Repost Apropos

Fans of the blog will note this is a repost. To my shame. But times being what time they are, well, you know how it is. We make due with what we've got.

Dialectic ahoy!

The "Civil" War, cont.

Sadly, despite the resounding Northern victory, the so called "American Civil War" (1860-1865) never really ended, as the cancer that was "The South" was allowed to persist, metastasizing into sharecroppers and Jim Crow laws and the KKK and thousands of lynchings. But then this aggressive Southern disease infected and took over the Republican Party - the very party that engaged their destruction a hundred years earlier. Goldwater, Regan, Nixon, and you have today's insanity, insto-presto in just the past 40 years (LOL I'm old). Legions of monsters, breaking down democracy and society across the country in pious fervor.

Somehow, despite desegregation and women's lib and gay marriage and so on, we've fallen under the sway of the Confederacy Risen, the Republican Party, the Southern Jim Crow culture writ large as "American Culture" and proving to be the doom of not just America, but the world.

What madness is this? And how can Earth escape?

Forgiving Jar Jar

Are we ready to forgive Jar Jar? Or is it still too soon?

Behind the mask

Boba Fett was an accountant for ten years before a deal went bad and he was forced to take up the rough and tumble life of bounty hunting.

Through it all, his ledger remained black.

The Long Con

Heed my warning, and heed it well: The Con is spreading. ComicCon, where people dress up like comic characters. It's spreading more and more into the real world and I bet soon enough you will see a Stormtrooper or Boba Fett or a Wookie family celebrating Life Day.

Happy Life Day!

Beware!

Not a drill

Please note, this is not a NASA security guard.

Just some nerd playing dress up. Isn't it grand fun?

The Resistance Continues

Exile has been difficult for Skeletor, the rightful ruler of Eternia. But rest assured, while Skeletor still breathes, he will fight to regain his rightful crown. Join Skeletor, and victory is assured!

A New Kind of Love

These are the men of the future. Consider the men of the past. Think of a boy born in 1900, who grew up into a world of radio then TV. Think of how different he'd be than this young man above, born in the Internet. All the rules are changing.

Without foundation in this new world, we drift, assuming new personas, at least for a while. And some more passionately than others.

The Internet has opened a Pandora's Box, and it won't be easily shut. It could be shut though - a good sized solar flare would fry modern technology, and we'd revert to the year 1900 quickly enough, for a decade or more. But the Internet would return, inevitably.

My advice for this new world? Be flexible of mind and body.

Florida the horrible

Florida is a monster, in many ways. One of which is: It's only made for a colder world. If the sea rises too high, Florida ceases to be. And so it shall happen, soon enough. Woe approaches, Floridians.

Some scary skinheads from Florida. You get enough scary skinheads together and gosh! You've got a movement!

Check out giraffe man, from Florida! They helpfully put everyone's mug shot on the internet, for the lulz.

It's a cruel, cruel Summer.

Future Fashions

We're in the Brave New World, friends, and the times demand a new fashion sense. Tired of being recorded everywhere you go? Try on the Infrared LED hat! Invisible to people, but blinding to cameras. Looking for more anti-drone clothes?

Conceal your face or upper torso from the prying eyes of the drones no doubt flying overhead as you read this. Here's some examples:

Keep your heat signature to yourself!

And the latest in anti-AI trends - makeup masks! These styles are designed to throw off facial recognition software that is being used more and more often. More examples:

As you can see, the idea is to confuse the software by asymmetrical designs - and don't forget the hairstyle too. Sadly though, the makeup tricks will only work so long, until a better generation of software comes along and foils this simple, and fashionable trick.

Also, and perhaps more importantly: Looks like the future!

Other Monsters (Retro)

All our monsters and villains are "Others". All our enemies or threats are "Others". All fear of crime comes from fear of the "Others".  In the end we can only trust ourselves, but what if I told you that aye, verily, within your own mind lurk "Others".  What if I also told you that everything looks way cool in retro sci-fi pulp covers?

So yeah, "Others". What perhaps is more interesting is what we define as "Not Other". Who is in our Tribe and thus one of us, not one of them? Who walks in the Light and not in the Dark?

