For my Reference only

http://tyrannydistance.blogspot.com/2008/09/chat-with-old-man-dan.html

http://tyrannydistance.blogspot.com/2008/09/911-cash-cow.html

http://tyrannydistance.blogspot.com/2008/09/sunday-was-probably-one-of-greatest.html

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

BLOG!BLOG!BLOG!BLOG!BLOG!BLOG!BLOG!

Blogging has somewhat been a fear of mine early on. I really hadn’t had too much experiences with blogs aside from reading a few here and there, mostly music blogs, like Pitchforkmedia.com, Joystiq (the videogame equivalent to Pitchfork), Kevin’s other blog “Eating the Document” and my friend Mike’s blog “Defenestrating Kittens” which consisted of faux AIM conversations between politicians and broken up bands like Pavement (sadly he took it down). I spent my time reading them but never contributing, I had thought about it in the past, but never ever got around to setting them up.

Bloggers tend to have their own communities (while writing this, I realized that Microsoft Word didn’t mark the word “blog” or “Bloggers” as incorrectly spelled), it has become a staple of our society, a new outlet. There was one blog in particular that caught my attention before I had started to take this class.

Stuffwhitepeoplelike.com is a blog devoted to well, stuff white people like. I looked at it and realized that it was a parody on itself. Blogs have become an important part of the internet, youth and music culture; these online journals have come a long way from Xanga and Livejournal. Heck I even checked my Xanga from late Jr high and mid high school to see how I was writing my posts then and not much has changed, so maybe I had been blogging longer than I had thought.

I looked at Stuffwhitepeoplelike.com and checked off a good majority of the things on the list from Wes Anderson movies to Music Piracy to The Wire and even Threatening to Move to Canada as well as Irony. I always saw blogging as part of the hipster movement; I know it may be a bit misinformed, or some pre-conceived notion, but when I visit blogs like Brooklyn Vegan I feel that it’s just the outlet of a younger, hipper generation. Luckily I’m just at the tail end of that generation and found myself enjoying blogging.

My blog URL came from Ted Leo’s first album name “The Tyranny of Distance,” besides being an avid Ted Leo fan, I found great significance in the phrase as well. More times than not distance, whether it was physical or culturally tends to be very oppressive on view points and understanding. Then I changed it to “One Last Thing,” a phrase uttered by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, so it was quickly changed.

My first real blogging experience occurred the day after our class. I really wanted to exposed the blind display of patriotism that occurred after 9/11 and felt 100% free to write everything I wanted, I really enjoyed having the internet as an open forum, and I enjoyed the anticipation of incoming comments. I wasn’t exactly sure how to work the blogger dashboard, so just sat down and learned all the ins and outs, that’s probably why I didn’t have any links in my first post. I feel content and analysis wise; it is one of my better posts where I didn’t lose focus.

As the semester progressed I started to see potential for my blog to become a regular outlet for myself. There are plenty of posts on my blog that have nothing to do with the class; many involve the 2008 Presidential Election. I actually posted while watching the debates as well as during Election Day. I have every attention of continuing my blog even after the class is over.

There is one post in particular that I really like. After reading Shooting War I immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was absolutely great. At this point I actually regret making that decision. I remember sitting in class and saying its in my top 5 favorite graphic novels, and then hearing towards the end of class all the problems with it. I agreed with 100% of what was said, which is odd because I usually criticize literature I don’t know. I really regret jumping to conclusions. Oddly enough in that same post, an outside blogger who wasn’t from our class, who I didn’t know commented on my blog; I thought that was really cool.

I also really enjoyed how raw the blogs were. I for one didn’t edit what I wrote; I just wrote and wrote, never ever made any corrections. I wanted it to be just a stream of consciousness with analysis, nothing more. I think proof-reading would have taken away from the mystique of the blog.

In terms of following blogs, I originally just followed a few blogs, Kevin’s, Tom’s, but I found myself following more and more people’s blogs, like Jessica and it became a weekly tradition to read Barry’s novels uhhh I mean posts. For those who updated on a constant basis, it kept me informed of outside opinions and really kept the class connected.

