“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain
speaking. What we are currently experiencing is nothing but some minor
turbulence. Please, do not panic. This will all pass in a moment. So, place your trays back in their upright
position and re-fasten your seat belts. Let me be clear and remind you that there
will be no moving about in the cabin until this is over. That is for you and
your fellow passengers’ safety. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We
will be resuming upon our normal course shortly, headed to our stated
destination and thank you once again for flying the Global Outrage of an
Educated Man Airlines.”
You know where this is going.
So, what happened upon Flight 370? The mystery that
has gripped the world’s attention is centered on the fact that somehow, a commercial
passenger jet almost the length of a football field has all but disappeared
from the planet Earth. In the age where satellites hovering in space can read your license plate, we can still manage to lose a plane, and why is there an off button on a transponder? Over two weeks have passed and we are no closer to the
truth other than following what may be scraps of metal floating in the vast
Indian Ocean, like searching for logic in Congress, it's a needle in a haystack.
Questions security agencies throughout the world are
asking themselves, did a pilot with a terrorist agenda two to three years in
the planning steer the plane into oblivion? Was he on a suicide mission? What
files were deleted on his in-home flight simulator? How come the air-traffic controllers didn't scream bloody murder when the flight went dark?
Did he fly the plane through an interplanetary
wormhole/star gate? Was he flying it to the South Pole to rendezvous with an
iced-over Alien Mother ship to return home to their planet of native Scientologists?
Is L. Ron Hubbard waiting for them on the other side?
Was there a passenger or group of passengers on
board that had a nefarious agenda? Or was there a passenger on board with
information harmful enough to the so-called Illuminati that “they” deemed it
necessary to destroy the plane and all of its passengers to save that
information from coming to light?
Did the relatively new plane suffer a mechanical
malfunction, such as a fire, causing it and all 239 passengers to disappear
without a trace?
Will the supposedly found pieces of what is believed
to be the passenger jet off the coast of Australia lead to more sustainable
clues and answers? Will somebody come forward with more information?
Did a government military shoot the plane down because who or
what were on the plane?
Was Putin responsible? Is Putin an Alien?
Will the pilot announce to the world in days to come
that he wants a trillion dollars or he and his hostages will disintegrate into
the ether?
Did the plane crash land on the set of the television
show LOST?
Will the missing plane reappear over the Middle East
and head straight for the Dome of the Rock, destroying it and in the process bringing
about the culmination of biblical prophecy and the rebuilding of Solomon’s
temple?
Was legendary mystery hijacker D.B. Cooper on board
the plane?
The questions are many, the answers are few but the
mystery only deepens. What this amazing and tragic case highlights for us all
is the simple fact that although we may live in the age where we believe to
have all of the answers all of the time, there is still so much that we don’t
know or are yet capable of understanding, i.e.; does God exist? Is time travel
inevitable? Who killed JFK and why? Where is the footage of what hit the
Pentagon on 9/11? Are we the children of an alien intelligence?Is there life on other planets and why is American
Idol still on the air?
Stay tuned to the disaster porn for more
information.
Ladies and gentlemen, The
Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been put into effect and much like the hope and
promise of Barack Obama’s early years in the office of President, it has been
left to deflate into a complicated technical mess of laughter and “I told you
so.” To draw a slightly amusing comparison, there is a publicly traded financial
company that wheels out old baby boomer male actors as their spokesmen that is
located in downtown Minneapolis and that has been trying to implement an
operating system for the last year and a half. Ladies and gentlemen they have
been having problems for a year and a
half; folks, that is just a publicly traded company with clients and
employees; it is nowhere near what the United States of Surveillance is
attempting to implement with their nation-wide database health insurance exchange; the bottom-line, it is
going to take some time; probably a year or more; it sure as hell isn't going
to be fixed by the end of November; let’s be honest with ourselves. Health care for everyone is a great idea, but it's not going to happen overnight.
In another sign of JP Morgan Chase’s guilt and complicity over the financial mortgage meltdown of 2008, Jamie Dimon CEO, has agreed to pay the United States of Surveillance over $13 billion dollars in fines. You know you’re guilty when you pay $13 billion in fines; but how much coverage are the major media outlets giving this story? Surprised? Maybe Dimons’ are forever? With enough money, you can buy yourself out of anything.
On November 1st Food Stamp benefits decreased. Surprising we didn't see mass riots and outrage at Wal-Mart’s and Dollar Tree’s across this great land.
What the hell is grown up Fes doing dealing drugs?
