Building a house with a bulldozer- thoughts on Vietnam

When a superpower, one as big as the United States, has been bombing a tiny country for years in hopes of winning a war that never had any structured goals or end in sight- when thousands of men a week are dying (to put it in perspective, In Iraq in eight years we have not lost the same amount as we did in weeks in Vietnam) when the American people turn on their president, on a war, when million man marches and unmitigated chaos erupt at home as a result of the escalating devastation abroad-when, WHEN, does our leadership step in and say, “Sorry guys, we fucked up!”

The answer is: They don’t. In our country, the president has the power to say no.

But Lyndon B. Johnson felt he couldn’t say no. Why in god’s name would he want to be the first president to lose a major war?

What the Vietnam War did was create a credibility gap between the American public and the government. Americans never had any reason to believe, before Johnson, that our president could be lying to us. Essentially, Johnson, his advisers, the FBI and other government programs (without the help of Congress thank you very much) conducted a war in secret- one that had started with Truman, escalated with Eisenhower, and blossomed with Kennedy- a war that, I’m paraphrasing here, “could not be lost by a great superpower to people running around in slippers.”

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, secret back room meetings conducted by Kennedy and his advisers turned out ok. A handful of white, privileged, educated men made decisions in secret that would affect the lives of thousands of people…and it didn’t end in disaster. Yet virtually these same men would do the same things in Vietnam- but what they couldn’t understand for the life of them and for all the education they had- Vietnam was different. To win, it was crucial to win the hearts and minds of the people. Land was irrelevant-something that had been insturmental in winning the two great wars- was not an issue. Guerrilla warfare was not something that could be fought with bombs and bombs and..well..more bombs, but what did Johnson do? Bomb the shit out of Vietnam. But it didn’t work, for a number of reasons.

At the same time, those in charge didn’t know what else to do. The Vietnamese people were ambivalent towards the American soldiers. Growing resentment towards the people we thought we were helping grew into chaos among military ranks. With the draft swelling, by 1966 every man sent into South Vietnam knew they were going into a war that could not be won. Their only hope was to serve the 365 days and get the fuck out of there alive.

What’s most fascinating about this whole thing is the role the media and the press began to play. The Pentagon Papers release years later illustrated the immense scale of secrecy and lying the administration went through in order to maintain some kind of belief in a consistent policy- that although the amount troops increased by thousands each month, our policy in Vietnam had not changed. ‘Search and Destroy’ missions were in vain- and the destruction of Vietnam’s ecology was a result. It was as if we were trying to build a house with a bulldozer. And Johnson knew if the public knew what the hell was going on- that we wouldn’t support it. He was totally right.

By the end of 1967, we were being told by our government that we were winning the war. But anyone with a pair of eyes could see otherwise- images broadcasted on television gave way to the anti-war movement that would change the direction of our country and create an entirely new atmosphere. Interestingly enough, every image we see of what’s happening in Iraq on TV or in any publication had to be approved by the Pentagon first. That didn’t happen during the Vietnam War. Nope. People would see coffins coming in by the hundreds each day in the comfort of their own homes- they’d see Buddhist monks lighting themselves on fire in opposition of the occupation of their home country- they’d see the riots around the United States, at colleges, in Washington, in NYC and LA- where students, women, young people get beaten with wooden bats by the ‘hardhats’- the opposition to the doves, the conservatives, the hawks- although I think, and I hope, they were the minority and that the anti-war sentiment at this time was much larger than those who felt nuclear power was the key to winning the war. So why the fuck would we believe the government when it was so painfully clear they were lying?

All of this would lead to Johnson’s destruction, and would create the atmosphere of what was to come in ‘68- the election, the assasinations of RFK and MLK, and the best part..is that the war lasted in 1975. Mind blowing.

I just wanted to write about what I’ve been learning in my foreign policy class for the past two weeks. I thank Peter Schwab from the bottom of my little heart for being the best professor I could ever ask for, for giving us the best reading materials to comprehend the extent and abuses of executive power since Truman and up to Bush. What I’ve learned in this class has truly blown my mind and I never had such an intelligent teacher- and I can say the two classes I’ve taken with him since I’ve been at this school I’ve learned the most (the other being about Cuba and the United States…that’s a whole ‘nother fucking dimension right there) and I continue to be amazed, excited, nervous (he is also the most intimidating man I’ve ever encountered but I am gradually getting over this) every Tuesday and Friday. I don’t really suspect anyone will read any of this but that’s fine by me. I am going to go make pizza bagels.

James Cameron's full Avatar script

http://www.foxscreenings.com/media/pdf/JamesCameronAVATAR.pdf

It's worth a read, for sure. Lots of scenes I would've loved to see in the theatre that I'll have to catch on the DVD.