Mexican Wrestling Vader might appear to be a bad guy, but he's just waiting for his reverse heel turn. The Flip-Rudo.

Never an option

Magneto is one of the best mythic characters ever created, in my humble opinion. First, his power is the best - control over the power of magnetism. Think what an incredible power this is - all magnetic materials are at his command. He could rip apart the Earth if he wanted to.

Second, he's a villain, but his cause is debateably just: Mutant Power!

The Marvel comic universe is divided into two large, broad categories of super powered individuals: Mutants, and regular folk with powers. For example, Iron Man has technology. Spiderman was bitten by a radioactive spider and thus gained spider powers. The Hulk was made by gamma radiation. And so on - external events or external tools make the hero. Regular folk who obtained super powers and became heroes.

Mutants, on the other hand, have genetic mutations which give them their super powers. Creatively, this allows for a writer to create any kind of super power they'd dream up, with little concern for backstory/justification. It's a mutation - 'nuff said. It works too within the broader bounds of science - some mutation of the human gene allows for super strength, or super healing, or the ability to control other people's minds. Professor X, y'all, the Yin to Magneto's Yang. It's plausible, and the conflict which this creates is subtle and understandable - mutants versus "normals".

Magneto is for Mutant rights, to save this small group from the fear and hate of the larger Homo Sapien population. Professor X is all about enforcing the Homo Sapien agenda.

But you see here how Captain Picard really feels.

You wouldn't like me

There are smart Hulks in the comic lore. And grey Hulks.

And all kinds of other Hulks.

But "The Hulk" - the myth - is rather about a Jekyll/Hyde/Frankenstein story of a man who gets angry and turns into an unstoppable green smashing machine. And it's true - the Hulk cannot be stopped. His power is that his anger/rage/pain/fear makes him stronger, thus, the more powerfully you were to beat on the Hulk, well, he'd only get stronger still. This of course plays to powerful, instinctual emotions in people. The feeling of power/powerlessness. Anger and the wish to smash your enemies, or everything. Freedom from constraints of society and morality. Fear of the monster lurking inside. Fear of power. Etc.

Super heroes from the comics - Superman, Batman, Hulk, etc, are our new myths, and they're all pretty awesome. Let Spidey be your guide, man. Or even Aquaman, if that's your thing. Swamp Thing says Amen!

Wonder, Woman

Here's one of the first sketches of Wonder Woman, who premiered in comic form in December 1941. It being December of 1941, she was of course fighting for Truth, Justice, and the American Way, even though she was an Amazon. Go figure! Did you know the non-fictional home of the Amazons was Bulgaria, along the Black Sea? Not very exotic.

But maybe this will do.

Or maybe this?

But definitely not this. Note the loss of the Eagle as the costume evolved. Also note that the Romans of yore used the Eagle as their standard - no coincidence, of course.

Variations of Cap

A more realistic Captain America, today. Or, perhaps even more realistic:

The gritty reboot of Captain America: Wingnut Warrior.  But here, a true American hero:

A voter! Or the child of a voter, and hopefully has learned how important it is to vote.

Vote for the Lady Avengers!

Otherman

Can Superman even get drunk off Earth alcohol? I think not. But maybe some alternate universe Superman could. Like

Nic Cage could drink the actual alcohol clouds that span light years. Seriously, and literally, alcohol clouds in space. Now, if there were obvious punchline clouds, too, all would be complete. But there ain't, ain't there?

The greatest hero of all, but you'll never hear about him, since he's always busy saving Singapore rather than Metropolis or Gotham.

Behind the Curtain

The Republican party is a quasi-fascist outfit at this point - seriously - and so is highly structured (as opposed to the Democratic party which is really a co-op amongst dozens of vested interest groups, often with conflicting agendas.). The structure is, from top to bottom, as such: Money.

