Saturday, July 30, 2011

#firstworldproblems

Ran a cross a great little post about Twitter in our local hipster paper (which is a free weekly focused on the arts, fashion & entertainment scene for the post-college but pre-kids-in-soccer-practice crowd). Now I know that funny stuff (as well as a lot of pointless stuff) can happen on Twitter, as can breaking news (like #japanearthquake), but every once in a while there's a non-news hashtag worth watching as it spreads and maybe goes viral. And I don't mean #rulesforgirls, either.

Anyway, in this article, a local blogger and self-described hipster mom (who actually goes by the name of Cat Rocketship. Really!) looks at the self-deprecating and ironic hashtag called #firstworldproblems, where we who are well off complain hyperbolically about trivial problems, and do it deliberately so as to remind ourselves that we ARE well off and that for the most part our problems ARE trivial compared to the rest of the world.

Pretty sophisticated stuff for a social media meme. Gives one hope that as a culture we are not completely pampered, self-focused and simultaneously clueless about it. I wish it didn't have to take the form of irony for that to be revealed, but still... I'll take it.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Shaking T-Paw's, um ... paw.

I'm beginning to see what they mean by getting to see the candidates informally and up close, shake hands with them, ask them a question without going through a moderator, etc.


I did all of those things last night with former Gov. Tim Pawlenty. I just had no idea he was going to be where I was until I sat down and ... hey! That guy looks just like...


and it was. Crazy state, this. Kinda fun, too.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Imperial Image Control

a.k.a. propaganda. :)

Having watched Captain America this weekend, and staying through the end titles and credits, I was struck by the connection between this "superhero" movie and the book I just finished for my NT670 class in Seminary: Colossians Remixed, Subverting the Empire.

The connection is with the relentless "image management" done by empires of all sorts, whether the images are of Tiberius Caesar, Chairman Mao, Uncle Sam, Ronald McDonald, Moammar Quaddafi, presidential candidates, or a cute little white Apple with a bite out of it. Images are a huge part of propaganda (also known as advertising), and they are ubiquitous - placed everywhere in order to drive home a sense of inevitability - you WILL obey/support/purchase whatever the icon represents. In the case of this movie, the empires of Hollywood, the Pentagon, Wall Street and America (TM) overlap.  Entertainment, weaponry, business and patriotism blend into a heady cocktail.  The book I reference sees  Paul's letter to the Colossians as a call to the church to subvert the Roman Empire, and the authors see the church's mission today as something very similar, except the empire du jour is Global Consumerism, led by American Democracy and the internet.


The irony of this particular movie is that it unabashedly sets itself as a period piece smack in the middle of the WWII era, where this same heady cocktail of patriotism, weaponry, business and entertainment was also mixed and served widely.  It winks at itself in the mirror during the end credits, which use a montage of faux-WWII patriotic poster art as visuals underneath the song "Star Spangled Man" (a Hollywood production number during the movie proper, complete with leggy chorus girls.)


It has since spawned a whole series of neo-wartime propaganda posters by contemporary artists who are apparently getting into the nostalgia theme.






Of course they pay homage to the real thing, in both style and content:











And then there's the crazy updated versions of these posters set in the modern era - WWIII patriotic propaganda. Pretty funny. :)









There is a theme to these things. Or rather, several themes all designed to accomplish the same thing: 1) illustrate our societal greatness and the glory of our way of life, 2) denigrate, demonize and dehumanize our enemies, and 3) call us to show resolve, sacrifice, and generally support the war effort.

The sobering thing is... every empire does it, whether it's our side or theirs. Power of an imperial nature seeks to control the populace through winning over hearts and minds (and if necessary, using incentives, peer pressure, or if all else fails, regulation, the force of law). If it wasn't for the language and colors of the flags, it would be hard to tell whose propaganda is whose.












Okay, so much for the positive, heart-warming images, inspiring civic pride.  Here's part two: the ugly side.  Our enemy must be portrayed as evil or sub-human ... so that we can kill him with no pesky pangs of conscience.  This strategy still works today, with the war on terror, except its the Crusaders vs. the Jihadists, or Democracy vs. Dictatorship.  We still burn each others flags.














