Month: October 2023

by Travis Mateer

This image is a piece of art from Jane Ash Poitras, a very well-known Canadian artist with pieces currently available at the Zara Gallery. I successfully avoided spending stupid money on this piece in order to continue my MAIN focus, which is developing my next phase as a writer trying to educate people about serious shit going down in Zoom Town and beyond.

Serious shit doesn’t have to be delivered as some downer rant, so I’ve been working on my material and delivery approach and I think you’re gonna like what I’ve come up with.

First, let’s take a look at what I will NOT be doing, and that’s getting everyone’s hopes up, then NOT showing up, like the San Francisco complainer did a few months ago.

Who organized the Doom Loop Tour?

That was the question on everyone’s mind as a crowd of spectators and media gathered in front of City Hall for what was advertised as a walking tour of Downtown San Francisco’s blight and squalor.

Curiosity about who put on the infamous $30-a-head walking tour of one of the most downtrodden pockets of the city drew dozens of people to the meetup. But after about 45 minutes of waiting past the expected 11 a.m. start time, attendees had no choice but to resign themselves to uncertainty.

Some debated who could’ve masterminded the event. Was it a grift? A stunt? A right-wing ploy to court controversy? A left-wing trolling operation?

The crowd dwindled until just a handful of people lingered, then just two. Eventually, a woman took matters into her own hands by offering to lead stragglers on a tour of her own—one that was ultimately much smaller than a counter-tour that offered to show people the best and brightest of the storied Tenderloin.

So, the mystery remains about who masterminded the much-ballyhooed doom-and-gloom tour.

The only mystery on the walking tour I’m developing is WHICH ROUTE is going to be the best bang for your buck, so stay tuned for opportunities to sign up, via Eventbrite, SOON! The Wednesday lunch tours will be shorter than the Saturday info strolls, and going to uppity parts of town may carry additional fees, so be sure to read the fine print.

On Mondays I’m planning on doing regular scouting trip to Eastern Washington, maybe not every week, but at least twice a week. Our local City Council can breathe a sigh of relief in the knowledge that ANOTHER group of City Council members will be getting to know me in the weeks and months to come.

I’d like to share more, but I’m already late in getting this post out, so for now just enjoy the regular posts I continue putting out as I figure out my next steps.

My Take On The Pov-Hiring-Alleged-Potty-Perv PR Problem You Never Expected (October 2nd, 2023)

Does Having A Bear Smart Community Imply Smart Humans Are Developing Policy? (October 3rd, 2023)

A Story Of Going To Hell And Back Written In 60 Days Is Almost Done (October 4th, 2023)

Some Important Information On How To Avoid Uppity Removal By COPs (October 5th, 2023)

The Value Of This Information Far Exceeds The Dollars I Am Paying For It (October 6ht, 2023)

If you appreciate the work I’m doing, Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) is one way to help, and making a donation at my about page is another.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

One of these books cost me a thousand dollars. Can you guess what one? Yes, Coleman’s book about the Tavistock Institute is so coveted and limited, copies online go for as much as $5,000 dollars. I know at least one reader of this post (mother) will be immediately concerned that her financially illiterate son is blowing a bunch of money on…BOOKS!

I’ve already audaciously compared my now-completed writing project to Jack Kerouac’s little road trip story, and personally I think I fucking nailed it, so maybe my Ego is high or something because now I’m going to compare myself to Moses.

But there I was, holding a thousand dollar book in my hand about the LONG project of social engineering that originated across the pond while sitting in an airplane about to take me to New York City, and with all these BIG cities I had blasting through, the LAST city I expected to see, in print, in this thousand dollar book, is the place where I was born 45 years ago: Spokane.

Huh?

The third book, which cost me less than 30 dollars, opens with a City Council candidate getting interviewed by a newspaper that had already endorsed her opponent. This newspaper, the Spokesman-Review, had some conflict issues, let us say, that became a well-documented scandal. Here’s a peek into something that starts sounding familiar real quick:

Rodgers, in fact, wondered exactly what the Spokesman-Review’s opinion-makers were up to. When editorial page editor John Webster began the interview by asking Rodgers to explain “why you’re coming back for more,” she promptly turned the tables with a question of her own.

