There is also several youtube video's i'd like to slip in here and there but i don't know how best to use them considering all the words i will be saying so i think this time round it will be Url's and not embedded clips.
Cinephillia:
On friday, as i mentioned in my previous post, i treated myself to a movie with DS. Public Enemies. Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, that alone sells it. But also being a depression era tale of John Dillinger and the formation of the FBI, well it also was a must see. Now it's long, stylish, well acted and down right pretty. But it almost fall's flat sometimes. It almost seems that in making it so long they left a lot out. Unlike "Jessie James" which was so long EVERYTHING was put in. A movie that seems to sit at the back of memory because of it's length and brilliance that can't really be bitched about or complimented. Public Enemies has me mixed. I loved it. But sometimes it moved to quick or left things out. Sometimes the handheld camera work was Glaring and shaky and disorientating, other time's it was stylish, well used and unique.
Overall i give the film 3 1/2 stars. It could have been far better. It is really good, but it seemed to just tease us, titillating good fun that where we were never fully satisfied. Kind of tantric masturbation in film form.
Music or the Misery:
Recent Discoveries.
Florence and the Machine.
Let me set the picture and fill the criteria:
Best Criterion: Red Hair
2nd Best Criterion: Female, best kind of red head.
Great voice - Tick
Catchy songs- Tick
Quirky - Tick
Critically Acclaimed - Tick
Good Live - Tick
Good Lyrics - Tick
Good cover songs - Tick
British - Tick
Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHqbco0zHWo
The Gaslight Anthem:
A proper rock band from New Jersey. Their main influence is the Boss himself Bruce Springsteen. Now i'm not a big "boss" fan. I know his hits and so on, but i'm not American, and i was born in the late 80's with no memories that old. So to me he is just one of a multitude of star's i can never connect with the same way. But this band is amazing. They not only have an old sound but it also has a strong punk like undercurrent that is just brilliant. You will thoroughly enjoy them no matter what your musical persuasion.
Here they are at "Glasto" performing with one of their hits with The Boss.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atmGYUsbahw
Doublethink and Cognitive Dissonance in relation to Michael Jackson.
Yeah i'm as shock and dumbfounded as you are, but there's a little point coming up here.
In simple terms Doublethink as described in 1984 is knowing something is both true and false at the same time. It is knowing that one thing is one way but is also another way that is not the same. It is knowing that you Oceania is at war with Eastasia but at some unrecorded point in the past you know that the enemy was Eurasia and the ally Eastasia.
The psychological explanation for this is a more confusing phrase called Cognitive Dissonance or "compartmentalisation". This is where the mind openly is aware of a contradiction and uses one or the other answer depending on the situation.
Where this train of bizarre thought is leading in relation to Michael Jackson is so much more than the denial some people had over his death in the first few hours and days. No what i'm trying to talk about is part's of his life that still lay in doubt.
The media and MJ himself both spread lies about his life. Some say he was bleached, some say it was a disease and some say it was a both. Some say Bubble's was a publicity stunt that wasn't real, other's claim he actually lived with a monkey. Also despite being proved innocent other people still think that he is disturbed and has an odd interest in children. Basically a lot of the stories surrounding him have a lot of Double truth's and untruths. And it's very difficult to know which one is which.
Another one i would like to refer to is the song Man in The Mirror. I mentioned it on my blog before. It is a classic song. It's very moving and amazing. However, when the fuck did you ever hear of it before his death or other then when it was released? All of his other hits even his Jackson 5 songs were always referenced or played during his fall from grace. And yet this song received the least airplay or reference. True other songs like "Remember the time" and "Librarian girl" were also quickly forgotten but why this song? It's current popularity proves that it isn't something people dislike. If anything it's one of his best songs.
Where doublethink comes in is where I do not remember this song. It was released either in 1987 or 88. I'm too young to know about most of what occurred then because my first memories are from 91/92. (my first memory either being my 3rd birthday or waking to "always take the weather with you" on the radio). But where was this song. All of his other hits were on the radio in my life time. I remember owning tape's of both Dangerous and History. I had vague, "oh that's familiar" memories when i heard the song over a montage of his life at the end of a C4 special the sunday after he died. I then actively searched for the song. There was no music video for it readily available in Youtube searches. Instead just a title card version from the History album and a live performance from the 88 Grammy's. Only a week or so later did EW mention in a list of his greatest video's that one existed that featured a lot of famine, war, john Lennon and so on.
