I'm writing about a piece of political satire I love, and I've been thinking of what an impact such work has had on shaping my more serious inquiries and values.
Political satire serves a valid purpose: it makes people question. Questions are good. Questions are necessary. The more you learn, the more you need to laugh, but the more you need to question.
While some people are fighting hard, with a lot of money, for the right to turn your surroundings into a true hell hole, I'm beseeching you, here: ask questions. Ask questions about the answers you're given. Think of what someone with a point of view might think, and then, question the motivations behind that difference. You can question a true thing and find it's true, but you'll not for long have the luxury of believing everything you hear.
I believe we often have little sense of how free we used to be, human beings. Please bear with me as I try to articulate this. However shorter our lives were, we have a balance in things: attitudes towards some basic, humane equality in the value of one life and the next have evolved, but ownership of the place you step next has swamped our spirits with civilization.
At the same time, a tide of civility brings differences to wash on our shores, into contact with our conscious minds. Safety, security---they are had in some places more than others. They are precious to those who enjoy them, and they must remain so. We still have more freedoms than most of us realize, of which we should take advantage; there are freedoms we need back, too, sometimes keeping them out of the hands of our would-be protectors.
It is important to find the answers behind the financial and governing bodies; who they are, how they work, and in this, we must keep good humor. It is no wonder many people can't stomach it; I am not sure why so many think they cannot imagine it. If we are going to help each other, we have to understand what we really need, and work together. And there are so many traps awaiting the best of intentions.
All of this falls within the discussion of what we mean by socializing, what we mean by community, and what we mean by something so abstract as the fabric of our society.
It's always required what kindness and love we can offer, but it's set against a mental background where unethical, unkind people have the most material gain to swallow, as what one honest person can make for a living draws upon a slimmer pool of actual, available wealth one can earn. What passes for thinking for one's self is left to the individual; to have anything but a stupid conversation, or none at all, we need people thinking for themselves. It's that intangible realm of the heart, however, that guides that individual quest.
Criticism of these problems is the work of social satire, and it must be done with an origin in that realm, the heart, the emotions, reaching its zenith from head speaking for a full heart. .
Arguably, there is more of it available than ever; satire bears the face of society's changes and the features of its follies.
I encourage you to enjoy "Get Down, America!" over on Integr8dFiction.blogspot.com.
I am very near starting my own social satire and commentary in fiction, so if I'm gone for few days---gone for a spell, as I'd say--- there are really a lot of my own original pieces, and more as yet conceived.
I want to work on "Phenomenal Experience", the Stuckwayze comic, "This Star Fallen!" and D'n'A #2, as well as continue playing music. My analysis of Steve Gerber's got me very interested in writing a new satire, an element in much of my favorite programming.
Further, I've got to grab the time to read some more books. And my drawing needs a lot of practice! So that's my life. That is, my chosen life, instead of turning towards the tidal wave of my problems and screaming as it hits me.
No. Let's surf this.
Be Chill, Cease ill
Gone for a Spell
Essays on creations, life lessons, and many original stories; also visit integr8dfix.blogspot for even more!
Showing posts with label satire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label satire. Show all posts
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Earth's Mightiest Rock Group
Avengers Rock Group: while earlier family acts such as the Fantastic Four charted in the 60’s, like the Rolling Stones of the Silver Age, the Earth’s Mightiest Rock Group would go on, in different incarnations, to be a blockbuster draw on tours. Perhaps, besides Thor and Keith Richards’ similar ages, and Mjolnir’s tong’s resemblance to Mick Jagger, they bear this most in common: they have endured as a live act.
1963
First line-up: Giant Man on Drums, Wasp on tambourine and vocals, Iron Man on bass, and Thor on 12 string guitar and harmonies, with the Hulk as the group’s first failed lead singer. While his attitude revolutionized rebellion in American youth, the group did not chart overseas, instead losing their singer for good, at a concert with Savage Submariner, the Elvis of the shellfish.
1964
A new talent would emerge, however, in the ice cool vocals of Blue Eyed Stevie Rogers. About this time, the group invented heavy metal, as the new line up consisted of Giant Man’s big bass, the Wasp on harmonica and backing vocals, with Thor singing and Iron Man on rhythm and lead guitar. It was during this time Iron Man famously began amplifying his guitar, using amplifiers kicked in by the Titanium Man to generate his famous signature sound, leading some to declare him the God of Feedback.
But Thor
WAS a god, and he sang of his many battles, fist pumping with his enchanted mallet held high. Some would say that this incarnation featured some of the band’s worst singing. After one of the first meaningful psychaedelic works of the Sixties, the band line-up changed into the “Kooky Quartet.”