Exploration

Its 2 am and I have come a conclusion about House of Leaves. I have found that I tend to look ahead in the book, its not that I'm getting bored, but some sections don't seem to hold my attention, or I just want to move on; I tend to explore the book. In class we had discussed HoL as a book that is very visual, it needs to be watch. That is all well and good, but I find that this book is meant to be explored, I feel that some of the selections tend to be tedious on purpose so that you decide to explore the book, jump around, divulge yourself a little bit. Many of the pages towards the back seem to be for people like me, I would have never discovered some of the pictures, the letters, etc. The house, much like the book is meant to be explored, you don't necessarily need to get hung up on one section, look around, find a section that interests you and go with it. Either that, or I have severe case of ADD I don't know abou----oooh there are birds outside my window.

Goosebumps

As much as I am enjoying this book, if you trim the fat away, the footnotes, the extraneous stories and focus on the Navidson Record, it kind of starts to feel like a schlocky R.L. Stine book that you read in 4th grade....or maybe its me.

Character Sketch

Karen.

Karen Green, Green=color of leaves in spring and summer, leaves=House of Leaves.
Psychotic analogizes, it is very painful to read about Karen Green. Not in the sense that I'm painstakingly reading this book, instead, I feel bad for her.

I apologize to Terrence in advance for using an almost identical section from the novel to establish a foundation for Karen's character.

On page 11 we learn that Karen was a high end fashion model, who left the lavish life in the city to pursue her a quiet family life. I see this a positive development, or establishment for Karen's character; her ability to leave an expensive lifestyle and move out to a country house as step forward in her life and an attempt to grow up.

There is something on page 11 that I feel is extremely revealing. "Her video entries-in which Navidson promised to view only after the film was shot and then if she agreed-reveal a thirty-seven year old woman who worries about leaving the city, growing old, keeping trim, and staying happy." This is a great revelation into the character of Karen in terms of her relationship to the house and her husband. She was concealing her emotions and molding to her husband, her ever changing emotions, much like the house. This establishes Karen as an individual who may not the best at expressing herself.

Page 102: "Karen unhappily takes over the task of manning the radios." Karen gets dragged into this exploration in which she her husband's and friends contact. She is thrust into a very responsible job where she has to watch her husband fade into the dark unknown, not knowing what will happen to him.

When Is a House Not a House

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I had seen the house as a rather drab metaphor for the unknown, the fear of the future, you have to adapt to your surroundings as they shift around you. The house tends to bring out everyone's insecurities, whether its is Karen's claustrophobia, Reston needing to have a gun to cope with labyrinth being too much to handle without some sort of killing tool. It even brings out the insecurities of Karen with her relationship with Will.

I find that the house's constant shifting is also a take on the permanence of certain things throughout the novel. The ability of a relationship to fall to shambles, the fragility of human life, the fragility of the human psyche. I know that if I was in this house, while I would be intrigued to explore it, I would be entirely frustrated by its constant shifting, endless stairwells and corridors. It never allows anyone to see what the the truth is behind the house is, what the intention is. That begs the question, what is the intention of this novel, who's story are we really hearing, is it the Navidson's story, is it Johnny's story, or is it the story of the human race?

What I found most depressing about the House was why it was purchased. It was purchased so Karen and Will could raise a family and be close to another, Will would get away from his strangling job. Unfortunately Will spends most of his time wandering and exploring the house with his brother and comrades while Karen tries to avoid the house thus inadvertently avoiding Will. It becomes another catalyst for their relationship to fail.

House

As I had mentioned before, I had this odd fascination with the word house being highlighted in blue. After much searching, I read online that somehow it is reference to the blue screen that is used on movie sets. I continued to sit and think, hitting the wall, the screen saver on the computer next to me went, I accidentally hit the mouse, and a blue screen popped up. It hit me like a locomotive, the blue screen of death on a windows computer, the demise of your computer. I couldn't and think that the house itself is absolute failure for people to communicate, for things to work. This is also a reference to being completely in the dark a fear of what is going to happen, fear itself, hitting a wall, a snag. There is a real unfortunate relationship between Johnny and his brother. They do not communicate, they have a complete demise in their dynamic as fraternal brothers. I then was able to move on to the pages that contained the venture into the labyrinth. Reston brings a gun, he has a fear of the unknown, a fear of things not going the way he planned, a fear of being stopped in his tracks (or wheels). On page 212, Reston says ' "I can't see a fucking thing,' Reston whispers. Which is true: neither one of their flashlights can effectively penetrate that far into the black, and its rather unfortunate because it leads to the demise of Jed.

SKIP IT

Rob Adams was rather intimidated by this book, he was afraid to open it. Call him what you want, but fear comes with the territory of text boxes written backwards. Rob didn't want to open the book, he wanted to sit on his nightstand, but eventually Rob bit the bullet, Rob cracked the book.

