Pazdziernik II

A certain charm and passion and magic

Aerosmith's Steven Tyler had very edifying comments this week in defending common decency on television and on "a certain charm and passion and magic" in not revealing everything. Read for yourself Steven Tyler to Supreme Court: Watch the language

"There's a certain charm and passion and magic in not showing full-frontal nudity" or using constant profanity, Tyler said, as the high court prepared to take up a First Amendment case on the regulation of the airwaves.

"It's really hot when you only show a little," he said.

Thanks Steven!

Michael Jackson's Face

I was always curious of what Michael Jackson (1958-2009) would have looked like if he had forgone plastic surgery had not mutilated his face. Recently I came across a YouTube video of an excerpt from a September 2002 British Documentary titled Michael Jackson's Face. The video features a computer generated image of what Michael Jackson would have looked like at age 44.  Interesting. Let's leave it at that.

 

Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against The West

 

The topic of Friday night’s first USA Presidential Debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama in Oxford, Mississippi was national security. Not surprisingly, the focus was on fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as dealing with other threats to national security. This included — by definition I suppose— the current financial situation of the Wall Street markets. Both candidates could clearly identify with ease well-known threats to national security and the security of our allies. However, in my opinion, it seemed that both candidates did not have the same degree of understanding of these threats. 

In the Oxford, Mississippi debate the language of “Terrorism” was preferred over “Radical Islam”. Perhaps this was due, in part, to avoid equating terrorism with Islam and by extension all Muslims. Regardless of the debate rhetoric, conscious folks both here and abroad understand quite well the connection between terrorism and Radical Islam. In addition, most folks have no problem parsing Radical Islam from Muslims of good will and so forth. 

For those who refuse to believe the alleged “hype” between terrorism and Radical Islam, Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against The West directed by Wayne Kopping may be just an offering they can benefit from. I had the opportunity to view the hour-long version of this documentary. Overall this documentary was well done. It was not “ideology against ideology” as some documentaries tend to be.

There is no terrorist threat. There is no terrorist threat. Yes, there have been horrific acts of terrorism. And yes there will be acts of terrorism again but that does not mean that there is some massive terrorist threat. (Michael Moore, Writer and director of Fahrenheit 9/11)

Obsession focuses on the nature of the ideology of Radical Islam. It presents this ideology’s threats both in graphical terms of terrorist acts committed as well as in the words of its leaders themselves. In particular, Obsession highlights the abuse of children by their indoctrination into the ideology of hatred for Jews, the United States, its allies, and western civilization as a whole.

Our satellite channels deserve the name “media of terrorism.” They spread among the youth ideas that might not be considered outright terrorism but spread extremism. Such extremism is the beginning of violence and fanaticism, and violence leads to terrorism. Fanaticism, extremism, violence, terrorism. (Adb Al-Hamid Al-Ansari, Former Dean of Islamic Law, Qatar University; Bahrain TV, 2005)  

They are killing the infidels just like the preacher in the mosque told them to do. It’s their duty to kill them.(Nonie Darwish, Daughter of a Shahid (Martyr))  

I think the worst form of child abuse is teaching a child to hate. What we have on Palestinian TV and on Saudi TV over and over again are little kids being taught songs “I want to be a suicide bomber.” The youth who are listening to this day and night what do you expect to happen? (Walid Shoebat, Former PLO terrorist)

Obsession does not shy away from presenting the similarities between National Socialism in 1930’s Germany and the current world-wide ideology of Radical Islam. It lays out the case for linking the anti-Semitism of the 1930s to the current Radical Islamist and National fundamentalists.

In the 1930s the danger of Nazism was there. It was in everything Hitler wrote and said and in everything the Nazi authorities did in the corruption of a whole generation of German youth through the propaganda of Nazism in schools. Well people thought, “well this is a German problem it is a limited problem we have our own problems we have our unemployment.” And I think the same is true today. They don’t connect the dots. They don’t connect the acts together. They don’t see that Islamic fundamentalism is a global network and a global problem. (Sir Martin Gilbert, Author and historian) 

I watched anti-semitism since I was a young kid and now the world is reaping. These eggs are hatching and what’s coming out is literally something that comes out of Nazi Germany. The same as in Nazi Germany. The boy scouts — we had the youth. The youth was being robbed from being youth. (Walid Shoebat, Former PLO terrorist) 

I was a very intense believer in the Nazi ideology and I know what the supreme dedication to an ideology can do. It is absolutely correct to say if you can’t learn from the events of Nazi Germany you will not be able to grasp the true intent of the danger of the Radical Muslim world today. You are simply hiding. 

