“Mr. President, I’m not saying we wouldn’t get our hair mussed.
But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops.”
If we don’t, remember me. Scenes from movies turned into animated gifs.
Above: George C. Scott in Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964).
Don’t teach children
don’t teach them your morality
It’s so tired and sick
might hurt
Maybe it’s a serious imprudence
leave them at the mercy of a false consciousness.Don’t praise the thinking
that’s increasingly rare
Don’t show for them
a known road
But if you really want
teach only the magic of life.Ring around the rosey,
the world changes.Don’t teach children
don’t disclose social illusions
Don’t fill their future
of old ideals
The only safe thing is to keep them away
from our culture.Do not magnify the talent
that is ever more off
Don’t introduce them to beautiful singing, to theater, to dance
But if you really want
tell them the dream of an ancient hope.Don’t teach children
but cultivate yourselves the heart and the mind
Stay always near them
Give trust to love
the rest is nothing.Ring around the rosey,
the world changes.
Giorgio Gaber: Non insegnate ai bambini (Don’t teach children, 2003)
Lyrics in Italian; requires Flash Player
“You always have the option to change the road you travel every day
Even if the road is the same you can see different things
Isn’t this enough to live?
Or rather, may not be enough?”
The Sky Crawlers (Sukai Kurora, 2008) “is set in an alternate history where, although the world is at peace, in order to ease the tension of a populace accustomed to war and aggression, private corporations contract fighter pilots to stage combat operations against each other for show.”.
Music by Kenji Kawai. Listen: Main Theme (ending).
Above: screenshot from the official trailer, detail.
Requires Flash Player
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“Total upload views: 51,977,386” The Guild: “A comedy web series about the offline lives of online gamers. |
Above: Felicia Day, from her photoset on Flickr.
Requires Flash Player
| “What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice). If you hear it, at some point you see it |
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Pomplamoose. Indie.
Listen and see: Jungle Animal and September.
Above: Nataly Dawn in Telephone (from: Tribute to Famous People), detail.
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“My girlfriend has left me. After four years together, she has left me. It happens, I know. It happens to us all, and my turn has come. This time however I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to throw everything out and start afresh. My second-hand life is for sale; I’m starting a new one. Come and buy. I’m selling up to free myself of all ties.”. (Matteo Caccia) |
I break an unwritten rule, presenting something in Italian. It’s worth it.
Vendo Tutto (Everything for Sale): a radio program written and hosted by Matteo Caccia on Radio 24.
You can listen the podcast and the archive of the previous episodes. The sale, real, was on Ebay.
The signature tune is: Ten Millions Slaves by Otis Taylor.
Above: Matteo Caccia, photo from his page on Ebay, detail.
The National. Indie/Rock/Alternative.
See and listen: Bloodbuzz Ohio.
From High Violet, released on May 11, 2010.
Requires Flash Player
“I love acting. It is so much more real than life.”
(Oscar Wilde, Reality Is Unrealistic)
“Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members’ minds and expectations. On the whole, tropes are not clichés.
Tropes transcend television. They exist in life. Since a lot of art, especially the popular arts, does its best to reflect life, tropes are likely to show up everywhere.”.
TV Tropes: “a catalog of the tricks of the trade for writing fiction.”.
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“I collect mug shots. Nobody famous.”.
(Mark Michaelson) |
| “This man shows me how close I am to nobody. Nobody famous, nobody seen, nobody heard, nobody wanted. And somehow, I come away feeling a little more human.”. (Mark Madeo) |
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Least Wanted. By Mark Michaelson. On Flickr.
Top, left: Untitled (1952), detail.
Bottom, right: Clarine (1949).
