Monday, 31 January 2011
January 31st, twentyeleven.
Good weekend. My family came to visit me which was exciting and refreshing. We walked a lot, saw everything, talked our jaws sore and had a great weekend. It was really good to see them after that grey, dull Christmas in Glasgow. Subsequently saw Black Swan too, which was very good although I do feel as Aronofsky is faltering between compromising to Hollywood and being his weird, intense self. The movie felt like it was missing a few integral scenes, a few moments of anticipation, some shifts in mood. the more you think about it the more it crumbles. But overall, it was a good movie, intense and simple.
Monday, 17 January 2011
Funny haha Hitler.
Adolph Hitler is omnipresent in modern culture, the name is universal. He is on the history channel every day, his name is commonly used as an insult, films, books, plays are constantly revisiting this era. The purpose of all of this is to constantly remind people of the brutality and malevolence of his ideology and his totalitarian campaign. Despite the chilling facts of his campaign, Hitler has been a fecund source of comedy since his rise to power in the 30s. The initial parodies are obviously propaganda, to stir and to inspire the soldiers and the work force. The best example of this is probably Looney tunes:
Hitler is drawn realistically but his voice is effeminate and I think he is talking about pumpkins. There are reels and reels of looney tunes bashing on Hitler. Another famous rendition is of course Charlie Chaplin as "The Great Dictator" but where Looney tunes is just bashing and bashing Chaplin, on the other hand, made a film where the dictator realizes he has become a monster and redeems himself with a heart-warming speech about change and universal love.
Chaplin's Hitler delivers a beautiful, optimistic speech fit for a great orator. It renders Hitler innocuous but whereas daffy duck bashes him on the head, chaplain attacks war itself. Chaplin's film infers that the world will prosper in peace once it is founded upon reason and tolerance. However, it kind of implies that all Hitler needed was a good talking to and he would have been sorted.
Then as the war ended and Hitler was defeated, the soldiers came home and time passed. In the sixties, Hitler re-emerged in the comedy world in a way no one really expected. Probably my favorite caricature of Hitler is in Mel Brook's "The Producers". This Hitler is played by a strung out hippy, he sings rock n roll and he is from Louisiana in other words it has nothing really to do with Hitler.
Your average Hitler caricature will be flamboyantly effeminate, he will have anger management problems and an inferiority complex. All of this is to render him and his persona innocuous and ridiculous. These caricature are a fundamental part of all political commentary but satirizing Bush for being a dumb ass and Obama for being christ is not the same as ridiculing Hitler. The fuhrer wasn't as much a politician as he was an emblem for the disgusting evil that humanity is capable of. Of course it is hypocritical for me to be so discerning when I enjoy caricature Hitler on a weekly basis(Hipster Hitler). The question I'm trying to ask(finally) is does this constant caricaturization of Hitler desensitize us to the violence of the past and thus making it harder for us to be shocked?
Hitler is drawn realistically but his voice is effeminate and I think he is talking about pumpkins. There are reels and reels of looney tunes bashing on Hitler. Another famous rendition is of course Charlie Chaplin as "The Great Dictator" but where Looney tunes is just bashing and bashing Chaplin, on the other hand, made a film where the dictator realizes he has become a monster and redeems himself with a heart-warming speech about change and universal love.
Chaplin's Hitler delivers a beautiful, optimistic speech fit for a great orator. It renders Hitler innocuous but whereas daffy duck bashes him on the head, chaplain attacks war itself. Chaplin's film infers that the world will prosper in peace once it is founded upon reason and tolerance. However, it kind of implies that all Hitler needed was a good talking to and he would have been sorted.
Then as the war ended and Hitler was defeated, the soldiers came home and time passed. In the sixties, Hitler re-emerged in the comedy world in a way no one really expected. Probably my favorite caricature of Hitler is in Mel Brook's "The Producers". This Hitler is played by a strung out hippy, he sings rock n roll and he is from Louisiana in other words it has nothing really to do with Hitler.
Your average Hitler caricature will be flamboyantly effeminate, he will have anger management problems and an inferiority complex. All of this is to render him and his persona innocuous and ridiculous. These caricature are a fundamental part of all political commentary but satirizing Bush for being a dumb ass and Obama for being christ is not the same as ridiculing Hitler. The fuhrer wasn't as much a politician as he was an emblem for the disgusting evil that humanity is capable of. Of course it is hypocritical for me to be so discerning when I enjoy caricature Hitler on a weekly basis(Hipster Hitler). The question I'm trying to ask(finally) is does this constant caricaturization of Hitler desensitize us to the violence of the past and thus making it harder for us to be shocked?