Down south there is a
bloody drug war of epic proportions continuing in Mexico, throughout other
areas of Latin America and beyond. When it snakes its’ way up into the streets
of the United States, there is more concern, but not much that isn't responded to with answers of more incarceration and tax payer dollars thrown into
the incinerator of stupidity. There are no solutions, only temporary fixes. For instance,
in certain locales of Mexico and Latin America, 80% of the population grows
drug crops; because when you can make 300 times more money growing something
illegally, why would you ever concentrate on growing produce and fruit? In
Mexico, where corruption has run free for decades (much like the halls of power
in D.C.), where power is handed off in backroom deals and campaign
contributions, the Federales hold little sway other than extorting tourists for
cash while standing on the side of their narrow roads with loaded rifles upon their shoulders. It is here that El Chapo Guzman still runs free; considered to be the most powerful drug lord of all time, his
influence is ubiquitous. The head of the snake still roams free after escaping
from prison in what could be believed to be a plot from the television show 24. Where is all of the NSA surveillance when you need it?
In the last decade
80,000 people have been killed in the “War on Drugs.” Ask yourself, why do we
continue fighting a war that can never be won? Is it because the powers that be
have money invested in the correctional facility industry throughout North and Latin
America? Is it because the alcohol industry would see their profits drop in
half? Or is it simply another way of locking up, cornering and controlling minority
populations without raising eyebrows? Your guess is as good as mine, but one thing is certain, the
continuation of the “War on Drugs” is a futile attempt at controlling a brush
fire while the wind increases.
According to those
whispers of the wind and the received messages from the media elites, the reason all rich conservatives protest politically is due to the 16th
Amendment and the levy of the income tax. Maybe that’s why they all work so
hard to hire lawyers smart enough to hide their money in off-shore tax havens? It makes sense. For
example, the telephone service giant Verizon believes it has the 1st
Amendment right to edit/censor Internet content based on the subscription price
of users creating a tiered level of speed and access. Ladies and gentlemen, keep
an eye on Comcast as well. Pretty soon the information superhighway will have
by-pass lanes affordable to those that are willing and able to spend more,
while the left behind will be breathing the fumes of their discontent. Do you
agree or disagree that the Internet should be patrolled on a toll-based access?
According to the former Deputy Director of the CIA,
Michael Morell, the most dangerous threat to the national security of the
United States of Surveillance is the politicians' in Washington ineptitude in
passing a budget based on compromise with one another. According to Morrell, the
destabilization of the nation’s economy by uncertainty will be the undoing of
America; if it hasn't already started some 50 years ago. Maybe it’s because he
knows that since 9/11 there have been only 20 deaths on United States soil due
to acts of terrorism (it may be a testament to the surveillance apparatus that
is all pervasive); but since that time, there have been 364,000 deaths on
United States soil due to privately owned firearms. http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/us-death-toll-firearms-suggests-america-country-gripped-civil-war In the last 45 years alone,
212,994 more Americans have lost their lives to privately owned firearms than
all of the wars involving the United States combined since 1776; and we cry
about second hand smoke. Then again, what does it matter when it’s not white
suburbanites getting shot? We’re all such God-fearing love our neighbor types aren't we? Just so long as they don’t live in our neighborhoods.
Although only 1% of the
American population serves in the Armed Forces, it is apparent as to how much
power and political influence they wield; although don’t tell that to the veterans that
continually deal with less than desirable care and conditions; however, the
Military Industrial Complex keeps reaping big profits. (Insert video of Eisenhower’s
warning to Americans in farewell address.)
Mark Zuckerberg of
Facebook creation, the man with the grey hoodie, not Trayvon Martin, made over $2
billion dollars last year; that is $6 million dollars a day. How’s that for a
status update? In the past year, the top earning CEOs took in over $4.7 billion
and none earned less than a $100 million last year. Where does all of the money
go? Why to job creation and philanthropy of course. Don’t you just see it
trickling down the sides of your houses and into the streets?
He CAN afford better clothes.
When adjusted for
inflation, the median household income in 2011 was $51,017; 9% less than what
it was in 1999. One thing is for sure, it hasn't gone to the middle class; and
a large portion of that demographic hasn't seemed to notice how royally screwed they've been for the past 30 years, because were all too damned busy looking
down at our newly purchased distractions; heads up dumb-asses. No wonder we’ll
never see the next big crisis coming. Ohhhhhhh I-Phone 73 is out!!!!
