I recently decided to have some of my Marvel comic books out on my shelf where I can see them. I found The New Mutants title to be the only one that still resonated with me in some way. The focus on young adults dealing with their special abilities and oddities as a metaphor for puberty and rites of passage fulfills the fantastic reality. Without clear-cut villains The New Mutants dealt with psychological problems, usually battling inner demons.
The Bill Sienkiewicz drawings ,are unlike any other comic at the time, filled with emotion and transcending panel conventions. The drawing after Seinkiewicz leaves the team gets almost as bad as the torrent of recent Marvel Hollywood debacles.
So much to be said of a nation by what its cinema portrays during wartime. Naturally days like these find us all sincerely contemplating the attributes of the true hero and the qualities of rightful modern leaders.
For one example of a true American hero check out William Klein’s Mr. Freedom. Made in France in 1968 on a budget that seems to have taken pay from the sound guy and given it to the art direction, resulting in a truly unique visual experience vividly emerging from the era to later inspire music videos by New Order and Beck. Unlike the typical superhero, Mr. Freedom is opinionated and honest without a secret identity crisis. It appears Mr. Freedom has no specific superpower and his costume is a baggy ad-hoc assortment of sports wear. Nonetheless he follows through with the mission keeping only one thing on his mind: FREED-DOM!
With the release of "Jaws" in the summer of '75 bathers at the beach were terrified by John Williams' three note motif score representing the mood and state of mind of a man-eating shark. During the same summer, director Robert Altman used sound differently in Nashville. Altman cast mostly non-musical actors to write and perform their own songs using 24 audio tracks for the 24 separate characters allowing for multiple and overlapping dialogue.
This “thick” aural density causes the listener to make regular choices among competing sounds. One of the major competitors is presidential candidate Hal Phillip Walker’s campaign van. His pre-recorded voice blares from loudspeakers cruising the city attempting to sell his platform to the people.
"Fellow taxpayers and stockholders in America. On the first Tuesday in November, we have to make some vital decisions about our management. Let me go directly to the point. I'm for doing some replacing. I've discussed the Replacement Party with people all over this country and I'm often confronted with the statement - 'I don't want to get mixed up in politics,' or 'I'm tired of politics,' or 'I'm not interested.' Almost as often, someone said, 'I can't do anything about it anyway.' Let me point out two things. Number One: All of us are deeply involved with politics whether we know it or not and whether we like it or not. And Number Two: We can do something about it.”
Interweaving an entire cross-section of characters into a microcosm of American culture in the country-music capital, Nashville portrays the connected interests of the music industry and campaign politics. Similar to Wild In the Streets and Medium Cool, Nashville takes place on the campaign trail to reveal the vice versa of show business politics. The weakness of political parties combined with fame, glamour, and excitement naturally has made the political arena a perfect match for our modern gladiators.
However, at times the spotlight cast by the attention drawn from celebrities can illuminate an otherwise obscure issue. A Backstreet Boy testified before a senate environment and public works subcommittee on mountaintop removal mining for his hometown; no harm done. On the other hand, who cares how Tom Hanks votes? No one wants to wear sneakers by Bono, and does it really matter what Morrisey says about immigration?
Ok, maybe the argument is not whether celebrities should be involved in politics or not, or if news media is a war enabler. What we have here is a discussion on who our “leaders” are, where did they come from? Have we fully participated in their obtainment of power? Is choosing deciding?
But, perhaps there is a way….Across the country and throughout the world the demand for effective leadership is soaring. As a result, academic programs in leadership studies are being integrated into the national curricula. I wonder what would happen if the ’08 presidential candidates were required to attend such a course. I’d like to see a class with the I Ching as the textbook and Charlie Bartlett as the professor. SHIH/THE ARMY
In times of war it is desirable to be led by a cautious and humane general. If he has achieved his position through force, the general will not last long and he will lose support of his army when he needs them most. If on the other hand he has become a leader through superior conduct and even-handed treatment of his fellow soldiers, then his power is well consolidated and it endures.
