Yearly round-up: books, movies, etc

At left, DVD cover, George Harrison: Living in the Material World





I just loooooved Martin Scorsese's documentary about George Harrison, my favorite Beatle, incredible talent and just plain awesome individual. George introduced that old-time religion to the West, and for that, he got more karma points than you and I put together. The mind boggles.

I appreciated the film's emphasis on George's spiritual journey, which was given all proper and due respect; possibly for the first time I can recall. In most accounts, it's always been some variation of "ohhhhh there's goes dreamy George off with his Indian gurus again..."

What does it mean when someone has more money, fame, attention, sex, etc than most of us can contemplate in our wildest fantasies... and yet, still feels that something is missing? George's life is an enduring testament to spirituality-as-direct-experience, that I have always found very moving and intense.

"GEORGE!!!!!!!" -- screams, squeals; Daisy momentarily reverts to childhood.

~*~

After viewing the somewhat-interesting Another Earth, I watched the second movie from screenwriter-actress Brit Marling, titled The Sound of My Voice. Great premise, as with Another Earth... but my grandmother's phrase, too clever by half, comes to mind. The movie tries to have its cake and eat it too... the ending is something of a cheat, in my humble opinion... although very clever (too clever by half). Describing the movie further, is to jeopardize the story and the ending, although lots of people have.

Both of these indie movies are similar in that they are 1) weird, and 2) ponderous and thoughtful. But more than that, one gets the impression that everybody sat around brainstorming, figured out the boffo endings first and then WORKED BACKWARD. Both movies seem to work up to the 'surprise' endings, stacking the deck in ways that seem overly obvious in retrospect.

One of the strengths of truly surprising, beloved and inventive film-endings, is NOT stacking the deck, and hitting you upside the head all at once: BAM. Think: The Sixth Sense, Fight Club. You DID NOT see it coming, or only glimmers of it, and those delicious glimmers made you sufficiently curious to continue watching. In addition, these movies were not ALL ABOUT the endings, and in fact, people continue to talk about both movies without even referencing the endings. In short, you do not have to love the endings to enjoy both films, and plenty of people disliked the endings who nonetheless greatly enjoyed the movies as a whole.

I don't think that is possible for either Another Earth or The Sound of My Voice, in which one continues watching just to see their respective endings. The actual content of these movies tends to disappear into some kind of cinematic vortex, and the END is the whole thing. The tension is ratcheted up so high, one is watching just to get to the resolution of the grand puzzle; this viewer-disposition is likely due to the fact that they imagined the ending first, and worked backwards, filling in the blanks.

To briefly summarize, The Sound of My Voice is about a cult leader who claims to be from the future. Is she? Well? And you keep watching to find out. Do you actually find out? That is the pertinent question: I think it cheats and you don't, or do, or sorta-kinda both. Huh?

If this plot-line interests you, check it out. Apparently, this was originally planned as the first film in a trilogy, and I'd be lying to you if I said I wouldn't watch the sequels. In fact, the film makes sense as one of a trilogy, in the sense that it might not (in that case) be a total cheat, but I was still a little pissed. Excuse me, but that's 85 minutes I'd like to have back, if you are not going to answer the fucking question. Hmph! (And at this point, it is not clear that they will even be able to make the sequels.)

Hello, lovely Ms Marling and company, this is what SERIAL TELEVISION is for. Maybe you should go to HBO or somebody like that next time, instead of seeking all that attention at Sundance.

~*~

I was sufficiently blown away by Damien Echols' amazing prison memoir, "Life After Death", that I did most of a podcast about it. I certainly cannot do it justice. If I had to recommend one book for the year, this would be it.

