American Silence and the Rebirth of the 60′s
The word Revolution is a bit threatening. A full change. Rotation. Circle. Earth does these things without us even noticing much. Neil Young's new album Living With War signifies his return of the 60's generation to battle the new politics. Well, seems to me, you can't fight new defense with old offense. There's a whole other level to this war on Bush. Religiously, the guy is popular. Despite his doing nothing to promote Pro-Life, he's doing a damn good job getting their vote by just believing in it. Impeach the guy? Since when did we not know what we were getting? Was it the war? The speeches that seem to give no hint that he knows what the hell he is doing? I think it was the war. Well, America, you really did it this time. You elected the bastard. It's like letting in the fat drunk guy from across the street. You invite him in once, he ruins your house, but hell, he's a pretty fun guy, snorting coke and doing bodyshots off of dead hookers. Yeah, c'est la vie.
Well, Neil, I like where you're going, but you gotta understand that cheesy lyrics I've heard time and time again from bad poets at the clubs will not help anything anymore. This is not a generation of people where everyone follows the same group anymore. A Woodstock like event would draw few people, as evidenced with Lollapalooza 04-05. Or the lack thereof. Too simple, too direct, too outdated a strategy. And our generation isn't doing anything? Preposterous. I think the go word this generation is a new birth of satire. That's right. Satire. Remember old Orwell? Swift? Well, it's the new thing to do nowadays. A good example would be the exemplary but crude show, The Boondocks. Starting as a comic…
The Boondocks was a new political machine akin to Bloom County and Opus, by Berkeley Breathed. Now a show, the art takes a new form, as an example from an episode about an X-Box murderer parodies Rumsfeld, Bush, Iraq, and the glorification of villains as heroes. Mr. Young, maybe you should be looking more closely for this generation's rebels. Because they're here, just behind the glass. Unable to be touched.
The (Modern Day) Urban Explorer
Just like the opening of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds makes you feel uncomfortably claustrophobic, urban exploration makes me feel the same way – but even worse. As if humans built things for other humans to feel scared in. This country's so great, ain't it?
The past few days I've been reading up on this guy going underneath the subterranean tunnels beneath York University. I vaguely know him and I know he wouldn't recognize me, but I could seriously picture myself there. It's a wonder how a concept can put crazier images into one's head than adjectives and description. The whole deal started with an elevator that never stopped at a certain floor. After a pretty simple method, they got it to stop at the floor. Then they tried hard to get the elevator door to open. After success, they explored what appeared to be age-old pipes and machinery. What had to have been kids (if it wasn't, this would really creep me out) wrote ambiguous messages warning people to get out. The guy met with a crazy guy who told him to get out. They came back, did more exploring…it was surreal. They found the guy's "living conditions" down there and everything. The epic actually continues to this day, updated quite frequently. The story is on a special site closed to new members, but it's quite a badass tale.
Also, hell, I've had no free time as of now. I've been working on a novella for English class. (The novella as a short novel, not as a 'within one day' story).
Pete and Pete Revisited
If you have been noticing, I’ve been watching Pete and Pete again. The climactic series ender “Saturday” is the best TV episode ever. Seriously. Nothing better. The only thing coming close are other Pete and Pete episodes. So in, reverence to the greatest show on earth…
Top 5 Pete and Pete Episodes
1. Saturday
The typical, archetype of a saturday. This is the casual romp into surreal Wellsville. Everything is perfect. Everything is dreamlike, which is the soup of the day of small town America.
2. Day of the Dot
The episode where Ellen and Pete kiss. It’s…magnificent. Stu Benedict, the gravely distressed, heartbroken bus driver finds his mate. It’s…beautiful.
3. Time Tunnel
Ellen and Pete’s first date. Just the way mine would have went if I had a friend’s convertible. This episode cemented…but mixed around…if Ellen and Pete were more than friends. It’s so…confusing?
4. Allnighters
Not to be confused with Nightcrawlers, Principal Schwinger (Adam West) locks little Pete, Monica, and Wayne inside the school after dark. What kid hasn’t dreamt of that day, really? It’s like a utopia, combined with a slasher flick, combined with Apple Pie.
5. Sickday
Pete takes a day off from school. Wow. A simple, cliched concept. I don’t know how, but in Pete and Pete, everything just turns into something so whimsical, it lacks realism. A nice mail carrier? Damn, wish I had one of those.
Black Hole Submerged
Sunday brings in the good luck. Although it’s the worst day of the week right near Monday and Wednesday.
The last sixty years is the most interesting era of all time. I think it should be written that it’s the second rennaisance, as the amount of artistic prowess skyrocketed. Film, writing, and art increased tenfold. The reason people do not regard it as such is because of the ratio of horrible crap produced over genius is overwhelming. I’m also sure that back in Da Vinci and Leonardo’s time, there was some poser Dutch kid trying to create crappy art that was conveniently banished before reaching the eyes of today’s artistic critics. Today, film is a diversifying medium which gives way to the type of diversity seen in paintings and writings, becoming something other than a genre. It’s because of this that I myself want to get into the film industry. The fact is, I’ve known more movies making me cry or spur provocative thinking than literature. Although I regard High Fidelity, Charlotte’s Web, Candide, The Things They Carried, and Totally Disgusting(It’s a badass children’s book) as major pushers of my inspiration, I could name many more movies which have affected me as much if not more than these works. I guess it’s the naturality of things. Also, it’s probably the fact I believe I’m a bit more idealistic and accepting of other ways of life.
I think grasping new advancements is hard for everyone though, because tradition is still abound incredibly. A paradox arised a few weeks ago when I asked my parents which version of Hurt they liked. The older, original by the relatively new Nine Inch Nails, or the newer version by the musical veteran, Johnny Cash. They couldn’t answer because they had always told me the original is always better than any cover and cited such examples as Ticket to Ride by The Carpenters/The Beatles and Landslide by The Dixie Chicks/Fleetwood Mac. My parents finally agreed to Cash’s version because they didn’t like NIN’s version all that much. I couldn’t blame them; it’s really a love or hate song. Kudos to Cash for stumping my parents though.
Anyway, I feel I’ve tired myself out. I must finish Gulliver’s Travels. I have about 15 pages left.