… The idea that Radical Muslims have and that Nazis had is to demonize the Jews. They just turn them into demons. This is exactly what happened in Germany. Now can you imagine we were “enlightened people” and we fell for this. Why wouldn’t Muslims fall for this? 

… This is a crime that the Muslim world commits against its children. Hitler committed a crime against young Germans. It took a long time to see that but what the Muslims do to their own children is even worse. (Alfons Heck, Former Hitler Youth Officer)

Obsession is very clearly not a documentary against Muslims or Arabs. It does not criticize Islamic culture, political entities or address religious issues. It focuses solely on the ideology of Radical Islam: its origin, indoctrination and consequences. (The fuller version of Obsession may tackle these.)

Islam has an incomplete — and in many ways wrong — understanding of God. Nevertheless, most Muslims, I presume are sincere people who try to follow the dictates of their consciences and follow God as they understand him. Nevertheless, the ideology of Radical Islam has nothing to do with God as he has revealed himself through Judeo-Christianity. 

Unfortunately, it seems that the ideology of Radical Islam will be with us for some time. The next USA President will certainly have to confront it. For those who think Radical Islam is nothing more that a “just” response to the “western imperialism” or western influence or “greed for resources” and the like, then Obsession could be quite an eye-opener. For others, Obsession could simply be a nice “refresher course” on the nature of irrationality and hatred that is manifest in the form of the ideology of Radical Islam. 

Deliberate hatred is contrary to charity. Hatred of the neighbor is a sin when one deliberately wishes him evil. Hatred of the neighbor is a grave sin when one deliberately desires him grave harm. “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:44-46) [Catechism of The Catholic Church 2nd ed. 1997, No. 2303]

Image: Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against The West DVD 

Tags: Radical Islam, Terrorism, Walid Shoebat, Nonie Darwish, Alfons Heck, Adb Al-Hamid Al-Ansari, Sir Martin Gilbert

Of Shysters and Chumps

 

Tonight I tuned into CNN’s coverage of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN (September 1-4, 2008). Immediately I noticed that nothing good was said of the RNC. Even what should have been “neutral” commentary had barbs. 

Commenting on U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney neither speaking at this year’s RNC (He is currently traveling in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine) nor given a video tribute, a CNN reporter — I’m sure he’s officially a “commentator”— had this to say of Senator John S. McCain: 

“It really makes John McCain look like a chump”. 

Dios mios! I haven’t heard language of “chump” used since I was in seventh grade. Are we back in seventh grade? Has Vince McMahon's WWE had that much influence on culture? At the time I simply thought “could you imagine anyone on CNN speaking of Senator Barack H. Obama as a possible ‘chump’?”

Chump: noun, informal “a foolish person”; “an easily deceived person; a sucker” 

As dis-edifying as CNN’s coverage was it reminded me of a funny light-hearted event during our travels to Vladivostok, Russia last November when we tried to teach our native Russian-speaking guide and translator some new English words:

“We’re going to teach you a new word in English.” 

“Okay” 

“Shyster” 

“Shyster?” 

“Do you know what a shyster is?” 

“Someone who is shy?” 

… and we all had a good laugh save for one.

Shyster: noun, informal “a person, esp. a lawyer, who uses unscrupulous, fraudulent, or deceptive methods in business” 

We also taught our Russian-speaking guide and translator the word “dude”! 

CNN's coverage later reminded me of Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput's 1998 essay Fools with tools are still fools.  Yes, "Fools with tools, after all, are still fools." Tools? Media "empire" based in Atlanta. Fools? Well, you can decide.

Related post: Back in the USA  

Tags: CNN, Republican National Convention

Nike and Marvin Gaye

 

If you haven't yet seen the new Nike television commercial featuring Marvin Gaye (1939-1984) from 1983 in Los Angeles then you're missing perhaps the best commercial in the past 10 years! As far as I can tell there are two versions: the longer version (above) and a shorter version that I saw last night on NBC. 

For the shorter version (that was on my mind all day) I initially thought that the singer may have been Isaac Hayes (1942-2008) but quickly discovered a Marvin Gaye classic performance ... with drum machine.

