Brecht in Hollywood, 1942: A concept of heaven ("The angels of Los Angeles... wear golden IUDs") / Someone is putting little pictures on dog poop and people want to know why

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palm trees. Oceanside, Ca.: photo by michaelj1998, 17 March 2017

palm trees. Oceanside, Ca.: photo by michaelj1998, 17 March 2017

 palm trees. Oceanside, Ca.: photo by michaelj1998, 17 March 2017

Full House Dingbat [LA]: photo by Andrew Murr, June 2013

Bertolt Brecht: Hollywood Elegies

I

The village of Hollywood was planned according to the notion
People in these parts have of heaven. In these parts
They have come to the conclusion that God
Requiring a heaven and a hell, didn't need to
Plan two establishments but
Just the one: heaven. It
Serves the unprosperous, unsuccessful
As hell.

II

By the sea stand the oil derricks. Up the canyons
The gold prospectors' bones lie bleaching. Their sons
Built the dream factories of Hollywood.
The four cities
Are filled with the oily smell
Of films.

III

The city is named after the angels
And you meet angels on every hand.
They smell of oil and wear golden pessaries
And, with blue rings round their eyes
Feed the writers in their swimming pools every morning.

IV

Beneath the green pepper trees
The musicians play the whore, two by two
With the writers. Bach
Has written a Strumpet Voluntary. Dante wriggles
His shrivelled bottom.

V

The angels of Los Angeles
Are tired out with smiling. Desperately
Behind the fruit stalls of an evening
They buy little bottles
Containing sex odours.

VI

Above the four cities the fighter planes
Of the Defense Department circle at a great height
So that the stink of greed and poverty
Shall not reach them.

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956): Hollywood Elegies, September 1942, English version by John Willett in Bertolt Brecht: Poems 1913-1956 (1976)

Brown van and palm [LA]: photo by Andrew Murr, June 2013

Hollywood Elegies

I

The village of Hollywood was drawn up with the concept
They have hereabouts of heaven. Hereabouts
They figured that God,
Requiring a heaven and hell, didn't need draw up two
Establishments, but
Only one, namely heaven. This
Serves those without means, without success
As hell.

II

The oil rigs stand at the sea. In the gulches
Lie the bleached out bones of goldpanners. Their sons
Built the dream factories of Hollywood.
The four cities
Are filled with the oily smell
Of films.

III

The city is named after angels
And you meet angels everywhere.
They smell of oil and wear golden IUDs.
And with blue rings around their eyes
They feed the writers in their swimming puddles every morning.

IV

Beneath the green pepper trees
The musicians walk the strip, side by side
With the writers. Bach
Has his strip quartet in the bag. Dante swings
His skinny ass.

V

The angels of Los Angeles
Are tired of smiling. In the evening
Behind the fruitstands they buy desperately
Tiny little bottles
Filled with sex smells.

VI

Above the four cities the flyers
Of defense circle at great height
So the stink of greed and misery
Won't reach them.

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956): Hollywood Elegies, September 1942, English version by Val Tekavec

Jesus auto repair and body shop [LA]: photo by Andrew Murr, 17 May 2012

Bertolt Brecht: Hollywoodelegien

1

Das Dorf Hollywood ist entworfen nach den Vorstellungen
Die man hierorts vom Himmel hat. Hierorts
Hat man ausgerechnet, daß Gott
Himmel und Hölle benötigend, nicht zwei
Etablissements zu entwerfen brauchte, sondern
Nur ein einziges, nämlich den Himmel. Dieser
Dient für die Unbemittelten, Erfolglosen
Als Hölle.

2

Am Meer stehen die Öltürme. In den Schluchten
Bleichen die Gebeine der Goldwäscher. Ihre Söhne
Haben die Traumfabriken von Hollywood gebaut.
Die vier Städte
Sind erfüllt von dem Ölgeruch
Der Filme.
 
3

Die Engel von Los Angeles
Sind müde vom Lächeln. Am Abend
Kaufen sie hinter den Obstmärkten
Verzweifelt kleine Fläschchen
Mit Geschlechtsgeruch.
 
4

Unter den grünen Pfefferbäumen
Gehen die Musiker auf den Strich, zwei und zwei
Mit den Schreibern. Bach
Hat ein Streichquartett im Täschchen. Dante schwenkt
Den dürren Hintern.

5

Die Stadt ist nach den Engeln genannt
Und man begegnet allenthalben Engeln.
Sie riechen nach Öl und tragen goldene Pessare
Und mit blauen Ringen um die Augen
Füttern sie allmorgendlich die Schreiber in ihren Schwimmpfühlen.