This leads me to the
fact that the number of Americans who say they have “no religion” has doubled
since 1990. It is obvious that we are worshiping the created and not the
creator. But then again, people did really love Steve Jobs didn't they? Too bad
he didn't die on a Friday attached to a piece of wood; we could have really used
another chosen one.
A 2010 Gallup Poll
revealed that 21% of Americans believe in witches. That explains a lot;
particularly the hold Kim Kardashian appears to have over the lame-stream
media. Another eye popping number is that some 63% of Americans ages 18-29
believe in demonic possession and 57% of Americans between the ages of 47-65 do as
well. No wonder horror movies based on Exorcisms do so well at the box-office.
There is a built in audience.
I don't carry a Smartphone, I carry a Smart-Cross
In other related news,
Pope Francis (Insert Picture of Pope Francis) is making sense (is he
possessed?); word out of the Vatican is that he understands the role the
Catholic Church needs to play in the 21st Century; changes need to
be made and less focus needs to be upon birth control and the subjugation of
women and instead upon a more inclusive nature of the Church. Finally, the incense coming out of St.
Peter’s is a breath of fresh air.
"I think I ate the baby?"
According to a new
poll, 50% of cats and dogs are overweight or obese. It’s not just humans that binge on an excess of available food and resources. Those damn pets
are eating us out of our entitlements. Maybe we should cut their welfare
programs while we’re at it?
"I almost got the part for Jabba in Return of the Jedi"
Another strange but
true story is that the flamboyant Mayor of Toronto, Rob Ford (who looks a little like the
ghost of Chris Farley) has admitted to smoking crack on more than one occasion.
He admitted he may have partaken in the illegal usage of crack cocaine while on
a “drunken bender.” However, he promises he will not resign and that he remains
steadfast to doing what is right for the great city of Toronto. With
credentials like these, he could run and win the office of Mayor for Washington
D.C; he’d only have to become a legal citizen first, good luck getting past our
mess of a lack of an immigration law now buddy.
"I think I ate David Spade and chased it down with some Jack and Crack."
Should the Washington
Redskins football organization change their team name? You’re damn right they
should. What if Edina had a football team called the “Whiteys” or North
Minneapolis the “Darkies?” You could guarantee that there would be some
justifiably upset people protesting and rightfully so. Haven’t we done enough
to the poor Native Americans? Just a thought.
Much to my surprise, I
have recently discovered that Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO) is an ingredient
in Diet Mt. Dew. It is an endocrine disrupt-er ( it plays Dr. Frankenstein with
hormones), which may explain my inability to lose any more weight, although regularly
consuming less than 2200 calories a day, walking more than 2.5 miles a day, 6
days a week and eating meals 2-3x a week of nothing more than broccoli,
cauliflower and carrots. It has come to my attention that BVO is actually used
as a flame retardant!!! Is Pepsi afraid that their sodas will catch fire? Maybe they should just attach a fire hose to the bottle just in case. Ladies and gentlemen, never again will I drink anything with Brominated Vegetable
Oil as a listed ingredient; educated and Outraged!
It's not just a Movie
Fifty years ago, an act
of terrorism so horrific caught the nation and the world’s attention and it was all caught on film. But, to this day,
we are no closer to the truth of what really happened and so the day continues
to hold a magnetic trance over concerned and disgruntled minds; like moths to a flame, our curiosity, time and money
has been spent investigating that fateful day in search of meaning and justice.
The day is of course
11/22/63, the day our nation changed forever. The day that forever changed our country; when the powers that lay hidden,
reached their shadowy claws out from the depths and flipped the switch. Whether
it was a cabal of secret society members with a nefarious agenda or a lonely nut in search of attention and purpose, it doesn't ultimately matter who was wholly responsible for the assassination of JFK on
that ugly day in November; what we’d really like to know is why?
The who, what, where
and when all keeps us from asking the main question, why?
The list of his enemies
was endless. From the mob, the CIA, the FBI, the Military Industrial Complex,
Cubans and the husbands of his lovers; who didn't want JFK dead? In honor of
that horrible day I ask each and every reader of this beloved past time of
mine, to watch Oliver Stone’s masterpiece JFK. Whether or not you believe in any of the presented scenarios is not the point; the purpose is that there may be more than one way to view the events of that horrible day and Stone's film is what I hope will be to our generation what Citizen Kane was to the greatest generation; a work of art that only gains more appreciation and importance as time slips by. It is well worth the time.
From the beginning of
the film’s processional of “taps,” the film is flawless; it is a military style
execution from start to finish. The editing, from visuals to sound is utterly impeccable.