Tags: Marvin Gaye, Nike

PBS’ Carrier

Finally I found a reality show worth watching! Sunday night PBS began to broadcast a ten part series: Carrier . It is a great look into the life aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), commissioned in 1975. So far, I am really impressed with the quality of this production. Mel Gibson’s Icon Productions financed this project after others walked away. Thanks Mel!

Carrier more than presents the USS Nimitz as the “ultimate diplomatic tool for the President”, a “floating dictatorship defending democracy” or a "floating high school." It highlights the personal and day-to-day lives of many of the crew members — many just out of high school or in their early twenties. Surely national secrets have been sanitized from this film. Unlike other PBS shows like Frontline this one so far (up to episode no. 4) has been free of ideologies. Instead, it is simple refreshing and "honest" look at Naval life aboard one of the USA’s premiere ships. All ranks and all jobs —both men and women — have had equal air time so far. I'm sure not all in the US Navy are pleased. But it is nice to see the openness. Hopefully Carrier will enable all to see the attractiveness of Naval life, discipline, duty, commitment, honor and the like. Master Chief Christopher L. Penton is surely the “coolest CMC” to be found.

I highly recommend Carrier if you haven’t already been viewing it. It is also scheduled to be re-broadcast this summer on PBS. Television without commercials is very edifying indeed. The US Navy defending freedom worldwide, even more so!

Update Thursday May 1, 2008: The first airing of Carrier concluded tonight. Fortunately I was able to catch all 10 episodes. A good series, television or movie, is one that makes the viewer care about the subject matter and personalities presented. Wow.. Carrier is such a series! I won't give away any personal-story endings here but I know that women would enjoy Carrier just as much as men. The episodes have a near perfect overarching structure: the first episodes are "rough", the middle episodes are drama, the final two episodes really tug at you. I would be so disappointed if this did not win an Emmy Award or something for Documentary. I will be on the look-out to see how it does during awards time.

Image: USS Nimitz pbs.org
Tags: PBS, Carrier, US Navy

Augustus (2003)

Augustus (rated R) is a made-for-television movie directed by Roger Young. It is an Italian production by RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana. This was in English. However, many of the lines were dubbed in to avoid dialogs of English with Italian accents. These were noticeable, but tolerable and certainly not distracting.

Augustus is about the life of Octavian (b. 63 B.C.) , the legal son and specified heir to Gaius Julius Caesar (reign 49–44 B.C.). As Roman Emperor (27 B.C.–14 A.D.) he would call himself “Augustus.” The month Sextilis was re-named August in his honor.

Well, if you are not familiar with this period of Roman history, then viewing this movie will most likely be overwhelming in terms of keeping track of who’s who and their relationships. The first of three hours covers essentially the same period that HBO’s series Rome: Season 1 covered.

In Augustus, an elderly Octavian (Peter O’Toole) recounts his life to his daughter Julia (Vittoria Belvedere). Extended “flashback” scenes are interspersed with real-time events, most notably, the question of Octavian choosing his successor. This question has plagued nearly every period of Roman history.

Augustus was neither a vacuous “swords and sandals” film nor a CGI-inspired “epic battle” film. Rather, it was a historical drama that, not surprisingly, focused on the prominent women of this period, e.g. Tiberias’ mother Livia (Charolette Rampling and Martina Stella), Cleopatra of Egypt (Anna Valle), and Octavian’s sister Octavia (Elena Ballesteros).

For the first hour, I thought the casting of young Octavian (Benjamin Sadler) was poor but as the film went along he really grew into his role. Perhaps this was simply a reflection of Octavian maturing into Augustus.

This was an ambitious movie with much material to cover. As such not everything could be covered in detail. For the most part it covered the significant events well. I was disappointed that the significant naval Battle of Actium (31 B.C.) in which Octavian defeated Mark Antony (Massimo Ghini) and Cleopatra was just about glossed over in favor of presenting the previous alliance of Octavian and Antony at Brundisi:

Octavian: The madness

Antony: I will kill you myself.

Octavian: My sword is in my sheath. Strike. The soldiers are wiser than their generals. These are not two armies. This is one nation. No more Roman blood Antony. An alliance. I will give you half of my men to defeat Parthia. You swore before the senate that you would conquer Rome’s enemies.

Antony: Can I trust you?

