Malach is Back! or Bye Bye New Beige.

7.07.2005

Last night, while my captors slept, I escaped . . . My powers immediatley returned, and I obliterated any remains of the Brothers Selakaunt. Too bad about that nice bounty they got from there demands. Hated to destroy that stuff.

They move went mostly succesful. Everything is in the new house and 60% unpacked. It is very nice to move out of the city of New Bedford . . . more on that to follow. But a few observations about moving:

1. Moved in to a house 3 times the size of the old one, yet I had to knock a wall down to get an armoire up the stairs to the master bedroom . . . I still can't fit the box spring, and cannot knock anymore of the wall down. The stairs looks pretty freakin's sweet opened up like that.

2. Why is it, that when I rent a U-Haul, I always end up with the crappiest ones? This one was not the worst but, it was not good. AC not working, inspection sticker from 2000, 258,000 miles, had to floor it to get it going, and would not go faster than 55. And speaking of U-Haul, I figured out how they make their money . . . . Boxes. $40, for 17 boxes.

3. This house is large enough where one of us can get away from everyone else and still be in the house.

4. I have a seperate studio building, with heat, electricity, and CABLE.

5. On a whim, me and a few friends shaved our heads. I have a very round head.

6. Said this before: I hate Wal-Mart . . . But I love Wal-Mart . . . it's like heroin addiction.

The City of New Bedford, MA

I have talked about New Bedford (New Beige) in previous blogs, so some of this might be repetitive. I am not going to go into the entire history of the city, but will hit the high(low)lights. I have a love/hate relationship with the city, like Wal-Mart.

New Bedford was incorporated in the early 1700's. If you have ever read Moby Dick you would have at least heard of the city, the first chapter of the book, is set there. New Beige's past is glorious: Whaling Capital of the World, at one time the richest city in the world, Home to Frederick Douglass, the Delano-Roosevelts, Henry Huttleston Rogers, Albrect Beirstadt, Hetty Green, and occasionally Mark Twain and Harriet Tubman. The first Asian visitor to the New World, came to first New Bedford, and the first shots of the Revolutonary War Naval Battles were fought off it's shores. The epicenter for the Underground Railroad, and the playground of the rich and famous. That was New Bedford.

Something changed. Some changes gradual, some immediate. The first major event, was the outlawing of Whaling . . . You would have thought that would have killed this city, but no, city leaders back then, could think toward the future. They coverted to fishing (New Beige is still the #1 fishing port in the US) and manufacturing, and lo and behold, New Bedford, while less shiny, was still a jewel in the crown of the New World. Some of the world's largest and most financially sound industries were originally formed here.

Gradually, over the course of the next 150 years, manufacturers began moving out of the environs to more profitable ones, very gradually. So gradually that no one began noticing until the 1970's and 80's. Manufacturers would move, new ones would move in but not as many, and slowly, the change occured. Higer wage postions, with companies that cared, soon became low wage position with companies who cared nothing for the worker or his working environment. And the city leaders did not notice or did nothing about it. The upper class began to move out of the city, and waves of immigrants (who were willing to work for low wages and in poor conditions), began to move in and form their own neighborhoods. They would become financially sound and move out of the city, and the cycle repeated itslef. Even today you can go into certain neighborhoods of the city, and no one speaks english. Finally, the manufacturing jobs mostly disappeared, and if it wasn't for the fishing industry, this city would have died.

That brings us to the 70's, 80's, and 90's. The city began to fade. Race riots, 15% unemployment, businesses constantly closing and finally,the nail in the coffin, the influx of drugs, gangs, and organized crime. New Bedford became about drug trafficking (Fishing was always a good cover, the fishing industry here is still very much like the Mafia). In addtion, a political machine was established in this city, and it became pretty hard to do anything politically without answering to that machine. A machine that cared more about increasing it's financial well being, than the city itself.

This brings us to today. Today New Bedford is a city on the brink. The political machine is still there, but is fading, especially now that the mayor's wages are more in line with other cities in the region (the mayor of New Beige only made $48,000 a year, but that has been raised over the past couple of years to $98,000, more in line with the average which is $102,000), and qualified candidates are now running. Drugs is still a major issue in the city, and probably is the biggest "employer" in the city. You can buy a bag of herion on the streets for around $4. Murders are down this year (about 8). Gangs control many of the neighborhoods. Unemployment is still an issue, but down to about 8%. 60% of the population has a High School Degree, 10% a Bachelor's (this is also up). The latest influx of immigrants to this city are hispanic, and like the previous immigration population (which was portugese) no one speaks English. The largest employment populations of this city are Fishing, Human Services, and Retail. Property tax is out of control (3x the surrounding communities).

But there is hope. The city has been cleaned up and is beautiful. There are very few abandoned buildings (one of the reasons was property was dirt cheap, I bought my first house for $35,000, a few years ago you could buy an old Whaling mansion for $150,000), and many have been restored to their former glory, downtown has become a jewel, and rivals even Newport, RI. The public housing projects have gotten cleaned up, and the Housing Authority has a zero tolerance policy for crime. You can actually walk through them at night now. And the Neighborhoods have begin to mobilize to take the street back.

I moved into the subrubs, only 4 miles from my old home, but you would think I have moved to Jupiter, the change in atmosphere is that much. I am almost embarassed to tell you I feel, disdain for the old neighborhood.

UPDATES

Neeless to say, I have not worked on JesusMan or The Wraith at all. Hopefully I will get one uploaded next week. There are two new issues of Necromancer Ned. I hope BUG gets me some Notched Blade to tide you guys over.

I also added some new mural images to the main site galleries.

Thanks for all your concerns, and well wishes, they are VERY appreciated.

I am Malach, you are not.