When Rob began his journey into the strangest books he has ever read, he only got to page 8 and stopped. He was rather out off by how convoluted the pages looked, how schizophrenic the plot seemed. He started on Saturday, he ended on Saturday; only to pick it up late Monday night.

Quite frankly Rob again, read only a few pages again. Rob skipped over most of the footnotes, as a former history major, Rob thinks footnotes were put on this earth to annoy and bother every writer on the planet, leaving them feeling cold and begging for the MLA format. Rob hungry, Rob smash.

Then Rob got to page 50. Page 50 has a math equation. Rob doesn't like math. While it is rather petty to ignore about 4 or 5 pages because a math equation, Rob continued forward. Rob got to about page 64, and stumbled upon the same thing Tom Mikos did, the list of names, while it conjured up memories of John Hodgman reading 700 Hobo names in his opus The Area of My Expertise. Nonetheless it isn't entertaining and nor is it to the tune of "Big Rock Candy Mountain."

Rob skipped the crossed out red lines from from 110-111. He saw minotaur but only went that far. He then proceeded to 119-145 where the text boxes make there appearance. Thats where Rob halted the reading process, he didn't want to have to read in the mirror, he then continued to page 147 and finished the rest of the assignment. While not reading that whole section, Rob did wonder if it was an elaborate Tetris game.

VIDEO

Whilst reading through the first couple of pages of House of Leaves I came across the mention of the HG Wells historic radio reading of War of The Worlds from 1938. The widespread panic that occurred from this broadcast immediately reminded me of Karen's inability to enter or even comprehend what was in her own home. She is scared but what she is told. Much like the listeners of the War of the Worlds, who were actually believe that world was being invaded by an alien force. It plays on fear, Karen has disorder that causes her fear. She is claustrophobic, she is in an ever changing house, which confronts her ever changing fears. The house expands, he disorder becomes less and less, but as the house becomes tighter, he fears grow. The War of the Worlds reading plays on the fear of the listening public.

I LI KE T HIS B OOK

I have read through the first

200 hundred pages

I shall finish it tomorrow

Its not that bad.

More to come.

First Drafts

House of Leaves has left me in a bind. For the most part, the plot isn't as convoluted as I expected it to be. It seems very intimidating when you first open the book. The text becomes very, lets say, different as you proceed further and further into the book. From what I've gathered, its a story inside a story, with another story in the footnotes.

The typography seems to be the draw for me at the moment. Kevin mentioned two things that I had crossed my mind, one being that within the first couple of pages, you come across the word "house" highlighted in blue, much like a hyperlink, which in return brings up that point that it was in fact originally on the Internet. Its now driving me insane to see where that hyperlink would bring the reader. Kevin also brought up Joyce's Finnegan's Wake, which is the most incomprehensible piece of literature I have read, while I appreciate it as a landmark piece of literature from one of my favorite authors, it drives me nuts on an annual basis.

Which intrigued me was that it reads like a first draft, from the cross outs, the change in font, the change in color, to the text boxes that seem like notes, but also read as anecdotes, or outside commentary. Right now I'm doing my best to differentiate the characters, but I have a feeling that it is going to take multiple read throughs if this book to fully grasp. I was even contemplating just reading the footnotes (off the record, as a former history major, I've realllllllly grown to loathe footnotes).

This made me chuckle.

Yes

Rosa Parks sat so MLK could walk, MLK walked so Barack Obama could run.

Thank You President Lyndon B Johnson

This is what made everything tonight possible, thank you.

Let the Great Experiment Begin

As I sit in front of my television watching the numbers scroll across the bottom of my screen, George Stephanopoulos comments on the board behind, Obama wins parts of the upper midwest. While I am overjoyed by the current state of the polls, I can't help but remember back to the other day while I was waiting for elevator on the second floor.

As I stood in front of the elevator, waiting to go up to the sixth floor, one elevator door opened. As I peered in with Kevin, we were greeted by a full elevator of students. Kevin and I are weren't prepared for what was said to us. One student blurted out, "The McCain elevator is over there." The elevator exploded into laughter, we both stood there stunned. As the door closed, I stuck my foot in so the doors would open again to react to what they said. Unfortunately I had to explain express my political views to get an apology and a resounding cheer after I informed them of my choice. I hadn't felt that insulted in a long time and sure says a lot about the voting public. Yes it was an act of racism, even if they were joking, it makes me worry about the voting youth.

