cheese it, the cops!

Concerning aesthetics and mass media in the 21st Century

"I think human consciousness, is a tragic misstep in evolution. We became too self-aware, nature created an aspect of nature separate from itself, we are creatures that should not exist by natural law. We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self; an accretion of sensory, experience and feeling, programmed with total assurance that we are each somebody, when in fact everybody is nobody. Maybe the honorable thing for our species to do is deny our programming, stop reproducing, walk hand in hand into extinction, one last midnight - brothers and sisters opting out of a raw deal."--Rust Cohle, True Detective

I have no idea why True Detective didn't take every possible or conceivable award at the Emmys...except that the Emmys are pretty irrelevant to everything. But the persona of Rust Cohle will probably follow Matthew McConaghey to his grace and he'll be fine with that. Not unlike the Duke and the Ringo Kid; Eastwood and Dirty Harry.  And, he can have some fun with it as well...possible he's the new Eastwood for our times, burned out on bad X and imitation Don Perrignon, trying to maintain a certain level of gravitas despite knowing it's all a stupid game. Or the post-modern John Wayne, doing the "man's gotta do what a man's gotta do" for the world to wonder at. 

So, the guy has some standards. Lots of people in entertainment and sports don't. When A-Rod first was a seeming hero for the 21st Century, i.e., before Texas and the contract, the only ad he got in the Seattle market was a series of spots for Yammi Yougurt, which he jumped at. Sets the bar kind of low for class and establishing a brand. McConaghey has probably done others, but he just made a few for Lincoln SUVs and while I'm not sure they'd sell me a Lincoln if I was thinking about a SUV, I'd definitely pay to have him drive me around and talk about stuff...important stuff, like God and Sin and Beauty and smoked brisket and stuff. 

Some of the dialogue in the top one ranks with the best cowboy poets and Shakespeare..."I speak bull...1800 pounds and can do whatever he wants...I can respect that...Take the long way...Thanks."On the other hand, it makes me realize something -- we're in a  bold new world here that McLuhan saw coming. Soon, all meaning and art will be in the commercials, and the content will be static and Zipadeedodah. But, not just yet, at all times and in all places...but soon. 

 

Channeling Yeats, King Solomon and the APA, kinda sorta

Download The Unlearned Lessons -- Ethics Assignment

 

Whiskey on a Sunday and I don't Drink Anymore

 

In which Crusader AXE muses on France, ennui, Henri Le Chat Noire, veterans, Hippie cowgirls in shades, and the corporate-military-educational-sports-universal Potemkin Village.  

 

Faded love and National Security?

 

In which Crusader AXE muses about the CIA, Roman Triumphs, the Afghan conflict, hubris, schadenfreude, adultery, marriage, hypocrisy and teen age crushes by middle aged men viewed at least tangentally through classic honky tonk music because, that's what I do...

Dusty Springfield and Mitt Romney

There is no possible correlation between Dusty Springfield and Mitt Romney.  However, there may be a correlation between rock and roll criticism, guitar riffs, Dusty Springfield and the fall of the nation state. Enquiring minds should know...so we are polling readers of discernment, politesse and tase as to their points of view on which decades had the best riffs and what the status, relevance and future of the nation-state looks like. I suspect Crispian St Peters Sartwell will agree with me on chronology and its irrelevance to rock and roll while being more articulate by far on his vision for the nationstate. Me, I'm not sure...but then, as with Hamlet's hawk and hacksaw, I can at least tell the difference between Dusty who turned to women for orgasms and men for love as opposed to Mitt Romney who produced his children through Mormon cloning and uses his wife to mount his horse.  

Four years later, as the editor-at-large of STAR magazine, my boss asked me to cover fashion week.

"before starting enbrol, your doctor should check you for tuberculosis." maybe he should check himself before you start it, too.

dangling-mod ad for abc's absurd-looking astronaut show defying gravity: "as astronaut candidates, we are going to challenge you." quite the little role reversal, in which the trainees kick their instructors' sorry little butts.

"before starting enbrel, your doctor should check you for tuberculosis," no doubt because, in such circumstances, he might contract it himself. on the other hand, probably it would be wiser for your doctor, before starting enbrel, to have someone else check you for tb.

dudes. v for vendetta rocks. like: i guess they're making movies for middle aged anarchists, down to the crush on natalie portman. anyway: really.

red cheeks, red cheeks everywhere

i sort of collect dangling modifiers. this, from a sensational, though notably badly written, story in today's guardian: "Initially chubby and red cheeked, Rachel's old friends, shopkeepers and neighbours began to notice the change in her."