So..the Phantom Menace doesn't completely suck

So here's a really well written analysis of George Lucas's The Phantom Menace,

and it addresses some very interesting issues about the film. I'd like to post the first few paragraphs in case any one who might happen to enjoy Star Wars is reading-

1999 stands as an important year in film, if for no other reason than for the historic return of three of American cinema’s biggest icons to their respective director’s chairs. It was the year that Terrence Malick came back from his decades-long sojourn into the wilderness of French academia after his celebrated couplet of 70’s filmmaking—Badlands and Days of Heaven—to finally offer a third effort with the World War II drama The Thin Red Line. It was the year that Eyes Wide Shut opened in theaters, a movie which proved to be not only Stanley Kubrick's return to filmmaking after twelve long years, but his swan song, as well. Finally, it was the year that George Lucas returned to hands-on directing with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, a movie which enjoyed far more popular success than either director’s combined filmography, but still remains unaccepted by followers of cinema at large.

Unlike Kubrick and Malick, Lucas remained an active filmmaker in the twenty-two years following the original Star Wars, since retitled A New Hope. While nominally delegating on-set duties to men like Irvin Kershner and Richard Marquand, seasoned veterans with steadier hands in the delicate art of actor-wrangling, Lucas’ eagle-eye vision for panoramic tableaux, crisply cut montage and dynamic compositions remained intact. In The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Lucas proved himself a modern-day Alexander Korda, the kind of man who involves himself so heavily in his productions that he holds a legitimate claim to be called auteur over his directors. Like a somewhat less maverick, somewhat more sane version of Howard Hughes, he successfully orchestrated his movies as a backstage mastermind, calling the shots through storyboards and occasional set-visits, even manning the cameras himself for scenes he deemed too important to let fall into the wrong hands. Every frame of both films is so deeply ingrained with Lucas’ visual stamp, it hardly seems to matter how much time he spent in the office while strangers minded the making of his movies—he could be every bit the director over the phone without ever phoning it in.

Therefore, when the time came for The Phantom Menace to begin shooting, it struck many as surprising that Lucas would decide to direct another film by himself, especially after having repeatedly sworn that he’d never do it again, following the nightmare that A New Hope’s production became in the face of an indifferent British crew. Thanks to the rapid advancements of 90’s CGI technology, however, Lucas felt confident that his attention could successfully remain engaged on-set for the duration of shooting, free from the obligations of tending to the minutia of his army of special-effects artists which kept him so preoccupied in the past. Like Kubrick and Malick, his work was criticized, accused of having lost some of its touch in the time he’d spent away from directing. Yet while Eyes Wide Shut and The Thin Red Line have gained appreciative followings over the years, The Phantom Menace has yet to find a home outside of mainstream popularity and the cult of fans the previous Star Wars movies built, of whom a vocal many were about as happy with the film as most serious-minded critics were.

Those who write off Episode I, however, do so at the risk of overlooking a vibrant, if occasionally shaky enterprise in strong, assertive movie storytelling. Throughout the picture, and the rest of the Prequel Trilogy, Lucas displays the same sharp filmmaking instincts that for better or worse shaped the cinematic zeitgeist for the better part of the last 25 years of the 20th century. Crafted with an expressive sequence of visionary set-pieces and cliffhanger driven storylines, The Phantom Menace succeeded in capturing both the imaginations and attention-spans of audiences worldwide, despite the loads of aesthetic baggage that its detractors remain unable to overcome. While the film’s critics have rightly pointed out a number of drawbacks it suffers from, it’s important to note that many if not most of these faults arrive not due to any lack of talent on its director’s part, but rather from the fact that with the Prequels, Lucas attempts to tell a set of stories significantly different from those of the Original Trilogy.



Very interesting read for a Star Wars fan. Also, I must add that 'Duel of the Fates', or the theme for Darth Maul composed by John Williams is one of the most brilliant pieces of music used in any film, ever.

Brainwashed.

Strangers in your dreams...

Our dreams are frequently full of strangers who play out certain parts…did you know that your mind is not inventing those faces - they are real faces of real people that you have seen during your life but may not know or remember?

The evil killer in your latest dream may be the guy who pumped petrol in to your Dad’s car when you were just a little kid. We have all seen hundreds of thousands of faces through our lives, so we have an endless supply of characters for our brain to utilize during our dreams.

I've got this book, it's called Understanding Your Dreams and I found it on the side of the road in seventh grade. It's been by my side for years. But according to some columnist dream expert dude, it would be better to just throw the book away....

Interested in interpreting your own dreams? Try this method and see if it works for you!

First, throw away that dream dictionary. Forget all that water-means-change, ladders-mean-career-opportunities stuff. Others may disagree, but I've found that most experts believe dream symbols have no objective meanings. You made them up, and only you can unlock them. (ouch, for me and my old beaten up book.)

Second, record your dreams. If you can't remember them, start recording them anyway. Jot down even the faintest flicker of an image or an idea. The more you record, the more you'll remember. It may sound simple, but it works. (this actually works really well. even keeping your eyes closed for those few moments after you wake up helps. if repeatedly think about your dreams then they stick with you all day, from my experience)

(Tips: Don't use an alarm clock to wake up. Come to wakefulness naturally. Train yourself to lie still as you're coming up; let your dreams float up with you. Fix on any image you can remember. Hold onto it. Whisper it out loud to make it gel. Then write it down at once. Dream images are often connected like beads. Record one and you'll probably remember another, and another, and another.)