6

Über den vier Städten kreisen die Jagdflieger
Der Verteidigung. In großer Höhe
Damit der Gestank der Gier und des Elends
Nicht bis zu ihnen heraufdringt.
 
aus: Bertolt Brecht, Werke, Gesamtausgabe. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1964

Brecht: Hollywoodelegien, typescript, 1942

Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Bertolt-Brecht-Archiv, Nr.16 / 57, © Bertolt-Brecht-Erben / Suhrkamp Verlag

Smog [LA]: photo by Andrew Murr, 2015; posted 18 March 2017

Pier (Oceanside, California): photo by michaelj1998, 2 January 2014

 Hotel (Skid Row, Los Angeles): photo by michaelj1998, 23 January 2014
 

Screaming at Marilyn (Downtown Los Angeles): photo by michaelj1998, 27 January 2014

Palm trees (Oceanside, California): photo by michaelj1998, 2 January 2014

13102 (Los Angeles, California): photo by michaelj1998, 27 January 2014

[hair salon, LA]: photo by jack_b_, 3 March 2017

[hair salon, LA]: photo by jack_b_, 3 March 2017

[hair salon, LA]: photo by jack_b_, 3 March 2017

Someone is putting little pictures on dog poop and people want to know why

 

#Waterspout ~12:50am offshore S. PB near Briny Breezes. Not sure if it first touched down as a #Tornado ty April Anderson @CBS12 @NWSMiami: image via Jeff Berardelli @WeatherProf, 13 March 2017

Ho-Hum What's New Dept.: Commander Subtle T. Tiny-Eyes Bellows Yet More Tremendous Bullshit Lies Out Of His Perfectly Round Little Sphincter-Mouth... Fore! Clear the Fairways Maw! We've Got Body Guards and Long-Ass Taped-Down Neckties and We're Playing Through with Judge Gorsuch and Great American Dark Money! 

Pres. Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price arrive on Capitol Hill to rally support for the GOP health care overhaul: image via AP Images @AP_Images, 21 March 2017

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Supreme Court Justice nominee Neil Gorsuch arrives on Capitol Hill for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee: image via AP Images @AP_Images, 21 March 2017



In this Friday, Feb. 17, 2017, photo, Trump Hotels CEO Eric Danziger poses for a portrait in his office at Trump Tower in New York. The Trumps are launching a new hotel chain in a bold expansion of a company that critics say is already too big and opaque for an owner who sits in the Oval Office. Called Scion, the aim is to open dozens in the next three years.: photo by Mary Altaffer/AP, 17 March 2017

New Trump hotels face political fights, ethics questions: Bernard Condon and David Koenig, AP Business Writers, 21 March 2017

NEW YORK (AP) -- You might have expected the Trump Organization to tap the brakes on expansion plans given all the criticism over potential conflicts of interest while its owner sits in the Oval Office.

It's hitting the accelerator instead.

The company owned by President Donald Trump is launching a chain of new hotels with plans to open in cities large and small across the country. Called Scion, they will be the first Trump-run hotels not to bear the family's gilded name. The hotels will feature modern, sleek interiors and communal areas, and offer rooms at $200 to $300 a night, about half what it costs at some hotels in Trump's luxury chain.

The company has signed letters of intent with more than 20 developers to build the hotels, said Trump Hotels CEO Eric Danziger. The last three were signed in just one week earlier this month.

"It's full steam ahead. It's in our DNA. It's in the Trump boys' DNA," said Danziger. The "boys" are Eric and Donald Jr., who are running their father's company while he is president.

The bold expansion plan raises some thorny ethical questions.

The Trump family won't be putting up any money to build the hotels. Instead, it plans to get local real estate developers and their investors to foot the bill, as do most major hotel chains.

One of the first going up could be in Dallas. A development company there originally planned to raise money from unnamed investors in Kazakhstan, Turkey and Qatar, but recently told the Dallas Morning News that it now will tap only the company's U.S. partners.

ETHICS CONCERNS

Government ethics experts say turning to outside money, whether foreign or American, raises the specter of people trying to use their investment to gain favor with the new administration — like contributing to a political campaign, but with no dollar limits or public disclosure.

"This is the new version of pay-to-play, 'Get in there and do business with the Trump Organization,'" said Richard Painter, who was the chief White House ethics lawyer to President George W. Bush.

The Trump family will have to overcome some political obstacles, too. Already, politicians in a few cities mentioned as possible sites have vowed to fight the first family, raising the prospect of a struggle to get zoning and other permits to start building.