Oliver Stone does an excellent job laying out all of the key players, the
nuances and the irregularities of the years, months and days leading up to that terrible day. From the open windows to the open roof tops and
to the removal of the bubble top on the Lincoln limousine; there is the changed
parade route that includes a ridiculous curve of 10mph all to set up a morbidly beautiful triangulated crossfire. As one of the characters in the film
states, “It’s a turkey shoot.”
Ladies and gentlemen the strange coincidences and facts are encompassing; before
Lee Harvey Oswald supposedly shot the President, he was a US Marine, who in
1959 defected to Russia and then 3 years later returned to the United States
with his new wife; all of this happening without prosecution for treason and
during the height of the Cold War; how was this possible? Who was pulling the strings?
Within three hours
after the assassination, the government had then arrested their possible scapegoat,
Lee Harvey Oswald; background information was quickly disseminated all over the world, and all of this happened in an age before the 24 hour multimedia orgy was a common occurrence; how did they have it so
quickly and readily on hand? Oswald was then questioned for 12 hours after the
assassination and not a word of it was recorded or written down. Why not? What possible explanation can excuse this problematic behavior? You can’t make
this stuff up.
Ask yourself, who
orders a gun to a P.O. Box in Texas when you could walk in to any gun store and
give a fake name that could never be traced? But that's what LHO did in the months leading up to 11/22/63. On live television only two days
later, the American public witnesses the dispatching of Oswald by the hand of nightclub
owner Jack Ruby. The birth of voyeuristic television is released from the static womb of electricity.
The head of the Warren
Commission, Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren appoints Allen Dulles to
investigate the assassination; the same man that Kennedy had relieved of his
duties as Chief of the CIA in the fall of 1961.
Call it the fox
guarding the hen-house.
Then there is the fact that not one expert could
duplicate the supposed shooting that Oswald did from the sixth floor of the book depository and why didn't Oswald shoot Kennedy when he was
coming up Houston? That would've been the easiest shot for a single shooter
from the book depository window?
Why didn't RFK
prosecute a case as Attorney General? Did he not want him and his brother’s
affair with Marilyn Monroe to go public and chose instead to save his wife and the
country the embarrassment? Did he know that he would then be the next target?
Unfortunately he wouldn't have to wait but 5 more years to find out by the gun
of Sirhan Sirhan. Two brothers, both assassinated. Just bad luck?
The powers that be
would not be disturbed, no matter what.
I can see you rolling
your eyes; Scharber, maybe all “these books have gotten into your mind!!!”
As Kevin Costner's character Jim Garrison retorts to his wife, brilliantly played by Sissy Spacek,“God damn it Liz, I've been sleeping for three years.”
Maybe we've all been
sleeping for the past 50? We all know were highly-caffeinated.
Oliver Stone’s
masterpiece captures some of the best acting performances of the many assembled
and talented professionals. It is lead actor Kevin Costner’s second best
performance to his Oscar winning portrayal in Dances with Wolves; Ed
Asner has never been creepier, Gary Oldman once again does his chameleonic best
as Lee Harvey Oswald and then there is Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci who
since
Goodfellas, was never better. The list goes on to include Walter Matthau,
John Candy’s best performance since Planes, Trains & Automobiles,
Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, career supporting actor Michael Rooker and the
always brilliant Donald Sutherland who was an original “deep throat” who in the film went
by the name of “X.” Why would all of these talented individuals sign on to do a
film if it were not an excellent script, an excellent story with a chance to
work with a director at the height of his creative genius? The film had to be
made and the film has to be seen. As an American who values the freedoms we
hold so dear, each one of us owes it to our fallen leaders to watch, listen and
learn; only then can you decide if things have changed for the worse or for the
better. It’s up to you.
Thank you for your time
and consideration. Ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate all of your interest and
would like to communicate that there will be a 3-4 month hiatus of the Global
Outrage of an Educated Man that will allow the editor to focus solely on
continuing and finishing writing the rough draft of his 1st novel GIDDEOM. It will also give Theona Donther and Thelonius Ronscpiacy some much needed vacation time. Happy Holidays and as always, spread the Truth. Spread the Outrage.
One Hot Scary Mess of a Halloween Mama by. The Rolling Bone
I’m
generally leery of PG-13 horror movies.
