Spooky classroom commercial from DefeatTheDebt. And the little kids say:
I pledge allegiance to America?䬺s debt, and to the Chinese government that lends us money. And to the interest, for which we pay, compoundable, with higher taxes and lower pay until the day we die.
Well, debt “stinks,” all right—but it’s kinda cute!
OK, this is just utterly wrong. Utterly wrong, yet… somehow… strangely… compelling... It’s a 12 minute?
In Part II in what’s shaping up be my ongoing series devoted to underpraised American women (Part I here), today brings us Jessica Harper. Familiar to many as “Suzy Bannion” in Dario Argento‘s Suspiria, and “Daisy” in Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories, it’s her “Phoenix” in Brian De Palma‘s Phantom of The Paradise which compels my (all too) frequent revisiting of that film.
For those of you who’ve yet to see it (queue it up, already!), Phantom’s an updating of the Faust tale, where composer Winslow Leach (played by early De Palma muse William Finley), seeking to have his great “cantata” realized, sells his soul to a devil-in-disguise Swan (played, with Sterling Holloway slipperiness, by the film’s composer Paul Williams).
Typical for De Palma, the film offers up an art-versus-commerce parable that’s as bleak as it is unsparing. But beyond its easy, showbiz cynicism, it’s Harper’s wonderfully committed performance that elevates Phantom into the realms of tragedy and heartbreak.
Harper plays muse and soulmate to Leach. But then, as these things happen (though less so, these days), Leach is horribly disfigured in a “record pressing mishap.” Newly reborn as “The Phantom,” he makes an agreement with Swan to audition singers for his cantata. This is where Harper slips in, and pretty much runs—or struts, really—off with the movie.
Beyond the forgettable Inserts, Phantom was Harper’s first feature role. And in this clip here (newly added, raw footage outtakes—the actual clip has been scrubbed from YouTube), you get a definite sense that she’s not just auditioning for Swan, she’s auditioning for the rest of her life.
In fact, as the song goes along, you can actually see Harper finding her voice, as an actress, a person. Maybe that’s why I keep coming back to this film—this clip. It doesn’t seem like Harper’s acting at all.
Fortunately, after Phantom, Harper found her way to not just Allen and Argento, but into the relatively secure (by Hollywood standards) arms of Tom Rothman (co-chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment), where she’s now a wife, mother, children’s book author, occasional actress, and, of course, still special to me.
There have been some truly sensational crop circle formations appearing in 2009 and while I was hunting around for some good images to post here, I came across an article (on the BBC’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy forums, I think I should add) that contained this rather astonishing bit of information:
Crop circles are not a new phenomenon. There are 17th Century woodcuts that record the observation of what appears to be crop circles. One such woodcut, entitled The Devil Mower, appeared in a Hertfordshire newspaper dated 22 August, 1678. The article described the apparition overnight of a strange design in a field of oats, so neatly pressed that ‘no mortal man was able to do the like’ which was attributed to the ‘devil or some infernal spirit’. By convoluted logic this apparition confirmed the existence of God since, it was argued, if devils have a Hell then there must be a Heaven, and a God.
Here is what it says:
Being a True Relation of a Farmer, who Bargaining with a Poor Mower, about the Cutting down Three Half Acres of Oats: upon the Mower’s asking too much, the Farmer swore That the Devil should Mow it rather than He. And so it fell out, that very Night, the Crop of Oat shew’d as if it had been all of a flame: but next Morning appear’d so neatly mow’d by the Devil or some Infernal Spirit, that no Mortal Man was able to do the like. Also, How the said Oats ly now in the Field, and the Owner has not Power to fetch them away. Liscensed, August 22nd, 1678.
Arguments Against the Hoax Theory of Crop Circles by Joseph E. Mason (he works for NASA)
WELLINGTON, FL—Debra Mitchell is a lead code compliance officer for the Village of Wellington. During the collapse of the housing market, the community was left with a large number of foreclosed homes.
Pointing out one example Mitchell said, “It has an unsanitary, abandoned swimming pool, stagnant swimming pool. There’s no electricity running at this location.”
The code compliance department was paying nearly 7,000 dollars a year to dump chemicals into the pools to treat the scummy buildup.
That’s when Mitchell and some of her colleagues came up with an environmentally-friendly idea to get rid of the green. An idea with a much lower price tag of just 700 dollars.
“Some of us got clever and decided to try the fish-eating…er algae eating fish,” she said.
At a typical home that needed help Mitchell revealed, “We have dumped 15 pleco algae-eating fish in here to take care of the algae situation.”
Something’s fishy in Wellington
(via Arbroath )
An exhibit opening soon at London’s Drawing Room art gallery displays the materials produced for Alejandro Jodorowsky’s sadly never-produced version of Frank Herbert’s Dune novels:
This exhibition includes production drawings made by Moebius, H.R Giger and Chris Foss alongside commissioned work made in response by three international contemporary artists Steven Claydon, Matthew Day Jackson and Vidya Gastaldon.
Following the release of his mystical Western ?
I first came across Jeff Hoke’s “Museum of Lost Wonder” in zine format; at the time he was doing them out of his house and selling them on stapled manila paper. Basically you could chop up the zines and make your own origami temples, mind-bending devices and other examples of the genius of the ancient world. In the meantime the zines taught you everything you need to know about alchemy, Qabalah, the universe and ways to trip out without drugs. They were practically arts-and-crafts training modules in the Ancient Mysteries. Now it’s all been collected as a hardback. Hm… slightly less tempting to chop up. Buy two! If I knew any smart kids (I don’t) I would buy this for them next time at the next given Present Tax time, and guarantee a life of inward-directed seeking fun.
Meet the stars of Freej, Dubai’s first 3-D animated series. If you’re wondering which of the above four grannies plays the “Cartman,” rest assured these ladies get nowhere near Satan, J-Lo, or even Casa Bonita. The humor here instead “tackles hot topics like wedding traditions and bribery in a distinctly Arab way, sometimes merely hinting at issues.”
But this is not to say series creator, 31-year-old Mohammed Saeed Harib, shies completely away from button-pushing. In Freej’s first season, an episode alluded to Islamic extremism. It was pulled from repeat broadcasts, but managed to later wind up on DVD.
In the NYT: Dubai Superheroes: Little Old Grannies Who Wear Veils
The trailer for Oliver Stone‘s new documentary on Hugo Chavez, South of the Border, just popped up on YouTube. I see Stone co-wrote it with Tariq Ali, the New Left Review editor (and inspiration for the Stones’ Street Fighting Man), so expect the usual shitstorm of controversy. And who’s that behind the camera? How nice—Gimme Shelter‘s Albert Maysles!
In the LAT: Oliver Stone Heads “South Of The Border” To Chat Up Chavez And Others