SUI/FOLLOWING
Leading others is a delicate art. Following creates success. Proceed gently, with balance, staying unattached to results. Remain responsive to the views of those you would influence.
TS’UI/GATHERING TOGETHER
It is our collective strength that makes positive change possible in the world. However, the tremendous power of human collectives must be directed by a qualified leader. Improve yourself into the kind of person you yourself would follow wholeheartedly and without hesitation.
TING/THE CAULDRON
You serve as an example to others by sacrificing your ego and accepting the power of the creative. Employ music, prayer, meditation, a common project, or some other form of sacred concentration or ceremony to release the pent-up energy in yourself and others.
---Excerpts from I Ching/A Guide to Life’s Turning Points by Brian Browne Walker
Depicting America in a time of cultural turmoil amidst assassinations and the Vietnam War, Medium Cool (1969) directed by cinematographer Haskell Wexler, starring Robert Forster as a television news cameraman, combines fact and fiction allowing the viewer to fill in the blanks left open by a lax plot. Juggling documentary with scripted material, Wexler uses footage from military training camps in Illinois preparing for potential student riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The National Guard were split into two sides and groups from each unit would dress up as hippies and protesters while the rest of the soldiers would be instructed in how to deal with these “deviants." For better or for worse Medium Cool prioritizes the political atmosphere of the time rather than common cinematic development.
The title comes from a Marshall McLuhan theory of how "cooler" the medium is, "the more someone has to uncover and engage in the media" in order to decipher the meaning. Different media evoke different degrees of participation. A movie according to McLuhan is "hot", and a "cool" medium is a comic strip requiring more conscious participation by the reader to extract value.
Medium Cool questions the role and responsibilities of television and its newscasts. In one of the opening scenes, a group of cameramen and journalists are discussing the ethical responsibilities within their profession.
How does this argument remain poignant 40 years later, during the presidential election of ‘08?
In one form or another, mass media has been influential in presidential elections since 1796. Through most of the first two centuries the press operated in the context of an elections system based on strong political party organizations. When Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning as an independent in 1912, established a personal press relations office, he was accused by a muckraking magazine of encouraging the ominous trend of “electing presidents by publicity.”
The influence of party leaders over nominations has declined, while the influence of the mainstream mass media has grown. Television coverage has become increasingly important in rallying support, establishing likeability, and even in the scheduling of primaries and party caucuses creating fierce competition to be first in line for the best “communication care” possible. With returning correspondents and campaigns comes a financial boost to a state’s economy. Along with the profitable advantages of attracting network news coverage to once-obscure early caucuses. Candidates quickly discovered that raising money to campaign through the media, paid or unpaid, is easier than trying to organize party workers at national, state, or local levels.
The overall impact of these changes has been to disorganize and deconstruct the electoral process. “Intensified Speech!, A Gender Give Out!, Its A Race Race!, Escape Route Pipe Dreams!”….Here lays the language to be sold, replacing rational arguments for external emotions. We have let alternative candidates go unheard, cropped out of pictures, and marginalized into laughing stocks. The major media outlets ordain their front-runners and never look back. Leaving viable candidates on the ballot who receive close to zero media coverage struggling for face time. Twenty-four hour news coverage of pressing issues such as; the type of font used on posters, what kind of pants suit is he/she wearing, was it possibly showing too little or too much cleavage, has all eerily transformed politicians into additional distorted celebrities.
Director: Barry Shear//Based on the short story "The Day It All Happened, Baby" by Robert Thom.
Christopher Jones stars as singer/revolutionist Max Frost leader of The Troopers, his backbeat and roommates at a sprawling Los Angeles mansion commune. The band includes Kevin Coughlin as his 15-year-old genius attorney on lead guitar, Diane Varsi as ex-child actor now nudist keyboardist, Larry Bishop as a hook-handed bass player and Richard Pryor as anthropologist and drummer Stanley X. When The Troopers are asked to sing at a televised political rally by Senate candidate Johnny Fergus (Hal Holbrook), who's running on a platform to lower the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen they’re all in favor—but Max stuns everyone by calling instead for the voting age to become fourteen, then finishes the show with an improvised song, "Fourteen Or Fight!", and a call to take to the streets in protest. The youth of America goes Max Frost crazy and soon enough he is commander-in-chief of the USA, making marijuana use mandatory and placing anyone over thirty in concentration camps to undergo LSD therapy.