In an attempt to attract the widest possible audience they usually have
to water down the project; images that are too graphic, nudity or language that
is too profane all wind up on the cutting room floor in an attempt to pass the
censors, oftentimes leaving behind a toothless movie. Mama,
(2013) directed by Andres’ Muschietti and produced by Guillermo Del Toro tells
a story that wouldn’t require a stiffer rating, but it disappoints for what it decides to show. A modern ghost story with a very creepy
premise, Mama ultimately
becomes more of a CGI driven “creature flick” with an ending that
underwhelms. Muschietti shows promise,
and Del Toro’s fingerprints are evident, as the film does many things
right. Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) leads a decent
cast including Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game
Of Thrones), but it isn’t poor acting that undoes the film. Despite a scary premise and some really
disturbing visuals, the chills just don’t add up in this film but, the movie
does entertain enough to mildly recommend it.
The
first scenes in the movie are shot using a color filter that renders the images
a dull and lifeless gray, and the first color we see is the red of a child’s
hat. This technique has become a
Hollywood staple since Schindler’s
List, but it works to lend an almost fairy-tale like feel to the films
earliest scenes. The movie begins with a frantic Father (Coster-Waldau) loading
his two frightened daughters into a car, and speeding away from a horrible
crime into snowy wilderness. Driving too
fast for the conditions, the man sends the car over a cliff where it plummets
into a snowy ravine. The trio wanders
the wilderness before finding a decrepit cabin that appears abandoned. Unfortunately for his daughters, the refuge
they have found will not shield them from the violence their father wishes to
commit against them; luckily, “Mama” will.
Five
years after that horrible day, two hunters stumble across the cabin and
discover the girls still alive. They
have become feral, and their odd mannerisms and movement indicate they have
modeled their behavior after “something.”
What exactly that “something” is becomes the focus of a psychologist
(Daniel Kash) who is assigned joint custody of the girls along with their Uncle
Lukas (Coster-Waldau again) and his rocker girlfriend Annabel (Chastain.) The Uncle just happens to be the twin
brother of their father, but Muschietti wastes the opportunity to explore why
that would be especially painful for the girls.
Muschietti misses the boat by not showing many of the sessions that Dr.
Dreyfuss (Kash) has with Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse) and Victoria (Megan
Charpentier) as the disturbed girls are the most genuinely scary element of the
movie. Instead the viewer is given most
of the girls back story through the dialogue of other characters, and we come
to find that a caretaker watched over the girls for the five years they spent
in the cabin. Dreyfuss becomes convinced that an actual woman, the “Mama” the
girls speak of, must have fostered the girls and enlists his secretary to look
for clues to her identity. When strange
things begin to happen in the house however, signs point to a less human kind of caretaker.
As the
movie progresses we are given the story behind “Mama” through Annabel’s dreams,
old news clippings, and the secretary’s conversations with Dr. Dreyfuss. The story is pretty compelling, and clues us
into “Mama’s” maternal instinct for the girls.
What doesn’t work is Mama’s jealousy over the character of Annabel. We are supposed to believe that the girls
have built a bond with Annabel, a reluctant Mother thrust into the role of
protector. The three actors just don’t
spend that much time together until the last third of the movie, and by that
time the movie has become a CGI “chase scene.” The movie wastes time with the
side story of Uncle Lukas, when it could have concentrated on the more compelling
story lines. The few spare scenes we see which are supposed to highlight the
reluctant mother angle just aren’t that effective, but the movie does have a
few scenes with great dialogue.
Explaining “Mama” to Dr. Dreyfuss the secretary tells him that “a ghost
is an emotion bent out of shape.” She
goes on to explain Mother’s hideous form, explaining that corpses left to the
elements begin to twist and change, but are “doomed to repeat until wrong is
right.” It’s the essence of the movie,
but Muschietti decides it’s not scary enough and tries to “special effect” it
the rest of the way.
Muschietti
does shoot many scenes right. The
opening credits roll as we see crayon drawings the girls have made while in the
cabin with “Mama,” and the pictures are definitely not right. In another scene the camera winds through a
darkened dollhouse, the tiny figures inside posed in menacing ways before
panning out to reveal the girl’s bedroom and an opening closet door. These scenes really build the suspense, and
with the masterful shadow work of “Mama,” Muschietti sets the bar rather high
for her actual appearance. He doesn’t
reach it, and hence deflates the entire movie in the process. The movie doesn’t have the worst CGI in the
world, but the director had a better movie on his hands before he went
digital. It’s worth a watch but, better
movies with similar themes are out there and for the record I’ll take “Ripley”
and the Aliens bitch anytime.