Thursday, 2 December 2010
The period known as the "fear" is dated in historical document from 2013 until the insurgencies in 2016, but in reality it began with the election of DuClerc in France and Garza in Spain. Everything fell apart. The European Union crumbled like the ancient ruins of the civilizations it used for its foundations. The lessons we learned were forgotten. Modern civilization turned its back on morality and reason and donned its gruesome costume. I urge you not to misread this as hyperbole, I will most likely be persecuted for what I am revealing and thus it is vital that you understand this document as genuine. It would be easy to pin all the responsibility on the European union but that would be naive. The problem began in the political institutions but it was propagated by people on-line, on television, on the phone, on stage, on the front and back page. I accuse the media, the politicians and the businessmen but that path is a slippery one, I am also to blame for letting it happen and for looking the other way.
Rene DuClerc, was elected chef d'etat in France in the 20 election. He was a young man who won all the demographics over with his confidence and his apparent transparency. His opponent Thomas Dubrozny, belonged to the UMP, the conservative party that everyone felt had reached the end of its rope.I was 25 at the time and had been working as a freelance writer for one of the Parisian newsblogs so I was deeply invested in the election. Paris had changed immensely over the first half of the century. The administration was adamant in forbidding the construction of skyscrapers within the city limits but the city desperately needed some more commercial space to accommodate all the growing business. So there was a compromise: the development of skyscrapers was concentrated around the city. Now Paris is encircled by sky scraping walls of glass and metal, it is a very unnatural place to be. Parisians retreated further into the cocoon of the city and severed the tenuous link it had with the rest of the country. The days were short and the nights were replaced by an ever constant twilight.
Rene DuClerc, was elected chef d'etat in France in the 20 election. He was a young man who won all the demographics over with his confidence and his apparent transparency. His opponent Thomas Dubrozny, belonged to the UMP, the conservative party that everyone felt had reached the end of its rope.I was 25 at the time and had been working as a freelance writer for one of the Parisian newsblogs so I was deeply invested in the election. Paris had changed immensely over the first half of the century. The administration was adamant in forbidding the construction of skyscrapers within the city limits but the city desperately needed some more commercial space to accommodate all the growing business. So there was a compromise: the development of skyscrapers was concentrated around the city. Now Paris is encircled by sky scraping walls of glass and metal, it is a very unnatural place to be. Parisians retreated further into the cocoon of the city and severed the tenuous link it had with the rest of the country. The days were short and the nights were replaced by an ever constant twilight.
The transition into this xenophobia happened so smoothly it was terrifying. Fortunately, Paris was quarantined from the madness outside. The city became a center for refuge for the Spanish, the Italians, the Portuguese, the Germans and the countless others who watched their flags burn in their town squares. It had been 15 months since DuClerc won the election, when I met Tia, a Portuguese chef, working in a Rive Gauche restaurant.
Saturday, 6 November 2010
Science Fiction novel 1
As they shook hands over the perimeter, instauring peace, new distinctions were being created to fuel the people on either side to destroy that illusion of peace. I watched the ceremony with horror. All the smiling faces waiting to attack. The provincial man and the city people unite in the galvinizing hatred. They are still letting people in but only because they have to. The people who squeeze over the borders are not people at all. They are imposters invading our culture and our history, vandalizing everything. What do I do? I don't feel like I am a part of either side but I have to make a decision. I have to escape, I might be able to go south but then again who is to say they don't suffer the same limitations? When I was little, people roamed and roamed for hundreds of miles without hindrance. Visas and citizenships were easy to get if you put in the time. People could visit the 38th parallel were a country was once torn in half by the distinctions, Americans could visit Russia and russians could visit America. I remember once my father told me about his brother who was assisting a diplomat, didn't even have to use airports or go through any identification system. They just flew wherever they wanted and were accepted almost everywhere.
It has been many years since the borders were brought down. I remember that period so well, it was so peaceful. It seemed like there had been abosolute chaos on either side of this calm period: The war leading up to it and the devastation following it. In order to explain why the leaders of the world adopted such an extreme policy, I need to clarify the important precursors.
.
It has been many years since the borders were brought down. I remember that period so well, it was so peaceful. It seemed like there had been abosolute chaos on either side of this calm period: The war leading up to it and the devastation following it. In order to explain why the leaders of the world adopted such an extreme policy, I need to clarify the important precursors.
.