Third, take your dream apart. According to the late Christopher Evans, a British psychologist and computer scientist, nothing in a dream is purely invented. Each dream is stitched together out of bits and pieces from your real life. If you think there are people in your dreams that you've never seen before, think again. They might be composites. The face might come from a fleeting glimpse of someone you saw in a crowd. The clothes might come from an ad on TV. The voice may be that of a former teacher. Tie each image to its source and the whole dream will often deconstruct. Suddenly, with face, outfit, and voice lifted away, the stranger in your dream may stand revealed as--your neighbor! Or your best friend, or your boss, or your cat.

Fourth, make sure you're not still dreaming. This issue came up in a dream class I took. Some of the students said that since dreams seem real to the dreamer, there is no way to tell if you're in one. I joked that you could check your bed and see if you were still asleep. Later that day--and it was a normal day--I began to obsess over this concept that I might be dreaming. So, I confess. I tried out my own advice: I went to my room to see if I was asleep.

And I was.

thxxx dude

I've also started this secret mission thing. It's not too much of a secret because it requires some manual labor, and well, I'm kinda weak and scrawny. I've been out these past few days getting really dirty and loving every second. It involves wood and a secluded area...and hopefully some warpaint..

Grilled cheese, mise-en-scene, & c-span..

I really get quite angry with myself for not writing in here...

I have so much on my mind that I think my brain sort of shuts down in response. And as a result, very little of my creative juices flow freely.

A week before I returned to school for my sophomore year, I met my biological father. His absence in my life growing up served as fruit for thought, angst, and lot of my writing.

Well...he's 65, lives in a shack as a semi-retired plumber, and doesn't have a penny to his name. Now that I'm in the picture, he's been working more, and he told me he hasn't bet on a horse since last Thursday. Oh, how special. But the simple fact that I'm in his life makes him so happy. He's got this stupid grin on his face when I'm with him, and I kind of love it. It's really overwhelming for me, to hear about these brothers and sisters , aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces I've got. So much catching up to do.

...Anyway. I'm a very confused little girl. For the most part, well, I mean, for every part of me concerned, I love college living, I appreciate beyond belief not just living with these girls but also the fact that they are my best friends doesn't hurt. I love having this kitchen, and cooking up crazy things I never dreamed of at home. I love the classes I'm taking this semester, but I am positively terrified about my future. I suppose most college kids are, but I look around and even if it's not TRUE, I still feel like everyone else has more going for them than I do.

My emotions, ambitions, talents(or, whatever..) are so hopelessly jumbled and only half alive. I don't know how to handle it. I'm desperately hoping that this season, with it's dying leaves and chilly weather can inspire me somehow. Or just fucking knock some sense into me.

Alright, I love watching films. I love reading about them, writing about them, and talking about them. One of my classes is a film class, and, well, I'm glad I'm finally taking one. It's enchanting. My school has this particular major, right, and it's called Cinema Studies, except it's total crap. I mean I'm sure there's some very intelligent people involved. But where will I go with a degree in Cinema Studies? Who am I kidding, where the fuck am I going to go with a degree in Political Science from SUNY Purchase? Uh, I'm just kind of down on myself. I'm so scared. I'm scared that at nineteen, that it's too late for me. Too late to get into the real good stuff- the technicalities of filmmaking, to get behind a camera, to learn how to edit film, and so on..So I'm not sure where that leaves me. I'm not really sure of anything. I love politics, it doesn't bore me at all, but the prospect of that scares me as well. I don't believe I'm cut out for it. But then again, I don't know what I might be cut out for. I graduated high school firmly believing I was going to be a White House Correspondent for CNN. I mean, yeah, okay.

I just don't have anyone to really turn to with these questions about my future. No one has the answers, though. One of the only things I do know is that I'm halfway decent at writing. I want to do so many things, but I'm terribly lazy, and I really don't THINK I can do anything. I just need someone to talk to. So thanks for listening, lil' blog.

gona finish this blurb with a picture of my favorite lady, looking cute and flawless in The Duchess- by the way, the biography of the actual woman who Keira played in the film, Georgianna Cavendish, is spectacular, one of my favorite reads to date. She was really one of the most influential women in politics& fashion in all of Europe in the 1700's.

Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland'

Once again, I come to you, blog, with a heavy heart and some regret because I do my mind's incoherent yet vibrant ramblings no justice here, while I really should more often.

But I came to write about Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. You can watch the trailer here.

Michael Kutsche is an artist and designer who had designed some characters for the beloved children's tale. His creations , though, have gone a bit farther than his Deviant Art page...



His concepts are being used to develop the characters in Burton's film, and Kutsche has been working directly with the director and on the set.




I'm so damn excited for this, and I'm not exactly a huge fan of Tim Burton, whose movies I find somewhat bleak. Sometimes I would like to pretend his Batman movies don't exist, but, whatever. Personally I love that he works with Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp all the time , even if I don't always love watching the movies ( Sweeny Todd, Corpse Bride) and I'm hoping that this movie will do really well financially and recieve some critical acclaim. Not trying to get my hopes up too high, but the promotional pictures and teaser trailer are getting me all excited!