The son of German and Polish refugees from World War II, CEO Danziger is no stranger to long odds. He never went to college, instead taking a job as a bellman at a San Francisco hotel at 17. He worked himself up over the decades to CEO spots at several major hospitality companies.

When Danziger led Starwood Hotels and Resorts in the 1990s, he expanded the number of hotels from 20 to nearly 600.

The 62-year-old executive has similar ambitions for the Trump family. He said he hopes to open 50 to 100 Scions in three years, and is planning to add to Trump's existing line of luxury hotels.

Danziger took over Trump's hotel business in August 2015 with hopes of adding to the company's string of properties abroad. A review of trademark databases by The Associated Press shows the Trump family has applied for rights to use the Scion name in several countries, including China, Indonesia, Canada and 28 nations in Europe. An application for trademark rights in the Dominican Republic was approved as late as December.

Then President Trump held a news conference the next month and basically killed the international plans. A week before he took office, he pledged that his company would strike "no new foreign deals" while he was president to allay concerns that foreigners might try to influence U.S. policy by helping his business abroad.

PROJECTS GET NEW LIFE

Critics note that hasn't stopped his company from expanding one of its Scottish resorts, pursuing two Indonesian projects that are largely unbuilt and looking to revive an old deal for a beachfront Dominican Republic resort that appeared dead years ago. The company has said these were already in the works, so they don't fall under the president's pledge.

At a panel discussion at a recent hotel industry conference, Danziger said the U.S. offers plenty of opportunity for expansion. As possible cities for new hotels, he mentioned Seattle, San Francisco, Denver and Dallas.

That didn't go down well with some local power brokers.

Mark Farrell, a San Francisco supervisor who heads the land use committee, scoffed at the idea of a Trump hotel getting permission to build in his city, telling a CBS affiliate "Good luck with that."

In Seattle, councilmember Rob Johnson told the AP he'd be "shocked" if any Trump hotels got built, calling his city "ground zero" for Trump resisters. In January, thousands took to the streets there to protest the president's first attempt at a travel ban and the city council passed a unanimous resolution denouncing it.

St. Louis, another possible Scion target, may prove a tough sell, too. A few days after the presidential election, protesters marched in front of a building that had been rumored as the site of a new Trump hotel as they chanted "No to Trump Tower."

The developer of the St. Louis project, Alterra Worldwide, is also the company behind the possible Scion hotel in Dallas. It announced soon after the St. Louis protest that it would use the building there to open a hotel under the Marriott name.

Despite the St. Louis trouble, Alterra President Mukemmel "Mike" Sarimsakci said, he expects no trouble with his Dallas project.

For starters, he appears to have much of the local approval needed to move forward. Both Sarimsakci and a Dallas city hall spokeswoman said Alterra is not seeking rezoning or tax incentives, which will avoid any need for a vote of the city council to approve the hotel.

Sarimsakci doesn't think anti-Trump sentiment will hurt the Scion chain.

"I think it's passed. I think people had really strong feelings prior to the election," he said. 

"I don't see that as being an issue moving forward."

Sarimsakci spoke to the AP last month. He did not respond to requests to confirm that he no longer plans to use foreign investors.

THE LURE OF TAX REVENUE, JOBS

Danziger also shrugs off the danger from anti-Trump folks. Stopping a Scion from opening would hurt a city, he said, just as surely as it would hurt the Trumps.

"Why would a city because of political views, a city councilman's views, prohibit tax revenue from coming to the city and employment to the people?" Danziger said. "It doesn't make sense."

He also expressed confidence Scion will avoid ethical trouble. He said any new investors in Scion go through an "exhaustive, thorough" review to make sure, for instance, they're not offering sweetheart deals to the Trump family to curry favor with the president.

Before Trump took office, he hired an outside lawyer to vet his deals for conflicts. Critics say his company shouldn't be striking any new deals at all and that he should follow the precedent of modern presidents by selling his interest in the company. He has refused to do so.

Politics aside, Trump's new chain faces stiff business challenges.

The U.S. president is a tiny hotel operator, with just 14 properties that he either owns or licenses his name to or manages for others, according to his company's website. This puts it at a disadvantage compared with, say, Marriott International, which has more than 6,000 hotels and can get deeper discounts when purchasing insurance and food and linens. 

The bigger companies have powerful loyalty programs to lure travelers, too.

"Why do people stay at Marriotts all the time?" said Bjorn Hanson, professor of hospitality and tourism management at New York University. "They're earning points."