Nonetheless, as of right now, things look good, but I'm not taking anything for granted.

Facebook, Numbers, Status.

I must say, right now I am really impressed by the ticker atop my facebook homepage. I'm glad the youth are voting.

Bliss

This is the definition of bliss.

Flowers for Michal

Brilliance and sadism go hand in hand right? The Pillowman is a harrowing achievement that leaves readers (or viewers) stunned with its sheer backwards story telling. Martin McDonagh makes quick work of the reader interweaving reality with fiction, but leaves you wondering, s it really fiction, are the stories real or are they true to Katurian's life? I found myself reading over the play a few times, starting and stopping, and starting again from the beginning, just to grasp the characterization.

I found Michal's character to be very endearing. His sheer sense of innocence in the face of despair; the ability to feel alright as long as his brother approves of what he does. He looks up to Katurian and his only way of expressing it is through acting out his brother's short stories. While Michal does retain a sense of innocence, he also carries a very mild sense of reason. While maybe not apparent to himself, some of his interjections become words of wisdom and put things in perspective for Katurian. Allow me to take you back to 7th grade. I remember reading Flowers for Algernon and feeling this deep conflict between emotion and intellect. While Charlie does become and intellectual, he was happier at his more simpler state of mind. Charlie, in his state of adult retardation, was more coherent and sensible; his innocence gave others insight to situations that weren't so easily accessible.

Also, Jeff Goldblum as Tupolski, brilliant.

Midterm?

Fuck it dude, lets go bowling.

It's All in the Family

I for one didn't have any trouble reading Black Watch. Maybe it's because of my Celtic upbringing (oddly enough I was religiously raised Jewish, but that's besides the point), or my background with theatre. I have spent a good portion of my life at family reunions that consist of either angry Irish men or angry Scottish men, and yes, they all sound like these men in Black Watch. Of course there is the excessive usage of profanity and the word "cunt."

This play very much mirrors that of Jarhead just for the sheer fact that the majority of the play they spend most of the time just chatting and doing absolutely nothing. What I did find absolutely hilarious was the comment on the weight of Americans with the "extra, extra, extra, extra, extra (?) large shirt." Although I did find the ending rather uneventful and unfulfilling, it would be just like ending Jarhead with "Semper Fi."

"Blowin Up" the McCain campaign.

Man, Sarah Palin keeps digging a deeper hole for the GOP. She honestly has to be dense, of course she could have a disguised USB drive in the back of her head (Why else would she have that hair doo?) where they deliver all their information. It is getting very lame that the Republicans have to resort to fear mongering. Fun fact, most ex-members of the Weather Underground are now either teachers or lawyers or community activists. In other news, OJ finally got owned by the system.

Obamatopia

Relax

"Relax. I got this."

As I returned home from seeing "Towelhead" I realized that I had missed the debate. I decided to download it watch it. Biden was the winner by a long shot, but I was a little let down by Sarah Palin. I expected her to not be as on point as she was, I was waiting for this debate to be the final nail in the GOP coffin. Although I feel that including candidates familial lives os out of place in politics, there was one thing that Palin said that really irked me, and yes, this is a direct quote: "God bless her, her reward is in heaven, right?" You have got to be kidding me. Holy passive-aggressiveness, Batman! Do you hear that? That's the sound of every teacher in America voting for Obama. (I will update with a video once one is "Youtube'd").

Fox News: Skewing the News, Even Locally

After reading Shooting War the commentary on the ongoing Middle East conflict is excellent, but the commentary on news reporting is was even more apparent. The first thing I noticed was the changing of major news stations, most likely due to the change of administration (McCain and all) of CNN to the dubiously titled Eternal Vigilance: Global Television. Although Anderson Cooper makes a appearance, I was more disturbed by the cameo of Bill "We'll Do it Live" O' Reilly. I have this deep hatred for Fox News, and how what they do isn't actually report the news, they're more of news commentary, from the extremely far right. Don't get me wrong I'm not pro-CNN either, they are indeed a very right wing source for the news. When it comes to the news, I tend to get my news from the BBC, they're pretty unbiased view of the United States. Aw hell who am I kidding they tend to laugh at us American twits. Even a supposed letter from John Cleese to American displayed his (supposed) discontent with America. If believe the video below proves my point.