How does one keep from losing one's mind and/or being eaten up with fury, while spending 18 years (half his life) on Arkansas's Death Row, for something you didn't do? Another deeply spiritual testimony. His repeated use of the word "magickal" (for those things that transcend everyday-life and take us elsewhere), is just perfect, and aptly conjures up that momentary experience for us. If not for the magickal, some of us would shrivel up and die... and Damien was forced to cultivate the magickal in small, seemingly-inconsequential things (correspondence and pencil-sketches) and almost-forgotten memories, such as old mud puddles and songs he hadn't heard in decades.

A lesser-soul would have been completely destroyed. Many men (and yes, they are men) are completely destroyed, and he tells us all about that, too.

An uncompromising, poetic, breathtaking account. Go read it. Now.

~*~

Ayn Rand and the World She Made was some great reading, providing us with a detailed year-by-year account of Rand's life. Biographer Anne Heller obviously admired Rand, and that gives us the kind of intensity an Objectivist would deliver. The sexual abuse of starry-eyed-young-acolyte turned self-esteem-theorist Nathaniel Branden, is offered here in bright primary colors, so all you fellow scandal-mongers take note. (PS: And who knew that the former Nathan Blumenthal changed his name to one that had Rand's name embedded within? The book is full of GREAT GOSSIPY DETAILS like that.)

I came away convinced that Rand was a lifelong amphetamine-addict, which explained many of the awful extremes in her personality, particularly her ongoing personal paranoia. The fact that she surrounded herself with idolizing sycophants means that nobody challenged this facet of her character; to challenge her was to be consigned to the outer darkness, and few of her Objectivist cult/crew dared to go there.

And therefore, like so many other famous people we can name, she just got worse.

The book succeeded in making me compassionate for Rand, both as an intelligent woman who was often not taken seriously and/or understood, and as a drug addict who did not realize what was happening to her.

This doesn't mean she wasn't a horrific and selfish person; she was. But now I understand why.

And speaking of karma, Rand has plenty to answer for. Her influence on our government and economy has been widespread and damaging, starting with her acolyte Alan Greenspan getting his bullshit ideas taken seriously (while Rand herself could not) and getting himself repeatedly hired and promoted as some kind of economic genius. You can easily clock the deep influence of Rand on the Republican Party, including the fact that one of her fanboys recently ran for Vice President.

If you are interested in a thoroughly fascinating individual, a cultural touchstone and influential life--check out the Heller biography. Of all the books I have read about Ayn Rand (several), this one is the most comprehensive, descriptive and fair.

~*~

Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case by Debbie Nathan, is indeed extraordinary. If you are a baby-boomer who read the popular SYBIL by Flora Rheta Schreiber in the 70s (and it seems that everyone did) and/or watched the TV-movie starring Sally Field (ditto), THIS IS FOR YOU.

Nathan's investigative account is about the genesis of the book; the psychiatric fraud/fakery and therapeutic-abuse propagated for the sake of money (and goodness, it poured in like water!). One fascinating subplot includes the details of how various psychological 'syndromes' are popularized and then streak through the population like wildfire. (Remember how "multiple personality disorder" became all the rage, with respectable stories on "60 Minutes" and so on?) Hey, when there is big profit to be made, people always materialize to make it. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear... and we might add, when the disease is invented, the doctor/cure will likewise appear, right on cue. For a fee, of course.

I am often reticent to talk about my ongoing skepticism concerning various hip diagnoses going around: bipolar disorder, ADHD, ADD, Aspergers, and so forth and so on. Everybody is depressed all of a sudden. And I see commercials for drugs, drugs, drugs, and dollar-signs are all over them.

This book renewed my skepticism, and made me feel okay about it. Psychobabble and hip mental-states/Dx go through recognizable phases and turn into fads (especially if there is profit at stake)... and somehow (just like religion) psychology always manages to renew itself and stay above the fray it creates. These charlatans never have to answer for themselves, and thus, they never do.

This is one such amazing tale. Highly recommended.

~*~

Other good books I enjoyed this year--

[] We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency by Parmy Olsen, was really wonderful. I picked it up and did not put it down; all deep-internet (as in DEEP SPACE) junkies will enjoy it immensely.