The storyline gives proof by contradiction as a reductio ad absurdum projection of certain issues from the time period taken to extremes. A type of logical argument where one assumes a claim, derives an absurd or ridiculous outcome, and then concludes the original assumption must have been wrong as it led to an absurd result. Max Frost’s term shows us with a youth in office we could face dire consequences. He would act just as his elders and the cycle of oppression would continue. What else from a millionaire pop-rock group with a lawyer for a lead guitarist and a front man that runs on the republican ballot? This is not funky! This is harsh reality!
When watching this film you get the feeling there was a select few within the crew who believed they were getting away with some sneaky subversive scenes amongst vain Hollywood attempts to cash in on the hippie-activist market. The film does capture some lucid moments depicting Max and his band acting as his cabinet, with politicians cutting deals and shifting sides like our present day “super delegates”. Despite the creative crew and a stunning schizophrenic performance by Shelly Winters as Momma Frost, most doubt the film had any role in the lowering of the voting age. The Twenty-sixth Amendment made 18-year-olds eligible to vote in all federal, state, and local elections. Until 1971, the minimum age had been 21 in most states.
The election of both the President and Vice President of the United States is indirect. While many people believe they are voting for a particular candidate on Election Day in November, they are, in fact, casting their vote for that candidate's electors. Proponents of the Electoral College argue that organizing votes by regions forces a candidate to seek popular support over a majority of the country.
Although the aggregate national popular vote is calculated by official and media organizations, it has no bearing in regards to determining the winner of the election.
"The public deserves to know who they are, how they plan to use their power, and what forces are working to influence them."---Superdelegate Transparency Project
"The Shape of Things to Come", the movie's theme song was a top 30 pop hit for the studio group and is featured in commercials for Target Department Stores.
Dogs in Space Director: Richard Lowenstein Austrailia,1987
Set in the days when chunks of SKYLAB were expected to fall to Earth somewhere over Austrailia this film looks at the lives of post-skunk rockers pursuing their futile search for true anarchy. Michael Hutchence(R.I.P) stars as the central character, Sam; based on Sam Sejavka from the late 70’s band The Ears and later Beargarden.
Interesting entropy metaphor for a small Melbourne underground music scene or did the discovery of government secrets lead to a massive impact on the future, or was it rubbish burnt in an oven for a prank?
--NOW--On the snowy steppes near Orenburg, southeast of the Ural Mountains in Siberia, teams of military search and rescue experts have spent the last month scanning the ground with metal detectors and probing the snow drifts for Russia's most advanced spy satellite, which hasn't been seen since it came down to Earth on Jan. 9th 2008. While it looks like the Russians are calling it quits the American Government reported last month of a bus-size unresponsive and out of control spy satellite rapidly descending to Earth. The Pentagon plans to shut it down next week using a tactical standard missile-3. This reasoning is due to the thousand pounds of toxic hydrazine fuel its carrying.
China is concerned, Russia cries cover-up, and America assures us there is no security issue “its really just a big thing falling to the ground…”
Only one person has ever been recorded hit by manmade space debris: in 1997 an Oklahoma woman was hit in the shoulder by a 10 x 13 cm. piece of blackened, woven metallic material that was later confirmed to be part of the fuel tank of a Delta II rocket which had launched from a U.S. Air Force satellite in 1996. She was not injured. Source:TodayinScience
What seemed at first to be like a simple game of Duck Hunt has become an extensive military operation, involving modified rockets control systems, hundreds of formers and experts, as well as the shiny Aegis sea-defense cruiser. The damage comes to roughly sixty-five million dollars.