Hawkeye looked for a way in as the new lead singer, but contented himself with the most innovative cowbell playing in live rock. In the composition of the album, however, he felt this left him more anonymous, in the shadow of Blue Eyed Rogers.
The brother sister team of Quick silver (drums, bass, guitars) and the Scarlet Witch (keyboards) became so important to the marvelous group, they nearly named their album Quicksilver Messenger Service, but found a San Fransisco band in possession of the name already. Why this never created a legal battle over the name “The Avengers” with the popular television program of the day, starring Emma Peel and John Steed, remains a tale to astonish.
The decade ended with popular keyboardist Ray T’Challas and professional Moog synthesizer the Vision also joining the group, with many other guests on tours. By now, a time of socially conscious music was beginning to take hold. Their hits “Masters of Evil” “Squadron Sinister,” and “Sons of the Serpent” stamped their credentials in establishing heavy metal as the new sound of the coming decade. Thor returned to vocals, while Captain America proved to be a revolutionary drummer, his battle-trained reflexes and hand-eye coordination propelling a band ready for Who’s Next Issue. Iron Man began flying during solos at this time, ripping out light shows and rhythms simultaneously. He began to experiment with programmed rhythms, building amazing but lengthy jam solos into his glove units.
They closed the decade with a reunion with member Hank Pillyums, whose experimentation had led them to the brink of finished as a band. He, along with Crosby, Stills, and Nash, entered the Vision of the ‘70s with their “Kree Skrull War,” together with the Captain Marvel-produced tracks forming a kind of superheroic Abbey Road. But it was the turning point, into a darkness from which music, some say, has never recovered.
Was THiS Earth's Mightiest Rock Group?
http://www.imwan.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=66988&view=unread#unread
Who---Live At Leeds, 1970
1963
First line-up: Giant Man on Drums, Wasp on tambourine and vocals, Iron Man on bass, and Thor on 12 string guitar and harmonies, with the Hulk as the group’s first failed lead singer. While his attitude revolutionized rebellion in American youth, the group did not chart overseas, instead losing their singer for good, at a concert with Savage Submariner, the Elvis of the shellfish.
1964
A new talent would emerge, however, in the ice cool vocals of Blue Eyed Stevie Rogers. About this time, the group invented heavy metal, as the new line up consisted of Giant Man’s big bass, the Wasp on harmonica and backing vocals, with Thor singing and Iron Man on rhythm and lead guitar. It was during this time Iron Man famously began amplifying his guitar, using amplifiers kicked in by the Titanium Man to generate his famous signature sound, leading some to declare him the God of Feedback.
But Thor
WAS a god, and he sang of his many battles, fist pumping with his enchanted mallet held high. Some would say that this incarnation featured some of the band’s worst singing. After one of the first meaningful psychaedelic works of the Sixties, the band line-up changed into the “Kooky Quartet.”
Hawkeye looked for a way in as the new lead singer, but contented himself with the most innovative cowbell playing in live rock. In the composition of the album, however, he felt this left him more anonymous, in the shadow of Blue Eyed Rogers.
The brother sister team of Quick silver (drums, bass, guitars) and the Scarlet Witch (keyboards) became so important to the marvelous group, they nearly named their album Quicksilver Messenger Service, but found a San Fransisco band in possession of the name already. Why this never created a legal battle over the name “The Avengers” with the popular television program of the day, starring Emma Peel and John Steed, remains a tale to astonish.
The decade ended with popular keyboardist Ray T’Challas and professional Moog synthesizer the Vision also joining the group, with many other guests on tours. By now, a time of socially conscious music was beginning to take hold. Their hits “Masters of Evil” “Squadron Sinister,” and “Sons of the Serpent” stamped their credentials in establishing heavy metal as the new sound of the coming decade. Thor returned to vocals, while Captain America proved to be a revolutionary drummer, his battle-trained reflexes and hand-eye coordination propelling a band ready for Who’s Next Issue. Iron Man began flying during solos at this time, ripping out light shows and rhythms simultaneously. He began to experiment with programmed rhythms, building amazing but lengthy jam solos into his glove units.
They closed the decade with a reunion with member Hank Pillyums, whose experimentation had led them to the brink of finished as a band. He, along with Crosby, Stills, and Nash, entered the Vision of the ‘70s with their “Kree Skrull War,” together with the Captain Marvel-produced tracks forming a kind of superheroic Abbey Road. But it was the turning point, into a darkness from which music, some say, has never recovered.
Was THiS Earth's Mightiest Rock Group?
http://www.imwan.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=66988&view=unread#unread
Who---Live At Leeds, 1970
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)