Chat with Old Man Dan

I have been a connoisseur of the graphic novel/comic book scene (for lack of a better term) for about as long as I can remember. It started very early with my dad's Fantastic Four comics from way back in the day and I mean waaaaaaaaaay back in the day. I eventually moved onto my own comics, starting with Spider-man (way before the movie craze started, so I'm an OG). Then came the discovery of my two favorite comic book characters, the incorrigible super spy, Nick Fury and the mercenary with a mouth, Deadpool (who breaks the 4th wall and actually acknowledges that he is indeed in a comic). These comics became a big part of my life. The medium of the comic was one of the most underused outlets for storytelling and was considered infinitely nerdy. I was very proud to wear the nerdom on my sleeve, and quickly discovered the graphic novel. There were the basics, Sin City, Bone, Maus, V for Vendetta. I had read 300 and was rather apathetic towards it and was rather turned off by the testosterone filled violence and lack of story. I was the nerd who read comics and was picked on. I didn't care, then I came across the holy grail of graphic novels, Alan Moore's Watchmen. This defined the graphic novel, some hold it in great reverence, others say it's overrated. I will always hold it as one of the greatest things I have ever read. I has an excellent sense of story progression, with a dash of noir. I had been blown away.

Fast forward to the last two years where comic book movies and graphic novel adaptations have become the sudden craze. What was originally nerdy has become all the rage, people who have never read a comic book are picking up the Watchmen all of because of the buzz around the movie adaptation.

I had just finished Shooting War at about 2 am. I must say this ranks as probably the second best graphic novel that I have read. I was absolutely floored by the direction of the story. I do think the first thing that turned me on to it was the massive pop culture references, starting with the Starbucks and American Apparel store, the mentioning of Bedford Avenue and Williamsburg in reference to bloggers. Absolutely brilliant. As I read through it, many of the events seemed very far fetched, but then I started to think about the current political, social, and economical climate. Is it really that far off of a reality that John McCain could be our President, that a nuke goes off in the Middle East, that Dan Rather is indeed a bad ass?! I think we already know the answer to last question. The frequency is courage. Thug life Dan, thug life.

P.S. I am still floored and in complete shock at how amazing this graphic novel is.

P.P.S. More on the above mentioned "scenarios" in next blog

Fact Checking

I am currently watching the first televised Presidential debate and quite frankly this over hyped event has went from sense of order to complete chaos. I know that's how most of these debates turn out, but jesus christ, it only took 20 minutes for it turn from organization to mud slinging to fact checking. I'd really like to know where these two men get their facts, and their quick, eloquent "answers" come from. So fat I've heard nothing new, its a copy paste of all their speeches. I mean c'mon, McCain "The Maverick" has used the same bullshit he has used in all his public addresses; he started in with the "support the troops" bullshit, how the war has been successful. Successful?! SUCCESSFUL?! Lets be serious, Bush declared victory and after this deceleration of victory, the violence has escalated. At least Obama used some new flashy words to say the same things. Lets stop with the pleasantries and take on the real issues, stop attacking the past, no more of this cookie cutter bullshit. And now McCain just claimed Ronald Reagan as one of his heroes. That's it I'm done, no one name drops Ronald "Lets spend money we don't have" Reagan and is serious. You know someone is lost in the their own party, even when they claim to be a team "mavericks." McCain keeps bringing up the need to relieve the country of pork barrel spending, even though the lovely Sarah "good ol community Alaskan, gun lovin'" Palin fully endorsed pork barrel spending.

This debate has only furthered my distaste for both of these candidates. It just seems like Obama is the lesser of the two evils. Hey at least Obama is in shape, right?

I really can't wait until October 2nd for Joe Biden to completely bewilder Sarah "one answer" Palin.

Lets take a look at the people who will vote for McCain. The Midwest middle class who will not benefit from any of McCain's economic plan, the ones who won't see any of his proposed tax cuts.

Ear Plugs Recommended

Last Tuesday night was an experience and a half for me. For a couple of years now, I've been shoving a band in people's facing, claiming that one of their albums is one of the greatest of all time. This band is none other than Irish shoe-gaze powerhouse My Bloody Valentine. They had broken up in the 90's due to a slowly decaying relationship between the two primary songwriters/vocalists/guitarists, Kevin Shields and Belinda Butcher. The name of the album I tend to shove down my ever so accepting friends is Loveless. The album is filled with the most unbelievable arrangements of sound, melody, and most importantly, distortion. The level of distortion on the guitars in at its peak, I had never hear anything like it.

