

Excerpts from the Meyerhof journals (shared with thanks via David Meyerhof)

David wrote: The quotation is from a speech by my grandfather, Otto Meyerhof, winner of the 1922 Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology. He discovered basically how sugar is converted into energy in the human body and the Embden-Meyerhof Pathway, which is part of your digestive system.

He escaped from Germany and survived the Holocaust.

Otto Meyerhof wrote:

“Distinguishing between Germans and Nazis …. is in itself a propaganda lie. I know what all, or 90%, of the professors did in 1933 when their Jewish colleagues, whom they had themselves appointed, were deprived of their rights and made homeless — and the same thing occurred in all academic circles and at all levels in society, except in certain areas of the church: maintained their cowardly silence or even satisfaction, and not even 1% of the professors were party members.

In the same fashion, broad sections of the population, though overall a somewhat smaller percentage, willingly served as slaves and helpers to the tyrants, even helping as torturers and executioners.

It doesn’t help that a powerless minority kept their hands clean, or that hundreds themselves became martyrs through the strength of their convictions, if hundreds of thousands turned into murderers. It would have been physically impossible for five million Jews, 80-90% of all Jews in the countries that Germany occupied — 10 million Russian, Polish, Serbian and other civilians — to be killed by a few Nazi criminals: hundreds of thousands were necessary for this. A people without any sense of morality were behind these mass murders….”

“Hitler came to power in 1933,” 

“. . . When a teacher entered the classroom, we had to stand up and give the Nazi salute saying ‘Heil Hitler.’ I just moved my lips and did not say anything.”

Photo (c) David Meyerhof, 2017 All rights reserved

“By the end of 1933, a Hitler Youth Group had formed at the school. One very tall boy, whom I can still recognize from a class photo, was their leader. He asked me why was I at ‘their’ school and said that ‘they’ would beat me in gym class if I persisted in coming. I felt terrorized and turned to my older brother, who was in his last year in the Gymnasium, for protection. He said he could not help me.”

  “In music class, I once kept singing my part of a canon at the wrong time. The teacher got so mad that he came up to me and slapped my face so hard that my nose bled. When my parents complained to the principal the next day, he indicated that he was powerless because the music teacher was a member of the Nazi party.” 

“I was assigned to an army camp at Chambaran. I remember that a soldier hit me in the face because he thought I did not climb into the bus quickly enough….”

( From David, talking about his Mother’s (Otto’s Daughter’s) experience of Kirstallnacht Crystal Night in Nazi Germany, Berlin):

My mother was 17 and living in an apartment in Berlin in 1938. She was studying to be a nursery school teacher. On the night of November 9, the young men living next door to her told her not to go out. That night was Kristallnacht (Crystal Night) when the Nazis attacked every Jewish person walking on the street, threw over 30,000 Jewish people in concentration camps, and smashed every window in every Jewish home, school, business, and synagogue so that the ground was filled with so much glass it looked like crystals.

Within 3 weeks my mother was able to go on the Kindertransport to England to safety and a new life. During World War II she took care of children in Anna Freud’s Children’s Center in London. My mother passed away in June 2015 at the age of 94. My Mother said, “As the glass shattered, Lives were scattered…”

To me after reading this, Resisting the Bullying tactic of Trump’s American Neo-Nazis supporters, was a no brainer! I listened to  all sorts of atrocious human beings saying vile things about all those on earth who are not Caucasians. I can see that the USA just gave away both its freedom and its competitive advantage in electing a charlatan whose only qualification is his ability to pander to the lowest, most hate filled low-brow common denominator in the land.

I felt justified tot do as other Far Eastern strategists suggested, which was to “Just close the door, let them lock themselves behind their wall and let them in-fight to their own death. Say nothing. They chose this for themselves. Let them have some “interesting times”.”