Saturday the 6th
A lot happening this week so I will fit it in as best as I can. Monday: Film and tv essay was due. It was one of the most interesting essays I've had to write as it was on Feminism in cinema. Tuesday was a big day as I got to do some stand up at "The Stand", one of the best clubs in the country. I was so full of energy and the crowd were amazing, it was an ineffable and an indelible experience, of course I had my english essay due the next day so I got back from stand up full of adrenalin and typed the rest of my essay out like a madman.
The rest of the week was filled with work as I have three jobs now, which is good, I feel good that I'm earning some money. I will dig myself out of this small,kneehigh pool of debt I've sunk myself in and then hopefully have enough to be self sufficient.
Now that essays are over, I am looking forward to writing again: scripts,stories,jokes, sketches whatever I fancy.
The rest of the week was filled with work as I have three jobs now, which is good, I feel good that I'm earning some money. I will dig myself out of this small,kneehigh pool of debt I've sunk myself in and then hopefully have enough to be self sufficient.
Now that essays are over, I am looking forward to writing again: scripts,stories,jokes, sketches whatever I fancy.
Saturday, 23 October 2010
Stardate: October 23rd 20andten.
What better way to commence reading week, which is basically a week off, than eating 700 grams of fruit and fibre and embarking on a science fiction adventure? I'm going to start writing a sci-fi serial about a world without countries and borders, so expect to be thouroughly confused initially and then greatly entertained, ON A WEEKLY BASIS(probably wont be weekly as I suffer from laziness).
This sci-fi epic will be interspersed with these type of posts concerning how much cereal I have eaten in the past 24 hours and how much tv I am watching et cetera. So you'll get the best of both worlds, the fantastic future and present reality in all its beauty.
This sci-fi epic will be interspersed with these type of posts concerning how much cereal I have eaten in the past 24 hours and how much tv I am watching et cetera. So you'll get the best of both worlds, the fantastic future and present reality in all its beauty.
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Shopping for thanksgiving jumpers
Hello, it's been to long, I shouldn't have left you. But I'm back now to reanimate this monster. So what's up? I'll tell you what's up.
Sophmore slump
Second year is great in the fact that you think you know everything about uni and the city but that's also paralyzing because instead of being spontaneous and having the carpe diem attitude of first year, you play an inordinate amount of computer games and watch piles of television.
What should I do? Get a hobby
What will third year be like? Go to Vancouver/Prague for a change in scenery
Work wise, I get a few shifts from a telemarketing company, which is bad for the soul but good putting food in my locker, I've also written several sketches about telemarketers so I guess telemarketing has become my muse. On top of that, I'm trying to get a waiter postion which I have registered for but I have yet to be given any shifts, which is annoying.
I'm in the middle of developing two short films that I wrote. We have found a good team of people, now we just need to get some decent actors and then find out when everyone is available(the hardest part). It's an ambitious goal(two films in one semester) but if we can pull it off, we we'll be the greatest student filmmakers this side of the Clyde.
I was invited to a Thanksgiving, which I'm looking forward to greatly. I will be the closest thing to American as everyone else is British, so I'm going all out: sweater, pabst blue ribbon and other American thanksgiving stereotypes I can find (shouting drunken commentary at NFL on tv).
November: Essays, Stand up and possible LCD soundsystem concert wooh
End Transmission
Sophmore slump
Second year is great in the fact that you think you know everything about uni and the city but that's also paralyzing because instead of being spontaneous and having the carpe diem attitude of first year, you play an inordinate amount of computer games and watch piles of television.
What should I do? Get a hobby
What will third year be like? Go to Vancouver/Prague for a change in scenery
Work wise, I get a few shifts from a telemarketing company, which is bad for the soul but good putting food in my locker, I've also written several sketches about telemarketers so I guess telemarketing has become my muse. On top of that, I'm trying to get a waiter postion which I have registered for but I have yet to be given any shifts, which is annoying.
I'm in the middle of developing two short films that I wrote. We have found a good team of people, now we just need to get some decent actors and then find out when everyone is available(the hardest part). It's an ambitious goal(two films in one semester) but if we can pull it off, we we'll be the greatest student filmmakers this side of the Clyde.
I was invited to a Thanksgiving, which I'm looking forward to greatly. I will be the closest thing to American as everyone else is British, so I'm going all out: sweater, pabst blue ribbon and other American thanksgiving stereotypes I can find (shouting drunken commentary at NFL on tv).
November: Essays, Stand up and possible LCD soundsystem concert wooh
End Transmission
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