“Well, I guess my first question is—you’ve already endorsed Jeff in the primary, so I’m wondering if— why I’m here on your behalf.” She paused. “I kind of feel like the Christian at the Taliban, to tell the truth.”

There is a tape recording of this exchange, made by the Spokesman-Review. On the tape, when Rodgers makes her Taliban comment, there is laughter around the table. In addition to Webster, interactive editor Doug Floyd was there, and so were political reporters Oliver Stanley and editorial board member Rebecca Nappi.

When the laughter subsides, Webster says: “Well, we always do interviews with the candidates. They help us, help us with our writing.”

Where Rodgers comes from, Webster’s reply would be called “fancy dancing.” Rodgers, who is part Blackfeet Indian, grew up on a Montana reservation. Fancy dancing is a ritualized ceremony with elaborate costumes. It’s also a metaphor for doubletalk.

It gets even stranger, in terms of name-resonance, when I read this tidbit and saw the name in bold (my emphasis):

By now most people in Spokane know that, along with former mayor John Talbott and city councilmen Steve Eugster and Steve Corker, Rodgers is one of the elected officials who have worked hard to get out the facts about the River Park Square crisis. Most Spokanites know that RPS developer Betsy Cowles also publishes the Spokesman-Review. What is not generally known, however, is the remarkable lengths to which Spokesman-Review reporters and editors have gone to help Betsy Cowles conceal troubling details of the troubled project. What Cherie Rodgers experienced that day is an interesting example.

What’s going on here? I can’t say for sure, but I know I’m not the only one trying to figure shit out, so that’s where books come in, and I’m talking about HARD COPIES of books because Moses NOAH (it’s important, when being audacious in personal comparisons, to get your biblical references right–thanks Tony!) didn’t put cave paintings of animals into his little boat, he put the real thing.

Do ya feel me? Maybe a song will help, I know it helps me, and this one is about some road trips I took recently. Please enjoy this tune as I wonder where my recording software lock is, because I got a hankering to record some readings of some interesting material I’ve acquired during my travels.

If you would like to contribute to my expanding ambitions, Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) is one way to help out, and the donation button at my about page is another.

https://vimeo.com/871819540?share=copy

Thanks for reading/listening!

by Travis Mateer

Things might be getting confusing for those following along, so let me explain myself. I now totally support the Poverello Center, it’s city contract, and the safe space that contract allows for the difficult work of taking care of uppity blacks when they appear, which, let’s be honest, is rare in Montana.

The poors of all colors usually get it. They know their subsidized place in our pantheon of care, so usually navigate the open-air drug-markets with appropriately furtive glances.

Whole social orders might be up-ended if someone like Sean Stevenson hadn’t been dealt with the way he was dealt with in Missoula, Montana.

And the Pov’s role? Read the contract. The BIG letters are my emphasis:

Independent Contractor Status: The parties agree that Consultant, is an independent contractor for purposes of this agreement and the parties agree that Consultant is and shall be an independent contractor when performing services pursuant to this agreement. Consultant is not subject to the terms and provisions of the City’s personnel policies handbook and may not be considered a City employee for workers’ compensation or ANY OTHER PURPOSE. Consultant is not authorized to represent the City or otherwise bind the City in any dealings between Consultant and any third parties.

Yes, this language seems to ensure that any would-be litigation against the Pov for being a safe space to remove uppity blacks will keep the city protected. And who is REALLY going to litigate against a homeless shelter anyway?

Really I think the problem goes back to letting blacks own churches and baseball teams in places like Pittsburgh, where Sean Stevenson was born. Growing up in that kind of environment could certainly lead to a FATAL kind of uppityness that no one really wants to deal with unless they have to.

Here I am, standing before our cringing City Council members, trying to adapt to the important work of sending the right messages to ensure our social order can be maintained. How’d I do?

https://vimeo.com/871229798?share=copy

I’m not sure if everyone understands how helpful I’m trying to be, so to show everyone how helpful I’m trying to be, I’ve written up an imagined greeting to imagined new comers coming to a not-so-distant future Zoom Town. Here it is:

THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING YOUR PLACE

Hello, and welcome to your new home. It’s important, when finding a new home, to become aware of habits and customs that may differ from the place you once knew as home, so please allow this brief introduction to Zoom Town to assist you in identifying what values and priorities your new home considers when delivering community responses to your individual needs and concerns.