For a popular song, that i didn't know or remember, why was it's video so obscure. Why was it such an unfamiliar and familiar memory in my head. Why is it that this song seem's to have rewritten it's own success now that it's singer has passed? Of all his hits this song was mentioned the least, but now that he is dead it is one of the most referenced. If you asked me or many non-devote fans or people of similar age very few would know this song. And we would have all grown up with michael Jackson. I still remember when the MJ Simpson's episode was NEW! I still remember the media joke's about his Marriage to Ms Presly.
Basically my failure to sully a psychological concept and George Orwell great idea in order to reference my own ignorance and lacking media exposure in my youth has lead to an extensive rant.
So i'll leave you this. Another rendition of the song i have been talking about performed by one of it's writers. Moving stuff, i almost cried. Don't watch if your sensitive and so on. And her statements about the media are pretty good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A9j48ZPKMA&feature=player_
I was going to go in depth with this one but i might leave it be as it is far more controversial.
Basically african-american's are REALLY RACIST. They are now claiming that Michael was "their" man. That he was "their" icon. That he made things easier for "them". They are equalling MJ to the faux importance Martin Luther King put on Nichelle Nicholas secretary role on Star Trek. They are in essence re-writing history to suit the moment. Similar to what i was trying to get at before in referencing 1984. Here is the best example:
During the Memorial Service Reverend Al Sharpton, a veteran civil rights activist, made Michael's influence so far reaching and awe inspiring that it was almost believable. I'm not denying that some of it was true but some of it was just made up. For instance he claimed that Michael's charity and eco-awareness and equality song's "pre-dated" Live Aid. The second you heard this I realised this was both wrong and right at the same time. His aid was very important and influential when his songs about it came out. But what maid far less sense was that was all in the 90's when i have memories of how it was all critisized and parodied. Live Aid was in 1985. MJ wasn't even involved and was in his carreer dark spot for Live 8. Al Sharpton basically lied in a believable way. He spoke not as a preecher but like a politician. If he had said 2+2= Michael Jackson we would have all believed him!
I was going to carry african-american pre-emptive reactionary racism further, but i won't. It's a massive stereotype that seem's to be true. This minority is loud and will never let such idea's down. Thoughts that don't even exist. If they accuse a white american of racism they actually doubt themselve's and think "oh am i racist?", a form of doublethink if you will.
Some how my rant just turned the Mastachioed dictator of classic novel 1984 into a big mo fo brother from Compton.
Newshound:
Due to ongoing actions in Afgahnistan British Force's have recently experianced increased Casualities that haven't been seen since the War over some Sheep stations in the southern atlantic.
This is mainly due to the fact that they are taking the fight TO the Taliban. They are actively fighting a war against them to try and destroy their grip on Hellmand Proveince and base's in the border region with Pakistan.
The Brits, what was once one of the worlds greatest, non-fighting, military force's are a laughing stock. The main reason is lack of resource's. They're yankie gun-ho cousin's have every toy you can think of and they do it all with close Air support from Chinooks, black hawks, A-10's, Apache Gunships, Harriers and UCAV's (unmanned combat ariel vehicle's). Where as the Brits they have barely any Chinooks, and all of 6 or 7 Harriers and a few Apache's.
This means as they advance they have to use Tanks, Land Rovers, APC's and other Armoured Command Vehicle's and so on, to get to the front. When they get past all the risk of road side bombs and RPG attack's their wounded have to wait a long time under fire for A helicopter and air support to reach them. Most of the time they have to wait for BRITISH support. As for some mad reason "coalition" force's don't work side by side using each others aircraft and other toy's. This leave's the Brit's basically fucked.
Back home in the UK there's no money for more helicopters. They're best useful toy, the Chinook transport Helicopter is an American made Helicopter, and so Is the Apache. At home in the Uk something like 4 Chinook's are Rotting in a hanger because they were fitted with incompatable "avionic's" equipment. Basically Analog and Digitial device's are sitting side by side as well as a few imperial and metric one's. Basically the MOD bought million's of pounds worth of vital equipment that is unsafe to fly. So what do they do?? They let them sit in a hanger costing millions in "maintainance". This was a few years ago that this was revealed. And they spent more money reviewing the feisability of spending MILLIONS more on updating or de-grading them so that they could be used safely. Somehow this shambolic occurance has escaped the media's attention several years on.
It's as if they forgot their brief outrage about this problem, when even then they knew that the British Troops needed Air Support and Evacuation/extraction abilities that should be available from Chinook Helicopters.