So have you figured out who is evil and sub-human, yet?  The real answer is...  we all are, when we give support to this stuff.  And yet, empire calls us to do our part, no matter who's empire we're presently serving... or opposing.



















Friday, July 15, 2011

Nitefall On The River

A local radio station has this summer concert series along the riverfront downtown. Some of the artists I don't know, some I don't like, but once in a while there is one that I both know AND like. This week it was Matt Nathanson, and so... let's head to the riverfront!

It's a nice grass amphitheater,


with the stage jutting out into the water,


and a great view of the downtown skyline for the audience.


The crowd began filling in, but didn't really get packed out until the opening act (a new band from Kansas called Quiet Corral) was about half done.


These guys were good, sort of like the Decemberists in tone and style, and had their first EP available at the merch table for only 5 bucks. Nice.


The lights came on right about the time the headliner stepped to the mike, somewhere around my second bratwurst of the night.



By that time, the grass bank had filled in nicely, the beer was flowing, and Nathanson did his usual great job of connecting with the crowd. Such a personable guy on stage.


And he played/chatted for a good hour and a half, until the younger couples with little kids (who were getting a little fussy by that time) started maneuvering their strollers up and out of the venue.


So while night fell on the river...
he played "Come On Get Higher",
everybody sang along (me, too),
and it was time to head home.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

All politics is local

Especially here.   Given the first-in-the-nation status we have during the Presidential primary candidate selection process, GOP hopefuls are passing through weekly now, with daily visits on the horizon.

Yours truly is definitely curious about the unique process we go through here, so what better way to learn how it works than to dive right in?  Regardless of whether or not I will vote in November 2012 for a Republican candidate (which very much depends on who that is), I at least need to latch on to one of them, to experience the process up close and personal.  So... here's my guy:


Dr. Paul (a surgeon by trade) was a Libertarian party stalwart years ago (I actually voted for him for President on that ticket in 1988), despite occupying one of Texas's seats in the US House of Representatives as a Republican off and on since 1976.


His first appearance here was last month, shortly after his campaign office opened in a far northern suburb of the metro. I scooted across the river to the east side of downtown to snag a chair in a pair of crowded meeting rooms in the local Embassy Suites. The organizers underestimated people's interest, and we were busting out the walls.


His next visit was yesterday for a more "informal" meet and greet at a local indie coffeehouse.



Well, sort of indie. It does have more than one location. But then, nowhere near as many as Dunn Bros. in St. Paul, (which to my mind, despite its indie rep, lost its indie status when they set up shop in the MSP airport right beside Chili's. Boo.)


This time the local media was there, and the space was more intimate, so I could scoop up that heretofore elusive handshake and personal greeting from the congressman.



So why Ron Paul, you ask? (or even if you don't ask...)

I haven't been one of those straight-ticket Republicans since 1972 (when I still couldn't vote, anyway.) My support for any political candidate has been situational. I have to have confidence in not only the candidate's competence, character, and common sense, but in their policy positions in at least 2/3 of the pressing issues of the day. And while I have a little disagreement with Rep. Paul, there isn't nearly as much of it as with the Santorums, Pawlentys, Bachmanns, and Romneys in the field.

Ron Paul is the most "small government fiscal conservative" of the lot, and with debt issues and defaults looming at federal and state levels, that's fine with me.

What's more, he's not interested in mandating that his views on social issues become the law of the land. In a pluralistic society, that doesn't work. We are not the Massachusetts Bay Colony circa 1650 any more, and we shouldn't pretend that we are.

I'm convinced that in the end, the great master narrative that relativizes all others (that of God's grace and wisdom incarnate, overcoming fallen humanity's alienation from God and from each other) will win out. But we will only delay that process if we don't communicate it winsomely, as well as allow it to compete with alternatives in the marketplace of ideas. Imposing on others by force of law our interpretation of ultimate truth (and we are all interpreters of truth, not the embodiment of it) is only tyranny in religious clothing. And Ron Paul is about as far from a wielder of tyranny as I have yet seen.

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