Trump's Scion chain also faces a fight for customers against an array of new chic "lifestyle" chains from Marriott, Hilton and other rivals. Furniture retailers West Elm and Restoration Hardware are opening hotels to appeal to young travelers. Even the gym chain Equinox recently announced plans to enter the crowded field.

Danziger said he's not worried. "Every industry on the planet is crowded."

He won't name the developers with whom he has letters of intent, or where they hope to build, noting that they're tentative deals that could easily fall though. Pressed, though, he rattled off a long series of cities seemingly at random, including Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Louisville, Kentucky.

"The list of places Scion can go," he said, "is virtually limitless."

Demonstrators at the ICE offices in Chicago today protested Trump's revised travel ban #gettyimagesnews #travelban: image via scott olson @olsongetty, 16 March 2017
 

"The Liar in Chief of the United States of America" @RepGutierrez referring to @realDonaldTrump  during a town hall: image via scott olson @olsongetty, 16 March 2017



"He's a serial liar, he lies about everything." @RepGutierrez referring to @realDonaldTrump during a town hall.: image via scott olson @olsongetty, 16 March 2017

 
Judge Neil M. Gorsuch arrives, 9:30am, gathers papers, 12:20pm, for 30 min recess during 2nd day of SCOTUS confirmation hearing: image via Stephen Crowley @Stcrow, 21 March 2017

Judge Neil M. Gorsuch greeting Sen. Richard Blumenthal, guests, at the start of the second day of his Supreme Court confirmation hearing: image via Stephen Crowley @Stcrow, 21 March 2017

Judge Neil M. Gorsuch greeting Sen. Richard Blumenthal, guests, at the start of the second day of his Supreme Court confirmation hearing: image via Stephen Crowley @Stcrow, 21 March 2017

Judge Gorsuch fielding questions re Garland, special interest, religious test, etc., from Sen. Leahy during 2nd day of confirmation hearing: image via Stephen Crowley @Stcrow, 21 March 2017

Judge Neil M. Gorsuch fielding questions re Roe v Wade, Heller, etc., from Sen. Feinstein during the 2nd day of SCOTUS confirmation hearing: image via Stephen Crowley @Stcrow, 21 March 2017

Journalists Killer Trump: image via Tomthunkit @TomthunkitsMind, 21 March 2017

RT @timewarden1 : LESSONS OF THE #TRUMPREICH: Image via FriendofTrees @JamiaStarheart, 11 February 2017 

 the #trumpreich #coup #blitzkrieg on freedom has begun, and like germans in 1930s-1940s we are just watching: image via millie.poo @timewarden1, 18 March 2017

Goodbye Paris agreement. Goodbye Animals. Goodbye Earth. #notmypresident #ParisAgreement #Earth #animals #AnimalRights #climatechange #TRUMP: image via Karen Fiorito @buddhacatpress, 9 November 2016

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Someone is putting little pictures of #trump on dog poop: image via Think Atheist @ThinkAtheist, 21 March 2017

That's Jesus Up There in the Window, Alright... and Yes He's Watching... Unless He's Just Having a Wee Nap...

[Popowice, Wroclaw, Lower Silesia]: photo by Jamie Howard, 11 March 2017

After Party: photo by Gabi Ben avraham, 13 March 2017



AFGHANISTAN - An Afghan vendor sells candy floss in Kabul during Nowruz festivities as devotees mark the Afghan New Year. @shahmarai #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 21 March 2017

[Untitled]: photo by Gabi Ben avraham, 12 March 2017

[Untitled]: photo by Rammy Narula, 8 March 2017

[Untitled]: photo by Rammy Narula, 8 March 2017

[Untitled]: photo by Rammy Narula, 8 March 2017

[Untitled]: photo by Tyler Simpson, 23 March 2013

[Untitled]: photo by Tyler Simpson, 23 March 2013

[Untitled]: photo by Tyler Simpson, 23 March 2013

#23 Pink Bear [Phnom Penh, Cambodia]: photo by Richy B, 7 January 2017

#23 Pink Bear [Phnom Penh, Cambodia]: photo by Richy B, 7 January 2017

#23 Pink Bear [Phnom Penh, Cambodia]: photo by Richy B, 7 January 2017

DSC02140: photo by Kanrapee Chokpaiboon, 21 March 2017

DSC02140: photo by Kanrapee Chokpaiboon, 21 March 2017

DSC02140: photo by Kanrapee Chokpaiboon, 21 March 2017

[Untitled]: photo by Kanrapee Chokpaiboon, 24 January 2016

[Untitled]: photo by Kanrapee Chokpaiboon, 24 January 2016

[Untitled]: photo by Kanrapee Chokpaiboon, 24 January 2016