[] As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh: Diaries 1964-1980 by Susan Sontag (which I first mentioned here) has continued to shape my thoughts, months later.

One incisive quote concerning the change-in-consciousness wrought by television (and of course, even more accurate in the internet-era), which I scribbled down:

As the images multiply, the capacity to respond diminishes.

Yes.

[] Inside Scientology by Janet Reitman, is well worth your time. Short version: it's even worse than you think it is.

[] Millennium People, one of the last books by my favorite author, JG Ballard, which has only recently been published in the USA. WE MISS YOU, JAMES GRAHAM BALLARD!. Another excellent, related volume is JG Ballard: Conversations edited by V Vale, which has also been quoted here on DEAD AIR, at some length.

I return to it at regular intervals, to keep my sanity.

~*~

I am currently reading Teachings from the Medicine Buddha Retreat by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, which is some rather dense and heavy reading... the kind of density that makes you read and re-read the same few pages, until you are sure you get it. And even then, you probably won't get it.

This encyclical contains lots of what the Baptists would call vain repetitions. The litany-reading, rosary-reciting ex-Catholic in me grimaces at still more verbiage that I must repeat. (sigh) Seriously, is there NO END to it?

Then again, it got George Harrison through. He faced his death on his own terms, unafraid. And it got Damien Echols through 18 years in solitary confinement.

And who could ask for more?

For the Record

The Blogger known as Heart, aka Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff on SEX-TV, with two of her eleven children.

~*~

The blogger known as Heart, Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff, appears to be having an emotional meltdown. I don't really care too awful much, except that she has gone after ME now... accusing me of some pretty weird stuff.

This is an official statement, as they say in Washington.

I am sorry Heart is losing her shit (well okay, not really), but this is apparently because she is a guru without a group, a leader without sheep. Her former droogs are in the process of abandoning her in droves, for insider-reasons of their own. For someone who has been a self-described "leader of women" her whole life, I think this is likely traumatic. As far back as I can remember, clear back to the Ms magazine boards in the early years of this decade, Heart has been the leader of a sizable feminist faction/cult of personality, calling the shots. Now that this faction is finally examining/questioning Heart's Queenship? Not good news for Heart.

Today, I get an email telling me I am accused of bringing Heart's board down during last year's attack by "Anonymous"... how lil ole me can do such a thing is... well... if I knew how to do stuff like that, I'd do it to people IRL that I have grudges against! I have barely figured out basic blogging html skills; I do not work with computers on my job. (?) Strange Days have found us.

One of Heart's many sockpuppets (their names are legion) also accuses me of hurting someone named BB. I assume this is a reference to Biting Beaver, author of a blog I am not sure I have even read! I did not know she was still blogging. I have no idea of the URL of BB's blog and I have never linked her here on my blog a single time. (?) All of these accusations come waaaaay out of left field, to put it mildly.

This is what "Sis" wrote:

Consent does come into play here. BB was a prostituted woman, and her posts are about recovery. The post DD took to hand to A*non was about recovery. She didn’t give consent to any of the rapes and torture she endured as a child, young woman. She didn’t give consent for the rape of her words by another woman who set in motion despicable destruction in BBs REAL life.

I didn't "hand anything" to "anonymous"--as I said, I can't recall if I've even read BB. I only got fast-access internet in June of 2007, the month I started my blog. I do not have internet access at work, period. Meaning, I don't squander my internet time; I use it wisely.

Has she lost her mind?

Last month, Heart actually came here claiming to be her own son. (See last few comments in second link, above.) She asked me to take down the SEX-TV photo (above), which is still available on the porn-site SEX-TV--where I just found it. (Why it's okay to pimp her kids on SEX-TV but I am not supposed to reproduce SEX-TV's own photo of her family, distributed while she was running for President, is anyone's guess.) I find it very bizarre to pretend to be your (terribly precocious and well-spoken) son, to try and manipulate someone. Then again, we know that Heart learned at the knee of Dr Dobson and has a scary fundamentalist history; the fundies are nothing if not well-versed in emotional manipulation, accusations and shaming... all of which were done to Heart. And now, she spreads the poison. (This is the whole evil of fundamentalism--it never really goes away.)