Octavian: Can I trust you?

Antony: No one will believe it.

Octavian: True. We need a sign. A demonstration of our pact. Will you give up Cleopatra? Rome fears her most.

Antony: No. But I will take a Roman wife to show my loyalty.

Octavian: My sister. There is not better woman to demonstrate our alliance.

Antony: Done

Augustus overall was a good presentation of the life of Octavian. However, it should not be approached as a primer for this period of history. O’Toole’s acting was a bit over-dramatic. Rampling as Octavian’s wife Livia certainly stole the show, as often “scheming women” do. Just as in HBO’s Rome, Mark Antony, was well cast.

Augustus certainly “earned” its R rating. The battlefield blood was tolerable. There was no nudity but very scantily clad women abounded. The film ends by noting “in the 23rd year of his reign in the province of Judea Jesus of Nazareth was born.”

Related posts: Movie Reviews , HBO Rome Season 1, The Fall of The Roman Empire

Image: Octavian (Benjamin Sadler) and Marcus Agrippa (Ken Duken)
Tags: Octavian,Augustus, Rome, Peter O’Toole

Force Five: Starvengers

When I mention Force Five to others they usually have no idea what I am referring to. So here we go to set the record straight. From what I understand Force Five was mostly a New England-thing. Some in the Atlanta area down south have seen it broadcast as well locally. Force Five was an anime television series of the late 1970’s and early ‘80’s. It was Japanese mecha anime with English language dubs. (As a kid I knew it was Japanese because often there were signs with Japanese characters in the frames. These could not be dubbed out, I suppose.)

Force Five was on 5 days a week following another similar anime, Star Blazers. (I tolerated Star Blazers but Force Five that followed was my real interest.) It was actually 5 different animes. The line-up in the Boston area was:

Monday: Danguard Ace (Planetary Robo Danguard Ace)
Tuesday: Starvengers (Getter Robo G)
Wednesday: Spaceketeers (SF Saiyuki Starzinger)
Thursday: Grandizer (UFO Robo Grandizer)
Friday: Gaiking (Space Dragon Gaiking)

Spaceketeers was basically filler material in my estimation; not worthy to be in the line-up. Danguard Ace, Starvengers, Grandizer and Gaiking were far superior for action, heroism, adventure and just “dreaming big”. Starvengers was by far my favorite of this series.

Starvengers (or Getter Robo G) was the creation of Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa . Here is its history:

Getter Robo (51 episodes) 1974-1975
Getter Robo G (30 episodes) 1975-1976
Getter Robo Go (50 episodes) 1991
Getter Robo: Armageddon (13 episodes) 1998
New Getter Robo (13 episodes) 2004

Starvengers or Getter Robo G had a simple story-line: the evil alien Pandemonium Empire led by Emperor Ramsorch and Colonel Fuhrer (an Adolph Hitler type) versus those defending the Earth: Dr. Copernicus, his daughter Ceres, Hummer, Paladin, Foul Tip. Joey, Ceres young brother, if I recall correctly, also participated in the adventures.

Hummer, Paladin, and Foul Tip piloted three individual interceptors that when combined formed one of three robots: Star Dragon (Hummer’s lead), Star Arrow (Paladin’s lead) or Star Poseidon (Foul Tip’s lead). Ceres piloted her own Spaceglider and assisted the others in fighting the Pandemonium Empire. “Getter” means “changeable” or something like that in Japanese. So the original title makes sense.

Later, Battle of the Planets (1978-1985), in the same anime genre, would gain my favor. Battle of the Planets cast five young people as G-Force: “Always five acting as one”. It built on the ascendancy of the Star Wars popularity of the time. On further analysis, Battle of the Planets seemed to have taken cues from Starvengers: Mark as “Hummer”, Jason as “Paladin”, Princess as “Ceres” etc. This may have been the first cartoon series with a handicapped character: Keyop. The opening theme is still memorable!

Hopefully some will see something deeper in these shows than either violence, cool imagery, passions or fodder for video games. These shows were not simple diversions or “mindless entertainment”. They are more akin to fairy tales whereby truths are presented in simple — or at least different — language. They are surely in the league of Toliken’s Lord of the Rings. Good is always presented as good and evil presented as evil. (Unlike today’s WWE (f.k.a. WWF) and other shows). Having and fighting for a noble view of life against forces bent on destruction are always timely themes. The realities of nature and grace are presented as metaphors: human action, will and perserverance (nature) and “special powers” or “superior technology” (grace).