Defending Due Process through his Dissent. Judge Donald.P.Lay

But then I can’t help thinking about the things David shared from his grandfather’s private journals and his speeches. I also thought about my law school teacher Judge Donald.P.Lay and the kind of America men like him wanted to create; a just world that doesn’t prey on the weak and the vulnerable. He was the only law school professor to ever give me Perfect Score 100% for my paper on “American Constitutional Freedom” and in my opinion,  its lack of true separation of power in the selection process of judges…” (ironically!). At the time, I actually didn’t know he was appointed by the 36th American President Lyndon.B.Johnson. The American students knew. The Swede might have mentioned it. But well, I was late for the first lecture (because somebody stole my bike in Uppsala) so I missed the bit where he introduced himself. I only found out when I asked him for an academic reference and he wrote back saying he wasn’t allowed to do a general reference but anyone wishing to hear about my work, can just write to him directly and he will do a specific reference for the purpose. Anyway, so we digress….I think of all the hours I argued with him and disagreed with him about racial inequality, affirmative actions and defended the french code civil. The good part was, I had no arguments with him about gender equality. It wasn’t until recently when I was arguing with someone else online that it turned out, Judge Lay’s dissenting judgement in a particular case ended up with the plaintiff Lois Jensen being played by Charlize Theron (she won an Oscar for it! Wow!)!!!  So, no wonder, I never argued with him about Gender….that and he kept questioning my use of “z” instead of “s” in words like “analyze”. He asked if it was an Australian or British thing?

Judge Lay as I remembered him. in Uppsala, Sweden

I cannot forget this small thing because the convention was actually an American printing usage thing and he ended up writing that in the final comments in my paper after giving me perfect score! Lol. I never understood why???

Anyway, perhaps my education has been more American than I allowed myself to think. That is not a bad thing but I want to learn from the right bit of America, not the wrong bits from the wrong kind!

I think Judge Lay’s uncompromising liberal position towards the court’s role as a protector of civil and equal rights, was not something I actually noticed until I was done arguing with him everyday for a whole summer law school since at the time I really didn’t know who he was in the USA, it made it easier for me to really challenge the thoughts and not just the “status” of the person. He encouraged that in me. He knew I hadn’t read the american cases that defined his career and redefined American Common Case Law so we ended up in strategic scenario forecasts which some mistook for the reductionism of socratic methods. But it wasn’t as he pointed out, ” It is highly improbable that the founding fathers who wrote the Bill of Rights anticipated the level of complexity in our world, what we can do is consider the fundamental values which they sought to protect at the heart of the instrument and then from there, without emotiveness, ask ourselves: Would this lead to the outcome of protecting this right or wearing it away so future generations might lose it in the long run?”

He actually succeeded in making me respect the Bill of Rights as an instrument of Humanitarian Vision! Believe me when I say that given my Hong Kong and Australia native born skepticism towards ANY instrument created by ANY Government, he performed an intellectual miracle and I got 100% for challenging  his legal ideals in arguing the flaws of its application in real life when weak men with weak minds, can’t handle the responsibility and descend into political populism. Wow, if only I could send my law school paper to Paul Ryan at the GOP! :)

Fast forward January 2017, the head of my feminists UN lobby network (VOWW.tv) came to me talking about George Soros, asking why I had not responded to the “Call for project submission by invitation”, I wanted to use the excuse that I had a minor Hate crime incident on a train and was distracted. But that was not totally true as the police was so fantastic about taking the poor drunk/possibly high young man ( ranting in a racist way at me) to court that there was nothing for me to do except for the time to meet up with them and sign all the right papers. The truth was, there was still an Asian part of me that wanted to “Keep myself to myself”; meaning even when my Great Great Grandfather and his team of colleagues built San Francisco Chinatown, they also took on the mentality of “We don’t care what you decide we are, you cross this line and bring your racism into our Chinatown and you will feel the consequences.”

