#102: Massive Murder

Dan Klass

I finally tell the story of July 1st, 1993.

I also nearly ran over an Oscar winner.

Let me know if you have any trouble with this mp3. I am using a new assembly system, and am getting a funky file.

16 thoughts on “#102: Massive Murder”

  2. Dan,

    About halfway thru the episode so far, and I noticed the room sound is greatly reduced. Is that the effect of the echo-sucking materials?

    Wow, a Hooters girl with glasses? Really? My life is now complete.

    Keep up the great storytelling – you have a gift, my friend.

    Jon

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  3. Dude,
    This show was classic – can you put this on the upcoming CD? The ‘gas station distractions’ was great too. Did ya already make it?

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  4. Dan,

    This was a moving tribute to your Uncle Mike. You were blessed to have known him, no matter how soon his ride was cut short.

    You have a point about not making ‘punks’ famous for horrible deeds. I will remember the name of Donald “Mike” Merrill (and frankly, Napoleon Hendricks, but that’s understandable, isn’t it?), instead.

    Take care,
    jexx

    Reply

  5. Good story-telling. Why I do agree about the news coverage, I don’t think being famous is the primary motive for mass murderers. Also, as far as people owning muskets, I think the provisions for owning weapons in the constitution was so that people could overthrow the newly formed government it it got out of hand. If this were to take place, it seems that the revolutionaries should have “military class” weapons (not to mention body-armor). I raise the latter point only academically. The new shows sound every bit as good as the ones you recorded in your bedroom, btw.

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  6. Though I will agree with you that the media has a contributing factor to the violence that occurs in American society, I can’t fathom in my mind why it should be considered the main reason for such crude acts. It seems as though we collectively want to blame something… anything for cruelty, either the media, video games, books… the list is endless. I have never been able to understand why people force themselves to hate and commit acts which affect people like dominoes. But I do agree that the media should try not to make the ‘punks’ infamous through repetitive media coverage. It has just become overkill these days.

    Also, as a person who has had issues with major clinical depression, I find it worrying that so many people have recently thought about ‘taking away the mentally ill in black vans’ like how you described in your pill. A few days after the VT tragedy happened, one of my friends said this:

    “Then, comes the part of all of this that REALLY scares the hell out of me. The backlash. Every channel, every op-ed page, and every blog talks about how ‘these people’ should be removed from society. They go on and on about how ‘these people’ shouldn’t be allowed in universities and workplaces that they claim to own. They complain about how not enough information is made public about ‘these people’ for the sake of a right to privacy that they say ‘these people’ are not entitled to.

    You know what? I’m one of ‘these people’ and I say **** you! I have as much of a right to live, work, and not have every piece of my medical history open to the public as you do. The fact that one random jerkoff went off on an unjustifiable rampage doesn’t give you justification to take that away from me. ”

    To hear things like that from the media devastates me, and justifies my beliefs that many people don’t get proper attention about their problems because of what the media and many ‘normal’ people portray mental illness. If society really want senseless acts of violence to end, we first need to realize that ignoring or antagonizing a problem which faces millions of people today is a non-answer.

    I mourn for the loss of innocent lives everyday, but tragedies like this won’t end. Not until we find true causes of massacres like VT, and not just short-term assessments.

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  7. Brit, well put. I hope my “in the van” rant wasn’t taken too literally. It is just an image, a reaction.

    You touched upon something that is rather troubling and that is that many people lump everyone who is not completely and utterly “normal” into one big lump…the depressed with the psychotic, the bi-polar with the homicidal. Most people still don’t like to talk about psychological issues, and emotional issues. We’re all supposed to just suck it up and act normal. It’s a shame, because we learn from talking and empathy, not silence.

    I think most people are a bit “nuts,” whatever that means (myself included). The problem is that it is sometimes difficult to weed out the truly dangerous from the lovably neurotic until it’s too late.

    If we “removed” all “these people” from society, who would be left to write plays, paint pictures, sing songs, sweep floors, manager fast food restaurants, chair major corporations, lead the country, steal my car, design my car, wash my car, buy my car…who would be LEFT to be safe?

    Thanks for the comment. And, THANKS FOR LISTENING.
    – dK

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  8. Dan,

    I have been a listener from the very beginning of the pill and this was perhaps the most complete and satisfying (and un-bitter) pill you have yet to offer up. Really a masterful piece of storytelling: combined personal with social commentary, humor with sadness, wisdom with silliness. Your choice of words, pacing, inflection, reflection, was nothing short of brilliant. Though one of your longer installments, I was yours for the hour. If there was ever any doubt, let this episode confirm that you are truly an artist who has found his art. Bravo!

    Reply

  13. Hi Dan,

    I also have been a listener from the beginning, and this is the most amazing piece of podcasting I have ever heard. Your description of the way your Uncle’s life was cut short brought me to tears, in a way that the mind-numbing, repetitive and clinical news broadcasts will never do.

    I am bi-polar, and was also starting to feel a bit nervous with the “van” analogy. However, most days, I manage to hold down a job lecturing and tutoring at a major Australian university, work on my PhD, and volunteer with the poor and needy. I only disclose my condition to those I trust because of the attitude some ill-informed people still hold. The situation is improving though, mainly due to widespread media campaigns by Australian lobby groups.

    Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for the show Dan.

    Reply

  14. Excellent show.
    Funny up front, and heavy/serious on the back end.
    Good blalance, well executed.
    Enjoyed this one in the car whilst geocaching with the missus in West Virginia the other weekend.
    When they aired that guys video (which was exactly what he wanted), that was it for me. I switched off. I am done with that nonsense. I’d rather get my news from The Colbert Report or The Daily Show (that and the local papers, and early morning local news). Maybe if enough people switch off they’ll reconsider being that way. It makes no odds to me, I am done with them. I’ve got better things to do. (like production of PUM 🙂
    I am a lot happier lately.
    Thanks for another fine piece of art, Dan.
    Take care.

    Reply

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