The missile strike could produce 100,000 pieces of Space Junk adding to the already copious amount of objects in Earth's orbit created by humans, that no longer serve any useful purpose. Spent rocket stages, defunct satellites, explosion fragments, paint flakes, dust, and slag from solid rocket motors, coolant released by nuclear powered satellites, deliberate insertion of small needles, and other small particles.
Space junk has become a growing concern in recent years, since collisions at orbital velocities can be highly damaging to functioning satellites and can also produce a feedback runaway scenario, also referred to as the Kessler Syndrome. Objects in orbit are frequently struck by the escalating amount of loose debris, creating even more clutter and a greater risk of further impacts eventually rendering space exploration, and even the use of satellites impossible for many generations.
Peter Watkins has been censored, banned, erased from encyclopedias and cast into cinematic exile. For many years Watkins' films were impossible to obtain. Recently, a few titles have been daringly released, giving this peaceful warrior a new chance to battle.
The cool and coherent 1970 film The Gladiators depicts all the military leaders of the world assembled in order to cheerfully direct their troops to kill each other for "The International Peace Games" a Saturday night television program operated by the ICARUS war machine. Any of the entertainment implied by this short description of the film dissolves when the peace game becomes an absurd spectacle of wartime politics, refusing to pander cheap action, or violence, and has no main character.
A steady undertow of suspense, builds towards where one would expect a war movie to go-the killing-but when the moments arise, a piercing beep sabotages the soundtrack or freeze frames are used to prevent a typical war movie climax.
The imaginative yet simplistic structure allows viewers to see through the cracks in the rigid rules enforced upon most television and cinema. Liberating us from conventional forms and processes of media, advising not to simply surrender to the vastness of the problems or go blind to the simplicity of some solutions.
A political-fantasy examining the oppression of interchangeable power systems sharing the same self-perpetuating goal, while simultaneously confronting the tendency of anti-war films to glorify what they set out to denounce. The Gladiators forces the viewer to contemplate the way the system swallows us all. Time and time again we see the legend of David replacing the oppression of Goliath. We can join 'em, bite 'em, smoke 'em if we got 'em, but when will we ever beat them? And if we do, what then?
Peter Watkins describes the media crisis and offers suggestions with this intensive public media statement here: Peter Watkins' Statement...
"Society at large still refuses to acknowledge the role of form and process in the delivery and reception of the mass audio/visual media output. …The language forms structuring the message contained in any film or TV program, and the entire process of delivery to the public are completely overlooked, and are certainly not debated." -P.Watkins
where I can see them. I found The New Mutants title to be the only one that still resonated with me in some way. The focus on young adults dealing with their special abilities and oddities as a metaphor for puberty and rites of passage fulfills the fantastic reality. Without clear-cut villains The New Mutants dealt with psychological problems, usually battling inner demons.
NASHVILLE 
combined with fame, glamour, and excitement naturally has made the political arena a perfect match for our modern gladiators. 
Depicting America in a time of cultural turmoil amidst assassinations and the Vietnam War, Medium Cool (1969) directed by cinematographer Haskell Wexler, starring Robert Forster as a television news cameraman, combines fact and fiction allowing the viewer to fill in the blanks left open by a lax plot. Juggling documentary with scripted material, Wexler uses footage from military training camps in Illinois preparing for potential student riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The National Guard were split into two sides and groups from each unit would dress up as hippies and protesters while the rest of the soldiers would be instructed in how to deal with these “deviants." For better or for worse Medium Cool prioritizes the political atmosphere of the time rather than common cinematic development. 
is, "the more someone has to uncover and engage in the media" in order to decipher the meaning. Different media evoke different degrees of participation. A movie according to McLuhan is "hot", and a "cool" medium is a comic strip requiring more conscious participation by the reader to extract value. 
"Wild in the Streets" 1968 
The election of both the President and Vice President of the United States is indirect. While many people believe they are voting for a particular candidate on Election Day in November, they are, in fact, casting their vote for that candidate's electors. Proponents of the Electoral College argue that organizing votes by regions forces a candidate to seek popular support over a majority of the country. 