Anime has changed quite a bit from the 1970’s and 1980’s. Getter Robo: Armageddon and New Getter Robo are not for children. These new series have much more flawed heroes and "real life themes" from what I understand. Nevertheless they have made my Amazon “Wish List.”

Let’s wrap it up before I start writing about Mazinger Z and the like.

Image: Paladin and Hummer
Tags: Force Five, Starvengers,Getter Robo G, Go Nagai, Ken Ishikawa, Shogun Warriors

Concert For Diana

If you haven’t heard, Princes William and Henry will be having a tribute concert for their mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, on Sunday July 1st at Wembley Stadium in London. It will be broadcast on NBC-TV at 8pm.

In 1997, two of the world’s most famous women died close together: Diana, Princess of Wales on August 31st; Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, foundress of the Missionaries of Charity and other Catholic religious institutes, on September 5th. It’s too easy to describe the similarities and contrasts between these two women. However, it can make for a really good meditation. Their gold has been — or perhaps is continuing to be — “tested by fire” (1 Peter 1:7) to remove the impurities. (Of course, "gold" is not literal but metaphorical. I'm sure we could admit an exception and make the metaphore literal in the case of Mother Teresa since she had no gold herself!)

It certainly acknowledged that, from all accounts, Diana was a very good mother and a caring woman with a big heart. Neverthless, she was not speeding off to dedicate her life to helping the poor — materially, morally or spiritually — on the night of her tragic accident in Paris.

Along with others, I will watch concert as well as pray for her soul. It may be too much to expect NBC-TV or another major network to have a special on Blessed Mother Teresa to mark her the 10th anniversary of her death. Instead we’ll wait for better: her canonization!

Update: July 3, 2007: Well, I was disappointed with NBC's coverage of the concert. They limited their hour-long broadcast to simple highlights. Elton John is always good as an entertainer. Duran Duran was excellent with Rio. It was a nice surprise to see Joe Perry, and other Aerosmith members I believe, backing some of the the acts. In my estimation, the real treat of NBC's telecast was their footage of Diana's childhood home movies. It was very well done but limited to 5 or 6 minutes at the end.

Photo: concertfordiana.com
Tags: Diana, Princess of Wales, Mother Teresa

Mazowsze

New Hampshire Public Television (Manchester's Channel 11) lived up to its constant promise of “good quality programming” tonight. NHPTV featured The Music and Dance of Poland: Mazowsze tonight! Riverdance step aside.

Mazowsze featured traditional Polish dancing. Simply amazing. No Polka dancing here. (Polka dancing is a Polish-American phenomena.) I was already familiar with some of Mazowsze’s Koledy CDs, but to see them perform was a most edifying experience to say the least.

Mazowsze is a thrilling kaleidoscopic display of dazzling movement, vibrant color and stunning beauty. The incomparable Mazowsze performance troupe whirl and leap, stamp and glide in a glorious outpouring of sound and motion, rhythm and music that celebrates the cultural legacy of Poland. Polish-American entertainer Bobby Vinton narrates.

While the choreography and musical arrangements represent 39 distinctive ethnographic regions of Poland with traditional performance styles, the appeal of Mazowsze's dynamic stage show goes beyond audiences of Polish descent. An ensemble of 65 dancers and singers are arrayed in a seemingly never-ending series of handmade traditional costumes — more than 1,000 in total, one more dramatic and colorful than the next and some weighing as much as 30 lbs., making their energetic gravity-defying leaps, twirls and lifts even more impressive. A full 23-member orchestra performs music ranging from Chopin to simple folk melodies beloved by the Poles for centuries. Strategically mounted high definition cameras and microphones capture this stellar performance, recorded live at the Polish National Opera House in Warsaw, Poland.

The Wine gathering dance from Lubusz, among other outstanding performances, confirmed to me that I made a good choice to forego Game 1 of the NBA finals Cleveland v. San Antonio for The Music and Dance of Poland.

In the event that you unfortunately missed this outstanding broadcast, the DVD is available on-line. The 90 minute DVD also features additional dances not broadcast. Please feel free to enrich yourself and see what makes Polish culture great. Truly it was a reality show worth watching.

Tags: Mazowsze, New Hampshire Public Television, Poland, Polonia