“When you Change the way you look at
Things, the Things you look at Change.” Dr. Wayne Dyer
Explain it to Me by. Jack Scharber
It
begins with a helicopter camera shot of a yellow Volkswagen bug driving along a
windy road through the Rocky Mountains. Inside the tired old vehicle is a
relatively normal family man, husband, father heading north to a resort hotel for
a job interview. The eerie music of a funeral march accompanies the unfolding
scene; is it there possibly alerting the viewer that you will have to own up to
pay for what humanity has done? Who or what has died? Suddenly you are no
longer following the vehicle but have gone right off the road and over the
cliff into your subconscious.
The film
is the cult classic Stanley Kubrick version of Stephen King’s name making
novel, The Shining. What the brilliant
documentary Room 237 attempts to do is pull in a variety of theories about
the overall central theme of the film into a narrative of a disruptive
mind-bending nature. Unsettling, puzzling, outlandish and interesting, these
scenarios make the film that much more confusing, coupled with the fact that
Kubrick was a notorious recluse who often times played the Svengali with the
audiences’ imagination; his intentions are hard to find. However, these film theories
have some credence, that if like the believers, you too have viewed the film
over a half a dozen times and are willing to go off the main road in search of
answers.
The
documentary Room 237 touches upon the belief by Bill Blackmore that the
film was Kubrick’s attempt to discuss cinematically and allegorically the
genocide of the American Indians by the white European settlers of incursion
and the resulting bloodbath and slow goodbyes that followed; this theory is
reinforced by the subtle product placement of Calumet Baking Powder cans in the
storeroom (Calumet is a traditional Native American smoking pipe, used to
signify a treaty or pact), there are
also the multitude of Native American motifs that hang throughout the hotel and
the fact that the Overlook Hotel was built upon a large Native American burial
ground.
He's not talking about ObamaCare
In
addition there is the “far-out” theory by Jay Wiedner that the film was nothing
more than Kubrick’s attempt to tell the general public that he helped NASA fake
the Apollo 11 moon landing; the evidence of course being that Danny wears an
Apollo 11 sweater in the film, the fact that the moon is roughly 237,000 miles
away from earth (Room 237) and the deal with the devil or witch that
Nicholson’s character makes in the film is all an allusion to Kubrick’s own
deal with a shadow government and all of which takes place in room 237 (Moon
Room); take into account Jack’s speech to Wendy about obligations and
contracts??? Head scratching questions
abound.
Film
theorist Geoffrey Cocks believes that the film is about the holocaust of the
Jews by the hands of Nazis in WWII because Jack’s character uses an old Eagle
typewriter (which is a German company) with a large 42 on it (1942 being the
year of Hitler’s final solution). The
documentary also discusses the fact that there are unmanageable scenes within
the Overlook Hotel that deal with the “impossible window” of the Overlook
manager’s office, where no feat of architectural engineering could result in
what is shown on screen. This is
coupled with the fact that the young boy Danny’s big-wheel rides throughout the
hotel often make no sense at all; he goes from the main level of the hotel on
the first ride to one level higher on his second ride and then somewhere in
between for his third and final ride (could this be symbolism for his
subconscious?) and all of this from a director who was known in the business as
a perfectionist. What was Kubrick trying
to tell us?
Note
the amazing use of colors throughout the film (the Gold Room, the Red, Black
and White bathrooms, the walls of blood coming from closed elevator doors) all
of which supports the belief that it could be a brilliant director’s alchemical
formula for messing with the viewer’s mind and subconscious. It is a little
known fact that Kubrick had studied
subliminal images at the offices of Madison Avenue advertising executives
before filming the movie. Why? Rattle your brains with the realization of
asking this strange question: why is Jack reading a Playgirl magazine in the lobby of the hotel before he meets with
the hotel manager for his job interview? What the hell does an issue of Playgirl have any business in a lobby
anywhere? Is this the dentist episode from Seinfeld?
Why does it appear that people are turned into suitcases through the use of a
lap-dissolve? Could that be a reference to the extermination of the Jews, the
Native Americans or both?
Is the
film Stanley Kubrick’s solution how to escape the nightmare of the past by
retracing your steps and erasing the past footprints as we navigate the
labyrinth that is this mortal coil? There is also the fact that a labyrinth never existed in the King
novel. Why did Kubrick incorporate one into his film? Then there is the
enigmatic character of Bill Watson in the film; a minor character that speaks
only 2 lines, but why was he there at all to begin with? Was he a metaphor for
the real shadow government that is in charge? Is he the silent manager of a job
interview who never speaks but only takes notes? Are we supposed to view the
film as one theorist suggests, forwards and backwards, through the process of superimposed
film projections; are you kidding me? All of these theories take host in the
excellent documentary Room 237; because like the film,
its’ fans and theorists, insanity isThe
Shining on film. However, you must always realize that you can get out
of the maze. You simply have to trust your own instincts and you might go a
little mad in the process, but it is well worth it; consider it a contractyou've made with the director.