On her blog today, Heart writes:

I didn’t know until a couple of months ago that it was Daisy Deadhead who was initially responsible for the the circus that ended up this way. [insert links about 'anon' attacks on her website]

I don’t know who DD is, really. I do know whoever this person is, s/he is capable of some really sick things.

I like how she snuck in that "s/he"--didya catch that?

I did not do anything to Heart, except write about her here. When someone claims they speak for feminism and actually RUN FOR PRESIDENT as the radical feminist candidate, I consider them fair game. I wrote about the MAJORITY of presidential and vice-presidential candidates during the last election. Am I supposed to go easy on Heart because---? If she didn't want political attacks, don't run for office. When you set yourself up as the official face of radical feminism, then you are representing me, as Lindsey Graham also claims to do. I take him on, and I will take her on, too. Because they DO NOT speak for me. Lindsey Graham does not represent me, and neither does Heart.

She "doesn't know" who I am? Well, at the Ms magazine bulletin board, we exchanged messages several times, when I was using the name "China Cat Sunflower." She defended me against a particularly obnoxious MRA (Men's Rights Advocate) named Rich, who attacked me repeatedly (she called him a "horror") and I thanked her for that. And then later I find out (I got a few friends, too, Heart!) she lets this OBNOXIOUS MRA post at her supposedly separatist bulletin board! Believe me, that sets off alarm bells of my own. What is he doing there, and why? Is he another sock puppet? (If not, why allow an acknowledged, proud MRA to have unbridled access to your inner sanctum?)

And you know, I am right here. She doesn't know who I am? Why doesn't she read my words and find out? I have written of my radical history at length; I have named my copious associates and associations. I have posted my photo and the photos of my friends. I have done everything but give her my name, which is what she obviously wants. She has recently been agitating for feminists to "name themselves"--and not be anonymous, yet simultaneously cautions us that the rapists and misogynists will track us down and kill us. (Can you say "mixed signals"?)

I decided that Heart was having a meltdown when she actually compared herself to Jesus Christ Crucified, in THIS POST, which I found genuinely disturbing.

I hope I don't have to point out, that she IS NOT Jesus Christ, and IS NOT being crucified or sacrificed. But Christianity lends itself to fantasies of persecution, and I say this as a dissident Catholic.

This is not a good or healthy development.

More from Heart's comments:

I’m reading comments all over talking about this daisy deadhead person and the attack on BB. People sound afraid, disturbed, and then there are folks who don’t care. I think that piece is what scares me most…. we never care, until it happens to us.

I love how they reduce women they dislike to "this daisy deadhead person"--I do not even get the benefit of capitalization! Take that, bitch.

Anyway, I assume this is Heart's call to arms, and I expect my site to get taken out next. Unless... unless... she doesn't realize that the troops have deserted her? And they aren't paying any attention?

And then there is this exchange between Polly Styrene (love the name! rock on!) and Heart:

Polly: Whatever Daisy Deadhead has done, or not done in the past, which I will reiterate I have NO evidence of, is past. Not publishing her comments on my blog will not change that.

Heart: What an odd thing to say. Whatever obvious trolls or males who advocate rape have said, they said in the past as well. In fact, once you’ve approved a comment, “it’s in the past.” Are you saying no matter what someone has ever posted, if it’s in the past, you’ll give them another shot?

Hoo boy, I'm being compared to rapists now.

But speaking of trolls, why is Ms-board troll RICH being given refuge in Heart's private space? If Rich-the-rape-apologist can be your buddy, what is the issue, exactly?