San Francisco China Town 1800s

I don’t think anyone who has ever seen Chinatown in San franciso or New York will fail to “get” that underlying feeling of willingness to “self-defend” if racism ever crossed our paths in segregated America. That was the way history was made and members of my family can attested to the fact that my Great Great grandfather’s conversion to Christianity from his time in San Francisco, earned him the nickname “Jesus YU” back in his own home village in Southern China! My Great Great aunt told me,”If you go now and say the name in our village in China, they will still laugh and know what you mean!   The joke kept going even after he moved to Hong kong! He came back and refused to stop talking about some jewish guy called Jesus whom no one has ever heard of, so the nickname helped him to stop annoying everybody! He calmed down after a while!”

*** My ancestor, jjokingly nicknamed “Jesus” Yu, was part of the co-creators of  one of  Sanctuary Cities that you now know as San Francisco, he called it “Gold Mountain” in Cantonese Chinese!

So, there you have it, I read George Soros‘ Open Society Foundation and it is only because of men like Otto Meyerhof, Donald.P.Lay and Jesus Yu that I am willing to “try”.

It is very easy to close the door and let America make bad choices and make jokes about the madness. But let us not forget, my ancestor’s blood, sweat and tears also co-created that bit of America that has the highest real estate price aka San Francisco! I cannot in all conscience, after all the education I’ve had and all the great men, women and Nobel laureates I’ve had the honor to meet, to just sit silent while good people are harmed daily by the rise of American neo-nazism.

I think of all those who fought, all our lives in their lifetimes to “Make things better” and I think of all the women in Women’s Rights China who joined the Washington D.C Women’s March for Equality.  I think of my mentor Eva Monley who though she lived in Britain, was a Holocaust survivor who gave the world the “Golden age of Hollywood” and helped birth Nazi fighting films like Casablanca, African Queen and of course, “that scene” in The Highlanders.

Then moving to more recent history, I think of the Puerto-Rican american graffiti artist whom I have been in near weekly contacts with for the last years and I think of the stories he told of “growing up poor in New York City”.

I cannot say I understand why he has been silent about Trump’s election even though he is living in a Sanctuary city. But I think of the oppression that creates “voicelessness” in the children my projects rescue from slums all over the world. I think of DEFIANCE it must have taken him and his friends as little boys and girls to put their messages on trains so they can’t be ignored by men like Trump and his hordes of racist cretins.

I think of the Water Protectors in Dakota, a few of the First Nation Eco Warriors are my social media friends and won accolades at the UN for their musical work! One of them got punched in the face by a horrible racist at a restaurant in Dakota because the man hated protestors and was racist against native Americans. The proprietor didn’t call the police on the Hate Criminal!  I know some of the people who are bringing them supplies to fight for our climate protection, climate justice and the simple right to clean water. I think of the many many hours of work my friends at Spiralmuse (the first prototype of what is now known as “co-working spaces” in the world) in San Francisco and how they contributed as white and Hispanic american women to help preserve native indigenous cultures. I think of Suzette the ex-Mormon women’s right lobbyist in Seattle and the work she did her whole life at city council to make Seattle the Sanctuary city that it is today with its respect for human dignity.

These decent Americans, they don’t deserve a family like the The Trump! The Trumps are as they stand now, an icon of the American neo-nazi movement and they are trans-generational supporters of the KKK!

So when all those Trump supporters who sent me those reports about how biologically Asians and Black people are lower IQ-ed in the USA than White people, you picked a fight, not just with me, but in the process of condemning all future generations of non-whites to your Nazi rhetoric, you picked a fight with all that is fierce about the History of Human Resistance against Tyrants!

Bottomline: Because of all the reasons above, Kel1st & Yu and FBMF (From Boyhood to Manhood Foundation) will be happy to take up the invitation to propose our strategies to George Soros’ Open Society Foundation in the near future, and to any other foundations set up to Overcome the negative impact of the rise of American neo-Nazism during the Trump administration! Sorry we missed the deadline in December 2016. Thank you for the invitation via the Founder of Voww.tv when she, Vinanti Sarker, filmed at the UN and the occasion to meet individuals from your organisation at an official event.

For any information about George Soros or his Open Society Foundation, follow this link:

Our Mission:

The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and tolerant societies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people.