Announced earlier this year, My Bloody Valentine announced their reunion and plans of a tour. The band has not toured in over 10 years due to Kevin Shields' unstable sanity and tendency to disappear and fall into obscurity. I had gotten my chance to see the effervescent band that had changed the way I listened to music. The band has gotten such critical acclaim that dissertations and essays have been written about Loveless. The album itself is an excellent representation of the relationship between Kevin Shields and Belinda Butcher, their fleeting love for one another as the album was recorded.

Seeing the band live is a whole other experience. I had been reading up on their legendary shows that consist of walls of amplifiers, drowning distortion and ear plugs. That's right, ear plugs. There shows have been known for being the loudest in the world, there were EMTs present at
the show, as well as earplugs being handed out at the door for the protection of every one's ears.

Through most of the show I had kept my earplugs in. Being in the front for this show seems like a poor decision, but having the monitors pointed at you with the about 7 guitar stacks was amazing. It creates this wall of sound and distortion that is unlike anything I have ever experienced. There is one song in particular that is absolutely amazing. There is a song called "The Holocaust" that consists of a 20 minute wall of distortion. The sound is deafening, and the actual distortion had all of Roseland shaking. I was able to equate this to war, the sensation of war. I felt this overwhelming sense of beauty and chaos. You're trying to access this lost sense of majesty between the reality of what you're experiencing and the sensationalism of what you expect it to be. The violent images in Shooting War have this sense of beauty and chaotic beauty.

Edit: This was an older post that I hadn't published.

Ears, Open. Eye Balls, Click.

Its December of 2007 at about 2:30 am. I have my television watching public access on channel 25. I really never really regarded public access television as, well, good; but tonight happened to be a particularly interesting night. They had just showed a documentary on Hip Hop in the later 1980s in Harlem and that had me hooked. After that had ended, there was an ad for the next documentary being shown. I concluded that it was documentary day on public access and thought "Fuck it, I got nothing else to do." Ears, Open. Eye Balls, Click is a documentary that follows the Platoon 1141, Company C, 1st Recruit Training Battalion from their initial deployment to boot camp and eventual graduation. They display of emotion is comparative to many of the elements in Jarhead. The initial treatment of the recruits is absolutely true to what is described in the book. I believe it is an excellent contrast to Vietnam era "Drill Sergeant," considering two different wars have been thought. The treatment of the recruits is a little less harsh as displayed in the Vietnam War era.
The first thing I noticed was direct correlation to the Ezra Pound quote. The men or teenagers that are on they're way to becoming Marines are in all honesty a bunch of half-wits. They come in admitting that they were fuck ups back in their former lives. The conditions of the barracks are upheld and if not they are not up to standards, they have to scrub down the barracks with just toothbrushes, they have to use the restroom in pairs and carry a 200 lb. weight. The training and daily exercises that are shown in the film are much more intense than whats described in Jarhead. Swofford didn't spend his time really getting into the grit of the exercises and training. The training is extremely intense and involve multiple double digit hikes mile hikes with all their equipment. The men who don't make it all the way through are discharged, same as the men who are unable to finish the obstacle course. Much of the conditioning and training is part of the reason the men act they way they do, some disrespectful to one another, while appreciating their position in the military. The mindset of the men in the documentary is ever changing with each task and exercise. They eventually reach a point where they have fully submitted to the will of their sergeants.

Now excuse me while I go having my hearing destroyed by My Bloody Valentine. Do not be alarmed if I am unable to hear a word anyone says in class.

Stop Me if You've Heard This One Before

I feel like I have my mind on repeat. I've seen this war before, its happening right now. I've seen countless movies about the first Gulf War, from dramatic representations to documentaries. It is very rare that you hear about heroism in modern wars; I am more used to hearing about the faults and mistakes. I remember vividly in 1999, my parents had heard a favorite of movie of theirs was going to be showed on what is the now defunct WB 11. I knew nothing of the film, only that Matt Damon and Denzel Washington were the two major stars. I was unimpressed by the amount of talking in the film and dialogue, but that was probably because I was 11 years old. I saw the movie again 2 years ago, it turns out it was the well crafted Courage Under Fire. How naive I was. This was a complete showcase of the mistakes that took place in a modern war. Denzel Washington plays a now former leader of a Tank platoon in the first Gulf War. He mistakenly hits another American tank, killing the crew and more importantly a friend of his. After the Gulf War had ended, the friendly fire was covered up or not reported. His portion of the movie involves him confronting his friend's parents to tell them the truth. The other portion involves flash-backs with Meg Ryan and her squad on a helicopter mission in Iraq. They're shot down and have to defend themselves against the Iraqi Army. Meg Ryan is eventually shot, but whats in question is was she shot by the Iraqis or by intentional friendly fire. This culminates into issues of sexism on the part of marine who shoots her (accidentally or not) and if a woman deserves he medal of honor, the most prestigious medal.