Malaise into Middle Aged Family Man by.
The Rolling Bone
Lightning Bolt, Pearl Jam’s 10th
studio release, certainly has a thunderous opening. The first three songs on the album, “Getaway,”
“Mind Your Manners,” and “My Father’s Son” belong firmly in the “hard rock” end
of the spectrum of Pearl Jam’s 22 years of music. The album however makes a departure as the
remaining nine songs find the band taking the foot off the gas pedal and exploring
a more diverse musical landscape. “Pendulum” showcases an atmospheric sound
more reminiscent of a Pink Floyd album, while “Sleeping By Myself” has a
country feel and features Eddie Vedder on the ukulele. It’s an odd mix of songs sonically, but while
the musical vehicle changes throughout the album, Vedder stays on point
thematically with love and mortality as his favorite subjects. Like Lennon once imagined a world without
Heaven or Hell, Vedder opines on our stubborn insistence in Faith, and Love as
our ultimate salvation.
“Getaway,” the album’s opening track
begins with a riff eerily similar to Weezer’s “Hash Pipe,” and puts the
listener on notice; this is going to be a rock album. The lyrics to the song
find Vedder visiting a topic he will touch on throughout the album. “But I
found my place and it’s all right/we’re all searching for a better way/get this
off my plate it’s all right/I’ve got my own way to believe.” He is stating a
case for personal Spirituality over formal Religion: “And if you want to have to pray it’s all
right/ we all be thinking with our different brain.” It’s not the message that Vedder
disapproves of, it’s the messenger that gets under his skin. Like a man who’s
dinner has been interrupted by the Jehovah’s Witnesses at his door for the last
time he intones, “For God’s sake, mine is mine and yours won’t take its place/
Now, make your getaway.” Vedder
continues down this path on the album’s second track, “Mind Your Manners.” The
song opens with a riff that would make you think you shuffled to a Rage Against
The Machine track by mistake. Gritty
opening aside, the song ultimately reminds of “Spin the Black Circle” or
“Blood” from the band’s own back catalog by its conclusion. It’s as angry as we find Vedder and company
on the album, from the staccato opening riff to its punk rock sing-along
ending: “Go to Heaven/That’s swell/How do you like it/Living in Hell?” The song
questions our willingness to wage war for a God that ultimately might not
exist: “May not live another life/May not solve a
mystery.” Vedder completes his
theological treatise in the song “Infallible” by concluding that society is
missing the entire point of religion: “Keep on locking your doors/keep on just
as before/Pay disasters no mind/didn’t get you this time.” It’s not that God chooses to spare some, he
is saying, but rather we are choosing not to help one another: “Of everything
that’s possible/in the hearts and minds of man/somehow it’s the biggest
thing/that keeps slipping through our hands.”
On an
album as diverse as Lightning Bolt, the song “Pendulum” stands apart
from the other 11 songs as the band’s boldest experiment. It begins with
an echoed organ effect that swims out of the speakers like a Cold war submarine
on the ocean floor before picking up a guitar line reminiscent of Urge
Overkill’s “Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon” amidst some interesting percussion.
It’s a sparse arrangement, hearkening back to earlier work on Ten, most
notably “Oceans” and the intro/outro of “Release” and “Once.” The lyrics are
pretty depressing, as Vedder’s trademark baritone paints a portrait of true
melancholia that shows the band has come full circle from his days as surfer
turned rock star. The difference being that these more accomplished musicians have
achieved an organic sound on “Pendulum” they only previously scratched the
surface of. The ocean muse he frequently sings to is fully realized with this
track. It’s the albums low point philosophically as Vedder tells us “We are
here then we go.” The song only speaks
to only one half of the pendulum swing however; the rest of the album finds
Vedder rising above his usual “dust in the wind” sentimentality. Mortality be
damned, he is saying elsewhere, it’s who we spend our precious time with that
really matters.