Heart: That’s it so far as this subject goes though. I do not want these folks’ names on my blog beyond this point, neither do I want to hear what they are saying, doing, whatever.

Then why are you starting this?

Finally Heart says:

Polly, why don’t you just ask DD whether it’s true?

To borrow a line from Mary McCarthy: Every word is a lie, including the AND and the THE.

Aletha:

Polly, you might try asking because DD is probably damn proud of what she did.

Every word is a lie, including the AND and the THE. I have not done anything to Heart, except write about her here, on Polly's blog, on Ren's blog, etc. I have not directed large numbers of trolls to her website to attack her blog. (And why would they listen to ME?) I did not encourage "anon" to attack Heart, although I didn't lose any sleep over it either.

I hope that is clear enough even for a fundamentalist having a meltdown to understand.

Unfortunately, she is getting so few hits now, she has to come sucking around HERE, to my tiny-ass blog, for readers. She knew I'd have to address her sockpuppet delusions...and all that sockpuppetry appears to be fragmenting her personality in dangerous ways. I miss the old Heart who used to argue on the MS boards and put the misogynist trolls in their place. Now, she invites them in and then accuses other feminists of being rapists.

Holy Bizarro Universe, Batman. As Helena Kallianiotes would say (see my post from this morning): Crap and more crap and more crap.

Odds and Sods - Long Brawl edition

Left: Snoid, by R. Crumb.







Some great writing in mighty, mighty Blogdonia this week, and thought I'd spread the love.

Menstrual Poetry writes that John McCain isn't sure if he supports contraception or not. What's that?

Asked if he supported abstinence-only education in Africa, instead of distributing condoms, McCain said:

“Well I think it’s a combination. The guy I really respect on this is Dr. Coburn [R-Oklahoma]. He believes — and I was just reading the thing he wrote — that you should do what you can to encourage abstinence where there is going to be sexual activity. Where that doesn’t succeed, then he thinks that we should employ contraceptives as well. But I agree with him that the first priority is on abstinence. I look to people like Dr. Coburn. I’m not very wise on it.”

Not very wise on it? Is he wise enough to be president, in that case? GOOD LORD, PEOPLE!

~*~

Feministe reports on PETA's latest naked girlies, which is somehow supposed to, umm--well what IS it supposed to do, again? Fire us up so that we will clothe the poor naked animals, or what? As usual, Jill sums up in her usual succinct fashion: "If you want to draw attention to the plight of animals by humanizing them, go for it. But you don’t have to de-humanize women in the process."

Why is this so seemingly-impossible for PETA to understand?


strength never power also offered some excellent commentary, as well as the terrific graphic at left!

~*~

And finally, here is Thene at Aaru Tuesday, who quoted MOI (((kisses self dramatically, as the late, great Florynce Kennedy used to do))) in her great piece on Anonymous. I've edited out the name of the website in question, but Thene's original piece has it... I just didn't want a bunch of searches of their name ending up here, since they are um, notoriously very picky about how they are represented in print. Thene writes:

From what I recall of internets culture five years ago, ______ was there and Anonymous wasn't. _____'s big point as a community wasn't the anonymity, it was the anarchy. No limits, no mods or rules to speak of; the anonymity was because ____ was intended as an English-language alternative to 2channel, with anonymising architecture to suit. Rather than being a 'one', 'legion' Anonymous, a then-friend who was one described /b/tards as being a deliberate non-community; a group of people who browsed the same place (and shared an already notably intricate internet dialect) but perceived themselves as being unconnected.

And I am wondering if there is any such thing as people who browse the same place staying unconnected? Can that really happen? What makes us so hungry for the hive-mind, even in the name of REJECTING the hive-mind?

~*~

In political news, Hillary Clinton has taken the Ohio and Texas primaries, and Politico.com's piece today is aptly titled DEMS FACE A LONG BRAWL.

Ugh. Ain't it the truth.

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Listening to: Pavement - Date With Ikea
via FoxyTunes