This is a direct comparison to Pat Tillman being killed by friendly fire. The US tried to cover up that he had been killed by friendly fire. Friendly fire has become a real problem in Iraq and Afghanistan, because of the general soldier mentality, which is clearly on display in Jarhead; the overly macho, trigger happy, meatheads.

Daydreams and Heroes

Sunday was probably one of the greatest days of my life. Flashback to age 15, I had just discovered hardcore, not the crap that most kids listen to today, the poor excuse for music that is labeled as "screamo", the needles pouring out of emotion through the most obvious of mediums. Minor Threat, Black Flag, Husker Du, The Meat Puppets, the names are endless. It intrigued me; the unrest, the straight forward brash expression, kids punching each other for no reason and smiling as they did it. Ian Mackaye is the symbol, the god father of the hardcore movement. His honesty, his unabashed need to inform and express his opinion, not giving a shit what you think. He spoke at St. Francis College was more than eloquent. He was everything I expected him to be, but I was able to experience within spitting distance of him, instead of on a DVD or the pages of a book.

Lets flash back to age 16. My aunt bought me a book containing events that occurred the year I was born. Among those events were albums released that same year. There was Daydream Nation by a New York band called Sonic Youth. I had no idea who they were, but I seemed to be drawn in by the cover; a lone candle below the title. I had to get it, the candle just draws you in. I had no idea what I was getting into. Sonic Youth that year became my favorite band, trumping The Clash.

Pre-panel, Kevin and I freaked out in our office, blasting random Sonic Youth songs along with Minor Threat songs, shaking, unable to feel our faces, cold sweat.

Sonic Youth are more relevant than ever. Thurston Moore is still a prolific song writer and guitarist and as I discovered probably one of the coolest people in the world. He is the human embodiment of cool. The fear of interviewing these musical/culture changing giants were apparent when Ian Mackaye approached me after the panel on Sunday and asked if I had any questions. I was afraid I'd have the immediate South Park response.

Their original topic at the panel was the link between independent music and independent publishing, but frankly it turned into Ian speaking seriously for most of it and Thurston pretty much making light of everything he said.

So now I'm stuck with the task of setting up a formal interview with one of my heroes, per his request.

This is relevant to our discussion on what is literature, does it still exist. The question of different formats of music was asked; digital music, mp3s, as compared to analog, i.e. vinyl and cassettes. As an avid music collector, especially vinyl collector, although I have unfortunately become a slave to the take over of the digital format as a portable medium of music distribution, I still love the smell and fell of feel of a record. Thurston Moore said that he loved vinyl for the sheer fact that it is a different experience every time he places the record on the turntable. The needle creates a new groove in the record creating a new experience. I made this association to different mediums for literature. For the last ten years or so, publications known as e-books began to populate the internet and portable devices. The argument that the aesthetic appeal of a book adds to the idea of it being literature. Of course one can argue that music in an digital format is no more music than music on a record.

So, Neil LaBute, yeah that guy, decent writer. But upon further research I discovered something a bit shocking. The man directed The Wicker Man. No, not the original cult film from 1973, but the one with Nicolas Cage, the amazingly horrific remake from 2006. The film pretty much consists of Nicolas Cage punching women on an island inhabited exclusively by women. Maybe this delves into the misogynistic theme that LaBute uses through The Mercy Seat, in all honesty there is absolutely no depth to the film at all. Interesting tidbit, the residents of the island have an odd obsession with bees (take what you want from that). It makes for quite the film. While the above premise makes the film out to be almost comical, it in reality is a very serious film; although the video below begs to differ.

"He was okay..."

