Been a student. Been a clerk. Been a salesperson. Been a manager. Been a teacher. Been an expatriate. Am a husband, father, and chronicle.
I remember it having an English language, targeted at North Americans vibe. I could be wrong.
Also, have I posted this request incorrectly? I still count myself as new to the Fediverse. I don’t know how to access other instances. Any guidance is probably already posted online, and I would have to go looking for it. I haven’t.
North Americans, I’m one of you. You have to leave for a while. You gain perspective.
Back in '07, I left. I was in Australia in '09 and some Aussies asked me, ‘what’s it like living over there?’
The only thing I could come up with at the time was " causes neuroticism.’ It’s so much worse now that we have social media, smartphones, and a penchant for duelling forms of misinformation.
What I learned is that there are many ways to live. There are lots of goals people have — and can have — many of them are quite modest: a safe place to live, love, and feel part of community. There are much worse daily experiences than those we hear about in the news, or see on TV, or read about it books. There is truly grinding poverty and privation that does not translate well into a novel or an article — readership is fickle. Yet, from those ashes, there is still joy, levity, and grace.
So, we residents of the most powerful economies must see outside of our bubbles. We must see, first hand, how we are duped into believing there is only one set of goals, one North American dream, one prestige, and one centre of power. When you spend enough years away, you just might forget about homeownership, career-building, and fretting over retirement. You might find that life is about living, about doing good work, and about being with people you care to pass the time with.
At least, that’s what 12 years outside of NA taught me.
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Qatsi films
Solaris (2002)
"… Two boats were launched from eastern Colombia toward the Caribbean coast of Venezuela north of Caracas, carrying approximately 60 Venezuelan dissidents and two American former Green Berets employed as mercenaries by Silvercorp. Both boats were intercepted before they reached land. At least six Venezuelan dissidents in the first boat were killed, and all but four of the invaders were captured during the attempted landing or subsequent search operations, including the two Americans from the second boat, whose interrogations were broadcast on state television.
Venezuelan intelligence agencies and the Associated Press (AP) had prior knowledge of the operation. Commentators and observers described the operation as amateurish, underfunded, poorly organized, impossible, and a suicide mission, and divergent narratives led to questions about how the plot unfolded. Sources criticized the poor planning and execution, alternating between characterizing Operation Gideon as an attempted invasion, infiltration, raid, ambush, assassination or coup.
My preferred quote on this line:
“Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted.” ~ Frank Herbert, Chapterhouse: Dune
It takes the will of a saint to be incorruptible — to not become addicted to the exercise of power. Those who do not desire power, like saints, may have it thrust upon them.
Even when left to own devices, a person can only exercise power within a society that has desires, wants, and fears. The whole society would need to be incorruptible. This is improbable. In the unlikely case of such a pure society, it would also need to be incorruptible when in contact with “the other” — peoples, species, events, and ideas. This is exceedingly improbable. So, the whole of existence would need to be incorruptible.
Power corrupts.
QED (using the slippery slope, I know)
Lucy (2018) - some mild insanity, remorselessness
Genie from Aladdin (1992) ‐ everything is a joke
Bruce Almighty (2003) - can’t actually control himself
I’m going to go off on a comic-book tangent here:
Wielder of Infinity Gauntlet (1991, 2018) - potential insanity, later radiation scarring
Phoenix Force (1976) ‐ heavy insanity, desire to consume planets (see: Dark Phoenix Saga (1980), (X-Men '92, S03E11), Avengers vs. X-men (2012))
Omega-Level mutants - tendency toward megalomania (see: Jean Grey, Magneto, Kid Omega, 4 horsemen of Apocalypse… even Ororo Munroe (goddess), though Iceman seems well-adjusted)
Beyond - remorselessness, destruction of universes (see: Secret Wars (1984), Time Runs Out Event (2014))
Yeah, I don’t mind it. Thor is a name and a title/power. God (presumably) is a name, and Thor has the power of a god.
Prince is a title. It’s also a name. And, to some musicians, Prince is a god.
It’d be rare to win an argument by invoking Prince, but there you go.
Going forward is the worst of corporate-speak. I refuse to use this phrase.
I almost couldn’t finish Irreversible.
I saw Baise Moi (Kiss/Rape Me) in a theatre just before it was banned. I was not expecting that
This is about the same time that Kids, Gummo, Happiness, and the Brown Bunny were all released.
Each film is fucked up for its own reasons. Though, I understand, Salo and A Serbian Film are next level fucked up.
I saw Being There about 10 years ago, and it was made 35 years before that. It is a masterwork.
I have nostalgia for my late-teens early 20s cartoon consumption. I was still watching Batman:TAS and the 90s Spider-Man series. There were flashes of high-intensity (if not well told) brilliance from the 90s Real Adventures of Jonny Quest series. I have to admit, the CGI they used was not as well executed as Reboot. Darkwing Duck, Peter Pan and the Pirates, and Gargoyles were shows what I looked back on fondly.
Daria, Clone High, and Ren and Stimpy all made an impact on me as a young adult. Daria, for its sardonic, anti-establishment stance. Clone High for its mockery of sitcoms and rom-coms and teen angst. Ren and Stimpy for pushing everything past its limit.
In the end, though, it was Samurai Jack and 90s X-Men that stood head and shoulders above them all. X-Men because it was what I collected and knew the best. Samurai Jack because it was cinematic, well- paced, and offered me something that no other TV show, movie, cartoon series, or comic book did or could: “… [a] fool [who] seeks to return to the past to undo the future that is Aku!”
Marina. And, I feel you on the Gargoyles.
My favourite trope is the Xanatos Gambit.
Purple by Crustation as remixed by J Dilla (6:47)
and
“Lonely as the sound of lying on the ground of an airplane going down”, the first three tracks off of He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corners of Our Rooms by A Silver Mt. Zion (19:54)
Jóga by Björk interpolated with the coda from Timabaland’s video mix of Hit 'em wit da Hee by Missy Elliott. (about 6:28)
and
You Got Me by The Roots (4:19)
and
Roads by Portishead (5:03)
So… end credits for 42:31.
and, finally, after the credits
Last Donut of the Night by J Dilla; played on an hour-long loop. In my head canon, when he was in hospital, just before he died, this was the last track Dilla constructed.
Cellular respiration, the Krebs cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, citric acid cycle, glycolysis… I miss having these processes in my head. I was such a biology nerd once.
CoIntelPro.
Just, go look.
Aw. Name more of the chaebols.
Samsung
KIA
Daewoo
Hyundai
SK
LG
Lotte
Here is the full text of the letter that Obama left 45. I’d never thought to read it.
A few notes:
Obama forecast 45s disregard for “rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties”. He KNEW 45 would fuck that up.
The role all Presidents, since Reagan, have played in “sustain[ing] the international order that’s expanded steadily since the end of the Cold War, and upon which our own wealth and safety depend” is a warning about fomenting or courting instability. It is also a tacit admission of the Military-Industrial complex and its attendant supports in entertainment, energy, and finance that projects American values and superiority worldwide. He KNEW 45 would fuck that up, too.
Finally, and from the start of the letter, “we’ve both been blessed… Not everyone is so lucky” is a reminder that the office is meant to support the less fortunate. We all KNEW 45 would fuck that up.