For Ramiro

My solitary blog follower...



...oh, and fuck Arizona.

We can only hope that all this christo-fascist, regressive, racist, teabagging bullshit is a sign that the fever induced delirium of the Reagan/Bush/Clinton/Bush era is about to break.

John Carter of Mars

In 1972 I escaped the fear, confusion and banality of puberty by spending hours on end reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series.

















I am reminded of this by the passing of Frank Frazetta. My only break from marathon reading sessions was to copy the Frazetta's illustrations on the ERB book covers. I doubt my copies were very good, but drawing them, at 14, did give me the opportunity to obsess over things that I desired, but absolutely didn't have; physical strength and half naked girls.
I also recall being fascinated by Burroughs' use of post-death and astral projection to get John Carter from planet Earth to Mars. Neat trick.

TWELVE years had passed since I had laid the body of my great-uncle, Captain John Carter, of Virginia, away from the sight of men in that strange mausoleum in the old cemetery at Richmond.

Often had I pondered on the odd instructions he had left me governing the construction of his mighty tomb, and especially those parts which directed that he be laid in an open casket and that the ponderous mechanism which controlled the bolts of the vault's huge door be accessible only from the inside.

"No one could have predicted..."

I don't think Democrats quite grasp (Republicans are indifferent or actually believe their own free-market bullshit) that many more people now see the connection between the financial industry/corporate money that goes to politicians and the steady destruction of the middle class.
Obviously many factors at work...manufacturing moving overseas (massive generational job losses)...corporate globalization (they no longer depend on American consumption for profit)...

The middle class was created to generate wealth for the top 5%...not needed anymore...bye, bye.

Slimy grifters.

Cynical Ratfuckers (see defintion below)

Dirty tricks are unethical, duplicitous, slanderous or illegal tactics employed to destroy or diminish the effectiveness of political or business opponents. The term "dirty trick" can also be used to refer to an underhanded technique to get ahead of an opponent (such as sabotage or disregarding rules of engagement).

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

This is a solid description of how deceptive the right-wing can be in their attempts to overturn and co-opt well-meaning efforts to inform the voters/citizenry. It isn't a new strategy, but in the digital age, it is much easier to disguise the dirty trick or ratfuck.

I've got to get this out of my system...

OK...done.

I Was Here but I Disapear (sic)

This movie was important to my adolescence. Saw it in 1977 with a couple of soon to be punk friends in a Louisville "Art Movie" house that doubled as a gritty porn theater during the day.

I Love YouTube

Fantastic live performance. Bonus footage of the creepy British guy with atrocious teeth.

Somebody's House Party: Louisville, 1975

Not uncommon in the mid-70's to go to a suburban house of a friend or acquaintance... parents out of town for the weekend...upwards of 40 "teenager" cars strung out along suburban streets and cul de sacs...to drink a lot, smoke weed and hi-jack the stereo. When a couple of us would tire of hearing Steely Dan or Little Feat for the zillionth time, we would move to the stereo system, appear to appreciate it's quality or brand; Pioneer, Marantz, etc., and begin to ease the volume down as if the track was ending. The other co-conspirator(s) would be prepared to quickly switch records to something less cheesy or straight. It could be Jimi Hendrix, Weather Report, Stanley Clarke, Frank Zappa or Billy Cobham...




At the time, I was miserable, struggling with existential fear and good old fashioned alienation.
Still, good music, good times.

UPDATED: An actual house party, the Spears', 1976. My back is to the camera.

Related to Previous Post: The Society of the Spectacle

REM It's the end of the world from Jiri Spac on Vimeo.

"IN A world that is really upside down, the true is a moment of the false."

Guy Debord



While this mash-up is viscerally satisfying to watch (because it feels true), it truly isn't.

We have Reached Our Cultural and Political Nadir

ht/bettycracker

Where will ALL of this lead. I am not very optimistic.

I Wish Life Could Be Swedish Magazines

In 1979, just after the Sex Pistols crashed, Iggy comes through.




Further back (1973), a pretty solid mash-up... Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, and Search and Destroy

Black Baby Abduction and To Sir With Love

redstateupdate.com

These guys crack me up. Stay for the song!

Why Always Stoned?

One of my favorite Jonathan Richman songs.

And another.

The Wolfman

I liked it. Yet, I wasn't entirely engaged by Del Toro's Larry Talbot. He didn't exhibit any personal torment and fear when he realized that he had been infected or turned. This Talbot is stoic, resigned and disconnected; psychologically too inert.

However, this film does bring the monster back as more man than wolf. Thankfully moving away from the long snouted, CGI werewolf creations that have become so commonplace. The transformation of Del Toro and Hopkins into their monsters is riveting and pretty cool.

I have long missed the Lon Chaney Jr. and Oliver Reed wolf-men.

Great Britain

Ah, but in America...I've got mine, screw you!

1854-2010

Teabaggers.

This phenomenon has a long history. The parallel to the American Party or the Know Nothings of the 1850s is striking (and sad). Fomenting a distrust of government and a fear of immigrants and Catholics succeeded in the north (ironically Massachusetts) for an election cycle or two.

In our time, the faux grassroots "tea party" has forced our political discourse to the right. In collaboration with a media that rationalizes the irrational and creates political narratives to attract and hold an audience captive, the ideology of the "tea party" has been mainstreamed. It's a "win-win" for the media, because as the "Know Nothing" party begins to unravel from its racism, xenophobia and self-righteousness, they will inevitably pivot and "objectively" chronicle its passing without ever exploring why it failed. The damage will have been done.

Post-failure, the tea party movement will always be characterized as a grassroots phenomenon that missed its mark. Moving forward it will be a data point used to analyze legitimate political trends. A fabricated and right leaning tug on all political discourse...a phantom, better known as a "Zombie Lie."

Grassroots Movement: angry group of economically insecure white Americans drunk on right-wing PAC money and self-validating talking points.

Enjoy!

Breaking News!

Central Massachusetts Elects Conservative Lug-Head
(aka...Worcester's Revenge)






















Yay!

UPDATE:
Of course, I wrote the post above before the polls opened on Tuesday.

Even though Massachusetts gave Barack Obama a 26% adavantage over John McCain in 2008, the mood of the electorate is pretty sour. Also, Central Massachusetts responds instinctively to the dog whistles from the right.

The only reason the right has any appeal now, I think, stems from the fact that the Democrats chose not to tie the last decade's disasters to Republican rule. The Democrats (Barack Obama) actually believed that giving the Republicans an out, allowing them to self-correct (instead of forcing them to crawl through the broken glass of their regressive governance), would grant Obama's policy initiatives large bipartisan majorities.

Sadly, the Democrats continue to underestimate the unapologetic venality of the Republicans.

Or do they...?

Fox...meet henhouse

This guy's stump is a queasy blend of small government talking points and fake common sense.

On both the left and the right millionaire politicians are the rule, not the exception.
But actually listening to one pretend to have common cause with the middle class as the bankers throw money at him makes me sick...and Rudy doesn't help.

Republicans Rejoice!

With breathless thanks to their Dinosaur Riding Jesus (and the underpants bomber)...

...they can try to make this real...again.