It took me about three reads through of the play to fully grasp the gist of it. I had originally read it through and had thought it to be a rather light and airy display of the human condition and faltering relationship built upon lies and deceit. Upon my second read through, I had noticed one thing at the beginning of the actual publication; there was a quote from the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song "The Mercy Seat." The song itself is a very dark and ominous song, it involves many of the elements of the play with the same name, more specifically the notion of self deprecation, forgiveness and mercy of sorts. The song itself is narrated by Nick Cave as a man being sentenced to death by electric chair. The mercy seat refers to a seat on the ark of the covenant where ones is judged. In the end the man claims that he has accepted his fate and is ready to die. Nick Cave is a prolific song writer, he is able to show a sense of innocence with the character he describes who eventually succumbs to the fact that he was wrong. I think LaBute really draws from the notion, in the sense that Ben is in denial that he has done something wrong, even though Abbey continually tells him that this is wrong, do what you think is right. Ben becomes conflicted and begins to think he is wrong in leaving his wife, and eventually succumbs to the his wrong doings and is ready to accept the consequences. This can be tied into the play. Ben is constantly sitting throughout the majority of the play and is constantly judged by both himself and Abby. It begins to drag for me and the dialogue becomes very predictable. I began to feel almost nothing for either characters for the sheer fact that they both seemed like horrible individuals. I was alright with Ben's character at the beginning of the play. He seemed like the intelligent, almost awkward slacker who is understandably distressed, but as events unfold, the reader discovers that he is indeed the father of two daughters. Leaving your wife under the suspicion of a tragedy is while indeed a horrible thing to do, the level of deplorability increases ten fold. The emotion seems rather lost in the attempts to show actually love between the two, it isn't believable. While Abby claims that she has something to lose, like a job or prestige, in reality the only person who has something to lose is Ben. He almost accepts his fate, but in reality leaving his wife would probably be one of the worst things he could do; hell, even financially.

Obvious

Sarah Palin's daughter is a slut. John Edwards is a slut. Elliot Spitzer is a slut. John McCain is an old man. Barack Obama is black. The Iraq war already happen, Dubbya is plagiarizing his father's work.

Also this:

9/11: The Cash Cow

9/11 was a tragedy in the eyes of the majority of the world. I am all too aware of it, but unfortunately I have become all too de-sensitized. It was horrific on a grand scale; the initial shock of the events still haunt many today. I am no longer haunted by the image of planes slamming into buildings nor majestic structures crumbling into plooms of smoke and debris, more so the image of vendors at Ground Zero. The men standing with their postcards, flags, and t-shirts that might as well say "My Parents Went to Ground Zero and All I Got Was This Lousy T-shirt." The world, especially the United States, are notorious for cashing in on disaster. There should at least be a grace period to wait to cash in. I mean 1970 saw the first real WWII film "Tora! Tora! Tora!" Flash foward 5 years after 9/11; we have two films, not documentaries, feature films, one starring none other than Nicolas Cage (Seriously?!). I'm all for expression through different media outlets, but when you have Nicolas Cage playing a NY hero, faking a thick, almost comical "New York accent" you can't help but sneer and feel that it is all in poor taste. Our former Mayor, the always lovely and "eloquent" Rudy Guiliani, cashed in on 9/11 big time, making it the basis of his whole Presidential campaign.

The post 9/11 world has left me with a lot questions about art, the state of art, and the state of the creative mind. Does art still exist in a post 9/11 world and if it does, what does one make of it. Can one draw the line between pure expression and backwards propaganda, especially in a world where right after the events of 9/11 everyone ran out and bought American flags and began sporting them on their cars. I'm a cynic and feel that this blind display of patriotism is deplorable. I would be embarrassed to display the flag. I'd be more concerned with what was wrong with our country that would drive people to destroy skyscrapers and kill other human beings.

Ted Leo wrote a song called "The High Party" in which he addresses the state of art in the a post 9/11 world, this is a small poignant selection from the lyrics that sums up the state of art:

"if you're gonna call it art,
then there's a cup in front of you and right away.
if you're gonna play your part, you must drink it down.
but mind eyes have seen the glory
of the fields of flowers and factory floors,
and my mind's content to lie at rest for hours
behind my loved ones' doors and if there's a war,
another shitty war to fight for Babylon,
then it's the perfect storm in a tea cup,
but you must drink it down.
and what do you make of the nights
when you thought you'd make much more
than being too drunk to turn the lights out
and too tired to drink more?
and what does it take to not hear the cynics at your door saying
'it's time the turn the lights out, and you'll want to keep it down!'
so I'm lifting up that poison cup to drink a draught of propaganda,
or I'm giving up that other stuff in hopes that it will make me madder.
but either way, if you're gonna call it art"