 Two of the worst things ever to happen to America - Corporations were somehow declared actual people, just like you and me. Then, free speech was applied to political spending - that is, you can't restrict it. And so we have the Koch Brothers, heirs to Daddy's fortune. Their two claims to fame are 1. Increasing Daddy's fortune, considerably

and 2. Mainstreaming the mentality of the John Birch Society, of which their Father was a founding member. These are the crazy "FLUORIDE!" folks from the 50's, who were mocked and marginalized till Nixon, then Reagan took it to the next level. And all along the way were the Koch boys, spending freely. They are now the de facto power of Conservative America, coupled with Murdoch (and a few others), and they have two major means of control. 1. "Think Tanks", like ALEC listed above. ALEC is great - they essentially write laws whole cloth, then present these writings to Republican controlled State houses, who pass them. All the anti-Union laws that burst out of nowhere since 2010 are all ALEC written. There are many Think Tanks, and the Kochs fund quite a few of them.

There's some legitimately good stuff they do too, but consider that PR cover for their main aim. Here's another one of their Think Tank flunkies:

 Grover Norquist. Have you heard of him? Look him up if not. Basically, his "Think Tank" gets Republican officials to sign a pledge to never raise taxes. Literally - they sign a pledge to this guy, and it's taken very seriously. Why? Because if you break your word to Grover (AKA to the Kochs), they will pay big money to fund an opponent for your next primary election, which you will probably lose since you now have little money. And so everyone bends the knee to this bespectacled pudgeball with no apparent skill at anything. Odd! Again, there are many Think Tanks and they perform a variety of acts, all intended to enforce rich people's agendas. The second leg of their control is the media:

Fox is the obvious example, but I would argue all national media is duly corrupted by the power of these politically motivated billionaires - CBS, ABC, even the liberal MSNBC. The Washington Post, even NPR. They all carry the billionaire's water in one way or another. For an easy example, consider the next time you see/hear an interview with someone from a Think Tank talking about the need to reduce the deficit. You have a spokesperson for billionaires talking on a media channel owned by billionaires about ways to give these billionaires more money. It happens every day, and it's so common now as to not stand out. It's how our system works - their system. Next on the list, lower down the chain you'll note:

The politicians. Batboy here is Rick Scott, Governor of Florida and should be felon, but hey! Liberal lies. Scott was elected during the terrible year of 2010 and has followed the ALEC agenda to a T - consider that. All the Republican governors who swept to power that year were following orders from ALEC, AKA the Koch Brothers. Think of what that means for our country, you, and your family. It means we're pawns, sources of funding, dupes and goons and consumers to buy crap they've outsourced to the cheapest place they can find.

Now, many of us are waking up. I have a faint amount of confidence that the worm has turned and a majority of folks are realizing how screwed they've been by this "Conservative" movement. But not everyone, not the 27%, for sure:

Think of this: In the weeks following the massacre of Kindergartners at Sandy Hook, gun sales have set another record. They've been setting records, coincidentally enough, since 2008. Think of what it means that there are people out there who's reaction to that massacre is to immediately go out and buy a ton of assault weapons and ammo, on the assumption the Government (read: Barack Obama, the Enemy. If it was a Republican in charge there would be no panic) will take their guns. Consider these folks spend many thousands of dollars a year on guns, money they probably would be wiser saving/spending elsewhere. These are our future Brownshirts, and FSM help us if a Republican of this fold wins the White House again.

If you're still reading, you probably agree with me so far. Thus, let me conclude with an entreaty: Get involved. Get active. We can make a difference, and we must. We can't cede this country, and this world, to a handful of selfish rich fucks who would see us all burn to put a few more dollars in their portfolios.

Are you with me?

For Gondolin!

Ancient Greek war mask, with form fitting face behind. War has led to a good percentage of human evolution - both in body and technology. Death is the ultimate motivator. For Gondolin! For your dreams!

The 3rd leg of the grand stream, draining Gondolin of stagnant waters and all possibility of flooding. Little round rocks collected for weeks, piled in stacks, laid across the established channel. Erosion prevention is the aim. Beauty a secondary concern.

But it is a concern. Beautiful, is it not?

The water must flow.

Dali Dada till Death

Dali was Dada as Hell. As well he should have been: Dada 4Lyfe.