We seek to strengthen the rule of law; respect for human rights, minorities, and a diversity of opinions; democratically elected governments; and a civil society that helps keep government power in check.

We help to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights.

We implement initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media.

We build alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information.

Working in every part of the world, the Open Society Foundations place a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities.

Our Values:

We believe in fundamental human rights, dignity, and the rule of law.

We believe in a society where all people are free to participate fully in civic, economic, and cultural life.

We believe in addressing inequalities that cut across multiple lines, including race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and citizenship.

We believe in holding those in power accountable for their actions and in increasing the power of historically excluded groups.

We believe in helping people and communities press for change on their own behalf.

We believe in responding quickly and flexibly to the most critical threats to open society.

We believe in taking on controversial issues and supporting bold, innovative solutions that address root causes and advance systemic change.

We believe in encouraging critical debate and respecting diverse opinions.

As a special mention: I am so proud of the Women’s Right China who marched on Washington D.C. Thank you for being there Ms. Jing Zhang when the rest of us can’t travel to the USA because of expense and life commitments! I know how much our traditional culture prefers to protest quietly and invisibly; with our wallets, with our quieter networks and deeply rooted power that stretches the globe. But I believe it is also very important to occasionally “Be visible” just so those who choose to oppress us as Asians and/or Women and/or Gay and/or Muslims/Buddhist/Christian/Hindus whatever…..do not forget….”OUR quiet Resistance is your ultimate demise!”

*** I am aware of the kind of anti-semitic allegations against Open Society Foundation. I don’t know the details but I can tell you for sure, they did not fund the Women’ Rights China ‘s Protest in Washington D.C. That is a ludicrous deflection of the real issue. If you want to find out the reasons why these women protested, why don’t you ask your  “Pussy groping” POTUS Donald.J. Trump!

While I have my own opinions about human rights violation and Chinese Communism, I understand that often in Nazi conditions, like in the USA 2017 where all oppositions are labelled as “Socialist”, certain individuals managed to RESIST. Once again I am humbled by this story of The Oath of Buchenwald, researched by Otto Meyherhof’s descendent, Dvaid:

The Nazis knew that the communists were the most organized, determined and effective opposition. In 1933-34, they threw over 50,000 communists into concentration camps and murdered many of them.

In most of the ghettos, the resistance groups and the concentration camps, the communists were in the leadership. The amazing history of the Buchenwald concentration camp is not known. Communists led the uprising which liberated 21,000 prisoners just before the American troops entered the camp.

We must do all we can to fight fascism.  Let’s take this oath to heart:

The common experience of resistance-fight inside the camp was focused in the “Oath of Buchenwald” which all liberated prisoners spoke on April 19, 1945 at the last “liberation appeal”. There the former prisoners promised:

“Our cause is just – Victory shall be ours! We performed in many languages the same hard, merciless, so many sacrifices life and this fight is not over yet. Still blow Hitler flags! Still living the murderers of our comrades! Even our sadistic tormentors roam free! We therefore swear the whole world on this appeal court, in this place of fascist terror: We will finish our fight only when the last culprit stands before the judges of the peoples! The destruction of Nazism with its roots is our slogan. Building up a new world of peace and freedom is our goal.” 

This “Oath of Buchenwald” is still the common legacy of all antifascists in various countries until today. And to remember this legacy underlines the value of our commemorative work for the today’s generations. It is not only a historical perspective, but it is a promise for a better future for all.

***** I believe each time, each one of us, in whatever situation we are in, stand up to bullies who oppress others because of their race, gender, sexuality and religion, we are honoring all those who, in the face of great oppression, became The Buchenwald Resistence!

iProtest Arts: Our Art Bus Projects #RESIST Neo-Nazism by accepting #GeorgeSoros’ #OpenSocietyFoundation Invitation because of #Nobelsciencelaureate #Holocaustsurvivor #OttoMeyerhof , #JudgeDonaldPLay, #Billofrights, #Sanctuarycities, #WRC #Washington March and the #OathofBuchenwald! It has taken me over a month to write this since I first came across Nobel Science Laureate