It all come's down to money. They don't want to buy more and pay for flying them out there. THey don't want to fix the faulty one's they have and fly them out there. And they also don't want to loose. A catch 22 maybe, but it shows how stupid the government are at fighting war's.
World armies at that are still inaffective at their jobs aswell. I'm no expert. But even i know you don't walk in close groups when on patrol. Land Rovers and Hummers and useless. Helicopters are vital but the technology used on current model's is ancient and no modern idea's have been put into used due to cost. It's nice that UCAV's and UAV's are used a lot more, but they are only one part of the future of "warfare".
For instance i'm a computer gamer. In 1998 Half-Life Featured Marine's as bad guy's. Their Aircraft of choice was the Osprey. The Osprey was the supposed "next-generation" transport. It was proposed in the late 80's. By 1998 it was still a distant dream, take far to long and costing BILLIONS of dollars. In Half-Life it was shown to have similar abilities to normal helicopters in that Troops could drop down on rope's out of the side's. This was planed for. But because the Osprey can fly both as a helicopter and a Propellar aircraft the "vertical thrust" when in helicopter mode make's jumping out the side's impossible. What a crock of shit! Over a decade of development and billions of dollars and they NEVER fixed that problem? IDIOTS!
Yet somehow in world war 2 and the cold war millions of military weapon's and civilian product's were made as a result of demand. Hell the american's put 12 men on the moon because if they didn't the russians would. And some-how the Saturn V is STILL the most powerful rocket ever made. The Shuttle was also a CHEAP alternative to other idea's.
In essance what i'm hinting at is that the Military industrial complex, which sometime's i doubt exist, must actually exist. In recent years it is evident that it is better to let troop's die cheaply using reliable well tested weapons and vehicle's then it is to provide full technological superiority. It's easier to waste billions on things that fall short of what was promissed, year's late, just so you can make a profit.
Look at the Eurofighter. The worlds most manouverable static combat aircraft, or whatever. It's so unstable at flying that it needs computers to keep it flying. But this is all on purpose so that it make's turns that no other plane can match. Sort of pointless when you carry misile's that can kill civilians from 2 miles... The UK and european partners spent Billions on this impressive machine to provide work for their own aerospace military contracters. Then the media kick up a fuss when they started to sell them OUTSIDE of europe. Turkey and Saudi Arabia wanted some. This followed with accusations of Corruption and so on because it was a dangerous trading of a vital weapon and so on. And yet no one bitched about the money wasted on it's development?
The Uk's Two new Super Aircraft carriers are also going to waste money, and they don't even have a keel yet. The Aircraft they will Carry the Navy Varrient of the F-35 will also be late and expensive. After all, it's american, it's had many a hiccup already, and it's supposed to be the main fighting aircraft for the next 30 years beside the LATE and over budget F-22 Raptor.
The Osprey came out in 2001, first service 2003 or so. It was planned in the late 80's and took at least 10 years to enter service.
The F-22 was origionally called the Lightning. It was designed out of initial work on stealth aircraft from the 70's. The F-117 being the infamous bizarely shapped brainchild of that work. The B-2 later being the terrifying but late Long Range Stealth Nuclear bomber that arrived just as Mother Russia fell. The F-22 was the next toy. But it ran over budget and development was for some reason slow. Then Jurrasic park came out, and some hip general changed the name to Raptor. Then in 2007 they finally started replacing other long serving planes one squadran at a time.
The waste of money is beyond evident in the armies of the world. Some Philosopher's say we have a talent for killing ourselves, that there is no end to man's Inhumanity to man. And yet for sheer profit it's easier to let people die over tried and tested weapons, and easier to waste money on research instead of construction, use and selling.
The best selling gun in the world is the Ak-47. This weapon was invented in 1949. 60 years later this simple tool of death is the most prevelant gun in the world, and is still just as lethal. After all it is so simple even a child can use it. Thats how deadly this weapon is. That is how affective this weapon is. The US spends Trillions on weapon research and 60 years later they still have no affective weapon's that can counter-act a militia member or child who holds an Ak-47, plant's a road side bomb or internet sourced I.E.D.
The idea behind current actions in Iraq and Afgahnistan is to use "hearts and minds" over open warfare or military tactics. This is because no matter how much money they spend on military development and research, a person with a cause and a simple readily available means of causing pain and suffering will always be more succesful than someone with the bigger, shinnier, more expensive toy.
Where there is a will, there is a way. Where there is money, their is profit, loss and complacancy.
I aplogise for the military rant and other big idea's. But i seemed to want to say that.
Good-bye for now.
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