This idea is expressed most vividly on the
song “Sirens,” which also happens to be the first single from the album. Musically, the track sounds similar to the
songs on Pearl Jam’s last album Backspacer. It’s a mid-tempo number without a truly
memorable chorus, but the words seem to be among Vedder’s most confessional and
it has a great guitar solo that sounds like Prince and the Revolution are
sitting in for thirty seconds. The song
finds Vedder once again pondering his own mortality: “Hear the sirens/hear the
circus so profound/I hear the sirens more and more in this here town.” A Rock
musician approaching middle-age, Vedder has become acutely aware that the end
can come at any time, but having outlived some of his contemporaries, he’s
learned that Death is the easy part.
It’s the lives we leave behind, the grief that is sure to come and how
we ultimately are remembered by those we’ve loved that’s the struggle. “Want
you to know that should I go/ I always loved you, held you high too.” The line borders on the edge of Hallmark
territory, but Vedder sings it so earnestly it comes across as genuine; the
dysfunctional love he so brilliantly captured early in his career. Who would believe the Voice of Grunge has
become a family man? “Just to know we’re safe, I am a grateful man,” he sings,
adding “I didn’t care before you were here” and “All things change, let this
remain.” It’s a powerful song and an obvious song to lead with as a single but
not very indicative of the album as a whole.
Lightning
Bolt is said to have been recorded at two different intervals by the band,
and that may in part explain the album’s lack of cohesiveness. “Sirens,” “Let
the Records Play,” “Swallowed Whole” and “Future Days” all sound similar to the
material on Backspacer. “Let The
Records Play” has the band celebrating Vinyl once again, this time in the guise
of a man who does his spiritual healing by drinking and listening to records.
The lyrics are largely forgettable, but the song does catch Mike McReady and
Stone Gossard in prime form and what may best be described as a Stevie Ray
Vaughn tribute. “Future Days” reminds somewhat of “Just Breathe” from the last
album, and has the singer once again optimistic about love, “I believe, cuz I
can see/our future days, days of you and me.” The song lacks the power of
“Sirens” or “Just Breathe” however, and as an acoustic ballad; it leaves the
album on a much lighter note than it began; perhaps that’s the point. Pearl Jam have a catalog full of greatest hits
and those looking to find one here are sure to be disappointed, but that’s not
to say the album is disappointing. It offers a world-wearied look, and perhaps
a realization that while rock music has changed lives it hasn’t changed the
world.
Something in the Mist
by. Jack Scharber
Frank
Darabont’s 2007 bleak, disturbing and entertaining horror film adaptation of
Stephen King’s novella The Mist confounds all Hollywood and
mainstream expectations. The film gives viewers’ hints at what was to come in
his smash television series The Walking Dead. It had come after The Shawshank Redemption
and The
Green Mile, both of which were Stephen King adaptations as well; the
film was saddled with the embodiment of post 9/11 fear that featured an
ensemble cast that would become a trademark of Darabont’s style. The film
defied all of the happy-ever-after endings that had become the Hollywood
trademark; it was a breath of fresh air and it was released on Thanksgiving
weekend. Remember, we too have much to be thankful for.
The
film took on both the religious right and the dovish left. There were race
relations between a strong black man and the characteristically strong white
leading man. Spooky whispered government research was being conducted on a
mountain nearby the small New England town, when after a natural storm, a
strange supernatural mist began coming down the slope. Army trucks raced to the
shore, but to combat what? The power lines were dead, the phones were down and
the town’s only grocery store had become the town hall. Chaos abounded. One
thing was clear; there was something
in the mist.
Marcia
Gay Harden believed, “It’s death.”
We
the viewers, first got our sneak peek into the mist through the backdoor of the
grocery store, the backdoor being a metaphor for one’s subconscious. However, there were still some things you had to take
on faith. We began to ask like Thomas Jane’s lead character, “What they hell
were those tentacles even attached to?”
Ladies
and gentlemen, the weird had been let loose; get prepared.
“Now
do you see? Now do you believe?”
“You
scare people badly enough, you can get’em to do anything.”
Politics
and religion, but what about big business?
At
the end of the film, after a group of five made a bold run for it in an old 4x4
escaping both radiation acid spewing spiders and dinosaur large Mantises, the
truck ran out of gas. They’d gone as far as they could go. With one gun left
and only four bullets, decisions had to be made. What if the mist was
worldwide? What if there was nothing left to run to? What would you do then?
So, Thomas Jane’s character made the only sane choice he had left, but he like
all of us had to live with it; live with all of his or her, yours or mine past
actions and choices, despite the awful consequences. Because believe me, often
times, the monsters of our own creation.
Happy Halloween.
