Dropkick Murphys – Which side are you on

Βιντεαρα απο τα συντροφια της Sozialistische Alternative. Αμα μου εξηγησει και κανας γερμανομαθης τι λεει στο τελος…

Παμε γερα προεκλογικη καμπανια

Συστρατευομαι λοιπον και εγω στον προεκλογικο μας αγωνα και εγκαινιαζω επισημα την προεκλογικη καμπανια του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ στον Καναδα. Η καμπανια αποτελειται εξολοκληρου απο την μια χειροποιητη κονκαρδα που εφτιαξα σημερα και με την οποια κυκλοφορω πλεον περηφανα στο Τοροντο καλωντας συσσωμο τον αποδημο Ελληνισμο να μας στηριξει.

Ειχα παει στο γραφειακι του OPIRG για να βοηθησω στην προετοιμασια του “disOrientation week” (κανουνε και εδω  “κυνηγι πρωτοετων”, αμ πως) φτιαχνοντας κονκαρδες. E, προς το τελος το μπαχαλεψα, και εφτιαξα και μερικες δικες μου. Η αλλη κονκαρδιτσα με το “immigrant” τους καλαρεσε κιολας.

Το OPIRG ειναι το τοπικο παραρτημα του Public Interest Research Group που εχει ιδρυσει ο Ralph Nader και λειτουργει σαν hub για τις τοπικες κινησεις ακτιβιστων του πανεπιστημιου που σχετιζονται με καμπανιες οπως το Students Against Israeli Apartheid, το No One Is Illegal, το Committee For Just Education και αρκετα αλλα. Καναδικη φοιτητοαριστερα και τα μυαλα στα καγκελα!

Τωρα, για την πορεια του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ στις εκλογες, τι να πω, ο Μαραντονα να βαλει το χερι του… Καλα κουραγια συντροφοι…

Some notes on Inglourious Basterds

1

The first chapter is a masterpiece. If this were a short, I would count Inglourious Basterds with the greatest pieces ever made about the Holocaust. It makes a bone-shattering case about gentile collaboration to the Holocaust: good, compassionate, ordinary folk could become collaborationists. And Tarantino slams our heads in this wall mercilessly. We get to meet the gentile farmer, his pristine life, his beautiful daughters. We get to know he is a simple mannered, good and decent man, who has been hiding and protecting his Jewish neighbours for a long time. And then when he is faced with the simple choice of handing them in or losing everything, who of us is ready to perceive him as a Nazi-collaborationist monster? Would he deserve a swastika etched on his forehead? Would not any ordinary person have done exactly as he did?

The Nazis and their collaborators have consistently been demonized ever since the end of WWII. And it’s amazing to find this sort of depth in a film that plays exactly with this black and white polarization, of beasts and heroes. In fact, I think that this makes an even greater case for the extremes, the heroes and the beasts. The beasts were indeed Beasts and the heroes were true Heroes.

2

I thought I was immune to racism. I thought that coming from a background without any racial tensions whatsoever, I would be free of what I perceived as a New World condition. But when the beautiful blonde Jewess proclaimed her passionate love for the black man, I found myself being surprised. Maybe I can blame the rest of my Hollywood and American TV upbringing, and its disgusting “token black guy” conventions, but when I was first introduced to the black worker of the cinema, without much attention my stereotyping machinery immediately classified him as something of a stereotypical “uncle Tom” figure, an unimportant sidekick. Looking back, I think I was half expecting him to say “anything ya want ma’am Mimieux!” or something…

Apparently, we don’t get many interracial couples in pop culture, and even more, the coupling of an emancipated, beautiful (and blonde) woman with a black man is extremely rare. That detail was a very good punch in the stomach of my own unknowingly held preconceptions and prejudices for which I’m sincerely grateful.

3

Inglourious Basterds wants to be an alternative history revenge movie. But I think that the sequence of historical events that actually happened is a vastly better revenge story. Yes, what actually happened in History might not be a particularly Jewish revenge story, but damn, the bloodbath in the theater is a much lamer punishment for the Nazis than the Red Army gloriously raising its banner on the Reichstag! For one thing, remember that, from the Nazi point of view, the Jew and the Communist were identical entities. For another, the bloodbath in the theater, as single act of revenge, seems too easy on the Nazis. Sure, in Tarantino’s version, Hitler gets a machine gun instead of going peacefully in his bunker. But in the Red Army version, you also get Nazis in gulags! And a long series of persecutions against Nazis, collaborationists and ordinary Germans (including some pretty horrific stuff). Hey, don’t be a hypocrite and roll your eyes, it’s revenge that we’re talking about, not justice. Or you forgot about the scalping and the clubbing?

Posted via email from black cat ★ red cat

I have the solution!

Wouldn’t it be nice if the world was a place where big social problems had solutions which could be conjured up by some random guy drinking his Saturday morning coffee? I admit, Mark Steel’s approach is very similar, although it seems to involve Friday night beers rather than morning coffee. Anyway, I’ve come up with a solution to the gun control problem in the USA, and I’d like to share it, because in these are the days of Hope and Change, and it doesn’t hurt to try.

So here goes. In order to solve the gun control problem in the USA and all the related issues of crime and violence, nothing more is required than a tiny piece of legislation: the US should put up a law that bans the manufacturing of any gun smaller than rifles.

That way, they circumvent all those stupid Second Amendment arguments. The right-wing nuts continue to hold on to their precious little phallic replacements and, as every piece of machinery has a limited lifespan, handguns and small machineguns (I’m thinking Uzis here) are effectively phased out as they break down.

Think of it: would gangsters and felons be able to walk around with military-style rifles? And if cops had to carry around rifles instead of small guns, wouldn’t it be more cumbersome for them to use, thus reducing mindless shootings? Not to mention that if indeed the cops were met with an actual, dangerous situation, they would have in their disposal far more accurate and bombastic guns than mere pistols.

And just as was the case in the movie Amazing Grace, you give a blow to a small, barely noticeable piece of the whole structure which in the long run, brings the structure to its knees.

So there you have it, the perfect solution.

(silly, isn’t it?)

Posted via email from black cat ★ red cat

On fascism and heads

I got my hands on the June issue of Z Magazine, and it haves a nice interview of Costas Gavras, apropos the release of a new print of the film Z a few months back. One point particularly drew my attention, as I hadn’t thought of it that way before:

Like the assassinations of Trotsky and Kennedy during the same era, the Deputy takes a fatal blow to the head (brain). What does that say about fascism and the state of ideas?

This is a very true statement. Consciously or unconsciously, fascists hit (aim, shoot) the most vulnerable part of man: his head, a place from where his ideas come from—especially when these same ideas condemn fascism.

Posted via email from black cat ★ red cat

Βλάσσης Μπονάτσος – Τη φάτσα μου βαρέθηκα

Εχω αρρωστησει με το αυτο το κομματι απο το 1976.

Και τη φωτογραφια απο το εξωφυλλο του δισκου, τη θελω ποστερ.

Στέρεο Νόβα – Μόμπιλ (Σαμπουάν Μιξ)