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good stuff from jason

my buddy jason, who’s interning in the trenches in the district directed me towards a few gems:

1. john ashcroft being a complete hypocrite about internet privacy. campare what then senator ashcroft said here with his current tune.

2. a snippet of conversation about war, leaders, and the general populace between allied intelligence officer Gustave Gilbert and uber-nazi war criminal Hermann Goering. this excerpt is from Gilbert’s memoir Nuremberg Diary.

We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction.

“Why, of course, the people don’t want war,” Goering shrugged. “Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.”

“There is one difference,” I pointed out. “In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars.”

“Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”

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So I showed the video to my parents tonight. They responded kind of how
I expected. My mom said she liked it, but didn’t really react much to
it, My dad was critical of it in the sort of arbitrary,
non-constructive way that tim can sometimes be. Underneath all his hot
air, however, he did touch on some ideas that I want to think about
more.

He didn’t like the quotation at the beginning of the film, because he
said he didn’t feel compelled to think about it again by what happens
during the film.

He suggested that I use some quote from Christopher Columbus’ journal.
I think that this is a bad idea for a number of reasons, but I think his
initial criticism is valid. People get the allusions to Christopher
Columbus, but they don’t always get the quotation or how that, as it
relates to the Christopher character is the main theme in the movie. I
really like the quote, and I think it suggests what I want the project
to mean, but I could see how the rest of the video doesn’t build upon
that theme clearly enough.

I think pretty much the only way (and given our conversations from as
early as the providence trip, the right way) to address this is through
added narration both at the beginning of the film, and maybe throughout
the film. To me, this should be the main priority for when you get
back. We should just sit down together over some coffee and decide what
we want to do.

Talking with my dad also brought up an interesting question. Who are we
making this film for. I mean, some of the themes are a direct extension
of my experience as a youth and my time spent in columbus, but I guess
I’d like the film to make sense to other people, or rather be meaningful
to other people. I’d even like it to be meaningful to people who aren’t
punk kids, or aren’t kids, or don’t live in Columbus. If it fails at
“reaching” any of these groups, I’m not terribly upset, but it would be
nice if we could get our ideas across to as many people as possible.

So, my question to you is:

Do you think our video is thematically accessible to a wide range of
viewers?

If not

Do you think that matters?

or

How can we clarify our intent in order to improve the accessibility of
the “message” of the project without being ham-fisted?

Maybe I’m taking things too seriously, because lord knows, my dad can be
an idiot. But I guess I just feel that if we can make people like my
dad (in my mind, the worst-case scenario viewer) at least clearly
understand our intent (though not neccessarily agree with it or identify
with it), the video will be better for it.

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thanksgiving at the legion of decency

my mom and dad came over to visit from pa. my uncle came down from toledo for the feast, and tim invited chad and mikael over since they were both stuck in empty houses for the holiday. we made a tofurky, some wasabi mashed potatoes, and some vegan gravy amongst tons of other great food (e.g. my mom’s awesome homemade cherry pie). we ate enough to feel uncomfortably full and apparently enough to give me the farts.

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the kids 7 – college football 0

walking home from stephen’s (after his apartment had inexplicably been overrun by high school bmxers who ejaculated drunken gems like “give me some fucking beef jerky” and “i want to fuck a fat bitch” – at least it was good to see paul and matt again), we came upon a ridiculous banner hanging from some college house that read “ann arbour is a whore”. will, brian, and i promptly removed the banner from it’s house and whisked the pilfered goods back to my house. it wasn’t until we fully examined the banner that it’s true offensiveness was revealed. other than the horribly sexist slogan, the banner featured a rough drawing of a naked woman with ridiculously rendered breasts and a michigan logo, making some lewd comment or another. it looks like the thing a 10 year old boy might draw for the amusement of his friends at the slumber party. i wish i could be there to see the house’s reaction when they realize that their concoction of what looked like $20+ of felt has vanished in the night.

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pot smokling is bad for your lungs

google news pointed me to this article which cites a recent study by the British Lung Foundation which found marijuana smoke to be more carcinogenic than tobacco smoke. From the article:


The BLF’s new report finds smoking three cannabis or marijuana joints a day causes the same damage to the lining of the lungs and airways as 20 cigarettes.

The study provides evidence showing tar from marijuana cigarettes contain 50 percent more carcinogens than tobacco.

these conclusions seem a little dubious because most people i know who smoke pot don’t smoke 3 joints a day, and only a few even smoke 3 joints a week. however, many people i know who smoke cigarettes smoke at least 20 a week. i think this is a good wake-up call to the “pot is harmless” crowd. still, i think that marijuana is still safer than tobacco. it seems not to be as addictive, so people can use it casually and thereby minimize the health risks. however, i think it is important that any marijuana legalization efforts be accompanied by an appropriate media campaign which provides people with accurate information about the health risks associated with marijuana use. i guess people have a right to be as harmful to themselves as they want to be given that they don’t harm others, but i think it’s important that people have accurate information before making the decision. surveys of young people suggest that this isn’t yet the case.

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upcoming shows at the legion of doom

Saturday November 9 9 Shocks Terror @ Bernies

Thursday November 14 Tragedy @ Legion

Friday November 22 Selfish @ Legion

Sunday December 1 Fuerza X @ Legion