Like a spider that uses bright colors to attract a mate it will eventually kill, Zoom Town features amenities and lures that might seem, on the surface, to be attainable, but so do many a mirage to those dying of thirst in a desert of need. Are you in need? We will do our best to pretend to help you. But here’s a more important question: are you UPPITY? And by uppity, we mean exhibiting an inherent sense of worth that exceeds your socio-economic status.

There is so much less pretending we must do here because there is not that much knowing, and even if there were, there would have to be some degree of caring after the knowing started happening for something terrible like ACTION to happen. Thankfully, we keep all that nonsense from getting out of control by nipping uppity in the bud anywhere we find it.

Is there a way to know if you’re being uppity that could stop you from violating an unspoken custom in your new home before the action even occurs?

Yes, examples of what can happen to uppity people are plentiful, so provide a question to any DESTINATION ZOOM TOWN kiosk, and a real-life scenario that matches your inquiry will be located in our database and uploaded to your home-device immediately, along with a complimentary cookie for showing the distinctly NON-uppity intent to learn our customs, for yourself, therefore reducing the chance that one of our Correction Oversight Programs (COPs) must be utilized.

Thank you, and please review the terms of this introduction before signing and activating your ZOOM TOWN tokens for use in any one of our First Needs retail outlets.

*

Is that helpful? I’m REALLY trying to be helpful, like, on an even BIGGER scale than my current efforts, which now includes finishing a heck of a story on a deadline I set for myself and achieved.

And that makes me happy.

To help in the next phase of my information sharing and education efforts, Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF) is still a good place to direct funds to, or you can make a donation at my about page.

Thanks for reading!

by Travis Mateer

The time brackets of the story I’m wrapping up today began on August 4th, which I only recently realized was the same day something very dark happened in Maui.

The ending date, today, is the same day our national warning systems will be tested. Isn’t that adorable? I’ll save you the speculation about what I think it all means. That’s in the story I still have to finish.

In the past 60 days I’ve gone to court, gotten divorced, and spent thousands of dollars traveling thousands of miles going in two crazy loops on two separate coasts of this fucked up country.

I think I have a story or two to tell about what I’ve experienced along the way.

While I try to figure out what to do with this thing I’ve made, a few notes about where Zoom Chron is going: no where immediately, but a transition to something new is rapidly approaching,

Tomorrow I’m going to provide some perspective on Spokane that’s absolutely fascinating, so please stay tuned. I don’t expect the frequency of posting should change at all, but stuff might be shorter as I get to work on something new.

I’ll leave it there, for now. Thank you for reading.

by Travis Mateer

For Missoula to be considered a BEAR SMART community, policies are being developed to create bear buffer zones, where special trash cans will be REQUIRED of citizens to use. But as policies get developed, are we just assuming that the humans developing these policies are smart? I don’t think it’s smart to assume bear smart policies are being developed by smart people, and here’s why: enforcement.

The conversation I heard around enforcement was mildly interesting, and indicates that policy makers might not have the kind of smarts it takes to understand how words like “enforcement” become actual actions that will produce the compliance they are seeking from citizens in these newly defined bear buffer zones.

It’s almost cute how they think changing potential penalties from CRIMES to CIVIL infractions will entice judges to levy those infractions more readily against those pesky “repeat offender” who, for whatever reason, are going to require some level of coercion to get them to comply. The city attorney even said it’s a lower standard of proof with just civil infractions, so that might further incentivize prosecutors to make us a SMART and SAFE community. For bears. By fining the shit out of people who don’t properly secure their shit.

Good job, Bear Smart Missoula!

There were some bear smart advocates on campus who I approached a few weeks ago, and I asked them about homeless encampments, and if that was an issue they were aware of, since our own Mayor claimed one of these encampments allowed many pounds of BACON to spoil in summer heat.

No, they said, that issue wasn’t really on their radar.

Do I have an opinion about that? Yeah, I think it is VERY STUPID for the SMART bear people to NOT be thinking about “urban camping” as a bear attractant.

While it’s super fun listening to the smart people develop new ways for local government to take your money for non-compliance with their SMART policies, I didn’t get a nap today, so I’m going to leave it there.

If you appreciate the questioning of basic assumptions, consider supporting Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF), or making a donation at my about page.

Thanks for reading!